Month: October 2011

Baked stuffed figs with mascarpone, walnuts and chocolate

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To end that Italian inspired meal I have been going on about all week, we served Baked stuffed figs with mascarpone, walnuts and chocolate from that lovely book I have been going on about all week too – Bringing Italy Home by Ursula Ferrigno. I was more inspired by it than anything, so below is my adaptation with a few changes. It went perfectly together with the vin santo we bought at Harrod’s a while back, but almost any dessert would.

This is nevertheless a nice way to end a meal, with pimped up fruit. It is lighter than most creamy dessert despite it contains both mascarpone and chocolate and I served it with whipped cream.

Fyllda ugnsbakade fikon med mascarpone, valnötter och choklad, serves 4

Adapted after Ursula Ferrigno’s recipe.

8 fresh figs

75 g mascarpone

40 g walnuts, chopped

1 tbsp vin santo

100 g milk chocolate

1-2 tbsp single cream

Wash the figs and cut off parts of their bottoms so they can stand up. The make a cross almost all the way down to open up the figs. It is in this opening we put the stuffing.

Mix mascarpone with wine and walnuts. Stuff the figs. Bake for 10 minutes in 200C.

Melt the chocolate while the figs are baking, and mix with the cream. When the figs are done, place two on each plate and spoon chocolate on top. Serve with lightly whipped cream. 

What to do with limoncello

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Our Italian evening we pulled out all the stops (at least we think so) and used Christopher’s homemade limoncello for both the pre-dinner cocktail and the palate cleanser. The limoncello recipe is from the lovely cookbook Bringing Italy Home by Urusla Ferrigno.

The pre-dinner cocktail is so easy, but so so good. Add about a tablespoon of limoncello in a champagne flute. Fill up with prosecco and enjoy!

I would like to call the palate cleanser a sorbet, but because of the alcohol, it is somewhere in between a sorbet and a granita. Either way it really did cleanse the palate.

Limoncello sorbet, serves 4 as a palate cleanser

285 ml water

200 g caster sugar

100 ml limoncello

1/2 lemon, the juice

Bring sugar and water to the boil and let it boil for 5 minutes. Leave to cool. Mix in the limoncello, taste nad pour into a tupperware box with a lid. Place it in the freezer a day before you need it, so it can set as much as possible. Spoon into bowls or little glasses and squirt with lemon juice. Serve straight away.

Cannellini bean spread

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Another crostini topping is this cannellini spread with sage. It is the Italian cousin of hummus but tastes very different.

I added sage, garlic and lemon juice to make it fresh and add to the Italian feel of it. Mix it together the day before and leave in fridge overnight for the flavours to really develop.

Just like the chicken liver mousse, we served this in a mini copper pan and the crostinis on the side so each guest could help themselves.

Cannellini bean paste, serves 4

400 g canned cannellini beans

1/2 lemon, the juice

5 sage leaves

1 small garlic clove, pressed

salt, white pepper

mild olive oil

Rinse the beans and drain. Mix together with the lemon juice, garlic and sage, add olive oil until desired consistency. Season. Refridgerate overnight.

Changes

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Hello, new blog!

This blog address – Scandelights – is new as of today, but I have imported the content from my blog The Food Archive, so you find everything from the archive of that blog here.

From now on I will put an even stronger Scandi spin on this blog – hence the name, so I hope you’ll like it.

See you around!

Hanna

Italian chicken liver mousse

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I had almost my first encounter with chicken liver (cooking it I mean) just a little while ago when I used this recipe to make a paté with cognac and porcini mushrooms. The only reason I didn’t post it on here is because I didn’t get a decent photo of it. But it was fabulous!

I am a huge fan of chicken livers since then. It is really tasty, and has less of a liver flavour than say pig’s livers or calf’s livers. On top of that it is very versatile to add different flavours to, and it is cheap.

Last week we had Chris and Jess over for dinner, and we had an Italian theme for the evening, with both food and wine. The most typical Italian starter to me is chicken liver crostini, so that’s what I made. This one is flavoured with white wine, sage and anchovies, very Italian flavours to me.

Since liver might not be for everyone I also made a bean spread (that I will post tomorrow) and classic bruschetta with tomato and garlic. We served the mousse and the bean paste in mini copper pans (my boyfriend’s idea) on a rustic cutting board and piles of crostini on the side. A nice and laid back start to the evening.

Italiensk kycklinglevermousse

400 g fresh chicken liver

1/2 red onion, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, pressed

2 tbsp fresh sage, chopped

100 ml dry white wine

4 anchovies

100 ml homemade chicken stock

50-100 ml mild olive oil

Remove all tendons and chop the liver coarsely. Fry the onion until soft in butter and oil on medium heat. Add the garlic and sage, make sure the garlic doesn’t burn. Add the wine and watch some of it disappear. Add the anchovies and let it melt together with the other ingredients. Turn up the heat and add the liver, cook until cooked through. Add the stock and let it bubble away a bit.

Mix it all in a food processor. Add mild olive oil bit by bit until it has the moussy texture you’re after. I used almost 100 ml, but start off with a lot less. Leave to cool, then refridgerate.


Lamb stew with red wine, cream, mushrooms and thyme

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Last week I did what one is suppose to do with a slowcooker – I made it cook dinner for me while I was at work. And it worked a charm.

I browned the meat the night before and seasoned it. The following morning I added the meat, red wine, water , garlic and a bay leaf, put it on the lowest setting and left it for 10 hours.

When I opened the door to the flat in the evening, it smelt wonderful. I just reduced the sauce, added cream, thyme and fried mushrooms and served it with a swede and potato mash.

It was absolutely wonderful and the meat just fell apart it was so tender. I highly recommending a slowcooker, as it takes less energy than having the oven on, and it feels safer leaving it on during the day. But you can make this stew in a regular oven too, I would probably put the temperature to 80C maximum and leave it in there for at least 5-6 hours.

Because of the low cooking temperature, the meat releases a lot of liquid, so I highly recommend to take out the mat and reduce the sauce on the hob until it has thickened up. This also concentrates the flavour and I would recommend this with all kinds of dishes, including i.e. pulled pork, where you shred the meat and mix it with the juices. It works better when it is less watery.

Lamb stew with red wine, cream, mushrooms and thyme, serves 3-4

500 g stewing lamb (on the bone, in pieces)

butter for frying

salt, black pepper

400 ml red wine (for cooking you can use old opened bottles, so don’t throw any leftover wine away, save it for a stew instead)

1 garlic clove

1 bayleaf

100 ml water

200 g button mushrooms, cut in four

200 ml single cream

50 ml red wine

1 tsp fresh thyme

1/2 tbsp mild chilli sauce

1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce

colouring agent

salt, pepper

Brown the meat in the morning or the night before, in butter. Season. Before leaving the house in the morning, add the meat, wine and water to the Crockpot . Also add garlic and a bay leaf. Stir and turn the slowcooker on at the lowest heat. Put the lid on and leave it until you come home 9-10 hours later.

Then fry the mushrooms ans season. Remove the meat from the sauce and put the whole casserole on the hob (if you have a gas hob at least) or use a small sauce pan to redue the sauce on high heat. Stir occasionally and once it has thickened add the spices and seasonings. Colour until light brown. Add the meat and mushrooms. Heat ut up again if necessary and serve. A root mash, potato mash or boiled potatoes work well. 

Smoky polenta chips (and burgers)

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We had burgers and chips for dinner one day last week. With one big twist; it was polenta chips. And they tasted of smoked cheese.

Unfortunately I can’t take credit for this amazing recipe, that fame belongs to Yotam Ottolenghi, but I am very happy to spread the word.

OK, they’re probably worse to eat from a health perspective than regular chips, but they are so so SO very good. They melt in your mouth and the smokiness is just perfect with the mellow texture. In grams, they contain just as much cheese as polenta, plus they are dipped in flour and then deep-fried, so not exactly healthy. But who cares?!

Smoky polenta chips, serves 3

Adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi’s recipe.

375 ml vegetable stock

60 g quick polenta

20 g butter

60 g smoked cheese (the recipe calls for scamorza affumicata, but I used ‘Bavarian smoked cheese’)

salt, pepper

1 dl plain flour

500 ml vegetable (or other neutral) oil

Bring the stock to the boil and add the polenta bit by bit while stirring. Let it simmer for 5 minutes while continue to stir. Remove from the heat and add butter and cheese. Stir to incorporate evenly.

Line a square or rectangular dish (mine was 20 cm and square) with clingfilm and spread the polenta into it, evenly. Leave to cool and place in fridge for at least an hour to set. Remove from the fridge, place the polenta square onto a chopping board and cut it into chip-size pieces. Coat these with flour. Heat up 1-2 cm high with oil in a frying or sauteuse pan until very hot. Deep fry the chips until golden. Drain on kitchen towel. Sprinkle with salt and serve.

Burgers, makes 5

500 g lean beef mince

1 egg

50 ml breadcrumbs or one slice of white bread, edges removed and crumbled

1 tsp onion granules

salt, white pepper

2 tbsp  Reggae Reggae sauce or similar

Add egg and breadcrumbs to a bowl. Add the onions, seasoning and sauce. Stir and leave it to swell for a few minutes. Add the mince and mix well with a wooden fork. Divide the meat into 5 even pieces and shape liek burgers. Fry in butter and oil until either medium or well done, according to taste. 

Weekly update and next week’s menu

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Westminster, April 2011

This week has passed quickly, I guess being out and about a few days make it go even quicker than usual.

It has been a good week though, with visits to two of my favourite restaurants in London. On Tuesday I met up with Swedish Kristin (who I know from Uni) at Terroirs and we talked about both the past, present and the future over oysters, pig’s trotters and some Muscadet. A lovely evening.

On Thursday I met up with two former colleagues at Opera Tavern for some tapas, and we had a great time, as always.

Tonight will be a quiet one with some nice pasta and probably plenty of wine. Tomorrow I am off to a course, and in the evening we have David and Gaby as dinner guests.

And this is what we will be eating next week:

Friday: Chrosizo meatball carbonara a’la Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Saturday: Scallops in saffron sauce; roast beef, potatoes au gratin and red wine jus; tarte tatin and icecream

Sunday: Pork belly

  • Potato and leek soup
  • Nice sausages and beans (not the baked kind)
  • Macaroni and cheese with sausages

Have a nice weekend!

Peanut butter chocolate cheesecake

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Apologies for the bad photo, only had my mobile at hand when plating the cake at work.

The last cake for work last month was another Nigella number. You can always trust her not to make something half-hearted or too healthy (and I mean that in a good way).

This chessecake is more of an all-in kind of cake with lots of everything. It was good, but I think I would like to improve a few things for next time. First of all I would like to bake the base so it keeps drier for longer. Also adding a bit more sugar to both the filling and the topping would be beneficial as the mixture goes a lot more sour when chilled, and this cake should be served chilled.

Peanut butter chocolate cheesecake, serves 10-12

Adapted from Nigella’s recipe. 

Base:

200 g digestives

50 g softened butter

Filling:

500 g Philadelphia

3 eggs

3 egg yolks

200 g caster sugar

125 ml sourcream

250 g smooth peanut butter

Topping:

25 ml sourcream

100 g milk chocolate, chopped

30 g soft brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 170C. Crumble the biscuits for the base in a food processor or in a ziplock bag with a rolling pin. Mix with the butter and press it into a springform (lined with pachment paper in the bottom and around the sides. I would suggest prebaking it for 10 minutes.

Mix all the ingredients for the filling in a food processor or with an electric whisk. Pour the mixture into the springform and spread it out evenly. Bake for 50 minutes – 1 hour. Remove from the oven.

Heat up sourcream, chocolate and sugar in a saucepan until it has all melted and is incorporated. Spread onto the cheesecake and bake for another 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool on its tin. Place in a fridge for at least a few hours before serving. Leave it in its tin until it is time to serve. Powder with icing sugar before serving. 

Autumn in Sweden

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The heading might strike you as peculiar, as we have autumn in the UK as well. But you see, these is a vast difference between the semi-autumn we have here in London, with temperatures around 20C, muggy weather and the coloured leaves and the proper autumn in the south of Sweden. When I went to visit last weekend it was around 10C and crisp lovely air as well as the coloured autumn leaves.

The countryside is wonderful around Malmö, where I’m from, and I went for a slow walk in the woods, trying to find some mushrooms and snapping away on my camera.

When we got back to my parent’s house I continued to take photos in my mother’s beautiful garden. Ok, it belongs to my dad as well, but mother is the one designing it and looking after it. It is so pretty that it has featured in one gardening magazine in Sweden and an agricultural magazine. Well done, mother!

We spent some time in the kitchen as well. On Saturday we had mushrooms (chanterelles and black trumpets) on toast followed by a meat fondue in oil, with potato wedges and bearnaise sauce. After a little break we finished the meal off with a tarte tatin from local apples and icecream.

On Sunday we had a traditional (Swedish) roast with venison, boiled potatoes, creamy gravy, broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms and jelly. A perfect end to a perfect country weekend.