September 2015 – Scandelights

Crayfish!

Published on September 25, 2015 by HannaLeave a comment

As I’m hosting a crayfish party tonight I thought I’d share these pictures from my last crayfish dinner in Sweden. I managed to eat crayfish twice in the two and a bit weeks I was at home, and lots of other lovely seafood too, but I am just as excited about tonight’s festivities with my London friends.

But back to the crayfish party in Sweden. It was just a family affair so we started with rösti, Kalix roe (bleak roe from Kalix), creme fraiche and chopped red onions. This is such a Swedish classic it’s almost a cliché but I absolutely love it (as do most Swedes!).

We had two types of crayfish, both fresh, Swedish and Turkish. They were both nice but the Swedish ones were the nicest.

We also had a typical Västerbotten cheese quiche (here with fried girolles on top) which is a must with the crayfish, bread, cheese and of course snaps.

Crayfish party or not – have a nice weekend!

Fake Shack sauce

Published on September 24, 2015 by Hanna2 Comments

I cooked (and ate!) a lot of nice food when I was back home in Sweden in August. But my family and I have a tendency to get a bit overboard sometimes. So one day we decided to not make an elaborate three course meal. Instead we had these yummy homemade burgers with a homemade version of the Shake Shack sauce. So good!

I first saw the Fake Shack sauce recipe on Smitten Kitchen’s wonderful blog and knew I just had to make it. And it hit the spot just as I thought it would. My parents liked it too and from now on this is definitely my go-to burger sauce.

Fake Shack sauce, serves 4

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen’s recipe.

60 ml mayonnaise (homemade or Hellman’s)

1 1/2 tsp juice from a pickle jar

1 1/2 tsp ketchup

1 tsp yellow mustard

1/4 tsp smoked paprika

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

Mix the ingredients, taste and adjust the flavour until you’re happy with the balance. Serve with burgers.

New potato salad with girolles and bacon

Published on September 22, 2015 by Hanna1 Comment

This wonderful potato salad is an old favourite. I saw a Swedish chef make it on TV many years ago and then made it myself a few times in Sweden and loved it. But moving to London girolles were no longer a staple mushroom in the supermarket so I forgot all about this dish until this summer when I cooked it for my parents. Luckily it was just as nice as I remembered it!

New potato salad with girolles and bacon, serves 4

Adapted from Gert Klötzke’s recipe.

10-12 baby new potatoes, cooked

1 packet rocket

1 litre girolles, cleaned

4 slices smoked bacon (at least)

1 chopped onion

2 garlic cloves, chopped

50 g thinly sliced cheddar

butter for frying

salt, pepper

50 ml mustard vinaigrette (mix 1 tsp dijon mustard, 1 tbsp white wine vinegar, 3 tbsp olive oil)

Dice the potatoes and add to a large bowl. Fry the bacon until crisp, dice and mix with the potato. Fry the onion and garlic in butter until softened, add the mushrooms and fry until golden. Season. Add the mushroom to the bowl and drizzle with the vinaigrette. Mix well and lastly add the rocket and cheese. Mix again and serve.

Creamy spinach dip

Published on September 16, 2015 by Hanna1 Comment

This creamy and amazingly delicious (I dare you to step away from the dip before it’s finished!) is so incredibly easy to make you have your pre-dinner party snack sorted in minutes. But obviously it’s just as nice in front of a film or a football game on the television.

I first encountered this lovely dip at Laura and Tim’s house warming when my friend Amy and I did our best to finish the dip between the two of us. It’s just SO good!

Creamy spinach dip, serves 4-6 as a snack (or maybe just 2)

Adapted from The Food Network’s recipe.

2 tbsp butter

1 medium onion, finely chopped

225 g full-fat cream cheese

280 g frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

grated nutmeg

salt and white pepper

Melt the butter in a frying pan on medium heat. Add the onions and soften without browning, for approx 5-8 minutes. Add the cream cheese and stir to melt and combine. Add the spinach and reduce any water. Season to taste with grated nutmeg, salt and white pepper. Serve warm with salted tortilla chips.

Cakes at Konditori Antoinette, Copenhagen, Denmark

Published on September 10, 2015 by HannaLeave a comment

Growing up in the south of Sweden we made many trips to Denmark and Copenhagen. Before the famous bridge we took small ferries but the bridge certainly made it even easier to visit.

The café where Maria, Daniel and I had cakes during our last visit, has been a long standing place for me to visit when visiting Copenhagen. My mother’s friends first introduced it to me as their breakfast place, a tradition Maria and I made our own as well. But since then it’s changed shape a few times.

This visit we found out it’s a proper patisserie with award-winning cakes which we thoroughly enjoyed while resting our legs out in the shade. You see, the absolute best thing about this place is the location. You just take a turn off Strøget through a small street and voilà you have a nice little oasis without tourists.

We were definitely impressed by the cakes (left with white chocolate, almonds and raspberries, top with chocolate and passion fruit and bottom a tarte with chocolate, creme patissiere and strawberries) but less so by the plastic menus.

After the cakes we walked around the city some more and looked in a few shops before going for dinner (review to come). It was one of those perfect days when you have no plans but end up finding new great places (and old favourites).

Konditori Antoinette, Østergade 24, 1100 København, Denmark

Burrata with slow roasted tomatoes

Published on September 9, 2015 by Hanna1 Comment

I love burrata, the creamier cousin of mozzarella, a lot but I struggle to find it in Sweden. I’m sure they have it in some of Malmö’s better cheese shops but I thought it easier to bring a fresh one with me from my local Whole Foods.

We had it as a starter one evening soon after arrived to Sweden, together with slow roasted tomatoes, a nice olive oil, grilled bread and a bowl of buttery nocellara olives.

It almost felt like we were by the Mediterranean; being sat outside, next to a fig tree, sipping rosé and eating the creamy burrata with slow roasted tomatoes. Such a lovely evening.

Slow roasted tomatoes, serves 3 as a starter

150-200 g small tomatoes, halved

1 clove of garlic, sliced

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

some chopped basil

a splash of olive oil

salt, black pepper

fresh basil to garnish

Pre-heat the oven to 125C. Place tomatoes, onion, garlic, and basil in an oven-proof tray. Add olive oil, salt and pepper and stir so the oil coats everything evenly. Place in the oven and leave for 2-3 hours. Remove the (now brown) basil from the tray. Plate the rest, garnish with fresh basil leaves and a good splash or olive oil.

Lunch at Torvehallerne Food Halls, Copenhagen

Published on September 8, 2015 by HannaLeave a comment

My friends Maria, Daniel and I have this great tradition where we go to Copenhagen for a day. I love Copenhagen but living in London I usually go back to Sweden to see my friends and family so having a day in Copenhagen together with some of those good friend each summer is perfect. We were quite hungry when we arrived so after hitting a few shops we walked to Torvehallerna, the lovely food halls just by Nørrebro Station.

We started with some lovely pinxtos at Tapa del Toro, recommended by a my food blogger friend Helena. It was the perfect way to start the day in Copenhagen; with a glass of cava and Spanish charkuterie.

The pinxtos were just the appetisers so we soon moved on to Hallernes Smørrebrød for some traditional Danish open-faced sandwiches.

Maria had the prawn sandwich to the left, Daniel the chicken salad with bacon on rye bread and I had the plaice fillet with remoulade. All very good!

I can’t say that we were still hungry after all this (at least not Maria and I) but the pizzas at Gorm’s Pizza smelled so lovely we couldn’t resist trying one with prosciutto, mascarpone and mushrooms. It was very nice but I sadly only managed one slice.

After this carb loaded lunch we had plenty of energy to walk around the city in the sunshine. We walked along the river for a while and ended up in the Botanical Gardens, a lovely oasis on a summer’s day. (The main entrance is actually just by Torvehallerne but we used a different entrance and exited at Nørrebro). We then carried on walking looking in some shops and then stopping for coffee and cake at a bakery I will tell you more about in another post.

Torvehallerne, Frederiksborggade 21, 1360 København K, Denmark

Delicious DIY meringue dessert

Published on September 7, 2015 by Hanna1 Comment

The Swedish equivalent to Eton mess is marängsuisse; a pudding consisting of ice cream, meringues, whipped cream and chocolate sauce. You can also add berries, nuts, bananas or anything else you want. I like to serve the ingredients separately so people can assemble their own.

Last time I made this I tried a new type of meringue that my food blogger friend Charlotta had posted on her blog a while ago; a lovely gooey meringue that completely melts in your mouth. I served it with homemade vanilla ice cream, strawberries, blueberries, whipped cream and chocolate sauce. So good!

The meringue is super easy to make and you don’t even need to keep an eye on the oven as you turn it off as soon as the meringue goes in. You simply forget about it and leave it in there to cook on the residual heat during the day or over night. It couldn’t be simpler.

Hiram’s forgotten meringue, serves 6-8

5 egg whites

1/2 tsp baking powder

280 g caster sugar

Pre-heat the oven to 225C. Beat the egg whites until very stiff. Mix the baking powder with the sugar and fold into the whipped egg whites. Pour the meringue into a buttered springform and spoon a bit of the mixture from the middle towards the sides. Place in the hot oven, turn it off and leave for a day or over night until it has set.

Chocolate sauce, serves 6

40 g caster sugar

20 g cocoa

2 tbsp water

2 tbsp double cream

Mix sugar, cocoa and water in a non-stick sauce pan. Bring to the boil while stirring. Add the cream and let it thicken for a few minutes, while stirring. Serve warm.

Avocado and cucumber salad

Published on September 4, 2015 by HannaLeave a comment

I was lucky enough to have two weeks of fairly decent summer when I was in Sweden in August. So I seized the opportunity to cook as many summery dishes I could think of. This delicious salad is cool and soothing – perfect with a BBQ after a day at the beach. But just as nice now in the beginning of autumn when we can’t quite let go of summer just yet.

Recipe courtesy of one of my favourite food blogs; Smitten Kitchen.

Avocado and cucumber salad, serves 4

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen’s recipe.

1/2 cucumber, washed and chopped into chunks

1-2 spring onions, thinly sliced

1 large avocado, pitted and diced

2 tbsp mayonnaise (homemade or Hellman’s)

1/2 lime, juice only

hot sauce (I used Tabasco)

salt

chopped coriander or parsley to garnish

Combine cucumber, spring onions and avocado in a bowl. Whisk together mayo, lime and seasonings, adjusting to taste. Drizzle (or in my case, mix) salad with dressing and garnish with herbs.

Skybar, Malmö, Sweden

Published on September 3, 2015 by Hanna1 Comment

Finally Malmö has a bar with a view. Sure, Malmö is a pretty small city (although the third largest in Sweden) but it has some impressive landmarks that are a real treat to view from above.

Skybar is located in the same hotel as Eatery Social, on the 24th floor, so after our taco dinner we took the lift upstairs to take in the view.

We were there a Monday evening and it was buzzing, which made us wish the bar was a bit bigger. But what’s there is good; the view, the cocktails, the service and the ambiance.

But it’s worth coming here for the view alone. It’s pretty great. So good that they’ve printed a funny hash tag to the loo window.

Sky Bar, Clarion Hotel & Congress Malmö Live, Dag Hammarskjölds torg 2,
211 18 Malmö