Hanna

Spring luncheon

Published on April 19, 2011 by Hanna4 Comments

On Sunday Christopher’s mother came over for lunch. It was lovely and sunny outside and it is such a shame we don’t have a patio or a balcony, but with windows open it felt quite summery inside.

We had a lovely Sunday and managed to show Eileen all the photos from Syria (without sending her to sleep), enjoyed a nice bottle of Chablis and had a spring-themed three course lunch.

We had Julia Child’s stuffed mushrooms as a starter, followed by trout, dilly baby new potatoes and the best sauce for fish ever. For dessert we had a new tweaked version of the pannacotta with raspberry syrup. I made the syrup from 150 g fresh raspberries, 75 ml sugar and 2 star anise, and that made all the difference – adding more star anise.

Julia Child’s stuffed mushrooms, (Champignons Farcis) serves 4

The recipe calls for 12 smaller mushrooms, but I used 4 of the large flat mushrooms, and the quantities work fine.

4 large flat mushrooms (or 12 smaller)

30 ml melted butter

3 tbsp finely chopped onion

butter and oil for frying

3 tbsp chopped spring onions

the stalks from the mushrooms, finely chopped

3 tbsp breadcrumbs

30 ml grated Swiss cheese (I used Emmenthaler)

30 ml grated Parmesan (I used Cheddar instead)

1/2 tsp dried tarragon

4 tbsp chopped parsley

salt & white pepper

2-3 tbsp cream

20 ml grated Swiss cheese

30 ml melted butter

Remove the stalks from the mushrooms and put aside. Wash the mushrooms and dry them. Grease a roasting tina, brush the mushrooms with melted butter and place them in it, hollow-side up.

Fry the onion in butter and oil for a few minutes until soft but not browned. Add spring onions and the mushroom stalks and fry for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add grated cheese, parsley, tarragon, breadcrumbs and season. Pour in the cream spoon by spoon to make the mixture come together but without making it too creamy. Fill the four mushroom caps with the mixture and flatten with a spoon. Sprinkle grated cheese on top and pour over drops of melted butter. Bake i preheated oven, 190C for 15 minutes. I served the mushrooms with rocket and crema di balsamico.

Apsleys

Published on April 18, 2011 by Hanna3 Comments

By Hyde Park Corner on Knightsbridge you find a hotel called the Lanesborough, which always fascinated me when I come past there because it seems so elegant. Outside are men in bowler hats and there is at least one Bentley parked outside at all times.

And in this fabulous hotel, which feels more lika someone’s mansion, there is a restaurant called Apsleys that Christopher and I have been dying to go it. It holds one Michelin star and is a Heinz Beck restaurant, which has a three-starred restaurant in Rome. The cuisine is light Italian and absolutely lovely.

We found a great offer on TopTable we just couldn’t resist, three courses, a glass of wine and coffee for £35.

The restaurant is smaller than I expected and has a very chic art deco design to it, and the china service fits in with the theme. Thin white bone china with slightly assymetric circles in gold on the brim.

At first we had a very nice olive oil (extra virgin from Tuscany) pured into a little owl on our sideplate and then we were served warm lovely bread straight from the oven. I had the focaccia which was lovely and light.

The amuse bouche consisted of a little salmon tartar, a rice ball with a black crust and a tomato salsa. It was plated very pretty and was nice, but nothing spectacular. But it only got better!

I had ordered seafood salad as my starter and it was lovely. Melt-in-the-mouth seafood with mango, papaya, different salads leaves and something tomato-y. Christopher chose the pasta which was ravioli made out of gnocchi dough, filled with spinach and ricotta and served with a lobster and tomato sauce. Delicious!

We ordered the same maincourse and dessert, as we have pretty similar taste, and we were thrilled about our chicken for maincouse. Normally I would not order chicken in a restaurant because I want something a bit more exciting and something further from what I cook myself. But this chicken dish blew us away and I have never been able to recreate something even remotely close to this dish. The chicken fillet which was nice and moist was wrapped in pastry with a green paste on the inside. Served with creamy polenta, wild garlic purée, mushrooms and mange tout.

I had not intended to take any photographs of the food because it did not feel like the place to do it. But when a group of girls came in and took photos of each other and we saw the amazing main course I just had to get my mobile out discreetly!

Our dessert was fantastic too! We chose the ‘surprise’ which consisted of a chocolate cake in three layers. At the bottom something crunchy resembling a digestive base, then a caramel layer and dark chocolate truffle on top. Served with sea salt icecream. OMG, this was amazing! And the little glass on the side had a creamy sweet foam which was nice and light and delicious.

Next up was petit fours, five of them nicely presented on a rectangular platter. They were (from left) a chewy almond cake, dark chocolate wih coffee, raspberry, pastry with lemoncurd and dark chocolate truffle.

After all this we had a tea (me) and a coffee (Christopher) before we left happy and full.

Premiere: British strawberries

Published on April 17, 2011 by HannaLeave a comment

I was extremely happy when I noticed British strawberries in the supermarket yesterday. Is it that time already?! Grown in Kent they tasted like early strawberries do; some nice and sweet, some a bit sour and some a bit bland. But together with pouring cream and sugar they still taste fantastic! My favourite dessert, and something I will eat most evenings from now on.

We went out for a three course lunch yesterday (plus amuse bouche and truffles – report to follow) so we had a simple, but very nice nevertheless, supper consisting of Swedish style prawn sandwiches and strawberries and cream for dessert. Life is good. 🙂

Ottolenghi’s sweet potato wedges with lemongrass creme fraiche

Published on April 16, 2011 by Hanna3 Comments

Another recipe from the wonderful cookvook Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi. This book is a good influence on me, I am eating more vegs than ever before. And I certainly needed someone to introduce vegetables in a fun way to me.

The combination of sweet potato and fresh lemongrass and the sharpness from the ginger really works. A marriage of flavours.

Simple, but yet so good.

Ottolenghi’s sweet potato wedges with lemongrass creme fraiche

900 g sweet potatoes

salt

ground coriander

Sauce:

200g creme fraiche

1/2 lemongrass

50 g grated fresh ginger

juice and zest from 2 limes

salt

For serving:

finely sliced red chilli

chopped fresh coriander

Wash the sweet potatoes but do not peel them. Cut every potato in 8 wedges. Cover an oven tray with baking parchment and brush with oolive oil. Add the sweet potatoes and brush them too with olive oil. Sprinkle salt and ground coriander on top. Bake in a preheated oven on 210C for 25 minutes.

Chop the lemongrass very finely and mix with the other ingredients for the sauce. Let it mull while the sweet potatoes cook. When serving sprinkle chilli and coriander on the sweet potatoes. Serve with the sauce on the side.

Prawn soup

Published on April 15, 2011 by Hanna2 Comments

We had fresh prawns for dinner on Friday. With salad, boiled eggs, mayonnaise and garlic bread. Yum! And when you peel prawns yourself you are left with the stinking shells. Either you need to take them out to the wheely bin straight away or put them in a ziplock bag in the fridge and make stock on them the next day. I did the latter.

And when the stock is ready (it only takes 20 mins) it is not a far cry from a delicious prawn soup.

Prawn soup, serves 2

Shells after 350 g of prawns with shell

2 carrots

5 cm leek

1 piece of celeriac

1 tsp fennel seeds

1/2 tbsp tomato purée

100 ml white wine

water

some more tomato purée

200 ml cream

dill

salt, white pepper

12 peeled prawns

Heat up a large pan, add oliveoil, fennel seeds and the vegetables. After a few minutes, add the prawn shells and stir around until they are almost white. Add the tomato purée. Add the wine and cover with water. Put on the lid and bring to tapidly to the boil. Boil on medium heat for 20 minutes. Remove from heat. Put the stock through a sieve into a clean pan. Reduce until half is left. Taste and reduce some more if it is weak. Add tomato purée, salt, white pepper, dried or fredhly chopped fill and boil for another few minutes. Lower the temperature and add cream, let it thicken for a while. Put the prawns in the soup bowls and pour the hot soup over them. Serve immediately. I found the taste of this soup quite summery, and it works in nice weather too as long as you serve a glass of chilled dry white wine alongside it.

The Natural Kitchen, Marylebone

Published on April 14, 2011 by Hanna1 Comment

You may have noticed by now, that I really like Marylebone, and that is not at all because it is the Swedish quarters in London (honestly), it is just a cosy area. When Emma and Claes came to visit in March spring was on its way and we had sunny nice days. Of course we wanted to seize the moment and be outside as much as possible, so we had a wander in Marylebone and a long walk by the Thames.

At 1pm on a sunny Saturday it was quite difficult to find a table for lunch in Marylebone, but after 15 minutes of waiting we could grab a table at the Natural Kitchen. Neither of us had been here before, but it looks like a nice place. Downstairs they have a shop/delicatessen with lovely produce and the shop reminds me of Daylesford Organics which I adore. But we were quite disappointed I must admit. All of us actually.

Emma, Claes and I ordered the Croque Monsieur which was all doughey and gooey (in a bad way). I mean, I really like a creamy croque monsieur with bechamel on top, but instead of that they had spread something on the top of the nice crusty bread to make it all soggy, and then placed the ham and cheese on top. Otherwise the portion size was generous, but they had placed two sandwiches with melted cheese on top of each other, so the cheese from the bottom one stuck to the top sandwich…

Christopher’s Eggs Benedict looked alright and apparently tasted ok, thank God, but they were nothing special. I ordered the homemade sparkling lemonade and Chris ordered the still one, but both looked and tasted exactly the same, although the receipt said sparkling on one and still on one.

Apart from all this the service was incredibly slow and we received our drinks at the same time as the food. The kitchen were quick though, they had a full restaurant and we got our food within 15 minutes, but 15 minutes without the drinks we had ordered is just bad.

All in all we were very disappointed, and next time we will certainly queue somewhere else instead. I am still trying to wrap my head around the fact that they managed to destroy a croque monsieur.

Perfect supper for a cleaning day

Published on April 13, 2011 by HannaLeave a comment

Even though I love cooking, I don’t particular like other domestic chores. Laundry is ok, but ironing is a bit boring. And I hate doing the washing up, and am forever grateful that we have a dishwasher. Worst of all is the cleaning though. It is so tedious, and although I like the satisfaction when it is done, it doesn’t way up the fact that it is such a boring task. Apparently my grandmother disliked cleaning as well, but my mother seems to enjoy it more than I do. Maybe the cleaning gene skipped one generation, I don’t know.

But when I do have to clean (far too often for my liking) I want a reward at the end. A quick supper that takes care of itself but still is fulfilling. And the jacket potato is my perfect friend here. But I want a classier topping than cheese and baked beans (which I don’t even like) but still something quick. And this is it. After you have taken the spuds out of the oven to let them cool for a few minutes, you quickly make this topping.

Crayfish mess for jacket potatoes, serves 2

180 g crayfish tails in brine

200 ml creme fraiche

4 tbsp mayonnaise

a plash of lemon juice

1/2 finely chopped red onion

1 tbsp lumpfish caviar (Waitrose stock it)

chopped fresh dill

Mix all the ingredients. Press both sides of the potato so it ‘opens’, pour filling onto the spud. Tuck in.

The simplest dessert ever

Published on April 12, 2011 by HannaLeave a comment

When I have friends for dinner, I like to treat them to at least two courses. I just like a longer dinner where you can sit and chat, and if you are hungry and only serve a maincourse, dinner can quickly be over and done with.

But on Mondays for example, even my ambitions are a bit low, but if you buy a few exotic fruits on your lunch break and have half a packet of icecream in the fridge, you can still serve something really nice.

When my mother serves this the fruits are nicely dusted with icing sugar, which of course I forgot. I think the papaya, dragon fruit, pineapple and passionfruits are pretty just like they are. 🙂

Barbeque in the sun

Published on April 11, 2011 by HannaLeave a comment

When one lives in a flat without either balcony or patio one is extremly happy when friends invite one over for a barbecue a sunny Sunday in April.

It was certainly perfect barbecue weather yesterday, and while our friends Ian and Anna prepared the lunch, Christopher and I got the hard task of sitting in the sun sipping wine.

It was a great lunch that consisted of many goodies; homemade sausage rolls, chipolatas, homemade burgers, marinated lamb, new potatoes, potato salad with egg and gherkins, salad and homemade trifle for dessert.

Thank you! We certainly enjoyed it!

Ottolengi’s leek fritters

Published on April 9, 2011 by Hanna1 Comment

I love the weather here in London at the moment; it is around 20C, bright sunshine and clear blue sky. Only downside is the hay fever that comes with it (stupid plane trees!) but I love it anyway.

And when it is warmer temperatures I crave lighter food. More vegetarian dishes, fish and less heavy meat (even though I would never say no to a rare steak) and a perfect cookbook for inspiration is Ottolengi’s Plenty. I heart Plenty. After just cooking one recipe from it.

These leek fritters blew us away and although they generate quite a bit of washing up, they are worth the effort. The combination of spices works sooo well together and the garlic strong sauce with coriander and lemon is perfect to go with it. Yotam Ottolenghi sure knows what he is doing! Try this or regret it forever…

Leek fritters, serves 4

450 g leeks, trimmed

5 shallots, finely chopped

150 ml olive oil

1 red chilli, deseeded and sliced

25 g parsley, finely chopped

3/4 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp ground turmeric

1/4 ground cinnamon

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg white

120 g self-raising flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 egg

150 ml milk

55 g unsalted butter, melted

Sauce:

100 g Greek yoghurt

100 g soured cream

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tbsp lemon juice

3 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

20 g parsley

30 g coriander

Start by making the sauce. Blitz all the ingredients together in a food processor [or with a stick blender] until a uniform green. Set aside for later.

Cut the leeks into 2 cm thick slices, rinse and drain dry. Sauté the leeks and shallots in a pan with half the oil on a medium heat for about 15 minutes, or until soft. Transfer to a large bowl and add the chilli, spices, sugar and salt. Allow to cool down.

Whisk the egg white to soft peaks and fold it into the vegetables. In another bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, whole egg, milk and butter to form a batter. Gently mix it into the egg white and vegetable mixture.

Put 2 tbsp of the remaining oil in a large frying pan and place over a medium heat. Spoon about half the vegetable mixture into the pan to make four large fritters. Fry them for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until golden and crisp. Remove to kitchen paper and keep warm. Continue making the fritters, adding more oil as needed. You should end up with about eight large fritters. Serve warm, with the sauce on the side or drizzled over.