Author: Hanna

Holiday!

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Christopher and I are going to Syria today, for ten days holiday. It will be wonderful to get away. It is a little warmer there (20C) and I am looking forward to nice food and lots of sightseeing.

Even though there is unrest in the Middle East the Foreign Office is not advicing against travelling to Syria, so we hope it will be alright for the time we are there, and after as well of course.

Even though I am away the blog will still be updated, and if I have internet access I might blog from Syria too. Take care while I’m gone!

A nice Friday dinner

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On Friday after work we made our way to Terroirs for a drink or two, and we managed to get a table in the basement even though we hadn’t booked and were only having drinks. Perfect! And our friends liked the place too. 🙂

When we got home we started cooking. We had bruschetta as a starter, followed by rack of lamb with a herb crust, pommes anna and red wine sauce.  

Christopher made his lovely tarte tatin for dessert, and after that we were shattered and decided to go to bed, so we could have an early start the next day.

Herb-crusted rack of lamb, inspired by Gordon Ramsay’s recipe, serves 4

2 rack of lamb with 6 cutlets on each

1 sprig thyme

2 sprigs parsley

1 sprig rosmary

2 tbsp grated parmesan

4 tbsp breadcrumbs

olive oil

1 tsp English mustard

Cut lines in the fat, and rub in salt and pepper. Sear the outsides of the racks in olive oil in an oven-proof pan. Put the pan in the oven for 15 mins, 200C.  Mix the ingredients for the herb crust. Take the pan out of the oven and brush the lamb with mustard on one side, and sprinkle the herb mixture on top. Pat it to secure it.  Put the lamb back in the oven for another 15 minutes. Leave the meat to cool a little before serving.

What a weekend!

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The lovely present Daniel and Maria gave us: Jars from Iittala.

We had friends coming to stay with us on Thursday and it has been a great weekend despite the English rain. We have had lots of nice food both at home and at restaurant, so it is safe to say that I am full now. And still I can’t stop nibbling at the sweets Daniel and Maria brought from Sweden. 🙂

Cake balls

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I have seen cake balls in a few different blogs, among others the great Flickan & kakorna, and wanted to give it a try myself.

When I made the love yummies the other day I can out of icing sugar and couldn’t ice the whole cake, so I used the left over cake to make cake balls. You just crumble it and mix it with frosting, roll into balls and dip them in chocolate. Easy peasy, and the result is delicious!

I like them fridge cold the best, they are pretty rich as they are and at room temperature it is a bit too much.

Cake balls, makes 15

1/3 oven tray cake

150-200 g frosting (I used Betty Crocker’s vanilla)

200 g milk chocolate

sprinkles

Crumble the cake into a bowl. I thought is was easiest to do this by hand. Mix in the frosting. Roll into balls. Melt chocolate in a bain marie, put sprinkles on top. Leave to set in the fridge.

Gnocchi gratin with spinach and smoked ham

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I love my iPhone for lots of reasons, but one is that it is so easy to write down notes. I have lots of to-do-lists there and quite a few recipes. This recipe, or the ingredients list rather, I found on there. But I hadn’t written where I found it or how to cook this. And because I’m me, I of course made a few changes to the ingredients list anyway, but I only added things, mind you.

So whoever the creator(s) of this recipe were, it was truly great! Perfect for a weekday supper. It takes no time at all to whip it up, and it tastes amazing. So try this at home! 🙂

Gnocchi gratin with spinach and smoked ham, serves 3

500 g gnocchi

250 g fresh spinach

butter

olive oil

1 schallot

1 clove garlic, pressed

4 sage leaves

150 ml sour cream / creme fraiche

50 ml cream

75 g grated parmesan

grated nutmeg

concentrated vegetable stock

salt, white pepper

4 slices smoked ham, chopped

50 ml grated cheese

Cook the gnocchi al dente according to the instructions on the packet. Heat up butter in a pan and wilt the spinach. Transfer to a bowl. In the same or a different pan, heat up some olive oil, andd the chopped shallot, garlic and sage and let it sweat for a few minutes. Add sour cream, cream and parmesan. Bring to the boil and let it thicken slightly. Season with salt, pepper, stock and nutmeg. Butter a gratin dish, sqeeze the water out of the spinach and place half at the bottom of the dish. Sprinkle half the ham on top. Add the drained gnocchi, then another layer of spinach and ham. Pour in the sauce. Sprinkle grated cheese on top. Put in the oven, 200C, for 20 minutes or until golden brown on top.  

Visitors from Sweden

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Yesterday two dear friends from home arrived for a long weekend in London, staying with me and Christopher. It is the third time Daniel and Maria are visiting me since I moved here, and I am so grateful for that.

The first time Daniel and Maria visited we had afternoon tea, and that is exactly what we're doing tomorrow. 🙂

I really appreciate when my friends take the time and effort to come and visit me here, because it is pure quality time! Whereas when I go home to Sweden, I need to divide my time between friends.

We have planned a great weekend, and even the weather is nice and mild. On Saturday we’re going for afternoon tea and on Sunday a fabulous lunch at one of our favourite restaurants.

Have a great weekend, all!

Creamy Croque Monsiuer

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Since I visited Gaby in the autumn, I have been meaning to try to re-create the croque monsieur we had in a French brasserie in Winchester – it was absolutely perfect!

And this weekend, I came pretty close! Yay! 🙂

This is a perfect dish for lunch, as a snack on its own or as a light supper together with a salad. There are plenty of different ways to make a croque monsieur, but I prefer this creamy version with bechamel on top.

Croque Monsieur, serves 1

2 slices white bread

butter

2 slices of cheese

1-2 slices smoked ham

butter and flour for the roux

200 ml milk

grated cheese

grated nutmeg

salt, white pepper

Butter the breadslices, place cheese and ham in the middle of the two to make a sandwich. Heat up a frying pan with some butter and fry the sandwich on both sides on medium heat. Put the sandwich in a small oven dish. Melt the butter in a saucepan, pour in some flour to make a roux, and add milk. Stir until it thickens. Add the cheese and season with nutmeg, salt and pepper. Make the sauce really thick and pour it onto the top of the sandwich. Put the dish under the grill to gratinate it for a few minutes. Serve immediately.

Kärleksmums or Love yummies

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These cakes are a classic in Sweden and you find the recipe in the great cookbook Swedish cakes and cookies. The name means love yummies, but I have no idea why they have aquired this name. But they are yummy and a lighter subsitute to a brownie. The sponge is moist and the frosting nice and sweet, but it is not dense at all. Just light, fluffy and wonderful!

And if you like me, don’t like coconut in cakes, I promise you that these are still nice. This is the one thing I eat with desiccated coconut on top!

Kärleksmums / Love yummies, 1 oven tray

150 g butter

2 eggs

300 ml caster sugar

2 tsp vanilla sugar

1 tbsp sieved cocoa

450 ml plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

150 ml milk

Frosting:

75 g butter

1 tbsp sieved cocoa

(1-2 tbsp cold coffee) – I omitted this

350 ml icing sugar

desiccated coconut

Melt the butter and leave to cool. Beat eggs and sugar until white and fluffy. Add the dry ingredients, milk and butter in batches to the egg mixture. Incorporate it and pour the batter into a large oven tray, greased and breaded (with breadcrumbs). Bake in a low oven for 15 minutes on 175C.  Meanwhile, melt the butter for the frosting, and add the other ingredients while stirring. Spread the frosting onto the cake and sprinkle coconut on top. Cut into squares and serve.

Lamb shoulder with rosemary and garlic

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On Sunday I made a proper roast. I love to slowcook meat and have the wonderful smell of rosemary and garlic fill the rooms. It feels so homely and cosy. Love it!

Lamb shoulder with rosemary and garlic, serves 4

half lamb shoulder, bone in 

olive oil

2 cloves garlic, sliced

10 rosemary sprigs

1 onion

salt

black pepper

Pierce the meat in a few places and put garlic and rosemary in the holes. Pour some olive oil into a roasting pan, put some rosemary in it and put the meat on top. Rub in olive oil, salt and pepper into the mat. Cut the onion into wedges and place around the mat (gives great flavour to the sauce/gravy). Put the pan in 200C for 30 mins, then cover the pan with tin foil and turn the temperature down to 125C.  Cook for another 3,5 hours. Let the meat rest covered with foil 15 minutes before carving.

The sauce: Pour the meat juices and onions into a sauce pan. Add cream, bring to the boil. Season to taste with stock, jelly, salt and pepper. Remove the onions with a sieve.

Yummy frittata

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It is sometimes needed to clear out the fridge, and I love when some leftovers result in a lovely meal. For this frittata I used up some new potatoes, asparagus, feta and sunblush tomatoes. It was lovely and the different ingredients really work together! It doesn’t matter how much filling you have really, it is the right amount of eggs to the right size pan that matters. For this large pan I used four eggs.

Frittata, serves 3

olive oil

150 g new potatoes, boiled

sliced chorizo

6 cooked asparagus

1/2 feta cheese

some sunblush tomatoes

4 eggs

4 tbsp cream

salt, white pepper

Heat up the oil in a frying pan on medium heat. Add the potatoes and chorizo and fry for a few minutes. Add asparagus, tomato and feta. Beat the eggs and cream and season with salt and pepper. Remove the pan from the heat and turn the temperature down. Pour in the eggs and put a lid on the pan. Fry on low heat and make sure not to burn the bottom of the frittata. Serve when it has the consistency you prefer (I like mine runny and creamy on the top). Serve with a nice sallad.