Hanna

Happy New Year!

Published on December 31, 2010 by Hanna1 Comment

I know that everone aren’t as excited about New Year’s Eve as I am, but please bare with me. I love parties, good food, bubbly and to dress up and this is why I love this tradition. I think it is nice to welcome the new year in your nicest frock and with a glass of bubb;y in hand surrounded by your friends.

Since I moved to London two and a half years ago, I have spent every NYE in the UK. I have celebrated every Christmas at home in Sweden with family and friends and has therefore been really nice to celebrate NYE here with my new found friends.

In 2008 I went to St Ives in Cornwall with my friends Nick and Charlie and celebrated the new year St Ives style – in fancy dress! It was good fun. The whole down was in fancy dress and walked around the pubs and bars. It was fun to try it, but for me New Year’s is about dressing up in nice clothes, not in fancy dress.

19637_291370756256_539771256_4939171_5647934_n — Emma and I last year.

In 2009 my best friend Emma and her boyfriend Claes came to celebrate the new year with us. We had a three course dinner with lobster, roast beef and chocolate fondant before we went to some friend’s party.

In 2010 we’re doing about the same, but having David and Gaby over for dinner instead. Tonight’s menu is grilled lobster with garlic butter and parsley with homemade aioli, followed by port and thyme baked wild duck breast with hasselback potatoes, endive gratin and carrots, with a vanilla creme brulée as dessert.

Claes with the champagne flowing a couple of years ago.

Cheers and happy new year! I wish you all the best for the new year ahead!

Delia’s Shepherd’s pie with endive, walnut and stilton salad

Published on December 30, 2010 by HannaLeave a comment

When I invited my Swedish friends over for lunch I wanted to have an English theme, because it worked so well the year before when I had afternoon tea.

When the guests arrived I introduced them to mulled cider, dry English cider served warm with spices. Whole cloves, whole cinnamon, star anise, vanilla pod (or vanilla sugar) and a pinch of sugar makes the cider taste fantastic. I saw this on Jamie Oliver’s Christmas program last year and love it. We had some ginger biscuits and cheese twists with it.

For the actual lunch I chose to serve Shepherd’s pie which I hadn’t cooked before. I didn’t want to fail and trusted Delia, and her recipe was amazing. You find her recipe for four people here. As usual I guessed and didn’t follow the recipe completely. 🙂 I used 2 kg lamb mince which was enough for 13 people who nearly all had a second helping. I made a fresh simple salad to go with it with endives, stilton and walnuts. Really nice.

Delia’s Shepherd’s pie, serves 14-16

2 kg lamb mince

olive oil

3 onions, chopped

5 carrots, chopped

1/3 swede, diced

ground cinnamon

fresh thyme

parsley

plain flour

1 l beef stock

4 tbsp tomato paste

3,5 kg potatoes

a lot of butter

salt

pepper

grated cheese

1 large leek, sliced

Fry the onions until soft on medium heat, approx 5 mins. Then add the vegetables (not the leek) and fry for another 5 mins. Remove from pan. Fry the mince in the same frying pans (you need 2-3) in some more oil until it is brown. Add salt and pepper. Spread the cooked vegetables between the pans and add some flour, cinnamon, thyme, parsley and tomato paste. Add the stock and cover with lid for about 30 minutes. Stir occasionally. Season to taste.

Peel the potatoes and cut into small pieces. Cook until really soft, about 25 mins. Drain and wait a few minutes before you mash them. Add salt, pepper and lots of butter (no milk this time) and mash them with an electric whisk.

Divide the mince between 2 large dishes and flatten. Spread the mash on top. Scatter the leeks and grated cheese on top. Bake for about 25 mins in 200C until they’re nice and golden on top.

Endive salad with stilton and walnuts, serves 16

4 endives

a stilton wedge

2 large handfuls chopped walnuts

extra virgin olive oil

Wash the endives and remove the outer leaves. Cut off the base and scatter the leaves on a big platter. Crumble the cheese on top and scatter the walnut pieces. Drizzle olive oil on top.

Sweden

Published on December 29, 2010 by Hanna1 Comment

It is over now. Two days ago I left Sweden, family and friends after nine days there to resume my London life.

I had a lovely time in Sweden and did lots of fun things. Had a looovely dinner with mum and dad the day after I arrived, and the next day my friends came over for lunch. Then lunch with Fredrik in my uni town Lund, some shopping and a coffee with Malin and Tobbe in Helsingborg followed by homecooked food and lots of lovely sweets in front of Love Actually. Some more shopping the day after, a coffee with Carina in Malmö and a lovely three-course meal at Daniel and Maria’s in Lund in the evening. Next was Christmas celebrations with my best friend but we had crayfish and prawns with salad and garlic bread instead of heavy Christmas food.

We always decorate the tree on the 23rd and this year was no exception. We also wrapped the last gifts, prepared food for the following day and relaxed with fondue in the evening. Then Christmas Eve with proper celebrations and tonnes of food with my relatives. And Santa dropped by…

I met a few friends for tacos, lovely company, champagne and more Swedish sweets (sooo miss the sweets) and stock up on Swedish goodies at the supermarket.

As usual my bags were extremely heavy. Partly because I carried Christopher’s Christnas gift from my parents; 5 bottles of sherry, and partly because I had lots of homemade paté and frozen wild ducks in them. 🙂 My flight was 40 mins delayed and then we had to wait an hour (!) for the baggage to arrive, and after 30 mins wait on the train they announced they didn’t have a driver and that they terminated the train I had had enough and treated myself to a cab all the way home. Amazing how my mood changed because the cabbie was nice and made me laugh and because Chris met me with a big hug and carried my suitcases up the stairs. 🙂

I have got rid of most the Christmas decorations now apart from the electric star in the window. Our flat can never be as cosy and Christmassy as my parent’s house so no point trying. Instead I’m back at work and focussing on the next big thing – New Year’s Eve!

Christmas Eve

Published on December 25, 2010 by Hanna2 Comments

I love Christmas! This is what ours looked like…

The 'almond gift'. The person who finds the almond in the rice pudding gets an extra gift.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Saffron cake with marzipan

Published on December 24, 2010 by Hanna3 Comments

This is a great Christmassy cake that I treated my friends to on Sunday when they came over for lunch.

It is nice and moist and has a lovely colour from the saffron. Served with lightly whipped cream and a warm raspberry sauce this is divine!

Saffron cake with marzipan, serves 8

250 ml caster sugar

100 ml grated marzipan

100 ml plain flour

3 eggs

2,5 tbsp vanilla sugar

a pinch of salt

125 g melted butter

1/2 g saffron powder (if you buy the long strands grind them in a pestle and mortar with a tbsp of sugar)

Grease a sprinform and cover it in breadcrumbs. Stir together all the dry ingredients apart from the saffron. Add the saffron to the butter. Add the butter and eggs to the dry mixture. Combine and pour into the springform. Bake in 180C for about 20 minutes until it has set.

To make the raspberry sauce, bring frozen raspberries (or fresh) to a boil, break them down with a fork and add some caster sugar, so it is still tart but not so much. Serve warm with the cake and lightly whipped cream.

Venison steak with juniper berries and red wine

Published on December 23, 2010 by HannaLeave a comment

I’m staying with my parents in the Swedish countryside. It is lovely with the picturesque snow covered view and my mother makes the house so Christmassy the days leading up to Christmas.

My parents have a freezer full of game most of the time as well, and I love this. On Saturday mum made venison steak with juniper berries and red wine and I showed her how to make English roast potatoes, which my dad loved. Great teamwork and lovely food, but you might have guessed that already? 🙂

Venison steak with juniper berries and red wine, serves 3

500 g thick slices of venison steak (we had fallow deer)

butter and olive oil

a few juniper berries

a lage splash of red wine

Sear the meat in a frying pan with the oil and butter. Season with salt and pepper and the juniper berries. Pour in the wine and put the lid on. 5 minutes later remove the meat and let it rest. Slice it before serving and it will be nice and pink.

Sauce

butter

sauce flour

the meat juices

salt & pepper

concentrated game stock

cream

Make a roux with butter and flour. Add cream and the meat juices. Bring to a boil and add stock, salt and pepper.

Snow, snow, snow

Published on December 19, 2010 by Hanna2 Comments

I realise I was lucky to catch my flight without delays on Friday… Although it was freezing cold when I had to wait for the train in Copenhagen, I can appreciate the beauty of snow, when it looks like this. Photos from my parents’ garden.

Time to go home for Christmas!

Published on December 17, 2010 by HannaLeave a comment

Tonight, if everything goes according to plan, is it time for me to fly home and give my parents a big hug. ‘My bags are packed and I’m ready to go…’ Fingers crossed the snow won’t manage to stop me. If so, it’s not the first time I would spend several hours waiting in an airport, but it would be nice if it all went according to plan. 🙂

It feels great going home already now, and having a week until Christmas. It feels like I can see my friends more before the holidays than in between.

As usual when I’m going home, I am looking forward to all the nice food. This time it is especially smoked eel, my mother’s soft rye bread and our version of rice pudding I’m looking forward too. My best friend Emma and I, will also have our own little Christmas, but wit shellfish. Yum! 🙂 And this Sunday I’m going to see lots of my friends at the same time when they’re coming over for lunch.

I will continue to blog from Sweden, but want to take this opportunity to say: MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone. Only a week left now… 🙂

Root vegetable gratin

Published on December 16, 2010 by Hanna1 Comment

When it is winter and cold, I use every possible excuse to eat hearty comforting food. The creamier the better! But, it’s not exactly healthy… So this is a slightly healthier version of potatoes au gratin. But instead of just potatoes I have added a lot of different root vegetable. Make this your own by adding what you like. I will probably try it with Jerusalem artichokes next, just because I love them. 🙂 And by using less cream (still cream though, it wouldn’t be the same without) and adding some milk and flour to thicken, this is a little bit better for you than the ordinary potatoes au gratin. Still not as healthy as something without cream and cheese, but it is winter and cold and we deserve this, don’t you think?! 😉

Root vegetable gratin, serves 4

2 potatoes

2 carrots

1/2 celeriac

1 small swede

1 parsnip

10 cm leek, sliced

1 tbsp plain flour

200 ml single cream

200 ml milk

1 clove garlic, pressed

salt & pepper

thyme

100 ml grated cheese

Peel the root vegetables and slice them. Put them in a pan, cover with water. Add some salt and bring to a boil. Cook the vegetables for about 5 mins. Drain. Grease an oven dish with butter and distribute the vegetables and leek. Mix milk, cream and flour and add the garlic. Add some salt, pepper and thyme (dried is fine). Pour the mixture over the vegetables so it almost cover. Scatter some grated cheese on top. Place in 200C oven for 45 minutes. Serve with meat.

Christmas dinner with friends, anchovies bake and brussel sprouts with bacon

Published on December 15, 2010 by Hanna1 Comment

On Saturday we had a little Christmas dinner among friends. It was David, Gaby, Ian, Anna and me and Christopher and we all contributed to the dinner by bringing different dishes, and the result was a great smorgasbord of Christmas food with an international touch.

Anna (who has a Russian mother and a Finnish father) served homemade blinis with smoked salmon, chives and creme fraiche as a starter. Wonderful!

For the first time I tried making meatballs in the oven and then fry them afterwards, and they were perfect. 🙂

Instead of a main course we had a buffet with different dishes; David and Gaby’s amazing ham, Anna’s Salad Olivier (Russian salad with boiled eggs, potatoes, carrots, beetroots, frankfurters, gherkins, grated apple and mayonnaise), roast potatoes, meatballs, anchovies bake, brussel sprouts with bacon, carrots in orange butter, green beans and a shallots and red wine gravy. Really nice! 🙂

Ham with wholegrain mustard from Daylesford organic.

Gaby made a lovely crumble with apple and blackberries for dessert. After that we had some Christmas sweets, the almond biscuits with cream and jam, clementines, tea, coffee and quite a lot of port.

Apple and blackberry crumble with custard

I woke up poorly the next day though. 😦 I hate having the flu, but it is difficult to avoid it this time of year… I really hope I will be feeling better towards the end of the week, because I’m flying home to see my family and friends on Friday.

Anchovies bake, serves 6

10 large potatoes

1-2 onions

1/2 packet anchovies with brine

300 ml cream

butter

bread crumbs

salt

white pepper

Grate the potatoes and the onions. Butter a regular dish and fill it halfway up with potatoes and onions. Cut the anchovies fillets in small pieces and scatter them on top. Put the rest of the potatoes and onions on top. Pour over the cream and the brine from the anchovies. Place a few dollops of butter around the dish, and sprinkle over some salt and white pepper. Lastly cover the dish with breadcrumbs. Bake in 200C for 45 mins to 1 hr. The potatoes should be soft and the top crispy.

Brussel sprouts with bacon

500 g brussel sprouts

8 slices of bacon

butter

grated nutmeg

salt

white pepper

chopped parsley

Trim the brussel sprouts (a really boring job, but it has to be done. Take the outer leaves off if they look manky and cut off the white bits). Boil them in salted water for 10 minutes or so. They should be softer but still quite firm.

Cut the bacon in pieces and fry them crispy in butter. Add the drained brussel sprouts, salt, pepper and grated nutmeg. Add the parsley and serve straight away.