Category: Sauce

Baked cod loin with new potatoes and brown butter hollandaise

Published on by Hanna1 Comment

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With my parents in town for a few days we had some dinners out planned but also wanted a more chilled out dinner at mine, and this is what I cooked. We decided together in Whole Foods that cod loin was a good way to go and it most certainly was, with new potatoes, carrots and samphire. And generous helpings of the most amazing brown butter hollandaise sauce ever.

Cod loin with new potatoes and brown butter hollandaise, serve 3

450 g cod loin

500 g new potatoes

2-3 carrots, peeled and cut into batons

100 g samphire

butter 

salt and black pepper

Boil the potatoes in one pan and the carrots in another. Place the cod (cut into portions) in an oven tray and season. Bake in 100C oven until the inner temp is 43C. Leave to rest under tin foil. Cook the samphire in a little water with a knob of butter added for a few minutes until a little soft. Drain. Keep the vegetables warm while making the sauce. 

Brown butter hollandaise, serves 4

4 egg yolks

100 g cold butter, cut into cubes

100 g browned butter

1 lemon, juice only

salt, pepper

chives, chopped 

Gently heat the egg yolks in a non-stick pan while whisking. Add 1 tbsp lemon juice and stir until the yolks starts to thicken. Add the butter cubes a few at the time, stirring as they melt. Repeat until all the butter cubes have melted. Add the brown butter little by little while the sauce thickens. Season to taste and add more lemon juice if needed. Continue stirring with the whisk until pouring the sauce into a cold serving bowl. Add the chives and serve. 

Fake Shack sauce

Published on by Hanna2 Comments

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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.

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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. 

Seafood feast!

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No, this is not what we eat every day in Sweden but I so wish it was! My first evening at the summer house (a Saturday) my parents and I had a proper seafood feast to celebrate being together again and my birthday the week before.

We love girolles almost as much as we love seafood and as they’re in season we started off with a proper girolle toast (fry the bread in butter, fry the girolles in more butter with garlic, add parsley) and bubbly and then got serious about the seafood. We had langoustines with garlic butter, fresh Swedish crayfish (such a treat!), crab claws and smoked prawns. Smoked prawns may sound weird but they are oh so delicious!

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It was such a wonderful meal with amazing seafood, great company and the accompaniment of bread, cheese and home made mayonnaise.

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Mayonnaise

1 egg yolk, at room temperature

1/2 – 1 tsp dijon mustard

1/2 tsp white wine vinegar

ca 200 ml neutral oil (I used rapeseed oil) 

1 lemon, juice only

salt, white pepper

Mix the egg yolk with mustard and vinegar. Beat the egg mixture while adding the oil drop by drop. When the mixture has thickened you can add the oil in a thin spurt. Season to taste with lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Wild garlic pesto

Published on by Hanna7 Comments

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When I was in Sweden last my mother gave me a large bag of wild garlic she picked for me, so back in London I made a batch of lovely pesto that I’ve been eating lately. The same day I made it I just had it with spaghetti and (more) grated parmesan as a light lunch. Delicious!

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Wild garlic pesto, approx 250 ml pesto

ca 50-70 g wild garlic (about a bunch as stick as a small banana)

30 g almonds

40 g parmesan

1/2 lemon, juice only 

mild oil, approx 100-150 ml 

salt & pepper

Mix wild garlic, almonds, lemon juice and parmesan with a bit of oil to a paste in a food processor or with a stick blender. Keep adding oil until you have the consistency you like. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Keeps in the fridge for 5-7 days. 

Dill mayonnaise

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Crayfish season is typically in August and it’s fine to stretch it to September too, but the end of October is a completely different season, which is why I decided to serve my crayfish as a starter instead of the full spread with Västerbotten cheese quiche, caraway cheese, snaps etc, the other day.

As dill is traditionally used in the brine for the crayfish I chose to enhanced that element further by serving a dill mayonnaise together with the crayfish (still to peel at the table) as well as a nice crusty bread and butter. Simple yet lovely.

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Dill mayonnaise, serves 2-4

1 egg yolk, at room temperature

150-200 ml dill oil (I used a Swedish one from Gunnarshögs gård, pictured)

1/2 lemon, the juice

salt, white pepper

1-2 tbsp chopped dill

Place the egg yolk in a mixing bowl and start whisking while adding the oil drop by drop at first and then in a thin stream while whisking continuously until you have a thick mayonnaise. Season to taste with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Add the chopped dill. 

Cold water prawns with black garlic dip

Published on by Hanna2 Comments

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Most Fridays of my childhood life before I moved to London we would have prawns for supper. When I grew up it was an easy supper to prepare for my mother who worked full time and we never grew tired of it. Even at university we had prawns for supper regularly and I do miss it at times.

Of course there are prawns in the shops here too, but often peeled and therefore less tasty. But when I was shopping at Waitrose for this Friday’s little dinner party they had plenty in the fish counter.

I admit it was a bit alien for my friends to peel prawns for dinner, but they all got into it. And the black garlic dip I served them with was such a nice change from mayonnaise or aioli. Much more depth in flavour I will definitely make this again.

Describing the flavour of the fermented garlic is near impossible as it is rather complex. But compared to regular garlic it is much milder, sweeter and rounder in flavour.

Black garlic-dipp, serves 5-6

Translated and adapted from Pytte’s recipe.

4 cloves black garlic

300 ml full fat creme fraiche

1 lemon wedge, juice only

salt and pepper

Press the black garlic and mix with the creme fraiche. Add lemon juice, salt and pepper and b beat with a stick blender for a few minutes for a fluffy dip. 

Eggs in tomato sauce – uovo in purgatorio

Published on by Hanna1 Comment

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I find it interesting how much our food preferences change with age. As a child I didn’t particularly like eggs, but if I had to eat it I preferred the whites, fried hard or a scrambled version of a fried egg with Swedish hash.

Nowadays, I love eggs. Especially the yolk. I want it very runny, and if I make oeufs en cocotte I don’t mind if the white is runny too.

So it is easy to understand why I fell for this simple Italian dish of eggs kind of half poached, half fried in tomato sauce. I had this for supper with some nice bread to mop up the sauce and it was, in its simple way, utterly delicious.

You can make a bolognese version of this, but with the creamy egg I need nothing more than some vegetables in my tomato sauce.

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Eggs in tomato sauce – uovo in purgatorio, serves 4

150 g chestnut mushrooms, cut in half

1/2 -1 red onion, coarsely chopped

2 tomatoes, coarsely chopped

1 batch tomato sauce

2 tbsp red wine (if at hand)

4 eggs

Fry the mushrooms in oil on medium heat in frying pan. Season and remove from pan. Add more oil and fry the onions until soft. Add the tomatoes and fry for a few minutes. Add the tomato sauce and wine and bring to the boil. Let the mixture thicken if needed. Adjust seasoning and add the mushrooms. Make sure you keep the heat on medium and crack the eggs into the pan. Cook until the whites are set then remove from heat. Serve straight away with some nice bread. 

Creamy tomato sauce with sage

Published on by Hanna2 Comments

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I’m really struggling with the weather at the moment, and all the jokes about a Swedish person being used to the cold are so getting old. Fact is, I am not. In fact, most Swedish people (at least from my end of the country) hate the cold. And even though the winters are long and cold, the well-insulated houses help a lot!

Anyway, those cold windy days when life feels utterly miserable there are a few things that could cheer you up. Friends, wine and food. All three together is of course the best combination, but any of the three on its own can help too.

One evening when I actually had planned to make potato gnocchi but ran out of steam after walking home in the freezing wind from the tube, I settled for what I would have served my gnocchis with; a creamy, warming tomato sauce.

We all know that a great flavour combination is tomato and basil, but with sub-zero temperatures outside that felt way too summery. Instead I opted for another herb that feels just as Italian – sage.

I see this as my winter version of tomato sauce. And that splash of cream feels necessary to fight the cold too.

Creamy tomato sauce with sage, serves 3-4 

1 tin (ca 400 g) good quality chopped tomatoes 

1/2 tin water

ca 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp soft brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp dried sage (or about 1 tbsp fresh, chopped)

1/2 tsp each of oregano, rosemary and lovage

1/2 tsp chilli flakes

1 garlic clove, grated

salt, black pepper

50 ml single cream

Pour tomatoes and water in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Let it reduce and thicken. Add vinegar, herbs, garlic and sugar. Cook until it feels thick enough. Add the cream. Season to taste with salt, sugar and black pepper. 

Serve with spaghetti and plenty of grated Parmesan or Pecorino.

I never tire of steak and bearnaise sauce

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I could full well have a blue sirloin for breakfast, which you can here, but it feels a little too extravagant for everyday. However, I can get such steak and bearnaise cravings that I would whip up a batch of sauce just for me, which might sound a bit laborious, but I can assure you it is – if not completely normal – worth it.

Bearnaise sauce, serves 1

just about 1 tbsp white wine vinegar

1 tsp dried tarragon

1 tbsp water

1 egg yolk, at room temperature

50 g butter, cold/at room temperature and cut into cubes 

Pour vinegar and tarragon into a non-stick (small) saucepan. Reduce on high heat and turn the fan on high (it has a strong smell). Be careful not to burn the tarragon. Once most of the liquid has evaporated remove from heat and add the water. This will soak up the flavours left in the pan. Leave to cool a little then add the egg yolk. Use low heat or a bain marie and add one butter cube and let it melt while whisking. It is important to whisk continuously. Add the cubes a few at the time, once melted add a few more and repeat until they have all melted. Take care while continuing whisking for the sauce to thicken. One thick and warm remove from heat but continue to whisk for a little while. Adjust the seasoning and serve. 

Black salsify and feta fritters with wild garlic mayo

Published on by Hanna1 Comment

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While preparing my supper quite late last night my flatmate asked me what I was making. He looked puzzled when I said I was cooking with salsify and showed him the long dark sticks. He still didn’t know what it was, and I realised then that it is a rather unusual vegetable.

But it shouldn’t be. It grows in Britain and similar climates (like Sweden and Southern Europe), it is nutrious and as it is a root vegetable it makes this time of year a whole lot more interesting (as it is mainly root vegetables and cabbage that grows locally in winter).

In Sweden it is knows as poor man’s asparagus as it is similar in taste, and I read that it is also said to taste similar to oysters.

In this recipe I paired it with feta and lemon juice and added the subtle garlic flavour of the wild garlic in the mayonnaise. The whole dish feels like a promise of spring. Utterly delicious! I had it as a light supper but it also works as a lunch, brunch or even breakfast.

PS. If you haven’t got flavoured oil at hand, you can make the mayonnaise from fresh wild garlic instead.

Black salsify and feta fritters with wild garlic mayo, serves 1

3 black salsify, peeled and coarsely grated 

3 tbsp feta

1 egg white

4-5 tbsp plain flour

1 tsp lemon juice

salt, black pepper

butter and oil for frying

Fry the grated salsify in butter for a few minutes to soften. Then transfer to a mixing bowl. Add the crumbled feta, egg white (save the yolk for the mayo), flour, lemon juice and seasoning. Mix well. Heat up butter and oil in a frying pan on medium heat. Spoon the mixture into the pan shaping four fritters. Fry until golden brown on both sides.  

Wild garlic mayonnaise, serves 1

1 egg yolk, at room temperature 

ca 100 ml wild garlic flavoured oil

1 lemon wedge, the juice

salt, white pepper

Beat the egg yolk and add the oil drop by drop while whisking until you have a thick mayonnaise. Add lemon juice and seasoning.