Category: Starters

Three courses

Published on by Hanna1 Comment

On Saturday when I took over Christopher’s mother Eileen’s kitchen for the evening, I was a little bit nervous. Partly because I don’t know where everything is in her kitchen and partly because it was the first time I cooked for her.

We usually come to her instead of her coming to visit us in London, and that is because of several reasons: she has a lot more living space than us; we have friends in the area; it is nice to visit the countryside; Christopher’s brother lives near by etc. But it feels wrong that we invite ourselves over and Eileen has to cook for us every time, so it was definitely over due for us (me) to cook for her. Christopher was nice and helped by guiding me around the kitchen, setting the table, putting cooking music on and filling and re-filling my wine glass as well as doing the dishes, so he actually did a lot more than I did.  

The recipes I used were ones I basically know off by heart and have cooked several times (you don’t want to fail in someone elses kitchen).

The starter was this simple but absolutely delicious recipe. Unfortunately the supermarket near by had no figs so we just hade some rocket with it, and that worked too. The most important thing is the parma ham, the filling and the balsamic claze, don’t forget the glaze!You can serve rocket with it like we did, a more substantial salad, figs, olives, marinated artichoke hearts or whatever you like. But please promise me to try this!

For the mains I made Nigella’s lovely lamb racks with a parmesan crust, roasted new potatoes and a red wine sauce.

Roasted new potatoes, serves 3

ca 500 g baby new potatoes

olive oil

rosmary

salt and pepper

Place the potatoes in a roasting pan, drizzle some oil over them and season with rosemary, salt and pepper. Place in 200C for about 30 minutes.

The dessert was another Nigella creation, the ever so lovely glitzy chocolate puddings, that you all have to try. My dear dad that doesn’t even like chocolate cakes or desserts loved this one…

Scallops in saffron sauce

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Scallops are one of my favourite things from the sea. I love both the taste and the soft texture. And every time I eat them I feel like I’m treating myself to something a bit luxurious…

The inspiration for the sauce I found in one of my mum’s old cookbooks when I visiting home last. As usual I didn’t follow the recipe much, but went my own way, but I would never have come up with pairing scallops with a saffron sauce if I hasn’t seen the recipe, so all credit to this book, but I have no idea which book it was… The dish turned out really well, and I think serving the scallops with a yummy sauce is so much nicer than serving it with a little herb salad or something. This just feels fresh, a bit extra and it really works!

The most important thing is the produce though. Rather buy a few nice scallops instead of buying the small tasteless ones, and make sure you avoid the frozen ones, they taste nothing but water. Two large scallops per person is enough as a starter and is not very expensive. I’d rather go for quality than quantity any day… 🙂

We got these placemats in the Harrod's sale. Love them!

Scallops in saffron sauce, serves 2

4 large scallops

100 ml dry white wine

100 ml fish stock

100 ml cream

1 large pinch of saffron threads

1/2 pressed garlic clove

1 chopped shallot

Cut the hard muscle off each scallop. Pour wine, stock, cream and saffron into a sauce pan. Bring to the boil and let it simmer and thicken for a few minutes. Season to taste with saffron, garlic, salt and white pepper. Fry the scallops on medium heat in butter (and maub a little bit of olive oil). Season with salt and pepper. Put two scallops each in two bowls. Pour the sauce around the scallops. Sprinkle with chopped shallots.

Delia’s fried halloumi with lime vinaigrette

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The first time I ate this halloumi dish was when Christophers mother Eileen served it to us, and I liked it so much I asked for the recipe. It is a Delia recipe and even though it is very simple it has lots of flavours. The cheese is crisp on the outside and a little bit creamy on the inside, the vinaigrette is quite tangy, so if you are sensitive, just use a bit less of the vinegar. You don’t really taste the mustard much, but it takes the dressing to a whole other level.

I excluded the capers (simply because I don’t like them) and interpreted well-seasoned flour freely and used salt, pepper and paprika.

Try this, it is quickly made and very yummy!

Delia’s fried halloumi with lime vinaigrette, serves 4

1 halloumi cheese

olive oil

seasoned flour with paprika, salt and white pepper

Vinaigrette:

1 lime, zest and juice

(1 heaped tbsp capers)

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

1 clove garlic, minced or pressed

1 heaped tsp grain mustard

1 tbsp chopped coriander

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

salt and black pepper

Pat the halloumi dry and cut into 8 slices. Mix the ingredients for the dressing. This can be made ahead but add the coriander just before serving. Heat up some olive oil in a frying pan on medium heat. Turn the cheese slices in the seasoned flour and add to the pan. Fry for about a minute on each side. Serve immediately with a few tablespoons of the vinaigrette and some nice bread.

 

Steamed mussles in white wine, cream and saffron

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We had some dear friends over for supper on Saturday. The first course was a pre-starter with Jerusalem artichoke soup. I only added a pinch of dried thyme to the recipe and served it in small glass cups with a teaspoon and sprinkled some finely chopped shallots on top. Simple and lovely, in my opinion. 🙂

On Saturday morning Christopher went to the fishmongers and came home with some really big and juicy mussels. We de-bearded them, which was the only hard task in cooking this dish, you need some finger strength here. 🙂 The rest was simple reall; chop carrots, leek and onions, sauté in olive oil, add cream, wine, saffron and the mussels. Put the lid on and after a few minutes they are ready to serve.

I read this article recently about why you shouldn’t discard mussles that are closed after cooking, and I was looking forward to try a closed one and see if it was true. Of course they all opened! 🙂

Steamed mussles with white wine, cream and saffron, serves 6 as a starter

1,5 kg mussels, rinsed and de-bearded

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

2 baby leeks, chopped

1 red onion, finely chopped

olive oil

400-500 ml single cream

300-400 ml dry white wine

2 pinches saffron

salt

white pepper

chopped parsley

Use a large pan. Heat up some olive oil on medium heat and sauté the vegetables for a few minutes. Add wine, cream, saffron, salt, white peppar and the mussels. Add the mussels. Put on the lid and wait for the liquids to boil.  The mussels don’t need to be covered with liquid, the steam will open them up, that is why it is so important to keep the lid on. When they’re done, taste the liquid and add saffron, salt or pepper if needed. Serve in bowls with plenty of the liquid and with some bread and butter. Sprinkle over some chopped parsley before serving.   

NYE 2010 – the starter

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NYE was a great night. I finished work already at noon, went to pick up my lobsters and to do some last minute food shopping. The whole tube ride home from London bridge (I bought the lobsters at Borough Market) I was scared that one of the lobsters would poke it’s claws through the bag or start wiggling the bag and be noisy. Thankfully they both behaved! I then had trouble to fit them one at the time into my 5 l pot, they were huge!

They were so tasty though! I cooked them in salty water for 7-8 minutes and then let them cool down in cold water. I served them gratinated in garlic butter and parsley with nice crusty bread, a lemon wedge and homemade aioli. Simple but delicious!

Gratinated lobster with garlic and parsley, serves 4

2 cooked lobsters

4 tbsp soft salted butter

1 garlic clove, pressed

chopped parsley

4 lemon wedges to serve

Cut the lobsters lengthways in half. (My best tip is to use boning scissors. With those I managed to get the meat from the claws out in one piece too.) Remove the arms and claws. Take away everything but the meat in the shells and rinse. Mix the soft butter with the pressed garlic and spread over the meat in the shells. Scatter parsley on top. Bake for 10 mins in 200C oven. Sprinkle some more parsley on top before serving. Serve with one whole plain claw on the side, a wedge of lemon and crusty bread and aioli.

Aioli

2 egg yolks

2 tsp dijon mustard

1,5 tsp white wine vinegar

some salt

some white pepper

3 tbsp cold pressed rapeseed oil

250 ml regular rapeseed/vegetable oil

1 clove garlic, pressed

Mix the yolks with mustard, salt, pepper and vinegar in a tall bowl. Add the whisk to the stick blender and pour the oils in a gentle stream while whisking. Add the garlic and maybe some more salt.

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

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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.

Blinis with smoked salmon, chives and creme fraiche

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! 🙂

The prettiest ham ever!
Ham with wholegrain mustard from Daylesford organic.
Salad Oliver!
Anchovies bake
Brussel sprouts with bacon
A plate full of wonderful food!

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.

Prawn sandwich Swedish style

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Sometimes easy is good. Like this sandwich for example. It is important to choose nice bread, a good mayo (homemade or Hellman’s), nice Icelandic prawns, and to boil the eggs exactly the way you want them (I want mine with the yolk very yellow and quite soft). And if you pipe the mayonnaise onto the eggs, it looks really pretty too. Yum!

Prawn sandwich, serves 2

1 nice baguette or ciabatta

butter

4 little gem leaves

3 boiled eggs (they way you like)

lots of mayonnaise

150-200 g peeled Icelandic prawns

red onions, cut in half and sliced

lemon

Cut the bread in half and spread on some butter. Place the rinsed and dried lettuce on top. Peel and slice the eggs and divide them between the two sandwiches, pipe lots of mayonnaise on top. Scatter the prawns on top. Sprinkle on some red onions and decorate with lemon.

Mushroom toast with wilted spinach

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It was Christopher’s birthday on Sunday so we have had a real food orgie of a weekend. Not that I’m complaining… 😉 On Friday we went to Christopher’s mother and she served a lovely three course meal; halloumi with lime dressing, roast lamb with root vegetables, potatoes and red cabbage and for dessert a baked lemon cheesecake with raspberry coulis. No one even attemped the cheese board afterwards… 🙂

Then on Saturday we had venison that I brought home from Sweden last week, and a starter we had to come up with in Sainsbury’s, but it was actually really tasty! But I do hate to come up with food ideas in the supermarket. I much prefer to have my shopping list and stick to it. 🙂

Christopher found some really nice onion bread, that I fried in butter, topped with wilted spinach, fried mushrooms with garlic and some shavings of parmesan. Really nice!

We then finished off the weekend with a lunch at the Wolseley followed by a port and cheese party. Good times.

Does anyone know what mushrooms we used? You can see the picture here. It is so annoying when the label only says ‘exotic mushrooms’. These were the only mushrooms more exotic than normal button mushrooms, sad really that that is all they stock.

Mushrooms toast with wilted spinach, serves 2

2-4 slices of nice bread (depending on the size of the loaf)

140 g mixed mushrooms

a handful fresh spinach 

1 clove of garlic, pressed/greated

some chopped parsley

butter for frying

olive oil for frying

parmesan

Fry the breadslices in butter until they’re golden brown and pretty. Place on plates. Wilt the spinach in the same pan. Season with salt and pepper and place on top of the bread. Lägg på tallrikar. Heat up the same pan again and fry the mushrooms in butter and olive oil on high heat. Add garlic and parsley. Add salt when they’re done (otherwise they will get watery). Place the mushrooms on top of the spinach, put some parmesan shavings on top. Enjoy! 

Clams au gratin

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We had clams again on Saturday! This because I bought a few more than we could eat on Friday. I put them in a bowl of water and kept them in the fridge overnight. Three had opened itself a little so we threw them away, but 12 of them were fine, and Christopher made them into this lovely starter. It was a bit fiddly openening the shells with a knife, but worth it.

This was also the christening of the lovely escargot dishes I got for my birthday. It is definitely time for the escargots next!

Clams au gratin, serves 2

12 clams

butter

garlic

chopped parsley

breadcrumbs

Open the clams carfully with a small knife. Keep one half of each shell with the clam on it. Place these on a dish. Melt butter, add garlic and parsley and spoon ot over the clams. Place some breadcrumbs on top and pop the dish under the grill or in a hot oven (225C or so) until the breadcrumbs are golden and crisp and the clams are cooked. This only takes a few minutes. Serve with some nice bread.

Rosti with creme fraiche, caviar and red onions

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At least in Sweden this dish was a popular starter in the 70s, and it is something I have picked up from my mother’s repertoire. I love this as a simple dinner for one, but can’t say I serve it as a starter very often. It is a very simple dish, but I love the combination of crispy potato, salty caviar, creamy cream fraiche and a bit of crunch and a punch from the red onions.

Rosti with creme fraiche, caviar and red onions,serves 1 as supper or 2 as a starter

2 large potatoes

knob of butter

olive oil

1/2 red onion, finely chopped

creme fraiche or soured cream

lumpfish caviar (you find this at Waitrose)

Peel the potatoes and grate them. Heat butter and oil in a pan and divide the grated potato into 4-6 rounds in the pan. You need nothing more than the starch from the potatoes to hold it together. Fry them golden and crisp on both sides on medium-high heat and season well with salt and black pepper. Mean while chop the onions and place a dollop of creme fraiche and caviar on each plate and divide the chopped onions between the plates as well. Serve immediately for the potatoes to stay crisp.