Category: Starters

Griddled aubergine with feta, chilli and mint

Published on by HannaLeave a comment

IMG_6626

I have quite a large cookbook collection in London (too big for my book case anyhow) so I have to keep some cookbooks in Sweden as well. The ones with easy, summery recipes I keep in the summer house and I just love flicking through Summer by Nigella every time I’m there. This summer I finally tried these lovely aubergine rolls with feta, chilli and mint. They are incredibly easy to make, and utterly delicious to eat.

Griddled aubergine with feta, chilli and mint, serves 4

Adapted from Nigella’s recipe.

2 large aubergines (each cut thinly lengthwise into about 10 slices)

4 tablespoons olive oil

250 grams feta cheese

1 large red chilli (finely chopped & deseeded or not depending how hot you require it)

1 bunch fresh mint (finely chopped – save some for sprinkling over)

juice of 1 lemon

black pepper

Preheat the barbecue or griddle to a high heat.

Brush both sides of the aubergine slices with the oil, and cook them for about 2 minutes each side until golden and tender.

Crumble the feta into a bowl and stir in the chilli, mint and lemon juice and grind in some black pepper. You don’t need salt, as the feta is salty enough. Pile the end third of each warm aubergine slice with a heaped teaspoon of the feta mixture and roll each slice up as you go to form a soft, stuffed bundle.

Place join side down on a plate, and sprinkle with a little more mint.

Anchovies puff pastry rolls

Published on by Hanna1 Comment

The third nibble for the party was these anchovies puff pastry rolls that everybody raved about. Thank goodness!, as I hadn’t tested the recipe beforehand.The whole reason I made these was to honour the host who is a serious anchovy lover. Luckily the others liked them too.

The recipe is courtesy of Swedish chef Leila Lindholm, with a few changes; I used puff pastry instead of pizza dough to get a crispy flaky snack. And it really worked.

(Picture courtesy of TV4/Recept.nu; I was to slow to photograph these.)

Anchovies puff pastry rolls, makes about 40

2 rolls ready made butter puff pastry 

200 g softened salted butter

4 garlic cloves

4-6 anchovies fillets, finely chopped

2 tbsp honey

plenty of grated parmesan 

a large bunch of fresh oregano, chopped 

a large bunch of rosemary, chopped 

a little black pepper 

Mix all the ingredients apart from the puff in a bowl. Roll out the pastry and spread a thick even layer of butter on top. Roll into a tight roll from the long edge and cut into 1 cm thick rolls. Place on parchment paper on a tray and bake for 200C until golden and crisp, approx 10 minutes. Serve immediately.

Crostini with goat’s cheese crème, pine nuts, honey and rosemary

Published on by HannaLeave a comment

cro1 Crostinis with different toppings are one of my go-to nibbles. You can prepare both toppings and the bread ahead of time and just assemble before serving, plus the flavour combinations are endless. These guys with goat’s cheese crème (so mild the goat’s cheese haters liked it too!), toasted pine nuts, Acacia honey and rosemary are so yummy and went down a treat at the party. Crostinis with goat’s cheese créme, toasted pine nuts, rosemary and honey, makes 70 2 really long baguettes mild olive oil 500 ml thick French crème fraiche (I used Waitrose’s French full fat crème fraiche)  250 g soft mild goat’s cheese  1 tbsp mild olive oil salt, white pepper 100 g pine nuts 1 bunch rosemary, finely chopped Acacia honey Slice the baguettes and place on trays. Drizzle with oil and toast in the oven (180-200C0 until golden brown, approx 12 minutes. Leave to cool. Add the creme fraiche to a large bowl. Add the crumbled cheese and whip with an electric whisk until combined. Add oil, salt and pepper and combine. Store in the fridge until assembly time.   Toast the pine nuts in a dry pan. Leave to cool.  Assemble: Pipe a dollop of cheese crème onto each crostini, top with toasted pine nuts, some chopped rosemary and a small dollop of honey. Serve immediately.  

Crowd pleaser: platters of asparagus and lemon mayonnaise

Published on by Hanna3 Comments

asp1

A few weeks ago I catered food for a friend’s party (where I was also a guest). There were 35 of us altogether enjoying ourselves in the garden drinking wine, playing croquet or table tennis or splashing around the pool. As it was this type of relaxed party the ‘starter’ for the dinner were three different nibbles served on platters and they went down a storm.

We steamed a lot of asparagus and it was all gobbled down by the crowd and I must say I will definitely do this for parties again. It’s perfect finger food, healthy and delicious!

Asparagus with lemon mayo, serves many

a few bunches asparagus

2 egg yolks, at room temperature

300 ml neutral oil

1-2 lemons, juice only

salt, white pepper

Break/cut off the woody ends of the asparagus. 

Make the mayo: Beat the egg yolks with an electric whisk, add the oil drop by drop then in a thin line while whisking. The mixture will thicken nicely and when it’s nice and wobbly you have a perfect mayo. Add lemon juice (liberally) to taste, as well as salt and white pepper. The acid in the lemon juice loosens the texture a bit so add a bit more oil if you want a thicker mayo. 

Cook the asparagus in salted water for approx 3 minutes; until softened but still crunchy. Drain, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and salt. Serve immediately. 

Crab tarlets with chives, red chilli and lime

Published on by HannaLeave a comment

IMG_9810

These wonderful tartlets came about when a colleague was asking me for a recipe for a crab tartlet. I didn’t know a nice one so she used a recipe by Mary Berry that she raved about afterwards. So of course I had to try it. But for some reason I wasn’t in the mood for full on Thai flavours in the filling like the recipe suggests so I made my own filling with chives, red chilli and lime instead.

IMG_9820

It turned out really well. Less full on flavours, but it complemented the crab perfectly and the crab taste came through more. It’s perfect as a light lunch or a starter.

I only made two tartlets but made one full batch of the dough (for eight) as I like having pastry in the freezer. It’s just fiddly to make a small batch anyway.

IMG_9846

Crab tarlets with chives, red chilli and lime, makes 2 small tartlets

I made the dough using Mary Berry’s recioe while the filling is my own

Pastry (freeze what you don’t use):

175 g plain flour

1 tsp Coleman’s mustard powder

75 g butter, cut into cubes

50 g parmesan, finely grated

1 egg, beaten

Filling:

100 g crab meat

1/2 röd chilli, finely chopped 

1/2 lime, zest only

3 tbsp chopped chives

1 beaten egg

100 ml cream

salt, white pepper

Preheat the oven and a baking tray to 200C. 

Start with the dough; mix flour, butter and mustard powder in a food processor until you have crumbs. Add the egg and the parmesan and run the food processor until the dough comes together. 

Press out (or roll if you prefer) the dough into two small dishes with a fluted edge. Freeze the remaining dough. 

Mix crab meat, lime zest, chilli and chives in a bowl. Divide between the tartlets. Beat eggs and cream, season well and fill up the tartlets. 

Place the tartlets on the now hot baking tray and bake for 15-20 minutes, until the filling is set. Leave to cool a little and serve with a salad. 

Seafood toasts

Published on by Hanna2 Comments

IMG_9645

During the Christmas break we had plenty of Toast Skagen at home in Sweden as it is so easy to get hold of good cold water prawns. I love this toast and for one dinner party we made a cured salmon toast as well and served both (although smaller than usual) as a starter. So yummy!

Toast Skagen, serves 4

4 slices white bread

butter for frying

4 lettuce leaved (such as little gem)

 750g cold water prawns, preferably unpeeled

1 batch homemade mayo (without the chipotle paste)

1 tbsp chopped dill

salt, white pepper

lemon, dill and lumpfish roe to serve

Cut out a round of each bread slice using a glass or a cutter. Fry the bread golden brown in butter on both sides. Leave to cool. 

Peel the prawns. Make the mayonnaise. Chop the dill and mix it together. Season. Place a lettuce leaf on each bread round, top with the prawn mixture and decorate with a sliced lemon, roe and dill.

Salmon toast, serves 4

4 slices white bread

butter for frying

4 lettuce leaves (such as little gem)

4 larger slices homemade cured salmon (gravadlax)

100 g Philadelphia

1 tsp paprika

1 tbsp chopped chives

1 small pinch cayenne pepper

salt, white pepper

dill to decorate

Cut out a round of each bread slice using a glass or a cutter. Fry the bread golden brown in butter on both sides. Leave to cool. 

Mix the cream cheese with chives, paprika, cayenne, salt and pepper. Spread the mixture onto the bread rounds. Add the lettuce leaves and roll the salmon slice into a rose and place on top of the lettuce. Decorate with dill and serve. 

 

 

 

 

Truffled mushroom crostini

Published on by HannaLeave a comment

IMG_9110

Twice in December I made these truffled mushroom crostinis for my friends. Above with chantarelles and chestnut mushrooms and below with only chestnut mushrooms as I was feeding lots of people and fresh chantarelles aren’t exactly cheap. What’s great about the recipe is that it can feed anyone. It’s vegan and works for people sensitive to dairy, and if you make glutenfree crostinis this works for coeliacs as well.

When using the chantarelle mushrooms I added a bit of cream for added creaminess, so feel free to do that if you like, but plenty of oil (or use butter) is enough moisture for me.

IMG_9147

Truffled mushroom crostini (vegan), makes quite a few

1 large baguette

mild olive oil

400 g mixed mushrooms

oil for frying

1 garlic clove, pressed

2 tbsp porcini mushroom and truffle paste (I used this one)

salt, black pepper

chopped parsley for serving

Slice the baguette, place the slices on a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil. Bake in 180C oven until golden brown and crisp, about 10 minutes. Leave to cool. 

Slice the mushrooms. Fry until golden in oil on medium heat (preferably in batches). Add the garlic and fry for another minute or so. Add the truffle paste, salt and pepper. Divide between the crostini and topped with chopped parsley. 

Rösti with Kalix roe, creme fraiche and red onions

Published on by Hanna2 Comments

IMG_9689

The combination of caviar, red onions and creme fraiche is a real classic for us Scandis, so much so it features in two subsequent posts here on the blog. The cheaper lumpfish roe or salmon roe can be found in most supermarkets in the UK but my favourite roe is the bleak roe from Kalix in Sweden. It’s just delicious and I import a few packs to keep in the freezer on most trips to Sweden.

IMG_9704

It’s best served in a simple way to enjoy the produce the most, like with rösti, red onions and creme fraiche. Last time I had this was just a regular Friday when I was staying in and felt like treating myself both to the roe and a glass of bubbly (since it’s such a wonderful combination).

Happy Friday all!

‘Lertallrikasill’ (eggs, anchovies and dill on toast)

Published on by HannaLeave a comment

IMG_9192

This mixture of boiled eggs, anchovies, red onion, dill and butter is a classic Swedish dish called lertallrikasill (herring on clay plates). It’s quite similar to gubbröra but instead of sourcream or creme fraiche binding everything together this dish is held together with butter (eve better, right?!).  Delicious!

Lertallrikasill, serves 3 as a starter

3 small slices of white bread, toasted (granary or German rye bread works well too) 

3 semi-hardboiled eggs 

1 tin anchovies fillets

1 red onion

dill 

50 g salted butter

Chope eggs, anchovies, red onion and dill and place in a bowl. Melt the butter and let it cool a little. Mix into the eggs. Season to taste with white pepper (salt is not needed). Divide between the bread slices and serve. 

Fried aubergine with saffron yoghurt and pomegranate seeds

Published on by Hanna1 Comment

IMG_8648

In the midst of excursions and heavy rainfall in Skåne, I actually managed to cook a little. Among other things this delicious aubergine dish courtesy of Sabrina Ghayour’s amazing cookbook Persiana. I definitely have a thing for aubergine and absolutely loved this and so did the few friends that got the opportunity to try it!

Fried aubergine with saffron yoghurt and pomegranate seeds, serves 4

Adapted and translated from Sabrina Ghayour’s recipe in Persiana.

2 large aubergine

olive oil for frying

2 good pinches saffron threads

1-2 tbsp boiling water

250 ml Greek yoghurt

1/2 lemon, the juice

sea salt

2-3 tbsp pomegranate seeds

parsley

Rinse and slice the aubergines lengthways. Either fry the slices in olive oil in a frying pan on the hob or on a baking tray in the oven until soft. Mix saffron and hot water and leave to cool. Mix yoghurt with the saffron water, season to taste with salt (maybe a tad of white pepper) and lemon juice. Chop the parsley. 

Distribute the aubergine slices on a platter, drizzle with saffron yoghurt and scatter pomegranate seeds and parsley on top.