SWEDEN – Page 9 – Scandelights

To Scania!

Published on November 15, 2012November 15, 2012 by HannaLeave a comment

I am now on my way to my county, Skåne (or Scania) in Sweden for a long weekend to see my parents. This is the view from our house, and this flat land is a characteristic for the area where I am from in the south of Sweden (it is only 15 minutes away from the most southern point and the Baltic sea).

It will be so nice to spend some quality time with my parents; we’re going to Denmark for the day and to a Christmas market one day, but I will also make sure to cook a lot in my parents’ spacious kitchen and go for walks in the woods and just breath country air.

So long!

Sunday supper at home in Sweden

Published on October 9, 2012 by HannaLeave a comment

A few weekends ago, I went home to my beloved Skåne, to meet food bloggers and see my parents. The Sunday was the 40th (!) wedding anniversary of my parents and we celebrated it quite low-key with good food and wine at home.

To start we had fried scallops in saffron sauce. Mother had found these big and juicy scallops which we fried rapidly on very high heat to caramelize. The sauce is almost a soup and absolutely wonderful. Some raw chopped shallots gives texture and some heat.

As a maincourse we had a really nice fillet steak, cooked in three different ways to accomodate everyone. Served with baked potato rounds, a mushroom sauce with cognac and dijon mustard and steamed vegetables.

In apple season, tarte tatin is wonderful. I have tried quite a few diffrent versions, but the best one I have come across is this recipe courtesy of brilliant Rick Stein. It suggests cognac but this time we used armagnac which worked just as well. (Even better, according to mother).

Cooking at the meetup

Published on October 3, 2012 by Hanna

After touring the countryside looking for good produce we returned to the hotel and the kitchen. We put our aprons and chefs’ hats (oh la la) on and got cooking divided into groups. One team made three different amuse bouche with different shell fish such as crayfish, langoustines and mussels. The all male team cooked the first two courses, one team cooked the fish for the main course, my team made bread and tomato jam to go with cheese and one team took care of the pudding. We also had a vegetarian team creating all their own dishes.

We also got a lovely drink with blueberry vodka and blood oange juice to stay hydrated while cooking, then moved on to beer and wine.

My team mates, Helena (left) and Kim (right).

The amuse bouche team consisting of Gun and Emmy

A whole kitchen filled with bloggers!

Maria (left) is making pudding while Sofie (right) is frying the cod loin for the main course.

Gun and Anki

Amuse bouche x 3: 1. crayfish tartare 2. Langoustine on rye bread with dill mayonnaise 3. Mussels with butter, garlic and spring onions

Magnus, Håkan and Calle

Helena and Charlotta

Malin, Sofie and Lotta

Girolle soup with celeriac creme

Blinis with Swedish löjrom (caviar), creme fraiche and chopped red onions

Perfectly cooked cod loin with onion puré, marinated onions and lardons

Locally sourced blue cheese, bread and tomato jam

Tarte tatin with thyme, honey brittle and vanilla icecream

Our waiters and chef; Dennis, Thomas and Marcus

Thanks for a lovely weekend all!

Rapeseed oil, mustard and herbs

Published on October 2, 2012 by HannaLeave a comment

At the food bloggers’ meetup we went around the countryside in Österlen, Skåne (Scania) visiting different food producers. The first stop was Gunnarshög’s farm, where we got to see how rapeseed oil is produced. I found this particularly interesting because I grew up around the wonderfully yellow and sweet smelling rapeseed fields.

Erik, our guide at (and owner of) the farm was really excited to tell us about his passion. He’s holding a rapeseed plant.

Rapeseed ready to be harvested (left) and the seeds when harvested (right).

The rapeseeds are harvested and then sifted to get rid of straw etc. The seeds are then dried until a certain water percentage remains and are then pressed for oil. (see above).

Freshly cold pressed rapeseed oil

The remnants of the seeds: rapeseed cake (or pellets)

After sedimentation and filtration the oil is ready to be bottled.

Did you know that rapeseed oil contains more Omega-3 and less saturated fats than olive oil? Rapeseed oil is sensitive to light and changes in temperature. Store in a cool and dark place (i e the fridge) and it keeps for twice as long as stored at room temperature.

At the end of our visit we got to sample all the different oils; the regular cold pressed oil and the flavoured ones. I particularly liked the dill and the wild garlic flavours.

Next stop was Petersborg’s farm, one of very few farms in Sweden growing mustard seeds. Most Swedish mustard is actually farmed abroad. Broadly there are two types of mustard seeds; yellow and brown. To make mustard you simply grind the seeds and mix the mustard powder with water and vinegar for the flavours to develop.

In the farm shop they sell their own mustards, for instance one flavoured with lavender, one with whisky and one really strong one.

The last stop was at Österlenkryddor (Österlen spice) where we got to try a raspberry and rosemary snaps (you know the shot we have with everything from herring to crayfish).

Many herb blends have funny local names. I ended up buying a jar of Greek oregano (for souvlaki) and a jar of lovage (works as a substitute for stock apparently).

Food bloggers’ meetup in Sweden

Published on October 1, 2012 by Hanna1 Comment

This past weekend I went to the south of Sweden to meet up with 16 fellow food bloggers. We got to meet local producers of rapeseed oil, mustard and herbs as well as cook together with a chef and produce a five course dinner and a few amuse bouches.

We had a great time and I will give you a full report later on, but you can probably guess that we had a jolly good time.

Dinner at Atmosfar, Malmo, Sweden

Published on September 18, 2012 by HannaLeave a comment

My birthday this year was a Wednesday. Rather boring, but a good excuse to have bubbly mid-week. I was in Sweden on holiday and wanted to have supper with my closest family and best friend.

Mum, dad and I met at Emma (said best friend) and Claes’s for a class of bubbly and some nibbles, before walking to the restaurant of my choice; Atmosfär.

In general I am not very impressed with the restaurants in Malmo, but there are a few good ones, Atmosfar included. You can tell that they have a passion for food there, and on the walls hang lots of certifications.

The menu is not very long, but it doesn’t matter as you want to eat it all. They have smaller and bigger plates, but no proper maincourses, so you can mix and match the dishes how you like. This makes the atmosphere less stuffy and it is all about enjoying food.

We started with the fabulous ham (top photo), Jamon from Spain. It was melt-in-the-mouth fantastic and we all loved it. We also had some marinated olives, white wine and plenty of water as it was a really hot summer’s day.

There were also several baskets of bread and we ate and ate. I don’t want to think of how many loaves our table of five went through, but it kept on coming. The bread was airy and light in the middle and had a lovely buttery crust all around it. Addictive!

When we started with the smaller plates (not starters, mind you) both mother and I were very indecisive and ended up sharing two. The first one was the lovely scallops with crisp vegetable and a lovely jus.

The second plate was a Swedish all-time classic, a plate of caviar (löjrom), creme fraiche, chopped red onions, lemon and toast. Yum!

When it was time for the larger plates, the whole table settled for two varieties. I had this lovely lamb fillet with jus, fried button mushrooms and girolles and a thin thin crisp slice of bread. It was wonderful; meaty and light at the same time.

Dad among others had the beef with jus, chickpea creme and roasted tomatoes. Lovely as well and the meat was great produce.

We skipped pudding (had too much bread anyway) and went back to Emma and Claes’s to enjoy a cake my mother had made. After a slow walk and a good rest of course.

This restaurant never disappoints me (as Malmo restaurants often do). For being in Sweden the prices are very good, the produce and cooking amazing and the service and atmosphere good. It reminds me of smart casual restaurants in London, which definitely is a good thing.

Atmosfär

Fersens väg 4

Malmö

Wedding dinner at Ängavallen, Sweden

Published on August 18, 2012August 14, 2012 by HannaLeave a comment

My best friend’s wedding (not the film),took place my last weekend in Sweden, and we had a fabulous day with blue skies, sunshine and plenty to keep us busy and prepare for the wedding ceremony and the dinner party afterwards at Ängavallen.

As I always focus on food, I was in charge of the lunch for the bride and us bridesmaids during the day, and made sure I took some pictures of the food during the evening meal as well, as everyone was busy taking pictures of the bride and groom.

As this was a wedding and not a restaurant visit, I will not analyse the dishes, just show them to you. But I can assure you it tasted as nice as it looks and both bride and groom and all the guests were very happy. Enjoy!

Vichysoisse with panfried scallops, caviar and pork belly crumbs.

Lamb from the farm, homemade lamb sausage, roasted new potatoes with rosemary and jus.

Rhubard, salted caramel icecream with crumble and rhubarb crème.

The birthday party

Published on August 9, 2012 by HannaLeave a comment

Bubbles are a must!

As it was my birthday when I was in Sweden I thought I would tell you about my birthday party. It is always good fun to gather the friends and I had a fab time. Thanks guys!

The menu for the evening looked like this:

Ricotta stuffed mushrooms with lemon and persillade as well as mussels with aioli as nibbles

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Salmon with pea mousse and crayfish tails

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Venison and roast beef with potato parcels, Madeira sauce and carrots

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Elderflower parfait with red currants

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Chocolate cake

The recipe for the starter is from the book Gourmet food for a fiver by Jason Atherton. For once I actually followed the recipe but I realised I should have been a little bit critical and made it my own. It was still a fab dish, but it needs a bit more oompf to be perfect.

The main course was easy to serve since we plated the meats, potato parcels and carrots and had the guests pour the sauce at the table.

Elderflower parfait with homegrown red currants

Chocolate cake with the best chocolate frosting. Baked and decorated by my dear mama.

Apart from pictures of the food I would also like to share a few party snaps with you. It is after all the people that make the party. And this party was very fab indeed thanks to the fantastic guests. Recipes will follow in separate posts.

Cheers!

Hello, hello…

Me and my best friend!

Midsummer and the summer solstice

Published on June 22, 2012June 22, 2012 by Hanna1 Comment

Picture borrowed here.

Today is the longest day of the year, the summer solstice, and although some believe this can make you a bit crazy (see cult classic The Wicker Man) we celebrate this pagan tradition, Midsummer, differently.

Traditional foods are pickled herring, boiled eggs, new potatoes, meatballs and strawberries in some form, for dessert. Nowadays people like to barbecue too, as the Swedes go crazy with their barbecues every summer.

It is usually bad weather and often rain, which we try to laugh about, but you have to at least try to sit outside. And to keep warm we drink snaps and sing snaps songs of course.

During the afternoon it is customary to dance around a may pole (a phallus symbol) and especially the children like this. An old tradition young girls try at least once is to, late in the evening, walk around and pick seven different types of flowers while silent, then put them underneath your pillow and you will dream about your future husband.

Happy midsummer and skål!

A Swedish hen do

Published on June 20, 2012 by Hanna4 Comments

A few weekends ago now it was my best friend Emma’s hen do back in Malmö, Sweden and although it is slightly off-topic (there was food involved) I want to show you what we got up to.

My dear father helped kidnap Emma from her flat and drove her to the park where we had gathered to meet her and to have some breakfast in the sunshine. We had bubbly, nice bread, eggs, smoked salmon, cheese, fresh fruit, juices and other bits and it was a great start to the day. Emma also got to wear a tinsel wig and a special Sweden T-shirt because she used to play football.

Our first activity was to compete in different teams for two hours with different challanged at a place called Utmaningarnas Hus (The House of Challenges) and it was good fun. And not just because my team won.

After the challenges we drove to the beach and had coffee and mother’s cakes as well as fresh Swedish strawberries. Such a nice break!

After that we tried our luck at pole-dancing, but it was really hard. At least I thought so, so I just watched the others instead.

We then got ready at a few different places around town and met up at the bride’s flat, where her husband-to-be had set up a nice long table for us.

We then gathered around said long table for a champagne tasting that my blogging colleague Anders Öhman did. It was great fun and we learned a lot! Also a good start to the evening.

After trying all the lovely bubbly we had food catered from a tapas restaurant called La Roche. I let them decide the menu, and they did a great job. Everyone ate with a healthy appetite and it was a great spread.

We had charkuteries and cheese, olives and large capers, marinated prawns, tender chicken scewers with homemade chutney, strong aioli, tortilla, stuffed small red peppers and wonderful lamb chops. White chocolate pannacotta with raspberries for pudding.