Swedish food – Page 2

Hot smoked salmon spread for crostinis

Published on October 15, 2015 by Hanna1 Comment

The London crayfish party was a success and so much fun! There was only ten of us but we managed to demolish 5 kgs crayfish and drink two bottles of snaps (as well as beer and wine) and sing snaps songs. Thank you to everyone involved for embracing my country’s silly traditions and being such fun guests!

Before we started on the crayfish though, we had some prosecco and nibbles. I usually start a dinner party with nibbles as I think it’s such a nice informal way to start the evening and get people chatting. One of the nibbles I made was this hot smoked salmon spread. I just put it in a bowl and the guests assembled their own crostinis.

Hot smoked salmon spread, enough for 5 people as a nibble

Adapted after and translated from Arla’s recipe.

350 g hot smoked salmon fillets (no bones)

200 ml soured cream

2 tbsp freshly grated horseradish

1/2 bunch chives

1/2 lemon, the juice

salt, black pepper

Check the salmon for bones and remove them and any skin. Place in a bowl and mush it with a fork. Add soured cream, horseradish (Ocado has the fresh stuff) and lemon juice. Add the lemon juice and season to taste. Keep refrigerated until serving.

Crayfish!

Published on September 25, 2015 by HannaLeave a comment

As I’m hosting a crayfish party tonight I thought I’d share these pictures from my last crayfish dinner in Sweden. I managed to eat crayfish twice in the two and a bit weeks I was at home, and lots of other lovely seafood too, but I am just as excited about tonight’s festivities with my London friends.

But back to the crayfish party in Sweden. It was just a family affair so we started with rösti, Kalix roe (bleak roe from Kalix), creme fraiche and chopped red onions. This is such a Swedish classic it’s almost a cliché but I absolutely love it (as do most Swedes!).

We had two types of crayfish, both fresh, Swedish and Turkish. They were both nice but the Swedish ones were the nicest.

We also had a typical Västerbotten cheese quiche (here with fried girolles on top) which is a must with the crayfish, bread, cheese and of course snaps.

Crayfish party or not – have a nice weekend!

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

Published on January 14, 2015January 10, 2017 by HannaLeave a comment

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.

Crayfish party! (Oh yeah)

Published on October 2, 2014October 2, 2014 by HannaLeave a comment

A few weels ago my flatmate Daisy and I decided to host a proper Swedish crayfish party. And I’m so glad we did because it turned out really well! We were an eclectic mix of nationalities but everyone was super psyched up about eating crayfish and drinking snaps. Thanks guys!

It was a Friday night and when we waited for everyone to arrive we sat outside as it was a mild evening and had some Prosecco and some Pimm’s with elderflower and blackberries (with lemonade and club soda) and had a few nibbles. One was Swedish crispbread topped with a herring and egg salad. Very Scandi and for those not fancying herring we also had crostini with tapenade.

As you can see we had proper crayfish knives and crayfish hats!

With the mountain of crayfish (at the middle of the table) we had a Västerbotten cheese quiche which is a must at every crayfish party. (Thanks Ocado for having that and lots of other goodies in your Swedish shop!) The quiche was decorated with lumpfish roe, creme fraiche, chopped red onions and dill. We also had bread, cheese, cream cheese with caraway, honey and dill, wild garlic mayo, saffron mayo and new potato and girolles salad and a regular green salad with radishes and avocado.

It was such a fun evening complete with crayfish peeling tutorials form the Swedes, snaps songs and lots of laughter. We also had pudding very late at night but it was so good I think it deserves its own post.

Herring and egg canapé, makes about 25

200 g (1 tin) matjes herring, drained and roughly chopped

3 hardboiled eggs, chopped

1/2 jar red lumpfish roe

chopped dill

1/2 red onion, finely chopped

2-3 tbsp creme fraiche or soured cream

crispbread

Mix all the ingredients, season to taste with salt and white pepper. Break up the crispbread and place a dollop of the herring mixture on each piece. Decorate with dill.

Saffron mayonnaise

200 ml sunflower oil

1 egg yolk, at room temperature

a large pinch of saffron

2 tsp warm water

lemon juice

salt

white pepper

Mix saffron with warm water. Add half of the saffron water to the egg yolk and mix a little before starting mixing in the oil, drip by drip at first and then in a gentle pour while using a stick blender. Season with lemon juice, add the remaining saffron water and season with salt and pepper. Leave for half an hour before serving (for the flavours to develop).

New potato and girolles salad, serves 8 on a buffet

1 kg baby new potatoes, boiled and cut in half

200 ml (2 handfuls) girolles

salted butter for frying

1 garlic clove

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

sherry vinegar

olive oil

salt, pepper

chopped parsley

Fry the girolles and pressed garlic in butter. Season. Put the onion slices in a bowl and cover with cold water for 5 minutes. Drain. Add the onions and girolles to the potatoes. Add a nice olive oil and some sherry vinegar, salt and pepper. Season to taste. Add chopped parsley and serve.

Two types of crostini to start a dinner party

Published on July 5, 2014July 4, 2014 by Hanna1 Comment

Last Friday a few of my girl friends came over for dinner and while waiting for everyone to arrive we had some bubbly, this sparkling wine from Loire, and crisps. When most people had arrived I brought out two types of crostini, still casually sitting on the sofas.

One of the toppings were suppose to be the same as on Toast Öjeby, a mixture of crayfish, sharp cheese, dill, cumin and honey, but as Waitrose and Sainsbury’s both failed to deliver crayfish, I made the same mixture with coldwater prawns instead. And parsley instead of dill as I hadn’t bought enough (yep, it was one of those weeks). Substituting the crayfish with prawns worked well flavour wise but it didn’t look as pretty. As one of my friends is not that keen on shellfish I also served a bunch of crostini topped with homemade gravadlax (cured salmon) and dill cream cheese.

Crostini with gravadlax crostini and dill cream cheese, makes 30

500 g salmon fillet

2 tbsp sea salt

1 tbsp caster sugar

2 tbsp chopped dill

1 large baguette

olive oil

150 g cream cheese

1 handful dill, finely chopped

1 tsp dijon mustard

a dash of honey

salt and pepper

Start 48 hours before serving. Remove the skin from the salmon. Mix sugar, salt and dill and pat it onto the fish. Place in a small dish and cover with cling. Refrigerate for 48 hours.

Before serving, make the crostini by slicing the baguette thinly, placing the slices on parchment paper on a baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil and bake in 200C oven until crisp and golden, approx 10-15 minutes. Leave to cool.

Pat the salmon dry with kitchen towel and slice thinly. Mix cream cheese with dill, honey and mustard. Season. Divide the salmon slices on the crostini, place a teaspoon sized dollop of dilly cream cheese on top, season and serve.

Frittata with asparagus, spinach and cheddar, topped with creme fraiche and lumpfish caviar

Published on May 15, 2014 by HannaLeave a comment

This frittata bursting of spring greens and new potatoes is a new favourite of mine. I added some sharp grated cheddar to reduce the sulphur-y taste fried eggs, which I’m not a fan of, but you can omit the cheese if you prefer although it does make the frittata a little creamier. Topping the frittata with crème fraiche and lumpfish caviar is very Scandinavian but it works really well and makes the dish feel a little lush.

Frittata, serves 4 as a starter/light bite, serves 2 as a main course

200 g cooked new potatoes, sliced

6 asparagus stems, cut into 2-3 cm large pieces

100 g spinach

a knob of butter for frying

3 eggs

a splash of milk or cream if desired

50 ml grated sharp cheddar

salt & pepper

To serve:

crème fraiche

lumpfish caviar

Pre-heat the oven to 180-200C. Bring water to the boil in a saucepan and cook the asparagus fir 2 minutes. Drain. Beat the eggs in a bowl (and add a plash of milk or cream if desired), season. Heat up some butter in a oven-proof frying pan (no plastic handle) and wilt the spinach. Drain the excess water and add a little more butter. Add the potato slices and asparagus pieces and fry for a minute on high heat. Add the beaten eggs and lower the heat to medium. Let the eggs set at the bottom, scatter with grated cheddar and place in the oven for 5-10 minutes until the just set.

Leave to cool for a few minutes, cut into pieces and serve with crème fraiche and caviar.

Creamy new potato salad with dill and Dijon

Published on March 4, 2014 by Hanna1 Comment

As much as I love a challenge in the kitchen sometimes I like to keep it simple. Very simple.

This classic Scandinavian potato salad is great with fish or barbecued meats (but substitute the dill with parsley and go easy on the lemon to combine with meat) and gives me hope that spring (and summer) is just around the corner.

Creamy new potato salad with dill and Dijon, serves 1

200 g new potatoes

3 tbsp creme fraiche

2 tbsp mayonnaise (Hellman’s is fine)

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1/4 lemon, the juice

1 tbsp finely chopped dill

salt, white pepper

Boil the potatoes and drain. Leave to cool slightly (or have already cold cooked potatoes at the ready from the day before, although lukewarm works well). Dice the potatoes. Mix creme fraiche, mayo, lemon juice and dill in a bowl and add the potato. Season to taste.

Serve with a few slices cold smoked salmon and a lemon wedge.

Crayfish!

Published on September 19, 2013 by HannaLeave a comment

My favourite time of year in Sweden is definitely the crayfish season! When I was a child you were not allowed to fish crayfish in the lakes until the first Wednesday in August when it was the crayfish premiere. This has since been changed so you are allowed to fish crayfish all year round but because we had this rule for such a long time, I don’t think it feels right to eat crayfish any earlier than August each year.

And that’s why I made sure to have some crayfish when I was at home in August. My last evening there I stayed in with my parents enjoying a nice meal.

We started off with bubbly and some Parmesan biscuits. Then moved onto some leftovers from the party; tandoori chicken drumsticks with garlic sauce, salad and potato wedges.

And then we had crayfish! Mummy thoroughly spoiled us with buying Swedish ones and they were delicious. It is pretty messy eating these babies, sucking and cracking their shells but oh so satisfying. I can still recall the taste… So yummy!

A lovely Sunday back home

Published on July 9, 2013July 9, 2013 by Hanna2 Comments

On Sunday father kindly picked me up from my best friend’s house and on the way home we did what most Swedish people do on weekend mornings; stopped at a bakery to buy fresh bread rolls.

Once we got home we had fika with the rolls, lots of different toppings, coffee, tea and orange juice, on the terrace. Then I went for a wander in my mother’s garden (well, it belongs to both my parents of course, but it is my mother’s domain) checking out the tomatoes and grapes in the greenhouse, the cherry and sour cherry trees and the wild strawberry plants.

Later on we enjoyed a lovely three course lunch, again on the terrace, with some rosé before it was time for me to head to the airport.

The lunch was wonderful, starting with a simple girolle toast with the first girolles of the season, picked by my aunt Pavla in the woods nearby. Then barbecued meat skewers with chicken, pork tenderloin and bacon and a lovely summery salad with new potatoes, grilled pears and blue cheese. Pudding was as simple as can be; vanilla icecream with freshly picked strawberries and wild strawberries from the garden. Absolutely wonderful!

Then it was time to say goodbye and go the airport, but I’ll be back in three weeks time. Can’t wait!

Kanelbullar – Swedish cinnamon buns

Published on November 21, 2012 by Hanna4 Comments

As all children, I thought I had the best parents when I grew up. And I still do. They were always there for me, while still raising me to be independent. ‘I can do it myself’ was a very common sentence from me around the age of 2 and 3.

My childhood memories are all very loving, and most are actually about food. The smell of meatballs sizzling in butter, the comforting feeling when eating creamed spinach and the smell of cinnamon buns fresh from the oven.

Cinnamon buns, you see, is a Swedish institution. My mother will always have some in the freezer, along with other cakes in case of unannounced guests popping by.

This past weekend when I was in Sweden, I baked cinnamon buns with my mother, something we always used to do together when I was a child.

And I can assure you, nothing in the whole world tastes better than warm cinnamons fresh from the oven.

My mothers recipe is a fairly standard one, but it contains more butter tahn other recipes, for a richer dough, and it has the addition of an egg to make the dough more elastic.

This recipe is actually half a batch, but it is still enough for around 40 buns or 25 buns and a sweet loaf. The loaf has the same filling as the buns but with raisins added to it for a more Christmassy feeling. Other fillings are usually marzipan for Christmas and we sometimes substitute the cinnamon for vanilla sugar.

Cinnamon buns, makes about 40

50 g fresh yeast

150 g melted butter

500 ml milk

2 tsp ground cardamom

125 ml caster sugar

1 egg

1,4-1,7 l plain flour

Filling:

About 300 g softened butter

about 300 ml caster sugar

ground cardamom

ground cinnamon

For brushing:

1 egg

pearl sugar

Break up the yeast into the bowl for a machine with a dough hook. Mix the melted butter with the milk and heat until finger warm. Add a splash of the milk mixture to the yeast along with the sugar. Mix until the yeast has dissolved. Add the rest of the milk and butter mixture, cardamom and the egg. Start working the mixture with the dough hooks while adding the flour bit by bit until you have a fairly wet dough. Work the dough for 10 minutes. It should be sticky but come off the sides of the bowl. Cover the dough and let it rise for 20 minutes.

Empty the dough onto a floured work surface. Divide into three equal sized pieces. Roll out the dough pieces one at the time until you have a rectangular dough about 3 mm thick. Spread about 100 g softened butter onto the dough rectangle in a smooth layer. Cover the butter with an even layer of caster sugar. Add a small dusting of ground cardamom. Add an even layer of ground cinnamon. Roll the dough from the widest side into a roll. Push the ends into the middle a little for an even roll. Cut into 12-15 pieces, about 3 cm wide. Place flat side down in baking cases on a baking sheet. Cover and let them double in size. Brush with a beaten egg and sprinkle with the pearl sugar.

Bake in a preheated oven of 225C/200C fan at the top of the oven for 6-10 minutes. Make sure they don’t burn.