An early Thanksgiving dinner

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Yesterday my American friend Laura invited a group of us over for an early Thanksgiving feast, since she will be spending the holiday back in the States with her family.

She went all out with the food, so we had turkey (of course), fluffy potato mash,  candied sweet potatoes (yu-um!), gravy, cranberry sauce and stuffing. It was really nice and we all had too much, which seems obligatory on this occasion.

After a little break we were ready for a fabulous pecan pie, served with both brandy cream and honey comb icecream. So yummy! Thanks, Laura!

Lunch at Green Man & French Horn, West End

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Pork rillette with cornichos. 

I really enjoy working in the West End, because of all the nice restaurants around there. One favourite is definitely Terroirs, and recently they have opened a sister restaurant just around the corner from Terroirs, so of course I had to go and check it out one lunch time.

Girolles and artichokes with egg yolk. Simple yet genius! 

Green Man & French Horn feels similar to Terroirs, but feels more like a restaurant than a wine bar. The interior is rustic with mismatched wooden tables which contributes to the relaxed atmosphere.

Just like at Terroirs you can decide for yourself if you want a full three-course meal, nibbles or just one main dish. Always a sucker for nibbles Caroline and I ordered a few dishes each. It was all really good, but we so over-ordered. Just the velvety corn soup we had to start would have been enough for lunch, but we did our best with the other dishes too.

Sardines with gremolata – amazingly good. 

Langoustines with lemon, something utterly Swedish that I have hardly seen on a British menu. Really good! 

Despite good efforts we were not even remotely close to finish all the food, so we actually asked for a doggy bag. One shall never waste good food!

Green Man & French Horn
54 St. Martins Lane
London WC2N 4EA 
0207 836 2645

 

Nachos Yankees style

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When I visited New York in the summer, we spent our last evening at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx and watched the Yankees beat Boston Red Sox.

The game itself was entertaining, but just as fun was the selection of food. We had hot dogs with sauerkraut and pleeenty of nachos.

The way the nachos were served there with a cheesy sauce and not with melted cheese on top was delicious, especially with heaps of sour cream and guacemole and extra grated cheese.

It is easy to make this at home too, and more substantial than popcorns while watching a film. And so yummy!

Nachos Yankee style, serves 2

Most parts of a bag of salted tortilla chips 

2 batches guacemole

1 batch salsa

100 ml sour cream

some grated cheese

(pickled jalapenos)

XCheese sauce: 

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp plain flour

300 ml milk

150 g strong cheese, like cheddar

salt, pepper

Melt the butter in a non-stick saucepan, add the flour while whisking. Add some of the milk while whisking, and as it thickens add some more, while stirring the whole time. Repeat with all the milk. Once the sauce is thick, add the cheese to melt and season to taste with salt and pepper. 

Place the chips in a bowl/dish and distribute the warm cheese sauce. Top with the other ingredients. Dig in! 

Rice noodles with aubergine and spinach

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At this time of year all I want to eat is comfort food. And by comfort food I mean anything with melted cheese or copious amounts of cream. Lovely to eat, but not necessarily healthy. Luckily there are some dishes without cream and cheese that still hit the spot, and this is definitely one out of that category.

Imagine cubes of aubergine crispy on the outside but moist and full of absorbed olive oil within, paired with garlic, wilted spinach and rice noodles. All embraced by a light sauce of lime juice, fish sauce and sesame oil. Yu-um!

Rice noodles with aubergine and spinach, serves 2

1 aubergine

a lot of olive oil

1 garlic clove

2 handfuls spinach

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 lime, zest and juice

2 tbsp fish sauce

2-3 tsp sesame oil

90-100 g vermicelli rice noodles

Bring some water to the boil. Put the noodles in a bowl and cover with the just boiled water, Peel and dice the aubergine. Wilt the spinach in olive oil. Remove to a bowl while frying the aubergine dices on high heat and in a lot of oil in the same pan. 

Once the aubergine pieces have got some colour, add the spinach to the pan, press in the garlic and and add the lime zest and juice, sesame oil and cayenne pepper. Let it sizzle for a few minutes, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Drain the noodles and add them to the pan. Toss and serve. 

Halloween party!

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On Wednesday, on the All Hallows Eve, my flatmates threw a spectacular Halloween party. Our flat was transformed to a haunted house with a serious rat and bat infestation. I am thoroughly impressed by my flatmates efforts, and thought I’d share it with you. All the decorations and brilliant ideas are courtesy of Tiff – do pop in to her blog as well for further inspiration.

Oh, and as a bonus, you have a picture of my in my costume. Be afraid – very afraid.

-Off with their heads!

La Fromagerie, Marylebone

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One of my favourite parts of London for a Sunday stroll is definitely Marylebone High Street with it cute shops, cosy cafés and nice restaurants. When Therése and I spent our Sunday morning and early afternoon shopping here, I knew exactly where we would stop for lunch; at La Fromagerie of course.

I’ve been here before to eat there amazing breakfast, but for lunch we shared a large cheese platter and a bread basket.

We tried the cheeseroom cheese platter and had (from left to right) Mothais, Poitou (goat), Reblochon, Savoie (cow), Napoleon, Haut Pyrenees (ewe), Ami du Chambertin, Burgundy and Blue des Causses, Rourgue (I’m guessing ewe’s milk)

We enjoyed all the cheeses, and some combinations of crackers and cheese were amazing, but the cheese we both liked best on its own was Napoleon. It is similar to one of my favourite cheeses Ossau-Iraty, but I must say Napoleon was even better, magnificent in fact. On our way out I had to step into the cheeseroom to buy some of the Napoleon and some Wigmore too, my favourite among British cheeses.

Apart from the nice cheeses and other good food on the menu, I like the rustic feel of La Fromagerie. It is a shop and restaurant all in one with the tables scattered across the shop floor. In the shop you find seasonal vegetables and fun and interesting ingredients like chestnut flour and Spanish almonds.

And then of course, there is the cheeseroom. You slide the door open and step into heaven, where you wait your turn to be helped while admiring all the cheeses.

La Fromagerie
2-6 Moxon Street
Marylebone
London W1U 4EW

Dijon mac ‘n cheese with panko topping

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Last night my flat was transformed into a haunted house, thanks to the creativity of my flatmates. They had organised a proper Halloween party and apart from serving their guests worms, eyeballs and the likes, they also had some mac ‘n cheese. Well, as rather large amount of mac ‘n cheese actually, that I helped cook the day before.

And that reminded me of this slightly different version of mac ‘n cheese I made a couple of weeks ago. This version is flavoured with dijon mustard (works really well) and is topped with both panko (Asian breadcrumbs) and knobs of butter as well as some cheese.

Dijon mac ‘n cheese with panko topping, serves 4-5

250 g macaroni

200 ml creme fraiche

50 ml single cream

50 ml milk (or substitute for more creme fraiche) 

100 g grated cheddar

3 tsp dijon mustard

salt, pepper

1 handful panko or other breadcrumbs

2 tbsp butter

grated cheese

Cook the pasta al dente. Bring creme fraicge, cream and milk to the boil in a saucepan. Add the cheese to melt. Season to taste with mustard, salt and pepper. Add the drained pasta to the sauce and stir. Pour into a greased ovenproof dish. Top with cheese, panko and butter. Bake for 30 minutes in 180-200C until crispy on the top.

Dinner at Terroirs

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Some places are mentioned frequently on the blog, and Terroirs is definitely one of those places. The reasons are many; the convenience from my office (3 minute walk), their great wine list and bar snacks, their food and friendly staff and the comfortable atmosphere.

When Therése was visiting, we had supper here on the Saturday and although the West End seems so different on a Saturday night than on a weekday, we had a very enjoyable evening.

First we started with olives. These fresh sweet olives are almost impossible to find back in Sweden, so it was a must for Therése.

We then had some small plates to share, and the first was this full to the brim charkuterie board with saucisson, duck rillette, cornichons and pork terrine with pistachios. Really good, but very filling.

Next we had squid with spinach, chickpeas, chorizo and aioli. Amazingly good and something I will cook myself as well.

Traditional mussels in white wine and they were big and juicy.

Lastly, my favourite; toast with girolles, bone marrow and red wine. Settles any umami craving possible and so delicious. Will be back for this soon!

Terroirs Winebar
5 William IV Street
London WC2N 4DW

Calamari with chipotle mayonnaise and padrón peppers

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My last house guest; childhood friend Therése, likes both tapas and calamari, so it was along those lines I was thinking when deciding what to have as a starter when she came to stay.

I have written about homemade calamari here before, and I repeat: so good, so cheap! And one can’t have calamari without some kind of dipping sauce, preferably mayo. I like to try different flavours on mayonnaise and this chipotle version was a winner. It worked really well with the paprika-seasoned calamari but also with the padrón peppers I picked up from Waitrose.

These peppers are fairly mild in flavour, but approximately 1 out of 10 can be quite spicy. I love these prepared in the simple manner of frying in plenty of olive oil and seasoned with plenty of sea salt. We had all this and some crusty bread to start, and it would be enough as a light supper really. We were pretty full when moving on to the maincourse.

Chipotle mayonnaise, serves 2

1 egg yolk – at room temperature

150 ml neutral oil 

1/2 lemon, the juice

1 tsp chipotle paste

salt

Beat the egg yolk with an electric whisk while slowly adding the oil, first drop by drop, then gradually more and more so it emulsifies and gets thick. Once you’ve added all the oil you should have a thick mayonnaise. Season with the lemon juice, chipotle paste and salt. 

A wine tasting with food

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Last Wednesday I went with my friend Emily to a wine tasting organised by one of her mother’s colleagues at The Avenue Cookery School. This was their first wine tasting, organised by Angie from the cookery school and Andrew from the Burgundy Portfolio, and Emily had helped spread the word.

What was so interesting with this particular wine tasting was the fact that the wines were paired with canapés perfect for each particular wine. It was so exciting to first taste the wines on their own and then with the food.

Unfortunately I only started taking photos half way through the tasting, as I was to embarrassed to leave my seat and interrupt to run out and get my phone from my bag in the room next door, but I got over it as you can see.

Once we arrived for the wine tasting we each got some sparkling wine to sip on while waiting for the others. It was a Crémant de Bourgogne (Dom. Agnès Pacuet) which I thoroughly enjoyed and even had several top-ups of. The two large tables were filled with goodies we expected was for later, but it was there for us to eat while we were mingling. So we helped ourselves to olives, crostini with Stilton, caramelized red onions and figs, charcuterie boards, and filled focaccia. All delicious!

When everyone had arrived we sat down and let Andew entertain us with stories and facts about the wines as he presented them. The first wine we tried, 2011 Petit Chablis, Dom. Nathalie & Gilles Fèvre was a light and fresh white what worked really well with both canapés it was served with. My absolute favourite was the brioche crouton with soft ash goat’s cheese and truffled pear, but the red pepper tarte tatin with tapenade and basil was gorgeous too.

Next up was another white; 2009 Bourgogne Blanc, Dom. Florent Garaudet served with mackerel tartar on an olive crouton with crispy skins.

We then tried two Pinot Noir side by side; 2012 Santeney “Clos de Hates”, Dom. Bachey-Legros and 2009 Bourgogne Grance Ordinaire, Dom. Guy Castagnier. The former was lighter and the latter, which I preferred, tasted more of berries. We tried them with honey soy glazed salmon scewers and thai chicken scewers with a coconut and green chilli dip.

We then got to try a wine from the Rhone Valley; 2008 Star Terre Grenache, Oroncio served with crispy duck pancakes in hoisin sauce with cucumber and spring onion. Both divine!

The last two canapés were sweet, put we didn’t try a single pudding wine. Instead we had a fruity rosé (2010 Bourgogne “Rose”, GAEC Felettig) with the caramelized banana tarte tatin, which was, although I am not that fond of bananas, delicious.

The last sweet, amazing chocolate fudge caramels with vanilla salt, was served with a really nice port ( 27 Grapes, Quinta do Portal). I like the idea of port and chocolate and will definitely try this at home.

I had such a lovely evening and would love to do this again. Both the food and the wines were excellent and I really enjoyed trying the wines with the matching food, so I know how to think when pairing food and wine at home.

Footnote: I was not invited as a blogger to this event, nor asked to blog about it.