Sunday supper at home in Sweden

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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).

 

Cherry cheesecake

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I had a moment (maybe a few even) of panic when I stood in the supermarket with my shopping list and they didn’t have any passionfruits. I even asked a guy unpacking fruit and he confirmed they didn’t have any. I still think it strange, but there in the shop I thought it super annoying and I quickly had to come up with a plan B. Luckily I found a punnet of nice juicy cherries and a jar of cherry jam which saved the day.

Using jam in a cheesecake seems a bit odd, I know, but it really worked. It wasn’t a pungent cherry flavour, more a mellow reminder of cherries, that really worked I thought. And all my co-workers as they were pretty quick to finish the whole thing. Phew!

Cherry cheesecake, serves 8-10

Base:

200 g digestive biscuits

70 g softened butter

Filling 1:

300 g Philadelphia

50 ml light brown muscovado sugar

1 egg

200 g cherry jam (remove the berries/chunks)

2 tbsp milk

1 tsp agar agar

Filling 2:

250 g creme fraiche

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

3-4 tbsp agave nectar

Decoration:

200 g fresh cherries

icing sugar

Place biscuits and butter in a food processor and mix. Press the sandy mixture into a springform. Bake the base for 10 minutes in 175C. Leave to cool.

Mix Philadelphia, sugar, egg and jam with an electric whisk. Heat up the milk and agar agar in a saucepan and let it cook for a few minutes until the agar agar has melted. Incorporate into the cheese mixture. Pour the mixture into the cake tin and spread it out evenly. Bake for 15 minutes in 175C.

Mix creme fraiche, vanilla and agave in a bowl. Spread the mixture onto the baked cake, evenly and bake for another 5 minutes.

Place in fridge over night or at least for 3 hours so it can set properly. Decorate with fresh cherries and icing sugar.

Dinner at Le Sacre Coeur, Islington

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When Laura’s mum and friend came to visit, I got the meet them together with Jess and Chris for supper at Le Sacre Ceour in Islington. It was Jess’s restaurant recommendation, and I have heard quite a lot about this place, so it was nice to finally go there for supper.

I can honestly say, that it looks a big scruffy from the outside, although very cosy with lots of candles. We sat down and shared a few bottles of their Blanc de Blanc and some starters.

 

 

Most of us chose mussels to start, and we had the choice of classic Moules Mariniere, another creamy version but with garlic and the tomato-ey Moules Provencale. I chose the classic mariniere and was really impressed with the quality of the mussels. They were really big and juicy and the creamy sauce was really nice too.

 

 

A few others had the baby squid in a spicy tomato sauce, so good they mopped up all the sauce with bread to enjoy every drop.

 

 

The maincourses were also good and most of them carb-heavy and comforting. Above is beef Wellington with pommes Anna which looked really nice and indulgent.

 

 

But the one who’s plate I was the most envious of was Laura’s mother who had lamb racks wrapped in puff pastry (halleluja) with potatoes au gratin and red cabbage.

 

 

I had an extremely tender and lovely rabbit casserole with potato mash. Really nice!

 

 

Jess and Laura had the dish Jess orders every time she goes here (and I think that’s pretty often); swordfish with a creamy white wine sauce. It looked really good and I would like to try it one day too.

 

Le Sacre Coeur
18 Theberton Street 
London N1 0QX
Tel: 020 7354 2618

 

Cupcakes with meringue frosting

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I have to admit that although I am quite a good cook and baker, not everything turns out the way you want it to. I mean, it wasn’t this bad but when I attempted mango cupcakes the other day, they turned out moist and normal, it was just that they didn’t taste of mango. Hardly at all.

Looking back it feel like such a waste of a perfectly ripe and delicous mango and (almost) half a bottle of mango essence. I should have eaten the mango as it was or used it for icecream.

At least the meringue frosting turned out the way I hoped! I just made Italian meringue, using a boiling sugar syrup to stabilize the meringue. It also partly cook the egg whites so children and pregnant women can eat it too.

I simply piped the shiny meringue onto my non-mango cupcakes and then used a blow torch to caramelize the sugar a bit for effect. (And I admit, it is good fun to play with the blow torch!).

Italian meringue

Adapted and translated from Karin’s recipe.

4 egg whites
150 ml caster sugar

Syrup:
150 ml caster sugar
100 ml water

Beat the egg whites and sugar for 10 minutes until foamy. In the mean time add sugar and water to a pan and bring to the boil (118 C for sugar). Once ready pour the syrup into the egg whites and beat with an electric whisk for another 15 minutes. The meringue should be shiny and have stiff peaks. 

Scandi Show

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This weekend, the Scandinavia Show takes place at Earl’s Court. I have actually never been, and won’t go this year either, but I am Swedish so I know pretty much about Scandinavia anyway. To me the show seem to be more aimed at people wanting to know more about the Scandinavian countries, who want to go there on holiday and find out more, or just love all the great books and television series streaming out of the region right now.

The food section will be represented by among others Scandinavian Kitchen and Madsen restaurant. Find out more about the Scandinavia Show here.

Chocolate truffle cake

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Before flying off to meet my fellow food bloggers I baked the monthly cakes for the office. And among them was this dense super chocolatey cake. It is flourless and baked in a bain marie which makes it light and dense in texture at the same time. It is a must for all chocoholics and best enjoyed with some lightly whipped cream.

I found the recipe on a Swedish food blog where the blogger writes in English, so do check it out; Anne’s food.

Chocolate Truffle Cake
From the Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum via Anne’s Food.

450 g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
225 g unsalted butter
6 large eggs 
40-50 g sugar
butter for the baking tray

Grease and line a round baking tin, around 22 cm in diameter. Wrap the tray with double layers of tin foil as it will be standing in a bain marie.

Preheat the oven to 220°C, and bring 2 litres of water to the boil.

Melt the chocolate and the butter together and stir to blend. Crack the eggs into a bowl that will fit onto a small saucepan, and add the sugar. Pour water into the small saucepan, and place on medium heat and top with the bowl. Beat the eggs with an electric whisk while heating until they are slightly warm to the touch. Remove from heat and beat very vigorously for at least five minutes – the egg mixture should become very pale and fluffy.

Mix the eggs and the chocolate mixture carefully, until you see no more streaks. Pour into the baking tin. Place the tin in a large baking tray and pour the hot water into the sheet so it reaches about half way up the sides of the cake tin. 

Bake for five minutes. Cover the tin with tin foil and bake for ten more minutes. 

Remove from oven and let cool on a rack for 45 minutes. Wrap in plastic and place in fridge for at least three hours or overnight, until the cake is very firm. 

Take it out of the fridge, and loosen the cake from the pan with the back of a knife. Remove the sides of the tin and invert the cake onto a plate, and gently remove the bottom of the pan and the parchment paper. Invert back onto the plate you want to serve it on. 


Cooking at the meetup

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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

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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

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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.

 

A little crayfish party

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One of my favourite foodie happenings in Sweden is definitely crayfish season. When I grew up you were only allowed to catch crayfish during August, and the crayfish premiere was a big event. I remember some awesome crayfish parties my parents took me to as a child. I love the food, the casual way of eating and the atmosphere.

My London friend usually gets as excited to try crayfish as I get to eat the little red darlings. Last month I had some of my girl friends over for a small crayfish party/ It was mid-Olympics so Usuain Bolt kept us company on the telly, but it was great fun.

You can not just have crayfish and snaps, you need something more substantial to soak up the alcohol, and the Västerbotten cheese quiche is always a winner. Usually it is topped with creme fraiche, caviar and chopped red onions, but this year I topped it with girolles fried in butter with garlic and parsley. Yu-um!

I also made a warm potato salad with new potatoes and a vinaigrette, served cooked asparagus with olive oil and parmesan, salad, mayonnaise, bread and cheese.

Simple salad with little gem lettuce, peppers, cherry tomatoes, avocado, olive oil and balsamic.