Elderflower parfait

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The pudding for my party at home this summer, was an incredibly easy parfait, flavoured with my mother’s homemade elderflower cordial.

I find this dessert or a parfait with any flavour, such a good thing if there are several dinner guests. You can make it well in ahead, and it is stored in the freezer which frees up space in the fridge. Oh, and it is absolutely delicious.

I made a large batch and froze it in a clingfilm-covered loaf tins, serving a slice on each plate with homegrown (from my parents’ garden) red currants.

Elderflower parfait, serves 4

3 egg yolks

100 ml caster sugar

300 ml whipping cream or double cream

65 ml concentrated elderflower cordial (only a guideline as different concentrations for different cordials)

Beat the yolks and sugar until pale and fluffy in a mixing bowl. In a separate mixing bowl whip the cream. Fold the cream into the egg mixture. Add the elderflower and stor to combine. Pour into any freezeable moulds you like, either divided into portions or in one large mould. Freeze overnight.

Fast food: creamy polenta with sausage casserole

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Polenta was non-existant in Sweden in the 80s when I grew up. We only had locally sourced food and anything ‘exotic’ was canned pineapple, bananas and peanuts. Several dishes from the 80s combine all three.

No, polenta I discovered on my own and loved from the first bite. I like the texture and the fact that it tastes of nothing until you’ve added butter and parmesan, and it is such a wonderful transformation.

I sometimes serve it simply with fried mushrooms or fried chorizo, but this time I wanted something even more soothing and comforting. The casserole is a cheat, but tastes lovely. Using French Toulouse sausages makes it as unauthentic as serving it with Spanish chorizo, but both versions work – believe me.

Just use good quality sausages as most of the flavour comes from them and season the sauce sauce to your own taste.

Creamy polenta with sausage casserole, serves 2

2 portions creamy polenta

4 Toulouse sausages

200 g tinned chopped tomatoes

50 ml water

balsamic vinegar after taste

1 pinch of sugar

salt, black pepper

grated parmesan to serve

oil for frying

Cut the skin of the sausages and push our the sausage meat. Fry it until cooked through in some oil. Add the tomatoes and water and bring to the boil and let thicken. Add balsamic vinegar, sugar and seasoning to your taste. Maybe also add some garlic. Plate the polenta and casserole, top with grated parmesan and enjoy.

 

Tagliatelle with girolles, white wine and balsamico

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There are quite a few speedy pasta recipes in the archive, and that is exactly what I like with pasta – the speedy element. As long as you use good wuality pasta and don’t cook it to mush, you don’t need many ingredients to throw together a quick and delicious meal.

I had some girolles left in my freezer that I added white wine, balsamic vinegar, creme fraiche, parmesan and garlic too. Most important while making a pasta sauce is to use strong flavours. As it gets mixed in with the pasta it will have just enough flavour, but if you start off bland it will only get blander when you add the pasta. I prefer a smallish amount of sauce to pasta, it should only coat and dress the pasta, not let it swim in it.

Tagliatelle with girolles, white wine and balsamico, 1-2 portioner

200-250 g tagliatelle

1 large handful girolles

butter for frying

1 garlic clove, pressed

2 tbsp white wine

100 ml creme fraiche

2 tbsp balsamico

parmesan shavings

chopped parsley or persillade

Cook the pasta according to the packet. Melt the butter in a frying pan or sauteuse. Fry the mushrooms on medium-high heat. Lower the heat a bit and add the pressed garlic. After a minute or so, add the wine and let most of it evaporate befpre adding the creme fraiche. Add the balsamic, let the mixture thicken and season to taste.

Drain the pasta but put some of the cooking water to the side. Add the drained pasta to the pan and toss with the sauce. Add some pasta water if you want the mixture to be thinner. Plate and add parmesan and either chopped parsley or some persillade.

 

Dinner at Bleeding Heart Bistro

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I work in London’a West End and know that area of Central London best when it comes to restaurant and bars. So it is nice to go for supper with friends who know different parts of town and can show you around a bit.

A restaurant one of my girl friends recommended, is the Bleeding Heart Bistro. Situated close together is a tavern, bistro and restaurant all within the Bleeding Heart Family.

I met Laura after work at the Tavern pub for a quick drink that I missed by being late and lost. Luckily I got a cab to take me in the right direction. I love that you can trust the cabbies when you’re iPhone doesn’t work…

We then went across the courtyard to the bistro and sat down. Our other friend Jess was joining too, but had to work late so Laura and I had a starter each and some bubbly while waiting for her.

Laura had sardines on toast. Beautiful salty sardines on a chunky slice of toasted farmhouse bread. I had a buttery flaky pissaladière; a pizza relative from the South of France wuth caramelized onions and anchovies.

When Jess arrived she quickly decided on the lobster, and so one should when having to work late!

Laura chose a Nicoise salad with a large piece of seared tuna.

I was feeling really hungry and had a ribeye steak cooked blue with chips and bearnaise sauce.

As you can see the food was fresh and well cooked, and it tasted lovely too. Despite this I still felt something was lacking. Maybe just something unspecified but ‘chef-ey’.

Although tastey and nicely presented the food available was simple and something I could easily make myself. Most other places serving simple food usually offers a twist of some kind to make it original and that was what I would have liked to see here as well.

With that said we still had a nice evening here and there is nothing wrong with the food. It could just be even better!

One thing I did object to, which is rather petty of me, I must admit, is the fact that we had crisp linen tablecloths and flimsy paper napkins. Surely, with linen table cloths you have linen napkins?!

Bleeding Heart Bistro
Bleeding Heart Yard, off Greville Street
Hatton Garden, London EC1N 8SJ

Turkey mince lemongrass scewers

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I confess – I am a cookbook junkie. There are piles of cookbooks to read at home, and it usually takes me some time to go through them, yet I buy more cookbooks.

One wonderful cookbook I got sometime last year and have been neglecting since is Om jag var din hemmafru (If I was your housewife) by Lotta Lundgren.  It has great recipes, amazing layout and pictures and still I haven’t had the time to try many recipes. But last week I actually managed to try one more.

I tried chicken mince scewers on lemongrass, but I actually used turkey mince as I can not find chicken mince anywhere in this country and I still had my food processor in a moving box, otherwise I could have minced the chicken meat myself. It worked very well with turkey mince however, you just need to be more careful with the oven cooking time as turkey is so lean it easily can get dry.

Lotta’s chicken (turkey) lemongras scewers, serves 4

Adapted and translated from Lotta Lundgren’s recipe.

4 chicken fillets / 500 g turkey mince

2 thumbs of ginger

4 tbsp plain flour

12 lemongrass (I divided three lemongrass in four instead)

½ tsp salt

100 ml toasted peanuts

(50 ml sesame seeds – I omitted these)

Trim the meat and mince. Peel and grate the ginger, squeeze out the juice and mix with the mince, flour and salt.

Coat your hands with oil or water and divide the mixture into 12 portions. Place a lemongrass in the middle of each mince portion and shape into an oval. Repeat with the remaining mince and lemongrass scewers.

Crush the peanuts. Toast the sesame seeds in a dry frying pan. Mix with the peanuts.

Fry the scewers on all sides until golden brown. Then place on a baking tray and let it cook until done in the oven, about 15 minutes in 175C. Sprinkle with the nut mixture when finished and either serve with a salad or with rice and a cold sweet chilli sauce (creme fraiche + sweet chilli sauce + salt).

Elderflower mousse cake with elderflower jelly and strawberries

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This wonderful cake my mother made for me on my birthday. The recipe is courtesy of a Swedish supermarket’s magazine called Buffé (Buffet). It was absolutely wonderful and very scrumptous. Make it now before summer is completely gone.

The only thing you need to be aware of, is that you have a good springform that doesn’t drip. The first time my mother made the jelly and poured it over the cake to set, it went straight through. So make sure you have a good cake case and you’re all set.

Elderflower mousse cake with elderflower jelly and strawberries

From the Buffé magazine.

100 g almonds

3 egg whites

500 g strawberries

butter for the cake cake

Elderflowe mousse:

2 gelatine leaves

3 egg yolks

100 ml caster sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

50 ml concentrated elderflower squash/cordial

100 ml whipping cream (or double cream)

200 ml creme fraiche

zest from 1 lemon

Jelly:

3 gelatine leaves

150 ml water vatten

100 ml concentrated elderflower squash/cordial

1 tbsp lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 175°C. Butter a springform, about 22 cm in diameter. Cover the bottom with a round of baking parchment.

Ground the almonds in a mixer. Beat the eggwhites until stiff. Add the sugar and beat for another minute or so. Fold in the almonds. Spread the mixture into the springform. Bake for about 25 minutes in the middle of the oven. It should be golden brown and feel set on the top. Leave to cool.

The mousse: Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water for 5 minutes. Beat egg yolks, sugar and vanilla until pale and fluffy. Heat up the squash/cordial in a saucepan. Squeeze the gelatine leaves to remove excess water. Add them to the warm liquid and stir to dissolve. Whip the cream. Mix the egg mixture with the whipped cream, creme fraiche and lemon zest. Add the gelatine mixture to the cream mixture while stirring to incorporate. Pour the mousse into the cake tin and leave to set in the fridge for 3 hours.

The jelly: Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water for 5 minutes. Heat up water, cordial/squash and lemon juice in a sauce pan. Squeeze the water out of the gelatine and add to the liquid and let it melt. Leave to cool.

Rinse and trim the strawberries and cut into quarters. Place them on the mousse. Spoon over the jelly mixture. Leave to set in the fridge for another 2 hours.

To serve, simply remove from the tin and add garnish if you wish.

 

Dinner at Atmosfar, Malmo, Sweden

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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

Tray bake with sweet potato, peppers and chorizo

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Sometimes finding dinner inspiration in your own cupboards really work. That is this dish a good example of. it is perfect to double, triple or quadruple for more dinner guests. It is also healthy and super easy to make. And it is proper comfort food.

A plate of tasty healthy food that gives you a warm hug from within.

Roast sweet potato and peppers in the oven.

Add chorizo to the veg to cook together the last 15 minutes.

Squeeze with lime juice and top with plenty of chopped crisp spring onions for a different texture.

Tray bake with sweet potato, peppers and chorizo, serves 1

1 sweet potato

1 pepper of any colour you like

5-10 cm cooking chorizo

4 spring onions, sliced

1 lime wedge

olive oil

Preheat the oven to 180C. Wash the pepper and peel the sweet potato. Cut into same sized pieces. Place in an oven proof dish and drizzle with olive oil. Season. Toss to coat the vegetables with oil.

Place in the oven for 20 minutes, stir around once to cook evenly. Peel and slice the chorizo and add to the dish and let it cook for another 10-15 minutes. Plate, squeeze with lime and sprinkle with spring onions.

 

Dinner at Hawksmoor Guildhall

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My summer was rather packed with fun things, and while busy having fun, I didn’t have time to update you about everything. Like going to Hawksmoor for the first time and loving it. 

Linus, a friend from home whom I have known since secondary school, came to visit during the Olympics. When trying to decide where to go for supper one evening, I asked him what type of food he would like. The answer came quicky: – Meat.

I have been wanting to go to Hawksmoor for ages and saw my chance, and managed to book a table for the following day. As most Londoners I expected London to be super busy during the Games, and thought it almost impossible to get a dinner reservation with short notice. This was not the case, however, when we got to the restaurant in the City on a Friday night it was far from full and the staff said that it was very quiet during the Olympics.

Once seated at our rustic dark wood table, both Linus and I couldn’t help but drool over the massive steak at the table next to us. It was a moment of ‘We’re having what he’s having’, after takling to the knowledgable waitress about the different cuts. Our neighbour had a Porterhouse steak, so we had one too, to share as it weighed in at 900 g.

We also had crispy delicious chips, the best bearnaise sauce I’ve ever had in a restaurant (and it was a generous portion too), fried portobello mushrooms and a bottle of red.

With that much meat we ate slowly to be able to really enjoy it and finish it.
We both really enjoyed this meal. The restaurant has a relaxed atmosphere, the grub is really good, the meat amazing (so full of flavour) and the staff both knowledable, pleasant and a little laid back.

There are plenty of steak restaurants in London and without trying them all, I think I can say that Hawksmoor is definitely up there with the best ones!

Hawksmoor Guildhall
10 Basinghall Stree
London EC2V 5BQ

Quick pudding: Lemoncurd whip with raspberries

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If you like me, really dislike wasting food, but stand there one evening with a big dollop of homemade lovely lemoncurd but is also feeling a bit too lazy to use it in baking, well then this is the perfect recipe for you.

All you need is lemoncurd (homemade or storebought doesn’t matter), whipping cream and fresh raspberries. Just whip the cream lightly, fold in the yellow goodness (aka the curd) and scatter with raspberries. It is almost like a lemony mousse but only takes minutes to prepare. It is also fresh and extremely satisfying.

Yum.

Lemoncurd whip with raspberries, serves 2

300 ml whipping cream

 1 dl lemoncurd

2 handfuls fresh raspberries

Whip the cream lightly and fold in the lemoncurd. Divide between two bowls and top with raspberries.