Bread Street Kitchen

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On Thursday, Kristin and I went to Gordon Ramsay’s latest assition; Bread Street Kitchen situated in the One New Change Shopping Centre near St Pauls.

The place consists of a bar on street level and the restaurant is on the first floor. It has a rustic feel to it and the interior is spacious but quite cosy in an industrial way.

The menu has a raw bar section and is otherwise a mix of seafood and meat dishes with a few vegetarian options too. It is not the most inspiring menu for foodies, they are playing it safe a bit, but the targeted customers are City workers and foodies.

The most inspiring dish on the menu was crispy pig’s head with chilli mayonnaise, which we had to order.

That dish looked a bit like croquetas but were tiny scraps of tender flavoursome meat rolled up and breaded. It was crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside and they were nice, although not very exciting.

The next starter we shared was a safe bet, scallops, perfectly caramelized with a smooth carrot purée and treacle bacon.

My maincourse was poussin with chimichurri and a side order of mash. The chicken was tender and moist and both the chimichurri and the mash were lovely, but perhaps a bit too simple.

Kristin chose pork collar with mustard glaze and mash, and the meat was lovely and tender and fell apart.

Both maincourses were nice and well prepared, but quite similar to food I would (or could) cook at home. I prefer to eat food more complicated to make when eating out, as I want something different from what I can make myself. The portions were also very large and both of us had to leave quite a lot on our plates, which feels like a waste.

Although everything was nice, it felt a little dull, and I will not go out of my way to go back. However, if I find myself around St Pauls one evening in need of a bite, I would be happy to pop in for a burger or a main course, as it is tasty and well cooked, just not exciting enough for me, I’m afraid.

But I have to say, the service was excellent, and it is nice to see that it is such a priority in a restaurant serving this type of rustic, hearty food. The waiting staff were very efficient, proactive, discrete and professional, and that made our dinner a pleasure.

Bread Street Kitchen
10 Bread Street
London EC4M 9AJ

A Scandinavian Christmas part II: gift ideas

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For a little Scandi spin on Christmas gifts, check out these gift ideas:

These tea candle holders are a real classic, and I have them myself in both blue and light green. Ittala Kivi votives from £9.50 from John Lewis.

Also from Ittala, these cute jars are a favourite of mine. I keep mine in the kitchen filled with whole cardamom and star anise. Pretty and practical. From £12 at Skandium.

Marimekko is another Finnish brand that I really like, their Unikko (poppy) is their most popular print and I love these teatowels with the print in sedated colours. £11.50 at Skandium.

I have a soft spot for Moomin, and find this cake server adorable, especially at a children’s party. £11.50 at Skandium.

Once we’re on the subject of Moomin, I also like to show you this Moomin cookbook. Easy recipes and very Scandinavian of course. £9.08 at Amazon.

Another cookbook that is a staple in every Swedish home is Swedish cakes and cookies. It has all the classic trusted recipes and I consult it often. £9.12 at Amazon.

Norwegian London-based food blogger Signe Johansen has a cookbook out as well, that is on my wish list. £11.40 at Amazon.

This navy and white jug is so pretty, from Design House Stockholm. £52.55 at John Lewis.

A Scandinavian Christmas, part I – Christmas Eve

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The way we celebrate Christmas in Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia is slightly different from the UK, and I thought I would tell you a little about it.

We celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve, and this is how we do it in my family:

12 noon: Luncheon with pickled herrings, smoked salmon or gravad lax, smoked eel, mustard dressing for the salmon, boiled eggs, rye bread, Edam cheese (that’s Christmas cheese in Sweden), beer and snaps.

3pm: Donald Duck’s Christmas on teve. Every year the whole of Sweden watched this old Disney program about Donald Duck and his friends. Jeremy Cricket presents it, and receives post cards from Cinderella, Santa, Mickey Mouse, Goofey and the latest Disney film. This is usually when my parents take a well deserved nap on the couch.

5pm: Our relatives arrive for the evening, we usually start with some warm glögg and ginger bread.

6pm: Dinner starts. First course is meatballs, small frankfurters, potato bake with anchovies, Christmas ham, caramelized cabbage, red cabbage, maybe some sprouts, breads and cheese. We drink snaps, beer, wine or julmust if you’re not drinking. I usually bring crackers from the UK, so we have a British touch as well.

Next couse is salted ling, poached, with a mustard bechamel sauce and boiled potatoes. Not my favourite, but it is a classic.

Dessert is a take on rice pudding, but it is more porridge like and we add lots of whipped cream. Served with a warm coulis (mother usually makes one with cherries and one with raspberries). In the serving bowl we hide an almond in the porridge and it is a game to see who gets it. This way everyone eat until they burst. Whoever gets the almonds reveal it once all the dessert is eaten. What happens to the person who gets the almond varies, but in our family we have adopted the Danish tradition of giving that person a present, a so called mandelgave (almond gift).

8pm: We retire to the sofa, so full from dinner and around this time Santa comes to visit (at least when there are children present). We usually just hand out the Christmas gifts from underneath the tree.

Afterwards we have coffee and lots of Christmas cakes, then lots of homemade sweets, chocolates, clementines, dates, figs, nuts etc gathered at a table so everyone can help themselves.

 

Anna’s baby shower

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My dear friend Anna is becoming a mother in January, and that is certainly worth celebrating don’t you think? After consulting her husband Ian we decided an all girls affair would be best (it could be his worst nightmare to sit in on a baby shower with lots of girls) and we wanted to surprise her if we could pull if off.

We most certainly did! When Anna walked throug the door with her mother after some shopping, she was very surprised to see that her friends had invaded the living room.

You see, Anna went shopping with her mother (who was in on the surprise) so Ian could let us girls into the house to prepare. Although some trains were cancelled, we all managed to be there before Anna and we had a lovely afternoon together.

Since I moved house the day before I asked my friend Jenny to help with the baking as well, and together we did manage to come up with a good spread of savoury and sweet.

Lots of photos and recipes below.

Sandwiches: Jenny’s with mozzarella, basil and tomato to the left and my plain smoked ham and wholegrain mustard to the right.
Mugs, plates and napkins – with a baby theme.
Salmon rolls with horseradish.
Chewy chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting (in Moomin cupcakes, perfect for a Finnish mother to be, don’t you think?!
Jenny’s vanilla cupcakes with blue and green frosting.
Chewy pear and pineapple cake with (store bought) custard.
Nilufar and Anna with a giant pressie.
We had a great time! Here Anna’s mother Olga (knitting a baby blanket) and her friend Jelena.
Jenny and Jelena

Salmon rolls with horseradish, about 40 pieces

ca 6 soft wheat tortillas

200 g cold smoked salmon

100 ml creme fraiche

grated fresh horseradig, as much or as little as you prefer

salt, white pepper

Mix creme friache with horseradish, salt and pepper. Spread onto the tortillas and top with salmon. Roll into tight rolls and leave in the fridge for a few hours. Slice into 1,5 cm broad pieces before serving and discard (i.e. eat) the ends.

Chewy chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting, makes 8 American-sized cupcakes

300 ml caster sugar

150 ml plain flour vetemjöl

1 tsp vanilla

1 pinch salt

2 eggs

150 g milk chocolate

150 g melted butter

Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Melt the chocolate and butter together. Add the chocolate mixture to the bowl as well as the eggs. Stir to combine. Fill the cupcase cases to 2/3 with the batter. Bake in 200V for 15-20 minutes. Leave to cool completely before covering them with frosting.

You find the recipe for the frosting here. 

Chewy pear and pineapple cake, serves 8

1 small tin of pears, sliced

1 small tin of pineapple rings, cut into four

2 eggs

300 ml caster sugar

200 ml plain flour

150 g melted and cooled down butter

Beat eggs and sugar until white and fluffy. Add the flour and then the butter. Pour the batter into a greased springform and press down the pineapple and pear pieces. Bake for 30 minutes in 175C. Serve with lightly whipped cream or custard.

Spice Market

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I prefer to bring lunch with me to work than to grab a sandwich every day. To be honest, as a Swede I could never get used to English sandwished on spongy bread. But when I do go out for lunch on a weekday, I prefer to go somewhere nice and splurge a little, a reward for having packed lunches most days.

Most of the time I go for lunch, I go with my colleague Caroline and this week we ventured to Spice Market in Soho. She had been to the New York branch before so that’s why we wanted to try this place.

The cuisine is Asian and it is all served family style, i.e. the dishes are to be shared and they come out of the kitchen when they’re ready.

We ordered two starters and two maincourses to share, as well as a glass of  Sauvignon Blanc.

Before the first dish arrived we got a warm towel scented with lemongrass to refresh ourselves with. The first dish on the table was crab dumplings with sugar snap peas. The dumplings were nice but not very flavoursome and the whole dish was powdered with way too mush pepper. We also received some poppadoms and chilli sauce which was nice.

The next dish however, was really nice; eggrolls with mushrooms (lots of) served with a velvety tarragon sauce.

We ordered one fish and one meat maincourse, both were ok but nothing special. The fish was sole in a quite thick batter, and it was slightly over done and a bit dry. The ginger and basil emulsion was nice though, but didn’t add much to the bland fish.

The meat was slowly braised and incredibly tender. But unfortunately the broth didn’t have much flavour at all, just some heat at the end from the chillies. As I told Caroline, if I was cooking this, I would not have put it out on the table as it was. It needed garlic, sugar, salt and pepper, there was no oomph and not much flavour, the opposite of what you expect from an Asian restaurant.

Before we ordered we asked how large the dishes were, and we were told that they were of regular starter and main size. On the contrary though, they were huge, especially the mains. The fish consisted of three fillets and the meat was about 200 grams, so not something two girls can demolish when they have had starters as well.

It does not feel right leaving food on the table, but this time we had no choice.

All in all we had a lovely lunch, but that was more because of the company and the wine than the food. I am not sure I will go back, but if I do it would be solemnly because of the mushroom rolls and I would just order starters to share.

Spice Market
10 Wardour Street
London W1D 6QF

Scandi tip #8: More Lucia

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Remember I told you about St Lucia celebrations at the Scandinavian Kitchen? Well, it is next week it is happening, on Tuesday the 13th to be precise, that is the Lucia day.

Even if you can’t see a live Lucia you can still celebrate the day in proper Scandi style with glögg (Swedish mulled wine), ginger bread and saffron buns.

The picture is from this website.

Homemade glögg, 70 cl

Translated and adapted from this recipe.

1 bottle red wine

1 whole cinnamon stock

20 cloves

1 tsp ground ginger

4 cardamom kernels, crushed

300 ml caster sugar (start with 200 ml if you don’t want it too sweet)

1 tsp vanilla

some grated lemon zest

Pour the wine into a large sauce pan. Add the spices and leave it for at least an hour and a half. Before serving, add the sugar and vanilla and heat it up without boiling. Pour through a sieve to remove the spices. Serve in a small cup (espresso size) with almonds and raisins.

The King’s ginger thins, about 300

675 g plain flour

1/2 tbsp bicarbonate of soda

250 g softened butter

150 ml whipping cream

250 g caster sugar

1/6 l golden syrup

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

1 tbsp ground ginger

1/4 tbsp ground cloves

1/2 egg

Mix the flour with bicarb and add the butter. Pinch the flour and butter into crumbs with your fingertips. Beat the cream until stiff and add sugar, syrup, the spices and the beaten half egg. Incorporate the flour mixture into the cream mixture until you have a smooth dough. Leave it covered in the fridge over night.

Knead the dough until glossy on a work surface. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out thinly. Use cookie cutters to form cookies and place them on parchment paper on a baking tray. Bake in 180C until golden (about 6-7 minutes). Let them cool on the tray or another flat surface to keep their shape. Let them cool fully before you put them in tins.

Saffron buns, about 30-40

50 g fresh yeast or the equivalent of dried yeast

150 g butter

500 ml milk

100 ml caster sugar

1 egg

850 g plain flour

1 tsp ground cardamom

1/2 g saffron

Melt the butter and mix with the milk, warm it up until finger warm. Crumble the yeast in a mixing bowl and add some of the milk mixture. Let the yeast dissolve and add the rest. Add the cardamom and saffron (use a pestle and mortar to break it down with a tablespoon of sugar), sugar and egg. Mix it and start adding the flour bit by bit. Mix with the dough hooks on an electric whisk and add flour until the dough lets go of the side of the bowl. Sprinkle some flour on top of the dough, cover it up and let it rise for 30 minutes. Knead the dough and cut into 4 pieces. Roll each piece into a roll and cut it in four, then cut each piece in half so you have 8 pieces of the same size. Shape each piece into a Lucia-shape (see the photos) and put raisins in them. Leave to rise on a baking tray. Beat an egg and glaze them before baking. Bake in 225C, high up in the oven until they are golden brown (about 10 minutes). If your oven bakes unevenly like mine, just turn the tray around after 5 minutes.

Use one (or two) of the large pieces of dough to make the vanilla buns. Roll it out thin (2-3 mm thick) with a rolling pin. Spread on softened butter and sprinkle plenty of vanilla sugar on top. Roll it up from the longer side and pinch the edge together with the bun so it doesn’t open lengthwise. Cut into 3 cm wide strips and place these with the cut down in a cake case. Glaze with beaten egg and sprinkle some sugar pearls (Swedish sugar) or caster sugar on top. Bake as above.

Advent gathering

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The first Sunday of Advent is special to me, and I like to invite people over to celebrate it with Swedish glögg and plenty of nibbles.

Unfortunately I was too busy in the kitchen to have time to take pictures of everything, but at least a few things got caught by the camera.

For the first time ever, I made my own glögg, which is basically a sweeter version of mulled wine, served in little cups wit almonds and raisins.

I love it, and you can have white or red glögg although the red one is more common. I also made mulled cider which is a bit drier, although still sweet, so that was why I served mainly savoury nibbles this year.

We had mini potato bakes with anchovies (it is a lot nicer than it sounds, promise), meatballs and pickled beetroot on scewers, dates wrapped in bacon, ginger thins with Stilton (great combo), clementines and a soft gingerbread cake with frosting (recipe to follow). I also made a little spread with potato, hardboiled eggs, herring, dill, chives, mayonnaise and creme fraiche, knows as old man’s spread. A dollop of that on crisp bread is delicious.

Homemade glögg, 70 cl

Translated and adapted from this recipe.

1 bottle red wine

1 whole cinnamon stock

20 cloves

1 tsp ground ginger

4 cardamom kernels, crushed

300 ml caster sugar (start with 200 ml if you don’t want it too sweet)

1 tsp vanilla

some grated lemon zest

Pour the wine into a large sauce pan. Add the spices and leave it for at least an hour and a half. Before serving, add the sugar and vanilla and heat it up without boiling. Pour through a sieve to remove the spices. Serve in a small cup (espresso size) with almonds and raisins.

Mulled cider, 2 litres

2 litres dry cider

1 vanilla pod, cut in half lengthways

2 tbsp brown sugar

2-3 star anise

2 tsp ground cinnamon

orange or lemon peel

Place everything in a large saucepan and heat up. Serve without the spices.

Christmas meatballs, makes 50

500 g beef mince

500 g pork mince

2 eggs

150 ml breadcrumbs

100 ml cream

1 onion, finely chopped or 1 tbsp onion granules

2-3 tsp salt

white pepper

1,5 tsp allspice

Pour everything but the meat into a large bowl. Mix and let it sweel for a few minutes. Add the meat and mix it throughly with a wooden fork. Rinse your hands in cold water and roll into smallish meatballs. Fry in the oven or in a frying pan until cooked through Serve hot or cold. Place a meatball on a toothpick together with a wedge of pickled beetroot for a simple canapé.

Old man’s spread (Gubbröra), makes 30 canapées

2-3 medium potatoes, cooked, cold and chopped

1 jar matjes herring, chopped

2 hardboiled eggs, cold and chopped

4 tbsp mayonnaise

4 tbsp creme fraiche

1/2 bunch dill, finely chopped

1/2 bunch chives, finely chopped

Mix creme fraiche and mayo in a bowl. Add the other ingredients and mix. Break crispbread into small pieces and place a dollop of the spread on each. Serve straight away as the crispbread will soften from the moisture.

Bacon wrapped dates, makes 18

18 pitted dates

9 slices smoked streaky bacon

Cut the baconslices in half. Wrap a bacon piece around each date, fasten with a toothpick. Place in a baking tray and bake for 15 minutes in 200C until the bacon is crisp. Serve while hot.

Gooey chocolate cake with pecan brittle

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Pecans really says it is the holiday season for me, so the third (and last) cake I made for work to celebrate the November birthdays was a gooey chocolate cake with pecan brittle on top. It disappeared quickly and I will definitely make this cake during the holidays. Because it was at work I served it plain, but it would be great with either lightly whipped cream or vanilla icecream. This is the type of cake that only gets better after a day or two in fridge, if you can wait that long…

The brittle recipe is the same as this one, but I substituted the almonds with pecans.

Gooey chocolate cake with pecan brittle, serves 8

450 ml caster sugar

225 ml plain flour

6,75  tbsp cocoa

1,5 tsp vanilla

1 pinch salt

3 eggs

225g melted butter

Pecan brittle:

100 g butter

100 ml caster sugar

2 tbsp plain flour

2 tbsp milk

100 g roughly chopped pecans

Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add the butter and eggs and incorporate. Pour the mixtured into a greased baking tin, bake for 15 mins in 180C, then remove from the oven.

Pour all the ingredients for the brittle into a saucepan and let it become thick and golden brown, while stirring. Spread it onto the half-baked cake and bake for another 20 minutes or until the cake has just set. Leave to cool completely before serving.

 

Vanilla cheesecake with muscovado

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Sometimes it can be quite fortunate not finding what one is looking for. Like this cheesecake for example, I decided to come up with my own recipe when I couldn’t find the perfect recipe.

And this one turned out really good! The muscovado sugar adds a buttery flavour that contributes the vanilla. And with the raspberry syrup on top to cut through the creaminess, this is a winner, and if I may say so myself, pretty darn perfect!

This cake was the second one my colleagues go to try to celebrate the November birthdays, but I will make it plenty of times ahead I am sure.

Vanilla cheesecake, serves 10

200 g digestive biscuits

70 g softened butter

600 g Philadelphia cheese

150 ml light muscovado sugar

100 ml caster sugar

2 eggs

2 tbsp milk

1/2 tsp gelatine powder

Raspberry syrup:

170 g raspberries

75 ml caster sugar

1 whole star anise

2 gelatine leaves

Crumble the digestives in a food processor. Add the butter and mix thoroughly. Line the baste of a 20 cm springform with baking parchment and press the biscuit crumbs onto it. Bake in 175C for 15 minutes.

While the base is browning, mix the filling. Beat cream cheese with eggs and sugar with an electric whisk until smooth. Stir in the milk and the gelatine. Pour the mixture onto the springform and spread it out evenly. Bake in a low oven for 30 minutes. The cheesecake should be set around the edges but still gooey in the middle. It will set more while cooling. Leave to cool completely.

Put the gelatine leaves in a bowl of water, covered. Pour raspberries,sugar and star anise in a sauce pan and bring to the boil. Cook for a further 20 minutes. Remove the star anise and the kernels with a sieve. Pur the mixture back into the saucepan and add the gelatine. Heat it up until the gelatine has melted. Stir to combine and leave it to cool as much as possible without it setting. Spread it onto the cheesecake and place it in the fridge for a minimum of four hours for it to set.

Carrot cake with lime frosting

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Like previously, I made three cakes for work at the end of last month to celebrate the November birthdays.

The first cake was a carrot cake courtesy of Swedish TV chef Leila Lindholm, and it turned out just as nice as I hoped it would. And adding lime to the frosting makes this carrot cake an especially nice version.

Leila’s carrot cake with lime frosting, serves 8

3 eggs
300 ml caster sugar
300 ml plain flour
1 tsp vanilla
3 tsp baking powder
1,5 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cardamom
0,5 tsp ground ginger
150 ml sunflower oil
450 ml grated carrots
a pinch of salt

Frosting:
60 g softened butter
400 ml icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla
100 g Philadelphia
zest from one lime

Beat eggs and sugar until foamy and pale. Mix the dry ingredients in another bowl and add to the egg mixture. Add sunflower oil and carrots. Pour the batter into a greased  springform. Bake in the middle of the oven, 150C for about 55-60 min. Make sure not to open the oven until 30 minutes has passed (so it doesn’t sink in the middle like mine did). Leave to cool completely.

Beat all the ingredients for the icing, then spread onto the cake. Decorate with lime zest.