Langos

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I’ve been in the mood to make (eat) langos (Hungarian street food) for a while now. Even though I’m going to Budapest next week I couldn’t wait any longer. 🙂

I quite like it with some ‘Swedish’ toppings like caviar, but grated cheese and garlic butter is authentic at least.

The toppings (clockwise from left): grated cheese, chopped red onions, soured cream, garlic butter, lumpfish caviar
Yum! Just fried...
My favourite combo of toppings: garlic butter, soured cream, red onions and caviar

Langos, serves 2

1 large potato (preferably King Edward or Maris Piper)

2 dl milk

1 tsp dried yeast

a pinch of salt

2 tbsp icing sugar

about 500 ml plain flour

750 ml vegetable oil

Boil the potato and press or mash it. Heta up the milk until lukawarm and pour some of it into a mixing bowl. Sprinkle in the yeast, then add salt and sugar, the potato, the remaining milk and the flour bit by bit. Work the dough eleastic either wuth your hands or with dough hooks. It should still be a little sticky. Sprinkle some flour on top, cover the bowl with cling film, then a cloth and place it somewhere warm to jumpstart the yeast. Leave to rise for 45 mins – 1 hr. Sprinkle some flour on your work top and knead the dough and divide it into 6-8 pieces. Shape each piece of dough into a small round (ish) pizza with the help of a rolling pin. Heat up the oil in a deep pan. To see if it is warm enough, throw in a small piece of bread. If it becomes golden the oil is warm enough. Put one of the langos in the pan to fry, first on one side then on the other. It is done when it is golden and crisp (the thinner the dough, the crispier it gets). Take up the langos with a slatted spoon when it is done and drian on kitchen towel. Fry the remaining langoses and eat straight away. Top it with garlic butter, soured cream, grated cheese, chopped red onions and caviar. Serve with napkins as this is quite greasy. And delicious. 

Pink meringues

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After watching an episode of Rachel Allen: Bake where she baked meringues, I was inspired to use up the egg whites I had left in my fridge. Her recipe was really good, they turned out crispy on the outside and chewy in the middle.

Pink meringues

4 egg whites

a pinch of salt

300 g caster sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

a drop or two of red food colouring

Whisk the egg whites and salt into soft peaks with an electric whisk on high speed, add the sugar bit by bit and whisk until the mixture is quite solid and don’t fall out when you turn the bowl over. Add the vanilla and food colouring. Either mix the food colouring in well, so the mixture is evenly pink or just mix it in a little to get a rippled effect. Put spoonfuls of the mixture onto parchment paper and bake for 45 minutes in 140C. Then turn off the oven and put the oven door ajar and leave them to cool for 20 minutes.  

Poussins with rosemary and lemon

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I was incredibly proud of myself on Sunday! I made poussins for the first time and they were (if I may say so myself) delicious! The meat was tender and very moist and the flavours from the seasoning really came through. Then the roast potatoes (first time as well) were perfect, the parsnips lovely and the creamy gravy the last addition to a perfect meal. Both Chris and I were quiet, concentrating on the food. 🙂 Try this!! Promise!

All prepped!
Don't they look pretty?!

Poussins with rosemary and lemon, serves 2

2 poussins

100 g softened butter

parsley, finely chopped (or Gourmet Garden works here)

1 glove garlic, pressed

1 lemon, the zest

2 rosemary sprigs

1 clove garlic, cut into four

salt and pepper

olive oil

Make a cut in the skin above the breasts on each poussin, along the whole breast, so you have a pocket. Mix the softened butter with lemon zest, pressed garlic, parsley and salt and pepper. Divide it into four and fill the pockets on the birds. Next put a piece of garlic in each pocket and divide the rosemary sprigs and put them into the pockets too. Season with salt and pepper all around. Heat up some olive oil in an oven proof frying pan (no plastic handles) and fry the birds for circa 3 minutes on each side, on medium-high heat, or until the poussins have a lovely colour. Next pop the frying pan in a 200 C oven for 150-20 minutes, depending on the size. Make sure the meat is cooked through by making a cut by the leg, you want cooked meat and clear juices. Enjoy!

I served it with roast potatoes, roast parsnips (parsnips, olive oil, salt and white pepper and some fresh rosemary, 30-40 mins, 200C) and a creamy gravy (creme fraiche and cream, soy, colouring soy, chicken stock, rowanberry jelly to taste) with some of the cooking juices from the poussins. Sooo good!

Pasta with sardines

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Inspired by Chris’ cookbook Bringing Italy home by Ursula Ferrigno, I made pasta with sardines the other day.

A great low-budget dinner that was really tasty!

Pasta with sardines, serves 2

Spaghetti

Sauce:

1 onion

1/2 fennel

1 can chopped tomatoes (Cirio)

Italian herbs

chilli flakes

vegetable stock

2 cloves garlic, pressed

1 packet sardines in water

Topping:

breadcrumbs

1 clove garlic, pressed

parsley

chilli flakes

olive oil

Pour some olive oil in a saucepan and fry the onions and fennel for a few minutes until soft. Add the chopped tomatoes, vegetable stock, seasoning and let it simmer for a few minutes. When it has reduced slightly, add the sardines and let it cook for 10-12 minutes. Cook the spaghetti. In a small frying pan, take two tbsp of the tomato sauce, a handful of breadcrumbs, garlic, parsley and chilli flakes and cook it crusty and golden in olive oil. When the pasta is cooked, drain it but save some of the water in case the tomato sauce is too thick. Add some of the tomato sauce and mix it in with the pasta. Plate the pasta, pour some of the remaining sauce over the pasta, add some the breadcrumbs and drizzle some olive oil over the plate.

A few foodie days

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I have spent two nights in Southampton with my dear friend Gaby, relaxing, gossiping, shopping, eating and talking about food. It has been a few really nice days and she has spoiled me tremendously. On Thursday evening she cooked herb crusted rack of lamb with Potatoes Boulangère. The recipes are Gordon Ramsay’s from the F word, and it was delicious!

Yesterday we had a lovely day in Winchester, looking in shops, having a lovely Croque Monsiuer for lunch, and cakes in the afternoon and in the evening we had cheese, charkuteries and bread followed by Gaby’s apple crumble.

It has been a lovely foodie filled few days! 🙂

Lamb racks

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I am staying with my friend Gaby in Southampton for a few days and yesterday we had a lovely girlie evening. She made these lovely lamb racks from a Gordon Ramsay recipe, and afterwards we had nice icecream and watched the cute chickflick Definitely Maybe. I’m being spoilt! 🙂

I will post the recipe for this later.

Chèvretoast with fresh figs

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Sometimes simple things are the best, like on a Tuesday evening when you’re having your old housemate over for dinner. It doesn’t have to be fancy, just plain nice and tasty. That is when you make a chèvretoast. There isn’t much cooking involved, but the result is still really nice.

Chèvretoast with figs, serves 2

2 slices of nice bread

2, 1 cm thick slices of chèvre

2 figs, quartered

olive oil

1 clove of garlic

black pepper

crema di balsamico

Put the bread slices on a baking sheet and pour a little olive oil on each. Cut the garlic clove in half and rub the edge against the bread and the oil. Toast the bread in 200C until it is crispy. Place the chèvre on top of the bread slices, and place the quartered figs on top. Sprinkle over some black pepper and bake for 5-10 minutes until the cheese is soft. Plate, coil over some crema di balsamico and enjoy!

Swedish meatballs

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After you’ve made these, I promise you won’t long after the IKEA ones anymore, but theseinstead. So very humble of me, but there is a vast difference between homemade and store-bought meatballs. I made meatballs from a kilo of mince yesterday and Christopher made the comment that I made meatballs to last us for 3 days. Boy, was he wrong! After Nick, our dinner guest, Christopher and myself had eaten there were seven left. Out of 45. And we had a starter…

I have also added a new category; Typically Swedish, if you’re curious about Swedish cuisine.

Swedish meatballs, about 45

500 g beef mince

500 g pork mince

2 eggs

200 ml plain breadcrumbs

1 large onion, finely chopped

salt, white pepper

Crack the eggs into a bowl and break them up, add salt (more than you think), pepper and breadcrumbs. Leave it for a couple of minutes to swell. If the mixture seems very firm, add 1-2 tbsp water and stir it in. Next add the chopped onion and the mince. Make sure you incorporate it well, the mince has to mix as well as mixing it with the breadcrumbs. This is easiest done with a wooden spoon. When it is all incorporated, roll the mixture into balls, either small (1,5 cm in diameter) or larger(3 cm in diameter). In my family we make larger ones most of the time, and the small ones for holidays. Dip your fingers into a bowl of cold water in between rolling each ball, it makes it easier to roll. Fry them in butter on medium-high heat at first, until they are nice and crisp and brown on the outside, then turn the heat down to medium-low and let them cook through. Roll them around a lot as not to burn them, and check if they are cooked through, by cutting one in half. Serve with boiled potatoes, carrots, a creamy gravy and a nice jelly (I had rowanberry) or lingonberry jam.

You easily make a creamy gravy by heating up single cream, adding beef stock, salt, pepper, soy sauce, a tsp rowanberry jelly or other jelly and colour it darker with a colouring soy sauce (you can get this from a Swedish shop, and possibly Ikea food) or try and darken it with as much regular soy sauce (a dark one) as the taste permits.

The Wolseley

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I think all Londoners have heard about the Wolseley – that’s how fabulous the restaurant is. I absolutely adore the place, for a number of reasons. The personal one is because this is where Christopher took me for dinner on our first date. I must say I wasn’t concentrating completely on the food, but it was the perfect backdrop to our date. The starters I don’t remember, but I think I had the asparagus, but I was too nervous to notice at that stage. The main course I remember however, because I tried to be girly and had the seabass, which was beautifully cooked, but I was at the same time longing for Christopher’s steak frites, as I love my meat. After two courses we were very full and decided to go somewhere else and have cocktails for dessert.

This was the first time I went to the Wolseley, but I (we) have been back since. You often need to plan ahead and book, but we have been lucky a few times and got a table by just walking in. Usually this occurs when we’re shopping around Piccadilly and Jermyn Street and we realise that we’re hungry. Christopher always have the same lighter dish, the steak tartare, he claims the Wolseley’s is the best there is. I have tried both soups and salads and they have been simple yet perfect. We have also had cream tea here, but we are both dying to go here for breakfast. The closest we’ve got to that, is the Eggs Benedict I made last weekend with the book about the restaurant’s breakfasts. It has been a while since we’ve been here for dinner too, but I really want to go soon.

Other reasons why I adore this place, is both the decor, the service and the food. The decor is from the 1920s, very art deco with black, gold and mirrors, but in a very tastefull way. Every detail is wonderful, right down to the silverware and tableware, especially the teastrainers (ohh the teastrainers!). In the 1920s the restaurant was actually a car show room for the Wolseley motor company, but they went bust in 1926 and after that Barclays used the building until 1999. After restoring the interior the current restaurant opened in 2003, and keeps serving a mix of business men, tourists and Londoners everyday.

The service is excellent as well. The staff is always friendly, incredibly efficient and sometimes you hardly even notice they are there, they’re so swift and quick, dancing around the tables like ballerinas.

And then we have the food. The menu is classic french café and fine dining, and it is done to perfection. Even a salad is amazing here, because it is the best produce, and the chefs are perfectionists. The best thing is of course that you can pop in at any time of day and have breakfast, coffee and cake, cream tea, a light bite or a full on three course meal.

Make sure you pop by – everyone should experience this place!

Jacket potatoes with easy peasy topping

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Christopher was out playing cricket yesterday, which meant that he wasn’t hungry when he came home. I’m still amazed that they have tea and sandwiches during the game (that’s just so British!) and because it was the last game for the season they had dinner afterwards as well, so absolutely no hope that he was hungry after the game, so I had to come up with something to eat for myself.

I don’t particular like to cook for one, I just don’t see the point in it. For me, having a meal is a sociable thing – you eat together. Although my family isn’t a big and loud one, the three of us still had all meals together, apart from breakfasts, as I’m tired in the mornings and my parents are not. So when I cook for one I don’t enjoy it as much as when cooking for two or more, so I try to keep it simple and quick. Like these jacket potatoes, with a really simple yet very tasty topping. Try it when you’re home alone, and you won’t be disappointed.

I was hungry and made two potatoes but it was a bit too much. Sometimes the eye is hungrier than the tummy...

Jacket potatoes with easy peasy topping

Grab one or two large potatoes/baking potatoes and cut a cross on the top pf each potato. Bake in 200C for a little more than an hour. Take out the potatoes and press the sides towards the middle so the cut comes open. Put a knob of butter, either persillade or berbecue seasoning, some grated cheddar, creme fraiche, crispy bacon and some more seasoning on top. Enjoy!