Scandelights

Lemon squares

Published on May 13, 2014 by HannaLeave a comment

This recipe is courtesy of Katarina, and most Swedish food bloggers I know have already tried the recipe, it’s that popular! And I understand why. It is easy to make, and quick. The contrasting flavours and textures work really well; top and bottom is like an oat’s crumble and in between you find the smooth lemon filling which is sweet but the acidity from the lemon cuts through it nicely.

A winner when I last baked for the office!

Lemon squares, makes about 20

Adapted from Katarina’s recipe.

Crumble:

120 g softened butter

150 ml brown sugar

250 ml rolled oats

200 ml plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

Filling:

1 can sweetened condensed milk

75 ml lemon juice

2-3 tsp grated lemon zest

Preheat the oven to 175C. Mix butter and brown sugar until well combined. Stir in flour, rolled oats, baking powder and salt and mix into a crumbly texture. Press little more than half of the crumb mixture into the bottom of a lined 20 x 20 cm baking tray.

Mix together condensed milk, lemon juice and zest. Spread onto the crumble and sprinkle the other half of the crumb mixture on top. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Leave to cool and cut into squares. Store in the fridge.

Dinner at Taberna de la Boveda, Palma de Mallorca

Published on May 12, 2014May 12, 2014 by HannaLeave a comment

One of Palma’s most well-known restaurants is without a doubt La Boveda; it was mentioned in almost every article or travel guide I read on Palma. Only a street away is their sister restaurant, Taberna de la Boveda, who has an identical menu.

My guess is that the first restaurant was so popular it made sense to open a second one. We ate at the Taberna and sat on their lovely patio with most of the other guests. It wasn’t a warm evening but the patio was so cosy everyone still wanted to sit there. And of course, we started our meal with a bottle of cava.

I can’t make my mind up about this restaurant. Some things I really like and others I really don’t. But I must mention our fabulous waiter. He was so on the ball, always smiling, always making sure we had a nice time and everything we wanted, while still being very efficient and diligent. I can honestly say we didn’t have such good service at any other time during our week in Palma. The Spanish mentality is just very different from the Swedish and in a way it was nice to just switch off and go with the slow service and more waiting time even if it was a little irritating at the same time.

This evening my parents were a little tired of tapas, so we only had two tapas to start and then a main course each. Daddy had the chorizo cooked in wine which completely lacked seasoning and oomph and he was rather disappointed.

The sweet juicy melon and delicious salty Iberico ham that mummy and I shared was far better. Super simple of course but good produce.

For our maincourses daddy and I chose meat. His was a slightly overcooked beef fillet. It was more medium-well than the medium desired but still very tasty. And the green peppercorn sauce was outstanding.

Mother had fried gambas with garlic and a side of chips. The prawns were delicious and sweet and the chips unfortunately a bit soggy.

I had the sirloin, also over-cooked; it was medium-well when I had ordered it rare, but the blue cheese sauce was delicious. Again, the chips could have been crispier but I liked the addition of padron peppers.

For pudding we shared a crème caramel and this cake with an unknown name. It was not made at the restaurant but still nice. It had an almond base, sweet lemon mousse and soft meringue on top.

All the food, bar the chorizo, was very tasty and the service great, yet I’m not all that thrilled about this place. If that was because it felt a bit touristy (no local guests at all), or because the cooking was a bit hit and miss I don’t know. Maybe it was partly our fault for not sticking to tapas, but then again that chorizo was a tapas dish. And in my mind every pub and restaurant worth its name should be able to make proper chips/fries.

Regardless, we still had a nice evening here but there are other restaurants in Palma I would rather go back to than Taberna de la Boveda.

Taberna de la Boveda, Paseo Sagrera, 3, La Lonja, Palma

Dinner at Tast, Palma de Mallorca

Published on May 8, 2014 by Hanna1 Comment

We ate at a few really nice restaurants in Palma, and Tast was one of our favourites! My friend Anna recommended it and it was also mentioned in a few articles I read on restaurants in Palma when I researched the trip. I had high expectations and was not disappointed one bit.

Well, the waiter was a bit stern to begin with, but he warmed up to us, and to be fair he was super busy running the bar area all by himself.

The bar area with its high tables and stools is open all day while the restaurant with normal tables further back opens at 7.30pm. We really enjoyed sitting in the busy bar area looking at what other people were eating and to some extent watching the world go by outside when not concentrating on our food.

All the cold pinchos are kept by the bar and you just help yourself to the ones you want and pay per plate at the end of the meal. A great concept as you can start immediately if you’re starving like I often am.

The menu was a mixture of warm pinchos, different types of scewers and tapas to share.

We mixed all kinds of food and ate and ate as it was so delicious! The cold pinchos were great to start and we really liked the ones with roast beef and creamy crab salad and smoked salmon (above).

Pinchos with pimiento, smoked white fish, fried quail’s egg and tapenade.Delicious!

As you can see we had rosé and Iberico loin; less fatty and drier than the ham but also delicious!

One favourite among the warm pinchos was these with crab gratin and mini eels (what looks like grated cabbage is indeed tiny eels). So good!

The pig’s trotters with quail’s eggs were delicious too but lacked a little bit of oomph.

Fried camembert with cherry sauce also went down a treat and the people at the table next to us liked to look of it so much they came over to ask which dish it was.

I love croquetas and these classic ones with jamon were to die for!

Naturally we also ordered some fried prawns with garlic and parsley. They were nice and daddy adored them but I found the other things we ate more exciting. We had a lot more food than what’s pictured and enjoyed every bite. The patatas bravas here were a little updated with only one spicy sauce but absolutely delicious!

We ate and drank until we were almost too full to move and had a lovely evening. Tast is relaxed and inviting and the food amazing! I could easily eat here once a week without getting bored and that is a good review indeed.

Tast, C/ Unión, 2, 07001 Palma de Mallorca, Spain

Lemon tart

Published on May 7, 2014 by Hanna1 Comment

When it was a French colleagues birthday and I hadn’t made cakes for that day he got to wish what he wanted next time I baked for the office. His wanted a lemon tart and although it felt a bit daunting I gave it a go.

It was so much fun making sweet pastry from scratch, rolling it out without cracks and make this delicious tart! With a classic like this I wanted a really good recipe and chose Raymond Blanc’s which I was very happy with.

Only difficulty was to pour the filling into the pastry case without some ending up between the pastry and the tin. That unfortunately happened to me so it wasn’t the prettiest tart but still very tasty!

Lemon tart, serves 6

Adapted from Raymond Blanc’s recipe.

For the sweet pastry:

120 g unsalted butter, at room temperature, diced

75 icing sugar, sifted, plus extra for dusting

3 egg yolks

250 g plain flour

2 tbsp water

The lemon cream:

5 medium eggs

150 g caster sugar

85 ml lemon juice

2 tbsp finely grated lemon zest

150 ml double cream

Making the sweet pastry: In a large bowl, with a spatula or wooden spoon, mix the soft butter and icing sugar to a cream; then beat in 2 of the egg yolks. Add the flour and, with your fingertips, rub the butter mixture and flour together to achieve a crumbly texture. Add the water and press the mixture together to form a ball. With the palms of your hands, knead the pastry on a lightly floured work surface until it is blended (maximum 30 seconds – do not overwork the pastry or it will be hard and lose its crumbly texture). Flatten the pastry slightly with the palm of your hand, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes (this helps the dough lose its elasticity).

Making the lemon filling: In a large bowl, mix together the eggs, sugar, lemon juice and zest and whisk for a few seconds. Add the cream and whisk it in, then place in the fridge.

Handling the pastry: On a lightly floured work surface, evenly roll out the pastry into a circle 3 mm thick. Roll the pastry over the rolling pin and unroll it over a 24 cm loose-bottomed tart tin. With one hand lift the pastry and with the other gently tuck it into the bottom edge of the tin so that it fits tightly. Be careful not to stretch it. Cut off excess pastry by rolling the pin over the top edge of the tin. Take a small ball of pastry and gently press it all around the base of the tart to ensure a snug fit. Prick the base of the pastry all over with a fork and refrigerate for 30 minutes (this helps prevent shrinkage during cooking). Meanwhile, pre-heat the oven to 160°C.

Cooking the pastry: Line the pastry case with aluminium foil and fill with dried beans, pushing them against the side. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven and lift out both foil and beans. Return the tart tin to the oven and bake for a further 20 minutes. Brush the inside of the pastry with the remaining egg yolk and return to the oven for 1 minute (this creates a seal on the pastry and prevents it becoming soggy when the lemon cream is added). Turn the oven down to 140°C.

Cooking the lemon tart: Pour the lemon cream mixture into a saucepan and warm it gently (this is to speed up the cooking time of the tart), being careful not to heat it too much or it will scramble. Pour the warm mixture into the pastry case and bake for 25 minutes, until barely set. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for at least 1 hour, then dust with icing sugar around the edge of the tart. Remove the tart from the tin and place on a serving plate. Serve with lightly whipped cream.

Palma food market, Mercat de l’Olivar

Published on May 6, 2014 by HannaLeave a comment

When I go abroad I love to visit markets, food markets and even regular supermarkets. The food market in Palma is situated only a few minutes walk from the shopping streets and is well worth a visit. It was a lot bigger than I expected and logically divided after type of produce; fish and seafood in area, vegetables in another etc.

It was lovely walking around he market looking at all the wonderful produce. There weren’t many restaurants but we saw an inviting sushi place, one proper restaurant and one tapas counter.

We bought some Mallorcan strawberries which we enjoyed together with cava one evening and we of course bought some jamon to take home.

We had lunch at the tapas counter which was alright but not amazing. By the time we got there there wasn’t a lot of dishes to choose from but we had four dishes to share and some baguette and that was enough for a light lunch. The meatballs were our favourite; they were light and fluffy, tender and delicious in flavour!

The cold marinated squid with vegetables was also very nice.

The mushrooms in oil were nice but not amazing, same with the Goulash below.

You paid per plate and it was neither cheap nor expensive. We were super hungry and enjoyed our lunch but this is not a place I would recommend otherwise (although those meatballs are worth a visit).

On the first floor there is a regular supermarket which we also paid a visit. We bought some soft drinks and snacks for the holiday but I also bought a bottle of fino sherry that I will use in cooking for virtually nothing and a huge jar of my favourite olives.

Mercat de l’Olivar, Plaza Olivar, 4, 07002 Palma, Illes Balears, Spain

Ovenbaked buffalo chicken wings

Published on May 5, 2014May 2, 2014 by HannaLeave a comment

I really like buffalo chicken wings and cook them quite frequently at home. But sometimes although in the mood for them I sometimes cook something else instead because it seems like such a faff to deep-fry (I don’t have a fryer).

So when I saw a recipe for oven-baked chicken wings on Fröken Dill’s blog I decided to try that approach to compare to the deep-frying.

I stuck to my recipe for buffalo chicken wings but used the new method. And the result? Definitely nice, the skin was crispy and the meat moist but when deep-fried the skin in even crispier and the meat even more moist and tender so deep-frying certainly wins. But with that said, oven baking the wings are great for parties when you need to make a lot or those days when deep-frying appears a bit daunting.

Ovenbaked Buffalo chicken wings, 1 portion

6 chicken wings

2 tbsp mild/neutral oil

salt and pepper

2 tbsp salted butter

1 tbsp hot sauce

Pre-heat the oven to 200C. Place the chicken wings in a colander and pour some boiling water over the chicken wings. Leave to dry for a few minutes. (This procedure makes the skin crispier). Massage the chicken pieces with oil, salt and pepper and place on a tin foil covered baking tray. Bake in the oven for about 60 mins (turn at half time), and make sure they don’t burn.

Place the cooked wings in a tupperware container (with a lid). Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the hot sauce to the melted butter and pour it over the chicken wings. Put the lid on the tupperware container and shake to distribute the sauce evenly. Serve immediately.

Dinner at Restaurante Rififi, Palma de Mallorca

Published on May 3, 2014May 2, 2014 by HannaLeave a comment

One evening in Palma both my parents and I were craving fish for dinner, which shouldn’t be that difficult on an Mediterranean island, but we actually found surprisingly few proper fish restaurants in town.

Via Google I found one outside Palma but just a nice walk away, so we walked all the way there only to find it was closed. Such an anticlimax, especially as the sign outside the restaurant said that they should be open. In the same neighbourhood we tried a tapas restaurant but that was full and the only other food on offer was Thai which we weren’t in the mood for; we wanted local fish.

On the walk back to the hotel we walked past a fish restaurant that looked good so we walked in and got a table. It turned out to be a really good restaurant that had been in the same spot since the 1960s and the owner told us all about the beginning of the charter period for the island and how it had changed since then.

We were famished after are walk and were delighted at the sight of amuse bouche, we got crostinis with octopus, lettuce and vinaigrette to start which was really good (the top photo) and we then continued onto our maincourses. Dad and I got carried away at the fish counter with locally sourced fish and seafood, caught only a few hours previously and chose clams, big prawns (gambas) and baby squid to be grilled and served with homemade french fries and lemon. So simple and delicious when the produce is good!

Mummy chose a dish from the menu that was utterly delicious; cod deep-fried to perfection with prawns in a spinach and cream sauce.We had a dry white Rioja to drink and were in the end very pleased with our evening. The extra walk just added to the appetite.

Restaurante Rififi, Avinguda Joan Miró, 182, Palma de Mallorca

Butterscotch biscuits with sea salt

Published on May 1, 2014 by HannaLeave a comment

Before I start bombarding you with more restaurant reviews from Palma, I thought I’d intercept with a recipe.

In Sweden this type of biscuit is very common among grannies, home bakers and most people. So for me they’re nice but nothing special (although very scrummy), but every time I make biscuits for my friends or colleague they rave about them. And devour them in seconds (well minutes, but they disappear quickly) and then I’m bombarded with questions for the recipe, if they’re easy to make (yes!!) and personal orders.

So, on the recommendation of all my colleagues (who were the lucky ones to try this particular biscuit) – do make some!

Butterscotch biscuits with sea salt, makes about 25

Translated and adapted from Anna’s recipe.

100 g softened unsalted butter

1 tbsp golden syrup

80 g caster sugar (or 100 ml)

2 tsp vanilla extract

150 g plain flour (or 250 ml)

1 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 175C.

Beat butter, syrup and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add vanilla, flour and baking powder. Stir to combine with a wooden spoon. Shape to a dough and divide into four. Shape each quarter into a roll and place two and two (far apart) on parchment paper covered baking trays. Flatten with your hand and/or a fork (not too much as they will flatten while cooking too). Scatter with sea salt.

Place the trays in the middle of the oven for approx.13 minutes or until golden (they will still be soft at this stage). Leave to cool slightly on the trays. Transfer to a cutting board and cut into slices on the diagonal. Leave to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Dinner at Tapa Negra, Palma de Mallorca

Published on April 30, 2014 by Hanna1 Comment

The first thing I do before going away is to research restaurants. Because for me, nothing ruins a good holiday like bad food. And usually the bad tourist trap food is quite pricey too, which makes it even worse. I resent paying for food I can cook better myself but will happily pay quite a lot for good food. Anyway, that’s me and that’s why I spend time reading travel guides and restaurant recommendations online.

Tapa Negra was mentioned in several British articles (but in no Swedish ones) and as it was close to our hotel and open on a Sunday I decided we’d go here the day we arrived to celebrate daddy’s birthday.

It wasn’t fancy but not too casual either and the food was very good! The menu offered a mixture of cold and warm tapas, small plates (much like at Opera Tavern in London) and a few main courses to keep everyone happy.

My dad loves prawns, so the gambas with garlic and chilli were a given. Really good!

We of course had some pata negra (jamón ibérico) too, ham from black Iberia pigs bred on acorns. I think you can convey from the picture how delicious it was!

We also had a chicken scewer with incredibly moist chicken that came with grated fried potatoes. Simple and delicious!

We also had patatas bravas (you can spot some on the plate to the left) and they were really nice, olives bread and a mini burger that was totally yummy.

We also ended up with some pan con tomato that we actually didn’t order but were happy to eat and pay for (it’s the Spanish version of bruschetta with tomato pulp on garlicky crostini) and also had a crostini topped with coldsmoked cod. Daddy passed on it but mummy and I really enjoyed it. In fact we enjoyed everything! It was high quality on both the produce and the cooking.

Since it was daddy’s birthday we shared a bottle of nice cava with the food (Juvé y Camps 2009) and after all that food we could only muster two puddings to share. We had the grandad’s pudding, which was like a more set version of a crème caramel with a thicker caramel sauce, and some vanilla ice cream. The ice cream was very good and the pudding alright, but maybe not as nice as all the savoury food we had.

Highly recommended but requires an advance booking, easily done on their website.

Tapa Negra, Ingeniero Gabriel Roca 29, Palma de Mallorca, Majorca, Spain

Palma, Mallorca in pictures

Published on April 29, 2014 by HannaLeave a comment

In the middle of the Easter weekend I jetted off to Palma, Mallorca to meet up with my parents. We spent almost a week in Palma soaking up some sun, eating plenty of tapas and exploring the picturesque town.

Palma is really pretty with its colourful window shutters, yachts in the harbour, narrow alleys and lemon and orange trees full of fruit.