Scandelights

Dinner party with winter gino

Published on February 6, 2014February 6, 2014 by Hanna1 Comment

The first weekend in January was the last of my Christmas holiday and on the Friday we had a lovely dinner party at my parents’. It was just my parents, my best friend Emma, her husband Claes and me. And lots of food and wine, as it should be. I love that the people closest to me get on so well and that we can socialise like we’re all just old friends regardless of the age difference.

We had some bubbly and a large batch of Toast Öjeby to start before moving on to the dinner table for the maincourse:

Topside of beef with dauphinoise potatoes (my mother’s version with leek and no cheese), port wine sauce and steamed broccoli. Although a complete classic I never tire of good quality beef and potatoes au gratin!

The only newish dish this evening was a wintery take on the classic Swedish dessert gino. I have no idea who invented it or when but a classic ino is like a warm fruit salad covered with white chocolate. The classic combination of fruits is banana, strawberry and kiwi but I opted for some wintery fruits instead; banana, clementine, pineapple and pomegranate seeds. This was probably even better as I prefer the pineapple and pomegranate to the kiwi. You can serve this with lightly whipped cream or vanilla ice cream but I definitely think the ice cream works best.

Winter gino, serves 4

2 bananas, sliced

2-3 clementines, in wedges cut into half

1/3 fresh pinapple, in chunks

1 pomegranate, seeds only

150-200 g white chocolate, chopped

Mix banana, clementine and pineapple in an oven-proof dish. Scatter the pomegranate seeds on top and then the chocolate. Bake in 200C oven until the chocolate has melted and browned a little. Serve with vanilla ice cream (or lightly whipped cream).

Dinner at Steak and Tapas, Malmö, Sweden

Published on February 5, 2014 by HannaLeave a comment

When I went home to Sweden over Christmas and the new year I got to try two newish restaurants in Malmö (the third largest city in the country and the one near The Bridge), first B.A.R. and now Steak and Tapas.

When I moved away almost six years ago the restaurant scene was rather boring but now it almost seem to flourish.

Steak and Tapas is situated in the cellar beneath Hotel Tunneln in the centre of town and the white arched walls and rustic wooden tables contributes to the relaxed and cosy atmosphere of the restaurant. The menu is also relaxed with non-poncy with its tapas and steak sections (little surprise there).

I was here with four friends and we decided to share three Spanish cheeses, a focaccia (baked in a pot) and some olives to start before most of us moved on to the meat.

I chose the flatiron steak (onglet) and it arrived with an array of pots. One stainless steel dish for a salad wedge, a small deep-frying basket with fries (I like that quirky touche) and another bowl with the sauces. It felt a bit inefficient serving this many pots, but it looked rather charming.

One friend ordered the halibut instead and was also very pleased. The only let down was that some of the steaks were far from hot by the time they arrived at the table. I like my meat rested but this was a bit excessive..

Although the pudding section only had three choices we decided to share a chocolate cake with peanuts, marshmallows and chocolate sauce. It was a bit too dense and bitter for me and I don’t think we managed to finish it even though all five of us had some.

As a concept Steak and Tapas is very approachable, and I understand why you as a restaurateur in Malmö go for something that appeals to the masses, as the restaurant scene here is not as vibrant as say Gothenburg and Stockholm, even on a smaller scale.

Yet the combination strikes me as odd, but I imagined more cooked tapas and this is mainly charcuteries, cheeses and a few hot plates so it actually works to share a few things before moving on to steak or for a lighter meal sticking to the tapas section the whole meal.

Steak och Tapas, Kansligatan 4, 211 22 Malmö, Sweden

Pasta with mushrooms and leek

Published on February 4, 2014 by Hanna2 Comments

New year’s resolutions. Usually I am against them myself although others seem to do well with a dry or healthy January (well done, guys!). I actually made a small resolution this year and it is totally food related of course; to cook more from my cookbooks.

I have a bit of a, ahem, cookbook addiction and since I don’t want to stop buying new shiny ones I thought I’d better utilise the ones I’ve got. So far I have already cooked a few things from my newly acquired ‘Gordon Ramsay’s Ultimate Cookery Course‘, among other things this pasta recipe with mushrooms and leek.

It sounds very ordinary and it sort of is, yet very delicious. The sauce is silky without being too rich (especially with a splash of white wine added to cut through the cream) and the fried mushrooms and leek are very tasty. I also like that the pasta in this dish is lasagne sheets although the dish is quite far from a regular or even open lasagne. But it really works and I prefer it to many other pasta shapes.

Pasta with mushrooms and leek, serves 2

Adapted from ‘Gordon Ramsay’s Ultimate Cooking Course‘.

For once I followed the recipe dutifully, apart from one small addition; a splash of white wine in the cream sauce.

8 chestnut mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped

1 leek, washed, trimmed, quartered and sliced

oil for frying

salt, pepper

250 ml chicken stock

100 ml double cream

1 tbsp white wine

4-6 lasagne sheets

To serve: grated parmesan, optional

Heat up the oil in a frying pan on medium heat and add the sliced mushrooms. Add the garlic after two minutes and the leek after another two. Fry until the mushrooms are golden and the leek has softened. Season.

Add the chicken stock and let it reduce for five minutes.

In the meantime, cook the lasagne sheets in salted water until al dente, for four minutes. Add the cream to the mushrooms and a splash of wine and let it thicken. Season to taste. Remove from heat and submerge the lasagne sheets in the sauce. Plate prettily and serve with or without grated parmesan.

Dinner at Kurobuta, a Chelsea pop-up restaurant

Published on February 3, 2014 by HannaLeave a comment

The day after we tried Flesh and Buns for lunch, Caroline and I had dinner at a restaurant with similar cuisine, a pop-up restaurant in Chelsea called Kurobuta, but it will soon have a permanent spot near Marble Arch.

We shared a lot of different dishes, starting with the yellowtail tuna sashimi with kazimi wasabi salsa and yuzu soy sauce (above). Very nice and great texture.

Barbecued chicken scewers with Japanese barbecue sauce. Tender meat and very nice smoky flavour.

The pumpkin tempura was lovely and served with a delicious dip with spicy shiso.

Tea smoked cutlet of lamb with spicy Korean miso. Very nice indeed, and one of my favourites. The lamb was tender and quite rare which I like and with a thick coating of the delicious glaze.

The crispy soft shell crab roll with kimchi mayo was also very nice.

Kurobuta’s menu has a few different sections; one with snacks, one with barbecue, one with crispy food, one with sushi and one with cold and raw dishes (like sashimi). One section was called ‘Significant Others’ and sounded so boring that we didn’t try a single dish, but apart from that we sampled every section on the menu.

The food at Kurobuta is tasty and well-made and I always like to share small dishes, especially when you can have sushi and barbecued dishes at the same time. Compared to Flesh and Buns this is a lot better. It feels like Kurobuta has a clearer concept, but there is still room for improvement.

The service was very varied; we had a great waitress but a few others ran around like headless chickens and that is quite easy to fix. And hopefully the new place will have a better ventilated kitchen as half the restaurant on our visit was filled with thick smoke from the barbecue.

Kurobuta, 251 King’s Road, London SW3 5EL

Lunch at Flesh & Buns, Covent Garden

Published on January 28, 2014 by Hanna1 Comment

When Caroline and I went to Flesh and Buns in the beginning of December the restaurant was fairly newly opened. Two months later it is not the talk of the town anymore but still worth mentioning to you, dear readers.

It is the team behind lovely Bone Daddies Ramen Bar in Soho who is behind Flesh & Buns too, and I understand the need for opening up a larger restaurant. The seating area in Flesh & Buns must be at least triple the noodle bar space. It feels more relaxed and spacious but does lack a little bit of the cosy atmosphere of its noddle bar sister.

The menu at this new-ish restaurant is quite varied with a sushi section, small plates and the meat with buns section from where it has taken its name. Caroline and I both like to try new things so we decided to share a whole array of dishes:

First up was a watercress salad with avocado and shiso. It was simple and fresh and the dressing fantastic.

Next we tried a sushi roll as the person next to us had some and it looked really good. The shrimp tempura roll was nice and well made but sadly didn’t measure up to Yashin or Tsunami’s sushi.

The pig bones, i.e. ribs, were sweet and sticky with their miso marinade and fell off the bone. One of my favourite dishes.

Beef scewers with kimchi and yoghurt were succulent and tasty but not amazing.

Lastly we tried some buns with duck leg, crispy skin, thinly sliced pickled beetroot and hoisin sauce. The fluffy pale buns are similar to pork buns in texture but these you fill yourself. It was nice and I like the idea of filling your own bun, but I wasn’t blown away.

Compared to Bone Daddies I feel that Flesh & Bun are lacking in a few areas. The atmosphere and interior feels warmer and cosier at the former and the menu feels more put together there too.

It’s still early days for Flesh & Buns and I hope they can improve because there is definitely room for this type of restaurant in Covent Garden.

Flesh & Buns, 41 Earlham St, London WC2H 9LX

Dinner at B.A.R., Malmö, Sweden

Published on January 23, 2014 by Hanna2 Comments

When I went to Sweden over Christmas I tried to fit in a few dinners out in Malmö with friends. The place topping my list was B.A.R. Malmö; a natural restaurant and wine bar situated on the cosy Davidhall Square. I had high hopes about this place but felt right at home when I saw the marrow bone napkin rings.

Walking into B.A.R. the interior is quite sparse and the upstairs bit almost feels a bit cold but as you walk downstairs and past the kitchen the interior feels more cosy although still simple. I think the decorating and lack of tablecloths have been done deliberately to make it feel more comfortable and counterbalance the cooking style which is quite elaborate without being poncy.

Instead of a bread basket the lovely sourdough is almost tossed onto the table in brown paper bags and the accompanying spreads are served on rocks. The whipped butter with sea salt and fennel powder was absolutely delicious and completely trumped the pork fat with dill, which actually was very good too.

As there was eight of us we all had the same four course menu called the Chef’s choice menu to make it easier for the kitchen. Even if in a smaller group I would still recommend this menu or at least four courses from the a’la carte menu as some of the dishes are quite small. With that said I was still to full to finish my main course but everyone else at the table did.

The first course was quite small and consisted of more or less four mouthfuls but the flavours of squid and leek were delicious. .

The duck served with beetroot, grated bone marrow and a mayonnaise with confir garlic was even better than the first course. Absolutely gorgeous!

The maincourse with amazingly tender boar, crispy fried cavolo nero, celeriac cooked two ways and pears was absolutely wonderful!

The dessert was a small let-down after the previous two stellar courses, although there was nothing wrong with the chocolate sorbet, berry granita and vanilla custard it didn’t blow us away.

We had a lovely evening here and I can’t wait to go back in the spring or summer and try a different menu. What I really like about this place is the relaxed atmosphere and the fact that the concept appeals to food geeks like myself as well as people who just like good food in general.

The wines recommended by our waiter were also very good and of course a perfect match with the food, but also all natural and not very expensive.

I think it is about time this type of restaurant opened in Malmö and I certainly hope the town is ready for it!

B.A.R Malmö, Erik Dahlbergsgatan 3, 211 48 Malmö

Christmas indulgence

Published on January 20, 2014January 20, 2014 by HannaLeave a comment

We didn’t host Christmas Eve this year, so I haven’t got a single picture of what we ate that day. Instead I left the camera at home and just focused on being in the moment.

Besides, traditional Swedish Christmas food is not my favourite type of food. I love Jansson’s temptation (the potato bake with anchovies) and meatballs with allspice but am happy to skip the herring, Christmas ham and cabbages.

This post will instead focus on what we ate all the other days around Christmas. Staying with my parents for two weeks was a great excuse to indulge in lots of eating and cooking. Most of the food was quite festive and a little something extra, but we also squeezed in some everyday food.

We also made very good use of mother’s Christmas china service with the the words ‘God Jul’ which means Merry Christmas in Swedish; it features on most pictures.

Charkuterie board: smoked sausage, cured ham, parmesan and crema di balsamico, olives.

Wild duck breast, peanut fingerling potatoes, port sauce, broccoli and rowanberry jelly.

Fresh crab, prawns, mayonnaise, bread and salad.

Almost as important as food – bubbly and candles

Poached halibut, boiled potatoes, lovely creamy sauce and carrots

Creme brulee

Weekday food: Christmas meatballs (seasoned with allspice) and creamy potato mash with extra butter

Fried shallots and carrot matchsticks, scallops and wild garlic oil

Classic Lobster Thermidor

Swedish pizza and coke on New Year’s Day

Lots of nice cookies made by mother (favourites are the chocolate ones and the crispy rolls)

Fish soup with prawns, aoili

It was a lovely Christmas last year!

Christmas 2013

Published on January 18, 2014January 16, 2014 by HannaLeave a comment

This past Christmas was a great one for me. I got to see my wonderful friends back home in Sweden, try some new restaurants, spend time with my dear parents, celebrate Christmas the traditional way with the relatives and meet some newly arrived babies for the first time. And – this is the kicker – I had enough time to enjoy every moment.

Usually I feel like a hamster in a wheel spinning out of control when I go to Sweden for a longer trip. So much to do, so many people to see and never enough time to do it all. Sure, I still have a guilty conscience about not being able to see people as much as I (and hopefully they) would have liked, but I had a great time and had a lot of quality time with great people.

Thanks Christmas of 2013 – you were great!

Friday update

Published on January 17, 2014 by HannaLeave a comment

Two weeks back in the office and Christmas already feels distant. We’re already halfway through January and it isn’t nearly as bad as I thought. Probably because the weather is still mild and work is keeping me busy.

This past week I have had the company of a terrible head cold so haven’t been the usual busy bee, but managed to catch up with a friend over wine and nibbles and go out for dinner. Tonight we have some work drinks and tomorrow I’m off to Sweden for a (literally) flying visit to celebrate that my best friend is now a physio therapist! Congratulations Emma!

Have a great weekend!

Glögg party

Published on January 16, 2014 by HannaLeave a comment

December was as usual crazy busy but I am glad I managed to squeeze in a little glögg party for a few friends one Sunday afternoon. It was windy and rainy outside so I had both mulled cider and homemade Swedish glögg (sweet mulled wine) to offer the guests when they arrived.

I also made some lussekatter that we eat in Sweden on and around the 13th December when we celebrate St Lucia. They’re sweet buns with saffron rolled into certain shapes. As I was running out of time I also made some plain rolls with sugar pearls on.

As a nod to the Christmas ham we have in Sweden for Christmas I applied the same mustard topping to a pork fillet which I then sliced and serve with a dollop of slaw with apple.

These pixie potato bakes with anchovies are surprisingly popular among by British friends and one of my Christmas favourites too.

Homemade ginger thins with Stilton is a must with glögg.

These crispy little almond shells are divine and best served with lightly whipped cream and strawberry jam. I brought the leftovers along to work and my colleagues (who also loved these) dubbed them a Scandinavian cream tea, which actually hadn’t crossed my mind before as for me they are a pure Christmas treat.

The pork fillet with apple slaw was a real hit so I am happy I added a few substantial savoury nibbles to the sweet spread.

You find the links for the recipes in the text above and the new ones below.

Pork fillet with mustard spread, makes about 35 canapès

1 pork fillet/pork tenderloin, approx 400 g

butter and neutral oil for frying

salt, black pepper

50 ml English mustard

1 egg yolk

1 tbsp caster sugar

1 tbsp crisp bread crumbs

Remove and tendons and fat and brown on all sides in oil aand butter on high heat. Add salt and pepper. Place in the oven at 180C for 15-20 minutes.

Mix mustard, egg yolk, sugar and bread crumbs in a bowl. Remove the pork from the oven and put the temperature on 200C. Spread the mustard paste onto the top of the pork and put it back in the oven for a further 5 minutes, until the mustard paste looks cooked and a little blistered. Remove from oven and leave to rest. Slice thinly and serve a dollop of slaw on each slice as a canapé.

Slaw with apple, for 35 canapès

1/2 celeriac

2 large carrots

2 apples

3-4 tbsp Hellman’s or homemade mayonnaise

1/2 lemon, the juice

salt, white pepper

Peel and grate the root veg and apples. Mix the mayonnaise with lemon juice in a bowl. Add the grated mixture bit by bit and work the mayonnaise into it. It should just about hold everything together. Add salt and pepper. Place a dollop on each pork fillet slice and serve as a canapés.