cod loin – Scandelights

First week of holiday!

Published on August 14, 2018August 14, 2018 by Hanna1 Comment

My holiday was rather busy, but that’s what it’s like when you’re living abroad; lots of family and friends to catch up with and you’re constantly behind on that front, however hard you try, as there simply isn’t enough time. My strategy this time was to start off busy and try to wind down a little towards the end, as I need to sleep and relax as well. And for once I think it worked. To say I feel refreshed might be pushing it, but I feel less tired than when I left London, which is the whole point of a holiday, isn’t it?!

But since I had a 7am flight on the Saturday I took that day to relax and really feel that I was on holiday. It was pure bliss to arrive at the beach house, change into a bikini and a cover up, have an glassbåt ice cream in the sun and just try to switch off a little.

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I also walked down to the beach to dip my toes in the water and breathe the fresh air. And in the evening I enjoyed some bubbly and a nice homecooked dinner (pork fillet with lemon and herbs, new potatoes, tomato salad and a cold garlic and herb sauce).

The next day I went to Helsingborg for lunch with friends and got to see both the hosts’ lovely new house and meet other friends’ little baby for the first time. For lunch we had a lovely poke bowl with sesame marinated tuna and ice cream for pudding. It was so nice to sit in the garden catching up with dear childhood friends like that. The afternoon went by in a flash!

On the Monday I went to Copenhagen for the day with two friends, and we’ve been doing it for so long it’s a tradition we do everything to keep every summer.

We started off with tacos and smørrebrød for lunch at Torvehallerne, had fika at our favourite café and in the evening wine and cheese at one place before dinner at another. It was a perfect day chatting away with friends, looking in a few shops and just enjoying what this lovely city has to offer!

The next day I didn’t have many plans so started with a lie-in and a late breakfast in the garden. I did a few errands and sunbathed a bit and had dinner with my parents in the evening before a visitor from London arrived late that night as the flight was delayed.

So the next morning another lie-in was in order followed by a cooked breakfast outside. By the way, poached eggs on toast with tabasco is delicious!

We continued the day driving around the south coast, checking out the beaches and eating ice cream.

And in the evening we had a crayfish party complete with Västerbotten cheese quiche, fresh and smoked prawns, snaps and silly hats!

The following day my visitor played golf in Falsterbo while I spent the day with by best friend and my god daughter before meeting up with the golfers for lunch. Afterwards we went to Badhytten for a drink followed by a quick swim in the sea.

Then I was put to work making burgers (with fake shack sauce) for us all. So yum!

Friday was my visitor’s last full day in Sweden so we made the most of it spending most of it on the beach and after a late lunch we made our way into Malmö for drinks, dinner and some more drinks.

The next day we had time for a long breakfast and a swim before my visitor had to leave for the airport and I spent the rest of the day taking it easy and had dinner with mamma and pappa in the evening.

The next day (Sunday) we drove to the southeastern part of Skåne to have lunch with two of my cousins and my auntie. We had hot smoked salmon with new potatoes, soft boiled eggs, asparagus and a cold dill sauce. Very Swedish and so yummy!

It was a lovely week and as you can see I got to see and do a lot and catch up with many of my friends!

Sweden: dinner by the beach at Badhytten

Published on September 26, 2017September 26, 2017 by HannaLeave a comment

My first night in Sweden was sunny and glorious and I spent it the best way possible: with dear friends having dinner at the beach.

This restaurant, bar and nightclub is our favourite place to go in the summer as the setting is beautiful and the place has a fun atmosphere. In recent years it’s been rebuilt, so although the charm from when I was younger is gone it feels a lot more modern and grownup in it’s current design.

We all enjoyed our meal here, it’s not a place where you come just for the food, but combined with the decent wine list, helpful waiters and lovely atmosphere it’s a lovely place.

For the starter, we all ordered exactly the same, the Scandinavian classic Toast Skagen. It’s essentially prawns in mayonnaise and dill served on toast. Here the toast was brioche (nice!) and it was nicely presented with a ribbon of cucumber holding the prawns in place. Extra plus for the generous size!

For our main courses two had the cod loin with pea purée, new potatoes and carrots, two steak and fries with bearnaise sauce and one fish stew.

We were all pleased with our choices, and although the menu is very similar to last year, it’s consistent. My only remark was that my steak was rather overcooked, but still nice.

After the two courses each we were far too full to have pudding, so instead we moved to the lounge area of the restaurant to finish our wine and have teas and coffees. Then later on we hit the bar and dance floor upstairs!

Badhytten, Skanörs hamn, 239 30 Skanör, Sweden

Recipe: cod loin with lemon, capers, red onions and browned butter

Published on February 8, 2017 by HannaLeave a comment

Maybe it’s because of my Scandinavian heritage but I really do like cod. I didn’t use to as a child, but back then my mother used to serve the cod poached *shudders* whereas I like to cook mine in the oven which keeps it firmer. My only “problem” with cod is that it looks so beige on the (white) plate, but adorning the cooked fish with pink, yellow and green accessories like in this recipe effectively solves that problem. Luckily the lemon segments, red onions and capers also elevates the cod to a rather sophisticated dinner party dish, which the addition of that amazing browned butter cements even further.

Thank you Bon Appetit for the inspiration and sorry for butchering your recipe, but this version is more Scandi.

Cod loin with lemon, red onions, capers and browned butter, serves 6

Adapted from Bon Appetit’s recipe.

1 kg cod loin

2 lemons

1/2 red onion

1 tbsp small capers

salt & pepper

500 g salted butter

Cut the cod loin into smaller pieces. Peel the lemon and cut into segments in between the membranes and place in a bowl. Slice the onion thinly and place in a bowl and cover with lemon juice. Place the cod in a buttered or oiled ovenproof dish and season well. Cook in 150C oven for 20-25 minutes or until just cooked through. Leave to rest for a few minutes.

While the fish is cooking, place the butter in a large saucepan on medium heat until nice and browned. Keep warm.

Mix the lemon segments with the red onions (but not the juice) and capers on a bowl. Put the fish onto a clean serving plate and top with cod pieces with the lemon and onion mixture. Spoon over some browned butter. Serve with potato purée, peas and carrots and serve the rest of the browned butter on the side, it’s the only sauce you need.

Baked cod loin with new potatoes and brown butter hollandaise

Published on October 7, 2015 by Hanna1 Comment

With my parents in town for a few days we had some dinners out planned but also wanted a more chilled out dinner at mine, and this is what I cooked. We decided together in Whole Foods that cod loin was a good way to go and it most certainly was, with new potatoes, carrots and samphire. And generous helpings of the most amazing brown butter hollandaise sauce ever.

Cod loin with new potatoes and brown butter hollandaise, serve 3

450 g cod loin

500 g new potatoes

2-3 carrots, peeled and cut into batons

100 g samphire

butter

salt and black pepper

Boil the potatoes in one pan and the carrots in another. Place the cod (cut into portions) in an oven tray and season. Bake in 100C oven until the inner temp is 43C. Leave to rest under tin foil. Cook the samphire in a little water with a knob of butter added for a few minutes until a little soft. Drain. Keep the vegetables warm while making the sauce.

Brown butter hollandaise, serves 4

4 egg yolks

100 g cold butter, cut into cubes

100 g browned butter

1 lemon, juice only

salt, pepper

chives, chopped

Gently heat the egg yolks in a non-stick pan while whisking. Add 1 tbsp lemon juice and stir until the yolks starts to thicken. Add the butter cubes a few at the time, stirring as they melt. Repeat until all the butter cubes have melted. Add the brown butter little by little while the sauce thickens. Season to taste and add more lemon juice if needed. Continue stirring with the whisk until pouring the sauce into a cold serving bowl. Add the chives and serve.

Cooking at the meetup

Published on October 3, 2012 by Hanna

After touring the countryside looking for good produce we returned to the hotel and the kitchen. We put our aprons and chefs’ hats (oh la la) on and got cooking divided into groups. One team made three different amuse bouche with different shell fish such as crayfish, langoustines and mussels. The all male team cooked the first two courses, one team cooked the fish for the main course, my team made bread and tomato jam to go with cheese and one team took care of the pudding. We also had a vegetarian team creating all their own dishes.

We also got a lovely drink with blueberry vodka and blood oange juice to stay hydrated while cooking, then moved on to beer and wine.