inspiration – Scandelights

Gothenburg – a Mini Guide

Published on February 1, 2023 by HannaLeave a comment

It’s time for another mini guide to another Scandinavian City I visited this summer – lovely Gothenburg! The second largest city in Sweden is located on the west coast. It’s hilly, known for its trams, fishing and being the home of Volvo. But what makes a visit here so lovely is the people who live here; they are really warm and friendly and have a very specific type of humour! Also, in Swedish the city is actually called Göteborg, with a soft “y” sound.

I took my boyfriend here for a few days last summer, so that he could experience a bit more of Sweden now that he could visit again and we had such a lovely time! It’s easy to get around and lots to see and do, especially in summer!

Where to stay

We stayed at Clarion Hotel Post, a two minute walk from the train station which suited us well as we travelled there by train. We really liked it! It was nice and good value for money for the very central location. Great breakfast too! It’s big but still feels quite cosy. It was a tiny bit tired interior wise but very clean. Other hotels I would consider without having stayed there are Gothia Towers, Upper House, Hotel Pigalle or Sankt Jörgen Park.

Where to eat

I used to come to Gothenburg a lot until a few years ago, so I have quite a few favourites, but we tried some new places on this trip. We started with the famous prawn sandwich at Heaven 23 with lovely views over the city, and for dinner we went to a lovely spot a friend of mine recommended on Instagram; Bord 27. A super cosy restaurant with lovely food. We walked there and back, which was so lovely!

A true and tested favourite of mine is Restaurang Familjen, but I also really like Björns Bar. Places on my to try list that I have heard great things about are restaurant Bar la Lune, and Bar Bruno and Champagnebaren for drinks.

Fika culture is huge in Gothenburg so I highly recommend a visit to my favourite cafe, Da Matteo, or Condeco which is a really good chain. Or why not go all out and visit Mr Cake, which has some swoon (and instagram) worthy pastries?! Read more about it here.

If you want to eat the biggest cinnamon bun of your life, there is a lovely café in Haga, Café Husaren, selling them. Haga is also a lovely leafy area to walk around.

What to see and do

Even though I have been to Göteborg plenty of times it was my boyfriend’s first visit so we were proper tourists. We went to the Volvo museum (it’s far from the city centre but we got there quickly with a cab and braved three trams on the way back). There are more lovely museums but the weather was too nice to be indoors, so we only did one. But would love to visit Maritiman (The Maritime Museum) another time.

On our second day we went to Brännö, one of the islands in the Southern Archipelago and met up with an old friend of mine and her children. I highly recommend visiting the archipelago because it’s both easy and cheap to get there (it’s the same type of ticket for the ferry as the trams and buses all around town) and so beautiful. We walked around, had a nice fika (and ice creams!), explored the island and had a lovely day in the sunshine. If the weather is good a trip to the islands really can’t be beaten!

The shopping in Göteborg is great, and I wish we had had more time to peruse shops, but I made one quick visit to one of my favourite interior shops ever (it’s amazing!), Artilleriet. They have two shops near one another so make sure you look in both. Another place I like to go to every time I visit is Saluhallen; the lovely food market with both shops and restaurants.

One of the biggest attractions in Göteborg is undoubtedly Liseberg, the big amusement park. It’s super central and really pretty with it’s green and pink colours, and a real institution. Kids and adults alike will love a visit!

How to get around

I recommend walking around Gothenburg as much as possible. It’s a fairly small city, right by the waterfront and really pretty to walk around. There are pretty houses and nice parks to look at and I think it’s be best way to get a feel for what any city is really like. The trams are also great, especially if you’re going a bit further and easy to navigate. There are also plenty of buses, and you pay for them all on the Västtrafik app which is so handy. Cabs (Uber too), as always, are great if in a hurry or if you’re wearing heels.

My Favourite Autumn Recipes!

Published on October 8, 2020October 9, 2020 by Hanna1 Comment

I had the good intention of writing an inspiring post each month, to highlight what’s in season and link to some recipes from my vast blog archives. I managed it for a few months but with COVID, trips to Norfolk, work and well, life in general I’m way behind. But instead of scrapping those posts altogether, I thought I would make them a quarterly instalments instead, as that’s hopefully more manageable. Let’s call it seasonal inspiration.

It’s now October and autumn is in full swing. So without much further ado I would like to present to you a few autumnal favourites. You will see mushroom recipes, stews and soups and pretty much all things autumnal. Happy cooking!

This starter with burrata, fried girolles, brown butter and dill is just phenomenal and a great dish for transitioning into autumn. (I know at least some of us are struggling to accept that summer is over…)

This spaghetti carbonara with girolles is another favourite this time of year. I love the combination of fried mushrooms and creamy pasta. So comforting and delicious!

If you fancy more of a project, why not make your own mushroom ravioli from scratch?! It’s as satisfying as it is delicious!

This toast is one of my autumnal favourites. You know those cold rainy days when you just need a hug in the shape of melted cheese?! This will make you feel better. The combination of earthy mushrooms + creamy brie + fragrant rosemary is amazing. Especially when topped on crispy butter-fried bread.

Another great autumnal dish is this pork fillet en croûte with a mushroom filling. Delicious and dinner party worthy!

Moving on to stews, this lamb stew with red wine, cream and mushrooms is one of my favourites to make because it’s so easy – yet so warming and lovely!

For a weeknight this quick chilli is easy and delightful, especially topped with grated cheese and soured cream. And maybe some cornbread on the side. Yum!

Autumn is also (finally!) the time for soups! Carrot and coriander soup has become a firm favourite since I moved to the UK. Before that I thought this would be a strange combination but it really works!

On a cold night nothing beats hot soup and melted cheese, and this broccoli soup with cheddar combines the two! It’s basically broccoli cheese made into a soup and I’m here for it!

I’m really into sweet potatoes at the moment and this soup with lemongrass is wonderful and totally vegan (if you use vegetable stock).

It wouldn’t be autumn without pumpkin and this roasted butternut squash with Persian pesto and feta is just to die for.

Last but not least, we obviously need to include apples. This is hands down the best apple cake there is! It has a nice crunchy top that makes it unusual but also utterly delicious. With a hint of cinnamon of course!

I also love this yoghurt pannacotta with soft baked apples and a hint of rosemary! The perfect autumn pudding!

There you are – a nice little selection of my favourite autumn recipes! Let me know if you try any of them and how you get on.

Recipe: Nigella’s slow roasted lemon and garlic chicken

Published on September 12, 2018 by HannaLeave a comment

I’m a planner. Not all the time, but I like to plan ahead in several areas of my life. Especially when entertaining. So I had decided on a menu for the lunch I was hosting for a few friends in Sweden long before I even got to Sweden.

But the draught threw a spanner in the works. Three days before I was leaving for Sweden the government issued a BBQ ban in most areas and it was forbidden to barbecue even on your own property. All to prevent any more wild fires. Totally logical and something we all had to accept. But since my original lunch plan involved lighting the barbecue I had to think of something else to cook. I thought this would magically come to me as ideas so often do, but no.

So, in this moment of crisis (well not really, but I was starting to panic a little as my days were packed full of activities) I turned to my trusted cook book collection in the beach house and as usual they helped me out. This time it was a recipe in Nigella’s book Summer that saved me! This slow-roasted lemon and garlic chicken is summery (and delicious) enough to make you forget all about your beloved barbecue and appreciate a dish that basically cooks itself in the oven.

And if you don’t find butchering chickens as therapeutic as I do, I would suggest you either ask your butcher for help or buy a mixture of skin-on chicken breasts and chicken thighs.

Nigella’s slow roasted garlic and lemon chicken, serves 4

Adapted from Nigella’s recipe.

1 chicken cut into 10 pieces

1 bulb of garlic, separated into unpeeled cloves

1 lemon, cut into chunky eighths

1 bunch fresh thyme

3 tbsp olive oil

75-100 ml white wine

salt and black pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 160°C.

Put the chicken pieces in a roasting tin, season and add the oil. Toss the chicken pieces in the oil so they’re coated all over. Place skin side up. Add garlic cloves, lemon chunks and thyme. Sprinkle over the white wine and put in the oven to cook for 2 hours.

Turn up the oven to 200°C and cook the chicken for another 30-45 minutes, by which time the skin on the meat will have turned golden brown and the lemons will have begun to scorch and caramelise at the edges.

Recipe: rhubarb parfait

Published on July 13, 2018July 13, 2018 by HannaLeave a comment

The base recipe for this parfait I’ve known since childhood, so full credit for it goes to mamma. It’s delicious on its own, and so much easier to make than ice cream. And it’s infinitely adaptable.

I’ve made it with elderflower before, and when I was at home in Sweden at the end of May mamma and I came up with this rhubarb version together. We wanted to keep the fresh acidity from the rhubarb while still keeping the sweetness of the custard-tasting parfait and I think we managed to do just that. It’s sweet but not too sweet with a hint of acidity for balance and freshness.

Rhubarb parfait, serves 4

3 egg yolks

80 g caster sugar

300 ml whipping or double cream

Rhubarb filling:

300-400 g rhubarb

approx 2 tbsp caster sugar

Rinse and slice the rhubarb. Mix with sugar and place in a pyrex dish. Place in a 180C oven and bake for approx 20 minutes until the rhubarb has softened and most of the liquid has evaporated. Leave to cool completely.

Beat egg yolkd and sugar until fluffy in a mixing bowl. Whip the cream in a separate bowl and add to the egg mixture.

Line a bread tin with cling film and place a 1 cm wide line of rhubarb compote in the middle of the tin lenghtways. Mix the rest of the rhubarb with the cream mixture and pour into the bread tin. Cover with cling and put in the freezer for at least 5 hours, but preferably over night. Serve with oat thins, berries, more rhubarb, whipped cream or as is.

Lunch box inspiration

Published on March 25, 2015 by HannaLeave a comment

The days I forget or don’t have time to prepare a lunch box for work are sad days. I work in the London’s West End with plenty of lunch places on my (office) doorstep but I still fail to find something I want to eat for lunch. Sure, sometimes I’ll go the taco route or succumb to a nice burger, but most of the time I just get bored looking in Eat and Pret A Manger. And all the healthy food places are a no no for my stomach as I can’t have wholegrain anything or any cabbage, and it seems, cabbage is in EVERYTHING.

So without actually doing much cooking, especially if I’m short for time, I try to come up with simple yet delicious lunch solutions I can bring to work.

The salad above is a great example of lunch dishes I love to eat. The only cooking involved was to slice courgette and aubergine and bake them in the oven with some oil and herbs. While that was cooking I made the feta crème (feta, creme fraiche, salt & pepper, thyme and a bit of olive oil) and the next day I just assembled it at work with spinach, cherry tomatoes and serrano ham straight from the supermarket. I never ever mix a salad before I’m about to tuck into it, instead I keep each ingredient in its own little container. It makes it so much fresher!

When it’s too cold for a salad this warm Jerusalem artichoke purée (boil artichokes, drain and mix with butter, salt and pepper) with some fried leek, mushrooms and pancetta.

This couscous salad with fried leeks, roasted sweet potatoes and fried halloumi is another quickly made lunch I can eat again and again and apart from the roasting time for sweet potatoes it’s quick to prepare.

The time I struggle the most to make lunch is when I have several nights out in a row, but the night before I try to prep a few lunches and even if I don’t have time to prep for all the lunches at least I don’t have to buy lunch many days either. A good compromise.