Salmon teriyaki

What a treat! Both kids licked their plates and my oldest, who's not very interested in eating anything that does not have chocolate in it, mumbled a quiet mmm after her first taste and asked for seconds. Salmon is always on the menu when my husband is not joining us for dinner as he is not very keen on it but I love it. Sometimes it is oven-baked with mushroom and asparagus risotto, other times in tin-foil with tomatoes, mozzarella and salami. Today it was served with homemade teriyaki sauce, basmati rice, chantenay carrots and broccoli. I apologise for the pictures, they look like they could have been found in a German autobahn restaurant...but a clean plate is worth taking a picture of when there has been salmon in it! 

Ingredients (for the three of us today)

2 salmon fillets (skin removed), cut into 2 cm chunks

2 tbsp japanese soy sauce

1 tbsp mirin

1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar

1 clove of garlic, pressed

1 tumbsize piece of fresh ginger

1 tbsp sesame oil 

sesame seeds

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 200ºC

Peel and grate the ginger, squeeze out the juice in a bowl, then discard the fibrous left-overs. Add the rest of the ingredients to the ginger juice except the salmon and mix well until the sugar has dissolved. Add the salmon and leave in the fridge for an hour (or even over night so that dinner is prepared for the next day!). Pour the salmon and sauce into an oven-proof dish, sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake for 10 mins. Serve with rice and vegetables of your choice. 

Fruit and nut sourdough bread

I have had my sourdough base in the fridge for two weeks now, just waiting to be used. Yesterday, I made my first sourdough bread! Baking is hard work,  I wish I had one of those Kitchenaids/Magimixers to do the kneading for me. Those machines are huge though and anyone who lives in my area knows that space is in short supply. Typically it is one thing in, one thing out. Might have to get rid of the toaster or maybe my husbands coffee machine or perhaps one of the kids...anyway here is the recipe for a delicious fruit and nut bread. The recipe is from a well-known Swedish foodie and the recipe in Swedish can be found here http://www.recept.nu/1.126178/leila_lindholm/matbrod/mjol/leilas_frukt_och_notbrod

Sourdough base

There are many beautiful blogs focusing on baking and particularly baking with sourdough, where you can read more about starting your own sourdough (my favourite www.paindemartin.blogspot.com is unfortunately in Swedish). It is not very difficult though and this is how I did. 

Mix one tbsp each of organic white flour and rye flour with one tbsp of luke warm water in a glass jar, leave the lid open a bit and put the jar somewhere a bit warmer than room temperature (the cupboard on top of fridge is usually a good tip). Everyday for three days you need to feed the sourdough base by adding another tbsp of each flour and water. You should see it start bubbling. On day 4 it should be ready to start baking with. Once you have used what you need you can put the jar in the fridge. Some bakeries have used the same sourdough base for years.  Whenever you want to use the sourdough again take it out of the fridge, feed it and leave in your warm, cosy space for a day and night. It should start to look alive again. 

Fruit and nut bread

Ingredients (for one loaf of bread)

10g fresh yeast (order online at http://www.totallyswedish.com/en/webshop/food/dairy-deli/fresh-yeast

2 dl cold water

1/2 tbsp syrup (agave or maple is fine)

1tsp salt

1tsp ground cinnamon

1 dl sourdough base

2 dl organic rye flour

3 1/2 dl organic white flour

75g of mixed nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios)

50g raisins or sultanas

50g dried fruit (apricots, dates, figs)

Preparation

Mix the yeast with water, sirop, salt and cinnamon in a bowl. Add the sourdough, rye flour and some of the white flour then work the dough slowly until it is elastic adding more flour as you go. If you have a Kitchenaid/Magimix then work the dough a bit quicker for about 5 mins. Then add the nuts and fruit and mix even faster for 30 sec. Cover with a kitchen towel and leave to rise for 1 hour. 

Heat the oven to 250ºC. Place a baking tin at the bottom of the oven. Shape the dough into a loaf and role it in rye flour, place in a bread tin and leave to rise for another hour. 

Slide a knife diagonally three times across the loaf and place in the oven. Pour 3/4 dl of water into the baking tin at the bottom of the oven and lower the temperature to 230ºC then bake for 30 mins. Remove the loaf from the tin and leave to cool on a grid. 

Road trip

My oldest daughter had a few days off from school so we decided to get a change of scenery and headed out to the country side (or went on a road trip as she would call it). Long drives are out of the question at the moment as our youngest is reluctant to sit still at all. Coworth Park in Ascot about 40 mins drive from home was the perfect choice www.coworthpark.com after solid recommendations from friends and www.mrandmrssmith.com (well-renowned boutique and luxury hotel booking specialist). So after a night out with very good friends at www.hakkasan.com/mayfair/ on Friday we woke up slightly tired, packed, got coffee to go and drove off. Arriving at the "castle" was a joy, we were very well taken care of and had a lovely weekend. The scenery is magnificent, interior very stylish and just to my taste, good selection of foods with both fine dining and more brasserie-type food. The kids enjoyed the surroundings, the horses and the kids club. Grown-ups got some well-deserved pampering at the spa. Pictures above and below are from the restaurant the Barn where we had lunch on Saturday. The restaurant is beautifully done up, rustic and cosy in muted earthy colours. My burger, a perfect remedy after the champagne from the night before, was delicious. I especially liked the coleslaw made with red cabbage and raisins which added sweetness. The best part of lunch, though, were the little jars of condiments. Especially the ketchup. As a reluctant ketchup-devotee I now need to try and recreate the perfect taste of this delicacy at home. One of many "want-to-do" things on my list. In the meantime enjoy the picture of the largest lawn I have seen in a long time. 

Granola

What did I have for breakfast before I had Granola? I am obsessed with it and almost panic if I find my granola jar low on stock. I bought a packet of Granola from Le Pain Quotidien http://www.lepainquotidien.co.uk about a year ago and loved it. The packets are ridiculously small though and I would constantly run out. A very good friend of mine said she did her own so I asked for her recipe, looked up a few others, then ended up with this. Eat it with Greek (or Turkish or Russian, whatever you prefer) natural yogurt and some fresh fruit and you have packed your breakfast with vitamins, minerals and healthy fats. But don't tell me I didn't warn you, it is completely addictive. Ah and by the way, for those of you thinking about your eco footprint the blueberries in the picture were bought by mistake (they are from South Africa!!!) my oldest smuggled them into the basket while shopping at our local deli http://elizabethking.com/. At this time of year we stock up on frozen ones. Raspberries from West Sussex though. 

Ingredients
Preheat oven to 175ºC

250 g of rolled oats

3 dl each of walnuts, cashews, pecans

2 dl each of almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflowers seeds, sultanas, raisins, chopped dried apricots

1 dl rape seed oil

2 tbsp agave syrup (high degree of sweetening but low glycemic index)
(whenever I find dried unsweetened cranberries/blueberries etc I add some of these too)

Preparation

Add the oil and the syrup to a pan and heat until it starts bubbling, then remove from heat. Mix all ingredients except the dried fruit in a large bowl. Pour the oil and syrup mix and mix well until everything is covered. Put a baking sheet in a baking tin and add the mixture. Bake for about 30 mins turning every 5-7 mins. Leave to cool when done then add the dried fruits. Store in an airtight container for up to a month.

Italian meatballs with tomato sauce

Yet another really simple dish. I bought these very sweet plum tomatoes at the farmers market on Sunday so I thought I would make a tomato sauce to go along with italian meatballs. As with the fish fingers these are also stocked in the freezer for baby lunches and quick dinners. This time they are italian, next time they might be the original swedish ones served with mash and lingonberries or just mixed with left-over pesto. So many variations, so many recipes to post here.

Meatballs

Ingredients (for our dinner and a good batch to freeze)
Preheat oven to 200ºC
800 g minced beef
1 1/2 dl breadcrumbs
1 onion, finely chopped or grated
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or grated
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
2 tbsp veal stock (or beef)
1 egg
3 dl of milk
1 dl grated parmesan
zest of 1 lemon
25 g of chopped parsley

Preparation
In a large bowl mix the milk and breadcrumbs, leave to soak for 5 mins. Meanwhile, chop or slice the onion and garlic, grate the parmesan and lemon.

Add all other ingredients to the milk and breadcrumbs and mix thoroughly. Shape into balls with wet hands. Place the meatballs in a roasting tray and bake in the oven for 15 mins. In the meantime, prepare the tomato sauce.

Tomato sauce
Ingredients
5 small cloves of garlic
2 cans of chopped tomatoes (or fresh tomatoes of course)
1 tbsp of honey (add to your taste)
1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Finely chop or grate the garlic. Heat a little bit of olive oil in a frying pan and cook the garlic just until it gets a little bit of colour, then add the tomatoes, honey and balsamic vinegar. Allow to simmer for a few minutes, season with salt and pepper.

Spoon over the meatballs and serve with pasta and a green leafy salad or steamed broccoli for the kids.

Plaice with chorizo pesto

I am always on the lookout for appetizing fish recipes. My kids like fish so they are usually ok with most of them. My husband is not, he thinks they are fishy...but he liked this one, which is my own recipe. Pesto in all shapes and forms is a great way of adding taste to fish (or any other dish for that matter) and has so many variations. I used chorizo in this one.

Ingredients (for 2 adults and 2 young children)
6 plaice fillets (less if they are large)
1/2 dl of almonds
1/2 dl of breadcrumbs (preferably Japanese panko)
130 g of chorizo (or thereabout)
a handful of chopped flatleaf parsley
the zest of 1 lemon
2 tbsp of butter
salt

Preparation
Preheat the oven to 200ºC on grill

Add the almonds to a food processor and whiz until finely chopped. In another bowl mix the breadcrumbs, finely chopped chorizo, parsley, lemon zest and almonds.

Rinse the plaice fillets and then season with salt. Melt 1 tbsp of butter in a frying pan and add the plaice fillets skin-side down for 1-2 min then turn for 1 min.

Place the fish skin-side down in an oven-proof dish, add a small dollop of butter on each and then sprinkle the pesto over. Leave in oven until the pesto looks golden and chorizo has some colour so about 5 mins.

Serve with potato and parsnip mash (just boil potatoes and parsnips until soft, add butter and milk then mix with beaters until fluffy) as well as some blanched green beans.

Please be careful with the almonds if you have small children. They are such a good size for little hands as you can see...

Kids' and grown ups' favourites

I had made a reservation at Zuma http://www.zumarestaurant.com for Friday night. It is one of my absolute favourite restaurants in London and because you need to book sort of 2 months in advance we rarely make it. So big anticipation and I was not disappointed. Killer sushi, sashimi, seared tuna, crispy fried squid combined with a great bar for enticing cocktails. 

Of course the kids needed a treat too. Their favourite food is homemade fish fingers with mash and peas, and on this occasion I also made pea pure with cream and butter. I usually do a large batch of fish fingers and keep them breadcrumb-coated in the freezer.  

Fish fingers

Ingredients 

400g haddock fillets

1 egg

1/2 dl milk

1/2 dl flour 2 dl breadcrumbs (preferably Japanese panko)

butter for frying

salt

Preparation

Mix the egg with the milk in a shallow bowl. Mix the flour with breadcrumbs on a plate. Cut the fish in fish finger like shapes and season with salt. Dip first in the milk/egg mix and then coat with the flour/breadcrumbs. Heat some butter in a frying pan and fry on medium heat until golden.

Pea pure
Ingredients
1 1/2 dl peas
1 dl cream
1 tbsp butter
salt and pepper to season

Preparation
Add the peas, cream and butter in a small pan. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Boil for 5 min then process with handmixer or blender. 

Serve with mash (potato and parsnip is another favourite). 

Spag bol!

I know, it is the most boring dish ever so why even bother talking about it. Well, because it is so good, (come on, admit it) the kids love it and you can basically put anything you find in the fridge in it. Unless you are a real food police who will only cook the "real" version of ragú al Bolognese registered by the Accademia Italiana dela cucina in 1982 (beef, pancetta, onions, celery stalk, tomato paste, meat broth, red wine, milk, salt and pepper). The recipe below is my version (on this particular day that is).

Ingredients
400 g of aged minced beef
1-2 pork sausages (just because I had some left over)
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 red onion
2 small carrots
1/4 of a small celeriac
1 can of chopped tomatoes (and any left over tomatoes you may have)
2-3 tbsp thai fish sauce
zest of 1 lemon and juice of 1/2
1 tbsp honey
a few sprigs of lemon thyme
flat leaf parsley to serve
salt and pepper
olive oil
parmesan cheese

Preparation
Chop the onion and garlic finely, grate the carrots and celeriac. Heat a pan with olive oil and cook until soft but not browned. Remove from pan.

Remove the skin from the sausages, put the them and the beef in the pan and cook through. Then add back the onion, garlic, carrot and celeriac as well as chopped tomatoes, fish sauce, lemon zest and juice, honey, lemon thyme, salt and pepper. Cook for about 15 mins. Serve with pasta of your choice, chopped parsley and grated parmesan cheese.

Potato and jerusalem artichoke mash

Here is the recipe of the mash we ate with the pork and apple sausages and brussels sprouts.

Ingredients (for the four of us)
3 large potatoes, preferably king edward
2-3 jerusalem artichokes
2 tbsp butter
1/2 dl cream
salt and pepper

Preparation
Peel the potatoes and jerusalem artichokes. Place in pan with salted water, bring to a boil and leave until very tender. When done leave to steam for a bit. Then add butter and cream and mix with beaters to a lovely fluffy mash. Season.

Sourdough

Walking in at the new Poilane bakery and also buying my weekly fruit and nut sourdough bread at the local Pain Quotidien café made me eager to try and do my own sourdough base. The glass jar is now safely tucked away in the cupboard next to the fridge. The sourdough, a base of just water and organic wheat and rye flour, needs air and a nice warm place to start producing those lactobacillus bacteria that is so healthy for you. Feed it with more water and flour every day and then after a few days it is ready to be used in your own pain au levain. Mine will have lots of dried fruits and nuts to balance that tangy taste of the sourdough. 

Poilane

My mother came to visit last week and one of the things she and I are good at is shopping! When she is here, we will always spend a few hours on Kings Road as it is fairly close to were we live. The only problem on these outings (apart from the fact that we spend too much money) is where to eat and drink around Sloane Square. Our problems are now solved as Poilane, the French bakery, has opened just opposite Peter Jones.  It looks absolutely gorgeous and of course the breads have all the attributes I love; stone-ground flour, sourdough and baked in wood-fired ovens. Their first bakery opened in St Germain in Paris in 1932 and in London in 2000. It took Lionel Poilane 2 years to get permission to use a wood-fired oven; the Great Fire of London in 1666 began in a bakery. Good thing my mother has already booked her next trip here!

Harvest from the local farmers' market

We have a house in Sweden where we try to spend time whenever we can to get away from the hectic life of London. It is in the south of Sweden in an area abundant with growers and farmers. I love getting my meat, fish, vegetables and fruit in shops that stock their produce. Not only is the taste unbeatable but it feels fantastic to be able to travel around the area and look out onto to the fields telling the kids that those potatoes growing out there is what we are having for dinner! How wonderful then that we, since the end of September, have our own farmers' market just around the corner here in London. Here are some pictures of a few things we bought there on Sunday. Today's dinner menu was pork and apple sausages (also from the farmers market http://www.fossewayorganics.co.uk/index.htm) with potato and jerusalem artichoke mash. I meant to serve with sauteed brussels sprouts with toasted almonds and onions but as often happens when you have two young children hugging your knees I ended up just blanching them. Recipe to follow of the mash.

Coq au vin

 Today felt like the first real autumn day in London with grey skies and a cold drizzle. I had a bit of an appetite after a solid 75 min yoga workout at my favourite yoga place http://www.thepoweryogaco.com/ this morning. Good weather for the first casserole of the season; a Coq au vin. I use chicken thigh fillets, fresh lemon thyme and add some soya beans for the colour of the dish and to get extra vegetables in there. My 16-month old ate like she had never seen food before. Unfortunately no photo as the kitchen was too dark once I had finished. Can easily be prepared and cooked in advance and then just reheated before serving. Here is the recipe for a family of four (with two small children so add extra if you have bigger or hungrier kids):

Ingredients
4 chicken thigh fillets
100 g cubed pancetta
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
2 portabella mushrooms
6-8 small brown or red onions
2 handfuls of babyplum or cherry tomatoes
1 dl red wine
3 tbsp stock (I use bong's liquid chicken stock)
2 bay leafs
2 cloves of garlic
a couple of sprigs of lemon thyme
1 dl frozen soya beans
3 dl water (or as much as it takes to cover all the ingredients)
2 tbsp corn flower (and some water to mix to a roux)
salt and pepper
some pomegranate seeds to finish off

Preparation
Preheat the oven to 200 º C. 

Chop the mushrooms into size of 1 cm cubes. Peel the onions and garlic cloves. Heat half the butter and olive oil in a casserole and brown the mushrooms, onions and garlic. Remove from the casserole.

Cut the chicken thighs into 2 cm pieces. Heat the remaining butter and olive in the casserole and cook the chicken, then add back the mushrooms, onions and garlic.

Add wine, stock, tomatoes, bay leafs, lemon thyme and water to cover. Leave to simmer for 30 mins.

Put the pancetta in an oven proof dish and leave in the oven until cooked.

When the casserole is almost finished add the frozen soya beans and the roux, stir and leave to thicken for a few minutes. Top with the pancetta and serve with a sprinkle of pomegranate seeds and rice, barley or regular couscous. Enjoy!

Beef Rydberg

Beef Rydberg is a Swedish dish named after a gentleman called Abraham Rydberg, who very kindly donated money to build a hotel in Stockholm called Hotel Rydberg. Here is the recipe for 2 people:

Ingredients:

300g beef fillet

1 yellow onion, finely chopped

4 medium sized potatoes

butter and oil for frying

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 egg yolk still in its shells

large leef parsly

3 tsp dijon mustard 

4 tbsp creme fraiche

1-2 tsp honey

Peel the potatoes and cut them in 1 1/2 cm cubes, rinse with cold water. Cut the beef in same size cubes. 

Heat some butter and oil in a large frying pan and cook the onions until softened but not browned. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from pan but keep warm. 

Cook the potatoes in the same pan until golden, season, remove and keep warm. 

Brown the beef on high temperature so that it gets a nice colour, season. 

Mix onions, potatoes and beef in a serving dish. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and put an egg yolk in its shell on top. 

Serve with a sauce made of the creme fraiche, mustard and honey. Serve with blanched green beans and maybe a tomato salad. 

Cosy Friday (Fredagsmys in Swedish)

My husband loves traditional Swedish food (husmanskost in Swedish) so when he got home tonight from a business trip I cooked him Beef Rydberg with a cold sauce of creme fraiche and dijon mustard. Kids in bed so it was just us. Sweet! I will give you the recipe tomorrow!