SUKIYAKI!

Friday the 13th, best day to have a Sukiyaki dinner. The excellent chef for the night was Ms. Man! She made us really nice korean crabstick pancakes, beansprout salad and kimchi for starters. For main course, lovely Sukiyaki. Max brought us Bea's of Bloomsbury cupcakes for dessert. Perfect, nice and chatty night in with friends!

 Stuffed after all the good food! We needed a cigarette break before the dessert..

Happy Easter!!

I had an Easter dinner with my friends Ali & Tobias. I promised to cook them Lamb Racks but silly me I did a last-minute shopping and all the Lamb Racks was already sold out. But I managed to get hold of Lamb Steak and it turned out pretty good anyways...and I love pampering my friends so I also made them dessert :) 

Easter Menu 

* Lamb Steak with sweet potato/potato gratin, grilled asparagus, strawberry/melon sallad and fresh herb sauce

* Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Cream and Lime Strawberries 

Taste of Sweden!

I passed by my fishmonger today and couldn't resist buying some freshly peeled shrimps and crab sticks. I guess havin' Swedes in the house made me a bit homesick. So today I made Toast Skagen, a dish created by the popular Swedish restaurateur Tore Wretman. My Toast Skagen has a little twist, I add apple, crab sticks and crème fraiche in it. Enjoy!

Toast Skagen
serves 4 persons
1 big green apple wedge
250g peeled shrimps
50g crab sticks
1 tblsp finely chopped dill
4 tblsp mayonnaise
1 tblsp crème fraiche
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 pinch of salt
pepper
2 slices of whole grain bread or white bread
1 lemon
butter

How to do:
Peel the apple, chop it VERY finely, sprinkle some lemon juice ( prevents the apple to turn brown)
Peel the shrimps, if they are big, chop them in smaller pieces
Chop the crab sticks, chop the dill
Place everything in a bowl
Now add the mayonnaise, crème fraiche, Dijon and salt. Stir gently and don't stir too much, makes it runny. Put the bowl in the fridge while preparing the bread.
Cut the bread in triangels and sauté them golden brown on both sides in a little butter. Place on paper towels. Let them cool off.
Place Skagen on the breads, grate some lemon zest on the top and ground black pepper. Garnish with lemon wedge.
Et voìla tasty Toast Skagen!

Sausage Stroganoff

A friend of mine from Stockholm came for a visit and brought me Falukorv!! Yay! Falukorv is a traditional sausage from Sweden, and it's the best sausage to use in Sausage Stroganoff. However, if you have difficulties getting hold of Falukorv you can always use any kind of smoked sausage.

 Sausage Stroganoff à la Ollie! Bon Appètit!

Sausage Stroganoff à la Ollie

 serves 4 persons
2 tblsp vegetable oil
1 yellow onion
1 big ripe tomato
400g Falukorv or any smoked sausage
1 tblsp flour
3 dl milk
2 dl cream
1 tsp liquid honey
1/2 tsp salt
4 tblsp tomato puree
1 tblsp Dijon mustard
1 pinch of chili flakes
pepper

How to do:
Chop the onion and tomato finely
Slice sausage into strips
Heat up the oil in a large frying pan
Place the onion and sausage in the frying pan and brown them
Lower the temperature and sift flour into the pan, stir around
Add tomato, milk, cream, honey, salt, tomato puree, Dijon, and chili flakes.
Stir and let it simmer until the liquid gets a creamy texture.

Serve the Sausage Stroganoff with rice ( try brown rice for a change), sallad and freshly ground black pepper over the top.

I recommend!

Sorry, I haven't been cooking much lately..but I have a recipe and restaurant recommendations for you! This past two weekends I've had friends visiting me from Sweden so I've been to some good restaurants.

Ms. Man, one of the best cook I know. Today she made Egg Benedict à la Gordon Ramsay.
Wanna try it? Here's the recipe.

 Recommendation No.1 Afternoon Tea at The Wolseley. Amazing scones that melt in your mouth, lovely pastries and tasty tea. I highly recommend their own blend, The Wolseley Afternoon Blend.

Recommendation No.2 Dean Street Townhouse. Nice atmosphere and delicious desserts. Try their Yorkshire rhubarb crumble or Raspberry Sorbet! ( Sorry, forgot to take pictures)

Recommendation No.3. Forget the Curries in the center of Brick Lane, the best Curry in London is Needoos Grill, located nearby. Yes, the interiour is tacky, BUT they make spicy, tasty and mouth watering food. If you like lamb you MUST order the Karahi Lamb Chops Masala. Also the Palak Chicken was good and instead of regular Nan, you should order the Parswari Nan and I forbid you to leave the restaurant without having their dessert, Kulfi, pistagio flavor. Try it and you'll know what I'm talking about!

Yummie Fish & Seafood Stew

First time I did this Fish & Seafood Stew was a year ago. My friends loved it, especially Karin and Sue. It's their favourite dish, every now and then they ask me to do it. Sue's been craving the stew for a week now so today I made it for her. If you love fish and seafood maybe you'll also get addicted to this stew. The good thing with this dish is that you can vary it with different kind of fish and seafood. Go to your grocery store or  fishmonger and see what they have to offer. They had special offers on white fish today at my grocery store and I had some shrimps at home so that's what I had in my stew today. Instead of white fish you can for example have salmon ( or why not have a little bit of both salmon and white fish), and instead of shrimps, clams.


Fish & Seafood Stew with Dijon Aïoli
serves 4 persons
olive oil to fry with
1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
2 big cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 fennel
3 potatoes
2 carrots
1 dl cream
2 dl creme fraiche
1,5 dl white wine, dry
2 dl water
500g white fish or 250g white fish and 250g salmon
150 g shrimps
30 gram chopped dill
1 1/2-2 bouillon cubes, fish
salt and pepper

Dijon Aïoli
3 tblsp mayonnaise
2 tblsp creme fraiche
1 tsp dijon
1 tblsp lemon juice
lemon zest
salt and pepper

Let's start cooking!

Cut the fennel, carrots, potatoes and the fish in big chunks.

Pour the oil in a big caserole, heat up and place the finely chopped onion and garlic. When they get golden yellow..

...put in the fennel and the potatoes, some pepper. Fry in a couple of minutes, then...

..pour the water and wine. Place 1 1/2 cube bouillon, stir til it desolve. Let the stew bowl up, then lower the temperature, put a lid on and simmer til the potatoes is half cooked, 8-10 minutes. Meanwhile...

..do the aïoli. Mince the garlic VERY finely. Use a blender or do it by hand. Put the garlic in a small bowl. Place the mayonnaise, dijon, creme fraiche, lemon juice. Mix it up and season the aïoli with salt, pepper and lemon zest. Put the aïoli in the fridge.

When the potatoes are half cooked, place the carrots let it zimmer for another five minutes.

Place creme fraiche, cream, fish and seafood. Stir around. Put on the lid, let it zimmer for about 6-8 minutes. Whe the fish is white and firm the stew is ready. Have a taste, add the rest of the bouillon or salt if needed. Turn of the hot plate and place the finely chopped dill. Stir around gently, we don't want to mash the fish!

Garnish with aïoli, dill and lemon wedge. Serve the stew with some bread. If there's any aïoli left after garnishing, put it on the table. It's nice dipping the bread in it!

Et voilà! Bon Appétit!

Scandinavian Kitchen

My new working place! Yes, I will be one of them making you those lovely open sandwiches and delicious cakes. Scandinavian kitchen is all about food from Scandinavia. So if you are Scandophile this café/deli is HEAVEN for you. Besides serving you great quality food we also offer you selection of more than 600 Scandinavian delicacies in our shop.
We had a small event today, here's some tasty pictures. Enjoy and hope to see you soon!