Lovely fennel soup with scallops

This is one of my favourite soups. I am a big fan of fennel and together with the scallops this is the hammer.  You must try this!

Fennel soup

• 750 g fresh Fennel
• 1 Shallot, finely chopped
• 2 dl white Wine
• 1 l veal- or chicken Broth
• 1 dl Cream
• 1/2-1 tbsp Pernod
• Butter

Halve the fennel and cut out the stem in the middle, rinse it and cut off the sprigs. If the fennel dill is fresh, save it until later. Shred the fennel and fry it together with the shallot in butter until they are soft. Add the wine and the broth, let simmer for 30 minutes.

Use an electric mixer and blend the soup. If you don’t have one, use a strainer.

Let the soup come to a boil together with the cream, taste it with salt, pepper and the pernod. The soup shall have a thin consistency.

Fennel salad

• 250 g fresh Fennel
• 2 teaspoons of your best Olive oil, grassy taste
• 1-2 teaspoons fresh Lemon juice
• Salt and white pepper

Shred the fennel wafer-thin. Marinate in olive oil, lemon juice and salt. Add pepper just before serving together with fennel dill.

Scallops

• 8 Scallops
• Olive oil
• Salt and Pepper

Directly before serving season the scallops with salt and pepper. Heat up a frying pan, add olive oil and let the scallops just touch the pan. Let them get a litlle colour but that’s it!

Music: Listening to The Honey Brothers

Risotto with mussels and shrimps

We made Moule marinés the other day and had some sea mussels left over. We saved them together with the broth from cooking the mussels and made a leftover-risotto.

Risotto with mussel and shrimps

• 250 g Risotto rice
• 1 Shallot, chopped
• 2 Garlic cloves, chopped
• Olive oil
• 1-2 dl White wine
• 5 dl Mussel or fish broth
• 10 cm Leak, sliced
• Sea mussels (without shell)
• Shrimps
• Parmesan
• Lemon zest
• Parsley
• Chili powder
• Salt
• Pepper

Note that the fluid depends on the risotto rice you use, read the instructions for your rice brand.

Heat olive oil in a casserole, fry the shallot, the garlic and the rice until it is transparent. Add the fluid, little by little. Stir the risotto the entire time.

When you feel that the rice is almost done, add leak, mussels and shrimps. Spice the risotto with salt and pepper. Grate Parmesan cheese over the risotto and stir.

Before you serve, preferable on heated plates, decorate with cut parsley, lemon zest and chili powder.

Movie: Eaten while watching the Swedish thriller Johan Falk – National Target.

Finally the R-months are here!

It is said that you should only eat sea mussels when the month’s spelling contains the letter r. And now we have September!

Moules marinés

• 2 kg Sea mussels
• 2 Shallot
• fresh Thyme
• 3-4 dl White wine
• 1 dl Cream
• 1 Carrot, sliced
• 2 Celery stems, sliced
• Olive oil
• 1-2 Bay leaves
• Salt
• Pepper

Start by scrubbing the mussels and make sure to throw away the open ones. Heat up the olive oil in a pan and add the mussels, stir. Add the rest of the ingredients; veggies, spices, wine and cream.

Let the mussels boil/ steam until they are open. Serve the mussels in a large bowl and decorate with chopped parsley, lemon zest and grated garlic.

Home made deep-fried potatoes

• 4-5 Potatoes
• Deep-fry oil
• Salt

Cut the potatoes in pieces/ batons. Use a pot or a saucepan with a thick bottom, heat up the oil. To test if the oil is hot enough throw in a piece oaf white bread. The bread should be ready after approximately 1 minute in the oil.

Fry the potatoes twice. The first time for 2-3 minutes, let them cool off in between, and the second time until they are golden.Let them drain on a kitchen paper and add salt.

When deep-frying always keep a lid nearby in case the oil gets to warm and if you have one, a fire blanket. In case of an accident do not use water!

Chili Mayonnaise

• 3 Egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon Mustard
• 1 teaspoon Vinegar
• 2-3 dl Rape oil
• 1 teaspoon Sambal Olek
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 teaspoon Lemon juice

Make sure that all the ingredients have the same temperature before you start. Blend egg yolks with mustard and vinegar. Use an electric mixer and very carefully add the rape oil in a fine jet.  When you feel you have a good consistency add Sambal olek, salt, pepper and lemon juice. Blend and taste it.

Music: The swedish band Movits with their song Äppelknyckarjazz

An apple a day keeps the doctor away

We both had a cold this last week and needed something to cheer us up so we started planning a menu with the very healthy apple as the connecting ingredient.

Oysters with apple

• 8 Oysters
• 2 tbsp Vinegar (apple cider)
• 2 tbsp dry apple Cider
• 2 teaspoon Sugar
• 2 teaspoon Olive oil
• zest from half a Lemon
• White pepper
• 1/2 frozen Apple

Open the oysters and marinate them in the vinegar, cider, sugar, olive oil, lemon zest and white pepper. Clean the oyster shells and put them in the freezer.

Grate the frozen apple. Take out the frozen shells, put some grated apple in the bottom, add an oyster and little of the marinade and garnish with some more frozen apple.

Smoked lamb, cucumber salad and chervil foam

• 150 g Lamb fillet or other tender pieces
• 1 Cucumber, peeled and cored
• 1 dl Yoghurt
• 1 tbsp Cumin
• 3 Shallots
• 4 dl Chicken broth
• 2 dl Apple juice
• 2 dl Milk
• 2 dl Cream
• zest and juice from 1-2 Lemons
• 50 g Chervil (or mint, Thai basil)
• Salt and black pepper

Start with the lamb. Mix a litre cold water with 1 dl salt to a transparent fluid. Add the lamb and salt for 5 min. Dry the lamb and smoke it for 5 min. You could also buy smoked lamb or duck.

Make long “noodles” of the cucumber. Salt and squeeze out the water. Chop 1 shallot in fine pieces and mix with cucumber, yoghurt and cumin.

Chop 2 shallots in fine pieces. Braise in butter, add chicken stock and apple juice. Boil untill half of the fluid remains. Add cream and milk and cook until it got a creamy consistency. At the end add chervil and lemon juice and mix with a hand blender to a foam.

Serve the foam with the lamb topped with the cucumber salad.

Thick fillet of cod with leek cream

• 600 g thick fillet of Cod
• 1 tbsp Bread crumbs
• 1 tbsp Apple, finely cut
• 1 tbsp Shallot, finely cut
• 1 tbsp Tomato, finely cut
• 1 tbsp Parsley, finely cut
• 1 tbsp Horse radish, grated

Put the cod raw in a bol with 1 l water and 1 dl Salt for about 20 minutes. Then rinse the fish in cold water, cut it in 4 pieces and put them on oven paper or on a buttered tin. The oven temperature is 80⁰ Celsius and the fish is done when it reaches 45-50⁰ Celsius.

Decorate the cod with the vegetable mix and the bread crumbs

Leek cream

• 300 g Cream, 40 %
• 200 g Leek, sliced
• 150 g Potatoes, peeled and sliced
• Salt
• White pepper

Boil cream, leek and potatoes together until the potatoes are soft. Mix, strain and spice.

Blend rape oil with lemon juice and decorate the leek cream with it.

Roasted quail, black salsify x 2, cider juice

• 4 Quails (boaned)
• fresh Thyme
• 2 Garlic cloves
• 300 g Black salsify
• 2 tbsp Sugar
• 1/2 dl Cream
• 1,5 dl Chicken stock
• 1 dl Apple cider (dry)
• 1 teaspoon White wine vinegar
• 4 twigs Tarragon
• 1 dl stock from Veal

Cook vinegar, tarragon and cider until 3 tbsp remains. Add chicken- and veal stock and simmer to wanted consistency. If you want it to be like a glaze add some thickening. Before serving add a tbsp butter, salt and pepper if needed.

Peal the black salsify. Make four sticks (10 cm long). Fry the sticks in sugar and butter. Cook the left over pieces in 1/2 dl chicken stock and cream. Boil until the salsify is soft. Mix with salt and pepper to a purée.

Fry the quails in thyme, garlic and butter on the skin side. When colored bind together and roast in 100⁰ C in the oven until it reaches 57⁰ C.

Goat cheese with lemon and rosemary cooked apples

• 1 Ciabatta or baguette
• Olive oil
• Salt
• 2 dl Sugar
• 1 twig Rosemary
• 1 Lemon slice
• 1,5 Apple
• 150 g creamy Goat cheese

Slice the bread in wafer-thin slices. If you put the bread in the freezer for 30 min it is easily done. Heat a pan with oil and salt. Bake the slices until they have a nice color.

Slice the apple into 1 cm apple rings. Cook 2 dl water, 2 dl sugar, lemon slice and the rosemary for 2 min. Add the apple rings and simmer for 3 min. Take out the apples and let them rest until served. Cook the syrup until it has the consistency of a glaze.

Put apples, cheese and the thin bread in layers. Garnish with the glaze and some rosemary.

Apple compote with cardamom cream and Calvados jelly

Apple compote

• 2 Apples
• 0,5 dl Applejuice
• 1 tbsp Sugar
• half a Cinnamon stick

Peel and core the apples, cut them into pieces. Boil them with the applejuice, the sugar and the cinnamon stick until they are soft. Take out the cinnamon stick and mix the rest to a smooth pureé.

Cardamom cream

• 200 g Cream
• 100 g Milk
• 4 Egg yolks
• 50 g Sugar
• 20 g whole green Cardamom
• 1 Gelatine leaf, soaked

Boil milk and cream together with the cardamom, whisk the egg yolks and the sugar. Pour the milk cream over the egg yolks and the sugar. Heat to 85 degrees Celsius, add the gelatine leaf and strain.

Calvados jelly

• 0,5 dl Calvados
• 0,5 dl Water
• 1-2 Gelatine leaves, soaked

Heat up the Calvados and the water carefully, add the gelatine leaves and let them melt.

Use a dessert bowl or a soup plate. The applecompote at the bottom, add the cardamom cream and then the calvados jelly. Leave it in a cold place (the fridge) until serving. We served it with a home made yoghurt sorbet, apple crisps and candied hazelnuts.

Last but not least we made an espresso and enjoyed a glass of really nice Calvados.

Music: The White Stripes wonderful  Apple blossom, together with the classic Glenn Miller song – Don’t sit under the apple tree