2013!!

Wow, Time has flown by and it is 2013 already.. i just realised that i have not written anything for almost 1,5 years! My new year's resolution (apart from dieting, excercise etc etc is now officially to continue to update my tastebuds from now on! So, a lot has happend during the missing 1,5 years.. many restaurants have been visited and many macaron experiments have taken place together with cake pops, cupcakes and numerous banana cakes.. oh well, you just have to take my word for it!
For NYE i made a lovely 3 course meal starting with a lobster salad with textures of vegetables, some i pickled some i steamed and some where raw. Served with a truffle mayonnaise - yummy and very light. This was folloed by a loin of lamb with a cauliflower puree and beans with a light porcini and lamb jus.. and the dessert.. well, all of my favorite flavours = vanilla, pistachio and raspberry! I made a moist pistachio cake and a white chocolate pannacotta which i "quenelled" over a slice of the cake. I also made raspberry jelly which i cut into lovely wobbly cubes and "pistachio crumble" made from caramellising sugar adding pistachio nuts, stir and pour on baking sheet to cool.. then crush up with a pestle & mortar.. Very yummy.:-)

Dinner in Chelsea - 21st of July

Had a little catch up dinner with my friend Iolanda at the Chelsea Brasserie close to Sloane Square Tube. The food was really really good and i highly recommend this restaurant. The bar was buzzing with an after work crowd when i arrived. The waiters were charming and very attentive. We were on a toptable deal which was great value for money.
I started with an amazing dish of warm soft goats cheese rolled in almonds (then baked in the oven until golden and toasted) served with some salad and onion marmalade.. Very very good.
Main was panfried bream with gnocchi and artichokes in a butter sauce. Again very good.
No room for dessert but i would definately like to come back for more!

Cup cakes - 21st of July

Riiight.. i have been soo bad with updating my blog recently.. but in all fairness,  have been busy getting married and enjoying my honeymoon :-)
So, one of my exec's decided to butter me up and say thank you for all my hard work.. so very sweet of him! I took delivery of a yummy box of cup cakes at work which i have to say were some of the best cup cakes i have had. A very moist almost almondy cake with a nice and light topping of buttercream. Highly recommend them. The company is called The little cupcake company: http://www.thelittlecupcakecompany.co.uk/

Only in Sweden... 25th of March 2011

When in Sweden you have to have a prawn sandwich or salad.. no other country compare when it comes to this classic... fresh prawns in a light mayonnaise dressing with dill and lemon.. not to mention that you get about a kilo of prawns! FAB

We went to "Tures" in the galleria in Stureplan in Stockholm.. a great shopping center with lovely restaurants and cafe's.
Take a look at my sandwich below and you will want to try one for yourself!

SMAK restaurant in Stockholm - 25th of March 2011

We went to Stockholm last weekend to organise our up and coming wedding. I had thought long and hard about where to go for dinner in the evening and after lots of research on the internet i picked SMAK www.restaurangentm.com/  which is part of the F12 group.
We both loved this restaurant! The concept is that you create your own tasting menu and you tick what food you want to include. You can have 3, 5 or 7 courses and you can mix and match savoury and sweet in any combination. You can also add on even more courses if you have a really big appetite. You can also choose to have "tasting glasses" of wine to match some or all of your dishes, or go for normal glasses or by the bottle.. i love the freedom of choice here!
Really liked the atmosphere and the very friendly staff.. the only downside is that the tables are very close together so you can overhear everything that is being said on either side of your table.
We decided on 7 courses each - 5 savoury and 2 sweet and we both picked the same dishes apart from 2. In hindsight it would have been more fun to pick all different dishes to try more but hey, this means we have to go back again!

My first dish was called: “Clay pot” matjes herring, red onion


It was so lovely and typical scandinavian with matjes herring, slicec boiled potatoes, egg and onion. Lovely and savoury.

My second dish was: Yuzo – “Sashimi” scallop, tofu, soya

Very fresh and clean tasting!

My third dish was the star of the show: Truffle – “Black ‘n’ white ‘n’ green” asparagus, parmesan

This is the dish where everybody around us (including ourselves) were seriously considering licking the dish clean! Such a simple dish but oh so good...

My fourth dish was: Wild garlic – “Oeuf cocotte” morells, chicken, bacon 
 An egg poached in a creamy concoction of cream, morell mushrooms, chicken and bacon.. yum.

My fifth dish was: Miso – “Glacée” lamb cutlet, daikon radish, sesame

Perfectly cooked lamb with japanese flavours.

My sixth dish was: Pistachio – “Gauffre” preserved strawberries

I went for it because i love pistachio however, i was disappointed since i did not think the flavours worked together as a dish. Everything was fine individually but not together.. plus i found it a bit boring.

My seventh and final dish was: Licorice – “Fondant” chocolate, sour cream, cherry
This was great! Chocolate fondant with a hint of licorice.. heaven

I would higly highly recommend this restaurant if you are visiting Stockholm.. we are definately going back again.. and again...

Obsessed with baking - 22nd of March 2011

I am currently in a phase where i just want to bake cakes and cookies whenever i have the time.. so, my colleagues at work are currently on the receiving end of home baked cookies a couple of times a week.
This time i actually remembered to get photographic evidence so here are my coconut cookies and my peanut cookies - both very nice! It us just a shame i forgot to photograph my gooey brownies with caramel and banana.. the whole HR department wanted the recipe! ;-)

Kettners - 13th of March

Had a nice and relaxed Sunday lunch with our DaCosta friends at Kettner's in Soho http://www.kettners.com/
They had a 50% off the a la carte offer going on toptable which we immediatley booked.. well, Pernilla did.. we just came along for the ride.
Kettners is such a nice little place with some lovely interior - really like what they have done with it.

I started with some deepfried and crumbed goats cheese served with yellow and red beetroot and salad with a balsamic dressing. Just what the doctor oredered for a Sunday lunch after a Saturday night out.
Following that i had beef with salsa verde, rocket and chips which was very nice too.

Highly recommend Kettner's for a casual lunch or dinner.