Linguine with fresh asparagus, mushrooms, avocado and Parmesan cheese

My week of pasta started with a simple but amazing linguine with fresh asparagus. Unfortunately the asparagus wasn't local but I just couldn't help but to buy it anyway - and it tasted amazing, despite it being transported a few miles. It really is a sign that spring is on it's way!

The What

1 bouquet of fresh green asparagus

200 g forest mushrooms

1 ripe avocado

2 dl cream

1 tps of chili flakes (depends on how spicy you want it!)

½ freshly squeezed lemon

1 clove of garlic

salt and fresh ground black pepper

The How

Gently fry the garlic in some olive oil in a pan. Add the mushrooms and fry until they have gotten a little color, but are not burnt. 

Add the chili flakes, lemon and cream. Add salt and cracked pepper. Bring to the boil and then let simmer. 

Pick up one asparagus and hold it between the your thumb and forefinger on both sides. Bend it until it snaps and throw away the root part of the veggie. This part can be eaten, but it's more chewy and has a tendency to be a bit bitter. Repeat on the rest of the asparagus. 

Boil the linguine until tender. 

Throw the asparagus into boiling water with a bit of salt, boil for about 1 minute so that it's still nice and crispy. 

Slice the avocado.

Add the linguine to the cream sauce, add the avocado and mix together. 

Serve the pasta topped with asparagus and Parmesan cheese and some more cracked pepper, if you like. 

Enjoy!

Prawns and champagne - simple luxury

My absolute favorite thing to do on a Friday night; drink champagne and eat seafood <3 

It's so simple, the pictures say more than enough - no fancy recipe needed!

What can be better than this?

Fresh asparagus with chili oil and Parmesan cheese

Fresh prawns and langoustines

Simple luxury

What's your favorite Friday night meal?

Chicken burger on sour dough bread with mango dressing, spicy fries and baby spinach salad.

You know when you really feel like having a burger? But then you're like "No, I really shouldn't, I have to think about beach 2014...". Living in Sweden I will only get about 2 months (if I'm lucky) of sun and it won't even be strong enough to make me tanned. To be honest with you, I would love to have that will power to say NO to pasta, NO to cheese, NO to wine, NO to the occasional pizza or burger and really go for that tight sexy beach bod this year.. But I just can't, food is just too damn good!! ... and also, I am a bit too lazy.

Chicken burger on sour dough bread with mango dressing,
spicy fries and baby spinach salad.

Take some advice from one of the greats: 

“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” 

― Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own

Or as I like to say:

"The belly rules the mind".

- Spanish Proverb

The burger below is actually quite easy to make your own; you can eat it without the bread and you can use whatever dressing you like, add or take away anything really to make it more, or less, healthy. This is what I used (and it tasted amazing!):

Prepping; sliced tomatoes, mozzarella, baby spinach
 and the mango dressing.

The What:

500 g minced chicken breast

1 red onion, finely chopped

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

1 egg

Buffalo Mozzarella Cheese

200 g baby spinach

Tomato(es)

2 dl creme fraiche

Mango Chutney to taste

10-12 potatoes

chili flakes

salt and fresh ground pepper

Sour dough bread

Making the chicken patties; It's a lot easier using a spoon
and make the patties right in the pan!

The How:

Put the oven to 200 degrees.

Slice the potatoes into halves and slice the halves into sticks. Put the potato sticks in an oven safe dish, add olive oil, salt and fresh ground pepper and chili flakes to taste. Put in oven for about 20 minutes. 

Put the finely diced red onion, the grated garlic and the egg in a bowl. Using a spoon, mix together with the minced chicken breast and finish with some salt and pepper.

Mix the mango chutney with the creme fraiche to taste, add more if you want it extra mangoey!! Add salt and pepper here too if you want, although it's not necessary.

Slice the tomatoes, the mozzarella and wash the baby spinach.

Heat a pan with olive oil and use a spoon and make the chicken patties straight  in the pan. Fry until they are a golden brown and cooked all the way through. They burn quite easily though so be careful!

Cut the bread into slices and put them in the oven on top of the fries when they've been in the oven for about 15 minutes. 

Home made fries in the oven; letting the bread soak
up the oil and spices.

Put the bread on a plate, add the chicken patty, mozzarella, tomato, baby spinach and finish with the mango dressing. Serve with the chili fires and a nice spinach salad.

A late, hungry Friday night in London: the answer is Lucky 7 for burgers and beer

I had just arrived to London, landing quite late with my Norwegian flight from Stockholm to Gatwick and I was already hungry stepping on the flight at Arlanda. However, the most important thing is first when landing at Gatwick; heading over to the last minute tax free shop before customs to buy a bottle of Bottega Gold Gera (nr  77756 at Systembolaget for about 199 SEK) to open with my pals later on for post dinner drinks. After this important stop, I popped in to the shop and bought a roasted butternut squash and feta cheese wrap by Marks & Spencer (so good, when will M&S come to Stockholm??) and hopped on the train over to St Pancras.

While waiting for my mates (you say mates in England so it's only right I do too in these London weekend posts) who were arriving from both London and Nottingham, I grabbed a seat at Searcys Champagne Bar for a glass of Besserat Grande Tradition Brut (a full bodied champagne with a reasonable price tag, around 300 SEK and about £25 in the UK), reading Anthony Bourdains Kitchen Confidential contemplating my dreams and life choices, which really, is a whole different story and blog post.  

So my mates finally came, hugs and kisses and a few girly screams were in order, we haven't seen each other in almost a year!! Way too long by my standards, I grew up with these girls and they will always always be considered my absolute closest. More like sisters than anything else. Too bad the New Yorker was missing, hopefully we'll all make it to her this year, in which case you guys will get a great NYC post :)

When the hugging and screaming was over and I'd put away Bourdain and downed my £11 glas of champagne, we were en route towards Royal Oak. We were starving and it was late, and it got later and later since we had so much to catch up on. We finally made it out the door and tried a few pubs down the street (her "local" as they say, the Brits) where the kitchens were closed; DAMN I'M HUNGRY NOW!!! We stumbled on and happened to walk past Lucky 7. It looked like any other burger joint so we stepped inside. It was almost 11 pm but the kitchen stayed open a little longer for us (thank you!!!) and we ordered a couple of Kalifornian burgers and a Pulled Pork Sandwich (check out their menu!) as well as a couple of Brooklyn Lagers (nr 1548 at Systembolaget, 18 SEK per bottle). The staff were nice and the service was effective and nice enough to let us eat even though they were already turning off the grills. 

The burger... It was pretty damn good. 

After the fabulous burger meal, we went back to my mates place and finished that bottle of Bottega, as well as a bottle of Veuve Cliquot Brut my mate had saved for me... the know me so well!

More on my fabulous London weekend coming up!

Seafood and bubbles, indulgence on a budget - It's possible!

I work as a Key Account Manager in my "real" life and some days are great; the clients are happy, the boss is happy and I'm happy, cause everyone else is happy and maybe I've closed a big deal. Happy happy happy! Those are the days I remember why I love working in sales. Other days are not so great and I remember why I love alcohol and food! One particularly awful day when  had just started at the new job, I got yelled at for things that happened  all the way back in 2009 when I was no where near the company or the job or even the city. Back then I still dreamed of taking over Kofi Annans job with the UN, I was still at University and still stubbornly defying my natural talent within sales and  never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I'd end up selling, specially not within the heavy industry and construction business. Needless to say, I felt the urge to indulge. I called my ever pleasing boyfriend and gave strict instructions to buy seafood; I envisioned king crab legs, prawns, crab and langoustine (or Norway Lobster or just plain old havskräfta in Swedish). So the boy went over to Söderhallarna by Medborgarplatsen and headed over to Melanders Fiskbutik, who had everything I wanted: 

Unfortunately this time, the wallet wasn't as thick as my appetite, end of the month and all. I couldn't afford one king crab leg for 170 SEK a pop or 690 SEK/kg, so we went all out on the prawns and a few langoustines instead, added some gorgeous sour dough bread from Borgs Brödbod and great cheese from Söder Cheesen, both at Söderhallarna.

We served this lovely meal with roe sauce and hovmästarsås, a mustard and dill sauce that goes great with prawns as well as smoked salmon, (a swedish favourite!) and easily finished a bottle of Dopff Brut Cuvée Julien (nr 7410 at Systembolaget, only 68 SEK for you Swedes). All in all it was a relatively cheap meal with all the luxury of indulgence on a budget.

And we had the pleasure of meeting and eating Poseidon, God of the Sea! Sorry dude. 

Soldaten Svejk and How to Make Raggmunk

We were on our way to see a show at Södra Teater  in Södermalm, Stockholm, and we couldn't decide where to eat. It was cold, raining and a Wednesday that was just begging for beer. Then it hit me that there is no cozier place for a spontaneous fatty dinner and a beer than Soldaten Svejk. You can't book a table here and since it is widely popular, make sure that you're here on time and are willing to wait. No worries with the waiting though, with their many excellent Czeck beers to chose from, you won't be too sad to wait for 15 or 20 minutes. And it is actually worth the wait. The food is traditional Czech, easily confused with both Swedish "husmanskost" and traditional Polish food, which means its hearty, good food; although maybe not to be consumed daily if one likes to keep their heart going for a few more decades. I had the "Raggmunk", which is a thick potato pancake, served with thick bacon, shredded raw cabbage and lingonberry. Easy to make yourself too if you don't have ready access to Soldaten Svejk, here's how, according to famous Swedish chef and TV-personality, Per Morberg:

The What

8-10 potatos

2 dl regular flour

1 tsp salt

4 dl whole milk

1 egg

600 g thick bacon

butter for frying

The How

Peel the potatoes.

Pour some of the milk in a bowl, whisk together with salt and flour to a smooth batter. Add the rest of the milk and the egg.

Fry the bacon in a pan and keep warm. Save the grease for the frying of the Raggmunkar. 

Grate the potatoes into the egg batter. 

Fry up some butter in the pan along with the bacon grease and add some of the batter (ca half a dl per Raggmunk).

 Smooth the batter in the pan using a spatula and fry the raggmunk a couple of minutes on each side so that they turn a nice golden brown. 

Serve the Raggmunkar with the bacon and lingonberries.

To convert dl to cups, clock on this awesome and easy CONVERTER!

For the recipe in Swedish, click here!

Lilla Bagis - a good reason to miss the tube in Bagarmossen

Monday morning. It's before 7 am and hardly awake, running towards the tube to avoid being late, to avoid starting off the week completely crap. I don't know about you guys but I never have time to have breakfast at home. I'm just way too tired! I would much rather sleep an extra 10 minutes than eat something in the morning. Of course I miss the tube and the frustration is complete. Monday. It's raining. I'm going to be late for work. Then I remember something that used to be a part of my morning routine before I got this new job where everyone thinks it's normal to start work at 6.30 am; Lilla Bagis opens at 7 am! My morning is saved!! Lilla Bagis is a local cafe and bakery in Bagarmossen, Stockholm serve everything from home made sour dough bread to gorgeous cakes and pastries. The cafe has a lovey living room feel to it, with small tables and a constant smell of fresh brewed coffee and newly baked bread. The staff are friendly and offer a smile, something which is unfortunately too rare in this cold climate. I missed the tube that Monday morning but I gained one of their delicious sour dough buns with cheese and greens, as well as a large cup of beautiful, strong, black coffee. Oh and the smile. 

If you're anything like me on a Monday morning, when you can hardly tell your ass from your face, and you just know that anyone who talks to you before your first cup of coffee will wish they never did, you'll be glad to miss the tube once in a while so that you can have a proper breakfast at Lilla Bagis - Svartågatan 4A, open Monday to Friday 7 am to 5 pm  and Saturdays at 9 am to 5 pm. 

Lilla Bagis is worth missing the tube for, even to go out of your way to get to every once in a while. Give it a try!

Stockholm Restaurant Week 2014

The annual restaurant week in Stockholm is a fantastic idea. It gives you the chance to try a two course menu at one or more of the city's many restaurants for only 250SEK. It starts in the beginning of February and stretches on for two wonderful weeks ahead. This year I had time for two pretty great meals in two very different restaurants in two very different parts of the city, with wine and excellent company as a major plus.

Stockholms Matvarufrabrik is located in Vasastan close to Odenplans tube station. I've had dinner here before and the food was good but the service was terrible. I was intrigued to see if this had changed so when my friends suggested we try it during Restaurant Week I agreed. The setting was warm and cozy and the menu looked promising. The waiter was attentive and informative, both on the menu and on the wine list, a big improvement from the somewhat bitchy waitress I had the (dis)pleasure of meeting here last time. The menu consisted of a beef tartar to start, with the classic accessories; capers, beetroots, mustard, egg yolk, salt and pepper served in a glass jar. The main course that followed consisted of pan-fried char, beurre blanc (butter sauce in plain English), charred onions and a terrine made of Jerusalem artichokes. We had a lovely Merlot-Grenache de la Chevaliere (2011 + link) throughout the meal which actually went pretty well with the fish. All in all it was a good meal, although the fish was a little on the cold side when they brought it out, they layout and presentation was good, the service had definitely improved since my last visit and I think that the dinner guests did their part in the improvement as well... :) 

Bistro Bon is located on the hills of Stockholms Södermalm, the-must-visit area in the city for all the worlds hipsters. Once again I let my friend and dinner companion chose the place to eat. Neither of us had been to Bistro Bon before and we did't really know what to expect. From the outside it might as well be a Thai Restaurant, with blinking lights in all different colors, it didn't give off the same french vibe as is apparent in the name. Inside, it was very different. Cozy and intimate with a clean but classic look, it immediatly felt that we could sit here for a good few hours eating, drinking and talking. Unfortunatley, the waitstaff did not think this was a good idea and as soon as we denied our offer of dessert, the stressed and rude waitress brought us our bill and said "time's running out". We had no idea there was a time limit on our visit, if we had been informed that we only had to 8pm, we probably wouldn't have lingered so rudely... The food was better than the service though, a tasteful lobster bisque with a seafood croquette deep fried in panko to start. The maincourse that followed was a little bit too meaty for my taste but the tenderness of the meat was undeniable. It was a Roti de Boeuf au Poivre, a char grilled Ball Tip +4, overnight grilled 54 medium, served with sautaeed haricots verts with smoked bacon, bordelaise sauce, green pepper butter and a potato terrine. Pretty damn good. We had a lovely bottle of rich Dancing Bull Zinfandel (only 91SEK at Systembolaget) which at least went well with the main course.

We finished the night at Ugglan just behind Nytorget, an awesome place to hang out, play some board games, some boule, air hockey or just have some good beer! 

All in all I'm pretty happy with this years Restaurant Week, my only regret is not trying out more restaurants! Hopefully next year I'll make it to more :)