From Danish cake to roast pork loin: Delicious Scandi menu
A SCANDINAVIAN menu is a smörgåsbord of delights.
A Scandinavian menu is a smörgåsbord of delights
Pickled beetroot and apple salad
Serves: 4
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Preparation time: 25 minutes plus 48 hours’ pickling
3 large beetroots (a mix of red, candied and golden, if you can get them)
150ml (5¼fl oz) vinegar
150ml (5¼fl oz) water
150g (5¼oz) sugar
1 tsp coriander seeds
½ tsp juniper berries
2 bay leaves
10g (½oz) chives
10g (½oz) parsley
500ml (17½fl oz) crème fraîche
2 tbsps grated fresh horseradish
Juice of ½ lemon
2 tbsps olive oil
1 tsp caraway seeds
2 chicory bulbs
2 Baby Gem lettuces
200g (7oz) radishes
2 apples
Peel the beetroots, slice into ½cm (¼in) wedges and put in a metal bowl. If you have all 3 beetroots, separate them in different bowls.
Heat the vinegar, water, sugar, coriander seeds, juniper berries and bay leaves. When the sugar has dissolved, boil for 1 minute.
Pour the hot pickling juice over the beetroot slices and cool to room temperature. Once cooled, chill in the fridge for 48 hours.
Finely chop the chives and parsley. Mix with the crème fraîche, grated horseradish, lemon juice, olive oil and caraway seeds.
Pick the leaves from the chicory and lettuces. Halve the radishes, rinse with the salad leaves and dry fully in a salad spinner.
Cut the apple into matchstick-sized pieces and mix with the drained beetroot.
Place the salad leaves on a platter and sprinkle with beetroot and apple. Dot with the crème fraîche dressing and serve.
Danish dream cake
Serves: 12
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Preparation time: 20 minutes
For the sponge:
75g (2½oz) unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
150ml (5¼fl oz) milk
3 eggs
180g (6¼oz) caster sugar
A pinch of salt
½ tsp malt extract
180g (6¼oz) plain flower, sifted
1½ tsps baking powder
For the coconut topping:
150g (5¼oz) unsalted butter
250g (8¾oz) light muscovado sugar
60ml (2fl oz) milk
200g (7oz) desiccated coconut
To serve:
Fresh, lightly whipped cream
Preheat the oven to 180°C/ 350°F/gas mark 4. Lightly grease and line a 24cm (9½in) springform cake tin.
For the sponge, gently warm the butter with the milk so the butter has melted and is warm to the touch – don’t let it boil.
Using an electric whisk, beat together the eggs and caster sugar until light, fluffy and pale – this should take 6-7 minutes.
Add the salt and malt extract then whisk for a further 2 minutes.
Sift in the flour and baking powder followed by the warm milk. Gently fold together with a metal spoon until fully combined.
Pour into the cake tin and bake in the middle of the oven for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick placed in the middle comes out clean.
Make the topping. Melt the butter, sugar and milk until the sugar has fully dissolved. Let it bubble for 1 minute then add the coconut and stir for a further 1 minute.
Turn the oven up to 220°C/425°F/gas mark 7.
Spoon the coconut mixture evenly all over the sponge and bake for a further 5 minutes until the coconut is lightly toasted.
Cool fully then serve with whipped cream.
Crayfish soup
Serves: 4
Cooking time: 2½ hours
Preparation time: 25 minutes
800g (1¾oz) crayfish shells
1 fennel bulb
2 carrots, peeled
1 onion, peeled
3 celery sticks
2 garlic cloves, peeled
60g (2oz) butter
2 bay leaves
1 tsp whole black peppercorns
4 tbsps tomato purée
50ml (1¾fl oz) brandy
2½ litres (4 pints 8fl oz) fish stock
1 tbsp mild curry powder
400ml (14fl oz) double cream
400ml (14fl oz) white wine
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt and pepper
200g (7oz) cooked crayfish tail meat
1 tbsp olive oil
100ml (3½fl oz) crème fraîche
For the chive oil:
60g (2oz) chives
150ml (5¼fl oz) canola oil
Crush all the crayfish shells and place on a large roasting tray. Bake for 10 minutes at 160°C/ 325°F/gas mark 2½ to dry them out.
Finely slice the fennel, carrots, onion, celery and garlic. Melt the butter in a large saucepan and sauté the sliced vegetables until soft. Add the bay leaves, peppercorns, tomato purée and crayfish shells then sauté for a further 4 minutes.
Flambé with brandy until the flames are finished then add the fish stock.
Simmer for 2 hours then strain through a sieve and discard the shells.
Clean the saucepan, pour the soup back in and reduce by half.
Place the curry powder, cream and white wine in a separate saucepan then reduce by half.
When both have reduced, whisk together and simmer for a further 2 minutes. Finish with the lemon juice and season to taste.
Meanwhile, make the chive oil. Boil a pan of salted water and blanch the chives for 20 seconds.
Drain and plunge immediately into iced water. When cold, squeeze as much water as you can out of the chives and blend with the canola oil for 30 seconds.
Put a sieve lined with muslin cloth (or a single sheet of kitchen cloth) over a bowl and place in the fridge to drain. Discard the pulp – don’t be tempted to squeeze the pulp as it will make the oil cloudy.
Sauté the crayfish tails in the olive oil for 2 minutes.
Pour the soup into bowls, drizzle with chive oil and crème fraîche then sprinkle with the crayfish.
Knäckebröd with skyr and dill dip
Serves: 8
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Preparation time: 1 hour
For the knächebröd:
50ml (1¾fl oz) whole milk
50ml (1¾fl oz) double cream
150ml (5¼fl oz) water
140g (5oz) wholemeal rye flour, plus extra for dusting
150g (5¼oz) strong bread flour
1 tsp flaky salt, plus a pinch
7g fast-action yeast
8 tsps caraway seeds
For the dip:
A handful of dill
A handful of mint
1 tbsp olive oil, plus a drizzle
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
500ml (17½fl oz) skyr
Salt and pepper
2 tbsps multi seeds
Heat the milk, cream and water until warm to the touch.
Sift together both flours then mix in the salt and yeast. Make a well in the middle of the flour and gradually stir in the warm milk.
Turn the dough out on to a lightly floured surface and knead for 4-5 minutes.
Separate into 8 equal pieces and roll into balls. Place the balls on a baking paper-lined tray in a warm place and cover with a clean tea towel for 45 minutes until doubled in size.
Preheat the oven to 240°C/ 475°F/gas mark 9 and place 2 large flat baking trays in to heat.
Lightly flour the work surface and roll the dough as finely as possible, trying to keep them round but any shape is fine and adds character.
Sprinkle each with 1 tablespoon of caraway seeds and a good pinch of salt. Run the rolling pin over again to stick them to the dough.
Transfer to a piece of baking paper then into the oven for 4-5 minutes until just starting to brown and a little crisp.
Turn and bake for a further 2-3 minutes until crisp. Cool on a wire rack and repeat.
Finely chop the dill and mint.
Mix with the olive oil, lemon juice and zest. Mix with the skyr and season to taste.
Serve the knäckebröd with skyr dip sprinkled with mixed seeds and drizzled with oil.
Roast pork loin, caramel potatoes and lingonberries
Serves: 6-8
Cooking time: 2½ hours
Preparation time: 30 minutes
6 bay leaves
1 tbsp black peppercorns
500ml (17½fl oz) boiling water
2kg (4lb 6oz) pork loin, boneless with skin scored every ½cm (¼in) – you can ask your butcher to do this)
2 tbsps flaky salt
1kg (2lb 3oz) baby potatoes
500g (1lb 1½oz) lingonberries
400g (14oz) sugar
100ml (3½fl oz) water
100g (3½oz) caster sugar
100g (3½oz) butter
Preheat the oven to 200°C/ 400°F/gas mark 6.
Place the bay leaves, peppercorns and boiling water in a roasting tray. Put the pork loin, skin side down, in the roasting tray and rub ½ a tablespoon of salt into the meat. Roast for 30 minutes.
Boil the potatoes until just tender then drain. Cool a little then peel off the skin and allow to cool fully.
Place the lingonberries, 400g (14oz) of sugar and water into a saucepan then simmer for 10 minutes.
Remove the roasting tray from the oven, lift the pork out and place a rack in the tray. Turn the pork skin side up on the rack. The skin needs to be level, so prop up any slimmer parts of the roasting joint with scrunched-up silver foil until the skin is flat and level.
Turn the oven down to 160°C/ 325°F/gas mark 2½ and rub the skin with the remaining salt, making sure you get into all the grooves.
Roast for 1 hour per kilogram of pork or until the core temperature is 65-70°C (149-158°F).
Turn on the grill and grill the skin for about 5 minutes until the crackling is crisp and bubbly, watching it constantly as it can burn very quickly. Rest the meat for 2 minutes before carving.
For the potatoes, heat a large frying pan with 100g (3½oz) of caster sugar and a splash of water until the sugar is caramelised. Don’t be tempted to stir the sugar.
Add the cooled new potatoes and butter. Simmer over a medium heat for 8-10 minutes, season with salt and toss occasionally until beautifully coated with caramel.
Carve the pork loin and serve with caramel potatoes and lingonberry sauce.
Styling by Victoria Gray
Photographs by Winfried Heinze
Tableware from a selection at Creative Tops (01536 207710, creative-tops.com)