Archive for Starter

Green asparagus with air-dried ham, goat cheese mousse and wild garlic

Photo: Jakob Fridholm/imagebank.sweden.se

 

Green asparagus with air-dried ham, goat cheese mousse and wild garlic
Starter
10
 

This starter was created by top Swedish chef Gustav Trägårdh. Gustav Trägårdh was nominated Swedish chef of the year in 2010 and is head chef at the legendary seafood restaurant Sjömagasinet in Gothenburg.
Ingredients
  • 20 thick asparagus, peeled
  • 20 slices air-dried ham
  • 100g (3½ oz) wild garlic
Mousse:
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 2 tablespoons honey mustard
  • 2dl (1 cup) cream
  • 50ml (¼ cup) milk
  • 200g (7 oz) good goat cheese
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 teaspoon gelespesa/xantana

Instructions
Mousse:
  1. Warm up all ingredients for the mousse in a saucepan, and mix it completely smooth.
  2. Cool and fill up the siphon.
  3. Charge with two cartridges, shake! Serve at room temperature.
Presentation:
  1. Cook the asparagus al dente in salted water.
  2. Roast the wild garlic very quickly, in a splash of oil, in a saucepan. Season with salt and pepper.
  3. Roll the air-dreid ham and siphon the mousse into the rolls.
  4. Serve immediately with the asparagus cut in slices and the wild garlic on the side!
Beverage suggestion:
  1. Unfiltered fresh apple juice.

Swedish gazpacho with shrimps and dill

Photo: www.znapshot.se/Per Erik Berglund

 

Swedish gazpacho with shrimps and dill
Starter
4
 

Ingredients
Gazpacho:
  • 300g (10½ oz) cucumber, peeled and chopped into small pieces
  • ½ red onion, peeled and chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled
  • 500g (1 lb) vine tomatoes, chopped into small pieces
  • 300g (10½ oz) red bell pepper, chopped into small pieces
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 2 teaspoons honey
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • salt & black pepper
Shrimps and dill:
  • 200g (7 oz) cooked shrimps, peeled
  • ½ cucumber, peeled and diced
  • 1 red chilli, finely chopped
  • ½ lemon, zest
  • ½ red onion, peeled and finely sliced
  • 3 tablespoons dill, off the stem
  • salt
  • black pepper

Instructions
Gazpacho:
  1. Blend all the ingredients smooth in a food processor and season with salt and pepper.
  2. Cool in the fridge overnight.
Shrimps and dill:
  1. Combine all ingredients and season with salt and pepper.
Presentation:
  1. Spoon the shrimp salad into glasses or bowls.
  2. Pour over the ice-cold gazpacho and serve with chunks of good bread.

Seared scallops with asparagus cream and pickled fennel

Photo: Jakob Fridholm/imagebank.sweden.se

 

Seared scallops with asparagus cream and pickled fennel
Appetizer, starter
10
 

Ingredients
Seared scallops:
  • 10 scallops
  • salt
  • pepper
  • butter
Asparagus cream:
  • 1kg (2,2 lbs) green asparagus
  • 200g (7 oz) green peas
  • 2 banana shallots, finely chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
  • 1dl (½ cup) white wine
  • 2dl (1 cup) cream
  • 3 tablespoons sour cream
  • lemon juice
  • salt
  • white pepper
Sour fennel:
  • 1 fennel
  • 1dl (½ cup) lemon juice
  • 1dl (½ cup) sugar
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 3dl (1½ cup) water
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 teaspoon whole white peppercorns
Serving:
  • dill, picked
  • sea salt

Instructions
Seared scallops:
  1. Season the scallops with salt and pepper.
  2. Sear scallops in butter in a hot skillet, turning once, until golden brown and just cooked through, about 5 minutes total. Let rest a minute.
  3. Cut into thin slices.
Asparagus cream:
  1. Boil the asparagus soft in salted water and cool in ice water.
  2. Boil wine with onions and garlic. Add the cream and bring it to a quick boil.
  3. Mix asparagus with the peas.
  4. Add the hot cream. Strain through a fine sieve.
  5. Season with sour cream, lemon juice, salt and pepper.
  6. Pour into a piping bag.
Sour fennel:
  1. Slice fennel thinly and allow to soak in cold water.
  2. Mix remaining ingredients to a syrup.
  3. Add the fennel and let it pickle in the syrup for at least 30 minutes.
Serving:
  1. Arrange as shown with picked dill and some sea salt on top.

Fresh shrimps with a dill and wood sorrel flavored pesto

Photo: Jakob Fridholm/imagebank.sweden.se

 

Fresh shrimps with a dill and wood sorrel flavored pesto
Appetizer
10
 

Ingredients
  • 1 liter (2 pints) of fresh shrimps, peeled
Pesto:
  • 15g (½ oz) parsley
  • 15g (½ oz) dill
  • 20g (¾ oz) wood sorrel
  • 120g (4¼ oz) sunflower seeds, toasted
  • 200g (7 oz) Västerbotten cheese or other ripe hard cheese, grated
  • canola oil
  • 1 lemon, juice and zest

Instructions
Pesto:
  1. Mix sunflower seeds with the herbs in a mixer. Add canola oil and mix to desired consistency. Mix in the grated cheese. Season to taste with lemon, salt and pepper.
Presentation:
  1. Turn in the shrimps and serve on crisp bread. Garnish with wood sorrel.

The Wood sorrel is very common in Swedish forests and their leaves are edible, with a sourish and fresh taste.

Sourdough toast with bleak roe, red onion and sour cream

Photo: Jakob Fridholm/imagebank.sweden.se

 

Sourdough toast with bleak roe, red onion and sour cream
Starter
2 loaves of bread
 

Ingredients
Blanching:
  • 1 potato (about 100g/3½oz)
  • 1 bottle (33cl) beer of your choice
  • 60g (2 oz) rye flour
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon fennel
  • 9g (0,3 oz) of salt
Dough:
  • 300g (10½ oz) wheat flour special
  • 100-150 g (1 cup) cold water
  • 5g (3 dr) yeast

Instructions
Blanching:
  1. Peel and slice the potato.
  2. Bring the beer to the boil in a saucepan and add the potato slices.
  3. Let it simmer for about 15 minutes or until the potato slices are soft.
  4. Remove saucepan from heat and add rye flour and spices.
  5. Stir with a wooden fork and mash the potatoes at the same time. Let rest until cooled.
Dough:
  1. Scrape down the blanching in a bowl and add flour, water and yeast.
  2. Start with a little water and add until the dough has a nice fluffy, but not too firm, consistency. Let it rest for about 30 minutes.
After the rest:
  1. Dip your hand in water and take some of the edge of the dough with one hand. Pull the dough slightly and fold it inward. Take a new edge, pull the dough and fold into the center again. Continue until you come full circle.
  2. You make this move a total of three times with about 30 minutes apart.
  3. When you stretch the dough for the third and last time you let it rise for about 2 hours. Now the bread is baked in two steps.
The first step:
  1. Let the dough rest on work surface for about 20 minutes.
  2. Turn the dough so that the flat side is down. Fold the upper side against the middle and press lightly. Fold the bottom side toward the center and press. Then fold one last time, top to bottom so that it takes the form of a loaf.
  3. Let dough rise for about 1 hour, preferably in a towel with a little support at the sides.
The second step:
  1. Preheat the oven to 275°C/525°F. Lower the temperature to 250°C/480°F.
  2. In with the bread, and throw in some ice cubes at the same time.
  3. After 15 minutes you can open the door and let out steam. If the bread now has much color, the temperature can be decreased to 200°C/400°F, otherwise you can just continue baking.
  4. After approximately 30 minutes, the bread is ready. Remove and let cool on a rack for 30 minutes before cutting into it.
Serve:
  1. Butter toast the sourdough bread.
  2. Serve with the classic ingredients such as finely chopped red onion, hung sour cream and roe (preferably from Kalix). Arrange as shown.