As regular readers will know, I’m such a fan of Scandi food, so when I discovered that Brontë Aurell, the Danish-born owner of London’s much-loved ScandiKitchen, had a new cookbook coming out, I was very keen to review it.
The Scandinavian Year has been published this week – a beautifully written and photographed journey through seasonal Nordic recipes, traditions and rituals. It follows the Scandinavian year from start to finish: delicious winter warmers, springtime baking, midsummer feasts, and fresh summery dishes for next year.
It’s a hardback, month by month journey through Scandinavia that will make you very keen to book a trip to experience some of that Nordic culture for yourself.
But in the meantime, you can always visit one of her two ScandiKitchens in London (Fitzrovia and Victoria) for a spot of delicious food and some Scandi food shopping.
Published by Ryland Peters & Small at £25, this is a stunning collection of over 140 Scandinavian recipes.
Here are a couple to whet your Scandi appetite:
ROASTED BEETS WITH DILL
(Rødbeder med dill og feta) SERVES 2 AS A SIDE
“An inexpensive and quick side dish to make. You can, of course, roast or boil fresh beetroot for this but I often make this after coming home from work and needing to fix dinner in a jiffy, so I just use pre-cooked beetroot from the supermarket. The nuts can be varied, based on what is hiding in your cupboard – hazelnuts and walnuts are earthy, pecans also work well, as do flaked toasted almonds.”
250-g packet cooked beetroot
1–2 tablespoons runny honey
a knob of butter
a glug of oil
50 g feta cheese, crumbled
10 g fresh dill, chopped
25 g toasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped
rocket leaves, to serve
pea shoots, to garnish
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 200∞C/180∞C fan/400∞F/Gas 6.
Cut the beetroot into quarters, then add to an ovenproof dish and drizzle with the honey and a small knob of butter. Season. Roast in the preheated oven for around 15–20 minutes until slightly caramelised.
On a serving plate, arrange the rocket leaves, then add the beetroot. Scatter over the feta, dill and hazelnuts. Garnish with pea shoots and serve immediately. I rarely add any dressing but if the beets have gone a little dry, I sometimes add a drizzle of good extra virgin olive oil.
VARIATIONS No dill? Parsley works, as do chervil and tarragon. If you want to roast your own beetroot, I find it easier to pre-boil them on the stove, then peel and cut before roasting.
QUICK PORK TENDERLOIN POT
(Mørbradgryde) SERVES 4
“This is a midweek dinner dish we were served as children growing up in Denmark. There are countless variations on a theme when it comes to Mørbradgryde – the name means ‘tenderloin pot’. Some people add sausage, some bacon, some both; some favour no mushrooms, some go overboard. Either way, this is ready in the time it takes to boil a pot of rice or some potatoes.
“Tenderloin pork is still a reasonably inexpensive meat and one fillet in this dish – with a bit of what you have in the cupboards and veg drawer – can feed a family of four. Whatever you do, don’t leave this to stew for long: pork tenderloin is a meat so lean that it is best when it is just cooked through.”
a glug of oil and a knob of butter, for frying
1 pork tenderloin fillet, approx. 500–600 g
1 onion, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped into 5-mm/¼ -inch pieces
1 celery stick, chopped into 5-mm/¼ -inch pieces
100 g bacon or pancetta, chopped
200 g mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoon tomato purée
100 ml wine – either red or white will do
1 teaspoon paprika
1–2 bay leaves
½ teaspoon dried thyme
150 ml stock
1 x 400-g can chopped tomatoes
200 ml double cream
1–2 tablespoons cornflour/cornstarch (optional)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
freshly chopped parsley, to serve
In a flameproof casserole dish, heat a glug of oil and a knob of butter. Slice the tenderloin, add to the casserole and brown on all sides, then remove from the dish and set aside.
Add the chopped onion and leave to caramelise, then add the carrot and celery. Add the bacon and sliced mushrooms and leave to cook for a few minutes. Add the tomato purée and then the wine. Cook for a few more minutes to allow the alcohol to evaporate, then add the paprika, herbs, stock and chopped tomatoes.
Add the cream and check the thickness of the sauce – if you prefer a thicker sauce, dissolve the cornflour/cornstarch in a bit of water, add to the dish and bring to the boil to thicken.
Add the pork back into the dish, cover and simmer for 5 minutes to ensure the pork slices are just cooked through. Adjust the seasoning and dress with parsley just before serving. Goes well with new potatoes, rice or a fresh green salad.
NOTE If you need to bulk out this dish a bit, add a can of butter beans, drained, when you add the meat for the last 5 minutes – they add lots of goodness and fibre.
DANISH DREAM CAKE
(Drømmekage) MAKES 12–16 PIECES
“This is a delicious cake and probably in the top three favourite cakes of the Danes, maybe even the overall favourite. The story of this cake is that a young girl from a town called Brovst in Jutland baked this at a competition in the early 1950s – it was her grandmother’s recipe and was then known as Østergårdskage. It then became popular all over Denmark by the name ‘Dream Cake from Brovst’, marketed as a recipe by the flour company which judged the competition (although the company never credited the girl). As a final twist in the story, this is similar to an American cake from the early 1940s called a ‘Lazy Daisy Cake’, so the origins of the Drømmekage may be from further afield than a small farm in Jutland.
“Traditionally this is made in a sheet pan (see below), but you can make as a round cake too (use a cake pan with a diameter of at least 26 cm/10 inches) – baking time will need adjusting, too.”
50 g butter
200 ml milk
4 eggs
250 g caster/granulated sugar
275 g plain flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla sugar or vanilla extract
a pinch of salt
TOPPING
100 g butter
150 g desiccated coconut
250 g dark brown sugar
75 ml whole milk
a pinch of salt
25 x 35-cm/10 x 14-inch cake pan, lined with baking parchment
Preheat the oven to 190∞C/170∞C fan/375∞F/Gas 5.
To make the cake batter, melt the butter and mix with the milk, then leave to cool a little.
In a stand mixer, whisk the eggs and sugar until light and airy. Combine the dry ingredients, then sift into egg mixture, add the milk and butter, then fold together until incorporated.
Pour into the prepared cake pan and bake in the preheated oven for approx. 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out almost clean.
While the cake is baking, prepare the topping by combining all the ingredients together in a saucepan over a low heat, until the sugar and butter have melted.
Remove the cake from oven and pour the topping all over. Return the cake to the oven for 5 minutes to caramelise slightly. Allow to cool before slicing and eating.
