Weekly News 18 Jan 2011: International hugging day, Eurovision countdown starts - and a bit more about annoying Swedes

Here's the weekly news.  You too can get this in your inbox every week by subscribing on the front page of the website.  We'd love for you to join the famiglia.  

Bye for now

The Kitchen People

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Weekly news 25th Jan 2012: Phat cakes to be won, Swedish hovels and dancing in a gold lame jacket

The weekly news is out.  Have a read of it right here http://www.scandikitchen.co.uk/emailmarketer/display.php?M=2774&C=b60b56bf98b4dc4b847c5c35d0e5ea60&S=29&L=1&N=21.

Bye for now

The Kitchen People x

this is not jackie chan, in case you were wondering.  it's Beautiful Sebbie.

WIN some semla buns (to share, or not)

We're going to be celebrating the start of the semlor season on Wednesday 1st February with a few free semlor for a few nice people.

To be in with a chance to win 4 x semlor to bring back to your office, just answer this simple questions and ping us an e-mail.

We pick the winner from all correct entries and we'll mail you a voucher if you're a winner.  Easy peasy.  You can pick up your semlor between 1st Feb and 21st February.

The spice used to flavour the Swedish lenten buns is:

1. chilli powder
2. cinnamon
3. cardamom
4. Licourice powder

Ping your answer to iloveherring@scandikitchen.co.uk by Tuesday 31st Janaury.

Usual competition rules apply.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Skagenröra on crispbread

If you go to Sweden, you will undoubtedly get to taste the delightful seafood.  One way shellfish is sometimes served is as “Skagenröra” – a shellfish open sandwich filling.

When we make Skagenröra, we love teaming up with a crusty cereal bread or gourmet crisp bread such as Pyramid. 

Makes for a fantastic starter at any dinner party – or even in smaller sizes as canapés.  Make sure you always use good quality seafood for Skagenröra.

Serves 4, open sandwiches

Skagenröra mixture

• 200g good quality fresh prawns – or a mixture of prawns/crayfish tails.  We recommend using prawns in brine (or hand peeled fresh) as the flavour is much nicer than anything frozen.
• 50 ml of mayonnaise
• 100 ml crème fraiche
• 2 tbsp. fresh, finely chopped dill
• 2 tbsp. fresh finely chopped chive
• 1 shallot onion, finely chopped
• ¼ tsp. grated lemon zest
• ¼ tsp. grated horseradish (you can use horseradish from a jar if you can’t get fresh horseradish)
• A small squirt of Dijon mustard
• A squeeze of lemon juice
• Salt, pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients for the sauce and then carefully add the seafood.

Leave in fridge for a few hours for flavours to mingle.

To assemble:

4 slices of bread – we recommend a gourmet crisp bread such as Pyramid or Leksands.  If you prefer softer bread, go for a crusty seeded wholemeal loaf.

A bunch of rocket leaves, 4 slices of lemon and some finely chopped chives, to decorate

Prepare the bread, add a small amount of rocket to the base (this will prevent the bread from going soggy from the Skagenröra, this is especially important if using crisp bread).  Spoon on a generous amount of the seafood mixture, then decorate with a slice of lemon and some finely chopped chives.

Download the recipe here Download 1201 Skagenrora

Other serving suggestions:

You can use this as a filling to closed sandwiches and rolls, as an accompaniment to a big salad – as well as reducing the mayonnaise and crème fraiche to make a leaner version.

The Killing 3 - when, when, when, when?

Not for quite a while, dear reader...  

Forbrydelsen 3 (The Killing 3) is set for release in Denmark in September 2012.  This time, Sarah Lund (complete with a new partner, seeing as the old ones either die or turn out to be baddies), gets involved with a murder of a seaman - and the trail takes her on a trip through the economical crisis and general political maze.  Apparently, its called something along the lines of "Murder in the finance world".  Hopefully, that is a working title...

We can't wait.  But we'll have to.  And those of you who do not speak Danish will have to wait even longer.

Pu-ha.  Det' naesten ikke til at holde ud.

Ps - yes Brix is in it still...  Phew.

Everybody loves Lionel Ritchie. Surely.

So much so, we think he might even be Scandinavian. 

Hello from ant1mat3rie on Vimeo.

Another Princess joins the Danish people...

Prince Joachim of Denmark and his wife Marie (you know, the one with the poodle), became parents again today - this time, they had a little girl.

They are already parents to a little boy named Henrik.

Congrats to all.  We'd like to out our bets on a name, as per usual...  Dagmar, Amalie or Bodil.  

Over and out.

Sweden's smallest student flats

Lund, in Sourthen Sweden, is a big university town.  At times, with a bit of a space issue for accomodation.

The company AF Bostader are showing Sweden's smallest student flat as from today - and people are invited to apply to get their hands on one of these as they are planning on building 100 of them this year (pending permission to bypass strict Swedish guidelines as the project was initially rejected due to lack of disabled access).

So, why the outcry?  Well, these pods are only 9 m2 - that is about 100 square feet to you and me - which is teeny tiny in Swedish eyes, but about twice as big as the average Hackney tip rentable for the same money (ba boom).  Price?  £230 a month.  There's even a bit out outside space to grow your 'erbs, bruvva.

What can you get in London for £230 a month?  A parking space or a room in a shared house (on a good day, if you don't mind egg-shell wall colouring and an old mattress).

There's room to swing a cat...

It comes complete with an empty wine bottle a la student mode

Look, it even has a shower and there's no carpet in the toilet...  And not hot/cold taps, just plain, fuctional mixer taps...

The cheapest London studio we could find had this picture...

If you're planning to move out of London and going to Lund to study, the flat is being shown as from today.  You can read more on the Local's website (thanks, people at The Local, we borrowed your pictures, hope you don't mind)

Need your eyes checked?

A Norwegian TV channel landed itself in funny waters a few weeks back after not checking the graphic they decided to use in a report about sight issues in the elderly.

It was full of internet abbreviations...  How many can you spot?

Danish school in London?

A group of Danish ex-pats in London are considering setting up a school.  As in, a Danish or maybe Scandinavian school.  They need help in getting feedback from Danes to find out what people what.

Here's a link to their survey http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/KL78NLK

You can mail the group on this e-mail also dendanskeskole@hotmail.co.uk

Recipe: Gravlax sas (Dill & Mustard dressing)

Cured dill salmon:  one of he absolute favourites of the Scandinavian smorgasbord.  

Succulent slivers of beautiful cured salmon, tangy from the salt and dill, is simply perfection on dark rye bread or crisp bread.

If you eat Gravad Lax you must do so with a dressing made from mustard and dill.  It is super easy to make this at home and takes just a few minutes to whip up.

Gravad lax with Hovmastersauce or Gravlax Sauce (as these dressings are called) is excellent as a starter or part of a smorgasbord buffet.  At Scandinavian Kitchen, we use a slightly runnier version of this as a dressing for our delightful summer salad with Gravadlax, asparagus, boiled eggs and green beans.  

Click link below to download the PDF version of the recipe

Download 1201 Mustard & Dill sauce

If you're feeling a bit like you cant be bothered to make the dressing, you can buy the ready made sauce from our online shop too - just click here to be teleported to shopping land.  We won't tell.