Category Archives: Kitchen

Lunch the Scandinavian way at Madsen in London

We met up with the lovely Anna-Claire Clendon from Alex and Alexa the other day, for the latest news and a catch up, and some proper yummy Scandinavian healthy food. Madsen, a modern Scandinavian eatery in the heart of South Kensington, offers lunch and dinner with an mouthwatering menu and excellent service. The restaurant is bright and very Scandi chic without loosing its warm atmosphere.
We even had the pleasure meeting the Danish founder, Charlotte Kruse Madsen. Educated at the École Hotelière de Lausanne in Switzerland and trained at Ida Davidsen’s in Copenhagen, she’s worked at five-star hotels across Europe. She founded the contract catering company Madsen Food in 2006, with the aim of bringing the Scandinavian food experience to London.


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What’s in season, March

Why eat seasonal food? Seasonal food is fresher and so tends to be tastier and more nutritious and it’s a lot more affordable. By eating whats in season in the UK you help reduce the energy needed to grow and transport the food we eat and you help support the local economy. What’s in season, for March;

Fruit and vegetables
Celeriac, Endive, Jerusalem artichokes, Leeks, Parsnips, Purple sprouting broccoli and Wild garlic.

Fish and game
Crab, Lobster, Sea Trout, Wild Salmon and Rabbit.

The herb Ramsons or as we call it Wild Garlic can be used as salad, spice, boiled as a vegetable, in soup, or as an ingredient for pesto in lieu of basil. The stems are preserved by salting and eaten as a salad in Russia. The bulbs and flowers are also very tasty.
Wild Garlic is to be found in your nearby woodland rather than in the supermarket. It’s best harvested before the flowers appear, March – April. The sharp garlic odour should ensure you pick the right leaves.
Wild Garlic contains vitamins A and C, essential oil complex, minerals calcium and iron.
How to cook: The leaves can be eaten raw, lightly cooked or dried. Be sure to wash them well – some recipes also call for blanching the leaves for a few minutes in boiling water. Wild garlic can be stirred into risottos or omelets, added to soups or used in sauces to accompany meat and fish. We recommend trying out this Wild Garlic Pesto recipe
© Laundry Etc

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What’s in season, February

Why eat seasonal food? Seasonal food is fresher and so tends to be tastier and more nutritious and it’s a lot more affordable. By eating whats in season in the UK you help reduce the energy needed to grow and transport the food we eat and you help support the local economy. What’s in season, for February;

Fruit and vegetables
Cabbage, Cavolo nero and curly kale, Endive, Forced rhubarb, Jerusalem artichokes, Leeks, Parsnips, Purple sprouting broccoli and Swede.

Fish and game
Haddock, Mussels, Guinea fowl, Rabbit and Venison.



Swede is a root vegetable which is a cross between a cabbage and a turnip, thought to have originated from Scandinavia and introduced to England around the end of the 18th century. Swede is a good source of fibre, vitamins A, C and folic acid.
How to cook: Peel and chop as required. Steam or boil diced swede and serve mashed on its own or with potato and carrots for extra colour; roasting swede concentrates its delicious sweet flavour – toss in a little oil, season and roast for around 30 mins. Add swede to potatoes and mash with butter for a tasty topping for Shepherds, Cottage or fish pie, or like we do in Scandinavia together with “Finnbiff” (Reindeer Stew).
Swede loves: Butter, black pepper, parmesan, other roots such as carrots and parsnips
Source: loveyourgreens.co.uk

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Grand Cru bamboo cheese board and trivets by Rosendahl

Rosendahl has given new life to serving trays, chopping boards and trivets with the new Bamboo Grand Cru series.

Bamboo is regarded as a sustainable resource as it’s one of the fastest growing plants in the world. and in its lifetime, bamboo absorbs 3-4 times as much CO2 as wood. Rosendahl launched the elegant bamboo series in 2011. rosendahl.com

We are particularly fond of the cheese board and the two piece set of trivets. We use the trivets merely as individual plates for a late night snack or tapas. The girls also use it for a lazy breakfast with Norwegian style waffles. Takes me back to my childhood when we always had breakfast on wooden individual trays. It’s the feel of the bamboo and the pleasing warm colour of it that makes this set so special. The bamboo series by Rosendahl are well made with a beautiful finish and it stands safely on 4 small rubber knobs, creating an amazing centerpiece for any table. Wash in warm, soapy water and rinse. Do not soak.

Grand Cru trivet measures 17 cm and retails at 21,95 EUR for two (RRP)
Grand Cru Cheese board measures 30 cm in diameter and retails at 59,00 EUR (RRP)

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Smoked Salmon Pâté, easy to make luxurious snack


© Little Scandinavian
With some smoked salmon from the Hansen & Lydersen smokehouse left in the fridge I was tempted to experiment with recipe ideas for a perfect starter. With the rich and tasty smoked salmon as the main ingredient it was all done in a few minutes. Guess what’s on the menu when we have dinner guests tonight!?
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Norwegian Layered Gateau

We wish all readers of little Scandinavian a Happy New Year and best wishes for 2012! Thank you for supporting us and we hope you’ll follow our little blog’s journey in the new year too. With love, The Little Scandinavian family.

Norwegian Layered Gateau presented by Ginette Mathiot from the wonderful collection of recipes in ‘The Art of French Baking’.

Layered cake is a festive tradition in Norway, no proper party without a layered cake! See the full recipe here…
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Today’s batch of Sourdough Bread

Baking your own bread is a bit more work than picking one up from your local bakery. But baking and eating homemade bread is not only rewarding in terms of taste but the baking process in itself is also very recreational. Below is today’s sourdough bread batch baked by theScandinavianDad. Well what’s left of it after the girls had made their packed lunch that is.
Recipe on our all natural Sourdough Bread can be found here. Do you bake your own bread?

© Little Scandinavian

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Little A’s best pancake recipe

Little A was home from school last week, with a cold. When she wasn’t busy cuddling up in the sofa with a book she was making her favourite dish, yummy vanilla pancakes. It’s lovely to see how much fun she had in the kitchen! And the self confidence they gain with it -When serving the yummy lunch she proudly proclaimed she wanted to write a cook book! TBC…

© Little Scandinavian. Little A’s wearing a bamboo and cotton set from Lilleba.no and home knitted wool slippers. Lilleba is available in the UK at Nordic Kids

Little A’s best pancake recipe
Pancakes is probably my best recipe and I can more or less make them on my own.

Ingredients
3 eggs
3/4 pint of milk
1 cup of plain flour
1 pinch of salt
2 teaspoons Vanilla Sugar
50 g melted butter

Method
Firstly -wash your hands and put on a apron. I also need a small chair to stand on the kitchen.
1. You’ll need someone grown up to help you melting the butter and frying the pancakes.
2. Mix the eggs, poor in the milk and stir.
3. Add flour, salt and vanilla sugar, stir well.
4. Add melted butter.
5. Fry in butter, until golden on each side.

Enjoy warm with sugar, home made strawberry jam or why not my favourite, vanilla ice cream and blueberry jam!


© Little Scandinavian. Little A’s pancakes with lots of eggs and vanilla sugar.

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Shirley Bredal very best cookie recipe and knits for AW11

First things first -the Danish designer based in Kathmandu have delivered yet another gorgeous unique little collection of knits for AW11. vailable at one of our favourite shops, lillefigaro.eu You can also follow Shirley’s life and living in Kathmandu via her blog.




And now, to Shirley’s very best cookie recipe -something we haven’t yet but will be trying out within the next few days!

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Warm walnut bread for breakfast

Having warm freshly baked bread for breakfast is great, and a bread filled with rich tasty walnuts makes it even better. Ever since I grew up, has bread been an important part of the daily meals. In most parts of Scandinavia are the breakfast still considered the most important meal of the day, and families tend to sit down together around the kitchen table to start the day with a few slices of bread.

Walnut sourdough bread

We still make breakfast the same way as we did when we lived in Norway, but it hasn’t always been easy to find good handmade bread, so what better excuse do you need for making your own bread. Not only do you know exactly what ingredients have been used, but you can also experiment to get just the type of bread you love.

One of these breads for us is a walnut sourdough bread, the basis for the bread could be almost any kind of white sourdough bread or a bread made with a rye starter. Just remember that the amount of white flour should be a lot higher than for example rye, as the rye taste would overwhelm the walnut taste.

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