Food is Food

Flippin' Burgers

Hamburgers are always in style, or so it seems. In Stockholm, there's an on-going competition for the title "best Burger", and various lists are posted all the time. I don't really eat out that much so I haven't tried all the supposedly "best" ones, but I have tried Flippin' Burgers several times. And I have to say, they're definitely my favorite. They now have a bigger place, with more seats, but you still have to show up right when they open (4 pm) or be prepared to wait. However, it will be worth it. The burgers are fantastic - fat and juicy and bursting with flavor. I especially recommend coming so hungry that you can have a double burger - they're incredible.

Fries are fine, but nothing special. But they're served with a very vinegar-y mayo, which is nice.

Svenska Hamburgerköket

Svenska Hamburgerköket has a pretty off-beat location, in Hägersten. You order at the bar, pay, and get your food. Sit anywhere. It's not huge, but it wasn't full with people either so no wait when we were there. The menu has slightly more options than Flippin' Burgers does, especially with some seasonal specials. We went for the classics, though, to try them out. How did they add up? Well, pretty well, but not as good. The burger itself seemed to release much more juice, which left the meat a little dry and my hands very greasy. It also had more toppings, which is of course optional, but I felt that they weren't of the best quality. Cheese didn't taste like much.

Fries however were very yummy! Better than Flippin'. But no free dipping sauce...

The milkshake from Flippin' Burgers, made with Ben & Jerry's ice cream. This one was made from their Chew Chew Caramel - delicious obviously. Svenska Hamburgerköket has pretty good milkshakes too, but not like this. So to sum it up? Best burger is at Flippin' Burgers. But both places are good, and I'll gladly eat at both.

Flippin' Burgers
Observatoriegatan 8
Stockholm
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Svenska Hamburgerköket
Tellusborgsvägen 78
Hägersten
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Another find from my recent vacation! I haven't found Whittard - a UK brand -in Sweden before, but I did find these in a small design shop in Ystad. They had a rather large selection of these two type of goods - instant tea and hot chocolate. It's been a super warm summer here, so while hot chocolate seems a bit out of season, ice tea is most definitely more current. This is a refreshingly fruity flavor, with mango and passionfruit. It doesn't really taste much of tea, but it's nice and not too sweet.

The creme brulee hot chochaolate.. well, I'll have to get back to you on that when it gets a little bit colder!

I went to the American Craft Council San Francisco Show to check out the craft food and beer, but I was blown away by the quality of the exhibition this year. There are very inspiring and beautiful things for your kitchen or dining room. This is a great place to look for a gift, a centerpiece, kitchen design element or functional kitchen tool. It runs all weekend, August 9 and 10, 2014 at Fort Mason, San Francisco.

Here are some highlights:

I have two terrific pepper grinders but I would trade them both for one of these stunning ones from Kermode Woodturnings. Jerry Kermode also makes a companion salt grinder, wood topped cork bottle stoppers and rolling pins. His bowls of all sizes are also drop dead gorgeous.

I’ve long admired these almost art nouveau or American craft porcelain pieces from Lynne Meade Porcelain. They are wheel thrown and then hand carved, and are inspired by shapes found in the natural world, often sea forms or plants.

Many woodworkers make cutting boards, but the puzzle trivet boards from David Levy of Hardwood Creations are quite unusual and wonderful in that you can arrange them in a myriad of shapes.

I was drawn to the handcrafted cherry wood spoons from Jonathan’s Spoons, but also spatulas, pie servers and the particularly lovely tea strainers.

Robert Woldow of ArtsCraft Seattle fuses glass to make bold and eye-catching dishes, platters and bowls. Everyone who walking into this booth was drawn to a different piece with a different shape or set of colors.

Jewel like Italian inspired glass pieces from Peter Vizzusi or Magic Sands Glass are radiant and sparkly. I particularly like the ones with metallic swirls and ribbons.

I was impressed by the lovely earthy color palette and natural designs to these luminous pieces from Natura Designs long before I even spoke to the artist, who is coincidentally a beekeeper. He makes them from an organic resin of beeswax and embeds natural specimens like twigs or seed pods to create unique designs.

This year the American Craft Council San Francisco Show is featuring a marketplace and taproom where you can find members of the Good Food Merchants Guild and San Francisco Brewers Guild offering speciality food and craft beer. Participating Good Food Merchants Guild members include Vivid Foods, Sweet Dragon Baking Company, Rancho Llano Seco, Mead & Mead’s Maple Syrup, and Two Valleys Olive Oil. Over the weekend participating San Francisco Brewers Guild members include local microbreweries Anchor Brewing Co., Headlands Brewing Co., Magnolia Brewing Co. and Speakeasy Ales & Lagers. Be sure to head to the back of the hall and up the stairs to check it out.

We've been away for almost two weeks this summer. It's been very nice and a lot of fun - but I sure haven't been cooking much. We've relied on super-quick dinners, like hot dogs, to make sure the kids would eat. Boring. And when I got home, I was craving veggies, and craving cooking.

So I saw this shared on facebook, from the often-inspiring Two Peas and their Pod. I changed some things, but pretty much went with it. We ate some meat with it - pan-fried pork - but it's a good meal in itself. You could serve it along side chicken or fish too, though... or add some avocado.. or feta cheese.. yeah - feel free to adapt as much as you want!

Red Quinoa Salad with Sesame-Honey Dressing
serves 4 (and maybe with some leftovers, too)

400 ml red quinoa (regular white is fine too - my store was out)
800 ml water
1 tsp salt
3 small carrots, coarsely grated
200 g edamame beans, shelled and cooked
200 ml cabbage, finely cut
1/2 cucumber, diced

dressing:
about 100 ml light soy sauce
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp runny honey
1 tbsp sesame oil
grated ginger - about a teaspoon

Start by putting the quinoa in a strainer and rinse with cold water. Rinse really well. This is necessary to remove the bitterness from quinoa. When rinsed, place with the water (twice the amount of quinoa you're using) in a saucepan, add salt and bring to a boil. Cook for 15-20 minutes - the type of quinoa will determine the time. All the little "tails" should be released and the water pretty much absorbed. If it's soft but there's still water, just drain it.

Mix the cooked quinoa with all the veggies. Whisk together the dressing and toss with the salad. And you're done! This can be prepared well in advance, if you'd like.

Since Dante is just over two, I can still get away with buying cute kids tableware. (For a long time, yes?) I found these on a recent trip to Copenhagen. They're from the Danish company Smallstuff - one of many really good Danish designers. They make so many fun things! And Dante likes having his food separate, so these are perfect. He prefers the cupcake one - pink is his favorite color.

Next time you're roasting potatoes, try adding some tomatoes, olives and feta cheese for the last fifteen minutes. It makes for a more complete side dish and it's delicious.

My favorite tea towels (kitchen towels) are made by Bungalow. I've bought mine from Illums Bolighus in Copenhagen - these ones were just picked up last week, but I have three more that I bought last summer. I love that they're so bright and fun, but they're also really good towels. They're block-printed by hand and very reasonably priced. Swedish customers can find some of the at Broarne.

These are Swedish classics - kolakakor. They taste like caramel, and get their flavor from vanilla and golden syrup. My little boy doesn't like caramel - or at least he doesn't think he he does, so I decided to rename these golden cookies for his birthday party. They're ideal to serve to a crowd - they bake up quickly, they're sturdy and they freeze very well.

I got the basic recipe from renowned pastry chef Jan Hedh's latest book, Gofika at Olof Viktors café. However, I added a pinch of salt as well, and about half a tablespoon of canola oil, as the dough was too dry to shape.

... and no, no photo, apparently. So sorry.

Golden Cookies
about 40 cookies

160 g butter, at room temperature
130 g sugar
1 tbsp vanilla sugar
1/2 tsp salt
70 g golden syrup
1 tsp baking powder
320 g flour
1/2 tbsp canola oil if the dough is too dry

Mix together butter, sugar, vanilla, salt and syrup. Gradually add the baking powder and flour. Mix into a coherent dough - it'll just look like sand at first, but as you keep going it will slowly come together. Add a little bit of oil if it really doesn't.

Shape into four slim logs and place on two baking sheets. Flatten gently with a fork to make a pattern.

Bake at 175°C for about 10-12 minutes. They should become lightly golden. Let the cool for a minute and then cut quickly into cookies. let them cool completely before breaking apart.

I've made so many variations on lamb meatballs and burgers, but I rarely use a recipe. Hence the sketchy proportions in this recipe. It's really blog-worthy though, because the kids ate like crazy. I served these with plain bulgur wheat, a tomato salad, and tzatziki. The smash-method is excellent for cooking burgers or meatballs like these, since they get a lot of crispy surface in a short time, so they absolutely don't dry out.

Smashed lamb burgers
400 g lamb mince

2 garlic cloves

1 egg

Handful of breadcrumbs

2 tbsp chopped coriander

zest from 1 lemon

Salt

Olive oil for frying

Crack the egg in a bowl. Grate the garlic cloves and the lemon zest into the bowl. Add a large handful of breadcrumbs (I used panko, a Japanese variety.) Add the lamb and coriander and salt. Mix everything together.

Shape loose meatballs, no need for exact roundness. I got about 16 from this batch.

Heat olive oil in a frying pan, over medium-high heat. Add about 6 meatballs at a time, and fry for a minute without touching them - you want to develop a slight crust. Turn them over, so that the crust is up, and smash down with a spatula. Fry the now-flat patties for a minute or two on each side.

A post long over-due. I made this for our 13-course dinner. In January. Well, yes. My backlog is almost empty now, so I guess that's good news... :-) Anyway. This dish was made with the idea to incorporate licorice in a non-sweet dish, and it turned out very well. Different, yes - but fun, too. And still tasty.

Licorice-glazed Duck

2 duck breasts
2 tsp licorice powder
1 tsp whisky
1/2 tbsp runny honey
1 tbsp japanese soy sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp sweet chili sauce

Score the duck breasts, and brown, skin side down, until golden. Stir together all ingredients for the glaze and bring to a boil. Cook until thickened. Slather this on the duck breasts and cook in the oven at 175°C until at your desired temperature. (Some say 65°C, some say 70°C, some say more...)

Figs in Port
8 fresh figs, quartered
200 g sugar
300 ml water
200 ml port

Stir together sugar, water and port and bring to a boil. Add the figs and cook on low heat for 10-15 minutes.

Sunchoke Purée
400 g sunchokes, peeled and chopped
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 tsp olive oil
100 ml cream
salt

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan. Add the shallot and cook on medium heat until softened. Add the sunchokes and the cream, cover with a lid and cook until completely soft. Mash, and season with salt.

Food is Food

Category

Blog Archive

Flippin Burgers vs. Svenska Hamburgerköket

Whittard instant tea and hot chocolate

Highlights from the American Craft Council San Francisco Show

Red Quinoa Salad with Sesame-Honey Dressing

the cutest plates!

Quick dinner idea

Gorgeous tea towels

Golden Cookies

Smashed lamb burgers

Licorice-glazed Duck, Figs in Port, Sunchoke Purée

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