Friday 31 July 2009

Grilled Peaches – with Vanilla Mascarpone

4 peaches, halved and stone removed
2 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp caster sugar
1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped out
250g mascarpone cheese
3 dl razberries
2 tbsp honey


4 servings


1. Put the peaches in a bowl, drizlle the olive oil and 2 tbsp of suger over and coat the peaches well. Grill on the meat side down on a hot grill for 5 minutes. Lower the heat on the grill, turn the peaches and cook for another 5 minutes.
2. Put the mascarpone cheese in a bowl and add the vanilla seeds, rest of the sugar and mix together.
3. Serve with some razberries and drizzle the honey on top.

Thursday 23 July 2009

My favorite Beef Stew

olive oil
a knob of butter
1 onion, peeled and chopped
a handful of fresh sage leaves
800g stewing steak, cut into 5cm pieces
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
flour, to dust
2 parsnips, peeled and quartered
200g button mushrooms, quartered
4 carrots, peeled and halved
½ a butternut squash, halved, deseeded and roughly diced
500g small potatoes
2 tablespoons tomato purée
½ a bottle of red wine
285ml beef or vegetable stock
zest of 1 lemon, finely grated
a handful of rosemary, leaves picked
1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely chopped


Preheat the oven to 160ºC. Put a little oil and your knob of butter into an appropriately sized pot or casserole pan. Add your onion and all the sage leaves and fry for 3 or 4 minutes.


Toss the meat in a little seasoned flour, then add it to the pan with all the vegetables, the tomato purée, wine and stock, and gently stir together. Season generously with freshly ground black pepper and just a little salt. Bring to the boil, place a lid on top, then cook in the preheated oven until the meat is tender. Sometimes this takes 3 hours, sometimes 4 – it depends on what cut of meat you’re using and how fresh it is. The only way to test is to mash up a piece of meat and if it falls apart easily it’s ready.


Once it’s cooked, you can turn the oven down to about 110°C and just hold it there until you’re ready to eat. The best way to serve this is by ladling big spoonfuls into bowls, accompanied by a glass of red wine and some really fresh, warmed bread. Mix the lemon zest, chopped rosemary and garlic together and sprinkle over the stew before eating. Just the smallest amount will make a world of difference – as soon as it hits the hot stew it will release an amazing fragrance.

Thursday 16 July 2009

Greek Yogurt - with Mango and Banana Purré

This is a fresh healthy dessert, which can also be a sunday morning treat. My friend Marius Johannessen took this picture for our book "Desserts by seasons".

2 mangos
2 bananas
4 tsp honey
3 dl orange juce
300g greek yogurt
3 tbsp vanilla sugar, (sugar and seeds from 1 vanilla pod)
1 tbsp honey
25 g pistachios, chopped

6 servings

1. Peel and dice the mangos and the bananas and freeze for 1 hour. Then put the frozen fruit, honey and orange juce into a food processer. Mix until smooth.

2. Mix the yogurt, vanilla sugar and honey in a bowl. .

3. First put the friut smoothie in the bottom of the glas and then the greek yogurt, and so on. Sprinkle the chopped pistachio nuts on the top.

Wednesday 8 July 2009

Scallops with Squash Sauce

1 butternut squash, peeled and diced
1 banana schalotte, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 glas white wine
100ml chicken stock
100ml cream, (full fat)
butter and oil
salt and pepper to season
300g mixed mushrooms
butter and oil
salt and pepper
8-12 scallops
butter and oil
lemon juce

For the sauce, heat a pan on high heat and sweat the onions and garlic in some butter and oil. Add the butternut squash, white wine and chicken stock to the pan and stir together. Season well with salt and pepper and let simmer on medium heat for 10-12 minutes or till the squash is ready. Add the cream and purré in a mixer.

For the mushrooms, add some butter and oil to another pan and cook the mushrooms for 2 -3 minutes and season with salt and pepper.
For the scallops, season well and cook for 1 min on each side on a hot grill with some butter and oil. When done, squeeze some lemon juce to give them a extra kick. Decorate with parmesan shavings and whatercress.