In a world where we can barely get through the day without being faced with coconut oil, almond milk, pea shoots and the dreaded spirulina, a heap of potato salad couldn't be more welcome. Our love for Scandinavian culture doesn't stop at Acne and Cos; the hype surrounding the Danish art of cosiness, hygge (hoo-ga), has swept the UK and it seems we're more than ready to bin the hemp milk in exchange for a hot bath.
Danish food writer and chef Trine Hahnemann's 10th book tackles comfort food – something we're all a little in need of now that the evenings are getting darker. Click on for four recipes that are ideal for hygge dinner party heaven.
Scandinavian Comfort Food: Embracing the Art of Hygge by Trine Hahnemann (Quadrille £25).
Classic Potato Salad
Ingredients
600g new potatoes, such as Jersey Royals, unpeeled
2 sweetcorn cobs
1 small red onion
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
50g mustard leaves
1 small bunch of basil, leaves only
4 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 tbsp mayonnaise
4 tbsp chopped dill
2 tbsp crème fraîche
2 tbsp capers, chopped sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
Mix all the ingredients for the dressing together, with salt and pepper to taste, and set aside.
Wash the potatoes and slice them. Cook in boiling, salted water for 5–8 minutes or until tender but still holding their shape.
While the potatoes are boiling, slice the kernels off the sweetcorn cobs by cutting vertically down each side of the cobs so all the kernels fall off. Thinly slice the onion into rings. Put the corn kernels in a pan with the onion slices and vinegar and boil for 2-3 minutes.
Drain the potatoes. While they’re still warm, mix with the red onion and corn kernels, then mix in the dressing. Finally, mix in the mustard and basil leaves. Serve right away while still warm.
Photo: Courtesy of Columbus Leth/Quadrille.
Meatballs with Celeriac and Apples
Ingredients
For the meatballs
500g minced pork
1 small onion, finely grated
1⁄2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tbsp plain flour
2 tbsp breadcrumbs
1 tsp each of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the broth
2 litres water
1 tbsp sea salt
3 bay leaves
5 thyme sprigs
600g celeriac
2 leeks
3 apples
100g butter
3 tbsp plain (all-purpose) flour
200g spelt grain
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Small bunch of parsley or chervil, chopped, to serve
Instructions
Mix the minced pork with all the other meatball ingredients. For the broth, pour the water into a saucepan, add the salt and herbs and bring to the boil.
Use a spoon to form the meatball mixture into balls, lower them into the boiling water and let them cook for 10-15 minutes until they rise to the surface, which means they are done. Remove them from the broth with a slotted spoon and set aside. Strain 800ml of the broth into a jug.
Meanwhile, peel the celeriac and cut into 2cm cubes. Slice the leeks and rinse well. Cut the apples into slices 1cm thick.
Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the flour and stir well, then add the reserved broth a little at a time, stirring constantly until the sauce is smooth, without any lumps. Add the leeks and celeriac and let it simmer for 20 minutes. Add the meatballs and apples about 5 minutes before the end of cooking, and cook until the meatballs are warmed through.
Meanwhile, rinse the spelt grain in several changes of cold water. Cook in lightly salted water for 15-20 minutes, then drain. Season the meatball sauce to taste with salt and pepper, sprinkle with the parsley or chervil and serve with the spelt.
Photo: Courtesy of Columbus Leth/Quadrille.
Winter Apple Layer Cake
Ingredients
For the apple sauce
600g Bramley apples
40g caster sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
For the layers
175g minus 1 tsp soft butter
175g caster sugar
1 egg
175g plain flour
3 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground cardamom
For the cream
100g hazelnuts
400ml double cream
100ml single cream
2 tsp icing sugar
Instructions
Peel and dice the apples and put them into a pan with the sugar and lemon juice. Let them simmer for 15-20 minutes until you have a smooth sauce. Set aside to cool.
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Draw a 20cm circle using a pencil on 7 sheets of baking parchment. Turn these over and arrange on as many baking sheets as necessary to fit (you may have to bake these in batches).
Beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy, then beat in the egg. Mix the flour and spices together and fold into the creamed mixture. Using a spatula, spread the mixture as evenly as possible inside each visible circle on the pieces of baking parchment.
Bake in the oven, in batches if necessary, for 6-8 minutes or until the edges start to take on some colour. Set aside to cool on the sheets of baking parchment on a wire rack.
While the layers are cooling, roast the hazelnuts. Spread them out on a baking sheet and roast in the oven, then wrap them in a clean tea towel and give them a good rub, so the skins come off. Roughly chop them.
Whip both creams together with the icing sugar and stir in two-thirds of the chopped hazelnuts.
Assemble the cake just before serving and no sooner, as it goes soft very quickly. Place a crisp layer on a serving plate and add some apple sauce, then add another crisp layer, then some cream. Repeat this layer pattern twice, then add the last crisp layer and some apple sauce on top. Sprinkle the remaining chopped hazelnuts on top and serve right away.
Photo: Courtesy of Columbus Leth/Quadrille.
Rye Bread
Ingredients
For the rye sourdough starter
300ml buttermilk
300g wholegrain stoneground rye flour
Day 1
Sourdough starter from above
850ml lukewarm water
15g sea salt
750g wholegrain stoneground rye flour
Day 2
500g cracked rye
250ml cold water
A little oil for the tin
Instructions
To make the rye sourdough starter, mix the buttermilk and rye flour well in a bowl, cover and leave at room temperature for three days. It’s important that it doesn’t develop mould but starts bubbling, and a temperature of 23-25°C is ideal for this.
Day 1
If making your first loaf from the starter, dissolve all the starter in the lukewarm water in a large mixing bowl (for the next loaf use just 3 tbsp of the starter; the whole quantity of starter is just for the first attempt, and the loaf will be a little bigger). Stir in the salt and rye flour, cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave at room temperature for 12-24 hours. After you have taken out the 3 tbsp for the next rye bread you are going to make, this starter does not need taking care of. Just let it rest in the refrigerator until next time you need it.
Day 2
Add the cracked rye and cold water to the dough mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until smooth. It will be too runny to knead. Remove 3 tbsp of the mixture to an airtight container and refrigerate; this will become your sourdough starter for the next loaf you make (it will need to rest for at least three days before you use it, and will last up to eight weeks).
Lightly oil a large loaf tin, about 30 x 10cm and 10cm deep. Pour in the dough, cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rise for 3-6 hours, or until the dough has almost reached the top of the tin.
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 180°C. Bake the loaf for 1 hour 45 minutes then immediately turn the loaf out of the tin onto a wire rack to cool. This is great to eat just out of the oven, but as it’s difficult to cut, it’s better the next day... if you can wait!
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