Inspired by the Swedish Wallenbergare

Posted by petra08 on October 6, 2016 · 5 Comments 

Every now and then I have a craving for very Swedish food. A taste of home. Sometimes Kalles Kaviar with a boiled egg or on toast will sort it out and sometimes I just have to cook something very Swedish as even IKEA is too far to go.

 

This time I was after a Wallenbergare. When I travelled to Stockholm for work most often I would go to a restaurant called Tranan on Odenplan. It opened it’s doors in 1929 and it serves deliciously Swedish food.

One of my favourite dishes to get was always a Wallenbergare, made with minced veal, cream and egg yolks. It is served with potato puree, no doubt made delicious with copious amounts of butter with the soft potatoes and cream based gravy. Lingonberries is a must to go with it and it is finished with peas and/or pickled cucumber. It is hearty, rich dish, setting you up to cope with all the cold a Nordic winters day can bring.

It isn’t just a winter dish but it is a treat and this is what I was after. I am not sure where to find veal so I used pork, I can’t buy lingonberries around here so I had a thought and came up with a version of cranberry jam that wasn’t that different. Perhaps it has been too long since I went home and my palate has changed but it hit the spot.

 

I started with the pickles. They are a very Nordic and it didn’t even occur to me to look up a recipe, we always had a batch at home. My addition was chilli and garlic, I love the flavour.

 

Quick chilli and garlic pickled cucumber 

preparation time 10 minutes 

cooking time 0 minutes but 30 mins at least to set

serves 4-5

Ingredients

• 1 cucumber, sliced thinly
• 2 1/2 dl or 1 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 do or 1/4 cup 24% “ättiksprit” (if using white wine vinegar do 50/50 water and white wine vinegar)
• 1 heaped tsp demerara sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced thin
• 1 red chilli
• 2 tbsp chopped parsley

Mix water, salt and sugar in a bowl and whisk until the salt and sugar is dissolved. Place the liquid in a jar with a lid and let stand for at least 30 minutes but it will taste better the next day, or the day after.

 

 

I had a think about gravy and a punnet of mushrooms in the fridge made me go for a mushroom gravy. I wanted it to be light and paired the mushrooms with ginger.

 

Mushroom and ginger gravy 

preparation time 10 minutes 

cooking time 25 mins + 5 mins 

serves 2

Ingredients

• 8 small mushrooms, cleaned and sliced thinly
• 1 inch of ginger, peeled and cut julienne in to fine stripes
• 5 dl chicken stock
• 1 handful of chopped parsley
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• salt to taste
• 2 heaped tsp corn flour and a little cold water

Place the stock, sliced mushrooms and the ginger in a pan and heat it. Bring it to a boil and let simmer away. The stock will take flavour from the mushrooms and the ginger.

 

 

Add the sugar and stir, taste with salt. When the stock has boiled down and you are happy with the flavour mix the corn flour and water

 

Whilst the cucumber was being pickled and the gravy simmering away I started on my version of a Swedish Wallenbergare. It is usually covered with bread crumbs before pan fried in butter but I used semolina as I like the crunch it gives.

 

Fusion Wallenbergare 

preparation time 10 minutes 

cooking time 20 minutes 

serves 3

Ingredients

• 300 gr pork mince
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 1/2 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tbsp cream
• salt & pepper
• semolina
• oil and butter for cooking

Mix the mince with the egg yolk, sesame oil and fish sauce. Work in the cream, a table spoon at the time. Add salt and pepper.I added about 1/2 tsp salt and about the same amount of pepper.

Shape the mince meat mixture in to 3 big patties. Heat oil and add butter to a pan. Cover the patty with semolina and pan fry. You know when they are done when they have a slight bounce to touch, or if you are unsure cut one in half.

 

I did serve it with a smooth mash but I did hold back on the butter so it wasn’t quite as calorie heavy but still a perfect accompaniment.

 

 

The only thing I actually missed was the lingonberries. I will make an extra batch of cranberry jam for Christmas as cranberries are related to lingonberries and an ok substitute.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Advertisement

Filed under Allotment/Veg, Chilli, Cucumber, Garlic, Ginger, Herbs, Pork, Potatoes, Uncategorized · Tagged with Fusion Wallenbergare, Main course, Mushroom and ginger gravy, pickle cucumber, Wallenbergare