Posts Tagged ‘Recipe’

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Risengrød – Danish warm rice pudding

Saturday, December 12th, 2009

It’s Christmas season, so I’ve got a hankering for traditional danish comfort foods. One of them is warm rice pudding. My mom used to make this on the 23rd of December, so we would have leftovers for traditional Danish Ris-ala-mande. I’ll use these leftovers for rice pudding pancakes tomorrow instead.

It is dead simple to make it. I used a recipe from a book my mother gave me a while back called Ingeborg Suhr – Mad.

  • 1 cup water
  • 180 grams Arborio Rice
  • 5 cups of milk (I used skim)
  • salt to taste

Bring the cup of water to a boil and add the rice while stirring. Turn heat down to low and simmer for 10 minutes with a lid on your pot.  Add the milk and bring to a simmer, and cook for 40-50 minutes with a lid on your pot. Check after 40 minutes to check the consistency and make sure the pudding isn’t burning at the bottom of the pot. My mom would usually cook a huge batch and leave the pot wrapped in a large down comforter for hours. Serve with a teaspon of butter and cinnamon sugar made from 1 tsp cinnamon and 2 tbsp sugar.

This was pretty tasty and even Nicholas scarfed it down. It was not quite as creamy as I remember from my childhood, so I would replace the water and skim milk with whole milk and not bother with the first 10 minute step.

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Cream of Asparagus soup

Saturday, December 12th, 2009

A week or so ago I made a pretty tasty asparagus soup. I’m posting it now because I really liked the recipe, but also because I wanted to recommend the stick blender I have. It’s the Cuisinart Stick Blender and it is very inexpensive. I’m constantly surprised how well it blends despite the low price tag. The following recipe was made with ingredients on hand, so not really fancy or anything.

  • 4 cups chicken stock
  • 2 lbs of asparagus
  • 2 medium sized russet potatoes diced
  • salt / pepper to taste
  • 2 ounces of pancetta
  • 1 smoked bratwurst
  • 2 fluid ounces of cream

Trim the asparagus and cut the heads off and reserve. Chop the asparagus roughly. Bring the chicken stock to a boil and add the chopped asparagus along with the potatoes. Cook for 30 minutes with a lid on until breaking apart. Blend with the stick blender. Add rendered pancetta and tops of asparagus back to the pot and bring everything to a low simmer. S

Did I remember to say how much I love the stick blender? This soup was very smooth.

If I had other ingredients on hand I would have cooked some shallots and garlic until translucent in a little olive oil, then added the asparagus, potatoes, and stock. I would also leave out the bratwurst and pancetta as the taste of the pancetta was quite strong. Serve with a dollop of sour cream.

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Gyoza with bean sprouts

Friday, December 11th, 2009

The idea to use bean sprouts came from my last trip to Wagamama, in South Colonnade London, where the the gyozas tasted quite a bit like bean sprouts and had the fresh bean sprout crunch. The fresh crunch of the sprouts did not come through in these dumplings though, but may have been because I chopped them too finely.  If you don’t like bean sprouts you can use pretty much any vegetable that you have on hand that is fresh.

I usually just buy pre-made wrappers at the grocery store as they are quite a bit of work to make. The filling is quite easy to make though.

  • 1 lb ground pork
  • 2 finely chopped shallots
  • 2 finely chopped cloves of garlic
  • 6 chopped scallions
  • 1 large handful of chopped bean sprouts
  • 1 large piece of ginger grated
  • A few squirts of Shaoxing rice wine
  • A few squirts of Chinkiang black vinegar
  • 1 tbsp of Sesame oil
  • Kosher Salt + Pepper

Mix everything together until you have a good bind. Place a spoonful of the filling on each of the dumpling wrappers and seal them shut. Once you have assembled enough for a full pan put a little oil in your pan and heat it up. Once the oil is hot put the dumplings in and let them fry for 2-3 minutes to get a good caramelization on the bottom. Then pour in enough water to cover the dumplings about half an inch up. Put a lid on the pan and let the dumplings steam for 5 minutes under the lid. Remove cover and let the water eveporate. Serve piping hot.

For the most authentic taste you need an authentic style dipping sauce like the one you can get at Din Tai Fung in Beijing – one of their many locations in Asia. The following

  • 2 parts Chinkiang black vinegar
  • 1 part Soy sauce
  • Chili/garlic sauce to taste
  • Thinly julliened ginger

Mix up and use as dipping sauce for your fresh-made dumplings.

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Frittata

Sunday, October 25th, 2009

Yesterday I got up early, still jet-lagged from my trip to China, and decided to go to the grocery store at 6am to stock up the fridge a bit. I decided that I was going to make a frittata so I picked up some shredded potatoes, some tomatoes, cooked turkey, and some eggs.

When I got home I put together the following ingredients in a 12 inch oven-safe skillet:

  • 1 lb shredded potatoes
  • 3 diced roma tomatoes
  • 6 oz diced cooked turkey
  • 2 medium shallots sliced thinly
  • 1 cup of thinly shredded mozarella cheese
  • salt and pepper to taste

Layer all the ingredients evenly and pour over 10 eggs that you mixed together. Cook at 350F in the skillet for 35 minutes or until the eggs are just set.

If you didn’t have a (now) picky 4 year old, you could add some diced green/red pepper to the mix along with some scallions.

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Danish Ryebread – Rugbrød

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

With my family visiting for a few weeks I really had a craving to make a true Danish Rye bread.  I didn’t want them to have to bring any, and I had yet to find something I liked locally after Blakey’s bakery closed a few years back. I have scoured the Internet and my books for recipes, but none have really hit the spot or had quite the right ingredients – some had caraway seeds, some no whole rye kernels. I finally just tried putting rye flour and rye kernels together and got some decent results. That meant more research and I was able to find a few key points that led me to my final recipe. The Pullman pan with cover and to cook the bread low and slow. This post got me quite a bit of the way there.

After purchasing the pan I tried two times to make the right bread. The flavor was right and cooking time probably a little on the short time (3 hours at 300F), but the loaves looked like they had collapsed. I mixed up the following recipe and raised the temp to 325F for 3 hours and 20 minutes and it came out beautiful! I really tried to model this recipe after the coarse types of rye bread in Denmark like “Skovmandsbrød”.

  • 2 cups sour dough starter (100 gram rye flour, 100 gram boiled rye kernels, 150 grams water, 1/4 tsp yeast – sit out for 48 hours covered)
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp yeast
  • 3 tbsp sesame seeds
  • 2 tbsp flax seeds
  • 1/2 cup non-roasted sunflower seeds
  • 3 cups boiled rye kernels
  • 6 cups rye flour
  • 2 tbsp molases

The flour and rye kernels are all from Mississippi Market. I boil the rye kernels because the end product comes out too hard with the rye kernels left unsoaked and the boiling process makes them nice and soft quickly. I basically cover them in water and bring them to a boil and quickly turn off the heat. Then let them cool and use both the water and the rye kernels in the bread. I let the dough sit for almost two days, until it’s both completely inflated and deflated – it seemed to help with the rise. If I didn’t the bread rose unevenly in the oven in a V-shape. Reserve 2 cups of the dough for the sourdough starter and the rest will fit beautiful in the Pullman pan.

It has taken me quite a while to get this right as I started on the post in June, but finally I can eat a real Danish style rye bread for lunch!

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Honey-Mustard Potato Salad

Monday, August 3rd, 2009

I made this a few weeks back, it turned out quite tasty. I had been reading a few blogs and it sounded like it was easy to make a tasty warm potato salad without having to use a mayo-based dressing. I cooked up 1 1/2 lb small red potatoes with the skin on like normal and made sure not to overcook them. While the potatoes were cooking I whisked together this quick dressing for the potatoes to suck up.

  • 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 2 tbsp honey
  • 2 tsp mustard
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • salt + pepper to taste

I dumped the potatoes into the dressing and flipped them a few times, then foiled the bowl and let them sit while I grilled up some pork chops to go with the potato salad. The pork chops were marinated in garlic, salt, pepper, and oregano for an hour before going on a very hot charcoal grill. Overall the meal turned out pretty good!

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Fresh Basil Pesto and Pasta Salad

Sunday, August 2nd, 2009

It was pretty good weather out yesterday so Nicholas and I were heading to the farmers market in St. Paul to get some chocolate milk from Crystal Ball Farm Diary out of Osceola, WI. I noticed that quite a few vendors had some good looking fresh sweet basil, so I decided that we should do some fresh basil pesto and use it to make a pasta salad for a Mead Day event later that day. After buying some pine nuts at the grocery store on the way home we made a pesto from the following ingredients:

  • 2 heaping cups of fresh sweet basil
  • heaping pile of grated romano/parmesan (using micro-plane grater medium ribbon)
  • 2 chopped cloves of garlic
  • 1/3 cup fresh toasted pine nuts
  • salt + pepper to taste
  • 1/4 cup olive oil

First the pine nuts went into the food processor with the garlic. After pulsing a few times I added all of the basil along with the cheese. After pulsing for a minute or two I slowly added the olive oil until the consistency was just right, pretty well blended and very small pieces. Then I seasoned with salt and pepper to taste. With the amount of cheese the pesto turned out on the salty side, so I would be a little more cautious with the salt next time.

For the pasta salad I cooked a pound of whole wheat penne. I pulled them off while they were still “al dente”.  I cooled it immediately under running cold water and let it drain in a strainer for 10 minutes. While it was draining I diced 4 oz of pepperoni from Cossettas and added it to the bowl where I was going to make the salad in. I added the drained pasta and about 2/3rds of pesto from the recipe above, which was about right for the amount of pasta.

Today I used some of the remaining pesto in a few chicken and lettuce sandwiches which also turned out pretty good!

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Redwine and Creme de Cassis marinated flank steak & Herb and Cheese Pork Tenderloin with grilled sweet potatoes and grilled polenta

Monday, May 25th, 2009

I wanted to grill out again today, and I had a perfectly fine flank steak in the fridge that I took out from the freezer yesterday. I had just finished watching another episode of Bobby Flay’s “Grill It” where he marinated some beef in Creme de Cassis and Red wine. It certainly sounded good to me, so I knew what to do with the flank steak.

  • 2 lb flank steak
  • 2/3 cup red wine
  • 1/2 cup creme de cassis
  • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
  • fresh ground pepper
  • pinch of kosher salt
  • oregano

Remove the sinew and extra fat on the flank steak. Cut in some 1/4″ deep cross marks on the flank steak and sprinkle generously with the kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, and oregano. Put the remaining ingredients in a zip lock bag and put the flank steak in the marinade. Refrigerate for an hour before letting it come to room temperature to get ready for the grill.

I also had a pork tenderloin in the fridge that I wanted to grill at the same time.

  • 1.5 lb pork tenderloin
  • sprig fresh thyme
  • sprig fresh oregano
  • 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
  • 1 1/2 cup of fresh grated asiago & romano cheese
  • 4 cloves chopped garlic
  • fresh ground pepper
  • kosher salt

Remove the fat, sinew, and silver skin from the pork tenderloin. Butterfly the tenderloin into a 1/2″ thick flat piece. Sprinkle the seasonings and cheese mix on top of the tenderloin and roll it up tightly. I used some butcher twine to keep the roll together for cooking. It’s fairly easy to tie a few butcher’s knots to keep it together.

The tenderloin needed a little longer cooking time than the flank steak. The flank steak had a nice char to it and was perfect medium rare in the thicker part. The Creme de Cassis really came through in the final product. The pork tenderloin was also perfectly done although a little on the dry side. Also had some nice grill marks on the outside. Next time the pork tenderloin should really have some kind of gravy to compliment it.

I wanted to grill some vegetables and had a roll of polenta from Trader Joe’s that I wanted to grill up too.

  • Roll of organic polenta from Trader Joe’s
  • 1 large sweet potato
  • 1 cup fresh grated asiago & romano cheese
  • oregano
  • fresh ground pepper
  • kosher salt
  • 1 clove chopped garlic
  • 2 tbsp olive oil

Peel the sweet potato and cut it into about 6 equal sized slices. Brush olive oil on each side and sprinkle with ground pepper and kosher salt. Open the roll of polenta and cut them into even sized slices (about 1/2″ thick). Brush both sides with olive oil and sprinkle fresh ground pepper and kosher salt on them. Mix the cheese with the chopped garlic, oregano, and fresh ground pepper.

Put the all the slices over a medium hot fire. The polenta will stick pretty bad even with the olive oil. Leave them for a few minutes – enough to get some grill marks. Once you flip them over sprinkle with the cheese and herb mixture on top – it will lightly melt as the residual radiates up to through the cheese. Even with the sticking it turned the polenta turned out pretty tasty and almost creamy.  The salty cheese mixture on top worked well with it too.

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Pizza Sandwiches

Sunday, May 24th, 2009

One of the things I occasionally miss from Denmark, are the pizza sandwiches that are made by your local Turkish-family owned pizza joints all over Denmark. They’re essentially calzone pizzas that are light on sauce. Cooked at high heat the outter shell is much like a large pita bread that is cut open and filled with shredded lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber and yogurt dressing. I wanted tomake some similar to this as Nicholas had requested pizza for dinner.

The bread part of this I’ve posted multiple times so I’ll just post the ingredients and no method around it.

  • 4 1/2 cups bread flour
  • 3/4 cup of graham wholewheat flour
  • 1/2 cup gluten
  • 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/2 tsp yeast
  • ~2 cups warmwater

I didn’t want to attempt making the tangy yogurt dressing today, so I decided to make a tomato salsa that would add a little of the dressing feel.

  • 4 seeded and then chopped roma tomatoes
  • 1 large shallot finely diced
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1`handfull cilantro leaves chopped
  • juice of 1 lime
  • pinch of kosher salt
  • pinch of fresh ground pepper
  • 2 tbsp olive oil

Mix all the ingredients together in a large enough container and put it in the fridge for an hour to allow the flavors to develop.

Split the pizza dough into 6-7 pieces and round them out. Roll them out flat and try to be a little consistent with the shape so it is easier to form the calzone. Once the dough is rolled out put your toppings on. I went very simple and only added some salami and shredded mozzarella cheese. Only fill one side of the dough where it will make the most uniform folded over piece. Once you fold over the dough you could use a fork to make the edges come together – I braided the sides by folding over the dough a little bit at a time. Was quite easy to do.

The calzones went on the grill for about 2 minutes on each side until they were browned but hopefully not burnt. Once cool enough to touch cut them open at the folded edge and fill. Our fillings were shredded lettuce and the tomato salsa. Below are a few progression pictures.

If I had to make the yogurt dressing I would try to get some greek yogurt (non-sweetened, no vanilla). I’d add lime juice, chopped garlic, salt, pepper, and fresh chopped oregano to it.  Maybe a little buttermilk to get the consistency more like a dressing.

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Salmon Burgers

Friday, May 15th, 2009

I had some salmon in the fridge that had been sitting for a few days and wanted to try some other than plain boring salmon fillets. So I decided to dice it up finely and make some burgers out of it.

  • 3/4 pound of fresh salmon
  • 1 egg
  • Kosher salt
  • Fresh ground pepper
  • 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tsp sesame oil

Dice the salmon, but don’t mince it as you want some texture left in the finished burgers. Add egg, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and sesame oil. Mix together and add the breadcrumbs a little at a time.  Form 4 burger patties and fry them in olive oil for about 4-5 minutes on each side.

Overall the burgers turned out pretty good and would make a good fish burger with maybe a nice lemon vinaigrette.  The sesame oil didn’t add as much flavor as I was hoping for, so I would leave it out next time. To spice it up I would add some fresh herbs next time – maybe some parsley or cilantro and a little garlic. Adding some diced fresh shrimp to the salmon mixture would provide an interesting texture differences.

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