Sweet • Sour • Savory

Food blog on scandinavian style food done right.

Christmas

Klejner - Danish Fried Christmas Cookie

Christmas, Cookies, HolidayTove Balle-Pedersen11 Comments
Klejner - Danish Fried Christmas Cookie

Klejner - Danish Fried Christmas Cookie

December 21. - Today we are decoration our christmas tree. A real tree decorated with lights, Danish flags and pleated hearts. 

Klejner is the oldest of the danish christmas cookies. You were able to make klejner in a pot of fat over the fire, so there was no need for a stove. 

My dad loved klejner, but my mom thought they were to much work to make. So for many years my dad made klejner, one of the few thing he ever made in the kitchen.

Ingredients:

  • 180 g  butter, salted
  • 120 g sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 100 g whipping cream
  • 1 tablespoon cognac
  • 2 lemons, the zest of
  • 1 teaspoon bakers ammonium (hjortetaksalt)
  • 1½ teaspoon cardamom
  • 500 g all-purpose flour
  • Palm oil or coconut oil for frying 

Directions:

Cream the butter with the sugar in a stand mixer with a paddle, till it's light and fluffy. Add one egg at a time, making sure that it's incorporated before adding the next. Mix in cream and cognac. 

Add bakers ammonium, flour, cardamom and lemon zest and mix until you have a firm dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and leave it in the refrigerator over night.

How to

How to

Divide the dough into 2 balls. Roll the dough out forming a rectangle about ⅕ inch (5 mm) thick. 

Cut the dough into 1⅕ inch (3 cm) wide strips with a knife, pizza cutter or a klejnespore*. Cut the strips into 3⅕ inch (8 cm) long rectangles, make a ½ inch (1½ cm) slit in it.

To make a klejne carefully open the slit and pull one end of the rectangle through the slit to form a knot. Do this with all klejner. Set the klejner side by side on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Heat up the oil to 170-180℃ and fry the klejner until golden brown. Let the excess fat drain off on some paper towel.

The klejner will keep for about a week, in an airtight container.

 

 

Klejnespore

Klejnespore

* A klejnespore is a special pastry cutter that makes the perfect size dough strips and make a slit in the middle of the dough strip.

 

 

Pebernødder - Pfeffernüsse

Christmas, Cookies, HolidayTove Balle-Pedersen2 Comments
Pebernødder - Pfeffernüsse

Pebernødder - Pfeffernüsse

December 20. - Finally weekend in sight. Time to make paper decorations like the pleated heart. The first known pleated heart was made by Hans Christian Andersen the Danish author and poet.

Pebernødder mean pepper nuts and is one of the oldest christmas cookies in Denmark. Pebernødder are small spicy chrisp cookies, they are really yummy.

This recipe is from the Danish morning TV, but I cut the recipe in half, because I made other christmas cookies this year. 

Ingredients:

  • 125 g salted butter, room temperature

  • 125 g sugar

  • ½ teaspoon ginger

  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon

  • ½ teaspoon white pepper

  • ½ teaspoon cardamom

  • ½ teaspoon baking powder

  • ½ teaspoon baking soda

  • 50 ml heavy cream

  • 250 g all-purpose flour

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400℉ (200℃)

Cream the butter and sugar in a stand mixer, until it's fluffy and white, add the cream.

Mix the dry ingredients and mix it in, and you will get at firm dough.

Roll the dough into logs as thick as your little finger, cut the dough into 1 cm pieces . 

You can roll them or just keep them as is.

Bake for 7-10 minutes to light brown.

Keep in an airtight container.

Red Cabbage Salad - Rødkålssalat

Christmas, Dinner, Holiday, SaladTove Balle-PedersenComment
Red Cabbage Salad - Rødkålssalat

Red Cabbage Salad - Rødkålssalat

December 19. - Today I'm trying to get a healthier spin on the christmas dinner.

A couple years ago I wanted to bring something new to the christmas dinner. I made a salad with the red cabbage, oranges, grapes and walnuts, and it was so yummy. The salad brought a nice crunch to the otherwise soft christmas dinner. I love this salad so much I could eat it with any kind of meat. But it is simply perfect with the Danish meatloaf.

Ingredients

Salad

  • ½ medium red cabbage
  • 1 handful walnuts
  • 3 oranges
  • 2 handful green grapes

Dressing

  • 1 orange
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil (blood orange)
  • 2 teaspoons honey
  • salt and pepper

Directions

Remove outer leaves of cabbage, and cut cabbage into quarters and remove the white core. Thinly slice the cabbage across the quarters width-wise. To get uniform slices I use a mandolin.

Fillet the oranges with a sharp knife. Cut the top and bottom off the orange. Set your knife where the white meets the flesh and start cutting downward in a curved motion following the shape of the orange. Keep doing this until you have peeled the oranges. Carefully cut the filets out. I do this over the cabbage, so I get all the juices into the salad. Wash and cut the grapes in half.

Mix the dressing.

Mix the ingredients in a bowl and sprinkle the walnuts on top. Pour the dressing over and serve.

Slow-roasted Duck

Christmas, Dinner, Poultry, HolidayTove Balle-PedersenComment
Slow-roasted Duck

Slow-roasted Duck

December 18. - I have to take a break from all the sweets. Who would like a piece of a roasted duck?

Duck is traditionally served at the christmas dinner in Denmark. Actually 75% of danes eat duck at christmas. Back in the days people ate goose, and it was roasted in the large ovens in the bakeries, because peoples own oven was too small. Slowly people gravitated towards the duck, because of its size and prize. Farmers wanted to get the good money from the geese they raised, and would eat the cheaper duck themselves.

A Danish-style roasted duck is filled with prunes and apple slices, to keep the duck breast moist. I like to add some slices of oranges and some christmasy spices for extra flavor.

The duck in the picture was a very young bird, maybe only about 5-7 weeks old. So it's a very small bird, with not to much meat on its bones. These ducks are OK if you are making Peking Duck, but is not the best for a danish-style duck. Normally I like an older bird, around 10-12 weeks old. These birds have much more meat. The small bird cost me about $22, and would serve 3 people, while the older one cost $36 and can serve about 6 people. I buy my ducks from Grimaudfarms.com in Stockton, California. I’ve have been very pleased with the birds I have gotten from that place.

This is my take on the danish-style roasted duck.

Ingredients:

  • 1 duck (7-8 pounds)
  • 2 oranges
  • 2 apples
  • 2 handful of pitted prunes
  • A handful salt and some pepper
  • 1 star anise
  • 3 whole allspice
  • 5 whole cloves
  • 1 stick of cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 265℉ (130℃).

Chop the oranges and apples in the size of the prunes. Mix star anise, allspice, cloves and the broken cinnamon stick with apples, oranges and prunes. Have the salt in a clean cup.

Take neck and giblets out of the duck. Make sure that all feather sacks are out of the duck, you don't want a hard part of the feather in the crispy skin.

Pad the duck dry with some kitchen towel. Salt the duck inside, and fill it with the fruit mixture. Close the opening with a  trussing needle. 

Truss the duck by placing the duck on a tray with the legs towards you. Tuck the wing tips under the duck. Cut a piece of cooking twine about 3 feet (1 meter), and center it on top of the neck end of the breast. Lift the neck end of the duck and pull the twine down around the wings and under the duck, then bring the ends up over the breast, towards you, and knot the twine, pulling it tight to plump the breast. Bring the ends of the twine around the ends of the drumsticks and straight up. Tie as before to pull the drumsticks together and form a compact bird; tie again to secure knot."

Well, I did it my way, and tried my best to get the compact duck. Sometimes I just pull the wing onto the back of the duck, and use a cooking rubber band to tie the legs together.

Salt the duck with a lot of salt. 

Put the duck in the oven, breast side down, and cook it like this for 3-3½ hours. Have a pan under the duck, and put the giblets, neck and water in it. This water/drippings will be the base for the sauce. 

After 3½ hours turn the duck breast side up, and roast it for another 1½-2 hours until the temperature in the duck reaches 158℉ (70℃). If the skin isn't crispy, give the bird a few minutes under the boiler, be careful not to burn the duck.

Take the duck out and let it rest. Pour the drippings from the pan through a strainer into a saucepan. Skim the fat from the surface. I use a fat separator, which makes this process a breeze. Save the fat in the refrigerator or the freezer. Duck fat is a flavorful fat, and is perfect to roast potatoes in.

Add some cream, blue cheese and red currant jelly to the drippings and thicken the sauce, just like for the Danish pork roast.

Remove the twine and carve the duck, and serve with pickled red cabbage and Danish caramelized potatoes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oat "truffles" with Liquorice

Christmas, Holiday, Sweets and Candy, LiquoriceTove Balle-PedersenComment
Oat "truffles" with Liquorice

Oat "truffles" with Liquorice

December 17. - You can never have to many sweet treats.  

Making the traditional havregrynskugler aka Oat "truffles," I knew, I had to make some with liquorice. I'm getting addicted to liquorice, I guess, I could be addicted to worse things. 

I added almonds to  give the truffles more crunch.

Ingredients:

  • 125 g oat
  • 50 g almonds, chopped
  • 75 g butter
  • 50 g sugar
  • 10 g unsweetened cocoa (I use Valrhona)
  • 1 tablespoons salty liquorice syrup

Topping

  • white chocolate (I use Valrhona)
  • raw liquorice powder

Directions:

Chop the almonds. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment mix butter, oats, sugar, cocoa, syrup and almonds until you have a uniform texture. Add more syrup if needed.

Form small bite-size ball of the dough in your hands, Cool the balls.

Temper the white chocolate, and dip the balls in. Sprinkle with raw liquorice powder on top, before the chocolate is dried. Store the truffles in an airtight tin in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!

The Danish version:

Havregrynskugler med lakrids

Ingredienser: 

  • 125 g havregryn
  • 50 g hacked mandler
  • 75 g smør
  • 50 g sukkerr
  • 10 g kakao, uden sukker (Jeg brugte Valrhona)
  • 1 spsk salt lakrids sirup fra Bülow salty liquorice syrup

Topping

Fremgangsmåde:

Hak mandlerne. Rør smør, sukker, havregryn, kakao, sirup  og mandlerne sammen til en ensartet masse. Tilsæt mere sirup, hvis du vil have mere lakridssmag.

Rul små mundrette kugler med hænderne. Temperer den hvide chokolade og dyp kuglerne heri. Drys lidt lakridspulver på toppen, før chokoladen tørrer.

Opbevar havregrynskuglerne i en lufttæt beholder i køleskabet.

Velbekomme.