Høns i Asparges - Chicken & Asparagus in tartlets

Høns i Asparges - Chicken & Asparagus in tartlets

Høns in asparges or Creamed chicken and asparagus in tartlets is an old Danish classic dish. Normally it will be served as a part of the traditional christmas and easter lunches. For sure this is old school Danish food, called mormor-mad (Grandmother food). And mormor-mad is peasant food, and not on the healthy side. But if you loose the tartlets and serve the dish with boiled potatoes, boiled carrots and some bread, you can have a regular meal. Creamed chicken and asparagus in tartlets is kinda the same thing as chicken potpie, if you serve it upside-down. 

Creamed chicken and asparagus was a big favorite in my house growing up, but wasn't served on a regular basis, so it was a rare but special treat.

Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

Sauce:

• 25 g butter

• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• ½ cup (1 dl) chicken stock

• ½ cup (1 dl) milk

• asparagus water,

• salt & white pepper to taste

Filling:

• 1 jar white asparagus in water, save the water for the sauce

• ½ chicken, the meat prepared (I used the left over meat from my chicken noodle soup)

Tartlets:

Use  Tarteletter, savory tartelettes or make your own with puff pastry homemade or store bought. 

Directions:

Sauce: 

Melt the butter over medium heat in a sauce pan. Add the flour and a sprinkle of salt, stirring constantly, until all the flour is incorporated with the butter. You don't want it to get a golden. First whisk in the hot chicken stock, making sure to not to have any lumps left, then whisk in the milk, asparagus water and cook, whisking constantly, until thickened and shiny, 2 to 3 minutes. Add more milk if the sauce is too thick.

Cut the asparagus and chicken into bitesize pieces. Gently fold in the filling in the sauce, and season with salt and white pepper.

Serve the creamed chicken & asparagus in tartelettes, with boiled potatoes or with a slice of a good bread.

Enjoy!

Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken Noodle Soup

Fall is here. Finally is time for chicken noodle soup, or any kind of soups. But this day was a chicken noodle soup kinda day. I had just got back from a visit to a cold and windy Denmark, and I needed some warm comfy soup. 

My mom made this type of soup often in the winter months. Well, we didn't have noodles in the soup. We had the traditional Danish soup dumpling (melboller), boiled meatballs (kødboller), and supperis. But in a busy family it is so much easier to cook some noodles and be done with it. 

Serves 4-6.

Ingredients:

Soup:

• 5 organic chicken wings
• 1 whole organic chicken
• ½ celery root, + the green top, chopped in large chunks
• 3 carrots, sliced in large chunks
• 2 leeks, sliced in 3 big chunks
• 1 onion, quartered skin on
• 1 teaspoon tomato paste
• 3 liter (12 cups) water

Filling:

• 2 cups shredded chicken meat (from wings and chicken)
• ½ celery root, finely diced
• 2 carrots, sliced
• 1 leek, white part, thinly sliced
• 2 cups egg noodles, cooked according to package
• chili pepper, diced - optional

Directions:

Heat oil in a large heavy pot. Cook the chicken wings till they have a deep brown color all over. Be careful not to overcrowd the pot, this will make the wing boil instead of browning. Transfer wings to a plate.

Add onion, carrots, celery and leek to pot. Cook, turning occasionally, until browned. Add tomato paste, cook while stirring until the tomato paste is heated through, 1-2 minutes. Add about a cup (2 dl) of the water to deglaze the pot, so you get all the brown bits dispersed. Add wings, chicken and the celery greens and the rest of the water. You want to cover all the chicken with water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let the soup simmer for 1½–2 hours until the chicken is falling off the bones. Skim the soup occasionally, to get a clear soup. Remove chicken and vegetables, and strain soup into a clean large heavy pot.

(Now you have a great homemade chicken stock. If you want a more concentrated stock, reduce the stock to about a third. The stock can be frozen for later use.)

Remove the meat from the bones, save the meat, and discard the bones.

Add carrots, leek and celery to the strained soup, and let it simmer until tender, about 2-5 minutes. Add the meat and let it heat through.

Serve the soup in heated bowls with some cooked egg noodles. I always cook the noodles separate, so they don't get to mushy if you want to save the leftovers. 

Enjoy!

Lakse- og majschowder

Lakse- og majschowder

Nu er madbloggerudfordringen i gang igen. Denne gang er vi blevet udfordret i at tilberede en ret fra det salte køkken, der skal laves i en og samme gryde/skål/fad, en såkalde Alt-i-Én ret.

Nu vi er kommet ind i efteråret var det en udfordring jeg ikke ville lade gå min næse forbi. Men jeg glemte lige at tage højde for en efterårsferie hjem til Danmark, og det uundgåelige Jetlag. Og jeg må erkende kreativiteten lider under en omgang jetlag. Men jeg hoppede en tur tilbage i tiden, og fandt denne skønne chowder frem fra gemmerne. Jeg synes den passer perfekt her i efteråret, selvom efteråret tit giver os noget tungere mad, så er denne laksechowder fuld af smag og varmer dejligt.

Her er bidrag til MADBLOGGERUDFORDRINGEN#9

4-6 portioner

Ingredienser:

• 3 medium porrer
• 2 stilke bladselleri 
• 1 spsk smør
• 6 medium kartofler (ikke nogle der er melede)
• 3 majskolber, kun kernerne
• 450 g laks uden skin og ben, skåret i 5x5 cm tern
• 3 skiver røget laks 
• 2½ dl fløde, kan udelades hvis du vil have en sundere suppe
• 1¼ dl hvidvin
• 1 liter vand
• 2 terninger knorr fiske boullion 
• 1 laurbærblad
• 1½ tsk hvid peber, friskkværnet
• 1 citron, saft og skal
• frisk dild til pynt

Fremgangsmåde:

Skyl og skær porrerne tyndt. Skræl kartoflerne og skær dem i ca 2x2 cm tern.

Smelt smørret i en tykbundet gryde, og sauter porre og selleri i omkring 8-10 minutter, uden at brune dem. Tilsæt vinen efter de første par minutter, for at undgå bruningen.

Kom kartofler, hvid peber, laurbærblad, vand og boullionterningen i, og lad suppen komme til kogepunktet. Kog suppen i 10-14 minutter indtil kartoflerne er næsten møre. Fjern laurbærbladet.

Blend ca. ⅔ af suppen incl. kartofler og porre* eller brug en stavblender og blend den lidt, så der stadig er lidt grøntsagsstykker i suppen. Det gør suppen bliver dejlig cremet. Bland den blendede suppe med resterne af suppen og kartoflerne. Tilsæt fløde, revet citronskal og majsen, og kog suppen op. Tilsæt begge typer laks  til suppen. Lad suppen simre 3-5 minutter, indtil fisken er færdig. Laksestykkerne vil gå lidt i stykker, men det er helt fint. 

Smag suppen til med salt, peber og citronsaft.

Kom lidt dild oven på suppen, når den serveres.

Velbekomme!

*Pas på med at blende den varme suppe, da det kan give skoldninger, hvis låget hopper af. Man kan evt. tage det lille låg af blenderen og dække hullet til med et viskestykke, mens der blendes. 

The English version:

Salmon Corn Chowder

Serves 4-6

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 medium leeks
• 2 stalks celery 
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 6 medium potatoes (Yukon Gold)
• 3 ears corn kernels
• 1 pound (450 g) salmon filet, skin and bones removed, cut into 2-inch (5 cm) cubes
• 3 thin slices smoked salmon, chopped
• 1 cup (2½ dl) cream, optional, leave out to get a healthier soup 
• ½ cup (1¼ dl) white wine
• 4 cups (1 liter) water
• 2 Knorr fish stock cubes 
• 1 bay leave
• 1½ teaspoons white pepper, freshly ground
• 1 lemon, zest and juice
• fresh dill for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

Thinly slice the leeks.  Peel potatoes and cut them into large dices. 

Melt the butter in a thick bottomed pan over medium heat. Sauté the leeks and celery for about 8-10 minutes, until soft, stirring occasionally.  Add the wine to prevent browning. 

Add potatoes, white pepper, bay leave, water, and/or stock. Bring the soup to a boil, and reduce the heat, and let the soup simmer for about 10-14 minutes until the potatoes is almost tender. Discard the bay leave.

Blend about ⅔ of the soup including (⅔) potatoes and leeks until smooth*. This makes the soup nice and creamy. Mix the blended soup with the unblended part, with the cream, lemon zest and the corn kernels. Bring the soup to a simmer and add  both types of salmon, and let it simmer for about 3-5 minutes until the fish is cooked. The big chunks will separate somewhat, but thats perfectly fine.

Season the soup with salt, pepper and lemon juice.

Garnish with a few spring of fresh dill.

Enjoy!

*Be careful when blending hot liquids, it can make the lid pop off, and you may risk getting serious burns on you skin. You can remove the small cap on you blender lid and cover the lid with a clean kitchen towel. You need to hold on to the lid and towel. This will let the steam from the hot soup escape and avoid the lid from popping off. You can also get blenders like the Vitamix, where you can blend hot liquids, without any hassle.

Thai Meatballs with Shrimp

We really like thai-inspired food in our house. Mostly we have rice with the meal, but I needed a lighter meal, so I opted for a pearl barley/cabbage salad. 

The meatballs were really really tasty. They were very flavorful, a little on the spicy side, but you can control that with the amount of chili you add. If you need a new twist to your normal meatballs give these a try. 

Ingredients:

Thai Meatballs:

• 450 g (1 lbs) ground pork

• 150 g (⅓ lbs) raw shrimp (peeled and deveined), grounded

• 3 scallions, thinly sliced

• 1 teaspoon grated ginger

• 1 jalapeño, minced

• 1 garlic clove, minced

• 1 small handful cilantro leaves, chopped

• ½ lime, the juice from

• ½ teaspoon sesame oil

• ½ teaspoon red curry paste

• ½ teaspoon fish sauce

• salt and pepper to taste

• vegetable oil for frying

Salad:

• pearl barley, cooked according to instructions on package

• green cabbage, thinly sliced

• cilantro

• carrots, julienned

• chili pepper, julienned

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients for the meatballs in a bowl. Heat a skillet with some vegetable oil and panfry a small test meatball. Taste the cooked test meatball and season the meatball mixture if it according to your taste.

Form the meatball with a spoon, and panfry them, until cooked through. Mix up the salad, and serve the meatballs on the salad with some satay sauce on the side.

Enjoy!

Green Goddess Chicken

Green Goddess Chicken

It is well known that if you marinate chicken in buttermilk, you will get the most juicy chicken. I have done that with the chicken nuggets earlier on.  So why not marinate chicken in the green Goddess dressing. 

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

• 200 ml green Goddess dressing

• 4-6 chicken thighs

• olive oil, for roasting

• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Pour the dressing into a ziplock bag with the chicken thighs. Let the chicken marinate in the dressing for at least 6 hours or over night in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 450℉ (235℃).

Remove the chicken from the marinade, shaking off the excess dressing, and place the chicken skin-side up on a rimmed baking sheet. Discard the marinade. Pad the liquid off the chicken skin with paper towel. Drizzle the chicken with olive oil and sprinkle with coarse salt. 

Roast the chicken for 30-45 minutes golden brown and cooked through.

Serve the chicken with a salad and use the dressing as a cold sauce.

Enjoy!