Roasted Tomato Soup

Roasted Tomato Soup

Soups are perfect for when you're having a cold or when it starts to get cold outside. I grew up with having soups for dinner and one of my favorites has always been tomato soup. Maybe because it was easy to make or just because me and my mom loved tomatoes.

I have several different tomato soups to choose from in my recipes, but I wanted to add another flavor profile to the soup by roasting the tomatoes first. And by all means it payed off.

Serves 3

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds (1 kg) ripe tomatoes
• 1 serrano pepper (I roasted two, and used one for the topping)
• 1 onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 2 cups (500 ml) water
• 2 teaspoons chicken base
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• Salt, pepper
• Some olive oil

Topping:

• 5 thin slices prosciutto roasted to crisp in the oven 
• a dollop sour cream
• roasted serrano pepper

Direction:

Preheat the oven to 400℉ (200℃)

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Wash tomatoes and cut into eight pieces. Peel onions, cut in pieces and peel the garlic cloves. Cut the chilies in half and put it all on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast the vegetables in the oven for 35-40 minutes.

Transfer roasted vegetables together with the roasting juices into a pot and add water, chicken base and thyme. Bring to boil and simmer for about 20 minutes.

Remove the thyme sprigs and puree soup. Seasoning with salt and pepper to taste..

Serve the soup immediately with the toppings. 

Venison with Port/Blueberry Sauce

Venison with Port/Blueberry Sauce

Happy New Year.

Thank you for visiting my blog, and getting my new adventure off to a good start. I had a blast the last months and I'll do my very best to keep coming up with new things. Having this blog forces me to try new recipes and making my own twist on them.

I look forward to the 2014 and to face the challenges it may bring. 

From my family to yours, have a fantastic 2014, filled with light and laughter.

Cheers.

We rarely have game like venison, but when I see it on the menu, I have to get it. It's so lean and I love the taste and texture. 

Growing up we didn't get game very often. We might get rabbit or wild duck, but that was it. When we visited my dads family in Jutland, we could be lucky to have some venison, cause both my uncles were hunters.

I find the venison at the German butcher i Los Altos/mountain, I haven't found it anywhere else.

This is how I make venison:

Serves 4 

Ingredients: 

• 2 lb venison loin roast

• butter and oil for searing

• salt and pepper

Sauce:

• 350 ml Port wine

• 1 handful fresh blueberries

• 1 teaspoon butter

Directions:

Take the meat out of the refrigerator, and get it to room temperature before you start searing.

Preheat the oven to about 200℉ (just under 100℃).

Heat a large ovenproof skillet over high heat, and add an oil with a high smoking point, like sunflower oil or grape seed oil.

Season venison with salt and pepper. Sear venison on all sides, so it has a nice color.  Place the skillet with the venison in the oven for about 10-15 minutes. 

Thinly slice the venison and serve with the port/blueberry sauce.

The sauce:

Reduce the port to a syrup over low to medium heat. Remove from heat when the port can cover the back of a spoon. Stir in a teaspoon of salted butter, this will thicken the sauce a bit. Add the blueberries so they just get heated. 

The sauce is perfect with any kind of red meat.

Lamb chops sous vide

Lamb chops sous vide

I got a new gadget for the kitchen this christmas. I got an Anova sous vide Immersion circulator. It's the nerdiest gadget to date. I almost feel like I'm back at the lab growing cells or making analysis.

Sous vide is cooking in a water bath at exact controlled temperatures. You put the ingredients in a vacuum sealed bag and cook it at the temperature you want your ingredient to end up with, but you have to take food safety in to consideration. If you want a medium rare steak (131℉ or 55℃) you cook your steak at 131℉ or 55℃ for a certain amount of time. The time seems to be some kind of trial and error. But I’m not the first to have this type of equipment in my home, so there’s a lot of websites recommending time and temperature for different ingredients.

These lamb chops was tender and moist, and by far one of the best I have ever had. Next time, I would remove more of the fat, no other changes.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1 rack of lamb, cut up to 4 chops

• 2 sprigs of rosemary,

• 2 cloves of garlic

• 1 tablespoon butter

• salt and pepper

Directions:

Wash you hands very thoroughly. 

Pour boiling water over the rosemary. Cut the rack of lamb into 4 chops. Season the chops with salt and pepper. Place some rosemary leaves on each chop and a few slices of garlic. Place two chops in each vacuum bag and place some butter, rosemary and garlic slices on the other side of the chop. Vacuum seal the bags and submerge them in the 130℉ (54.5℃) water bath to cook for 2 hours.

After the 2 hours take the vacuum bags out of the water and remove the lamb chops from the bags. Sear the chops on a scalding hot pan, about a minute on each side.

Enjoy.

Scalloped Hasselback Potatoes

Scalloped Hasselback Potatoes

My husband send me a link to a recipe for hasselback potato gratin. It looked to be the best of both worlds, a combination of the creamy potato gratin and the crisp hasselback potatoes. 

I thought it would be perfect with a ribeye steak. I changed it up a bit, to what was in my refrigerator.

This is my version.

Serves 4-6 people.

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds russet potatoes

• 6 fl oz (5 dl) heavy whipping cream

• parmesan cheese

• smoked gouda

• 2 garlic cloves

• 2 sprigs thyme leaves, leaves only

• salt

Direction:

Preheat the oven to 400℉ (200℃).

Grate the cheeses, and set about ¼ of it a side, and mix the rest with the cream, garlic, thyme.

Peel the potatoes and slice them thinly on a mandolin. Toss the potato slices in the cream/cheese mixture, making sure to cover each slice. 

Stack the potato slices and lay them in ovenproof dish with their edges aligned vertically. Continue to fill the dish with the potatoes until the dish is filled. Pour excess cream/cheese mixture evenly over potatoes.

Cover dish with tin foil, and bake the potatoes for about 30 minutes. Take off the foil and spread the rest of the cheese on top, and continue to bake for 30 minutes.

When the potatoes is done, take the dish out of the oven and let the potatoes rest for a few minutes.

Citrus Salad with Liquorice Vinaigrette

Citrus Salad with Liquorice Vinaigrette

I decided to make a new dish for the christmas dinner. I know that the Danes are really set the their ways, especially when it comes to their christmas dinner. But I love trying new things, so I hope my husband's family will love this citrus salad inspired from "Lakrids i Maden".

When I read that the salad called for a liquorice vinaigrette, my first thought was "how would the salty liquorice syrup taste with the dark espresso balsamic from The Olive bar?" I can only say "faaaantastic" - and on a slice of orange it tastes even better.

Here is my take on the citrus salad.

Ingredients:

Dressing:

• 1 tablespoon salty liquorice syrup
• 2 tablespoons dark espresso balsamic

Salad:

• 3 oranges
• 2 pink grapefruits
• 2 pink lemons
• Tunisian blood orange olive oil
• 1 handful Italian parsley, chopped
• 2 tablespoons shallots, finely chopped

Directions:

Whisk the the liquorice syrup with the balsamic, set aside.

Peel oranges, lemons and grapefruits and slice them thinly. Arrange the slices in a platter and sprinkle with olive oil and salt.

Drizzle the dressing un top, and sprinkle with onion and parsley.