Food blog on scandinavian style food done right.
Dutch Baby with Lemon and Blueberries
Today is Pancake Day in most of the world, and a good excuse for eating delicious pancakes or crepes for breakfast, dinner, dessert or just because.
In Denmark our pancakes are the thin crepes like the french. I love these especially served with jam and ice cream. But there is absolutely nothing wrong with serving them with Nutella and fresh strawberries.
Thick, puffy pancake to die for.
We eat a lot of chicken in my family. Chicken is very easy to change up with different flavorings, and different cooking methods. So when I got David Lebovitz's cookbook, My Paris Kitchen, the first dish I had to try was "chicken with mustard."
The flavors of this dish blew me away. I thought the Dijon mustard would give the dish a strong flavor, but oddly enough the flavors was very mellow. I think we have another family favorite here. It is actually perfect for a weeknight dinner. We served it with pasta and quick butter-roasted carrot coins.
Serves 4-6
140 g Dijon mustard
¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
½ teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt (optional)
4 chicken thighs and 4 drumsticks (8 pieces total), bone-in, skin-on
100 g (2-3 slices) smoked thick-cut bacon, diced
1 small onion, finely diced
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves + some for garnish
a little olive oil, for the pan
240 ml (1 cup) white wine, non-oaky
1 tablespoon grainy mustard (I used Maille Old style whole grain dijon mustard)
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons crème fraîche
Mix the 140 g Dijon mustard with paprika, salt and black pepper in a bowl. Toss the chicken pieces in the mustard mixture, making sure you get mustard in between chicken and chicken skin. Set aside, while you tend to the bacon and onion.
Chop onion and dice bacon. Heat sauté-pan or Dutch oven and add the bacon. Cook the bacon until it just starts to get brown. You are not looking for crispy bacon bites, you need them to stay soft. Remove the bacon from the skillet and let it drain on a plate lined with paper towels. Remove all bacon fat but 1 tablespoon. Add onion to the pan and cook until soft and translucent. Add the thyme and cook for another few minutes. Put the onions on a large plate, with the drained bacon.
Add a little olive oil to the skillet, if necessary, brown the chicken pieces in a single layer. Be careful not to overcrowd the pan, because this will cause the chicken to steam and not brown, it's better to work in batches. Get a good color all over the chicken. This will help develop the flavor in the dish. Place the chicken pieces on the plate with onions and bacon. Add the wine to the pot to deglaze it. Scrape of the dark bits of the bottom. Return the chicken, onion and bacon to the pan, and cook it covered for about 15-25 minutes, Check the doneness of the chicken by inserting a knife into the meat next to the bone. You want the juice to come out clear, if red, keep cooking for a few more minutes.
Remove pan from the heat and transfer the chicken to a platter and stir the remaining 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard, the grainy mustard, and the crème fraîche into the sauce. If the sauce has reduced and is quite thick, you can thin it with a little warm water, adding a teaspoon or so at a time. Pour the sauce over the chicken, sprinkle chopped parsley over the top, and serve.
Enjoy!
The Danish version:
140 g Dijon sennep
¼ tsk røget paprika
friskkværnet sort peber, efter smag
½ tsk salt
8 stykker kylling med ben og skind, jeg bruger overlår, men underlår duer også
100 g bacon I tern
1 løg, hakket
1 tsk frisk timian blade + lidt til pynt, Jeg bruger 4-6 hele kviste
lidt oliven olie til stegning
2½ dl hvidvin
1 spsk grov sennep med tydelige sennepskorn så som Maille grov mild sennep
3 spsk Dijon sennep
3 spsk crème fraîche
Bland sennep, paprika, salt og peber i en skål. Kom kyllingestykkerne ned i blandingen. Masser senneppen over hele kyllingen, også ind underskindet. Lad kyllingen stå og marinere imens du forbereder det næste.
Hak løg og bacon i tern. Start med at stege bacon i en tykbundet gryde. Baconen skal kun lige tabe fedtet, og lige have taget lidt farve, det er ikke meningen at det skal blive alt for sprødt. Lad baconen dryppe af på et stykke køkkenrulle. Brug bacon fedtet til at stege løgene bløde i, kom timianen i sammen med løgene. Tag løgene op af gryden.
Kom evt. lidt olivenolie i gryden og brun kyllingestykkerne godt af. Gør det gerne af flere gange for ikke at koge kyllingen. Bruningen er med til at skabe en god dybde til retten.
Tag kyllingen op af gryden, og deglace den med vinen. Kom alle ingredienserne tilbage i gryden, og lad retten simre i 15-25 minutter, indtil kyllingen er nok.
For at færdiggøre retten tilsættes den grove og dijon sennep og creme fraichen. Hvis sovsen er for tyk, tilsæt lidt vand. Hvis sovsen er for tynd, så jævn den med en lille melbolle.
Server kyllingen med kartofler og lidt gulerødder.
Velbekomme!
Quick Butter Roasted Carrot Coins
These carrot coins are one of my favorite go-to vegetables for a quick weeknight dinner. They are easy to make, they are crunchy and filled with flavor. This time I found some rainbow carrots and used them, this made for a beautiful display of color.
You can use a lot of different herbs and spices to flavor the carrots, normally I use the same spices I use in the rest of the meal, that day.
Serves 4
Cut the carrots in bite-sized coins. Heat the butter in a skillet, Add garlic and thyme when the butter is melted, but before it is browned. Stir the garlic to flavor the butter. Add the carrot coins and cook while stirring until the carrots are softened, but still have a bite. I cooked them for 2-3 minutes.
Sprinkle with some more thyme and serve with your dinner.
Enjoy!
This salad is very easy and tasty. its was perfect with the falafels. Adding some greens and some tomatoes it was a great meal.
Serves 4-6
Prepare the bulgur according to instructions on the package. Do not over soak the bulgur, you want bulgur to finish softening in the tabouli with the oil and lemon juice.
Chopped parsley and mint finely, and set aside.
In a large bowl mix bulgur, chopped tomato, chopped scallions with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Add the parsley, mint, olive oil and mix it all. Season the tabouli with salt, cayenne, more oil and lemon juice.
Enjoy!
Falafel, with pita bread and banana milkshake.
Falafel is the most meaty non-meat dish I know. I have never thought of it as a vegetarian dish, but of cause it is.
The first time I ever had falafel was on a summer camp with the youth group at my church. We were making it all from scratch, and I remember it as a really great thing. But nevertheless there would go years before I tasted falafels again.
Here in San Francisco Bay Area we have a lot of different falafel places, but I really like Falafel Drive In, in San Jose. They serve their falafels with a banana milkshake, it so yummy, and it helps keep the heat down when I put Sambal Oelek in my falafel pita. This is my version.
Makes 20-26
Pour the chickpeas into a large bowl and cover them by about 3 inches (10 cm) cold water. Let them soak overnight or up to 24 hours. You need a big bowl because they will double in size. Drain and rinse the beans well.
Pour the beans into a food processor along with the chopped onion, garlic cloves, parsley, cilantro, flour, salt, cumin, ground coriander and cayenne pepper.
Pulse all ingredients together, scraping down the sides of the bowl to incorporate it all, and getting a uniform chop of the beans. Pulse the mixture until you have a rough, coarse meal the kinda like a fine couscous. You want the mixture to hold together, but not to turn into hummus.
Pour the mixture into a bowl and stir it with a fork. Up till this point can be made in advance, just keep the mixture in the refrigerator until ready to fry. Stir in the baking powder and baking soda. Use an ice cream scoop to help getting uniform sized falafel balls. I like mine round, but you can do yours any shape yo like.
Fill a skillet with vegetable oil to 320-355℉ (160-180℃), I used about a quart (1 liter) this was enough so the falafels were able to be covered while frying. I tried to stay as close to 355℉ (180℃) without getting over that temperature.
Fry the falafels until dark golden, and cooked all the way through. If you make them oval or more flat, they will cook faster than a sphere. I cooked mine for about 3-5 minutes. Once the falafels are fried, remove them from the oil with a slotted spoon and let them drain on a paper towel. The falafels won't be dripping with fat, if the temperature are right.
Serve the falafels freshly made and hot in pita bread with salad, tomato, hummus, tabouli and with a banana milkshake.
Enjoy!