Pestos - Classic and Walnut Pesto

Pesto - Classic and Walnut Pesto

I love pesto, the smell of basil makes my mouth water, but most of all the sweet basil, Ocimum basilicum, which I only find as plants here in California. The basil you find in bunches at the grocery stores does not taste the same.

My love affair with pesto, started when my fellow student invited me home for dinner, when we were writing on our project for the Bachelor's degree. She had made Pasta with pesto with a insalata caprese. I was hooked, I could live on that, it was the best thing ever. Maybe not the most healthy dish in large quantities, but ohhhhh soooooo yummy!

I use pesto for more than pasta. It’s really tasty on roast beef, a turkey breast topped with prosciutto, on vegetables and potatoes, the options are, almost, endless.

Classic Pesto:

Ingredients:

• 2 large handful basil leaves
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons roasted pine nuts
• 2 tablespoons Parmigiano-Reggiano
• extra virgin olive oil, just enough to get a paste-like consistency 
• salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add more oil a little at a time and process until fully incorporated and you have smooth paste. Season with salt and pepper. 

Enjoy

Walnut Pesto

Ingredients:

• 100 g walnuts
• 75 g Parmigiano-Reggiano
• 1 lemon, zest of
• 2 cloves garlic
• extra virgin olive oil, just enough to get a thick paste-like consistency 
• salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add more oil a little at a time and process until fully incorporated, and you have thick paste. Season with salt and pepper. 

Enjoy.

Brændende Kærlighed - Burning Love

Brændende Kærlighed - Burning Love

Brændende kærlighed, or Burning love, is an old danish dish with mashed potatoes, crisp bacon bits and soft fried onions. Brændende kærlighed is a danish comfort food, and a really cheap one. 

Growing up we had brændende kærlighed as a typical dish for a week night, and I think we had it every or every other month. The traditional way to have this dish is not low in calories, but with some small twists I can be OK. I drained most of the bacon fat from the frying pan before sautéing the onions. Unlike at my parents house, we have ketchup and steak sauces as sauce instead of the drippings from the onions and bacon. The last little twist is my mashed potatoes with steamed cauliflower, that make it lighter. Broccoli or other root vegetables can also be used.

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

Mash potatoes:

• 1 cauliflower 
• 6-8 medium potatoes
• warm milk
• 1 tablespoon butter
• salt & pepper 

• 1 pack thick cut bacon, diced
• 2 onions

Directions:

Peel the potatoes, and the cut them into half inch cubes. Rinse and cut the cauliflower into florets.

Bring the potatoes to a boil with just enough water to cover. Add salt when water is boiling. Add the cauliflower on top, so they will steam. Let potaoes/cauliflower cook for about 20 minutes.

In a skillet brown the bacon, until light crispy. Remove bacon from skillet, and drain most of the bacon fat. Sauté the onions in the remaining bacon fat, until translucent, and put bacon bits back in the skillet. Set a side until you are ready to serve.

Drain the potatoes and mash them. Add the butter and warm milk while whipping the mash, this will make the mash light and airy. Season the mash with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve a spoonful mash, making a small hole in the middle and fill it with the bacon/onion mix. I serve brændende kærlighed with pan fried tomatoes, ketchup and steak sauces.

Enjoy.

Stir-fried Beef in Oyster Sauce

Stir-fried Beef in Oyster Sauce

Some nights I just want to get cooking dinner over with in a hurry, but I still want to eat healthy. Well, this dish is for those kind of nights. If you have time to cook some rice, you will have time to make this stir-fry. A perfect dish for a weeknight.

The dish is inspired by one of my favorite take-out dishes from a Thai restaurant in Denmark, But I added more vegetables and dropped the cashews, for a more filling and healthier meal. I love the sweet but slightly spicy taste, it's a Thai comfort food. 

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

• 2 bunches scallions

• 450 g mushroom, sliced

• oil for frying

• 6 garlic cloves, crushed

• 1½ pound (700 g) beef, I used stir-fry or fajitas meat, but any steak sliced would work

• 1 broccoli crown

• 1 red bell pepper

• ½ cup (1 dl) oyster sauce

• 2-3 teaspoons sugar

• 2 splashes Sriracha, Hot Chili Sauce

• 1-2 tablespoons fish sauce (to taste)

Directions:

Clean the mushrooms and slice them, I buy the mushrooms already cleaned and sliced.

Heat a wok over high heat. Once the pan is hot, add just enough oil to coat it. Add the mushrooms to the hot pan and cook, keeping heat high, stirring frequently to help any liquid the mushrooms give off  to evaporate as quickly as possible. Keep cooking until the mushrooms are tender and browned, about 5 minutes. Put the fried mushrooms in a bowl, and set aside.

While frying the mushrooms clean and cut up the scallions, bel pepper and broccoli.

Heat oil in wok, and brown the meat in small batches over high heat, so the beef get fried and not boiled. Set beef aside.

Start frying the broccoli, and add bel pepper, when the broccoli has got a bright green color. Add beef, crushed garlic, mushrooms, oyster sauce, sugar, chili- and fish sauce. Season with additional sugar, pepper or fish sauce if needed. Add the scallions, save some for garnish. Serve immediately with  jasmine rice or cauliflower rice.

Moussaka

Moussaka

Traditionally, Greek moussaka is a baked dish of layered eggplant, lamb or beef, tomatoes, and potatoes. A traditional moussaka is made with allspice, but not all restaurant use allspice. I will always order this dish, when we go to a new Greek restaurant, because this dish tells you if it is real greek food or not. No allspice, and you properly won't have traditional greek food at this place.

The first time I had a traditional Greek moussaka, was at a small Greek restaurant in Kongens Lyngby in Denmark. It's not the most likely place to find a good Greek restaurant. It's in the middle of nowhere just across from a grocery store and in a roundabout in a residential area. But nevertheless this is a good restaurant, with peasant-style Greek food for a reasonable price. The moussaka from this place is to die for. I tried to recreate it, and after a lot of trial and error, I think I nailed it.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium eggplants

• salt

• 1 pound (450 g) potatoes, peeled and finely sliced

• extra virgin olive oil

• 1 onion, diced

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 1½ pound lean ground beef

• 2 cans chopped tomatoes

• 2 teaspoons allspice

• salt & pepper to taste

Mornay sauce*:

• 25 g butter

• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• 1½ (3½ dl) cups milk

• salt & pepper to taste

• ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg

• mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Cut the top and bottom of the eggplants and cut them into slices about ⅕ inch thick. Put the eggplant slices in a colander, sprinkle salt between the layers, and let them drain for about 30 minutes. When the eggplant slices are done, pad them dry with a paper towel.

Heat ⅓ of the olive oil in a sauté pan over low heat, and fry the eggplants gently until tender. Remove from the pan and drain them of excess water and oil on a paper towel.

Fry the potato slices in a little oil in the sauté pan until they are slightly golden. Pad the excess oil of the potatoes with some kitchen towel.

Add a little more oil to the sauté pan and sauté the onions until transparent and soft. Add the ground beff and brown it, crumbling the meat with a wooden spoon. Add the garlic, allspice, a little salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Add caned tomatoes and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes or while you make the mornay sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Mornay 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. Whisk in the milk and cook, whisking constantly, until thickened and shiny, 3 to 4 minutes. Add more milk if the sauce is to thick. Whisk in the cheese and nutmeg. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Moussaka:
Preheat the oven to 400℉ (200℃).

In a deep ovenproof dish layer the eggplant, potatoes and meat like you would a lasagne. Pour the mornay sauce on top.

Bake moussaka for about 45 minutes until the surface is golden and bubbly. Let the moussaka rest for a few minutes before serving, letting the moussaka time to set.

Enjoy.

*Mornay sauce is a béchamel sauce with cheese.

Béarnaise Sauce made in a blender

Béarnaise Sauce

This is not a healthy sauce by any means. But a little goes a long way. I grew up with béarnaise sauce made from a powder like Knorr bearnaise sauce. Well, we had it occasionally, but never made from scratch. We poured way to much sauce on the plate, and we loved it, we didn't know better. I would rather have a little dollop of real béarnaise with my steak, than having it swimming in a sauce made from a powder. But then again - you cant beat the accessibility of the  powder sauce, everybody can make it, and the taste is always the same. But sometimes it's ok to splurge and make the real thing. By making this sauce yourself, you will know what you put into your mouth. I love when I don't need a degree in chemistry to know what's in my food. 

Disclaimer: This sauce is made with raw eggs. I recommend using pasteurized eggs. This would minimize the risk of getting Salmonella food poisoning. You can find pasteurized eggs in some supermarkets here in California, on safeeggs.com you can see where to find them in your neighborhood.  In Denmark you'll find it right next to regular eggs. For tips and information on how to handle eggs, check out FDA’s website. The Danish version of FDA,  Fødevarestyrelsen also has advisory on eggs. 

Ingredients:

Reduction:

• 1 bunch fresh tarragon
• 2 small or 1 medium shallots, minced
• ¼ cup (½ dl) white wine vinegar
• ¼ cup (½ dl) dry white wine
• 3 whole black peppers (for the reduction)

Sauce:

• 3 egg yolks
• 200 g butter, clarified 
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Tarragon leaves, finely chopped

Directions:

Reduction:

In a small saucepan, combine sprigs of the tarragon, shallots, vinegar pepper and wine over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer and cook until reduced by half. Remove from heat, strain the liquid and set it aside to cool.

The sauce:

Melt the butter in a sauce pan over very low heat.  Let simmer gently until the foam rises to the top of the melted butter. Once the butter stops spluttering, and no more foam seems to be rising to the surface, remove from heat and skim off the foam with a spoon. The foam is the milk solids from the butter. The clarified butter should be about 172℉ (77℃).

Blend yolks and bearnaise reduction together. With the blender running add ⅓ of the butter in a slow steady stream, yes it will splatter. Once it emulsifies, turn the blender speed up to high and add the remaining butter. Season with salt and pepper and blend for another second. Add chopped fresh tarragon leaves. Set aside in a warm spot to hold the sauce. 

If you need to reheat the sauce, do it over al very low flame and constantly stirring.

Enjoy.