Baked Spinach Omelette Roulade with Goat Cheese

Baked Spinach Omelette Roulade with Goat Cheese

In my family we really like these baked omelettes, or “madpandekager" as we call them in danish. They are easy to make and you can fill them with whatever you like. I had been craving goat cheese for a few days, so I had to try a simple filling for the omelette, but I knew I needed to add some meat to the mix, to satisfy my husbands tastebuds. The crispy prosciutto did the trick, and it added some texture to the meal as well. 

Next time, I'll add some more vegetables to the roulade. 

Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

Omelette:

• 4 eggs
• 125 g all-purpose flour
• 400 g non-fat milk
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 360 g fresh baby spinach

Filling:

• 100 g Philadelphia light plain or with onions and chives
• 1 handful kalamati olives, pitted
• 3 tablespoons sun dried tomatoes, julienned
• 1 red onion in balsamic
• 150 g goat cheese
• 8-10 thin slices prosciutto

Direction:

Preheat oven to 400℉ (200℃).

In a very large pot heat a little olive oil sauté the spinach. Cook it for about 2 minutes, until all the spinach is wilted. Let the spinach cool for at few minutes.

Whisk together the rest of the omelet ingredients. Blend the batter with the spinach until smooth and green.

Line a large jelly roll pan with parchment paper, leaving an over hang of about 1 inch at each end. Grease the parchment paper. (I learned the hard way, that you can't use multiple sheets of parchment paper. You'll just end up with the parchment paper baked into the omelette.) 

Pour in egg mixture. Gently place it in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes. Remove, allow to cool for a few minutes. Flip the omelette onto another parchment paper, so it's upside down.

Using the same jelly roll pan and parchment paper, place the prosciutto on the pan and put them into the oven for 10-12 minutes to crisp up.

Dollop on the cream cheese and spread it evenly. Sprinkle on the filling, leaving about an inch with no filling. Place the prosciutto on top. Gently roll up length ways, pulling back the parchment paper as you go.

Slice in to 6-8 slices. Serve warm or room temperature, with a simple salad on the side. 

The omelette is great for lunch or dinner, just serve a simple salad on the side. It is very easy to change it up. It works great with fresh spinach, red pepper and smoked salmon. Or with taco-seasoned ground beef, jalapeño, tomato and corn. But why not serv it with yesterdays leftovers?

Enjoy!

Fried beef tartare or "Parisian steak" - Pariserbøf

Fried Beef Tartare or "Parisian Steak" - Pariserbøf

Pariserbøf has nothing to do with Paris or France. It's a traditional danish dish with a fancy name. Maybe the white bread it's served on is why it's called Pariserbøf. In Denmark the soft white bread is called French bread. 

Pariserbøf is a patty of lean ground beef on a slice of white bread, panfried and served with raw onion, pickled beets, horseradish, capers, danish pickles and a raw egg yolk on the top.

Danish pickles is vegetables (cauliflower, onion, pickling cucumbers and carrots) pickled in a mustard vinegar sauce. Much like the english Piccalilli.

Pariserbøf is normally on lunch menus in danish restaurants, but it can easily be served as dinner.

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. 

Serves 2

Ingredients: 

• 2 slices of good bread, like a good sourdough bread

• ½ red onion

• 3 tablespoon capers

• 4 tablespoon pickled beets, diced

• 2-6 teaspoon horseradish, freshly grated

• 2-3 tablespoons danish pickles or Piccalilli

• 2 egg yolks

• salt & pepper

• butter for frying

Patties (4 pieces):

• 200 g very lean ground beef (freshly ground)

• 1 teaspoon good mustard like grey poupon country dijon

• 1 teaspoon capers, finely chopped

• 1 egg

• salt and pepper

Directions: 

Dice the pickled beets, grate the horseradish, drain the capers, slice and chop the onions and separate the yolk from the egg white.  

Mix the ingredients for the patties, and form 4, not to thick, patties slightly larger than the bread slices. Put the patty on top of the bread, make sure the patty will stay on the bread. Season with salt and pepper. The extra patties, can be fried and saved for lunch the next day.   

Add a good amount of butter to a skillet and fry the pariserbøf patty-side down first until golden brown. Turn to fry the bread side until crisp. Pariserbøf is served medium to well done. If you use pasteurized eggs or no eggs, the pariserbøf can be served medium rare.

Serve right away with all the toppings.

Enjoy a pariserbøf with a good cold beer.

Danish Rye Bread revisited

Danish Rye Bread revisited

I really like my other recipe for the rye bread, I think It is close to perfect to my taste. But I needed to make the process easier. I love using a scale for baking, but just adding the flour in deciliters makes it so much easier, when baking 2 breads at the time. 

Makes 2 big loafs

Ingredients:

Sourdough Leaven: (You are not using it all in the recipe, you need to save some for next bake)

• 200 g sourdough/starter (the starter you keep in the refrigerator and feed every other week)

• 400 g water

• 2 dl (110 g) rye flour

• 2 dl (120 g) all-purpose flour

Berries and seeds:

• 2 dl (135 g) flaxseeds

• 2 dl (135 g) sunflower seeds

• 2 dl (140 g) cracked rye

• 2 dl (180 g) rye berries

• 2 dl (160 g) bulgur (100% whole grain quick cooking bulgur wheat)

• 2 dl (190 g) wheat berries (hard red spring wheat berries)

Dough:

• 1500 g water (use this to soak the berries and seeds)

• 600 g sourdough leaven

• 3 tablespoons salt

• 1 splash food coloring (kulør) - optional

• 2 teaspoons malted barley flour

• 8 dl (440 g) rye flour (dark rye flour)

• 4 dl (240 g) all-purpose flour

Sprinkles:

• sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds or poppy seeds.

Directions:

Day 1, morning: 

Feed the starter to make the leaven. The leaven will be ready to use when the leaven is bubbling and smells like beer, after about 8 hours at room temperature. Cover the leaven with a clean towel. 

Soak the berries and seeds in water in a large bow (I use to bowl because of the big amount). Cover the bowls with large plates. Let them soak at room temperature until the leaven is ready.

Day 1, night: 

Add the leaven to the soaked berries and seed. Cover the bowls with large plates. Let the mixture ferment overnight at room temperature . 

Save the leftover leaven and put it in the refrigerator in a sealed container. This will be your sourdough starter for the next batch of bread. It will keep without feeding for about 14 days in the refrigerator. *

Day 2, morning: 

Add the salt, coloring and the flours to the dough and mix thoroughly, to make sure all the flour is fully incorporated, let rise for about two hours.

Add the dough to two rye bread baking forms. (I use Eva Professionel Rye Bread Tin which holds 3,3 liters).

Let the bread rise for about an hour, covered with a clean towel. The longer you let it rise, the more sour the bread becomes.

Poke a few holes with a cake tester or a knitting needle, to prevent the crust to rise and crack.

Brush the bread with water and sprinkle with your favorite seeds.

Place the baking form in a preheated oven for 1 hour 15 minutes at 350°F (175℃). 

Turn off the heat, remove the breads from the baking forms, spray with water on all sides and place them back in the oven directly on the rack for about an hour, while the oven cools.

Take the breads out and wrap them in an clean kitchen towel. This will help softening the crust. Let breads cool completely.

Rye bread

It's best to wait cutting the bread until the next day. 

Enjoy the bread with your favorite deli meat or cheese. 

* Feeding: Discard half of the sourdough/starter and add ½ cup rye flour, ½ cup all-purpose flour and 1 cup water. Mix well, and let ferment for about 8 hours at room temperature.

The Danish version:

Rugbrød

Ingredienser:

Surdej: 

• 200 g surdej/starter (Den surdej du har i køleskabet og fodre hver 14. dag)

• 400 g vand

• 2 dl (110 g) rugmel

• 2 dl (120 g) hvedemel

Korn og frø:

• 2 dl (135 g) hørfrø

• 2 dl (135 g) solsikkefrø

• 2 dl (140 g) knækkede rugkerner

• 2 dl (180 g) hele rugkerner

• 2 dl (160 g) bulgur (grov bulgur)

• 2 dl (190 g) hele hvedekorn

Dej:

• 1500 g vand

• 600 g nyfodret surdej

• 3 spsk salt

• 1 slat kulør - valgfrit

• 2 tsk maltmel

• 8 dl (440 g) rugmel

• 4 dl (240 g) hvedemel

Drys:

• solsikkefrø, græskarkerner, sesamfrø eller birkes.

Directions:

Dag 1, morgen: 

Fodr surdejen for at gøre den klar til bagningen. Lad surdejen stå tildækket på køkkenbordet i ca 8 timer, indtil den bobler lystigt og lugter af øl. 

Udblød frø og kerner i vandet i et par store skåle ved stuetemperatur. Dæk skålene med store tallerkener. Lad kernerne stå indtil surdejen også er klar til brug.

Dag 1, aften: 

Kom de 600 g surdej over i de udblødte kerner. Dæk skålene med store tallernener igen og lad blandingen fermentere/gære natten over ved stuetemperatur.

Gem resterne af surdejen i en lufttæt beholder. Dette er surdejen du skal fodre inden næste bagning. Surdejen kan holde sig i ca. 14 dage i køleskabet imellem fodringer.*

Dag 2, morgen: 

Tilsæt salt og kulør til kernerne. Tilsæt melet, bland det godt sammen, indtil der ikke er mellommer i dejen. Lad dejen hæve i ca 2. timer på køkkenbordet. 

Fordel dejen i 2 rugbrødsforme. (Jeg bruger Eva Professionel Rye Bread Tin).

Lad brødene hæve tildækket på køkkenbordet i endnu 1 time. Jo længere brødene hæver jo mere surt bliver brødet.

Prik små huller med en nål eller strikkepind, for at undgå at skorpen hæver og knækker under bagningen.

Pensl brødene med vand og drys med frø på toppen.

Bag brødene 1 time og 15 minuttewr ved 180℃. 

Sluk for ovnen, og tag brødene ud af formene. Dryp vand på brødene og sæt dem tilbage i ovnen på eftervarmen i omkring 1 time.

Tag brødene ud og pak dem ind i et rent viskestykke, og lad dem køle helt af.

Brødene er letteste at skære dagen efter de er bagt.

Nyd brødet med dit yndlings pålæg.

Velbekomme!

* en fodring er: smid halvdelen af surdejen ud og tilsæt 1 dl hvedemel, 1 dl rugmel og 2 dl vand. Rør det sammen og lad det fermentere/gære på køkkenbordet i ca 8 timer.

This post has been submitted to the Yeast Spotting Site.

Pita Bread

Pita Bread 

Pita bread stuffed/filled with a good salad is a perfect lunch or dinner a hot summer day. But this pita bread tastes great with a good spread like tzatziki and a glass of red wine.

Ingredients:

• 30 g live yeast (2 teaspoons dry yeast)
• 350 g water, finger-warm
• 1 teaspoons salt
• 500 g all-purpose flour

Directions:

Dissolve the live yeast in the water. If you use dry yeast, add some sugar to the water and wait a few minutes till the yeast start to foam. 

Add the salt to half the flour, and mix it in the yeast/water mixture. Add the rest of the flour a little at a time, until the dough is elastic but not sticky. You might not need all the four. Knead the dough for 5-6 minutes on medium on a stand mixer. 

Let the dough rise covered for about 1 hour, until the dough is doubled in volume.

Pour the dough unto a flour dusted workplace. Cut the dough up into 6-8 parts, and roll them into balls.

Preheat the oven to 500℉ (250℃), with a pizza stone in.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchmentpaper. 

Roll each ball into a flat circle and leave the breads to rise on the baking sheets, covered for about 10 minutes.

Bake the Pita breads for about 7-9 minutes until they are golden brown and puffed up as small pillows. Let thew Pita's cool on a wire rack, covered with a kitchen towel.

Enjoy!

6-8 stk

Pitabrød

Ingredienser:

• 30 g gær (2 tsk tørgær)
• 350 g lunkent vand
• 1 tsk salt
• 500 g hvedemel

Fremgangsmåde:

Opløs gæren i vandet. Bruger du tørgær, så kom en smule sukker i og vent til det skummer.

Kom salten i halvdelen af melet og ælt det i gærblandingen. Kom resten af melet i lidt ad gangen, indtil dejen er smidig uden at være klistret. Det er ikke sikkert at du skal bruge al melet.

Sæt dejen til hævning i omkring 1 time, indtil dejen er doblet i volumen. 

Hæld dejen ud på et meldrysset bord, og del dejen i 6-8 lige store dele. Rul hver del til en bolle.

Opvarm ovnen til 500℉ (250℃) evt. med en bagesten i. Kom bagepapir på et par bageplader.

Rul hver bolle ud til en flad cirkel. Læg brødene på bagepladerne og lad den hæve tildækket i ca 10 minutter.

Bag brødene i 7-9 minutter indtil de er lysebrune og pustede op. Afkøl brødene på en bagerist med et viskestykke over.

Velbekomme!

Stjerneskud - Shooting Star

Stjerneskud - Shooting Star

Stjerneskud, or shooting star, is a classic Danish open-faced sandwich. The kind you would see at most lunch restaurants or cafés in Denmark. A stjerneskud is white bread, with a piece of fried and poached fish and cold-water shrimps.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 2 fried petrale sole filets 
• 2 poached petrale sole filets*
• a handful cold-water shrimps
• 6 aspagus (I used Reese asparagus spears)
• thousand Island dressing (homemade or store bought) 
• caviar (I used salmon roe)
• 1 lemon
• dill
• butter lettuce (I forgot to buy that)

* Poaching:

• white wine
• lemon juice
• salt
• white pepper

Directions:

* Poaching:

Preheat the oven to 400℉ (200℃).

Season the fillets with salt and white pepper. Roll up the filets and place them in an ovenproof dish with white wine and lemon juice. Cover the dish with aluminum foil. Poach the fish for 7-8 minutes. (If you poach the fish on the stove and start with barely simmering liquid, poach the fish for 5-6 minutes.)

Fry the fish and make the dressing.

Toast the bread. 

Arrange lettuce, fish fillets, dressing, shrimps, caviar, dill and place the slice of lemon on top.

Enjoy with a cold beer, cold white wine or a cold lemonade.