Sommersalat - Summer Salad with Smoked Cheese

Sommersalat - Summer Salad with Smoked Cheese

This salad is summer. My mom made this fresh and crispy salad when the first radishes were big enough to harvest in our vegetable garden. Summer salad is made with a speciality cheese from the island of Funen, a smoked fresh cheese. Summer salad has a mild smoked flavor and is filled with fresh chrispy vegetables. 

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

Dressing:

• 100-150 g rygeost Danish smoked cheese 
• 100 g creme fraiche or sour cream
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
• ½ teaspoon sugar
• salt & pepper to taste

Filling:

• 10-12 medium radishes, quartered and sliced thinly
• ½ english cucumber, quartered and sliced thinly
• a good handful finely chopped chives

Directions:

Mix the dressing, seasoning it with salt, pepper and sugar. I like a mild dressing, with a distinctive smoke flavor. Add all the vegetables and serve the salad on a slice of Danish rye bread. Sprinkle with a little extra chives.

Enjoy!

Rygeost - Danish Smoked Cheese

Rygeost - Danish Smoked Cheese

Rygeost, Danish smoked cheese is a local tradition from the island of Funen or Fyn as it is called in Denmark. Rygeost is a smoked fresh cheese, so it is a soft, and fairly spreadable cheese. You can use the cheese on pizza, in mayonnaise based salads or with seafood. But more traditionally you will eat it as an open-faced sandwich on a slice of rye bread, with sliced radishes and chives on top.

Ingredients:

• 1 quart (1 L) organic whole milk, I used Saint Benoît Organic Whole Jersey Milk
• ¼ cup (1 dl) organic butter milk
• 3 drops rennet, I used Animal Rennet from New England Cheesemaking Supply Co.
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon caraway seeds

Equipment for smoking:

• 1 charcoal starter (chimney)
• 2-3 handfuls dry straw (if you have straws from oat or wheat, you will get the best favor)

Directions:

In a large pot heat whole milk and buttermilk to 26℃/79℉. Pour the mixture into a scalded plastic container, mix in the rennet and put a lid on. Let the mixture stand at room temperature for 21-24 hours.

After 21-24 hours, cut the coagulated milk (cheese curds) with a knife in small cubes, this will help releasing the whey from the curds.

Scoop the cheese curds into a strainer/colander lined with cheesecloth. Let the cheese drain for 2 hours before adding the salt. Let the cheese drain for another 5-7 hours. The fresh cheese will hold for 3-4 days in the refrigerator without adding anything else. The whey (liquid) can be used for baking bread.

Smoking:

Place the cheese in a strainer or on some kind of grate. Place the grate on top of a charcoal starter (chimney) filled with dry straws/hay. Light the hay from the bottom of the starter, and smoke the cheese for just about 60 seconds. The cheese is quickly flashed with the hay smoke to produce the unique flavor. Place the cheese upside-down on a plate with the smoke-lines up. Sprinkle with caraway seeds.

Serve the smoked cheese on a slice of Danish rye bread with sliced radishes and chives.

Enjoy!

Cheese bread

Cheese bread

Bread and cheese two things I really love, so why not combine the two?

The vibrant color and the spiciness from the pepper makes this bread great served with food or served with cheese and charcuterie.

Makes 1 large loaf.

Ingredients:

• 50 g fresh yeast, or 4 teaspoons dry yeast
• 500 ml water, finger warm
• 150 g whole wheat flour
• 625 g all-purpose flour
• 12 g sea salt
• 200 g sharp cheddar, grated
• 50 g sun-dried tomatoes
• 5 g (1-2 teaspoons) pink peppercorns, crushed
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• egg for brushing

Directions:

Dissolve the yeast in the water, mix in whole wheat flour and 525 g of the all-purpose flour, until fully incorporated. Let the mixture rest for 15-20 minutes to hydrate the flour, (autolyse). 

Mix in the rest of the ingredients, adding the rest of the flour a little at a time, you might not need it all. Knead the dough for about 7 minutes until you have a shiny elastic dough.

Let the dough rise for about an hour, until doubled in size. 

Preheat the oven to 500℉ (260℃), with a baking stone/pizza stone inside.

Divide the dough in two, and roll it into two logs. Twist the logs and form a circle on a piece of parchment paper. Let the dough rise for another 20-30 minutes. Brush the bread some beaten egg, before baking.

Slide the parchment paper and the unbaked bread onto the baking stone. Lower the heat to 475℉ (245℃) and bake for 20-25 minutes until dark golden brown, and fully baked. 

Enjoy!

Russian Salad - Russisk Salat

Open faced sandwich with Russian Salad/Russisk Salat with a fried egg.

This Russian Salad is not a Olivier salad or a potato salad, but a beet salad used in Denmark on an open faced sandwich mostly with some kind of egg.

This sandwich was a go-to for my mom, when she needed a quick and easy dinner. For a working mom you need some easy solutions. My mom just had to fry the eggs, the rest was store bought. 

I love the vibrant color of the salad, and the sweetness from the apple and the beets, pairs perfect with the dense rye bread and the fried egg.

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

• 4 slices Danish rye bread

• 4 eggs, fried

Salad:

• 3 beets, tomato-sized (cooked with skin on for about 45 minutes in salted water), cooled & diced

• 1 green apple, peeled and diced

• Dressing:

• 4 tablespoons mayonnaise

• 1 tablespoon creme fraiche or sour cream

• ¼ teaspoon mustard

• ½-1 teaspoon sugar, to taste

• salt & pepper

Directions:

Mix the dressing first and add apple and beets. Let the salad rest in the refrigerator to let the flavors develop and mix. Season the salad with salt, pepper and sugar. 

Serve the salad on a slice of rye bread with a boiled or fried egg on top.

Enjoy!

Egg Salad

Egg Salad

Egg salad is one of the easiest things to make. When the eggs are boiled and cooled, it will only take 5 minutes to make. And it still packs great flavor. I might not be the healthiest but add a good salad and some vegetables on the side, suddenly you have a great meal.

Everybody has their way to boil eggs. I put the eggs in a small saucepan and just covered with cold water. Over high heat bring the water to a boil, let the eggs cook in the boiling water for 7 minutes. Remove from heat, drain the water and stop the cooking with cold water.

Serves 3

Ingredients:

• 75 g mayonnaise
• ¼ teaspoon mustard
• 2 dash curry powder
• 3 eggs, hardboiled, cooled, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped chives
• salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients together and season with salt and pepper. 

Serve the egg salad on your favorite bread.

Enjoy!