Braised Balsamic Chicken

Braised Balsamic Chicken

Our local pizzeria serves a rotisserie chicken with a balsamic sauce and a lot of bell peppers. I love this dish, and it is my go-to for days when I don’t cook. The dish is sweet and sour in the Italian way.

In my version the chicken is braised in the sauce to keep the chicken juicy, and for a one-pot-dinner, easy to make on a weeknight.

You can also make this dish in a slow cooker, cooking for about 3-4 hours on high heat.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken thighs with drumsticks (without skin)
• 1 can crushed tomatoes 
• 1 onion, halved and sliced 
• 3 bell peppers 
• ½ cup (1,25 dl) red balsamic vinegar (use a good quality)
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 3 garlic cloves, minced 
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• salt & pepper
• olive oil for searing

Directions:

Season chicken with salt and ground black pepper. Heat olive oil in a dutch oven or in a skillet, and sear the chicken. Take out the chicken. Pour in tomatoes, sugar and the seasoning, add the chicken, onion, garlic and bell peppers. Pour the balsamic over the chicken. Put the lid on and let simmer until chicken is no longer pink and the juices run clear, about 45 minutes. 

Serve with roasted potatoes and broccoli.

Stuffed pork chops

Stuffed pork chops

I love pork chop, but sometimes I need to change it up. Stuffing the chops gives them so much flavor and keeps them juicy.

This time I stuffed the chops with roasted garlic, olives, semi dried tomatoes, scallions and feta cheese. And it worked so well, I am defintely going to make this one again.

serves 2

Ingredients:

• 2 pork chops, center cut, no bones
• 1 garlic roasted
• 3 scallions
• 5 olives
• 2 semi dried tomato
• 2 tablespoons feta cheese
• salt and pepper

Directions:

Chop up the ingredients for the stuffing. Cut a slit/pocket in the pork chop. Fill the pork chop, press it a bit. Use a skewer to lock the stuffing in. 

Roast the chops on a skillet or on a BBQ on indirect heat, for about 20 minutes until done. Be careful not to roast the meat to hard, them it will be hard and dry, by the time it's done.

I serve the pork chops with jalapeño poppers and small boiled potatoes.

Boiled Meatballs - Kødboller

Boiled Meatballs - kødboller

Boiled meatballs are used in different dishes in Denmark, one of them is in bouillon type soups like beef soup. Traditionally meatballs are made from ground pork, but can easily be made from other types of ground meats.

The boiled meatballs are pretty much the same as normal danish fried meatballs, much like my Greek-style lamb meatballs. 

Makes 22 meatballs

Ingredients:

• 1  lb. (500 g) ground pork
• rolled oats
• 1 eggs
• 1 medium onions
• 1/4 cup milk
• ½ teaspoons salt 
• pepper

Directions:

Mix the meat with salt. Divide the meat in quarters, lift one quarter up unto the other quarters. Fill the missing quarter with rolled oats. Put in finely chopped or grated onions, the eggs, milk, salt and pepper and mix until you have a cohesive meat mixture. 

Put a large pot of water over to boil. When the water boils add 1 teaspoon salt. 

To form the meatballs, dip a tablespoon in hot water and scoop up a good spoonful meat. Use the hand and the spoon to form the meatball.  The meatball should be oval and the size of a small egg. Place the meatball in the water, repeat until you have one layer of meatballs. Boil the meatballs for about  7-10 minutes.

Use the meatballs in soups or in the classic meatballs in curry sauce (boller i karry). 

Meatball can be frozen.

Beef Soup - Oksekødssuppe

Beef Soup - Oksekødssuppe

Having homemade beef soup reminds my of my childhood. My mom made the best beef or chicken soup. Making the soup takes time. It is a whole day project. 

There's a story in my family from before I was born, and my brother was about 3 years old.  My parents and my brother met my aunt when they went for a walk, and invited her to join them for the second day of having soup. My mom had to put more water in the soup, to make sure that there would be enough for the four of them.  Almost by the end of the meal, there's no more soup, and my brother declares: "if aunt hadn't come, there would have been enough food."  My poor mom laughed, but was embarrassed at the same time.

Serves 8.

Ingredients:

• 6 pounds beef soup bones 
• 2 pounds beef brisket 
• 3 large carrots 
• 2 leeks 
• 1 celery root + the top of
• water to cover
• salt

Directions:

Put bones and brisket in a large pot with cold water and heat it to a boil. Skim off the foam.  Add 1 teaspoon salt and the green top from the celery root.

Clean the leeks, carrots and celery root, and cut into chunks, add them to the soup. Let the soup simmer for about 2-3 hours. Discard the soup bones and the celery top. Take out the brisket, and let it cool. You will serve this on the side with a good mustard later.

Clean and peel more celery root, carrots and leeks, and cut them into bite size bites and boil them in the soup for about 15-20 minutes before serving.

You can skim of the fat and clarify the soup if you want to. I only skim of the fat, if there is a thick layer, but I hadn't done this here.

Serve the soup with Danish soup dumplings/melboller, boiled meatballs/kødboller, supperis and the brisket with mustard.

The sides

Angry Tacos

Angry Tacos

One of my husbands favorite dishes at Calafia  (the restaurant owned by one of Googles former head chefs) was their "very angry Tacos." Sadly they took it off the menu, so we had to come up with our own take on it. The thing making the taco angry is the diced habanero, a very strong chili. Habanero chili is rated to 100,000 - 350,000 on the Scoville scale.

I love this taco dish, it's easy to make and so taste- and colorful. You are in charge of how angry or spicy you want the tacos. Normally I won't add any habanero - I have no dead wish.

Serves 4-5.

Ingredients:

• 12  corn tortillas, 6-Inch

• One 2-Pound Flank Steak (About 1 ½ Inches Thick), fat trimmed

Marinade:

• ½ cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped

• ¼ cup packed dark brown sugar

• 3 tablespoons canola oil

• 3 tablespoons soy sauce

• 1 tablespoons sesame oil

• 2 large garlic cloves, minced

• 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped

• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 1 teaspoon ground coriander

Slaw:

• ½ head napa cabbage

• 1 large carrot

• 8 scallions 

• 1 handful fresh cilantro 

Topping:

• 1-2 habanero chilies minced

Directions:

Marinate the steak. In a bowl, whisk the cilantro, brown sugar, canola oil, soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, jalapeños, black pepper, and coriander to blend well. Reserve ¼ cup of the marinade for dressing the slaw. Pour the rest of the marinade into a ziplock bag and place the steak in the  marinade and turn to coat. Marinate for at least 20 minutes at room temperature, or cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day, turning occasionally. 

Prepare an outdoor grill for medium-high cooking over direct heat.

Remove the steak from the marinade (and discard the marinade) and grill, turning halfway through cooking, for a total of about 10 minutes, until the meat is medium-rare. Transfer the steak to a cutting board and let stand for 5 to 10 minutes. Slice the steak across the grain to serve it.

Slaw:

Part the napa cabbage lengthwise and slice it crosswise

Peel the carrot and julienne it. Thinly slice the scallions, and chop the cilantro.

Dress the slaw with the saved marinade.

Taco: 

Heat the tortillas and fill the tortillas with slaw and the meat, top the taco with the minces habanero for spiciness.

You can add guacamole to the taco as well.