Chicken with Mustard a la David Lebovitz

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

Ingredients:

• 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

Directions:

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:

Kylling i Sennep a la David Lebovitz

Ingredienser:

• 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

Fremgangsmåde:

 

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!

The Perfect Roasted Duck and Pork Roast.

A duck roasting in the oven.

December 20th.

Every year we look for guides to roasting duck and danish pork roast. Here is my take on how to make christmas dinner. We serve both duck and pork roast, but we only have one oven. A lot of people has this issue, and therefore they roast the duck the day before, but not in the house, that would be way to easy. ;0)

Danish Pork Roast

We make the pork roast in the grill/BBQ, on indirect heat, with a pan under to save the drippings, and this pan has to be refilled with water a couple of time while roasting. Other than that, its the same recipe as here:

Danish Pork Roast

By slow roasting the duck you get the most juicy duck ever. 

Slow-roasted Duck.

For the traditional Danish Christmas dinner serve with caramelizes potatoes and pickled red cabbage.

Rullepølse - Spiced Meat Roll

Rullepølse - Spiced Meat Roll

December 15th.

Rullepølse is a traditional cold cut served for lunch in Scandinavian countries. The spices may be different for the different countries, but my favorite is the spiciness from pepper and allspice. 

Here I served rullepølse with meat flavored jello/gelatin, and raw onions. Another way is with mustard and pickled beets. Another more untraditional way is with mayonnaise and raw button mushrooms. The latter was my favorite way to eat my parents homemade rullepølse.

My parents always made rullepølse in the weeks up to christmas. Normally they would buy rullepølse at the grocery store. To be honest, the homemade tasted so much better, but in a busy life, we all take shortcuts. 

Makes 1 

Ingredients:

• 1 - 1½ kg (2-3 pound) pork belly or pork loin

• 3-4 tablespoons coarse sea salt salt

• ½ teaspoon sodium nitrite (food grade) optional*

Spice blend:

• 1 onion, finely chopped

• 3 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

• ½ teaspoon ground allspice

• 2-3 packets (21 g) gelatine

Cooking broth:

• water

• 2-3 teaspoons salt

• 10-15 whole peppercorns

• 2 bay leaves

• 1 onion optional

Directions:

If you are using a pork loin, you need to cut the meat into a large rectangle about ⅕ inch (1 cm) thick.  

Cut off any large chunks of fat, but don't make it too lean. Trim the ends so they are straight.  Trim any really thick places if that side is too thick when you roll it up. Lay the pork belly flat on a cutting board and sprinkle salt and sodium nitrite all over. Fold the meat up, and place it in a ziplock bag in the refrigerator for 24-36 hours. 

Rinse the meat, and pat it dry with paper towel. Lay the meat flat on a cutting board, and sprinkle it with ⅓ of the gelatin powder. Spread the chopped onion on top. Sprinkle a good amount of pepper and allspice blend on top, ending with the rest of the gelatin. 

Carefully roll or fold up the meat into a large sausage. Use cooking twine to tie the meat up all the way.

Bring water to a boil, and place the rullepølse in the water with salt, peppercorns and bay leaves. Cook the rullepølse for 2 hours at a simmer. 

When cooked, place the rullepølse in a press. I used two loaf pans and tied it up hard with more twine. Put the rullepølse in a large ziplock bag and into the refrigerator for at least 12 hours.

Remove the twine, and slice the rullepølse in thin slices, and serve it on rye bread or another good bread, as an open faced sandwich.

Enjoy!

*Sodium nitrite makes the rullepølse keep the pinkish color.

Nordisk Jul - Nordic Christmas

Elgfilet, karameliserede rodfrugter og appelsinsalat med rosenkål, granatæble og mandler.

For mig har den Nordiske Jul og specielt den Danske Jul og dens trationer en helt særlig betydning. Det er selvfølgelig fordi jeg nu er udenlandsdansker.

Da jeg boede i Danmark var det lettere at lade sig rive med af nye trends og tendenser, for dybest set var de danske traditioner og højtider jo fastforankrede, det er en del af det at være dansker i Danmark. Som udenlandsdansker er det meget op til dig selv. Man er på mange måder rodløs. Man hører ikke til nogen steder. Mange af de ting vi som danskere tager for givet, er nu de ting vi glæder os mest over.

Rent madmæssigt, nu dette er en madblog, så er det nu himmelsk at få en rugbrødsmad med leverpostej eller markrel i tomat, hvor det tidligere var umådeligt uinteressant.

Her i huset holder vi dansk jul den 24. om aftenen. Vi har et rigtigt grantræ pyntet med bl.a. Dannebro og stjerne på toppen. Vi spiser and og/eller flæskesteg, med rødkål, brunede kartofler og flødesovs. Og selvfølgelig får vi risalamande med kirsebærsauce til dessert, og ja der er en mandelgave. Der er ingen der skal lave om på min gamle jul! Men der er ting, der mangler. Her er ingen sne, og kulden er det så som så med her i Californien. (Jeg ved godt, at jeg bare kan køre ind til Tahoe og så har jeg kulden og sneen, på et godt år).

Hvordan vil en Nordisk Jul se ud her i Californien? Nordisk, må være gode, nordiske, rustikke råvarer med elementer fra den mere traditionelle julemiddag.

Jeg har valgt at lave elgfilet med stjerneanis "stegt" sous-vide, med karameliserede bagte rodfrugter og en frisk appelsin/limesalat med rosenkål, granatæble og mandler. Billedet er taget uden saucen, som var en indkogt portvin monteret med lidt smør og tilsat lidt friske blåbær.

Denne middagskombination var et stort hit herhjemme. Kødet var perfekt rosa og smagte "vildt" med en diskret note af stjerneanis. De karameliserede rodfrugter, havde stadig lidt bid, og smagte fantastisk. Salaten brød sødmen og gav god tekstur til middagen. Alt i alt var det et kongemåltid.

Til 3 personer

Ingredienser:

Elg:

• ca 20 cm stykke elgfilet (3-400g)
• 1 stjerneanis, knækket i mindre stykker
• 1 klat smør
• salt, efter smag.

Rodfrugter:

• 3 gulerødder
• 4 pastinakker
• 3 jordskokker
• 1 lille knoldselleri
• 3 små rødbeder
• salt
• lidt olie, til bagningen
• sukker og smør til bruningen

Salat:

• 3 appelsiner
• 1 lime
• ca 250 g rosenkål, kun yderbladene
• ¼ granatæble
• 1 lille håndfuld hele mandler

Sauce:

• ca ½ flaske portvin
• 1 tsk smør
• 1 lille håndfuld blåbær

Fremgangsmåde:

Kødet:

Elgfileten renses for sener og saltes jævnt over det hele. Den knækkede stjerneanis fordeles også på fileten. Kom kødet i en vacuumpose, og læg en lille klat smør på toppen af kødet. Vacuumpak kødet.

Tilbered kødet ved 61℃ i 1 time og 40 minutter. Når tiden er gået tag kødet op af vandbadet, og tag den ud af posten. Dup kødet tørt med lidt køkkenrulle. Brun fileten på en glohed pande med lidt olivenolie og smør, så du får en god stegeskorpe.

Skær kødet tyndt, og server straks.

Rodfrugterne:

Forvarm ovenen til 200℃.

Skræl rodfrugterne og skær den i mundrette stykker. Rødbederne holdes for sig selv, og steges også for sig selv, så det hele ikke bliver rødt.

Kom rodfrugterne i ovnfaste fade, og vend dem i lidt olie og kom salt på. Bag rodfrugterne i ca 30 minutter, indtil de er møre, men stadig har lidt bid. Tag rodfrugterne ud og lad dem køle lidt ned.

Når du er klar til serveringen, smeltes sukker på en stor pande. Sukkeret skal dække bunden med en jævnt lag. Når sukkeret er smeltet og det er gyldent tilsættes ca. en teske smør. Rør rundt i sukkermassen til det lige bruser af. Kom de kølede rodfrugter på panden. Rør rundt i det hele, til alle rodfrugterne er dækket af et karamel lag. Server staks.

Saucen:

Kog portvinen ind til en sirup. Dette skal gøres ved ikke for høj varme. Tag siruppen af varmen og pisk smørret ned i saucen, dette vil tykne saucen lidt. Kom blåbær ned i den varme sauce og lad den varme igennem . Server saucen.

Saucen passer perfekt til al slags rødt kød.

Salat:

Vask rosenkålen, og gem de pæne yderblade, det er dem der skal bruges til salaten. Gem resten af rosenkålen og lav evt en rosenkålsmos en anden dag. Hak rosenkålsbladene groft.

Skræl appelsinerne og limen og skær dem i tyndeskiver. Hak mandlerne groft. Befri granatæblekernerne og undgå at få de hvide lameller med. Youtube er fuld af forskellige metoder, men jeg skærer bund og top af. Så skærer jeg kun skallen fra top til bund de steder, hvor jeg kan se der er et ophold i kernerne. Jeg trækker så både ud med kerner og piller dem fra skallen. Det sviner knap så meget som når man skærer kernerne over. Saml salaten på tallerknerne eller på et fad.

English version:

Elk with caramelized root vegetables and citrus salad

Ingredients:

Elk:

• 8 inch (20 cm) piece elk loin (3-400g)
• 1 star anise, broken into smaller pieces
• 1 teaspoon butter
• salt, to taste

Root vegetables:

• 3 large carrots
• 4 parsnips
• 3 sun chokes (Israeli artichokes)
• 1 small root celery
• 3 small beets
• salt
• a splash of oil for the baking
• sugar and butter for the caramelizing

Salad:

• 3 oranges
• 1 lime
• ca 250 g brussels sprouts, only the vibrant green outer leaves
• ¼ pomegranate
• 1 handful almonds

Sauce

• ca ½ bottle port wine
• 1 teaspoon butter
• 1 handful blueberries

Directions:

Elk:

Trim loin of excess fat and/or membranes. Season the loin and place in a large plastic bag with star anise and butter. Vacuum-seal. Cook the meat in a sous-vide water bath preheated to 142°F (61°C) for 1 hour and 40 minutes. Remove bag from the water and remove the loin from the bag. Pad it dry. Sear the meat on all sides in a very hot pan with a little oil and butter. Slice the meat thinly and serve immediately.

Root vegetables:

Preheat the oven for 400℉ (200℃). Peel the root vegetables and cut them into bite-sized pieces. Keep the beets separate even during baking, to prevent all the vegetables from turning red. Dress the vegetables in oil and season with salt. Bake the vegetables in ovenproof dishes for about 30 minutes until tender, but not soft. Cool the vegetables. Just before you are ready to serve, heat a large skillet over high heat, pour in the sugar and melt it. When the sugar has turned the color of light amber, add the butter and stir with a wooden spoon. Carefully pour the vegetables into the hot caramel. Lower the heat and make sure the vegetables get covered in the caramel and get heated through. Serve immediately, otherwise the vegetables looses the shine.

The sauce:

Reduce the port to a syrup over low to medium heat. Remove from heat when the port can cover the back of a spoon. Stir in a teaspoon of salted butter, this will thicken the sauce a bit. Add the blueberries so they just get heated. The sauce is perfect with any kind of red meat.

Salad:

Rinse the brussels sprouts, save the outer leaves, these will be used in the salad. Save the rest og the brussels sprouts for anther day, maybe making this brussels sprouts pure. Chop up the brussels sprouts leaves roughly . Peel the oranges and the lime, and slice them up finely. Chop up the almonds. Place the brussels sprouts on a plate , place the oranges and limes on top. Sprinkle almonds and pomegranate on top.

40 Cloves of Garlic Chicken

40 Cloves of Garlic Chicken

When I saw this recipe on saveur.com, I knew I had to try it, because I love, love, love garlic. 40 cloves of garlic is a lot, but the garlic cooked in the sauce and became sweet and soft. There were no sharp garlicky taste. I really loved how the vermouth played off the tarragon and sweet soft garlic cloves. I opted for chicken thighs instead of a whole chicken cut up, and the thighs turned out juicy and flavorful. I served roasted root vegetables with the chicken and it paired up perfectly. We are definitely having this again soon.  

Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil

• 6 chicken thighs, skin on bone-in

• 40 cloves garlic, peeled

• 400 g button mushrooms, sliced

• ½ cup (1 dl) dry vermouth

• 1½ teaspoon chicken base + ¾ cup water (or a good chicken stock)

• 1 tablespoon fresh tarragon, chopped

• salt and ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

Heat oven to 400℉ (200℃).

Heat oil in an ovenproof sauté-pan over medium-high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper, and sear them in pan, turning once, until browned, about 10 minutes. Place the chicken on a plate and set aside. Add garlic to pan and cook until browned in spots it only takes a few minutes. Take out about ¼ of the garlic, and mash the remaining in the pan, and add mushrooms, vermouth and stock. Place the chicken back in the pan, with the whole garlic cloves. Bake the chicken for 15-20 minutes until tender. Garnish with tarragon.

Serve with roasted root vegetables.

Enjoy!