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.

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!

Butter Chicken

Butter Chicken served over cilantro and lime cauliflower rice.

Dansk Udgave

This is one of my dishes I tried with a lot of spices, and it became one of my go-to dishes. It's fairly easy to make, but the flavor is so big and bold, that people think I have been working for hours in the kitchen. Now my secret is out.

I do add the cream in the end, but it's optional. But I'm not looking to cloak up my ores, so I cut the butter to a minimum. I still keep the buttery name, because the flavors is still there. 

Here served over cilantro and lime cauliflower rice.

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken
• 2 teaspoons garam masala
• 1 tablespoons coriander seeds 
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 5 black peppercorns 
• 3 small dried red chilies 
• 150 ml plain yogurt
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• 6 cloves garlic
• 3 whole cardamon pods
• 25 g unsalted butter
• 1  tablespoon oil
• 2 medium yellow onions, peeled and finely chopped 
• 2 bay leaves 
• 1 ½ dl water
• 1 ½ dl heavy whipping cream
• ¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Topping:

• 1  lime
• fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions:

Spice paste: Grind coriander seeds, peppercorn, and chilies in a coffee grinder or a mortar and pestle, mix in the cumin and garam masala.

In a bowl mix the spice mix with yogurt and tomato paste. Add minced garlic, finely grated ginger, salt and the whole cardamom pods. Put the paste into a zip-lock bag.

Cut up the chicken into 6-8 pieces, discard the skin. Put chicken in the spice paste to marinate for about 15 minutes.

Chop the onions, and brown the onions in butter in a large pot.

Add the chicken and all the spice paste. Lower the heat and let the chicken get some color. The sauce color will become more brownish red/ orange.

Add water, bay leaves and let it simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasional. Add the cream and let the dish keep on simmering for another 10-12 minutes. Adding the cream is optional, but it makes the dish more creamy. Just before serving, stir in chopped cilantro.

Serve the chicken over rice or quinoa with a slice of lime and your favorite greens.

Enjoy!

The Danish Version:

Butter Chicken / Smørkylling

Ingredienser:

• 1 kylling
• 2 tsk garam masala
• 1 spsk korianderfrø
• 1 tsk spidskommen
• 5 stk sorte hele peberkorn
• 3 stk små tørrede røde chili
• 150 ml yoghurt naturel
• 2 spsk tomatpure
• 1 ¼ tsk salt
• 2 ½ cm frisk ingefær
• 6 fed hvidløg
• 3 stk kardemommekapsler
• 25 g smør
• 1 spsk. olie
• 2 stk mellemstore løg
• 2 stk laurbærblade
• 1 ½ dl vand
• 1 ½ dl piskefløde
• ½ dl hakket frisk koriander

Topping:

• 1 stk lime
• frisk koriander

Fremgangsmåde:

Krydderi pasta: Kværn korianderfrø, peber, chiler i en kaffekværn (brug en der ikke skal bruges til kaffe) eller i en morter. Bland spidskommen og garam masala i. 

Blad krydderierne med yoghurt og konc. tomatpuré. Bland tilsidst med presset hvidløg, revet ingefær, salt, kardemommekapsler.

Skær kyllingen i stykker og fjern skindet. Kom kyllingen i krydderipastaen, og lad den marinere i ca 15 minutter i kølesklabet.

I mellemtiden hakkes og brunes løgene i lidt olie og smør i en sauterpande.

Kom kyllingen og al marinaden ned til de brunede løg. Lad marinaden blive gennemvarm, så den skifter farve til mere orangerød. 

Tilsæt vand, laurbærblade og lad retten simre i ca. 30 minutter. Rør i retten en gang imellem.

Tilsæt fløden og lad den simre med i 10-12 minutter. Du behøver ikke at bruge fløde, men retten bliver mere cremet, hvis du gør.

Lige før serveringen, tilsættes den hakkede friske koriander.

Server kyllingen med ris eller quinoa, en skive lime og lidt grøntsager.

Her er kyllingen serveret med koriander og lime blomkålsris.

Velbekomme! 

Sous-Vide Duck Breast

Sous-Vide Duck Breast with Citrus Salad with Liquorice-vinaigrette 

I really like the meat from a duck, especially the breasts. If you cook it to long it will dry out, but served medium-rare to medium is the most tender juicy piece of meat you can get. Since I got my Anova sous-vide cooker I have been longing to cook the duck breast sous-vide. Today was the day.

Ingredients:

• 2 Duck Breasts
• Salt

Directions:

Wash you hands very thoroughly, when handling the duck. You don't want to cross-contaminate other foods or the duck. So keep your work station clean and tidy all the time. 

Refrigerate duck breasts on paper towel-lined plate overnight. This will allow some of the juices to evaporate, and you get a firmer breast in the end.

Have the vacuum bags pre-sealed in one end (doh!). Fold the rim out, so you don't get any grease or water on the place you need to seal the bags. Have the salt and pepper you want to use in small bowls, so you don't get any "duck" in the salt you're not using. 

Take the duck breasts out and score the skin in a harlequin pattern with a sharp knife. Season them with salt and pepper. Place them in the vacuum bags, vacuum and seal them. (I seal them twice just to be on the safe side.)

Place them in 135℉ (57℃) water bath for at least 45 minutes and up to 3 hours. I stopped after 2 hours, no need to go the limit with this delicate meat. Remove duck from bags and dry thoroughly with paper towels.

Place breasts skin side-down in heavy-bottomed non-stick or cast iron skillet and set over high heat until sizzling, about 2 minutes, then reduce heat to medium and cook  until golden brown and crisp, about 5 minutes. Make sure that you get good contact between skillet and the skin. You won't need any oil, the fat from the duck will render and give you plenty of fat for the searing. Flip  the breasts and cook the other side until slightly seared.

Slice the breasts thinly and serve with your favorite sides. One of my favorites is caramelized potatoes, picked red cabbage or Citrus Salad with Liquorice-vinaigrette.

Enjoy!

Chicken Nuggets - homemade

Chicken Nuggets

I would rater die,  than eat chicken McNuggets or other store bought nuggets. There is nothing good about a salty fattening fried piece of "chicken." But homemade nuggets made from chicken breast, is a meal worth eating. They are easy to make and is a good and healthy dinner on a week-night. You just have to plan ahead, and marinate the chicken. You can even substitute the cracker with rye flour for a healthier option.

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken breasts
• 250 g buttermilk
• 25-50 g saltine crackers or another salty buttery cracker
• 1-2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 pinch pepper
• salt

Directions:

Cut each chicken breast in 8-10 pieces, and put them in a plastic bag or container. Add the buttermilk, and let the chicken marinade in 24-48 hours in the refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 400℉ (200℃).

Drain of the buttermilk, and wipe the excess buttermilk off in a paper towel. 

Put cracker and spices in a zipplock bag, and break the cracker into small crumbs. Put the chicken pieces into the bag, to coat. 

Spread the chicken onto a baking sheet, and bake 15-20 minutes. Turn pieces over midway.

Enjoy!

The Danish version:

Kyllingenuggets

Ingredienser:

• 200 g kyllingebryst
• 250 g kærnemælk
• 25-50 g tuc kiks
• 1-2 tsk chilipulver
• 1 tsk paprika
• 1 tsk hvidløgspulver
• 1 knsp peber
• salt

Fremgangsmåde:

Kyllingen skæres i passende bidder, ca. 6-8 stykker pr kyllingebryst.  Kom kyllingestykkerne i en plastikpose. Hæld kærnemælken ned i posen, og lad kyllingestykkerne marinere i køleskabet i 24-48 timer.

Opvarm ovnen til 200℃.

Kom kiksene ned i en frysepose og bank dem til rasp, tilsæt krydderierne. Tag Kyllingestykkerne op, og tør den overskydende kærnemælk af. Kom kyllingestykkerne ned til kiksraspen, og ryst posen til de alle er dækket af et lag. Læg kyllingestykker på en bageplade og bag dem i 10-15 minutter. Vend evt stykkerne halvvejs.

Velbekomme!