Supperis - Cold Rice Porridge with Raisins

Supperis - Cold Rice Porridge with Raisins

This is an old old side dish served with classic danish chicken soup or beef soup. I think this dish is known only in some parts of Denmark, it might be from Jutland, where my dad’s family are from. The dish is served cold, and is scooped into your hot soup. 

When I made this for my husband the first time, he was very skeptic. Why would anyone put sweet raisins in their soup? So as the good wife I am, I made two versions one with and one without raisins. Need I say that he happily ate my supperis with raisins?

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 400 g water 
• 70 g rice (danish grødris or aborio)
• 45 g raisins
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Directions:

Bring the water to a boil. Sprinkle the rice into the water, add the salt and let it simmer for about 30 minutes. Add the raisins and let the porridge boil for another 10-15 minutes. 

Pour the porridge into a bowl, and cool it in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve the soup.

Enjoy!

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

Roasted Tomato Soup

Roasted Tomato Soup

Soups are perfect for when you're having a cold or when it starts to get cold outside. I grew up with having soups for dinner and one of my favorites has always been tomato soup. Maybe because it was easy to make or just because me and my mom loved tomatoes.

I have several different tomato soups to choose from in my recipes, but I wanted to add another flavor profile to the soup by roasting the tomatoes first. And by all means it payed off.

Serves 3

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds (1 kg) ripe tomatoes
• 1 serrano pepper (I roasted two, and used one for the topping)
• 1 onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 2 cups (500 ml) water
• 2 teaspoons chicken base
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• Salt, pepper
• Some olive oil

Topping:

• 5 thin slices prosciutto roasted to crisp in the oven 
• a dollop sour cream
• roasted serrano pepper

Direction:

Preheat the oven to 400℉ (200℃)

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Wash tomatoes and cut into eight pieces. Peel onions, cut in pieces and peel the garlic cloves. Cut the chilies in half and put it all on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast the vegetables in the oven for 35-40 minutes.

Transfer roasted vegetables together with the roasting juices into a pot and add water, chicken base and thyme. Bring to boil and simmer for about 20 minutes.

Remove the thyme sprigs and puree soup. Seasoning with salt and pepper to taste..

Serve the soup immediately with the toppings. 

Slow-roasted Duck

Slow-roasted Duck

December 18. - I have to take a break from all the sweets. Who would like a piece of a roasted duck?

Duck is traditionally served at the christmas dinner in Denmark. Actually 75% of danes eat duck at christmas. Back in the days people ate goose, and it was roasted in the large ovens in the bakeries, because peoples own oven was too small. Slowly people gravitated towards the duck, because of its size and prize. Farmers wanted to get the good money from the geese they raised, and would eat the cheaper duck themselves.

A Danish-style roasted duck is filled with prunes and apple slices, to keep the duck breast moist. I like to add some slices of oranges and some christmasy spices for extra flavor.

The duck in the picture was a very young bird, maybe only about 5-7 weeks old. So it's a very small bird, with not to much meat on its bones. These ducks are OK if you are making Peking Duck, but is not the best for a danish-style duck. Normally I like an older bird, around 10-12 weeks old. These birds have much more meat. The small bird cost me about $22, and would serve 3 people, while the older one cost $36 and can serve about 6 people. I buy my ducks from Grimaudfarms.com in Stockton, California. I’ve have been very pleased with the birds I have gotten from that place.

This is my take on the danish-style roasted duck.

Ingredients:

• 1 duck (7-8 pounds)
• 2 oranges
• 2 apples
• 2 handful of pitted prunes
• A handful salt and some pepper
• 1 star anise
• 3 whole allspice
• 5 whole cloves
• 1 stick of cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 265℉ (130℃).

Chop the oranges and apples in the size of the prunes. Mix star anise, allspice, cloves and the broken cinnamon stick with apples, oranges and prunes. Have the salt in a clean cup.

Take neck and giblets out of the duck. Make sure that all feather sacks are out of the duck, you don't want a hard part of the feather in the crispy skin.

Pad the duck dry with some kitchen towel. Salt the duck inside, and fill it with the fruit mixture. Close the opening with a  trussing needle. 

Truss the duck by placing the duck on a tray with the legs towards you. Tuck the wing tips under the duck. Cut a piece of cooking twine about 3 feet (1 meter), and center it on top of the neck end of the breast. Lift the neck end of the duck and pull the twine down around the wings and under the duck, then bring the ends up over the breast, towards you, and knot the twine, pulling it tight to plump the breast. Bring the ends of the twine around the ends of the drumsticks and straight up. Tie as before to pull the drumsticks together and form a compact bird; tie again to secure knot."

Well, I did it my way, and tried my best to get the compact duck. Sometimes I just pull the wing onto the back of the duck, and use a cooking rubber band to tie the legs together.

Salt the duck with a lot of salt. 

Put the duck in the oven, breast side down, and cook it like this for 3-3½ hours. Have a pan under the duck, and put the giblets, neck and water in it. This water/drippings will be the base for the sauce. 

After 3½ hours turn the duck breast side up, and roast it for another 1½-2 hours until the temperature in the duck reaches 158℉ (70℃). If the skin isn't crispy, give the bird a few minutes under the boiler, be careful not to burn the duck.

Take the duck out and let it rest. Pour the drippings from the pan through a strainer into a saucepan. Skim the fat from the surface. I use a fat separator, which makes this process a breeze. Save the fat in the refrigerator or the freezer. Duck fat is a flavorful fat, and is perfect to roast potatoes in.

Add some cream, blue cheese and red currant jelly to the drippings and thicken the sauce, just like for the Danish pork roast.

Remove the twine and carve the duck, and serve with pickled red cabbage and Danish caramelized potatoes.

Spicy Peach Soup with Shrimps

Spicy Peach Soup with Shrimps

This sweet and spicy soup is one of my go-to soups in the fall.  You can make as spicy as you like, and use chicken as filling, if you don't care for shrimps.

Serves 3

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon coconut oil

• 2 teaspoons curry

• 1 small onion, chopped

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 420 g canned peaches, drained (save the juice)

• 1 can chopped tomatoes

• 2 teaspoons chicken base

• 3 cups water (750 ml)

• salt & pepper

• 5-10 drops Habanero Tabasco

• 12 large shrimps.

Topping:

• Peach, finely chopped

• 1 red chili, thinly sliced

Direction:

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Stir in the curry and cook until fragrant about 30 seconds. Add onion and garlic, and cook until the onions are translucent. Add peaches (save some for topping), tomatoes, chicken base, water, salt, and pepper. Simmer over low heat for about 45 minutes. Blend the soup smooth with a immersion blender or a regular blender. *

Return the soup to the saucepan to heat. Season with habanero tabasco, salt lemon pepper and the juice from the peaches.

Add the shrimps and serve as soon as the shrimps are done. Serve with a slice of good whole wheat bread.

* Be careful when working with hot soup in a blender. You have to work in batches, even though all the soup fits in the container. Because the liquid builds up steam, and can blow the lid off the blender. 

The Danish version:

Rejesuppe med Tigerrejer

Ingredienser:

• 1 tsk kokosolie

• 2 tsk karry

• 1 lille løg, hakket

• 2 fed hvidløg, finthakket

• 420 g ferskner fra dåse, drænet vægt (gem lidt af saften)

• 1 dåse hakkede tomater

• 1 terning hønse bouillon

• 7,5 dl vand

• salt & peber

• 5-10 dråber Habanero Tabasco

• 12 tigerrejer

Topping:

• Fersken fra dåse, tyndtskåret

• 1 rød chili, i tynde skiver

Sautér løgene, hvisløg og karryen i kokosolien indtil løgene er blevet bløde. Tilsæt ferskner (gem lidt til toppings), tomater og bouillon og vandet. Lad suppen koge i ca 45 minutter. Blend suppen med en stavblender eller en almindelig blender. *

Kom den blendede suppe tilbage i gryden, og smag til med saften fra fersknerne, habanero tabasco, citrnpeber og salt.

Tilsæt rejerne og server suppen lige så snart rejerne er nok. Server suppen med en skive god brød.

* Vær forsigtig, når du blender varm suppe. Blendt lidt af gangen, gerne lettere afkølet. Da dampen fra suppen kan få låget til at hoppe af.