Crisp bread - Knækbrød

Crisp bread for breakfast.

Being a scandinavian I have known crisp bread all my life. We had it with cheese or deli meats for lunch or breakfast. Most common was the Swedish Wasa brand, which you can find in most stores here in the US.

While visiting my sister-in-law, she baked crisp bread - and I loved them. She gave me this recipe from the danish flour manufacturer "Amo." 

Ingredients: 

• 200 g all-purpose flour
• ½ cup oil (sunflower- or rapeseed)
• ¾ cup Water
• 50 g Oats
• 50 g pumpkin seeds
• 50 g flax seeds
• 50 g sunflower seeds
• 50 g sesame seeds
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1½ teaspoon salt

Directions: 

Crisp bread.

Mix all the ingredients in a stand mixer - add the water little at a time.  

Divide the dough in two. Roll the dough as thin as the pumpkin seeds allows, between to sheets of parchment paper. 

Carefully remove the top parchment paper an cut the dough in desired size with a knife or use a cookie cutter to make different shapes. Slide the parchment paper with the dough unto a baking sheet. If you want to sprinkle puppy seeds or other seeds, you have to brush the breads with a little bit of water before sprinkling.

Bake the bread for 20 - 25 minutes at 400°F.

When the crisp breads are done, remove from oven and let cool completely on a rack and store in an airtight container.

Chicken breasts with Harissa

Chicken breasts in harissa.

Harissa is a Tunisian spicy sauce made with different chili peppers and other spices. It's great sauce for fries and for meats. In this recipe I marinade chicken breasts in Harissa.

It's super easy and tasty. 

serves 4

• 4 chicken breasts
• 1 glass Harissa (I use Mourad's Morrocan Harissa from Williams-sonoma)

Directions:

Chicken breasts in harissa.

Trim the fat of the chicken breasts. Put them in a ziplock bag with half of the Harissa. Let is marinade for 3-4 hours in the refrigerator. 

Preheat the gas grill to 400 °F. Using tongs, dip a folded paper towel into some canola oil and use the oiled towel to grease the grill grates. Set the chicken breasts on the oiled grates and grill until both sides are grill marked and golden-brown, and the center of each reach 170 °F.

Serve with rice, roasted potatoes or a fresh salad, and the rest of the Harissa.

This time I roasted the chicken breasts in the oven at 400 °F until a center temperature at 170 °F. I added some cherub tomatoes and some kalamata olives in the mix. 

Quinoa Tabbouleh

Quinoa Tabbouleh

Quinoa Tabbouleh is one of my favorite salads. It's easy to make and to make ahead. Try it with chicken or some grilled lamb.

Serves 4 persons. 

Ingredients:

Quinoa:

• 200 g quinoa
• 4,5 dl water
• salt (to taste)

Salad:

• 300 g corn (fresh when in season)
• 10 small scallions
• 1/2 english cucumber
• 250 g cherry tomatoes
• italian parsley

Dressing: 

• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• cayenne pepper
• salt

Directions:

Rinse the quinoa. Bring quinoa and the water to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until quinoa is tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add salt to taste. Let the quinoa stand, covered, for 5 minutes. If any more water remains, drain it. Let the quinoa cool.

Cook the corn and cut it of the cob, if you use fresh corn. Set aside to cool.

Whisk lemon juice with cumin, garlic and oil. Season with salt and cayenne pepper to taste.

Chop the scallions, cucumber and tomatoes.  Mix it in with the quinoa, and drizzle the dressing over.

Enjoy. 

Old-fashioned Danish Apple Cake with a twist.

Old-Fashioned Danish Apple cake.

This is not a pie, its a no-bake cake.

This is the kind of cake or dessert, you’ll get at your grandmother after a heavy dinner with potatoes and gravy. Or you’ll get it at afternoon coffee, just a couple of hours before dinner.

Normally it’s made with applesauce and caramelized breadcrumbs and whipped cream on top. 

In my family, my dad wanted the “cake” to sit a while before serving, but I loved the heat and crispyness of the caramelizating. My poor mom couldn’t please us both.

I had this cake made with with French praline, at my friends house. The cake get the crunch and texture I longed for in my moms soaky cake. I have to accredit the danish Pastry Chef Mette Blomsterberg for this lovely cake.

Serves 5-6 people. 

Ingredients:

Apple Sauce:

• 6-8 apples (Pink Lady)
• 100 g sugar (depending on how sweet you want the Apple Sauce)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste
• 1 dl water

French Praline:

• 50 g sugar
• 100 g almonds/hazelnuts 

Topping:

• heavy whipping cream

Directions:

Apple Sauce:

Peel and core the apples and cut them in small pieces. Cook the apples with the sugar, water and vanilla paste, until they are very soft. Cool the Apple sauce in the refrigerator.

Praline:

Using Almonds you have to blanch them. Boil the almonds for a minute or two. Strain the almonds and rinse with cold water. Rub the skin of the almonds and the are ready for use.

Using Hazelnuts: roast the nuts in the oven for about 10 minutes at 400°F (200°C). Cool the nuts. Rub the nuts in your hand or with a clean towel to release the skin from the nuts.

Melt the sugar in a sauté pan until it's golden brown. Add the nuts to the melted sugar and roast them for a few minutes.

Hazelnut Praline.

Pour the caramel into some parchment paper and let it cool. Try not to taste it - it's sooooo goooood. 

Blend the cold and roughly chopped caramel/praline in a food processor, or chop it really fine by hand. 

Whip the heavy whipping cream (do not ad any sugar)

Assembly:

Layer the apple sauce and the praline in small martini glass. Put in several layers. Put whipped cream on top.

Fish cakes - fiskefrikadeller

Fish cakes.

Fish cakes was a lunch dish in my home growing up. They were bought pre-made and they were very uniform and had a weird texture.

Back home in Denmark I bought a store-made batter and fried up the fish cakes in a skillet, making this an easy and healthy meal. Living in California we have a lot of fish available but no store-made fish cake batter. 

We tried several recipes before I came up with this. 

Serving 4

Ingredients:

• 400 g true cod
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 dl whipping cream
• 1/2 bunch of dill
• 75 g salmon
• 1½ teaspoons salt
• butter and oil for frying  

Directions:

Put the cod in a food processor and grind coursely. Add the salt and pulse until it gets sticky. The idea is to bind the moisture so that the fish cakes don’t fall apart. Add the egg, flour and cream a little at a time and pulse until combined.

Cut the salmon into small cubes (max 1cm X 1 cm). 

Place the fish batter in a bowl and stir in the salmon and chopped dill.

Let the batter rest in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. 

Using a spoon and your hand, make plum-size cakes and fry them in a mixture of half oil and half butter in a skillet, until golden brown on both sides.

Enjoy!