Brussels sprouts purée

Brussels Sprouts Puree.

Brussels sprouts and me had always had a hate hate relationship. I hate hate hate them. Why?? Well They looked cute, and are actually really pretty on the stalk.

But the taste was bitter, and the way my mom served them in a white sauce was not very interesting.

One night I had them roasted with garlic and bacon, OMG it was a good, really good. What is not better with bacon? Months later one of my danish friends served this dish for me, and it was love at first bite. I didn't need any steak, just pass me some more brussels sprouts purée.

This dish was created by Claus Meyer.

Ingredients:

Purée

• 700 g brussels sprouts
• 50 g butter
• sea salt
• black pepper (freshly ground)
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Dressing

• 1/2 lemon (lemon juice and zest)
• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 1/2 teaspoon honey
• sea salt
• black pepper (freshly ground)

Salad

• 2 shallots (or some thin sliced red onions)
• 1/4 cup Italien parsley
• leaves from the brussels sprouts.

Directions

Purée

Rinse the brussels sprouts, Cut off the brown ends of the brussels sprouts and pull off any yellow outer leaves. Save some of the green outer leaves for the salad. Set them aside in cold water.

Boil a pot of salted water. Cut out the brussels sprouts into quarters and blanch for about 2 minutes until they are tender, but not overcooked.

Put the still hot brussels sprouts directly in a blender and puree them with cold butter, salt, pepper, honey and lemon juice.

Salad

Mix up the dressing.

Chop the shallots finely and chop the parsley roughly. Drain the water from the brussels sprout leaves, and wipe them dry. Mix the shallots, brussels sprout leaves, parsley with the dressing.

Serve the salad on top of the puree.

The purée can be served hot or cold with a nice steak or roast. This could be a great side for Thanksgiving.

Indian Lamb and Spinach Curry

Indian Lamb and Spinach Curry.

This Indian Lamb and Spinach Curry was one of the first dishes I tried in my slow cooker. A slow cooker was all new to me. If you wanted simmer food you had to stay home to make sure it didn't burn. But with a slow cooker it was possible to start the dinner in the morning, run errands or go to work, and have the simmer food ready by the time for dinner. Why have I never seen a device like this in Denmark - I don't get it. 

This curry is nice and spicy. If you don't care for spicy food use less cayenne pepper. The recipe is from Oprah.  

Serves 6-8.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup canola oil

• 3 yellow onions , chopped

• 4 cloves garlic , peeled and minced

• 1 (2-inch) piece of ginger, peeled and grated

• 2 tsp. ground cumin

• 1 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

• 1 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric

• 2 cups beef broth, preferably high quality

• 3 pounds boneless leg of lamb , cut into 1-inch cubes

• Salt

• 6 cups baby spinach

• 2 cups plain full-fat yogurt

Direction:

The ingredients.

In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, warm oil. Add onions and garlic, and sauté until golden, about 5 minutes. Stir in ginger, cumin, cayenne, and turmeric and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Pour in broth, raise heat to high, and deglaze the pan, stirring to scrape up the browned bits on the bottom. When broth comes to a boil, remove pan from heat.

Put lamb in a slow cooker, and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon salt. Add contents of frying pan. Cover and cook on high-heat setting for 4 hours or low-heat setting for 8 hours.

Add baby spinach to pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until spinach is wilted, about 5 minutes. Just before serving, stir in 1 1/3 cups yogurt. Season to taste with salt. Spoon into shallow bowls and serve, passing remaining yogurt to add as a garnish.

Serve with rice or quinoa and a chutney. 

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.