Scallops with Forbidden Rice

Scallops with Forbidden Rice

Sometimes I just crave certain foods. One of these is scallops. I love these small slices of heaven. Normally we wrap the scallops in bacon and put them on the BBQ, The crispy bacon is so good with the scallops. But one night dining at our local steakhouse I had their scallops with forbidden rice. OMG - it was so yummy. It was sweet, spicy, crunchy and soft at the same time. So today I tried to copy the dish from memory. And to be honest, I think this is a pretty good replica. I hope you like it.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 4-6 scallops

• butter and extra virgin olive oil for searing

Sauce:

• ½ can coconut milk

• 3-4 teaspoons green curry paste

• 1 jalapeño

• ½ cup frozen petit peas

• ½ teaspoon lemongrass paste

Forbidden rice:

• ½ cup forbidden rice

• ¾ cup water

• salt

Topping:

• tomato chutney

• frisée salad

Directions: 

Start cooking the rice according to instructions on your rice. I cooked mine for about 35 minutes.

Prepare the sauce. Mix all the ingredients in a blender, and blend until smooth. The Vitamix blender heats the sauce, but if using another blender heat the sauce. This is way to much sauce for the dish, but You need some volume to use the blender. 

Heat your skillet over high heat, add oil and butter. When the fat begins to brown and smoke sear the scallops for 1½ minutes on each side. The scallops should have a ¼-inch golden crust on each side, while being translucent in the center. 

Serve immediately. 

The Danish version:

Kammuslinger med Sorte Ris

Ingredienser:

• 4-6 kammuslinger

• Smør og olivenolie til stegning

Sauce:

• ½ dåse kokosmælk

• 3-4 tsk grøn karrypasta

• 1 jalapeño

• 1½ dl frosne ærter

• ½ tsk citrongræspasta

Ris:

• 1½ dl sorte ris

• 3 dl vand

• salt

Pynt:

• tomatchutney

• frisée salat

Start med at koge risene efter instruktionerne på pakken. Jeg kogte mine i ca 35 minutter. Herefter lod jeg risene trække i gryden i ca. 10 minutter.

Tilbered saucen. Bland alle ingredienserne i en blender indtil du har en jævn sauce. Jeg bruger en Vitamix blender, som kan varme samtidig med den blender. Så hvis du ikke bruger en Vitamix, så opvarm saucen lidt inden serveringen. Der er for meget sauce i forhold til ris og kammuslinger, men dette skyldes, at der skal en vis volumen til, når man blender.

Sæt en stegepande over på høj varme, tilsæt olie og smør. Når smørret er blevet brunt kom kammuslingerne på panden og steg dem ca. 1½ minut på hver side. Du skal helst ende op med en gylden overflade på hver side og en lidt gennemsigtig midte. 

Server med det samme.

Poularde au Bayard - Chicken in White Wine

Poularde au Bayard

Poularde au Bayard was a dish my parents mad when they had people over. It's a dish where all the work is in the preparation. It's slow food at its best.

I think the recipe came from a pamphlet my mom got from the local butcher, but the details are lost in history. I remember that we all loved this chicken dish, and it was a treat when we had it. I removed most of the butter, because I don't need to have my meals dripping with butter. In my opinion there's no loss of flavor.

Ingredients: 

• 1 large chicken
• 3 carrots
• 4 tomatoes
• 4 onions
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 garlic clove
• 24 whole cloves
• 1 cup white wine
• butter and olive oil for searing
• ½ teaspoon tarragon
• ½ teaspoon basil
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon rosemary
• ½ teaspoon thyme
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder or a garlic clove
• salt & pepper

Onions with cloves

Directions: 

Peal the carrots and the onions and wash the tomatoes. Cut the carrots into 1 inch pieces. Press the cloves in the onions, 6-8 in each.

Clean and pad the chicken dry. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Add butter and oil to a large pot. It should fit the chicken and all the vegetables. I use a 6.5 liter (6.8 QT) pot. Brown the chicken in the butter/oil. Get a good sear on it for flavor and color. Take the chicken out of the pot again.

Put the tomatoes, carrots and the onions in the bottom of the pot with all the spices. Add garlic, bay leaves and the wine and the chicken on top and put the lid on. Let it simmer for 45-60 until tender (170° F) 

Carefully take up the chicken and vegetables. Thicken the sauce with cornstarch in cold water, and season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Carve the chicken and serve it with the vegetables and boiled potatoes.

The Danish version:

Poularde au Bayard - Kylling i hvidvin

Ingredienser:

• 1 stor kylling 
• 3 gulerødder
• 4 tomater
• 4 løg
• 2 laurbærblade 
• 1 fed hvidløg
• 24 hele nelliker
• 2,5 dl hvidvin (jeg brugte næsten en hel flaske)
• Smør og olie til stegning
• ½ tsk estragon
• ½ tsp basilikum 
• ½ tsk paprika
• ½ tsk rosemarin
• ½ tsp timian
• ½ tsp hvidløgspulver eller 1 fed hvidløg
• salt & peber

Kyllingen rengøres og tørres godt og drysses med salt. Derefter brunes kyllingen, i smør/olie og tages op igen. Nu kommes de hele tomater og gulerødderne skåret i skiver med i bunden af gryden sammen med laurbærblade, hvidløg og løgene, der har fået stukket nelliker i sig. Hvidvinen tilsættes. Kyllingen lægges ligeledes ned i gryden og steges mør med låg over. Dryp tit med skyen. Saucen jævnes med maizena og evt. Lidt fløde. Kyllingen parteres og serveres med små kartofler

Danish Coffee Cake - Drømmekage fra Brovst

Danish Coffee Cake

Danish coffee cake or "Drømmekage from Brovst" is one of the most well known cakes in Denmark. We might be known for the danish, aka “wienerbrød," but most danes has had this cake at school, work or at family gatherings. In the 70's and 80's this coffee cake was the go-to cake for the danish at home-bakers, and rightfully so. The soft, moist and not overly sweet vanilla spongecake, topped with a coconut-caramel is so yummy and the cake will evaporate in any home.

The cake has it's roots in the 1950s in Northern Jutland, but became known all over the country in the early 1960s when the big flour-company published the recipe in a pamphlet. 

It's not only the taste that made this cake popular, it's so easy to make, so it's a good starting cake for non-bakers.

Ingredients:

Cake:

• 4 eggs
• 300 g sugar
• 250 g all-purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste
• 200 g milk
• 50 g butter

Topping:

• 150 g butter
• 225 g shredded unsweetened coconut
• 340 g brown sugar
• 75 g milk

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425℉ (220℃).

Melt the butter in the milk in a little saucepan, set aside to cool until finger warm.

In a stand mixer whisk eggs with sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Incorporate the vanilla paste.

Sift the dry ingredients and fold them gently into the egg mixture. Fold the milk/butter into the batter. 

Line a baking pan with parchment paper. Pour the batter into the baking pan. 

Bake cake for about 20 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. 

Make the topping, while the cake is in the oven. 

Heat milk, butter, sugar and coconut in a saucepan while stirring. 

As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, add the topping, being careful to distribute it in an even layer. Put the cake in the oven for another 4-6 minutes.

Let cake cool on a rack.

Enjoy with friends or family.

Danish Baked Omelette

Danish Baked Omelette.

The Danish baked omelette is an old-fashioned lunch dish served with rye bread and a cold beer.

I my family we had baked omelette for dinner, well my mom made it in a skillet on the stove. Turning the omelette was quite a hassle. Sliding the omelette onto a large lid, and flipping it is not for me. I found that putting the omelette in the oven works like a charm.

The omelette is so easy to make, and is great for a weeknight where time is limited. Sometimes it's just nice to make a quick and simple dinner and it doesn't hurt that it's rather cheap. This night I wanted to clear out some of all the eggs in the refrigerator, so I just bought a pack of bacon and some chives, and done.

Here's my moms recipe for omelette:

Ingredients:

• 6 eggs
• 1½  tablespoons milk (½ tablespoon pr. 2 eggs)
• 6 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• salt & pepper
• extra virgin olive oil
• bacon
• chives

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400℉ (200℃).

Separate the egg white and the yolks. Mix the yolks with milk, flour, salt and pepper.

Whisk the whites until stiff using a hand mixer or a stand mixer. Fold the whites in the yolks.

Heat a skillet with oil over medium heat, pour in the batter. Put the skillet in the oven. Bake omelette for 15-20 minutes. Do not open the oven, the souffléing will stop.

Fry up the bacon, and wash the chives.

Serve the omelette with a piece of rye bread.

The Danish version:

Æggekage

Ingredienser:

• 6 æg
• 1½ spsk mælk (½ spsk pr. 2 æg)
• 6 tsp hvedemel 
• salt & peber
• olivenolie
• bacon
• purløg

Æggeblommerne piskes sammen med mel, mælk salt og peber.

Hviderne piskes stive og vendes i æggemassen.  Kom massen på en opvarmet stegepande med lidt olie på. Kom stegepanden i ovnen, og bag æggekage i 15-20 minutter ved 200℃. 

Steg baconen og vask purløg. 

Server æggekagen med et stykke godt rugbrød og en kold øl.

Vegetable Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

Vegetable Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

I love pasta, and I love spaghetti. But to tell the truth, I always eat to much when we have pasta for dinner. It's so easy to eat, and I love the texture. I tried to have spaghetti squash, instead, but this combination works well in my family,

The most common dinner in Denmark nowadays is pasta with meat sauce, but it's a trend that started in the 80's. Before that it was most likely meatballs with potatoes and brown gravy, or at least meat and potatoes.

When I moved out of my parents house, I didn't have boiled potatoes for moths. I was sick and tired of them. I had pasta and rice with my dinners. 

I know vegetable spaghetti is done before, but this is my take on it. I don't put measurements on my meat sauce, Season after taste.

Ingredients:

Vegetable Spaghetti:

• 2 small squash, julienned

• 3 leeks, julienned

• 3-4 carrots, julienned (or a bag shredded carrots)

Meat Sauce:

• extra virgin olive oil

• bacon, in bite size pieces

• onions

• garlic

• ground beef (lean)

• canned crushed tomatoes

• beef base (bouillon)

• water

• red wine

• rosemary

• thyme

• salt to taste

Directions:

Meatsauce:

Heat a drizzle of oil in a pot over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook until the fat is rendered and the bacon is turned brown. The bacon doesn't have to crisp up. Transfer the bacon to a plate lined with kitchen towel, to drain of the excess fat. Discard the bacon fat. Add oil to the pot again and brown the ground beef, crumbling the meat with a wooden spoon. Add the garlic, onions, rosemary thyme, a little salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Add the wine, beef base, water, the crushed tomatoes, mushrooms and bacon. Simmer for at least 30 minutes. The longer it simmers, the better it gets. 

Vegetable spaghetti:

Cut off the dark leaves of the leeks and discard. Cut of the root and the bottom 1/2 inch of each leek. Cut the leeks lengthwise in half and wash well under cold running water. Wash zucchini and peel the carrots. 

Cut all the vegetables julienne.

Heat a skillet, add oil and sear the vegetables until tender, but still having some bite. Season with salt and pepper..