Oat "truffles" with Liquorice

Oat "truffles" with Liquorice

December 17. - You can never have to many sweet treats.  

Making the traditional havregrynskugler aka Oat "truffles," I knew, I had to make some with liquorice. I'm getting addicted to liquorice, I guess, I could be addicted to worse things. 

I added almonds to  give the truffles more crunch.

Ingredients:

• 125 g oat
• 50 g almonds, chopped
• 75 g butter
• 50 g sugar
• 10 g unsweetened cocoa (I use Valrhona)
• 1 tablespoons salty liquorice syrup

Topping

• white chocolate (I use Valrhona)
• raw liquorice powder

Directions:

Chop the almonds. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment mix butter, oats, sugar, cocoa, syrup and almonds until you have a uniform texture. Add more syrup if needed.

Form small bite-size ball of the dough in your hands, Cool the balls.

Temper the white chocolate, and dip the balls in. Sprinkle with raw liquorice powder on top, before the chocolate is dried. Store the truffles in an airtight tin in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!

The Danish version:

Havregrynskugler med lakrids

Ingredienser: 

• 125 g havregryn
• 50 g hacked mandler
• 75 g smør
• 50 g sukkerr
• 10 g kakao, uden sukker (Jeg brugte Valrhona)
• 1 spsk salt lakrids sirup fra Bülow salty liquorice syrup

Topping

• hvid chokolade (Jeg brugte Valrhona)
• Rå lakridspulver fra Bülow raw liquorice powder 

Fremgangsmåde:

Hak mandlerne. Rør smør, sukker, havregryn, kakao, sirup  og mandlerne sammen til en ensartet masse. Tilsæt mere sirup, hvis du vil have mere lakridssmag.

Rul små mundrette kugler med hænderne. Temperer den hvide chokolade og dyp kuglerne heri. Drys lidt lakridspulver på toppen, før chokoladen tørrer.

Opbevar havregrynskuglerne i en lufttæt beholder i køleskabet.

Velbekomme.

Havregrynskugler - Oat "Truffles"

Havregrynskugler - Oat "Truffles"

December 16th the last full week before christmas. I'm busy making the last treats for christmas. In most of my adult live I haven’t made havregrynskugler, but tasting the ones my friend made, at a christmas party the other day, I had to make them this year. 

Havregrynskugler means oat balls and is an easy to make, no-bake treat, you mostly have around christmas time. In my family, havregrynskugler was a treat me and my brother would make together with my dad, to get us out of my moms hair, while she was preparing the christmas dinner. I think there was another reason why they were made on december 24th. If we had made them any earlier, the havregrynskugler would properly have been eaten. 

Just because havregrynskugler contains oat, doesn't mean they are healthy. They contain a lot of butter, that makes them melt in your mouth, just like a real truffle.

Ingredients:

• 160 g oats
• 75 g butter, salted and room temperature
• 100 g sugar
• 20 g unsweetened cocoa ( I use Valrhona)
• 50 ml espresso, cold
• Rum extract

sprinkles:

• shredded coconut

Directions:

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment mix butter, oats, sugar, cocoa, coffee and extract until you have a uniform texture. Taste, and add more extract if needed.

Form small bite-size ball of the dough in your hands, and roll them in shredded coconut. Store the havregrynskugler in an airtight tin in the refrigerator.

A big thanks to Vintage-kompagniet for the beautiful Dannebrog ornament.

Coconut Cauliflower Rice

Coconut Cauliflower Rice.

December 15th - not feeling very christmasy, maybe because we just got back from a Julefrokost (Danish christmas party). Here's a healthier side for a dinner in december.

After making my Cilantro and Lime Cauliflower Rice, I started thinking on other flavors, I could add to the cauliflower rice. I came up with coconut rice. This could be yummy with a curry dish. 

Regular coconut ice is boiled in the coconut milk, but I don't want to boil the cauliflower, so it becomes soaky. I still want the cauliflower to be crisp.

 Ingredients:

• 1 head cauliflower
• 1 teaspoon coconut oil
• 1 shallot, chopped finely
• 1 sprig lemongrass, smashed
• ½ cup coconut milk, the thick part
• ¼ cup toasted shredded coconut
• Salt to taste
• a little lemon zest

Directions:

Break the cauliflower into florets. Grate the cauliflower using a box grater or add florets to food processor and pulse until cauliflower looks like rice. About 10-15 seconds of pulsing.

Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the coconut oil, melt, then add the onion. Saute until tender, about 3 minutes. Add the lemongrass, the cauliflower and coconut milk, stirring to combine. Saute the cauliflower for about 8-10 minutes until the coconut milk is adsorbed. Remove the lemongrass.  Season with salt and lemon zest. 

Sprinkle the toasted coconut on top when serving.

The Danish version:

Kokos blomkålsris

Ingredienser:

• 1 blomkålshovede
• 1 tsk kokosolie
• 1 skalotteløg, finthakket
• 1 stilk citrongræs, banket i stykker
• 1½ dl kokoskmælk, den tykke del
• ¾ dl ristet kokosmel 
• salt 
• lidt revet citronskal

Del blomkålen op i buketter og riv den på et rivejerne, eller brug en foodprocessor indtil blomkålen er på størrelse med riskorn.

Opvarm en slipl-et pande og tilsæt kokosolien. Når den er smeltet tilsæt løget og steg det indtil det er bløde, ca. 3 minutter. Tilsæt citrongræs, blomkål og kokosmælk. Sautér i ca 8-10 minutter, indtil kokosmælken er absorberet. Fjern citrongræssen og smag blomkålen til med salt og citronskal.

Drys den ristede kokos på blomkålen, når den serveres.

Danish Pork Roast - Flæskesteg

Danish Pork Roast

December 14th. Do you know, what you are having for your christmas dinner?

If you look into the homes of the danes, at their christmas dinner, you won't see many variations in the menu. You will see goose, duck and pork roast with crackling skin (flæskesteg) for the most part. This is petty much the same a hundred years ago. Danes has stuck to their traditions even though some have started eating turkey instead. The pork roast is the youngest of the christmas proteins, not counting the turkey. It became more and more popular after people got wood-fired stoves in the kitchens. Making the pork roast tradition about 120  years old.

The thing that sets the Danish pork roast apart is the crackling skin, which is so yummy. You can't get the pork roast with skin on in most stores, but I found it at my favorite butcher shop Dittmers Goumet Meats and Wurst-haus in Los Altos, CA. But you might find it at german or mexican meat shops. 

I you haven't had Danish pork roast you should give it a chance, it's a yummy way to eat pork.

Ingredients:

Roast:

• 4-7 pound Pork roast with the skin on*

• 30-40 g butter

• a handful coarse salt

• 10-14 whole black peppers

• 6-8 bay leaves

Sauce base:

• 1 teaspoon beef base (I use the one from Better than Bouillon)

• 1 onion (cut into 8 pieces)

• 1 teaspoon rosemary

• 1 teaspoon thyme

• ½ pint Water

Sauce:

• ¼ pint heavy whipping cream

• 1 tablespoon blue cheese

• 1 tablespoon redcurrant jelly (Bonne Maman)

• salt & pepper

• gravy browning or the the danish kulør**

Directions:

Score the skin for every 5 - 7 mm. Be careful not to cut into the meat, this causes the skin to be soft. You want to have crackling skin when the roast is done.

Rub the skin with butter and salt. Make sure to get in all the cuts in the skin. This helps to get the skin crispy. Put the bay leaves and peppercorns in the cuts spread them evenly on the roast.

The raw roast ready for the grill or oven.

Curl up some tinfoil, an put it under the roast, so the roast won't tilt to one side. You want to have the top to be horizontally. Put the roast on a rack over a pan. Put herbs, onions, water and bouillon in the pan under the roast.

Roast the pork at 400℉ (200℃) for 1,5 - 2 hours. The temperature in the center has to be 167℉ before the roast is ready. Make sure that there always  water in the pan. You have to use it for the gravy/sauce. 

Just before the center temperature is 167℉, pour the dripping from the pan into a saucepan through a strainer, and boil the drippings for about 5 minutes. If the crackling are soft, let the roast stay in the oven. Set the oven at 527℉, or start the boiler. Keep an eye on the roast. the skin should bubble up and become crispy, be careful not to burn it.

Separate the fat from the drippings, don't use the fat (the fat is good on rye bread instead of butter, when eating herring). Add cream, blue cheese, jam and kulør (coloring). Add salt if needed. Thicken the sauce with corn starch. (cold water and corn starch)

Cut pork in thin slices and serve with cooked white potatoes, caramelized small potatoes, pickled red cabbage, pickled cucumber and the gravy.

* You can get the Danish pork roast at Dittmer’s Gourmet Meats & Wurst-haus in Los Altos, Ca. But you might get at a German or Mexican butcher near you.

** You can get Kulør here.

Danish Caramelized Potatoes - Brunede kartofler

Danish Caramelized Potatoes

December 13th - the weekend is just around the corner. For me the planing for christmas is getting started. I look forward to caramelized potatoes, we only have this sweet goodness once a year.

Caramelized potatoes are an important part of the traditional christmas dinner.  Basically it's caramel covered small boiled potatoes, what can be wrong with that?

The caramelized potatoes is an old dish dating back to 1785, but back then it only was for the wealthy people, because sugar and butter was expensive. 

As a child I didn't care for these, but I think it was the kind of potatoes my mom used. They were kind of bitter. Now I use small firm potatoes, best of all fingerling potatoes. Fingerlings are the Rolls Royce of potatoes wether they are boiled, roasted or caramelized.

I was taught to make caramelized potatoes by my mom, but she didn't use any measurement. It was always just rough estimates. The amount of sugar should be enough to cover the bottom of your skillet, so you can't see the bottom. And add a little dollop butter. With these measurements it's hard to write a recipe.

The amount of sugar

Ingredients:

• 1 pound small firm potatoes

• 100 g sugar

• 15-20 g butter

Directions:

Boil and peel the potatoes. Do it in time for them to cool completely.

Heat a large skillet over high heat, pour in the sugar and melt it. When the sugar are turned the color of light amber, add the butter and stir with a wooden spoon. Rinse the potatoes with cold water, and carefully pour the potatoes into the hot caramel. Lower the heat and make sure the potatoes get covered in the caramel and get heated through.

Serve immediately, otherwise the potatoes looses the shine.

You can caramelize pearl onions this way. Caramelized pearl onions are great as a side for red meats.