Stir-fried Beef in Oyster Sauce

Stir-fried Beef in Oyster Sauce

Some nights I just want to get cooking dinner over with in a hurry, but I still want to eat healthy. Well, this dish is for those kind of nights. If you have time to cook some rice, you will have time to make this stir-fry. A perfect dish for a weeknight.

The dish is inspired by one of my favorite take-out dishes from a Thai restaurant in Denmark, But I added more vegetables and dropped the cashews, for a more filling and healthier meal. I love the sweet but slightly spicy taste, it's a Thai comfort food. 

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

• 2 bunches scallions

• 450 g mushroom, sliced

• oil for frying

• 6 garlic cloves, crushed

• 1½ pound (700 g) beef, I used stir-fry or fajitas meat, but any steak sliced would work

• 1 broccoli crown

• 1 red bell pepper

• ½ cup (1 dl) oyster sauce

• 2-3 teaspoons sugar

• 2 splashes Sriracha, Hot Chili Sauce

• 1-2 tablespoons fish sauce (to taste)

Directions:

Clean the mushrooms and slice them, I buy the mushrooms already cleaned and sliced.

Heat a wok over high heat. Once the pan is hot, add just enough oil to coat it. Add the mushrooms to the hot pan and cook, keeping heat high, stirring frequently to help any liquid the mushrooms give off  to evaporate as quickly as possible. Keep cooking until the mushrooms are tender and browned, about 5 minutes. Put the fried mushrooms in a bowl, and set aside.

While frying the mushrooms clean and cut up the scallions, bel pepper and broccoli.

Heat oil in wok, and brown the meat in small batches over high heat, so the beef get fried and not boiled. Set beef aside.

Start frying the broccoli, and add bel pepper, when the broccoli has got a bright green color. Add beef, crushed garlic, mushrooms, oyster sauce, sugar, chili- and fish sauce. Season with additional sugar, pepper or fish sauce if needed. Add the scallions, save some for garnish. Serve immediately with  jasmine rice or cauliflower rice.

Hot Chocolates

Hot chocolates

On a lazy sunday afternoon I stumbled over a tweet from madsymfonien with a hot chocolate with marshmallows and liquorice. It looked so good, and I had just bought marshmallows the other day, so I had to try to make it.

My hot chocolate was made from ⅓ milk chocolate, ⅔ dark chocolate and whole milk. I added three different sprinkles on top.

The first had freeze-dried  blackcurrant, which added a nice tangy flavory to the sweet chocolate. The second crushed Raw Liquorice Drops, giving the chocolate a nice liquorice aftertaste, without being overpowering.The third had a very light dust of Ghost Pepper, which added a hotness to the chocolate without being to hot. Actually this one was the best chili hot chocolate I have ever had. 

Granola a la Kona

Granola a la Kona

My vacation to Hawaii a couple of years ago, inspired me to make this granola. My husband had a granola with coconut, almonds and oats, served over yogurt in a papaya fruit, and it became one of his favourite breakfasts. So when we got home from vacation, I had to recreate the granola. I make the granola in a wok on the stove, but you can easily make it in the oven. 

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1½ tablespoon honey
• ½ cup coconut flakes
• 1½ cup quick oats
• ½ cup slivered almonds
• 1 sprinkle cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon vanilla paste

Directions:

Heat the oil in the wok, and add the honey. Let the honey foam for a moment, and then add the rest of the ingredients. Keep stirring and cook until the granola turns golden brown. Pour the granola into a large pan or baking sheet and spread the granola out in an even layer, and let it cool. The granola crisp up while cooling. The more you stir during the cooling period, the more separated the granola gets.

If you want to cook the granola in the oven:

Preheat the oven to 350℉ (180℃).

Combine oats, almonds, coconut and cinnamon in a  large bowl, and set aside. 

Melt the oil and honey in a small saucepan, remove from heat, and  add the vanilla paste. Pour over the oat mixture and mix until the oats are thoroughly coated. Spread the mixture in a thin, even layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake the granola for 15 minutes, then stir and continue baking until the granola is very light golden brown, about 5 to 10 minutes more. 

Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. The granola crisp up while cooling. The more you stir during the cooling period, the more separated the granola gets.

Store the granola in a large, airtight container. It will keep for up to one month.

Serve the granola on yogurt with fresh fruit, or in a papaya. 

Enjoy.

Moussaka

Moussaka

Traditionally, Greek moussaka is a baked dish of layered eggplant, lamb or beef, tomatoes, and potatoes. A traditional moussaka is made with allspice, but not all restaurant use allspice. I will always order this dish, when we go to a new Greek restaurant, because this dish tells you if it is real greek food or not. No allspice, and you properly won't have traditional greek food at this place.

The first time I had a traditional Greek moussaka, was at a small Greek restaurant in Kongens Lyngby in Denmark. It's not the most likely place to find a good Greek restaurant. It's in the middle of nowhere just across from a grocery store and in a roundabout in a residential area. But nevertheless this is a good restaurant, with peasant-style Greek food for a reasonable price. The moussaka from this place is to die for. I tried to recreate it, and after a lot of trial and error, I think I nailed it.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium eggplants

• salt

• 1 pound (450 g) potatoes, peeled and finely sliced

• extra virgin olive oil

• 1 onion, diced

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 1½ pound lean ground beef

• 2 cans chopped tomatoes

• 2 teaspoons allspice

• salt & pepper to taste

Mornay sauce*:

• 25 g butter

• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• 1½ (3½ dl) cups milk

• salt & pepper to taste

• ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg

• mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Cut the top and bottom of the eggplants and cut them into slices about ⅕ inch thick. Put the eggplant slices in a colander, sprinkle salt between the layers, and let them drain for about 30 minutes. When the eggplant slices are done, pad them dry with a paper towel.

Heat ⅓ of the olive oil in a sauté pan over low heat, and fry the eggplants gently until tender. Remove from the pan and drain them of excess water and oil on a paper towel.

Fry the potato slices in a little oil in the sauté pan until they are slightly golden. Pad the excess oil of the potatoes with some kitchen towel.

Add a little more oil to the sauté pan and sauté the onions until transparent and soft. Add the ground beff and brown it, crumbling the meat with a wooden spoon. Add the garlic, allspice, a little salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Add caned tomatoes and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes or while you make the mornay sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Mornay sauce:

Melt the butter over medium heat in a sauce pan. Add the flour and a sprinkle of salt, stirring constantly, until all the flour is incorporated with the butter. You don't want it to get a golden. Whisk in the milk and cook, whisking constantly, until thickened and shiny, 3 to 4 minutes. Add more milk if the sauce is to thick. Whisk in the cheese and nutmeg. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Moussaka:
Preheat the oven to 400℉ (200℃).

In a deep ovenproof dish layer the eggplant, potatoes and meat like you would a lasagne. Pour the mornay sauce on top.

Bake moussaka for about 45 minutes until the surface is golden and bubbly. Let the moussaka rest for a few minutes before serving, letting the moussaka time to set.

Enjoy.

*Mornay sauce is a béchamel sauce with cheese.

Classic Fragilité Cake

Classic Fragilité Cake

The classic fragilité cake with coffee buttercream originates from the same Danish pastry chef, Johannes Steen, who also made The Sarah Bernhardt cookie. And must originate from the beginning of the 1900s, when Denmark was very influenced by everything French. 

Fragilité means fragile, and it describes the cake well. It's made with delicate layers of crispy meringue with hazelnuts, layered with a mocha/coffee buttercream. The cake feels very light and fluffy, but don't let it fool you, it's filled with great tasting calories😋

Ingredients:

Meringue:

• 100 g hazelnuts
• 200 g confectionary sugar
• 4 egg whites

Mocha buttercream:

• 3 pasteurised  egg yolks
• 100 g confectionary sugar
• 150 g butter, salted and room temperature
• 3 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1,5 teaspoons instant coffee 

Directions:

Preheat the oven for 400℉ (200℃).

Chop the hazelnuts. I used the mini chopper that came with my immersion blender, and ended up with a coarse hazelnut flour. Mix the hazelnuts with half of the confectionary sugar.

Whip the egg whites, in a stand mixer, until you have soft peaks. Add the sugar and keep whipping until you have a shiny meringue with stiff peaks. You should be able to turn the bowl upside down.

Fold the hazelnut mixture in.

Line a baking pan with parchment paper, spray it and sprinkle with sugar. I used a 9" x 13" (20x30 cm) pan.  

Spread the meringue evenly in the pan, and level of the top.

Bake the meringue for 2 minutes at 400℉ (200℃), then lower the temperature to 305℉ (150℃) and keep on baking foe another 40 minutes.

Buttercream:

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl, and whip the buttercream until thick and fluffy over a double boiler. I used a saucepan with very hot water, and placed my bowl on top of that. I didn't have it on the stove. It takes some time to get the buttercream nice and fluffy.

Cut the meringue in two, and place the one part on a cake stand, spread all the buttercream  on it in an even layer. Put the other half of the meringue on top. 

Decorate the cake with some melted chocolate or a sprinkle of confectionary sugar.