Sweet • Sour • Savory

Food blog on scandinavian style food done right.

Grilled Salmon Kebabs

BBQ, Dinner, Fish & seafoodTove Balle-PedersenComment
Grilled Salmon Kebabs

Grilled Salmon Kebabs

Salmon kebabs are light, delicious and a perfect dish for a summer night BBQ. The kebabs are very easy to make, especially if you have double skewers, otherwise I will recommend using two single skewers for each kebab, so the fish doesn’t turn on the skewers.  I served the kebabs with boiled fingerling potatoes and a creme fraiche dip with fresh dill, salmon roe and lemon.

Ingredients:

Kebabs:

  • 1 pound skinless salmon fillet, cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm) pieces

  • 1 lemon, sliced very thinly

  • 1 tablespoon fresh dill

  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice

  • ¼ teaspoon salt

  • pepper

  • olive oil 

  • 4 bamboo skewer soaked in water for at least 1 hour

Dip:

  • 8 oz (226 g) creme fraiche or sour cream 

  • 1 bunch fresh dill, chopped

  • 2 tablespoons salmon roe or other roe

  • lemon juice

  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Dip:

Season the creme fraiche with pepper, lemon juice and dill, wait with the salt, because the roe is salty. Fold in the roe, and season with salt if needed. Set dip aside in refrigerator until ready for serving.

Kebabs:

Prepare grill for medium heat.

Beginning and ending with salmon, spear salmon and folded lemon slices onto 4 double skewers. Drip with lemon juice and brush with oil. Season with salt, pepper and dill.

Grill, turning twice, until fish is opaque throughout, about 5-8 minutes.

 

Chocolate Ganache Fruit Tart

Cake, DessertsTove Balle-PedersenComment
Chocolate Ganache Fruit Tart

Chocolate Ganache Fruit Tart

Chocolate is the answer to everything, who cares what the question is?

Just another pie. Sweet, chocolaty and fruitful.

Ingredients:

Crust:

  • 20 g almonds
  • 20 g cocoa powder, unsweetened 
  • 55 g all-purpose flour
  • 35 g sugar
  • 1 pinch salt
  • ⅖ stick (45 g) butter, cold and salted
  • ¼ teaspoon vanilla paste
  • almost 1 egg

Ganache:

  • 60 g dark chocolate
  • 60 g milk chocolate
  • 120 g heavy whipping cream
  • 1½ teaspoon cognac

Topping:

  • fresh fruit like cherries, raspberries and blackberries 

Direction:

Crust:

Chop the almonds in the food processor until it’s a coarse flour. Add, cocoa, sugar, flour and salt. Add diced cold butter, and blend until fully combined. Add vanilla paste and egg, and blend until just combined. Don't knead the dough, it will make the crust shrink when baked.

Form a disc or flat square of the dough and wrap it in plastic wrap, and store in the refrigerator for at least one hour.

Spray the small tart pans with nonstick spray.

Flour your work surface generously, place the cold dough on top and flour the dough. Roll it out so it fits the tart pan.

Transfer the dough to the pie pan, cut off the overhanging dough for the crust to fit perfectly in the pan. 

If the dough sticks, use at bench scraper or a spatula to get it off your work surface. If the dough get to soft, put it into the freezer for a few minutes. 

Prick dough all over with a fork. Freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375℉ (190℃)

Line crust with parchment paper. Fill with pie weights or dried beans, and bake the crust until edges are set, about 10 minutes. Remove parchment paper and weights, and bake the crust for another 5 minutes. Let cool completely, about 30 minutes.

Ganache:

Melt the chocolate in the cream over very low heat. When almost melted, remove from heat, and add the cognac. 

Pour the ganache into the crusts, and refrigerate them to set the ganache.

Decoration:

Decorate the tarts with fresh fruit, and serve.

Enjoy!

 

The Danish version:

Frugtchokoladetærte

Bund:

  • 20 g mandler
  • 20 g kakaopulver, usødet 
  • 55 g hvedemel
  • 35 g sukker
  • 1 knsp salt
  • 45 g smør, koldt og saltet, i små tern
  • ¼ tsk vanille pasta eller kornene fra ½ vanillestang
  • næsten 1 æg

Ganache:

  • 60 g mørk chokolade
  • 60 g mælke chokolade
  • 120 g piskefløde
  • 1½ tsk cognac

Topping:

  • frisk frugt såsom, kirsebær, hindbær og brombær

Fremgangsmåde:

Bund:

Hak mandlerne til manelmel i foodprocessoren. Tilsæt kakao, sukker, mel og salt. Kom smørret i, og blend indtil det er en ensartet blanding. Tilsæt vanillie og æg, og blend indtil det kun lige har samlet sig. Hvis du ælter dejen for meget, vil den krympe, når den bages

Form dejen til en flad firkant og pak den ind i plastikfilm, og lad den hvile i køleskabet i minimum en time. 

Smør de små tærtebunde. 

Rul dejen ud på et meldækket bord, så den er lidt større end tærteformene. Løft dejen forsigtigt over i formene, og skær evt overskydende dej af, så dejen passer perfekt i formene.

Prik i dejen med en gaffel, og sæt dejen i fryseren i ca 30 minutter.

Opvarm ovnen til 190℃.

Kom et stykke bagepapir ovenpå dejen og hæld Keramiske blindbagningskugler, eller tørrede bønner, ovenpå, så du kan bage bunden blindt. Bag bunden i 10 minutter, fjern så bagepapir og fyld. Bag bunden i yderligere 5 minutter. Lad bunden køle helt af, inden den fyldes.

Ganache:

Smelt chokoladen i fløden ved lav varme. Når chokoladen er næsten helt smeltet tages gryden af varmen og cognacen kommes i. Hæld ganachen i bundene og sæt tærterne i køleskabet, så ganachen sætter sig.

Dekoration:

Kom den friske frugt på tærterne, og server dem.

Velbekomme!

 

Sourdough Chocolate Bread

Bread, Breakfast, BrunchTove Balle-Pedersen4 Comments
Sourdough Chocolate Bread

Sourdough Chocolate Bread

In Denmark you can bye rye bread with chocolate, and I've seen a lot of sweet chocolate breads with dried fruits. But until I stumbled across this bread from Chocolate & Zucchini, I had no intention off making a chocolate bread. I liked the idea of an unsweetened sourdough bread with small chunks of good dark chocolate. 

This bread is perfect for an afternoon snack, with a thin layer of cream cheese and sliced strawberries on top. It tastes a bit like a piece of cake, but not as sweet, you may even say that it’s healthy, since chocolate is considered a vegetable by some.

Ingredients:

Leaven:

  • 1 dl sourdough starter (the leaven you saved in the refrigerator, from last time you baked)
  • 2 dl water
  • 1 dl whole wheat flour
  • 1 dl all-purpose flour

Bread:

  • 200 g leaven
  • 525 g bread flour (high in protein)
  • 50 g dutch processed cocoa powder
  • ½ teaspoon dry yeast
  • 425 g water
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 125 g dark chocolate, Valrhona, chopped

Directions:

Leaven:

Feed the starter to make the leaven. The leaven is ready to use when the leaven is bubbling and smells like beer - after about 8 hours at room temperature. Cover the bowl with the leaven with plate or a clean towel. 

Save about 200 g leaven and put it aside in a sealed container. This will be your sourdough starter for the next batch of bread. It will keep without feeding for about 14 days in the refrigerator.

Feeding it is like making the leaven. Just pour out the liquid on top of the starter, and discard all but 1 dl of the starter. Mix in flour and water, and leave it on the kitchen counter for about 8 hours, until it's nice and bubbly. Now it will keep for another 14 days in the refrigerator before feeding.

Dough:

In the large bowl for you stand mixer, combine water, leaven and yeast with flour and cocoa powder. Mix for about 3-5 minutes, and then set to rest for 20-30 minutes. 

Mix in salt and chocolate. Let the dough start fermentation at room temperature for about an hour. 

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and place it in the refrigerator for 8-12 hours.

Take the dough out of the refrigerator and pour it onto the floured kitchen counter. Cover it with a clean kitchen towel, and let it get to room temperature, 2-3 hours. Make two rounds, and let them rise for another hour. 

Folding:

Fold the third of the dough closest to you up and over the middle third of the round. Stretch out the dough horizontally to your right and fold this right third over the center. Stretch the dough to your left and fold this third over the previous fold. You are now starting to get a neat package. Stretch out the third of the dough farthest from you and fold this flap toward you, while rolling the whole package away from you, that the smooth underside of the loaf now is on the top and all the seams are on the bottom. Let the shaped loaf rest on the counter for a minute. Fold the other loaf the same way.

Let the dough rest in baskets generously dusted with rice flour. Using the dough scraper, transfer each round to a basket, smooth side down, with seam centered and facing up. Let rest at room temperature (75℉ to 80℉), covered with towels for 3 to 4 hours before baking.

Baking the Bread:

Twenty minutes before you are ready to bake the bread, pre-heat oven and  dutch/french oven to 500 degrees, with rack in lowest position.

Flip one bread into heated dutch/french oven. Score top twice using a razor blade matfer lame. Cover with lid. Return to oven, and reduce oven temperature to 430℉. Bake for 20 minutes.

Carefully remove lid and continue to bake another 15-20 minutes.

Transfer loaf to a wire rack. It will feel light and sound hollow when tapped. Let cool.

Enjoy!

Adapted from chocolate&zucchini.

 

The danish version:

Chokoladebrød bagt på surdej

Ingredienser:

Surdej:

  • 1 dl surdej (den surdej du har haft i køleskabet siden du bagte sidst)
  • 2 dl vand
  • 1 dl grahams mel
  • 1 dl hvedemel

Brød:

  • 200 g surdej
  • 525 g hvedemel (gerne med højr proteinindhold)
  • 50 g kakaopulver (Valrhona)
  • ½ tsk tørær eller 5 g alm. gær
  • 425 g vand
  • 2 tsk salt
  • 125 g mørk chokolade, Valrhona, groft hakket

Fremgangsmåde:

Surdej:

For at kunne bruge surdejen til bagning, skal du fodre den. Jeg plejer at tage ca. 1 dl "gammel" surdej og blande den med 2 dl vand, 1 dl hvedemel og 1 dl grahamsmel, og så røre det godt sammen. Lad den nye surdej stå tildækket på køkkenbordet i ca. 8 timer, indtil den bobler lystigt og dufter af øl. Herefter tager du det fra du skal bruge til bagningen og kommer resten i køleskabet i et syltetøjsglas eller lignende. Nu kan surdejen holde sig 14 dage i køleskabet, inden du skal fodre den igen. 

Dejen:

Kom vand, surdej, mel, gær og kakao i skålen til din røremaskine og ælt dejen sammen i ca. 3- 5 minutter. Lad derefter dejen hvile i 20-30 minutter før du går videre.

Bland salt og chokolade i, og start hævningen ved stuetemperatur den første times tid. Dæk skålen til med plastisk film og kom den i køleskabet i 8-12 timer.

Tag dejen op og hæld den ud på et meldækket bord og dæk den til med et rent viskestykke. Lad dejen ligge og komme op til stuetemperatur i ca 2-3 timer. Del herefter dejen i 2 kugler og lad dem hæve yderligere 1 time.

Foldning:

Fold den trediedel der er tættest på dig hen over midten af dejen. Stræk dejen ud til siderne og fold siderne indover midten på dejen en ad gangen. Til sidst tages den del længest væk fra dig og foldes godt ind over de andre foldninger, men du spænder dejen op, så den bliver glat. Gør det samme med den anden dejklump.

Drys rismel (eller hvedemel) i hævekurvene og læg dejen i med samlingen øverst, og lad brødene hæve ved satue temperatur i 3-4 timer.

Bagning:

Omkring 20 minutter før du skal bage brødene, forvarm ovnen med en støbejernsgryde (med låg) til 260℃.

Vend brødet ud i den varme støbejernsgryde, snit i toppen af brødet med et barberblad og læg låget på. Kom gryden tilbage i ovnen og skru temperaturen ned til 220℃. Bag brødet under låg i ca. 20 minutter.

Fjern låget og bag videre i 15-20 minutter, indtil brødet er færdigt, og lyder hult, når du banker på bunden af det.

Afkøl brødet helt før du serverer det.

Velbekomme!

This post has been submitted to the Yeast Spotting Site.

Danish Potato Salad

BBQ, food, Salad, VegetablesTove Balle-Pedersen1 Comment
Danish Potato Salad

Danish Potato Salad

Potato salad is a classic at danish BBQ's. Most families have their own recipes, and sometimes you just take the easy way out and use a store bought. But homemade is best. I like to have different textures in my potato salad, and the asparagus, peppers and radishes gives me just that. 

Ingredients:

  • 2 pounds (ca. 1 kg) potatoes, use small firm potatoes like Fingerlings or Yukon Gold

  • 2 teaspoons salt for the boiling

  • 6 radishes, finely sliced

  • 1 bunch scallions

  • ½ cup fresh peas

  • 5 asparagus, chopped

  • ½ red bell pepper, diced

  • ½ green bell pepper, diced

  • chives

Dressing:

  • 16 oz (475 ml) sour cream or creme fraiche

  • 2 tablespoons mayonnaise

  • ⅛ teaspoon curry powder

  • 1 clove garlic

  • salt & pepper

Directions:

Place the potatoes in a large pot of water. Bring the water to a boil and add the salt, then lower the heat and simmer for 15-18 minutes, until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a knife. It's important to start with the potatoes in cold water, this will prevent overcooking the outside of the potatoes before they are done.

Drain the potatoes and rinse in cold water. Peel the potatoes, and set aside in the refrigerator to cool completely.

Mix all the ingredients for the dressing, and set aside. 

Wash and slice/dice the vegetables. Slice the cold potatoes, and mix it all in the dressing.

Store the potatoes salad in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve it.

Enjoy!

 

The Danish version:

Kartoffelsalat

Ingredienser:

  • ca. 1 kg kartofler, brug en fast kartoffel såsom asparges- eller samsøkartofler

  • 2 tsk salt til kogevandet

  • 6 radiser, skåret tyndt

  • 1 bundt forårsløg

  • 1 dl nybælgede ærter

  • 5 asparges, skåret i stykker

  • ½ rød peber, skåret i tern

  • ½ grøn peber, skåret i tern

  • purløg

Dressing:

  • ca. 5 dl creme fraiche

  • 2 spsk mayonnaise

  • ⅛ tsk karry

  • 1 fed hvidløg

  • salt & peber

Directions:

Kog kartoflerne i en stor gryde i 15-18 minutter, indtil de er møre. Start med koldt vand og tilsæt først saltet når vandet koger. Dette bevirker at kartoflerne ikke koger ud. Hæld vandet fra kartoflerne og skyl dem med koldt vand, for at stoppe kogningen. Pil kartoflerne og sæt dem til afkøling i køleskabet.

Bland dressingen, smag til med mere ekstra salt og karry.

Vask, og skær grøntsagerne, skær kartoflerne i skiver og bland det hele i dressingen. Opbevar kartoffelsalaten i køleskabet indtil den skal serveres.

Velbekomme!

Steak Rolls - Benløse Fugle

Beef, Dinner, MeatsTove Balle-PedersenComment
Steak Rolls - Benløse Fugle

Steak Rolls - Benløse Fugle

As a child we sometimes had steak rolls, or “benløse fugle" (directly translated: Birds with no legs - sounds weird, right?) This was thin slices of meat wrapped around a piece of smoked speck. To be honest that was not one of my favorites. But the thought of swapping the speck with a smoked cheese might be a way to give this old-school dish a new life. 

It totally worked. The spiciness from the chili and the smoked cheese with the meat, made a perfect flavorful combination. It won't be the last time I make these steak rolls.

Ingredients:

  • 4 thin slices skirt steak like the meat you use for carne asada
  • 4 small blocks smoked gouda, the size of string cheese
  • 1 handful spinach
  • 8 small slices sun-dried tomatoes
  • 1 jalapeño, divided in 4, lengthwise 
  • salt & pepper
  • oil for searing

Directions:

Season the steak pieces generously on both sides with salt and pepper.

Take a strip of the steak and lay it with the short side towards you. Place some spinach leaves, a slice jalapeño, 2 pieces of tomatoes and one block of cheese in the middle and roll the steak up over the filling, securing it with a toothpick along the length of the roll. Repeat with the last three steak rolls.

Preheat the oven to 400℉ (200℃)

In an ovenproof skillet, heat a splash of grape-seed oil over medium-high heat. When hot add the steak rolls, sear them on all sides. Place the skillet in the oven and let it roast for about 15 minutes, until the steak rolls are done, when the cheese are expanded out of the rolls. Serve the rolls with your favorite sides.

Enjoy!

 

The Danish version:

Benløse fugle

Ingredienser:

  • 4 tynde stykker oksekød såsom flanke- eller flapkød
  • 4 bjælker røget gouda, på str. med ostehaps
  • 1 håndfuld spinat
  • 8 små stykker soltørrede tomater
  • 1 jalapeño, delt i 4, på langs 
  • salt & peber
  • olie til stegningen

Fremgangsmåde:

Krydder kødet med salt og peber.

Læg et stykke af oksekødet på skærebrættet, med den korte side henimod dig. Læg lidt spinatblade, ¼ jalapeño, lidt soltørret tomat og en ostebjælke på kødet, tættest dig selv. Rul kødet rundt om fyldet og "lås" rullen med en tandstik eller kødnål. Gentage med de sidste 3 kødstykker. 

Forvarm ovnen til 200℃.

Brun rullerne på alle sider i en pande, der kan gå i ovnen, i lidt vindruekeneolie. Sæt panden i oven i ca. 15 minutter, indtil rullerne er møre og osten er "vokset" lidt ud af rullerne.

Server de benløse fugle med dine foretrukne grøntsager. 

Velbekomme!