Boysenberry Jam

Boysenberry Jam

Jam is one of the best ways to save the taste of summer for later. My mom always made a lot of fruit jams. It might not be the cheapest way, but by far the most flavorful. And by making your own you know what's in it.

Makes about 1 liter.

Ingredients:

• 1000 g boysenberries
• 725 g sugar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions:

Set aside approximately ¼ of the berries in the refrigerator. Combine the remaining berries and  sugar in a large bowl, and set them aside to macerate overnight in the fridge.

Next morning the berries has released their juice and some of the sugar has dissolved. When you do this, you don't have to add any water. (By adding water, you just have to evaporate it again by boiling the jam for longer time and this will have a negative effect on the flavors in your jam. 

Put the berries, lemon juice and sugar into a saucepan over medium heat. Stir gently until all the sugar has dissolved.

Turn up the heat and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring only to prevent sticking or burning.

After the mixture has thickened a bit, add the remaining berries. This will give the jam more texture and whole berries in the jam.

Boil the jam to your preferred consistency, skim the stiff foam off the top, while the jam cooks. Test the thickness by putting jam on a very cold spoon, and if the jam is not running or running very slowly, the jam has the right thickness.

Scald the jars and lids with boiling water. Be careful not to touch the inside. Use tongs to handle jars and lids. Fill jars while still hot. 

Pour the hot jam into hot, scalded jars and seal with scalded lids. See National Center for Home Food Preservation for additional information on safe food preservation.

Enjoy!

Homemade Strawberry Syrup

Homemade Strawberry Syrup

You can buy strawberry syrup in a lot of stores, but you really don't know what's in it. So why not make it yourself? It is super easy to make, and not labour intensive at all. Right now   strawberries are in season, which means you’ll find fairly cheap berries at the market. I find the best, freshest and cheapest strawberries at the farmers market, but some places you can go pick your own at strawberry fields. Beside the taste, the best thing about homemade syrup is you knowing what goes into your syrup, in this case just three ingredients, all natural, nothing artificial.  I keep my syrup in the refrigerator, and it will keep for weeks. Well, in my house it will be gone long before it would have expired.

This strawberry syrup is great for adding to a cocktails, mocktails, on waffles or ice cream. You can use it for almost everything that calls for a little sweet strawberry.

In Denmark you can buy so many different syrups in almost every store. Growing up we had my moms homemade syrups. We would get a tall glass of water with a sprinkle of syrup in, instead of getting soda or juices. I don't know if it was intended, but the syrups were a good way to control the amount of sugar we got during the day.  

makes about 1 liter

Ingredients:

• 1000 g strawberries
• 500 ml water
• 500 g sugar

Directions:

Rinse the berries clean and remove the stems. Slice large strawberries into smaller pieces. Place the strawberry, sugar and water in a  saucepan.Slowly bring it to a boil. Reduce to a  simmer and let the strawberries cook for about 20 minutes. Skim the stiff foam off the top, while the strawberries are simmering.

Now the strawberries will have lost their vibrant color and the syrup has a deep pink/red color.  Remove from heat, and strain the syrup through a fine-mesh strainer and discard the solids.

Scald the bottle with boiling water. While the syrup and bottle are still hot, pour syrup into the it, seal and refrigerate.for up to 2 weeks. 

Enjoy!

Butter Chicken

Butter Chicken served over cilantro and lime cauliflower rice.

Dansk Udgave

This is one of my dishes I tried with a lot of spices, and it became one of my go-to dishes. It's fairly easy to make, but the flavor is so big and bold, that people think I have been working for hours in the kitchen. Now my secret is out.

I do add the cream in the end, but it's optional. But I'm not looking to cloak up my ores, so I cut the butter to a minimum. I still keep the buttery name, because the flavors is still there. 

Here served over cilantro and lime cauliflower rice.

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken
• 2 teaspoons garam masala
• 1 tablespoons coriander seeds 
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 5 black peppercorns 
• 3 small dried red chilies 
• 150 ml plain yogurt
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• 6 cloves garlic
• 3 whole cardamon pods
• 25 g unsalted butter
• 1  tablespoon oil
• 2 medium yellow onions, peeled and finely chopped 
• 2 bay leaves 
• 1 ½ dl water
• 1 ½ dl heavy whipping cream
• ¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Topping:

• 1  lime
• fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions:

Spice paste: Grind coriander seeds, peppercorn, and chilies in a coffee grinder or a mortar and pestle, mix in the cumin and garam masala.

In a bowl mix the spice mix with yogurt and tomato paste. Add minced garlic, finely grated ginger, salt and the whole cardamom pods. Put the paste into a zip-lock bag.

Cut up the chicken into 6-8 pieces, discard the skin. Put chicken in the spice paste to marinate for about 15 minutes.

Chop the onions, and brown the onions in butter in a large pot.

Add the chicken and all the spice paste. Lower the heat and let the chicken get some color. The sauce color will become more brownish red/ orange.

Add water, bay leaves and let it simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasional. Add the cream and let the dish keep on simmering for another 10-12 minutes. Adding the cream is optional, but it makes the dish more creamy. Just before serving, stir in chopped cilantro.

Serve the chicken over rice or quinoa with a slice of lime and your favorite greens.

Enjoy!

The Danish Version:

Butter Chicken / Smørkylling

Ingredienser:

• 1 kylling
• 2 tsk garam masala
• 1 spsk korianderfrø
• 1 tsk spidskommen
• 5 stk sorte hele peberkorn
• 3 stk små tørrede røde chili
• 150 ml yoghurt naturel
• 2 spsk tomatpure
• 1 ¼ tsk salt
• 2 ½ cm frisk ingefær
• 6 fed hvidløg
• 3 stk kardemommekapsler
• 25 g smør
• 1 spsk. olie
• 2 stk mellemstore løg
• 2 stk laurbærblade
• 1 ½ dl vand
• 1 ½ dl piskefløde
• ½ dl hakket frisk koriander

Topping:

• 1 stk lime
• frisk koriander

Fremgangsmåde:

Krydderi pasta: Kværn korianderfrø, peber, chiler i en kaffekværn (brug en der ikke skal bruges til kaffe) eller i en morter. Bland spidskommen og garam masala i. 

Blad krydderierne med yoghurt og konc. tomatpuré. Bland tilsidst med presset hvidløg, revet ingefær, salt, kardemommekapsler.

Skær kyllingen i stykker og fjern skindet. Kom kyllingen i krydderipastaen, og lad den marinere i ca 15 minutter i kølesklabet.

I mellemtiden hakkes og brunes løgene i lidt olie og smør i en sauterpande.

Kom kyllingen og al marinaden ned til de brunede løg. Lad marinaden blive gennemvarm, så den skifter farve til mere orangerød. 

Tilsæt vand, laurbærblade og lad retten simre i ca. 30 minutter. Rør i retten en gang imellem.

Tilsæt fløden og lad den simre med i 10-12 minutter. Du behøver ikke at bruge fløde, men retten bliver mere cremet, hvis du gør.

Lige før serveringen, tilsættes den hakkede friske koriander.

Server kyllingen med ris eller quinoa, en skive lime og lidt grøntsager.

Her er kyllingen serveret med koriander og lime blomkålsris.

Velbekomme! 

Spinach Strawberry Salad

Spinach / Strawberry Salad

This salad is so easy and simple, but the taste is to die for. I love this salad with any kind of grilled meat.

Ingredients:

• ½ pound baby spinach

• 1 cup strawberries, thinly sliced

• ⅓ cup sliced almonds, chopped

• ¼ cup crumbled goat cheese (optional)

Dressing:

• ¼ cup blood orange extra virgin olive oil

• ¼ cup dark espresso balsamic vinegar

• salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Mix spinach, strawberries and chopped almonds in a large bowl. Whisk the dressing together, and add it to the salad just before serving. Sprinkle with cheese (optional).

Enjoy!

Passion fruit Ceviche

Passion fruit Ceviche

Ceviche is one of my favorite appetizers. I love the texture, the tanginess and in this version, the sweetness from the passionfruit. It all comes together in a perfect combination.

This time I served the ceviche with wonton chips, but even potato chips or crisp pita bread will work.

Eating Raw Seafood - What You Need To Know:

It's always best to cook seafood thoroughly to minimize the risk of food-borne illness. However, if you choose to eat raw fish anyway, one rule of thumb is to eat fish that has been previously frozen for 24 hours. FDA

Serves 4 as an appetizer.

Ingredients:

• 400 g halibut, salmon or a mix of both, cut into small cubes
• 2 passion fruits, the juice of
• 2 limes, the juice of
• 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro leaves
• 1 Serrano chili finely sliced
• ¼ red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 avocado chopped

Directions:

Combine the lime, sieved passion fruit, and chili in a bowl. Add to the fish and make sure that it gets thoroughly coated. Cover the bowl  and let the fish marinate in the refrigerator  for 20-30 minutes.

When ready to serve, add the rest of the ingredients and mix it gently.

Serve the ceviche with crispy wontons or chips. 
Enjoy!

The Danish version:

Forret til 4 personer.

Passionsfrugts ceviche

Ingredienser:

• 400 g frisk hellefisk, laks eller en kombination
• 2 passionfrugter, saften fra
• 2 limes, saften fra
• 1 spsk friske koriander blade
• 1 Serrano chili, i tynde skiver
• ¼ rødløg. i tynde skiver
• 1 avocado i tern

Fremgangsmåde:

Bland limesaften, passionsfrugtssaften med chili i en skål. Tilsæt fisken  og sørg for at den bliver blandet godt med saften. Det er saften der tilbereder fisken, så det er vigtigt at al fisken er vendt i saften. Dæk skålen til og sæt den i køleskabet i 20-30 minutter. 

Lige før serveringen, blandes resten af ingredienterne i. Det hele hældes i en serveringsskål og serveres med chips.

Velbekomme!