Lasagna stuffed squash

Lasagna stuffed squash

This is another take on my vegetable spaghetti with meat sauce, this time using my favorite winter squash as serving bowls, and as the "spaghetti". I really liked the color of the gold nugget squash at the store, but thought that the spaghetti squash would be more appealing for my I'm-not-into-squash-husband. Oddly enough he liked the god nugget squash better, so I might have to end bashing him here, for not liking squash, I might. 

You can change up this dish, by using another meat, adding bacon or vegetables, or go all in and just make a veggie bolognese. You can even use these roasted squash to dress up a leftover curry, the possibilities are endless. 

Serves 2-3.

Ingredients:

Squash:

Spaghetti squash

• 1 small spaghetti squash
• 1 small gold nugget squash
• 1 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• salt and pepper

Meat Sauce:

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onions, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pound (450 g) ground beef (lean)
• 1 can tomato paste
• ½ teaspoon beef base (bouillon)
• 1 cup (2 dl) water 
• ½ cup (1 dl) red wine
• ½ teaspoon rosemary
• ½ teaspoon thyme
• salt and pepper to taste

Topping:

• some mozzarella cheese
• chopped fresh basil

Direction:

Preheat oven to 400℉ (200℃).

Slice squashes length wise and scrape out the seeds. Rub each squash half with olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Place each squash half cut-side down on a parchment paper lines baking sheet, and bake for 40-60 min until the squash is tender.

Meat sauce: 

Heat a drizzle of oil in a pot over medium heat and brown the onions. Add the garlic after a few minutes.  Add the ground beef and brown it, crumbling the meat with a wooden spoon. Add the tomato paste and cook it until tomato paste turns a deeper red, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the rosemary, thyme, a little salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Add the wine, beef base and water. Simmer for at least 30 minutes. The longer it simmers, the better it gets. 

Let the Squash cool slightly, so you can handle them. Flip them cut-side up.

Scoop the meat sauce into each squash half, and top with mozzarella cheese. (You can add a cheese sauce or ricotta cheese to the squash, if you like)

Turn oven to broil, and cook the squash for another 2 minutes, until cheese is browned and bubbling. You have to keep an eye on this process, because this happens very quickly.

Sprinkle with fresh basil and serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Crisp bread with beer

Crisp bread with beer

I have been making crisp breads (knækbrød) for a long time now, but I wanted to change the flavor profile by adding beer and rye. The beer gives the breads a bitter note, that really pairs well with blue cheese or a cold beer.

Ingredients: 

• 150 g all-purpose flour
• 50 dark rye flour
• ½  cup (1 dl) oil, (sunflower- or rapeseed)
• ¾ cup (2 dl) stout, I used Mikkeller chipotle porter
• 50 g oats
• 50 g pumpkin seeds
• 50 g flax seeds
• 50 g sunflower seeds
• 50 g sesame seeds
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1,5 teaspoon salt + more for sprinkling

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients in a stand mixer until combined.  

Divide the dough in two. Roll the dough as thin as the pumpkin seeds allow, between to sheets of parchment paper. 

Carefully remove the top parchment paper and cut the dough in desired sizes with a knife, or use a cookie cutter to make different shapes. Slide the parchment paper with the dough unto a baking sheet. Sprinkle salt, puppy seeds or other seeds. You can brush the breads with a little bit of water before sprinkling.

Bake the breads for 20 - 25 minutes at 400°F.

When the crisp breads are done, remove from oven and let cool completely on a rack and store in an airtight container.

Beef Stroganoff with Celery Root Mash

Beef Stroganoff with Celery Root Mash

Beef stroganoff was a fall favorite in my childhood. My mom loved to make simmer food, especially when entertaining guests. She could get the dinner started, clean up and get ready for the guests to arrive, instead of sweating over the pots and pans, when the guests arrived. I totally get her. I believe this is the way to go, when you're having guests over. 

Normally stroganoff is served with pasta, but in my family we have always had mashed potatoes. Today I opted for at lighter version with the celery root mash

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Stroganoff:

• 10 slices bacon (10 thin slices or 5 thick cut), diced

• 2 pounds Beef stew meat

• 2 tablespoons paprika

• 1 tablespoon hot paprika (or regular paprika if you don't like the spiciness)

• 1½ teaspoon smoked paprika

• 3 onions (medium or 4 small), diced

• 2 tablespoons salted butter

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 400 g button mushrooms, sliced

• 3 tablespoons tomato paste

• 1 teaspoon beef base

• 200 ml water

• 200 g creme fraiche

• ½ cup (1 dl) whipping cream

• salt & pepper

Mash:

• 2 celery root

• 4 medium potatoes

• 2- 3 tablespoons butter

• ¼ cup (½ dl) hot milk

• salt to taste

Directions:

Stroganoff:

Place bacon in a large pot or Dutch oven and heat over medium heat. Cook bacon until crispy and fat has rendered, about 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer bacon to a paper towel-lined plate, leaving some of the fat in the Dutch oven. 

Sauté onion and mushrooms in some of the rendered bacon fat, until golden brown. Remove from Dutch oven, and set aside. 

Put some all-purpose flour in a ziploc bag, add paprika, some salt and pepper. Pad dry the meat, and place them in the ziploc bag, cover the meat with the spicy flour.

Heat the butter in the Dutch oven and sear the meat in batches so you get a good sear on the meat, and set aside. Wipe the pot clean with a paper towel. 

Heat the olive oil to the pot, add the tomato paste and cook until tomato paste turns a deeper red, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add  meat, onions, mushrooms, bacon, beef base and water. (Beef stock can be used instead of water and beef base.)  Cook the dish for 2-3 hours on a low simmer. Add creme fraiche and cream, and let simmer for another 30 minutes.

Mash:

Peel and dice the potatoes and celery roots. Put them in a large pot with enough water to cover them. Add about 1 teaspoon salt. Boil them for about 25-30 minutes, until soft. 

Drain celery roots and potatoes well, return them to the pot, and let the remaining water evaporate for a minute or two before returning the vegetables to the pot. Add butter and mash with a potato masher until smooth. Add the milk and season with salt. I whipped the mash to get it more creamy, but that is optional. 

Serve Stroganoff over pasta or over hearty mash.

Enjoy!

Florentines with Vanilla Buttercream

Florentines with Vanilla Buttercream

Dansk udgave

This crispy caramel and nut cookie is a classic in most of Europe. They are really tasty and fairly sweet.

They are really easy to make, and you don’t have to be a baker to make them. The most difficult will be making the buttercream. The cookies will look really fancy, with little to no work. You can use most kind of nuts, and even add some candied cherries if you like.

Makes 9 

Ingredients:

Nuts:

• 50 g sliced almonds

• 50 g chopped hazelnuts

• 25 g pistachios

Caramel:

• 100 g butter, salted

• 100 g sugar

• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

• 2 tablespoons whipping cream

• 1 tablespoon thick syrup

Vanilla buttercream:

• 2 tablespoons pasteurized egg whites

• 100 g confectionary sugar

• 150 g butter, salted and room temperature

• ½ teaspoon vanilla paste

Directions:

Preheat the oven for 350℉ (175℃).

Mix the ingredients for the caramel in a small saucepan. Gently heat the mixture until the butter and sugar are melted. Mix in the nuts, and remove from heat.

Scoop about a teaspoon of the mixture into 2 nonstick muffin pans. 

Bake the cookies for about 10-12 minutes until golden brown. Let the cookies cool for about 10 minutes in the pan. Gently remove the cookies from the pan. I used a knife to get them out. Let the cookies cool completely.

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.

Pipe the buttercream on the bottom of half the cookies, top with the rest of the cookie, bottom side down, pressing lightly to adhere.

Serve with a nice cup of tea or coffee.

Enjoy!

The Danish version:

Florentinere

Ingredienser:

Nødder:

• 50 g mandelflager

• 50 g hasselnøddeflager

• 25 g hakkede rå pistacienødder

Karamel:

• 100 g saltet smør

• 100 g sukker

• 1 spsk hvedemel

• 2 spsk fløde

• 1 spsk mørk sirup

Vanillesmørcreme:

• 2 spsk pasteuriserede æggehvider

• 100 g flormelis

• 150 g smør, saltet og stuetemperatur

• ½ tsk vanille pasta eller kornene fra ¼ vanillestang

Fremgangsmåde:

Opvarm ovnen til 175℃.

Bland alle ingredienserne til karamellen i en lille gryde. Varm blandingen op indtil smør og sukker er smeltet. Bland nødderne i, og tag gryden af varmen.

Kom ca. en teskefuld af blandingen op i slip-let muffinforme, så det lige dækker bunden.

Bag kagerne i 10-12 minutter, indtil de er let gyldne. Køl kagerne af i 5-10 minutter inden de tages ud af formene. Lad kagerne køle helt af på en bagerist.

Smørcreme:

Bland alle ingredienserne i en skål og pisk smørcremen over vandbad, indtil den er let og luftig. Jeg satte skålen ovenpå en gryde med næsten kogende vand, uden at have varme under gryden, og jeg piskede med en en håndmikser.

Sprøjt smørcremen på undersiden af halvdelen af kagerne. Den anden halvdel lægges ovenpå dem med fyld, med bunden nedad.

Server kagerne med en god kop the eller kaffe.

Velbekomme!

Deep Fried Camembert

Deep Fried Camembert

I don't know the story about this dish. It might be French, but nevertheless it is very decadent and rich.

Picnic.

My parents have made deep fried camembert for me and my brother a few times. Oddly enough my brother loved it, even though he hates cheese. Well, he likes warm cheese on pizza, lasagne and in deep fried camembert. He is very weird, if you ask me...

My trip to Tomales Bay brought me to Marin French Cheese, where they made camembert, and to my surprise, they made a petit version, perfect for deep frying. We bought a bunch of small cheeses to bring with us home.

By the end of the day we opted for at small picnic by our hotel, instead of going out for dinner. I had brought some of my homemade bread and it paired perfect with the cheeses. There is nothing better than a quiet picnic with your loved one at sunset.

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

• 2-4 small camembert, with the rind on (I used petit camembert  from Marin French Cheese)
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup breadcrumbs, fresh, panko or regular
• oil, for frying
• 4 slices good bread, toasted
• blackcurrant jam 

Directions:

Put the breadcrumbs in a shallow bowl. Crack the eggs into another shallow bowl and whisk them together.

Dip each camembert into the egg, making sure to get it covered all over. Coat the cheeses with the breadcrumbs. Repeat with the rest of the camembert.

Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed saucepan until hot.

Gently drop two of the cheeses and fry until golden brown, turning once. Place the cheeses onto a piece of kitchen towel to remove excess oil.

Serve immediately on a slice of toasted bread with blackcurrant jam.

Enjoy!