Greek-Style Stuffed Peppers

Greek-Style Stuffed Peppers

These stuffed peppers were really delicious. The peppers were sweet and perfectly roasted, but without getting mushy and bland. The filling was soft and flavorful. I don't like when the filling comes out like a little hard meatball. This gives me flashbacks to bland stuffed cabbage (kåldolmer) dinners in my childhood. The greek flavors is just as vibrant as the colors of the beautiful roasted peppers.

Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

• 100 g orzo
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 450 g (1 pound) ground lamb
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon chopped, fresh mint leaves
• 1 little handful Italian parsley, chopped
• 1 can diced tomato, drained
• 10-12 pitted kalamata olives, chopped
• 3 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese
• salt & pepper to taste
• 4 bell peppers
• olive oil

Directions:

Cook the orzo according to the package, I used the liquid drained from the tomatoes in the cooking water. 

Prehaet the oven to 400℉ (200℃).

Sauté the onions until translucent, add garlic and meat and brown it. Remove from the heat. Mix in spices, herbs, tomato, feta, olives and the cooked orzo, season with salt and pepper.

Cut the tops of the peppers, and remove the seeds. Coat the outside with olive oil, and place them in an ovenproof dish. Fill the peppers and place the top on the peppers as small lids. Bake the peppers for 30-40 minutes until the peppers are tender, but still holding up.

Serve the peppers with a simple greek salad, containing greens, cucumber, red onions, tomatoes, olives and feta.

Enjoy!

Rutebiler - Chocolate Meringues

Rutebiler - Chocolate Meringues

Rutebiler is a very light and airy cookie, kinda like a chocolate meringue, but rutebiler has a rising agent, and in my version you use whole eggs. Rutebiler are small crispy chocolate rectangles, with a hollow center. They will melt in your mouth with a sweet chocolaty taste, making you want another one.

We had rutebiler at birthdays, as light cookies. Well, my mom had a bad experience with meringues and rutebiler at birthday parties. At one of my brothers birthdays the boys had a big food fight with meringues, and I remember my mom cursing a lot while cleaning up the sticky mess from carpet and furniture in the living room. That was the end of meringues at birthday parties in my family. 

Makes about 100. 

Ingredients:

• 750 g confectionary sugar (powder sugar)
• 2 eggs
• 2½ tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1¼ teaspoon Ammonium bicarbonate (baker's ammonia)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350℉ (175℃).

Line baking sheets with baking paper.

Crown cookie press attachment

Sift the dry ingredients together, and mix them in the eggs. The batter will be kinda thick paste, a little on the dry side.  Run the dough through a cookie press or meat grinder with cookie attachment, that looks like a crown. Each cake should be about 5 cm (2-inches) long, place them about 2-inches apart, because the cookies will expand. Bake the cakes in the center of the oven for 6-8 minutes. These cookies are light and airy, with a hollow center.

Keep the cookies in an airtight container.

Enjoy!

Hønsesalat - Chicken Salad

Hønsesalat - Chicken Salad

This chicken salad is an old classic served at most lunch restaurants or smørrebrøds shops. Smørrebrød is the open-faced sandwiches, mostly served on Danish rye bread. Originally you would boil the a whole chicken with onions, carrots and bay leaves. And then use the chilled chicken in the salad, but I had some leftover rotisserie chicken, so why not use this for the salad, and it worked perfectly.

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

Dressing:

• 200 g sour cream
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons madras curry
• salt & pepper

Filling:

• ½ rotisserie chicken, cooled
• 250 g mushrooms, fried and cooled
• 6-8 slices of bacon

Directions:

Mix the dressing and season with salt and pepper to taste. Chop the chicken meat up into smal cubes and mix it in the dressing together with the mushrooms. 

Serve the chicken salad on a slice of Danish rye bread or in a croissant, with a slice of crisp bacon on top. 

Enjoy!

Sommersalat - Summer Salad with Smoked Cheese

Sommersalat - Summer Salad with Smoked Cheese

This salad is summer. My mom made this fresh and crispy salad when the first radishes were big enough to harvest in our vegetable garden. Summer salad is made with a speciality cheese from the island of Funen, a smoked fresh cheese. Summer salad has a mild smoked flavor and is filled with fresh chrispy vegetables. 

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

Dressing:

• 100-150 g rygeost Danish smoked cheese 
• 100 g creme fraiche or sour cream
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
• ½ teaspoon sugar
• salt & pepper to taste

Filling:

• 10-12 medium radishes, quartered and sliced thinly
• ½ english cucumber, quartered and sliced thinly
• a good handful finely chopped chives

Directions:

Mix the dressing, seasoning it with salt, pepper and sugar. I like a mild dressing, with a distinctive smoke flavor. Add all the vegetables and serve the salad on a slice of Danish rye bread. Sprinkle with a little extra chives.

Enjoy!

Rygeost - Danish Smoked Cheese

Rygeost - Danish Smoked Cheese

Rygeost, Danish smoked cheese is a local tradition from the island of Funen or Fyn as it is called in Denmark. Rygeost is a smoked fresh cheese, so it is a soft, and fairly spreadable cheese. You can use the cheese on pizza, in mayonnaise based salads or with seafood. But more traditionally you will eat it as an open-faced sandwich on a slice of rye bread, with sliced radishes and chives on top.

Ingredients:

• 1 quart (1 L) organic whole milk, I used Saint Benoît Organic Whole Jersey Milk
• ¼ cup (1 dl) organic butter milk
• 3 drops rennet, I used Animal Rennet from New England Cheesemaking Supply Co.
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon caraway seeds

Equipment for smoking:

• 1 charcoal starter (chimney)
• 2-3 handfuls dry straw (if you have straws from oat or wheat, you will get the best favor)

Directions:

In a large pot heat whole milk and buttermilk to 26℃/79℉. Pour the mixture into a scalded plastic container, mix in the rennet and put a lid on. Let the mixture stand at room temperature for 21-24 hours.

After 21-24 hours, cut the coagulated milk (cheese curds) with a knife in small cubes, this will help releasing the whey from the curds.

Scoop the cheese curds into a strainer/colander lined with cheesecloth. Let the cheese drain for 2 hours before adding the salt. Let the cheese drain for another 5-7 hours. The fresh cheese will hold for 3-4 days in the refrigerator without adding anything else. The whey (liquid) can be used for baking bread.

Smoking:

Place the cheese in a strainer or on some kind of grate. Place the grate on top of a charcoal starter (chimney) filled with dry straws/hay. Light the hay from the bottom of the starter, and smoke the cheese for just about 60 seconds. The cheese is quickly flashed with the hay smoke to produce the unique flavor. Place the cheese upside-down on a plate with the smoke-lines up. Sprinkle with caraway seeds.

Serve the smoked cheese on a slice of Danish rye bread with sliced radishes and chives.

Enjoy!