Sweet • Sour • Savory

Food blog on scandinavian style food done right.

Breakfast

Lobster Benedict- Sous Vide

Breakfast, Brunch, Fish & seafoodTove Balle-PedersenComment
Lobster Benedict- Sous Vide

Lobster Benedict- Sous Vide

Lobsters are a creature with a delicate taste and texture. So by poaching it in butter, you get the purest and cleanest lobster taste ever. Making it Sous Vide you are getting the perfect texture to your liking. The temperature is controlling the texture. Well time is too, but by poaching the lobster for 45-60 minutes, temperature is the controlling factor. 

Different cooks choose different poaching temperature. Thomas Keller calls for 139℉ (59℃) and Modernist Cuisine calls for 115℉ (46℃).

Serious Eats tested different temperature, and this were their finings:

Temperature - texture

120℉ (49℃) - Soft and translucent

130℉ (54℃) - Tender and succulent

140℉ (69℃) - Firm

I decided to go with 135℉ (57℃) and the result was fantastic, I got a tender and somewhat firm juicy lobster. This one is a winner.

Serves 2.

Ingredients:

Butter poached lobster tail:

  • 4 lobster tails, shells removed and deveined

  • 113 g salted butter (1 stick butter)

  • sprinkle of salt

Benedict:

Hollandaise in blender:

  • 250 g salted butter, clarified

  • 4 egg yolks

  • ¼ teaspoon salt

  • ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper

  • ½ lemon, the juice from

  • 1 pinch cayenne

Directions:

Butter poached lobster tail:

Set you sous vide to 135℉ (57℃).
Place the lobster tails and butter in a vacuum sealer bag, sealing with the moist setting. Place the bag in the water bath, making sure that the lobster is fully submerged. Set timer for 50 minutes.
Remove lobster tails from the bag, discarding the liquid, when it is time to serve your benedict.

Hollandaise:

Melt the butter in a sauce pan over very low heat.  Let simmer gently until the foam rises to the top of the melted butter. Once the butter stops spluttering, and no more foam seems to be rising to the surface, remove from heat and skim off the foam with a spoon. The foam is the milk solids from the butter. Ladle the butterfat into another saucepan leaving the water and residue behind. You can also pour the butterfat through some cheesecloth. Keep the butterfat warm.
The clarified butter should be about 172℉ (77℃).

Add the rest of the ingredients, except cayenne, in a blender. Blend until foaming. With the blender running add ⅓ of the butter in a slow steady stream, yes it will splatter. Once it emulsifies, turn the blender speed up to high and add the remaining butter. Season with salt and pepper and blend for another second. Sprinkle the cayenne on top when serving.

* Instead of regular hollandaise sauce, you can use the more healthier avocado hollandaise 

Benedict:

Toast the bread, place a handfull arugula on it, placing a lobster tail and a poached egg on top. Ladle a spoonful warm hollandaise over, sprinkling with some cayenne.

Serve immediately. 

Enjoy!

 

Sifted Rye Bread - Sigtebrød

Bread, Breakfast, BrunchTove Balle-PedersenComment
Sifted Rye Bread - Sigtebrød.

Sifted Rye Bread - Sigtebrød.

This is a very old type of Danish bread. When I worked at a Bakery in Denmark, we only sold a few, if non, sifted rye breads a day. And the customer would most likely be an old person. I think younger people wanted the fancy seeded breads. But quite frankly the sifted rye bread is very tasty. The crumb is a little more compact, without being dense. The recipe calls for "sigtemel" which is a sifted flour made from 30% rye and 70% wheat.

Makes 2 breads.

Ingredients:

  • 50 g live yeast (4 teaspoons dry yeast)
  • 400 ml tempered water
  • 3 tablespoons honey
  • 300 ml (1¼ cup) buttermilk
  • 300 g all-purpose flour
  • 700 g sigtemel (210 g dark rye flour + 490 g all-purpose flour)
  • ½ teaspoon ground caraway seeds
  • 5 teaspoons salt

Directions:

Dissolve the yeast in the water. If you use dry yeast add a few pinches of sugar. 

Add buttermilk, flours, ground caraway seeds, salt and honey, and knead the dough for 5-8 minutes to build up the gluten. Let the dough rise for about 60 minutes in a warm spot.

Knead the dough for a few minutes, and divide the dough in two.

Use the heels of your hands to gently flatten the dough into a rough rectangle. Fold the bottom third up, like a letter fold. Fold the bottom third of the dough over on itself. Press the folds with the heels of your hands, to seal. Fold the dough once more, building up the surface tension. This will help the loaf rise evenly and keep its shape. 

Place the loaf in a greased pan with the seam facing down. Repeat with the second loaf. I have a large pan that will hold both loafs, letting them “grow” together.

Preheat oven to 400℉ (200℃).

Let the loaf rise for another 40 minutes. Poke the top with a fork, and brush it with some milk. Bake loaf for 30-40 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy!

 

Cloud Eggs

Breakfast, BrunchTove Balle-PedersenComment
Cloud Egg

Cloud Egg

Cloud eggs is the new kale/black or whatever the new trend is. So I had to try it. Normally I'm not a big fa of baked eggs. The rubbery texture of baked eggs do not agree with me. So the fluffiness of the cloud eggs could be the solution for a baked egg in my world. Plus adding cheese and ham to the egg, makes it a home run in my book.

Makes 4

Ingredients:

  • 4 eggs, divided in yolks and whites
  • ½ cup (1 dl) grated parmesan
  • 4 thinly slices of ham, diced
  • chives
  • salt & pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450℉ (230℃) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

When I divide the eggs, I place each yolk in its own little prep bowl, making it easier to place the yolks on their own little cloud.

Whip the egg whites until stiff peaks. Gently fold in cheese, ham, and season with a little bit salt and pepper. 

Place the 4 mounds of the egg whites, making the mounds so they look like little nests (clouds), with an indentation in the center.

Bake for 3 minutes, and remove from oven. 

Carefully place a yolk in each cloud, sprinkle with a little pepper. Bake for another 3 minutes, until the yolks are just about to set.

Serve immediately with a sprinkle of chives on top.

Enjoy!

 

Homemade Sandwich Bread

Bread, Breakfast, BrunchTove Balle-PedersenComment
Homemade Sandwich Bread

Homemade Sandwich Bread

I have missed a great sandwich bread. One with seeds, and some bite to it. Most sandwich bread in stores around here are plain white bread, not worth the calories. 
With all my baking experience, I should have taken the regular bread I bake, into a loaf pan. But apparently I needed another Dane to make this connection for me. Thank you very much Charlotte.

Makes 1 loaf.

Ingredients:

  • 500 ml lukewarm water

  • 5 g yeast (1 teaspoon dry yeast)

  • 50 g flaxseeds

  • 50 g rolled oats

  • 70 g sunflower seeds

  • 3 teaspoons salt

  • 100 g whole wheat flour

  • 425 g all-purpose flour

Directions:

Dissolve the yeast in the water. Mix in the rest of the ingredients, the dough should be on the wetter side. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise for 4-6 hours. Pour the dough onto a lightly floured surface and fold the dough into it self and shape a loaf. Place the loaf in a greased dish, sprinkle with flour and let it raise covered for another 90 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 500℉ (250℃), with your loaf pan inside.

Gently pour the dough into the hot loaf pan, put a lid (made of foil) on the pan, and bake the loaf covered for about 30 minutes. Remove the lid, and bake the bread for another 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

Let the loaf cool on a wire rack before slicing.

Enjoy!

Crispy Baguettes

Bread, Breakfast, Brunch, DinnerTove Balle-PedersenComment

 

Normally I buy baguettes if I need them. But why not bake them myself? When I have a passion for bread baking, I need a good baguette recipe. And here it is. Not a classic white baguette, but with a little addition of whole wheat and rye for extra flavor. It turnt out to be fantastic. 

Getting the perfect crust on bread is a science. But I think I cracked the code. Steam we need steam, and folding the baguettes and you will get the perfect perfect oven spring and crust.

Makes 3.

Ingredients:

  • 30 g live yeast (3 teaspoons dry yeast)
  • 420 ml water, lukewarm 
  • 1¼ teaspoon salt
  • 50 g whole wheat flour
  • 50 g dark rye flour
  • 450 g all-purpose flour

Directions:

Dissolve the yeast in the water. Add flours and salt, and knead the dough for about 8 minutes. 

Let the dough rise covered in room temperature for about 1½ hours.

Divide the dough into 3. Fold the dough into it self and shape it to a ball, building up the surface tension. Place the ball smooth surface down on a flour dusted surface. Let the dough rest covered for 10-15 minutes.

Fold it a third over and seal the edge with a light press with the lower palm. Flatten again. Fold the other edge over and seal again.

Repeat this. Turn the seal downwards. Gently roll the baguette from the center and out. Tempering the ends a bit. 

Place baguette on a parchment paper lined baking sheet or on a baguette baking sheet.

Let the baguette rise for another 20 minutes. 

Preheat the oven to 450℉ (230 ℃). Place a old baking sheet on the lower rack in the oven.

Make 3 diagonal slashes in each baguette with a wafer or a sharp knife.

Bake the baguettes in the middle of the oven.

Splash about ¼ cup of water in old baking sheet, and close the oven quickly. You need the steam to get the best oven spring and crust. 

Bake the baguettes for about 15-18 minutes, until golden.

Let the baguettes cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy!