Sweet • Sour • Savory

Food blog on scandinavian style food done right.

Dinner

Vegetable Bearnaise

condiments, Sauce, Dinner, Sides, VegetablesTove Balle-PedersenComment
Vegetable Bearnaise.JPG

 

When you talk sauce, I'm a true Dane. I love sauce, and lots of it. But if you go the classic French sauce way, you have to use large amount of butter or other fats. I learned to perfect the traditional sauce bearnaise made in a blender or made sous vide. And even though they taste delicious, and a little goes a long way, it would be nice to have a sauce bearnaise where you can indulge in the tasty sauce, without eating a whole stick of butter with your steak. Vegetable bearnaise is the answer. With only 6 tablespoons of butter in a big bowl of sauce, that serves 6-8 sauce lovers, this is definitely on the healthier side, compared with the original bearnaise.

You can add pretty much any vegetables you like, just bear in mind that more carrots will give you a sweeter bearnaise. and generally the color of the vegetables will influence the color of the sauce. 

If you like a spicier bearnaise add a dash of cayenne or chilies to the mix. And for a garlic bearnaise add 1 cloves of garlic the last 5 minutes of the simmering. 

Serves 6-8.

Ingredients:

Reduction:

  • 1 bunch fresh tarragon, save some leaves for finishing the sauce

  • 4 small or 2 medium shallots, minced

  • ½ cup (1 dl) white wine vinegar

  • ½ cup (1 dl) dry white wine

  • 6 whole black peppers (for the reduction)

Vegetable base:

  • 1 medium carrot, peeled and roughly chopped

  • ½ medium onion, peeled and roughly chopped

  • 2-3 celery stalks, peeled and roughly chopped

  • ½ medium cauliflower, in florets

  • ½ cube chicken bouillon

  • ½ teaspoon salt

  • 1 cup (240 ml) water

  • 2 sprigs of fresh tarragon

Finishing touches:

  • 6 tablespoons butter, salted and cold

  • 2-4 tablespoons reduction, to taste

  • 3 sprigs fresh tarragon, leaves only, coarsely chopped

  • salt, to taste

Directions:

Reduction:

In a small saucepan, combine sprigs of the tarragon, shallots, vinegar pepper and wine over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer and cook until reduced by half. Remove from heat, strain the liquid and set it aside to cool. You can make larger amounts and freeze it in smaller portions in an ice cube tray.

Vegetable base:

Place the ingredients for the vegetable base in a saucepan, and bring it to a boil, turn down the heat and let the vegetable simmer covered for about 20-30 minutes until all the vegetables are tender. 

Put vegetable base, butter and reduction into a blender*. Season the sauce with salt and more reduction. Mix in the tarragon just before serving.

Enjoy!

*Be careful when blending hot liquids, it can make the lid pop off, and you may risk getting serious burns on you skin. You can remove the small cap on you blender lid and cover the lid with a clean kitchen towel. You need to hold on to the lid and towel. This will let the steam from the hot soup escape and avoid the lid from popping off. You can also get blenders like the Vitamix, where you can blend hot liquids, without any hassle.

Focaccia - Take 2

Bread, Brunch, DinnerTove Balle-PedersenComment
Focaccia

Focaccia

It is no secret that bread is my kryptonite. Well, it's bread, cheese, coffee and red wine. But bread is a magic thing. It is magical that you can get so much flavor from a mixture of water, flour, yeast and salt. The fermentation makes all the difference. 

Last time I made a focaccia I opted for a more complex dough. It felt more greasy. This time I used the classic No-Knead Bread recipe, transforming it into a focaccia, and it turned out perfect.

Makes 1 bread.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 400 ml water finger-warm

  • 5-10 g live yeast (or little under 1 teaspoon dry yeast)

  • 500 g all-purpose flour or a high protein flour.

  • 2 teaspoons sea salt

Toppings:

  • sea salt

  • olive oil

  • rosemary like spices (or jalapeño)

  • cherry tomatoes

DIRECTIONS:

Dissolve the yeast in the water. Add a teaspoon sugar if you are using dry yeast, and wait until it starts to foam. Mix in most of the flour, befor adding the salt. Mix the rest of the flour in, mixing it until you are sure you have no lumps of dry flour. You do not have to knead this very sticky dough. 

Let the dough ferment covered on the countertop for 8-12 hours. The longer you ferment it, the more flavor you get. 

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Gently scrape the dough out onto a well-floured surface. The dough will be very soft. With a spatula or bench scraper fold the 4 "sides" of the dough unto it self 3 times, to stretch the gluten and to build up the surface tension on the dough. Place the dough on a large parchment paper lined baking pan. Gently pat the top of the dough with a little olive oil, to prevent the dough from drying out. Let the bread rise for 60-90 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 425℉ (220℃). 

Pour some good olive oil on top of the dough and gently poke your fingers into the dough, making holes for the filling to rest in. This will spread the loaf out making it more flat and ready to receive the filling. Sprinkle rosemary and more oil over the loaf and press it into the holes. Gently press the tomatoes into the dough.  Sprinkle with a little more oil and a good amount of salt.

 Let the focaccia rise for another 30 minutes before baking it for 20-25 minutes at 440℉ (220℃). I baked mine on a baking stone, but still on the parchment paper for easier handling.

Let the bread cool in the pan before serving. 

Enjoy!

Chili Con Carne a la me

Beef, Dinner, Simmer FoodTove Balle-PedersenComment
Chili Con Carne a la me.

Chili Con Carne a la me.

This chili con carne is my version of a chili. You will find more original recipes out there. But this is the way I like it. Years ago I started out with the recipe my mom used, not spicy at all. Through the years my version became more spicy, more smokey and got more colors and beans. And one thing is for sure, we never had any toppings on my moms chili.

Serves 8-10.

Ingredients:

  • 2 pounds ground beef 
  • 2 onions, chopped
  • olive oil
  • 5 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 can tomato paste
  • 4 cans (15 oz) diced tomatoes
  • 1 can chipotle in adobo sauce, chop the chipotles, use less if you do not like it spicy
  • 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, I use Valrhona 
  • 4-6 bell peppers, bite-sized diced
  • 6 cans beans, rinsed, I used black beans white beans, and red kidney beans
  • salt & pepper

Toppings:

  • sour cream
  • jalapeno, sliced
  • scallions, sliced
  • cheddar cheese
  • cilantro

Directions:

Heat olive oil in a large pot. I use my large slow cooker, where the insert goes on the stovetop.  Sauté the onions until they are golden brown. Take the onions out and into a little bowl. 

Add a little more oil to the pot and brown the ground beef, crumbling the meat with a wooden spoon. Try not to stir it to much, the more you move the meat around, the more you cool down the pan. And you want the meat to get some searing and color. When the meat is browned, add the tomato paste, letting it get some heat, to get a sweeter and deeper tomato flavor. Then add the garlic, onions, diced tomatoes, cocoa and the chipotle with the sauce. Season with salt and pepper. 
Here you can add more spices like paprika, cayenne, cumin or chili powder. Before I fell in love with chipotle, I used fresh jalapeños and some smoked paprika in my chilies.
Let the chili cook covered at a low simmer for 2-4 hours, stirring occasionally. I set my slow cooker to 8 hours on low.  

After 2-4 hours, (6 hours in slow cooker), add the bell peppers and after another 30 minutes add the rinsed beans, and let it simmer for yet another 30 minutes, before it is ready for the final seasoning and serving. 

Serve the chili with toppings to your likings and a few slices of good baguette.

Enjoy!
 

Oven Roasted Chicken with Chickpeas

Dinner, Meats, PoultryTove Balle-PedersenComment
Oven Roasted Chicken with Chickpeas.

Oven Roasted Chicken with Chickpeas.

I love a one-pot dinner or in this case one-bakingpan dinner, well if you serve it with steamed rice, you need to make those too. The yogurt helps making the chicken juicy and making the skin nice and crispy. I did not add the chili or the jalapeño, but I think this dish need a spicier note.

This recipe is kinda like an Indian-style chicken dish, without the spiciness. If you like spicy food add some chili powder og a sliced fresh chili to the chickpea mixture. The recipe is a adapted from a New York Times recipe.

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

  • 8-10 chicken thighs, bone-in and skin-on

Marinade:

  • ¾ cup (1¾ dl) greek yogurt
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 2 teaspoon salt 
  • ½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper

Chickpeas and cauliflower:

  • 1 cauliflower, in florets
  • ½ red onion, sliced
  • 2 cans of chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
  • 2 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric 
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • ½ teaspoon chili powder - optional
  • 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
  • salt & pepper

Lemony onions:

  • ½ red onion, sliced
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • salt 

Yoghurt sauce:

  • ¾ cup (1¾ dl) greek yogurt
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • ½ jalapeno, grated - only if you like spicy food
  • fresh mint, chopped
  • fresh coriander, chopped
  • salt to taste

Sprinkle with:

  • fresh mint, chopped
  • fresh coriander, chopped

Directions:

In a ziplock bag mix the marinade and add chicken making sure to coat it evenly. Let the chicken marinate overnight in the refrigerator or at least 30 minutes at room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 400 ℉ (200℃).

Scrape the excess marinade off the chicken, and place the chicken parts on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake the chicken for 15 minutes. Next time I might just roast the chicken for 10 minutes before adding the chickpeas, to make it a little crisper.

Mix olive oil, chickpeas, cauliflower florets, fennel seed, cumin, turmeric, chili, half the red onion slices, salt and pepper. Making sure to get the oil and seasoning all over the chick peas and cauliflower. Place chickpeas and cauliflower florets round the chicken on the baking sheet. Bake for another 25-35 minutes until the chicken is crisp and tender, tossing the chickpeas mixture occasionally. 

Meanwhile mix the ingredients for the lemony onions, and set aside. Make the yogurt sauce and refrigerate. 

When the chicken is ready, sprinkle the lemony onions, mint and cilantro. Serve with steamed rice and Yogurt sauce. 

Enjoy!

Béarnaise Sauce - Sous Vide

Dinner, Sauce, sous videTove Balle-Pedersen3 Comments
Béarnaise Sauce - Sous Vide

Béarnaise Sauce - Sous Vide

Bearnaise is one of the most famous sauces ever. And basically it is just butter, butter and a little egg yolk and acidity. But it's mostly butter. Normally bearnaise made from scratch is kinda nerve wracking. You want a warm sauce, but you do not want it to separate, which it has a tendency to do. Another thing, you want to be able to serve the sauce along side your perfectly cooked and still hot steak. So it tends to always be a stressful endeavor to get everything ready at once. This recipe, will help you tremendously. By sous vide'ing the sauce components, you can cook up your steak and sides, at the same time. So just before you slice and serve the steak, you quickly blend the sauce and season it, and everything will hit the dinner table at once. 

Disclaimer: This sauce is made with raw eggs. I recommend using pasteurized eggs. This would minimize the risk of getting Salmonella food poisoning. You can find pasteurized eggs in some supermarkets here in California, on safeeggs.com you can see where to find them in your neighborhood.  In Denmark you'll find it right next to regular eggs. For tips and information on how to handle eggs, check out FDA’s website. The Danish version of FDA,  Fødevarestyrelsen also has advisory on eggs. 

Serves 6-8 normal people or 4 Danes 😉.

Ingredients:

Reduction:

  • 1 bunch fresh tarragon, save some leaves for finishing the sauce

  • 4 small or 2 medium shallots, minced

  • ½ cup (1 dl) white wine vinegar

  • ½ cup (1 dl) dry white wine

  • 6 whole black peppers (for the reduction)

Sauce:

  • 3 egg yolks

  • 300 g butter

  • 3-4 tablespoons reduction

  • Salt and pepper to taste

  • tarragon leaves, finely chopped

Directions:

Reduction:

In a small saucepan, combine sprigs of the tarragon, shallots, vinegar pepper and wine over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer and cook until reduced by half. Remove from heat, strain the liquid and set it aside to cool. You can make larger amounts and freeze it in smaller portions in an ice cube tray.

Sauce:

Preheat water bath for 131℉ (55℃). (You can go as high as 140℉ (60℃) if you want to, keeping in mind not to exceed 149℉ (65℃) where the eggs coagulate.

Place reduction, butter and egg yolks in a heat resistant plastic bag, do not seal.
Place the bag in the water bath for 30 minutes.
Pour the heated mixture into a blender, and blend until you have a thick sauce. I use a immersion blender. Season with salt, pepper and tarragon, and serve immediately.

Enjoy!