Pickled Cucumbers

Pickled Cucumbers

My parents grew their own vegetable in their large vegetable garden, and of course my mom made sure to preserve the large amount of produce by pickling and freezing. We all loved my moms pickled cucumbers, with our dinner or on the open faced sandwiches. Especially on liverpate. So when I found crown dill and pickling cucumbers at my local grocery store, I had to try my moms old recipe. I have a hard time learning that the pickled cucumbers in my world are called pickles here in the States, but eventually I might learn to accept it. 😉

5-8 jars.

Ingredients:

Brine:

• 200 g salt

• 2 liters (68 oz) water

Pickling:

• 1500 g pickling cucumbers

• 1250 ml vinegar

• 780 g sugar

• 13-15 slices fresh horseradish

• 5 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds

• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds

• 2 teaspoon black peppercorns

• 8 crown dill (1-2 in each jar)

• 6-8 dried red chilies

Direction:

Combine the salt and water in a pitcher and stir until the salt has dissolved. Rinse the cucumbers thoroughly and snip off the blossom end stem. Prick cucumbers with a table fork. Set aside. Pour the salt water over the cucumbers. Place a plate on top to keep the cucumbers submerged. Let stand 12 hours in the refrigerator. Drain the cucumber and place them in scolded* jars. Add horseradish, dill and the spices to the jars.

I sliced 4 of the cucumbers in thick slices for some more spicy pickles. I placed the slices in 2 smaller jars with 1 fatalii chili in one and 1 habanero chili in the other. HOT HOT HOT  🌶 🌶 🌶  

Boil the vinegar with the sugar, and pour it in the jars, making sure to cover the cucumbers completely. Place the lid on the jars, not tightening them completely.

After 2 days, drain out the vinegar and let it come to a boil, maybe adding more vinegar and sugar. Pour the vinegar over the cucumbers again, adding new horseradish and/or sodium benzoate. Seal the jars tight. Do not boil the horseradish.

*You need to clean the jars and sterilize them by soaking them in boiling water. Same goes for the lids. Submerge the lid for a few minutes in a bowl of boiling water. Rinse jars and lids with alcohol like strong vodka or cognac. 

These will keep for a few months at room temperature, but you can keep them in the refrigerator  too. In my house they won't last long.

Vegetable Bearnaise

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.

Grilled Portobello Mushrooms

Grilled Portobello Mushrooms

I love almost all thing mushroom, and grilled portobello mushrooms is right up my alley. It's a quick side for a backyard BBQ. Adding the parmesan make a perfect flavor combination.

The sesame seeds on the photo, is an accidental 'cross contamination' from the chicken on the grill.

Ingredients:

• 2 portobello mushrooms
• ½ cup (1 dl) freshly grated parmesan
• about ¼ stick (ca 30 g) butter, salted and soft
• a splash of olive oil, for brushing the top of the mushrooms 
• A sprinkle of chopped parsley

Directions:

Preheat the grill.

Clean the portobello mushrooms with a damp paper towel and remove the stems. Brush the caps with olive oil and set aside gills side up.

Mix butter and parmesan, and divide it evenly over the mushroom caps. Grill over hot grill for about 10 minutes. You want the mushrooms to be soft, but not mushy.  Let the mushrooms rest for a few minutes, to soak up the butter.

Enjoy!

Pickled Red Onions

Pickled Red Onions

These pickled onions are so good on a hotdog or a burger. Skip the raw onions and give these a try, you will not regret it. 

Danes like pickled things. My parents had a large vegetable garden, so my mom pickled a lot of the vegetables. I think most cultures pickle their different crops and even fish and meats to preserve them, for times with less abundance of fresh produce. Nowadays we do not have to preserve our produce, because of the global trading. You will always be able top get fresh strawberries, even in January. In my point of view this makes them less special, and you do not appreciate them as much, when you don't have to wait for the seasons.  From an economical and environmental standpoint, eating local produce when they are in season makes more sense. In a perfect world I would do that, and in my imperfect world I strive to do that.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium red onions

• 1 cup (240 ml) vinegar, I prefer a white vinegar

• 1 cup (200 g) sugar

• 10-15 peppercorn (I used red)

• 2 dried chilies

Directions:

Scald a glass jar and lid with boiling water, set aside. 

Thinly slice the red onions. Place the sliced onions in the glass jar.

Bring the vinegar to a boil, and dissolve the sugar in it. Add the spices and let it come to a boil again. Pour the hot vinegar over the onions until they are covered. Put the lid on, and let the onions cool down, 
Serve the onions on hotdogs, burgers or as a tangy side to your dinner.

Enjoy!

Almond Date Bites

December 7th.
Wow time flies when you are a bit under the weather. Somehow a whole week passed me by, and I didn't post anything at all. Sorry to leave you hanging. This is not good, when I promised you 12 Days of Christmas. Well, I can still make it, if I pull myself together. 

These Almond Date bites is a healthier take on the classic havregrynskugler/Oat "truffles", I made as an easy Christmas treat growing up.

Makes about 20-22.

Ingredients:

• 50 g raw almonds
• 200 g pitted dates
• 25 g rolled oats
• 2½ teaspoon cocoa powder (I use Valrhona)
• 1-2 tablespoons cold coffee
• imitation rum (optional)

Coating:

• about 100 g dark chocolate (I use Valrhona)
• 35-40 g shredded unsweetened coconut

Directions:

Pulse almonds in a food processor until you have a coarse flour. Add the dates and blend until fully combined. Add the rest of the ingredients, and mix until it forms a sticky ball. 

Scoop out portions of the mixture using a small ice cream scooper. This will help you get an uniform size on the bites. Roll the bites into balls. Refrigerate for a couple hours, cover the balls with a thin layer of tempered dark chocolate and roll them in shredded coconut.

Enjoy!