Millionbøf - Million Beef

Millionbøf - Million Beef

Millionbøf can be translated to a million steaks or beef. But its roughly a danish bolognese, without the tomatoes and only seasoned with salt and pepper. Generally oldschool Danish food is kinda bland. We didn't use many spices or herbs. Danes are basically meat and potatoes people. Well a bit more potatoes than meat, because the potatoes were inexpensive. Nowadays the Danes eat a lot of meat. But like everyone else that is changing again. The food trends in Denmark are to eat more local produce and less meats.

Millionbøf had a lot of names. Tusindbøf (thousand beef) and væltet lokum (tipped toilet 😳) is coming to mind. But it’s actually quite tasty in contrast to the nasty name. Growing up we had millionbøf regularly, it’s an easy weeknight dinner. Normally we would get it with mashed potatoes and pickled beets. But it’s not uncommon to serve it with pasta and pickled cucumber or Danish cucumber salad. This time I added some brussel sprouts to my boiling potatoes the last 5-10 minutes. I chopped them and added them to the mashed potatoes, giving it some texture.

Serves 4-6.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon butter

• 400 g ground beef (about 1 pound)

• 2 yellow onions, chopped

• 3 bay leaves

• 400 ml beef stock

• salt & pepper to taste

• kulør (gravy browning)

For thickening:

• 100 ml water (mix with the flour, to thicken the sauce)

• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• a pinch of salt

Directions:

Saute the onions in the golden brown butter. When they start taking color, add the ground beef, and brown it well. This is an important process to create flavor. Add beef stock, bay leaves and pepper. Let it simmer for about 20-30 minutes with the lid on. Stir occasional. Mix the water and flour and add some of it in the million beef while whisking, add more until you have the desired consistency; not to runny and not too thick. Season the million beef with salt and pepper, and add the gravy browning.

Serve the million beef with masshed potatoes and pickled beets.

Enjoy!

Oven Roasted Chicken with Lemon

Oven Roasted Chicken with Lemon 

Roasted chicken is a comfort food in my house. Making it as a one-pot-dinner only makes it better in my opinion. This is a more rustic version, but very very yummy. 

Serves 4-6.

Ingredients:

• 1 chicken about 5 pounds (2-2½ kg) 
• 1 lemon (I used a large Meyer Lemon from my tree)
• 4 garlic cloves, 
• 2 teaspoons coarse sea salt
• 5-6 fresh thyme sprigs
• 10-14 medium Yukon gold potatoes
• about 2-4 tablespoons olive oil 

Directions:

Make sure to take the chicken out of the refrigerator at least an hour before starting to roast it. This will ensure a more even cooking.

Preheat the oven to 350℉ (180℃).

Rub the chicken with some olive oil, and season it inside and out with salt. Cut the lemon into wedges. Place the chicken in a large roasting pan, and stuff the cavity with lemon and garlic. 

Rinse the potatoes, and cut them in half lengthwise. Dress the potatoes with olive oil, and season with salt. Place the potatoes cut side down around the chicken.

Roast the chicken for 75 minutes. Then raise the temperature to 425℉ (220℃), and continue roasting the chicken for another 30 minutes, until the thickest part of the chicken reaches 175℉ (80℃).

Serve the chicken with the roasted potatoes and a drizzle og the chicken/lemon juices from the roast.

Enjoy!

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!

Danish Breaded Pork Patties - Karbonader

Danish Breaded Pork Patties - Karbonader

This dish is a walk down memory lane, an old school danish dish. In Denmark you would call this type of food Mormor mad (grandmother food). And for sure this is the type of food from yesteryear, but sometimes this kind of comfort food is soothing. A lot of traditional Danish dishes are only seasoned with salt and pepper, making the ingredients take center stage. Some might call it bland, and for sure it can be bland. This I would call filled with subtle flavors. A juicy pork patty with a nice crispy crust, here served with fingerling potatoes, cauliflower and another classic: peas and carrots in a white sauce.

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

Patties:

• 1 pound (450 g) ground pork
• ¼ pound (120 g) ground veal
• 1 egg
• bread crumbs
• salt & pepper

White sauce with peas and carrots:

• 25 g butter
• 2½ tablespoons of all-purpose flour
• 300 ml milk
• 100-200 ml water from the peas and carrots
• ⅛ teaspoon sugar
• salt
• 600 g peas and diced carrots (I used frozen peas and carrots)

Directions:

Patties:

Start by dividing the meat into 4, shaping them into circular thick patties.
Beat an egg in a shallow bowl. In another shallow bowl pour in the breadcrumbs, seasoning it with salt and pepper.
Dip the pork patties in the egg mixture, making sure to cover the entire patty in egg. Then roll the patty in the breadcrumbs, again making sure to cover the whole patty. Repeat with the last 3.

Heat a mixture of oil and butter on a frying pan. Fry the patties for about 5-8 minutes over medium heat until they are well done, flipping them carefully from time to time.. 

White sauce with peas and carrots:

Cook the peas and carrots for about 10 minutes, in light salted water. Reserve some of the water for the sauce. 

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the flour, mix with a whisk and warm through, making sure not to get any color on the mixture.

Add some vegetable water while whisking vigorously making a thick paste without any lumps. Add more water and milk until you have the desired consistency, you want it to be a bit on the thick side. Let the sauce boil a few minutes to get rid of the flour taste. Season the sauce with sugar and salt. Stir in the cooked peas and carrots.

Serve the Karbonader with boiled potato, boiled cauliflower and a whiter sauve with peas and carrots.

Enjoy!

Spicy Thai Inspired Barley Salad

Spicy Thai Inspired Barley Salad

What's for dinner tonight? The daily pressure to come up with a tasty, healthy option. Even though I have a Food Blog, I DO get surprised, that we need to have dinner every night. And I do tend to grab to the 5-8 easiest and well-known dishes or even take-out. I know choking, right?

One of my Facebook friends posted a Thai Pork salad from NY Times, and this inspired me to create this dish. And WOW - we loved it. The different texture and flavors worked perfectly. This one is a keeper in my house.
If you're not big on spicy food, just add a small amount of chili, so you only tickle your tastebuds.

Ingredients:

• 1 pork tenderloin

Marinade/dressing:

• 2 serrano chilies

• handfull cilantro + stems

• 5 scallions

• 3 limes, zest & juice

• 6 garlic cloves

• 2-inch fresh ginger

• 4-5 tablespoons brown sugar

• 2 tablespoons fish sauce

• 5 tablespoons soy sauce

• 5 tablespoons grape seed oil

• ½ teaspoon salt

Salad:

• ½ green cabbage, thinly sliced

• 5 scallions, chopped

• 1 serrano chili, julienned

• 3 carrots, in thin peels

• 1-2 cups pearl barley grain, cooked and cooled

• 1 handful cilantro, chopped

• 10 mint leaves, chopped

• a small handful roasted peanuts

Directions

Trim off the silver skin from the tenderloin and pat the trimmed tenderloin dry with paper towel. In a blender combine soy sauce, fish sauce, lime juice and zest, shallots, cilantro, half the sugar, garlic, ginger, chiles and salt. Purée until smooth. Save half of the mixture for the dressing, add the rest of the sugar to the dressing, and set aside. Marinate the pork in the rest of the mixture in an airtight container over night.  

Preheat the oven to 320 ℉ (160℃).

Sear the pork in a ovenproof skillet, and roast it in the oven until meat reaches an internal temperature of 150℉ (65℃), about 20-25 minutes. Let meat rest while you prepare the salad. 

In a large bowl, combine the salad ingredients, reserving the herbs and nuts.

Whisk the dressing and use just enough to dress the salad.  Let the salad sit for a few minutes for the flavors to blend, then right before serving, add herbs, nuts and maybe some more dressing.

Serve the salad with the sliced pork on top, sprinkle with some more nuts.

Enjoy!