Chicken with Rhubarb

Chicken with Rhubarb

You know it is spring when you can get fresh Rhubarb. The sweet and sour vegetable, (it's a vegetable, not a fruit, even though you use it like a fruit), is good in cakes, in jams but also in ´food. 

As a child we had the rhubarb picked straight from the plant, washed and dipped in some sugar to snack on. If you discount the sugar, rhubarb is a healthy snack. 

This chicken dish is sweet and sour, and the creamy sauce make this really good with pasta.

Serves 4.

Ingredient:

• 6 chicken thighs ( I use boneless skinless thigh filets)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon olive oil or butter
• ¾ cup (180 ml) whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon chicken base
• 2 tablespoons honey
• ½ teaspoon chili paste
• ¼ cup chives, chopped
• 300 g rhubarb, sliced

Directions:

Check the chicken thighs and remove any excess fat. Heat the olive oil and sear the chicken on both sides for about a minute. Place the chicken in an ovenproof dish.

In a bowl mix cream, honey, chicken base and chili paste. Sprinkle rhubarb and chives over the chicken and pour the cream mixture over it.

Roast the chicken in the oven for about 10-15 minutes. Serve the dish with rice or fettuccine pasta. I normally serve this dish on a bed of baby spinach. 

Source Arla.dk

Limoncello/Liquorice Tiramisu

Limoncello/Liquorice Tiramisu

I have a love for al thing liquorice, and adding lemons into the mix, makes everything so much better. This spin on the traditional tiramisu is almost better than the original, well they are tie for first place. The limoncello makes the dessert seem light and fluffy and not as heavy as the original. If you don’t care for licorice, just leave it out, the limoncello tiramisu can easily stand on its own.

Ingredients:

Syrup:

• ½ cup (120 ml) limoncello liqueur

• ½ cup (120 ml) water

• ¼ cup (50 g) sugar

• ½ cup (120 ml) lemon juice

Mascarpone cream:

• 4 egg whites (pasteurized)

• 4 egg yolks (pasteurized)

• 150 g confectionary sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste

• 500 g mascarpone

• 1 lemon, zest of

Other:

• 1 tablespoon fine liquorice powder (from Lakrids by Bülow)

• about 40 ladyfingers, Savoiardi

• 1 teaspoon raw liquorice powder (from Lakrids by Bülow)

Directions:

Syrup:

In a small pan heat the limoncello, water, sugar and lemon juice almost until the sugar has completely dissolved. Set the syrup aside to cool down to room temperature.

Mascarpone cream:

Beat the egg whites until stiff, using an electric mixer or stand mixer. Set aside. Beat egg yolks and sugar until thick and pale, about 5 minutes. 

Whisk the mascarpone cheese until smooth. Mix in the egg yolk mixture and vanilla. Gently fold the stiff egg whites and lemon zest in the mixture with a spatula.

Pour the syrup into a small shallow dish. Dip each ladyfinger into the syrup for only 5 seconds. Letting the ladyfingers soak too long will cause them to fall apart. Place the soaked ladyfinger on the bottom of a baking dish. Make sure to fill the whole bottom, break the ladyfinger to make them fit. Sprinkle with some fine liqourice powder.

Spread ½ of the mascarpone mixture  evenly over the ladyfingers. Sprinkle the rest of the fine liquorice powder on top. Arrange another layer of soaked ladyfingers and top with remaining mascarpone mixture. Sprinkle the raw liquorice powder on top. 

Cover tiramisu with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, up to 8 hours.

Enjoy.

The Danish version:

Limoncello/Lakrids Tiramisu

Ingredienser:

Sirup:

• 120 ml limoncello likør

• 120 ml vand

• 50 g sukker

• 120 ml citronsaft

Mascarpone cream:

• 4 æggehvider pasteuriserede

• 4 æggeblommer pasteuriserede

• 150 g flormelis

• 1 tsk vanille pasta (kornene fra ½ vanillestang)

• 500 g mascarpone

• 1 citron, kun den gule del af skallen

Yderligere:

• 1 spsk fine liquorice powder (fra Lakrids by Bülow)

• ca 40 ladyfingre, Savoiardi

• 1 tsk raw liquorice powder (fra Lakrids by Bülow)

Sirup:

Varm limoncello, vand, sukker og citronsaften op indtil al sukkeret er smeltet. Køl siruppen ned til stuetemperatur. 

Mascarpone cream:

Pisk æggehviderne stive, og sæt dem til side. Herefter piskes æggeblommerne og flormelisen indtil de er lysegule og luftige, ca 5 minutter.

Rør mascarponen så den bliver blød og cremet, det tager kun få sekunder. Bland æggeblommerne og vanillen i mascarponen. Til sidst vendes de stivpiskede æggehvider og citronskallen forsigtigt i cremen. 

Hæld siruppen i en flad skål. Dyp hver ladyfinger i siruppen, ikke længre end ca 5 sekunder ad gangen, da ladyfingrene eller vil gå i opløsning. Dæk bunden af fadet med dyppede ladyfingre, herefter drysses lidt fint lakridspulver henover. Hæld halvdelen af cremen over, og fordel resten af det fine lakridspulver over hele overfladen. Dyp resten af ladyfingrene i siruppen og læg dem oven på cremen. Fordel resten af cremen over dette andet lag ladyfingre. Drys et tyndt lag raw liquorice powder (lakrids)  over tiramisu'en. 

Dæk tiramisuen til og lad den hvile i køleskabet i mindst 2 timer, men  gerne op til 8 timer. Tag Tiramisuen ud af køleskabet lige før servering.

Velbekomme

Pistachio crusted Halibut.

Pistachio crusted Halibut

I have been looking for ways to have more fish on the menu. Most times we end out having salmon. I really wanted to have more white fish. 

In Denmark you normally have halibut smoked for lunch on an open faced sandwich. So the fresh halibut was new to me, but it’s so meaty and the color so bright white. 

Putting halibut together with pistachios and lemon zest is a winning combination.

Serves 4 people

Ingredients:

4 (1 1/4-inch-thick) pieces skinless halibut fillet (about 6 ounces each)

1 cup whole milk

2/3 cup shelled pistachios

2 tablespoon parmesan,  grated

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 lemon, the zest of

Directions: 

Put fish in a ziplock bag, pour milk over it, and chill for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, chop the pistachios finely and mix it with lemon zest, parmesan and oil in a bowl.

Heat the oven to 425°F

Remove fish from milk, letting excess drip off. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and sprinkle all over with salt and pepper, top up with pistachio mixture to form a thick coating on the halibut.

Bake the fillets until the topping is crisp and browned and the fish is cooked through, 10 to 12 min., depending on thickness. Serve immediately.

Serve with roasted potatoes and a spicy sour cream sauce. 

Passionfruit Petit Four

Passionfruit petit four

Passion fruit is the best fruit in the world. The tiny fruit has a big, bold tropical flavor. It is the taste of vacation.

I just found passionfruits in my local store I had to make these small dessert cakes (petit four) from chocolat.dk, that I have been wanting to make for the longest time.

It's a no-bake dessert with chocolate, with flavors that burst in your mouth.

4 small cakes.

Ingredients:

Crust:

• 30 g hazelnuts

• 70 g good milk chokolate

• 30 g pop rock candy (without flavor)

Filling:

• 40 g good white chocolate

• 25 g cream

• 2-3 passionfruits

Directions:

Crust:

Roast the nuts in the oven at 400°F (200°C) and grind them to a flour.

Melt the chocolate over a water bath, let the chocolate cool to 90°F (32℃), then mix in the pop rock candy and hazelnut flour.

Put the "dough" in the mini tart mold, don't make the crust to thick. Let the crust cool in the refrigerator.

Filling:

Chop the chocolate finely, and put it in a bowl, and set aside.

Cut open the passion fruits and scoop out the flesh/juice and strain out the seeds, set aside.

Bring the cream and passionfruit juice to a boil and pour it over the chocolate. Stir until all the chocolate is melted. Let the filling cool before pouring into the crusts. 

Keep the cakes in the refrigerator until you serve them. Decorate with freeze-dried passionfriut or shaved chocolate.

Serve the cakes with berries and a good vanilla ice cream.

Smørkage - Danish Butter Cake

Smørkage - Danish Butter Cake

Smørkage, or butter cake is another traditional Danish pastry. We have this cake in two versions, one made with real pastry dough and this one made with a sweet yeast dough, resembling the American cinnamon rolls.

This recipe is by far easier than making real pastry, and the taste is still really good. My cake turned out a bit darker than I expected.

Makes one 9 to 11 inch cake.

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 40 g yeast
• 100 ml milk
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon cardamom
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 stick (114 g) butter, salted & room temperature
• 350 g all-purpose flour

Remonce:

• 100 g sugar
• 100 g butter, salted & room temperature
• 50 g marzipan (almond paste), grated
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon

Custard:

• 2 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoons vanilla paste
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1½ tablespoons cornstarch 
• 300 ml (≃1⅓ cups) milk

Directions:

Custard:

Beat the egg yolks and sugar until pale in color. Whisk in the cornstarch and vanilla paste.

Heat the milk to a slow boil, set aside. 

While whisking vigorously drizzle the warm milk into the egg yolk mixture, just a tiny bit at a time at first. Once you’ve added about ¼ of the milk, you can add the rest in a thin stream, whisking constantly.

Pour the mixture back in the saucepan and reheat it over medium heat. Whisk constantly until it thickens, and let it get to a boil. Remove from heat and chill the custard in a bowl in the refrigerator. Sprinkle with sugar or press a film of plastic wrap against custard so it doesn’t form a pudding skin.

Remonce:

Mix the ingredients to a brown paste, set aside.

Dough:

Dissolve the yeast in the finger-warm milk, add the sugar and let it sit for a few minutes. Add the eggs. Mix flour salt, cardamom and pour into the yeast-mixture with the butter. Knead the dough until it's elastic and shinny. Let the dough rest in a bowl covered with a tea towel for about 30 minutes.

Butter a 9 or 11 inch springform and set aside.

Take about ⅓ of the dough and roll it out in a circle 9 or 11 inch in diameter. Lay it in the bottom of the springform, and spread remonce and custard on top.

Roll the rest of the dough into a rectangle 8x12 inch (20x30 cm). Spread the rest of the remonce and custard on top. Roll up the dough spread like a roulade. Cut the roulade in 8 pieces and place them on top of the dough in the springform, cut side up.  

Let the cake rise for about 30 minutes. Preheat oven for 400℉ (210℃).

Brush with egg-wash and sprinkle with slivered almonds. Bake for about 15-18 minutes, cover cake with a piece of aluminum foil, and bake for another 18-20 minutes.

Take the cake out of the springform, and let the cake cool completely, before you decorate with white icing (hot water and confectionary sugar).

Enjoy.