Shakshuka a la the Danes

Shakshuka a la the Danes

Shakshuka is a spicy sauce of tomatoes and other vegetables with poached eggs originating from North Africa, Tunisia. I first had it at a humus place, and remember it as kinda bland. But I liked the idea of the dish, and my version of the dish is not even close to bland. After serving this to my husband, it went into his top of breakfast dishes. I poach the eggs separately, so I can make a large pot of the sauce, even adding whatever vegetables I have on hand, and freeze it in smaller portions. By doing this Shakshuka becomes a quick breakfast, just heating the sauce, and poaching the eggs.

Serves 2-3.

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, diced

• 1 red bell pepper, diced

• 2 garlic clove, minced

• 1 can diced tomatoes

• 1½ teaspoon cumin

• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper or red chili flakes

• 1 teaspoon paprika (½ mild and ½ smoked)

• salt, to taste

Topping

• chili, diced

• parsley, chopped

• 4 poached eggs

Directions:

In a deep frying pan, heat the oil and cook the onion and bell pepper for around 5 minutes, until the onion is translucent. Stir in the spices and garlic and cook for a couple more minutes. Add the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper to taste. Let the sauce simmer gently for 15 minutes, letting the sauce thicken a bit.

(For the traditional shakshuka make up 4 hollows in the sauce, and crack an egg in each one, cover the pan with a lid and cook for another 5-8 minutes until the desired doneness of the eggs.)

I make poached eggs and serve them on top, because I think it’s easier to control.

Now, with a large spoon, make four hollows at the points of the compass in the mixture.

Just before serving place the poached eggs on top, and sprinkle with chopped chili and parsley.

Serve the dish immediately with a slice of good bread, preferably toasted.

Enjoy!

Poached Eggs version 2

Poached Eggs.

I really love poached eggs, but it’s kinda a new love. Before we moved to California, it wasn't really a thing for me. Back then I preferred soft boiled eggs. But a poached egg is pretty much a naked soft boiled egg 😆, so maybe I didn’t change much 😳

I thought I had found a foolproof method, but it was hard to make more eggs at a time, when making a whirlpool in the pot. So with this newer (to me) method, I’m able to make 4 eggs at the same time. And I perfected this method to fit my family.

I use my thick bottomed sauté pan, it is wide and shallow, and works perfect.

Eggs in general: When you want poached eggs, you need to use fresh eggs. When you crack the egg you can tell that you have a fresh egg, when the yolk is firm and plump, and the white consist of two parts: a gelatinous mass around the yolk and a runnier liquid.  As the egg ages, the white becomes more runny.  So the runnier the white, -  the older the egg. 

If you don't want to crack the eggs to figure out the freshness, here's a quick guide:

Place your eggs in a cup or bowl of fresh water

• If the egg sinks and lays flat on the bottom, it's very fresh.

• If the egg sits on the bottom at an angle,it's a bit older.

• If the egg stands on end but still sits on the bottom, use for baking.

• If the egg floats, it is old and you don't want to use it.
  

Serves 2-4

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs

• 2 tablespoons vinegar

Equipment needed:

• Shallow saucepan with cover

• Slotted spoon

Directions:

Crack the eggs into a cup each.

Bring the water to a boil, add the vinegar.

Turn off the heat.

Gently place the eggs in the pan with some space between them. Put on the lid.

Set the timer for 4 minutes when you have placed the first egg in the water.

Remove the eggs from the water with a slotted spoon in the same order as you put them in.

Serve immediately. Alternatively, place the egg in an ice bath and refrigerate up to 8 hours. Reheat in warm water just before serving.

Enjoy!

Vanilla Honey Butter

Vanilla Honey Butter

As a Dane growing up in Denmark I didn't know the existence of Honey Butter, and I was ok with that. First time I encountered honey butter was at a brunch, where they served it with biscuit and bacon - and OMG it was a party in my mouth. How could I not know of this????

Now I see that you can use this for many things - like cornbread, American pancakes, bagels, and of course biscuits. The addition of vanilla just makes it even better.

Depending on which butter and honey you use, you get different color and texture. I just used what I had in the house, and that was European style butter, and it was a bit more yellow. I used a dark raw honey, and it made my butter yellow. But you can easily end up with a beautiful white butter - there is no wrong color in honey butter.

ingredients:

• 2 vanilla beans, use the seeds scraped from pods

• 225 g (1 cup) butter, salted and room temperature

• 170 g honey

• 1 pinch salt

Directions:

In a Using a stand mixer, beat all ingredients for a 3-5 minutes until smooth and combined. Serve immediately or refrigerate.

Enjoy!

Cinnamon Custard Rolls

Cinnamon Custard Rolls

I totally forgot about custard cinnamon rolls, until I stumbled upon a picture of them when browsing on Pinterest. Then I decided to try to make my version, with a vanilla custard, using some of my newly purchased plumb vanillas beans. Honestly the custard could be eaten, directly out of the saucepan, maybe with some berries. But it worked perfectly in the cinnamon rolls too. Transporting me back to my childhood. These cinnamon rolls is a great updated version to the traditional cinnamon rolls, making them a bit more fancy.

I would recommend to remove the rolls from the oven a bit earlier than I did, to prevent the custard from getting browned.

Makes 18-20 rolls.

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 50 g live yeast ( 4 teaspoons dry yeast)

• 175 g butter, salted

• 500 ml milk

• 175 g sugar

• 2 teaspoons cardamom

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 800-850 g all-purpose flour

• 1 egg, for egg wash

Vanilla Custard:

• 200 ml milk

• 1 vanilla bean, the seeds (or caviar) from (or use 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract)

• 3 tablespoons sugar

• 2 egg yolks

• 3 teaspoons cornstarch

Cinnamon Remounce:

• 150 g butter, salted and room temperature

• 100 g brown sugar

• 2 tablespoons cinnamon

Chocolate Icing:

• 85 g confectionary (powdered) sugar

• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

• about 2 tablespoons varm water

Directions:

Dough:

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Warm the milk in a saucepan until finger-warm, remove pan from the heat. Melt the butter in the warm milk. Crumble the yeast into the warm milk and stir to dissolve. 

Add the liquid to the dry ingredients, and knead the dough for 3 minutes, to form an elastic dough. 

Let the dough rise for about 60 minutes until doubled in size. 

Cinnamon Remounce:

Mix all the ingredients with a hand mixer, until smooth and creamy, set aside.

Vanilla Custard:

if using a vanilla bean, split the bean and scrape the seeds (caviar) out. Mix the seeds with some of the sugar, this will help separating the seeds, and spread them throughout the custard. Place the empty bean in the milk in a small saucepan, and heat the milk until it is warm, but not boiling. Remove from heat, and let sit to cool down and the bean to infuse the milk with additional vanilla flavor. When milk is room temperature, remove bean from the milk. Whisk egg yolks, sugar, vanilla seeds, and cornstarch into the paste, and add it to the milk. Heat the milk mixture up over medium heat, while whisking until it thickens and starts boiling. Transfer the custard into a shallow bowl, and cover it with plastic wrap. Place the the wrap directly on top of the custard, so it won’t form a skin. Let the custard cool in the fridge until you need it.

Making the Rolls:

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and roll it to a large rectangle (16x16 inches/40x40 cm).

Spread the filling in a thin layer onto the dough, leaving a thin edge closest to yourself, without filling.

Roll the dough into a large log, pinching edges together to seal. Cut the log into 20-24 slices. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Place the slices fairly close together. Cover and leave to rise for another 30 minutes. 

Preheat the oven to 400℉ (200℃) - I used convection when baking these, heat oven to bake 420℉ (215℃) if you don't have a convection oven.

Brush the rolls with egg wash.

With a little spoon make a little dent/well in the middle of the cinnamon roll. Place about a teaspoon of the custard in each well.

Bake the rolls for 10-14 minutes until golden brown. 

Leave them to cool in the pan. 

Chocolate Icing:

Mix sugar ans cocoa with just enough water for it to form a tragic paste.

Frost the cinnamon rolls before serving.

Enjoy!

Blueberry & White Chocolate Scones

Blueberry & White Chocolate Scones

I love scones, especially when they are light and fluffy. Maybe it’s wrong, to talk about a light scone, given they contain a lot of butter and cream 😁 But these feel very light.

Makes 8 scones.

Ingredients:

• 300 g all-purpose flour

• 50 g sugar

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• ½ teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

• 60 g butter, salted and room temperature

• 150 g blueberries

• 125 g white chocolate, coarsely chopped, I used Valrhona

• 190 ml heavy whipping cream + extra for brushing

• 1 egg

• coarse sugar for sprinkling

Directions:

Add the dry ingredients and the vanilla in a mixing bowl. Add the butter and mix the butter into the dry ingredients with your hands or the paddle attachment (flat beater), until the mixture is coarse and crumbly. Gently mix in the blueberries and chocolate. Place the mixture in the refrigerator for 30-40 minutes to cool completely.

Preheat the oven to 355℉ (180℃), and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk the egg into the heavy whipping cream. Pour the mixture into a well in the cooled dry ingredients. Gently mix the dough with a fork, until just mixed together. Be careful not to overmix. Pour the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Use your finger to gently press the dough into a disc 8-inch (20 cm) in diameter and about 1-inch (2.5 cm) thick. Slice the disc into 8 wedges, and place them on the prepared baking sheet about 1-inch apart. Brush each wedge with cold cream, and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake the scones for 22-25 minutes until they a light golden.

Let the scones cool for about 15 minutes before sinking your teeth into them.

Enjoy!