Fiery Feta Dip

Fiery Feta Dip.

This 4 Ingredient Fiery Feta Dip (Tirokafteri Inspired) is both savory and spicy and is sure to have you coming back for more.

One of my favorite weeknight restaurants when I lived in California was a cozy Greek-style spot called Opa!. They served a feta and pepper dip with a perfect spicy kick — creamy, tangy, and just a little fiery.

After moving back to Denmark, I decided to make my own version. This is what I came up with — simple, bold, and ready in minutes.

Enjoy it as a steak sauce, or serve it with warm pita bread, crisp vegetables, or even grilled chicken.

Ingredients:

• 16.5oz jar roasted red peppers

• 1 clove of garlic

• 5oz/150g crumbled feta cheese

• 1 serrano or jalapeño pepper — use your preferred pepper to adjust the spiciness.
  

Directions:

Drain your roasted red peppers and place them in a food processor or blender.

Add the garlic and chili pepper, then blend until smooth.

Add the feta cheese and pulse a few times until well mixed. For a chunkier texture, stir the feta in by hand after blending the other ingredients.

Chill for 30 minutes before serving to let the flavors meld.

Enjoy!

Piccalilli - Pickles

Piccalilli.

Pickles, Piccalilli or chow chow, this delicious condiment is called different thing, in different places. Growing up it was a weird sour mustardy thing my dad loved, but as an adult I realized it was a delicious, sweet & sour, curry, mustard sauce with lovely crunchy vegetables. It’s pairs very well with meats, especially with a pariserbøf. But I also like piccalilli as a condiment with grilled sausages.

Previously I’d bought piccalilli, but after trying the homemade version, I won’t go back. The flavors are great, and the part of knowing what’s in it, is really nice.

Makes 8-10 small jars.

Ingredients:

1000 g vegetables, diced small

• 300 g cauliflower

• 100 g summer squash

• 100 g carrots

• 100 g fennel

• 100 g shallots

• 120 g green beans

• 130 g red bell pepper

• 50 g celery

• 50 g salt

Pickling juice:

• 320 ml vinegar

• 200 ml water

• 150 g sugar

• 40 g honey

Spice Paste:

• 50 g corn starch

• 3 teaspoons curry

• 1 teaspoon turmeric

• 4 teaspoons Colman’s mustard powder

• 1 teaspoon ground coriander

• 1 teaspoon cumin

• 1 teaspoon ground ginger

• 100 ml vinegar

Makes 8-10 small jars.

Directions:

Depending on how coarse you like your piccalilli, you can dice the vegetables in about ⅕-⅖ -inch (½-1 cm) pieces, or blitz them in a food processor. I like to be able to se what kind of vegetables I’m eating, so I do a coarser chop.

Wash and peel the vegetables, before chopping them. Mix the chopped vegetables with salt, and place them covered in refrigerator over night.

Prepare the jars and lids by cleaning them and scolding them in boiling water. Rinse them in a conserving agent, (I used a Danish conserving agent called Atamon, sodium benzoate) or rinse them in a 100 proof vodka.

Rinse the vegetables thoroughly in lots of water, drain them well. You can dry the vegetables on kitchen towels.

Make the paste in a bowl or a mini food chopper, making sure to get a homogeneous mixture. Set aside.

Heat the vinegar, water, and sugar until the sugar has dissolved. Mix in some tablespoons of the warm vinegar in the spice paste, two times, before adding all of the paste to the warm vinegar. Bring the vinegar to a boil while whisking. The vinegar will now thicken to a sauce, and let it boil for about 5 minutes. Add the vegetables to the sauce and let them get about 1-2 minutes of heat, before jarring.

Keep the piccalilli in the refrigerator for about 6 weeks before serving, giving the flavors time to mellow out and blend.

The Piccalilli will keep 6 months in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!

Brownie Batter Dip

Brownie Batter Dip

Brownie Batter Dip, I kid you not, there is such a thing. A delicious, creamy, chocolaty dip perfect for all chocoholics out there. It's extremely easy to make, and a sinful way to eat apple and pretzels. Like you need an excuse to eat apples and pretzels.

Ingredients:

• 110 g (1 stick) butter, salted and melted
• 150g sugar
• 65 g all-purpose flour
• 30 g cocoa powder (I used Valrhona)
• 125 ml plain non-fat yogurt 
• 1 pinch salt
• ½ teaspoon vanilla paste
• 1 tablespoon cold, strong brewed coffee
• colorful sprinkles

Directions:

Whisk the melted butter with sugar, and vanilla until combined. Add cocoa, flour, salt and coffee, mix until combined. Mix in yogurt, whipping it in with a hand mixer, for a creamy and soft dip. 

Put the sprinkles on top and serve the dip with sliced apples and pretzels. 

Enjoy!

Lemon Curd

Lemon Curd

Lemon Curd is a sweet, tart, soft and velvety spread. Traditionally it is used as a spread for scones for the afternoon tea. But it is a perfect filling in cakes. I've always looked at lemon curd as a thing you buy in a jar in the store. But having the most wonderful lemons in my yard, I had to try to make it myself. Wow, what a flavor!! I will never buy lemon curd ever again. The homemade version is like a party in your mouth. If you know Danish lemon mousse/citronfromage, it's like that, with lemon-steroids. YUM YUM YUM.

Makes about a cup (2-3 dl).

Ingredients:

• 115 g (1 stick) butter, I use lightly salted butter
• 170 g sugar
• 1¼ dl (½ cup) lemon juice, about 3-4 lemons
• 4 lemons, the zest from
• 6 egg yolks

Directions:

Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan, be careful not to let it brown. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the sugar, lemon juice and zest. Then whisk in the egg yolks until smooth.

Place saucepan over low-medium heat and cook the mixture, whisking constantly, until it thickens. You are looking for the curd to leave a path on the back of a spoon, when a finger is drawn across it. Be careful NOT to let the curd boil, this will cause the egg to curdle.  

Immediately pour the lemon curd into a bowl, to stop the heating. Let the lemon curd cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally. Keep the lemon curd covered and refrigerated until ready to serve.

TIP: Lemon curd keeps for about a month in the refrigerator, not that it has survived this long in my house.

Green Goddess Dressing

Green Goddess Dressing

The delicious green dressing is believed to originate back to 1923 at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. Where the executive chef Philip Roemer wanted to pay tribute to an actor and his play The Green Goddess.

This dressing is new to me, it must be my Danish hesitance that have made me miss out on this delicious dressing. But from now on I am going use it with my salads from time to time.  

I know this dressing is old school, but the tanginess from the buttermilk and the taste of herbs really pairs well with a green salad.

Ingredients:

• 180 ml (¾ cup) mayonnaise
• 180 ml (¾ cup) buttermilk
• 20 g (4 tablespoons) chopped fresh chives
• 15 g (¼ cup) fresh Italian parsley, chopped
• 3 tablespoons (about 5 g) fresh tarragon leaves, chopped
• 1 glove garlic
• 2 teaspoons anchovy paste
• 1 lemon, the juice from
• salt & pepper

Directions:

Combine all the ingredients in a blender, and blend the dressing until smooth. Season the dressing with salt and pepper. Serve the dressing with a pasta salad or a green salad.

Enjoy!