Tuna Salad 2

This is another of my favorite tuna salads - it's less runny than #1, which goes nicely with how I like to use it for lunch sandwiches.

Ingredients:
- 2 cans tuna
- salt & pepper
- 6 tbsp mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp plain yogurt
- 140 g (5 oz) green peas
- 2 hard-boiled eggs

The eggs were cut coarsely, the cans of tuna were drained and everything was mixed - served on toasted bread with leaves of lettuce (or sandwiched between such).

Pancakes

As I tasted this treat today I realized I hadn't made this in ages .. and I don't know why. It's fairly simple and it tastes great!

Ingredients:
- 3 eggs
- 200 g (7 oz) flour
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 4 dL (13.5 oz) milk
- 3 tbsp water
- butter for frying

All the ingredients (except for the butter) were whisked together. In a large pan, a little butter was melted, and a little less than 1 dL (maybe 1/3 cup) of the batter was poured into the pan. The pan was lifted and turned to help the dough form a large round, thin pancake - after a couple of minutes it was sufficiently done to be flipped over on the other side and cooked for a few minutes till done. The cooked pancakes were stacked on a plate till all the dough was used.

This time we served it with sweetened condensed milk, but other option include granulated sugar, jam, and ice cream - and if you make more than you can eat they are very delicious cold with butter and granulated sugar - whatever you use, spread it thinly and roll the pancake. Eat with fingers or utensils as you please.

Roasted Bean Salad

We had some left-over meat[1] and needed a side dish to go with it.

Ingredients:
- 500 g (1 lb) green beans
- 1 onion
- oregano
- olive oil
- salt & pepper
- lemon juice
- 1 handful pine nuts

The beans were rinsed and placed in a large baking pan together with onion wedges. This was sprinkled with olive oil, salt, pepper, and oregano. The baking pan went in the oven at 225 C (450 F) for about 20-25 minutes (beans tender and starting to blacken in spots). After roasting the beans were sprinkled with lemon juice and pan-roasted pine nuts.

Served with fresh radishes as well.

[1] And yes, the previously sliced meat, but quite rare was roasted some more.

Tri-tip roast with boiling onions & pomegranate

Well, it just so happened that we had a pomegranate lying around when we saw this recipe for balsamic-braised boiling onions with pomegranate - and were intrigued. Not least because we were not familiar with boiling onions, but as they turned out be easily obtained, there was no stopping. We figured this would go nicely with a piece of roast meat and aimed for a marinated tri-tip.

Ingredients:
Tri-tip:
- 1 tri-tip roast
- 6 dried puya chilies
- 1.5 dL (2/3 cup) red wine vinegar
- 3 gloves garlic
- olive oil
- salt
braised boiling onions:
- 1 pomegranate
- 500 g (1 lb) boiling onions
- 2.5 dL (1 cup) chicken broth
- 1 dL (~ 1/2 cup) red wine
- 0.5 dL (~1/4 cup) balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp golden brown sugar
- salt & pepper
- 3 tbsp sour cream

The marinade was made in the morning: The dried chilies were cleaned (seeds removed) and soaked by bringing to a boil in water, turning of the heat and letting stand for at least 20 minutes. The soaked chilies were cut finely and mixed with mashed garlic, salt, red wine vinegar, and olive oil. The marinade was poured over the tri-tip and it was allowed to stand in the fridge for 8 hours.

After marinating the tri-tip was roasted in the oven at 175 C (350 F) for 45 minutes ... the result was a lot rarer than I normally aim for, although I'm not sure how much the red wine vinegar marinade could have contributed to the redness of the meat. At any rate, it was quite delicious, actually, perhaps the marinade did its part to tenderize the meat. Though, still I might aim for just a little bit more done next time around...Back to the the side dish of boiling onions and pomegranate (which was made while the roast was in the oven): First the pomegranate was cut open and seeds were collected and rinsed.

The boiling onions were blanched in boiling water for about 1 minute, then the outer layer was peeled off and the ends trimmed. The whole onions were sautéed in oil with salt and pepper till nicely brown (some 12 minutes). Then the chicken broth, red wine, balsamic vinegar, and golden brown sugar was added. After bringing to a boil, the heat was reduced and the pan was covered to let the onions simmer for 15 minutes. Then the cover was removed, heat was increased again and the liquid was concentrated to the thickness of a sauce. Finally the sour cream was mixed in and the sauce was coated on the onions before sprinkling pomegranate seeds on top.

This went VERY nicely with the meat.

The whole dish was served with quinoa on the side.

Fish & Parsnips 2

Returning for more parsnips (well, actually just using the last few of the bag I bought recently) and also returning to fish, I went a slightly different approach this time.

Ingredients:
- olive oil
- 4 potatoes
- 2 parsnips
- salt & pepper
- 2 fillets of red snapper
- tarragon & dried cumin
- 3 scallions
- 10 brazil nuts
- vinegar
- 3 tbsp sour cream

The potatoes and parsnips were peeled and cut in rods approx. 1/2 cm (1/4") to the side, and roasted in a pan with salt and pepper and a little olive oil. Needed good stirring in the beginning, but later they could be covered, the heat reduced and they no longer needed stirring very often.

In a second pan, fillets of red snapped were fried with tarragon and ground cumin. When done the fillets were moved to a plate and covered with foil while finishing the dish: In the fish pan, coarsely chopped scallions and finely chopped brazil nuts were mixed and roasted, then added vinegar which was reduced almost to dryness before adding in sour cream and stirring to a sauce.

The fish was served with sauce on top and potato/parsnip fries on the side.

Ginger Cake

Thinking about having to move in a couple of months we're trying to use up some of our many things in the kitchen - surely we'll never manage with all of them, but each item that we can empty is a small victory in it's own right. Years ago I bought a glass of ground ginger, but it's not something I use too often. Therefore this recipe, which uses it generously was just what would save the day and rid us of our last ground ginger.

Ingredients:
dough:
- 200 g (7 oz) shortening
- 200 g (7 oz) sugar
- 4 eggs
- 200 g (7 oz) flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 4 tsp ground ginger
frosting:
- 150 g (5 oz) cream cheese
- 1 tbsp water
- 150 g (5 oz) powdered sugar
- 2 tsp ground ginger

The sugar and the shortening was mixed to homogeneous mixture and the eggs were mixed in 1 at the time. Then the flour, ground ginger, and baking powder was mixed in. The dough was put in a deep round baking pan and in the oven for about 50 minutes at 175 C (350 F).

The frosting was made by stirring the powdered sugar into the cream cheese - water was added to give a little bit smoother texture. Then added ground ginger to taste. The frosting was added as thick layer on top of the cake.

Lemon Cake

Mrs. Throat-erator sometimes makes a lovely lemon cake for us. You'll notice the recipe calls for an organic lemon - normally I'm not very hung up about whether or not my ingredients are organic, but in this case we need not only the juice but also the zest of the lemon, so an organically grown lemon is probably the prudent choice here.

Ingredients:

- 250 g (9 oz) shortening

- 6 dL (2 1/2 cups) sugar

- 4 eggs

- 6 dL (2 1/2 cups) flour

- 5 tsp baking powder

- 1.5 dL (2/3 cups) milk

- 1 organic lemon
- 1.5 dL (2/3 cups) boiling water
~ 150 g (~ 6 oz) powdered sugar

The shortening and sugar was mixed to a creamy texture, then the eggs were added and mixed till smooth again. Then the flour, baking powder, milk and freshly grated lemon zest was added and everything mixed to smooth dough.
The boiling water was mixed in quickly and the though was immediately poured into a 25 x 35 cm (10" x 14") baking pan^[1] lined with baking paper and baked for 30-40 minutes at 200 C (400 F). The resulting cake should be somewhat moist when removed from the oven.

A glazing was made by stirring lemon juice into powdered sugar - adding lemon juice in small portions until the texture is right. The glazing was put on the cake while it was still hot from the oven.

^[1] It takes a relatively large baking pan as the dough rises a lot during baking.

Beef Heart Experiment 1

Based on my prior experience with both beef heart and beef tongue I wanted to try out an idea: How does it work if you boil the heart first to tenderize it, then cut it and fry it?

Ingredients:
- 500 g (1 lb) sliced beef heart
- 2 parsnips
- small bunch parsley
- water, salt & pepper

The parsnips were peeled and cut in smaller pieces, then put in a pot with sliced beef heart, parsley, water to cover, salt and pepper. The pot was brought to a boil, then the heat was reduced and it was allowed to simmer for 2 hours.
After draining the meat was cut in thin strips. The meat was tender, but not nearly as tender as when I made tongue - of course it didn't boil for nearly as long time, so I might try once more with longer cooking time to see how that works. But somehow I think it might never be the same, maybe the texture of the meat is just quite different. The strips were fried till crisp on the edge and served with tostadas, black beans, sour cream, red red rice and green salsa.

Stay tuned for further experiments with beef hearts.

Fish & Parsnips 1

Parsnip is another tuber which..
..my parents would grow in the garden every year and use in a number of dishes
..I didn't really appreciate when I lived at home
..I recently found an urge to purchase and cook with.

In more practical terms they look like pale carrots, have a texture quite similar to the potato and taste somewhat like celery root, but sweeter and nuttier.

I decided to try this side of parsnip (recipe I found elsewhere on the internet).

Ingredients:
- 4 potatoes
- butter
- 4 parsnips
- 1/2 lemon
- 1.5 tbsp capers
- dill
- 2 fillets of fish (I used trout and catfish)
- salt

The potatoes were peeled, cut in wedges, seasoned with salt, pepper & paprika, and roasted in the oven at 200 C (400 F) for about 30 min.

The parsnips were cut in rods, as long as possible and about 1/2 cm (1/4 inch) on each side.
NB: Depending on the size of the parsnip the middle can be quite woody in texture (more likely the larger the parsnip) and this woody part is best removed. The lemon was cut in 6 slices and the parsnip and lemon was sautéed in butter for 5 minutes before adding the capers, and seasoning with dill. The pan was covered, the heat was reduced and they were left till the parsnip was tender - while frying the fillets of fish in a separate pan.

Hakkebøf (Danish Meatballs 1) & Creamy Potatoes

"Hakkebøf" is 1 of 2 traditional types of Danish meatballs - the other traditional type being "frikadeller", which you can expect to appear on this blog at some point - it's basically just pan fried patties of ground beef. It's a quite simple dish, but can be quite delicious too. It goes well with potatoes and caramelized onion rings, but one of my favorite versions is with creamy potatoes.

Ingredients:
- 6-8 potatoes
- 1 medium onion
- salt, pepper & ground nutmeg
- 1/4 L (1 cup) heavy cream
- 500 g (1 lb) ground beef

The potatoes were sliced thinly, and about half of them were put in an oven-proof tray, then sprinkled with salt, pepper & ground nutmeg. The onion was chopped and added, followed by the rest of the potatoes, more salt, pepper and ground nutmeg on top and at last the cream was poured over. The potatoes went in the oven at 190-200 C (375-400 F) for 40-50 minutes until tender and the cream was nicely browned on top (but without burning the cream too dry!).
The meat was parted into 6 equal portions, each was shaped into a ball using hands, and then flattened somewhat by applying light pressure with a knife. The meatballs were seasoned with salt & pepper and fried in the pan till the meat was done.

Served warm together with some salad on the side.

Curry sauce for herring

One of the most classical & widespread ways of serving herring in Denmark is with curry sauce, and it appears this will be the last variety of herring I make this winter. In Denmark this can be bought, either as a side or as herring pieces in curry sauce. Whichever way you prefer it, it can be quite delicious if you make your own fresh curry sauce - and being far from Denmark I found I had little choice.

Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp sour cream
- salt & pepper
- 1 tsp hot madras curry powder [1]
- 1/3 small onion
- 1 hard-boiled egg
- 8 cornichons

The onion, egg, and cornichons were chopped medium finely and everything was stirred together.

Served with pieces of pickled herring on dark whole grain rye bread.

[1] My hot madras curry powder lists the following ingredients: fenugreek, coriander, cumin, turmeric, red pepper - but states the list isn't complete.

Kiwis

Around the holidays we went to the local farmers' market to buy some fruit and vegetables. I bought some kiwis, of which several looked like "siamese twin kiwis"..

Stuffed pork tenderloin 2 & bok choy salad

For New Year's Eve I wanted to make something special, and since I had time on my hands I decided to revisit the stuffed pork tenderloin with an idea that had been brewing in the back of my head for some time.

Ingredients:
Stuffed pork tenderloin
- 1 pork tenderloin
- 2 poblano peppers
- 20 brazil nuts
- 8 sun dried tomatoes
- 1 egg
- salt

Bok Choy Salad
- 6 baby bok choy
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 onion
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- oil

First the poblano peppers were cleaned, quartered and the stems & seeds were removed. The quartered pieces were grilled under the broiler in my gas oven for some 10 minutes or so.

The pork tenderloin was made into a flat, square piece of meat (about 1/2 cm (1/4 inch) thick) by a combination of cutting slits in it and flattening it with a rolling pin - then it was rolled up, wrapped in film and stored in the fridge while preparing the stuffing. Any odd ends cut off in this process were saved for the stuffing.

For the stuffing, the grilled poblano peppers were cut in strips, mixed with coarsely chopped brazil nuts, sun dried tomatoes cut in strips, small pieces of pork tenderloin cut off during the process above, 1 egg, and salt.
NB: This was almost too much stuffing for my one pork tenderloin.

The stuffing was put in the pork tenderloin, and it was closed using wooden toothpicks. The stuffed roast was seared in the pan for a few minutes on all sides, then put in the oven at 190 C (375 F) for 30 minutes. The tooth picks could be removed and the roast was sliced.

The salad was made while the roast was in the oven:
The baby bok choy were quartered along the axis, the onion was cut coarsely and together they were put in a hot pan with oil. The pan was covered for a few minutes till the onion and bok choy were tender. Then sesame seeds and mashed garlic was added.

Served with potato wedges.

(Hannah's) Crab Salad

It's been kind of quiet here lately .. well, the week after Christmas we mostly ate all the leftover food we made for Christmas, so that didn't involve much cooking at all. We did manage to do a little something for New Year's Eve, but my blogging was fairly efficiently derailed by my Windows' crashing. Thus, with some delay, I'm going to start putting some posts up again here.

Years ago I was invited to a dinner at some friends' place, and we were served this delicious crab salad for starters .. I immediately demanded to know the recipe and the host graciously complied.

I hadn't had it for quite a while and decided that it would be nice for our New Year's Dinner.

Ingredients:
- 4 tbsp sour cream
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise
- salt & pepper
- 1 shallot
- 12 cornichons
- 1 red bell pepper
- green peas
- 120 g (4.2 oz) crab meat (1 drained can)

The sour cream, mayonnaise, salt and pepper was stirred together and added the drained crab meat. I used frozen peas, but if you have fresh peas they would of course work quite nicely as well. The most time consuming part of this was chopping the shallot, cornichons, and bell pepper: All have to be chopped quite finely.

This can be served immediately (or at least when the peas have thawed) on toast with a leaf of lettuce, but also stores well in the fridge for several days.

Since it was New Year's Eve we had it with sparkling wine.

Flourless Chocolate-Brazil Nut Cake

We pretty shamelessly took this recipe right out of a magazine and modified it ever so slightly (the original called for using hazelnuts) to serve as dessert at our Christmas eve dinner.

The recipe called for Frangelico, which I quite frankly hadn't heard about before. It turns out to be an Italian hazelnut liquor containing 24% A.B.V. and not at all difficult to obtain around these parts. When I went to a nearby provider of bottled drinks and asked for it I was informed that not only could he sell me Frangelico, but he could also sell me a knock-off brand for far less... since the recipe only called for 125 mL (1/2 cup) of it I opted for the real thing as that was also available in a handy 375 mL (1.5 cups) bottle (mind you, this was still a bit more expensive than 1 quart (1L) of the knock-off brand - but I didn't feel the need to stock up on this liquor).

Ingredients:
- 325 g (11.5 oz) 60% cocoa (bittersweet chocolate)
- 170 g (1 ¹/₂ sticks) unsalted butter
- 6 large eggs
- 2.5 dL (1 cup) golden brown sugar
- 125 mL (¹/₂ cup) Frangelico (divided)
- 145 g (5 oz) finely ground Brazil nuts [1]
- 1 tsp coarse salt
- 2.5 dL (1 cup) heavy whipping cream

The chocolate and the butter was melted and stirred together on a warm water-bath (2 portions, mainly due to size of bowl used).

In a separate bowl the the eggs, golden brown sugar and half of the Frangelico was whisked together, then the chocolate butter mixture was whisked in. The ground brazil nuts and the salt was stirred into the mixture, which was then poured into a round silicone baking form placed inside a springform of slightly larger diameter for added support.[2]

The baking form was covered with a lid of foil, placed in a large baking pan which was filled with water so the water outside the springform was about level with the batter inside the silicone form. The cake was baked in the oven at 175 C (350 F) for about 1.5 hours. It was allowed to cool somewhat before moving it from the form to a plate, on which it was chilled in the fridge for several hours before serving with whipped cream whipped with the other half of the Frangelico. [3]It's excellent!! ... but quite heavy and this makes for a lot of servings - fortunately it stays good for days in the fridge (we might even think it's better the day after).

[1] We actually think that grinding the nuts less finely might add a nice crunch to the cake.
[2] A springform can be used instead of the silicone form - then you just have to wrap it carefully with foil, so no water seeps in.
[3] The recipe actually suggested topping with toasted nuts, we forgot this part, but might want to try that next time.

Red Cabbage

Although we do know at least one store that carries a brand of the traditional red cabbage sauerkraut we decided to try our hands at making some ourselves this holiday season.

Ingredients:
- 2 tsp butter
- 1 ¹/₂ red cabbage (1.1 kg, 2.4 lb)
- 2-3 dL (1 cup) red wine
- 1 dL (1/2 cup) balsamic vinegar
- 2-3 dL (1 cup) black currant juice
- 1-1.5 tsp ground allspice
- 1 tbsp sugar
- salt & pepper

The cabbage was chopped using a food processor, which actually ended up chopping it a little too finely. The cabbage was sautéed in butter in a large pot until it softened thereby reducing the volume. The wine and the vinegar was added, and the volume was reduced (till most or all of the alcohol had evaporated) before the black currant juice, allspice, sugar, salt & pepper was added.
The heat was reduced and the cabbage was allowed to simmer for a couple of hours.

When we first tried this, i.e. the same day as we prepared it, we were rather disappointed with the result, but we put the rest of the batch in the fridge anyway which turned out to be a wise decision: When we heated some of it up 2 days later it tasted a lot more like we'd hoped for (and what we've taken since then has also been fine).

This should also always be served warm, as a side to fatty meats such as pork roast (click here to see a picture of the final product), duck roast, liver pâté, Danish meat balls ('frikadeller') and the like.

Pork Belly Roast

Pork roast is probably the quintessential Danish cuisine: Pork, seasoned with nothing more fancy than salt (and possibly black pepper), served with potatoes and brown gravy. It's also winter food - few people find it ideal to eat such heavy (fatty) meals when it's too warm in the weather.

Traditionally it's made with a piece of meat with the skin still on it cut from the back of the pig. I haven't been able to find such a cut of pork here in California, but some years ago I found a small store that carries pork bellies with the skin still on it. Basically it's giant slab of uncured bacon - it's not perfect in the sense that the meat to fat ratio is a little lower than the cuts traditionally used, but at least it has the skin on it. And the skin is quite important - the true test of one's cooking skills in Denmark is to turn out a pork roast on which the skin has been cooked to crispy perfection...

Ingredients:
- 1 pork belly (see picture)
- salt & pepper
- water
- potatoes
- flour
- gravy color [1]
- red cabbage sauerkraut

The pork belly wasn't of equal thickness over the entire piece, so I cut it in two pieces each having even thickness because the thickness is quite important in the crisping of the skin towards the end of the procedure. The two pieces of meat were put in an oven-proof tray with the skin down, and enough water to fully submerge the skin was added. This was then placed in the oven at 175 C (350 F) for 30 minutes.

After this the skin was softened appreciably and could easily be scored as shown in the picture (taking care not to cut the actual meat). The skin was salted generously and the roast was put back in the oven, now with the skin up, still at 175 C (350 F) for 1.5 hours. At this point the larger of the 2 pieces already had the skin turned nice and crisp, while the smaller one wasn't quite right. The bigger piece was removed from the oven and sliced, the drippings were collected and the smaller piece went back in the oven at 275 C (525 F) to try to get the skin crisp on this piece as well. I wasn't very successful about this part of it - I was a little afraid to overdo it as it can quickly burn at this temperature.
While the roast was in the oven peeled potatoes were boiled in lightly salted water and when properly tender, the water was collected.

To make the gravy I took a tbsp of fat from the drippings, stirred in flour to make a paste, then with constant stirring added the potato water in small portions until a gravy of wanted texture was obtained - this was then seasoned with salt and pepper, colored with a few drops of gravy color.

Slices of pork belly roast was served with boiled potatoes, brown gravy and red cabbage. Pickles would also have gone well with this dish.

[1] Gravy color is a viscous liquid, highly concentrated in the same coloring agent as used to make Cola.

Ginger Herring

I think I can just squeeze in one more type of herring before Christmas: Ginger herring. These are in a clear dressing - unlike most other herrings I know.

Ingredients:
- 4 tbsp white vinegar
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 2 serrano chilies [1]
- 2 puya chillies [1]
- 2 tbsp fresh ginger
- 1 shallot
- about 200 g (7 oz) pieces of pickled herring

The chilies, ginger, shallot was diced finely. Then everything was mixed well and alloved to stand in the fridge over night before serving on dark whole grain rye bread.

[1] It is far from essential to use serrano and puya chilies - the idea is to use a green and a red chili. Since I used dried puya I soaked them before dicing them, but with fresh red chilies obviously this step can be omitted.

Kona Porter

I normally do not drink coffee in any of its many available forms, but when I saw this Pipeline Porter from Kona Brewing Co. made with 100% Kona coffee I saw sufficiently intrigued to try it out. And Mrs. Throat-Erator does enjoy coffee, so I thought she might enjoy it too.

It was pretty good. A good porter, although the coffee taste means I'll personally never be a great fan.

Liver Pâté

Danish liver pâté (leverpostej) is a quite popular spread in Denmark, most people will eat it - even those who otherwise shy away from liver (such as fried liver). On the other hand it can be difficult to get in stores as you travel far away from Denmark, and most people in Denmark only seldomly make it themselves (if ever). It doesn't particularly belong to the holiday season, but as it takes some time to make it, it has become traditional for us to make it when we have some extra time on our hands.

As far as I know it is more commonly made with pork liver in Denmark, but as I can only buy beef and chicken livers at the store here, I've opted for beef livers, which works out quite well. For pork fat we often buy cheap bacon and simply cut the fat from the meat (doesn't have to be done too meticulously - some of the meat can make it into the pâté).

Ingredients:
- 1.1 kg (2.5 lb) beef liver
- 550 g (1.2 lb) pork fat
- 3 large onions
- 60 g (2 oz) butter
- 100 g (3.5 oz) flour
- 8 dL (27 oz) milk
- 4 eggs
- salt & pepper

The liver, the pork fat and the onions were all chopped in a food processor (can be done together if the food processor is large enough to hold everything, but we did it separately here).

Chopped liver.

In a large pot, the butter was melted, then the flour was stirred in, and while stirring constantly on low heat the milk was added in portions (as when making a gravy - the end result should be of gravy texture). Then the liver, pork fat, onions, eggs and salt & pepper was stirred in.

The mixture was poured into bread pans (this size made 5 small (2"x5") and 4 medium (3"x8") pâtés and were baked at 220 C (440 F) for almost an hour. The bread pans were not filled to the brim as the pâté can rise somewhat during baking, although they do return to the original size when they're done.


The pâté can be enjoyed warm or cold, on white or dark bread. Some of our favorite extras include sliced pickled beets, crisp bacon, sautéed mushrooms, sliced tomatoes, red cabbage sauerkraut, or fried onions.

Of course it would be folly to make such a large batch if they didn't freeze well - which they do. They can also quite easily be warmed in the oven when de-frosted.

Update: The result is at least as good using pork liver.