Month: April 2013

Bacon, Bean and Blue Cheese Salad

~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ 1 Comment

Throughout the last few weeks we have tried out a range of different salads – some better than others. In the next week or two we will blog about those recipes that we liked the most 🙂

The salad for todays blogging is a salad filled with proteins and great taste. If you can’t get edamame bean in your local super market, you can try to look in one of the many Asian grocery store. If they fail to deliver too, you can replace the edamame beans with horse bean or peas, but remember that the taste of the salad will change, as the beans are the main ingredient.

 

Ingredients (3-4 servings)

5-6 leafs romaine salad

1 cup edamame beans

5-6 slices bacon

1 red onion, sliced

1 tsp. blue cheese

1/8 cup pine nuts, roasted

1 tbsp. grainy mustard

1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp. sugar

2 tbsp. olive oil

Salt

Pepper

 

Shred the romaine leafs and arrange on a plate, followed by the edamame beans and the sliced onions.

Combine the mustard, vinegar, sugar and olive oil in a bowl. Stir for a few seconds and season with salt and pepper. Pour the dressing slowly over the salad.

Cut the bacon into thin slices and fry on a pan. Transfer the fried bacon to some paper towel to let the fat drip off. When all the fat has dripped off and the bacon is crisp, sprinkle it over the salad. Finish up the salad by crumbling the blue cheese over the salad followed by the roasted pine nuts.

Serve with a steak and a good French baguette 🙂

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Bon Appétit!

Ingredients (3-4 servings)

5-6 leafs romaine salad

2.5 dl edamame beans

5-6 slices bacon

1 red onion, sliced

1 tsp. blue cheese

0.3 dl pine nuts, roasted

1 tbsp. grainy mustard

1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp. sugar

2 tbsp. olive oil

Salt

Pepper

 

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Pasta with Salmon and Spinach

~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ Leave a comment

Are you eating fish regularly as recommended? Well, we try to but must admit that we don’t get as often as we would like. When we ask others, they say the same and also says that it is too expensive or they have trouble finding quick and easy recipes. This we are about to change with this 30 minute-guest-worthy pasta dish with spinach and salmon.

We will, in time, make many more easy dishes with fish and shellfish and you are very welcome to leave a comment with suggestions or link to great recipes 🙂 Hope that you will love the dish as much as we do!

 

Ingredients (2 servings)

2 pieces salmon

2 cups pasta

1/2 pound spinach

1 red chili, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 shallots, chopped

1/2 cup peas

3/4 cup cream

1/2 lemon, juice

1/8 cup parmesan, grated

Salt

Pepper

 

Clean the salmon in cold water and try it with paper towel. Season with salt and pepper and fry the skin side of the salmon on a dry pan until golden and crisp (4-5 minutes). Cover in tinfoil and bake in the oven at 350F for 15-20 minutes.

While baking the salmon you can make the rest of the dish. Cook the pasta as recommended on the package and let drip of in a colander.

Bring cream, lemon juice, garlic, chili and shallots to a boil and cook for 5-7 minutes at medium heat before adding the spinach. Cook until all the spinach has “collapsed” and season with salt and pepper. Then add the peas and the drained pasta. Stir to combine.

Take the salmon out of the oven after the recommended time. Remove the skin a pulled the meat into small pieces. Add the pulled salmon pieces to the pasta and spinach and stir gently to combine. If you stir to much you might ruin the salmon pieces and the dish will appear less delicious.

Arrange on a beautiful plate and sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese. Serve with a good piece of bread and a cold glass of white wine 🙂

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Bon Appétit!

Ingredients (2 servings)

2 pieces salmon

5 dl pasta

225 dl spinach

1 red chili, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 shallots, chopped

1.25 dl peas

2.25 dl cream

1/2 lemon, juice

0.3 dl parmesan, grated

Salt

Pepper

 

Roasted Cauliflower Salad

~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ Leave a comment

After an almost vegetable-free weekend we were both craving for a good salad. To get some roughage we decided to make a salad of roasted cauliflowers with cashew nuts and peas. It was much better than expected and we can definitely recommend it for a good large steak or a lemon marinated chicken 🙂

 

Ingredients (4 servings)

1 cauliflower head

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 cup peas

1/2 cup cashew nuts

2 lemons, zest

1/4 cup chives, chopped

Salt

Parmesan flakes

 

Begin by cleaning and cutting the cauliflower into bite-sized bouquets. Roast in olive oil at medium heat for about 15 minutes. Place in a bowl together with peas, lemon zest and chopped chives.

Roast the cashew nuts on a dry pan and add to the rest of the salad. Toss the bowl to mix all ingredients and season with salt.

Arrange on a plate and sprinkle with parmesan flakes. Serve with good slice of bread.

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Bon Appétit!

Ingredients (4 servings)

1 cauliflower head

2 tbsp. olive oil

2.5 dl peas

1.25 dl cashew nuts

2 lemons, zest

0.8 dl chives, chopped

Salt

Parmesan flakes

 

Water-Based Chocolate Mousse

~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ Leave a comment

Everyone who’s ever worked with chocolate knows, that if there accidentally comes a drop of water into the chocolate it is ruined!

So, how is it possible to make a chocolate mousse based only on chocolate and water? Well, it is easier than you might think and something that everyone can make.

When that it said, there are a few thing that you need to keep in mind when considering this recipe 1) as the mousse only contains chocolate and water, it don’t get the exact same consistency as a mousse filled with eggs or cream, 2) it has a very concentrated chocolate taste, and you will only need a spoonful or two to get satisfied, and 3) as it has this very concentrated chocolate taste, it is important that you use a good quality chocolate.

I alway use chocolate from Amedei, as it has a clean and fabulous taste (and it don’t contains any artificial additives). I will recommend every to try this chocolate at least once in their life 🙂 And remember, you get what you pay for – good quality chocolate is more expensive than bad quality chocolate, but it is also much better and you don’t feel the need to eat as much, as your senses get satisfied when they taste good quality.

 

Ingredients (4 servings)

1/2 cup quality chocolate (preferably Amedei Toscano Black or similar)

1/2 cup

16 Raspberries

1 tsp. caramel with sea salt

 

Cold water

20 ice cubes

1 tsp. salt

Hand-mixer

Dishtowel

Slowly melt chocolate and water in a heat proof bowl over a pan of simmering water.

While the chocolate is melting, you can prepare a bowl with cold water, ice cubes and salt. The bowl needs to big enough, so the the bowl with the melted chocolate can stand in it, while whipping it into a mousse.

Place the bowl with the melted chocolate and water, in the larger bowl with ice water. Use a hand-mixer to whisk the melted chocolate into a mousse. Whisk until it has the same texture as a whipped cream.

Fill the mousse into 1 large or 4 small glasses and fridge until serving.

If you don’t want chocolate all over the kitchen, it is a good idea to cover the bowl with a dishtowel while whisking 🙂

Fill the raspberries with good sea salt caramel, and place on top of the chocolate mousse 🙂

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Bon Appétit!

Ingredients (4 servings)

80 g quality chocolate (preferably Amedei Toscano Black or similar)

80 g water

16 Raspberries

1 tsp. caramel with sea salt

 

Cold water

20 ice cubes

1 tsp. salt

Hand-mixer

Dishtowel

 

How to make Pulled Pork

~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ 2 Comments

How often do you think about making pulled pork but don’t know how to find the perfect recipe?

Well, we have had pulled pork a dozen places, but nothing is as good as this home made version – and we have never had any complaints, on the contrary people love it and we are often asked if we can make it for different occasion.

Don’t give up beforehand when you go through the recipe – it takes approximately 4-5 days to translate the raw ham into the perfect pulled pork, but it is definitely worth the time! And if you get a properly sized ham, you will have food for 4 people for at least a week!

On the pictures below, there are two hams, but the recipe is only for one! And no matter the size of the ham, the smoking hours are the same, but we recommend that you order a good large ham at your butcher.

 

Ingredients (30 servings)

1 large ham (these are approximately 22 pounds each)

1/4 cup grainy mustard

1 tbsp. worcestershire sauce

1 cup rub

 

Tools

Water smoker

Charcoals

Nut tree

Thermometer

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If you have gotten a whole hindquarters like shown on the picture above, you can begin by removing the tale and tale bone.

Then you need to remove the skin, but not the fat (picture below).

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Spread out the mustard and worcestershire sauce followed by the rub. Place the ham in a dish and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 24 hour (preferably 48 hours).

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When the ham had marinated for at least 24 hours, you can begin to prepare the smoker.

Place a small number of hot coals on top of a full charcoal chamber of unlit briquettes. Use the bottom vents to control the amount of air entering the cooker, to keep the fire burning low and steady. The unlit fuel catches fire gradually throughout the cooking session, resulting in long burn times of up to 18 hours, depending on weather conditions. This is called the Minion Method.

Place some wood on top of the charcoals (preferably nut tree).

Fill the water pan with water and check regularly (every 6th hour) to make sure that it doesn’t dry out.

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Place the ham in the water smoker and put on the lid. Try to keep the temperature around 230F at all times. It is important that it don’t get below 210F at any time during the smoking process. If you have trouble keeping the temperature up, you can add a few charcoals at a time.

Smoke for approximately 18 hours 🙂

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After 18 hours you can remove the ham from the smoker. Place it so it can rest for about an hour before you begin to pull it. The resting time has two purposes, 1) to prevent the meat from loosing valuable juices, and 2) to avoid that you burn your fingers during the pulling process 🙂

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How delicious does that look!?!?!

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After 18 hours of smoking you know that the meat is perfect, if you can remove the key bone in one grip, without any meat hanging on to it.

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With the key bone removed, you are now ready to pull the meat. Use your fingers to pull the meat into small bite-sized chunks.

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Looking at the picture below, you can se how the smoke has gone all the way into the meat, and not just stayed on the outside. This is due the long smoking process.

Now you have made the famous pulled pork – how hard was that? So now, you don’t have any excuse to take short cuts, as we often experience people do, when they either boil the meat or cook it in the oven in a roasting bag (shame on you)!

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Bon Appétit!

Ingredients (30 servings)

1 large ham (these are approximately 22 pounds each)

0.8 dl grainy mustard

1 tbsp. worcestershire sauce

2.5 dl rub

 

Orange Curd and Italian Meringue Cake

~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ 2 Comments

A while ago I discovered Kirstens blog and the most delicious orange cream pie. I promised myself that I would make it some day, but with Italian meringue instead of whipped cream.

Yesterday I was having family over for birthday dinner, and decided that that should be the day, where I should make this fabulous cake. As I choose to replace the whipped cream with meringue, which is much sweeter, I decided to add zest and juice of 1/2 lemon to the curd. I thought that it would make up for the sweetness in the meringue, and as expected it did 🙂

My guests loved it (even my dad who doesn’t normally eat cake) and I will definitely make it again! Thank you Kirsten for the inspiration 🙂

 

Ingredients (12 servings)

Crust

7 tbsp. butter

1 3/4 cup Digestive biscuits

2 tbsp. flour

2 tbsp. brown sugar

1/2 tbsp. salt

1 tbsp. water

 

Melt the butter in a sauce pan at medium-low heat. Set aside while preparing the rest of the crust.

Place the biscuits in a plastic bag together with flour, brown sugar and salt and crush it with a rolling pin. Combine the crushed biscuits with the melted butter and water and mix until a moist crumb forms.

Cover a 9 inch springform pan with baking paper. Press the crumbs evenly into the bottom of the springform pan a fridge for 10-15 minutes or until the oven is warm.

Bake at 175F for 10 minutes or until golden. Let cool while making the orange curd.

 

Orange Curd

1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

1/2 lemon, juice and zest

2 tbsp. orange zest

1 1/2 cup granulated sugar

12 tbsp. butter, room temperature

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tbsp. cornstarch

6 eggs

 

Begin by stirring together the sugar and orange- and lemon zest. Press with the back of the a spoon to release the oils from the zest.

Beat the orange sugar together with the butter, cornstarch and salt until fluffy (I use a stand mixer). Beat in the eggs one at a time until blended. Gradually stir in the freshly squeezed orange- and lemon juice. Stir until combined.

Transfer the mixture to a sauce pan and cook at medium-low heat until thickened. Stir occasionally to avoid burning.

Poor the thickened orange curd into the springform pan and cover with a piece of baking paper. Fridge for 4-5 hours before removing the cake from the form.

 

Italian Meringue

4 1/2 egg whites

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tbsp. vanilla extract

1 tbsp. orange zest

 

Whisk the egg whites until it forms soft peaks. Set aside while cooking the sugar.

Place sugar and water in a sauce pan and cook until the temperature reaches 230F. Pour slowly into the egg whites while whisking. Whisk until mixture has room temperature. It takes about 10 minutes if you use a stand mixer at medium speed. Add the vanilla extract and orange zest and whisk for a few more seconds.

Remove the cake from the spring form pan and  cover it with the Italian meringue. Fridge until served.

Use a gas burner to burn the outside of the meringue just before serving.

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Bon Appétit!

Ingredients (12 servings)

Crust

100 g butter

6.5 dl Digestive biscuits

2 tbsp. flour

2 tbsp. brown sugar

1/2 tbsp. salt

1 tbsp. water

 

Orange Curd

2.5 dl freshly squeezed orange juice

1/2 lemon, juice and zest

2 tbsp. orange zest

3.6 dl granulated sugar

12 tbsp. butter, room temperature

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tbsp. cornstarch

6 eggs

 

Italian Meringue

4 1/2 egg whites

2.5 dl granulated sugar

1 tbsp. vanilla extract

1 tbsp. orange zest

 

Chow Down Triple Cheese Burger

~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ 1 Comment

How often do you think about burgers? Well, we must admit that we often talk about how we want to make our burgers, but we don’t make them as much as we want to 😉

When that is said, we rarely the make the same version twice in a row – not because it isn’t delicious, but because the to-do-burger-list is large! This time, we made believe that we have overcome our own burger expectations – this triple cheese burger is without doubt a favorite!

Try it, and hopefully you’ll love it as much as we do 🙂

Ingredients (4 burgers)

2 1/2 pound beef, minced

Salt

Pepper

12 slices cheddar cheese

3 onions

4 pickles

2 jalapeños

Mayo

Ketchup

Yellow mustard

4 burger buns

Cut the minced beef into 12 equally sized pieces and knead gently to combine. Form each piece into hamburger patties. Season with salt and pepper on both sides and set a side while preparing the rest.

Chop the onions finely and slice the jalapeños and pickles.

Grill the patties on a pan 2-3 minutes on each side. Place the already grilled patties on an ovenproof plate and keep warm in the oven (no more than 210F), while grilling the remaining patties. Divide the copped onions on top of all the grilled patties, followed by jalapeños and a slice of cheddar cheese. Put the onion and cheese covered patties back in the oven until the cheese is melted.

While grilling the patties, you have time to warm the burger buns (I will give you the recipe for these easy buns next week).

When all patties are grilled and the buns are warm, you are ready to assemble your triple cheese burger 🙂

Slice the buns and spread out some mayo on both the bottom and top. Place three patties on top of each other on the bottom bun, followed by the sliced pickles. Add the wanted amount of ketchup and yellow mustard and finish with the top bun.

Serve with large cold beer (and lots of napkins) 🙂

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Bon Appétit!

Ingredients (4 burgers)

1150 g beef, minced

Salt

Pepper

12 slices cheddar cheese

3 onions

4 pickles

2 jalapeños

Mayo

Ketchup

Yellow mustard

4 burger buns

Boeuf Bourguignon with Mashed Potatoes

~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ Leave a comment

Boeuf Bourguignon is a traditional French recipe that originates from the Burgundy region. It is quite time consuming as the meat needs to prepared the day before, but we promise that it is all worth it 🙂

Normally we would make this dish in the late autumn or winter, as it is perfect for cold and dark evenings with a candle or two on the table (how romantic). But unfortunately we are having a very cold spring this year (we are still having freezing weather :-(), and decided to get warm and cozy while eating this fabulous dish. Actually we also made it to celebrate, that  I (Ann) have got my first scientific article accepted in an international journal – hooray for that 😀

Well, we hope that you will take time to make this fabulous dish, as it deserves to be made – and because you deserve to taste a great traditional French dish.

Ingredients (6 servings)

3 pounds stewing beef

20 slices bacon

1 bottle red wine

2 cups beef stock

1/5 cup cognac

5 large carrots, peeled

1/2 celeriac, peeled

6 banana shallots

2-3 tbsp. flour

1 bundle thyme

1 bundle parsley

4 bay leaves

1 leek top

30-40 mushrooms

Salt

Pepper

3-4 pounds potatoes

2 tbsp. butter

1/2 cup milk

Salt

Pepper

Clean the meat from fat and cut it into 2 x 2 inch cubes and marinate it in the red wine over night. When marinated, separate the the meat from the wine, but don’t throw out the wine. Dry the meat with some paper towel.

Cut shallots, carrots and celeriac into equally sized pieces. Clean the leek top carefully and tie it together with the parsley, thyme and bay leaves. The herbs are tied together, so they are easy to remove before serving.

Cut the bacon slices into pieces and fry it in a large thick bottomed pot. Remove the fried bacon but leave the melted fat in the pot. Brown the meat in the fat and remove it like you did with the bacon and sauté the onions and 2/3 of the carrot and celeriac cubes. When sautéed add the browned meat and the bacon and stir to combine before adding the cognac. Cook until the cognac is almost evaporated. Then sprinkle the flour on top of the dish and stir again to combine.

Add the beef stock, red wine and the herb bouquet and bring to a boil. Skim the scum off if necessary. Put a lid on the pot and let cook for 4-5 hours. If you use a cast iron pot, you can  put it in the oven at 270F instead.

While the meat and vegetables are cooking, you can prepare the rest. Peel the potatoes and cut them into cubes and place them in a pot. Cover with cold water.

Clean the mushrooms and cut them into half or quarter, depending on their size. Set both the potatoes and mushrooms a side until 30 minutes before the meat is finished.

Half an hour before you plan to serve this delicious dinner, you can begin to cook the potatoes. Let cook for approximately 20-25 minutes. Pour the water from the cooked potatoes and add butter and milk. Mash the potatoes gently and season with salt and pepper.

Add the remaining 1/3 carrots and celeriac to the stew approximately 10 minutes before serving and stir to combine.

While the potatoes cook you can roast the mushrooms on a hot pan. When roasted, add to the stew and stir to combine. Remove the herb bouquet and season the stew with salt and pepper and serve with the mashed potatoes.

Serve with a good red wine 🙂

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Bon Appétit!

Ingredients (6 servings)

1350 stewing beef

20 slices bacon

1 bottle red wine

5 dl beef stock

0.5 dl cognac

5 large carrots, peeled

0.5 celeriac, peeled

6 banana shallots

2-3 tbsp. flour

1 bundle thyme

1 bundle parsley

4 bay leaves

1 leek top

30-40 mushrooms

Salt

Pepper

1400-1800 g potatoes

2 tbsp. butter

1.25 dl milk

Salt

Pepper

Easy Leftover Brunch

~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ Leave a comment

Last night we had Buffalo chicken wings with blue cheese dressing and Italian tomato salad. We were not as hungry as we thought when we made it, and therefor ended up with some leftovers which we decided to use for brunch today 😀

We admit that it is an untraditional brunch, but it is definitely not the last time that we’ll make it! As we only had 4 chicken wings left, we also made some Popeye eggs which was perfect when combined with the spicy chicken and the fresh tomato salad.

 

Buffalo Chicken Wings

Italian Tomato and Mozzarella Salad

Popeye Eggs

Serve with a good cup of coffee and a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice (or a cold beer if it is hangover day :-D)

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Bon Appétit!

Buffalo Chicken Wing with Blue Cheese Dressing

~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ Leave a comment

Buffalo chicken wings with blue cheese dressing is definitely among our favorite appetizers and are perfect to serve with cold beers on the sunny day 🙂

Normally we would make the wing sauce our self, but last week we visited Chili House and found this wing sauce which we wanted to try. It tasted exactly as expected and we will definitely try to make our version, as this bottle was quite expensive.

If you don’t have the patience or the kitchen skills needed to make the wing sauce your self, the one used here is a great alternative, which can be bought at the stores webshop.

 

Ingredients (4 servings)

12 chicken wings

3 tbsp. olive oil

Salt

Pepper

1 cup chicken wing sauce

1/2 cup sour cream

1 tbsp. blue cheese

 

Begin by firing up the grill. While the charcoal gets ready, you can prepare the chicken wings.

Grease the olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Grill the greased chicken wings at 400F for about 60 minutes. Then place the grilled chicken in a mixing bowl and pour over the wing sauce – mix well.

Then place the chicken wings right above the charcoals for a few minutes. Take the wings off the grill and let rest while making the blue cheese dressing.

Whisk together sour cream and blue cheese. If you have trouble dissolving the blue cheese, you can press the blue cheese chunks up agains the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

Serve with a cold beer 😀

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Bon Appétit!

Ingredients (4 servings)

12 chicken wings

3 tbsp. olive oil

Salt

Pepper

2.5 dl chicken wing sauce

2.5 dl sour cream

1 tbsp. blue cheese