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Gnocchi and Meatball with Gorgonzola Tomato Sauce

~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ Leave a comment

Last week we made this fabulous dinner and we are definitely going to make it again – soon 🙂

The meatballs are greek inspired with the feta cheese and olives and it fits very well with the gorgonzola sauce and the gnocchi. It was our first time serving gnocchi’s and as with everything else we needed to taste and feel how they are supposed to taste and feel before making them ourselves. So next time, we will try making them ourselves and hopefully be able to make a post on it from our first attempt 🙂

 

Ingredients (4 servings)

1 lb. grounded pork

1 large onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1 egg

1/3 cup feta cheese, crumbled

10 olives, pitted and chopped

3 sun dried tomatoes, chopped

1/8 cup basil leaves, chopped

Salt and pepper

1 tbsp. butter

 

3 cup tomato sauce

2-4 tbsp. gorgonzola

Salt

 

2 lb. gnocchi

2 tbsp. pesto

Basil leaves

Parmesan cheese, grated

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Place pork, onion, garlic, bread crumbs, egg, feta cheese, sun dried tomatoes and basil in a mixing bowl and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper, cover with plastic foil and fridge for 30 minutes.

Form the meat into small balls – the size of a golf ball, and fry in melted butter on a medium/hot pan – one minute on each side. Transfer the meatballs to a heat proof dish, cover with one cup of tomato sauce and bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 350F.

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Approximately 10 minutes before the meatballs are finished, you can begin to heat the tomato sauce (if it is pre-made) and cook the gnocchi.

Place the remaining 2 cups tomato sauce in a saucepan and warm at medium/low heat for 5 minutes. Add the gorgonzola, let it melt, stir to combine and keep warm until serving (low heat). Season with salt.

Cook the gnocchi as described on the back of the package (most descriptions says 3 minutes in salted water). Transfer to colander and let all  water drip off. Place the cooked and drained gnocchi into the heated tomato sauce.

Take the meatballs out of the oven and stir a few times to combine the sauce around the meatballs.

Place gnocchi with tomato sauce in a soup plate. Place 3-4 meatballs on top of the gnocchi and decorate with basil leaves, grated parmesan cheese and pesto.

Serve with a glass of your favorite red wine 🙂

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Bon Appétit!

Ingredients (4 servings)

450 g hakket svinekød

1 stort løg, hakket

2 fed hvidløg, presset

1,2 dl brødkrummer/rasp

1 æg

0,8 dl feta ost, smuldret

10 oliven, udstenet og hakket

3 soltørrede tomater, hakket

3 spsk. basilikum blade, hakkede

Salt og peber

1 spsk. smør

 

7 dl tomat sauce

2-4 spsk. gorgonzola

Salt

 

900 g gnocchi

2 spsk. pesto

Basilikum blade

Parmesan ost, revet

 

God fornøjelse venner 🙂

Creamy and Tasty Tomato Sauce

~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ Leave a comment

Most people buy a pre-fabricated tomato sauce in the super market, because it is easy, comfortable and cheap. But have any you considered how many additives it contains, as it can be stores at room temperature for several years?? It sounds a bit holy, but we are not – we often buy ingredients with 2-3 years expiration.

As we both love to cook and often but organic products, grow our own herbs and a small variation of vegetable (we live downtown and do not have the space to grow an awful lot, so we look forward to moving to place with a huge (vegetable)garden), we have decided to try and cook as much as possible ourselves and only buy things that we are too unexperienced to make ourselves or food from delicacy stores 🙂

The recipe for this tomato sauce is made with the ‘add-and-taste’ method, meaning that different ingredients were added until it reached the perfect taste and consistency. This also means, that we have made many different recipes before ending up with this one and we a portion of 5 cups only lasts for day or two in our household, as everyone loves it and it can be used for many different purposes 🙂

 

Hope that you will love it too!

 

Ingredients (5 cups)

2 large onions

4 garlic cloves

15 sun ripened tomatoes

1/2 cup red wine

1 handful fresh basil leaves

1 tsp. freshly grounded pepper

1 tsp. chili flakes

1 tbsp. butter

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Chop onions, garlic cloves and tomatoes. Melt butter in a medium sized saucepan and saut̩ the chopped onions and garlic cloves for a few minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes, stir and let cook at medium heat until the tomatoes has softened Рit takes 5- 10 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Add the remaining ingredients and cook for 5-10 minutes or until the alcohol in the red wine has evaporated (when the smell of red wine has disappeared). Reduce heat and cook for an additional hour.

Remove the cooked sauce from the heat and let cool for 15-20 minutes. Transfer to blender and blend until completely smooth. Store in a sterilized jar in the fridge for up to 4 weeks.IMG_1049

Serve as a healthy tomato soup, as a regular tomato sauce for pasta, lasagna or as shown on the picture below with gnocchi and meat balls 🙂

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Bon Appétit!

Spinach and Almond Pesto

~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ Leave a comment

Pesto is one of those things that every one should have in their pantry. For years we bought it in the local super market, then we decided to buy it in the local Italian Deli and now we are making it our selves. It is as easy as boiling an egg and it only takes a few minutes.

This recipe is a pesto with spinach, almonds and parmesan cheese, but you can use all sorts of herbs, nuts and hard cheese.

That we chose to make a version with spinach, was actually because we had bought to much spinach at the local Farmers Market last wednesday and did not know what to use it for. So we decided to google ‘spinach recipes pictures’ and ended up with hundreds of pictures of meals containing spinach, but at that exact time none of it look appealing. Later the same day, we saw another blogger baking a cauliflower salad with basil pesto, and  we immediately new what to make of the remaining spinach 🙂

 

Ingredients (1/2 cup)

2 handfuls spinach

1/2 lemon, juice

1/3 cup quality olive oil

2 tbsp. grated parmesan cheese

8 almonds, roasted

Salt & Pepper

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Rinse the spinach thoroughly in cold water and leave it to dry on some paper towel (if you are in a hurry you can just dap it with paper towel to remove as much water as possible).

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth – it takes approximately 30-40 seconds. If you think that the pesto is a bit to thick and grainy, you can add more olive oil. Add one tsp. at a time, to prevent that it gets to thin.

Transfer to sterilized jar, seal and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.

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Serve as a dressing for raw cut vegetables, with pasta, tapas, or combine with sour cream and use as an alternative the the usual burger dressing.

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Bon Appétit!

Ingredients (2.5 dl)

2 handfuls spinach

0.5 lemon, juice

0.8 dl quality olive oil

2 tbsp. grated parmesan cheese

8 almonds, roasted

Salt & Pepper

Mom’s Blackberry Jam

~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ Leave a comment

Every single year since I can remember, my parents have gathered blackberries to make jam for the rest of the year. This year I insisted on going with them on one of their trips, as I did when I was a child.

We went to one of their secret blackberry spots and within 40 minutes we had gathered 11.2 oz of delicious blackberries 🙂 As they has already been out twice within the last week (with a total gathering of 36 oz), I took home all the berries and began thinking of different way to use them. My parents made jam out of their HUGE portion and gave to the neighbor family who LOVE it (we have received several pictures of babies (and their parents) with jam all over the face).

As other people often have different and/or great ideas, I asked followers on our Facebook site and as expected they came with a dozen of great ideas. Besides this delicious jam recipe, I have decided to make blackberry vinegar, blackberry liqueur, blackberry vodka, blackberry ice cream and the rest went into the freezer for smoothies or cupcakes 🙂

Has anyone of you been on blackberry hunt this summer??

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Ingredients

2 cups blackberries

1 1/4 cup sugar

1/2 lemon, juice

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Place all the blackberries and the lemon juice in a saucepan. Let stand at medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring every other second minute so all berries get warm. It should end up looking like the picture below.IMG_0992

Add the sugar, combine and remove from the heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. It takes 5-7 minutes of constant stirring. Using a wooden spoon, you can feel when the sugar has dissolved. You can stop stirring when the ‘crunchy’ feeling of sugar is gone.IMG_0993

Transfer to a clean jar, close the lid and refrigerate immediately. Use within 3-4 weeks.

If you want it to last longer (if you make a large portion to last until next blackberry season), you can add a teaspoon of liquid preservatives just before you pour it into the jar.

Serve with pancakes, breakfast rolls, ice cream or use it when making sauces 🙂IMG_0999

Bon Appétit!

Ingredients

500 g blackberries

280 g sugar

1/2 lemon, juice

Bacon Explosion Sub Sandwich

~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ 1 Comment

When we met four years ago Chris was an enthusiastic cook but did not own anything other than a toasting machine, so we often had grilled cheese and grilled cheese 😀 But one in a while he was able to borrow a charcoal grill, and one the first real date meal he made was bacon explosion. We have made it dozens of times since and now believe to have reached the definite perfect recipe, which we of cause are willing to share with all our wonderful readers 🙂

Due to that history, this dish means something to us and we like to make it for ‘date nights’. We have served it in many different ways and last night we decided to serve it in a French baguette with tomatoes and mozzarella and was really great.

Have you ever made bacon explosion?? If yes, what are you using for filling and how do you serve it??

 

Ingredients (4 sandwiches)

1 pound beef, grounded

1 pound pork, grounded

25 slices bacon

1/3 cup BBQ sauce

Salt & Pepper

1/3 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

1 tsp. butter

2 onions, chopped

1/2 pound mushrooms, chopped

2-3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tbsp. thyme leaves

1 jalapeño, sliced

2 handfuls fresh spinach, rinsed

2 tbsp. BBQ sauce

2 tbsp. brown sugar

4 tbsp. soy sauce

2 French baguettes

2 tbsp. mayo

4 tbsp. BBQ sauce

1 romaine lettuce

2 tomatoes, sliced

2 mozzarella balls, sliced

Melt the butter on a medium-hot pan and sauté onions, mushrooms, garlic and thyme for 4-5 minutes or until the onion pieces begin to soften a bit. Set aside while preparing the meat and bacon. IMG_0935

Weave the bacon slices together, as shown on the picture below. Do it on a piece of baking paper, so it is easy to wrap around the meat when finished. Set aside.IMG_0936

Combine grounded beef and pork in a mixing bowl together with 1/3 cup BBQ sauce and salt and pepper. Place the meat on a piece of baking paper when mixed well. roll it out until it is approximately 2 inches smaller than the bacon wrap.

Spread the shredded cheddar on to the meat followed by the rinsed spinach (remember to rinse the spinach thoroughly, as it is one of those vegetables that might contain a lot of dirt), the onion and mushroom mix and last (but not least) the jalapeños slices. Be aware to leave an edge in the meat, so that the vegetables and cheese and be fully covered when making the meat roll.

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Roll the meat up, with the filling inside, using the baking paper to help you. Close both ends of the ‘sausage’ before transferring it to the bacon wrap.

Roll the bacon wrap around the meat sausage, using the baking paper as you did when rolling the sausage. Weave the bacon ends together, so the wrap is closed all around the sausage.IMG_0938

Place on indirect heat on the grill and grill it at 360F for approximately 90 minutes. Toss a piece of wet applewood into the charcoal to give it some smoke.

Combine 2 tbsp. BBQ sauce with brown sugar and soy sauce and stir to dissolve the sugar. Spread on the BBQ/sugar mixture approximately 60 minutes into the grilling. This will make the bacon surface shine at taste both sweet and salty.  IMG_0941

Remove the bacon explosion from the grill after 90 minutes and let it rest while warming the bread.

Slice the bread and place it on the grill with the inside down for 2-3 minutes. Then spread on some mayo and place the lettuce leaves on the bottom half of the bread.

Cut the meat into 1-inch slices and place 4 slices on each sandwich bottom.IMG_0949

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Spread out a few stripes of BBQ sauce on the meat slices before placing the tomato and mozzarella on top and finally the top half of the baguette.

Serve with a cold beer 😀IMG_0958

Bon Appétit!

Ingredients (4 sandwiches)

450 g beef, grounded

450 g pork, grounded

25 slices bacon

0.8 dl BBQ sauce

Salt & Pepper

0.8 dl cheddar cheese, shredded

1 tsp. butter

2 onions, chopped

225 g mushrooms, chopped

2-3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tbsp. thyme leaves

1 jalapeño, sliced

2 handfuls fresh spinach, rinsed

2 tbsp. BBQ sauce

2 tbsp. brown sugar

4 tbsp. soy sauce

2 French baguettes

2 tbsp. mayo

4 tbsp. BBQ sauce

1 romaine lettuce

2 tomatoes, sliced

2 mozzarella balls, sliced

 

Vodka Peachini

~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ Leave a comment

A while ago we searched the internet for good drink recipe and stumbled upon a great blog by the name Seattle Foodshed, from which we got the inspiration for this lovely and fresh drink. The only difference between theirs and our recipe, is that they add tonic water to their drink making it a bit more thin in the taste but still very delicious. Actually we were going to add tonic water to but didn’t have any that day and realized that we loved it without 🙂

If you have the time, you should definitely go visit their blog as it has a lot of great recipes.

Returning to this specific drink we find it to be perfect for in all situations where drinks are suitable, such as late night get togethers, dinner party drinks or just to celebrate life and happiness 🙂

 

Ingredients (1 drink)

1 Peach

1 vodka shot

1/2 Cointreau shot

1/2 lime, juice

3 ice cubes

Cane sugar (for the glass)

 

Cut the peach into two and remove the stone. Cut a 1/2-inch slice of the peach to use for decoration and peel the rest.

Place the peeled peach, vodka, cointreau, lime juice and two ice cubes in a blender and blend until smooth.

Wet the edge of the glass with lime juice or water and twist it in the sugar.

Pour the drink through a strainer and into the glass. Decorate with the peach slice. Serve as a welcome drink or after dinner.

IMG_0934Bon Appétit!

The Famous Fried Green Tomatoes

~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ Leave a comment

Have you ever watched Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café? If not, it is definitely a huge mistake! We believe that is an all time classic that must be seen 🙂

Back in 2010 we went on a 6 week road trip in Georgia, Florida and South Carolina. Before taking the trip we had watched the movie and decided to make a short stop in Juliette, GA where the movie was shot, on our way from Atlanta, GA to St. George Island, FL.

Driving into Juliette was like driving into the movie. The town looked almost like it did back in 1991 when the movie was made, and of cause they served fried green tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe 🙂 Before watching the movie and visiting the town, we didn’t know much about fried green tomatoes, but we can assure you, that that has changed now 😀

As often as possible – the tomato season – we make these fabulous tomatoes as snacks. In the beginning of the tomato season we have to order the green tomatoes at the local farmers market, while there are no problem getting them in the late tomato season, as many people make pickled green tomatoes.

The picture below are taken in Juliette and represent the old mill, where there is a motorcycle museum today. Are you ever going near Juliette, you should definitely give it try 🙂

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Ingredients (4-5 servings)

10 green tomatoes, small

3 tbsp. flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1 pinch pepper

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup Japanese breadcrumbs (Panko)

1 cup canola oil

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Cut the green tomatoes in half if you use small tomatoes. If you use regular sized tomatoes, cut them into 1/2 – 1 inch slices.

Combine flour, salt and pepper. Turn the sliced tomatoes in the flour followed by the the buttermilk and then the breadcrumbs.IMG_0763

Place the breaded tomatoes in the fridge for about an hour before frying them.

Heat the oil in a pan and use a thermometer to control the temperature. It should be between 320 and 350F. If you have a fryer you can of cause use that 🙂

Fry the breaded tomatoes for a minute or two on each side or until they golden brown.

Serve warm as a snack with aïoli and cold beers 🙂IMG_0764 IMG_0766

Bon Appétit!

 

Ingredients (4-5 servings)

10 green tomatoes, small

3 tbsp. flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1 pinch pepper

2.5 dl buttermilk

2.5 dl Japanese breadcrumbs (Panko)

2.5 dl canola oil

Steak and Marinated Onion Sandwich

~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ Leave a comment

A few weeks ago we had a colleague of Chris’ and his wife over for dinner and wanted to make something easy, as we only had little time. We decided to make steak sandwiches with dipping sauce, and now you might think “that doesn’t sound like something you serve for dinner on a friday night”, but you cannot be more wrong- it is the perfect friday night dinner, when all you want is to spent time with good friend, and stand in the kitchen cooking all night.

They had never had sandwiches likes these before, and definitely not with dipping sauce! They looked a bit sceptic at the beginning, but as soon as they had tasted the combination of the melted cheese, the moist and tender beef together with the marinated onions and the perfectly cooked beef stock, they were excited – and they ended up eating it all – actually, we had hoped for some leftovers for saturdays lunch, but on the other hand, we love to watch when people get surprised and overeat 😀

Hope that you will like as much as we do, and we hope that you will leave a comment with your thoughts and/or suggestions 🙂

 

Ingredients (8 small sandwiches)

1 1/2 pound strip loin

3 tbsp. grainy mustard

Salt

Pepper

1 Focaccia bread

3 tbsp. mayo

10 Romaine lettuce leaves

10 slices fresh mozzarella cheese

1 marinated onion

2 cups beef stock

 

Fire up the car kettle grill and let it get hot (approximately 400F) while preparing the meat.

Season the roast with salt, pepper and mustard. Sear the meat on both sides before placing it on indirect heat with the lid on. Roast the meat until you reach a core temperature of 130-135F if you’d like it to be medium-rare or 140-145F if you’d like it to be medium (but for God’s sake DON’T overcook it!). It takes approximately 1 hour.

Remove the roast from the grill when it has reached the wanted temperature. Cover it with tin foil and let rest for 15-20 minutes before slicing it.

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While the meat is resting, you can prepare the bread and the beef stock. Slice the bread, and spread on some mayo on both sides. Place slices of fresh mozzarella cheese on the top half of the bread, and place it on the grill for a few minutes to let the cheese melt.

Boil the beef stock at let it boil until it has reduced to half the amount.

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Place lettuce leaves on the bottom half of the bread. Cut the meat into paper thin slices and place it on top of the lettuce followed by meat juice from the tin foil and the marinated onions. Top it of the top half of the bread with melted cheese.

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Cut the sandwich into 8 equally sized pieces and serve with the reduced beef stock as a dipping sauce.

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Bon Appétit!

Ingredients (8 small sandwiches)

600-700 g strip loin

3 tbsp. grainy mustard

Salt

Pepper

1 Focaccia bread

3 tbsp. mayo

10 Romaine lettuce leaves

10 slices fresh mozzarella cheese

1 marinated onion

2 cups beef stock

Black Currant Onions

~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ Leave a comment

Have you ever tasted onions marinated in black currant vinegar? If not, you need to search you pantry for the ingredients in this entry, and then go buy  the remaining ingredients. The black currant vinegar might be difficult to find in the super market and on top of that it is quite expensive, so we make it our selves – and it is sooooo easy 😀

 

Black Currant Vinegar

2 cups white wine vinegar

1 pound black currant

4 tbsp. cane sugar

 

Dissolve the sugar in the vinegar. Mash the berries slightly with a fork and place them in a clean jar and pour the vinegar over. Close the jar, shake it a few times and set a side for 2 days.

Shift the vinegar through an unbleached canvas to avoid that the berries get into the finished vinegar.

Store in an air tight container for up to 2 month (in our household it only survives a few weeks :-D).

Now you that you have bought or made your own vinegar, you are ready to make the best marinated onions in the entire world!

 

Black Currant Onions

2 red onions

1 cup black currant vinegar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 tbsp. honey

Salt

Pepper

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Slice (or chop) the onions and place in a clean jar.

Combine vinegar, oil and honey and stir until the honey has dissolved. Taste and season with salt and pepper if you find it necessary.

Pour the marinate over the sliced onions and seal the jar. Fridge for at least 4-5 hours and up to 2 weeks. If you use the onions within a few days, you can easily re-use the marinate 🙂

These onions are so delicious, and we often use them in both salads, in sandwiches, together with a steak or as side dish for tapas.

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Bon Appétit!

Easiest Focaccia Bread

~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ Leave a comment

This is without doubt one of the easiest recipes on focaccia bread that you might find on the internet. It only takes a few minutes to make the dough and if you would like to advance a bit, you can add roasted walnuts or semi-dried tomatoes together with the herbs 🙂

Most often we use the bread for sandwiches, but it is also great for tapas and/or to bring on a picnic with friends and family.

Ingredients (1 bread)

1 tbsp. active yeast

1 cup wheat flour

1 cup durrum flour

1 cup water

1 tbsp. coarse salt

6 tbsp. olive oil

1 tbsp. fresh thyme or rosemary leaves

1 tsp. sea salt

 

Dissolve the yeast into the water and add both flour types together with the coarse salt and half of the olive oil. Knead until the dough is smooth – it should be moist, but not sticky.

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Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let raise to double size, approximately one hour.

Form the raised dough into a ball and place it on a piece of baking paper. Pour the remaining olive oil over the dough and use your fingers to form the bread. It should end up being approximately 1 inch thick.

 

Sprinkle with your choice of herbs and cover the bread with a dishcloth. Let raise for additional 45-60 minutes.

Sprinkle the sea salt on top of the bread and bake in the oven at 480F for 18 minutes.

Use for sandwiches, tapas or whenever you feel like eating a good home baked bread 🙂

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Bon Appétit!

Ingredients (1 bread)

1 tbsp. active yeast

2.5 dl wheat flour

2.5 dl durrum flour

2.5 dl water

1 tbsp. coarse salt

6 tbsp. olive oil

1 tbsp. fresh thyme or rosemary leaves

1 tsp. sea salt