Shrimp And Lime Cocktail

Guess what time it is? It’s Secret Recipe time!

This months assignment for the Secret Recipe Club was for me to go sneak around A Spoonful of Thyme’s food blog. The site belongs to Kate who is a seasoned traveler (I’m a little jealous here) and her lovely food blog is filled with many, many delicious savory and sweet recipes. Usually I am tempted to go for the sweet recipes but Kate has numerous wonderful shrimp dishes and shrimp is what was on my mind that particular day. And so I pondered for a while over the shrimp dishes and finally settled on this Shrimp and Lime Cocktail.

This shrimp cocktail is a zesty little dish and it’s quick and very easy to prepare. The combination of the tangy lime, sweet ketchup with a little heat from the hot sauce is delicious. The only thing I did differently was to serve it on a bed of baby spinach or even better you could also use finely shredded lettuce. Thanks Kate for sharing your wonderful recipe with all of us

Ingredients:

1 lb large peeled and deveined shrimp

1 teaspoon grated lime peel

1/4 cup lime juice

1/4 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup ketchup

a dash of hot sauce (optional)

baby spinach or shredded lettuce

Directions:

Cook peeled and deveined shrimp for 3 minutes or until pink, careful not to over-cook. Place in refrigerator to cool.

Using a microplane, grate the green outer layer of the lime and place in a small bowl. Juice the lime and pour juice over the grated peel. Add wine, ketchup and hot sauce (if desired) to lime juice/peel, stir to combine. Pour liquid over shrimp and stir to cover shrimp. Place shrimp back into refrigerator and marinate for at least 3-4 hours, preferably overnight. Serve shrimp cold on a bed of baby spinach or shredded lettuce. Enjoy!

Source: adapted from A Spoonful of Thyme

Fastelavnsboller

Fastelavn (Shrovetide) is right around the corner in Denmark and so this time of year you see these wonderful fresh-baked filled rolls everywhere. I have posted about the Danish Fastelavn tradition before but I think the Fastelavnsboller is totally worth revisiting, especially since they are one of my favorite Danish treats. If your curious to learn more about this fun tradition for the children check out my previous post on Fastelavnsboller here.

Fastelavnsboller

These particular Fastelavnsboller are lighter in texture than my previous recipe. The dough is soft and elastic and very easy to work with. Also there is no rolling out the dough. Simply just divide the dough into smaller portions, roll in your hands, then flatten and fill. Easy peasy!  I choose to do several different fillings. I made a delicious kagecreme (custard) and I also used seedless raspberry jam and Nutella.

This time though, I had to convert from cake yeast (aka fresh yeast, compressed yeast, bakers yeast) to dry yeast because my good-ol-familiar cake yeast was nowhere to be found in any of the stores around here. Having to work with the unfamiliar dry yeast caused me a little anxiety and I had serious doubts that the dough would rise at all. I went over my conversion again and again and how to handle the dry yeast, but everything went beautifully and the dough rose like a tower. Here is the link to the conversion table which I used.

Ingredients:

For Fastelavnsboller dough:

2 deciliter milk (7 ounces)

50 grams cake yeast = 7.25 teaspoon active dry yeast (I used active dry yeast)

50 grams sugar (1.7 or 1  3/4 ounce)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

1 teaspoon vanilla sugar

1 deciliter heavy whipping cream (3.3 ounces)

125 grams butter, melted (4.4 or 4 3/8 ounces) or (8.4 tablespoons)

500 grams all-purpose flour (1 pound + 2 ounces) or (4 cups + 2 tablespoons)

1 beaten egg for brushing

seedless raspberry jam, for filling, if using

Nutella, for filling, if using

For Kagecreme (custard), for filling, if using:

1 deciliter heavy whipping creme (3.3 ounces) or (0.4 cup)

1 1/2 deciliter milk (5 ounces) or (0.6 cup)

50 grams sugar (1.7 or 1 3/4 ounce)

2 whole eggs

1 vanilla bean

2 tablespoon cornstarch

For the Icing:

1 cup confectioners sugar

warm water

food color, if desired

Directions:

Heat the milk to between 100-110 degrees F (37-43 degrees C) and sprinkle active dry yeast over the warm milk, let sit for 10 minutes. I do this in the bowl of my stand mixer. Melt butter and add cream to butter, set aside. To the yeast mixture add sugar, salt, cardamom, vanilla sugar and butter/cream mixture. With the dough hook in place start mixing on medium-low adding the flour in increments. Mix until a ball of dough forms. Place dough in a large bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a clean tea towel and place bowl in a warm draft free area. Allow dough to rise for 1 hour or until double in size.

Meanwhile make the Kagecreme (custard), if using. Mix together the creme and milk, pour into a saucepan, holding back 1/4 cup of the liquid. Add the cornstarch to the 1/4 cup liquid and stir to combine, set aside. Add sugar, eggs, seeds from vanilla bean + vanilla bean pods. Over medium low heat, whisking frequently, add the remaining 1/4 cup cornstarch liquid mixture. Continue to whisk until liquid starts to thicken and simmer. Remove from heat, discard vanilla bean pods and place in a small bowl. Cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the custard to prevent skin from forming. Place in refrigerator to cool

Back to the dough. Cover two large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Beat egg for the egg wash and set aside. Pour dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Briefly knead the dough. Cut the dough into 12 equal portions. Using your hands, roll first piece of dough into a ball, place on work surface and flatten with the palm of your hand spreading it into a 5 inch (13 centimeter) circle. Place filling of your choice onto circle of dough. Brush the edge of circle with egg wash to act as a glue. Fold four edges up to the center and press to seal all edges, letting the air inside escape. Brush a little more egg wash over the seam, turn the dough ball over, tuck under all edges and place on baking sheet with seam side down. Repeat with remaining dough pieces.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Allow filled dough balls to rise on the baking sheets, covered with clean tea towels, for 30 minutes. Right before baking, brush dough balls with remaining egg wash. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

To make the icing, mix together confectioners sugar with a little warm water at the time, stirring until smooth. Glaze should be somewhat thick but spreadable. Add food color if desired. Enjoy!

Source: adapted from Maden I Mit Liv

Cornflakes Tops with Strawberries and Nougat

I don’t get into the hype of Valentine’s Day but for those of you looking for a quick and easy little treat to serve for your loved ones, these Cornflakes Tops are just that. I realize of course that nougat is not readily available in the grocery stores in the States, so I purchase it online and to me it’s well worth the effort. But if you don’t want the trouble of having to purchase something online, simply just leave the Nougat out of the recipe and add a little more chocolate instead. The Nougat adds a slightly nutty flavor to the chocolate and the freeze-dried strawberries gives it a sweet yet tangy sensation.  I love how every bite of these Cornflakes Tops stay crunchy. The cornflakes are perfect for holding its crispness even after they have been smothered with chocolate. I hope you enjoy these lovely little bites as much as we did.

Cornflakes Tops with Strawberries and Nougat

Ingredients:

7 oz semi-sweet chocolate (200 grams)

3.5 oz nougat (100 grams)

2 oz cornflakes, original (60 grams)

5/8 oz freeze-dried strawberries (15 grams), plus more for sprinkling on top

Directions:

Give dried strawberries a rough chop and place in a bowl with cornflakes. Over a warm water bath, melt nougat and chocolate. Remove bowl from water bath and pour chocolate over cornflakes and chopped strawberries. Stir gently but thoroughly to ensure dry ingredients are completely covered with chocolate. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and drop spoonfuls of cornflakes into little haystack shapes. Top with additional finely chopped strawberries and place in refrigerator for two hours to cool and set. To store, keep refrigerated. Enjoy!

Source: My Danish Kitchen

Nougat

Coconut Ice Cream with Saffron

It’s been a while since I’ve made Ice Cream, and yes I know it’s in the dead of winter, but I just really had a desire to make Ice Cream. I wanted it be a coconut flavor since that is one of Joe’s (my husband) favorite flavors. Then I came across this exotic Coconut with Saffron Ice Cream on David Lebovitz’s food blog. I literally heard it calling my name and I could hardly wait to get started on making it.

To make the Ice cream was a breeze. Throw the ingredients together, simmer and then cool. The following day, into the ice cream maker and it was done within 10 minutes. The color is a brilliant yellow color with beautiful tiny stands of red saffron (I am not sure my photos did the saffron stands justice). And the taste…well the taste is very interesting. Joe and I kept tasting it over and over again to try to fully comprehend the flavor. Joe was disappointed because the coconut flavor was lost against the saffron. I kinda like the saffron flavor. Who knew that saffron had so much flavor in it? I’ve had saffron before but I have never tasted it like this. So when David Lebovitz says “a scant” 1/2 teaspoon saffron (which is difficult to measure out), don’t get carried away with the saffron because it is intense, in this beautiful yellow Ice Cream.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup heavy cream (160 ml)

1 cup coconut milk (250 ml)

1/4 cup sugar

scant 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads

Directions:

Add all ingredients to a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer gently for another 10 minutes stirring occasionally. Pour mixture into a sealed Tupperware and allow to cool completely.

Once chilled, pour mixture into your ice cream maker and run according to the manufacturer’s directions. Once churned, serve immediately or place in a sealed container and freeze. Enjoy!

Source: David Lebovitz

Penne Pasta with Shrimp

I had a craving for pasta and shrimp but didn’t want Shrimp Scampi since we had that not too long ago. Then i remembered this pasta dish which I have been meaning to try out. I made some adjustment to fit my likings and it turned out really good. The flavors are mild, a little sweet and creamy. I think I might add a little red pepper flakes next time I make this just to give it a kick.

Ingredients:

1/2 pound penne pasta

1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 small onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup white wine

2 tbsp tomato paste

14.5 oz canned diced tomatoes

1/4 cup half and half

1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped

8-10 basil leaves, chiffonade

Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Bring salted pasta water to a boil, add pasta and cook until al dente.

Peel and devein shrimp, season with salt and pepper and set aside. In a large pan, melt 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp olive oil over medium high heat. Add shrimp and cook for two minutes, turning shrimp over half-way through cooking time. Remove shrimp from pan and set aside.

Add 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp olive oil to pan and lower heat to medium. Cook diced onions until tender and translucent. Add minced garlic and cook one minute longer, add wine and reduce for 2-3 minutes.  Add tomato paste and stir to blend. Add canned tomatoes and continue to simmer covered until pasta is ready.

Add pasta, parsley, basil and half/half. Bring to a simmer and turn off heat. Add shrimp back into pasta dish and arrange on serving dish. Top with Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. Enjoy!

Source: adapted from Pioneer Woman Cooks Book

Chicken and Roasted Red Pepper Quisadilla

I love a really good Chicken Quisadilla and when you make them yourself at home, your completely in charge of the outcome. I don’t particularly like a lot of cheese on my food and when asking for light cheese in a restaurant, it still comes loaded on. In this write-up I have not written any amounts, simply just make it to your own liking.

Makes 1 Quisadilla

Ingredients:

2 flour tortillas (6 inch)

russian dressing for spreading

cooked chicken, sliced

Cabot extra sharp cheese

feta cheese

roasted red pepper, diced

fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions:

Preheat pan or grill to medium heat. Spread russian dressing on one side of each of the two tortillas. Top first tortilla with chicken, Cabot and feta cheese, red pepper and cilantro. Top off with second tortilla. Place on grill or pan, cook until cheese is melted. Flip over and continue cooking until light browned. Remove from heat and cut into quarters. Enjoy!

Source: My Danish Kitchen

Sloppy Joes

Sloppy Joes! I completely forgot about Sloppy Joes! That was until we were visiting my sister in-law Linda, and her husband John was making Sloppy Joes for a football party and the aroma filling the house was simply amazing. I have not had this dish for many, many years. Probably not since Nicholas was a very little boy and at that time it was probably not made from scratch either. But John’s cooking got me inspired to make Sloppy Joes again and what better crowd to make it for than Joe’s Blacksmithing buddies, aka the Burleymen

Just a little note about this recipe. Next time around I would go easy on the sugar. The full amount of 2 tablespoons of brown sugar may be a bit much in my opinion so I would add it in small increments, tasting as I go. Other than that, I thought it was a really flavorful recipe and everyone seemed to enjoy it.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 1/2 pounds ground beef

1 medium onion, diced

1 large green bell pepper, diced

2 large garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 cup ketchup

1 cup water

1-2 tablespoons brown sugar, or to taste

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste

Worcestershire sauce, to taste

2 tablespoons tomato paste

salt and pepper, to taste

Kaiser Rolls

Butter, optional

Directions:

Add olive oil to large cooking pot and heat to medium-high. Add ground beef and brown, drain off fat. Add onions, bell peppers and garlic. Cook until onions are translucent. Add ketchup, water, brown sugar, chili powder, dry mustard, red pepper flakes, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, salt and pepper. Stir and let simmer covered for 15-20 minutes. Adjust seasonings to taste.

Slice rolls in half, butter if desired and toast on pan grill or in oven under broiler. Load meat onto toasted rolls and have plenty of napkins on hand because this is a messy affair. Enjoy! 

Source: adapted from Pioneer Woman

Leverpostej - Danish Liver Pate

Making Danish Liver Pate probably got me more excited than any other recipe I have had the pleasure to blog about. You absolutely must experience a warm, home-made Liver Pate. Fresh out of the oven, served with fried mushrooms and bacon or topped with some wonderful pickled beets. This is actually the first time I have made it myself. I have been wanting to make it for the past 25 years but somehow the thought of making it by myself was always overwhelming. And  now that I have finally made my first-ever home-made Liver Pate, I can’t quite figure out what the fuzz was all about.

Leverpostej - Danish Liver Pate

Liver Pate is everywhere in Denmark. It can be found, dare I say, in all self-respecting grocery stores. It is a way of life, as natural as the air we breath. The store-bought Liver Pate is very good but there is something to be said about a home-made Liver Pate and I think it is definitely worth the effort! The Pate can be served cold or warm on an open-faced sandwich often topped with either pickled beets, crispy fried onions, mushrooms, cucumbers or Danish Sky which is basically a beef jello. It can be made plainly with just one topping or it can be quite an elaborate Smørrebrød creation.

Liver Pate is not the most pleasant food to prepare, truth be told, it’s really kinda gross. BUT, the end result is making me feel like I’m in heaven. Let me just say that there are hundreds of different ways you can make Liver Pate. I’ve heard of adding potatoes, apples, anchovies, Bechamel sauce – or not, a lot of spices – or not, high-fat – low-fat, animal fat (called Spæk in Danish) vs just margarine, so there are many, many variations out there. This recipe is the one my Mother and Father uses and I think it’s simply just wonderful. Thanks Mom and Dad for helping me make my first ever Liver Pate!

My Mom and Dad, Åse and Ove

Please note that when you go to look for the fat (spæk) used in this recipe, it’s not something you’ll typically find sitting in the freezer section at your grocery store. Simply just ask the butcher in the meat department if they can give you a couple of chunks of fat. Often times, they wont even charge you for it

Ingredients:

For the Bechamel Sauce:

1 deciliter milk (3.4 oz)

4 deciliter water (13.5 oz)

1 extra-large vegetable bouillon cube (10 grams, 3/8 oz)

50 grams margarine (1 3/4 oz)

4-5 tablespoons flour

1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1/4 teaspoon pepper, or to taste

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

For the Liver mixture:

500 grams Liver ( 1 lb)

80 grams fat (2 7/8 oz)

65 grams smoked bacon (2 1/2 oz)

50 grams onion (2 oz)

3 whole large eggs

Directions:

To make Bechamel sauce: In a saucepan add water and milk. Break-up vegetable bouillon cube into liquid and bring up to warm temperature, turn heat off. In a pan, melt margarine. Add flour and whisk until smooth, continue to cook for 2-3 minutes. Add warm milk/water in 1 cup increments while whisking. Mixture should be like a thick gravy. Add salt, pepper, allspice and nutmeg to taste. If you get lumps in this gravy simply just run it through a sieve. Pour gravy into a covered Tupperware container and allow to cool in refrigerator.

Cut Liver, fat, bacon and onion into 1 inch pieces. Starting with the fat, bacon and onion, either run them through a meat grinder twice or process in a food processor until you have a slightly lumpy mixture. Liver should only go through meat grinder once or add Liver to food processor and blend until pretty smooth. Mix together Liver and fat mixture. Add the 3 whole eggs and cooled Bechamel sauce, stir to combine. Pour into small aluminum forms (I got 4 small forms full) and if freezing cover top tightly with aluminum foil and store in freezer safe bags. When ready to cook Liver Pate, fill an oven-proof dish with warm water 1/2 way up the side of aluminum form. Bake uncovered in oven at 200 degree C (390 degrees F) for 1 hour 30 minutes. Enjoy!

Source: my parents Ove and Åse Frandsen

Pebernødder

This year I am trying out a different version of Pebernødder. There is of course numerous different recipes floating around out there but I came across this one which had some very high praises attached to it. Evidently it is from Lagkagehuset in Denmark which is a renowned bakery with several locations in Denmark.

Pebernødder

This recipe is very good indeed, really it is! However, I had forgotten why I choose my original Pebernødder recipe and it was because I am not a big fan of pepper. It’s not that you can taste the pepper per se but it does leave a slight heat on your tongue, which I don’t particularly care for, but that’s just me. But the Pebernød really is very tasty in itself and it bakes perfectly. So if your like me, I suppose we can simply just leave out the pepper

Ingredients:

125 grams butter, at room temperature (4 3/8 ounces)

125 grams dark brown sugar (4 1/4 ounces)

1/2 deciliter heavy whipping cream (1.7 ounces)

250 grams all-purpose flour (8 3/4 ounces)

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Directions:

Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 200 degrees C (390 degrees F).

Beat together butter and sugar until smooth. Add cream and beat until combined. Sift together flour, spices, baking soda and baking powder. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until combined. Place dough onto lightly floured working surface, knead dough briefly and divide into four smaller portions. Roll each portion out into logs the size of your middle finger. Cut logs into 1 centimeter (0.4 inch) pieces and place on baking sheets. Bake 10 minutes or until light browned in color. Let cool on baking sheets before storing in an airtight container. Glædelig Jul and Merry Christmas ♥

Source: Maden i mit Liv originally from Lagkagehuset

Brunkager

Here is another Cookie which I grew up with. You can buy a version of this in some grocery store, but why on earth do that, when you can fill your house with an intense aroma of cinnamon, cloves and ginger. The Brunkage cookie is crunchy and crisp and to me it’s filled with childhood Christmas memories from a long, long time ago….well, not that long ago

I’ve been searching for a Brunkage recipe which uses ingredients that I have relative easy access to. Again, there are numerous different ways to make this cookie. This recipe is really straight forward as far as ingredients go, it is easy and quick to make and the cookies are very flavorful. As far as the syrup goes, I did use a Danish dark syrup (mørk sirup, in Danish). However, I did some inquiring about a substitute syrup and the response I got was that Maple syrup will work just fine. So although I have not tried it myself, it should be no problem using Maple syrup. I hope you enjoy this cookies as much as I do!

Brunkage thickness

Ingredients:

200 grams butter (7 ounces), at room temperature

200 grams sugar (7 ounces)

1 deciliter syrup (0.4 cup) (100 milliliter)

1 teaspoon ginger

3 teaspoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground cloves

300 – 325 grams flour (10.6 – 11.5 ounces)

1 teaspoon baking soda

100 – 125 grams blanched sliced almonds (3.5 – 4.4 ounces)

Directions:

In the bowl of an stand-up mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or electrical mixer add butter and sugar and beat until smooth. Add syrup, ginger, cinnamon and cloves, mix until combined. Holding back a small amount of flour for kneading the dough, add the majority of the flour and all of the baking soda and almonds. Mix until combined, careful not to over-mix. Turn dough out onto working surface and using the remaining flour, knead the dough briefly until smooth.  Divide dough into two equal portions and form  two logs 5 centimeters in thickness. Wrap each log in plastic wrap and place in a zip lock bag. Let dough rest in refrigerator overnight.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C (390 degrees F) and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Slice dough into approximately 4-5 mm (0.2 inch) thick slices and bake in the middle of oven for 4-5 minutes. Cool on baking sheet for 2-3 minutes before moving to cooling rack. Store cookies in a cookie tin with a tight-fitting lid. Glædelig Jul and Merry Christmas

Mørk Sirup

Source: Kirsten Hüttemeier via Connie Lauridsen Childs