Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for August, 2010

Danish Hindbærsnitter

Posted in Danish, Dessert, Pastry, tagged , , , , , , on August 29, 2010| 17 Comments »

Hindbærsnitter

Hindbærsnitter

Hindbærsnitter is a very popular Danish pastry that can be found, dare I say, in any Danish bakery. To this day, it remains one of my favorite Danish pastries. Ok, so I realize that I say that about every Danish dessert that I make, but Danish pastries are simply just to die for. Hindbærsnitter consist of two pieces of pastry that is sandwiched together with a generous amount of seedless raspberry preserves and then topped off with glaze and sprinkles. It’s sweet and simply delicious.

Danish Hindbærsnit

Danish Hindbærsnit

Ingredients:

375 gram flour (3 1/3 cup flour)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

125 gram confectioners sugar (1 1/4 cup)

40 gram egg (1 large egg)

250 gram margarine (2 sticks plus 2 tablespoon)

1 – 1 1/2 cup seedless raspberry preserves

For glaze:

2 cups confectioners sugar

2-3 tablespoons cold water

For decoration:

sprinkles of your choice

Directions:

Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper and preheat oven to 430 degrees F ( 220 C).

Cut margarine into small cubes. In a small bowl combine flour, baking powder and confectioners sugar. Place dry ingredients in a food processor. Add margarine and egg and pulse until dough starts to come together and let go from walls. Remove from food processor and press together to form a ball of dough. Do not overwork. Wrap dough in cling wrap and place in refrigerator for 1 hour to chill. You can also leave dough in refrigerator until the following day.

Remove dough from refrigerator and divide into half. Quickly with your hands, form dough ball into a rectangular shape. Place on floured surface and roll out to a 9 x 14 inch rectangle. Roll dough back up onto your rolling-pin and lift onto lined baking sheet. Repeat with second half of dough. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes until golden along edges.

Once the dough comes out of the oven things will move a little fast so make sure glaze, raspberry preserves and sprinkles are ready on your counter. While dough is baking, make the glaze by mixing confectioners sugar and water together. Stir up the seedless raspberry preserves until smooth and pliable and have sprinkles ready.

As soon as the cakes come out of the oven, spread raspberry preserves over the first cake. This will be the bottom piece. Gently slide a flexible plastic cutting board under the second cake and lift it up. Then slide it off the cutting board onto the first raspberry covered cake. If the cake crack a little don’t worry, the glaze will cover it up. While the cake is still warm, start spreading the glaze out over the cake. Add the sprinkles quickly before the glaze sets. You may have to do this as you go along. Let glaze set a little but while the cake is still warm, cut into rectangular pieces. Enjoy!

Baked cake topped with raspberry jam, top with second baked cake

Baked cake topped with raspberry jam, top with second baked cake

Source: adapted from Arla

Print

Read Full Post »

Champagne Cream Sauce

Posted in Sauce, tagged , , , , , on August 22, 2010| 10 Comments »

Champagne Cream Sauce

Champagne Cream Sauce

When I first made this cream sauce I was blown away, I mean, really blown away. I’ve had many fantastic cream sauces at different restaurants before, but this sauce tops them all. It is sweet and rich in taste, but not too rich. You can of course control the amount of cream you put into the sauce, which I put in very little cream and more champagne, and it is still incredibly rich in taste. The combination of the sweet carrots, shallots and champagne, pack this sauce full of flavor.

So when we had company visiting I wanted to serve something different, something special, not the typical run of the mill and this Champagne Cream Sauce immediately came to mind. And as an added bonus, it is pretty easy to make. No need to be slaving away over a hot stove for hours and hours. I served this with a mix of my favorite ravioli and a salad.

Ingredients:

6 tablespoon butter, divided

2 shallots, finely minced

2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced

2 tablespoon tomato puree

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

3/4 cup Champagne

3 tablespoon flour

Heavy cream

Directions:

Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a skillet. Add the shallots and carrots and saute over medium-low heat until tender. Add the tomato puree and stir, cook until the mixture has begun to caramelize, 2-3 minutes. Add the chicken stock and Champagne and stir to blend. Bring to a simmer and reduce to about 1/3.

Once the sauce has reduced, heat the remaining 3 tablespoon of butter in a small saucepan. Add the flour and whisk, let it cook for 2-3 minutes to form a roux. Add the roux to the carrot mixture in the skillet and stir to mix well. Whisk in a little heavy cream and more champagne and/or chicken stock until the sauce has reached desired consistency. (Here I tend to go a little heavy on the Champagne). Pass the sauce through a strainer to remove the shallots and carrots. Serve warm atop your favorite Ravioli.

Source: Annie’s Eats, originally from Fotocuisine

Print

Read Full Post »

Hummus with Roasted Red Bell Pepper

Posted in Appetizers, Dip, Lunch, tagged , , , , , , , , on August 15, 2010| 18 Comments »

Hummus With Roasted Red Bell Pepper

Hummus With Roasted Red Bell Pepper

My first encounter with Hummus was when I watched the movie War of the Worlds with Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning. Tom Cruise picks up a wedge of pita and dips it into the Hummus, starts to eat it and then puts on an expression of disgust and horrid.  The conversation goes something like this: Tom – “What is that?” and Dakota Fanning replies – “Hummus”,  Tom – “Hummus?”, Dakota – “from the health food place, you said to order”, Tom – “I meant order food“.

And so I kept wondering what this horrible Hummus could have been, it evidently was healthy and so it probably was terrible. Then one day I noticed it at the grocery store and it didn’t look so horrible, actually it looked kinda good. I got some and tasted it and guess what….Tom Cruise was soooo wrong, Dakota Fanning was right on. I knew that little girl was so much wiser than her Dad.

Not only is Hummus delicious, it’s considered a relatively healthy food and as an added bonus it is super easy to make. Serve with Pita wedges, crackers, use as a dip with veggies or as a sandwich spread. Here is my Hummus version made with Roasted Red Bell Pepper, give it a shot. 

Ingredients:

1 – 15.5 oz can Garbanzo beans (Chickpeas)

2 oz fire roasted red bell pepper

1 tablespoon oil from jar of fire roasted bell pepper

3 tablespoon Tahini (Sesame paste)

1 garlic clove

1 tablespoon olive oil

2/3 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/4 cup water

Directions:

Rinse off Garbanzo beans. In a blender or food processor puree all ingredients except water. Gradually add the water. Puree until desired consistency. Enjoy!

Source: My Danish Kitchen

Print

Read Full Post »

Shrimp Scampi

Posted in Main course, pasta, Seafood, tagged , , , , on August 9, 2010| 18 Comments »

Shrimp Scampi

Shrimp Scampi

Shrimp Scampi is elegant, intensely flavored and surprisingly easy to make. It seems like a complicated dish because it’s usually something you would choose to order at a nice restaurant and not something you would think of to make at home. And the shrimp and pasta does not have to swim in butter like some places like to serve them. There wasn’t a lot of butter in this recipe to begin with but I cut it back even further and it is still delicious. I love Shrimp Scampi and serve it quite often, try it, I really think you’ll like it.

Ingredients:

1/2 pound angle hair pasta

3 tablespoon butter

3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 large shallot, finely diced

5 cloves of garlic, minced

Pinch red pepper flakes, optional

1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 cup dry white wine

1 lemon, juiced

1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped

1/2 cup Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated

1/2 cup pasta water, reserved

Directions:

Cook angle hair pasta al dente according to package directions. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter with 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Saute the shallots, garlic and red pepper flakes until shallots are translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Season the shrimp with salt and pepper, add them to pan and cook until they turn pink, 3 minutes. Remove shrimp from pan and cover with foil to keep warm. Add wine and lemon juice to pan and bring to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil and once butter has melted return the shrimp to the pan along with the parsley, cooked pasta, grated cheese. Add reserved pasta water if needed. Stir well and season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Source: adapted from Tyler Florence

Print

Read Full Post »

Butter Chicken

Posted in Chicken, Comfort food, Main course, tagged , , , , , , , , , on August 6, 2010| 15 Comments »

Butter Chicken

Butter Chicken

This is an absolutely delicious chicken dish; I just can’t stress that enough. Truly, this is one of my favorites. You can make it with or without the whipping cream or you can use half and half instead, I have made it either ways and it’s equally delicious. This dish is also great to make ahead of time, as a matter of fact, the flavors are more intense the following day. Try serving this with Jasmine Rice if you can find it at your local grocery store.  Also, I cut back on the amount of butter. Come to think of it, should we still call this Butter Chicken then?

Ingredients:

4 pieces Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts

5 Garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon Salt

1/2 teaspoon Pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground Coriander

1/4 teaspoon Cumin

1/4 teaspoon Cardamom

1 whole Lime, juiced

1 whole Onion, diced

2 tablespoon Butter

2 tablespoon Olive Oil

1 can (14.5 oz) Tomato Sauce

1 can (14.5 oz) Diced Tomatoes

a pinch of Crushed Red Pepper

1/2 cup Whipping Cream

1 bunch chopped Cilantro, to taste

Serve with Jasmine Rice

Directions:

Cut chicken breasts into bite size pieces and place in a large zip lock bag or bowl. Add first 8 ingredients to the chicken and mix it up well. Marinate 12-24 hours in refrigerator.

Saute onion in butter and olive oil until soft. Add marinated chicken and cook 8-10 minutes over medium heat. Add tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and crushed red pepper. Simmer for 30 minutes over medium-low heat with the lid on. Add whipping cream and cilantro just before serving over Jasmine Rice.

Source: The Pioneer Woman, originally posted on Tasty Kitchen by lillieknits

Print

Read Full Post »

Mini Fruit Tarts

Posted in Dessert, tagged , , , , , , , on August 2, 2010| 17 Comments »

Mini Fruit Tart

Mini Fruit Tart

These Mini Fruit Tarts are not completely homemade. As a matter of fact, they are a quick and easy dessert to put together when you don’t have the time to make a homemade tart shell. I found these handy-dandy, pre-made, ready-to-fill sweet tart shells at the store.  I was intrigued and thought they could come in handy should the occasion arise, and it did. When we had company visiting and I already had a lot on my plate, these little tarts saved me quite a bit of time. And I love fruit tarts! Now this filling is very different from the filling I used in my Fresh Fruit Tart with Vanilla Pastry Cream. The two taste nothing alike. When you make this Mascapone filling, start with just 1 tablespoon of Amaretto and taste it since the Amaretto can sometimes get to be a little overpowering, and then add more according to your taste. I hope you enjoy this beautiful little summer dessert.

Ingredients:

3 egg yolks

2 tablespoon sugar

8 oz. Mascarpone cheese (1 container)

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 to 2 tablespoon Amaretto

fruit – Kiwi and Mandarin

package of ready-to-fill sweet tart shells

Apple jelly – for glaze

Directions:

In a mixing bowl add egg yolks and sugar and mix on high-speed until mixture is light yellow and creamy (about 4-5 minutes). Add Mascarpone cheese and mix well. Add vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon of Amaretto. Taste the mixture and add more Amaretto according to taste.

Line up ready-to-fill tart shells on a baking sheet and fill with Mascapone cream mixture. Spread mixture evenly and place in refrigerator to let cream set up for 1 hour.

Drain liquid from the Mandarin’s and place them on a paper towel to soak up excess liquid. You do not want your fruit wet when you place them onto the filling. Peel and slice Kiwi fruit, if very moist pat dry with a paper towel. Take out filled tart shells from refrigerator and arrange fruit in a circle on top of cream filling. Place some Apple jelly in a microwave safe bowl and heat jelly in the microwave until melted and smooth. Heat in 10 second increments for approximately 1-2 minutes depending on how much you need. Once Apple jelly is melted, use as a glaze and brush onto the arranged fruit on the filled tart shells. It will give your tarts a beautiful shine. Enjoy.

Kiwi Mini Fruit Tart

Source: adapted from Bell’ alimento

Print

Read Full Post »

%d bloggers like this: