Sweet • Sour • Savory

Food blog on scandinavian style food done right.

Mushroom Gorgonzola sauce

Tove Balle-PedersenComment

Gorgonzola is not my favorite cheese, it’s way too strong, powerful, and potent for my taste. But I like it on pizza and in a sauce like this. I need other flavors to mellow out the potency of the Gorgonzola. In this sauce the acidity from the wine, the umami from the mushrooms, gives it a great balance.

Ingredients:

  • 1 teaspoon butter

  • 100 g mushrooms, cleaned at sliced

  • 50 g Gorgonzola

  • 50 ml white wine

  • 100 ml heavy whipping cream

  • 1 pinch of sugar

  • 2 teaspoons corn starch

  • water

  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Melt the butter in a saucepan, sauté the mushrooms for 3-4 minutes. You don’t want the to caramelize, because it’s a pale sauce. Add the wine and cheese, and let it melt while stirring the sauce.

Add the cream and heat the sauce to just before the boiling point. (Ok my sauce boiled, and it turned out great).

Thicken the sauce with corn starch mixed in cold water, to the desired consistency.

Taste the sauce seasoning it with sugar, salt and pepper.

Serve it to a steak or on pasta with arugula and walnuts.

Enjoy!

Champignon og Gorgonzola Sauce

Ingredienser:

  • 1 tsk smør

  • 100 g champignon, rensede og skiveskårne

  • 50 g gorgonzola

  • 0,5 dl hvidvin

  • 1 dl piskefløde

  • Lidt sukker

  • 2 tsk maizena

  • koldt vand

  • Salt og peber, tilsmagning

Fremgangsmåde:

Smelt smør i en gryde og sauter champignon i 3-4 minutter uden det tager farve, da dette er en lys sauce.

Tilsæt vin og ost og lad osten smelte mens der røres i saucen. Nu tilsættes fløden og bring sovsen op til lige under kogepunktet. (Ok min sauce kom op og koge, og det skete der intet ved).

Jævn saucen med maizena rørt op i koldt vand. Tilsmag nu saucen med sukker, salt og peber.

Server saucen til en god bøf eller på en pasta med lidt valnødder og rucola.

Enjoy!

Roasted Cauliflower in Tahini Dressing

Dinner, dressing, Sides, Vegetables, VegetarianTove Balle-PedersenComment

Roasted Cauliflower in Tahini Dressing

One of my favorite vegetables is cauliflower. I love it raw, cooked, baked, and as cauliflower rice.

A few weeks ago I saw this version on a tahini dressing, and thought I had to try it. it didn’t disappoint.

The cauliflower is sprinkled with cumin and roasted in the oven, then placed on top of the dressing, with a topping of parsley, onion and almonds

This is the perfect side for a piece of grilled meat, like lamb or chicken.

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

Roasted cauliflower:

  • 1 cauliflower, cut into bouquets

  • 4 tablespoons olive oil

  • 1 tablespoon cumin

  • Sprinkle of salt

Tahini dressing:

  • 2 tablespoons tahini

  • 6 tablespoons Greek yogurt

  • 1 garlic clove,

  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed

  • Salt to taste

Topping:

  • 4 tablespoons almonds, roasted and chopped

  • 1 handful Italian parsley, chopped

  • 1 small onion, finely diced

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 430℉/220℃.

Place cauliflower on a parchment paper lined baking sheet, drizzle olive oil over and sprinkle salt and cumin, mix it so the cauliflower is evenly coated. Roast the cauliflower for 15-20 minutes. You want them to be tender with a bit of a crunchy texture.

Mix the ingredients to the dressing and season additional salt and lemon juice to taste.

Mix the topping in a bowl, and set aside

Spread the dressing on to a serving dish, place the roasted cauliflower on top, adding the topping on last.

Serve immediately.

Enjoy

Danish version:

Bagt blomkål med tahindressing

Ingredienser:

Blomkål:

  • 1 blomkål, delt op i buketter

  • 4 spsk oliven olie

  • 1 spsk spidskommen

  • Lidt salt

Tahindressing:

  • 2 spsk tahini

  • 6 spsk græsk yoghurt

  • 1 fed hvidløg

  • 1 spsk friskpresset citronsaft

  • Salt, efter smag

Topping:

  • 4 spsk grofthakkede ristede mandler

  • 1 håndfuld bredbladet persille, groft hakket

  • 1 lille løg, finthakket

Fremgangsmåde:

Forvarm oven til 220℃.

Blomkål:

Vend blomkålsbuketterne med olivenolie, spidskommen og salt. Kom blomkålen på en bageplade, med bagepapir. Bag blomkålen i 15-20 minutter indtil de er møre med lidt bid, og har fået lidt farve.

Dressing:

Bland alle ingredienserne sammen i en skål, smag til med ekstra salt og citron.

Topping:

Bland ingredienserne sammen.

Kom et godt lag dressing ud på et fad, kom det bagte blomkål ovenpå. Fordel toppingen øverst og server.

Enjoy!

Moroccan Style Roasted Carrots

Dinner, Sides, Vegetables, VegetarianTove Balle-Pedersen1 Comment

Moroccan Style Roasted Carrots

I have been looking for more interesting ways to serve vegetables. Especially in the early spring, before all the summer vegetables gets in the stores.

The combination of flavors and textures from the dressing and topping really elevate the humble carrot into something special. These carrots are a new favorite, so I recommend to make plenty.

We had these carrots as a part of a Moroccan themed dinner, with roasted leg of lamb seasoned with ras el hanout, roasted cauliflower with tahini dressing and couscous.

The recipe is adapted from Julie Bruun.

Serves 2-3.

Ingredients:

  • 10-12 carrots (the small ones with the top or thin snack carrots

  • Oil for the baking

  • A sprinkle of salt

    Dressing:

  • 100 ml Greek style yogurt

  • ½ teaspoon cumin

  • ½ teaspoon ground coriander

  • ¼ teaspoon cinnamon

  • ½ teaspoon salt

    Topping:

  • Fresh tarragon, chopped

  • Almonds, roasted and coarsely chopped

Directions:

Preheat the oven for 425℉ / 220℃.

Wash the carrots, and trim off most of green top part. Place the carrots in an ovenproof dish, and toss them with oil and a sprinkle of salt.

Roast the carrots for 15-20 minutes. Let the carrots cool for a minute, before adding dressing and topping.

Serve the carrots immediately.

Enjoy!

Roasted Tomato Pumpkin Soup

Soup, Vegetables, VegetarianTove Balle-PedersenComment

The is a base for a great roasted vegetable soup. You can use most vegetables. I use this when I have a lot of vegetables I need to use in my refrigerator. I have added peppers, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, zucchinis, squash. But keeping pumpkin and tomato in the leading role.

The soup freezes well, so make a large batch so you have an easy dinner for a busy day.

Ingredients:

  • olive oil for the roasting

  • 1 small pumpkin (Hokkaido) (400g)

  • 2 onions

  • 4 large tomatoes

  • 400 g cherry tomatoes

  • 2 garlic bulbs

  • 1-2 chili peppers

  • 1 bell pepper

  • 1 ½ teaspoon salt

  • 3-4 sprigs of fresh thyme

  • 2 ½ cup (600 ml) boullion (chicken or vegetable)

  • ½ cup (ca 100 ml) heavy whipping cream

  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 440℉ (225℃).

Peel garlic and onions. Wash and cut all the vegetable in chunks, and place them on a parchment lined roasting pan. Sprinkle with salt and olive oil.

Roast the vegetables for 20 minutes, then shut the oven off, letting the vegetables in the oven for another 15-20 minutes.

Pour all the vegetables in to a large pot. add the boullion and then let it simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Blend the soup either in a blender* or using an immersion blender. Add the cream and season the soup with salt and pepper.

Serve the soup with some good bread and maybe your favorite topping, like nuts, sour cream, or crispy bacon.

Enjoy!

* Be careful when working with hot soup in a blender.  If you need a new blender, consider a Vitamix. They are expensive, but they are worth all the money. They can liquefy almost anything and makes soup and margaritas so smooth and creamy. But the best part, you can blend hot soups without having to clean the soup of all your kitchen cabinets afterwards. Just saying. ;)

Green Bean and Asparagus Salad with Lemony Feta Dressing

Salad, Sides, Vegetarian, Vegetables, dressingTove Balle-PedersenComment

Green Bean and Asparagus Salad with Lemony Feta Dressing.

This salad is a fresh and crisp side perfect for a summer BBQ. The creamy lemony feta dressing makes it a perfect parring to almost everything. It’s great with fish, chicken and even for ribs or roasts.

I was in search of a salad without leafy greens, a more crunchy salads. Previously I have been using green beans and snap peas for this, so I added some extra crunch with asparagus and radishes. The cheesy lemony dressing was a mix of my love of feta mixed with the taste of the lemon pepper pasta.

Serves 3-4.

Ingredients:

  • 200g green beans, trimmed

  • 1 bunch (10-15) asparagus, trimmed

  • 125g snap peas

  • 10 radishes, sliced

Dressing:

  • 1 lemon, the juice from

  • 2 tablespoons lemon olive oil

  • 75g feta cheese

  • freshly ground pepper

Directions:

Wash and trim snap peas, asparagus, and green beans. For the asparagus I hold each stalk about half way down its length, and at the thick end. Then bend the stalk until it snaps, discard the thick end. This way you only get the good crispy part of the asparagus.

Blanch the vegetables for 1 minute, by adding the vegetables to a large pot of boiling water. With a slotted spoon remove the vegetables from the boiling water and plunge them in a large bowl with ice water. Cut the vegetables into bite-size pieces. Spread the vegetables in a shallow bowl, and sprinkle the sliced radishes on top.

Mix all the ingredients for the dressing, using a fork to incorporate the feta to the dressing. Pour the dressing over the salad, and mix it well.

Serve the salad as a side to your favorite protein, or to your summer BBQ.