Thai Meatballs with Shrimp

We really like thai-inspired food in our house. Mostly we have rice with the meal, but I needed a lighter meal, so I opted for a pearl barley/cabbage salad. 

The meatballs were really really tasty. They were very flavorful, a little on the spicy side, but you can control that with the amount of chili you add. If you need a new twist to your normal meatballs give these a try. 

Ingredients:

Thai Meatballs:

• 450 g (1 lbs) ground pork

• 150 g (⅓ lbs) raw shrimp (peeled and deveined), grounded

• 3 scallions, thinly sliced

• 1 teaspoon grated ginger

• 1 jalapeño, minced

• 1 garlic clove, minced

• 1 small handful cilantro leaves, chopped

• ½ lime, the juice from

• ½ teaspoon sesame oil

• ½ teaspoon red curry paste

• ½ teaspoon fish sauce

• salt and pepper to taste

• vegetable oil for frying

Salad:

• pearl barley, cooked according to instructions on package

• green cabbage, thinly sliced

• cilantro

• carrots, julienned

• chili pepper, julienned

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients for the meatballs in a bowl. Heat a skillet with some vegetable oil and panfry a small test meatball. Taste the cooked test meatball and season the meatball mixture if it according to your taste.

Form the meatball with a spoon, and panfry them, until cooked through. Mix up the salad, and serve the meatballs on the salad with some satay sauce on the side.

Enjoy!

The Perfect Roasted Duck and Pork Roast.

A duck roasting in the oven.

December 20th.

Every year we look for guides to roasting duck and danish pork roast. Here is my take on how to make christmas dinner. We serve both duck and pork roast, but we only have one oven. A lot of people has this issue, and therefore they roast the duck the day before, but not in the house, that would be way to easy. ;0)

Danish Pork Roast

We make the pork roast in the grill/BBQ, on indirect heat, with a pan under to save the drippings, and this pan has to be refilled with water a couple of time while roasting. Other than that, its the same recipe as here:

Danish Pork Roast

By slow roasting the duck you get the most juicy duck ever. 

Slow-roasted Duck.

For the traditional Danish Christmas dinner serve with caramelizes potatoes and pickled red cabbage.

Æbleflæsk - Apple Pork

Æbleflæsk - Apple Pork

Æbleflæsk, or apple pork, is one of the oldest dishes in Denmark. It is rooted in the pre-industrial era, dated before 1860's. Back then, the diet consisted mostly of rye bread, smoked or salted pork, beer and more local ingredients like herring. 

Nowadays æbleflæsk is a lunch dish, mostly served at christmas time. As a child I didn't like it, but as I got older, I learned that the smoked, salty flavor from the bacon pairs perfectly with the sweet apples. 

Serves 4-6.

Ingredients:

• 500 g apples, peeled and cored
• 550 g thick sliced bacon, fried 
• apple cider
• sugar
• salt & pepper

Directions:

Peel and core the apples, and slice them up. Let them sit in some cider, to prevent the browning.

Fry the bacon in the oven or in a pan, until crisp, and it has rendered a lot of fat. 

Use some of the bacon fat to sauté the sliced apples, put the lid on, and steam the apples until tender. Season with sugar, salt and pepper. 

I like the apple to still have some texture, and not to be like an applesauce. 

Serve the steamed apples with the bacon on the side and a slice of good rye bread. 

Enjoy!

Rullepølse - Spiced Meat Roll

Rullepølse - Spiced Meat Roll

December 15th.

Rullepølse is a traditional cold cut served for lunch in Scandinavian countries. The spices may be different for the different countries, but my favorite is the spiciness from pepper and allspice. 

Here I served rullepølse with meat flavored jello/gelatin, and raw onions. Another way is with mustard and pickled beets. Another more untraditional way is with mayonnaise and raw button mushrooms. The latter was my favorite way to eat my parents homemade rullepølse.

My parents always made rullepølse in the weeks up to christmas. Normally they would buy rullepølse at the grocery store. To be honest, the homemade tasted so much better, but in a busy life, we all take shortcuts. 

Makes 1 

Ingredients:

• 1 - 1½ kg (2-3 pound) pork belly or pork loin

• 3-4 tablespoons coarse sea salt salt

• ½ teaspoon sodium nitrite (food grade) optional*

Spice blend:

• 1 onion, finely chopped

• 3 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

• ½ teaspoon ground allspice

• 2-3 packets (21 g) gelatine

Cooking broth:

• water

• 2-3 teaspoons salt

• 10-15 whole peppercorns

• 2 bay leaves

• 1 onion optional

Directions:

If you are using a pork loin, you need to cut the meat into a large rectangle about ⅕ inch (1 cm) thick.  

Cut off any large chunks of fat, but don't make it too lean. Trim the ends so they are straight.  Trim any really thick places if that side is too thick when you roll it up. Lay the pork belly flat on a cutting board and sprinkle salt and sodium nitrite all over. Fold the meat up, and place it in a ziplock bag in the refrigerator for 24-36 hours. 

Rinse the meat, and pat it dry with paper towel. Lay the meat flat on a cutting board, and sprinkle it with ⅓ of the gelatin powder. Spread the chopped onion on top. Sprinkle a good amount of pepper and allspice blend on top, ending with the rest of the gelatin. 

Carefully roll or fold up the meat into a large sausage. Use cooking twine to tie the meat up all the way.

Bring water to a boil, and place the rullepølse in the water with salt, peppercorns and bay leaves. Cook the rullepølse for 2 hours at a simmer. 

When cooked, place the rullepølse in a press. I used two loaf pans and tied it up hard with more twine. Put the rullepølse in a large ziplock bag and into the refrigerator for at least 12 hours.

Remove the twine, and slice the rullepølse in thin slices, and serve it on rye bread or another good bread, as an open faced sandwich.

Enjoy!

*Sodium nitrite makes the rullepølse keep the pinkish color.

Penne all'Amatriciana

Penne all'Amatriciana

A friend of mine told me about this dish. I had never heard about it, or seen it on a menu before. But she raved about it, so I decided to give it a try. And Ohhh My - This dish is going on the menu again soon in my house!

I love the tomato sauce with the spiciness and the well rounded flavors from the wine and pancetta. This dish is perfect for at weekday dinner. The sauce can easily be made a day or two in advance.  

This recipe is adapted from a recipe on "Bonappetit.com, here is my version.

Serves 3-4.

Ingredients:

• 1 28-oz can (794 g) whole peeled tomatoes

• 1 (280 g) red onion

• 165 g pancetta

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

• 60 ml water

• 2 tablespoons tomato paste

• 120 ml white wine

• balsamic to taste (use balsamic instead of sugar to balance the acidity)

• salt & pepper to taste

• 225 g uncooked penne (pasta) - cooked al dente

Sprinkles:

• parmesan cheese

Directions:

Purée the tomatoes with juices  until smooth in a blender, set aside. 

Cook onion, pancetta, oil, red pepper flakes, and water in a large pot over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until water is evaporated and fat begins to render, about 8–10 minutes. 

Add tomato paste and cook until beginning to brown, while stirring, about 2 minutes. Add wine and cook, until reduced by half, it only take a few minutes. 

Add the puréed tomato and bring it to a boil. Cover pan with a lid, reduce heat, and let it simmer for about 40–45 minutes. Season with balsamic, salt and pepper.

When sauce is almost done, cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until al dente, drain pasta. 

Add pasta to sauce and toss to coat. Serve topped with parmesan cheese.