Béarnaise Sauce made in a blender

Béarnaise Sauce

This is not a healthy sauce by any means. But a little goes a long way. I grew up with béarnaise sauce made from a powder like Knorr bearnaise sauce. Well, we had it occasionally, but never made from scratch. We poured way to much sauce on the plate, and we loved it, we didn't know better. I would rather have a little dollop of real béarnaise with my steak, than having it swimming in a sauce made from a powder. But then again - you cant beat the accessibility of the  powder sauce, everybody can make it, and the taste is always the same. But sometimes it's ok to splurge and make the real thing. By making this sauce yourself, you will know what you put into your mouth. I love when I don't need a degree in chemistry to know what's in my food. 

Disclaimer: This sauce is made with raw eggs. I recommend using pasteurized eggs. This would minimize the risk of getting Salmonella food poisoning. You can find pasteurized eggs in some supermarkets here in California, on safeeggs.com you can see where to find them in your neighborhood.  In Denmark you'll find it right next to regular eggs. For tips and information on how to handle eggs, check out FDA’s website. The Danish version of FDA,  Fødevarestyrelsen also has advisory on eggs. 

Ingredients:

Reduction:

• 1 bunch fresh tarragon
• 2 small or 1 medium shallots, minced
• ¼ cup (½ dl) white wine vinegar
• ¼ cup (½ dl) dry white wine
• 3 whole black peppers (for the reduction)

Sauce:

• 3 egg yolks
• 200 g butter, clarified 
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Tarragon leaves, finely chopped

Directions:

Reduction:

In a small saucepan, combine sprigs of the tarragon, shallots, vinegar pepper and wine over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer and cook until reduced by half. Remove from heat, strain the liquid and set it aside to cool.

The sauce:

Melt the butter in a sauce pan over very low heat.  Let simmer gently until the foam rises to the top of the melted butter. Once the butter stops spluttering, and no more foam seems to be rising to the surface, remove from heat and skim off the foam with a spoon. The foam is the milk solids from the butter. The clarified butter should be about 172℉ (77℃).

Blend yolks and bearnaise reduction together. With the blender running add ⅓ of the butter in a slow steady stream, yes it will splatter. Once it emulsifies, turn the blender speed up to high and add the remaining butter. Season with salt and pepper and blend for another second. Add chopped fresh tarragon leaves. Set aside in a warm spot to hold the sauce. 

If you need to reheat the sauce, do it over al very low flame and constantly stirring.

Enjoy.

Parmesan Mashed Cauliflower

Parmesan Mashed Cauliflower

I was reading this post from Huffpost by Carolyn Berry and this mashed cauliflower sounded so yummy, and  would be a good substitute for the heavy mashed potatoes. I have decided to cut down on my starchy sides at dinner this year. It's not easy, when you have been eating potatoes, rice and pasta with your dinners for decades. But I agree with Carolyn Berry that this mash is so good you won't miss the mashed potatoes. 

The great thing about this mash, you can add what ever taste profile you'll like, by adding sundried tomatoes, chives, leeks, parsley, horseradish, olive oil, feta cheese or goat cheese. I have to try adding some homemade pesto to the mash next time. Basil is my favorite herb, just the smell makes my mouth water.

Ingredients:

• 1 large head cauliflower, chopped into small florets

• 1 teaspoon chicken base

• 1 cup (125 ml) water (cooking water)

• 2 cloves garlic, peeled

• ¼ cup plain greek yogurt

• 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese

• salt and pepper to taste

Direction:

In a medium saucepan, bring water, chicken base, cauliflower, and garlic cloves to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cover, allowing to cook for 15-20 minutes, until cauliflower is tender and easily mashed with a fork. Drain the cauliflower well, if not you'll end up with a purée. 

Add the cauliflower, garlic, yogurt and parmesan to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve with your favorite protein.

Brussels Sprouts Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette

Brussels Sprouts Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette

I'm trying to cut down on the starchy sides at dinner time. I wanted to try another way to eat brussels sprouts. I  been cooking with brussels sprouts in my brussels sprouts purée, and the crispy salad on top, made me think of making a salad.

Ingredients:

• 10-12 medium brussels sprouts, thinly sliced

• 1 shallot, thinly sliced

• 1 handful hazelnuts, toasted with honey

• 1-2 blood oranges

Dijon vinaigrette:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard

• blood orange juice (I squeezed the core after filleting it

• salt & pepper

Directions:

Dressing: Shake the ingredients in a mason jar, season with salt and pepper.

In a large bowl toss brussels sprouts and shallot together with the dressing until everything is well-coated. Plate the salad and top with blood orange fillets and hazelnuts.

Braised Balsamic Chicken

Braised Balsamic Chicken

Our local pizzeria serves a rotisserie chicken with a balsamic sauce and a lot of bell peppers. I love this dish, and it is my go-to for days when I don’t cook. The dish is sweet and sour in the Italian way.

In my version the chicken is braised in the sauce to keep the chicken juicy, and for a one-pot-dinner, easy to make on a weeknight.

You can also make this dish in a slow cooker, cooking for about 3-4 hours on high heat.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken thighs with drumsticks (without skin)
• 1 can crushed tomatoes 
• 1 onion, halved and sliced 
• 3 bell peppers 
• ½ cup (1,25 dl) red balsamic vinegar (use a good quality)
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 3 garlic cloves, minced 
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• salt & pepper
• olive oil for searing

Directions:

Season chicken with salt and ground black pepper. Heat olive oil in a dutch oven or in a skillet, and sear the chicken. Take out the chicken. Pour in tomatoes, sugar and the seasoning, add the chicken, onion, garlic and bell peppers. Pour the balsamic over the chicken. Put the lid on and let simmer until chicken is no longer pink and the juices run clear, about 45 minutes. 

Serve with roasted potatoes and broccoli.

Fastelavnsboller

Fastelavnsboller

Fastelavn is a old tradition dating back hundreds and hundreds of years. Danes celebrate fastelavn aka the night before Lent. Fastelavn sunday is 49 days before Easter Sunday. In 2014 fastelavn will be celebrated on marts second.

Children will dress up and "slå katten af tønden"  - the danish version of piñata, where you hit a wooden barrel filled with candy and fruit. The one that get the bottom to fall out will be crowned “kattedronning”, queen of cats, while the the person getting the last plank of the rope is crowned "kattekonge", King of cats. You might think that it would be hard to break the barrel, but they are made for different age ranges, so everyone has a chance. 

The picture on the right shows me dressed as Little Red Ridinghood having a go at the barrel. My mom and brother is standing behind me to the left. 

The children also get a fastelavnsris, a branch decorated with candy, black cats, masks and paper flowers.

This tradition is very similar to the American Halloween.  The dressed up children walk door to door singing the song "Boller op, boller ned, boller i min mave, hvis jeg ingen boller får så laver jeg ballade"  Buns up, buns down, buns in my stomach, if I get no buns, I’ll make trouble. Kinda like the trick or treat song: "Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat! If you don't, I don't care. I'll pull down your underwear!" But unlike the American tradition the Danish children beg for small change and not candy.

Another tradition is fastelavnsboller, or fastelavns buns. There are different ways to make fastelavnsboller. You can make them from puff pastry or cream puffs  and filling them after they are baked. Or you can make a simple yeast dough and fill it with a almond paste and/or vanilla custard. I'll make the later. I also add remonce as filling. Remonce is butter creamed with sugar and marzipan (almond paste).

Next year I'll make twice as much custard, because I ran out before I had filled all the fastelavnsboller. I made rolls with remonce from the leftover dough - not bad at all!!

Ingredients:

Vanilla custard:

• 200 g milk

• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste

• 3 egg yolks

• 25 g sugar

• 1½ teaspoons all-purpose flour

Dough:

• 300 g all-purpose flour

• 14 g (2 packs fleischmann's) dry yeast

• 20 g sugar

• 100 g milk

• 1 egg

• 125 g butter (salted)

• ½ teaspoon vanilla paste

Remonce:

• 50 g butter room temperature

• 50 g sugar

• 50 g marzipan

Icing:

• confectionary sugar

• water

• cocoa or food color

Directions:

Vanilla custard:

Beat the egg yolks and sugar until pale in color. Whisk in the flour and vanilla paste.

Heat the milk to a slow boil, set aside. While whisking vigorously drizzle the warm milk into the egg yolk mixture, just a tiny bit at a time at first. Once you’ve added about 1/4 of the milk, you can add the rest in a thin stream, whisking constantly.

Pour the mixture back in the saucepan and reheat it over medium heat. Whisk constantly until it thickens. Remove from heat and chill the custard in a bowl in the refrigerator. Sprinkle with sugar or press a film of plastic wrap against the custard in the fridge so it doesn’t form a pudding skin.

Remonce:

Mix the sugar and marzipan well. Add butter little by little until it’s just incorporated.  Be careful not to over mix or the remonce will be runny when baked.

Preheat oven to 400℉ (200℃).

Dough:

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Just before all the butter is melted remove pan from heat and add the milk. 

In a large bowl mix sugar and dry yeast. When the milk mixture is finger warm pour it in the bowl. Mix well and add vanilla paste, egg and salt. Mix in the flour a little at a time, you want the dough to be soft but nut sticky. 

Kneed the dough on the kitchen counter until the dough id smooth and soft. Let the dough rise in a covered bowl for about 90 minutes until it doubled in size.

Divide the dough in two, roll each portion into a rectangle and divide it into 6 squares.

Put a tablespoon custard and a teaspoon remonce in the center of each square. Fold the four corners up to the center and press to seal all edges, letting the air inside escape. Put fastelavnsboller onto a parchment paper lined baking sheets with joint side down. Leave to rise covered for about 30 minutes. Brush with egg wash  and bake for about 10-12 minutes until golden. Let them cool on wire rack before decorating with chocolate or colored icing.

Icing:

Heat the confectionary sugar over very low heat (this makes the icing set faster) add water and cocoa or food coloring.

Enjoy.