Guacamole

Guacamole - The perfect snack.

I have a love for avocados, and guacamole especially. The green velvety dips is to die for.

I have tried many different recipes, but this one from Curtis Stone is the best I've tried yet. I will keep looking for perfection, but this is really really close.

Ingredients

• 3 firm but ripe hass avocados, halved, pitted, peeled, and cut into ½ inch pieces
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• ½ jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
• salt

Directions

In a large bowl, gently fold the avocados, cilantro, lime juice, jalapenos, garlic, and cumin together. Season to taste with salt.

Øllebrød - Danish rye bread porridge

Øllebrød med meget flødeskum -  Danish rye bread porridge with a big scoop whipped cream.

I made øllebrød, another traditional danish dish. But when  I wanted to write this post I didn’t know how to translate "øllebrød" - So I tried Goggle Translate, which suggested "beer soup". But it didn’t sound right, especially when I don't use any beer in the recipe. So I ended up with the Danish rye bread porridge because its a porridge made from rye bread, right?

My mom loved øllebrød, she could eat it for every meal, while my dad hated it. So she had it mostly as breakfast, and as her daughter I learned to love it too.

In Denmark you give children øllebrød for breakfast when they are starting to eat solid foods. It's very filling and will keep you full for at long time, kinda like oatmeal. Øllebrød is sweet and that's why I add some lemon zest to it. But beware you can only eat a little portion, because it's so filling.

Serves 4 

Ingredients:

• 400 g seedless rye bread
• 900 g water (to get desired thickness)
• 120 g brown sugar
• 1 lemon, zest of 

Directions:

The bread can be leftover stale bread. Cut the bread into cubes, and put them into a pot. Add water just to cover. With stale bread you would let it sit overnight. With fresh bread you can start to cook it right away.

Boil the bread and water with the brown sugar, and stir occasionally. To get rid of the lumps you can either use an immersion blender or strain the porridge through a sift. 

Add more water to get the right consistency. Take the porridge of the heat and add the lemon zest.

Serve the hot Øllebrød with cold milk or whipped cream.

Meyers seedless rye bread

Seedless rye bread

I've made rye bread before, but this time I wanted to try the seedless kind. My dad didn't like to many seeds in his bread. And if you have a child who just started getting solid foods, you want to start off with a softer version of the traditional rye bread.

The bread is soft and light with a mild rye bread taste.

This recipe is from Claus Meyers Bagebog

Ingredients:

• 1100 g water - finger-warm

• 30 g yeast (live yeast)

• 1 dl sourdough

• 500 g all-purpose flour

• 1100 g rye flour

• 30 g sea salt

Directions:

Pour the water into a big bowl, and mix in the sourdough and the yeast. Add the all-purpose flour, rye flour and salt, mix it well. If you do it by hand, kneed the dough for about 10 minutes. If you kneed it in a stand mixer, mix it 3 minutes on low and then 5 minutes on high. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel an let it rise/ferment for about 3 hours.

Divide the dough in three and form loafs. Put the loafs into baking pans. Cover the pans and let the dough rise/ferment for another 3 hours.

Preheat the oven for 350℉ and put the breads in the oven and bake them for about 45-50 minutes.

Take the breads out of the baking pans and brusk the tops with melted butter.  Let the breads cool completely.

Danish Soup Dumplings - Melboller

Danish Soup Dumplings - Melboller

Danish soup dumplings, aka melboller, are a must have in soups in Denmark. They feel soft, light, and fluffy. They kinda melts in your mouth and has a subtle salty flavor.

Most people in Denmark buys soup dumplings from the freezer aisle in the supermarket. But my mom always made them herself. So for me the store bought dumplings tasted kinda funny. I learned to make these as a kid. I would stand on a chair next to the stove, and cut the dough from the dough press (bollesprøjte) and the small dumplings would fall into the hot water. It might have been easier for my mom, if I hadn't helped her, but I wanted to help.

Ingredients:

• 75 g salted butter
• 200 g water
• 105 g all-purpose flour
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Bring the water and butter to a boil in a saucepan, take the pan off the heat. Add all the flour at once, and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon.  The dough should become cohesive and shiny. Heat the dough a bit, if it's not shiny. Whisk the eggs  and add a bit at a time to the dough while mixing. Add more egg until the dough is soft but still paste like. Be careful not to make the dough too thin. Mix in the salt.

Bring water to a boil in a large pot, take the pot off the heat. Place dough in a traditional danish bollesprøjte (like a cookie press) and cut the dough with a knife into the hot water (WATER MUST NOT BOIL). If you do not have a bollesprøjte use a spoon.

Bring the hot water and the dumplings almost to a boil three times, adding a splash of cold water to cool the water a bit. After the third time and when the dumplings are firm, lift them out of the water and let them drain. Make sure not to put to many dumplings in the water at the same time. You only want one layer dumpling in the water at a time.

Serve with soups, like beef soup.

Enjoy!

Bollesprøjte

Boiled Meatballs - Kødboller

Boiled Meatballs - kødboller

Boiled meatballs are used in different dishes in Denmark, one of them is in bouillon type soups like beef soup. Traditionally meatballs are made from ground pork, but can easily be made from other types of ground meats.

The boiled meatballs are pretty much the same as normal danish fried meatballs, much like my Greek-style lamb meatballs. 

Makes 22 meatballs

Ingredients:

• 1  lb. (500 g) ground pork
• rolled oats
• 1 eggs
• 1 medium onions
• 1/4 cup milk
• ½ teaspoons salt 
• pepper

Directions:

Mix the meat with salt. Divide the meat in quarters, lift one quarter up unto the other quarters. Fill the missing quarter with rolled oats. Put in finely chopped or grated onions, the eggs, milk, salt and pepper and mix until you have a cohesive meat mixture. 

Put a large pot of water over to boil. When the water boils add 1 teaspoon salt. 

To form the meatballs, dip a tablespoon in hot water and scoop up a good spoonful meat. Use the hand and the spoon to form the meatball.  The meatball should be oval and the size of a small egg. Place the meatball in the water, repeat until you have one layer of meatballs. Boil the meatballs for about  7-10 minutes.

Use the meatballs in soups or in the classic meatballs in curry sauce (boller i karry). 

Meatball can be frozen.