Roasted Hokkaido Pumpkin 5-Grain Salad

Roasted Hokkaido Pumpkin 5-Grain Salad

This is a perfect side to your fall roasts. It's colorful, healthy and has great texture. Hokkaido pumpkin is a mild pumpkin, not overly sweet like other pumpkins and winter squashes. This makes it easy to season so that it goes well with many different cuisines. This time I seasoned it a little to the mild side, and it went perfect with our rotisserie chicken.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium Hokkaido pumpkin/red kuri squash
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• ½ teaspoon piment d'espelette
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 250 g (8.8 oz) 5 grains (mix of spelt, barley, whole grain long rice, Kamut and oats berries)
• 1 large handful Italian parsley, chopped
• 15 g roasted pumpkin seeds
• 1 orange, peeled and cut into filets
• salt & pepper to taste 

Directions:

Cook the grains according to package instructions. I cooked it in chicken stock. Drain and let sit to cool.

Preheat the oven to 400℉ (200℃). 

Peel the pumpkin, cut it into two halves and scoop out seeds. Cut the pumpkin into ¾-inch cubes. Coat pumpkin with olive oil, rosemary, piment d’espelette and salt. Bake the pumpkin in a large ovenproof dish in a single layer, for 30-40 minutes. Let the pumpkin cool before mixing.

In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin, grains, parsley, orange filets and pumpkin seeds. Season the salad with salt and pepper. You can dress the salad with a lemony vinaigrette that you like.

Enjoy!

Whiskey Cream Sauce

Whiskey Cream Sauce

Danes are a potato and gravy/sauce kinda people. I grew up on a lot of potatoes and my moms quick skillet sauce, which was made with milk or cream in the skillet, she had used for preparing the meat. Nowadays I only make this kind of sauce maybe once or twice a year. The amount of fat, is not agreeing with my way of living anymore.
In the 80's and 90's most Danes would serve you Knorr béarnaise when serving steak, some might make the homemade béarnaise for an extra treat. In the 00's whiskey cream sauce became a big hit, especially when Jensens Bøfhus (a chain of steakhouses) started selling their popular sauce in most grocery stores in Denmark.

This is my take on this classic whiskey cream sauce.  

Serves 6.

Ingredients:

• 50 g salted butter (maybe you can use less)

• 85 g (3 oz) tomato puree

• 200 ml beef stock

• 250 ml heavy whipping cream

• 2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

• 2 tablespoons whiskey (DO NOT use a smokey one)

• ½ teaspoon sugar

• salt, pepper to taste

Directions:

Melt the butter in a saucepan. When melted, the butter will foam up, swirl the butter in the pan. When the foam subside and the butter is turning a golden brown, whisk in the tomato paste and then the rest of the ingredients. Let the sauce cook at a simmer, while whisking, for a few minutes so the most of the alcohol evaporates. Season the sauce with salt and pepper. You can thicken the sauce with cornstarch in cold water, if you like a thicker sauce.

Serve the sauce with your favorite steak.

Enjoy!

Pickled Chilies

Last Sunday I went to my local Farmer's Market looking for chili peppers. I have been wanting to pickle chilies for so long. Last year I grew my own, but I used them all in my cooking, leaving no leftovers to pickle. I returned home with a bag filled with habanero, jalapeño, serrano, thai and a no-name red chili pepper. I made a new batch of hot hot sauce and then it was time to pickle the rest.

I like my pickled chilies to be slightly salty and not overly sweet. The sweeter ones are more difficult to pair with dinner. I think I got the right mix of sweet, salty and tanginess to my take in this batch.  

Makes 2 medium jars.

Ingredients:

• 300 g mixed chili peppers (jalapeño, serrano, thai, habanero), sliced
• 500 ml vinegar
• 85 g sugar
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 bay leaves 
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds

Directions:

Bring the vinegar to a boil, add all the sliced chili peppers, and bring it all to a boil. Remove the chilies using a slotted spoon. Place the chilies in 2 cleaned and sterilized* glass jars. 

Add sugar, salt, bay leaves and coriander seeds to the vinegar, and bring it to a boil again. Make sure that sugar and salt is dissolved before pouring the hot vinegar over the chilies. Put the lids on the jars, and wipe the jars clean. Let the pickled chilies cool.

The chilies will keep for at least a month. I only make small batches and keep them in the refrigerator. 

Serve the chilies on sandwiches, as hot snacks or where ever you need a kick to your food. 

Enjoy!

*You need to clean the jars and sterilize them by soaking them in boiling water. It goes the same with the lids. Submerge the lid for a few minutes in a bowl of boiling water. 

Salmon in Red Wine Sauce

Salmon in Red Wine Sauce

I had this dish at my best friends house, when we both lived back home in Denmark. Whenever I make this I can't help thinking about her cozy home, and her sweet sweet family. I really miss my Danish friend, that I grew up with and her family. I miss living an hour apart from her. Being there for each other whenever we needed each other. Even though we both live in the US, Texas feels like a world away from California. Love you M.

Normally you would use white wine with fish, but the salmon really pairs well with red wine too. I love making this for smaller dinner parties. It is fairly quick to make, and brings on bold flavors, and pairs perfectly with a couple of bottles of good red wine

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

• 4 salmon pieces, serving size, skin and bones removed

• ½ yellow onion, finely chopped

• 300 g mushrooms, quartered

• 1 fish stock cube, or a good splash of concentrated fish stock

• 500 ml red wine, the better the wine, the better the sauce

• salt and pepper to taste

• corn starch dissolved in cold water to thicken the sauce

Directions:

Put onions, mushrooms and fish stock, in a large sauté pan and place the salmon pieces on top. Pour in the red wine, so it almost covers the salmon. Put a lid on the pan and bring the liquid to a boil. Turn down the heat and bring it to a slow simmer. Let it simmer for about 8-10 minutes until the fish is done, and has turned opaque pink. Be careful not to overcook the salmon.

Remove the salmon with a slotted spoon, careful not to brake the fish. Let the liquid come to a boil again and thicken the sauce with some corn starch dissolved in a little cold water. 

Serve the salmon with sautéed spinach and rice.  

Enjoy!