Leg of Lamb, Provencal

Leg of Lamb, Provencal

We never had lamb in my house growing up. My dad said it tasted like chewing on wool, and he would never eat it. Luckily he didn't state that he rather eat an old hat, because he came to love lamb in his later years. I guess that he got to eat sheeps-meat instead of lamb when he grew up, during and after world war II, when money were scarce.

My beloved niece, eating a leg of lamb, 2004.

My first encounter with lamb, was when my brothers then girlfriend made this dish for us. Ohh My it was good. The great tasting lamb with more than a hint of garlic and rosemary. The potatoes gets the flavors from the lamb roasting on top, and are soft, with a crispy top. This dish quickly became a family favorite.

 This leg of lamb is really a great meal when you are having people over. All the prep can be done hours in advance, so you can get the kitchen and your self cleaned up before the guests arrive. I love meals like that, served family style.

Serves 4-6 people

Ingredients:

• 1 (6-7 lb.) bone in leg of lamb

• 9 cloves of garlic

• 3 sprigs of rosemary

• 2 teaspoons olive oil

• 12 medium-large potatoes, peeled and sliced

• lamb stock or chicken stock

• salt & pepper

Directions: 

Preheat the oven to 450 ℉.

Place the leg of lamb in a large roasting pan fat side up and pat it dry with paper towels. Poke holes into the meat, slide a small piece of garlic into the hole, repeat this all over the leg of lamb. Combine the oil, 1 garlic clove, leave from the rosemary sprigs, salt and pepper in a mini food processor and pulse until the garlic and rosemary are minced. Spread the mixture on the lamb.

Slice the potatoes, and place them in a large roasting pan. Pour in stock, so it almost cover the potatoes.  tuck in the rosemary sprigs. Place the leg of lamb on top.

Roast for 25 minutes. Turn the heat down to 350℉ and roast for another 2 hours, until a meat thermometer registers 165℉ for well done. You can serve the lamb medium (140℉). Place the lamb on a cutting board, covered with aluminum foil, and allow to rest for 15 minutes. Return the potatoes to the oven to keep warm. Slice the lamb and arrange on a platter, and serve it with the potatoes.

Enjoy!

Almond Lemon Cake

Almond Lemon Cake

Some days you just feel like baking a cake. I was inspired by an almond cake by David Lebovitz and a normal Danish mazarin cake. To  give the cake some more texture, I used almond flour, and added some lemon zest for more flavor.

The cake was really good and I loved the texture. This cake will pair well with fresh berries and crème fraiche. It turned out that this cake is dog approved. My food driven yellow lab stole the rest of the cake, about ¾ of the cake, from the kitchen counter. It was gone in seconds. 

Serves 12 people or 1 hungry dog

Ingredients:

• 175 g butter, room temperature
• 115 g honey
• 210 g sugar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla paste or the seeds from ½ vanilla bean pod
• 5 eggs, room temperature
• 110 g almond flour
• 175 g all-purpose flour
• 1½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 lemon, the zest of
• 3 tablespoons sliced almond 
• 1 tablespoon confectionary sugar, for dusting

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 320℉ (160℃). Spray a 9-inch (22 cm) springform. Place a piece of parchment paper in the bottom and spray this too. Sprinkle the springform with flour, and discard the excess. Set aside.

Cream the butter with honey, sugar and vanilla, until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, and mix just until fully incorporated. 

Mix together all-purpose flour, almond flour, baking powder and lemon zest. Fold the dry ingredients in the butter/egg mixture. 

Pour the batter in the prepared pan, and sprinkle the sliced almonds on top. Bake the cake covered with aluminum foil for 40 minutes. Remove the aluminum foil and bake for another 20-25 minutes.

Let the cake cool completely before removing from the pan. Sprinkle with confectionary sugar.

Enjoy!

The Quest for the Danish Morning Rolls

Morning Rolls

I love the Danish morning rolls, aka rundstykker. But event though it's a really simple roll, it's very hard to get just right. They need to have a thin hard crust with a really light crumb, with no chewiness. Apparently this s very hard to obtain for normal people in a normal oven, without steam. 

There are many ways to try to get steam in your oven. Here is a few methods.

• Put a baking pan on the bottom rack and fill it with pebbles or a large stainless steel chain, and preheat the oven with this in the oven. When you put your bread or rolls into the oven, splash ½ cup hot water on the rocks/chain and close the door quickly. This will build up enough steam to help with the oven-spring/the rise of the dough, before the crust hardens in the heat. 
• Place 2-3 soaking wet kitchen towels on a baking pan on the bottom rack, while preheating the oven, and for the first 5-8 minutes of the baking time, and then remove the pan with the towels. Be careful opening the oven the steam will burn you, so stay clear of the oven-opening.
• The simplest way is to spray some hot water into the oven, but this might not be enough to  give a perfect oven-spring.

This is my first version of Danish Morning Rolls. I did get the crumb, that I wanted, but I would still like it to be lighter. The crust was almost right, but it needs to stay crisp and be a bit thicker.

Even though these rolls didn't hit the mark as real Danish morning rolls, they are actually very good.

Makes 10-12 rolls

Ingredients:

• 4 g dry yeast
• 250 ml water, finger warm
• ½ teaspoon sugar
• 100 ml  plain yoghurt 
• 300 g bread flour
• 225 g all-purpose flour

Egg wash:

• 1 egg white
• *½ cup cold water

Directions:

Dissolve the yeast in the water, add the sugar, and let the yeast wake up, and start to foam, takes about 5 minutes. Mix in the yoghurt and both flours. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes in a stand mixer. You want a strong gluten structure. Cover the bowl, and let the dough rise in the refrigerator overnight. 

Pour the dough out on a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough in 10-12 and roll them into balls. Place 6 dough-balls on each parchment paper lined baking sheet. Let the rolls rise for 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 450℉ (250℃).

Whisk the egg white with the cold water to make a foam. Use the foam to brush onto the rolls. If you like sprinkles on your rolls, do that now. Cut a fairly deep slit in the roll. (I forgot that, but it will give the roll room for the oven spring.)

Place 2-3 soaking clean wet kitchen towels on a baking pan on the bottom rack, while preheating the oven, this will make the steam. Bake the rolls for 20-25 minutes until deep golden brown. Remove the baking pan with the towels after the first 5-8 minutes.

Let the rolls cool completely.

Serve the rolls with butter, cheese or jam.

Enjoy!

Smoked Mackerel on an Open-faced Sandwich

Smoked Mackerel on an Open-faced Sandwich

Smoked mackerel on a slice of Danish rye bread is a real summer treat for me. My mom always bought smoked mackerel or herring for our weekend lunches in the summer period. And we all loved it. So I was very excited, when I finally found smoked mackerel from Ducktrap River of Maine (not smoked pepper mackerel) at my local Whole Foods. Of cause this is not the same as getting a freshly smoked whole mackerel, but its pretty close in taste, but a bit firmer in texture.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1 pack 7-oz mackerel fillet
• 2 slices of Danish rye bread
• 2 radishes, in slices
• chives, finely cut
• Butter, optional

Directions:

Spread some butter on the bread. Remove the skin from the fish, and cut the fish, so it fits the bread-slices. Top the sandwich with radishes and chives. 

Enjoy your sandwich with a glass of cold milk or with a cold beer!

Irish Brownie Dessert

Irish Brownie Dessert

There's a little bit of Irish in everyone on St. Patrick's Day.

Try this decadent, rich dessert.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

Irish Brownie:

• 50 g all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder, unsweetened
• 125 g chocolate
• 50 g butter, salted
• 50 ml Guinness stout
• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste
• 1 tablespoon espresso, or another strong coffee
• 2 eggs
• 200 g sugar

Bailey's Mousse:

• 300 ml heavy whipping cream
• 165 g dark chocolate, I used Valrhona
• 50 g good milk chocolate, I used Valrhona
• 85 ml baileys

Topping:

• Whipped cream
• 4-6 mini bailey's

Directions:

Irish Brownie:

Preheat the oven to 350 ℉ and line a 8 x 8-inch baking pan with parchment paper, and spray it with cooking spray. Set aside.

Combine flour and cocoa powder in a bowl.

Melt chocolate and butter in a small saucepan over low heat, stir until smooth.  Remove from heat and stir in beer, coffee and vanilla.

Whisk eggs and sugars, in a large bowl until it’s thick pale yellow, about 2 minutes. Whisk in the chocolate mixture. Add flour and cocoa and mix until just incorporated. 

Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes or until the edges are firm and the center is set. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

Bailey's Mousse:

Chop the chocolates finely and put it in a bowl, set aside.

Heat the cream to a small simmer, pour it over the chopped chocolate. Let it sit for 20 seconds before stirring. Stir until you get a homogenous, shiny mixture. Let the mixture cool for at least 4 hours in the refrigerator.

Stir in the Bailey's and whip it with a hand mixer until light and thick. Be careful not to over mix, this will make it grainy. Place mousse in a piping bag.

Whip some heavy whipping cream until medium soft peaks, this will be the whipped cream for the topping.

Assembly:

Pipe some mousse in a small serving vessel. Place some of the brownie on top, pipe more mousse on top. Finish the dessert up with a scoop of whipping cream and place a small bailey's upside-down in the top. 

Enjoy!

The Danish Version:

Irsk Brownie Dessert med Bailey's Mousse

Ingredienser:

Irsk Brownie:

• 50 g hvedemel
• 1 spsk usødet kakao
• 125 g mørk chokolade
• 50 g smør, saltet
• 50 ml Guinness stout
• 1 tsk vanilje pasta /korn fra en vaniljestang 
• 1 spsk espresso, eller anden stærk kaffe
• 2 æg
• 200 g sukker

Bailey's Mousse:

• 300 ml piskefløde
• 165 g mørk chokolade, jeg brugte Valrhona
• 50 g god mælke chokolade, jeg brugte Valrhona
• 85 ml Bailey's

Topping:

• flødeskum
• 4-6 mini Bailey's

Fremgangsmåde:

Irsk Brownie:

Forvarm ovnen til 180℃. Smør en 20x20 cm bradepande og læg et stykke bagepapir i bunden, og smør også det.

Blandmel og kakao i en skål.

Smelt chokoladen, smør i en gryde og rør det sammen til en skinnende masse. Tag gryden af varmen og tilsæt øl, kaffe og vanilje. 

Pisk æggene med sukker indtil du har en bleggul tyk masse. Bland chokoladeblandingen i, og fold derefter forsigtigt melet i. 

Kom dejen i bradepanden og bag kagen i 30-35 minutter. Du skal gerne ende op med en blød kage med sprøde kanter. Afkøl kagen helt før du bruger den i desserten.

Bailey's Mousse:

Hak chokoladen fint, og kom det i en skål.

Varm fløden op i en gryde indtil kogepunktet. Hæld den varme fløde over chokoladen. Vent ca 20 sekunder før du begynder at røre. Bliv ved at røre indtil massen er homogen. Dæk skålen til og lad det køle i mindst 4 timer i køleskabet.

Rør bailey'en i og pisk massen med en håndmikser til den er tyk og luftig. Pas på ikke at overpiske massen, da det gør moussen grynet. Kom moussen i en sprøjtepose, og opbevar den på køl indtil du skal bruge den.

Pisk flødeskum til at toppe desserten af med.

Samling:

Sprøjt lidt mousse i bunden af en portionsskål, kom et stykke brownie ovenpå. Kom endnu et lag mousse ovenpå og top desserten af med en god klat flødeskum og sæt en mini Bailey's flaske ned i desserten. 

Velbekomme!