Halloween Meatloaf

Halloween Meatloaf before cremation

One scary meal, fit for halloween.

Ingredients:

Meatloaf:

• 1 kg (2 lb.) ground beef

• 1 onion, grated,

• 1 egg

• 2 tablespoons breadcrumbs

• 2 cloves of garlic

• 1 sprig of rosemary, leaves chopped

• salt & pepper

Mummification:

• ketchup mixed with hot hot sauce

• 2 yellow tomatoes (eyes)

• blanched almonds

• 1 package bacon

Sauce:

• Drippings from the pan

• 1 cup milk or whipping cream

• 2-3 teaspoons redcurrant jelly

• a few drops of kulør* or gravy browning

• salt

• milk & all-purpose flour mixed to thicken the sauce

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400℉ (200℃).

Mix the meats with the rest of the ingredients. Form a round loaf  with indents for eyes and an open mouth in an ovenproof pan. Place the almonds like teeth in the mouth. Brush the loaf with ketchup mixture. Wrap the bacon around the meatloaf. Use yellow tomatoes for eyes.

Cook the meatloaf in the oven for about 20 minutes. Add about a cup of warm water to the pan, this will later be used for the sauce. Cook for 10-15 minutes more until it reaches a center temperature of about 167℉ (75℃).

The cremated halloween meatloaf

Pour the pan drippings into a sauce pan and heat it. Add milk and red currant jelly and thicken the sauce with milk and flour. Season with red currant jelly and salt.

Serve the meatloaf with mashed potatoes.

Enjoy!

Lemon Curd

Lemon Curd

Lemon Curd is a sweet, tart, soft and velvety spread. Traditionally it is used as a spread for scones for the afternoon tea. But it is a perfect filling in cakes. I've always looked at lemon curd as a thing you buy in a jar in the store. But having the most wonderful lemons in my yard, I had to try to make it myself. Wow, what a flavor!! I will never buy lemon curd ever again. The homemade version is like a party in your mouth. If you know Danish lemon mousse/citronfromage, it's like that, with lemon-steroids. YUM YUM YUM.

Makes about a cup (2-3 dl).

Ingredients:

• 115 g (1 stick) butter, I use lightly salted butter
• 170 g sugar
• 1¼ dl (½ cup) lemon juice, about 3-4 lemons
• 4 lemons, the zest from
• 6 egg yolks

Directions:

Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan, be careful not to let it brown. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the sugar, lemon juice and zest. Then whisk in the egg yolks until smooth.

Place saucepan over low-medium heat and cook the mixture, whisking constantly, until it thickens. You are looking for the curd to leave a path on the back of a spoon, when a finger is drawn across it. Be careful NOT to let the curd boil, this will cause the egg to curdle.  

Immediately pour the lemon curd into a bowl, to stop the heating. Let the lemon curd cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally. Keep the lemon curd covered and refrigerated until ready to serve.

TIP: Lemon curd keeps for about a month in the refrigerator, not that it has survived this long in my house.

Marengskys - Meringue Tops

Marengskys - Meringue Tops

Meringue tops are called kys or kisses in Danish, and are small sweet tops, perfect with ice cream or at any party. 

These are dressed up for a party, with some rainbow disco dust.

Makes a lot.

Ingredients:

• 2 egg whites
• 135 g sugar
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• ½ teaspoon lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon vanilla paste
• a drop food coloring
• sprinkle of rainbow disco dust 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300℉ (150℃). Line 2 baking sheet with parchment paper. 

In the bowl for the stand mixer, beat egg whites until stiff peaks. Add the sugar gradually, a couple tablespoons at a time, while still beating the egg whites. The egg whites/meringue will become thick and glossy. Gently fold in cornstarch, vanilla, lemon juice and food coloring.

Transfer the meringue into a pastry bag with a star tip. Pipe tops onto the prepared baking sheets, You don't need to space them to far apart, they will stay pretty much the same size. Sprinkle the tops with rainbow disco dust.

Bake the meringues for 45 minutes.

Enjoy!

Høns i Asparges - Chicken & Asparagus in tartlets

Høns i Asparges - Chicken & Asparagus in tartlets

Høns in asparges or Creamed chicken and asparagus in tartlets is an old Danish classic dish. Normally it will be served as a part of the traditional christmas and easter lunches. For sure this is old school Danish food, called mormor-mad (Grandmother food). And mormor-mad is peasant food, and not on the healthy side. But if you loose the tartlets and serve the dish with boiled potatoes, boiled carrots and some bread, you can have a regular meal. Creamed chicken and asparagus in tartlets is kinda the same thing as chicken potpie, if you serve it upside-down. 

Creamed chicken and asparagus was a big favorite in my house growing up, but wasn't served on a regular basis, so it was a rare but special treat.

Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

Sauce:

• 25 g butter

• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• ½ cup (1 dl) chicken stock

• ½ cup (1 dl) milk

• asparagus water,

• salt & white pepper to taste

Filling:

• 1 jar white asparagus in water, save the water for the sauce

• ½ chicken, the meat prepared (I used the left over meat from my chicken noodle soup)

Tartlets:

Use  Tarteletter, savory tartelettes or make your own with puff pastry homemade or store bought. 

Directions:

Sauce: 

Melt the butter over medium heat in a sauce pan. Add the flour and a sprinkle of salt, stirring constantly, until all the flour is incorporated with the butter. You don't want it to get a golden. First whisk in the hot chicken stock, making sure to not to have any lumps left, then whisk in the milk, asparagus water and cook, whisking constantly, until thickened and shiny, 2 to 3 minutes. Add more milk if the sauce is too thick.

Cut the asparagus and chicken into bitesize pieces. Gently fold in the filling in the sauce, and season with salt and white pepper.

Serve the creamed chicken & asparagus in tartelettes, with boiled potatoes or with a slice of a good bread.

Enjoy!

Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken Noodle Soup

Fall is here. Finally is time for chicken noodle soup, or any kind of soups. But this day was a chicken noodle soup kinda day. I had just got back from a visit to a cold and windy Denmark, and I needed some warm comfy soup. 

My mom made this type of soup often in the winter months. Well, we didn't have noodles in the soup. We had the traditional Danish soup dumpling (melboller), boiled meatballs (kødboller), and supperis. But in a busy family it is so much easier to cook some noodles and be done with it. 

Serves 4-6.

Ingredients:

Soup:

• 5 organic chicken wings
• 1 whole organic chicken
• ½ celery root, + the green top, chopped in large chunks
• 3 carrots, sliced in large chunks
• 2 leeks, sliced in 3 big chunks
• 1 onion, quartered skin on
• 1 teaspoon tomato paste
• 3 liter (12 cups) water

Filling:

• 2 cups shredded chicken meat (from wings and chicken)
• ½ celery root, finely diced
• 2 carrots, sliced
• 1 leek, white part, thinly sliced
• 2 cups egg noodles, cooked according to package
• chili pepper, diced - optional

Directions:

Heat oil in a large heavy pot. Cook the chicken wings till they have a deep brown color all over. Be careful not to overcrowd the pot, this will make the wing boil instead of browning. Transfer wings to a plate.

Add onion, carrots, celery and leek to pot. Cook, turning occasionally, until browned. Add tomato paste, cook while stirring until the tomato paste is heated through, 1-2 minutes. Add about a cup (2 dl) of the water to deglaze the pot, so you get all the brown bits dispersed. Add wings, chicken and the celery greens and the rest of the water. You want to cover all the chicken with water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let the soup simmer for 1½–2 hours until the chicken is falling off the bones. Skim the soup occasionally, to get a clear soup. Remove chicken and vegetables, and strain soup into a clean large heavy pot.

(Now you have a great homemade chicken stock. If you want a more concentrated stock, reduce the stock to about a third. The stock can be frozen for later use.)

Remove the meat from the bones, save the meat, and discard the bones.

Add carrots, leek and celery to the strained soup, and let it simmer until tender, about 2-5 minutes. Add the meat and let it heat through.

Serve the soup in heated bowls with some cooked egg noodles. I always cook the noodles separate, so they don't get to mushy if you want to save the leftovers. 

Enjoy!