An Americhick in Denmark

I love food. Oh gosh, how I love it. As is evidenced by my waistline, most definitely. We are working on that still, which I’ll post about a bit later, but in the meantime, it’s important that we adjust our recipes to keep food tasty, but adhering a bit better to lower fat and more natural ingredients. Finally, we have a few recipes that are ready for posting here, which we hope you will enjoy.

Oh, and for anyone considering ordering our particular brand of construction dust seasoning, I hate to say it but we are officially out of stock, and will not be replenishing our supply any time in, say, the next 5 years or so. Yes, you heard it here first, our kitchen is done. DONE!!! Barring a few minor, cosmetic, things, the evolving kitchen has finished its mutating, and now bears a distinct resemblance to a spread in Bedre Bolig og Have (Better Homes and Gardens for the danishly-challenged). Which means that now, we can do anything Betty Crocker can do, maybe even better. And we’re working on the cookbook to prove it!

So, enjoy the recipe, and stay tuned, as I intend to get up a few more over the next weeks. Honest! Props to my sister-in-law Trine for getting her blog going, and including some recipes. She’s an excellent cook, so make sure to check her out.

Hot Cauliflower-String Bean Salad

1/2 Head fresh cauliflower
3 Large handfuls fresh string beans (approx. 350 grams)
10-15 Cherry tomatoes, halved, skin still on (unless you really hate tomato skin, then peel away)
Some Butter/Country Crock/Lätta to taste (yes, this is a random measurement, thus ‘to taste’)
5 Cloves fresh garlic, chopped up
Salt and Pepper, to taste

Cook string beans and cauliflower, drain and set aside. Heat up the butter in a pan, add garlic and tomatoes, cook until garlic and tomatoes are warmed up and butter is slightly bubbly. Dice up cauliflower and beans, put in a bowl and add the butter-garlic-tomato mix, then toss until the cauliflower and beans are covered. Serve with a steak or other type of beast, and it should satisfy even the hungriest man or woman sitting at your table.

Enjoy!

Lest you, gentle readers, think that all that comes out of this chick’s kitchen are desserts, sadly that is not the case. Woman cannot live by sweets alone, though I know of a dog who would dearly love to give it a chance, and a husband who believes that dessert is a right written into the Danish constitution.

Of course, in my quest to change my non-cooking ways, I have managed to once again brand myself novice cook (literally) while recently removing a lovely dinner from the oven. The air was redolent with the scent of herbs and baked chicken, and several shades of blue with the colorful curses and whinging that followed. The dog ran in fear even while hoping I would drop the aforementioned dinner, and my DH ordered me into the bathroom to stick the offended appendage under cool running water. Yes, this definitely less than Betty Crocker stuck the back of her hand to one of the sides of the oven. Why? Oh, why not? I’ve already cut myself three times, broken four glasses, and fattened up the dog with dropped food on too many occasions. (Have I ever mentioned that he eats leeks? Yes, my dog eats leeks. Won’t touch a cheeto, but loves his veggies) Why not try cooking myself while working on dinner? Perhaps the better question is… why do I keep trying, when the kitchen is surely out to get me? Knives line up for their chance to part my delicate flesh from its bones, forks jostle to be first in queue to sink their tines into some part of me, why shouldn’t the oven attempt to get in on the fun by luring me in, then singeing off as much of me as it can before I jump back, yelping and cursing the need to step foot into this hall of hell at all.

However, never fear. This particular recipe was pulled off without any of the damage, to either myself or various glassware, mentioned above. How is that possible? Simple. The DH cooked. Enjoy!

Pesto Chicken with Sweet Tomato Sauce

4 Large Chicken Breasts
2 Packages of Bacon Strips
2 Cans, Stewed Tomatoes
2 Leeks, large
2 Large Peppers, your choice of color
A dash of ketchup (or catsup, your choice)
A dash of sweet chili sauce
1 Medium onion
2 dl Milk or Cream, depending on desired thickness
1-2 Mozarrella balls
Some Pesto , to taste
Fresh Basil and Oregano
Salt and pepper
Garlic
Rice for four

Sauce:
Blend ketchup, tomatoes, sweet chili sauce and milk together until thoroughly mixed. Clean leeks and chop into small pieces. Cut peppers into strips. Chop onion into large pieces.

Chicken:
Slice a pocket into each chicken breast. Cut up mozarella into chunks to fit into pocket, add fresh basil, oregano, garlic and pesto with mozarella. Wrap each stuffed breast with strips of bacon. Add a thin layer of pesto on outside of each wrapped breast.

Pour sauce mix into large casserole dish (glass). Make a bed with chopped leeks, peppers and onions in middle of sauce. Place stuffed chicken breasts on greens sprinkle with fresh basil and oregano, salt and pepper. Place dish into oven at 200 degrees Celsius and bake for 45-50 minutes.

Serve with rice and garlic bread or baguettes.

Now, another installment of Culinary Improv. This particular recipe comes from the DH’s family, designed to be simple and easily prepared. It has turned out wonderfully every time we’ve made it, even in our slightly less than Martha Stewart-perfect kitchen, and has received raves from our resident taste-testers, his work colleagues. We present it for your chocolate indulgence now. Enjoy!

Lauridsen Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Chocolate cake:
500 g Sugar
250 g Flour
6 tbls Cocoa
2 tsp Vanilla sugar
2 tsp Baking Powder
6 Eggs
250 g Melted butter or margarine
1 dl coffee or juice

Chocolate buttercream frosting:
500 g Confectioner’s sugar
115 g Butter, softened
1 tsp Vanilla extract
3 tbls Milk
115 g Cocoa

Cake:
Mix dry ingredients together thoroughly, add liquid ingredients and mix thoroughly, pour into cake pan and bake at 200 degrees C for 50 minutes to an hour, until knife or toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean. Cool on rack or counter.

Frosting:
Mix ingredients together thoroughly, beating in large bowl until smooth; spread over cooling cake, making designs as desired. Feel free to lick all bowls and beaters clean.

This cake can also be enjoyed without frosting, with the addition of chocolate chips, marshmellows, with a large scoop of vanilla ice cream, or with a large glass of cold milk. Indulge yourself in the chocolate!

Thank you for dropping by. We hope you’ll give one or more of our recipes a try sometime, they’re just little things the DH and I whipped up in our continually evolving kitchen. These recipes are improv, snatched from various online places and adjusted to our tastes - so feel free to add, subtract, multiply or divide (within reason, your results are your own if you do) as you see fit. Construction dust seasoning can be ordered, for a limited time only (we hope), in individual 100 gram packets; please contact Wren or the DH for more information.

Cheesecake - Randers Style
Ingredients:
300 g Digestive Biscuits, crushed
125 g non-salted Butter, softened
50 g Sugar
250 ml Cremefine with Vanilla
200 g Cream cheese, softened
250 g Sour cream
75 g Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla extract
300 ml Strawberry puree
1 dl Gelsugar

Time to prepare: As long as it takes. You can’t rush good tastes. ;D

Start with the crust: Mix the digestive biscuit crumbs, butter and sugar thoroughly then press into bottom of tart or springform pan. Bake at 200 degrees Celcius until brown and settled; remove and let cool on counter.

Now the filling: Whip the cremefine & vanilla together until stiff enough to turn the bowl over without spilling. Mix the cream cheese, sour cream and sugar together until smooth, then fold in cremefine gently and mix thoroughly. Spoon into pan over crust, then chill in your fridge.

Last but never least, the topping: Combine the puree and gelsugar in a bowl and mix thoroughly; cover and microwave at full power (100%) for 2-1/2 minutes, then remove and stir before pouring over chilled cheesecake. Go wild, it’s your party, drown the cheesecake in the sauce. Then chill in your fridge.

Enjoy!

The DH and I made this little delicacy last night so he could take it to work. It seems one of the traditions here that I am learning about is that those taking vacations will bring in a cake or other treats for celebration. So, as his summer holiday begins next Monday, it’s his turn to feed the office hordes. I certainly hope they enjoy it, and I really really hope he brings home a piece or two for us to have, too. Otherwise we have to make another one just for us.