Christmas in Denmark

While I will be away for two weeks celebrating Christmas in France, I recently wrote an article for Daring Kitchen.com that describes Christmas traditions in Denmark.  I have been blown away by the way Danes celebrate this special time of year:  everything from Gløgg wine and Pebernødder cookies to the beautiful white lights and candles for as far as the eye can see.

Please check out my article.

As the Danes say, God Jul og Godt Nytår.

Risengrød and our Nisse Alberte

There is a holiday tradition in Denmark that involves making a bowl of risengrød for a household's resident guardian spirit, called a nisse.  A nisse is sort of a mixture of elf/pixie/gnome and in Scandinavian folklore nisse were said to protect farms and their masters.  But nisse are known to be temperamental and if they do not receive a warm bowl of risengrød with a knob of butter and sprinkle of sugar and cinnamon on Christmas Eve, there's no telling what havoc they'll wreak.  I remember reading somewhere that when he didn't get his porridge, one nisse made the daughter of the house dance all night long until she almost died.

This year our dagpleje mor (daycare provider), Inger, and her family gave us the gift of our very own nisse, Alberte.

I prepared risengrød a few days ago and thought it was just about the best thing I've ever tasted.  All it has in it is rice, milk, and salt, but it is wonderfully delicious, hearty, and satisfying.  You can bet Alberte will be getting a bowl this Christmas Eve.

Risengrød

1.5c    water
1T      butter
1/2t     salt
1c       rice (pearl rice, aborio works, too)
4.5c    milk (I used 1.5 percent, which I believe is the equivalent of the 2% found in the U.S.)

1.  Rinse rice well and drain.  In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring first three ingredients to a rapid boil over high heat.

2.  Pour in rice, stirring constantly to prevent sticking.

3.  Reduce heat to low, stirring rice until boiling is reduced to a simmer.  Cover and simmer 10-15 minutes until most of the water is absorbed.

4.  Add milk to rice, stirring to incorporate.  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, then immediately reduce to low.  Once boiling has reduced to a simmer, cover and allow to cook, without stirring,  45-50 minutes.

Serve with a pat of butter and cinnamon and sugar.

Winter in Denmark

Sharing some of our recent winter wonderland sights.  I took the photos of the lighted bush at approximately 8:00 a.m. when day break was just upon us.  With sunset between 3:30 and 4:00 p.m., it's a heck of a short day of daylight.

When I stepped off our back deck the frozen "flowers" caught my eye.

My Gingerbread Man

Anatole and I had a blast making gingerbread cookies this year.  We shared them with family and friends, and he was especially happy to use the rolling pin and "make pie" with his gingerbread dough.  I have never seen a two-year old have so much fun in the kitchen.

Happy Holidays!

Oops, My Bad

After I posted about the food I brought back from the U.S., I received some important feedback.

1.  Quinoa DOES exist in Denmark.  A girlfriend of mine found it at the discount chain Fakta in her small town of Skive.  So there's hope!

2.  A reader from Denmark encouraged me to try the chocolate chips called Grand Cru from the Odense brand.  I have and, while they're not quite like the ones from home, they are a terrific substitute.

Tak for det, ladies!

Rum Balls

For countless Christmases, my grandmother would prepare a huge batch of what she called Bourbon Balls. Everyone in the family loved them, except me. I could only taste the alcohol, which made me gag. But I suppose that's the real reason everybody else loved them so much.

This year my mom shared a new recipe that caught my attention. I realized that nobody was forcing me to make them boozy. I could control the rum and add as much or as little as I liked. Now I'm on my third batch and they get better each time. I've given them away to friends and family and will be shipping some to our family members in France who live on the side of country we won't be visiting this Christmas (we're sticking to the Alps where we can ski!).

I've learned that the balls look prettiest when rolled smallish (3/4 of the size of a walnut) and run through a plate of red sugar sprinkles. Also, while I used the pecans the recipe calls for in the first batch, they are not very accessible or affordable here. In fact, I paid the equivalent of $7 for approximately 1 cup of pecans. The second time around I toasted a mix of walnuts, almonds, and hazelnuts and thought the finished balls were just as good if not better than the first batch. So if you like one type of nuts over another, use what you like or have in the house. But I can't promise that peanuts would work well.

There are no chocolate or vanilla wafers in Denmark (that I know of), so I simply used Marie vanilla biscuits. Although they are quite a different thing than vanilla wafers, they worked beautifully. Finally, I opted for 1/4 cup rum and thought the flavor was perfect.

Rum Balls

Adapted from Alison Ladman's recipe, The Associated Press

8oz pecans, toasted and cooled

9oz package chocolate or vanilla wafers (or 1 sleeve of Marie biscuits)

1/2c powdered sugar

2T cocoa powder

1/2c rum (I used 1/4c)

2.5T corn syrup (or lys sirup)

Zest of 1 orange

a couple of squeezes of juice from the orange

colored decorating sugar, white granulated sugar, powered sugar, etc. (whatever you want to roll yours in...plain is fine, too)

Note: You might need to play a bit with the moisture of the mix. You want a mix that rolls relatively easy in your hands. That is, not too dry and not overly wet either. I found my first batch a bit dry; by adding a few more drops of orange juice and a little more syrup, it was just right.

1. In a food processor, pulse the pecans until finely ground.

2. Add the cookies and pulse until ground and mixed together.

3. Add the remaining ingredients and pulse until thoroughly mixed.

4. Roll the mixture into small balls, then decorate by rolling in whatever topping you choose.

Store in an airtight container. Makes about 35.

So Excited

For the first time in my 37 years, I did something I thought I would never do:  I made a fruitcake.  Yes, that's right, a fruitcake.  It all started back in the summer when I was flipping through Nigella's Lawson's How to Be a Domestic Goddess, which has turned into my resident baking bible.  I came across a recipe for Christmas Cake and thought it sounded like so much fun to make.  I was also really excited by the idea of making something, putting it away for 3-4 weeks, and then getting it out with great anticipation.

The photos I'm sharing of my cake are rather pitiful, but it doesn't matter because I just had the best time whipping it up and can't wait till Christmas gets here.  Plus, I will share more when we actually dig into it and see what it looks like on the inside.  I know that fruitcake has a terrible reputation, but I have high hopes for this one.

Christmas Cake
Adapted from How to Be a Domestic Goddess

4c      golden raisins
1.5c   raisins
3/4c   currants
3/4c   glacé cherries
3/4c   candied orange peel
1/2c   chopped walnuts
1/2c   chopped almonds
3/4c   Marsala
1c      butter
1c      brown sugar
2T     molasses
1.5t   orange zest, grated
1.5t   lemon zest, grated
6       large eggs
3T     orange marmalade
3.5c   flour
1/4t    cinnamon
1/4t    nutmeg
1/4t    cloves
1t       almond extract
1/4t    salt

10" round pan or 9" square

1.  Place all of the fruit and nuts in a large bowl, and add Marsala.  Cover and let soak overnight.

2.  Preheat oven to 250F.

3.  Line our pan with a double thickness of parchment paper, to come up a few inches above the rim of the pan.

4.  Cream the butter and sugar, then beat in the molasses and orange and lemon zest.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, and then the marmalade.

5.  Sift the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture.  Add the almond extract and combine thoroughly.

6.  Put cake mixture into the prepared pan and bake 4 to 4.5 hours or until a cake tester comes out clean.

7.  When the cake is cooked, brush with a couple of tablespoons of extra Marsala.  Wrap immediately in its pan--using a double thickness of aluminum foil--as this will trap the heat and form steam, which in turn will keep the cake soft on top.  When it's completely cold (mine took over 6 hours on the counter to get cold), remove the cake from the pan and rewrap in foil, storing, preferably in an airtight tin or plastic container, for at least 3 weeks.

Christmas Goodies

After Hjerl Hede we stopped to see our friends Mette and Søren and their kids Frederik and Agnete. They had us for coffee, tea, and the most terrific platter of homemade Christmas treats. Except for two, which her mother made, Mette baked and prepared everything.

I was intrigued by the cookies called Vanillekranse because we had just seen them rolled, pressed, and shaped at the Hjerl Hede bakery, so I knew they must be a traditional holiday staple. The Pebernødder cookies are little bite-sized buttons of goodness that are crunchy, spicy, and sweet. You see them practically everywhere throughout Denmark at this time of year. In fact, when we flew into the airport last weekend coming back from the U.S., I had a need to use the phone in one of the international rental car company offices. Sitting right there on the desk was a tin of Pebernødder for the taking. And I noticed a few days ago at a supermarket called Kiwi there was a box sitting at the cash register, again for customers to take as they please.

Mette also prepared some delicious candy made of chocolate and marzipan and another kind with chocolate nougat rolled up around marzipan that had been mixed with powdered sugar to make it less sticky and easier to work with.

I am so grateful to have such good friends here in Denmark, and even more so because they share such wonderful food, drinks, recipes, and more with us!

Vanillakranse Cookies

Recipe adapted from Dianasdesserts.com

1.5c butter, softened

2 1/4c granulated sugar

2 large eggs, beaten

1 1/2 t. vanilla extract

3.5c flour

1/2c finely ground almonds (almond flour preferably)

1. Cream butter and sugar.

2. Add remaining ingredients and mix until smooth.

3. Put dough into a cookie press to make a serrated strip of dough (see photo above) and shape into a wreath. If you don't have a cookie press, use your favorite cookie cutter.

4. Place on a greased or parchment lined cookie sheet and bake at 325F for 8-10 minutes or until very lightly brown.

Note: If dough is difficult to work with, refrigerate 30 minutes.

Turns out, I don't mind seeing a pig slaughtered

This past weekend I traveled to a wonderful place in Denmark called Hjerl Hede. If you are not Danish, don't even think about trying to pronounce it correctly.

Hjerl Hede is an open air museum with many different buildings, stables, recreation areas, and more that mimic Danish life in the old days. Even though my toes were frozen for the better part of three hours, it is without a doubt one of the best and most interesting experiences I've had in Denmark. We went with our friends Kira and Kevin and their children Freya and Anton. The place was packed because Hjerl Hede is closed from November through March but opens up for three special weekends in December to celebrate Christmas, old-fashioned Danish style.

I was absolutely amazed by the sight of a real live pig being slaughtered, and all the steps that were involved using techniques that would now be considered archaic. I wasn't sure I would be up for seeing all the blood and guts, but I had a hard time pulling myself away. So fascinating. Even the kids were into it.

Finally Back Online and Cherry-Habanero Sauce

I thought I would end my 4+ week hiatus with a post about the food I brought back from my trip to the U.S. and share a fun condiment recipe courtesy of my stepdad.

Here's the deal: ever since my residency in Denmark began, I started keeping a mental--and eventually, paper--list of food items not accessible in my little corner of the world. Of course, some of these items might be found in Copenhagen or even Denmark's second largest city, Aarhus, which is nearer to where I live, but let's get real. It's simply not practical to grocery shop two hours away--unless you live in Alaska or Siberia and you have no other choice.

Among the items pictured, I also returned home with a box of currants, two boxes of matzo ball mix, various spices and extracts and some glacé cherries and candied orange peel for a special Christmas cake I'm planning to make. I thought for sure that customs would pull me aside and ask if the contents of the bags of whole wheat pastry flour were some sort of toasted cocaine, but thankfully I made it through with no questions asked. While I was dying to bring back a bunch of cans of black beans, I opted for dried instead and used my can allotment for poppy seed filling and sweetened condensed milk.

I also picked up some bulk steel-cut oats and quinoa. If you cant tell from my photo, there is also a bag of almonds. Strange you might say, are there not almonds in Denmark? Of course, but I am crazy about the dry roasted variety, and I've yet to find any in my vicinity. There are also some ziploc baggies with the unboxed contents of Annie's Organic Macaroni and Cheese. We can't even find Kraft in our town, let alone Annie's! Only when you are really serious about cooking do you go to this much trouble during a vacation. Finally, the candy represents various interests: the dum dums are for my son, the kisses were bought because I really cherish memories of eating kisses out of a candy dish at Christmas time, the caramels because one day I was daydreaming about caramel apples. And the chocolate chips because if you haven't heard me say if before, it is impossible to find NORMAL chocolate chips here! But I'm not bitter or anything.

On to today's recipe. Through a friend of a friend, my stepdad got his hands on an amazing recipe for Cherry-Habanero Sauce. I'm a wimp when it comes to spicy foods and sauces, but this sauce makes the most delicious condiment for eggs, meats, and roasted or steamed vegetables. I tried a little on steamed broccoli and it really brought out the life in the tree tops and woody stems. But a little is all you need...unless of course you want a burning mouth or happen to enjoy that particular sensation.

Canned in cute little jars, this condiment makes the perfect holiday gift for your favorite food lovers. Thanks, Len, for opening up my world by introducing me to this wonderful sauce.

Cherry-Habanero Sauce

2c Ketchup

2/3c Vinegar

1/2c Onion (finely chopped)

1c Cherry preserves

1/4c Yoshida's

1/4c Water

2 Habanero peppers (chopped)

2 Bay Leaves

1 Clove Garlic (finely chopped)

Mix all ingredients together in a sauce pan and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes. Cool to room temperature. Pulverize mix in a food processor or blender until well blended. Strain for an even smoother finish.

Add and incorporate:

1/2t Salt

2/3c Brown Sugar

1T Liquid Smoke

Makes 3 cups.

The next four weeks

Just a quick note to say that Anatole and I are in Oregon visiting my family and enjoying all sorts of familiar comfort food. Highlights so far: crock pot pot roast, homemade cherry-habanero sauce, refrigerator muffins, and steel-cut oats. More details soon...

Carrot rice soup and apple clafoutis

Dinner last night was a bowl of delicious carrot rice soup and a slice of warm apple clafoutis. I am a huge fan of soup, and I can't stop baking with apples these days, so this was the perfect combination to keep me busy before dinner.

I saw the carrot rice soup on Everybody Likes Sandwiches and thought it looked really easy and really good. I didn't have dried chilis or marjoram in the house, so I substituted a teaspoon of herbs de provence instead. The recipe mentions that the soup can be made with either pre-cooked rice (white or brown) or dry rice cooked directly in the soup. I chose to make a batch of brown rice ahead of time and stir it into the pureed soup. This is a wonderfully deep-flavored soup that's perfect for chilly fall days. The only thing missing in mine was salt. I thought that my homemade chicken stock (from my pot pie expedition) would impart enough saltiness, but no. I simply added a pinch or two of ground sea salt after the fact, and that worked fine.

Sometimes when I make soup I like something sort of fun to go with it. That's where the clafoutis came in. I had apples and while I'd only made clafoutis before with plums or cherries, I googled apple clafoutis and discovered the most amazing recipe courtesy of Michael Chiarello (my photo doesn't come close to doing this dessert justice). Ever seen Michael on the Food Network? He has to be one of the nicest cooking souls around. I did not adapt the recipe in any way except that I used 2% instead of whole milk, because that's all I had in the fridge. It didn't seem to negatively affect the baked clafoutis in any way. We had a near-empty container of Greek yogurt in the fridge, so I added a dollop of that to my piece and some creme fraiche to the boys' pieces. Alan couldn't stop raving about it but then he's a fan of virtually anything if it's origins are French.

Buckeyes

For a recent girls night out, I said I'd bring dessert. I'm not really sure why, but I became infatuated with making something in the peanut butter-chocolate family. Maybe it was because we were getting close to Halloween, and I was dreaming of peanut butter cups. Or maybe it was that a neighbor presented me with a handful of lovely horse chestnuts that, though inedible, remind me of chocolate covered peanut butter balls, also known as Buckeyes.

I did some checking around and the word buckeye has multiple significance. The candy, buckeyes, made by dipping little mounds of peanut butter fudge into melted chocolate, are said to resemble the eyes of male deer (bucks). Then there's the Ohio buckeye, the state tree, along with the Ohio State University Buckeyes, the name of the school's sports teams and students.

But I digress. What you're really after is the recipe, which I liberally adapted from various recipes floating around the web.

Buckeyes

1c (236g) soft butter
2c (475g) peanut butter - creamy or crunchy
4c (1000g) powdered sugar - divided in half

1.5 bars of dark chocolate (I used 70%) -- chopped into small pcs
1/2t vegetable shortening or oil

1. Mix butter and peanut butter together until well incorporated and blended.

2. Slowly add in sugar and taste after dumping and mixing in the first half. You want enough sugar to be able to roll the mix into balls, but not so much that it's sickeningly sweet (but if that's your thing, by all means...)

3. Once your mix is ready, stick the bowl in the fridge for 20 or 30 minutes.

4. Remove from fridge and, with clean hands and using your palms, roll bits of mix into 1" balls. Place balls on a baking sheet lined with either waxed paper or foil.

5. Once your tray is full, place either in fridge for 30 min or freezer for 15 min

6. Melt chocolate and shortening. If you have an ice cream scooper, you'll want to have it handy. Once chocolate is melted fill the scoop with chocolate and dip cold peanut butter ball into the chocolate, coating half or more. Place on new sheet of waxed paper or foil and, once finished with the batch, re-refridgerate or freeze. Makes about 70, depending on the size of your balls. That sounds funny.

October Daring Bakers' Challenge

I'm giving a shout out to my sister-in-law, Marie Agnes, for introducing me to macarons. Naturally I'd seen pictures of fancy French macarons before, and even peered into macaron shops in Paris, but never conceived of making them myself. They're so pretty that they almost look fake and inedible, but the truth is that they make a very tasty treat.

Over the summer I helped Marie Agnes make a batch and she even gave me a macaron cookbook, which inspired my idea for a raspberry version. While I really enjoyed making these unique cookies, I was unable to achieve the signature "foot." It's the part at the bottom of the cookie that spreads out to support the shiny round top. My Dutch friend Katinka, also a Daring Baker, achieved the much sought after feet on her third batch. What's more, the tops of my macarons were dull instead of bright, glossy, and shiny. Maybe that should have stopped me from submitting my results for the challenge, but it didn't. By the way, the photo below is what they should look like.

I filled a portion of my cookies with a mix of raspberry jam and coulis, and the rest with dark chocolate ganache.

The 2009 October Daring Bakers' challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macaroons from Claudia Fleming's The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern at the challenge recipe.

Preparation time: Not taking into account the amount of time it takes for you to bring your egg whites to room temperature, the whole baking process, including making the batter, piping and baking will probably take you about an hour to an hour and a half. How long it takes to make your filling is dependent on what you choose to make.

Actual baking time: 12 minutes total, plus a few minutes to get your oven from 200°F to 375°F.

Equipment required:

• Electric mixer, preferably a stand mixer with a whisk attachment

• Rubber spatula

• Baking sheets

• Parchment paper or nonstick liners

• Pastry bag (can be disposable)

• Plain half-inch pastry bag tip

• Sifter or sieve

• If you don’t have a pastry bag and/or tips, you can use a Ziploc bag with the corner snipped off

• Oven

• Cooling rack

• Thin-bladed spatula for removing the macaroons from the baking sheets

• Food processor or nut grinder, if grinding your own nuts (ouch!)

Ingredients

Confectioners’ (Icing) sugar: 2 ¼ cups (225 g, 8 oz.)

Almond flour: 2 cups (190 g, 6.7 oz.)

Granulated sugar: 2 tablespoons (25 g , .88 oz.)

Egg whites: 5 (Have at room temperature)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°F (93°C). Combine the confectioners’ sugar and almond flour in a medium bowl. If grinding your own nuts, combine nuts and a cup of confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of a food processor and grind until nuts are very fine and powdery.

2. Beat the egg whites in the clean dry bowl of a stand mixer until they hold soft peaks. Slowly add the granulated sugar and beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks.

3. Sift a third of the almond flour mixture into the meringue and fold gently to combine. If you are planning on adding zest or other flavorings to the batter, now is the time. Sift in the remaining almond flour in two batches. Be gentle! Don’t overfold, but fully incorporate your ingredients.

4. Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain half-inch tip (Ateco #806). You can also use a Ziploc bag with a corner cut off. It’s easiest to fill your bag if you stand it up in a tall glass and fold the top down before spooning in the batter.

5. Pipe one-inch-sized (2.5 cm) mounds of batter onto baking sheets lined with nonstick liners (or parchment paper).

6. Bake the macaroon for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and raise the temperature to 375°F (190°C). Once the oven is up to temperature, put the pans back in the oven and bake for an additional 7 to 8 minutes, or lightly colored.

7. Cool on a rack before filling.

Danish Organic Market

A couple weeks ago we stopped in at the annual Økologisk Marked here in Hobro. We sampled different artisan cheeses, the most amazing pink apple juice I've ever tasted (but at $7 a quart, not very wallet-friendly), chocolates, yogurt, and more--all organic and made in Denmark. There were meat and fish vendors, companies selling kids clothes made with organic cotton, and a woman selling the most vibrant varieties of wool yarn. We left with two blocks of cheese and a package of smoked sausage links.

In front of the building was an old-fashioned apple press where anybody who brought their own apples could press juice and bottle it in whatever stray plastic or glass bottles they brought along from home.

We were delighted to participate in such a fun, charming, and worthwhile event. Anatole took special interest nearby in the boats being loaded onto big semi trucks to be taken away and stored for the winter.