Chicken Ras-el-hanout

Comfort dining in April

Spicy chicken with oven roasted new potatoes, purple carrots and red peppers and ramson aioli

Serves 4

1 fresh chicken

1 TBSP Ras-el-hanout

Salt

11/2 pound potatoes

11/2 (purple) carrots

2-3 snack peppers

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Ramsons Aioli:

1 clove garlic

1 pinch salt

1/3 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup sour cream

1 TBSP Dijon mustard

1 organic lemon

1 little handful Ramsons

Salt and pepper

Cut the chicken in to desired pieces – I just cut the legs of and split the breast in two pieces.

Season the chicken pieces with Ras-el-hanout and salt and place them in a roasting pan. Place in the oven, turn in on to about 390 degrees F (200 degrees C) and let it roast for about 1 hour.

Scrub the potatoes and mix them with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Place on a baking tray with baking paper. Scrub or peel the carrots. Wash the peppers and slice them. Mix carrots and peppers with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and place on baking paper on the baking sheet. Pop in the oven the last 25 minutes.

Put the garlic in a mortar and pestle with the salt and grind it into a paste. Whisk mayonnaise and sour cream together and add garlic, mustard, 1/2 tsp finely grated lemon rind, 1-2 tsp lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Wash the Ramsons leaves thoroughly and remove any tough stalks (the tender ones are fine).  Chop them finely with a sharp knife and toss them in the aioli. Season with more lemon, salt and pepper if needed.

Serve and enjoy!

Ras-el-hanout is a Moroccan spice blend which can contain up to 50 different spices or more. You can buy Ras-el-hanout in specialty shops or make your own:

Ras-el-hanout:

2 tsp coriander seeds

2 tsp cumin seeds

1 stick cinnamon

1/2 tsp fennel seeds

1/2 tsp cardamom seeds

1/2 tsp whole cloves

1/2 tsp whole black pepper

1 tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp ground cayenne

1/4 tsp ground mace

1/4 tsp ground ginger

Roast the whole spices in a frying pan until aromatic – a couple of minutes.

Put them in a mortar and pound away at them with the pestle. Add the ground spices and your ready to go. Keep in a jar.

Ramsons, buckrams or bear's garlic (Allium ursinum) is a wild relative of chives. Tastes a little garlickyJ

Mathildes Birthday Party

We celebrated Mathilde s 15 year birthday in advance with a family dinner Sunday evening.
As Mathilde s wildest dream is to have a Mac Book Pro, I made a Mac Cake with slots and everything.
I know the cake is too high to be a real Mac book – because I made two layers instead of one!
It tasted real good and came with a promise to be converted to a real Mac Book next summer when Mathilde graduates from the 10. Grade.

Cake
(2 layers)
300 g (11 oz) dark chocolate
300 g (21/2 stick) butter

225 g (13/4 cup) flour
75 g (1/2-3/4 cup) cocoa
11/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt

6 eggs
475 g (21/2 cup) sugar
2 tsp vanilla

Caramel filling:
100 g (1/2 cup) sugar
85 g (3/4 stick) soft butter
11/2 dl (1/2 cup + 2 TBSP) whipping cream

Butter cream icing:
200 g (13/4 stick) butter
400 g (21/2 cup) icing sugar
1-2 tsp vanilla
1 TBSP milk

Decoration:
680 g (24 oz) rolled fondant (sugar paste)
Edible silver powder
1 TBSP vodka
Black food color

Make the cake:
Melt chocolate and butter together.
Whisk all the dry ingredients together.
Whisk eggs, sugar and vanilla together.
Add chocolate/butter mixture to the eggs and fold in the dry ingredients.
Fill the batter in 2 prepared pans (Mac book size) and bake them for about 30 minutes at 375 degrees F (180 C). Turn them out on a wired rack and let them cool.

Make the Filling:
Melt the sugar in a pot until golden. Remove from the heat and add 1 TBSP butter. Add the cream and put the pot back on the heat. Boil to 108C/225 F.
Pour the caramel in to a bowl, cover and let it cool to room temperature.
Beat the butter into the caramel cream.

Finish the cake:
Spread the caramel cream onto one cake layer and place the other on top. Beat the butter cream icing together and spread in all over the cake; top and sides.
Roll out the fondant to fit the cake and position on the cake. Smooth and shape the fondant on the top and sides of the cake and trim of excess fondant at the base.
Cut an apple in paper, brush it with a little water and place on cake.
Dissolve the silver powder in the vodka and paint it on the fondant icing with a brush. Remove paper-apple.
Color excess fondant with black color and make slots for the Mac. Brush with a little water and place on cake.

Herb garden

I finally got my Christmas present filled with fresh herbs.

They are pretty and convenient. I now have my favorite fresh herbs at hand, without occupying the sparse table space in my little kitchen.

The upside down flowerpots are called Boskke Sky Planter and are designed in New Zealand. They come in 3 sizes – mine are small.

Christmas Candy 2010

As usual I have cooked up som Christmas gifts for the lucky ones.
This year I dropped some licorice in everything
- because I just bought some licorice syrup from Johan Bulow (http://lakrids.nu/) the other day and had to try it out.

The fruit bars are almost guilt-free - no fat added!

Fruit bars with a hint of licorice
100 g walnuts (31/2 oz)
100 g almonds (31/2 oz)
100 g dried dates (3 1/2 oz)
100 g dried apricots
75 g prunes (2 1/2 oz)
75 g dried cranberries (2 1/2 oz)
1 dl dark brown sugar (6 TBSP)
1 dl flour (6 TBSP)
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg
1 tsp licorice syrup or Anise extract

Line an 8-inch (20 cm) square pan with baking paper and preheat the oven to 160 C (325 F).
Chop the nuts and fruit (except cranberries) coarsely and toss everything together with flour, baking powder and salt.
Whisk the egg together with the licorice syrup and mix it thoroughly into the fruit and nut mixture.
Press the mixture into the prepared pan and bake it for about 35 minutes.
Let it cool 20 minutes in the pan and then lift it out onto a cutting board.
Cut in desired bar-size and store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.

Sesame candy
(80 candies)

250 g sesame seeds (9 oz/11/2 cup)
400 g cane sugar (2 cups)
150 g honey (1/2 cup)
100 g brown sugar (1/2 cup)
2 tsp licorice syrup or Anise extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger

Brush two large sheets of baking paper with oil or use silicone mats.
Toast the sesame seeds in a pan over medium-low heat, stirring often, until they are golden (5-8 minutes). Pour them into a bowl.
Melt the cane sugar, honey and brown sugar in the pan. Add the licorice syrup, cinnamon and ginger and stir well.
Turn the heat off and stir the seeds into the caramel with a wooden spoon.
Scrape the mixture onto one paper sheet (oil-side up) and place the remaining sheet (oil-side down) on top. Roll the mixture with a roller pin into a square about 1/4 inch thick.
Remove the top sheet of paper and cut the candy into 1-inch squares or diamonds with a sharp knife.
Let the candy cool completely and store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Blueberry and Coconut cake

We celebrated my husband’s birthday last Sunday and I made this monstrous cake.
It tasted wonderful – but it ruins your appetite.

Blueberry and Coconut cake
Serves 16

Cake:
21/2 cup cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup soft butter
13/4 cup sugar2 tsp vanilla
1 TBSP lime rind (finely grated)
3 eggs
3 egg yolks
11/2 coconut milk
11/2 cup desiccated coconut

Cream:
1 vanilla pod
3 TBSP powder sugar
11/2 cup crème fraiche 38% fat (or double cream)
3/4 cup double cream

Filling:
3 cups preserved blueberries

Frosting:3/4 cup sugar
1 TBSP syrup or molasses
2 TSP water
3 egg whites
2 TBSP sugar

Decoration:
Desiccated coconut, roasted

Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. In another bowl whip butter and sugar creamy and add vanilla and lime rind. Add the eggs and yolks one at a time. Add flour and coconut milk alternately and fold in the coconut. Fill the batter in 3 prepared pans and bake them for about 30 minutes at 375 degrees F (180 C). Turn them out on a wired rack and let them cool.

Split the vanilla pod and scrape out the seeds. Mix them with the powdered sugar and add crème fraiche and cream. Beat until soft peaks form.
Layer the cakes with the vanilla cream and the preserved blueberries.

Place sugar, syrup and water in a saucepan and let it boil 5 minutes.
Beat the egg whites with sugar until soft peaks form. Add the boiling sugar syrup and continue beating until the frosting is fluffy and no longer warm (5-8 minutes). Spread it on the cake and decorate with roasted coconut.

Pork Tandoori

Pork Tandoori and smashed potatoes

Midweek easy meal

Serves 3-4
1 Pork tenderloin
2 TBSP Tandoori dry spice
Salt and pepper
1/2 TBSP olive oil

11/2 pound potatoes
2-3 cloves garlic
2-3 TBSP butter
1 handful fresh parsley (chopped)
Salt and pepper

Trim the tenderloin of excess fat and silver skin. Cut it in 6-8 pieces, roll them around in the Tandoori spice and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Scrub the potatoes and boil them in salted water with the peeled garlic until tender (20 minutes).

Heat a frying pan with olive oil. Be sure the pan is hot before adding the meat. Sear the pork quickly until browned on all sides. Turn down the heat and continue cooking and turning until done (15 minutes).

Drain the potatoes but reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Smash each potato once (using the back of a large spoon) so the pieces are very large and chunky. Add butter, a little cooking water, salt and pepper. Stir gently to combine and fold in the parsley.

Serve with a salad of your choice.

You can make your own Tandoori spice by mixing 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp ground coriander, 1/2 tsp ground cumin, 1/4 tsp ground ginger, 1/4 tsp ground cardamom, 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Soft fruit jellies

Pâté de fruit – Homemade soft fruit jellies

In Denmark we call them FLÆSK meaning bacon – because of the stripes.
It takes some patience - but really they are very easy to make – and there is still lots of time to Christmas.

This recipe contains only natural ingredients – NO artificial flavors and NO artificial gelatin or pectin is added!

The natural pectin in the apples combined with sugar – and the time of boiling (to get rid of the liquid) does the TRICK.

1/2 TBSP vegetable oil
1 pound peeled apple slices
1/3 cup white wine or water
1/2 cup sugar
1 TBSP lemon juice
Citrus:
1 TBSP finely grated rind + 1/3 cup juice of lemon or lime
1/2 cup sugar
Berry:
1/2 pound fresh or frozen berries f.ex. Raspberries
1/2 cup sugar
Decoration:
sugar

Line a pan (4 by 10 inches) with parchment paper (baking paper) brushed with oil.
Place apple slices and wine/water in a saucepan and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer covered until the apples are very tender (25 min.).

Process fruit and liquid until smooth in a food processor. Press through a strainer and divide into two saucepans. Add citrus rind, juice and sugar to one portion. Process berries in the food processor and add with sugar to the second portion.

Boil the fruit purees over moderately high heat, stirring often, until they thicken and any excess liquid has evaporated, about 30-45 minutes. Let them cool to room temperature.

Layer the two mixtures in the prepared pan and smooth the surface. Let it sit on the kitchen table 12 hours.

Unmold the “pâté” onto a flat dish with parchment paper. Cover with a clean cloth and let it “dry” at room temperature for 5-8 days.

Cut the “pâté” in slices or cubes and roll the pieces in sugar to coat.
Arrange on a platter and serve. Or refrigerate covered; they will keep for several weeks. Dab with paper towels before coating with fresh sugar.

Tip: Also try pure apple jellies spiced with a little cinnamon and/or ginger.