Rhubarb-maniac

I am a Rhubarb maniac

This weekend I have made rhubarb compote and rhubarb jam with elderflowers.

Compote
1 pound fresh rhubarb in 1 inch pieces
3 TBSP water
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup fresh elderflowers

Put the rhubarb, water and sugar in a pan and cook it while stirring about 5 minutes. Add the elder flowers and cook 1 minute. Pour the compote into a bowl and let it cool.
Serve with cream, yoghurt or ice cream.

Jam
1 pound fresh rhubarb in 1 inch pieces
3 TBSP water
21/2 cup sugar
1 cup fresh elderflowers

Put the rhubarb, water and sugar in a pan and cook it while stirring about 8 minutes. Add the elder flowers and cook 1 minute. Ladle the jam into clean jam jars and seal them.

I also made Elderflower syrup

20-30 heads of elderflower
2 organic lemons in thin slices
1 cinnamon stick
11/4 cup sugar
11/4 cup cane sugar
1 quart water
2 tsp citric acid

Layer the cleaned flowers with lemon slices in a big jar or bowl and stick the cinnamon in.
Boil sugar, cane sugar and water until the sugar is dissolved.
Take it off the heat and add citric acid.
Pour it over the flowers and lemon.
Cover the jar/bowl and put it in the fridge for 4 days.
Pour it through a sieve and into clean bottles.
Keep in the fridge and serve in cold water or wine.

Use the mush in the sieve for a tasty jam.
Chop it in a food processor and pour it into a pan. Add same amount sugar and boil it rapidly for 5 minutes. Ladle the jam into clean jam jars and seal them.

Easy Rhubarb tart
I brought some fresh rhubarb back from our summerhouse - and made this easy treat for Johannes, Karstens youngest son, who is visiting tonight - after his rugby training.

1 stick butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup walnuts
1/4 cup milk or buttermilk

1 pound fresh rhubarbs
4 Tbsp sugar

Cream butter and sugar and add the egg. Mix flour, baking powder, salt and chopped nuts and add it together with the milk. Spread the batter in the bottom of a 9 inch tart pan.
Wash the rhubarbs and slice them in 1 inch pieces. Layer them on the raw batter and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake the tart in the oven at 350 degrees F. (175 degrees C.) for about 1 hour.
Enjoy warm or cooled with whipped cream or sour cream.

No Knead bread

Jim Lahey of the Sullivan Street Bakery has made the recipe for No knead bread, which was published in New York Times in 2006. Ever since food-bloggers all over the world have posted the recipe and their results on the internet.
Read the original recipe here: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/081mrex.html

Now it is my turn. I have used the recipe for an article in Hjemmet and tried it out with various kinds of flour, different lengths of rest and in pots of cast iron, Pyrex and clay.

My conclusions are:
1. Use whatever flour you like. If you use strong wheat flour you will get very beautiful domed bread with a crispy crust and a great crumb. If you use whole wheat flour the bread may be more flat, but the taste will be very good – and as you know: looks are not everything!
2. I have let the dough rest in the bowl for 8, 10, 12 and 18 hours – and the only difference is that a longer rest makes the taste of “sourdough” stronger. The crust and the bread itself are wonderful even by 8 hours rest.
3. I did omit the 15 minute rest on the table and have also cut the second rest with 1 1/2 hours – with perfect results.
4. Use a cast iron pot – you can use Pyrex or ceramic – but the bread will not be as good as baked in the cast iron – sorry guys. I actually went out and bought a new 4 liter Le Creuset pot just for this project – and it was worth it!
5. I use a warmer oven then in the original recipe: 480 degrees F/250 degrees C.

My recipe in European measures:

500 g flour (after your choice)
5 g fresh yeast (we don’t use instant yeast in Denmark)
2 tsp salt (I like the taste of salt to be more prevalent – is that the correct word?)
4 dl water (+ 3-4 TBSP extra if using whole wheat flour)

I just crumble the yeast into the flour, add salt and water and stir the dough together – just until there is no more dry flour – this will take less than 1 minute.
Cover the bowl and let it rest on the kitchen table for as long as you can wait – 8-18 hours.
Let the dough “fall” out of the bowl on to a lightly floured table. Fold the dough over on itself 3 or 4 times, turn it seam side down and place it on a floured cloth. Dust a little more flour over the dough, fold the cloth loosely over and let it rest while the oven and pot reaches 480 degrees F/250 degrees C – about 20-30 minutes.
Flip the dough into the hot pot, put the lid on and put it in the oven 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake the bread 15-20 minutes more. Let in cool on a rack at least 30 minutes.




The dough has rested in the cloth


The dough in the very hot pot


The bread is finished

Fingers off - it is cooling on the rack

Fried Garfish
In Denmark we call them hornfisk – “horn” hinting the long beak.
They arrive in our seas in April and are really a delicacy.
The traditional way to serve them is filled with parsley and fried in butter – and they taste really good!

Buy the fish as fillets – that’s the easiest way.

4 fresh fillets of garfish
1 big bunch of parsley
Durum flour or rye flour
Salt and pepper

I cut the fillets in half (they are so long) and season them with salt and pepper.
Wash the parsley in cold water and dry it in a clean cloth.
Put the parsley on the fish and roll them up. Fasten with string and dust them with flour.
Fry them on a frying pan with butter and olive oil about 12 to 15 minutes turning them so they get golden brown on all sides.
Serve with new potatoes.
Last time I served them with an apple and celery salad: slice apples and celery thinly and toss them with crème fraiche flavored with a little lemon juice, a little sugar, salt and pepper.

Rhubarb Compote

Rhubarb compote baked in the oven
In our garden (at the summer house) we are growing 3 different sorts of rhubarb; an ordinary sort, wine rhubarb and strawberry rhubarb.
I use them for desserts, pies and jam – and some time for breakfast with yoghurt and muesli.

Enjoy the compote as it is – maybe with a little fresh cream or yoghurt and some muesli. Or use it in a dessert.

1 pound (500 g) fresh rhubarb
1 vanilla pod
3/4 cup (150 g) sugar

Rinse the rhubarbs in cold water and cut them in 1-11/2 inch pieces. Split the vanilla pod and scrape the seeds out. Mix them in the sugar and then toss it with the rhubarb.
Put it in a baking dish and put the lid on or use some aluminum foil. Put the dish in the oven at 400°F (200°C) for 20-30 minutes – just until the rhubarb are tender – they should not be mushy.
Pour the compote over in a cold bowl and let them cool.

You can give the compote a twist by substituting the vanilla pod with some fresh ginger, cinnamon sticks or star anise.
Serve the syrup as a drink with ice water. Or reduce it to thick syrup and serve it on ice cream.

Boller i karry – Curried Meatballs

This is one of my daughter’s favorite meals – and actually I think of all kids in Denmark.
Probably due to the toppings, so everybody can make their own favorite combination.
(Serves 4)

Meatballs:
1 pound (450 g) ground meat – pork and/or veal
1 onion, minced
3 TBSP flour
1 egg
1/2 cup (11/4 dl) milk
1 quart (1 l) bouillon
Sauce:
1 onion, chopped
2 TBSP butter
1 cloves of garlic, minced
1 inch piece root ginger, minced
2-3 tsp curry powder
2 TBSP flour
1/2 cup (11/4 dl) cream or coconut cream
2 apples, chopped
Salt and pepper

Stir 1 tsp salt in the meat and mix it with a wooden spoon for about 3 minutes – until it gets tough or viscous – I don’t know what the correct word is here. Add the minced onion and flour and then the egg. Stir until it is smooth and then add the milk al little at the time. Season with salt and pepper.

Bring the bouillon to the bowling point and turn the heat down to a simmer. Shape meatballs with a spoon dipped in cold water and drop them into the bouillon. Let them simmer for about 10 minutes – depending on size.

Sauté the onions in a casserole with butter until soft. Add garlic and ginger and cook 2 minutes. Add curry powder and cook 2 minutes. Stir in the flour and mix well. Add half of the bouillon from the meatballs – pour it through a strainer. Let the sauce simmer for at least 10 minutes.

Add the apples and cream and cook the sauce for a couple of minutes. Adjust the taste with curry, salt and pepper.

Put the meatballs in the sauce and serve with cooked basmati or jasmine rice.
And some small bowls with toppings: mango chutney, raisins, shredded coconut, peanuts, chopped hardboiled eggs, chopped banana, chili sauce, chopped pickled beets or whatever you feel like.

Muesli

We ran out of muesli yesterday. I have been in a bad habit lately using store-bought muesli
- even I know I make a better and healthier one myself.
So I pulled myself together and actually it doesn’t take that much time.

Muesli
6 cups rolled oats (500 g)
3/4 cup sunflower seeds (100 g)
3/4 cup pumpkin seeds (100 g)
1 1/2 cup of chopped nuts (I use almonds and hazelnuts)(200 g)
1/2 cup maple syrup (1 dl)
1/2 cup water (1 dl)
1 1/2 cup of dried fruit (raisins, apricots, cranberries)(200 g)

Turn the oven on 325 degree F (160 degree C).
Mix all the dry ingredients together except from the dried fruit in a large bowl.
Mix syrup and water and pour it in the bowl. Mix thoroughly in order to distribute the syrup.
Spread the mixture out on two sheet pans and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes.
Stir the mixture thoroughly and bake 15 minutes. And stir the mixture thoroughly and bake 15 minutes again.
Let it cool on the pans and add the dried fruit. Store in a couple of air tight containers.

I eat fresh fruit with yoghurt and muesli almost every morning and Mathilde enjoys yoghurt and muesli as an after school snack.