Skidne Æg - Dirty eggs

This is part of our Eurovision inspired Danish-fest. Skidne Æg is a traditional dish, and makes a lovely sharing entree when plated up as we did, or you can serve in individual dishes.

The eggs are meant to be a little runnier than this - that lovely inbetween softboiled and hardboiled, but we overshot the mark as we were too engrossed in the pre-show buildup! Even so, it was a very tasty dish. I'm thinking, too, that you could replace the mustard with curry powder for a, well, curried version.

You can use whatever mustard you enjoy, but be cautious with the hotter ones as you may need to use less or face the wrath of the mustard god.  We used dijon because it is one of my favourites, and I had it in the house at the time!

Ingredients

4 eggs
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
1/2 litre milk
3 tablespoon mustard
salt to taste

Method

Boil eggs and boil until they are cooked as you desire (technically medium boiled is what you aim for, but do whatever you like best). Peel.

Make a roux with the butter and flour.  Add milk in gradually until you have a white sauce. Add mustard, stir through, season with salt and pepper to taste. If your eggs have cooled too much add them to the sauce to reheat, otherwise place eggs in bowl/s and pour sauce over.

Eat with rye bread, flatbread, or even with strips of crispy bacon... we served it with my flatbread recipe (just omitting the caraway!)

Lazy winter vegetable soup

I remember in my early 20's a friend of mine asking me "How do you make soup?" I remember staring at her with bemusement. How could anyone not know how to make soup? It's as easy as toasting bread - well, some soup is. I realised later that there are some techniques with cooking soup that you do need to know, even though most of them are fairly simple. Anyway, I guess she was never taught to cook at home, another thing I couldn't fathom. I remember making pikelets with my mum when I was very small - maybe 4 years old - and soups with my Babcia when I was maybe 8 years old. I grew up cooking, helping to cook, and trying to avoid having to cut up all the vegetables... I guess not everyone is lucky enough to have these experiences.

Anyway, I digress. I think this is the first soup I taught my friend to make. It is super easy, as all it requires is to prepare the vegetables and use a bought stock - a good quality one though, that relies on the flavour of the ingredients and not an over-abundance of salt. No blending, no roux, no cream to add and hope it doesn't split, just a simple basic vegetable soup. I think it is delicious though, and I make it a lot during winter. Obviously if you have the time and know-how to make your own stock that will make it even better. 

I cut my vegetables on the chunky side, but if you prefer them finely sliced that will work just as well.

Ingredients

1 onion, chopped
2 carrots,sliced
1 parsnip,sliced
1 turnip, sliced
1 potato, diced
1 litre of stock

Method

Sauté onion in a little oil or butter until translucent.
Add in the remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, then reduce and simmer until all the vegetables are cooked. If soup is too thick, add water to increase the liquid.

Serve with crusty bread. 

Kale Stew

I've been enjoying kale over the last few months - baby kale in salads, older kale in stirfrys or cooked similar to cabbage and served with whatever it is I'm eating. And crispy kale chips are a perennial favourite in this house! This dish is nowhere near as healthy as any of those options, but it is very delicious. This stew is great as an accompaniment to ham or other meats, and it is just as nice on its own with some mashed potato.

Ingredients

1 kg Kale
75 g butter
200ml cream
1 cup of good quality vegetable stock
2 tablespoon flour

Method

Rinse kale well and Discard any discoloured leaves and tough stems.

Slice into ½ inch thick slices with a sharp knife.
Make a roux with 50 gram of butter and the flour, stir in the vegetable stock and stir till it is smooth.
Add kale and the cream, then season to taste.

Boil gently for 10-15 minutes. The kale stew should not be overly runny, it should have a rich creamy consistency.

Caramelised Potatoes

This is another of those nice-but-naughty recipes. Not especially healthy, but very tasty. This little side dish comes from Denmark, who were the hosts for Eurovision this year. In honour of our hosts we had a traditional Danish dish - ham, with kale stew, and caramelised potatoes. The sweet caramel potatoes went very well with the saltiness of the ham.

1kg Small potatoes, peeled
40g sugar
50g butter

Boil the potatoes until cooked.

Heat the sugar in a frying pan over a medium-low heat for 2-3 minutes until the sugar melts. DO NOT STIR THE MIXTURE. If you need to redistribute the melted sugar shake the pan. If you stir it you may crystallise the sugar.

Add the butter & When it starts foaming add the potatoes and coat them with the mixture. I find a pair of tongs and a spoon works well to do this.

Cook for a further 4-5 minutes until nicely golden and browned. Serve.

Dad's Meatloaf

I just love my dad's meatloaf recipe. It is moist, savoury, with a rich deep sauce.  It is one of the tastes of my childhood, a comforting reminder of days past. Add to that the fact that it is easy to make, lasts well in the fridge, and makes terrific leftovers for reheating or for sandwiches and, well, how can you go wrong?

Ingredients

250g sausage mince
250g minced steak
1/2 cup of fresh breadcrumbs


1 onion
1 teaspoon of curry powder
1/2 tablespoon of fresh chopped parsley
1 egg
1/4 cup milk

sauce

1/4 cup strong espresso coffee or 1/4 cup water and 1 or 2 teaspoons coffee powder
1/4 cup of tomato sauce
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon vinegar
1/8 cup of brown sugar
15g butter
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Method

Meatloaf

• soak the breadcrumbs in the milk for 5 minutes. Combine with the meat, finely chopped onion, curry powder, parsely, and beaten egg in a bowl. Mix until well combined.
• Place in a greased loaf or bar tin and bake for 25-30mins at 200c.

Sauce

• combine all sauce ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to boil and then simmer for 5 mins.
• Remove loaf from the oven, pour off fat and turn loaf over in the pan. Spoon some of the sauce over, place back in the oven for 10 mins until the top is browned.
• Serve with the remainder of the sauce and your choice of seasonal vegetables.

Cauliflower Purée

Cauliflower Purée is a great substitute for mashed potatoes. It is low in carbohydrates and high in nutrients, and while the taste of cauliflower is there it is a little milder than when eaten whole. Even my young niece who doesn't particularly enjoy cauliflower said it was "OK" to eat, so it can't be that bad!
 
It is possible to use water instead of milk, but I love the creaminess the milk adds to the dish and it doesn't seem to matter if you use low-fat or not! Milk also adds a bit of extra protein to this dish, which is a bonus.

I'm not giving you exact quantaties here, as this really is a cooking method that can be easily adapted. Obviously the more cauliflower you use, the more milk you will need.

I've paired the cauliflower purée here with a lovely steak and my favourite red cabbage and caraway, but it goes well almost anywhere you would serve mashed potatoes. 

Ingredients

fresh cauliflower
milk

method

Place the cauliflower in a pan and just cover with milk.

Bring to a high heat and cook until the caulflower is soft but not overcooked.

pour off the milk mixture into jug - and keep it, you may need it later.

Blitz the cauliflower in the pot, or place it in a blender, and blend it until it is smooth and creamy. You may need to add extra milk from your reserve jug if it is not blending smoothly or if it is too thick.

Season with salt and pepper and enjoy!

Crispy skin duck breast with honey & orange glazed carrots

This is a rich indulgent dish, perfect for a cool autumn evening. There is a reason why orange is often paired with duck - it provides a sweetness and fruitiness that pairs well with the strong flavour of the duck meat.

The secret to crispy skin is to render out all of that duck fat under the breast, and making sure you pour off the excess fat so that you do not end up with soggy or chewy skin.

The honey and orange glazed carrots are one of my dad's recipes, which I have loved since a child.

Ingredients

2 duck breasts

2 large carrots

1 tbs butter
2 tbs honey
1/4 cup of orange juice
zest from an orange
pinch of nutmeg

salt and pepper

Method - the duck breast

1. Pat the skin of the duck breast and score the through the skin, This helps the fat to render and run out.
2. Season with salt and ground pepper.
3. Place skin side down in a cold non stick pan on a medium heat without oil for 6-8 minutes or until golden brown. Pour off the fat regularly and seal the other side for 30 seconds.
4. Place the skin side up on a rack in a roasting tin in the middle of the oven. The following guidelines give you approximate times for roasting the breast, but as with all meats the size of the breasts will affect how long the cooking will need to be.

Rare - 10 minutes
Medium - 15 minutes
Well Done - 18 minutes

When the duck is cooked rest in a warm place for 10 minutes.

Method - the honey and orange glazed carrots

1. Slice the carrots finely (peel if you prefer, I find I don't need to).
2. Cook in boiling water until soft but not mushy.
3. Drain the carrots in a colander.
4. In the same pot melt the butter and honey, then add the orange juice, zest, and a pinch of nutmeg. Add the carrots and stir until the sauce has coated the carrots and is reduced to your liking. 
5. Season to taste.

Serve with your duck breast, and any other accompaniments you may desire. As you can see I added some baby spinach and mashed potato to mine!

Enjoy!