Danish Rice Pudding

As promised my recipe for warm rice pudding coming right up - this is a very time consuming dish and when I was little my Mum used to bring the pudding to a boil, let it cook for about 10-15 minutes and then cover the pot in newspapers and towels and leave the pot in the foot of the bed underneath the covers for about 2 hours to cook through. She could then spend time doing other things as well besides slaving away at the stove.

This recipe comes with the particular brand of pudding rice I buy and I never go wrong with this one. The last time I made it, I had bought another brand of rice and it didn't turn out good at all - and this time (with the right rice) it was really good! It needed a bit more salt, but that's my fault for not seasoning it right... This is my brand of rice:

Give a warm Christmas welcome to:

Danish Rice Pudding (serves 6 people)

2 litres whole milk

250 grams pudding rice

a pinch of salt

Pour the milk into a thick bottomed pot and bring it to a boil. And add in the rice. Give it a good stir and let it boil for about an hour at low heat. Remember to stir frequently to keep the pudding from burning in the bottom of the pot.

When the pudding has thickened add in the salt and have a taste - if tastes bland add in a bit more salt.

Serve the rice pudding with a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar and a nub of butter on top.

Bon appetit...

First Sunday of Advent

In Denmark we celebrate the first Day of Advent today. 

Advent originates from the Latin term Adventus which means "the arrival of" or "he is coming" - and it signifies the four Sundays before Christmas (the 25th of December - but we celebrate Christmas on the 24th of December here in Denmark) If Christmas Eve falls on a Sunday this day will also be the 4th Sunday of Advent. 

We have some traditions attached to this celebration - the Advent wreath. This Advent wreath was originally a tradition brought to Denmark from Germany around World War I and the four candles on the wreath symbolises the four Sundays of Advent and you light a candle for each Sunday, the first Sunday you light one candle, the following Sunday you light two candles and so on. 

This Advent wreath has transformed during the past centuries. Once it was a wreath made from fir branches (which many still prefer today) and it was hung from the ceiling with ribbons or placed on a tray on the table. Today many people have replaced the traditional wreath with a Advent candlestick from some fancy designer or the just make a decoration with four candles. 

I don't use the traditional wreath - but my mother prefers the fir wreath and hangs it from the ceiling. She has done so ever since I can remember and I wouldn't have it any other way at my parents' house. 

I made some traditions of my own regarding the first Sunday of Advent. I make my Advent decoration

Then I put up all my Christmas decorations, if the first Sunday of Advent is before the 1st of December. If it isn't I wait to put up my decorations and do it on the 1st of December. Then for dinner I make rice pudding, which is served with cinnamon sugar on top and a nub of butter in the middle of the warm pudding. I love this dish - it's Christmas at it's best. 

Borrowed picture from Arla.dk

 

To go along with this wonderful dish we have light ale - which we here in Denmark call Nisseøl (loosely translated to ale that Christmas elves would drink) A thing my father taught me was to mix the ale with lemon soda - a more kiddy friendly version - and I love it! 

Borrowed picture from Superbest.dk

My recipe for warm rice pudding will be posted soon... Enjoy your first Sunday of Advent.

Coarse winter/fall salad

This is my take on a lovely coarse winter/fall salad - I always make this whenever I have fresh leftover cabbage from making cabbage cooked in white sauce which also is a favourite of mine...

This salad goes great along side which ever kind of meat you prefer - I like it with Danish meatballs, fried or grilled chicken or even fish cakes and it's a great way of getting the fibres you need. It's low fat and really easy to make - so just get cooking (chopping) people...

Coarse winter/fall salad with cabbage and carrot (6 servings)

1/4 of a cabbage 

4-6 medium sized carrots

150 grams raisins

75 grams hazelnuts or walnuts

Start by rinsing the cabbage and removing the first two layers of leaves. Then chop the cabbage thinly and put them the strips into a bowl.

Next you rinse, peel and coarsely grate the carrots and mix it in with the cabbage. Add in the raisins.

Chop the nuts as coarsely as you like and mix them in with the rest of the salad. Give it a good toss and viola in just a matter of minutes you have a well tasting coarse salad.

Sorry for the missing picture - I'll be sure to add one the next time I make this fabulous salad...

Bon appetit...

Waldorf salad

The Waldorf salad is really a seasonal salad for me because it's traditional to serve along side some Danish Christmas dinners. I could eat it all year and I really love it but somehow I manage to forget about it for a while and usually it pops right back into my mind again when Christmas starts knocking.

This year has been no exception and it was only because I had apples in my fruit basket I thought of making it for my family gathering this weekend. Sadly I forgot to take pictures and had to borrow this one from another website. I hope you'll like this salad as much as I do and maybe it'll become one of your traditional Christmas side dishes...

Picture borrowed from: Den store danske

Waldorf salad (8 servings)

6 apples (your favourite kind with a slightly acidic taste to them)

500 grams seedless grapes (blue or green which ever you prefer)

150 grams walnuts (save some of the whole ones for decoration)

500 ml sour cream

2-3 stalks of celery or 1/4 - ½ teaspoon of celery salt (I use the celery salt)

If you want to use fresh celery then skip ahead and start from number 2. 

1. Start by preparing the dressing for the salad: Pour the sour cream into a bowl and mix in 1/4 teaspoon celery salt to begin with. Let it sit for about 5-6 minutes and have a taste. It has to taste of celery but not too salty. If your up for more taste of celery then add in the remaining 1/4 teaspoon. Just be careful - I season this 3 or 4 times before I have a flavour that I'm satisfied with, so go slow and add in the celery salt little by little.

 

2. Cut the grapes into halves and cube the celery (if you haven't used the salt instead). Put them into a large bowl and give the apples a good wash. Cube the apples and add them into the bowl.

3. Chop the walnuts coarsely and put them in with the rest of the salad.

4. Pour the dressing/sour-cream into the bowl as well and mix it all together so that the dressing/sour-cream covers it all. 

And that's that - let the salad rest in the fridge for a couple of hours or make it the day before (it only gets better!) and serve it along side a good roast, beefsteak, roast duck, goose or even turkey.

Bon appetit...

Apple rolls

Originally the idea was to use the leftover apples I had to make apple jam or something like that but I didn't really have the time to spend making that. Then I stumbled upon a Danish recipe for Apple rolls and I had planned to make rolls anyway, so there was an easy solution! Apple rolls it was...

A really simple recipe and it didn't take up much of my time and if I wasn't in a Christmas mood before, I sure was as I started to make the rolls. Their delicious smell of cinnamon spread out through the entire apartment and made me want to start my Christmas decorating really early this year, so it was definitely the right time to try them out and they taste absolutely wonderful! I think it will become a part of my Christmas traditions to make them every year.

Danish apple rolls (25-30 rolls)

50 grams yeast (fresh)

300 ml lukewarm water

300 ml lukewarm milk

1 egg

4 pealed and coarsely grated apples (your favourite kind)

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons cane sugar (you can also use the regular kind)

2 tablespoons oil

1 teaspoon salt

1 kilo all purpose flour (approximately)

Preheat the oven to 200C (400F) 

Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water and milk. Add the rest of the ingredients - leaving the flour for last to be added little by little.

Knead the dough for about 10 minutes and let it rise in a covered bowl for about 30 minutes. Knead the dough once more and make the rolls. Put them onto a baking sheet and let them rise for another 30 minutes.

Glaze the rolls with a beaten egg and sprinkle them with a bit of cinnamon sugar mix. Bake the rolls for about 15 minutes.

Bon appetit...

It's alive...

It has been really silent in here for a long long time and I'm very sorry about that. 

However that's all about to change! As Christmas draws near and my dear friend Carina is moving back to Sweden I have very special plans for this blog and I want to keep it alive as it is my only blog written in English and I would very much like to reach other people in the world as well with this blog.

I can't quit yet reveal what my plans are, but I can say it will involve food, Christmas, give aways and lots of other exciting things. Something to look forward to as it only gets colder and darker out side...