The traditional Danish Christmas

Yeah I know it's a bit late to post this, but my friend Carina actually encouraged me to write a post about it between Christmas and New Year's. However I lost track of time and now it's already 2011 and I forgot to write about our traditions surrounding Christmas Eve and especially the food we consume during the holidays (in disturbing quantities). I'll make up for my forgetfulness right now and wish you all Happy New Year.

As mentioned before, we Danes celebrate Christmas on the 24th of December. This tradition dates back to the ancient Nordic calender, where the day of Jesus' birth begins at sunset on the 24th of December. December 23rd also marks the start of Christmas celebrations in Denmark. This date has no biblical meaning but still some families have special traditions on this day as well. Most families use this day "Lillejuleaften" as it is called here in Denmark, to prepare for the big celebration on Christmas Eve. The Christmas tree is often decorated this evening, some eat rice porridge and make extra for the Danish rice pudding with almonds, which is served as dessert on Christmas Eve with hot or cold cherry sauce and others roast the duck this evening, to get a head start on food for the Christmas dinner.

At my house the 23rd of December was spent at my grandparents house starting with a Christmas lunch, where my grandmother had put all kinds of delicious Christmas dishes on the table. We started of with roasted black pudding, then we had 2 kinds of pickled herring and roasted pickled herring, home made rolled seasoned meat, brawn, Danish pork sausage and tiny Danish meat balls. we finished off with cheese and crackers and lemon mousse. After this feast we went out into my grandfathers plantation to pick out and bring home our Christmas tree. We walked all the way and it was loads of fun. When we got back, the tree was put on the trailer and my grandmother had prepared afternoon tea and coffee with Christmas cookies and cake. We got home in the late afternoon and my mother prepared the rice porridge for dinner and dessert the next day. My father put the Christmas tree on a pedestal and left the tree in the living room to be decorated when the children had gone to bed. The decorated tree would be a surprise for us the following morning. 

  

The celebration of Christmas and what we do on the 24th of December varies from family to family and it often reflects what we grew up with at home as a child.

As I got older I helped my mother preparing the Christmas dinner and we often went to church in the afternoon. When we got home, we gathered around the television to watch Walt Disney's Christmas Show "From All of Us to All of You" and then we watched the last episode of the Christmas calender shows we had been following from the 1st of December. The table was set beautifully and the last food preparations were made. Our Christmas dinner menu consists of:

Roast duck

Roast pork loin with crackling

Red cabbage

Boiled potatoes

Sugar glazed potatoes

Crisps

Gravy made from the duck 

and

Danish rice pudding with almonds and cherry sauce

When we eat the rice pudding we gamble for an "almond gift". A whole almond is hidden in the pudding and the one that gets this whole almond wins this little gift. Traditionally it was a little pig made from marzipan but today it can be everything from chocolate to good quality coffee or something like that.

When we finished eating, the table is cleared and we help put the Christmas tree in the middle of the living room and put the presents underneath. At our house my father light the candles on the tree as the rest of the family sits in the kitchen listening to the Christmas Gospel read out loud. When my father has finished, he turns off the rest of the light in the living room and brings us in there to see the beautiful tree. We dance around the tree hand in hand singing Christmas carols and enjoying the cosiness of it all. Then the time for opening presents arrives. We place ourselves around the living room and the youngest in the family hand out the presents. We each take turn opening one gift at a time and the Christmas candy is brought out, then we enjoy our presents and have a little candy before going to bed having had the longest day of anticipation and joy.

After spending Christmas with my husband and his family I appreciate the traditions I have from home much more and I know that when it is my turn to host Christmas Eve, these are the traditions I will hold onto and carry on.

Vanilla cookie rings

With only 6 days left until Christmas Eve I'm beginning to feel a bit nostalgic and in light of this mood I put on the best Christmas music ever and began baking the ultimate Danish Christmas cookies: vanilla cookie rings. It's a classic and this was my first time making them.

This recipe was one I got watching a Danish pastry chefs program called "The Sweet Life" and I'd love to share it with all of you. It's really simple and makes the most wonderful crisp and delicious cookies you could dream of.

Vanilla cookie rings

1-1½ vanilla pod

200 grams soft butter

180 grams sugar (I used cane sugar but you can also use the regular kind)

1 egg

250 grams all purpose flour

75 grams almonds, grounded very finely almost into almond "flour"

Split the vanilla pod right down the middle and scrape out the seeds with your knife. Mash the seeds and a bit of the sugar together so that the seeds separate better.

Put the vanilla into a bowl and mix it together with the rest of the sugar and the soft butter. Stir in the egg and finish off by adding the almond "flour" and the all purpose flour to the mix.

Put the dough into a piping bag mad out of fabric with a star tulle in it and pipe out rings with a diameter of appox. 5 centimetres.

Bake the rings in a preheated oven at 200C (400F) until they are light golden (about 10-14 minutes, but keep an eye on them)

Let the cookies cool of on a rack and keep them in a tight fitting container.

Bon appetit and have a great time making these...

13th of December - Lucia Day

Today we celebrate Lucia Day in Denmark. This is the day where school children across the country participate in a Lucia Day Procession and bake Lucia bread.

According to legend Lucia was an Italian saint and after she had converted to Christianity, she brought food to her fellow believers. They had to hide from the pagan authorities in underground burial chambers. Lucia placed candles in a wreath on her head so she could carry the food in her hands. The heathen authorities arrested her and she suffered martyrdom on the 13th of December.

The custom of Lucia processions are relatively new and dates from 1928 and originated from Sweden. Maybe my friend Carina, who has just moved to Sweden, could tell a bit more about the Swedish traditions surrounding the celebration of Lucia Day.

In Denmark Lucia is a part of the Christmas celebration even though the two have absolutely nothing to do with each other and the Lucia Day Procession takes place at almost every school,  care home or library and the children participating are dressed in white coats carrying a lit candle between their hands and are lead by the Lucia bride who carries the wreth of candles on her head just like Lucia.

Today I have marked the occasion by baking Lucia bread and of course I'm going to share my lovely recipe with you...

Lucia Bread (makes 12 rolls)

75 grams butter

150 ml milk

25 grams fresh yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon saffron (or 1/2 teaspoon cardamom, which I used)

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

400 grams all purpose flour

Brushing: 1 whisked egg

Decoration:  raisins

Melt the butter in a pot and add in the milk. Transfer the liquid to a bowl and making sure that it isn't too hot (stick in your little finger, if you're not burned but the liquid is lukewarm, it's ready) crumble in the yeast and let it dissolve. Mix together the saffron (or cardamom) and sugar and stir it into the liquid followed by the rest of the ingredients. Mix the dough together with a spoon and when it's firm cover the bowl with a lid and let it rise somewhere warm  for about half an hour.

Let out the dough onto a flour dusted table top and knead the dough. Split the dough into 12 pieces roll them into sausages and  shape them into an "S". Place them onto a baking sheet and let them rise for another 15 minutes. Brush the rolls with the whisked egg and decorate with rasins.

Bake the roll in the preheated oven at about 225C (437F) for 10-12 minutes until they are golden.

Bon appetit...

Pork loin with crackling and sugar glazed potatoes

This dish is not a Christmas dish as such but some Danes have pork loin with crackling on Christmas Eve along side goose or duck roast - my father says it's not really Christmas unless he gets his pork loin with crackling as well. I think it's a survival from olden times when money were tight and large families only could afford one goose or duck and then had pork loin with crackling along side with lots of potatoes and gravy.

I usually make this dish in the fall because it's a quit heavy meal and I don't think it that great to eat in the spring or summertime but it tastes delicious! 

 

Pork loin with crackling and sugar glazed potatoes with gravy

For 2 servings you'll need:

1 kilo pork loin (with scored crackling)

Salt and pepper

Heat up the oven to 220C (450F) and leave a dish of water in the bottom of the oven while heating it up. Take the pork loin out of the fridge 20 minutes before cooking, rub it in salt and pepper and leave it in an oven prof dish until the oven is hot enough. Put the pork loin into the oven and let it roast for 15 minutes. 

When the time's up remove the dish of water and pour about 200 ml water over the pork loin. Turn down the heat to 200C (400F) and roast the pork loin for about 45 minutes. Moisten the pork loin once in a while so you get that really crisp crackling. When the roasting time is done, take the pork loin out of the oven and leave it to rest for about 10 minutes on a cutting board before carving it.

Sugar glazed potatoes:

1 jar of potatoes (ready cooked and peeled)

250 grams sugar

50 grams butter

Pour the sugar into a frying pan and heat it up. When the sugar starts to caramelize add in the butter and let it mix together. Drain the potatoes and pour them into the pan. Be careful, the caramel is really hot and when adding in the potatoes the caramel can spatter. Fold the potatoes into the caramel so they get all covered and glazed. Turn down the heat after 5 minutes and let the potatoes cook for another 5 minutes before turning off the stove. 

Pork loin gravy:

15 grams butter

1 tablespoons all purpose flour

left over fluid from the pork loin

salt and pepper

milk, double cream or beef broth

gravy browning

Heat up the butter in a sauce pan but don't let it brown. Add in the flour and whisk it together. Add in the the leftover fluid from the pork loin and give it a good whisk before adding in milk until the sauce has the consistency that suits your taste. Bring it to a boil, season with salt and pepper and finish it off with a bit of gravy browning just to give it a good colour.

Serve this delicious gravy along side the pork loin with crackling, crisps, sugar glazed potatoes and pickled cucumbers.

Bon appetit...

Swedish chocolate cookies and Crispy cookie circles

These cookies are some of the traditional Christmas cookies my family have been making for as long as I can remember for the holidays and I really want to share these with you. I have some fond memories of helping out in the kitchen at Christmas along side my mum and grandmother and I really miss that as I've gotten older. I try to bring along some of their traditions and for me it just wouldn't be Christmas without.

Christmas is for me the time for remembering those who are near to us and loved ones who have passed away and these cookies help me to do that this time of year. So here we go...

Swedish chocolate cookies (cookies on the left)

300 grams all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

200 grams sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla sugar

2 tablespoons cocoa

200 grams cold butter

1 egg

Brushing:

1 egg white

 

Garnish

Danish pearl sugar

Mix together all of the dry ingredients in a bowl. Cut the butter into small pieces and crumble it into the flour. Use the egg to make the dough stick together - it will be quit soft. Roll the dough into 6 bars with about 1½ centimetre girth and as long as your baking sheet allows them to be.

Put the bars onto the baking sheet and lightly press them flat with your palms. Brush them with egg white and sprinkle pearl sugar on top. Bake the bars in the oven at 175C (347F) for about 10 minutes.
 

When the bars are done cut them into diagonal cookies while they are still hot (can be done with a pizza wheel) and leave them on the baking sheet to cool of before putting them into a container.

Crispy cookie circles (cookies on the right)

250 grams cold butter

250 grams all purpose flour

50 ml double cream

Brushing:

1 egg

Garnish:
Danish pearl sugar

Cut the butter into small pieces an crumble it into the flour. Add in the cream to make the dough stick together but you mustn't knead it. Put the dough in the fridge for about ½ hour. 

Roll out the dough onto a heavily flour dusted tabletop and cut out the cookies with either two glasses or round cookie cutters making the circles about 1 cm wide.

Place the cookies onto a baking sheet and brush the cookies very carefully with the egg (whisked together) and sprinkle with pearl sugar. Bake the cookies in the upper half of the oven at 200C (400F) for about 8 minutes or till they are golden.
 

Be cautious when removing the cookies from the baking sheet they will crumble or break apart very easily. Put them carefully into a container when they are completely cooled off. 

Bon appetit and enjoy!

1st of December and Christmas food

Finally it's December and I can stick my hands into all the wonderful Christmas recipes I have collected over time... cookies, cakes, roasts, puddings, and so on - I'm going to fill this blog with all kinds of delicious (to my taste) things that I associate with the holidays and Danish traditions.

Tonight there was a dish on the menu which I regard as a Danish Christmas tradition: Black pudding.. I grew up eating home made black pudding at my grandparents' farm and for as long as I can remember was a part of the traditional Christmas lunch my grandmother served on the 23rd of December every year when she was still alive. It was served as a starter followed by patty shells with peas, carrots and ham cooked in some kind of a thin white sauce, marinated herring with curry salad, shrimp and eggs with caviar (the cheap kind) and finishing off with loads of different kinds of cheeses and crackers. After this fabulous meal it was time to go into the neighbouring plantation (which was a part of my grandfathers land) to pick up our Christmas tree. When we got back from this trip my grandmother had already set the table again with Christmas goodies, coffee, glögg and hot cocoa.... This was for me the start of the count down for the 24th of December and Christmas Eve...

I don't make my own black pudding like my grandmother - it's too much of a fuss when I haven't got the same access to the ingredients as she had - it was for her a matter of making the most of their raw materials from the farm where as I just go to the supermarket and pick up a pre-made black pudding - when I want a real treat I go to the butcher's shop and pick up a real quality black pudding, but that's expensive and doesn't happen often.

This is how I prepare and serve out black pudding:

 

I take out the pudding of the packaging and slice it into rather thick slices

I fill up the skillet with the pudding slices and fry them till they go black and crisp on the outside but still have a soft core.

Pile up the black pudding slices on a plate and serve it with a side of sugar and/or syrup

Bon appetit...

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.

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...