Oven cooked Rhubarb or Rhubarb compote

I just LOVE rhubarb and it's one of the things that I look forward to the most when spring is here.

As I moved into my house here in Bayern last year it was therefor a huge surprise to find rhubarb growing in my garden along with many other fruit bushes.
I have eaten many really nice rhubarb cakes and tarts as a child but I needed a way to quickly cook my fast growing rhubarb that would suit the family(we love any jam with Greek yogurt on bread)...and nothing to complicated or time-consuming.
I like my rhubarb to stay in shape but to be slightly soft and sweet(but not over-sweet).
If you find that I add to little sugar or that the rhubarb should be cooked more then you can just add more sugar and extend the cooking time by 5-10 minutes.

Ingredients;

• 500 g Rhubarb cut into 1-2 cm chuncks
• 150-200 g sugar

Method;

First of all pre-heat the oven to 180ᵒC/360ᵒF

Cut the rhubarb, wash them well and spread them out in an ovenproof tray, that will be easy to cover with silver foil. 

Then cover the rhubarb with the sugar and gently shake to ensure that the sugar coats the rhubarb chunks all the way to the bottom of the tray.

Simply cover the tray with silver foil and place in the hot oven for about 35 minutes.

After removing the rhubarb from the oven you must leave the fruit to cool down whit the silver foil covering the tray.

Once the rhubarb is cold please pour into a clean container and keep in the fridge. 

I find that it stays fresh in a normal container for up to 2 weeks.

♥Pomegranate salad with Chicken and Almonds♥

This is my favourite winter salad!

I first experienced Pomegranates in California and this recipe was one that I found in my local US supermarket.
This salad is both colourful and tasty and has become a re-occurring family winter treat.

2 Pomegranates

½ cup golden raisins

1 pound cooked chicken breast, cut into 1” chunks

(I choose to fry the chicken in a bit of extra curry powder)

1/3 cup toasted sliced almonds

1 chopped apple

½ cup chopped or thinly sliced celery

1 tablespoon chopped Italian parsley

¼ cup chopped green onions/spring onions

¼ to ½ teaspoon curry powder (optional)

1/3 cup olive oil

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

In a large mixing bowl combine 

the pomegranate seeds, raisins, chicken, almonds, apple,

celery, parsley, onion and curry powder.

In a small bowl combine

By whisking combine the olive oil with the balsamic vinegar.

Pour the vinegar/oil into the chicken mixture and mix well.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

(Refrigerate until serving)

Crunchy Gingerbread cookies.

These cookies tastes great and I love to take them along as a treat on the go in December as they are easy to eat with or without gloves.


 Ingredients:


500 g(2 Cups) flour
2 tsp  natron (bicarbonate of soda)
180 g(6.4 oz) sugar
1 tbsp ground ginger
3 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
Juice from 1 lemon
250 g (8.82 oz) syrup
150 g(5.3 oz) soft butter

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. 
Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. 
Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead the dough well(if it is sticky then you may have to add extra flour)
Wrap the dough in clingfilm and place it in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours.

When you are ready to bake the cookies simply preheat your oven to 200°C (390°F), and roll the dough out on a lightly floured work surface to about ½ cm (¼ inch) thickness.
Stick out your cookies and place them on your lined baking sheet.
Bake them for around 10 minutes or until golden brown.

If you wish to hang your cookies later, then you will have to make a hole in the cookies as soon as they are out of the oven.

A gingerbread cookie makes a great decoration hanging on a bottle of wine or as an ornament on the Christmas tree as below.

Tasty curry chicken soup...with Port.

It's the cold season and here in Bayern we are truly enjoying the snowflakes and the fact that we soon will be off speeding down the alpine slopes in the alps.

And this is just the kind of soup that I could imagine enjoying after such a day on the slopes.

But it is unfortunately also the season for colds and husbands who bring home the common cold from the odd business-trips...so what better than to make chicken soup!

This was my first attempt and it was just SO delicious. Even the children where loving it.

1 Chicken, around 1 1/2 kg(3,33 lb)

2 Onions

2 sticks of celery

2 carrots

1 1/4 l (around 4 Cups) of water or chicken-stock

10 peppercorn

1 bay-leaf

15 g (0.53oz) butter

1 tbsp flour

1 tsp curry powder

1 dl (1/2 Cup) cooking cream

Grated nutmeg

2 tbsp Port wine 

Salt and pepper

Parsley

If you have a whole chicken then cut it into at least two halves.

Thereafter place the chicken pieces in your cooking pot along with the stock, onions (cut into quarters), celery and carrots(cut once lengthwise)

Add the peppercorn and bay-leaf and boil the chicken covered until tender for 40-45 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the pot and separate the meat from the skin and bones and cut the meat into smaller pieces.

Poor the soup through a sieve and keep the vegetables for later.

Melt the butter in the now empty pot. 
Add the curry powder and allow it to sweat for a short moment. 

Add the flour while stirring. 

Once the flour and curry-butter has melted together add the chicken-stock slowly while whisking. 

Allow the soup to boil for a few minutes.

Cut the boiled carrots and celery and add these and the chicken pieces to the soup.

Poor in the cream, port wine, nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste...I also like a pinch of sugar to bring out the flavors in the end.

Serve the soup with a little dust of extra curry powder and chopped parsley...and some nice toasted bread(we had garlic-bread just to help against the cold)

De bedste klatkager!

Jeg har igennem mine mange år som udenlandsdansker afprøvet et par forskellige opskrifter på klatkager og jeg har nu forelsket mig i denne opskrift, som jeg har fundet paa nettet.

Ingredienser;

• 5 dl risengrød
• 2 spsk sukker
• Lidt vanillesukker
• 60 g mel
• 2 æg
• Margarine til stegning

Fremgangsmåde;

Start med at forvarme panden. Klatterne skal nemlig steges med det samme da blandingen/dejen hurtigt bliver flydende.

Bland risengrød, sukker, vanillesukker, mel  og æggene sammen til en ensartet masse. 

Sæt klatterne på panden med en spiseske og steg ved svag til medium varme. 

Ø Steg klatterne i 3-4 minutter på hver side i margarinen.

Klatterne serveres varme med jordbærsyltetøj.

Æbleskiver/Aebleskiver

"Æbleskiver" or Aebleskiver as they have become known in England and the US are to us Danes the before Christmas treat. 

They are served at all Christmas markets or parties in Denmark along with lovely aromatic "Gløgg"...no we do not eat them for breakfast despite what you might have read elsewhere.

I finally bought myself a real cast iron "Æbleskive pan" a few years ago and I truly enjoy sharing a batch of "Æbleskiver" with my little family on weekends in the cold winter months(not just in December). 

I have tested a few different recipes since then, and this recipe is the best so far...not that I'm really thinking of testing any other ones since this just WORKS!

Makes 40-50 "Æbleskiver"

Ingredients:

• 500 g flour(8 ½ dl, 2.175 cups)
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp ground cardamom
• 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda (Natron)
• 4 egg yolks
• 4 egg whites (whisked)
• 8 ½ dl buttermilk (approx. 3 ½ Cups)

Mix the dry ingredients.

Add the egg yolks and buttermilk and mix until the dough is smooth (Best result if you use an electric mixer)

Fold in the whisked egg whites shortly before frying.

Heat the "Æbleskive pan" slightly above medium heat and lay a small amount of butter in each hole (add more butter every time you replace the dough in the holes)

Once the butter is melted fill the holes 3/4 with the dough. 

Thereafter turn the "Æbleskiver" over with a small knitting needle or another similar tool that will not scratch the pan, until they are golden brown and crispy on both sides.

A batch of "Æbleskiver" dusted with powder/icing sugar 

"Æbleskiver" are traditionally served with strawberry jam and powder/icing sugar.

Danish salmon fish cakes “Fiskefrikadeller”

The Danish word “Frikadeller” covers pretty much any kind of meat that has been through a blender, mixed with other ingredients and then turned into a meatball and fried on a pan.

I myself am not the biggest fish eater...yes it is true that I grew up in a country surrounded by the sea so I should, but honestly the only reason why I started making these fish “Frikadeller” was because my children and especially my daughter LOVES them...and now I do as well.

In Denmark it’s rather normal to buy the mix for the fish “Frikadeller” at the Fishmonger, but as I have not lived in Denmark since the late 90^th I have not really enjoyed this luxury. 

I therefore buy the fish and blend it myself as in this recipe.

I choose to only use Salmon as it blends easier than Cod, which is also normally used in this mix.

(Good idea to have a glass of cold water
standing near the cooker for re-dipping)

Ingredients:

500 g (1.1 lb) Salmon (without the skin...obviously)

2 Eggs

2 tsp salt

2 tbsp flour

1 bundle of chive

1 bundle dill

3 tsp capers

The zest from ½ a lemon

2 ½ dl (1 Cup) cooking cream

Blend the fish with salt in a food-processor, then add the eggs.

Add the remaining ingredients and blend until the mixture is smooth(I do add the Capers last to ensure that they are still somewhat whole)

Melt butter or margarine in a frying pan. 

Use a spoon or two dipped in water to spoon the mix onto the frying pan and fry them until golden.

We like to eat these with a good quality rye bread, salad, freshly squeezed lemon juice...or if in Denmark it's enjoyed with the Danish Remoulade.

Jødekager

Denne opskrift har jeg nu brugt de sidste par jule eller 5 "..and there is no going back.."

I år har jeg så forelsket mig i en svampe småkageform, så derfor fik de traditionelt runde "Jødekager" en lidt andet form.

Hvis du har fået lyst til at afprøve denne opskrift så kommer den lige her...

Ingridienser:

300g mel

100g smør

100g kærgården

95g lys farin eller rørsukker

1 æggehvide

En halv tsk. Hjortetaksalt

Pynt: Kanelsukker

Dej:

Smuttede mandler deles på langs og forristes 3-5 minutter ved 160 grader.

Saml alle ingridienserne i et lerfad eller en røreskål/maskine. 

Lad dejen hvile en timestid i køleskabet.

Rul dejen ud så tynd som muligt på et meldrysset bord og stik kagerne ud med et lille drikkeglas, f.eks. et portvinsglas.

Anbring  kagerne på bagepapir, pensl med sammenpisket æg og pynt med kanelsukker og snittede, smuttede mandler.

Tryk mandlerne let ned i dejen.

Bagetid:

Bag kagerne ved 200 grader(Ikke varmluft) midt i ovnen i ca. 8 minutter til de er let lysebrune i kanten.