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Saturday, November 9, 2013

Denmark-Menu is Set! Plus Traditional Danish Folk Dance

Thank you to my dear friend and native of Denmark, Ninnetta, for sharing with us this traditional Danish Christmas Menu. Tonight we will be cooking Flæskesteg which is a  Danish Christmas roast pork along with Brunkartofler - Caramelized potatoes, and red cabbage. I can't wait to get cooking!




Flaesketeg-Danish Christmas Roast


This is the classic Christmas meal in Denmark. This recipe serves four people, at least.

Ingredients:

- 4 lbs loin of pork with the skin on, and scored all the way down to just before the flesh in lines 1inch apart (ask the butcher to do this if necessary)

- 1 carrot

- 1 onion

- 1 or 2 bay leaves
-1 cup boiling water

- few sprigs of thyme

Method:

- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

- Place the pork joint skin side down (yes, ‘upside-down’) into a roasting tray. Add just enough boiling water to the tray so that the skin is submerged. 

- Put the pork in the oven for 20 minutes.

- Use a clean tea towel to hold the pork in the roasting tray so you don’t burn yourself while you carefully pour away the water.

- Turn the oven down to 350, then flip the pork over so it’s the right way up (skin up), and coat the skin with a generous amount of salt and pepper, making sure you get into the crevices created by the scoring. Be careful of your hands at this point, the pork will be hot! Stick the bay leaves into the crevices as well, then add the carrot, onion and thyme to the roasting tin, and pour 1 cup fresh, cold water in.

- Put the pork back in the oven for about an hour or until it is done. Check about halfway through to see if you need to top up the water if it’s starting to evaporate too much.


- Increase the oven temperature back up to 425 and put the roast pork back in to make the crackling. This can take a good 15 minutes, so use the grill if you want to kick start the process (but keep a close eye on it, or else you could end up with a burnt crackling).

- Let the roast rest uncovered for about 10 minutes. While that’s happening, make the gravy from the fat and stock - use gravy browning if required.

Brunkartofler - Caramelized potatoes

A traditional accompaniment to Danish roast pork.  It's a bit sweet so we only eat these once a year.

Ingredients:

- 1 cup sugar

- 1/2 cup butter

- 1lbpeeled and cooked small new potatoes - must be COLD.

Method:

- Add the sugar to a cold frying pan and spread it evenly across the bottom. Melt it on a high heat while you stir for about 2 minutes, then turn the heat down to medium while you add the butter. Turn up the heat to high again.

- Put the potatoes in a colander or sieve and run them under a cold tap, then add to the pan. As you can imagine, it’s going to splutter and spit a bit, so be careful.

- Get the potatoes covered in caramel and brown them for between 4-6 minutes, turning them carefully. If it looks like they’re getting a bit too dry, add a drop of water (again, take care doing this).

- Serve the caramelized potatoes along with normal boiled potatoes - as these are very sweet, they’re more of an extra side dish for the pork rather than a replacement for potatoes altogether.

NOTE: Always use potatoes that are completely cold. If you’re preparing them yourself, peel and cook them the day before.

Makes servings USMetricAdjust Recipe (HelpRed Cabbage)



Red Cabbage

·      1 (2 pound) red cabbage

·     2tablespoonbutter                                                                                                                                       
 
 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar

1 cup cranberry juice

·     2 tablespoons sugar, or more to taste

·     salt to taste

 
Directions

1.     Remove the outer set of leaves of cabbage and discard. Cut cabbage quarters; remove and discard white stem. Chop remaining cabbage finely.
2.     Melt butter in a pot over medium heat. Cook and stir cabbage in melted butter until softened slightly, 2 to 3 minutes. Pour vinegar over cabbage and stir to coat. Add cranberry juice and sugar to the pot. Season cabbage mixture with salt.
3.     Reduce heat to low, place a cover on the pot, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage is completely tender, 60 to 75 minutes. Add more sugar towards the end if it is tart.
 
 
 

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