Danish Dumpling Dinner

January's My Kitchen My World destination is Denmark. I adore Denmark, and had the pleasure of visiting that beautiful country way back in the 90s. I hope to take my children there someday. I vaguely remember some stand out foods from my trip, but Danish food is something I don't know much and about and don't cook often, save for aebleskivers, and I was excited to try some new-to-me Danish recipes.

I found quite a few recipes online, and decided to make a dinner with some of them. My mom was over visiting, and with all of the commotion in the kitchen I didn't get many photos :( Here are the few I was able to snap...

These fluffy Danish Dumplings are called Frikasséboller and were a huge hit with the whole family -- even picky husband loved them!

Frikasséboller
Danish Dumplings -- recipe from this site

2 eggs
1 cup milk
2¼ cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon nutmeg

Beat the eggs until light and fluffy. (I forgot to beat the eggs and just thoroughly whisked them together, and they were perfect) Add milk and mix well.

Sift the dry ingredients together and add to the egg mixture. Mix with as few strokes as possible.

Drop by teaspoonful into boiling broth. Turn the dumplings frequently so they will be done on all sides, but do not cook longer than 10 minutes or they will be tough.

* After I removed these from the broth I browned them in a little butter in my electric skillet, mostly to keep them warm, but that gave them a nice little crust. Even though we ate these as is, they would be even better with a gravy of some sort. I'm sure I'll be making them again soon and will definitely make a gravy or sauce for them.

The next dish I made was called Danish Christmas Red Cabbage, which was a big hit with everyone except picky husband, he is not a red cabbage fan, but the kids and I and my mom loved this one. I grew up with cooked red cabbage, and this had a familiar flavor that I loved.

Danish Christmas Red Cabbage

from allrecipes

1 small head red cabbage, cored and shredded
2 cups white sugar
2 cups white vinegar
2 teaspoons salt
2 cups water

Directions:

Place the cabbage in a large saucepan, and stir in the sugar, vinegar, salt and water. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer over medium heat for 1 hour. *I cooked it a little less than 1 hour, maybe 35-45 minutes, and it was perfectly done. This can be served immediately, or chilled and reheated later in smaller portions.

The next new recipe I tried was Danish Glazed Mushrooms, the kids liked these, and although mushrooms are a favorite of mine, these were just okay for me, although they did look nice. Picky husband in not a mushroom eater so he passed on these.

Danish Glazed Mushrooms

from food.com

1 lb mushroom caps
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 garlic clove (crushed)
1 green onion (chopped) *I left this out
3 tablespoons fresh parsley (chopped)
1 tablespoon fresh dill weed (chopped)
2 teaspoons basil

Clean mushrooms removing stems. Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat.

Stir in salt, paprika, garlic and green onion. Increase heat, add mushrooms, sauté three to five minutes until mushrooms are glazed and coated. * took a little longer than 5 minutes for me, but I used pretty big mushrooms*

Remove mushrooms from heat. Toss in parsley, dill and basil. Serve immediately.

The last recipe I tried was for Danish Caramelized Carrots, these were delicious and a big favorite, especially with the kids. I was surprised to read the recipe and realize these were quite similar to my family's favorite way for me to make carrots, with a butter and brown sugar glaze.

Danish Caramelized Carrots

recipe from this website

1½ pounds carrots
½ teaspoon salt
water
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup butter

Peel carrots. Boil salt and water. Simmer vegetables for 20 minutes. To serve, heat sugar, stirring constantly until caramelized or lightly browned. Add butter. Add cooked vegetables. Shake pan or stir until evenly glazed and heated through, about 10 minutes. Serve immediately.
NOTES : This can be done with potatoes (up to 2 pounds, same recipe) as well as carrots. Sounds interesting with potatoes, will have to try that soon!

Well, that concludes our Danish Dumpling Dinner, I had a lot of fun trying these Danish recipes and am so happy that the Frikasséboller were a big hit. Can't wait to try some more Danish recipes in the future as I day dream about a trip there with the family.

Nutty Pumpkin Waffles -- Weekend Waffle Club

Time for a weekend waffle recipe! Today I tried Nutty Pumpkin Waffles, this was a new recipe for me from a little advertising cookbook by Libby's Pumpkin called Home-Baked Goodness. These waffles have a comforting pumpkin and spice flavor and a little crunch from macadamia nuts. The recipe was fairly easy to put together, although it did require the somewhat tedious step of whipping egg whites and folding them into the batter, but don't let that deter you from giving them a try...

Nutty Pumpkin Waffles
from Libby's Home-Baked Goodness Cookbook

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 large eggs, separated
1 3/4 cups milk
1/2 cup pumpkin
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
3/4 cup chopped nuts -- I used macadamia nuts

Combine flour, sugar, cornstarch, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, ginger and nutmeg in large bowl. Combine egg yolks, milk and pumpkin in medium bowl; mix well. Add to flour mixture.


Stir in butter. Beat egg whites in small mixer bowl until soft peaks form. Gently fold into pumpkin mixture.


Preheat waffle iron according to manufacturer's directions. Depending on size of waffle iron, pour 1/2 cup to 1 1/2 cups batter onto hot iron. Generously sprinkle with nuts. -- I left the nuts out of some for the kids.


Bake for 4 to 5 minutes or until steaming stops. Repeat with remaining batter and nuts.

This waffle recipe gave us eight large, square, thick Belgian style waffles. The kids all liked them and two out of three kids requested seconds. Picky husband would not try these, he thinks pumpkin only belongs in pie. I'll keep trying, pumpkin, I promise! I know you are so good in both sweet and savory dishes for any meal and not just dessert :) I thought these were great and would make them again, although this is the first pumpkin waffle recipe I've tried in years so don't have much to compare it too. These were definitely a hearty fill-you-up type of waffle, great with a little butter, grade B maple syrup, and a big glass of milk.

This is my first time hosting anything with a link-up and I'm not sure if I'll have any waffle comrades cooking with me this weekend, but here goes...

Please leave a link on your blog post to Weekend Waffle Club at Nummy Kitchen and leave a link to your post here with the linky widget. Next weekend I will post another waffle recipe and a cute little round-up of all of the waffles that you guys made and linked here, make sense? I hope so :) Let me know if you have any questions! You can leave your link here any time until next Saturday, February 5th.

Sweet Potato and Garbanzo Bean B'Stilla

Time for French Fridays with Dorie! Our recipe of the week is Chicken B'Stilla. I switched it up a little bit to make a vegetarian version with roasted sweet potato cubes and garbanzo beans instead of the chicken.

I had never heard of B'Stilla (aka bastilla) until this recipe came up. It is kind of like a Moroccan pot pie with a phyllo dough outer crust and and egg based sauce for the filling. At first I was going to swap out the chicken for red lentils and garbanzos but decided against the lentils since I thought they'd just absorb too much sauce and get mushy.

fragrant spice mixture

Instead I went with diced sweet potato that had been roasted with all of the spices in the recipe that are supposed to be cooked with the chicken. I tossed the potato cubes in olive oil and coated them in the spice mixture before roasting for 20 minutes to get them just tender.

Yum! This is a photo of the spiced and roasted potatoes and they were so delicious, I debated skipping the whole bastilla and just serving the potatoes :)

While the potatoes were in the oven I made the sauce which I think I ended up with too much of. I strained the sauce into a measuring cup and had almost two cups, but when adding the sauce the the sweet potatoes and garbanzos decided to use only half of the sauce, so one cup.

Another tiny change I made was to use pistachios instead of the almonds. I believe the almonds are the traditional nut in this recipe, but I had just run out of almonds and had the right amount of pistachios handy so decided to use those. Pistachios are a common ingredient in Moroccan dishes, so I felt this was an okay substitute.

Filled with the veggies and sauce, ready for the top layer of phyllo...

Buttered and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar...love the savory sweet combo!

The B'Stilla is then baked until golden brown and crispy crunchy.

Here is where I got to have some fun -- while researching bastillas and photos of bastillas I came across a photo of a bastilla from a Moroccan restaurant called Casablanca. The bastilla top was dusted with powdered sugar and had two camels stenciled on the top along with the name of the restaurant. I immediately thought of my camel cookie cutter that I've never used but have had for years. I pulled it out, set it down on top of the baked bastilla and dusted on some powdered sugar. Too fun.

The kids loved the camel. The kids did not love the bastilla :( They had a few bites but were not liking it. Picky husband was working so we didn't have to worry about him. I thought it was delicious and the only thing I didn't really care for was the eggy sauce -- but I know that is a main component of the recipe, and even though I didn't love the sauce, it didn't stop me from enjoying a big slice of bastilla. I loved all of the flavors and would love to make something like this again. While I realize this is no where near a true Moroccan b'stilla, it was still fun to try a vegetarian version and learn about a dish I had never even heard of before.

Nutty, Chocolaty, Swirly Sour Cream Bundt Cake

Our treat of the week for Tuesdays with Dorie is Nutty, Chocolaty, Swirly Sour Cream Bundt Cake, picked for us to try by Jennifer of Cooking for Comfort, thank you Jennifer!

Orange zest mixed with sugar above, about to whip in the butter.


Before baking shot above, I used my Wilton Queen of Hearts bundt pan that I've had for almost eight years. I got it shortly after picky husband and I got married -- it was my first bundt pan and is still baking strong :)

After baking shot above, after baking 60 minutes exactly and testing done.

I did not have enough batter to do a second swirl and be able to cover it with batter so I just did the one swirl with about 75% of the swirl ingredients. It didn't swirl too much, but I was just happy the cake didn't break apart after unmolding, which I was nervous about after reading the P&Q section on this cake.

I used all of the swirl ingredients, even the raisins, we are all raisin fans in our house. My youngest and I were the only taste testers so far and we loved it. My favorite part was the aroma while it was baking, thanks to the fresh orange zest, which added so much flavor to this cake! Another delicious bundt cake from Baking From My Home to Yours :)

Speakeasy Cake

The pick of the week for Sweet Melissa Sundays is a Speakeasy Cake picked for us to try by Jeannette of The Whimsical Cupcake, thank you Jeanette! You can find the recipe here at Jeannette's site if you do not have The Sweet Melissa Baking Book.

As the name implies this cake does contain some drinky drinky, Brandy to be exact. As I read through the recipe I took a quick peek in the liquor cabinet and didn't see any brandy. I started googling Brandy substitutes and figured I could use some Southern Comfort or Bourbon or Scotch Whiskey, all of which we had on hand, but learned that Brandy was quite different from those since Brandy is made from grapes, like wine -- instead of corn like the others. Hmmm. I really don't know much about alcohol since I rarely drink (save for a fruity frozen something once or twice a year and maybe a glass of wine) so this was an interesting thing to learn about. I headed back to the liquor cabinet and after digging around a while, I found some actual Brandy -- Christian Brothers VS! Yay! I tried a sip and, not surprisingly, didn't like the taste -- but used it the cake anyway, since I really wanted to follow the recipe.


Next comes whipping the egg whites and sugar, making a marshmallow-y meringue to be folded into the brandy and chocolate mixture.

The before and after baking shots...couldn't believe this cake had to bake for 70 minutes!

Add a little chocolate glaze...

And there you have it, a Speakeasy Cake! It was moist and delicious and if I had not made it myself I wouldn't have guessed it had alcohol in it. It just seemed to intensify the chocolate, which is a good thing :) My only little quibble with this cake is that for me it turned out awfully crumbly...not sure why. Thinking of making cake pops or a trifle or something with the rest of it. For the next edition of Sweet Melissa Sundays we are making the same cake with a Sacher Torte twist, I'm thinking that I might swap out the Brandy and use apricot nectar instead...

Weekend Waffle Club

I've been wanting to start a little waffle round-up for a while now, and here it is!

The official start date will be next Saturday (1/29/11) I plan to post a waffle recipe and a linky tool so you can all leave links to your waffle creation of the week, the next weekend I'll do a round-up of waffles.

I thought this would be a fun event to share waffle recipes and get some use out of our waffle makers. Mine has been sitting neglected in the back of a kitchen cabinet for way too long. My family and I love waffles but I've been in a waffle rut lately, just making the same basic ones for breakfast once a month or so. There are so many waffle recipes out there and I'd like to try some new ones, the kids will love it too :)

You can post your waffle recipe on your blog whenever you'd like and just link to the Weekend Waffle Club on Saturday. This first week feel free to post an older waffle recipe, but later on please post a waffle recipe you made during the previous week, just to keep the new waffle ideas flowing!

So dust off those waffle irons and pick a recipe to try. I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with. Maybe later on if there is any interest I'll post a weekly theme, like fruit, buttermilk, seasonal, etc., but for now any waffle recipe goes!

Any questions? Please let me know!

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Weekend Waffle Club Week #1

Michel Rostang's Double Chocolate Mousse Cake -- French Fridays with Dorie

Our recipe of the week for French Fridays with Dorie is Michel Rostang's Double Chocolate Mousse Cake. What a decadent pick! A French flourless chocolate cake baked in two parts, giving a layered effect. There were a few different choices on how to finish this cake and I went with the double baked served warm choice.

Egg whites and chocolate ready to be gently whisked together.

First layer of the cake after baking above, and after the baking of the second layer below.

One perfect slice of Double Chocolate Mousse Cake. Can you see the layers? I can't really in the photos but if you really looked at the actual slice of cake you could see a distinct change in texture. If I hadn't known this was baked twice and supposed to have the different layers I probably would have never guessed it did and just thought it was a simple and delicious version of flourless chocolate cake. The kids were really excited about this one, and the end result did not disappoint :)

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Time for Tuesdays with Dorie! Our recipe of the week is for Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins, picked for us to try by Betsy at A Cup of Sweetness, thank you Betsy! I love lemon poppy seed anything and couldn't wait to give this recipe a try.


This recipe starts out with sugar and lemon zest being rubbed together. The only tiny alteration I made to this recipe was to use the zest of two lemons instead of the one called for.


I used up the last of my poppy seeds in this recipe, I had just enough! Time to add them to the grocery list.


To bake these I used my silicone medium sized bundt muffin pan and also a medium sized muffin pan that my husband's grandmother gave me in a set of three. They are not quite full sized and not quite mini. They are over 50 years old and from Hawaii, I was honored to get them and hope to pass them on to my kids someday.

After baking shot above.

Drizzled in a simple and delicious lemon powdered sugar icing, yum!

Nice moist and fluffy inside, studded with plenty of poppy seeds!

These were a perfect breakfast treat that my whole family, even picky husband, loved. I had to stop the kids at 3 muffins each, I think they would have probably gobbled up the whole batch if I'd let them! These are a make again for sure, and have already been requested by the kids again :)