Gingered Fresh Lemonade

The weather is sunny and warm here in Copenhagen, we've been doing a lot of picnic-ing lately and even grilled out with friends a few weekends back, all of which puts me in the mood for lemonade. I've been dreaming about the best homemade lemonade I ever had and managed to dig up the recipe.

Gingered Fresh Lemonade
(from Sunkist.com)
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
¼ cup crystallized ginger cut into thin strips
2 strips (about 3 inches) fresh lemon peel (removed with vegetable peeler)
3 ½ cups cold water
1 ¼ cups freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 lemon, cut into cartwheel slices for garnish

In a saucepan, bring 1 cup water, sugar, ginger and lemon peel to a boil. Reduce heat and briskly simmer for 15 minutes. Remove and discard lemon peel. Add 3½ cups cold water and lemon juice. Chill several hours or overnight in a covered container. Serve in tall glasses over ice cubes and a few lemon slices.

Makes 6 servings

Golden Cream of Potato Soup

I think everyone grew up with some kind of potato soup that their mother, grandmother or friend's mom would make. This is my own little mother's recipe - one of those great carb-filled comfort foods that you need from time-to-time.

Golden Cream of Potato Soup
6 cups peeled and cubed potatoes
2 cups water
1 cup sliced celery
1 cup chopped carrots
½ cup chopped onions
2 chicken bouillon cubes
2 teaspoons dried parsley
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper
3 cups milk
¾ pound Velveeta

Bring to potatoes, celery, carrots, onions and water to boil. Stir in bouillon cubes, parsley, salt and pepper and simmer for 20-30 minutes until vegetables are tender. Reduce heat to low. Add milk and Velveeta stirring carefully to avoid scorching.

Serve with homemade biscuits made with a little fresh ground pepper.

If you live in a country without Velveeta (*cough* Denmark *cough*) you can substitute any cheese that works well in a cheese fondue like Jarlsberg, Emmenthaler (both Swiss-style) and Gruyere.

Vegetarian Sloppy Joes

I'm slowly getting back into cooking now that James is generally only waking up once at night and new patterns of juggling my two babies are falling into place. Last night I attempted a new recipe from my friend Karen over at Curious Lyle for Vegetarian Sloppy Joes. They were delicious and I ate more than I care to admit (nursing makes me feel like a bottomless pit).

I used red wine vinegar rather than white vinegar as it was what I had on hand and that tasted fine. These were very spicy as I used Mexene chili powder though a milder chili powder would likely make them more child-friendly.

Vegetarian Sloppy Joes
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

8 kaiser rolls

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, celery, carrot, green pepper, and garlic: saute until tender. Stir in tomatoes, chili powder, tomato paste, vinegar, salt and pepper. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes.

2. Stir in kidney beans, and cook an additional 5 minutes.

3. Cut a 1/4 inch slice off the top of each kaiser roll; set aside. Hollow out the center of each roll, leaving about 1/2 inch thick shells; reserve the inside of rolls for other uses.

4. Spoon bean mixture evenly into rolls and replace tops. Serve immediately.

Hot Crossed Buns

In honor of Holy Week, I emailed my Ragamuffin Cooking Club friend Phil for his family Hot Crossed Bun recipe. Hot Crossed Buns are traditionally eaten on Good Friday with the glazed cross on the buns representing the crucifixion.

Hot Crossed Buns
2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
1 1/4 cup orange juice, divided
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
3-4 teaspoon grated orange peel
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup currants or raisins
6 cup flour, divided

1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Dissolve yeast in 3/4 cups of warm orange juice (110-115 degrees F). [Phil notes: usually this has to stand until foamy or 5-10 min, but most yeast here is rapid/highly active and this step isn't always necessary]. Add yeast mixture, butter, sugar, eggs, additional 1/2 cup of warm orange juice, orange peel, salt, cinnamon, and 3 cups flour. Beat till smooth.

Add raisins. Stir in remaining flour as needed to form soft dough, which should be a bit stickier than standard bread dough. Knead for six to eight minutes until smooth.

Place in greased bowl, cover, let rise until doubled. Punch dough down and roll into about 22 pieces. Place two inches apart on cookie sheet, cover and let rise until doubled. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 min.

After buns cool, mix confectioners' sugar, milk and vanilla into a thick paste and frost buns with a simple cross.

And don't forget to sing!

Hot cross buns,
One a penny buns,
One a penny,
Two a penny,
Hot cross buns.

Vegetable Orzo Soup

This is a great soup for spring because it is full of the promise of summer's farmers markets yet has the warmth needed for chilly spring days. It was also my introduction to the fennel bulb.

Vegetable Orzo Soup

1/2 c. dry white beans
4 c. water
3 c. chicken broth
1/2 c. onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2/3 c. fennel bulb, white part chopped
3 sprigs parsley
2 bay leaves
1/2 t. pepper
1/2 t thyme
1/2 t. salt
1 medium zucchini, chopped
2 medium tomatoes, chopped (or one 14oz can diced tomatoes)
8 oz frozen green beans
1/3 c. dried orzo

Bring to beans and water to boil, cook for two minutes, then remove from heat and let stand, covered, for one hour. Drain beans and return to pot with chicken broth and next eight ingredients. Cook for 15-20 minutes. Add zucchini, tomatoes and green beans. Cook for an additional 15 minutes. Add orzo 10 minutes before serving. Top with basil pesto and parmesan when served.

Easy Gourmet-Like Tortellini

The freezer space in our college room dorm sized refrigerator is a bit small to say the least so there isn't much of an option for freezing meals ahead of time to pull out for dinner after the baby is born. But, you know, these limitations are just opportunities for creative culinary creations. Or as creative as one can manage after going through one of the greatest physical challenges unique to women. Here is one of my go-to meals:

Easy Gourmet-Like Tortellini

500 gram package of dried tortellini
2 tablespoons pesto
1 tablespoon olive oil
Grated parmesan cheese to taste

Boil tortellini in a pot of salted water per package directions. After draining, return to pot and drizzle olive oil over tortellini and stir in pesto. Top with freshly grated parmesan. Serve with a "made it from scratch" attitude.

This is a complicated recipe so here is a little visual aid:

Curried Tomato Soup

One of my favorite lunches is half a grilled cheddar cheese sandwich with a cup of tomato soup. One spring I was flipping through a magazine and found this recipe for curried tomato soup that is really delicious and easy to make. I’ll usually make a batch at the beginning of the week and lunch on it for at least three or four days.

And a quick story about this soup: I come from a large family – I’m the oldest of eight – and when I was engaged to Michael my Dad thought it very important that I practice cooking as much as possible before we got married. (Because mass-producing food for 10 people will put you on the road to proper food portions; it led to things like cooking two boxes of spaghetti for two people as a newlywed.) Overtime I became a pretty decent cook and believe I convinced my parents of this one Saturday afternoon when they dropped by unexpected and I served them this soup alongside a simple cheese sandwich for lunch. It’s the little victories.

Curried Tomato Soup
From Martha Stewart Living (I think)

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion
1 tablespoon curry
1 28 oz can crushed or diced tomatoes
½ teaspoon baking powder
1.5 cups milk
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a sauce pan and sauté onion for five minutes. Add curry and cook for one minute. Add canned tomatoes and baking powder. Bring to simmer. Reduce heat to low and heat partly covered about five minutes. Stir in milk. Pour soup into blender and puree until creamy. Return to pan and reheat. Season to taste.

Chicken and Dumplings

I've been under the weather for about a week now - just the standard Copenhagen Cold. It's put me in the mood for comfort food and I went hunting for a somewhat simple recipe for chicken and dumplings. I say "somewhat simple" because I boil my own chicken to cut costs and that doesn't allow this recipe to truly be simple by American standards.

This recipe is something of my own creation. I poked around looking for a good recipe and ended up piecing together a few I found. You'll notice this isn't a "pure" chicken and dumplings recipe since I include vegetables, but I found it to be easier to add vegetables to the one pot than to make separate vegetable sides.

Chicken and Dumplings

Broth:
1 (3-pound) whole chicken
2 small onions studded with whole cloves
2 bay leaves
2 carrots, pealed and left whole
2 stalks celery
1 tablespoon salt

Body:
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
4-5 carrots, pealed and sliced
1 cup fresh mushrooms, washed and quartered
1 cup frozen peas
3 tablespoons dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried basil
(corn starch as needed to thicken)

Dumplings:
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried dill
1/4 cup shortening
2/3 to 3/4 cup milk

Place whole, defrosted chicken (giblet bag removed), onions, bay leaves, carrots, celery and salt in enough water to cover and bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes. Remove chicken; cool. Discard onions, carrots, celery and bay leaves. Skin and bone chicken. Cut chicken into bite-size pieces, and add chicken and pepper to broth. Return to a simmer. Add carrots, mushrooms, parsley and basil. Simmer for 15 minutes. Add peas.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt and dill in a bowl. Cut in shortening with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. Add milk, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened.

Bring broth mixture to a boil. Drop 8-10 spoonfuls of dumpling dough directly into the broth. Reduce heat and simmer, 20 minutes. If the broth is not thick enough to suit, you can add a spoonful or more of corn starch.

Yield
6 to 8 servings

(I'm Dreaming of a) White Christmas Chili

Just in time for Christmas, one of my personal favorite recipes from my little mother's kitchen - White (Bean) Christmas Chili. I usually double the recipe to make it last an extra meal and serve it with cheddar and homemade biscuits. It isn't a very spicy chili but it has an appropriate kick. I usually double the amount of red pepper for Michael's sake, but even then it's not too hot for John to handle.

This is what we served Kristi tonight. :)

White Christmas Chili
Makes 6 to 8 servings

4 skinned and boned chicken breast halves [OR you can half the chicken and add an extra can of beans]
5 cups of water
1 large onion, chopped and divided
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 celery ribs, chopped (about 1/3 cup)
3 (16 ounce) cans great Northern beans, rinsed, drained, and divided
3 (4.5 ounce) cans chopped green chiles
1 cup canned chicken broth
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

PLACE chicken, 5 cups water, and half of onion in a large dutch oven
over medium-high heat, and cook 15-18 minutes or until chicken is
tender. Remove chicken, reserving broth in Dutch oven. Cut chicken
into bite-size pieces; set aside.

MELT butter in a skillet; add celery and remaining onion, and saute
until tender. Stir chicken, celery mixture, 2 cans of beans and next 6
ingredients into broth in dutch oven, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat
to medium-low, and cook 1 hour, stirring frequently, until thickened.
Process remaining 1 can beans in a blender until smooth, stopping to
scrape down sides. Stir bean puree into chili.

REMOVE and discard bay leaf; stir in cilantro just before serving with
desired toppings.

And a special birthday shout-out to my little sister Rachel!

Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

In honor of Christmas cookie season, I thought I should post one of my favorite recipes from last Christmas - Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies.

The thing that made me remember this recipe - apart from it's chocolaty chewy goodness - was that it calls for cutting up a chocolate bar rather than just pouring in a bag of chocolate chips. Here in Denmark it's really hard to find chocolate chips. They have them but they come in tiny little bags and cost about $4. But I knew from making this recipe last year that all you need is a chocolate bar and a knife. Though if you want to save yourself five minutes and just dump in the chocolate chips, I won't tell Martha.

I also won't tell Martha if you decide not to grate fresh ginger for the recipe. I did this the first time I made the recipe as part of a Ragamuffin Cooking Club cookie exchange - our unofficial motto is "You've Got to Bring Your A-Game to Cooking Club" - but I thought it made the ginger flavor almost overwhelmingly.

Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies
From good ol' Martha
7 ounces best-quality semisweet chocolate
1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger [or substitute with an additional 3/4 teaspoon of ground ginger added to dry mix]
1/2 cup dark-brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup unsulfured molasses
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup granulated sugar (for dipping)

1. Chop chocolate into 1/4-inch chunks; set aside. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cocoa.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and grated ginger until whitened, about 4 minutes. Add brown sugar; beat until combined. Add molasses; beat until combined.

3. In a small bowl, dissolve baking soda in 1 1/2 teaspoons boiling water [Does anyone know why you'd do this?]. Beat half of flour mixture into butter mixture. Beat in baking-soda mixture, then remaining half of flour mixture. Mix in chocolate; turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Pat dough out to about 1 inch thick; seal with plastic wrap; refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours.

4. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats. Roll dough into 2-inch balls; place 2 1/2 inches apart on baking sheets. Refrigerate 20 minutes. Roll dough balls in granulated sugar and return to baking sheets. Transfer to oven and bake until surfaces crack slightly, about 18 minutes [basically, as soon as the surface cracks - pull them out of the oven. Otherwise they won't be as chewy]. Let cool 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Yield 2 dozen

Cranberry Orange Scones

There is something about oranges that spells Christmas to me. It probably has something to do with the fact that my Mom used to compensate for the tragic error of making huge Christmas stockings for us by putting at least one or two large oranges it them to help fill them up. And then over Thanksgiving my sister Anna very thoughtfully ate a delicious looking homemade scone right in front of my face via video Skype. Which led me to start thinking about scones. Put it all together and this morning found me trying out a recipe for cranberry orange scones. Usually I'll test a new recipe a time or two before posting it here, but these are so good they deserve an early posting.

Cranberry Orange Scones
via Coffee Works Blog
3 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp grated orange peel [the key is to chop the peel after zesting so you don't end up flossing your teeth with the orange peel]
3/4 cup chilled unsalted butter
1 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup buttermilk [I used whole milk]
1/2 cup orange juice - high pulp [I just squeezed the juice out of the oranges I zested]
3 tsp orange cream yogurt [I omitted and compensated with more whole milk]

Preheat the oven to 400°. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Mix in orange peel. Cut the butter into 1/2 inch pieces, and mix into the flour using your fingers. [Or cut in butter using a pastry blender]. Add the dried cranberries.

Combine the wet ingredients in a small bowl - orange juice, buttermilk, and yogurt. Slowly add the liquid to the flour/butter, mixing with a fork until you get moist clumpy dough.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Form the dough into a large log, about an inch and a half thick and cut into a triangular scone shape. Lay the cut scones, about 2 inches apart, on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for about 15-20 minutes at 400° or until the tops are golden brown.

The blog has recommendations for a glaze and special orange marmalade butter, but I found these to be delicious by themselves.

Potato Lasagna

When I'm not finding a new way to cook beans, I'm usually finding a new way to cook potatoes. This is another tasty recipe I picked up from Real Simple - Potato Lasagna. The bacon adds a nice flavor and it's also nice because it works spinach into our diet. You do need to buy whole canned tomatoes and drain them or the lasagna will end up soupy (like ours did last night).

After six weeks of experimenting with biscuits and cookies in our Glorified Toaster Oven, this was the first real baking I attempted and I was thrilled when it turned out well. The general rule of thumb seems to be lower the normal cooking temperature by about 50 degrees and shorten the cooking time. And be sure to turn the broiler on 2-5 minutes before the end of the baking depending on what you're baking. And hover over the oven constantly. See? Simple. Now next time you are faced with cooking in a Glorified Toaster Oven, you'll know what to do.

Potato Lasagna
Real Simple
1/4 pound bacon (about 5 slices), cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1 medium onion, diced
1 10-ounce package frozen spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry
1 1/2 cups milk
1 egg
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
4 pounds Idaho potatoes (about 4 large potatoes), peeled and cut into 1/8-inch slices [I scrub but do not peel the potatoes and slice them using the cheese slicer on a standard cheese grater]
1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes, drained and roughly chopped
4 ounces Swiss, Cheddar, or mozzarella, shredded

Heat oven to 450° F.

In a large skillet over medium heat, combine the bacon and onion. Cook until the onion is caramelized and golden brown, 9 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat, mix in the spinach, and set aside.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the milk, egg, salt, and oregano. Set aside.

Coat a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with vegetable spray. Arrange one layer of potatoes, overlapping slightly. Spread the tomatoes evenly on top of the potatoes. Pour 1/3 of the milk mixture over the tomatoes. Add another layer of potatoes and then the bacon-spinach mixture, spreading evenly. Top with another third of the milk mixture. Finish with the last layer of potatoes and sprinkle on the shredded cheese. Drizzle the remaining milk mixture over the dish.

Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and bake another 10 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown. Remove from oven and let rest, covered, for 10 minutes before serving.

Broccoli Fettuccine Alfredo

In an effort to combine Michael's love of fettuccine alfredo and our need for more green vegetables, I found this recipe for broccoli fettuccine alfredo on the Real Simple website. It is delicious and is a great 30-minute meal. I changed the recipe slightly by adding a little pesto to make the sauce a bit creamier and more flavorful, and doubled the red pepper to make it spicier. The three of us can polish off the whole thing in one sitting so you may want to double the recipe if you are cooking for a larger group.

And a John moment connected to this dish: John is old enough now that we pretty much offer him whatever we are eating for dinner as long as it doesn't have tomato sauce on it (a diaper rash trigger). Unfortunately last night when I made this I forgot to set aside some unseasoned pasta for him before coating it with the pepper. During our meal the pepper would irritate him and he would make it worse by rubbing it all over his face and fussing, but then would get upset if I tried to take the pasta away from him. Apparently he really liked it despite his discomfort. He spent about 10 minutes after dinner walking around with this tongue stuck out like a puppy and asking for his milk.

Broccoli Fettuccine Alfredo
Real Simple
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 1-pound box dry whole wheat fettuccine
4 cups (8 ounces) broccoli florets
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons basil pesto
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

Place the salt in a large pot of water and bring to a boil. Add the fettuccine and cook according to the package directions for al dente. During the last 5 minutes of cooking, add the broccoli. Drain in a colander, reserving 1 cup of the water; set aside. Place the butter in the pot, reduce heat to medium-low, and stir until melted. Add 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water, then stir in pesto and 1/3 cup of the Parmesan. Add the fettuccine and broccoli and the cayenne and nutmeg; toss. Remove from heat and sprinkle with another 1/3 cup of the Parmesan and the pepper. Toss again, adding more pasta water if the fettuccine is too sticky. Serve in bowls and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan.

Mushroom Soup

I learned from an ex-pat friend that since the Danes don’t fortify their milk with vitamin D, you are supposed to give your kids vitamin D drops to make sure they are receiving enough of this nutrient (and don't end up with some awful disease like rickets). So each morning, John has a cup of milk laced with five drops of vitamin D.

Since they say it’s better to actually eat foods that contain vitamins rather than merely relying on supplements, I started browsing around looking for natural sources of vitamin D. My good friend Wikipedia, via the National Institutes of Health, tells me that I can find vitamin D in things like salmon, tuna, mushrooms and eggs. John loves mushrooms so I went hunting for a good soup with mushrooms and other chunky bits of vegetables that he can eat for lunch.

Surprisingly, I found the recipe below on the website of one my old town’s great local restaurants when I googled "mushroom soup." It is delicious, easy to make and is perfect for a cold November day. And it’s great for both John and I who have been suffering from the sniffles for the past few days.

Mushroom Soup
Natasha's Café
2 quarts water
5 cups mushrooms divided (about one pound)
¼ stick of butter
2 large carrots
2 stalks celery
1 onion
4 large potatoes
1 bunch parsley
1 bunch green onions
1 teaspoon basil
dash thyme
dash oregano
salt & pepper to taste

Bring two quarts of water to a boil and cook 3 cups mushrooms with 1/4 stick of butter until tender. Clean and slice mushrooms, carrots, celery, onion, and potatoes and cook in mushroom stock until tender. Add parsley, green onions, basil, thyme and oregano. Cook a few more minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

Also makes good noodle soup. Just add 1 cup of egg noodles with parsley and green onions.

Hello, Internets. I am tired.

It's 5:00PM here in Copenhagen and already pitch dark. It feels more like 8:30PM. Michael asked if I wanted him to turn on the Glorified Toaster Oven to bake our dinner biscuits and it sounded like a reasonable idea until I realized it was 4:45PM. It seems like we should celebrate the big 3-0 before we take up the eating habits of Florida's senior citizen population.

Tomorrow I have a doctor's appointment so I packed in a bunch of housekeeping into one day. Two loads of laundry, one mushroom stew, one golden cream of potato soup, one vacuumed apartment, two separate shopping trips, one teething toddler and the washing of approximately 72 dirty dishes later and I'm ready to call it a night.

I have been trying a number of new recipes lately. One of my very favorites is this great recipe for vegetarian chili that my graduate school/church friend Elizabeth posted recently on her blog. I didn't have any chili powder so I substituted with various things including two red hot chili peppers and a teaspoon of ground red pepper. Needless to say it had enough heat to keep us warm despite temperatures being in the windy mid-40s.

Chunky Marinara Sauce

Spaghetti is one of those great go-to meals for when you're not exactly excited about making dinner. We usually had it at least once a week back in the States - the Preggo + whole wheat spaghetti route. They do have jarred spaghetti sauce here but in the interest of cutting costs I start browsing for a homemade recipe and came across this easy recipe from Real Simple that I've doctored a bit. It's very simple and something you can put on the stove and let simmer for an hour before dinner while you crash on the couch after a long day of entertaining a 15-month-old.

Chunky Marinara Sauce
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
3 large cloves garlic, sliced
2 T chopped fresh basil (or 2 t dried)
2 T chopped fresh oregano (or 2 t dried)
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
1/2 t kosher salt
1/2 t freshly ground black pepper
2 T chopped fresh parsley

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and onions and gently cook until just soft, about 5 minutes. Add the basil, oregano, tomatoes, salt, and pepper. Cover and bring to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer for 20 to 30 minutes. Stir in the parsley just before serving.

You can also add chopped fresh mushrooms when sautéing the garlic and onions. And you meat lovers can also add a half pound of cooked ground beef when the marinara sauce has cooked completely.

I like to serve this pre-tossed with whole wheat penne or spiral noodles. Largely because John can more easily pick up penne than spaghetti noodles.

Beans, beans... they're good for your heart...

Have I mentioned meat is expensive here? I tease Michael sometimes about how certain things are acceptable in Denmark that wouldn’t be tolerated at home. For example dinner without meat is not acceptable back in the Homeland, but is tolerated here in Denmark. That is largely because a pound of beef is about twice as expensive here as it is in the States and we don’t have a lot of extra money to throw around.

But we still need our protein so I have been making a lot – A LOT – of bean soup lately. We’re actually having bean soup three times this week. Monday it was in the form of normal bean soup. Last night we put it in burrito shells with homemade tomato salsa and cheddar and called it “Bean Burrito Night.” And tomorrow we’re back to regular bean soup.

It does help that we love, love, love bean soup. (And that I brought a large bottle of Beano with us). John especially gobbles it up. I always thought of bean soup as being, well, kind of bland, but I found a great Cooking Light recipe that I doctored up with a bit of McCormick Cajun Seasoning and here we are on week three of bean soup – with an occasional marinara spaghetti night and scrambled egg dinner thrown in for variety.

Bean Soup
Cooking Light, January 1999
1 pound dried black beans (we’ve been using brown beans and they are also very good)
2 bacon slices, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon dried thyme
3 garlic cloves, sliced
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon McCormick Cajun Seasoning
5 cups Chicken Stock or 2 1/2 (16-ounce) cans fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
3 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt

To prepare soup, sort and wash beans; place in a large Dutch oven. Cover with water to 2 inches above beans; bring to a boil, and cook 2 minutes. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 1 hour. Drain.

Cook the bacon in pan over medium heat until crisp. Remove the bacon from pan. Add chopped onion, thyme, garlic, and bay leaves to bacon drippings in pan; sauté for 4 minutes. Add McCormick Cajun Seasoning, beans, bacon, Chicken Stock, and 3 cups water to pan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Add salt, and simmer for 30 minutes or until beans are tender. Discard bay leaves. Place half of bean mixture in a blender or food processor, process until smooth and return to pot.

You can top this with any number of things. Our favorites are cheddar, tortilla chips and fresh tomato salsa with raw onions. You can also include lime juice and sour cream.

I usually double the recipe and that is enough to feed us for about three meals. If you do double the recipe, give yourself extra time to let the soup reduce. I usually start this soup around 11AM and it’s completely ready by 5:30PM. The most time draining part of the preparation is the bacon frying and onion chopping which can be accomplished in about 15 minutes. It’s a great Saturday soup that you can prepare between housekeeping, sports watching and other weekend activities.

Parsnip and Carrot Soup

With food being so expensive here I find myself cooking with ingredients I wouldn't have normally used back in the Homeland because they are just so cheap. Parsnip is one of those ingredients. I didn't even know what a parsnip was until a few weeks ago. It's basically a white carrot and has a bit of a spicy flavor to it.

I found a tasty recipe for parsnip and carrot soup on the Williams-Sonoma website that we tried out a few weeks back. The recipe calls for using a chinois strainer; something I've only ever actually seen once in my life. I didn't have a chinois, a blender or a food processor so I crossed my eyes and thought real hard and this is what I came up with.

Parsnip and Carrot Soup
1 1/2 Tbs. unsalted butter
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 1/4 lb. parsnips, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 lb. carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
6 cups chicken stock
4 cups water
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

For the yogurt garnish:
1/3 cup plain yogurt
About 2 Tbs. milk
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

1 1/2 Tbs. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions

In a large soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the onion and sauté, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 10 minutes. Increase the heat to high, add the parsnips, carrots, stock and water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, until the vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.

Using a blender and working in batches, puree the soup on high speed until smooth, 3 to 4 minutes per batch. Strain through a chinois set over a clean soup pot and, using the pestle, press on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Place over low heat and reheat to serving temperature. Season with salt and pepper.

While the soup is heating, make the yogurt garnish: In a small bowl, whisk together the yogurt and enough milk to make a barely fluid paste. Season with salt and pepper.

To serve, ladle the soup into warmed bowls and drizzle with the yogurt. Sprinkle with the parsley and serve immediately. Serves 6.

The original recipe (and a much more inviting picture of the end results) can be found here.

Uncle Ricky's Texas Chili

It has pretty much been fall since we got here in the middle of August, but now that the rest of you U.S. folks have caught up it's time for me to post about something that has become something of a legend - Uncle Ricky's Texas Chili.

Uncle Ricky is a real man - a native Texan who loves woodworking and romantic movies. He's Michael's uncle and became a bit immortalized last fall at our Cooking Club chili cook-off. We've made this recipe twice in the last couple of weeks (though we're making it frickadeller pork and veal meat these days). The recipe is below:

Uncle Ricky's Texas Chili
2½ lbs. lean ground beef
1 lb. sausage
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 t. oregano
1 t. cumin
1 t. paprika
2 15 oz. cans Heinz tomato sauce
1 2 oz bottle Mexene Chili Powder
2 t. Chili Sauce

Brown the sausage and beef with the onions. Drain grease from meat. Mix meat mixture, tomato sauce, and 1½ quarts of warm to hot water in a stock/soup pot. Stir. Add spices, chili powder, and chili sauce. Stir again. Bring to a boil while stirring periodically. After the chili has come to a boil, reduce heat and simmer the chili for at least another 3-4 hours. Water will need to be added at various times, and additional spices, including those above and salt, can be added to taste.

For "extra Texas-ness" serve over Fritos.

Because I grew up with my mom's version of Cincinnati chili, Michael will sometimes violate the purity of the chili and put in a can or two of red beans for me. He's never caved and put noodles in the chili for me - that's taking things a bit to far. I like to eat my chili with cheddar cheese and crackers, while Michael prefers corn chips of some variety. And then there is Phil from Iowa who we all know prefers his chili with a side of cinnamon roll. ;)

Frickadeller

Today I’m going to share with you a traditional Danish recipe for fricka-deller. Fricka-deller (pro-nounced “frick-a-dillah”) are Danish meatballs. They are traditional made with ground pork and veal, eggs, onions, breadcrumbs or flour, salt and pepper. I was talking with a native Dane about the difference between Swedish meatballs and Danish frickadeller and was basically told that Swedish meatballs are round and cooked with a sauce while Danish frickadeller are flattened a bit and usually served with potatoes and some other sidedish.

They sell a pound of “Pork-Calf” at the grocery store very inexpensively which is partly what led us to try making frickadeller in the first place. It is mixed 75 percent pork/25 percent veal and the meat is incredibly tender.

Michael has a Danish friend who passed along this basic frickadeller recipe to him:

Frickadeller
1lb minced pork and veal
1 egg
2 tbsp flour
1.5 tsp salt
pepper

Mix everything together and leave it in fridge to 'set' for at least 30 minutes.

Form into small balls and flatten slightly with a spatula. Cook in butter on medium-low heat until done. The goal with the lower heat is to keep the balls from burning even the slightest bit.

You can spice these in anyway you like. I like putting minced garlic and a little red pepper into the frickadeller mix before forming it into balls. We like to serve them with pasta dressed with garlic, red pepper flakes and parmesan.

Back in the states we made these with ground beef.