Rullepølse (Rolled Sausage)

My mouth thought it was in heaven this week.   It got to eat some Rullepølse.
Two days in a row even.   

The second day I also indulged and had an Akvavit with my lunch.  Along with a nice piece of Havarti.

The rough translation for Rullepølse is Rolled Sausage.  But it's more than that.   It's yet another way we Danes figured out how to eat pork.
Or more accurately, how to eat fresh side pork, aka Pork Belly or fatback in the south.

I've shared how to make Stegt Flæsk, which is Denmark's national dish.   And I've shown you a few ways to make Smørrebrød, as well.
This is yet another topping for Smørrebrød.   Can't have too many of those.


This is a recipe from an old cookbook, circa 1917.  Fr. Strunge was a rather severe looking lady, as was her her mother, but they made a lovely little cookbook, which I got from my mom.    I followed most of this recipe.   But I used pork instead.
Have you seen the price of veal or lamb lately? 

I'll include the full recipe at the end, but here's the pictures along with a basic description of how I made this.
Since I was the only one who was going to be eating this, I didn't want a huge piece of meat.  I had already planned on eating part of it right away and then slicing the remainder and freezing the slices for later consumption.

To start with, I only bought a 2 lb. piece of meat, then I cut the rind off of it, and saved it for crackling.
I'm not wasting any deliciousness.

I took the meat and butterflied it by cutting it lengthwise almost all the way through.

I then laid it out flat, and salted and peppered it.  Rolled it back up and placed it in the fridge for a couple of days. I chose not to brine the pork this time, as I watch my salt intake.

After a couple of days, I took it back out, unrolled it.  Added more pepper, some crushed allspice berries, thin sliced onion and bacon.  

Rolled it back up, tied it,

and then cooked it in some water to which I'd added a couple of carrots and onion, for just over two hours.

After it was cooked, I took it out of the water and let it drain for a couple of minutes.
Then I took a piece of foil,

wrapped it loosely in there and made my own home made Rullepølse press.
The meat was placed in a shallow pan, and on top I put a loaf pan.
Then I had fun.  I taped the loaf pan to the other pan, pressing down and binding it as tightly as I could.  The
whole contraption was placed into the fridge, and left to sit overnight.

And it worked, beautifully.

I have to thank a member of my Facebook group 'Dansk Mad og Opskrifter' for the idea.  Thanks Thomas.

When I think of all the ways my mom had of weighing down and pressing the Rullepølse when she made it.  I remember scrubbing the brick that she used as a weight, so that it was clean enough to go into the fridge.   And how she would get anxious to see if the Rullepølse would be flat enough.  My way was so neat and easy and yes it did use a fair amount of tape, but it was so worth it.
And after I'd eaten my fill, the rest was sliced, placed on some plastic wrap and placed gently into the freezer.  I figure I have at least eight more lunches there.  If I don't share. 

yield: 4-6 servingsAuthor: Sid's Sea Palm Cooking (adapted from many recipes, mostly my mother's)print recipe

Rullepølse

prep time: 15 MINScook time: 2 hour and 15 MINStotal time: 2 hours and 30 mins

Rullepølse is one of the many toppings for Smørrebrød and is surprisingly easy to make. It takes a few days, but most of that is passive waiting time.

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 lb. fresh Side Pork
• 1 onion, sliced very thin
• 8 or more pieces, meaty bacon
• 4-6 crushed Allspice Berries - you can always add more
• 1-2 teaspoons Kosher salt
• 1/2 -1 teaspoon pepper
• 2 carrots, cut into quarters
• 1 onion, cut into quarters
• 5 cups cold water (enough to cover the meat)
• 2-3 foot length of twine

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Lay the pork belly out flat. Trim any parts so that it is an even piece of meat. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon kosher salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. 
2. Roll up and place in either a container or ziploc bag. Place in fridge for 2-3 days. (This 'brine's' the meat). 
3. Take out of fridge, and unroll. Add the ground allspice and more pepper if desired. 
4. Lay the thinly sliced onions on top of the meat and top with the bacon. 
5. Roll the meat back up, from the end, tightly. 
6. Take the twine and make a small loop in one end of the twine, then take the other end of the twine through the little loop to make a large loop. Take the large loop and place around one end of the meat roll, pulling tight. Loop the end of the twine through the loop and make a blanket stitch and continue on down the meat roll. Making sure to keep it as tight as possible. 
7. When the whole piece of meat is trussed up, place in a large pot, pour enough water over top to cover the meat. Add 1 teaspoon salt to the water and the cut up carrots and onions. 
8. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat and simmer for 1 hour. Then turn the meat over and simmer for another hour or until tender. Take out of pot and drain. 
9. Place on piece of foil, and fold the foil over top. Place in a shallow pan with an edge, then put another pan over top, and tape the two together as tightly as possible. Put into fridge overnight. 
10. Next day, take the Rullepølse out, take off the twine and slice thinly. Serve on a piece of buttered rye bread with a little bit of a good strong mustard or Italiensk salat.

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My cookbook Hygge - Danish Food and Recipes would be a great gift for any foodies in your life, or for yourself.  Available as a Kindle e book or in paperback.  
Autographed copies are also available at the Danish Windmill in Elk Horn, Iowa or on their website.
All recipes and their respective images are either original or adapted and credited, and are all the sole property of Sid's Sea Palm Cooking © 2011-2017, with all rights reserved thereof.
 

First Monday Favorites for April

I can't believe the month has shot on by me, again.  I've been busy though.  I've been writing a cookbook, and it's taken a lot of my time, energy and brains the past few weeks.

Who knew it was so complicated?   Oh well, onward and upward.

It's time for First Monday Favorites though and I did get some baking and making of new recipes last month.  And it was a toss up, again, as to which recipe I personally liked the best.
I made one of my all-time favorites which also happens to be Denmark's national Dish (Stegt Flæsk) last month along with a soup (Chile Verde Stoup) that made my mouth sing in joy, but the Carrot Cake I made came out a clear favorite. 
So...
My candidate for my own personal 'First Monday Favorite' is this Deluxe Carrot Cake.
It's everything a carrot cake should be.  Dense, moist, flavorful.  And even though there is a lot of sugar in the recipe, it didn't come out too cloyingly sweet. 

#FirstMondayFavorites  #CarrotCake

I can't wait to see what everyone else came up with.

An InLinkz Link-up

Røget Laks og Æg (Smoked Salmon with Egg)

I sometimes think I should stop having fun playing with my food, and then I rethink that position and go nah.

Why stop?

And this past weekend was no exception.

I made a couple of platters of Danish Smørrebrød for our guests at Tapas Night, and got totally amazed at how quickly one of the platters was emptied.

I really shouldn't have been surprised cause a properly prepared piece of smørrebrød is really hard to resist.

I'd found a package of smoked salmon, gravlax style at Publix, on one of my shopping trips, and decided to make some Røget Laks og Æg on some of my home made rye and white bread.

I put the platter down on the table and my guests descended on them.  And the plate got emptied, fast.

I don't blame them a bit.  They were delicious.
I only know that cause I sampled some beforehand.

I have to make sure it's edible.

This isn't so much of a recipe but more of a 'how to'.

To start with, you need to scramble a couple or three eggs with a little bit of milk.  Season with some salt and pepper and when it's soft cooked, as in still a little creamy, take it off the heat and let it cool. You can also cook the eggs in the oven, in a Bain Marie.  Basically whisk together some eggs, a little milk, pour them into a shallow pan which is set in a Bain Marie (water bath) and cooked.  In other words a custard.  When it's cooked and cooled you slice it up and use it as I did with the scrambled eggs.
Now that the egg is cooked and cooled, you can make these little bites of wonderfulness.
I chose to put them on rye as well as white bread, but they are properly made with white bread only.
Butter the bread, all the way to the crust, then place a piece of butter lettuce down, add a spoonful of egg, and top with the salmon.  'Pynt' or garnish with a cucumber twist.  Finally, place a little piece of dill on top.
You can also top them a piece of blanched Asparagus.
Maybe next time...

I couldn't resist taking pictures.
Not only were they pretty, they tasted amazing.  And since I also had a little salmon left, I used it for my lunch the next day.  Just salmon, garnished with a little dill and some sweet mustard sauce.

I also dipped into my stash of Mackerel in Tomato Sauce and added a little mayonnaise to it, and put together these mackerel bites.  I should have made more, they went fast.
Next time...

I also put together a platter of Frikadeller with Agurk Salat og Syltede Rødbeder  (Frikadeller slices with Cucumber Salad and Pickled Beets) as well as some Spegepølser (Salami).
And there were only a couple pieces left at the end of the night.

Which is amazing considering all the great food that was brought and enjoyed at Tapas Night this month.
I should mention that Smoked Eel (Røget Aal) is usually presented on top of the egg sandwich, but if I had some, I probably wouldn't have shared it.

Hygge - Danish Food and Recipes would be a great gift for yourself or any foodies in your life. Available as a Kindle e book or in paperback. Autographed copies are also available at the Danish Windmill in Elk Horn, Iowa or on their website.  
Nibbles and Bites which is a collection of Appetizers is also now available on Amazon, in paperback or as a Kindle ebook.
All recipes and their respective images are either original or adapted and credited, and are all the sole property of Sid's Sea Palm Cooking © 2011-2018, with all rights reserved thereof.

 

Tapas for March 2017

It's a good thing I have a nice sturdy table, and an island in the kitchen, cause with all the great food people brought last night, it filled up both of them along with the 'dessert' buffet. 

I had fun making a few things, and I'll tell you about them later on. 
Here's what was brought, shared and enjoyed.
We had some Chips and Dip

and a Spinach Casserole

some Mac and Cheese,

and Deviled Eggs

we also had a Quinoa Salad, which reminds me, I need to put it on my shopping list.  I really like Quinoa

as well as Cheese and Crackers and Celery,

and a Southwest Potato Salad, and I neglected to get a side shot, but the bowl was really cool as well

then there was some Cheese Muffins, and I didn't get a taste, but look at that presentation, so pretty.

we also had Broccoli Balls, but they were all gone before I got to them. sigh

And there's always that one dish that escapes my camera, but I did get a shot of it, even if I had to crop a picture to show it, some more Mac and Cheese.  Did I mention, I love Pasta, especially Mac and Cheese.

as well as some Hummus and Crackers

along with some Sausage Soup,

and Roasted Vegetables

And then I made some Smørrebrød, and I had fun with it.  Disclaimer first though here.   I should have used either smoked salmon or smoked eel for this dish, but I winged it and used Gravlax, which is a cured salmon.  But everyone ate them anyways.  I'm just glad I sampled one before I put the platter out.  I'd also made some rye bread (Rugbrød) earlier in the day as well as some white bread.

I also opened one of my tins of Makrel i Tomat Sauce and put some small bites together.   I didn't know if anyone would like it so only made up a little, next time I'll make more. It went over well.

And I made up a platter of Frikadeller with Agurk Salat and Syltede Rødbedder aka pickled beets and some Spegepølser (salami).

Since I had so much Gravlax, I also made up some Lemon Caper Deviled Eggs using the Gravlax as a topper for some of them.   I'll be sharing that recipe soon.  It was really good, even if I say so myself.

I also played with some Pork Tenderloin bites and made an Asian style pork dish, I'll share that recipe soon as well.

 I also used some home made Puff Pastry and added some Asiago Cheese and made these Cheese Twists, I was just playing around.  I would have had more but managed to ummm, burn the second pan.

Now for the Desserts.  And it's funny how there tends to be a theme from time to time.  This month it was fruit, Apples mostly, but also Cherry and Pineapple.  (We've had months where Chocolate reigned supreme as well)

Apple Crisp, and I need this recipe.  Really, I do. 

And some Frosted Apple Bars, sorry the wrap was still on when I took the picture.

And a Cherry Cobbler

As well as Pineapple, which I did not get a clear shot of. 
There's always one, but if you look at the dessert shot up above, the pineapple is there to the left.

Gotta go and wash the wine glasses now, and reflect on the night and think about the great time I had.

Deluxe Carrot Cake

I reached out to my SIL the other day, well, we talk almost every day anyways, but she's a cake decorator and makes the most incredible cakes.
She decorates them beautifully, in fact she and her daughter are quite a team, but Stephanie also bakes the cakes from scratch.  Check it out here. 

She rarely makes a cake from a mix, and some time ago she was telling me, well, she was gushing over this carrot cake she'd made for someone, and how good the cake was and how easy to make and well, I tucked that little nugget of information away in my brain, and thought I wanted to make this sometime.
I did last week.

I've been making and donating cakes to the local Legion, every couple of weeks, and they raffle them off and raise money for local needs.  I made a Chocolate Cake a couple of times, a Buttermilk Cake and the last time a Cherry Cherry Cake.

I figure this is a win win situation, more so on my part cause I get to bake and decorate a cake, and I don't have a whole cake sitting around my house, saying "just a taste, that's all, just cut a sliver" cause that sliver turns into a slice and then, the scale goes "I can't believe you ate that" , and my pants say "not again", and well, we have some interesting conversations in my house.

At any rate, I got this recipe, made it, and then I got to taste it, and OMG, I think I found the perfect carrot cake recipe.
I'm not messing around with anything else. 
And if you noticed the 'toweling' around the pans, I'll tell you all about that in another post.   I'm still experimenting with it. 
Grated Carrots and Craisins - Steff said to use the large holes on the grater so I did.

 The batter in the pans.  And you want to rap the pans, sharply on the counter a few times to get the bubbles out.   But look at those lovely bits of carrot in there.

 The cake just after taking it from the oven.   It was resting.  Please don't skimp on the greasing of the pans, these cakes stuck.  And I even had a helper to get them out.  That little tab at the side, is attached to a little blade which scoots under the cake to loosen it.  Next time I'm placing a sheet of greased parchment paper in the bottom, I think it would be a lot easier to get the pans to release the cakes.  Threatening them did not work.

 After being released and resting for awhile.

 I made a simple cream cheese frosting for the top, and let it drape over the sides a little.  (and put a thin layer of buttercream frosting in the middle of the two layers)

Then I had fun decorating it with some 'carrots'.   
If you can't have fun with the food, what's the point of playing?

And I did get to taste some.  The person who won it, very generously shared it out.  giggle
Look at those carrots.
This is a moist, dense, rich cake, perfect for those special occasions.
Or just because. 

yield: 8-12 servings (a 2 layer cake)Author: Sid's Sea Palm Cooking (adapted from a recipe by Stephanie McOmie)print recipe

Deluxe Carrot Cake

prep time: 15 MINScook time: 30 MINStotal time: 45 mins

This moist, dense cake is the ultimate Carrot Cake. Rich, flavorful, and delicious.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/4 cup oil
• 2 cups white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 cups grated carrots (large grate)
• 1/2-1 cup Craisins (optional)
• 1/2-1 cup Chopped Walnuts (Optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 8 or 9 inch cake pans, making sure that they are well greased. Or place a greased parchment paper on the bottom of the pans, and then grease and flour the sides. Peel and grate carrots, using the large side of the grater. Measure out three cups, set aside. Mix all the wet ingredients together with a beater or with a stand mixer. Sift all the dry ingredients together and then add to the wet, mixing well. Once the wet and dry ingredients are mixed together, add the grated carrots at the end along with the Craisins and Walnuts if using them. Divide the batter evenly between the two pans. Rap the pans sharply on the counter a couple or three times to eliminate the air bubbles in the cakes. (This helps them bake more evenly.) Bake the cakes for 30-40 minutes, using a toothpick to check for done-ness after 30 minutes. Remove from oven and place on cooking rack for ten minutes to cool a little, then remove from pans. Frost with a cream cheese frosting when completely cooled. Decorate as you wish.

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