Tag: recipe

Preserved rhubarbs for cheese

First the wrinkled green leaves of the rhubarb tell us spring is here. But actually this great plant has two seasons (at least in Denmark), first in May-June and later in August-September.

I preserved rhubarbs several times this spring. There is both sweetness from the vanilla and sugar as well as acidity from the rhubarbs together with a fresh crunchyness. It goes well with cheese, for instance a rich and creamy washed rind cheese such as Saint Nectaire AOP.

Preserved rhubarbs

INGREDIENTS (2 GLASSES)
600 g / 21 oz rhubarbs
1 vanilla pod
300 g / 10 oz sugar
1 dl / 0.4 cup water
3 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

METHOD

Rinse the rhubarbs. Cut them in thin sticks and put in glass with a closely sealed lid.

Halve the vanilla pod and scrape out the seeds and mix with a bit of the sugar.

Bring water and the rest of the sugar to boil in a small pot until the sugar is dissolved. Add vanilla.

Pour over the rhubarbs. Bring taste in balance with the lemon juice.

Tie closely the lid and place in refridgerator for one or even two days.

You can also use it for…

Unless you preserve rhubarbs for a big gathering, you will have some left over. And this is good! It goes well on top of müesli and yoghurt, or as garnish to desserts or even spicy rice dishes.

12. August 2019
A fresh goat cheese snack
At Easter we celebrated a big birthday in the family. We started outside in the late afternoon sun with cool white wine in the glasses, small goat cheese snacks and tasteful sausages I had bought in Amsterdam.

I mixed the fresh goat cheese with honey and crème fraîche / sour cream. You can adjust the taste and texture as you like by changing the amounts. Furthermore, I was in the garden to find dandelions which I have decided to embrace this summer and enjoy in salads and snacks in stead of getting stressed about it.

Fresh goat cheese snack
Print

Ingredients (snacks for min. 20 persons)
- 200 g / 7 oz fresh goat cheese
- 50 g /1.75 oz crème fraîche / sour cream
- 1 tbsp honey
- freshly grind pepper
- crispbread
- blue berries
- fresh thyme, leaves from
- dandelion, leaves from
Print

method
- Mix goat cheese with sour cream and adjust the taste med honey and pepper.
- Break the crispbread into the sizes you want. Add the cream on top (you may want to use a piping bag).
- Decorate with blue berries, leaves from thyme and dandelion.
The sausages come from a small Dutch company called Brandt & Levie. Three friends who were also chefs began eight years ago to make their own sausages and other meat products from pigs. They went to Italy to learn how to make dry sausages. All pigs are organic, free range and from the Netherlands. Every single part on the pig is used for something. For instance the pig hoofs are used for soap. Their vision is to make as natural and homemade products as possible. Needless to say, the taste is great.
1. May 2019
Balsamico and strawberry ice cream
In my childhood, we had hens and chickens, and one of my chores was to collect eggs. I cannot count the times we made ice cream out of our eggs with sugar and whipped cream.

Now a new favorite has entered my ice cream scene: Ricotta ice cream.

I used strawberries, and they are baked with balsamico vinegar. The combination of acidity and sweetness go well with the ricotta and cream. And by the way, you don’t need high sun and 30 degrees celcius / 86 degrees fahrenheit to enjoy this ice cream.
Print
Balsamico-strawberry ricotta ice cream
(4 persons)
- 500 g / 17.6 oz fresh strawberries
- 1 tbsp cane sugar
- 1 tbsp balsamico glace
- 1 tbsp balsamico di Modena vinegar
- 250 g / 8.8 oz ricotta
- 100 g / 3.5 oz cane sugar
- 2,5 dl / 1 cup whipping cream
- balsamico glace (for decoration)
Print
Method
- Rinse the strawberries and cut them into halves.
- Place on prepared baking tray. Stir in cane sugar, balsamico glace and vinegar. Bake at 200 degrees celcius / 392 degrees fahrenheit for around 10 minutes. Cool down.
- Mix ricotta with sugar. Whip the cream in a separate bowl.
- Mash the strawberries with a fork. Add the strawberries (save the juice for later) and mix with ricotta. Fold in the whipped cream.
- Put the ice cream in a container (suitable for freezing).
- Pour over strawberry juice and some balsamico glace. Fold in with care as you leave the colourful stribes.
- Freeze.
- (Remember to let it thaw for quite a while as it needs time).
A variation

I also made a variation which looked a bit different: First I mixed ricotta with sugar and folded in the whipped cream, then I added strawberries and juice and stirred it in carefully. The ice cream was visually different – but had the same good taste.
22. March 2019
Cacio e pepe – simple and tasteful
Cacio e pepe is a very very simple dish which originally comes from Rome in Italy. The signification of the name is ‘cheese and pepper’ and that is exactly the two main ingredients. The trick is to use the pasta water which contains starch to melt the finely grated cheese and with the correct temperature you create a creamy sauce. Pure magic!

There are several ways of making the sauce. You can mix pasta water and cheese to a creamy sauce. Or you can mix water, pasta and cheese together. It is all about melting the cheese and avoiding big rubber lumps due to a wrong temperature. A tablespoon of butter is your helper in this process.

It sounds so easy and yet I found it a bit hard to make the perfect sauce by mixing hard cheese and pasta water. I did get the lumps. But every time I melt the cheese when mixed with pasta and pasta water, I succeed.

If you want to dig into the nerdy details, please read this wonderful article, which really goes into details with the dish and the method behind.

Or you can try my version of Cacio e pepe – see recipe below.

Cacio e pepe
Print
ingredients (2 persons)
- 200 g / 7 oz dried spaghetti or an equivalent pasta type
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns
- 1 tbsp butter
- 85 g / 3 oz pecorino sardo, finely grated
- a few sprigs of fresh thyme
Print
method
- Boil the pasta until it is ‘two minutes before al dente’. Put aside 2 1/2 dl / 1 cup of the pasta water. Drain the pasta.
- While the pasta boils, toast the peppercorns on a hot, dry frying pan for a couple of minutes. Crush the peppercorns in a mortar.
- Melt the butter in a deep pan, add pepper and mix. Stir in half of the water you set aside. Add the boiled pasta and mix.
- Add the cheese and stir until it is melted. Add more water if you need more sauce.
- Sprinkle with thyme and serve immediately.
A few words about the cheese

Originally, this dish was made with pecorino romano. It is quite salty and sharp which brings character to the dish. I have used pecorino sardo, another sheep milk cheese which also has a lot of taste but is more balanced in my opinion. You may also use parmigiano reggiano, grana padano or another matured cheese which can be grated finely.

Think about the cheese as you would do with spices – which taste of cheese do you want in the final dish?
12. January 2019