How to Make a Danish Pork Roast with Crackling for Christmas. Flæskesteg med svær God Jul! ♥

A crispy pork rind is sooo delicious!  One bite and you can't stop at just one bite.

What to eat with a Danish Pork Roast? Traditionally, flæskesteg med svær (roast pork) with crackling always has poached apples with prunes, Danish sugar browned potatoes (brunede kartofler), Danish red cabbage (rødkaal) brun sovs (brown pork gravy) and potatoes. 

Ingredients

• A 5 lb. pork roast (neck or shoulder works well), with thick layer of fat called rind
• 1 Tbsp. coarse or kosher salt
• 1 Tbsp of ground pepper
• 5 bay leaves
• 3 cups water in a deep roasting pan
• fresh parsley

Optional

• 5 cloves or 1 tsp.ground cloves

Kitchen Utensils

• deep roasting pan
• knife
• thermometer

Instruction:

1. Place the pork roast upside down in hot water in the roasting pan. Make sure there is enough water at the bottom of the pan as you will need it to make the pork gravy.
2. Place the roast in the oven at 350F. Roast it for approx. 15 min.
3. Take it out of the oven and score the skin all over into thin strips, bringing the blade of the knife about halfway through the fat beneath the skin.
4. Sprinkle the roast with salt and pepper, pressing it into the meat as much as you can. Push bayleafs (and cloves) down into the cracks.
5. Place the pork roast in the oven and roast it at 350F.  Allow approx. 25 minutes to the pound. Will need to be in the oven for about 2 hours.
6. Cook until meat reaches it's an internal temperature. The internal temperature of the roast should be 170F. The way to tell if the meat is cooked is to insert a skewer in the thickest part, and the juices that run out should be absolutely clear without any trace of pinkness. It is not necessary to baste the pork as there is enough fat to keep the meat moist.
7. When the pork is cooked remove it from the oven into a warm place. Give it at least 30 minutes resting time on a warm serving plate before carving. Don't cover the pork because any steam will soften the crackling.
8. When ready to carve the pork, first remove the crackling.  Cut the crackling into thin strips.  Cut the pork across the grain and arrange on a platter.

Pork Roast Gravy

1. While the pork is resting, it is time to work on the gravy. 
2. First, tilt the tin and spoon all the fat off, leaving only the juices. 
3. Then place the roasting tin over direct heat, turned to low, sprinkle in the flour and quickly work it into the juices with a wooden spoon.
4. Now turn the heat up to medium and gradually add the stock, this time using a balloon whisk until it comes up to simmering point and you have a smooth rich gravy. 
5. Taste and season with salt, sugar and pepper and pour the gravy into a warmed serving bowl.

Serve the pork carved in slices, with potatoes, gravy, red cabbage, prunes and apples w/jelly. 

Also, Danish cold lunches such as an open sandwiches, known as smørrebrød, are decorated with a variety of fine ingredients including the poached apples and prunes as a topping. 

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Which is your favorite side dish with a pork roast dinner? Let us know in the comments!
God Jul!
xoxo,
Karen Grete and Heidi

 

*how to make Danish Christmas rice pudding with cherry sauce dessert recipe (Risalamande med kirsebærsauce)

*how to make Swedish Glogg for Christmas & cold evenings! (glögg or mulled wine recipe) 

*how to make aeblskiver (æbleskiver)

*how to make Danish Christmas Klejner

*how to make easy Danish cucumber salad (arguksalat)

*how to make Danish sugar browned potatoes (brunede kartofler)

*how to make Danish red cabbage (rødkaal)

Our Scandinavian recipes including Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish are on http://scandinavtoday.blogspot.com/

Follow us either on Twitter @scandinavtoday, Blogger, Google+, Google Pages, Pinterest and Subscribe to our YouTube Chanel Scandinavian Today!  Let's get cooking Scandinavian foods!

Scandinavian Rosette Cookies A traditional homemade Christmas cookie recipe for Jul

It's not Christmas (Jul) without both making and eating the traditional Rosette cookies. YUM! These Scandinavian cookies are delicious, deep-fried, and melt in your mouth. 

Some people like to sugar the bottoms and other people sugar the tops.  If you flip it upside down, it looks a little fancier and sugar these that way. The sugar catches the sides and it gives the cookies a bit more contrast.  If you sugar the top of the rosette cookies, it looks like a touch of snow.  However, either way the rosettes will still taste great!  Which way do you usually serve the rosettes with sugar on the top or bottom?

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup milk
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla (or almond extract)
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup flour
• vegetable oil for frying
• sifted confectioners' sugar to sprinkle  

A few flavoring ideas:

• Substitute lemon extract or vanilla sugaring

Kitchen Utensils

• rosette iron star- or flower-shaped
• measuring cups and spoons
• large mixing bowl
• whisk
• thermometer

Trivia:Did you know that in Swedish rosette cookies are called struva? 

 See Karen Grete making these delicious cookies

on our YouTube video

Instruction:

1. Combine milk, eggs, sugar and salt vanilla extract; beat well. Add flour and beat until smooth. 
2. Heat a rosette iron in deep, hot oil (375 degrees) for approx. 2 minutes.
3. Drain excess oil from iron. Dip in batter to 1/4 inch from the top of the iron, then dip iron into hot oil (approx. 375F degrees).
4. Fry rosette until golden, approx. 30 seconds. Lift out; tip upside down to drain. With fork, push rosette off iron onto a paper towel.
5. Reheat iron 1 minute; make next rosette.

 

When you are ready to serve these cookies, sprinkle the rosettes with confectionary sugar (optional cinnamon sugar or sugar) and jam on the side. You might want to use a sifter if you use confectionary sugar to avoid clumps of confectionery sugar plopping onto the cookies.  Instead if you use a sifter, it will look more smoother.  Also if you sprinkle the confectionary sugar too early, these cookies will get soggy. So you it is best to sprinkle the sugar just before serving.

See our additional Scandinavian recipes recipes including
*how to make Danish Christmas rice pudding with cherry sauce dessert recipe (Risalamande med kirsebærsauce)

*how to make Swedish Glogg for Christmas & cold evenings! (glögg or mulled wine recipe) 

*how to make aeblskiver (æbleskiver)

*how to make Danish Christmas Klejner

*how to make easy Danish cucumber salad (arguksalat)

*how to make Danish sugar browned potatoes (brunede kartofler)

*how to make Danish red cabbage (rødkaal)

Follow us either on Twitter @scandinavtoday, Blogger, Google+, Google Pages, Pinterest and Subscribe to our YouTube Chanel Scandinavian Today!  Let's get cooking Scandinavian foods!

How to make a simple White Glogg. A non alcoholic mulled apple cider & Finnish inspired glögi recipe

Our homemade white glögi drink recipe is a great-tasting warm spiced mulled apple cider drink.  A great alternative to a mulled wine drink and perfect for cold winter evenings. It's a terrific white glögi drink recipe because you can personalized to taste as your own "Glögi" with either spices or alcohol. 



Ingredients

• 4 cups or 1 liter of apple cider
• 1/2 cup of raisins
• 1/2 cups of chopped almonds
• 1 cinnamon stick or 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon of ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon (7 or 8 seeds) of cardamon seeds 
• 1 teaspoon of cloves
• 2 red delicious apples
• optional: nutmeg, allspice, lemon zest

Rimming Glass Ingredients:

• caramel
• honey
• cinnamon sugar

Kitchen Utensils:

• large pot
• measuring cup and spoons
• chopping board
• knife
• wooden spoon
• clear glasses
• 3 small plates

Instruction: 

1. Pour 4 cups of apple cider into a large pot.  Add raisins, almonds, cinnamon stick, ground ginger, cardamon seeds, cloves and slices of 2 apples.
2. Next place the pot of cider mixture on to the stove. Set a lid on the pot. Turn on the stove to medium heat.  You want the cider to bubble but not to boil.
3. Once the spiced white glogg slightly bubbles turn down the heat, and let it simmer over the stove for 30 minutes.  
4. Be sure to taste it to see if you need to add anything too. The longer you let the white cider sit, the stronger the flavor will be. 

Step 3: Rimming the glass

This option is super easy to do and will really make your drink presentation sparkle to your guests.  We suggest to serve the white glogg in a clear glass or mug.  Rimming a glass can add an extra decorative touch and an additional flavor to your cocktail.

1. Place honey one one plate, caramel on another plate and cinnamon sugar on the third plate.  You want to cover the small plates just enough to use for rimming. (see video)
2. Turn the clear glass upside down. Hold the clear glass parallel to the table.
3. Dip the clear glass rim onto the caramel or honey and give it a good twist
4. Next, dip the rim onto the cinnamon sugar.  Slowly turn the glass so that only the outer edge is covered.
5. Shake off any excess of the cinnamon sugar over a sink or wastebasket.

Tip: You can prepare rimming the glass bowl in advance and have the rimmed glass in the refrigerator.  That way the cinnamon sugar will harden on the rim of the glass.  
 
Step 6: Serve warm 
After 30 minutes of simmering on low heat, it is time to strain the spices from the spiced white glogg. You can leave the orange in the pot for the citrus flavor. 

It's best to serve the white glogg drink either warm or hot and in a clear glass mug! Being able to see the spiced cider in a clear glass has a festive look. We enjoy scooping out the almonds and raisins from the glass mug and eating them too. Add a cinnamon stick into each glass which is great for stirring.  Also give each guest a spoon as they might want to eat some of the goodies in the glass too.

The drink can be made a day ahead and kept covered, on the stove, at room temperature. Just reheat before serving. Enjoy!