Learn How to make traditional Danish Applesauce called æblegrød

Applesauce is a traditional Danish dessert, and it is called æblegrød.  This delicious dessert is really simple and cheap to make.  If we have extra apples, we quickly make a batch of æblegrød.  In our family the Danish applesauce is a comfort food. 

æblegrød with cream

A lot of times when you buy applesauce in a jar it is runny. However, we will rather make homemade applesauce, because we can make it to our taste. Our family likes applesauce to have apple chunks and not too sweet. A convenience is applesauce maybe made 3 days in advance. Sometimes we even freeze it.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, cubed
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 drop of vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• cream or heavy whipping cream  
• optional cinnamon 

Kitchen Tools:

• large heavy saucepan
• apple peeler
• potato masher
• cutting knife
• cutting board
• measuring cup
• measuring spoon
• mixing spoon

 

Instructions:

• Peel and core the apples with an apple peeler.  Cut on the cutting board the apples into 3/4-inch pieces or into cubes.
• In a large heavy saucepan add water and apple cubes. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat.  The key to making applesauce is to cook down apples with water.
• Put the lid over the saucepan. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the apples just begin to fall apart.  Let it cook for 5 to 10 minutes.
•  Now you have 2 options with applesauce consistency 
• Our family likes to eat the applesauce chunky.  We use a potato masher to make the chunky applesauce.  Plus, if you need to cook the applesauce more, mashing the applesauce cooks it faster. 
•  the other option for smooth applesauce is to use a food mill.  
• Taste to see how sweet or sour the cooked apple sauce is.   Adjust sweetness by adding sugar if you like.  Add a drop of vanilla extract.  Mix the sugar and vanilla into the applesauce. You can use cinnamon in place of vanilla.
• Serve hot or cold. We usually serve æblegrød with cream in an individual dessert bowl. Sprinkle cinnamon or sugar on top for taste.

æblegrød just mashed in a saucepan

 
Did you know for many generations in Europe that applesauce was a cheap and convenient way to save the apple crop for later.  This was important for surviving long winters.  

Give your applesauce a twist with these delicious ideas!

• Mix and match different varieties of apples to achieve different flavors and character.
• Substitute brown sugar or even maple syrup for some or all of the white sugar to sweeten the applesauce.
• Add the zest of the lemon while you simmer to give it added flavor. Remove before pureeing.
• Stir in a handful of raisins or cranberries after pureeing.

Applesauce with cream and cinnamon

We hope you enjoyed our video and recipe! Please be sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel Scandinavian Today.  Our channel has videos 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)  

These recipes are perfect for the family. Please let us know what you think! 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!

Smørrebrød Danish Frikadeller. Quick & Easy Open Face Meatball Sandwich for Lunch & Dinners

In Danish homes if there are leftovers from the frikadeller dinner, all of the leftovers are used the next day for the Danish Smørrebrød. This is traditional Danish. Danes try not to waste food and fine opportunities to use everything for another meal.  With a frikadeller dinner the leftovers typically are of course the Danish meatballs (frikadeller)  Also the Danish red cabbage (rødkaal) and Danish cucumber salad (agurksalat) which both to be used as the sweet and sour pålæg (toppings) for the sandwiches.  These toppings compliments the savory frikadeller  

Left: frikadelle sandwich with cucumber salad Right:frikadelle sandwich with red cabbage and a pickle

First Open Face Sandwich is Frikadelle with Cucumber Salad on Top


Ingredients:   

• 1 piece of rye bread  
• European style butter  
• 1 or 2 Danish meatballs (frikadeller) 
• 1 or 2 tablespoons of Danish cucumber salad (agurksalat)

When you are ready to sit down to have smørrebrød, the first thing to do is butter a pice of dark Danish rye bread.  Then, place a couple of sliced meatballs. To garnish the frikadeller place on top crunchy cucumber salad (arguksalat). What tastes delicious with a frikadeller open face sandwich is a lager beer.

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Second Open Face Sandwich is Frikadelle with Red Cabbage and a Pickle on Top


Ingredients:

• 1 piece of rye bread
• European style butter
• 1 or 2 Danish meatballs (frikadeller)  
• 1 or 2 tablespoons of the Danish red cabbage (rødkaal) 
• 1 pickle

The second sandwich uses the remaining red cabbage from the previous evening dinner.  Believe me that this is another pretty filling sandwich to eat! 

Before adding a topping (pålæg) on the second open face sandwich, smear the dark rye bread with butter and place a couple of sliced Danish meatballs on it. Then, garnish on top of the frikadeller one or two heaping spoons of Danish red cabbage.  It's that easy! This sandwich goes great with enjoy with lager beer too.  We usually set the table with a Royal Copenhagen plate, a fork, a knife and a glass for the beer.

Our channel has videos 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)  

These recipes are perfect for the holiday season. Please let us know what you think! Glædelig Jul and Merry Christmas♥ !
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!

How to make Frikadeller. A Homemade Danish Meatball Recipe for Lunch, Dinners and Leftovers

Frikadeller are the Danish national dish and very easy to prepare and make.  Frikadeller are flat, pan-fried meatballs.  The base is pure pork minced meat. The pork makes the meatballs really tasty.  But you can add or supplement with veal or beef too. A couple of popular version is 1/3 pound pork, 1/3 pound beef, 1/3 pound veal or just a pound of pork.

Our family eats frikadeller when we have Sunday dinners.  What do we eat with Danish Frikadeller? A typical Danish frikadelle dinner has Danish red cabbage (Rødkaal), Danish cucumber salad (Agurksalat), sugar brown potatoes (kartofler) and brown gravy (sovs).

To prepare for our Sunday dinners we go out and buy the ingredients the day before.  Sunday afternoons, starts with making the side dishes.  There are usually extra hands to help with chopping, shredding and mincing. Sometimes it is easier to make the side dishes the day before which is fine. The Danish Red Cabbage and the Cucumber Salad both taste great the next day too.  

Ready to make the delicious meatballs?  Below are our ingredients, instructions and a YouTube video.

Ingredients
*1/2 pound of minced beef
*1/2 pound of minced pork
*1 cup of flour
*1/2 cup of oatmeal (breadcrumbs is another option)
*2 eggs
*1 minced onion
*1/4 teaspoon of pepper
*1 teaspoon of salt
*1 to 1 1/2 cup of milk
*allspice (optional)
*butter or margarine

Kitchen Tools
*bowl
*mixing spoon
*grater
*measuring cup
*measuring spoon
*non-stick frying pan

First Step is to make the fikadelle mixture
There is a little prepping to do which is great! A few things you will need to do is buy minced meat.  If you choose to use breadcrumbs, you will either need to buy or make your own breadcrumbs. Also, you'll need to mince one onion with a grater. Once you have all of the ingredients you are ready to make the frikadelle mixture. 

First, mix the beef and pork together in a bowl. Stir in milk, onion, and eggs.  Add oatmeal or bread crumbs into the meat mixture. Sprinkle in flour, and knead well to mix. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and mix well.   Some people enjoy the taste of allspice and it is optional. A tip is the frikadelle mixture gets better the more you mix the ingredients together. Also, the mixture should be very moist, but not dripping.  If it is too moist, add more flour and use less milk.

Now you are ready to let the frikadelle mixture to rest for a 1/2 hour to an hour in the refrigerator. The mixture should be quite moist and soft. This makes it easier to form the shape of a meatball.

Did you know that   

frikadeller = meatballs and frikadelle = meatball

Second step is to fry the frikadelle

Place a non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Melt a couple of table spoons of margarine or butter in the frying pan.

Now you are ready to shape the meatballs. A tip is to dip your large tablespoon into the melted margarine. Then, scoop the tablespoon into the bowl to form the meatball.  A helpful trick is to take the tablespoon mixture and smoothen it against the wall of the bowl.  The mixture in the spoon should look slightly flattened oval meatball about the size of a small egg when placed in the pan.

One-by-one place the oval flat shape frikadelle into the heated skillet. Don't put too many frikadeller in the pan at once and they should not be touching.  Fry the meatball for about 3 to 5 minutes on each side until they are well-browned and no longer pink in the center. Also, it depends how big the meatball is on the pan and how hot your pan is too.  If it is still pink, fry for 3 or more minutes.  Then, remove the frikadelle to a separate platter. 

If you have a more frikadelle mixture in the bowl, add more butter in the skillet and then fry another batch.

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Thank you!!

If you have leftover frikadeller, it is great to eat the next day.  The Danish Frikadelle tastes great cold.  A popular way to eat the frikadeller cold is on a Danish open face sandwich  This is made with rugbrød with red cabbage or pickles slices.  Danes don't waste their food.  So, the side dishes from the evening before usually gets used on the open face sandwich.

Trivia: Did you know that the Danish Frikadelle is about 250 years old as we know it today. In the mid 1800's, it was wood-fired ovens and meat grinders that contributed to new dishes including the Danish frikadelle.

We hope you enjoyed our video and recipe! If you like this danish frikadelle recipe as a meat dish, please be sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel Scandinavian Today.  Our channel has videos 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)
These recipes are perfect for the holiday season. Please let us know what you think! Glædelig Jul and Merry Christmas♥ !

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!

Smørrebrød Dansk Leverpostej Sandwich. Two delicious Danish Open Face Liverwurst Sandwiches.

There are many other countries that make similar open face sandwiches such as in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Germany! There are different liverwurst recipes using specific ingredients such as onion or bacon.  Liverwurst recipes are known by it's own region with in a country.  The Danish liverwurst has a specific flavor not found in other countries.  If you are unable to get the Danish liverwurst, feel free to try other type of delicious liverwursts too.  There are many other great liverwursts to try.

Two delicious Danish Leverpostej Open Face Sandwiches

  

In Denmark, everyone eats liverwurst and it is called leverpostej.  It is the Danes favorite spread. Leverpostej is found in all of the Danish grocery stores, butcher shops, restaurants and homes.  It is very easy to get leverpostej because of it's popularity.

Leverpostej dates back to the late 1800's in Denmark. The leverpostej sandwich developed over the years from a plain sandwich with just one topping to an elaborate Smørrebrød creation.  The versatile spread can be served warm, cold, sliced or spread on bread. However most leverpostej sandwiches are made with rye bread. A traditional leverpostej has assorted toppings and in Danish it is called pålæg. What is great with a leverpostej sandwich is you can create your own personalized sandwich by adding your favorite topping such as pickled beets, crispy fried onions, mushrooms, cucumbers.  We have included our YouTube video of how we made two different kinds of leverpostej open face sandwiches.


Our first leverpostej open face sandwich is the most typical combination using bacon and fried mushrooms. Before making this Leverpostej sandwich you will need to do a little pålæg prepping.  

First Step is to make Bacon and Fried Mushroons
A traditional way to make the pålæg is to fry the bacon then fry the mushrooms in the bacon fat. Frying bacon requires time and attention but will melt the enough fat to use for the mushrooms. (Plus, nothing smells better than frying bacon in a pan in the kitchen.) 

Ingredients:
*bacon
*chopped mushrooms (either fresh or canned is fine)

Kitchen Tools:
*flat frying pan (preferably cast iron pan)
*papertowel to soak the grease
*a tool to flip the bacon such as a fork

Start with a flat frying pan.  Place enough bacon in the pan to fill it up, but not so much so that it overlaps. If it overlaps there will be sections of the bacon that isn't cooked.  Once your bacon has reached a level of crispiness that is to your liking, offload it onto paper towels to soak up some of the remaining grease  Then, add chopped mushrooms quickly in the bacon fat to fry the mushrooms. Don't over cook it.  You just want to fry these quickly. Once ready remove the mushrooms from the pan.

Second Step is to make the Danish Open Face Leverpostej Sandwich
The Open Face Leverpostej Sandwich is very easy to make.  We either have this open face sandwich either for lunch, diner or part of a larger smørrebrød. 

Ingredients:
* 1 piece of rye bread
* European style butter
* 2 or 3 slices of liverwurst (leverpostej)
* 1 or 2 pieces of crispy bacon
* 1 or 2 tablespoons of fried mushrooms
* 1 or 2 slices of pickles

Upclose photo of the Leverpostej with Fried Mushrooms & Bacon

Now we are ready to make the leverpostej sandwich. Before adding a topping (pålæg), smear the rye bread with a spreadable butter.  Add two to three slices of leverpostej across the rye bread. On one half of the bread add a crispy bacon.  On the other side of the bread add fried mushrooms and slices of pickles.

This sandwich has to be eaten with a knife and fork too. The drink of choice is a good Danish beer! If you are having a formal smorrebrod, we usually serve the open face sandwich on a Royal Copenhagen plate.  

Below is a YouTube video on how to make both Leverpostej Sandwiches.

Please share and like our video. For more Scandinavian cooking videos please subscribe to our channel too! Thank you!

Smorrebrod Trivia: Did you know that in Danish pickled beets is syltede rødbeder?


Second Sandwich Leverpostej Sandwich with apples, prune and beets.

This sandwich you will need to do a little pålæg prepping.  First, you will need to poach an apple in sugar water.

Ingredients
* 1 medium Pink Lady, Golden Delicious, or Braeburn apples, peeled, cored
* 1 cup water
* 1/4 cup of sugar 
* 1 prune 

Kitchen Tools

* large heavy sauce pan 

* measuring cup

 
Combine sugar and water in a large heavy saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Add peeled apple; reduce heat to low and simmer, occasionally rotating the apple, until tender when pierced with a sharp knife, 25–30 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the apple to a plate and set aside. Then, add a prune in the center of the cooled off apple.

Ingredients
* 1 piece of rye bread
* European style or spreadable butter
* 2 or 3 slices of liverwurst (leverpostej)
* 1 poached apple with prune
* 3 or 4 slices of pickled beets

Now, you are ready to make your sandwich. Before adding a topping (pålæg), smear the rye bread with butter.  Lay over the rye bread two to three slices of leverpostej. On one side of the bread add the poached apple with a prune. On the other side of the bread add 3 to 4 slices of pickled beets.  It is that easy! Now you are ready to eat!

Danish Open Face Leverpostej Sandwich with Poached Apple and Beets

If you need to make a quick sandwich, it is very common to only have a single topping. Leverpostej with pickled beets is very common on.  Many times in a rush we just open a can of beets and use several slices of beets on our sandwich.

Scandinavian ways to spell liverwurst: 

• Danish - leverpostej
• Icelandic - lifrarkæfa
• Norwegian -  lifrarkæfa
• Swedish - leverpastej
• Finnish -  maksapasteija

We hope you enjoyed both our recipe and video on how to make the Smørrebrød Danish Open Face Leverpostej sandwich!  If you like the video, please be sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel Scandinavian Today.  Our channel has videos 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)
These recipes are perfect for the holiday season. Please let us know what you think! Glædelig Jul and Merry Christmas♥ !

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!