Potato Leek Soup with Bacon and Parsley - Kartoffel-porresuppe med bacon og persilledrys

We have had a few months of really cold and snowy winter.  During the cold weekends, I make this hearty bowl of potato leek soup on a regular basis.  My family loves this recipe as it is comfort food for them. The bacon and parsley gives the soup an extra touch of deliciousness. It might take a little effort to make this hearty soup but it is worth it. When this soup is done, wow!  

Ingredients:

 1 lb potatoes

1 can of chicken stock

2 leeks

2 cloves of garlic

1/2 cup heavy cream

3 pieces of fried bacon

parsley and/or chives

salt and pepper

  

 See Karen Grete preparing Potato Leek Soup 

in our YouTube video

 Instruction:

1. Fry the bacon.  
2. Peel and slice the potatoes and cook them in the chicken stock.  
3. Peel and slice the garlic.
4. Slice the leeks and fry them in the bacon fat.
5. Mash the potatoes in the chicken stock and add it to the garlic/ leeks mixture. Cook till soft and tender.
6. Add the cream, salt and pepper. 
   
7. Serve the warm soup immediately. I recommend to sprinkle with bacon, chives and/or parsley.
8. I usually serve the soup with either rolls or Danish rye bread too.

You can’t go wrong and the compliments will be forthcoming especially during the cold winter months. Enjoy!

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

Smoked Salmon Pizza Recipe - Røget Laks Pizza

Growing up in Denmark we never had pizza.  The first time I had pizza was in New Jersey which was years ago.  Now a days pizza is much more common in Denmark.  You can find pizza shops not only in Copenhagen but in the suburbs and small towns too.   My relatives and friends seem to eat pizza regularly just because it is so easy to get and delicious. 

Below is a pizza recipe that combines some of our favorite Scandinavian ingredients including smoked salmon onto a pizza.  This smoked salmon pizza makes a wonderful appetizer for a party or a light summer dinner.  The ingredients listed below are easy to find in any grocery store.   Plus, this delicious pizza is very easy to make. I do recommend eating the pizza the same day that you make it.  However just like most pizzas it will probably quickly disappear the same day you serve it.

 

Check out our YouTube video 

to see how Karen Grete prepares this delicious smoked salmon pizza

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces prepared pizza dough
• oil in a can (for spraying the pizza)
• chopped chives
• chopped dill
• 8 oz. cream cheese
• Capers, drained
• 6 ounces thinly sliced smoked salmon

Instruction:

1.Preheat the oven to 500°F.

2.On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out into a 10-inch round. Transfer the dough to a baking sheet.  Brush or spray it with oil and punch it with a fork.  Bake until crust is golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Let the pizza crust cool for 5 minutes.

3.While pizza crust is in the oven, mix the cream cheese with the chopped dill and chopped chives

4.On a cool crisp pizza crust, spread the sour cream mixture over the pizza.  Arrange the salmon to cover the surface entirely. Sprinkle with the capers and dill.

5.Slice the pizza into 4 pieces for the light dinner or slice the pizza into smaller slices for the appetizers.  Serve immediately.

You might want to add pepper or a slice of lemon to taste.   Also, we used chopped dill but you can substitute using chopped chives instead.                                   

A delicious side salad is great to have with this pizza.  My suggestion is one of our cucumber salads or even a cucumber lemon drink.  

 

In this photo above we served the salmon pizza on a Royal Copenhagen plate.  The pattern design is Blue Flower Curve which is perfect to use during the summer season.  Love the floral pattern.

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

Millionbøf - Million Beef with Mashed Potatoes - A Danish Dinner Recipe

A very traditional Danish dinner dish! Millionbøf is easy to make for small meals or for a family get together.  Most adults as well as children like it.  My family usually eat every drop of this dish and usually ask for seconds. 

Below we prepare millionbøf with mashed potatoes and a side of spinach and red beets. However, try millionbøf with either mashed potatoes or even spaghetti.  Both taste great with
millionbøf. 

Ingredients:

• 1 large or 2 medium onions
• 1 lb of ground beef
• 3 tblsp flour
• oil for frying
• 1-2 cups of water
• 3 tblsp flour
• 1 bouillon cube
• 2-3 bayleafs
• 2 tsp salt (to taste)
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tblsp tomato pure, optional

 

See Karen Grete preparing 

Millionbøf in our YouTube video

Instruction:  
Chop the onions coarsely and fry them in oil. When they begin to brown add the ground beef and brown it well.  It is important to brown the onions and meat well.

Add the bouillon cube, salt, pepper and bayleaves.

Mix the flour with the water and add it to the meat.  Keep stirring and make sure there are no lumps. (optional add tomato pure)

Let the dish simmer for approx. ½ hour.

Serve the million beef with boiled or mashed potatoes, red beets and your choice of vegetable.

Mashed Potatoes:

Boil the potatoes until tender in water without salt. Drain off the water and place the pot on the stove until the potatoes are steamed dry. Mash the potatoes and stir in the milk, so you get soft mashed potatoes. Add butter, salt and pepper according to taste.

Here we have spinach as a side dish but you can have any side vegetable such as peas.  Also we are serving red beets with our millionbøf dinner. Red beets is very typical to have for either a Danish lunch or dinner and it tastes great with millionbøf.

Here we serve Million Beef with Mashed Potatoes on a Royal Copenhagen plate.  The pattern we selected for this dish was the Blue Flower Curve.

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

Kale Salad Recipe for the - Grønkålssalat med mandler, rosiner og æbler

We love salads, vegetables and fruit. Kale is one of our all time favorite leafy greens. This combination makes a delicious Summer Salad.  This kale salad is so easy and healthy to make. Sometimes I will go buy a big bag of kale for a Sunday brunch.  Any leftover salad I will have with our dinner the next day. So let's get started.

Salad Ingredients:

• 1/4 lb Kale (approx.) 
• 2 Apples 
• 1/2 cup of raisins 
• 1/2 cup almonds 
• Optional: shredded cheese as topping 

Dressing Ingredients:

• 1 tblsp white wine vinegar 
• 1 tblsp honey 
• juice of 1 orange 

 

  See our YouTube video 

to see how Karen Grete prepares the Kale Salad

Instruction:

1. Mix the dressing in the bowl. 
2. Roll up the kale leaves and slice and massage them, and add them to the dressing. Kale is a little more difficult to chew than the average green. The acid in the vinegar and slicing it thinly makes it easier to chew. 
3. Chop the apples and the almonds and add them as well as the raisins to the chopped kale. 
4. Also, to soften the leaves, leave the kale in the dressing for approx. 5-10 min. before you eat it. 
5. Enjoy!

 

Strawberries and orange slices or any other fruit you have available will also taste great in this recipe. With so many options to mix and match to your taste, you can't go wrong. 

In Denmark, I grew up eating a lot of Kale.  My family has always grown Kale in our yard and made many meals eating kale dishes.  Our kale salad or in Danish (Grønkålssalat med mandler, rosiner og æbler) is a modern dish that I am sure my parents would have enjoyed.  We hope you enjoy it too. Skål!
 
Our Scandinavian recipes including Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish are on http://scandinavtoday.blogspot.com/
*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!

Varme Hveder - Danish Hot Wheat Buns

 

The Danish holiday (Store Bededag Great Prayer Day) celebrated on the 4th Friday after Easter. In the year 1686 the Danish King Christian decided to collect certain holidays into one big day called Store Bededag. This way the Danes had more days to work.

It was the tradition to buy "varme hveder" the evening before Store Bededag, because the bakeries were closed on holidays, and people bought the bread for the following day

Today we still have the tradition of eating "varme hveder", Thursday evening before the actual holiday, Friday.

 

Check out our YouTube video  

to see how Karen Grete prepares these traditional holiday buns

                           

Varme Hveder - Warm Wheat Buns 
Ingredients:

• 2½ dl flour
• 6 oz milk
• 1 egg
• 1 1/4 tsp yeast
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1/2-1 tsp cardamom (according to taste) 
• 4 tbs butter

Instruction:

1. Mix the warm milk with 1 1/2 tsp yeast, 1 tsp sugar.
2. Mix the flour with 1/2-1 tsp cardamom, 1 tsp sugar and 1/4 tsp salt. 
3. Add the egg and the melted butter to the milk and pour it all into the flour.
4. Knead the dough for about 10 min, cover it with a towel, and let the dough rise for about 1 1/2 -2 hour.
5. Roll the dough and cut it into 8 buns. Leave the buns in a pan sprayed with oil and dusted with flour. Cover it up and let the rise for 1-2 hours.
6. Bake the buns in the oven at 400F for about 20- 25 minutes. Let them cool a little and cut them in two pieces.
7. Place the cut buns in the oven for about 5-6 min on a baking sheet at 400F.
   
8. Serve the buns hot (or cold) with butter and jam or cheese with coffee or tea.Enjoy!

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