Simple Curry Soup

This one was requested by my host parents last night and paired fabulously tonight with the leftover salad from last night. Anyway before making the soup I googled half a dozen recipes and most of them seemed a bit ridiculous, so I combined the two that looked the best and simplified the process a bit to create a rich, healthy, flavorful soup that will come together in about half an hours time and only uses one pot (why do so many recipes out there require you make such a mess?  So unnecessary…)

Simple Curry Soup

Ingredients:

• 4dl/2cups chicken or vegetable broth/water and bouillon cube
• 1 standard size (14ish oz) can of coconut milk
• 1 heaping tbsp of Thai curry paste (I prefer red.  Use your favorite.  Also, use more for a hotter dish)
• 1 tbsp fish sauce, soy sauce, and/or sugar (use one, use two, use all.  It’s all good.)
• A handful of fresh coriander leaves/cilantro
• Half a lime (for juice)
• 1 tbsp fresh grated ginger
• Vegetables (I used 2 garlic cloves, 1 zucchini, 2 carrots, 1 red onion, and 1 large red pepper.)
• Feel free to add meat.  I didn’t but any kind, particularly fish or chicken (imo) would be fine.
• A couple tbsps olive oil

Cook:

1. Chop all veggies.
2. In a large pot pour enough olive oil in to sautee all the veggies and the curry paste.  If using meat, cook that too.
3. Add broth, coconut milk, fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar, ginger, and lime juice.  Stir until flavors blend (10 minutes or so.)
4. Stir in coriander right before serving.

Thats it.  Super easy, filling, and so warm on a freezing cold night like tonight is.  MMm.

-Ariel

Cranberry-Dijon Salad Dressing

Alright, so I’ll be honest with you- I didn’t measure anything while I was making this today.  I remembered having an amazing salad once with this dressing on it so I decided to see if I could recreate something like it.  We haven’t had dinner yet (it’s only barely 1pm) but I was bored enough to start the dressing now.  Plus, if I screwed up, I wanted time to find other things to make for dinner.  Luckily it tastes really good.  I’m excited.  I’m going to try to write the recipe below, but please keep in mind that all measurements are approximations and its way more important to do things to taste.  =]

Cranberry-Dijon Salad Dressing

Ingredients:

• Fresh cranberries (a few handfuls, maybe 2 cups/4dl?)
• 1 tbsp dijon mustard (this I did measure!)
• White wine vinegar (probably about 1dl/0.5cup)
• White wine (probably about 2dl/1 cup)
• Olive oil (a couple tbsps)
• Water (to bring to desired consistency.  Though I left mine pretty thick, I like the creamy texture.)

Cook:

1. Put a couple tbsps olive oil in a small sauce pan and put on high heat.
2. Add cranberries and put the lid on.  The cranberries will sorta ‘pop’ like popcorn, so you don’t want that oil splashing onto you.  When the popping stops lower heat and mash with a potato masher.
3. At medium heat add wine, vinegar, and mustard.  Stir in more olive oil if desired.  Blend together.  Add water if desired.

This can be refrigerated for about a week.  I’m making a chopped salad for it tonight with grilled chicken, turkey bacon, almonds, leeks, apples, a red onion, mushrooms, cranberries and parmesan cheese.  Should be good =]

-Ariel

Spinach Stir-Fry

This is what we just ate for dinner tonight (it’s 7pm in Denmark as I’m writing this) and was very yummy.  I’m glad I searched the freezer and found frozen spinach now =]  I’m excited for my leftovers for tomorrows lunch.

Oh, and this can easily be made vegetarian by simply leaving the meat out.  Still good.

Spinach Stir-Fry

Ingredients:

• Rice (and water to cook it)
• Meat product (choose your favorite)
• 1 package frozen spinach (defrosted and drained)
• Mushrooms (whichever kind and however much look good to you.  I prefer lots and lots.)
• 1 large onion (and any other vegetables you feel like adding, but I stopped there.)
• 4 cloves chopped garlic
• Soy sauce (2 parts)
• Vinegar  (1 part)
• 2 tsps sesame seed oil and vegetable oil
• Seasonings (salt, pepper, red chili flakes, coriander seeds, and basil to taste.)

Cook:

1. Marinate meat and/or veggies in sesame seed oil, soy sauce, vinegar, and seasonings for 20 minutes-2 hours.  Soy sauce and vinegar should be 2:1 parts just enough to coat all the meat and/or veggies with a bit at the bottom of the bowl.
2. Cook rice and chop vegetables if not already chopped and soaking.
3. Add vegetable oil to a pan or wok and cook meat and vegetables until meat is done and spinach wilting.  For more well-done meat products, add the vegetables after the meat has had a chance to cook some of the way.  Serve over rice.

-Ariel

Glogg

Glogg.  I tried this for the first time today at a Christmas party.  It tastes just like the holiday season.  Very sweet and spicy, in the same way as hot apple cider.  I haven’t tried making it for myself yet, but I found this recipe online that look good.  From what my host family has said about making the drink, this one is the most authentic I’ve found.  They also say sometimes to make the drink people soak the fruit and nuts in schnapps overnight and then add them to the bottom of the glass, rather than soaking them with the spices overnight.  Anyway, just something small to share today.  Enjoy =]

-Ariel

Cooking the Turkey

I am so  not an expert here, what with Sundays turkey being the first I’ve ever cooked, so here’s a couple links to help with figuring out timing etc.

• USDA’s guide to safely thawing, roasting, and storing the turkey.
• Here’s a Good Eats recipe that I thought looked really good but then totally ignored when it came to actually cooking the turkey.
• Butterball’s list of How To’s.
• And because all the other links pretty much give out the same advice and everyone here can google (I assume,) instead of posting more of the  same timetables, here’s a list of the 18 Naughty Things You Can Only Say On Thanksgiving.  That should get you in the cooking spirit… maybe.

=] Ariel

Easy Gravy and Giblet Gravy

Gravy is actually really easy to make.  For some reason I imagined more work being necessary, but when I made it Sunday it turned out to be the simplest thing.  Once the turkey is done, just add some chicken stock to the drippings in the pan s to deglaze it, scrape any bits that need to be scraped, and add flour to thicken.  If you want a giblet gravy, just cook the giblets first (bring water to a boil in a saucepan, then lower heat to simmer giblets excluding the liver- should be refrigerated- for about 45 minutes, then add the liver and cook another 15-30 minutes ) drain, chop, and mix it with the drippings, chicken stock, and flour in a saucepan and then serve.  Done!

-Ariel

Easy Bread Stuffing

Here’s an easy recipe for stuffing on Thanksgivings day:

Stuffing:

Ingredients:

• One loaf of cheap white bread
• Chicken stock/ water and bouillon cubes
• 1 stalk of celery
• 2 onions
• 1 egg
• Salt, pepper, and any other seasonings wanted
• a couple tsp butter

Cook:

1. Grease a large pan and preheat oven to 170’C/350’F.
2. Chop the celery and onions, and crumble the bread.
3. Mix everything together with just enough chicken stock to moisten but not soak the bread.
4. Add to pan.  Top with a couple tsp of butter and bake uncovered for 45-60 minutes.

Simple and delicious.  My grandmother makes a similar recipe only subbing the bread for a box of saltines and uses 4 sautéed onions.  That’s also good.  =]

-Ariel

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Ohmigosh, I feel so accomplished, or something, after successfully cooking a whole Thanksgiving dinner for 6 adults and 2 kids yesterday.  I made a turkey (of course, and it was my first ever,) stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, and cranberry glop for dinner, and for dessert I served an apple pie and pumpkin cheesecake (recipe below.)  I got this recipe from a woman I worked with a few years ago, swapping my families mondel brodt recipe for it, and I’ve been making it since (though with a couple changes worked in over time.)

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Ingredients (crust):

• 4.5 dl/ 2.25 cups Nilla Wafer or Graham Cracker crumbs
• 1 dl /0.5 cup chopped pecans
• 1dl/ 0.5 cup melded butter or margerine

Cook:

1. Preheat oven to 170’C /350’F
2. Mix crumbs, pecans, and butter together and press onto the bottom and up part of the sides of a spring-release pan.  It won’t go all the way up, and it won’t be perfectly smooth- no worries.
3. Bake 10 minutes before adding filling.

Ingredients (filling):

• 3 (200g/8oz) containers of cream cheese, softened
• 2dl/1 cup white sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 eggs
• 2 dl/1 cup canned pumpkin (I actually altered this recipe here and used a small, softened, peeled, pureed, and strained fresh butternut squash.  But not everyone wants to go through all that effort.)
• Cinnamon, nutmeg, and/or clove to taste

Cook:

1. In a large bowl, mix cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla together until smooth.
2. Beat in eggs one at a time.
3. Remove about a third of the batter to another bowl and mix in pumpkin and spices.
4. Pour batters onto the crust alternatively and run through with a knife to marble.
5. Bake for about an hour.  The center will not fully set in this time.
6. Run a knife along the edge of the pan to loosen and refrigerate for at least 4 hours prior to serving.

-Ariel

Apple Pie

Ahh!  I can not, for the life of me, find my camera battery charger.  So no pics, unfortunately.  Anyway since Thanksgiving is not a Danish holiday (obviously) but I am an American, I am cooking Thanksgiving dinner here tonight for my host dad’s birthday.  I’m excited, this is the first Thanksgiving dinner I’ve ever planned and executed myself.  Yesterday to prepare I made an apple pie (recipe below,) a pumpkin cheesecake (recipe tomorrow or later tonight if I don’t pass out after all that turkey dinner,) and my grandma’s cranberry glop. As soon as my host mom is done baking birthday buns (a Danish birthday tradition) I’ll be plopping the turkey in the oven and starting on some mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, and gravy.  I’ll post all those recipes over the next week prior to Thanksgiving actually showing up.  Anyway here’s my apple pie recipe:

Apple Pie Filling

Ingredients:

• 6 large green apples, peeled and sliced
• a squeeze of lemon juice
• 1.5 dl/0.75 cup white sugar
• 1 dl/ 0.5 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp flour (if the mixture is a bit liquid)
• a couple shakes of cinnamon, nutmeg, and/or clove to taste
• 2-3 tsp butter

Mix:

1. In a large bowl, coat the apples everything but the butter, adding the flour last if there is liquid at the bottom of the bowl.
2. Pour into pie crust (recipe below) and top with a couple tsp butter placed randomly to melt as it bakes.

Apple Pie Crust:

Ingredients:

• 450g/3.5 cups all purpose flour
• a pinch of salt
• 2 dl/1 cup vegetable shortening
• 1 dl/0.5 cup cool water

Cook:

1. Preheat oven to 180’C/375’F.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the flour and salt to remove any lumps.
3. Put the shortening in the middle of the bowl, coat  your hands with flour in order to minimize contact with the shortening (we don’t want it to melt) and work the flour into it.  This might take a while (and it might help to chop the shortening up a bit first,) but just keep pressing the flour into the shortening until they are one.
4. Add the water and work the dough into a ball.  Don’t knead it- the least amount of contact is still best.  Add more water by the tbsp if more is needed to keep a ball shape.
5. Cut the ball in half and roll it out to line your pie pan.  If you can’t roll out a full flat bit, cut that in half and piece it together (thats how I do it.)  Add the pie filling.
6. For the top, I prefer to roll out the remaining dough, cut it into strips, and weave the top.  This is because I cannot roll out a flat pie top.  If you can roll out a flat pie top, feel free to do so, just make sure to fork it a bit so the air can escape once it’s pinched on.
7. Brush the top with cream or milk and dust with sugar and/or cinnamon.
8. Bake for 50-60 minutes.

Yum!

-Ariel

Salad Dressing

Here’s a quick recipe to mix up for a homemade salad dressing.

Ingredients:

• 2 parts olive oil
• 1 part vinegar (whatever kind you like.  Add more oil if you want a milder taste)
• Mayonnaise (add by the tbsp, enough to give it a cloudy but not creamy texture, or to taste.)
• Salt, pepper, basil, oregano, powdered onion, powdered garlic, and other favorite seasonings, to taste.

Cook:

1. Mix together.
2. Serve.

It’s quite simple and a very versatile recipe- goes well on pretty much any salad.

-Ariel