Parsley Potatoes

Growing up the only time I saw fresh parsley was as a garnish on my steak plate at Golden Corral.  Dried parsley was an ingredient in the bottled garlic bread mix.  It wasn’t until much later in life that I started cooking with fresh parsley, but then it was only a recipe here and there.

In Europe, especially Denmark it seems, fresh parsley is in many dishes.  When sprinkled on top of a dish, parsley adds a fresh flavor and a crisp mouth feel.  Parsley goes with many dishes, including potatoes, vegetables, eggs, poultry, fish, rice, and cheese spreads.

I have enjoyed many wonderful dishes containing parsley and it is abundantly available in the Danish grocery stores.   After buying many sprigs of parsley, I decided to plant some in my very small garden.  For this recipe I combined the parsley with one of my favorite starchy vegetables, the new potato. 

In the US, new potatoes are one of the early summer pleasures that should not be missed.  However, in Denmark they are available year round.  If there is one ingredient served more than parsley it would be small potatoes. 

The combination of potatoes and parsley was absolutely delicious.  I love the combination of the gravy like sauce, the potatoes, and the taste of the crisp parsley in the dish.  This recipe was definitely a keeper!

Parsley Potatoes

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds new red potatoes
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 cup chicken broth
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Directions

1.    Place the potatoes into a large pot full of salted water. Bring the water to a boil; then reduce heat. Simmer covered, for 10 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.

2.    Heat oil and butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Sauté onion and garlic for 5 minutes or until tender. Pour in chicken broth. Bring to a boil.

3.    Simmer for 3-4 minutes.

4.    Drain potatoes and pour into the skillet.  Cut potatoes into half.  Grind fresh pepper and salt into skillet to taste.  Continue to simmer until a gravy like sauce remains. (3-5 minutes)  Stir in fresh parsley and serve. 

Recipe adapted from www.allrecipes.com  

Rhubarb Crisp

I know that rhubarb’s grow in many places around the world, including the South. However, I had never tasted anything with rhubarb’s in it till coming to Denmark.  Whenever I had work related trips in spring/early summer, the dessert would always include rhubarb.  One trip in particular, I think we had a rhubarb dessert every night, including a rhubarb soup.   When planning a dessert for a BBQ with friends, I decided to at last try to cook with rhubarbs.  I found lot’s of great recipes on line, but decided to go with a crisp recipe.  Something about oatmeal, brown sugar, cinnamon, and fruit is just too yummy to pass up!

Some recipes I found called for stewing the rhubarb down on the stovetop before baking in the oven, so I was a little worried about the rhubarb being a little tough.   I cut the stalks into 2-4 strips depending on size and then cut into very small cubes in order to try and avoid this.

 For the topping, the original recipe called for walnuts.  Actually many of the recipes I found online called for walnuts, but since I didn’t have any on stock and because I love pecans, I used these instead.

I took the dessert to a “year-end” BBQ with friends from our church.  There was a mix of cultures and ages present.  From the kids to the adults, I got rave reviews for dessert.  Next time I make the dessert,  I will double the amount of rhubarb filling and also serve it warm with vanilla ice cream.

Rhubarb Crisp

Rhubarb Filling

• 4 cups chopped fresh or frozen (thawed) rhubarb
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Place rhubarb in an 8×8 pan or divide between 6 ramekins.
2. Mix together sugar and cornstarch in a small saucepan, stir in water. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour over rhubarb.

Crisp Topping

• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• pinch salt
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 5 tablespoons butter, melted

1. Mix together flour, oats, sugar, cinnamon, salt and walnuts. Stir in melted butter until even distributed. Crumble over filling.
2. Bake at 350ºF for 45 min or until rhubarb is cooked through and filling is bubbly.

Makes enough for an 8×8 inch square (9 inch round) baking pan or 6 ramekins

Recipe adapted from www.kitchensimplicity.com

Pecan Encrusted Pork Loin with Strawberry Balsamic Sauce

The grocery stores are full of Danish strawberries.  They are small, but sweet.  Instead of cooking yet another strawberry dessert, I searched for a way to incorporate them into the main meal.  I found the perfect recipe on The Food Network website.  It was for a Pecan Encrusted Pork Loin with a Strawberry Balsamic sauce.   Since moving here, I have been in search of the perfect pork loin recipe, so it was quite great to find a recipe combining the two!

I deviated very little from the recipe as published on Food Network.  I mean, it is a Paula Deen recipe after all!  I grinded up some old stale bread to make the bread crumbs and used walnuts instead of pecans (pecans aren’t available at every grocery store).   I skipped the crostini and herb cream cheese and just served the pork and strawberry sauce.  After coating the pork loins, I had leftover breadcrumb/walnut mixture, so I dredged a few chicken breast with the mixture as well.  The chicken was just as good as the pork.

For sides we had a wonderful beet, spring onion salad (which I will post a recipe for later), garlic rice pilaf, and steamed fresh asparagus.  The meal was simply amazing!

Pecan Encrusted Pork Loin 

Ingredients

• 1 cup ground pecans
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper flakes
• 2 large eggs
• 2 (1-pound) pork tenderloins, trimmed
• Balsamic Strawberry Sauce, recipe follows

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with heavy duty aluminum foil. Lightly grease foil.

In a shallow dish, combine the pecans, bread crumbs, brown sugar, salt, pepper, and red pepper.

In a separate shallow dish, lightly beat the eggs. Dip the tenderloins in the eggs to coat. Dredge them in the pecan mixture, completely covering the tenderloins. Arrange them on the prepared baking sheet, and bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest portion registers 155 degrees F, about 18 to 20 minutes. Remove the tenderloins from the oven to a cutting board and let rest for 10 minutes. Cut into 1/4-inch thick slices and serve with Balsamic Strawberry Sauce.

Balsamic Strawberry Sauce:

• 2 cups chopped fresh strawberries (about 1 pound)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 cup chicken broth

In a medium saucepan, combine the strawberries, sugar, and vinegar. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat, and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

In a small bowl combine the cornstarch and chicken broth, stirring until smooth. Add it to the strawberry mixture, stirring to combine. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil for 1 minute, stirring frequently. Remove from heat, and let cool. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Recipe adapted from Paula Deen at www.foodnetwork.com.

Authenic Italian Bread

I got in the mood for homemade bread today.  Instead of cooking one of my two usual recipes (which I’ll have to share later), I decided to try a new recipe.  I searched on the web for an Italian bread.  The one I found seemed pretty interesting because the mixing order is different than what I typically do.  You only add part of the flour in with the yeast and let it rise for a couple of hours.  The resulting mixture is a yeasty, bubbly soup, which you then add the remaining two cups of flour.  I followed the recipe below exactly, except that I used 1 block of live yeast (see below).  It’s the only kind of yeast you can buy in Denmark.

The bread turned out really good.  It had an authentic flavor due to the addition of semolina flour.  We dipped the warm bread into a bowl of olive oil and salt and pepper.  Of course anything will taste good with the olive oil we have.  We bought it in Greece and it is the best that I have tasted.  I will find it very difficult to go back to the grocery store variety of olive oil after tasting oils from Greece.   

 
Authentic Homemade Italian Bread

• 1 cup warm water (between 105 and 115 degrees F)
• 1/2 cup warm skim milk (between 105 and 115 degrees F)
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 2-1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
• 3 cups bread flour
• 1 cup semolina flour
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• coarse cornmeal
• olive oil-flavored nonstick cooking spray

In the mixing bowl of an electric mixer or a large mixing bowl, combine water, milk, and honey. Sprinkle yeast over top. Allow to stand 10-15 minutes until foamy. Add 2 cups of bread flour. Using electric stand mixer or electric hand mixer, beat on low for 4 minutes. Cover bowl with a towel. Place in an unheated oven and allow to stand 1-2 hours.

Remove bowl from oven and add remaining cup of bread flour, semolina flour, salt and olive oil. Using your electric mixer with a dough hook, beat for 5 minutes. Spray another large mixing bowl with nonstick cooking spray. Pour dough into that bowl. Turn over until dough is covered with oil. Cover and let rest 15 minutes.

Sprinkle a cookie sheet with several teaspoons of cornmeal. Divide dough in half. Shape each half into an oval mound. Flatten slightly until each half is about 6 inches across. Spray tops of dough loaves with nonstick spray. Put cookie sheet into unheated oven to rise another 30 minutes to 1 hour, until doubled. Remove dough from oven. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Using a sharp knife, make 3 slits across top of bread about 1/4 inch deep. Fill a small round cake pan with 1/2 inch of water. Place on cake pan on bottom rack in oven. Place cookie sheet with bread dough on it on the middle rack of the oven. Bake 25 minutes or until lightly browned. If bread browns too quickly, cover it with foil for the last 5-10 minutes of baking.

Makes 2 loaves, 8 slices each.

Recipe taken from www.suite101.com, which adapted it from a Better Homes and Gardens recipe.