Tortilla a la Maria & Joachim

Our friends are on a road trip and lucky for us they chose to make a stop at our house and fix the evening meal. This happily served five growing boys and two sets of parents...

A colorful table

3 skinless boneless chicken breasts, diced
4 shredded carrots
2 red bell peppers, diced
1/2 cucumber, diced
1 small head broccoli
2 handful mixed green lettuce
3 tomatoes
1/2 red onion
3 avocados

Dressing:
8 oz sour cream or plain nonfat yoghurt
2 cloves of garlic
juice from 1/2 lime
salt & pepper

Marinade:
4 tbs virgin olive oil
1/2 ts paprika
1/2 ts cumin
1 clove of garlic
salt & pepper

1 packet of soft tortillas (24)

And if your palate is anything like mine: Tons of fresh coriander...

- Mix marinade ingredients, add the uncooked chicken cubes and leave for at least 30 min.
- Mix dressing ingredients, cover and place in the fridge.
- Peel and shred the raw carrots, wash and dice the bell peppers, cucumber, and tomatoes. Break or cut                the raw broccoli into very small pieces and wash and dry the lettuce. Chop the onions and dice the   avocado and arrange everything in bowls.
- Heat the oven to 385 F.
- Heat a large pan and cook the chicken until done, app. 10 min. Make sure not to cook it at too high heat as the meat will turn dry and hard.
-Heat the tortillas app 2 min in the oven and serve immediately. Don't forget the dressing!

Ready...

Go!

Anthony's Fingerling Potato Salad

This evening's dinner was whipped up by Anthony and was just what I felt like today. Simple and light yet full and very tasty, served with a whole wheat bread roll. Yum!

Delicious...

This is what he used:

24  oz fingerling potatoes

  4  eggs

  4  tomatoes

  2  green bell peppers

1/2 red onion, generously sliced

3/4 cup green, pitted olives

  2 cans of albacore tuna

  1 sprig of parsley, finely chopped

Vinaigrette:

4 tbs virgin olive oil

1 tbs balsamic vinegar

a pinch of coarse salt

-Bring unpeeled potatoes to the boil in lightly salted water to cover and let simmer for app. 30 min until tender. Drain and peel when cooled enough to handle.

-Place eggs in small saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil and let simmer for 4 minutes. Rinse under cold water and peel.

- Slice and seed tomatoes, chop the bell peppers and onions and mix in a bowl with olives and parsley.

- Cut potatoes into smaller bites and add them to the mix along with the drained tuna.

- Mix the vinaigrette and pour over salad. Mix well.

- Arrange the salad on a plate and place the eggs in quarts on top. 

This served our family of four...

Danish Rugbrød

Everyone finally recovered from whatever stomach bug we'd contracted and I can start thinking about food again. First thing on the list is to get my basics up and going again - most importantly the Danish rugbrød. As I keep a starter mix in the fridge from last time I baked this bread I can bake it today and enjoy it tomorrow but to start out with this bread you will need a bit of patience as it takes a couple of days for the starter to get ready:

Starter:

1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup rye flour
1/2 ts salt

- Mix well and cover with clingfilm. Leave it out at room temperature for 2 days.

Bread:

10     oz rye berries
  2     cups water
  1     medium sized carrot, shredded
  1/2  ts active dried yeast
  3/4  bottle beer, preferably dark
         starter
1 1/4 cups rye flour
   3/4 cup spelt flour
1 1/2 cup wheat flour
   1/2 tbs coarse salt
   3/4 cup sprouted sunflower seed

- Combine water and rye berries in a large saucepan and bring it to a boil. Turn off the heat and leave it with the lid on for 20 min.
- Pour app. 5 tbs of the still warm water into small bowl and mix in the yeast. Leave it for another 10 min.
- Add the beer, starter, flour and salt to the berries and what water is left and mix it all together.
- Take 3 tbs of mix aside and store in the fridge in container with the lid loosely on.
- Add the yeast, carrot and sunflower seeds and mix well.
- Pour into a butter greased baking tin size 9.25x5.25x2.75 in, cover with a fresh dish towel and leave at room temperature for four hours. Make sure to smooth out the surface to avoid creaks in the crust.
- Bake in the middle of the oven at 385 F for 1 1/2 hours. Leave covered in the baking tin 24-48 hours to settle.
- Enjoy!

Before baking

Done!

Danish Kagemand

Held my son's 5th birthday in the back yard, 40 + guests and amazing weather. This is his birthday cake:

Kagemand

1 1/4 cups water

4 oz butter

1 cup plain flour

4 eggs

pinch of salt.

Gently heat water and butter in medium-large saucepan. Add flour while stirring and leave to cool app. 10 min. Stir in one egg ad the time and add the salt. Spread onto baking sheet 0.2 inches thick and bake at 365 degrees until golden, app. 20-30 minutes.

So I made a triple batch for my kagemand and that left enough for 40 guests. The cake rises a lot while in the oven but collapses when taken out. If you make individual cakes about the size of a regular water glass they will remain more fluffy.

The icing was just powdered sugar and water and the candy random...

Have fun!