Here in Minnesota we take our Scandanavian heritages very seriously. So seriously that some people even willingly eat lutefisk. Our town recently held a Finnish festival-complete with a Tarja Halonen look-alike contest! wowee! (i had to google it, too). So in timing with this we picked "Scandanavian" as a theme. We did this theme a couple years ago, but I think this time was much better-much more experimental. Here is our final menu:

• Potato Pancakes with Swedish Meatballs
  
• Open Face Shrimp Dill Sandwiches
  
• Split Pea Soup
  
• Lingonberry Cake
  
• Licorice Pudding
  
• Scandanavian Cheeses
• Drink: Gammel Dansk
  

My dishes were the open-face sandwiches and the licorice pudding. I was very proud of both of them - they were delicious. The sandwiches were very refreshing and even though I don't like black licorice, I adored the pudding. The only thing I would caution: brace yourself & drink with caution if you try Gammel Dansk - the flavor is one that I'm guessing very few are accustomed to. Although, it mixes pretty well with Coca-Cola.

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Licorice Pudding

Pantry

• 1/4 tsp salt
  
• 1/3 cup plus 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon plus 2 tsp cornstarch
• 3 large egg yolks
• 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Groceries

• 3/4 cup good quality black licorice (not Twizzlers)
  
• 4 1/2 cups whole milk

Tools

• Instant-read thermometer
• Large heavy saucepan
• Whisk
• Small bowl & Larger bowl
• Fine mesh sieve
• Wax paper
  

COMBINE licorice, salt, 4 cups milk, and 1/3 cup sugar in a 2- to 3-quart heavy saucepan and heat over moderately low heat (do not let boil), stirring frequently, until licorice is dissolved, 18 to 20 minutes. (If licorice is not completely dissolved, let mixture stand off heat, uncovered, whisking occasionally, 10 minutes.) Increase heat to moderate and bring milk mixture to a bare simmer.

STIR together cornstarch and remaining 1/2 cup milk in a small bowl.

WHISK cornstarch mixture into licorice mixture and simmer, whisking, 2 minutes to thicken.

WHISK together egg yolks and remaining 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar in a medium bowl until combined well, then add hot milk mixture in a slow stream, whisking. Return to saucepan and cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until thermometer registers 170°F*. Immediately pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean bowl and stir in butter until incorporated.

CHILL pudding, its surface covered with a round of wax paper, until very cold, about 4 hours.

Just before serving, gently whisk pudding, then divide among bowls.

Pudding can be chilled in bowl, its surface covered with wax paper and bowl covered with plastic wrap after 4 hours, up to 3 days.

Makes 6 servings.

*When I put the thermometer in the temperature was already well over 200 degrees, so you might want to watch that! Although, it didn't affect the final product.

Labels: Black Licorice, Dessert, Entree, Sandwich, Shrimp

The theme this time around was "Greek" and in honor of Grandma's Marathon (First marathons, Greece, get it?) It seems we've learned how to cook less dishes so we don't have such an outrageous amount of leftovers! This dinner, as they all do, turned out fabulous.

• Gyros
• Vegetable Au Gratin Bake
  
• Baked Feta Squares
  
• Vegetable Feta Pasta Salad
  
• Ouzo Almond Yogurt Cake with Greek Ouzo Honey Yogurt
  
• Drink: Ouzo on the Rocks
  

My dishes were the Ouzo cake and the baked feta. I would have to go out on a limb here and say the cake sort of stole the show. I thought it was delicious, as did everyone else. The store was all out of star anise so I missed putting that into the cake, but to make up for it I mixed ouzo into the yogurt to thin it out and make it easier to drizzle over the cake.

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Ouzo Almond Yogurt Cake

Pantry

• 3 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 1/2 cups, plus 2 tbl sugar
• 1/2 cup olive oil mixed with 1/2 cup sunflower oil

Groceries

• 2 cups whole almonds, divided
• 4 large eggs, separated
• 1 cup, plus 2 tbl plain whole-milk yogurt
• Greek honey yogurt, to serve

Liquor Store

• 3/4 cup Ouzo
  

PREHEAT oven to 375°F with rack in center position. Brush two metal loaf pans with olive oil. Line pan bottoms with parchment paper; brush parchment with olive oil.

SPREAD 1 1/2 cups almonds on rimmed baking sheet; toast in oven 10 minutes. Cool. Transfer to processor and coarsely grind (some small almond pieces should remain); set aside.

Finely CHOP 1/2 cup untoasted almonds in processor.

BOIL ouzo in small saucepan until reduced to 1/2 cup, about 2 minutes. Cool.

SPRINKLE 1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped untoasted almonds over bottom of each pan.

WHISK flour, ground star anise, baking powder, sea salt, and ground toasted almonds in large bowl.

Using electric mixer, BEAT egg yolks and 1 1/2 cups sugar in medium bowl until well blended (mixture will look grainy at first). Add 1 cup light olive oil; beat 1 minute. Add ouzo and yogurt and beat until well blended, about 30 seconds. Gradually add flour mixture to yolk mixture, beating just until incorporated (batter will be thick).

Using dry clean beaters, beat egg whites in large bowl until stiff but not dry. Fold 1/3 of whites into batter to lighten. Fold in remaining whites in 2 additions.

DIVIDE batter between prepared pans (about 3 1/2 cups for each). Sprinkle each with remaining finely chopped untoasted almonds, dividing equally. Sprinkle each with 1 tablespoon sugar.

BAKE cakes until golden brown and tester inserted into centers comes out clean, about 1 hour 5 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on rack 15 minutes. Turn cakes out onto rack and cool completely.

Makes two 8-inch loaves

Labels: Almonds, Dessert, Ouzo, Yogurt

The theme proposed for this week was "Jameson" - of course, the rest of us quickly amended this to be "Whiskey" because if we were going to be using Jameson it would be to drink, not to cook with. So with that settled we headed to the liquor store and got a bottles of Jameson, Merry's Irish Whiskey, Bourbon, and Scotch. The dinner that we produced was lovely. Because of the nature of whiskey, being a liquid and all, we ended up with a lot of sauces, but they were all delicious. My favorite dish was probably the pork tenderloin, it was amazingly tender and the sauce for it fit perfectly. The one dish I would not recommend would be the soup, the flavor just wasn't right...it was too fishy and too alcoholic, and with both flavors fighting for each other it was just too overwhelming. With that said, here is the full menu.

• Bourbon Drunken Pork Tenderloin
  with sour cream bourbon sauce
  
• Drunken Scotch Whisky Crab Soup
  
• Toasted Baguettes with Whiskey Basil Pesto
  
• Drunken Irishman Baked Potato Wedges
  with whiskey kethcup
  (because nothing's funnier than a drunken irishman!)
  
• Chicken marinated in White Whiskey BBQ Sauce, smoked with Jack Daniels Woodchips from Whisky Oak Barrels
  served with White Whiskey BBQ Sauce
  
• Cinnamon Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce
  
• Scotch Whisky Fudge
  
• Whiskey Caramel Pecan Sauce with Vanilla Ice Cream
  
• Drink: Jameson Sours
  

My contribution was another dessert, the whiskey caramel pecan sauce. I've never made caramel before, so it was definitely an experience. I was a bit disappointed because it didn't end up quite as thick as I had wanted, but once I tasted it I didn't care anymore. It was delicious (as caramel always is) but he pecans were the best part. I would have liked to put in more whiskey, but it was already too thin, so I stuck with the 2 tablespoons.

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Whiskey Caramel Pecan Sauce

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons water
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons whiskey
• 2 teaspoons unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup (or more) chopped pecans
  

COMBINE sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil on MEDIUM heat. Cook to dissolve the sugar, stirring and brushing down any crystals on the sides of the pan with a brush dipped in hot water. When the sugar dissolves, raise the heat to HIGH and bring to a boil. Boil without stirring until the mixture caramelizes to a medium-dark amber color, 5-8 minutes.

REMOVE pan from the heat and slowly add the cream (the mixture will bubble up violently). Return pan to medium heat and boil gently another 5-7 minutes, until thick and smooth. Be very careful, DO NOT BOIL OVER

REMOVE from heat. Add vanilla, butter, whiskey and pecans. Stir until combined.

SERVE warm over ice cream. Sauce will keep refrigerated for 3 weeks. Reheat in the microwave, uncovered. Makes 1 3/4 c

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This sauce was pretty simple to make (as simple as caramel can be), but tasted much more complex. I would definitely make it again.

Labels: Caramel, Dessert, Ice Cream, Monday Mania, Pecans, Recipes, Whiskey

This Monday's themed dinner was multi-purposed and loosely based on "4th of July" - in memory of my friend John's sister, who was born on July 4, as well as to put a little summer back into our below zero temperatures. We also used this dinner to celebrate my birthday, so they asked me what I would like to eat and to drink. I asked them to surprise me with new dishes, but I demanded "good beer" to drink - because really, what's the 4th of July without good beer? Our menu ended up being pretty much all over the board, but it was (like always) delicious.

• Hamburgers with all the Fixins
• Pork N Peppers Sammiches
• Cream Cheese Stuffed Breadsticks
• Chicken Wings
• Sauteed Mushrooms & Onions
• Sweet Date Wontons, Jalapeno Pork Wontons, & Turkey Cranberry Wontons
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Cluster Cookies
• Spiced Rum Balls
• Raspberry Ice Cream Pie
• Drink: Beers of America Collection

My contribution was a raspberry ice cream pie. I had seen the recipe a while back, but never got to making it. It was amazing! It's very versatile, too - I used raspberries & blueberries for the red, white, and blue theme, but you could dream up a million ways to change the recipe. The ice cream is held together with Jell-O, so it can sit out for quite a while without melting. Fresh fruit works tastes best, but since it's frozen you can use frozen fruit, which I had to do with the blueberries because they're out of season right now. My only mistake was leaving the bowl in the fridge for too long - the gelatin started to set and so it didn't pour as nicely into the crust. I took the leftovers home where they were soon devoured and I was told I "definitely need to make this again."

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Raspberry Ice Cream Pie

• 2/3 cup boiling orange juice
• 1 pkg. (4-serving size) Raspberry Gelatin
• 1/2 pt. (1 cup) vanilla ice cream
• 1 tub (8 oz.) Whipped Topping, thawed, divided
• 1 pint fresh raspberries, divided
• Fresh or Frozen Blueberries
• 1 Oreo Pie Crust (6 oz.)

STIR boiling juice into dry gelatin mix in large bowl until completely dissolved.

ADD ice cream by spoonfuls, stirring with wire whisk after each addition until ice cream is completely melted. Add half of the whipped topping; stir until well blended. Gently stir in 1 cup of the raspberries, and some blueberries. Refrigerate, if necessary, until mixture is thick enough to mound. Spoon into crust.

FREEZE 3 hours or until firm. Top with the remaining whipped topping and decorate with leftover raspberries & blueberries just before serving. Store leftover pie in freezer.

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I was amazed at how quick and simple this pie was; plus it looked beautiful, and everyone loved it. I would definitely make it again. I'm looking forward to trying it with different fruits. Mmmm Banana ICE Cream pie!

Labels: Berries, Dessert, Ice Cream, Jell-O, Monday Mania, Pie, Recipes