Day Thirty - Denmark

Hej! Welcome to the penultimate stop on this culinary trip around the world.  Tonight brings us to Denmark, which is fitting because it is the country that my parents have lived in for the last couple of years.  They live in Odense, the hometown of Hans Christian Andersen, which is also fitting, as he's where I get my middle name from (Mama Bear was walking through a book store, saw a children's book by Hans, and thought "Hans Christian Andersen...Lars Christian Farabee...yup, that works!").

The ideas for tonight's meal were offered by my dad, who sent me some great recipes to try that he and my mom have enjoyed during their time there.  I hope that I did them justice!


Aquavit

1 bottle of cheap vodka (I used Gibleys for $6.00)

Caraway seeds

Star anise seeds

Fennel seeds

Dill

Lemon zest

Sliced lemon

When my dad was gathering recipes for me for this tour stop, he said that I "had to have" an aperitif of Aquavit. It's a Scandinavian liquor, very potent (Dad said it was more like jet fuel over there than anything else). I tried to find some at the local liquor store, but was unable to (I also saw online that a bottle of it was a little out of my price range anyway).

I found a DIY recipe online, however, so I decided to try to make my own. First, I added the caraway seeds, fennel seeds, dill, and star anise to the bottle of vodka. I used a generous amount for each, about a tablespoon and a half or more. It depends on your flavor palette on how much to use, so this one could take some trial and error and guess work.

I did this on Monday, and let it set over night and all day Tuesday.  When we were ready to drink, I poured the bottle into a decanter with a coffee filter plugged in the top.

This was a little bit of a process, and cheesecloth would have helped to expedite it. However, the coffee filter worked just fine.

I zested a lemon, and put a bit of the zest into two rocks glasses. I squeezed a slice of lemon into each glass as well, and then poured the Aquavit.

Smoked salmon and crackers

1 package smoked salmon

1 cup Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon dill

1/2 tomato, sliced

1 tablespoon capers

Crackers

This was a very easy appetizer to set up, and it got me thinking, why don't I do this more? When we go out to eat, more often than not Elizabeth and I will get an appetizer (this occurs less frequently now that there are three people living at the Farabee home). But at home, we rarely do that. I'm sure it's because we are on the clock with getting Elliot to bed, and pushing dinner back even further could throw that off.  However, because something like this was so easy, it might be worth doing again every once in awhile.

To start, I mixed the dill and the yogurt together in the yogurt container. I put a dollop of this mix on each cracker, then topped the yogurt with a slice of tomato. I then put a piece of the smoked salmon on top of the tomato. Finally, I topped all of this with capers.

Flæskeæggekage

8 eggs, beaten

8 tablespoons milk

1 zucchini, chopped

1/2 tomato, chopped

1 bunch leeks, chopped

6 strips bacon

This is a basic Danish egg pie (much more fun to call it "Flæskeæggekage"). To start, I fried the bacon in a large cast iron skillet.

Once the bacon had browned, I removed and set on a paper lined plate, leaving the bacon fat in the skillet.

Next, I beat the eggs and milk, and added the mix directly to the skillet. I added the chopped tomato, leeks, and zucchini to the eggs and stirred so it was even.

I put this in the oven at 350 degrees for 12 minutes.

Marinated cucumber salad

1 cucumber, sliced

Salt

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon peppercorns

I got this one from my dad's chef at work (yes, the company my dad is working for in Denmark has a chef that cooks lunch for them everyday). Jan first gave the instructions in Danish (one of the hardest languages to learn), so I was very thankful that he also sent over a translated version (thanks Jan!). For the curious, here's what it looked like in Danish:

agurksalat:

1 agurk

Groftsalt

2 dl eddike

1 dl sukker

0, 5 dl vand.

Peberkorn

Vask dine agurker.
Og skær dem i tynde skiver, drys med lidt salt og lad dem trække i 10 min.
I mellem tiden kan du rører sukker, vand, eddike og peberkorn sammen.
Når de har stået tager du og trykker dem i din hånd så du ikke har for meget væske i dem.
Kom dem i et glas og held din eddike blanding på, kom låget på og sæt dem på køl.

I actually started this side dish on Monday. First, I sliced the cucumber, and sprinkled it with salt and let rest for 10 minutes.

Next, I put the cucumbers in a mason jar. I mixed the sugar, vinegar, water, and peppercorns in a small mixing bowl, then poured the mixture over the cucumbers.

I sealed the jar and let it set in the refrigerator until I was ready to serve.

The result of all this...

...was simple and great. The Aquavit at the beginning of the meal was the biggest surprise.  Both Elizabeth and I clinked our glasses, made a grimace, and reluctantly took a sip.  At the same time, we then both took larger sips, finding that the infusing of the various seeds and spices and lemon made a cheap bottle of rotgut vodka taste wonderfully herbal.  Elizabeth thought it would be great to use in cocktails, and I would have to agree with her there.  This is something I'm going to have to try again soon.

The appetizer was also nice and light, and a great way to start the meal.  As I said previously, having an appetizer for more of our dinners as home will be easy if I can keep finding recipes like this to try.

The Flæskeæggekage was fluffy and not too heavy at all (I thought that cooking it in the bacon grease would make it oily, but I was wrong here).  The crispy bacon and crunchy sunflower bread I served with dinner was a good counterpoint to the softer eggs.

I'm going to have to do more of these semi-pickled cucumbers.  They were a great addition to the meal, and Dad said that he has them many times throughout the week.  They're an easy side dish that can be prepared ahead of time, so I see myself preparing these ahead of time quite often in the future.

Dad said that much of what they eat in Denmark is simple food like this (he called it "farmer's food). Not too many ingredients, all fresh and local.  I can get behind this way of cooking.  It was nothing fancy, but it tasted wonderful and was very easy to prepare.  This was a nice way to round out our trip around the world.

Join us tomorrow night as we make our way back home for our final tour stop of the Global Grub Month!