Salad with Cheese Crips and Honey toasted Walnuts

A refreshing summer salad developed to celebrate the Queen's visit to Falster June 2012.

Ingredients:
Serves 4

Salad:

• 2-3 small white turnips
• 150 g strawberries
• 5 g corriander + extra for garnish
• 75g yellow cherry tomatoes
• 1/2 small red chilli
• 1 small cos lettuce  
• circa 150g Blue Castello cheese 
• 100g walnuts
• Circa 2 desertspoon acacia honey

 Dressing:

• 1/3 dl cold pressed rapeseed oil
• 1/2 dl elderflower juice (concentrate)
• 1-2 desertspoons lemon juice

Method:


1. Peel and chop the turnips in small pieces - 1cm x 1 cm.

2. Deseed the chilli and chop finely.

3. Coarsely chop the coriander.

4. Mix turnips, chilli and coriander and set aside in a bowl.

5. Make the dressing by combining the oil, elderflower and lemon juice and mix in with the turnips, coriander and chilli. Set aside in the refridgerator.

6. Slice the cheese into approx 1 x 1 x 5cm pieces. Place on greaseproof paper with plenty of room inbetween. Bake for approx 20 minutes at 160 C.

7. Allow to cool on kitchen paper.

Blue cheese crips left to drain on kitchen roll.

8. Hull and wash the strawberries, cut into quarters and set aside.

9. Wash and quarter the tomatoes and set aside.

10.  Wash and coarsely shred the lettuce. Set aside.

11. Coarsely chop the walnuts and toast them on a hot pan. Add the honey and heat gently making sure all the walnuts are completly covered. Set aside to cool on baking paper.

Honey coated walnuts

 12. Gently combine the strawberries, tomatoes and turnip pieces.

13. Put shredded lettuce leaves on a platter and carefully put salad mix over it.

14. Decorate with chopped coriander, cheese crisps and honey toasted walnuts.

The cheese crips may be served alongside the salad.

Cheese crips and walnuts may be served alongside.

Bon appetit!

Baltic Cooking - Putting Denmark on the Map.

Sustainable farming practices, creativity and thriftiness were all keywords for a restaurant cooking competition Baltic Cooking held on the island of Falster last Tuesday night.

Seven restaurants from the area and a team from CELF, (a local cookery school) lined up for the challenge.

With only 35 Danish Kroners (just under €5) in their pocket, the chefs from each participating restaurant had to put their thinking caps on and  come up with a dish to woo both the panel of judges and the 200 guests who also had a vote. On top of the low budget, the teams found themselves even more restricted by having to use 75% local produce in their dish. There is nothing like a few restrictions to get those creative juices flowing. Regional produce from local farms  of course made up a large part of the menu, but Mother Nature also came up with some wild cheap organic food in the form of nettles, deadnettle flowers, wild garlic (ramsons) and wood sorrel.

La Comida restaurant, Nykøbing used nettles, deadnettle flowers and wood sorrel.

No menu in Denmark is complete without fish and of course it was the main focus for some of the contestants in the competition.

Smoked salmon from the Gyldne Svane restaurant in the Middle Age Centre in Nykøbing.

Some chose the more conservative route with salmon and cod,

Fjordens Østersø

 while the students at CELF took the more daring route with wild garlic and wood sorrel.

CELF's students used wild garlic and wood sorrel in their dish.

When it comes to pig production, Denmark is the world's largest producer per head of population. For every person here, there are 2.3 pigs, so it is not surprising that a couple of restaurants had pork on their menu.

Hotel Nørrevang's pork with leek and kohlrabi

Some of the contestants were competition veterans, having competed in a similar long running gourmet challenge Ostseegericht in Germany, either this year or previous years.

Hotel Falster made slight changes to their pig's cheeks dish since their outing in Germany earlier this year.

Students from CELF were assigned to help the various restaurants with the final preparations to their dishes.

Chef describing his competition dish.

 
While most of the cooking was done in advance, the dishes had to be put together on site.

Peeling baby red onions.

 The panel of judges was made up of journalist Nadia Mathiasen (Smag & Behag), food historian Bi Skaarup, Birgitte Blands Søndergaard from Czarens Hus, Dorte Kofoed, lecturer at CELF,  Katia Østergaard from hotel and leisure organisation HORESTA.

It was not a case of the judges decision is final, as 200 guests had to give their verdict too. Some restaurants were better than others at impressing the guests. La Comida served their calves' cheeks from banana leaves which no doubt contributed to the gourmet experience.

Banana leaves may not count as local produce, but certainly contributed to the gourmet experience.

But alas the diners were not impressed enough with the banana leaves as La Comida only managed second place. Restaurant Svanen from Hotel Maribo SøPark pipped them to the post with their honey and malt poached pork.

The winning entry from Restaurant Svanen, Hotel Maribo Søpark

The event was the first of its kind to take place in Denmark and was part of the regional initiative Gro -Grønne Regionale madOplevelser- Regional Green Culinary Experiences.

Some of the entries.

Skovridergaarden's Dariole of Limousine.

A closer look at Hotel Falster's Pigs' Cheeks.

Hotel Nørrevang garnished their dish with pea greens.

The panel of judges didn't get banana leaves with their Calves' Cheeks from La Comida.

CELF's students called their entry Journey of the Senses

 Guests did not get the exact same experience as the judges.  Fjorden's Østersø.

 Skovridergaard's Dariole of Limousine waiting to be assembled for the guests.

The competitors  were:

La Comida, Nykøbing F

Hotel Falster, Nykøbing F

Den Gyldne Svane, Middelaldercentret, Nykøbing F.

Restaurant Fjorden, Nakskov

Restaurant Svanen, Hotel Maribo Søpark, Maribo

Hotel Nørrevang, Væggerløse

Skovridergaarden, Nakskov

Elevhold, CELF, Nykøbing F.

Photos may NOT be used without permission.

Danmarks hemmelige mad kultur

Når vi tænker på Danmark, så tænker vi på vikinger og Carlsberg. I gammeldags var vikingerne berygtede som krigere i Europa. De sejlede rundt på jagt efter slaver og rigdomme, kvinder og guld. De koloniserede England og Irland, hvor de var berømt for voldtægt og plyndring.

Men historien er noget mærkeligt, fordi danskerne ser vikingerne som dygtige handelsmænd og landbrugere.

Kan det være, at resten af verden har misforstået dem?

Det moderne danske mand eller kvinde er et mildt og praktisk menneske, som bare fortsætter med livet uden at bekymre sig om hvad andre tænker.

De er ikke de lykkeligste i verden uden grund. Men hvorfor det?

Det kan være, at det har noget at gøre med ligestilling og mad. Men først hvad har de to at gøre med hinanden?

I Irland hvor jeg kommer fra, er det kvinderne som laver mad - næsten altid. De passer børnene, passer hjemmet, arbejder og gør det hele. Mænd har det nemt. Det er usædvanligt at se en mand med et barn ude på gaden, og de gider ikke at hente børnene fra skole. Så i Irland har vi ikke så meget tid til at spise, ikke så meget tid til at lave mad, og derfor ikke så meget interesse i madlavning. Vi spiser fordi vi er sultne og ikke andet. Man kan også sige det om folk i UK og USA. Danmark er anderledes, men resten af verden ved det ikke.

Der findes en hemmelig madkultur i Danmark, som sammenlignes med hvad man finder i Frankrig eller Italien.

Frankrig er kendt for finesser og elegance, Chanel og champagne. Folk flokker til Paris og Province på jagt efter en smag af den sublime fransk mad. Fra croissants og camembert til de mere sofistikerede frølår og snegle har fransk mad det hele.

I Frankrig spiser man snegle.

 Italien er næsten så berømt som Frankrig for mad, men på en anden måde.Vi kender Italien som et land hvor mad og familien går hånd i hånd. Italiensk mad med ikke bare pizza og pasta er fuld af traditioner, mammas mad og alle er glade for den.

Danmark er midt i mellem de to lande, synes jeg. Folk ville være overrasket at høre det. Dansk mad er ikke berømt, selv om Rasmus Kofoed vandt Verdens Bedste Kok i 2011, og Noma restaurant i København er Verdens Bedste Restaurant. Var det et lykketræf at de vandt? Kan dansk mad være så god?

Danskere udtrykker sig selv gennem deres mad. Måltider er en vigtig del af livet, og mange kan godt lide at lave mad.

Danskere elsker at lave mad.

Almindelig dansk mad på hverdage er nem, lækker og relativt sund og består af frikadeller, boller i karry, og flæskesteg alle hjemmelavet fra bunden op og spist sammen med familien eller venner.

Boller i karry sovs.

 Der er også mad fra naturen og den kan være almindelig, som svampe eller ænder eller noget mere usædvanligt som tang eller ukrudt. Der er en slags tilfredshed når man skaffer ens egen mad og mange danskere gør det tit.

En gedde, fanget i Stege havn.

 Danmarks stor kyst giver masser af muligheder for at skaffe mad, fra rejer og sild til tang og muslinger.

Danskere kan godt lide at fange mad.

 
 Der er nogle der går på gåse- eller andejagt, og andre der plukker mens de går!

På ændejagt.

 Opskrifter kan være så simple eller så komplicerede som man har lyst til, fx edderfugl i fad, fasanbryst med kastanje creme, skvalderkål salat, ramsløg pesto, stegte ål.

Stegte ål

Danskerne udtrykker deres kreativitet gennem frokost, jeg mener gennem smørrebrød!

Frokost fra supermarkedet.

 Smørrebrød er en vigtig del af livet i Danmark, og når man oversætter ordet smørrebrød til engelsk, så får vi sandwich. Men smørrebrød er ikke sandwiches, som jeg kender dem, det er faktisk en form for kunst og den smager dejlig.

Der er mere til Danmark end bare vikinger, den lille havfru, Danish Bacon og Mohammed tegningerne.

Danish Bacon

Nogen prøver at fange aftensmad.