Our favorite Mia Kristensen from CPH Good Food has held another cooking course in London and once again she has decided to share on of her recipes with us. This time a recipe for a delicious leg of lamb. Here’s how she describes it:

Spring lamb is one of the most amazing meats, when cooked properly – keeping its juiciness and enhancing the natural delicate flavor. This time I cooked the leg of lamb using low temperature roasting in the oven with a crispy herb crust.

Nordic Cuisine for the Home Cook – summertime
Last week I once again took the “short” way across Denmark and the North Sea to do cooking classes “Nordic Cuisine for the Home Cook – summertime”in London (at the Culinary Anthropologist). We made a variety of dishes all with a New Nordic touch in technique or ingredients. Rye bread, “klatkager”, rhubarb cordial with lemon verbena and hay-smoked brie was just a couple of the dishes, that was cooked and enjoyed by the guests – BUT nothing really beats a really beautiful piece of meat. Same here, everybody loved the spring lamb!

Spring lamb is born, not served in the spring
The dilemma with lamb is, that we often find it to be an Easter treat. Many people don’t consider the origin of a piece of Easter lamb. The thing is, that to become big enough to have a decent “leg of lamb”, then the lambs has to be at least six months old. Easter lamb is therefore born and raised during winter without any fresh green fodder and indoor housing (not as much exercise!).

This affects the quality of the meat and doesn’t give the benefit and potential meat quality of the lamb. That’s really a loss of potential! – Leaving the sheep to give birth, when the temperatures are higher and the green feed is plentiful, is more natural and I think it gives more delicate and tasty meat. To retain the high quality of the meat it’s important not to drown the flavor with strong spices but only use small amounts or herbs instead. We bought our spring lamb at Godfreys in Arsenal, but ask your local butcher if he can get hold of some for you.

Low-temperature roasting – the effect
It wasn’t difficult for the guest to see the obvious difference between the normal roast they put on the Sunday lunch table and the low-temperature roasted leg of lamb. The low temperature cooks the meat more evenly, leaving no grey “zone” and an equally pink piece of meat. The meat also shrinks less during cooking and therefore it retains moisture, giving a very juicy roast.

Low-temperature roasting – Choice of temperature
The method of low temperature roasting is very simple, turn down the temperature of your oven and wait a little longer. Low temperatures, when talking meat roasting, are between 80-120C degrees. You can of course go below 80 as well, but most home-kitchen ovens aren’t very precise and typically hold +/- 15C degrees of the desired temperature. So to be sure about food safety and to ensure a good texture in the meat choose temperatures above 80C degrees.

Browning before roasting
Working with oven temperatures around 80-120C degrees doesn’t create a good browning, so it is important to brown the meat in a hot pan before finishing it in the oven. The browning is one of the most important step, when preparing all types of meat, since it’s the only thing creating and transforming the flavors of the meat, leaving nutty, meaty and caramel-like aromas on the surface. So, no browning – no flavor!

Herbcrusted Spring Lamb
Serves: 8
Amazing butterflied leg of lamb, evenly roasted at a low temperature to ensure a tender and juicy serving.

Ingredients
1 leg of lamb, butterflied and skinned (ca.1.5kg of meat)
salt & pepper
a good handful of fresh whole herbs (eg soft-stemmed thyme, sage leaves or mint leaves)
a generous knob of butter for browning the meat
For the herb crust:
150ml chopped herbs, mostly parsley with some rosemary, thyme or mint
150ml breadcrumbs
4 fat cloves of garlic, very finely chopped or crushed
100g butter, melted
salt & pepper

Instructions:
Heat oven to 120C (110C fan).
Season the meat all over with salt and pepper. Lay the handful of herbs inside and roll up the meat, securing it with several pieces of string.
Heat some butter in a heavy-based pot or frying pan and brown the meat all over.
Place meat in a roasting tin and bake at 120C for about an hour or until an instant read thermometer inserted into the thickest part reads 50C.
Take the meat out and increase the oven temperature to 240C.
Make the herb crust by combining all the ingredients, and then spread it over the top of the lamb.
Roast the lamb at 240C for 5-10 minutes or until the crust has browned nicely.
Remove the lamb from the oven and let rest for 10-20 minutes before removing the string and slicing.

Notes
This method can also be used with beef sirloin, pork loin, chicken breast and rack of lamb.

Photos by: WenLin Soh, Mia Irene Kristensen and Anna Colquhoun

A moderate consumption of coffee can be preventive against type 2-diabetes and certain forms of cancer. That is the conclusion in a new report from the Danish “Vidensråd for forebyggelse” (Council of Prevention).
 
In the new report it is stated that most scientific studies so far have concluded that a moderate consumption of coffee is preventative against a number of diseases. One of our professors, Lars Ove Dragsted is one of the co-authors and he has told us a bit about the conclusions of the report:

“The Danes have for a long time been one of the most coffee-consuming nations in the world and now we can show that it isn’t a bad thing and in reality coffee-consumption has a lot of beneficial effects” says Professor Lars Ove Dragsted, who in his own research works with bioactive and preventative diet-components.

The report was written because of all the myths relating to coffee-consumption, which is also the reason for focusing on coffee’s impact on health and diseases. The report is a review of the existing literature on the topic, written in an easily understandable style, giving Danes (or people who speak Danish) a chance to learn about the scientific research done in the area.

It’s okay to drink coffee even if you’re pregnant

Many moms-to-be have probably had to hear that coffee-drinking is bad/dangerous to the foetus and in some countries (like the US) pregnant women have been advised against drinking coffee during pregnancy. It has been suspected that the caffeine in coffee could hurt the foetus and perhaps cause a miscarriage.

The report shows that a consumption of no more than 2-3 cups a day (<300 mg caffeine a day) has no harmful effect on women’s ability to get pregnant or to the foetus. It is however still unclear whether a higher intake of coffee can have a harmful effect. So to be safe; don’t drink more than 2-3 cups of coffee a day (and I don’t mean Starbucks grande latte!) if you are pregnant or planning to be soon.

Coffee lowers the risk for type 2-diabetes and some forms of cancer

If you are not pregnant or planning to be a coffee-intake around 3-4 cups a day can actually lower your risk of developing type 2-diabetes. The report shows that it will decrease your risk with 25 % or more.

“The Danes average coffee-consumption of around 3-4 cups a day provides a protective effect in regards to the development of type 2-diabetes. At the same time an increased intake of coffee actually gives you increased protection even if you drink up to 6-8 cups a day” says Professor Lars Ove Dragsted and continues:

“New studies also show that coffee can reduce the risk for some types of cancer, like liver, oral cavity, rectum and colon cancer. In regards to cardiovascular diseases filtered coffee seems to be able to reduce the risk about 10 %. The protection is however only present when drinking filtered coffee and not if you use a French press or drink espresso”.

Now this report gives you the perfect excuse next time you crave a coffee. So enjoy it, but don’t drink too much. If you can read Danish there are more articles on our page and also the full report for download.

For now you can enjoy this delicious cake and learn it’s history, told and photographed by Mia Kristensen.

Over 50 years ago a lady in Jutland (the western part of Denmark) invented the recipe for this fantastic cake. Her granddaughter, Jytte Andersen, re-named it “Drømmekage” (Dream cake) and served it at a baking competition. The cake won the competition and that was the beginning of maybe one of the most consumed cakes in the history of Denmark, at least for the last 50 years.

A Danish classic – Always in top 10

It’s on the table at almost every birthday party, office coffee break, afternoon tea and bakeries – the mushy, light yellow sponge cake with a thick, brown coconutty caramel on top is so traditional that it has been on the top ten cakes since forever, firstly because the flavor is really good, but also because the recipe is very simple and the ingredients easy to get hold of, if you don’t have it all in your cupboard. I also asked Tove Færch, the recipe manager of one of the biggest and oldest recipe publishers/websites in Denmark, why she thinks is the story behind the popularity.

“Dream cake is adored by both children and adults. It’s very easy to prepare and a very appealing cake, with two very different layers and variation in texture. I think that’s some of the reasons, that it’s such a popular cake”, says Tove Færch, recipe manager at Arla Foods/ Karolines Køkken

Childhood memories and grown-up flavors

I like this cake, no doubt. The taste holds memories from childhood birthdays with friends and afternoon baking with grandma, but my adulthood adapted taste buds doesn’t really like the heavy sweetness of the sponge and topping. Well, in general it could sometimes need a twist. So what do you do, when the classic becomes too classic?

I decided to do a modern and Nordic inspired version of the grand old dream cake, hopefully ending up with a mouthwatering version a little more grown-up proof than the old one. Some might call it blasphemy, but it might just be the development of a whole new cake, who knows…

Nordic berries creates balance

The concept of the sponge cake under the chewy caramel works very well, so to balance the sweetness I added black currants and lingonberries. Both have a high content of fruit acid and a tad of bitterness, which is perfect in sweet cakes. In the autumn try making it with blueberries, seabuckthorn or cloudberries, they have some of the same characteristics and lovely flavors. The berries also add some moisture and prevents the cake from drying out and crumbling.

Flavorful flour

Flour is one of the main ingredients in most cakes, so of course it influences the taste. To get a deeper grain flavor in the sponge cake I used an old wheat variety called “Øland” wheat. I haven’t seen the name translated anywhere, but it’s similar to spelt, so use that or stone grinded flour instead. This makes a much more interesting sponge cake, less bland and sweet, more complex and grainy, with a beautiful color. Adding sweet woodruff as well makes up for the aromatic vanilla and gives an almost marcipan-like flavor.

Barley flakes instead of coconut

Barley flakes has a very mild grain flavor that is perfect in sweet dishes, so I substituted the desiccated coconut and used barley flakes. At the same time barley adds some of the same chewiness in the topping as the coconut. To avoid a bland taste in the topping I added another product from barley, malt – with beautiful coffee notes and a dark color. Normally used in beermaking, but absolutely perfect for desserts.

So Ready, set … this is how the recipe turned out, exactly as I imagined it (in my dreams…)… Not too sweet – with a fruity bottom layer and a chewy, flavorful caramel topping.

Dream cake with barley and berries

Serves: 12
20*30 cm baking tin
A moist and sweet sponge cake balanced with nordic berries, topped with a chewy malt and barley caramel – serve it warm with a scope of ice or cold for afternoon tea.

Ingredients

275 g flour (try old wheat varieties e.g. Øland wheat or spelt)
3 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. dried sweet woodruff (optional, or use vanilla instead)
3 large eggs
300 g sugar
90 g butter, melted
200 ml single cream or whole milk
175 g fresh/frozen black currants, red currants, lingonberries or blue berries.

Topping

200 g butter
75 ml single cream or whole milk
375 g brown sugar
175 g barley flakes (or rolled oats)
3 tsp. dark malt flour (optional)

Instructions

Heat the oven to 185 degrees.
Sieve flour, baking powder and sweet woodruff into a bowl.
Whisk together eggs and sugar until pale and fluffy, it takes approx. 12 minutes.
Sieve (again) the flour and baking powder into the whisked eggs and fold it together.
Add the butter and cream and stir carefully until fully combined.
Lastly fold in the berries and tip the dough into the baking tin.
Bake the sponge for 30 minutes until firm.

While the sponge is baking, continue with the topping.
Topping: Mix all the ingredients in a pot and melt it until slightly bobbling.
Remove the pot from the heat and pour the caramel onto the pre-baked sponge.
Put the cake back in the oven and bake for 5-7 minutes at 225 degrees.
Let the cake cool a little for the topping to set before cutting.

To me this salad is a perfect example of what the “New Nordic Cuisine” could look like on the weekday dining table.
The Nordic Cuisine is popular for its pure flavours, seasonality, and simplicity – but most people associates Nordic Cuisine with Noma and cooking skills way beyond a normal home cooks. I think we need to turn that idea around for the Nordic Cuisine to become “public property”.
So try it out and let me know about your experience with the Nordic flavours.

This salad might be one of the first Nordic inspired dishes you make at home, but it’s simple, quick and easy to get right the first time you try. The texture crunchy from the raw cauliflower (not to crunchy because the cauliflower is cut VERY thinly) and the roasted hazelnuts and the flavours are sweet with a little bitterness from the dried cranberries, distinct and fresh sourness from the apple vinegar and slightly peppery (or mustard) from the rather large amount of cress!

A delicious side dish served with a piece of pan roasted fish or maybe even a pot roast? Try it once, I promise you it won’t be the last.

- Try to make variations according to your mood and season. Try a different kind of dried berries or maybe exchange the cauliflower with broccoli. In the spring it’s ideal to use fresh ramsons instead of cress.

Caution – Be careful when using a mandolin. Put on a rubber glove before starting, to avoid cutting your fingers/nails.

Cauliflower salad with roasted hazelnuts, dried berries and cress
Cooking time: 20 mins
Serves: 3-4

Ingredients
30g hazelnuts
½ tbsp rapeseed oil
1 tsp salt
½ a cauliflower
30g dried cranberries, sour cherries or currants
2-3 handful snipped cress

For the dressing:
3 tbsps rapeseed oil
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
Roast the hazelnuts in the oil, in a pan over medium heat, for around 5-7 minutes until they turn golden.
Add the salt and leave them to cool before chopping roughly.
Clean and cut the cauliflower into VERY thin slices, preferably using a mandolin.
Make the dressing by whisking the vinegar into the oil and adding salt and pepper to taste.
Mix the cauliflower with the dressing, dried berries, nuts and cress.
Add more vinegar if necessary.
Leave the salad to rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy and have a great weekend
/Camilla

Co-editor Per Møller, associate professor at Sensory Science, University of Copenhagen has told us a bit about the new project:

“Our ambition is to cover all sciences that deal with flavour: Everything from anthropology, sociology and psychology to neuroscience, physics and chemistry. All these different sciences have things to say about what flavour does and why we perceive flavours”.

The ambition is to make the journal accessible to all with an interest in flavour, be that a chef or others that don’t normally read scientific journals.

In its first edition you can read about a Dutch research project that shows how strong smells make people take smaller bites or how seaweed is a great source of umami flavour in the Nordic cuisine.

From our part we are vey excited about the prospects of this journal and we hope that it will appeal to some of you as well. Check it out Flavour journal

/Camilla

The class she is teaching is called “New Nordic Cuisine for the Home Cook” and is a collaboration between Mia Kristensen and Culinary Anthropologist
Here is a description of the course and of Mia:

“The world’s best restaurant, Noma in Copenhagen, has propelled new Nordic cuisine into the limelight.  Chef René Redzepi’s innovative approach showcases the finest indigenous Nordic ingredients in fresh, light menus.  Many of these ingredients also grow in Britain, or can be easily sourced.  But with dishes such as edible soil (made from malt and hazelnuts), oyster porridge, veal and blackcurrant cookies, seabuckthorn leather with pickled elderflower, and chicken skin sandwich with lumpfish roe, this is not food most mere mortals can recreate at home.

Mia Kristensen offers Nordic cuisine classes in Copenhagen to help home cooks translate the new Nordic diet movement into do-able, delicious and healthy home cooking.
A student of Food Science and disciple of the world’s most pre-eminent food nerds, Dr Harold McGee and Professor Peter Barham, Mia will share her knowledge of the whys and wherefores of cooking during our hands-on class, providing an insight into the culinary magic of restaurants like Noma”.

On the menu is:
Crispbread with ramson (wild garlic) pesto
Lightly cured & smoked salmon with celeriac salad
Malt pizza with dry-cured bacon & herbs
Apple bread made with old wheat varieties
Pork cheeks in wheat beer
Cauliflower salad with salted hazelnuts, cress & dried cranberries
Spicy spelt salad with horseradish, cream, cabbage & apples
Danish Apple cake with skyr (Icelandic curd cheese) foam, oats & hazelnuts

Sounds good right? Both of us would love to go if only we were in London by then.

The course is the 10th of March in London. See Culinary Anthropologist for more information.

/Signe & Camilla

The results come from a PhD project conducted by Morten Georg Jensen, who tells that “a probable explanation of the weight loss is that the alginates form a gel in the stomach which strengthens the gastrointestinal satiety signals to the brain because the gel takes up space in the stomach. The overweight subjects thus ate less than usual.”

The study included 96 overweight men and women. 48 subjects drank a specially designed drink with alginates three times daily before each main course as a supplement to an energy-reduced diet. The other 48 subjects drank a placebo drink without alginates.

The 80 subjects who completed the study achieved a far larger weight loss with alginate treatment than those drinking a similar drink without alginates.

On average, the subjects in the seaweed fibre drink group lost1.7 kg more than those in the placebo group.

The research was conducted at Faculty of Science,University of Copenhagen

Read more about the subject (in English) at life.ku.dk/english or (in Danish) foodofLIFE.dk

/Signe

It seems that the milk fat is absorbed in the body more quickly than the fat from the cocoa butter. The researchers have also found that the intense flavour of dark chocolate increases the sensation of satiety. That’s two reasons for sticking to the dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate.

The researchers say that they have been worried about whether the positive message on eating chocolate could get people to overeat on chocolate, and that these new results tell us that milk fat content is the ingredient to be watchful of.

Meaning that if you love chocolate (like me) but want to stay healthy then buy dark chocolate with more than 70% cocoa and without any added fat like vegetable fat or milk fat.

Read more about it on foodofLIFE.dk (in Danish)

/Camilla

The recipe is for 4 people

Ingredients:
150 g whole spelt grains
5 dl. Apple juice – unfiltered
5 dl. Water
1 teaspoon salt

½ of a peeled celeriac
½ tablespoon rape seed oil
1 teaspoon salt
3 stalks of purple or regular borecole
1 apple preferably Elstar
50 g creamy feta cheese

Dressing
2 tablespoons rape seed oil
1 teaspoon mustard
2 tablespoons apple vinegar
Salt and pepper

How to make it:
Rinse the spelt grains under running water and put them in a pot. Pour over the apple juice and water. Add salt. Bring to a boil with the lid on. Boil the grains for about 30 minutes until they are tender.

While the grains are boiling: Turn on the oven on 180 degrees Celsius. Cut the celeriac into chunks and mix them with rape seed oil and salt. Bake the celeriac pieces for approximately 30 minutes. Let it cool down.

Wash the borecole and slice it thinly.

Cut the apple into thin boats.

Whisk a dressing using the rape seed oil, mustard and vinegar. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Mix the boiled grains with the dressing, borecole and apple. Crumble the feta cheese on to and let the salad set in the refrigerator until serving.

/Signe

Recipe created by Mia Kristensen

Serves 4 people

Herbal mayo:
2 pasteurised egg yolks
1 teaspoon coarse mustard
2½ teaspoons apple vinegar
Salt and pepper
Approx. 3 dl taste neutral oil (e.g. Rape seed oil)
1 dl. Cress
¼ dl dill or chervil

Fennel:
2 fresh fennels

Upon serving:
4 slices of rye bread (Danish rugbrød)
4 pickled herring fillets without the brine

How to make it:
Use a blender or a hand mixer. Put the egg yolks, mustard, vinegar (or lemon juice), salt and pepper in a bowl or a blender. Start the blender/hand mixer and add the oil VERY slowly. Stop when you reach the right consistency.

Wash the herbs and chop them finely. Add them to the mayo and put it in the refrigerator.

Cut the fennels in half and the cut them very finely, preferably on a mandolin slicer. Mix the fennel and ¾ dl of the herbal mayo. Season with extra lemon juice.

Upon serving:
Divide the herring fillets and lay 2 halves on each slice of bread. Put the fennel with the herbal mayo on top and sprinkle extra herbs on top.

Recipe created by Mia Kristensen.

/Signe