Aebleskiver - Apple "Pancakes"

Lisa's Aebleskive Pan and finished "product" in Royal Copenhagen China!

My Father (a Dane) introduced my daughters (Louise and Lisa) to Aebleskiver (apple pancakes) when they were very little and Lisa now makes them for her family (see Photo!). This recipe is from Nordic Ware and when I get home (we are travelling for 6 months) I will update this with my Father's/Mother's version of it....

Ingredients

2 eggs separated

2 tbsp. vegetable oil

1 1/2 tsp. sugar

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp. tsp. baking powder

1 cup milk (or buttermilk in some recipes)

1/4 tsp. salt.

In medium bowl beat egg yolks until light in color, stir in sugar. Stir together remaining dry ingredients; add to egg mixture. Alternately with milk mix in oil, in a separate bowl beat egg whites until stiff; fold into batter. Bake aebleskiver in the proper pan and turn them with a knitting needle or wooden spoon. Yields about 28.

Aebleskiver may be filled with 1 small slice of fresh apple, a small cube of cheese or 1 tsp. of jam.

Spinach Shells with Tomato Sauce

This is a favourite recipe I have adapted over the years and I love it because it is so easy. It can be prepared a day or two in advance and can be frozen and pulled out for unexpected occasions when you need a quick lunch.

Ingredients

20 Jumbo Pasta Shells (cooked and cooled)
2 packages of frozen chopped spinach (thawed)
1 15 ounce container of Ricotta cheeze (part skim or not)
1 26 ounce can or bottle of pasta sauce (I like Healthy Harvest Garlic Lovers)
4 ounces of shredded mozzarella

Drain the spinach and mix well with the ricotta cheeze. Stuff the cooked shells with the spinach and ricotta mix - it should be possible to stuff all 20 shells. Place a thin layer of pasta sauce on the bottom of the microwave and/or oven safe ceramic or glass dish, and put the stuffed shells on the pasta sauce - one layer of shells only. Cover the shells with the rest of the pasta sauce and drizzle the mozzarella on top. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 375 F or until warmed through. I microwave half orders for 7 minutes each and it seems to be just about right...

Aunt Kirsten's Turkey Stuffing

This is a recipe that Aunt Kirsten taught me when she came to visit us in Perdido Key (Jan 2009). It is a stuffing that is placed into the neck end of the turkey and it is very rich. It helps the turkey to brown so you do not need to baste it. We made the turkey with my "Canadian" stuffing in the belly cavity and her Danish stuffing in the "neck" cavity. I wish I had taken a picture of the bird but I have one of my Aunt Kirsten instead. Here is the recipe as I caught it ....

Ingredients

1/2 cup half and half (or cream if you want to be really rich)

1/2 cup room temperature butter

20 almonds, skinned, and slivered

zest of one lemon

1/2 cup currants (we couldn't find any and it was okay anyway)

1.5 cups whole wheat bread bits

pinch of salt and pepper

1 egg yolk

Mix all ingredients in a bowl until fully incorporated and becomes a wet, lumpy paste. Mixture should be quite wet but still holds together as a wet, lumpy paste (best description - sorry it doesn't sound appetizing)

Smoosh (is that a word?) it into the neck cavity and pull the skin over top of it and attach the skin to the bird with short skewers (or sew it up) so that the paste does not leak out during cooking. This may require one person to hold the bird upright and the other to stuff and then skewer (or sew) up the neck skin to the bird. We stuffed the belly cavity with the Canadian stuffing first and then held the bird upright to get this stuffing in...it was a hoot!

The Danish stuffing is very good and has a nutty flavour.

Crock-Pot Apple Crumble

This is a recipe I have adapted over time and it is sooooo easy...

Ingredients

6 apples

1/2 cup brown sugar (or suger substitute)

1/2 cup orange juice

1/2 cup cranberry juice

1.5 cups bread crumbs and 1 slice small torn rye or whole wheat bread pieces (if you have some to use up)

2 tablespoons melted butter (or canola oil)

1 cup cranberries (fresh or frozen)

zest from one lemon and from one lime

juice from one lemon

Core the apples and chop into pieces (about 1/2 inch in size), place in a large bowl.

Add the sugar, cranberries and the lemon and lime zest and lemon juice to the apples bowl.

In another bowl combine the bread crumbs and bread pieces with the melted butter.

Spray the crock pot (works best in the smaller crock pot as in photo) with cooking spray and put one third of the bread crumb mixture on the bottom, layer one half of the apple mixture, then the next third of the crumb , then the final half of the apple mixture and cover with the last of the crumbs. Pour the orange juice and cranberry juice over the top and cook on high for three hours. Watch the mixture so it doesn't over cook and burn on the sides (turn to low if it looks like that is happening).

If you only have orange juice or cranberry juice and not both one or the other will do but must add to 1 cup.

Serve with low fat ice cream and enjoy!

Red Cabbage

Mother used to make red cabbage every year with Christmas dinner - it was a tradition and seemed to go so well with turkey but it also can go amazingly well with roast pork tenderloin. Here it is, as I recall it...

Ingredients

1 head of red cabbage
enough water to cover the cabbage in the pot
1 cup of cranberries (whole or in canned cranberry sauce)
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
pinch salt and pepper

Thinly slice the cabbage so that the bits are long, fairly thin and stringy. Cover the cabbage in a pot of water to boil and add the other ingredients. Simmer until cooked well. The cranberries will give the finished dish more of a red than a blueish tinge. Mother liked that better!

This can also be used cold as a garnish for open faced sandwiches.

Cucumber Salad

Ingredients

1 english cucumber
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup water
2 teaspoons sugar
pinch of salt and pepper

Peel the cucumber and slice it into very, very thin slices. Mix the vinegar, sugar, water and salt and pepper together in bowl. Place the slices in the bowl with the wet ingredients and then place a weighted down (mother used a small stone) plate over top of, and resting on, the cucumber slices overnight in the fridge.

Use as a garnish for open faced sandwiches or as a salad side with dinner. Adjust the sweetness or tartness to your own preferences. You can use artificial sweetener if you wish to replace the sugar.

Frikadeller - Lean Pork Burgers

Ingredients

one pound ground pork (ground tenderloin is the leanest )
one medium onion finely chopped
one egg
pinch salt
pepper to taste
pinch of garlic powder (optional)

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl and form into thick patties
Grill on flat grill until cooked through.

Serve hot with small roast potatoes, green, garden fresh, beans, cucumber salad (see recipe) and light gravy or serve cold, sliced thinly, on open face rye bread sandwiches (smorrebrod) garnished with cooked red cabbage (see recipe) or sliced pickled beets.