Recipe: Flæskesteg – Danish Pork Roast

Recipe: Flæskesteg - Danish Pork Roast

Flæskesteg is a classic Danish roast, usually served with boiled potatoes, caramelized potatoes, gravy and cooked red cabbage (or on a piece of rye bread with red cabbage, as I recommend in this post). Flæskesteg is still a popular dish, particularly for Sunday dinner among the older generation, and some people in Denmark eat flæskesteg for Christmas.

Flæskesteg is not easy to find in the U.S., mainly because you need to buy a piece of the pork neck or breast with the rind still attached. As a result, my flæskesteg recipe substitutes the traditional cuts with with a piece of pork belly, which is cheaper and easier to find.

My mum discovered that a great place to find pork belly for flæskesteg is at the “Mulberry Meat Market” on Mulberry St. between Canal St. and Bayard St., in New York’s Chinatown. Just walk to the back where the guys are slicing the meat and ask for a big piece of pork belly, and they will custom slice to the size you want.  I usually get a piece that is approximately 13” x 7”. The slab sometimes has bones, which you can tell them to keep or remove. My husband loves the bones so I always keep them in the cut.

Recipe: Flæskesteg – Danish Pork Roast

Recipe by 2 Hungry Birds – Tina Course: Dinner, roastCuisine: Denmark
Servings

16

servings

Flæskesteg is a classic Danish roast, usually served with boiled potatoes, caramelized potatoes, gravy and cooked red cabbage (or on a piece of rye bread with red cabbage, as I recommend in this post). Flæskesteg is still a popular dish, particularly for Sunday dinner among the older generation, and some people in Denmark eat flæskesteg for Christmas.

Ingredients

  • 4.5 lbs 4.5 pork belly (13″ x 7″ cut – ask you local butcher to cut it for you)

  • salt

  • bay leaves

  • Optional ingredients
  • 2 2 carrots, chopped roughly

  • 1 1 onion, chopped roughly

  • 2 2 sprigs of fresh thyme

Directions

  • Preheat the oven to 482 °F (250°C).
  • With a sharp knife, slice grooves into the rind of the pork belly with a knife, at about ¼ inch spacing. Slice the rind only – if you slice through the meat, juices will run out and make the rind soft instead of crispy.
  • Place the pork in a roasting pan with the rind facing downwards. Boil water and pour it into the pan just enough to cover the rind.
  • Insert the meat on the lower shelf for about 15 min. in the oven.
  •  If you want to make gravy with the meat juices, you can add chopped carrots, onion, and fresh thyme to the water in the roasting pan. If you just want to eat the meat, you can skip this step.
  • After 15 min in the oven, remove the meat and place a grill on the roasting pan. Place the meat on the grill with the rind side upward. Rub plenty of coarse salt on the pork belly rind, including the spaces in the sliced grooves. The salt will make the rind crispy. Stick a few bay leaves in between the grooves in the rind, and reduce the oven heat to 320°F (160°C). Be sure to level the meat as much as possible before putting back in the oven. You can use foil under the flæskesteg to make it level. This will help ensure the flæskesteg is evenly roasted.
  • Roast the flæskesteg for about 50 min in the oven, or until the internal temperature reaches 130 °F (160°C). Be sure to add more water to the roast pan if the liquid disappears.
  • Set the oven temperature to 482 °F (250°C). Choose an oven setting with a heat source above the meat (instead of below), such as Roast, Grill, or Broil.
  • Put the meat in the middle shelf of the oven and roast until the internal temperature reaches 158-167 °F (70-75°C). Keep and eye on the flæskesteg to make sure that the rind is not burning. It can be a little challenging to make the rind crispy.
  • Remove the flæskesteg from the oven and let it rest for about 10 min. Do not cover the meat since the rind will turn soft.
  • Cut the meat until right before you are about to serve the food. The meat will turn grey if you cut it too early. Cut into the meat through the grooves that were previously made in the rind.
  • If you are making gravy, decant the fat out of the liquid and strain the rest into a pot. While heating the gravy in the pot, mix ¼ cup of water with about two tablespoons of cornstarch, stir well, and then pour into the pot with the gravy. The gravy should slowly thicken. If you want the gravy thicker, repeat with water and cornstarch. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Recipe: Cold Rhubarb Soup with Ice Cream and Figs

Recipe: Rhubarb Soup with Ice Cream and Figs

Tina: The first time I heard the term “rhubarb soup,” I couldn’t help but feel skeptical about whether it could possibly be a real, appetizing dish. I was introduced to this culinary curiosity by my Danish friend Anne. She’s the same friend who once mistook a toilet brush for a dishwashing brush while showing her American kitchen to her visiting mom – a mishap that hardly boosted her culinary credibility. Nevertheless, Anne surprised us all by proving she had legitimate skills in the kitchen. Not only did she serve an extraordinary main course, but she also followed it up with a dessert that was nothing short of amazing: rhubarb soup.

To say that rhubarb soup is one of the best desserts I’ve ever tasted would be an understatement. The soup was a harmonious blend of tartness and sweetness, offering a refreshing finish to a sumptuous meal. In fact, the experience was so delightful that I am seriously considering stocking up my freezer with rhubarb just to ensure I can recreate this mouthwatering dish out of season.

So, if you’re in search of a dessert that’s both refreshing and effortless to prepare, don’t hesitate to try rhubarb soup. The recipe is straightforward, and the end result is nothing less than heavenly. Even if you’re skeptical at first, like I was, this dish is certain to win you over with its unique, delicious flavors.

Recipe: Rhubarb Soup with Ice Cream and Figs

Recipe by 2 Hungry Birds – Tina Course: DessertCuisine: Denmark
Servings

6

servings

Indeed, rhubarb soup turned out to be one of the best desserts I have ever had, so hurry up and make this dish because it is wonderfully refreshing and really easy to make. I would even stock up my freezer with rhubarb so I can make this dish again, even when rhubarb isn’t in season.

Ingredients

  • Rhubarb Soup Ingredients
  • 2 lbs 2 (1kg) rhubarb, , cut into
    ¾ inch pieces

  • 8.8 oz 8.8 (250 grams) sugar

  • 2 2 vanilla pods, flaked and vanilla beans scraped

  • 10 oz 10 (300 ml) water

  • Caramelized Figs Ingredients
  • 3 3 dried figs

  • ½ tablespoon ½ butter

  • 6 scoops 6 vanilla ice cream

  • 6 sprigs 6 mint

Directions

  • Clean and cut the rhubarb into 3/4 inch pieces, and throw it in a pot with water, sugar, whole vanilla pods and scraped vanilla beans. Heat the mixture in the pot and let simmer for about 10 min.
  • Strain the rhubarb liquid (the ‘soup’) into a bowl, and transfer the rhubarb pieces that are retained (the ‘compote’) into another bowl, removing the vanilla pods. Let both bowls cool off in the refrigerator for a few hours or over night.
  • Cut the stems off the figs and flatten each fig so the stem is centered. Cut the figs into small “pizza slices” for a consistent look. Heat the butter in a small pan and sauté the figs for a few minutes or until browned. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel.
  • Divide the cold rhubarb soup into six bowls or deep plates, and add the compote on top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Sprinkle with caramelized figs and garnish with a sprig of mint.

Recipe: Pannukakku – Finnish Oven Pancake

Recipe: Pannukakku - Finnish Oven Pancake

When it comes to making brunch, one of my simple pleasures is cooking something that looks and tastes great, but is really easy to make. 

It’s hard not to love pancakes for brunch, but if you are like me, you prefer to start with a more savoury breakfast followed by a little something sweet afterwards as a dessert. Making traditional pancakes from scratch can be a little messy and time consuming, so I don’t make them often – and when I do, I make a big batch and freeze the extra. Yes, I have my lazy moments!

Our friends Filiz and Gregg invited us for a delicious brunch a couple of months ago. Filiz (who is a beautiful and very talented artist) baked a Finnish pancake for us, which I have never tried before. It was the most delightful pancake I have ever had. It looks and tastes amazing, yet it differs from traditional pancakes with a more custard-like and spongy consistency. I have since served this dish a few times for big groups of friends and it has always been a hit. It is such an easy dish to make that it would be a shame not to try and make it. Thanks Filiz for the inspiration.

Recipe: Pannukakku – Finnish Oven Pancake

Recipe by 2 Hungry Birds – Tina Course: DessertCuisine: Finland
Servings

8

servings

Pannukakku (Finnish Oven Pancake) looks and tastes amazing, yet it differs from traditional pancakes with a more custard-like and spongy consistency. I have since served this dish a few times for big groups of friends and it has always been a hit. It is such an easy dish to make that it would be a shame not to try and make it.

Ingredients

  • 3 3 eggs

  • ½ cup ½ sugar

  • 1 teaspoon 1 salt

  • cup all-purpose-flour

  • 2 cups 2 milk

  • ¼ cup ¼ butter

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 375 °F (230°C)
  • In a medium bowl stir together sugar, flour, and salt. Add in the eggs and milk. Use an electric mixer to beat until well-blended. The batter will be very thin (or at least thinner than traditional pancake batter).
  • Melt the butter in a small pot and spread/coat an oven dish; I use a 10-inch x 6.5-inch oven dish or a big quiche dish. Make sure to cover all the sides and then stir the remaining butter from the oven dish into the batter.
  • Pour the batter into the baking pan and bake for 30 minutes. It will puff up when baking, and flatten when cool.
  • Sprinkle with a little confectioner sugar for decoration and cut into squares or wedges depending on your oven dish and serve with maple syrup and fresh berries.