Ham Croquettes ( Croquetas de Jamón) Spain

Ham Croquettes or "Croquetas de jamón"

Croquettes exist in every country in varied forms.  Many are made from potato, others are made of bechamel sauce and then filled with fish, chicken, ham or almost anything that might make the filling flavorful.  Today, these croquettes are a typical favorite of all times in Spain and are also considered a " tapa" which if you travel to Spain you will see that all the bars, cafes and restaurants have a selection of varied 'Tapas" which traditionally are light appetizers  to keep you going before your main meal.
INGREDIENTS
Two hard boiled eggs
 1 cup of Serrano jam cut up in small pieces ( use cheap cuts of this jam)
Flour  (as needed)
Milk   ( as needed)
Butter (one stick or 1/2 cup)
Salt  to taste
1 or 2 eggs
Bread crumbs
Oil to fry
METHOD

Bechamel sauce

Final paste with pieces of ham

Place in a large frying pan one stick of butter to melt.  You will then add one tablespoon at a time  flour so that you make a consistent paste.  Next you slowly add milk stirring continuously so that yo always have a nice smooth paste that as you add milk and stir and it cooks it will become  a nice thick and smooth  cream.  Once you have achieve the consistency you need to form the shapes of the croquettes,  you will then add the chopped jam and the chopped hard boiled eggs.  Place then on a large plate to cool for at least one hour.
Once the paste has cooled, beat a couple of eggs in a small bowl.  On a plate put one cup of bread crumb, then take small portions of the paste with two teaspoons and make the shapes then, drop in the egg mixture and coat well. From the egg you transfer to the bread crumbs and coat well.  Then fry in a small frying pan with sufficient oil or you can use a fryer.  Drain well from excess oil and enjoy!!!!

Kanelsnegle ( Danish Cinnamon Roll)

Kanelsnegle (Danish Cinnamon Rolls)

I am thinking Christmas. I am thinking sweet yummy gifts. Nothing better comes to my mind this week that some wonderful, soft, warm, delicate, full of butter and cinnamon Kanelsnegle. Kanelsnegles in Danish, Kanelbulle in Swedish, Skillingsboller in Norwegian, are all the original Cinnamon roll that have come to us in the United States through our ancestors. The difference between one and another is not much. The Swedish recipe does not call for an icing or glace on top, rather sprinkles of pearl sugar. Pearl sugar is hard to find in the US. You may have to order it online, although I know IKEA used to carry it. The Danish version is topped with a shrill of icing. All these Scandinavian recipes have some cardamon, which comes from the family of the ginger.  I have made Cinnamon rolls for many, many years, especially on Sundays when my kids were little and we would eat them for dinner. 

Bertha Marie Jensen

Today, 15 days left till Christmas, I will honor my great-grandmother, Bertha Marie Jensen, whom of course I have not met but have been told much about.  She came from Aarhus, Denmark to the United States with her parents around the age of 10 or 11.  Since my grandmother was then half Danish, I know that many of my childhood eating habits must have been Danish.

INGREDIENTS
3 tablespoons of  dry active yeast (if used a rapid rise yeast, the time for rising will be reduced to half the time)
1/3 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of butter
1- 1/4 cup of warm milk
Place all these ingredients together in a bowl.  Cover with a cloth a place to rise in a warm place for 15min.( quick rise yeast) 30 minutes for a regular yeast.
I a large bowl mix
5- 1/4 cup of flour
1 teaspoon of salt
teaspoon of cardamon
After the yeast mixture has fermented and doubled its size mix in this mixture
2 beaten eggs

Then add to the flour and knead for about 5 to 10 minutes

If you have used the rapid rise yeast you can roll out into a rectangular shape the dough.  If you have used the regular rise yeast you will have to let rise in a bowl for 30 minutes till it has double its size and then roll out the dough.

Once you have the dough rolled out into a rectangular shape you will add about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of soft butter, spreading it all over the dough and then sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.

Following you will roll together into a long tube shape and cute into equal sizes.
Place on a cookie sheet and let rise again covered with a cloth in a warm place till the rolls have double in size.

Remove cloth and with one beaten egg brush the tops of the rolls. Bake till golden for about 10 minute in an oven of 425 degrees F.

Once done cover with a glaze made with confectioners sugar, butter, vanilla extract and  milk to an almost liquid consistency.  Best when served warm.

Salted Cod with Garlic and Tomatoes ( Bacalao al Ajo Arriero)

BACALAO AL AJO ARRIERO

Salted Cod with Garlic and tomatoes

This recipe originated when mule carriers would transport seafood from the province of Vizcaya in northern Spain, in the Basque country to inner provinces away from the ocean through mountains and country side.  They would bring with them salted cod as this was a way to preserve fish and they would desalted in the rivers and mince into a frying pan and cooked with olive oil, plenty of garlic, tomatoes and bell peppers with a touch of red pepper.

INGREDIENTS

Five to six pieces of Cod

One head of Garlic

Olive oil

Red bell peppers

One small glass of white wine

One small can of tomato sauce

( or) 4- 6 ripe tomatoes

Salt  to taste

Red pepper

You may garnish with one hard boiled egg

 

You will boil the cod in salted water.  Once cooked you drain well the water and you break up the Cod in small pieces.  In a large frying pan you saute a small head of fresh garlic in olive oil. Then you add the tomatoes and the bell peppers chopped in small pieces.  Add wine and red pepper and salt if needed.  Once it has started to boil add the broken pieces of Cod.  Let all cook for about 15 to 20 minutes.  Serve with bread and garnish with hard boil eggs.

English Trifle

English Trifle

BRITISH FOOD

Flapjacks, caramel chocolate squares, ginger malt bread, Christmas pudding,

minced meat pies and gooseberry ones in hot custard are just a few of Britain’s favorites. 

But I must not forget the wonderful trifles prepared each Sunday by lovely families that would have us for dinner.

Food, I adore food, but only the exquisite, well done.Yes, you must let yourself be a little hungry to get the full effect.
                                                                                                        Lily Ann Graff


Another English recipe, Trifle.  This is as popular in England as Apple Pie is in the US.  English love this dessert made of custard, sponge cake, jelly and cream.  The first time in history that we know about this dessert is in 1596 in a book published "The good huswife's Jewell" by Thomas Dawson.  This one consisted of a thick custard with Rose water,ginger and sugar.  Sixty years later milk was added and liquor  to the sponge cake.  This later recipe is the one that has come to us in these days with added modifications like layers of gelatin and fruit.  The earliest know recipe that we know with gelatin is from 1747.  The poet Oliver Wendell  Holmes mentioned  trifles that contained jelly in1861.  Today it remains  true to the homes of every English family that I have visited in the two years of daily interaction as a missionary in England.
There are different variations of the recipe.  I will share two.

Ingredients
 2 or 3 Bananas
 One small bag frozen raspberries
 One package lemon jello
 One package raspberry jello
 One package sponge cakes or
 Half a pound cake  ( you can buy it or make a small pound cake)
 Vanilla custard recipe
Heavy whipping cream
chocolate flakes or almonds for garnish

You will follow the directions on how to make the lemon jello.   Once done you place slices of bananas evenly and the frozen raspberries previously cooked for 8 min. with 1/3 cup of sugar.
Cool and refrigerate till firm.
Follow the directions of the raspberry jello, then add this mixture to the set lemon jello and add slices of the sponge or pound cake evenly so that it will look attractive.  Cool and refrigerate till firm.
Make one recipe of a vanilla custard ( you use if you want a recipe of Bird's English custard).  When done spread evenly on top of the two jellos that are already firm.  Let cool and refrigerate.
By now you should have a total of three layers.  You will finish the recipe by whipping till stiff some heavy cream.  Place this last layer on top and garnish with chocolate flakes or toasted almonds and serve.