Denmark - the land of butter, heavy cream, and MEAT

Last week we completed our last stop of our International Food Challenge. We had a much easier time finding recipes from Denmark than our previous countries and actually used several recipes from the Foreign Ministry's website. We loved the food from this country the best; however, in some ways we had to compromise our desire to eat "healthy" food as each course was filled with either eggs, heavy cream, butter, or red meat. But we both agreed that the taste was worth the calories - at least this once.

We started out with some creamy mashed potatoes topped with bacon and onions (sauteed in the bacon fat of course) and then helped ourselves to some beef and pork meatballs. Then we wrapped things up with a bowlful of creamy rum pudding. While we may not repeat these recipes regularly - we are looking forward to a get together with friends to share these recipes... especially the rum pudding!

So what is next for the Tour de Palette? We have subscribed to Cook's Illustrated and want some added motivation to try out some of the recipes. For July, we will cook through the 10 featured recipes of the magazine. This week we are doing corn chowder and panzenella - looking forward to sharing our experiences with you!

Side Dish: Burning Love - Brændende kærlighed

Taste: 4.5 out of 5
Difficulty: 2.5 out of 5
Tip: whipping up the potatoes in the food processor saves a lot of time and makes it nice and creamy

3 medium sized potatoes
1 tablespoon butter
About 1/6 pint heavy cream
3 thick rashers of fat bacon
1 onion
Salt
White pepper
Pinch of nutmeg

1) Peel the potatoes and place in microwaveable bowl. Fill with water to cover potatoes and microwave until tender (5 minutes in our microwave).
2) Put potatoes, butter, and cream in food processor and chop until smooth. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
3) Dice onions and bacon and fry in pan together until cooked (it smells amaaaazinng).
4) "Pile" the mashed potatoes onto plate and create a well in middle to place the onion, bacon, and some fat if you are feeling ambitious. 


Main Course: Meat Balls - Frikadeller

Taste: 3 out of 5
Difficulty: 2 out of 5

1/2 lb. ground beef (ground steak or chuck)
1/2 lb. ground lean pork
1/3 cup flour
1 teasp. salt
½ teasp. pepper
1 small onion, grated
1 egg
2/3 cup milk

1) Mix the first six ingredients then add eggs and milk.
2) Form into small meatballs and fry in butter until brown. Turn down the heat and cover to cook thoroughly.

Dessert: Rum Pudding - Romfromage

Taste: 4 out of 5
Difficulty: 4 out of 5
*disclaimer: we really played around with this recipe. We recommend trying out the original recipe from the website - but ours turned out well too! Our version does not have the gelatin in it - we substituted instant pudding gelatin-free mix for the sugar and gelatin.

2 eggs, separated
1 box trader joe's instant pudding
1/4 cup milk
1 ½ ounces rum
1/2 cup whipping cream, whipped

1) Beat egg yolks
2) Mix pudding mix with milk, egg yolks, and rum - let stand until it begins to thicken
3) beat eggs whites to stiff peaks and beat whipping cream until whipped
4) fold egg whites and then whipped cream into pudding mixture
5) chill for an hour or until firm