michael archon sequoia nielsen

My 30th birthday was last friday and I made a viking inspired dinner for
my family:

1. salad with shrimps
2. honey marinated pork with wholegrain bulgur with honey and nuts and
coleslaw
3. cranachan
4. for the coffee afterwards, an almond/marzipan tart

Well, the basic theme was honey, I guess

1. Appetizer

The appetizer was simple: 3 types of lettuce arranged on dessert plates,
with finely chopped leeks and some cucumber and tomato on top and
finally a handful of shrimps. A dressing made from creme fraiche,
tomato paste, honey, and lemon and salt.

2. Pork

7 hours in advance, marinate the pork tenderloin with: 2-3 tbsp of honey
2/3 cup dark malty beer, 1 tbsp ground onion or leek, a pinch of dried
rosemary, 4 tbsp oil, and 1 tsp salt and ground pepper. Roast the pork
for 4 hours at 125 C/250 F. Divide each tenderloin in 2 (calculate 1/2
tenderloin per person).

2. Bulgur

Boil the 250 gram bulgur in double amount of water (by volume) tender
for 10-12 minutes. While doing so, chop a handful of hazel nuts or
almonds and roast in butter. Fold it and 3-4 tbsp of honey into the bulgur.

2. Coleslaw

grate by hand (tedious) or in food processor 1/4 white cabbage, and 3
carrots. Dice 2 apples. Stir the marinade: oil, honey, white wine- or
apple vinegar, salt, pepper. mix with the cabbage and refrigerate.

3. Cranachan

In advance make some shortbread: whip up 12 oz butter with 4 oz sugar.
Knead in 12 oz flour and 4 oz cornflour. shape the dough like a sausage
(1 inch thick). Slice thin slices of it and bake at 375 F/190C.
Arrange a handful of raspberries in each dessert portion bowl. Roast a
couple of handfuls of oatmeal. Mix a pint of heavy cream with 1 tbsp of
heather honey, 1-1.5 tbsp of whisky (I use Chivas Regal 12y). Whip it
stiff. Fold in the oatmeal.

4. Almond/Marzipan tart

Dice 100 gram (4 oz) butter. Knead it into 150 gram (6 oz) flour. When
it is crumbly, add 1/2 egg (whisk it together in a bowl and pour half),
and 2 tbsp sugar. Refrigerate 30 minutes. In a tart dish, spread it out
and make sure it goes up the sides and is not too stretched too thin.
Make some holes with a fork and cover with a sheet of baking paper which
is then covered with a handful of rice. Bake at 190 C/375F for 20
minutes until golden. throw away the paper and rice. Let it cool. Then
cover the bottom with marzipan. Whip up a cup of heavy cream with a cup
of mascarpone cheese (or just a pint of cream) with 1 tbsp vanilla
sugar. Fill it into the tart over the marzipan. Make some chocolate
sauce from 2 oz (50g) dark chocolate (e.g. Lindt 70%) and 1-2 tbsp
cream, melt it together and let it cool. Decorate the cake before it is
too stiff. Sprinkle chopped almonds on top.


I got a pen tablet, so I can draw more easily, and I did an experiment
with flash animation:

http://www.cvmt.dk/~mnielsen/rabbit.html

and drawing freehand:

http://www.cvmt.dk/~mnielsen/images/evilax.jpg

--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Music, Recipes, Photos, and more:

http://www.sequoiagrove.dk

"You don´t frighten us, English pig-dogs! Go and boil your bottoms, sons
of a silly person. I blow my nose at you, so-called Arthur-king, you and
all your silly English kaniggets. Thppppt!"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

michael archon sequoia nielsen

Boil and reduce marinade to half and use as a sauce.

--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Music, Recipes, Photos, and more:

http://www.sequoiagrove.dk

"You don´t frighten us, English pig-dogs! Go and boil your bottoms, sons
of a silly person. I blow my nose at you, so-called Arthur-king, you and
all your silly English kaniggets. Thppppt!"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

jke

Congratulations! Your meal sounds highly appealing.

So bulgur is a viking thing ?

And this is the first time I've seen a recipe for Cranachan that involves
baking/baked goods. What I'd seen used plain oatmeal and whiskey as a drink
(and probably sugar, I don't recall). Maybe I'm confused, though.

michael archon sequoia nielsen

I had this bulgur dis at a viking museum once. Wheat was not the
viking's most common grain, so they probably used barley in the same way.


Only the shortbread is new to me. I've always mixed honey and whiskey
into the cream before whipping it, and folded the roasted oatmeal into
it (btw I use a large grain oatmeal, but that crumbled tiny stuff).

--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Music, Recipes, Photos, and more:

http://www.sequoiagrove.dk

"You don´t frighten us, English pig-dogs! Go and boil your bottoms, sons
of a silly person. I blow my nose at you, so-called Arthur-king, you and
all your silly English kaniggets. Thppppt!"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

jke

"Michael Archon Sequoia Nielsen" <mnielsen@DELDELDELcvmt.dk> schreef in
bericht news:450840ff$0$75039$14726298@news.sunsite.dk...


That's very interesting. Bulgur is precooked wheat, I believe. So do you
happen to know if the Vikings had precooked grains that just needed soaking, like bulgur does?

Can you clarify? Do you use the large grain or the fine stuff?

michael archon sequoia nielsen

Bulgur in DK is described on the package as "broken wheat grains" and
comes in full grain and fine (I use full grain). No soaking involved,
but needs to boil 10-12 minutes. Vikings *may* have used precooked and
dried barley for preservation purposes (as it is known that they used
drying for preservation in general).

I can best describe them as large "flakes" (larger and thicker than the
more common oatmeal used for porridge and with milk for breakfast).

--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Music, Recipes, Photos, and more:

http://www.sequoiagrove.dk

"You don´t frighten us, English pig-dogs! Go and boil your bottoms, sons
of a silly person. I blow my nose at you, so-called Arthur-king, you and
all your silly English kaniggets. Thppppt!"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

jke

"Michael Archon Sequoia Nielsen" <mnielsen@DELDELDELcvmt.dk> schreef in
bericht news:4509198b$0$75034$14726298@news.sunsite.dk...

Hm. I wonder if your and my bulgur are the same then, but they probably are.
I have always thought of them as Middle Eastern/Arabic, but that doesn't
mean the Vikigns didn't have it.

Thanks for those details. Sounds like the oats I get at the health food
store,. I usu[pect the English term is rolled oats, But mMy package just
says: havermout (oat meal, I suspect, or oats).

Anyway, I think your meal sounded wonderful. I wish I had been there