So I entered a recipe competition on Food Network in the category of “Exotic Food”. Being Danish the latest thing in the food world is known as the 'Nordic Cuisine’ fashion.
This recipe is inspired by ‘The Nordic Cuisine’. Many people don’t understand it yet. Perhaps it’s just the fact that I see my Scandinavian roots so much more clearly after settling in the United States.
The recipe is seeking back to the ‘forgotten’ and commonly used ingredients that we now know Vikings would eat as a part of their meal – herbs, flowers, spices, meats and marrow that were all a vital part for them.
It is vital to the philosophy behind this recipe to use ingredients of what’s around us; in the meadow. The garnish (everything is eatable) acts as spices and sweeteners to compliment the marrow and meat. Even the mead is made from honey from a variety of flowers from the meadows and was a favored drink of the Vikings.
The use of uncooked, fresh garnish preserves the natural flavors and nutrients in the dish allowing for each piece of food to play their own part, rather than ‘spicing it up’ where every bite tastes the same or cooked to bits. As you eat you can combine the flavors to your liking so every bite is different making dining an experience.
Ingredients:
Marrow
Veal marrow ½ lb.
2 oz Goat butter
Smoked salt
Veal marrow ½ lb.
2 oz Goat butter
Smoked salt
Sauce
3 cups of Mead; a Honey based wine (750ml bottle)
3 cups of water
2 lbs veal osso buco
3 pieces of marrow
Salt and pepper
1 large white onion
½ table spoon Dijon mustard
1 table spoon sweet mustard
½ table spoon honey
2 oz goats butter
2 red beets
3 cups of Mead; a Honey based wine (750ml bottle)
3 cups of water
2 lbs veal osso buco
3 pieces of marrow
Salt and pepper
1 large white onion
½ table spoon Dijon mustard
1 table spoon sweet mustard
½ table spoon honey
2 oz goats butter
2 red beets
Eatable greens:
8 Dandelion leaves
Daisy pedals of 2 daisies
4 Tulip stalks (preferably not in bloom)
8 Dandelion leaves
Daisy pedals of 2 daisies
4 Tulip stalks (preferably not in bloom)
This is how you go about it:
Brown the osso buco in goat’s butter. Peel and cut onion and beet in large dices and brown a bit with the meat. Add mead and water. Let it boil for 1½ hour under a lid. Remember to remove foam from the mix during the first hour of boiling. Strain into a smaller pot. Set aside 10 pieces of beet for the plates. Keep the meat warm until the sauce is ready by wrapping in tin foil and place under a heating lamp.
Add ½ tablespoon of Dijon, 1 tablespoon of sweet mustard and ½ table spoon of honey. Reduce sauce to a 'jellyish' texture.
Push out the marrow of the bone gently. Cut the marrow in quarter inch slices. Freeze for 45-60 minutes. Cook marrow on very hot skillet in goats butter for 1-2 minutes on each side. Sprinkle with smoked salt.
Cut the tulip stalks to remove the outer tough ‘skin’ on the tulip. Rinse the dandelion leaves and pick the pedals from the daisies.
Leave garnish raw and crisp.
DINNER - by Dad is served
I'm not sure where to begin here. I will begin with the greens: The tulip stems have the flavor of fresh cool green peas, the beets hold the flavor of the onion and the mead wine, the daisies hold the flavor taste like a peppery cress and the dandilion leaves taste similar to arugula but less bitter. On to the meat and the sauce... I cut a piece of the veal and a small piece of the marrow and dipped it into the sauce which had a sweet flavor. the contrast of the marrow which was buttery in texture but flavored with goat butter and oak smoked salt and then the flavor of the veal with a hint of sweetness was just a flavor combination i've never experienced before. I then began mixing pieces of the veal with the tulip stems and tasting each item seperate and together. The bitter with the sweet, the tart with the tender and peppery, the honeys with the meats and peppered flowers. The only way to experience a meal like this is to try it. It just can not be explained other than it was just extraordinary and left us begging for more!
ReplyDelete