I think all can agree that one of the (many) highlights of this year’s TEDxKraków was speaker Trine Hahnemann‘s delicious lunch, comprised of several varieties of smørrebrød. But do you know what smørrebrød is, exactly? Well, Trine is not only happy to tell you about it, she’d love if you made it yourself so here are a couple of recipes that she sent us to pass on to you.
But again we ask, what is smørrebrød? According to Trine: “These open sandwiches, made with rye bread, are served for lunch or dinner, the cold meal of the day. In the old days people ate very simple smørrebrød, such as rye bread with a slice of cold meat and took them to work as a packed lunch. In the early twentieth century, decorated smørrebrød became fashionable as a post-theatre late dinner and in dance restaurants, where the guests did not want to spend hours sitting down to a meal and instead wanted to spend their time dancing. Smørrebrød are delicious and luxurious but do not take a lot of time to eat and a very big part of Danish food culture.”
Rye bread
Makes 1 large loaf
STEP 1: THE SOURDOUGH
220g rye flour
300ml buttermilk
1 tsp coarse sea salt
STEP 2: THE DOUGH
750ml lukewarm water
375g rye flour
375g plain wheat flour
1 tbsp sea salt
STEP 3: THE LOAF
500g cracked whole rye
50ml lukewarm water
2 tsp salt
STEP 1: Mix the rye flour, buttermilk and salt in a bowl. Cover with foil and leave for 2 days at room temperature (25–30°C). And there you have a sourdough starter! But be careful – if the temperature is too low, the sourdough will not develop and instead will go off. If this happens, you have to start again. Or if you’re lucky enough to have a proper bakery nearby, ask the baker if he or she can give you a dollop of their sourdough starter (don’t be shy, bakers are usually very generous!).
STEP 2: In a large bowl, dissolve the sourdough starter in the lukewarm water. Add the rye flour, wheat flour and salt and stir with a wooden spoon until you have a runny dough. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and set aside for 12 hours at room temperature. I normally do this around dinner time so that it can sit overnight, then I can do step 3 the next morning.
STEP 3: Add the cracked whole rye, lukewarm water and salt to the dough and stir again with a wooden spoon until the rye grains are evenly distributed. Now take 3 tablespoons of the dough, add 2 tablespoons of coarse salt, and save in a container in the refrigerator ready for the next time you make rye bread. It will last there for up to 8 weeks. Remember to do this every time you make rye bread and you will not need to make the sourdough again.
Pour the rest of the dough into a non-stick loaf tin measuring 10cm wide x 29cm long x 9cm deep. (If you do not have a non-stick loaf tin, grease the inside with a little oil.) Cover the tin with a tea towel and leave the bread to rise for 3–6 hours, or until it has reached the rim of the tin. Preheat the oven to 175°C and bake the loaf for 1 hour and 45 minutes. When it is done, take it out of the tin immediately and let it cool on a wire rack.
Beetroot and Apple Salad Smørrebrød
Serves 4
Ingredients:
2 medium size beetroot, about 350 grams
1 apple
2 tablespoons freshly grated horseradish
4 tablespoons Greek (thick) yoghurt
1 tablespoon capers
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Directions
1. Boil the beetroot in lightly salted water for 20 minutes, allow to cool down, then peel and cut into small cubes.
2. Cut apples into the same sized cubes as the beetroot and mix with beetroot, then add the yoghurt, capers and lemon juice.
3. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Place on 4 pieces of rye bread and serve right away.
Potato and leek on rye bread
Serves 4
Ingredients
8 medium size potatoes
4 tbsp mayonnaise (see recipe below)
1 leek, rinsed and sliced thinly
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and freshly grounded pepper
Directions
1. Rinse potatoes and boil potatoes, cool down an cut into slices
2. Take the basic recipe for mayonnaise and stir in the lemon zest.
3. Pan-fry the leek slices in olive oil until crisp. Sprinkle with salt
4. Place the potatoes on the rye bread, put a tablespoon of mayonnaise on top and then some of the fried leek. Finally, sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Basic Mayonnaise
Ingredients
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup of olive oil or grape seed oil
Directions
1. Mix egg yolks, mustard and lemon juice in blender or food processor.
Add oil VERY SLOWLY in a light stream while continuing to blend. That’s it!
Enjoy! And be sure to keep an eye out for more of Trine’s recipes over the next few weeks!
