Lately, I have been trying my hand at Danish cuisine. Why? Well this summer I will be going to visit my other home in Copenhagen for the very first time. You see I imported myself a hubby from Denmark and I have been wanting to give him a little taste of home. Also, to practice cooking Danish food so I can (hopefully)  impress our friends and family in Demark.

He has been a good sport in teaching me the ways of the Dane, including not laughing too hard when I try to speak Danish with my American accent. Except when I mispronounce words (some of them sound almost the same!) like somehow “pillow” was coming out of my mouth as “f*cking”.  We made a series of funny phrases a while back called Dare to Danish.  Head on over if you want to learn to speak some Danish.  Be warned that these lessons will probably get you some weird looks… or more likely a kick in the butt.

In the meantime, I’m going to teach you a little Danish here today.
The word Bikse loosely translated means “to throw together”
The word Mad means “food”
Put them together and you have Biksemad (pronounced Bic-sa-mel) which means “thrown together food”

Every time we cook a roast, especially a pork roast, Biksemad comes up as a possibility to deal with the leftovers.  In Denmark, Biksemad traditionally is all the leftovers bits from a roast dinner: Meat, Potatoes, Carrots, Onion, Gravy… etc. all thrown together and topped with a fried egg.  Typically sweet pickled beets are served on the side along with a little ketchup.

Last night we had a lovely pork roast, baby white potatoes and onions with a chanterelle mushroom gravy.   I thought I would give Rasmus a little taste of home with my own take on Biksemad.  I used our leftovers, put them into individual serving dishes, cracked an egg over the top, baked it and topped it with fresh herbs and a little Tuong Ot Toi (Vietnamese Garlic Chili Sauce… yes yes I know it’s not very Danish but it’s sooo good and besides this is my own spin on Viking leftovers)  This isn’t so much a recipe as it is a process of well… throwing things together.

Biksemad

• 4 to 5 cups of Left-overs, roughly chopped to bite sized pieces (any Roast Meat & Vegetables)
• 1/2 to 1 cup of Left-over Gravy
• 4 Eggs
• 2 Teaspoons of Tuong Ot Toi – Vietnamese Garlic Chili Sauce
• 4 sprigs of Fresh Herbs, any will do I used Rosemary

Preheat oven to 350°. Start out by warming up the left over meat & veg in a skillet on the stove top or int he *gasp* microwave until warm to the touch.
You can make this in one casserole pan or by using individual serving dishes, just give them a swipe with some olive oil to prevent it from sticking.
Now toss the leftover Gravy with the warmed up leftover roasted bits of Meat & Veg until everything is evenly coated.  Pour it into the baking dish. Crack your eggs over the top and place it in the oven for about 12-15 minutes to set the egg white.  You should be left with a lovely runny yolk.
Take out of the oven and top each egg yolk with a 1/2 teaspoon of Tuong Ot Toi and finish it with a garnish of fresh herbs.

You can certainly sub the Tuong Ot Toi with Tabasco or Ketchup if you wish.

The mix of the rich yolk breaking down and coating all the rest of the ingredients adds a luxurious decadence to this dish.  The tangy heat from the chili sauce just elevates the flavor and bring the whole thing alive.  Really truly great comfort food, brought to you by your local Viking-wife.

So you remember that Truffled Herb Butter we made a little bit ago right?  Well allow me to give you a turkey recipe that will make your eyes close and roll back up in your head while you uncontrollably go “Mmmm mmm MMM!” between bites.

Imagine a Turkey Breast that is juicy, succulent and melts in your mouth.  No really!  I’m not joking it’s possible… take a deep breath and open your mind.  Imagine mingling flavors of herbs, trace hints of earthy aromatic white truffles dancing around with the butter and natural juices of your Turkey.  Now imagine all that goodness spilling out on to carrots, potatoes, leeks… well pretty much any roastable vegetable you want to stick under it.  Now imagine a Turkey Breast that is quick and easy to prepare but tastes like you spent hours and will leave a lasting impression on those who nom it down.  Say it isn’t so?  Well…

Imagine no more and get your roast on.

Truffle & Herb Roasted Turkey Breast

• 1 recipe of Truffled Herb Butter
• 1 split Turkey Breast, bone-in and skin on, washed and patted dry
• 4-5 cups chopped Roasting Vegetables – baby potatoes carrots, onions, leeks, parsnips, celery, etc. cut no more than half inch thick
• 2 Tablespoons Fresh Herbs, plucked from stems (I used rosemary, oregano, thyme & sage)
• Olive Oil, for drizzling
• Pinch of Sea Salt

Preheat your oven to 350.  Prepare a sheet pan with parchment paper.  Spread chopped vegetables on the parchment paper, then randomly sprinkle on your whole herbs (if you don’t have fresh you can use dried).  Now drizzle a little Olive Oil onto the vegetables and give them a quick toss to coat.  You do not want to over oil them as the juices of the Turkey will come down and join the party while it roasts.  Set this aside.

Now we move over to the Turkey Breast.  Slide a finger up under the skin to make a pocket, yeah it’s a little icky feeling up under there but it’s worth it.  Now take your Truffled Herb Butter and jam it up under the skin.  Press it around and get it in there really good.  Rub any excess you have on the outside of the skin.  Place the Breast on the vegetables, bone side down and skin side up.  Place in the oven and roast uncovered for 45-55 minutes (depending on the size of your breast).  Remove and let it rest uncovered for 5-10 minutes to let the juices settle.  Remove the bone and slice into portions and serve with the roasted vegetables. Serves 4

***Cook’s Note: You can sub out Chicken Breast and you could certainly use this as a treatment to a whole Chicken, Cornish Game Hen or even holiday Turkey.
You can easily double this recipe, and I would highly suggest it since between 2 people we… well we indulged.  Who am I kidding we could not stop eating this and it left us short for having Roast Turkey sandwiches the next day.
***Additional Note:  You don’t have to have truffles to make the butter, check out the Truffled Herb Butter link for alternative suggestions.