# Julefrokost
Danish Christmas lunch is just as important as the preceding dinner, and is usually held on Christmas or Boxing Day. Many restaurants serve this resplendent Cold Table during the week before Christmas.
The following recipes for Christmas lunch may also be extended to other times of the year.
Pickled herrings (Marinerede sild)
4 salted herring fillets
¾ pint (4 dl) vinegar
3-4 tablesp. water
About 4 oz (100-125 g) sugar
1 ½ tablesp. whole allspice
1 tablesp. Colman's mustard
Small piece of horseradish
1 small carrot, finely sliced
3 pieces whole ginger
1-3 bay leaves
2 teasp. white peppercorns
2-3 red onions or dill
Soak the herrings in water or milk for 8-10 hours, or until as salty as desired.
Boil up the remaining ingredients (excepting the onion or dilI) in the water and vinegar and cool.
Cut the herring filIets slantwise into about 1 inch (2 cm) pieces and cover with the cold liquid.
Leave for 18-24 hours.
Decorate with finely sliced onion rings or chopped dUl before serving.
Salt herrings in mustard sauce (Sennepssild)
4 salted herring fillets
I tablesp. white wine vinegar
2 tablesp. sour cream
3-4 tablesp. olive oil
1 tablesp. sweet mustard
1 tablesp. dark French mustard
About 15 white peppercorns
1-2 bunches dill
Prepare the herrings as in the last recipe, but cut into smaller pieces and lay them like whole fillets on a flat dish.
Beat together the vinegar, mustard and sour cream, and gradually add the oil until the consistency is that of thin mayonnaise.
Season with the crushed peppercoms and pour over the herring fillets.
Decorate with freshly chopped dill, or stir a little dried dill into the sauce.
Herring salad (sildesalat)
2 salted herring fillets
The same quantity of pickled beetroot and sour apples
Cucumber vinegar
Salt and ground white pepper
Colman's mustard
½ pickled ridge cucumber
Beetroot vinegar
Mayonnaise
Soak the herring fillets to remove the surplus salt, and place them in the cucumber vinegar.
Leave for 18-24 hours.
Cut the herrings and beetroot and sour apple into fine strips.
Flavour the mayonnaise with the spices, the cucumber (mashed through a parsley mill) and the beetroot vinegar.
The mayonnaise should be just thick enough to bind the filling, and very strongly spiced.
Curry salad (karrysild)
2 salted herring fillets
The same quantity of cooked tongue or ham
2-3 tablesp. cream
Chopped whites of 4 eggs
Mayonnaise
Curry
Ground white pepper
Blend the mayonnaise with the cream until soft, and season with the curry powder and pepper.
Soak the herring fillets to remove the surplus salt and chop finely.
Add them to the mayonnaise together with the finely chopped meat.
Leave in a cold place for a couple of hours and season again if necessary.
Just before serving, add the chopped egg-whites and decorate with hard-boiled and quartered yolks.
Luncheon meat balls (frokostfrikadeller)
Forcemeat:
½ lb (¼ kg) lean pork
½ lb (¼ kg) beef or veal
About 2 dl milk or water
1 egg
1-2 tablesp. (40 g) flour
1 small onion
Mince the meat (if not already minced) together with the onion and beat all the ingredients together in a mixer, if available.
When beating by hand it is easiest to beat the egg and liquid separately, afterwards adding it to the meat alternatively with the flour and spices.
Leave the forcemeat in a cold place for at least 20 min.
The forcemeat may be spiced with curry or paprika to add a piquant flavour. Form with a teaspoon and fry in browned butter until cooked through.
Serve hot.
Roast tenderloin of pork (helstegte mørbrad)
3 pork tenderloins (or 2 veal tenderloins )
Salt and ground black pepper
Dried fennel
Butter for frying
2 tablesp. water
3-4 tablesp. cream
4-5 onions
Soy sauce
Clean the tenderloins, removing the sinews, beat lightly with the fists and sprinkle with salt, pepper and fennel.
Brown in a pan with plenty of butter, add the water and cream, cover, and simmer for about 6-7 min.
Take out the meat and place in an ovenproof dish.
Meanwhile, peel and chop the onions finely and brown in butter until just golden, adding a little water to keep them soft.
Boil up the onions in the gravy from the meat, adding a little more liquid if necessary.
Season with salt, pepper and soy sauce.
Pour the onion sauce over the meat, place on an asbestos mat, cover with a tightly-fitting lid and simmer until tender over a gentle heat.
Bacon and apples (æbleflæsk)
20-30 rashers of lean fresh bacon
3 lb (1 ½ kg) apples
2-3 onions
Fry the fresh bacon in a roasting-pan in the oven at 340°F (160°C) until crisp. Pour off the fat at intervals.
Quarter the apples, removing the core, and cook them until soft in the bacon-fat - adding sugar to taste.
Peel and slice the onions and brown in butter until just golden, adding a little water to keep them soft.
Place the bacon and apple in an oven-proof dish and serve with rye-bread.
Liver paste (Leverpostej)
1 ½ lb (700 g) pig's liver
10 oz (300 g) suet
2 oz (50 g) butter
2 oz (50 g) flour
¾ pint (4 dl) milk
2 eggs
Salt and ground black pepper
Powdered thyme or marjoram
Pass the liver and the suet separately through the mincer a couple of times.
Make a Bechamel sauce with the butter, flour and milk and melt in the suet very slowly, stirring constantly.
Cool and stir in the chopped liver.
Season with the salt, pepper, and thyme or marjoram and beat in the eggs one at a time.
Bake in the oven in a water-bath at 350°F (175°C) for about 1 hour until set.
When raw the liver paste is very suitable for freezing down, and may be placed in the oven directly from the freezer and baked 1-1 ½ hours at 340°F (170°C).
Leverpostej
Bacon, karse
Brawn (Sylte)
This belongs to the traditional Christmas table.
1 pig's head with ears
1-2 hocks
Salt and ground black pepper
Allspice
Wash the pig's head and hocks, divide into pieces, scrape and cover with cold salted water.
Bring to the boil, removing the scum, and cook until very tender (2 ½-3 hours). Leave to cool.
Take out the meat, slice off the skin finely and line a dish with the skin and ears - the latter are regarded as a great delicacy.
Remove the meat and fat from the bones, cut into cubes and mix well together.
Place a layer of meat and fat in the bowl, sprinkle with a mixture of salt, pepper and allspice, and repeat until the bowl is full.
Strain the soup, boil up and pour over the meat until covered.
Press lightly and leave in a cold place until set.
Turn out on to a dish and serve with rye-bread, strong mustard and pickled beetroot.
Chitterlings (Finker)
1 pig's kidney
1 pig's liver
1 pig' s heart
The same quantity of suet
15 shallots
2 large, sour apples
Thyme
3-4 bay leaves
Salt and ground black pepper
Worcestershire Sauce
Clean the offal and boil until tender together with the shallots, thyme and bay leaves.
Mince the suet and melt down very slowly to form greaves.
Pour off half the fat and fry up the finely sliced apple in the pan with the greaves.
Meanwhile chop up the offal finely, mix with the greaves and season with salt and pepper.
Cook well through, season again if necessary and add a little Worcestershire Sauce. Serve with rye-bread.
Pig's trotters (grisetæer)
3-4 pig' s trotters
Salt
15-20 white peppercorns
4 bay leaves
Gelatine
1 sliced onion
Vinegar Water
Split the pig's trotters, scrub, scrape and scald.
Cover with 1 part of vinegar to 2 parts water, adding the remaining ingredients, and boil up.
Remove the scum, and simmer until tender for about 2-3 hours, removing any further scum during the cooking.
Place the trotters in a dish.
Boil up the soup and stiffen with gelatine according to the instructions on the packet, and pour into the dish to cover the trotters.
Serve with rye-bread and lemon or vinegar.
Pickled beetroots (Syltede rødbeder)
2 lb (1 kg) beetroots
1 ½ pint (¾ l) vinegar
About 7 oz (200 g) sugar
2-3 thin slices horseradish
1 tablesp. pickling spices
Preservative follow the instructions on the bottle
Cook the beetroots until tender, rub off the skins and slice thinly.
Lay the slices in a scalded jar.
Boil up the vinegar with sugar and spices, remove from the heat and add the preservative.
Pour over the beetroots.
Leave to stand for a few days before serving.
South Jutland sour rib (sønderjysk surrib)
12-16 rashers fresh bacon
Gelatine (see the instructions on the packet)
Salt
15-20 peppercoms
4 bay leaves
1 slice onion
Vinegar
Water
Cut off the bacon-rinds, cover the bacon with 1 part vinegar to 2 parts water, add the onions and spices and boil for about 15 min.
Lay the bacon rashers in a dish.
Skim and sieve the liquid and boil up.
Stiffen with the gelatine dissolved in a little water and pour over the bacon. Leave to cool before serving with rye-bread, vinegar or lemon.
And, moreover,
the Danish Christmas table also includes rolled, spiced cold meat, salami, boiled tongue, Italian salad and a few good cheeses.
