Smørrebrødis a classic Danish dish, essentially an open faced fish sandwich. The spicy romelaude is a wonderful accent to the mild fish underneath.
It’s time for another round of Secret Recipe Club, and this time I am kind of letting loose. It has been a few months since you have seen a Secret Recipe Club post on here, mainly because I realized December was a busy month and with all of my personal plans, plus things I wanted to have on my blog, there wasn’t enough time to devote to another persons blog to make a good SRC post. And that’s what I want to talk about today. Good SRC posts.
Secret Recipe Club is a really neat idea for food bloggers, anopportunityto branch out and discover someone new and new recipes. You are assigned a blog to go look around, pick one recipe from it, and post that recipe on a certain day at a certain time. It has grown to four large groups and a has a lot of fun bloggers participating. I think the idea of being assigned another blog should be considered a challenge to yourself.
I have never cooked Danish food, but when I was given Gitte’s blog, My Danish Kitchen, Iimmediatelygot excited. Sure, it’s easy to be overwhelmed by a new cuisine and pick a simple recipe off of someone else’s blog that you know isaccomplished. But what’s the point? I guess if I wanted to run an easy blog, everyone one of my posts could be right off the back of the Betty Crocker box too, but that’s not what I feel my food blog is about. I started digging through Gitte’s collection of classic Danish recipes, reading about their origins, traditions and ever doing a little wikipedia searching on the side – because that’s what I feel a good SRC post should entail – actually getting to know the other blogger.
Gitte moved to Americawith her husband and raised a family, learning to cook without her family nearby, admittedly making mistakes along the way. I can’t imagine what learning to cook would be like in a country that wasn’t my home – especially in our American markets packed with all sorts of random ingredients and boxed foods for so long and such little ‘real’ or ‘organic’ options. She persevered and embraced cooking rather then giving up, so I thought it would be a disservice to her blog to try anything less then a classic Danish recipe.
I see this a lot though with SRC members – a blogger will pick the most recent post, obviously rushing to have something up in time. I think that is down right rude to the person you were assigned to. You couldn’t make time in a month to sit down and flip through their blog? Then don’t be in the club. Unless the latest post was the most delicious looking thing ever, and it scratches your plans, just take a few minutes to look around.
If your recipes don’t have basic instructions, temperatures, times,measurements– you are not doing anyone any favors. Sure a lot of cooking is a dash of this and a pinch of that, but if you want me to recreate something from your site, I need a little something to base a recipe off of. If you don’t have the time to sit and catalog your recipes in a way that makes them easy to find or searched, I’m probably not coming back. If you really are a food blogger, you can make time for the little things that make your site a value to its readers.
I realize that SRC posts may get a boost in traffic to your blog on a specific day, and that can be desirable, but if you want me to comment make it worth my while. Don’t just post a picture with a link back to someone’s site saying it was tasty. Don’t leave comments on my site telling me to come see your post. I probably already did, or will, and if I don’t have a comment, I’m not leaving one, but I certainly wouldn’t walk into your kitchen and tell you to come check out mine without having a real conversation with you. “Yummy, come see my post!” does not count as a real conversation. If anything, it just gets you marked as spam on this page.
I feel that Secret Recipe Club is a greatopportunityfor bloggers on all levels. Let’s not water it down so that it’s not fun any more. If you don’t have the time to give one post out of the month 100%, then I really don’t feel you should be joining clubs.
I do not want my SRC rant to take away from the blog I was assigned this month, and is no way directed at that blog, just at some of the SRC drama I’ve noticed in the last few months.
There were a lot of beautiful recipes that had mytaste budscurious. The classicDanish pastry,Wienerbrød would have pleased my boyfriend, but I wanted something a bit more savory.
I have just recently discovered a love for fish sandwiches, and with Lent right around thecorner, I thought thisSmørrebrødwas a fitting meal.
“Smørrebrød(originallysmør og brød;Danishfor “butter and bread”) usually consists of a piece of buttered rye bread, a dense, dark brown bread.Pålæg(literally “on-lay”), the topping, then among others can refer to commercial or homemade cold cuts, pieces of meat or fish, cheese or spreads. This daily practice is the base on which the art of the famous Danishopen sandwich,smørrebrødis created: A slice or two ofpålægis placed on the buttered bread, and thenpyntet(decorated) with the right accompaniments, to create a tasty and visually appealing food item.” Wikipedia
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from My Danish Kitchen
Ingredients:
For theRemoulade:
- 1/2 cup sweet relish
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1 1/2 teaspoonsyellowmustard
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
For the Fish:
- 3 tbs vegetable oil
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 teas water
- 1 cup bread crumbs
- salt and pepper
- 2 lbs fresh bass or flounder, cut into even fillets
- Rye bread, sliced thin
- lettuce
- Dill andradishes, for garnish
- lemon wedges
Preparation:
For the remoulade:
Drain the relish with a cheesecloth or in several heavy duty paper towels.
In a small bowl, combine dried relish, mayo, mustard, and sugar in a bowl and mix to combine; cover andrefrigeratea few hours to let the flavors come together.
For the fish sandwich:
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
While the skillet is heating, pat fish dry with paper towels.Organizetwo bowls near your stove top, and on plate lined with paper towels so that you have your work area asefficientas possible.Place egg and water in one of the bowls, whisk to combine. Place bread crumbs, salt and pepper in the other; mix to combine.
Dip the fillets in the egg and then coat with bread crumbs. Place in skillet and cook 3-5 minutes per side depending on thickness, until golden brown. Remove from skillet and lay on your plate lined with paper towels to absorb any excess oil.
Meanwhile, toast the bread.
Serve open face style on toasted bread with lettuce and top with remoulade, radishes, fresh dill, and a lemon wedge.
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