Earth Hour, did you do your part? We were the appetizer course for our third progressive dinner on our street and our course fell right on Earth Hour! We were ready, candle light, a wood fire in the fireplace, and gas cooking! It was lovely. We made Sopa Azteca (tortilla soup) but I didn’t write the recipe down (great excuse to make it again). But I did snap a cool photo of it, by candle light of course. Photo with Camera Amazing by Smug Mug and a little digital correction by Art Studio, all on my iPhone!
I used a hybrid of Rick Bayless’s Sopa Azteca and the one I previously posted.
Now you must be thinking that I’m obsessed with Ebelskivers. No, please don’t think THAT — it’s pretty harsh, don’t you think? Well, I have been making a lot of these wonderful Danish treats (see this recipe and this recipe), but I just can’t help myself. Allow me to explain: Way, way back in time, it was Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Tuesday. Of course, that cold February day, I sleepily stood in front of the freezer wondering what we should have for dinner. Completely forgetting about Pancake Tuesday and I took out two 100 g servings of Salmon.
Fast forward to dinner time, and AHHHHHK! It finally hits home that it’s pancake Tuesday and we NEED to eat pancakes. But what about the salmon? We had plans on Wednesday so I couldn’t put it off; I had to create the savoury Ebelskiver Salmon with Spinach and Dill! Quite clever, don’t you think? Without tooting my own horn too much, I really MUST tell you this is one of the BEST versions of this Danish pancake I have made so far. It’s the BEST JERRY, THE BEST!
Savoury Ebelskiver: Salmon with Spinach and Dill with a Dijon Dill Béchamel Sauce
Makes 8-10 round Ebekskivers
Filling Ingredients:
- 40 g onions (few tablespoons)
- 20 g spinach (a good handful)
- 2 tbsp fresh dill, finely chopped
- 200 g Fresh or canned Salmon without skin, roughly chopped into 1-2 cm bits)
- 1 tsp EVOO
- Ebelskiver batter (below)
- Dijon dill béchamel sauce (below)
Filling Directions:
- Heat the EVOO and cook the onions until soft and translucent, add the spinach and wilt. Set aside to cool completely. In the meantime make the batter.
Basic Ebelskiver Batter Ingredients:
- 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 large egg, separated
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1/2 tsp salt
Directions:
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt, set aside.
- In a small bowl, lightly whisk the egg yolk, then whisk in the milk and melted butter. Add the yolk mixture to the flour mixture and, using a wooden spoon, stir until well blended. The batter will be lumpy.
- In a clean bowl, using an electric mixer on high speed, beat the egg whites until stiff, but not dry, peaks form. Using a spatula, fold about one-third of the egg whites into the batter to lighten it, then fold in the rest just until no white streaks remain.
- Fold the cooled wilted spinach, onions, dill and chunks of salmon, and mix thoroughly.
Ebelskiver cooking directions:
- Preheat oven to 325°F.
- Spray the ebelskiver pan with a good squirt of non-stick spray and place over medium heat. Add about 1/4 cup batter to each round as soon as the pan is quite hot. Maintain the heat at medium, you don’t want to burn the ebelskiver edges before the insides get a chance to cook.
- Cook until the bottoms of the pancakes are lightly browned and crisp, 3-5 minutes. Using a fork, gently push the ebelskiver until it entirely turns around in the pan and the uncooked portion is now facing the bottom.
- Transfer the finished spheres to a platter and finish baking in the oven while you repeat to finish the batter (about 10-12 minutes).
Serve hot with a Dijon Béchamel.
Dijon Dill Béchamel
makes 1/2 cup
Ingredients:
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp flour
- pinch of salt and pepper
- 2 tbsp fresh dill, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1/2 cup milk
Directions:
- Melt butter in a small sauce pan. Add the flour and stir until well combined. Cook this flour paste but don’t allow it to brown. Add the Salt and pepper.
- Slowly add the milk whisking to combine and cook this mixture until smooth and thick, stirring constantly. If it’s too thick, just add a bit more milk and stir until hot.
- Remove from heat. Add the mustard and the dill and whisk until smooth.
- Serve warm over Salmon Spinach and Dill Ebelskivers.
- Enjoy.
We purchased this salmon well before the hoopla about Canadian Salmon having a fish influenza virus.
[…] myself the same question…and if you’re interested in the other posts, please click here, and here and here. Remember that I have my dear friend Barb (from Profiteroles and Ponytails — […]
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[…] back in March, we held our second progressive dinner on our street and it happened to fall right smack in Earth Hour? Our course was the appetizer and I […]
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That looks incredible! I can probably eat more than four. Looks delicious Eva!
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Thank you kindly Uni.
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Hi Eva, another delightful looking ebelskiver. Something I have, as yet, not tried myself. Those tortilla “twirly things” as someone already described them are sheer awesomeness too – great serving idea. I count eight people to dinner, is that right? I hope you didn’t have too much washing up to do afterwards – I’m sure your guests were well satisfied though with your meal 🙂
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Thank you kindly Charles, yes indeed there were eight of us, but fortunately I only had the one course so it wasn’t too bad.
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The scene from Seinfeld made this post even better 🙂 I love Seinfeld, the only sitcom I’ve actually enjoyed.
Back to your recipe for Ebelskiver, which I still cannot write correctly without looking, it looks amazing.
I just don’t know why you don’t have a show on TV, some of your stuff is miles apart from angry Gordon Ramsey and all those other celebrity chefs.
I love the way you arranged the meal, those towers. So fancy.
Can’t wait to see what you’re making for your Easter menu.
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You are making me blush, Tudor, I am very flattered by your lovely compliments, thank you.
That soup did indeed work out very well, and I will have to make it again and jot down the recipe for the blog, it had a real depth of flavour and I loved the garnishes too. The tower was fun, although they were a bit of challenge to make.
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I don’t know where to start — everything looks so good. You must have some Danish blood in you ….given your obvious love of the ebelskiver. Your salmon-inspired version looks really, really good. I would like a bite right now. I’m also in awe of your spiral tortilla in that sopa. Wow!
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This is such a gorgeous dish, that I want to buy this pan right away. You are such a genius Eva, to turn up something so delicious at such a short notice. Brilliant post!
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Our snow is slowly melting, but it’s still full fledged soup weather! And yous ebelskiver creations sounds fantastic! Love the pairing of dill and salmon…especially encased in a pancake 🙂
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Thank you so much Liz. We’re heading up north so there will be even more snow, but luckily it’s not that gross dirty stuff in the city.
Yes, the savoury ebelskiver was a nice change, thank you for your lovely words.
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that filling? Oh my. I have no words- I am just drooling and now my stomach is growling-I should be in bed but now I am thinking of this!
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You are far too kind, Jessica. I hope you have a chance to try making something with one of these pans, the kids would love ball pancakes, for sure.
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Hi Eva, I can’t wait to try this out!
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Thanks so much, welcome to my blog.
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You are welcome! Happy eating! http://www.segmation.wordpress.com
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That next to last photo has my swoon dial pointing to ecstasy. You could entice me to do just about anything for that.
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Wow, that is some compliment Maureen, thank you kindly.
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Eva, I should send you an Ebeskivers cookbook I was given. I don’t have the pan but I think it would be more useful to you since you have one. Would you like it? 🙂
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Oh my goodness Lorraine, that is incredibly generous of you. Thank you, so much.
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This is a great combination Eva! And you can whip up as many different ebelskivers as you want. I’m all for ’em! Beautiful soup dishes too. The tortilla in the center of the soup is just gorgeous! You always go all out and it’s so much fun to see…even if from afar. 🙂 Cheers!
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Thanks so much Kristy, I always have fun going all out although these curly-cues were definitely a challenge. I’ll try to perfect the method and post the recipe one day.
The ebelskivers were very tasty and I will surely make them again, thanks for your lovely words.
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Oh Eva I bought the Ebelskiver pan about a year ago and am too chicken to learn how to do it right. Your recipes might be the motivation I need to try.
Thanks for the posts.
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Now that’s restraint Ruth, not sure I could last that long with a new kitchen gadget! There are several tutorials on line but to be honest my experience has been to find a method of flipping that suites your style and stick with it; it’s one of those thing that practice make perfect. The flipping is really the hardest part.
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Seriously, Eva, this looks amazing and I’ve just finished eating a huge dinner, lol. I love your sense of humor.. and I love that clip from Seinfeld, I remember that one! And your little furry friend.. looks like he would love a little evelskiver himself! As would I.. just sayin’. We were at a folk concert so had no control over the light situation there, if we were at home, we would definitely had the candles out. xx
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Thank you so much Barbara, we’ve been out on Earth Hour and it’s always disappointing, restaurants never dim their lights to our satisfaction, do we prefer to be at home. It was a blast eating by candle light.
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That does look the best all rich and delicious 🙂
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
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Thank you kindly CCU.
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wow these savoury ebelskiver with salmon look droolworthy drizzeled with the DD bechamel sauce. Bet the sauce would go wonderfully with some potato pancakes too.
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Thanks Angie, that’s very nice of you. They were very tasty and I know JT would gladly have had some potato pancakes.
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These are GOLD Eva…GOLD I tell ya!! 😉
Earth hour? hmmm missed that one…a big thanks to American media I guess.
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OMG! I burst out laughing when I read your comment! Thank you.
This is interesting, not one American had heard of Earth Hour, yet it is world wide. It started in Sydney, Australia in 2007 http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Hour. We participate every year if we are home.
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Eva, you’ve managed to combine some of my very favourite ingredients in this delightful dish… very clever indeed how you worked the different elements together here. Salmon and dill are a match made in heaven and particularly nice in the spring I find with dill’s lovely fresh taste. I like the sounds of your béchamel sauce too – so reasonable and fully satisfying I bet… great version Eva!
Yes, I never get away with not observing earth hour in this house… my sons keep me honest 😉 and that’s a good thing! (love the squirrel… noticed him/her right away – they always put a smile on my face. Now if I could only be that poised and balanced ;-)).
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Thanks Kelly, it did indeed work out very well well.
I’m so glad you’ve heard of it and participated! We love taking part too. Toronto had a 7% reduction over last year during earth hour, how did Ottawa do?
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Definitely and Ebelskiver after my own heart! These look amazing, Eva, and I’m actually loving all of your variations. So what is Earth Hour? I’ve not heard of it. Love the corkscrew deco on your soup for the event.
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Thank you Betsy; I thought Earth hour was world-wide, I guess not. At 8:30 to 9:30 we were asked to reduce the use of electrical lights. Toronto as a whole came in at a 7% reduction over normal usage, but even better, “we beat last year’s drop with a total reduction of 205 MW or approx. 92,000 homes!”* It’s super fun to serve and eat by candle light.
*from Toronto Hydro’s twitter feed
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We have Earth Day in April, which I do believe is worldwide, but I don’t think we have Earth Hour. Congrats to Toronto for the participation and result, and thanks for the explanation!
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Toot your own horn? If I could create something this good, Eva, on such short notice, I’d be shouting it from the rooftops! Your ebelskivers look great, the filling is such a great mix of ingredients and flavors, while that dill sauce sounds like it’s the perfect accompaniment. (I’m stealing your dill sauce by the way.) And you’re certainly on a roll! How creative are the spiral-y tortillas in your sopa? I’m sure your guests were suitably impressed — and rightly so!
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Thank you kindly John you are so very flattering. Please do ‘steal’ the dill sauce, it’s not as tangy or healthy as your yogurt dill sauce, but sometimes you just need rich and creamy!
Thank you too for your kind words John, those curly cues were a royal pain to make, but I had beginners luck and I only broke two of them when taking them off the cannoli forms.
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These ebelskivers look extraordinary, indeed. I can believe they were the best! Fish and dill and mustard+dill béchamel can only give terrific results. Even though I’m not a big fan of salmon, I must admit it adds a lovely colour to what I imagine as an exceptional snack.
The squirrel looks really crazy!
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Thanks Sissi, this is a nice way to enjoy salmon for a brunch because the dill and mustard really play into the flavour so it works incredibly well. Thank you for your lovely words.
Yes, the squirrel is rather squirrely!
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You sure are getting your money’s worth with your ebelskiver. Those salmon balls look wonderful, like that you added spinach to the filling, 4 for me please. Great shot of the squirrel, how long did it pose for you?
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Thanks Norma, yes Barb should be very pleased that her gift is being utilized so much! Who would’ave thunk it? Mr. Squirrel posed like that for quite some time, I was able to run to get my phone and snap a few pics of him. And it’s not the first time I’ve seen them do it. Rather odd, but somehow acceptable for a squirrel!
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What a fun post Eva. I so love that little tortilla twirl on top of the soup and can’t wait for that recipe. Do you have a group that you do progressive dinners with often? How I miss being surrounded by other people who love to cook. I have found in Hong Kong, that most of the women dont even know where their kitchen is in their apartment. It is so sad! Now on to the main event the recipe, these look very elegant and rich with the sauce. A perfect dish to entertain with. I will have to book mark this one for later. Sorry to see there is still snow on the ground where you are but an adorable shot of your little furry friend.
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Thanks Bam, yes the dinners are always with the same four couples on the street, we change up the courses all the time. We’re all great cooks so it’s a great time eating the fabulous food!
Thank you for the lovely words.
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I’m loving your twirly tortilla thingies. I bet your guests did too. Your salmon ball thingies look wonderful. I’d be tempted to eat 4 too but I would trust your warning. They look like they would be fairly rich, especially with that yummy bechamel. I hadn’t heard about the Canadian Salmon fish flu. That’s a real bummer. I hope they get better real soon.
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Thanks Genie, they were a challenge, particularly removing them off the cannoli forms and if I oiled the form it was nearly impossible to twist the strips around because it kept slipping out of my hand. I was ready to scream by the end of it. Thank goodness I had beginners luck and 6 were good from the get go, I just had to remake 2 that smashed in the removal process. It makes a huge difference on how fresh and pliable they are too.
Yes the fish flu is a bad thing, I’m hoping we’ll be over it soon, I love salmon, particularly on the BBQ.
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