More Bang for Your Buck(Wheat!)

Scandinavegan Presents: Buckwheat!

en del af 11 i 2011

First of all, I want you to know that this is not a fraught story, like the last one about buckwheat. I went to the store, planning to buy buckwheat flour, bought it, came home, and made vegan blinis. Simple as that.

But blinis you say, that sounds Russian. I thought this was a Danish blog. Well, Danes like buckwheat too! My Danish friend G made blinis last time B and I visited, and explained that Danes always eat them when it's just the beginning of spring. She served them with creme fraiche, chopped red onion and Danish caviar. I served mine with homemade tofu creme fraiche and red onion. You know what Danish caviar is? It's lumpfish roe. (We thought we heard wrong too, but that's really it. Lumpfish).

Anyway, here's the recipe. It was delicious.

Vegan Blinis (makes about 10)

2 tsp. lemon juice
1 cup or so plain soymilk
3 T soy flour
5 T buckwheat flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. ground flaxseeds
1 T oil (plus a little more for the pan)

Measure out the soymilk and stir in the lemon juice; then set it aside to curdle. Meanwhile, begin heating a large skillet, and grind your flaxseeds if they aren't already.

Combine the two flours, baking powder, and salt.

Stir the ground flax and oil into the curdled soymilk.

Vigorously whisk in the dry mixture. It should be pretty runny; if it isn't, add a bit of water.

Oil your skillet lightly and pour in about 2-3 T batter. It will run all around and start setting up straightaway. Cook for about 90 seconds on each side.

Serve hot, with creme fraiche and chopped red onions.

Eat and be happy for Danish springtime!

Two Take in Tulips

It's spring! Well, it's almost spring if you're American and have been taught that spring begins on March 21st. If you're Danish, though, you know that spring begins on March 1st, so even if it's snowing and raining at the same time, it's totally reasonable to ditch your hat and eat ice cream. If you're a studious scientific type, searching for hard evidence to back up claims of spring, you might be kind of disappointed.

But.

There is good news. There are more birds! And there are tulips! Like me, Danes love all bulb flowers. They are everywhere. Observe and rejoice.

Here's a tiny bonus farmers' market next to Domkirken.

This Danish man is rightfully proud of his wares.

Tulips and daffodils for sale on Strøget.

B peruses the display outside a fancy Danish florist. Danish florists are all super classy.

This florist has "Excellent Fresh Danish Tulips!"

Because the thing is, as the great H. C. Andersen said,
"At leve er ikke nok, man må have solskin, frihed og en lille blomst."

Or, for my English-speaking friends,
"Just living is not enough, one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower."