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Hey guys Alicia back with another international recipe. I have been MIA for awhile because I am dealing with sciatica pain. It makes it difficult to stand for very long, so my cooking has taken the back burner while I recover.

But I still wanted to go forward with our experiment, so June is Italy. My husband has an Italian great grandmother. We were very excited to hear this because Italian food is so delicious!

​I also have a sister-in-law who is part Italian, her mother is from Italy (born and raised). They kindly shared their recipe for Tiramisu with us. It is also a coffee-free version "for those Mormons." It uses hot chocolate and it's very delicious. They made a lot of individual servings for my brother and sister-in-law's wedding, it was so good!

My husband told me he loves tiramisu, but he likes the kind made with the fake coffee. So this led me on a hunt for a recipe that would work for his desires (since he wanted it for his birthday and Father's Day). Well all the recipes I found used coffee and liquor. In the end I adapted both recipes I had to create this tiramisu that still has the coffee bite without the coffee.

The drink I used is called Pero and is actually barley based. It comes in other brands as well such as Postum, Inka, Cafix, and others. It has a very strong flavor but is caffeine free. It's a very popular drink in other countries. My husband said he had it in Chile often when he lived there. 

Tiramisu (without Coffee)

  If Mascarpone Cheese is too out of your price range (I was blessed to find it on sale), cream cheese can be substituted.

I hope you'll enjoy this coffee-free tiramisu! It's pretty simple to make and really delicious! It was all eaten at the Father's Day dinner we went to. It would be a good thing to make and snack on while you check out our new podcast "From Cover to Reel." A podcast about books and their movie counterparts, where we try to answer the question of which is better: the book or the movie? We're live on iTunes and Stitcher right now. Or you can go to our webpage on this blog to listen to our first episode. You can also listen to us on Anchor and Buzzsprout. Happy listening!

This post contains affiliate links.  If you make a purchase after clicking them, we will be compensated, but there is no additional cost to you.  All opinions expressed are our own.  Thank you for your support.​​​​​​​​

Alicia back again with another Danish recipe for you. We're Danish from my mother's side of the family, though we never really had Danish food growing up. This is probably because our ancestors moved to the USA in the early 1700's. So it's been very fun and delicious to experiment with Danish recipes this past month.

This month has been more difficult than past months though due to Danish food not being particularly common in the United States. Most of my google searches turned up Æbleskiver and Smørrebrød. So I decided to buy a Danish cookbook. I bought the kindle version of Hygge - Danish Food and Recipes. It is a great little book filled with family anecdotes and family recipes from the author Sidsel Munkholm. (And if you have Amazon's Kindle Unlimited, it's included in your subscription!)  She also has a useful index of the recipes with their english and Danish translations. Last week I made a Danish pork roast with crackling, Flæskesteg. It was a really easy recipe and very delicious! Actually, I made a few mistakes and it was still delicious! 

Flæskesteg is a dish that takes about 3 hours to cook but literally only 10 min to prepare. The tricky part will be finding the right cut of pork. Usually here in the states pork is sold without the skin on. But for crackling, you need the skin. Flæskesteg is traditionally a pork loin with skin, but can also be a shoulder roast (both boneless). I was fortunate to find a shoulder roast with skin attached at my local grocery store butcher. It did have a bone, but it was off to one side and it was a 5lb roast. So I just cut my roast in half to make two 2.5lb roasts, one with a bone and one without. If you aren't able to be as lucky as me and find the cut you need, ask your local butcher if they can help you out. You'll want a roasting dish or a glassware that has sides. I have a Pyrex set that I love. It has a smaller, shallow,  rectangle dish that is perfect for a small roast like this. I'll link to it below.

This recipe is so easy you may be wondering how I could mess it up. Well, I was out of kosher salt when I thought I had it. So I used my coarse Himalayan salt. But this was a mistake because it made the roast a little salty (you can see the clumps of salt in the picture below). Kosher salt is better for this recipe because it is flakier and will dissolve better. My second mistake was that I accidentally cut down to the meat instead of just before the meat. To get the crackling perfect, you cut grooves along the top where the skin is, but you don't want to cut the meat. Well, I did that. Next, I didn't have all my skin directly face up. This made it so one of my cracklings was not crunchy at all because it had soaked up the juices from the bottom of the pan. But despite all these failings, this roast turned out so delicious and juicy. My 3 year old son was even asking for seconds. And my husband was devouring it.

Flæskesteg- Danish Pork Roast With Crackling

Traditionally in Denmark this is served with boiled potatoes or red cabbage, and a gravy is made from the drippings. I decided to make mashed golden potatoes to go with my pork gravy. They came out beautifully and paired well with the Flæskesteg.

I hope that you are able to try this deliciously simple recipe. It's really so good! I'm thinking of making it soon. Let us know if you try it out.

This post contains affiliate links.  If you make a purchase after clicking them, we will be compensated, but there is no additional cost to you.  All opinions expressed are our own.  Thank you for your support.​​​​

Hello! Alicia here with another food from my ancestry post. This time is a little different though because I have an injury that is making it painful to stand for long. It makes cooking difficult. So although I am in the midst of my Danish month, I was not able to make a Danish meal this past week. I decided I would instead pick my Favorite meal from each month so far.

If you're new, my family has been picking one country from our ancestry every month and each week we try to make a meal from that country. It's been a very fun experiment that you can see the results from in the slideshow below. If something looks tasty to you, clicking on the picture will take you to the post where I talk about that dish! Everything has been delicious so you'll be safe with any choice!

Our first month we picked Germany mostly because I wanted bratwurst. I think Brats are still my favorite, but paired with the Swabian Potato salad. Bratwurst have the best flavor, a little spicy (not hot but flavorful), and juicy. They pair perfectly with mustard.

The potato salad was best after being left in the fridge over night. And then I ate it all! So keep that in mind if you decide to make it. It is so good!

I also loved the Black Forest Cake, and have honestly been thinking about it since I last had it. The only thing that stops me from making it again is thinking of all the calories.

This is a hard choice, but I think my favorite still stands as Encebollado. This fish and onion soup is amazing! I love the flavors. I love that it's traditionally eaten at breakfast. I love that I have cans of it brought from Ecuador every time some one visits.

Runner up would be Encocado de Camarón​. The coconut and shrimp together were so delicious!

So I stereotypically picked Ireland for March. And I'm glad I did. My favorite from this month I have made again already! Bacon and Cabbage Pie. It's actually easier than it looks, and our pie crust recipe is so delicious and easy. This also makes great leftovers, if you can get everyone to stop eating it the night you make it.

​A runner up for me would be the Irish Stew. I'd say it's practically a tie. The stew was so good. Similar flavors as the pie, but with lamb instead of pork. And it's not an Irish stew if it's not made with lamb.

There is a reason the French are known for their cuisine. They have mastered combing delicate flavors to give you an amazing experience with every bite. It makes choosing a favorite difficult. My husbands favorite from France is theBoeuf Bourguignon. A very delicious and  hearty stew, it has really deep and earthy flavors. So good.

I also really enjoyed the Gratin Dauphinois. These rich potatoes have no cheese, yet you still get a deliciously crispy top layer. And the nutmeg adds a richness and decadence to the dish.

May isn't over yet and I've only had chance to make two Danish dishes; Æbleskiver, and Smørrebrød. They were both delicious! I have made both of them twice already! I think I prefer the Smørrebrød mostly because I usually prefer savory to sweet. But this doesn't mean I'm not dreaming about making the Æbleskiver again already.

And there you have it! I hope you will try out some of these recipes, or try to find recipes from your ancestry to make. Please let us know if you do. 

And if you'd like to up your cooking skills, you may want to check out Panna! It has courses taught by Michelin starred chefs. You not only learn the recipes but tips and techniques from the pros!