Gorms One Pot
the whole meal in one pot
ONE POT - DO'S AND DONT'S
One pot, of course, means ‘all in one pot’. It’s that simple. That’s the basic rule. However, I have made a few little rules or one pot bids for myself that form the basis of the recipes in this book. The easiest one pot is the one where all the ingredients go in at once, and then you just have to wait for the dish to be ready. But I think everyone can manage a few extra steps without it being too difficult, so for me, the different ingredients can be added to the pot a little at a time – it’s still one pot.
WHAT EVERYONE IS WORRIED ABOUT WHEN THEY EMBARK ON A GAME OF ONE POT FOR THE FIRST TIME IS…
“Is it burning?”
Yes, it can, especially if your pan may be a little thin on the bottom. Then the heat goes in too hard, just like on a summer day if you’re thin on top O
Don’t turn the heat up too high, and if it’s a recipe that requires browning, make sure to turn it down after a short time. If things are heating up, you may need to rethink your equipment. You don’t need to buy a lot of cookware, but you should have one good pot.
Everyone should own one good pot. A thick-bottomed one, and maybe even cast iron. With one of these in your collection, you can make all the recipes in this book and they will very rarely burn.
HERE ARE MY RULES AND COMMANDMENTS:
1. Only add ingredients to the pan during cooking, do not remove them. It’s a one-way street until serving. So the order in the recipe is very important.
2. You don’t have to be above the court all the time. It should be able to take care of itself, leaving time for family, your phone, a glass of wine or that last email before work is put away. So no stir-frying dishes this time around. Sit down and take a seat.
3. One pots are great for building big flavors
4. very little and it makes for delicious meals. Therefore, it’s a great way to cut down on the meat and up the vegetables. When I use less meat, I spend the money on better quality meat. It’s full flavor value for money.
5. Check the pan once or twice along the way. Turn things around and assess if it thickens properly. Some one pots need to be cooked without a lid to get that delicious texture and creaminess. You’ll quickly find out when you check your pot.
6. It may sound strange, but red meat should generally be rinsed of blood. Not that you need to put it in a water bath, just give it a quick rinse under the tap. Blood makes the dish look messy, and it doesn’t add much flavor to the dish.
7. Be careful with the liquid. The big one pot mistake of them all is often too much liquid. You’ll be surprised what you can make do with, trust me. And it’s easy to add a little extra along the way.
ONE POT WITH PASTA
Most people who have tried their hand at one pot have tried a pasta dish as their first attempt. And it’s a great idea. It’s easy, it’s quick, and the kids are pretty much guaranteed to be on board, even if it’s all mixed together beforehand when it’s served. Sigh, by the way. I also practiced food apartheid with sharp division on the plate when I was little. Don’t worry if your kids do the same. It’s a phase. You get through.
The trick with a pasta one pot is, of course, not to overcook the pasta and end up with a big, sticky mess. And it’s easier to avoid if you use good quality pasta. So ditch the 5 euro pasta and spend a penny more. It gives pasta with bite and a much higher chance of success. And don’t be afraid to use a little whole grain pasta every now and then. Especially when it comes to the heavier pasta dishes. Wholegrain pasta is a nice change of pace in my opinion, and it provides a really good and long-lasting satiety.
Even when it comes to one pot pasta, you’ll be surprised how little liquid you actually need. So a good rule of thumb is 1 dl of liquid to IOO grams of pasta. However, if you have a lot of liquid vegetables in the dish, such as tomatoes, peppers, squash and mushrooms (which are not cooked first), it’s a good idea to add a little less water and check the pan as you go.
Similarly, a good guideline is to calculate IOO grams of pasta per person at the table. If it’s one of the simpler one pots, you can adjust up to 125 grams per person.
ONE POT WITH POTATOES AND ROOT VEGETABLES
Potatoes are fantastic in one pots. They naturally smooth the dish and provide a creamy deliciousness. They can cook for a good amount of time for more simmering dishes. And they are often the foundation of more traditional Danish recipes.
Potatoes are botanically also root vegetables, but they are unlike the others due to their high starch content, which makes them stand out from the crowd.
When we move on from potatoes and throw root vegetables into the pot, THEN things really take off in terms of flavor, color and health. So take the challenge and mix and match your way through the recipes with a variety of root vegetables.
Just because I’ve chosen certain root vegetables for a recipe doesn’t mean you can’t use others, especially if they’re just sitting in the crisper drawer getting tired. Yes, I almost think you should try it, that’s how you learn something in a kitchen.
Different potatoes and different root vegetables also have different cooking times, and it’s difficult to give you an exact guideline. But use the times in the recipes as inspiration and experiment a little.
HOWEVER, THERE ARE A FEW TRICKS I USE.
1. If I want the potato or root vegetable to cook soft and creamy, I cut it into smaller pieces and make sure it has good contact with the liquid in the dish.
2. If I want to keep the bite in the potato or root vegetable, I cut it into slightly coarser pieces and place it more on top of the dish, so it becomes more steamed than cooked. Parsnips, carrots and small potatoes can usually just be washed and added as they are, whole and beautiful.
And speaking of whole ingredients, one last thing. I’m not an eco-fanatic, but I am a bit of a lazy cook. And when my vegetables aren’t sprayed, I don’t have to peel them. Bonus: I get less waste in the kitchen, I get more vitamins that are always in the peel, I finish the dish faster and, most importantly, the cleanup is faster.
Root vegetables usually bring their own liquid to the dish and don’t absorb a lot of water. The potatoes do, which is why they are great for smoothing the dish.
ONE POT WITH RICE
Rice is wildly grateful in one pot. They easily come into contact with the liquid in the dish, and they absorb flavor with ease. Great!
So the most important thing to keep in mind when using rice is to be quite precise with your liquid in the dish, so that the rice has something to finish cooking with, but doesn’t turn to mush.
The general rule for rice is 1% dl water per 1 dl rice. When talking one pot, add an extra 1 dl of water. So for one pot, the rice rule is 2% dl water per 1 dl rice. That’s about it. But check the recipes. Just like with pasta, the other ingredients come into play.
One pot dishes with rice are often also on the quick end of the one pot world, but make no mistake. You can make rich simmering dishes if you use brown rice, barley or spelt grains. I often use it as a variation in some of the other recipes in the book, where I need to simmer a little. That way you don’t end up with potatoes or root vegetables every time you make a simmering dish.
And then there’s my little darling, the risotto rice. When I learned how to make risotto, I was told to stir it constantly, add the liquid a little at a time and never leave it. But a hot-tempered little mamma from Sicily changed my mind on a hot summer day in Rome. Add all the liquid at the same time when the wine has steamed into the rice, turn it around, let it simmer until the rice is al dente and then “air” the rice. In other words, you swirl them around in the pan, like a chef’s bladder, until they come together creamy, airy and beautiful with the cheese. I thought she was crazy, but once I tried her technique, a light bulb went off in my head and I’ve never gone back to the old way. So measure the liquid properly and enjoy while it simmers.
And if you can’t throw the risotto around like an angry mom does to her husband when he’s looked too deeply into the barolo, you can use a spatula to get the same effect.
ONE POT WITH LEGUMES, BEANS, CHICKPEAS & LENTILS
Legumes are not what we do best in Denmark. Even though they’re super-healthy, dirt-cheap and delicious as hell, well, excuse my language, but they are. If you don’t have a lot of experience using them, I can see why you would avoid them. But give them a try.
As a general rule in this book, I use dried beans that need to be soaked overnight. It’s not very practical if you just need to knock the one pot together now and then. So what I do is I soak a whole bag at a time and divide it up. 400 grams dry weight is divided into four portions when the beans are soaked. Then I know that each portion I have in stock is equivalent to IOO grams of beans in dry weight. I freeze the beans until I need them.
When I need to make my one pot and obviously haven’t soaked beans in water the night before, I just grab a couple of bags from the freezer and wupti – straight into the pot with them. They don’t even need to thaw.
Raw, soaked beans are wildly grateful in simmered dishes. They are long-lasting and can withstand a lot of beatings and heat. But you’ll also find some recipes in this book with canned chickpeas, which are quick and easy to make.
If you get the urge to invent your own one pots with beans or chickpeas, they usually need to be matched with liquid 1 to 1. That is, IOO grams of liquid (1 dl) per 1 dl. IOO grams of soaked legumes.
While it may be a foreign country to you, give it a try. Let the One Pot be your gateway to the world of legumes.
ONE POT WITH MEAT
When choosing meat for your one pot, remember to consider whether it’s a short or long simmer.
All meat contains collagen, also known as connective tissue. And if the muscle – the flesh – has moved a lot, it has built up a lot of connective tissue. If it’s a piece of meat that hasn’t been as active as a muscle, a piece of meat that hasn’t had as much movement (it could be a piece of sirloin or a piece of back meat), it hasn’t built up as much connective tissue.
Collagen often adds depth and flavor to food, but it also makes meat tough. And here’s the point: If you want the magic of the meat, the strength and power hidden in the collagen, you need to be aware that this is a dish that needs to simmer to become tender and delicious. It simply takes time to make a piece of meat with a lot of connective tissue tender and delicious. So if you’re looking for a quick dish and want meat with a tender bite, choose cuts of meat that are more on the beefy side. That said, there are also differences in how each animal’s connective tissue behaves.
Don’t give up, you’ll quickly gain an everyday experience and feeling to draw on – if you don’t already have it – and remember that it’s always a good starting point when you enter the kitchen.
ONE POT WITH FISH
Fish and one pot means fast food. Fish is almost always fast food, and the casserole is no exception. No slow-cooked fish dishes.
I’m predominantly a light fish when it comes to one pot, but I’ve sneaked a single salmon recipe into this book.
I would encourage you to get in touch with a fishmonger. Our supermarkets are slowly catching up on fish, but it’s still in poor shape and in the vast majority of cases it’s ugly cuts of cod belly and tail and drug-pumped salmon from Norway. No, go talk to the crazy shrimp bitch or fisherman’s wife at the fish truck or store.
Find some salmon from a place where they’re holding off on the penicillin, a place where you have the option of using one of our many other great cod fish instead of the usual New Year’s friend. Remember, what’s in season is usually what’s in abundance and therefore usually cheap. So when cod is expensive, hake may not be, and it tastes just as good. And should actually be prepared in the same way.
So when it comes to fish, don’t be afraid to change the recipe according to season, weather and tips from your fishmonger.
VEGGIE ONE POT
When building a vegetarian one pot, think about what will give the dish fullness of flavor and what will fill your stomach.
Legumes are great for satiety. For example, I love curries with chickpeas as a base. Root vegetables can also help. The meatier vegetables like eggplant, pumpkin and squash are also good.
Flavor-wise, mushrooms are always a bold and easy way to add depth and flavor to a dish, especially if they are cooked well. A good bottled sauce can also elevate the flavor – soy, hoisin and miso are easy ways to make the dish wlde something in both your brain and your mouth.
And just as you shouldn’t be afraid of spices in general, you certainly shouldn’t be when working in the vegetarian kitchen. The spices bring the green goodness to life.
Read also: places to eat in Amager, places to eat in Vesterbro and places to eat in the city center.
ONE POT OVER AN OPEN FIRE
When you think about it, it’s a bit strange that we’ve forgotten the one pot. When the kitchen was a fireplace with a big, black, sooty pot over the flames or just a fire between the tents, that’s how all the food was made. It was the real one pot. A big pot of the day’s bounty, gathered, grown and hunted. It’s been a mixed bag at times.
I’ve been on trips to Tanzania with an aid organization, and when we cooked with the village cooks, it was all done in one pot over a fire. I wasn’t happy with all of it – boiled goat guts will never be my favorite dish – but you can learn something from how simple food and cooking can be.
And then there’s the whole standing in nature with your pot. It’s amazing. In the allotment, on the beach, in the woods or in the garden with the pot on the fire and clothes that reek of smoke afterwards. And hey, it’s not easy. You may need a little more liquid because the evaporation is different than on the stove – you turn down the heat a little slower and may not be able to raise the pot. You have to be careful not to eat too much or too little. And maybe give it an extra stir to avoid burning.
But when you’ve come through with red eyes and sweaty hair on your arm and serve the campfire food, you realize that the fire gives the food a unique flavor, the cold beer tastes extra good, and the smiles of the others are just that little bit wider. One pot over a campfire is something special. Give it a try.
OUT INTO THE WORLD
In fact, it’s incredible, even contradictory, to call one-pot cooking a trend. That’s because it’s something that “we”, us modern humans, have invented. And it’s not. On the contrary, we are dealing with something that can be roughly described as the “Mother of Food”. Cooking in a pot, clay pot, tagine, etc. may be a trend, but it’s also one of the oldest cooking methods in the world.
In almost every corner of the world, the one pot has been adapted to local conditions. In China, they cut things finely and Wndt to be able to cook faster and save on firewood. Sushi in Japan started with a bowl of boiled rice with fish in vinegar on top – then it’s time for lunch. Moroccan tagine, the travel food of the Bedouins, could be made with few resources over tiny fires with charcoal made from dried camel dung. Food in a cooking vessel has simply expanded the spectrum of humanly digestible and edible things from our world.
Maybe the history isn’t that important, but what’s fascinating is that almost everywhere we look in the food cultures of the world, we find a beautiful selection of pots and pans from the old days.
So what I think one pot can do today is that we can draw on ancient traditions and techniques, and then we can mix and play with all the wild ingredients that are just waiting on the shelves where we shop. So I apologize in advance if I’ve twisted a classic dish with inspiration from another country in my cooking obsession. But for me, the one-pot kitchen has a really high ceiling.
Read also: Italian restaurant Roskilde. Best pizza Køge? Do you know which one it is? Then read on.
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