Aebleskiver, Denmark's answer to the doughnut

COPENHAGEN -- Ask any Dane or Danish-American about aebleskivers, and you'll be treated to broad smiles. Aebleskiver --literally ''apple slice'' -- is a pancake puffball that rarely contains the apple tidbit originally tucked into its center as a sweet surprise.

But the name, pronounced ay-bla-skeever, has stuck. Gone in two bites, this traditional Danish dessert, sprinkled with powdered sugar and served with raspberry jam during the holidays, is made in a cast iron pan that resembles an egg poacher, with seven round depressions. It is placed directly atop a flame.

The batter bubbles, the puffs are turned with a knitting needle, and soon the aebleskivers are rolling from the pan. Eaten warm, they are downed before the powdered sugar dust has a chance to settle.

Most Danes have their own aebleskiver pans. In the houseware section of Ilum's, a department store on Copenhagen's main shopping street, Heidi Hansen showed me the latest in nonstick aebleskiver pans. ''When I was a child,'' she said, ''we visited my grandfather in the country. He made the best aebleskivers for me and my sisters. I remember setting the table and having a very cozy, warm, familiar feeling.''

The following day, by arrangement, Hansen brought her mother's batter-stained cookbook with her aebleskiver recipe translated into English. ''If we had time, I would make you some,'' she said.That evening I asked friends about aebleskivers, which are only available during the Christmas holidays, and if they knew where I could get the pancakes out of season. Geir Helgesen, a political analyst, told me about a restaurant 20 miles outside of Copenhagen that is famous for serving aebleskivers year round. A day trip along the Danish coast could, he assured me, conclude with tea and aebleskivers at the Malerklemmen Restaurant in the tiny town of Borup, a speck on the map. The Malerklemmen website (www.malerklemmen.dk) said that the restaurant is open 12 to 5 p.m. on Saturdays. My husband and I found ourselves happily but hopelessly lost in the tidy Danish countryside, where our maps weren't helpful. A kind soul led us to the restaurant. It was 4:10 p.m. Thankfully, we thought, there still was plenty of time.

We entered the centuries-old building with its thick thatched roof and the waitress informed us that the kitchen had closed 10 minutes ago. The owner, Michael Strand, heard me pleading with the waitress and came out from the kitchen.

He showed us two huge, multiholed pans: ''On some Sundays I make over 2,500 aebleskivers,'' he said, adding that he carefully turns each with a knitting needle. Strand arranged some warm aebleskivers on a plate with a bowl of jam. Sitting at a wooden table in a converted tenant farmer's home beneath antique aebleskiver pans, we would finally taste one.

It looked like a very puffy doughnut hole, and its texture was a cross between a doughnut and a pancake. It was not overly sweet, but just right with a dab of jam and a cup of late afternoon coffee or tea -- well worth the long trip.Danish-Americans don't save aebleskivers for the holidays but eat them year round whenever families get together. At breakfast, they are most like pancakes, enjoyed with syrup and sausages. According to Lisa Rigg of the Danish Windmill Museum in Elk Horn, Iowa, this drives some Danes to distraction:
''As Danes assimilated into American society, breakfast seemed the natural spot in the American meal for aebleskivers.'' When the museum holds its annual Tivoli Fest on Memorial Day weekend, ''folks come from all over for our aebleskivers,'' Rigg says. Elsewhere in the Midwest, and wherever else Danes settled, aebleskivers are sold at church fund-raisers. There are aebleskiver festivals and aebleskiver cookbooks, and in Solvang, Calif., named for a town in Denmark, aebleskivers are sold on the street to summer tourists.

Brookline resident Ingrid Finstuen is learning to make aebleskivers. Her Norwegian-American husband, Andrew, said, ''I remember being intrigued by the pan my mother used and the way she turned them with a poker.'' Andrew Finstuen's mother, Kappy, recalled how her Danish neighbor in Oregon, Lucille Stubkjaer, made hundreds of them for her wedding breakfast. Kappy Finstuen coached her daughter-in-law in the art of rotating an aebleskiver last summer. ''I love them with fresh raspberries and sour cream,'' says Ingrid Finstuen.

Making aebleskivers at home isn't difficult. The batter is a little thinner than for ordinary American pancakes. Getting the pan to the right temperature is important, as is greasing the little holes, for which you use melted margarine or butter.

Turning the pancakes is tricky, but with a little wrist action and confidence, you'll be on your way. That just leaves the pan, also known as munk pans in Germany. You can find seven-holed cast iron pans in Chinatown (Vietnamese cooks make banh khoc, savory pancakes that use the same pans), and you can use knitting needles from your own collection.

Now say ''aebleskiver'' three times fast.

Super 88 and the Ming Market have seven-hole cast iron pans
($6.95). Look in the pots and pans aisle. Or go to
www.fantes.com/aebleskiver.htm; http://www.cookscorner.com/, or
http://www.danishwindmill.com/.

For vegetarians, creativity and nutrition knowledge are key

''My favorite food used to be Chinese spareribs,'' says Reuben Solomon, 13, of Lexington. ''That is, until I realized I had ribs, too. I think I was 9 and I haven't eaten any meat since then.''

Reuben does drink milk and eat eggs. That makes him an ovolactovegetarian.

When someone says, ''I'm a vegetarian but I eat fish,'' they are ''semi-vegetarian,'' according to Reed Mangel, an Amherst-based dietician advisor to the Vegetarian Resource Group and mother of two vegan daughters. Vegans eat a totally plant-based diet and do not include dairy products, eggs, or honey. Some vegetarians also avoid using animal products such as leather in their daily life.

When children are vegetarians, it adds another layer of concern.

''Parents need to respect the choices their children make, for whatever reason they have chosen a vegetarian diet,'' said Dina Aronson, a dietician specializing in vegetarian nutrition. Still, many parents are concerned about where their young vegetarians will get important vitamins and nutrients, such as calcium and protein.

Aronson says the nutritional challenges of vegetarians and nonvegetarians are about the same. She says soy products, fortified foods, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and nuts can provide almost all of one's nutritional needs. If one consumes enough calories (about 2,000 a day), protein deficiency is not a problem. The problem, Aronson says, comes when a child's diet is ''almost entirely refined junk food.'' That, of course, is not limited to just vegetarians.

So, what to do if your 15-year-old comes home and announces she is a vegetarian?

Mangel suggests you find out more about their decision and work with them on a meal plan that is sound and viable within your family.

''Make your meals vegetarian-friendly,'' she said.

Sometimes, one or two sessions with a dietician can provide the objective authority a young person needs and the reassurance parents require.

Aronson asks her clients to keep a three-day food intake record that she analyzes against the Daily Reference Intake established by the National Academy of Sciences. She then advises accordingly, adding, ''The number-one issue is to accept it and not try to force a change.'' She urges parents to have their children choose from among three healthy food choices, thus including them in the decision-making process. Done correctly, Aronson insists, the result is a healthy lifestyle.

Dr. Harvey Zarren, a cardiologist, could not agree more. He gave up his successful, 27-year practice of trying to fix the damaging effects of Americans' bad eating habits (clogged arteries) and now works on prevention with teenagers in public high schools.

''We should be eating a diet of plant-based foods,'' he said. ''If you do eat an animal, it should come from the water.''

These professionals agree that a variety of food, exercise, and eliminating or limiting animal sources of protein from the diet are important elements to a healthier diet.

Would that it were so simple. Reuben's idea of a great meal is three or four slices of pizza. He will also include a handful of grapes, cucumber slices, and carrots. Sybil, his mom, is concerned that he not limit his diet to carbohydrates. Reuben knows he has to eat what is put on his plate and Sybil knows he has great negotiating skills. On the positive side, Reuben is very aware of nutritional issues; he scans food labels and ingredient lists carefully.

When kindergartner Charlie Ramsland of Stowe became a vegetarian in December, it changed his mom, Sharlet's, life, too. They had visited a farm in Sherborn.

''I picked up a book and saw animals who were alive in the beginning and dead at the end,'' said Charlie. ''I felt very sorry for them.''

''He hasn't eaten meat since then,'' said Sharlet, ''and neither have I. It was a very powerful experience for us both.''

Charlie said that his mom lets him pick out his own food; his favorites are macaroni and cheese, and all fruits. For vegetables, he said emphatically, ''carrots and corn, that's it!''

As with any extreme change in diet, a good idea is to consult a health professional. There is much controversy and conflicting information regarding vegetarianism.

Many folks claim to be vegetarians, but haven't met a vegetable they like. Getting enough Vitamin B12 is important for the health of cells and is a concern for those vegetarians, particularly children, who do not eat any dairy or eggs. This is usually addressed through supplements and fortified foods. There are many resources available to help anyone be well-informed and well-fed.

Here are some resources for vegetarians:

Vegetarian Resource Group (publications and website); Box 1463, Baltimore, MD 21203; 410-366-8343; www. vrg@vrg.org

Boston Vegetarian Society (local events, newsletter, website); 617-424-8846; www.bostonveg.org

Dina Aronson(dietician specializing in vegetarian nutrition); www.nutrawiz.com

Sprouts(vegan family support and playgroup); vegsprouts@hotmail.com

Dr. Harvey Zarren(physician); presentations to PTO's and organizations on healthy diets and lifestyle

Connected Healing Institute; 781-599-4718

Recipes

African stew
Makes 6 cups

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 cups vegetable stock or water
2 cups peeled, diced sweet potatoes or yams
1 cup cooked or canned chick peas
1 cup uncooked brown rice
1/4 teaspoon salt, optional
1/4 cup peanut butter
2 cups chopped collard greens or kale ( stems removed)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon pepper

1. Heat oil in a medium-size pot and saute onions for 5 minutes.
2. Add stock or water, sweet potatoes, chickpeas, rice, and salt and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
3. In a small bowl, blend peanut butter with about half a cup of hot water. Stir peanut butter into stew along with kale and cook for five minutes.
4. Add lemon juice and pepper.
5. Turn off heat and cover. Let steam for about 10 minutes, before serving.

Adapted from ''Raising Vegetarian Children - A Guide to Good Health and Family Harmony'' by Joanne Stepaniak and Vesanto Melina (McGraw Hill)

Creamy corn noodles
Makes 6 cups

1/2 pound noodles
1 15-ounce can of cream of corn
1 10-ounce package frozen corn
1 tablespoon dried onion flakes
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes (available at health food stores)

Optional garnishes:
additional protein or yeast flakes mixed with parsley
chopped red peppers
chopped tomatoes

1. Cook noodles according to package.
2. Place cream of corn, frozen corn, onion flakes, and yeast flakes in a blender and process until smooth.
3. Place mixture in a saucepan and warm.
4. Drain cooked noodles and place in a large bowl. Add corn mixture to the noodles and toss gently. Sprinkle garnishes on top. You can also serve noodles and then spoon corn mixture over the top.

Roast vegetables

Asparagus spears, trimmed
Sweet potato
Kale
Sesame seeds
Olive oil
Sprinkling of salt

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Lightly grease a baking sheet with olive oil.
3. Place asparagus in a bowl. Drizzle olive oil over asparagus and mix until well-coated.
4. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
5. Place asparagus in a single row on the baking sheet and place in oven. Roast for about 8 minutes. Remove to plate and sprinkle with salt.
6. Slice sweet potatoes very thin and toss in bowl with some olive oil.
7. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray and spread the potatoes out in a layer. Bake for 5 minutes.
8. Do the same with the kale: Remove the center ''spine,'' toss with olive oil, and place on baking sheet. Bake for 5 minutes but check after 3.
9. Place both vegetables on a plate, sprinkle with a little salt, and you have a crunchy stack of Vitamin A, iron, and calcium.