Pickled beetroot and beetroot salad

Pickled red beets (beetroots) can be served as a side dish with all kinds of meats, and also in salads, such as herring salad and the salad I have included a recipe for below. This is a slightly different variety from the one I posted earlier.

1 kilo red beets
600 ml white vinegar
150 g sugar
1/2 tbs caraway seeds
a few mustard seeds

Cook the beets with the skins on, in boiling water or bake in the oven, until al dente but not watery. Peel and cut into slices, about 1/2 cm thick. Commercially pickled beets are usually cut into waffled slices, but if you don't have a waffle slicer just cut them with a knife.

Layer into a sterilised jar and sprinkle caraway seeds between the layers.

Heat the sugar in the vinegar until melted, bring to the boil and pour over the beet slices. Sprinkle some mustard seeds on top and close the jars.

Allow to ripen for at least a couple of weeks. Should keep for several months if kept cool.


Beetroot salad:

2 green apples, peeled, cored and diced (1-2 cm)
250 g pickled red beets, diced (1-2 cm)
250 ml whipping cream

Pat the beet slices dry before dicing. Whip the cream to soft peaks and add the apple and beets. Chill.

Best if made a few hours before serving. Great with smoked meats, e.g. hangikjöt.

Here is another variety

Popular posts from this blog

Hangikjöt - Icelandic smoked lamb (instructions)

Image
Still in keeping with the Þorri theme, here is a popular food that is a favourite main dish for Christmas and Sundays, as well as being an essential part of the Þorri buffet and a popular cold cut to top bread and flatbread . Slices of hangikjöt Hangikjöt is an old favourite of the Icelanders. For centuries, we have smoked, pickled, dried and otherwise preserved food, and hangikjöt is one of the most delicious of the smoked products.  Much like in olden times, hangikjöt is not an everyday food, except when used as a topping for bread, skonsur and flatbread . It may be eaten either hot or cold, and is traditionally served with cooked potatoes, white sauce, peas and pickled red cabbage. What follows is a description of the old method used for smoking lamb/mutton to make hangikjöt . Smoking food, general information: Smoking is an ancient food preservation method. The smoke dries the food and prevents it from spoiling quickly. Food that is to be smoked must be salted first.
Read more

Harðfiskur – Icelandic hard (dried) fish

Image
Continuing with the Þorri theme, this is the single most popular food you will find on the Þorri buffet. It is a popular snack in Iceland, and some people love it so much that they will some with them when they go abroad on holiday. Harðfiskur, whole fillet Of the traditional Icelandic foods, harðfiskur and skyr are probably the two which most appeal to foreigners. I have received several e-mails from people asking how to make harðfiskur or where to buy it abroad, and so I decided it was time to give a description of how it's made. Many kinds of fish dry well, but traditionally it is mostly cod, haddock and ocean catfish (wolf-fish) that are dried. Flounder also makes excellent harðfiskur , and in some areas of Iceland people also dry arctic char.   Drying haddock, cod and flounder: Harðfiskur in ready-to-eat pieces Wash the fish and scrape off the slime, then gut the fish and remove the head. Haddock and cod can either be butterflied or filleted before drying. F
Read more

Iceland Moss Soup - Fjallagrasamjólk

This is a very healthy, nourishing soup. Iceland moss ( Cetraria islandica ) is very versatile. In spite of the name, it isn't a moss at all, but a lichen. It's used in cosmetics (especially creams and ointments), medicines and nutritional supplements (it is an excellent remedy for coughs and digestive problems), and as food. In the past it was also used for colouring wool. Iceland moss also grows in other northern countries, but as it is very sensitive to pollution, it is not much harvested. It tastes very bitter when used in teas and infusions, but cooking it in milk, like in this recipe, removes most of the bitterness. This soup is very nourishing and tasty. It is up to you if you choose to actually eat the moss or just use it as a flavouring (it gets a bit slimy when cooked). I sometimes get this at my grandmother's. She also makes a cough syrup with Iceland moss, which tastes extremely bitter in spite of it being saturated with sugar, but it is the best cough remedy I
Read more