Icelandic cooking, recipes and food

I had planned to post a sandwich loaf recipe much earlier, but since I rarely make them and when I do I don’t use a recipe, I had to find a set recipe first. I finally did find it, in fact several of them, which I will be posting in the following weeks. Sandwich loaves, or ‘bread cakes’ (in Icelandic: brauðtertur ) as they are called in Iceland, are an enduring presence at Icelandic celebrations where cakes are served. While not an Icelandic invention (I think they may have originated in the USA , or possibly in Sweden ), they have been popular here for at least 50 years and there seems to be no stopping them. While the fillings change according to fashion and whim and we don’t use half as much mayonnaise in them as we once did, they continue to be a vehicle for cooks to display their talents with garnish, and a savoury palate cleanser in between nibbles of all the sweet stuff that's usually served at traditional birthday parties. They are generally made from white bread, and y...

200 g oatmeal biscuits/crackers (e.g. Graham crackers) 60 g butter 1 tbs sugar Crumble the crackers finely. Melt the butter and stir into the crumbs with the sugar. Press into the bottoms of several small serving bowls. 4 sheets gelatin The juice of 1/2 lemon 300 g plain skyr 100 g sugar 2 eggs 150 g sour cream 1 tbs sugar Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water for 5 minutes. Remove from the water, squeeze out the remaining water and put the gelatin in a bowl or the top of a double boiler with the lemon juice. Heat gently until the gelatin is melted. Separate the egg yolks from the whites. Mix together sugar and skyr and add the egg yolks, one by one. Fold in the sour cream. Lightly whip the egg whites with 1 tbs. sugar. Mix the gelatin into the skyr mixture and then gently fold in the whipped egg whites. Divide the mixture between the bowls and cool in the refrigerator. This can also be made into a whole dessert, in which case use a large, deep pie dish.

I love liver with bacon. I haven't tried this recipe, but I plan to. 750 g liver 100 bacon 1 tsp salt 1/3 tsp pepper 1/6 tsp ginger 1/6 tsp ground cloves 60 g cooking fat 400 ml boiling cooking liquid 150 ml cream 40 g flour 200 ml cold water Clean the liver and cut into thin slices. Mix together the flour, salt and spices and roll the liver slices in it to coat. Lay a rasher of bacon on each liver slice and roll up the slices. Tie together with cotton string. Heat the cooking fat ion a pan and brown the liver slices in it. Add the milk and water and cook for 15-20 minutes. Thicken the sauce with the flour (make a paste with a little cold water to avoid clumping). Cook the sauce for a couple of minutes, then add the cream. I imagine this would be nice with mashed potatoes, redcurrant jelly and a salad.

5-6 sheep's hearts (or 4-5 pig's hearts) 10-12 prunes (stoneless) 600-700 ml mixture of equal proportions water and milk 50 g butter 50 g flour salt and pepper sauce colouring Chop up the prunes and stuff the hearts with them. Sew closed. Melt the butter in a pan and brown the hearts in it. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, add the milk/water mixture and cook for 1-2 hours. Remove the hearts from the cooking liquid. Make a paste of the flour and a little bit of cold water. Bring the cooking liquid to the boil and stir in the flour paste to make a sauce. Add sauce colouring if desired. Cut the hearts into slices, and serve with the sauce on the side.