Icelandic cooking, recipes and food

Here's one way to prepare my favourite fish. 1 1/2 kg. Halibut, whole (or turbot, sole or other flat fish if you can't get halibut) 4 tbs flour 2 tsp salt 1/3 tsp ground pepper 150 g oil, butter or margarine 100 g onion Take one small, whole halibut. Cut off the head, tail and fins. Scrape off the slime and loose scales under cold, running water. Cut the fish into slices, about as thick as your thumb is wide. Mix together flour, salt and pepper. Coat the slices with flour mixture and fry in the hot fat until done (3-4 minutes on each side). Remove from the pan and arrange the steaks on a serving dish. Slice the onions and brown in the fat, remove and put on top of the fish. Pour some water on the frying pan, roll it around and pour over the fish. Serve with cooked potatoes, green salad and lemon wedges. -Try grilling the fish steaks: cut into large cubes and thread onto skewers with onion pieces, fresh mushrooms and pieces of red bell pepper (capsicum).

Christmas is over and the New Year’s Eve madness as well (although I still hear the occasional explosion as people discover overlooked fireworks or celebrate January birthdays by letting off a few). What better way to calm stomachs that are still recovering from all the heavy holiday food than by serving up a delicious fish dish? This is my grandmother’s recipe for a quick fish gratin with vegetables: Take 1 fish fillet, skinless and boneless, preferably haddock or cod - but any firm, white fish will do. Cut into pieces. Take some raw potatoes, carrots, a small rutabaga and some cauliflower. Slice carrots, cut cauliflower into small florets and chop rutabaga and potatoes into bite-size pieces. Layer into a microwave-safe casserole dish. Break a couple of eggs into a bowl, add some milk and spices (salt, pepper, and fish-spice mix). Mix well. Pour egg mixture over the fish and veggies. Top with grated cheese. Nuke on High until the vegetables are tender and the egg mixture is cooked.

This side dish is good with many kinds of roasted and broiled meats. For many it is a necessity with the Christmas ham or steak. I don't particularly like vinegar pickled cabbage so I haven't tried this recipe myself, but I'm told it is good. 2-3 tbs butter 1 kg red cabbage, shredded 1/2 cup white vinegar OR red wine vinegar 1/2 cup sugar 2-3 tsp salt Melt the butter at medium temperature. Add finely shredded red cabbage and stir to coat with the hot butter. When the buttered cabbage begins to sizzle, add vinegar, sugar and salt. Simmer until the cabbage is limp and boiled through (about 45 mins. to 1 hour). Serve with ham, pork roast, roast lamb, duck, goose or turkey. Some people will eat this with hot dogs as well.

This is a lovely cheesecake, rich and smooth. It is commercially available in Iceland. I just love it, and I'm grateful for The Icelandic Dairy Produce Marketing Association for providing the recipe for the public. The cake is relatively cheap when you buy it ready-made, but I think making it yourself adds to the enjoyment of eating it. While this is not a Christmas recipe per se, it is so time consuming that I would only ever make it for special occasions like Christmas or a special birthday party. Serves 10-12 (or 6-8, depending on how much self-control you have :-) 1 2/3 cup graham cracker crumbs 5 tbs sugar 5 tbs butter, soft 90 g lemon flavoured gelatine 1 cup boiling water 500 g cream cheese, unflavoured, softened at room temperature 1 tsp vanilla essence 1/2 cup sugar 1 cup cream, whipped (measure before you whip) 1 can (480 g) mandarin orange sections 1/2 cup juice from mandarin oranges 2 tbs lemon juice 2 tsp unflavoured gelatine powder OR 2 sheets unflavoured gelatine Mi...

The Christmas meal that is traditionally served in my family. I have received a question about traditional Icelandic Christmas dishes and as it’s a subject I’m sure many are curious about I decided to make a blog entry about it. Traditional Icelandic Christmas food is a somewhat complicated subject, as there are several traditional Christmas dishes and there is no one Christmas dish that is served in every home. Even the leaf bread, which is uniquely Icelandic and as traditional as it gets, is not served in every home. The most common main dishes served for Christmas in Icelandic homes are hangikjöt (smoked and salted lamb or mutton), ptarmigan (see recipe), lamb roast (see recipe for Sunday roast), roast goose, Hamborgarhryggur (smoked pork center rib roast), and American style turkey (relatively new, but has become a tradition in many families). As a starter or dessert, many serve either rice pudding (recipe will be posted soon) or ris a la mande (will also be posted soon) whi...

You may ask why I am publishing a recipe for Danish food when this is an Icelandic recipe blog? Well, this is something that has become an inseparable part of Christmas in my family, ever since I returned from a six month stay in Denmark and offered to cook rib-roast on Boxing Day. I have done it every year since then, and I know other Icelandic families serve rib-roast for Christmas, New Year’s or Easter. This is my variation of the recipe: Recipe (serves 4) 1 kg pork rib-roast, with skin and fat and with or without bones. I don’t know if this cut is available in the USA, but from having looked at American posters of pork cuts I don’t think so. This is what it looks like: Salt Pepper 2 bay leaves Whole cloves Water Take the roast and make cuts into the skin and fat almost down to the meat, with about a finger width between the cuts. Make either strips or diamond-shaped pieces (see images below). Do not cut into meat. Heat the oven to 250°C. Boil some water, put the roast into an ove...

Another cookie recipe my mother always makes for Christmas. These delicious candy cookies are light as air and melt on the tongue. The rising agent, baker's ammonia, unfortunately makes a big stink while the cookies are baking. I've seen these cookies for sale in Denmark, where they are called Rutebiler (Buses). 1 kg icing sugar 3 tsp bakers' ammonia 3 tbs cocoa 3 eggs, beaten Mix the dry ingredients and beaten eggs and knead well. Run the dough through a cookie press. Use this attachment: Each cake should be about 5 cm (2 inches) long. Bake in the center of the oven for 8-10 minutes at 175°C. These cookies are light and airy, with a hollow center. The unbaked cookies don't need to be big - they will expand in size 3-4 times during the baking.