Icelandic cooking, recipes and food

It's the first day of Þorri today, a day called "Bóndadagur" in Icelandic. It originally meant "farmer's day" but has the additional meaning of "husband's day", which is how modern Icelanders interpret it. On this day it has become a tradition for wives to do something extra special for their husbands, like bring them breakfast in bed, give them flowers or take them out to dinner. The husbands then do the same on "Konudagur" ("wives' day" or "women's day"), which begins the old month of Góa. Thus you could say we Icelanders celebrate two Valentine's Days, although that hasn't stopped florists and chocolate producers from trying to get us to celebrate that as well. Another tradition for Þorri is for us to look back to the nation's past and dine on some of the old traditional foods that were daily fare for our ancestors. Below is a link to my Þorri post, which in turn has links to all the Þorri ...

This is a simple and impressive fancy cake – if you can avoid breaking the meringue! If it does break, no matter: simply crush the meringue and layer it in dessert bowls or glasses with the cream, or toss it with whipped cream, fresh fruit and chocolate bits to make a smashed Pavlova. 4 egg whites 400 ml brown sugar Optional: 1 cup cornflakes and ½ tsp baking powder For the filling: Whipping cream Chocolate bits, chocolate-covered raisins, salted peanuts (all optional) Whip together the sugar and egg whites (and baking powder if using cornflakes) until sugar is melted and mixture is stiff. If using, fold in cornflakes. Smooth into two greased round baking tins, or put into an icing bag and squeeze onto a cookie sheet covered with baking paper in a circular shape (good idea to make a guide on the paper beforehand with a pencil and a plate). Bake at 150°C for 1 hour. Cool. To make a simple but tempting cream cake, put whipped cream between the layers a day before serving ...

Once upon a time I promised to publish more recipes for fancy cream cakes, and here is one that’s a favourite with both young and old. The name, Guðdómlegt gums means Heavenly Mess . 4 egg whites 200 g sugar Whip together until the sugar is mostly melted. 1/2 cup salted peanuts 1/2 cup chopped dates 100 g dark chocolate chips 1/2 tsp baking powder Fold carefully into the egg-sugar mixture. Bake in 2 round baking tins with detachable bottoms, at 150°C for 1 hour. Cool. Whip 1/2 litre of cream until stiff. Fold in some quartered strawberries, 1 mashed banana, a handful of salted peanuts and a handful of chocolate-covered raisins. Put between the 2 layers. Decorate with whipped cream, strawberries, salted peanuts and chocolate-covered raisins. The other recipe

Here is a third flatbread recipe. 500 g potatoes, cooked, peeled and cooled 250 g rye flour (or more, if needed) The amount of rye flour depends on how much moisture there is in the potatoes. Start with the given amount and add more if necessary. Mash the potatoes until smooth, or process in a food processor (take care not to over-process, or they may turn gummy). Knead the rye flour into the potatoes until you have a stiff, dense dough. Whole wheat flour may be mixed in with the rye flour. Roll out the dough into thin, round cakes. Dry-fry the cakes on a griddle or electric hotplate until browned with small burnt-looking spots. Links to the other recipes: Most commonly used recipe Luxury recipe

I mentioned this dish in my post about the bread casserole , but was unable to find the recipe at the time. Well, here it is: White (French) bread in slices, enough to cover the bottom of the casserole dish 400 g mayonnaise 1 tub sour cream (about 180 g, but a little more or less will not hurt the dish) 1 can Campbell’s condensed mushroom soup 1 small can asparagus Grated cheese, e.g. Mozzarella or a mixture of Mozzarella and Gouda 1 1/2 small can mushrooms (I recommend using lightly sautéed fresh mushrooms instead) 10 slices of ham, cut into squares (for a vegetarian version leave out and just use more mushrooms) Remove the crusts from the bread and cut into cubes. Cover the bottom of a greased casserole dish with the bread cubes. Mix together mayonnaise, sour cream and the soup. Add the asparagus. Pour the mixture over the bread and top with mushrooms and ham and sprinkle the cheese over the top. Bake at 200°C for about 20 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly and gold...

I have used the English name for this dish, but the dish itself is a logical invention that could have happened any place where potatoes and mutton are eaten. I occasionally make it to use up leftover Sunday roast. 250 g leftover meat (for this to be a real shepherd’s pie, it should be mutton. If it’s beef, the dish is called Cottage Pie ) 25 g butter, margarine or other cooking fat 2 tbs flour 250-300 ml meat broth or gravy Some left-over mashed potatoes In case you don’t have left-over mashed potatoes: 750 g cooked potatoes 100-200 ml milk 25 g butter or margarine Salt and pepper 1 finely chopped onion Breadcrumbs Cheese, grated Make the mashed potatoes, using this method but the above ingredients. Add the onion when the mash is ready to eat. It is also good to add one beaten egg or two beaten egg whites into the mash (I never do this, but it probably makes a better crust). The meat can be either boiled or roasted, but this does not suit smoked meats. Grease an o...

150 g butter or margarine, at room temperature 150 g flour 150 g cooked potatoes Rhubarb jam Some almonds, flaked Pearl sugar Peel and mash the potatoes until completely smooth. Knead together with the butter and flour. Roll out to a thickness of about 3 mm. Cut into strips of about 15 cm wide. Spread rhubarb jam down the center of each strip, fold in the edges so that about 2 cm strip of jam is showing between them. Brush with milk and sprinkle with flaked almonds and pearl sugar.