Icelandic cooking, recipes and food

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...

3 layers of bread (refer to the first sandwich loaf post for more information) 200 g mayonnaise 100 g sour cream 5 hard-boiled eggs 200 g canned tuna 1 medium onion Aromat or Accent (may be left out or replaced with garlic powder) Mix together mayo, cream and Aromat. Mash the eggs with a fork and drain the tuna well. Chop the onion very finely. Mix everything together and layer between the bread slices. Also put some spread on the ends and sides of the loaf and decorate with tuna, egg slices, and salad leaves.

Party-sized cake For 3 layers of bread (refer to the first sandwich loaf post for more information)   150 g mayonnaise 100 g sour cream Aromat or Accent, to taste (may be left out) dash of garlic powder dash of freshly ground black pepper (may be left out)  150 g thinly sliced ham 5 hard-boiled eggs 1/2 can green asparagus Mix together mayo, cream and seasonings. Mash the eggs with a fork and chop the asparagus finely. Mix everything together. Put the spread between the layers of bread, spread mayo-sour cream evenly mixture over the loaf and cover with slices of ham. Garnish with, e.g. tomato roses, egg slices, cucumber, bell peppers, halved or quartered grapes, fresh parsley. Loaf Roll

Garnish: egg, cucumber, shrimps Continuing from last week's post: 4 layers of sandwich bread (rolls if you can get them - must be fully thawed before rolling them out) 300 g mayonnaise 200 g sour cream 300 g arctic shrimp 1/2 red bell pepper 6 hard-boiled eggs Aromat or Accent (may be left out or you can substitute garlic powder) I also like to use a teensy amount of freshly ground black pepper and a dash of garlic powder in shrimp fillings Different pattern, same garnishes  (plus grapes) Mix the mayonnaise and sour cream until smooth and well-blended. Thaw and drain the shrimps well. Finely chop the pepper, mash the eggs with a fork and mix everything together. Put the spread between the layers of bread. Smooth a thin layer of mayo-sour cream mixture evenly over the loaf and garnish, for example with large shrimps, egg slices and vegetables, e.g. bell peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes.  Lots of different garnishes!  

I had planned to post a sandwich loaf recipe much earlier, but I rarely make them and when I do, I don’t use a recipe, so 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 you...

Hot bread-based dishes like this one are a popular party food in Iceland. I have rarely attended a birthday party, graduation, or other get-together in the last 10 years or so where the hosts didn’t serve at least one hot bread dish, either a stuffed bread roll or a casserole. These dishes generally contain cheese, usually either mushrooms or asparagus (often both), and sometimes chopped bell peppers or crushed pineapple. In the beginning the sauce was usually a can of Campbell’s condensed mushroom or asparagus soup mixed with cream, and the dish was topped with cheese, but these days the sauce is usually made from scratch, using some combination of: melted white or blue mould cheese (e.g. Camembert or Brie), or melted flavoured block cheese, or cream cheese, or cheese spread mixed with cream and/or mayonnaise and the liquid from the mushrooms and/or asparagus. Protein is usually provided in the form of ham or shrimp, but chicken can be used as well. The spices vary. I have seen recip...