Piparkökutrufflur

Gingerbread truffles

Here's a recipe that's a wonderful way to use up leftovers after Christmas and is also really tasty!


Ingredients for approx. 30 truffles

150 g gingerbread
150 g cream cheese
1 pinch of ground lemon peel
200 g white chocolate
1 pinch of lava salt


Preparation

Grind the gingerbread very finely...

...and mix with the cream cheese to make a mixture that is as uniform as possible,...

...then knead in the ground lemon peel to taste.

Then put it in the fridge for about 1/2 hour so that it becomes somewhat firm and can be processed easily.

Then form small balls out of the mixture, about the size of a walnut, and then if necessary put them in the fridge again so that they become a little firmer while you prepare the chocolate coating.

Melt the chocolate in a water bath, carefully dip the balls until they are completely coated with chocolate, then place them on a sheet of baking paper, aluminum foil or something similar and sprinkle them directly with a very small pinch of lava salt.

Allow to dry well.

Store the finished Piparkökurtrufflur in the refrigerator and serve well chilled.

[Translated from here.]

Rósakál með beikoni og hnetum

Brussels sprouts with bacon and nuts

As a child, I found it horrible when my mother cooked Brussels sprouts, and I still have that impertinent smell in my nose... no, Brussels sprouts weren't mine at all!

After coming across a lot of Brussels sprout recipes everywhere lately, I decided to try my own with this Icelandic version of fried and then baked Brussels sprouts with bacon and nuts.

And I have to say, not only was it edible, it was actually tasty!


Ingredients

500 g Brussels sprouts
100 g breakfast bacon
1 Tbsp butter
1 tsp coarse sea salt
1 pinch of fresh pepper
1 handful of chopped walnuts
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
fresh thyme


Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350 °F (180 °C) upper/lower heat.

Cut off the ends of the florets and carefully remove the outer leaves. Then cut the florets in half.

Cut the bacon into bite-sized pieces.

Melt the butter in a large pan, fry the bacon and then fry the halved florets for several minutes.

Season with salt and pepper.

Then place the Brussels sprouts and bacon in an ovenproof baking dish and bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes.

Then take the vegetables out of the oven, spread the chopped walnuts and balsamic vinegar over them and mix everything well, then garnish with the fresh thyme and serve as a side dish with meat dishes.

[Translated from here.]

Þorskur með kókos og karrí

Cod with coconut curry

This year I have an Advent calendar with lots of different spices - I was able to use the curry spice for this Icelandic fish curry!


Ingredients for 4 persons

1 onion
approx. 1 cm fresh ginger
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp fish sauce
1 Tbsp oil
150 ml coconut milk
800 g cod


Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350 °F (180 °C) upper/lower heat.

Peel the onion, cut it into coarse pieces and process it with the fresh, sliced ​​ginger, chili powder, fish sauce and oil in a blender to form a smooth paste.

Brush the cod with half of the paste and bake in an ovenproof baking dish in the preheated oven for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Heat the rest of the paste in a large pan, pour in the coconut milk, stir everything well and bring to the boil.

Add the baked fish to the sauce and serve immediately with boiled potatoes and fresh green salad (we had purple rice instead of potatoes - for visual reasons!).

The fish really had a wonderful consistency and tasted really delicious!

[Translated from here.]

Súkkulaðimöndlutoppar

Chocolate almond piles

Ingredients

200 g slivered almonds

150 g white chocolate
150 g milk chocolate
150 g dark chocolate

To taste:

1 pinch of ground vanilla
1 pinch of fine licorice powder
1 pinch of red pepper


Preparation

Melt each of the three types of chocolate in a water bath.

Divide the chopped almonds into three equal piles.

To taste, season the melted chocolate with vanilla or licorice powder, pepper or similar, stir 1/3 of the slivered almonds into each melted chocolate and then use a teaspoon to place small heaps on a baking tray lined with baking paper or similar .similar...

...and let it dry there for at least 30 minutes.

Then carefully remove the heaps of almonds from the baking paper and serve or keep cool until ready to eat.

[Translated from here.]

Lakkrístrufflur

Liquorice truffles

Ingredients

250 g chocolate
150 ml whipping cream
1 Tbsp butter
1/2 tsp licorice salt
1/2 tsp licorice powder
2 Tbsp baking cocoa


Preparation

In a large saucepan, slowly melt the chocolate, cream and butter over low heat.

Carefully crush the licorice salt a little with your fingers and stir it into the melted chocolate-cream mixture.

Then put the mixture in the fridge until it has solidified somewhat.

Mix the baking cocoa with the licorice powder.

Form small balls out of the mixture and roll each one directly in the cocoa-licorice powder mixture.

Then store the finished licorice truffles in the refrigerator and enjoy well chilled.

By the way - I bought this bowl from frjor last weekend during a child-free short holiday in Schwetzingen.

"frjor" is a new label founded in 2014 by designer Anna Becker. The word "frjor" is Icelandic and means "creative", "fertile". The design of their bowls is also inspired by Icelandic motifs - no wonder I fell in love with these bowls when I came across them by chance in the summer!

[Translated from here.]

Kartöflubrauð með timian

Potato bread with thyme

Ingredients

250 g boiled potatoes (with peel!)
400 g wholemeal flour
100 g oat flakes
1 tsp salt
1 packet of dry yeast
2 Tbsp rapeseed oil
250 ml warm water
1 tsp dried thyme
1 - 2 Tbsp flour for kneading
1 egg yolk for brushing


Preparation

Boil the potatoes with the skin on, then let them cool well and then mash them roughly, but not too roughly, into a pulp.

In a large bowl, mix the mashed potatoes with the flour, the oat flakes, the salt, the dry yeast, the oil and the warm water, do not knead too much and let it rise for at least 4 hours at maximum room temperature.

Take the dough out of the bowl, dust it with a little flour and knead in the dried thyme...

...and divide the bread dough into two equal portions. Form both portions into a "strand" of the same length, ...

...Place on a baking tray covered with baking paper...

...and always intertwine the two strands alternately.

Whisk the egg yolk, spread it on the potato bread and then let it rise again in a warm place for about 1/2 hour.

Then bake in a preheated oven at 350 °F (180 °C) upper and lower heat for about 45 minutes.

Bon appetit!!!

[Translated from here.]

Piparkökuhús

Skógasafn, December 2011

Gingerbread house

I once tried to model my gingerbread house on the Icelandic sod houses!


Recipe for Einfaldar piparkökur

Ingredients

250 g sugar
200 g syrup
2 Tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tsp baking soda
250 g butter
3 eggs
800 g flour

400 g powdered sugar
2 egg whites
1 tsp lemon juice


Preparation

Put the sugar and syrup together in a large pot and heat gently. Add the spices and mix everything well.Add the baking soda to the warm mixture and stir everything quickly until the mixture bubbles.

Put the butter in a mixing bowl, pour the warm mixture from the pot over it and stir until the butter has completely melted.

Then stir in the eggs.

Finally, add the flour and work until the dough is nice and smooth.

Cover the bowl with the dough with cling film and place in the fridge overnight.

The next day, preheat the oven to 350 °F (180 °C) upper/lower heat.

Roll out the dough between two layers of baking paper to about 1/2 cm thick.

Print out both sides of the template on DIN A4...

...cut out the motifs and place them on the rolled out dough, then carefully cut out the individual parts with a sharp knife.

You need 18 “stones” of the “grass sods” for both sides and the back of the “grass sod house”, i.e. 54 pieces in total.

Then distribute the individual components for the house with enough space between them on 3 trays lined with baking paper and bake one after the other in a preheated oven at 350 °F (180 °C) - the trays with the larger components for 20 minutes, the trays with the "large sods" for approx. 10 minutes.

Then let it cool down well.

Then stir the icing together as an "adhesive agent" - mix the powdered sugar with the egg white and the lemon juice and then carefully coat the "adhesive edges" of the individual house components with a teaspoon and the icing and then put them together.

"Pile" the sod between the two gable sides and attach them to each other with the icing, if necessary placing the frontmost "stone" across so that it gives the front gable side more support.

Then “put on” the two roof panels and layer the sod on the back wall.

Allow to dry thoroughly and, if necessary, store in a breakfast bag or something similar if the house is not eaten straight away so that it stays reasonably moist.

[Translated from here.]