Vanilludraumur

Vanilla dream

Here's a quick, simple recipe for vanilla milk.


Ingredients for one serving

250 ml low-fat milk
1/2 tsp ground vanilla
1 tsp liquid honey


Preparation

Put all ingredients in a blender,...

...mix thoroughly, foam up and enjoy straight away, well chilled.

[Translated from here.]

Grænkálssúpa

Kale soup

This recipe for kale soup comes from a 160-year-old Icelandic cookbook, where the recipes look a little different than they do today, without specific quantities or even times. So I tried it out a bit - and I'm happy with the result!


Ingredients for 4 persons

300 g fresh kale
200 g fresh spinach
1 Tbsp flour
2 Tbsp oat flakes
1 tsp dried chervil
1 liter of meat broth
400 g lamb


Preparation

Wash and clean the kale and remove the hard ribs.

Also wash and clean the spinach.

Chop the kale and spinach together.

Place in a large pot and add the flour, oats and dried chervil.

Pour the meat broth over it and let it cook for about 10 minutes.

Cut the lamb into bite-sized pieces.

Add to the soup and simmer for about 10 more minutes.

Bon appetit!

[Translated from here.]

My recipe in a flight magazine in Iceland

My Byggsalat in "My North"

Does this now fall under advertising? In any case, I didn't get anything in return - just a free copy of the flight magazine "My North" in the mail.

In May 2018 I took part in a recipe competition at mataraudur.is, it was about typical Icelandic national dishes with typical Icelandic ingredients and I submitted a recipe (in Icelandic!) for a pearl barley salad with blueberries, spinach and blue cheese . Okay, I didn't win, but the fact that I was able to be there was great for me!

Matarauður Íslands, translated as the "Culinary Wealth of Iceland", is a project of the Icelandic Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture. The aim is to strengthen Iceland's positive image as a culinary nation and to publicize and promote the uniqueness of Icelandic food (also in the area of ​​"food tourism"). So exactly the topic that is close to my heart here in the blog!

In any case, one of the sponsors of the competition was the Icelandic airline Air Iceland Connect, which also reported extensively on the competition in its flight magazine. In the current issue of the magazine "My North" they are now presenting another recipe from the competition as an example - and exactly my recipe!

Today I received a copy of "My North" in the mail, with my recipe in Icelandic and English and my photo.

I definitely think that's great - þetta er frábært!

[Translated from here.]

Spari Gulrótakaka

Holiday carrot cake

The Icelandic word "spari" means "on special occasions", "spariföt" are Sunday dresses, "spariskór" are holiday shoes - and this carrot cake is also intended for particularly festive occasions.

We had it for a very special occasion, namely the baptism of our first grandchild last weekend. And we had a lavish family celebration with 4 generations from the three great-grandmothers to the child being baptized.


Ingredients

For the dough

300 g butter
280 g flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baker's ammonia
1 tsp cinnamon
280 g brown sugar
1 pinch of ground vanilla
4 eggs
5 medium carrots
70 g coconut flakes
approx. 280 g canned grated pineapple
grated orange peel

For the cream

650 g cream cheese
150 g white chocolate
100 g soft butter
240 g powdered sugar
grated orange peel
grated lemon peel

2 Tbsp chopped pistachios


Preparation

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

Melt the butter and let it cool down a little.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix the flour with the baking powder, baker's ammonia and cinnamon.

Add the sugar and ground vanilla.

Separate the eggs and fold the yolks with the melted butter into the sugar-flour mixture.

Beat the egg white until stiff and chill in the refrigerator.

Wash, peel and grate the carrots.

Add the grated carrots, pineapple pieces and grated orange peel and stir.

Finally add the egg whites...

...and fold it into the dough.

Then put the dough into two greased springform pans or ones lined with baking paper and bake in a preheated oven at 350 °F (180 °C) upper and lower heat for about 30 minutes.

Then take it out of the oven and let it cool down well.

To make the cream, first melt the chocolate in a water bath and let it cool down again.

Then stir the butter in a separate bowl until fluffy. Then add the powdered sugar and stir. Add the melted chocolate to the butter and sugar mixture.

Also stir in the cream cheese and mix with the grated orange and lemon peel.

Pour half of the cream onto the first layer and spread it out.

Place the second floor on top...

...and spread with the remaining cream.

Decorate the cake with the chopped pistachios.

Let the cream set in the refrigerator and then serve the cake well chilled.

[Translated from here.]

Nautahakk með rúsinum

Minced beef with raisins

Here's another typical Icelandic meat dish - and the cheese in the meat mixture makes the meatloaf wonderfully juicy. Of course the raisins also do their part!


Ingredients

800 g ground beef
200 g breadcrumbs
200 g spicy cheese
240 ml milk
1 onion
1 egg
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
160 g raisins


Preparation

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

Chop the onion finely...

...and grate the cheese.

Set aside about 50 g of the grated cheese and mix the remaining ingredients together thoroughly in a large bowl.

Then put the mixture into a small baking tray and press it into shape...

...and let it bake for about an hour at 350 °F (180 °C) upper and lower heat.

Then sprinkle with the remaining cheese...

...and bake until the cheese has melted.

Then serve the ground beef with fresh salad and bread.
Bon appetit!

[Translated from here.]

Sjónvarpskaka með hvítt súkkulaði

Classic white chocolate TV cake

When you ask Icelanders what a “typical Icelandic cake” is to them, one name always comes up: Sjónvarpskaka. So “TV cake”. I already had a recipe for this in the blog, now I tried a different recipe, with more coconut in the dough and with white chocolate too.


Ingredients

For the dough

225 g brown sugar
180 g butter
2 eggs
200 g sour cream
1 Tbsp milk
1 pinch of ground vanilla
200 g wholemeal flour
1 tsp baker's ammonia
1 tsp baking powder
100 g coconut flakes

For the sprinkles

150 g brown sugar
120 g wholemeal flour
50 g butter
100 g coconut flakes
1/4 cup white chocolate chips


Preparation

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

To make the dough, beat the butter and sugar until fluffy, then add the eggs.

Stir in the sour cream, butter and ground vanilla.

Then add the flour, baking soda and baking powder and mix.

Finally add the coconut flakes and fold in.

Line the large baking pan for a loaf cake with baking paper and pour the dough into it.

For the streusel, first melt the butter.

Mix the brown sugar and flour together, pour in the melted butter...

...and knead with the coconut flakes.

Then spread the sprinkles over the dough.

Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350 °F (180 °C) upper and lower heat for approx. 50 - 60 minutes.

Then let the cake cool thoroughly and carefully remove it from the mold

Well then - bon appetit!

[Translated from here.]