Rauðaldinsúpa

Tomato soup

Before I (hopefully!) go back to Iceland in four days, I'm still busy harvesting in my garden here. I have more red tomatoes hanging on my bushes every day, so I looked through my beloved old Icelandic cookbook for recipes with tomatoes - and first tried this tomato soup here (I only made a small portion, though).

Nowadays, tomato in Icelandic means " tómatur ", so you can quickly find your way around. Tomatoes used to be called “ rauðaldin ,” which literally means “red fruit.”


Ingredients for 4 servings

1kg tomatoes
1 onion
1 liter of water
2 Tbsp butter
4 Tbsp flour
2 l meat broth
4 Tbsp port wine or 2 Tbsp vinegar
2 tsp coarse sea salt
1/2 tsp pepper


Preparation

Wash the tomatoes and cut them into small pieces.

Peel and dice the onion.

Then put the tomato and onion pieces in a large pot with 1 liter of water...

...and let it simmer slowly until everything is a nice, soft porridge.

Melt the butter in a second pot.

Add the flour and whisk with the melted butter.

Then pour in the meat broth in portions, stirring constantly.

Now press the cooked tomatoes through a sieve...

...and add to the butter-flour-meat broth in the second pot.

Let the mixture simmer again for about 10 minutes.

Then season with port wine or vinegar as well as salt and pepper.

The soup is then served with toasted white bread.

[Translated from here.]

Sumarleg sítrónukaka

Summery lemon cake

I think this is a nice soft cake that really tastes like summer! The cake was also well received by my children. They just couldn't agree - grated lemon peel on the frosting, yes or no? But the majority was for yes!

Ingredients

250 g soft butter
260 g brown sugar
4 eggs
380 g flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 pinch of ground vanilla
100 ml pure Skyr
1 organic lemon
140 g powdered sugar


Preparation

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

Mix the butter and sugar until fluffy.

Add the eggs one at a time, stirring constantly.

Mix in the flour, baking soda and salt.

Wash the lemon thoroughly and cut it in half.

Now add the skyr, the ground vanilla, the juice of half a lemon and some grated lemon peel.

Oops - I almost forgot the ground vanilla!

Place in a well-greased Bundt cake tin (approx. 23 cm).

...and bake in a preheated oven at 350 °F (180 °C) for about 90 to 100 minutes until the cake is well baked (test with a toothpick!).

Take the cake out of the oven, let it cool thoroughly and then turn it out.

Mix the powdered sugar with the juice of the other half lemon juice and then pour the nice thick mixture onto the cake.

Sprinkle grated lemon peel over the icing for decoration and let everything set well.

[Translated from here.]

Súkkulaðimús með lakkrískeim

Chocolate mousse with licorice flavor

Yes, I know, not everyone is as big a licorice fan as I am. But I really love them! I still had a bar of Omnom licorice raspberry chocolate lying here, which I then used to make this dessert - with fresh raspberries. Oh yes, it was worth it!

It was quite an experience to open the chocolate bar - and the smell of licorice and raspberries filled the air in my kitchen. By the way, I didn't expect that the chocolate was actually dark red!


Ingredients for 4 servings

60 g licorice chocolate
80 g dark chocolate
1 Tbsp butter
200 ml whipping cream
350 ml vanilla skyr
100 g fresh raspberries


Preparation

Set aside two pieces of the licorice chocolate.

Roughly chop the remaining chocolate...

...and let both types, together with the butter, melt in a water bath.

Then let the chocolate mixture cool slightly.

Whip the cream until stiff.

Set aside half of the cream in the refrigerator.

Mix the other half of the cream with the vanilla skyr and the cooled chocolate mixture...

...and fill into dessert glasses.

Chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

Then squirt the remaining cream onto the cream, grate the reserved chocolate pieces into small pieces and add them to the cream. Decorate with the fresh raspberries.

Then serve fresh.

[Translated from here.]

Lax með mangó chutney og pistasíuhnetum

Salmon with mango chutney and pistachios

I'm a big fan of so-called "fusion cuisine", in which different food cultures from different parts of the world are mixed with typically regional ingredients. Here I put grilled salmon (typical Icelandic) with mango chutney and pistachios on the grill or in the oven. As a side dish there was pearl barley (again typically Icelandic, it also grows in the country and doesn't have to be imported), but mixed with chopped almonds and plenty of fresh coriander.

I definitely found this fusion of Icelandic cuisine and traditional Icelandic ingredients with elements of Indian cuisine really tasty! And it was uncomplicated and easy to prepare - perfect, I think.


Ingredients for 4 servings

800 g salmon
1 glass of mango chutney
50 g pistachio nuts
1 pinch of salt and pepper
1 tsp lemon juice


Preparation

Wash the salmon and pat dry if necessary.

Place in a fireproof dish.

Season with salt and pepper and add the lemon juice.

Then spread the pistachio nuts on top...

...pour the chutney on top...

...and then bake it in the preheated oven at 400 °F (200 °C) upper and lower heat for about 15 to 20 minutes until the salmon is cooked through.

Then serve with salad, fresh bread, rice or pearl barley.
We had pearl barley with coriander and chopped almonds.

[Translated from here.]

Bankabygg með möndlum og kóríander

Pearl barley with almonds and coriander

Pearl barley ("bankabygg") is a traditional Icelandic ingredient, even if it has since been largely forgotten compared to imported goods such as rice and pasta. Nowadays, pearl barley is becoming increasingly popular again, including in the catering industry, and I actually really enjoy eating it.

There is a somewhat Indian-inspired version here - with lots of fresh coriander and chopped almonds, as a side dish to grilled salmon with pistachio nuts and mango chutney. Fast, uncomplicated and really tasty, I think!


Ingredients for 4 persons

200 g pearl barley
600 g water
1/2 tsp coarse sea salt

100 g chopped almonds
2 handfuls of fresh coriander
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp rapeseed oil


Preparation

Cook the pearl barley in boiling salted water (approx. 30 - 40 minutes) until the pearl barley is nice and soft and the remaining water has evaporated.

Wash, tear and roughly chop the coriander.

Add the coriander, chopped almonds, lemon juice and rapeseed oil to the pearl barley,...

...mix everything thoroughly in the pot and then serve straight away (e.g. like here with our grilled salmon).

[Translated from here.]

Bryggjusúpa

Soup on the quay

The two of us ate the soup here as a main course and were pleasantly full afterwards. As a starter soup it would definitely be enough for four people.

Traditionally, the fresh fish for this dish is not cooked, but cut raw into bite-sized pieces, placed on the plate and then poured over with the hot soup. However, I didn't dare do that here, far away from freshly landed fish...


Ingredients

350 g fresh cod
2 Tbsp oil
150 g mushrooms
2 onions
1 chili pepper
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp ground cumin
400 ml fish stock
1 Tbsp honey
2 bay leaves
250 ml cream
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
100 ml apple juice
1 pinch of coarse sea salt
1 pinch of pepper


Preparation

Wash, clean and chop the mushrooms, onions and chili pepper.

Heat the oil in a large pot.

Add the mushrooms, onions and chili to the pot and sauté with the ground cumin and thyme.

Then add the fish stock, apple cider vinegar, apple juice and bay leaves and bring to the boil.

Take the bay leaves out of the soup, add the honey and pour in the cream and warm it up, but don't let it boil anymore.

Season with salt and pepper.

Cut the fish into bite-sized pieces...

...briefly add it to the soup and then serve immediately.

If you like, you can sprinkle some whole cumin on top.

[Translated from here.]