Hrísgrjónagrautur með lifrarpylsu

Rice pudding with liver sausage

The winter month of Þorrri begins at the end of January in the old Icelandic calendar. A sacrificial festival ("Þorrablót") used to take place here, during which the last animals that could no longer be brought through the winter were slaughtered. The pre-Christian tradition of Þorrablót was then revived in Iceland in the 19th century and has now become an integral part of popular culture. The festival is celebrated solemnly and with lots of hearty food, often in the form of rich buffets.

My contribution to Þorrablót this year is this recipe for rice pudding with liver sausage, which I came across in an Icelandic cookbook and which sounded so strange, but it tastes very harmless!

Ingredients

2 cups of rice pudding

4 cups of water

1 pinch of salt

1.5 cups of milk

Liver sausage

2 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Preparation

The rice pudding...

...put the water and salt in a large pot and let it boil for about 20 minutes until the water has been absorbed.

Add the milk and continue to simmer over low heat until the rice pudding reaches a nice creamy consistency.

Remove the liver sausage from the skin, slice it and then cut it into bite-sized pieces.

Add the sausage pieces to the pot briefly to warm them up.

Mix the sugar with the cinnamon in a glass, bowl or similar.

Put the rice pudding with the liver sausage pieces on the plate and sprinkle the whole thing with sugar and cinnamon.

Then serve the dish straight away.

[Translated from here.]

Kartöflukaka

Potato cake

I baked this cake when our nice Icelandic neighbor came to visit - and the cake was really well received! My husband was also happy about it and took half a piece.

Ingredients

120 g butter
150 g sugar
250 g boiled potatoes
100 g ground almonds
50 g oat flakes

3 - 4 Tbsp rhubarb jam

75 g butter
180 g powdered sugar
1 pinch of ground vanilla


Preparation

Mix butter and sugar until fluffy.

Mash the potatoes into small pieces with a fork or something similar.

Add the potatoes, ground almonds and oat flakes to the butter-sugar mixture and mix everything into a uniform dough.

Pour the dough into a springform pan (approx. 26 cm) lined with baking paper...

...and bake in a preheated oven at 350 °F (180 °C) for about 35 minutes until the cake is nice and golden brown.

Then let the cake cool thoroughly.

Carefully remove the cake from the mold, carefully turn it over, spread it with the jam and place it in the refrigerator for about 1 hour so that the jam can absorb a little.

Then mix the butter with the sugar and the ground vanilla to make the cream as smooth as possible and spread the buttercream on the cake.

Then chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours and then serve well chilled.

[Translated from here.]

Agúrkusalat

Cucumber salad

This cucumber salad was also really well received by my children - the taste was a bit like tzatziki or kebab sauce and was definitely delicious. A very nice surface for us. This will definitely happen more often!

Ingredients

1 cucumber

1 onion

1 cup sour cream

2 Tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp coarse sea salt

1 pinch of black pepper

1 Tbsp dill

Preparation

In a large bowl, mix the sour cream with the lemon juice, salt, pepper and dill.

Peel the cucumber and cut it into small cubes.

Peel the onion and chop it as small as possible.

Add the cucumber and onion pieces to the dressing,...

...mix thoroughly and let it sit briefly in the fridge. Season a little more with salt, pepper and dill to taste.

Then serve as a side dish to meat or fish dishes. We had herb baguettes and grilled pork here.

[Translated from here.]

Bláberjasósa

Blueberry sauce

This is a nice recipe for an uncomplicated blueberry sauce based on the roux base that is so popular in Iceland. With lamb stock, cream, blueberry jam and fresh blueberries, the sauce tastes very tasty and, thanks to the meat stock, does not need any other spices.

We also had a nice leg of lamb marinated with herbs and blueberries, which I bought in advance at the store in Selfoss...

...and first fried it in the oven at 400 °F (200 °C) for around 20 minutes and then cooked it at 350 °F (170 °C) for around 2 hours.

To go with the leg of lamb with blueberry marinade, I cooked the blueberry sauce and served it with boiled potatoes. Very tasty - but far too much for the three of us, there is still a nice leftover in the fridge!

Ingredients for the blueberry sauce

30 g butter

30 g flour

500 ml lamb stock

200 ml cream

100 g blueberry jam

100 g fresh blueberries

Preparation

Melt the butter in a pot.

Mix with the flour to form a thick lump.

Pour in the meat stock in portions, stirring constantly, to create a nice consistency.

Then add the blueberry jam, bring to the boil briefly, then reduce the heat and stir in the cream.

Finally add the fresh blueberries, stir briefly...

...and then serve straight away.

[Translated from here.]

Lambakjöt með osti

Lamb with cheese

Traditionally, this dish was prepared with salted meat ("saltkjöt") - this way the fresh meat could be preserved for longer. However, the meat then needs to be soaked for a while so that it doesn't taste too salty and is edible. Nowadays you can also prepare it with fresh lamb, but you still need a little salt for seasoning.

Ingredients

500 g boneless lamb
1 onion
3 Tbsp oil
3 Tbsp flour
100 ml tomato juice
100 ml apple juice
100 ml water
1 tsp coarse sea salt
1 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
100 g grated cheese


Preparation

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

Clean the meat and cut into thin strips.

Peel the onion, halve it and cut it into thin half rings.

Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the onions until translucent.

Then take the onions out again.

Meanwhile, roll the lamb strips on all sides in flour and fry them in the hot oil in the pan.

Then put it in a fireproof dish.

Cover with the fried onions.

Pour in the tomato juice, apple juice and water and season with salt, pepper and caraway.

Sprinkle with the grated cheese.

Bake in the lower third of the preheated oven at 350 °F (180 °C) for about 40 minutes, stirring once or twice.

Then serve the meat with cooked barley and fresh salad. (Of course you can also use rice instead of pearl barley.)

[Translated from here.]

Hindberja- og ferskjudúett

Raspberry-peach duet

Here in Iceland, some things are a little different than we might be used to in other countries. I actually wanted to try this recipe for a raspberry-peach duet with skyr, but in Krambúð, the small shop I was in, there were no frozen peaches, only mango, and frozen fruit only in 250 g bags. So I had a mango-raspberry duet in equal parts. Also delicious. I then sprinkled some desiccated coconut on top.

Ingredients for 4 persons

500 g frozen peach pieces

100 g frozen raspberries

500 g vanilla skyr

120 ml milk

2 Tbsp honey

Preparation

In a blender, place the peach pieces with 375 g Sky, 100 ml milk and 1 tablespoon honey in a suitable container and puree them with the blender.

Then pour the mixture evenly into 4 glasses.

Then add the frozen raspberries with the remaining Skyr, the remaining milk and the second spoonful of honey into the container and puree them thoroughly.

Then pour the raspberry mixture onto the peach mixture in the glasses, sprinkle with a little grated coconut and then serve straight away.

[Translated from here.]

Eplasalat

Apple salad

I love it when things are put together differently than I was used to. This is a typical Icelandic recipe for an apple and grape salad with cream and sour cream dressing, which is often served here in Iceland as a side dish to hearty meat dishes, especially as a side dish for grilling.

However, my children were a bit confused by the combination; they found the salad very tasty, but wanted to eat it for dessert.

Ingredients

2 green apples

250 g green grapes

200 ml whipping cream

1 Tbsp sugar

100 g sour cream

1 tsp lemon juice

Preparation

Wash, peel, quarter and core the apples. Then cut the pieces into small cubes.

Wash and halve the grapes.

In a large bowl, mix the apple pieces with the halved grapes.

Beat the cream with the sugar until stiff.

Then carefully stir in the sour cream and lemon juice.

Add the cream mixture to the apple pieces and the halved grapes...

...and mix everything thoroughly. Then serve the salad. (If possible, don't let it sit for too long, otherwise the cream mixture will become relatively solid in the refrigerator.)

[Translated from here.]