Gratíneraður karrí plokkfiskur

Baked curry plokkfiskur

For me, this is one of the most typical Icelandic dishes ever - plokkfiskur, meaning "pounded fish".

The Icelandic housewife used to bring fish and potatoes to the table several times a week, the "staple food" of Icelanders in the past, as both were relatively easily available and reasonably affordable. If there were any leftovers, they were reused - and the next day we had "mashed fish": simply chop up the cooked potatoes and the cooked fish, mix them and heat them with white sauce.

I know you're unlikely to win a beauty prize with this food. And depending on how it's prepared, it can taste bland in the canteen if you're unlucky. But well seasoned and perhaps gratinated with cheese, then Plokkfiskur is really “soul food” for me.

Here I have a version that is beautifully seasoned with cumin and curry, giving it a very special touch - really delicious, I think!

Ingredients for 2 servings

250 g cooked haddock (including white fish)

150 g boiled potatoes

3 Tbsp butter

1 onion

1 tsp curry powder

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp vegetable broth powder

3 Tbsp flour

420 ml milk

salt and pepper

80 g grated cheese

Preparation

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

Chop up the cooked fish and potatoes a little.

Heat a saucepan and melt the butter.

Peel the onion and chop it finely.

Add the chopped onion to the butter along with the grainy vegetable stock and curry powder and fry until the onion pieces become translucent.

Sprinkle the flour over it, stir and then pour in the milk in small portions, stir thoroughly and season with salt and pepper.

Add the potato pieces and the fish to the pan,...

... mix everything carefully and then pour the mixture into a suitable fireproof dish.

Sprinkle the whole thing with the cheese and bake in the preheated oven at 350 °F (180 °C) upper and lower heat for about 10 minutes.

Then serve the plokkfiskur with fresh salad or something similar.

Bon appetit!

[Translated from here.]

Kanilflétta - Cinnamon Plait

I wanted to show you what I baked on Thursday for the first day of summer here in Iceland - a cinnamon plait!

Cinnamon rolls always work, I think, and here in Iceland they almost fall under the category of “staple food”. This time I changed things up and baked a cinnamon plait out of the dough instead of cinnamon rolls.

The basic recipe comes from my favorite cinnamon rolls, but I also used a little butter to brush it on to keep it a little moister, and after rolling up the dough I didn't cut the roll into slices, but lengthwise into two strands , which I then braided together and baked into a suitable cake tin.

I'm definitely very happy with the result of my cinnamon roll cake! The cinnamon plait was also well received during the visit and child 4 also participated very enthusiastically.

Ingredients

250 ml milk

100 g butter

90 g brown sugar

1 pack of dry yeast

500 g flour

1 pinch of salt

2 Tbsp softened butter

80 g brown sugar

20 g cinnamon

1/2 tsp cardamom

Preparation

Heat the milk and butter in a saucepan until the butter has melted.

Then pour the lukewarm mixture into a large mixing bowl and mix with the sugar and yeast. Let the whole thing stand for about 5 minutes until nice bubbles have formed.

Then add flour and salt...

...and knead everything into a smooth dough.

Then cover the dough and let it rise in a warm place for about 1 hour.

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

Roll out the dough into a rectangle and brush with the soft butter.

In a small bowl, mix the sugar with the cinnamon and cardamom and distribute evenly over the buttered dough.

Roll up the dough over the long side.

Then cut the resulting roll in half as cleanly as possible with a knife.

Intertwine the two strands.

Put the cinnamon plait in a baking pan and let it rise for about 30 minutes.

Then bake the cinnamon plait at 350 °F (180 °C) upper and lower heat for about 25 minutes (make sure that the plait doesn't get too dark, if necessary cover it with baking paper or something similar!).

Then let the cinnamon plait cool down a little, carefully lift it out of the mold with the baking paper and, best of all, serve it lukewarm.

Bon appetit!

[Translated from here.]

Sumardagurinn fyrsti 2023

The first day of summer - official holiday in Iceland

And, are you starting to get into the summer spirit, like me here in the sun on the beach at Eyrabakki? (Still nicely dressed warmly with my new hand-knitted lopapeysa.)

In Iceland there is only winter and summer

The Old Icelandic calendar recognizes only two seasons: winter and summer. The calendar divides the year into six winter months and six summer months. The seventh month of the year, the first summer month ( Harpa ), always begins on the first Thursday after April 18 - so this year, April 20, 2023.

How summer freezes together and winter freezes together - whether summer and winter freeze together will show what the next summer will be like

According to tradition, one could hope for a good summer with a rich harvest when "summer and winter froze together", that is, when there was frost on the first summer night.

Therefore, it was customary to place a bowl of water outside the door on the night before the first day of summer to see if there had been any frost. According to tradition, the thickness of the layer of ice on the water indicated how thick the layer of cream on the milk would become over the summer.

Looking at the weather forecast for our area here in the south, I don't think there's going to be a thick layer of cream on top of the milk this summer. The forecast for Thursday is for dry and bright weather with little wind, temperatures ranging from 8° to 14°, a beautiful day. Temperatures are also expected to reach at least 3° at night. So, I'm afraid there won't be any "freezing together" this year!

The first day of summer - celebrations through the ages

Even earlier, at least in some parts of Iceland, it was customary to celebrate the first day of summer with a sacrificial feast; one such festival is mentioned, for example, in the Egilssaga. Later, the day was celebrated for a long time as a religious festival with a large mass in the church. From the mid-18th century onwards, general summer celebrations on this day are recorded in Iceland, with plenty of good food and drink. By the mid-19th century, this first day of summer had become the most important holiday after Christmas, with large celebrations, and Icelandic children received "summer gifts" ( sumargjafir ) on this occasion.

By a law of December 24, 1971, the first day of summer was declared a public holiday in Iceland.

Nowadays it is mainly a big family celebration

Nowadays it is customary for the Scouts to hold a big celebration on the first day of summer and sometimes also a parade (although the photo here of the Scouts is from the parade through Reykjavík on National Day 2022).

In the capital area, for example, there's a big family festival at the Árbærsafn Museum. This year, the festival begins at 1 p.m. with a small parade and marching band around the museum. Following this, there will be various workshops for children, horseback riding, and various competitions, as well as fresh lummur, those small, thick Icelandic pancakes, for everyone in the old farmhouse. The festival is scheduled to last until 4 p.m.

Árbærssafn Local History Museum, Reykjavík

Here in Selfoss there has always been a big family festival in the village in recent years, with a bouncy castle etc. for the children (the photo here is from the family festival in summer 2022).

Let’s see what we’re doing on this holiday this year!

[Translated from here.]

Uppáhaldsídýfan mín

My (current) favorite dip

I made this dip for Easter this year, as a sort of “starter” for Easter dinner. The dip was served while we were playing “Carcassonne” with the family and simply placed on the table.

Child 4, skeptical, initially only took one cracker, but then very carefully tried a little bit of the dip - and then enthusiastically loaded the cracker full. Our visit was also very enthusiastic - and the dip was immediately promoted to our current favorite dip.

Ideal if you want to offer a little something!

By the way, the grated cheese I used here was a 4-cheese blend of mozzarella, Gouda, Maribo cheese and a Tindur cheese that was aged for at least 12 months. You can't really tell which types they are, so it certainly works with other cheese mixtures too.

Ingredients

200 g cream cheese
180 g sour cream

150 g grated cheese

1/2 red onion

6 slices of bacon

chives

1 pinch of salt

1 Tbsp sugar

1 pinch of paprika powder

1 pinch of pepper

Preparation

Fry the bacon in a pan without any additional fat until crispy on both sides, then let it cool down well.

In a bowl, mix the cream cheese with the sour cream and the salt, sugar, paprika powder and pepper.

Add the grated cheese and stir in.

Peel half the red onion and cut it into small pieces, and also cut the cold bacon as small as possible.

Wash and chop the chives.

Set aside a bit of the chives, chopped bacon and onion pieces for garnish and mix the rest with the remaining ingredients in the bowl.

Pour the dip into a decorative bowl, sprinkle with the remaining bacon, onions and chives and serve with crackers or similar.

The dip can also be prepared the same day and then served fresh from the fridge.

Verði ykkur að góðu - I wish you bon appetite!

[Translated from here.]

A sweater for my youngest Viking

A new Lopapeysa

I enjoy knitting more and more and have already knitted one or two sweaters or jackets in the typical pattern with a round yoke, like the classic Icelandic "Lopapeysa" (= sweaters made from Icelandic sheep's wool).

I've knitted several "lopapeysur" myself, and my husband also has two cardigans in this style. Last year, Child 1 received a black lopapeysur with a white pattern, and Child 2 received a bobble hat for Christmas. Child 3 has had a plain knitted sweater with a round yoke for a while. Last year, my sister received a blue lopapeysur with a colorful pattern and a matching knitted hat.

I hadn't knitted anything for my fourth child yet... But I was determined to catch up! And when I saw instructions for a pattern with Viking ships in a knitting book, I knew I wanted to knit a Lopapeysa like that for my youngest Viking!

The pattern is based on a classic longship, with dragon heads on the bow and round shields on the side planks (as shown here in the replica in the Víkingaheimar Museum in Njarðvík).

After a trip to the geyser, we stopped at a parking lot and took a photo of the new sweater in front of a turf house to have a nice background. Unfortunately, my little Viking still finds his sweater a bit scratchy and quite warm – but doesn't it look very cute, my Vicky?!?

[Translated from here.]

Kransakaka

Wreath cake

Such a "wreath cake" is a special specialty for festive occasions in many parts of Scandinavia and here in Iceland you can often find it on the cake buffet, especially at baptisms and confirmations. A cake like this actually consists of 15 to 18 stacked cake rings.

The cake consists of a lot of marzipan and sugar and is very tasty, but at least I can't eat a lot of it in one go!

I have now only made 1/3 of the recipe and baked a small wreath cake with only 6 rings as a dessert for our Easter meal. Sort of like an “Easter edition” with a small Easter egg on the cake for decoration.

However, the Easter eggs came from Germany - here in Iceland we don't know boiled colored chicken eggs or small chocolate Easter eggs. There are really large chocolate eggs (páskaegg) filled with chocolate and other sweets, and the smallest filled egg weighs at least 120 g, the "giant eggs" can weigh 1 kilo or more.

Ingredients for a cake with 15 - 18 wreaths

1.5 kg raw marzipan

750 g white sugar

3 egg whites

various chocolate to decorate

Preparation

Cut the marzipan into small pieces and mix with the sugar in a large mixing bowl using a mixer.

Beat the egg white until stiff...

...and fold it into the marzipan-sugar mixture in portions.

Knead the dough thoroughly and then cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least four hours (preferably overnight).

Preheat the oven to 400 °F (200 °C) upper/lower heat.

Roll out the dough to about 1.5 cm thick.

Cut the dough into strips approx. 2 cm wide. The shortest strip should be about 10 cm long, the other strips should each be 3 cm longer.

Then shape the strips into circles and use your hands to shape them into as even a shape as possible.

Then place the wreaths of different sizes on baking paper and bake in a preheated oven at 400 °F (200 °C) for about 10 to 15 minutes - always keep an eye on the wreaths so that they don't get too dark.

Take the tray out of the oven and let it cool thoroughly.

Then decorate the cold wreaths with melted chocolate or something similar as desired; you can also have fun with the decoration to your heart's content.

Melt the chocolate in a water bath.

Place the largest ring on a cake plate or other suitable surface, decorate with the melted chocolate and place the next ring on top and carefully press it a little onto the chocolate. Continue like this until the whole cake is finished.

This was our "Easter edition" before cutting - we then removed the wreaths one by one and are now eating our way through from top to bottom. There are two rings left in the fridge, I think...

Sometimes it's just fun to enjoy the good of both worlds - i.e. a small Icelandic wreath cake with German chocolate Easter eggs.

Bon appetit!

[Translated from here.]