Kanína með sósu

Rabbit in sauce

In Iceland it was quite common for the rural population to keep a few rabbits on their farm for their own use. Nevertheless, rabbit meat never became widespread on a large scale in Iceland, probably because rabbit farming was relatively expensive here.

A German from Brandenburg who came to Iceland in 2007 to set up a rabbit farm here had to give up her company Kanína ehf at the end of 2016 for financial reasons. Although she was able to have between 60 and 90 rabbits from her farm slaughtered every month, the meat was served in top restaurants and sold in delicatessens, but unfortunately the sole proprietorship was ultimately not economically viable.

It's a shame - after all, white rabbit meat is relatively low in fat and extremely tasty!


Ingredients

1 rabbit ready to cook
1 tsp coarse sea salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3 carrots
1/4 celery bulb
1 stalk of leek
100 g butter
500 ml malt beer
300 ml water
250 ml sour cream
2 Tbsp potato flour
1 bunch of parsley


Preparation

Clean the rabbit and cut it into 6 pieces with a sharp knife: First carefully dislocate and cut off the hind legs, then separate the body under the ribs. Then separate the forelegs.

Salt and pepper the pieces.

Peel the carrots and the celery root and cut them into cubes as small as possible. Wash and clean the leek, halve it and cut it into rings.

Melt the butter in a large pan.

Add the rabbit meat to the pan with the vegetables and fry briefly on all sides.

Then add the root beer and water.

Put the lid on the pan and let the whole thing simmer over low heat for about 1.5 hours - it's important to keep checking whether there's enough water in the pan, otherwise keep adding a little more water!

Then remove the pieces of meat from the pan and keep them warm in the oven.

Bring the vegetables to the boil briefly in the liquid. Mix the potato flour in a glass with a little cold water and use it to thicken the sauce.

Stir in the sour cream.

Season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste.

Wash and chop the parsley and add it over the food.

Add the pieces of meat back into the sauce.

Serve with potatoes and fresh salad.

[Translated from here.]

Grænmetissalat

Vegetable salad

Okay, this vegetable salad probably won't be my husband's favorite dish in this lifetime. But I didn't think it was that bad, just something different - and I reduced the amount of celery in the recipe a little, so maybe my husband will like it better too!


Ingredients

2 carrots
1 stalk of celery
1 large potato
200 g pea pods
1 apple
2 tomatoes

2 Tbsp margarine
3 Tbsp flour

1 Tbsp vinegar
1 Tbsp mustard
2 egg yolks
1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
1 pinch of black pepper
1 tsp sugar
200 g skyr
2 tsp chopped parsley


Preparation

Wash the vegetables, peel and chop the carrots, potatoes and celery.

Cook carrots, potatoes, celery and green peas in a large pot of salted water until the vegetables are soft. Then drain well and let cool.

Melt the margarine in a large pot. Add the flour and stir into a thick mixture. Remove the pot from the oven.

Then add the vinegar, mustard, egg yolk, salt, pepper and sugar and stir.

Finally add the skyr and mix thoroughly.

Wash and peel the apple and wash the tomatoes. Then cut both into small pieces.

Add the cooked vegetables and the apple and tomato pieces to the salad dressing and mix thoroughly.

Finally, wash the parsley, chop it finely and sprinkle it over the finished salad.

[Translated from here.]

Súkkulaðikaka með bönunum

Chocolate Banana Cake

This recipe for a chocolate banana cake actually convinced me spontaneously, we really liked the cake, so fluffy, light and creamy. You could definitely serve it warm for dessert...


Ingredients

150 g dark chocolate
100 g dark nut chocolate
1/2 organic oranges
240 g margarine
240 g brown sugar
3 ripe bananas
4 eggs
3 Tbsp flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon


Preparation

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

In a large pot, slowly melt the chocolate with the grated orange peel, the squeezed orange juice, the margarine and the sugar.

When a nice, uniform mixture has formed, remove the pot from the heat and let it cool down a bit.

Roughly mash the bananas with a fork and stir them into the chocolate mixture.

Then stir in the eggs.

Finally add flour, baking powder and cinnamon and work everything into a nice, smooth dough.

Pour the dough into a springform pan (24 cm)...

...and bake in the lower third of the preheated oven at 350 °F (180 °C) for about 40 minutes until the inside of the cake is nicely baked (test with a toothpick!).

Take the cake out of the oven, let it cool thoroughly and carefully remove it from the tin.

Bon appetit!

[Translated from here.]

Pönnusteiktur fiskur með kryddjurtakartöflumús og bakað brokkóli

Fried fish with herb mashed potatoes and baked broccoli

I tried a slightly more elaborate meal - a mix of traditional Icelandic elements and a few modern touches.


Ingredients for 4 persons

For the fish

800 g cod fillet
1 tsp coarse salt
1 tsp olive oil
100 g butter
1 Tbsp lemon juice

For the herb mashed potatoes

100 g potatoes
100 g butter
150 g whipping cream
1 tsp chopped dill
1 tsp chopped parsley
1 tsp chopped chives
1 pinch of coarse sea salt

For the baked broccoli

1 head of broccoli
1 pinch of coarse sea salt
1 pinch of black pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp grated Parmesan
2 Tbsp almond flakes

For the sauce

50 g butter
1 bunch of spring onions
500 g whipping cream
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 small green apple
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 pinch of coarse sea salt


Preparation


It's best to start with the herb mashed potatoes...

Wash and peel the potatoes and boil them in salted water for about 20 minutes.

Remove the cooked potatoes from the water, drain well and mash them finely with a masher.

Add the butter and whipping cream...

...warm over low heat and stir in the chopped herbs.

Finally, season with salt to taste.


For the baked broccoli

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

Wash the broccoli and cut into small flowers, put the florets in an ovenproof dish.

Season with the salt and pepper...

...sprinkle the olive oil over the florets...

...and top with the grated Parmesan and flaked almonds.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350 °F (180 °C) for about 20 to 30 minutes.


For the sauce ce

Melt the butter for the sauce in another pan.

Wash and clean the spring onions and cut them into small rings.

Sauté the onions in the butter.

Add the whipping cream and simmer over low heat for about 15 minutes.

Then wash and peel the apple and cut the core and pulp into small cubes.

Then add the chopped apple to the pan with the apple cider vinegar and lemon juice and let it simmer a little more.

Finally, season with a little salt and possibly some pepper.


Finally prepare the fish:

Cut the cod fillet into 4 pieces that are as large as possible and season with salt.

Heat a large pan on the stove over very high heat with the olive oil.

Add the fish pieces to the pan and fry them on one side for 3 minutes.

Add the butter to the hot pan, turn the fish pieces over and fry on the other side for another 3 minutes.

Finally pour the melted butter over the fish fillets.

Remove the fish from the pan and drizzle with the lemon juice.


Arrange

Spread the sauce on the plates (save a little leftover for the end!), place the herb mashed potatoes on top, carefully "flatten" it a little and then place the fried cod in the middle at the top. Spread the baked broccoli on the side, add the last little dollop of sauce on top of the fish and serve immediately.

Well then - bon appetit!

[Translated from here.]

Dinner in Selfoss

Tryggvaskali

When my husband was traveling in Iceland in the summer and told his landlord that he and his friend had come to Stokkseyri specifically to eat in the restaurant "Fjöruborðið", the landlord recommended that he definitely go to the "Tryggvaskáli" to eat. to go to Selfoss. And we did that together when we were in the corner during the fall break in October.

The Tryggvaskáli owes its existence and its name to the Icelander Tryggvi Gunnarsson, who was born on October 18, 1835 in Laufás in northern Iceland. Tryggvi was a carpenter, later also a member of parliament in Alþing and director of the Landesbank. He died on October 21, 1917 at the ripe old age of 82.

It is thanks, among other things, to his commitment that the first suspension bridge was built here at Selfoss in 1891 across the Ölfusá River, the most water-rich river in Iceland. The construction of the bridge meant an enormous economic boom for the town, which had previously only consisted of farms. Today Selfoss is the largest city in southern Iceland with over 7,000 inhabitants.

As part of the bridge construction, the enterprising Tryggvi also had the oldest house in the city built next to the river in Selfoss, as a restaurant and guest house - the Tryggvaskáli, i.e. "Tryggvi's Hut".

Today Tryggvaskáli is an upscale restaurant with a unique ambience. Regional products are used here and the mix of traditional and modern elements gives the food its very special touch.

The restaurant is usually open from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.

The old house has a very pleasant, warm atmosphere, and the different rooms and rooms make it feel very cozy.

When my husband and I ate at Tryggvaskáli, we both opted for the 3-course menu that was offered for dinner - if it was lavish, then really lavish!

As an appetizer, very tasty bread was served with a delicious, soft salted garlic butter, so incredibly creamy... fantastic!

As a starter there was humarsúpa, i.e. langoustine soup. On our plates that were served, the langoustine with tomato and braised Jerusalem artichoke were arranged, then the waiter at the table poured the humarsúpa from a jug over the "solid ingredients". It tastes extremely delicious, intense and spicy.

For the main course you could choose between salmon and lamb.

The beautifully grilled salmon was served with pearl barley, broccoli, very tasty, slightly melted Icelandic blue cheese (" Ljótur "), warm blueberries and caramelized butter.

For the meat dish, the lamb was prepared in two ways: once as a slowly braised rack of lamb, still really nice with a good rind of bacon on it, and then as a lamb rillette, cooked so wonderfully juicy and soft that I have long-buried memories of the goulash my grandmother woke up. There was also a braised parsnip, I think, a cube of "mashed potatoes" with potato pieces, spinach and parmesan and thyme - plus a sweet, incredibly delicious carrot cream.

For dessert there was pistachio ice cream on chocolate mousse with roasted coconut flakes, almonds and both fresh and dried strawberries.

The menu cost 8,500 ISK per person, or around €68.

Then there were the drinks, the beer for my husband and the orange juice for me. In total we paid 17,850 ISK for the evening, just under €145.

We definitely enjoyed the evening!

[Translated from here.]