Tag-Archive for ◊ Swedish ◊

16 Jun 2011 Gravlax (sort of like Lox)
Author:  |  Category: Appetizers, Breakfast & Brunch, Seafood  | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,  | 2 Comments

A few weeks ago my Aunt and I went on a seven day cruise to Alaska.  I spent most of the time reading while  looking out to sea and waiting for the next meal to be served, usually just a couple hour wait! It’s quite decadent to eat four multi-course meals a day (breakfast, lunch, tea, and dinner) all chosen off a menu, all served by waiters, while sitting at tables set with linen, too much  silverware, and many glasses.  And after all that, the biggest thrill yet awaits.  The getting up from the table, without removing a plate, and walking out the door, with not one thought about cleaning up or storing leftovers.  Now THAT, was lovely.  I wouldn’t be opposed to a fourteen day cruise next year!!!

As on most cruises, the Head Chef did a little demonstration for those of us who like to cook in real life (being on board ship is by no means real life). The Head Chef of The Dawn Princess showed us how to make Gravlax and Tiramisu. Tiramisu I can take or leave, and I usually leave, which is very odd since I am a cake person to rival Gayle King, and a coffee person to rival Howard Shultz but, hand me a raw fish and I get all giddy!  I took lots of notes during the Gravlax portion of the demonstration.  When I got back on land, I knew I was going to make  Gravlax for our Cook Book Club meeting.  The theme was “Something You Love But Seldom Make”.  This recipe fit perfectly, as I love it, but had never made it.  Gravlax is one simple recipe, and it’s a stunning appetizer plate or brunch treat.

I know some of you are asking, but what is Gravlax? Think Lox!  It’s very similar, but with a shorter curing time (two days versus six months). Gravlax is a Scandinavian dish of dry-cured raw salmon marinated in salt, sugar, dill, and citrus and often served thinly sliced on bread as an appetizer often accompanied by a dill-mustard sauce.

Dawn Princess Gravlax

  • 1 salmon fillet, about 2 lbs (very fresh, wild caught)
  • 500 grams of table salt (I weighed this out to be about ¾ cup)
  • 500 grams of sugar (I weighed this out to be about 1 ¼ cups)
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • One bunch fresh dill
  • 1 large orange, sliced
  • 1 large lemon, sliced
  1. Place the salmon side on a large piece of plastic wrap. Run your hand over the surface and remove any and all bones with small tweezers.
  2. Mix the salt and sugar together. Sprinkle approximately half of the salt/sugar mixture over the salmon fillet. Then top with a good amount of  freshly ground black pepper.
  3. Top the black pepper with a heavy layer of fresh dill sprigs.
  4. Top the dill with a layer of the orange and lemon slices.
  5. Pour remaining sugar-salt mixture over the top of everything.
  6. Wrap the fish, covered with the salt, the dill, and the orange and lemon slices and a final layer of salt/sugar, completely and tightly in plastic wrap.
  7. Lay plastic wrapped fillet on a cookie sheet and refrigerate for 30-48 hours.  (80% of the recipes I read on the Internet said to weigh the fish down with something heavy during the refrigeration time. The chef did not say this, but after reading the recipes on line, I decided to do the same.  I used a 12-pack of soda.)
  8. Remove the plastic wrap from the fish. Drain off the liquid. Quickly rinse the salt off with cold water, then dry with a paper towel.
  9. Thinly slice the salmon, holding the knife at a diagonal.  Serve.  The chef served the gravlax on a sliced sweet baguette with a honey-mustard-dill sauce (equal parts of honey and mustard, with a few tablespoons chopped fresh dill).  My kids, and I, love to put the Gravlax on top of  bagel halves which have been spread with thin layer of cream cheese and then topped with thinly sliced red onion, capers, and tomatoes. Or how about Eggs Benedict with Gravlax rather than Canadian Bacon?
  10. Leftovers can be wrapped tightly in plastic and kept for one week in refrigerator, and can be stored in freezer for longer storage.  If gravlax is frozen, be sure to defrost gently in refrigerator, or the texture of the gravlax will be compromised.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today.  If you’d like to see more recipes, just click on the “In The Kitchen With Polly” header on the top left hand side of the page, which will allow you to scroll the recipes in order of posting.  If you would like to search on a particular ingredient, just type the name in the search box.  I think my dear friend Rattie has designed a very user friendly website!

Polly

19 Oct 2010 Hasselback Potatoes
Author:  |  Category: Rice and Potatoes, Side Dishes  | Tags: , , , , , , ,  | 11 Comments

Have you heard of these potatoes?  Have you ever had one?   Seen one?  Me neither.  I made, and tasted, my first Hasselback potatoes over the weekend, photographic proof above!   A Hasselback Potato is a  Swedish version of a baked potato.  It’s named after the restaurant where it was first served, Hasselbacken, in Stockholm…, in the 1700s (!).  LOL! There are pictures and recipes all over the Internet.  See the great photos here!  Was I truly the last person on the planet to learn of these?!   How on earth did I miss these for the  first 50 years of my life?  The Hasselback potatoes were fun and easy to make, looked intriguing on the plate and tasted very good.

Use the recipe below as a guide.   Change it up a bit to match your tastes, and what you have on hand.  Some recipes call for peeling the potatoes, I left the skins on.  Some recipes use Russet potatoes, I used small Yukon Golds.  Some recipes call for sprinkling the potatoes with bread crumbs, I used Parmesan Cheese.  Some recipes called for paprika and salt, I used black pepper and salt. The quantities below are just a guide, increase or decrease depending on how many potatoes you are cooking.

Hasselback Potatoes

2-4 small Russet potatoes, or 6-12 small Yukon Gold potatoes (as many as you need for the number of people you are serving)
1 tablespoon olive oil
approx. 4 tablespoons melted butter
1-2 teaspoons finely minced garlic (to taste)
salt (table, Kosher, or sea), to taste
freshly grated black pepper, to taste
approx 4 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 400º.

The first step is the trick to these potatoes.  Cut the potatoes into 1/4 inch slices, but DO NOT cut all the way through the bottom of the potato. How to do this?  Put a pencil, a skewer or a chopstick on either side of the potato.  Slice an 1/4 intervals.  The knife will stop when it hits the pencil, skewer or chopstick and you won’t slice all the way through the potato! Brilliant!

Melt the butter with the garlic and the olive oil.

Drizzle the butter mixture over the potatoes.  Then use a pastry brush, or your fingers, to make sure the butter and the garlic drizzles down between each potato slice. (I put the potatoes in a bowl, poured the melted butter-oil-garlic mixture over them, then made sure the oil and garlic slid down each cut. )  Place potatoes on a baking sheet.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper, to taste.

Place potatoes in a preheated 400 degree oven and bake until done.  I baked small Yukon Golds for 25 minutes.  Bake a russet almost as long as you would bake a regular baked potato, 50 to 60 minutes.  Wait, you are not done yet.

Remove potatoes from oven, brush with any remaining butter-oil-garlic mixture and then sprinkle with cheese.  Return to oven to melt cheese, another 5 minutes or so.  Now you are done 🙂

Some people serve these with horseradish and herbed sour cream.  Why?  I didn’t think they needed any topping at all.

BTW, my daughter  zapped the leftovers for her breakfast the following morning.  I stole a bite.  Yummy.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today.  It’s always a pleasure.  Leave me a comment so I know you stopped by!

05 Feb 2010 Swedish Butter Cookies Three Ways
Author:  |  Category: Cookies & Bars, Sweets  | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,  | 2 Comments

The weekend is upon us and it sounds as if it’s going to be cold and wet almost everywhere. Let’s make cookies!  Here is my favorite recipe for butter cookies. It’s an easy one, and the cookies are melt-in-your-mouth delicious.  I have been baking these cookies exactly as the recipe specifies since the mid-1980s when my friend Kathy gave me the recipe (which she acquired from one of her students).  Just a few days ago, emboldened by all the foodie pages I have been looking at, I decided to play with the recipe a bit.  What fun!  One version, adding lemon peel, was only so-so, but the other two were excellent.  Now I am anxious to create a coffee/latte version. If I get one to work, you can be sure I’ll post it.  Let me know if you come up with any winning variations…, but don’t miss the originals, they are to die for!

Swedish Butter Cookies

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. corn syrup
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup flour

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Beat butter and sugar and corn syrup together with an electric mixer for about 3 minutes.  Stir in flour and baking soda.  Divide dough into 4 equal parts.  Roll each part into a roll about 6 inches long and 1 inch thick.  Place on a cookie sheet.  Cookies will spread a lot, so space them equidistantly. Bake in preheated 300 degree oven for 20 – 25 minutes.  Cut bars, at an angle, into slices while still hot.  I cut off the rounded ends, then slice each roll into 6 slices to make 2 dozen cookies per batch.  Cool on paper towel.

Coconut Butter Cookies (my favorite version)
Mix dough as above, adding in 1/2 tsp coconut extract with corn syrup.  Cover each roll with 1/2 to 1/3 cup sweetened shredded coconut.  Press coconut on roll, slightly flattening the rolls in the process.

Nutty Butter Cookies
Substitute 1/3 cup brown sugar for the 1/2 cup of white sugar.  Stir in 1/2 cup finely chopped almonds with flour.  Partially flatten the rolls before baking (with nuts, the dough doesn’t spread as much). Bake at 325 degrees for 20 – 25 minutes.

Lemon Butter Cookies
If you want to try it, I just added the grated rind of 1 large lemon… But the results weren’t nearly as tasty as the original version.  You simply have to make the originals!

What do you think?  Are you going to try this?
Whatever you decide, thanks for stopping by,