The following are a (growing) number of recipes. All are tested and approved! Enjoy!
A classic Thursday night dinner is Yellow Split Pea Soup and Swedish Pancakes (you just have to trust me on this one!)
Here are two delicious recipes:
Ärter med Fläsk (Yellow Pea Soup with Pork)
| 2 cups dried yellow peas | 1 tsp. leaf marjoram |
| 6 cups cold water
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½ tsp. thyme
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| 1 medium sized onion
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¾ to 1 lb. pork hocks
(Note: Pia states traditional Swedish Christmas Ham is great in this recipe) |
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salt |
Preparation:
Soak peas in water overnight, then drain. In a 3-quart pot, cover peas with 6 cups water. Bring to a boil. Skim off any pea husks that rise to the surface. Add the chopped onion, marjoram, thyme and pork. Again bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer with pot covered for about 1 ½ to 2 hours. (One variation is to remove about one forth to one third of the soup, puree in a blender or food processor and return to the pot. This helps thicken the soup). Serve hot soup with a few pieces of pork in each serving bowl.
Source: Splendid Swedish Recipes 1989
Swedish Pancakes
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Directions
Preheat pan over medium heat.
Beat the egg and milk in a small bowl.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Add the milk mixture, stirring to make a thin batter, being careful not to over-mix. Fold in the melted butter.
Melt enough butter to keep the pan coated. Pour a small amount of batter, just enough to cover the bottom of the pan, and spread by moving the pan. Cook until bubbles form on the top, about 1 minute. Turn with a spatula and cook on the second side until golden, about 1 minute. Remove from the pan and repeat with the remaining batter.
When removing pancakes from the pan, fold over into rectangles, and (optionally) melt a small amount of butter on top.
Serve hot with lingonberry jam or berries as described below.
Berries: take any fresh berries, wash and place in a glass bowl. Sprinkle liberally with sugar, cover and place in refrigerator over-night. The next day the berries will soften and have created their own syrup.
Note: the trick with Swedish pancakes is in the timing and technique. Use a medium heat. Always butter the pan. Don’t cook them like regular pancakes or you will over-cook them. They should look a little ‘blonde’ (you know, they ARE Swedish!) then they should be very moist inside.
Source: Emeril Legasse and P.H.Anderson
Boiled Crayfish with Dill
| 6 pounds live crayfish
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3 bottles dark beer, preferably an English stout |
| 2/3 cup course sea salt
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1 large bunch fresh dill, plus a few sprigs for garnish |
| 3 tablespoons sugar | Lemon wedges
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Put the crayfish in the sink under cold running water to make sure they are alive. Discard any that do not move.
In a large pot, combine 2 gallons cold water, the salt, sugar, beer and dill and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the crayfish, return to a boil, and turn off the heat. Let stand for an hour or two before serving.
Drain the crayfish and arrange on a large serving platter. Garnish with dill and squeeze some lemon juice over them.
(Note this recipe is from Andreas Viestad. He states this will serve 4. My guess is this is for 2. Skål!)
Marinated Herring in Sour Cream
Ingredients:
150 ml / 1/4 pint / ½ cup sour cream
2.5 ml / ½ tsp creamed horseradish
15ml / 1 tbsp Pickled Beetroot (beet) juice
3 matjes herring, about 150g / 5 oz cut into 2.5 cm/ 1 inch squares
115 g / 4 oz / ½ cup Pickled Beetroot (beets) diced
250 g / 9oz / 1 cup Cucumber salad, drained and chopped
25 g / 1 oz / 2 tbsp salted butter, softened
2 slices rye bread
2 round (butterhead) lettuce leaves
2 hardboiled eggs, but into wedges
4 parsley sprigs
salt and ground black pepper
- Combine the sour cream, horseradish and beetroot juice in a mixing bowl
- Stir in the herring, beetroot and cucumber salad, toss to evenly coat with the sour cream mixture. Season with salt and pepper, then chill in the refrigerator until needed.
- To make the open sandwiches, butter each slice of bread and top with the lettuce leaves.
- Cut each slice of bread in half.
- Leaving a curl of lettuce visible on each slice, spoon on the herring salad. Arrange three egg wedges on top of each sandwich. Season with salt and pepper. Tuck a sprig of parsley under the egg.
Gravad Lax
Ingredients:
- one 3 1/2- to 4-pound salmon fillet
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup salt
- 1 tsp. dill seeds
- 1 Tbsp. freshly ground pepper
- 2 bunches of fresh dill (don’t skimp on the dill, for this is what gives gravlax its unique flavor).
While gravlax is normally prepared using a salmon fillet with the skin on, it works equally as well to use a skinless fillet if that is what is available at your local market.
Rinse the fish and pat dry with paper towels.
Examine the fish for small, opaque pin bones, feeling down along the middle line and along the outer edges of the fillet. Remove any bones with tweezers or needle-nosed pliers.
Cut the fillet into two equal halves.
Combine the sugar and salt, then cover both sides of each fillet half with the mixture
Wash and roughly chop the bunches of dill, stems and all. Sprinkle the flesh side of each fillet half with the dill seeds and ground pepper.
Next, place one fillet half, flesh side up, in a dish just large enough to hold it. Place the chopped dill on top of this fillet, then cover with the second half, flesh side down. It will look like you have a huge raw fish-and-dill sandwich!
Cover the dish lightly with plastic wrap and let marinate at room temperature until the sugar-salt mixture has melted into the fillet (but no more than 6 hours. Skip this step entirely if you are making your gravlax in hot weather).
Place a small pan or plate on top of the plastic wrap-covered gravlax. Weight the plate lightly, using a few rocks or canned items (in lieu of the traditional sand and dirt!).
Refrigerate the weighted gravlax for at least 2 days (48 hours) and up to a week.
Every 12 hours, turn the fish “sandwich” over in the brining liquid that has accumulated in the bottom of the pan to ensure that all parts are evenly marinated. Re-cover with the plastic wrap and the weighted pan and return to the refrigerator.
Remove the gravlax from the refrigerator. Scrape off most of the dill and seasonings; pat dry with paper towels.
As a reminder: if you are not using a) sushi-grade fish or b) commercially frozen fish, this is the point where you will need to wrap the gravlax well and place it in a -10º F (-23º C) freezer for 7 days.
Using a sharp knife, cut the cured gravlax into paper-thin slices, pulling each slice away from the skin (if your fillet has the skin on).
Layer the gravlax slices on crispbread or rye bread. Traditionally accompanied by sweet dill mustard sauce (in Swedish, hovmästarsås), gravlax also pairs well with capers and finely chopped onions as an appetizer or with a variety of garnishes on an open-faced sandwich.
Gravlax can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week and in the freezer for up to a month.
Ingredients:
- 6 Tbsp. sweet honey mustard
- 2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
- 2 tsp. sugar
- pinch of salt
- 2 Tbsp. plain or white wine vinegar
- 2/3 cup canola oil
- 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh dill
Preparation:
Mix together the mustards, sugar, salt, and vinegar. Slowly whisk in 2/3 cup canola oil until well incorporated into a smooth sauce. Stir in chopped dill. Chill until serving. Will keep, covered, in the refrigerator for 2-3 weeks.
Yield: 1 1/2 cups.
Jansson’s Frestelse (Temptation)
Ingredients
5 – 6 potatoes, cut into very thin strips
2 medium onions, sliced
20 Swedish anchovy fillets (usually in tins, in oil)
2 or 3 T butter
1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
Preparation
(Optionally, let potato strips soak in water for a few hours to remove some of the starch. Dry well.) Saute onions in half the butter. Butter a (approx. 8 x 11.5″) baking dish. Layer 1/3 of potatoes in the dish, and top with 1/2 of the onions and 1/2 of the anchovies. Repeat layer, and cover with remaining 1/3 of potatoes. Dot with remaining butter, and about 2/3 the cream. Cover with foil and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove foil, dot with remaining cream, and bake another 20 or 30 minutes until potatoes are tender and golden brown.