Eggs and soused herring on crisp bread #179

Eggs and soused herring on crisp bread? Well this is a very Swedish appetizer that is commonly served on Smörgåsbord, Christmas and Easter but can and are served year round. The main ingredients are soused herring that is a mainly Scandinavian type of pickled herring (read more on it here), boiled eggs, chives and red onion. The Swedish name for this type of herring is "Matjsesill" but you can also use Swedish anchovies that is called "Ansjovis" this is however very different from the Mediterranean anchovies.

Now for the name, it´s called "Gubbröra" in Swedish which pretty much translates to "Old man´s mess", not that mouth watering for your weekend appetizer is it? Well that is why I called it eggs and soused herring on toast. 

Now for the ingredients, there are loads of variations on this dish, some use soft boiled eggs, mayonnaise, creme fraiche, sour cream, different types of onions and even other herbs like dill. The recipe below is my version of it so feel free to experiment with the flavors.

I like to serve it on a crisp bread that is common in Sweden called "Knäckebröd", it´s a non sweet crispy bread mostly served for breakfast or instead of fresh bread for soups or smaller dishes. If you can´t find any then a dark rye bread is good as well.

Eggs and soused herring on crisp bread

I usually don´t write measurements for my recipes but since you most likely haven´t got a clue I will this time, I written the ingredients in parts form so use as much as you plan on serving.

8 parts boiled chopped eggs

4 parts chopped soused herring (discarded from the pickling liquid)

1 part chopped red onion

1 part chopped chives

1 part mayonnaise

1 part creme fraiche

Crisp bread or rye bread for serving

Combine all ingredients, season with pepper, if you think it´s lacking salt then use the picking liquid from the herring instead of regular salt.

New potatoes with butter #173

In Sweden the premiere of the new potatoes is a big deal and it is a must to have to the herring for any mid summer party in Sweden. Usually you start to find them in stores around may or early June and once they are here there is no turning back. We use them for all types of food, roasted as a side for meat or fish, boiled with dill to any meal where you would serve potatoes. The only thing you can´t make is mashed potatoes, we´ll leave that to the winter varieties.

When growing up my father always used to eat his new potatoes with a little bit of butter on the side, cut a piece of potato and then smear on some butter and letting the butter melt on the hot potato in the mouth. That simple way of eating potatoes is simply amazing and deserves a dish on it´s own. So here it is, simply boiled potatoes served with butter, thought I whipped the butter with a little bit of oil and some extra salt and serve on the side as a potato dip, the Swedish version of chips and dip perhaps.

New potatoes with butter

new potatoes

butter

salt

dill 

vegetable oil, I used rapeseed

Wash and scrub the potatoes, boil in salted water with fresh dill until done. In a mixer combine butter, oil and salt and mix until fluffy. I used about three parts butter to one part oil and salt according to taste.

Smoked salmon with dill, cucumber & horseradish #171

Smoked salmon is always great but I think it´s the best served during spring and summer. For this recipe I made some simple vegetables that I topped the salmon with, cucumber marinated with fresh dill since dill and salmon go together like.. well dill and salmon. Also I put some julienne of radishes on top, this adds some more texture and I like a little bit of extra color. Then some extra dill and fresh grated horseradish on top.

The way I present this dish is a really small snack size but you can of course make it bigger and serve it like a big appetizer carpaccio style. Other ways to variate this dish is to instead of serving it with fresh horseradish you can make a horseradish cream simply by combining the horseradish with some creme fraiche and season with salt and pepper.

Oh, one more thing, smoked salmon works great with potato salad, so you could make this recipe into an main course by adding potatoes to the vegetables and serving the salmon on the side. With an extra sauce or two, some bread and a glass of white wine this could turn into and perfect weekend lunch. Oh well, here´s how to do it.

Smoked salmon with dill, cucumber & horseradish

smoked salmon, sliced. Buy from somewhere great, mine is Norwegian from a Swedish supplier.
cucumber
radishes
horseradish
dill
salt, pepper
olive oil

Peel and split the cucumber in half, dice the flesh into small cubes, add a little bit of olive oil some chopped dill, salt and pepper. Cut the radishes into julienne, add the cucumber and radishes to the salmon, grate horseradish on top, add a few drops of olive oil and a little bit of pepper. No salt should be necessary since the smoked salmon is usually salty enough. Serve straight away, good luck.

10 Easter appetizers!

Easter is up and what better way to spend it but eating loads of delicious food. I´ve put together some of my spring and easter favorites into this great collection, after each photo there is a link where you will find the recipe, now go cook and have a great easter!



Salmon with cucumber, dill and wasabi



Crayfish salad with dill on toast



Grilled asparagus with Parmesan cheese



Smashed peas with mint on toast



Soused herring with egg, chives and potatoes



Fennel, shrimp, carrot and orange salad with dill



Soft boiled egg with broad beans and shrimp



Gazpacho salad



Lamb with goat cheese and herbs



Caesar salad

Grated potato pancakes with bleak roe, sour cream and onions #117

This dish is well known in Sweden and are called "Rårakor" and they are absolutely fabulous. They are usually served at restaurants with roe, sour cream and freshly chopped onions the way I do in this recipe.

They can also be served as a rustic main course with salted fried pork and lingonberries that´s an truly amazing dish and if you´re ever in Sweden it´s a must try. This way with the roe is however a bit more elegant and I think it´s better suited as a tapas or appetizer.

For the roe I used a cheaper bleak roe which is fine but the king of roe is the Kalix bleak roe from the north of Sweden which I think is the beast one in the world, Russian and Iranian caviar included. The Kalix one has smaller eggs and is more red in color and the flavor is more elegant, once again if you get a chance to try it don´t hesitate.

Grated potato pancakes with bleak roe, sour cream and onions

potatoes
butter
salt, pepper
red onion
sour cream or creme fraiche
chives
bleak roe

Chop the chives and red onion and combine. If the roe is very wet you need to let it drip of some of the liquid. Put it in a coffee filter and let it drip of for an hour or two. You want it to be dry enough to be able to shape an egg using a wet spoon.

Peel the potatoes, melt butter in an pan on medium heat. Grate the potato and put a spoonful of potato in the butter for each pancake, flatten it out into a pancake and fry until golden, season with salt and pepper. Flip the pancake and fry until golden on the other side. Plate the sour cream, onions and roe and put the pancake on the side. Serve immediately.

The pancake should be crispy on both sides but not all the way through. If you´ve never tried this before then make a few practice ones before your guests arrive so they will be great when it´s time for serving.

Soused herring with potatoes, egg and browned butter #92

In Sweden soused herring is a big deal, served throughout the year but with it´s peak on midsummer, then usually served with freshly picked potatoes, sour cream and onion.

This is another version that also tastes great. If you can´t get a hold of soused herring than you can replace with other Scandinavian style herring, as long as it´s salty and pickled it will work fine, even if the taste is different. And if you´re feeling inspired you can try another of my herring tapas.

Soused herring with potatoes, egg and browned butter

potatoes (in Sweden the new harvest of potatoes is a big deal and a must if you´re Swedish, if not you can replace it with a good tasting, firm and small potato).
soused herring
eggs
chives
butter
salt

Scrub the potatoes clean and boil in salted water until done, boil the eggs until hard boiled, peel the eggs and chop them. Slice pieces of herring thin, slice the potatoes and arrange potatoes, egg and herring on top of each other. Slice the chives and put on top.

In a pan add butter and let it turn brown in a pan on medium heat. Stir the butter during the whole process to make sure it doesn´t burn on the bottom of the pan. When it starts to turn brown carefully smell it, it should have a nutty aroma to it, and is the reason it´s called Beurre Noisette in french which translates to Hazelnut butter. If you haven´t used this much before then get to it because it´s has an amazing flavor and can be used to all sorts of good stuff. Pour the butter over the plate and serve immediately. Good luck.

Eggs with shrimps & dill # 10

Eggs is one my all time favorite ingredients, it can be used for so many great dishes like omelet, scramble, poached or just boiled, peeled and served with some shrimps, dill and mayonnaise like this. This is a perfect snack for buffets and in Sweden they are often part of any Christmas buffet but they are great all year round.

There is not much skill needed to make this recipe but that´s a great thing if you are preparing a full buffet or prefer to have the time to share a drink with your guest instead of being stuck in the kitchen. Get some good shrimps, buy a good mayonnaise (yes of course you can make your own but sometimes we need be thankful that there are good products to buy as well right?) and a few stalks of fresh dill. Then put it together, that´s it!

Eggs with shrimps & dill

Eggs
Fresh dill
Mayonnaise
Fresh shrimps
Salt

Boil the eggs, peel and cut in half. Spread som mayonnaise on each half, top of with shrimps and fresh dill, season with salt.