Food Adventures in Iceland Part 2. June 15th 2014

Rhubarb is about the only "fruit" we have seen grown in Iceland and used in cooking. It is not technically a fruit really but is very tasty in a pie,

or in jam.

We thought we saw some growing on the side of the road near a cottage we were staying in....but weren't game enough to cook it and eat it in case it was a poisonous lookalike.

Early on in our trip in a little fishing village called Olafsvik,  we went hunting for fresh fish to buy.

Eventually after much driving around and asking people hanging around buildings at the dock, we found a man who showed us some big tubs of fish.  He seemed quite bemused about our interest and when we asked how much for two of these Oceanic Red fish,  he said we could just have them for nothing! I don't think people usually just turn up at the docks to buy fish here. They tasted very nice that night for dinner though.

One night we stayed on a dairy farm where you could watch live action milking on TV from your hotel room! That night we had a buffet dinner with lovely lamb soup, roast lamb, quiche, cod, salmon and finished it off with rhubarb pie and their homemade ice cream. There was a pretty special view of a glacier from the dining room too!

Food Adventures in Iceland. June 15 2014

I am writing this in Reykjavik, Iceland at the end of two weeks travelling around in a rental car with my three sisters. We have been mostly self catering but have tried to find a few local things to sample on our way. I must confess we haven't tried the rotten shark which is a speciality, neither fillet of foal which was on the menu of a hotel where we stayed in an attached cottage. Neither have we tried the dried pieces of fish that are for sale in supermarkets...a favourite thing of Icelanders to snack on. 

Fresh fruit and vegetables are not in abundance which is a surprise as the climate here is not as severe as some northern hemisphere countries. Here in the south west of the country, there is plenty of free geothermal energy to heat glasshouses yet we have not seen many and many of those were derelict. Yesterday though we bought some hot house grown raspberries just outside Reykjavik which were delicious.

Lamb and fish are the most commonly eaten meats....there are plenty of sheep all over the island and plenty of fishing villages too. There used to be a thriving salted herring industry but one year back in the 1960s the herring didn't turn up at all....they had been overfished almost to oblivion. One evening I made a smoked salmon pasta dish with some very strongly smoked salmon.

My favourite discovery is that of Skyr pronounced skeer. It is like a thick yoghurt but actually a cheese made with starter culture and rennet and then the curds are strained. Unfortunately you can only make skyr with some old skyr as the starter although I think I might have a go with just some thermophilic cultures when I get home just to see if I get anywhere near the taste. Skyr comes unflavoured or sweetened with different fruits.

In the geothermal springs another speciality is bread cooked in the steam. We were expecting bread however this tasted more like date loaf without the dates, more cake like in texture, and sweetened with brown sugar. It was great to have for morning tea on the road!

Slow cooked Quinces and Easter buns April 13th 2014

I find it hard to believe that it been almost two months since I last wrote a blog post. It is not as if I haven't been busy preserving but just doing a lot of the same things I do every autumn when the tomatoes are in full swing. I have been bottling tomato paste and purée, making relish, and semi drying as well as making some tomato soup. The cupboard is full of pickles, jams, and relish so I think I had better stop now. 

A friend gave me some quinces the other night . I wanted to try them in the slow cooker. I found a recipe in Stephanie Alexander's Kitchen Garden Companion which spiced the quinces by adding cardomon pods, cinnamon stick and a halved lemon to the sugar syrup they are cooked in. They bubbled away in the slow cooker for about three hours and are absolutely delicious!

I have also been making a few special treats for Easter. Today it was Easter buns....not hot cross as I can't be bothered to decorate them with a cross but the recipe is just the same. I have glazed them with a sugar, water and gelatine mix to give a nice glossy finish. Of course we had to taste a couple with our coffees this morning! I also melted some cooking chocolate and mixed with dried kiwi fruit, made a bar of kiwi fruit chocolate. No need for Easter eggs this year.

Out in the garden, it is pruning time for the apple trees , grape vines as well as planting a few seeds for winter veges while the soil is still warm enough for them to get going.  This weekend I have planted some broad bean seeds as well as a mix of Asian vegetables like bok choy and wom bok.

Dehydrated Pesto and Ratatouille. Monday February 17th 2014

After making my bulk lot of pesto on Saturday, I got to thinking about whether Pesto might dehydrate to be able to take it on a hiking trip in a couple of weeks time. Best way to find out was to try it. While I had the dehydrator whirring away in the background, I thought I would dehydrate some vegetable concoctions to supplement some other hiking food I had done already. With a little packet of dehydrated bolognaise sauce on the menu, I thought some ratatouille might be a great accompaniment, especially as now it the time of year for zucchini and tomato glut.

There a few bits if dried spaghetti sitting on the top of the pesto having fallen through from the tray above.

The  pesto remained a bit oily but this gave it a crumbly texture. Time will tell, but I think it might be just right with a bit of water added to rehydrate it before spreading on a cracker.

The ratatouille turned out more like a leather.

Looking forward to tasting both out in the wilds soon!

Pesto. Saturday February 15, 2914

It is at this time of year when I regret not replacing my food processor after it stopped working a couple of years ago. I have heaps of basil in the garden and to make pesto without a food processor is so much more difficult. Eventually I got a half decent mix after using the blender and stab mixer . I like to try pesto with afew different nuts rather than the tradional pine nuts. I have made it several times using walnuts but today made it with almond meal as that was one less thing to blend. The almond meal adds a less strong flavour to the pesto but it is still quite nice. We had some on our pizza cooked on the barbecue tonight. This is just a blend of basil, almond meal, garlic, olive oil and a little salt. I forgot to add grated Parmesan but it still tastes ok.

Sparkling fruit drinks. January 27,2014

In November last year I wrote a post about making Elderflower cordial and also a sparkling drink from the flowers as well. I have recipes for other sparkling drinks to make from rhubarb, lemon , cherry or rose ptals but have only tried the rhubarb version and found it a bit sweet for my liking. just before New Year, I made some of the lemon version which is ready for drinking now. It is so easy and so tasty that I made another batch on the weekend.It should be ready in a few weeks. One day I might experiment with some other fruit, maybe kiwi fruit as it looks like we will have an abundant crop this winter.

Sparkling Lemon

Begin by dissolving 3.5 cups of sugar in 4 cups of boiling water in a large food safe plastic container  about 6 litre capacity. Add 4.5 cups of roughly chopped lemons, 16 cups cool water and 200 ml of cider vinegar. Cover with a tea towel or lid and sit for 48 hours.

 Strain and bottle in PET plastic bottles and seal. Wait at least 2 weeks until the fizz develops then keep in fridge or freezer until ready to drink.

Sauerkraut and Sour Cherries. January 12, 2014

I have an abundance of red cabbages rapidly maturing in the garden, maturing to the point of starting to split. I decided it was time to act and make something with one of the bigger ones. I have tried sauerkraut before with ordinary cabbage and wasn't particularly happy with the result. Particularly after my home made pressing device crashed and cracked the crock I was making it in! So after a bit of googling recipes, I found a method of making a small amount of sauerkraut in a preserving jar without the need for pressing other than opening the lid and pushing down on the top to ensure the liquid stays over the top of the kraut. I made the first batch about 10 days ago and then as it appeared to be working well, I made another batch last week. The difference between this method and the traditional method is that after shredding the cabbage, you add a couple of tablespoons of salt and then give it a head start by massaging the cabbage to break down the fibres before packing into the jar.  Now I just sit it in a dark corner of the kitchen and give it a daily press down. I am hoping to recognise when it is ready and then might try to heat preserve it in Fowlers jars to make it last for months rather than having to store all of it in the fridge. It looks very colourful anyway!

Our local cherry farm is now harvesting the beautiful sweet cherries that they grow. The farmer rang me the other night to tell me that "my" Morello cherry tree planted by his uncle, the previous owner for me, was ready for harvesting too. So the next day, I set off with containers and stripped the tree as best I could. 3.5 kg later, I brought them home and then spent the next hour or so pipping them. As well as freezing them for cooking later in the year, this year I tried something different. I experimented with bottling some in the microwave. It only took 3 minutes per jar in pop top jars which suck in as the vacuum develops on cooling. That way you know you have a perfect seal. The jars only had a couple of centimetres of water in the bottom when I packed the fruit so it is mainly natural juices that they are bottled in.

Hopefully they won't lose too much flavour by being heated but it will save on freezer space anyway!