Iceland

Iceland is known to be a peaceful, fair country and also is home to one of my good friends Magnus.  Even though we have not met in person yet when it comes to food and drink we have a few too many things in common.   We like to eat, drink and have a good meal.  More often then not that is why we both seem to be waddling through life looking like over stuffed penguins.  

The Menu

Shrimp Gratin

Its the simple dishes like this that are the most complex at times to get perfect.   If there is one pet peeve I have in life is over cooked shrimp and seafood.  For this reason I decided to half steam the shrimp before cooking these under the broiler.   Creamy Gouda with wine, mustard sauce was the base to this gratin.   The shrimps ended up perfect and this is one of those dishes one can eat over and over once you have mastered the technique to it.  However having said that this dish can go from amazing to rather bad in an instant by simply over cooking the shrimp.   I served this with a homemade butter crust biscuit to dip the sauce.  But more on this biscuit later.


Juniper Black Current Lamb Leg Roast with Caramel Potatoes

This is the one dish where everything did not quite work out like I wanted.  I decided to sous vide the lamb leg with the Juniper and Black currents.   However I sous vide for 30 hours about 3 times longer than I should have.   Yes I did get a medium lamb roast that had beautifully absorbed the flavours of the junipers and berries but it was so tender that looking at it made it fall about.   Imagine a pulled pork tenderness in lamb but with a grainy mushy flavour.   Just short of lamb baby food.   It was tasty but the texture was very off.   Even a heavy hard sear did not really help.   Caramel Potatoes a Icelandic side dish made during festivities is a perfect accompaniment to this lamb dis
h.   A simple caramel sauce is prepared then toss in the pre cooked potatoes and broil.  Crunchy sweet potatoes just worked here with a couple fresh herbs on top.

Skyr with Blueberries

Skyr is an Icelandic staple.   The simplest explanation to this delightful dish is that its a cross between  a cheese cake, yogurt, and creme fraise.   I had developed my own culture for this however it has lost its potency to a certain degree.   Skyr pairs well with just about anything,  pistachios, berries, and the list is endless.  I chose blueberries and remember that butter crust biscuit I used for my Shrimp Gratin well the original plan was to make butter crust cups and serve the skyr in it layered with blueberries.   The butter crust cups did not work out so off to the shrimp it went and the Skyr ended up in the ramekins with the pickled blueberries :) ..    I look forward to visiting Iceland one day and having a whale of a time with my friend Magnus.