Helena's Gravlax

 John and I visited Swedish cousin Helena Rudberg and her husband Bengt Nordin in October 2022.  She made this Gravlax recipe for us and it was delicious. She uses honey in this recipe.

Honey-marinated salmon

 8 servings

You need:

 1.5 kg of salmon from the middle piece (skin on)

1 dl salt (0,4 cups)  decilitre (1/10 of a litre)

3 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons  honey

1 lemon (grated peel only—no white part)

1 lime (grated peel only)- you can be without, if so use 2 lemons

10 white peppercorns, freshly crushed

 Method:

·       Pull out all the small bones with eg. a tweezer

·       Cut the salmon in 2 equally sized pieces

·       Mix together salt, sugar, honey, lemon and lime zest and pepper. Rub the mixture into the salmon.

·       Place the salmon pieces together with the meat sides facing each other (thin against thick)

·       Wrap them tight in plastic foil and put them in a plastic bag. Seal the bag well. (if you wrap it tight in plastic wrap you don’t need to put something heavy on top, but otherwise put something heavy on top)

·       Leave the salmon in the fridge for about two days. Turn it a few times (morning and evening)  in the meantime.

·       Test if salted enough- otherwise let go one more day

·       Pour off the liquid that has formed around the salmon and cut the salmon into thin slices

Often it is recommended to freeze the salmon for 3-4 days, then thaw  before marinating. I seldom do that, instead I freeze afterwards. Most of the time however, I use the farmed salmon without freezing.

 Some alternatives (for parts or the whole)

T       To the above, add approx. 60-70 g peeled grated fresh ginger

2.    To the above- remove lemon and lime and add instead 1 bouquet of dill ( bits and pieces) and 0,75 dl grated ginger

3.    To the above- remove lemon and lime and add instead 1 bouquet of dill ( bits and pieces)  and 2 tbs juniper, crushed (and you can add a shot of gin!)

4.    Add 2 grated raw red beet-roots (gives nice color)

5.    Add fresh rosemary to the base recipe

Gravlax sauce with honey, dill and black pepper

 Good with the traditional gravad lax but also delicious with raw, sliced, fresh salmon and with the Christmas ham.

 Note : 1 cup (US) = 2,25 dl

 6 portions

2 tbsp Swedish mustard

2 tbsp French light mustard (Dijon)

2 tbsp honey, liquid

1.5 tbsp white wine vinegar

1 tbsp black pepper, freshly ground (correct amount)

2 dl oil neutral (not eg olive)  -1 cup

1 dl dill, finely chopped            -0,5 cups

Salt

 Method:

Mix together mustard, vinegar, honey and pepper in a bowl, add the oil in a thin stream while whisking. Fold in the dill and finally mix with a stick blender so that you get the maximum flavor of dill in the sauce, season with salt. If you want a slightly thinner sauce, dilute with a few drops of water.

 

 

 

Mor MaBi's Glogg for Adventsfika and for Christmas

This recipe came to me from Swedish cousin Helena Rudberg. Her mother, called MaBi, was Grandpa William Forstrom's sister. I am making Glogg for the family Christmas dinner in Thunder Bay 2022.

The photos are taken in September 2022 when John and I visited Helena and her husband Bengt Nordin in Ferragudo,  Portugal. This is their winter home. A beautiful place! Helena taught me to cook some traditional Swedish food such as Potatiskorv. I remember Grandma Forstrom making this which is Mashed Potatoes around Sausage and then boiled in water. In this photo of me  below, however, I am cooking Spanish peppers called Padrons.

Christmas Cut-Out Sugar Cookies

Making these sugar cookies was a tradition with my children, Allison and Bev, and me. It is great now to be making these cookies in Ottawa with my grandchildren Grayson, Zoe, Foster and Eli.  The key to success is to have lots of icing and sprinkles of many colours. Chocolate chips and google eyes (for the snowman) are popular too. Fortunately for me, a trip to Bulk Barn provides all of the icing and sprinkle options required. The cookies themselves are easy to make ahead of the decorating party (see below).

Ingredients 

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour, plus more as needed for rolling and work surface

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg, room temperature

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional but  delicious)

Royal icing  is available at Bulk Barn as a powder that you can add water to, mixed in the mixer. You can then colour the white icing with gel food colouring or you can buy coloured icing in a squeeze bottle (my choice). I left the royal icing white to be used as a base colour for the figures. 

Instructions:

1. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and  salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl,  beat (with mixer using paddle attachment) the butter and sugar together on high speed until completely smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla, almond extract and beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine.

3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on  low until combined. Dough will be relatively soft. If the dough seems too soft and sticky for rolling, add 1 more tbsp of flour.

4. Divide the dough in two equal parts. Place each portion onto a piece of lightly floured parchment paper or lightly floured silicon baking mat. With a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough out to about 1/4 in thickness. Use more flour if the dough seems too sticky. The rolled out  dough can be any shape as long as it is evenly 1/4 inch thick. 

5. Lightly dust one of the rolled out doughs with flour. Place a piece of parchment on top (this prevents sticking). Place the 2nd rolled out dough on top. Cover with a plastic wrap or aluminum foil, then refrigerate for at least 1-2 hours and up to 2 days. (I chilled for a day and needed to give the dough time to warm out before rolling)

6. Once chilled, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2-3 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Carefully remove the dough piece from the refrigerator. Using a cookie cutter, cut the dough into shapes. Re-roll the remaining dough and continue cutting until all is used. Repeat with 2nd piece of dough.

7. Arrange cookies on baking sheets 3 inches apart. Bake for 11-12 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. Rotate the baking pans half way through if the cookies are not browning evenly. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating.

8. Decorate the cooled cookies with royal icing. Purchase tinted (Bulk barn) or tint white with gel food colouring. Add the sprinkles liberally. Wait for the icing to set (which takes a while). Setting is speeded up in the refrigerator. 

Zoe Zapior, age 8

Foster Cosgrove, age 11

Grayson Zapior, age 10 (11 in 2 weeks)

                                  Eli Cosgrove, age 9