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Archive for the ‘Seafood’ Category

Easter Chicks and other Eggs…

Posted in Holidays & Special Occasions, Seafood, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on March 29, 2013 | 4 Comments »

The egg is the “king of the Swedish Easter table”. In the old days they used to save all the eggs, milk, heavy cream & butter during the Easter fasting.

When Ester finally arrived, they got all those goodies out of their food pantries and started cooking up a storm.

Most of the time, the food is served buffet style as a “smörgåsbord” as we call it. For Easter we eat lot’s of eggs, pickled herring, Quiche, salads, lamb, salmon, caviar …Did I mention eggs and pickled herring??? I love it. It is also one of my year round fast fix dinner. Luckily, my husband loves it as well. If it is for dinner I usually boil a couple of potatoes as well.

I always try to come up with a new little “chick” made out of an egg for the Easter table. I saw these little ones somewhere and wanted to add them to my herring plates. You just boil the eggs (hard boil) cut out a thin slice from a peeled carrot. Cut out little v-shapes on one side. Cut a slit in the top/pointy part of the egg. Insert the “rooster comb”. I inserted 2 pieces of wild rice for the eyes. They really are super cute.

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Herring tray.

* Pickled herring with a mixture of sour cream, mayo, dill & black pepper.

* Egg halves with caviar.

*”Gubbröra”. “Old man’s mixture”…not sure of the translation of this egg anchovies mixture. You need hardboiled eggs, anchovies, a little finely chopped red onion, finely chopped dill, finely chopped chives, Creme Fraiche. Usually this is served on hard or dark bread.

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Our Easter table is always a display of spring. Lot’s of  yellows and greens… I like to give my guest a little something on their plate.

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Isn’t it wonderful when the flower shops starts to sell tulips & daffodils with all those vibrant colors. There is a great flower district in New York. I go there a lot, it makes me happy. If any of my friends are a little down I always suggest a trip to the flower district. It is the busiest early in the morning. My visits usually takes place between 7 or 8am, I have loved flowers as long as I can remember. I always buy flowers and make everything from little bouquets to bigger arrangements. A dream is to have a country house with some land where I would grow all sorts of flowers and vegetables. One day…

If you can, bring some flowers into the house. It really makes it lively. Even a potted plant will do it. If you have a garden, get a potted plant that you eventually can plant outside. Many of my hyacinths and tulips started out as house plants. Anything from christmas arrangements to summer flowers. They all go into the ground. Easter is the “kick off” for my garden. This year it has been such a harsh winter that the daffodils and tulips are taking their time. The only thing blooming are some mini daffodils I planted after easter last year.

Happy Easter!!!

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Baked Avocado with Shrimp.

Posted in Seafood, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on February 20, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

During the 80′s, I had many favorite dishes that my friends & I made over and over again…

Baked Avocado with Shrimp was one of those dishes. It is more an appetizer than an entrée. You might think that avocado is something that should stay cold, but it is actually really good when it has been baked. Avocado is a great source of “good fat”. About 1/5 of an avocado is a portion size. That feels very little to me. I stick to half an avocado in this case (note that we are talking about small regular size avocados).

Did you know that you could even use this fantastic fruit (yes, it is actually a fruit since it has a pit/seed) as a fat source while baking??? I will, at a later date, post a brownie recipe that uses avocado instead of fat. Yum…

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Baked Avocado with Shrimp.

Serves 4.

2 avocados.

1/3 c. sour cream (or creme fresh).

About 17 oz (500 gr) cooked unpeeled shrimp.

1-2 tbsp. ketchup/chili sauce or spiced up tomato paste.

2 tbsp. tomato salsa or finely chopped tomatoes.

Chopped chives or a spring onion.

Splash of hot sauce.

Salt & pepper to taste.

Sprig of dill for decoration.

Directions;

Peel the shrimp. Cut up the spring onion/chives. Mix all ingredients but the shrimp together in a bowl. Make sure it is well seasoned. If you would like to add something else into the sauce, do so. Add the shrimp. Mix.

Cut open the avocados. Take out the pit. Cut a very small piece off at each bottom of each avocado half so that they can balance better when served. Divide the mixture into the avocados.

Bake in a 400 F (200 C) degree oven for about 10-15 minutes or until you start seeing the sour cream bubbling and getting a little brown.

Decorate with a sprig of dill. Serve with a little bit of salad (If you want, you can add some left over shrimp on top of the avocado or around the plate).

Enjoy!!

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Vegetable Patties served with Sardines for brunch.

Posted in Breakfast, Seafood, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on February 16, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

Sundays are perfect breakfast & brunch days.

I usually get up really early. I am the first one up. I get myself a cup of black tea with dried mixed flowery blends (tea that I buy a whole bunch of when I m home). I might have a sandwich just to hold me over until the rest of the group gets up and we will eat breakfast. At that time, we might have missed the breakfast spot and end up making a brunch spread instead. It is great to switch it up ever so often. It is said that eating carbs for breakfast is great because you have the whole day to burn it off. During the week I eat oatmeal and different kinds of porridge for breakfast. Lot’s of berries and eggs. But when the weekend comes around, we are all about bigger bolder foods. Lot’s of times we choose fish. Here is a great vegetable pattie stacked with salad and sardines. It is delicious. Sardines are not only great tasting and good for you they are also a great source of protein for that healthier breakfast or brunch.

This pattie is a vegetable version of a potato pancake.

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Vegetable Patties.

Makes about 4 patties.

2 potatoes.

1 carrot.

2 scallions (spring onions).

2-3 mini sweet peppers or 1/4 regular bell pepper. Any color.

1/2 zucchini.

1-3 large mushrooms. Any kind. I used king mushrooms.

Salt & pepper to taste.

Splash of hot sauce.

Pinches of your favorite herbs. Fresh or dried.

Directions;

Peel and shred the carrot and potatoes. Shred them and the zucchini on the fine side of a box shredder. Squeeze out the liquid. Finely cut/mince the peppers, scallions & mushrooms. Add all vegetables together with the spices and herbs. Mix well. Shape into 4 patties or if you rather have smaller ones make 6-8 small patties. Fry in a skillet on medium low heat so that they have time to get cooked all the way through and not burn. Fry in a little oil and a small dab of butter. 

Add some lettuce to the plate. Place the pattie on top. Stack the sardines and sprouts or whatever you would like on top of the pattie. 

Enjoy!!

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Valentine’s day with Seafood ravioli in White Chocolate Cream sauce.

Posted in Holidays & Special Occasions, Pasta, Seafood, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , on February 10, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

Wouldn’t it be nice if Valentine’s day would be an official holiday without work?

I personally would love for it to be a day off with nothing else to do, than to hang out with my husband.

I don’t need any grand celebrations. Simple is fine. I know I go a little crazy with a love theme every Valentines, but that is just how I am. I can’t help it. I love to prepare a great experience for others. I guess it comes from doing all that party planning through the years… But I must say that my other half is getting really good at it himself. The flowers he always gives me has gone from a pre-packed bunch from the grocery store to now being fancy coordinated bouquets with saran wrap and glitter . He is great. I am so lucky.

It is nice to have a day that means the same all over the world.

It doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from. Love is love…

My definition of love is “how someone makes you feel”, so as long as one feels loved, all bells and whistles are not needed.

But after all that said, some good food never hurts.

For me, seafood speaks of love. It is light and delicious. It is a classic choice. But so are chocolates, a little bubbly, pinks, reds… chocolate covered strawberries……you know what I mean. The typical things we buy, eat and do for this day. I just try to do at least one new thing every year. Just to change it up a little.

So, for this Valentine’s day, I have made the ultimate decadent seafood pasta in white chocolate sauce. Could it get any better than that??

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Seafood ravioli with white chocolate cream sauce.

Wonton skins/wraps or pasta sheets (to “make” your own pasta. You can usually find the pasta sheets in the freezer section in the grocery store).

1 c. Raw shrimp Any size. Peeled. You could also use any other seafood such as scallops, lobster, salmon or any other kind of fish.

You can skip these steps and just use a store-bought lobster ravioli if you want to. It saves time.

1-2 scallions or shallots. Finely diced.

1 tbsp. unsalted butter.

1/2 c. heavy cream.

1/4 c. Good tasting (something you would love to drink) white wine.

1/4 c. fish stock/broth. You could also use a chicken or vegetable stock.

Splash of hot sauce (optional).

Salt & pepper to taste.

1 egg for an egg wash.

Directions;

If you are making the ravioli, take the peeled shrimp and run them in a food processor with a splash of heavy cream and hot sauce, salt and pepper. It should become a smooth paste.

Take the pasta or wonton wrappers. Put less than a tbsp. of the filling on each piece of pasta. Brush a little egg wash around the filling. Add another pice of the pasta and put on top of the filling. By starting in the middle, try to “squeeze” out the air around the filling. Press lightly around the edges. Cut out the ravioli with either a ravioli cutter or a cookie cutter. Make sure it is well sealed all around. Put the ravioli on a plate (don’t stack them on top of each other since they will stick together).

Fill a pan with water and let come to a boil (I like to boil all pastas and rice with a stock cube).

Put all the pasta into the water and boil on a medium heat for about 6 minutes. Taste the ravioli so that you are sure the filling is cooked all the way through. Drain the pasta when done.

In the same pan, add the butter and scallions and fry them for a few minutes. Let them just get a little translucent (they shouldn’t brown). Add the wine, heavy cream and broth/stock. Let simmer for about 8-10 minutes. Make sure the tastes are balanced. If you would like a little bit more of any of the liquids, add it to the pot. Pour in the chopped white chocolate. Make sure it melts well it shouldn’t boil at this point. Stir well.

Plate the pasta and pour over the white chocolate sauce. Decorate with some greens ( I used some cilantro sprigs) and something colorful on top since it is so white and you need that color splash. I used a strawberry that I cut in half and shaped on top to look like a heart.

Serve some of the nice white wine that you just cooked with. A light salad would be nice to serve to this.

Enjoy!!!

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I used a heart shaped ravioli cutter to make my shrimp ravioli.

I used a heart shaped ravioli cutter to make my shrimp ravioli.

Swedish people eat a lot of "små godis" (Candy bought by weight). For Valentine's the different heart shaped candies are the most popularValentine's Day

Swedish people eat a lot of “små godis” (Candy bought by weight). These are some of the most popular ones for Valentine’s day.

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Happy Valentine’s day!!

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Lobster says Happy New Year the best!!!!

Posted in Desserts, Holidays & Special Occasions, Seafood, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on December 31, 2012 | 2 Comments »

I used to have an apartment on the 10th floor high up on a hill at the center of Stockholm (capital of Sweden).

Every year, I was hosting the New Years dinner. It was just so convenient since from the back of my house, one could see all the fireworks over the city. Absolutely fantastic (if you like fireworks that is).

It would always be “how can I top last years dinner”.

We would eat until we dropped and then when the clock turned 12 am/ midnight we would be out up on the hill with our little “tomtebloss” (sparklers) and champagne, cheering the new year with each other and admiring the spectacular theatricals playing all around the city.

These days I prefer to be home alone with my hubby!

He loves lobster so that is a no brainer. I am ok with eating it at least once a year. I prefer shrimp or crawfish but am ok eating lobster for new years.

This year we will have steamed lobster & grilled colossal shrimp in a crawfish and champagne sauce. Not too bad at all.

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Steamed Lobster & grilled Colossal shrimp in a Lobster or Crawfish & Champagne sauce.

I steamed lobster per person. ( I ask my fisherman to steam the lobsters for me. It saves time and it doesn’t mess up my kitchen).

3 colossal shrimp per person.

Arugula salad.

A splash of Mirin.

1/2 squeezed lemon or lime.

Lobster or Crawfish & Champagne sauce;

1 c. champagne or good white wine.

1 c. heavy cream.

1/4 c. Crawfish or Lobster stock. As concentrated as possible.

1 bay leaf.

1 tbsp. butter.

1 tbsp. potato flour (or arrow-root or other thickening agent).

1/2 finely chopped white or yellow onion ( or 2-3 shallots).

Sprouts or mescaline salad.

Directions;

Start with the sauce. Fry the onions until translucent in the butter. Add the stock & bay leaf. Boil down for a few minutes. Whisk in the potato or thickening agent with the cold heavy ream. Add to the stock and broth. Boil another few minutes. Add the champagne. Reduce until you have about 1 cup  (or a little less) of nice & great tasting sauce. Pepper to taste. No salt is need since the stock is salty.

Clean the Lobsters. Cut into nice big pieces. Try to keep the “shape” of the tail together. Just for esthetic reasons.

Place arugula on the bottom of bowls. Place the chopped Lobster meat on top.

Grill the colossal shrimp. A few minutes on each side. When turning pink, pour over the Mirin and lemon (or lime). Let bubble a minute in the grill pan. Place 3 of the shrimp on each plate.

Spoon over the sauce. Top with some sprouts.

Enjoy!!!

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This Lobster dish is so simple. It really is all about the sauce. Keep it fresh and simple…

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The same goes for the dessert.

I like to marinate berries in a great liquor. I took some strawberries, diced them up and let them sit in some pear cognac liquor for a couple of hours.

To that, I whipped some heavy cream.

If you have any other fruit or berries that you would like to add, do so. I had some pomegranate at home so that is what ended up in the glass. I finished it off with a little pice of chocolate on the side and a little sprinkle of shredded chocolate.

Another year ended well.

Happy New Year!!!

Thank you for supporting me and my blog. I really enjoy to cook for you and tell you little stories.

So, hope to see you again next year.

All my best. Gisela

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“Gravad Lax” (“Lox”) for the Christmas buffet.

Posted in Holidays & Special Occasions, Seafood, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on December 22, 2012 | 4 Comments »

There is a great fish tradition in Scandinavia. We eat fish for breakfast, lunch and dinner. One very famous dish is the “Gravlax”. You can find it in every corner of the world. Here in the States they call it “Lox”.

We make it for almost every big holiday all through the year. Originally for the Swedish Christmas table they served more fish, sausages, something we call “Pot dipping” (This is bread dipped in the left over liquid after boiling ham, sausages and other meat products. The broth is very tasty). It still can be found at a Christmas buffet but it’s not too popular with the younger generations that grew up with meatballs, ribs and oven baked hams.

To make “Gravad Lax” you would usually or by tradition use salt, sugar and dill. It was in the old days a way of preserving the food. That is how all our pickled herrings also came about. We eat a lot of pickled herring. There are so many variations of it. For the marinating of the salmon, my favorite is to also add a little good cognac. It gives the salmon a little deeper taste. It is not needed at all, but I love it.

There is a “new” kind of salmon that we enjoy. It is called “Najad smoked salmon”. I first found it at the fisherman at my country house in Grisslehamn/ Väddö,north of Stockholm, Sweden. ”Najad smoked salmon” is a salmon that has both been marinated and cold smoked. It is has the deeper taste from the smoking and the more tangy flavor from the marinating. Absolutely to be recommended.

I would go to the fisherman as often as I could. I would order things ahead if I really “needed” (read “was craving..”) something in particular.

This is my regular “Gravlax” recipe. Just skip the alcohol if you rather do it the ordinary way.

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Caution; You have to freeze the salmon for at least 3 days but preferably 1 week before marinating it. This just so that you kill off any potential bacteria in the fish. (note that if you marinate or pickle with vinegar, the vinegar kills any bacteria and you don’t need to freeze the fish. If you only use salt and sugar it must be frozen.)

Gravad Lax/ Lox/ Marinated Salmon;

About 2 lb fresh salmon, preferably the middle piece (If possible, use 2 pieces of fish since it is easier to marinate it “flesh sides together”.

1/2 c. granulated sugar or brown sugar.

1/4 c. salt.

1/4-1/2 c. coarsely chopped salmon.

1 tbsp. crushed pepper.

2-4 tbsp. good cognac or any other of your favorite alcohol (optional).

Directions;

Take the fish and remove any bones that you can find, with a small knife.

Package it and put it in the freezer for about 3 days to kill off any potential bacteria.

After at least 3 days in the freezer, let defrost in the fridge over night. Mix salt, sugar and pepper together. Rub the fish well with the mixture. Cut up the dill in a little larger pieces (you need to be able to remove the dill later and it is easier if the pieces are slightly bigger). Add the dill on top of the salmon pieces. Pour over a little cognac on both sides (do this with a plate or bowl underneath to catch the cognac so that you can pour all of it into the plastic bag or over it in a bowl). Put the salmon pieces flesh sides together with the dill in the center. Let sit in the fridge for about 3 days. Turn one or two times per day. When done, scrape off all the dill and pepper. Save a little of the marinade.

Put "flesh sides" together with the dill and sugar/salt rub on the inside.

Put “flesh sides” together with the dill and sugar/salt rub on the inside.

Cut up nice and thin slices on an angle. The first few slices might not be too cute, but they can always go to the chef…

Brush the pieces very slightly with the marinade when cut. You can also brush them with any other liquid of your choice. For example a splash of new fresh cognac or a great liquor. Throw away the rest of the marinade.

Enjoy!!!!

 

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“Atlantic Antic”, my favorite street fair.

Posted in Seafood, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on October 7, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

We just went to the Atlantic Antic in Brooklyn. It is the best street fair ever. It doesn’t feel as commercial, just more like a family and neighbourhood party. Parts of Atlantic Ave. in Brooklyn gets closed off and all the stores and restaurants move out to the street.

The street fair is very eclectic. One of the attractions is a large stage with belly dancing. Old men sitting in the back playing traditional Arabic music and all these famous and not so famous belly dancers takes turn performing. What a treat! There are many other little make shift stages with different performances. So much fun.

But, what makes this street fair better than any other that I ever have been to, is the variety of food vendors. You would only find a very few of those “tourist traps” . You could find everything from home-baked goods to the very best fried sardines or steamed lobsters. We always look forward to the fried sardines and the Paella at the Spanish restaurant “La Mancha”.

We keep planning on participating with a both, but end up not doing it. But, there is always next year…

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A crazy amount of people!!!

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One of the great vendors that year after year, sells steamed crab legs and lobsters. Yum.

I have actually stopped steaming my lobsters & crab legs. I let them do that in the fish store. Much better. They do it better and I don’t have to deal with the mess.

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The star attraction. Fried Herring or Sardines as they call them here in USA. They sell like hot cakes. The lines go on forever and ever. But it is worth the wait.

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You can easily do this at home. Just sprinkle a little salt and pepper on them and fry them in a grill pan. Squeeze some lemon over them when they are steaming hot.

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Blue cheese & spinach stuffed Flounder.

Posted in Seafood, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on September 13, 2012 | 3 Comments »

My dad told me he caught 82 (!) flounders in his nets the other day. Isn’t it great being able to go out and fish, just like that whenever you feel like it? Makes me want to celebrate with some flounders myself.

Flounder is such an “easy” fish to cock with. Stuff it, bread it, fry it, bake it, poach it…. It is all good and everything works. The flounder I grew up with was breaded and pan-fried . My grandmother cooked it all the time. She served it with boiled potatoes and quick pickled cucumbers. I used to love it (even the boiled potatoes mind you…)

The flounder I am sharing with all of you, is a very easy one. I stuffed it with blue cheese and chopped spinach. It was actually one of my brothers that first introduced me to this combination. He used to make a blue cheese, spinach & creme fraiche pasta sauce. Try it, it is really delicious. You can use any kind of fish for this recipe. If you don’t stuff the fish put it on top and bake it in the oven.

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Blue cheese & spinach stuffed Founder.

Serves 4.

4-8 filets of flounder (4 if they are big, 8 if they are small)

1/2 c. crumbled blue cheese (you can use a little less if you want.)

1/2 c. chopped spinach(frozen works really well. Just remember to squeeze out the water.)

1/2 c. (or one container) creme fraiche.

Nutmeg to taste (about 1/2 tsp.)

Hot sauce (optional).

Salt & pepper to taste.

Directions;

Dry the flounder filets dry with a paper towel. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper on the fish.

Mix together the crumbled blue cheese, chopped spinach (with the water squeezed out of it), creme fraiche, salt & pepper and hot sauce. Make sure it is mixed well. If the fish filets are small, use two that overlap each other creating one filet. Put a big table-spoon or two on top of the filet at one side. Make sure it spreads out “on hight”. Roll up the filet. Make sure it is nice and “tight”. It is really nice to bake these individually in small baking dishes or ramekins. This way you don’t have to worry about moving the fish from one place to another (they can “unravel” slightly. Don’t worry, just piece them together again. Nobody will know.) Have the roll “stand” up. Bake in a 350 degree oven (F, 175 C) 20-30 minutes or until the fish is cooked all the way through. 

Serve it with some fresh cherry tomatoes of different colors or anything else that you prefer. Decorate with a sprig of any kind of fresh herb.

It is so light and delicious. A pressed/ riced potato goes really well with this dish. Or why not a great salad.

Enjoy!!

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Crawfish party!!!

Posted in Baking, Holidays & Special Occasions, Seafood, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on August 26, 2012 | 4 Comments »

It is August, that means CRAWFISH PARTY!

(Or crayfish as they also are called).

In Sweden, we love our crawfish.

Come August, we are all ready to fight the mosquitoes and sit outside eating crawfish. We would set a rustic table with platters of crawfish, shrimp, sharp cheese pies, hard bread and cheese, beer and lot’s of Vodka. We eat, drink and sing “snaps songs” (drinking songs).

You could just as well have your crawfish party inside. You just need to be  little more careful of not dropping shells on the floor…

Lanterns are hung all over. We also have garlands looking like little crawfish holding hands. It is great. There used to be restrictions of when to start eating them but now you can eat crawfish anytime.

I remember when my father used to catch crawfish.

It was crazy, scary and fun. I used to go with him. He had two different techniques. The easiest would be the common way. One would lay down crawfish cages in the evening. They would have a piece of herring stuck as bait in them. We would go and pick the cages up very early in the morning, around  6 - 7 am. If we were lucky, they would be full of crawfish.

The second and more doubtful version of collecting crawfish would be the crazy way (and I think my dad would be the only one doing it this way).

This version would involve us putting on our bathing suits and going into the lake. My dad and I would lay down in the water and float, using our arms to “walk” on the bottom. We would feel under the stones for crawfish. I would always be scared so I used to poke with a stick. My dad would get mad and say “Stop it, you will hurt them!” “But what about me?” I would answer. The thing is, when the crawfish would pinch your fingers you should just pull them out gently from underneath the stone. It would really hurt… I never liked it. But it was an adventure.

To fish for crawfish this way, there would be a little bit of a logistical obstacle. Where would one but the crawfish??  My brave father solved this in a very clever but  risky way. He would put the crawfish in a plastic bag. SInce his hands were busy “feeling” for more crawfish and “walking” on the bottom of the lake, he would put the plastic bag of crawfish in his trunks. Now that is one brave man!!! And I always said, thank god all 4 of me and my siblings already were “here”…

Anyway, after catching all the crawfish, he would let them loose all over the kitchen floor. All of us kids would escape up on chairs and tables. Scary times and brave parents. What else can I say?

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Västerbottenpaj. ( A sharp cheese pie.)

1 1/2 c. of flour.
1 stick of butter (about 130 gr.)
3 tsp. of cold water.
3 egg.
1 c. heavy cream.
1 c. shredded “Västerbotten” or other sharp cheese, Gruyère for example.
salt

Directions;

Mix butter, flour and water into a dough.

Add the dough to a shallow pie dish, medium size. Start working the dough into the dish.

When dough is well-distributed into the dish, take a fork and make little holes all around the pie shell. Bake it in a 450F (225C) degree oven. for about 10 minutes or until it is just starting to dry up.

Mix the eggs, cream & cheese in a bowl. If needed, add a little salt. Note that the cheeses usually are very salt. Pour into the pre-baked pie-shell. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes or until the cheese is starting to turn golden brown on top.

You can eat it like this or decorate it with sour cream and caviar on top. Usually we just eat it plain in thin slices.

Enjoy.

A kräftskiva (kraftskiva), or crawfish party is an traditional Swedish festivity. It usually occurs during the late summer in August, during the crawfishing season. The original reason to hold the celebrations in August, is because of the large fishing of crawfish in the late 1900th century. This resulted in a stop for consuming crawfish for the whole year until the crawfish-premiere at the 8th of August. This restriction was lifted in 1994, but the tradition remained and many Swedes still celebrate their kraftskiva around August 8th.In addition to the crawfish many different dishes are served at the ‘crawfish-table’. Much like midsummer, homemade bread, butter and cheese is served. Common is also different pies like cheese-pie, preferably with vasterbotten-cheese. Other dishes served is for instance various pasta-salads, potato-salad, green salad and cold sauces like aioli or Thousand Island Dressing. For dessert, strawberries with whipped cream and / or vanilla ice-cream is common.To drink at the kraftskiva, beer is most common. You will also find the ‘nubbe’, which is schnapps. Preferred kinds are nubbe flavoured with elder, Aquavit and for instance Absolut Vodka. Before each nubbe, everyone attending is supposed to sing a ‘nubbevisa’ which means schnapps-song.If you’d like to try a Swedish kräftskiva or crayfish-party at home, here are some recipes to try. Like midsummer the kräftskiva is held outdoors at a long table or ‘langbord’ to fit in everyone attending at the same table.

Ikea has a huge Crawfish party once a year. It is not really a traditional party but it works. As long as they have the crawfish I am fine. The Swedes sing songs, drink some smuggled wine and snaps and eat lot’s of crawfish.

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Seafood feast in Saffron wine broth.

Posted in Seafood, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 21, 2012 | 9 Comments »

Nothing says summer like seafood. It is a little bit of a luxury if you could go to the fisherman and get the fish just a few hours after it was caught. We are lucky here in New York. It is so easy to get hold of fresh seafood here. Either you fish it yourself or you go to any fish market. We have some great grocery stores with fantastic fish departments. There is one in particular that I like. They will steam your lobsters right there. No need to take it home and have a mess in the kitchen. I used to boil my lobsters, then I figured out that steaming them was better. But, now I am smarter. I just have the professionals do it in the store.

I don’t know about you, but I can get these “cravings” for a real luxurious fish platter. My friend Mika and I used to make fish stews and fish soups all the time. The base would always be heavy cream. I don’t do that anymore. I try to just stick to a fantastic broth that has a splash of wine and saffron in it.

Here is a great seafood indulgent;

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Seafood feast in Saffron wine broth.

For this recipe you could use any seafood and shellfish that you prefer.

It feels very luxurious if you use a couple of different kinds. You just need very little of each kind per person.

For 2 people I used;

I Lobster, steamed and into big chunks. Save the claws as decoration on the plates.

A handful of Clams.

A handful of raw Shrimps.

A few Scallops. I used the big ones.

I filet of Arctic Char.

A couple of fresh figs

1 baguette.

2 shallots.

1 tbsp. of butter.

1/2 c. (1 dl) good tasting white wine.

A splash of white Port (optional).

1 pinch (one small package) of Saffron.

A couple of cherry tomatoes. Any color.

1/2 a fresh pepper. Any kind. Thinly sliced.

Dill.

Salt & pepper.

Directions;

Cut the fish filet into 1″ strips (about 3 cm). Fry them in a hot skillet with skin side down first. Just a minute or so on each side (I rather under cook than  over cook fish). Set aside on a plate when done. Fry the scallops at the same time, also just for a few minutes on each side just so that they get a golden brown color.

Chop the shallots finely. Add to the skillet. Fry until translucent. Add the Saffron, salt and pepper. Fry for a couple of minutes. Add the wine (and port wine). If you would like to, you can add more vegetables. Just make sure it is very finely cut into slices (julienne the vegetables).

Add the shrimps & the clams. Let boil for a couple of minutes. If the clams do not open, throw them out. They must be opening up to be ok to eat. When the shrimp is turning pink they are done. Add the lobster meat, the scallops & thinly sliced pepper. When you plate this, add the fish on top. Divide the broth over the seafood. Cut a few slices of the baguette and place on the side of the plates. It is great to dip the bread in the broth.

Add the tomatoes and the figs (cut in halves or quarters). Put a little sprig of dill on top as a decoration.

You can serve a little Aioli to this (garlic mayo).

I really hope you will like this as much as we do.

Enjoy!!!

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