Mother nature has been busy these past few days. Our snow has almost entirely melted and our skies have been clear and bright. The sunrises and sunsets have been a vibrant aura of orange, red, yellow, pink and purple hues. Temperatures have been higher than normal and it almost feels as though spring is just around the corner. The weather has a calmness to it, like the stillness of a snow globe when it rests on a shelf, unsuspecting of change. Seemingly ignorant that at any moment everything could change. (more…)
Tag: side dish
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Rutabaga & Apple Salad (Kålrabi Salat med Epler)
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Rødkål (Braised Red Cabbage)
Rødkål is a sweet and sour braised red cabbage. A side dish that is a necessity for many Norwegians when it comes to the Christmas Eve meal. Tradition dictates its presence and it is most often paired with ribbe (pork ribs with a layer of crispy fat) and potatoes.Cabbage has been an integral part of the Norwegian livelihood for centuries, as well as Scandinavia and the rest of the world. As cabbage can be stored throughout the winter, it makes an appropriate ingredient during the colder months. It is also extremely healthy and in some cultures, a sign of luck and prosperity.
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Norwegian Spring Potato Salad (Potetsalat)
The roosters and hens have given a whole new meaning to the term ‘free range’ these days. Making their rounds, they circle up into the woods and around the kitchen garden just before sunbathing and slumbering below my kitchen window. They continue on following a makeshift pathway down a small slope to the main lawn and heading back to their coop for another siesta. They make this journey a couple of times a day and the roosters crow every once in awhile as if to give me some sort of sense that their journey under the sun is going well. Very well.
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Cucumber & Radish Salad (Agurksalat med Reddik)
Spring is on the horizon, and I’m beginning to see green amidst all the snow lying heavy over the farm. The tulips, perched near the windowsill, are blossoming as the rays of sunshine cover each stalk & petal. The days are longer, the sun is brighter and the seasons are blending into one another.
It’s around this time of year that a certain fruit makes its start into full-time production mode, thanks to a little help from greenhouses everywhere. The humble, and very popular, cucumber. Each year, Norway produces around 16,000 tons and imports 8,000 tons to meet the high demand of Norwegians everywhere. Norwegians will consume close to 25,000 tons of cucumbers per year.∗ And while cucumbers thrive in the summer months, the demand is such that they has become a year-round commodity. A permanent fixture in the Norwegian home.
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Lompe with Carmelized Onions & Roasted Tomatoes
Brunch is one of those meals, where anything goes. Hot and cold. Savory and sweet. Honestly, it’s just a good excuse to discard routine mealtimes and have people around to share a laugh, some stories and some good food. One of my favorite little dishes to serve is carmelized onions and roasted tomatoes atop gently fried Norwegian lompe.
Lomper are flat, round potato ‘cakes’, or smaller versions of potato lefse. Lompe is incredibly easy to make at home, with only a few ingredients – a recipe we will touch on in the near future. The great thing, about most baked flatbreads, is that it’s versatile. While it is quite common here in Norway to eat a sausage/pølse wrapped in a lompe, or have it spread with something sweet, I like to think of lompe as a creative base that’s at its best when fried in a little oil. By frying the lompe, the taste is more prominent, with a slight sweetness, making it an ideal base for a variety of toppings. It also makes it a little crispier, lending a greater texture.
With winter still dredging its heels, it’s nice to have something that can give a glimpse into summer. Cherry tomatoes are perfect for freezing whole with their skins on. So, if you’re like me and end up with a little too many after the summer harvest, you can simple freeze them and take a couple out when needed to either roast them in the oven or use in soups and sauces.
