Vanilla ice-cream - Vanillurjómaís

Because it’s warm(-ish) and sunny outside, here is a lovely and fattening recipe for home-made ice-cream. My mother makes this for special occasions, like Christmas and easter. It is very rich and creamy, and absolutely delicious!

1/2 litre heavy cream or whipping cream
5 egg yolks (use the whites to make meringue drops
75 g sugar
vanilla essence to taste

Mix egg yolks, sugar and vanilla essence* and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Whip the cream until it is quite stiff and fold into yolk/sugar mixture. Pour into a mould and freeze, or use an ice-cream maker. Use the egg whites to make meringue tops to serve with the ice-cream.

*Note on vanilla use: A little goes a long way. The vanilla taste is stronger once the custard has been frozen. You can also use vanilla sugar or a vanilla bean (soak it in the milk).

Variations: Experiment with different flavourings and extras: chocolate chips, small pieces of preserved fruit, liqueurs, flavour essences.

Goes well with Crème de Menthe and Mint Chocolate liqueurs, chocolate sauce, Mars sauce (melt a large Mars bar in cream and mix well), hot fudge, hot caramel sauce, meringue drops, preserved fruit in syrup or fresh fruit, especially strawberries.

Traditional Icelandic fish balls - Fiskibollur

Fish balls are one of the many ways in which Icelanders like to cook fish, and the recipes are numerous. When I was little I loved to eat fish-balls in pink sauce (see recipe below), mostly because of the colour of the sauce.

1 large fillet white fish (cod, haddock and saithe are traditional), skinned and boneless
1 medium onion
2/3 cup flour
1/5 cup potato starch (use cornstarch if potato starch is not available)
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
milk, as needed

Finely chop or grind the fish fillet and onion. Mix together in a bowl (or just throw both ingredients into a food processor and let it do the work). Add the dry ingredients, mixing well. Add the eggs and then the milk. The fish-dough should be just thick enough to stick together when you form it into balls. Form small balls with two tablespoons or use your hands. Fry in oil or butter over medium heat, until browned and cooked through. Serve with fresh salad and potatoes. Ketchup also goes well with fish-balls.

-If you must have some sauce on your fish-balls, serve with melted butter, brown gravy or cocktail sauce , or make pink sauce.

These are two ways to make pink sauce:
-1. Make basic white sauce and add ketchup until it turns pink.
-2. When the fish balls are just about done, add 250 ml. water to the pan. Take 1 1/2 tbs. flour and 100 ml. water or milk and mix into a smooth paste. When the water in the frying pan boils, add the flour paste and stir well. Add 1 tsp fish stock powder and 2 tbs. ketchup or tomato sauce. Cook for 5 minutes.

News: Skyr goes to Europe and the USA

It seems the world is finally to taste this unique Icelandic dairy product outside Iceland.

Skyr and some other Icelandic products will soon be available from the chain store Whole Foods Market in the United States.

A Danish dairy factory has started making skyr for local distribution, and skyr will soon be available in several other European countries.

If you see skyr on sale anywhere outside Iceland, please let me know.

Edit: See Rebecca's Comment for a heads up on the Whole Foods Market situation.

Ávaxtagrautur - Icelandic style compote of dried fruit

This is one of my father's favourite dishes. He likes it best with heaps of sugar and cream.
It can be served hot or cold, as a meal in itself or as a dessert.

150 g. mixed dried fruit – the usual Icelandic combination is prunes, apples, apricots, pears and peaches. Or you can use one type of dried fruit.
100 g. sugar
900 ml. water
30 g. potato flour (or cornstarch) mixed with 100 ml. cold water

Cook the fruit in the water until soft. Press through a sieve or process in a blender if you desire a finer texture. Add sugar and thicken with potato flour mix. Serve hot or cold, with cream or half & half.