Condiments

Blueberry Cardamom Compote

May 20, 2020 by Kristi Leave a Comment

I developed this Blueberry Cardamom Compote as part of a recipe for overnight oats (coming Friday!), but loved it so much that I thought it deserved its own billing. Because as it turns out, not only is this Blueberry Cardamom Compote good on overnight oats, it is also delicious on toast, on cream cheese-smeared crispbread, on steel cut oat porridge, on ice cream (YES!), mixed into skyr or yogurt and topped with granola or STRAIGHT FROM THE JAR. Seriously, we can’t get enough of this stuff around here!

One of the very best things about this Blueberry Cardamom Compote is that frozen wild blueberries work really well in this recipe. In fact, I like them better here than fresh blueberries from produce section. That means that if you get in the habit of picking up one of those giant bags of frozen blueberries on your weekly Costco run, you can make this compote on a moment’s notice and at any time of the year. That’s right! No need to forage the forest floor in late summer for your blueberries Scandinavian style (although that does sound delightful, doesn’t it?). A quick trip to the store and you’ll be all stocked up and ready for blueberry cardamom goodness whenever the mood strikes.

There isn’t much to say to ensure your success with this Blueberry Cardamom Compote….it couldn’t be easier and only requires a stir now and then to keep it from sticking to the pan. My only word of advice (as always) is to use freshly ground cardamom if you can. It is SO much better than the cardamom that is already ground for you. I have a mortar and pestle that works really well for this. It’s a little extra effort but well worth it in terms of flavor!

This Blueberry Cardamom Compote will keep for at least a week in the fridge. Ours never lasts more than a day or two though….too many delicious ways to put it to use! For longer storage, you could easily keep it the freezer for a couple of months.

I hope you give this Blueberry Cardamom Compote a try! It is simply delicious and a fun thing to have on hand to perk up your breakfast, afternoon snack or dessert. Looking for more delicious seasonal compotes to try? I’ve got several here on the blog:

Blueberry Cardamom Compote

A simple and delicious fruit compote made with frozen blueberries, ground cardamom and pure maple syrup. The perfect way to perk up your breakfast, afternoon snack or late night bowl of ice cream!

Author: Kristi
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Yield: 2 cups 1x
Category: compote
Cuisine: Nordic, Scandinavian
Diet: Vegan

Scale

Ingredients

4 cups frozen wild blueberries, no need to defrost (fresh blueberries will also work)

1 teaspoon freshly ground cardamom

¼ cup pure maple syrup (more to taste)

Pinch of fine sea salt

1 teaspoon of freshly-squeezed lemon juice

Instructions

Combine all ingredients except lemon juice in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium low stirring frequently until berries get syrupy and begin to break down, about 8-10 minutes. Remove from the heat. Stir in lemon juice. Once berries have cooled, transfer them to a jar and store in the fridge until ready to use (berries will keep in the fridge for about a week or in the freezer for a couple of months).

Keywords: blueberry, compote, cardamom, maple syrup, easy, simple, make ahead, vegan, vegetarian

Crispy Fried Shallots

February 8, 2020 by Kristi Leave a Comment

Crispy fried shallots or onions commonly grace the tops of Danish smørrebrød of all kinds and also make a deliciously crisp topping for hot dogs. While you can buy them at the grocery store (the Lars brand is quite good), they are quick and easy to make at home.

These delicious Crispy Fried Shallots may be small, but they are mighty in taste. Like baby onion rings, they bring a pleasant crunch and sharp/sweet onion flavor to sandwiches, salads or whatever else you choose to grace with their presence.

Just one word of caution here….don’t let your Crispy Fried Shallots get too dark. They will take on a bitter flavor if the color goes much past golden brown. It’s better to err on the side of light in color.

These Crispy Fried Shallots are really a Nordic cuisine essential. I hope you give them a try! They will perk up just about anything on your plate. I’ve got a few recipes below to get you started, but I would also recommend getting creative and using them on burgers, salads….anything that can use a little onion-y crunch.

Crispy Fried Shallots

An easy recipe for the classic topping for many Nordic dishes.

Author: Kristi
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Yield: 1 cup
Category: Condiment, Garnish
Method: Frying
Cuisine: Nordic, Scandinavian, Swedish, Danish

Ingredients

3 medium shallots, sliced into thin rings, rings separated from one another

¼ cup all purpose flour

¼ teaspoon fine salt

Freshly ground pepper

1 cup canola, vegetable or peanut oil for frying

Coarse salt for sprinkling

Instructions

Combine flour, salt and a few grinds of pepper in a large ziploc bag. Add shallots, seal and toss around until shallots are coated with flour mixture.
Meanwhile, heat oil in a large saucepan until it reaches 280 degrees. It’s worth using a thermometer here if you have one. If the oil is too hot, the shallots will burn and if it is too cool they will be soggy.
Transfer shallots to a fine mesh strainer and shake off any excess flour. Place half of the shallots in the pan and fry until golden brown and crispy, 2-5 minutes. Keep your eye on them, stirring frequently. If the shallots get too dark in color, they will be bitter in flavor. Remove from oil using a slotted spoon. Place on paper towels and allow to drain.
Sprinkle shallots with coarse salt and allow them to cool slightly and crisp up. Repeat with the other half of the shallots. Shallots can be used immediately or stored at room temperature for 24 hours or in the refrigerator for 5-7 days (re-crisp in the oven briefly if necessary).

Keywords: fried, crispy, shallots, onions

Creamy Mustard Dill Sauce

December 13, 2019 by Kristi Leave a Comment

Mustard and dill sauce is a Scandinavian classic, often served with salmon. Most of the recipes out there are for a sauce that is served room temperature or cold. As I began developing this recipe, I realized what I really wanted was a rich and creamy mustard and dill sauce that I could serve hot alongside roasted salmon, a seared chicken breast or drizzled over a batch of Swedish meatballs as an alternative to gravy.

This Creamy Mustard Dill Sauce is the happy result. It comes together quickly and can be made a couple of days ahead of time and reheated, which is wonderful for entertaining. It makes a delicious, versatile sauce for an elegant smörgåsbord as it is a tasty companion to all manner of dishes, from salmon to Swedish meatballs.

Here on the blog, you will also find this Creamy Mustard Dill Sauce drizzled on top of this roasted salmon smørrebrød, a hearty and delicious Nordic open sandwich. The options are endless!

Give this Creamy Mustard Dill Sauce a try and let me know how you put it to good use in the comments below. It’s a great way to dress up just about anything.

Creamy Mustard Dill Sauce

An easy and versatile Scandinavian mustard dill sauce. Delicious served with salmon, chicken or even Swedish meatballs.

Author: Kristi
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 1 1/2 cups sauce
Category: sauce, condiments
Cuisine: Nordic, Scandinavian

Ingredients

1 tablespoon canola oil

2 shallots, minced fine

½ cup dry white wine

¼ cup dijon mustard

1 cup heavy cream

¼ cup water

2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

Instructions

Heat oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add shallot and saute until soft and translucent about, 2-3 minutes.
Add white wine and simmer until reduced by half, about 2 minutes.
Add mustard, cream and water. Simmer until thickened slightly, 2-3 minutes.
Remove from heat and add fresh dill. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Keywords: mustard, cream, dill, sauce for salmon

Fresh Pickled Cucumbers

October 31, 2019 by Kristi Leave a Comment

Fresh pickled cucumbers are an essential component of Nordic cuisine, and definitely a recipe you are going to want to have in your back pocket for when you are ready to make Swedish Meatballs, Danish Hotdogs, or any of the other wonderful uses for fresh pickles.

These quick pickles are not designed for long term storage so there is no canning process to follow. Simply cover the sliced cucumbers in a mixture of vinegar, salt, sugar, herbs and spices and let them sit for 30 minutes and they are ready to eat. Extremely easy, but these briny little bites add flavor and crunch wherever you choose to use them. For us, that sometimes means eating them straight out of the jar, which is okay too.

Fresh Pickled Cucumbers

An easy recipe for Scandinavian-style fresh pickled cucumbers with dill.

Author: Kristi
Prep Time: 10 minutes + 30 minutes resting time
Total Time: 40 minutes
Yield: 1 quart size jar of pickles 1x
Category: condiments
Cuisine: Scandinavian, Nordic, Swedish

Scale

Ingredients

1 large cucumber (preferably an English cucumber), sliced thin

2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

1 cup distilled white vinegar

1 cup water

¼ cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

1 teaspoon coarse salt

Instructions

Place sliced cucumbers and dill in a quart-size mason jar
Heat remaining ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat until simmering.
Pour vinegar mixture into the jar with the cucumbers and dill. Let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before using. If you are not eating them immediately, cover and refrigerate the cucumbers once the mixture has cooled to room temperature. The cucumbers are best fresh but will keep in the fridge for a week.

Keywords: quick, easy, pickles, cucumbers, dill

Herbed Skyr Sauce

March 8, 2019 by Kristi Leave a Comment

This versatile sauce is an excellent one to have in your kitchen repertoire. Easy and packed with garlic and herb flavor, it goes nicely with all manner of vegetables, as a sauce for your lunchtime smørrebrød, or stirred into cooked lentils or chickpeas. You can play around with the types of tender herbs you use here. I chose dill and chives for spring, but come summer I might use basil, Italian parsley or cilantro. Or a combination of all three!

Herbed Skyr Sauce

A creamy, garlicky, herby sauce that goes nicely with just about everything.

Author: Kristi
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Yield: 1 cup 1x
Category: sauce
Cuisine: scandinavian, nordic

Scale

Ingredients

1 garlic clove, minced with a little salt and mashed to a paste using the side of your knife

1 cup plain whole milk skyr (Icelandic yogurt) or Greek yogurt

2 tablespoons whole milk

½ teaspoon ground cumin

⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper

¼ cup chopped dill

¼ cup chopped chives

1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil

Coarse salt

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Season with salt to taste. Cover and store in the refrigerator until you are ready to use, preferably at least an hour or so to allow the flavors to marry. The sauce can be stored for up to three days refrigerated.

Notes

Adapted from In my Kitchen by Deborah Madison.

Keywords: skyr, yogurt, sauce, dill, chives

Spicy Pickled Beets

February 28, 2019 by Kristi Leave a Comment

Pickled beets have long been a Scandinavian food staple. My Norwegian grandmother canned many batches of them each fall so that they might be enjoyed on their southwestern Minnesota farm through the cold winter months.

My mother would bring jars of pickled beets back with her when we visited the farm, and she would eat them as a little relish with all manner of dinners. I was not an early fan. When I went to my very first cooking school class, the instructor asked us to introduce ourselves and name our least favorite food. When it was my turn to share, I very quickly said beets, probably making a little disgusted face to go with it. The chef looked at me for a moment and then said, “I promise…you will like beets by the end of this class.” And so it was. I learned how to roast them in a hot oven, caramelizing their exterior and accentuating their earthy sweetness. I learned how to shred and sauté them in olive oil and fresh herbs, finishing them with a little tarragon vinegar. And since that first cooking class, almost 20 years ago, I have also learned to eat them shredded and raw in salads and on sandwiches, juice them and roast them whole. And I have loved beets in all of these forms. So why not pickled beets? I decided it was time to revisit them and create my own recipe.

Tips for Delicious and Easy Pickled Beets

Roast the beets rather than boiling them. I wanted my Spicy Pickled Beets to have firmer texture than the sometimes mushy pickled beets I encountered as a child. After doing a fair amount of research, I found that most pickled beets are boiled prior to pickling. One recipe I found, Alton Brown’s, called for roasting the beets instead. This method greatly improved the texture of my pickled beets and was just what I was looking for: pleasantly firm and not at all mushy. And roasting is such an easy, hands-off method. Just drizzle the beets with olive oil and wrap them in foil. They practically cook themselves.
Use a brine without a lot of sugar. Some recipes for pickled beets contain a lot of sugar. But because beets are so naturally sweet on their own, they really don’t need much to enhance their subtle sweetness.
Choose the right combination of spices. The spices I’ve chosen for my Spicy Pickled Beets are some of the Scandinavian classics….bay leaf, peppercorns, all spice berries and juniper berries. In my research of pickled beets, I came across a recipe in Lagom: The Swedish Art of Eating Harmoniously by Steffi Knowles-Dellner that called for red chile pepper flakes. I gave them a try in my brine and they were just the thing to make these pickled beets a real stand-out: traditionally spiced with just a hint of heat.
Opt for the quick pickling method. I’m not going to lie, the traditional canning process intimidates me. For my Spicy Pickled Beets, I wanted an easy recipe I could throw together without it becoming a day-long production. Quick pickling provides that kind of ease and immediacy. Simply bring your brine to a simmer and pour it over the prepared beets. Let them sit for 30 minutes and they are ready to go! No giant vats of boiling water, sterilizing of jars or worrying about whether you’ve managed to achieve a proper seal. The only drawback is that quick pickled beets are not designed for long-term storage. They are intended to be stored in the refrigerator and polished off within a couple of weeks. But trust me, that won’t be a problem.

Please give these easy Spicy Pickled Beets a try! If you need some inspiration for using your Spicy Pickled Beets, I’ve got a few recipes here on the blog for you:

Spicy Pickled Beets

Scandinavian-style pickled roasted beets with a kick!

Author: Kristi
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 45-60 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Yield: 12 ounces 1x
Category: Condiments
Method: Pickles
Cuisine: Scandinavian, Nordic

Scale

Ingredients

12-16 ounces small to medium-sized beets

Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling

1 cup distilled white vinegar

1 cup water

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon fine salt

5 allspice berries

10 juniper berries

10 peppercorns

1 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon dried chile flakes

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Scrub and trim beets. Place beets on a large piece of foil and drizzle them with olive oil. Using your hands, rub oil onto the surface of the beets. Fold foil over and seal the edges making a pouch. Place pouch on a baking sheet and transfer to oven. Roast beets for 45-60 minutes, or until tender when pierced with a knife. Smaller beets will take less time than larger ones.
Remove beets from oven and open pouch. Let cool before handling. Once the beets are cool enough to work with, rub the skin off with a paper towel and slice into 1/2 inch thick wedges. Transfer to a quart sized mason jar.
Meanwhile, heat remaining ingredients over medium-low heat until simmering and sugar has dissolved. Pour mixture into the jar with the beets. Allow to cool at room temperature. Cover and place in the fridge. Consume beets within two weeks.

Keywords: beets, pickled beets, roasted beets, Scandinavian, Nordic, Swedish

Roasted Pear Compote with Cardamom, Vanilla and Fresh Ginger

February 26, 2019 by Kristi Leave a Comment

roasted pear compote on rye crispbread with cream cheese and coffee — *Rye crispbread with cream cheese and roasted pear compote*

It’s time we had a little chat about cardamom. Citrusy, spicy, floral….it is, shall we say, a very complex and exotic spice. Although native to India, cardamom has somehow managed to find its way into many traditional recipes for Scandinavian baked goods. The Nordic countries are famous for their cardamom buns, cakes and cookies. How did this far-flung spice find its way from India to Scandinavia? Some claim that the Vikings brought it north with them after encountering it on their travels to the Byzantine Empire (now Turkey) or possibly Constantinople (now Istanbul). Others say it was first brought to mainland Europe when the Moors established a presence on the Iberian peninsula, and it made its way to Scandinavia from there. Whatever the circumstances, cardamom is the darling spice of the Nordic baking world.

It is not, however, beloved by all. I once bought my daughter a large cardamom-laced sugar cookie from a Scandinavian bakery. She eagerly took a big bite, unaware of the cardamom lurking inside, and spit it out, disgusted. “Mom, why does my cookie taste like soap!?” Oh, how my Swedish, Norwegian and Danish ancestors must have rolled in their graves upon hearing this! Clearly I had not done as good of a job raising her as I thought I had. Not enough exposure to cardamom and now the taste was unpleasant, foreign and apparently soapy to her. We joke that it might make a good title for her memoir someday: Why Does My Cookie Taste Like Soap? Discovering my Nordic Heritage the Hard Way (coming to a book store near you in 20 years or so). As I said, not beloved by all.

To be honest, I didn’t like cardamom as a kid either. I now enjoy it in small doses ( a little goes a LONG way), and I feel like some of the recipes I encounter are a bit heavy handed with this potent spice. If you are new to cardamom or are trying to convince your children of its deliciousness, I would suggest a light touch at first…a quarter or half teaspoon of it here or there. I also recommend buying the pods and grinding the seeds inside yourself rather than purchasing ground cardamom. You will be rewarded with a much truer flavor.

This pear compote is delicately laced with freshly ground cardamom, and I absolutely love it. It makes a delicious topping for toast, crispbread, porridge and granola served with filmjölk, yogurt or milk of your choice. Or you can just eat it with a spoon! According to Live Lagom: Balanced Living the Swedish Wayby Anna Brones, compotes are a very common way to serve fruit in Sweden. This one is my take on a pear compote I made in cooking school some years back. In class we used it as a filling for a gingerbread cobbler, which is something to consider. The combination of pears and gingerbread is utterly magical.

Roasted Pear Compote with Cardamom, Vanilla and Fresh Ginger

This delicious fruit compote makes a perfect topping for rye crispbread, porridge, granola, oatmeal….the options are endless!

Author: Kristi
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Yield: 12 ounces 1x
Category: compote
Cuisine: Scandinavian, Nordic

Scale

Ingredients

5-6 small to medium-sized Bartlett pears, peeled and cut into ¾ inch cubes

2 tablespoons honey

Seeds from 2 crushed cardamom pods, ground in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle

4–5 thin slices of fresh ginger (no need to peel)

a pinch course salt

½ vanilla bean

1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine all ingredients except vanilla bean and lemon juice in an 8 or 9 inch square baking dish.
With a small sharp knife, split vanilla bean down one side of the pod.Open up the pod and lay it flat on your cutting board. Using the back of your knife, remove the black seeds from the interior of the pod by scraping from one end of the open pod to the other. Place seeds and empty pod in the baking dish along with the other ingredients.
Bake for 45 minutes, stirring half way through, or until pears have softened considerably.
Remove the pan from the oven. Using a spoon, remove and discard the vanilla bean pod and ginger slices. Mash pears with a potato masher or the back of a fork until they are create a chunky, rustic mash. Add lemon juice. Taste the mixture and season with additional lemon juice, salt or honey to taste. Once the compote has cooled, transfer to a clean jar and store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Keywords: compote, pears, cardamom, ginger, Scandinavian, Nordic