So party day finally arrived. I cooked for days and ended up with tons of leftovers (I always end up making every dish in quantities to feed every guest, even though there are a million different things to eat…). I didn’t take any pictures of the preparation and I got a quick pic of the table as I was laying stuff out (there was no empty space by the time I was done), but no others during the party (too busy SKOALing).
I ended up making the meatballs from a recipe I got out of the newspaper a few years ago when Marcus Samuelsson’s Aquavit first came out, and specifically asked the Olsen’s guys for the least-sweet lingonberry preserves available (which were of course still plenty sweet). Here is that meatball recipe, although the one I have doesn’t call for the pickle juice… They were a big hit.
The cucumber salad and marinated mushrooms were from the Sunset Scandinavian Cookbook; and the potatoes, gravlax, mustard sauce, sillsalad, and pickled beets were from Foods of the World: Scandinavian Cooking; the chocolate-beet cupcakes were from a recipe that’s been taped to my kitchen wall for a long time, I’m sure it came off the internet at some point, so I’ll find it sometime and post it. The almond cake is from Gourmet and is so lovely that I think it will have to replace my old standby Jacques Pepin almond cake recipe (although preparation is a bit more involved – though really, to be fair, I always skip the syrup part of JP’s recipe. The gourmet one just stands on its own better, if you prefer simple desserts like me). The meats, cheeses, lingonberry preserves, crispbread, and herring came from Olsen’s.
Here is the menu:
Drinks
Aquavit
Vodka
Scandi beer
Herring Course
Scandinavian cheeses
Scandi breads and crackers
Pickled herring
Sillsallad with beet sour cream sauce
Sour cream with dill
Fish course
Gravlax with lemon
Mustard sauce with dill
Cold meats and salads course
Cucumber salad
Pickled beets
Marinated mushrooms
Cold meats
Hot course
Meatballs with lingonberry sauce
Butter-steamed new potatoes
Dessert
Almond cake with lingonberry preserves and cream
Beet cupcakes
Coffee
I’m disappointed I didn’t get a picture of the herring setup – I filled a roasting pan with ice and had the different kinds of herring and sauces in huge goblets nestled in the ice. The cheeses on the board were gradost (the round one), danish blue, farmer’s cheese, and on the plate over to the left gjetost (the brown one) and a harder finnish cheese (can’t remember the name).
clockwise from top in the right side of the frame: marinated mushrooms, cucumber salad, crispbreads, gravlax, pickled beets. Down in the bottom left corner are the meats, which were a swedish salami, lamb salami, and a lamb loaf. Mixed reviews on the meats.
It was fun, but probably a one-time thing. I think the next theme will be Bastille day… which gives me plenty of time to plan.
It’s time to pick my March cookbook, and I’m completely undecided.
