Jo's Icelandic Recipes

 

Svið og sviðasulta - Sheep's heads and sheep's head jam	Sunnudags-lambasteik - traditional Sunday roast
Beinlausir fuglar - "Boneless Birds"	Lifrarbuff - Liver patties
Steiktar Rjúpur - Fried rock ptarmigan	Lifrarpylsa - Icelandic style Haggis
Lambakæfa - Lamb Pâté	Rúllupylsa - Rolled Sausage
Biximatur - Leftover meat medley	Mjólkursoðinn lundi - Puffin in milk sauce

 

Lifrarpylsa - Liver Sausage/Haggis

There are many ways of preparing liver, and the following is one method of preparing a good, nutritious meal from lamb's liver. This delicacy has "relatives" in various other countries. The most famous is do doubt the Scottish Haggis.

1 kg	lamb's liver	50-100 gr.	flour
ca. 450 gr.	rye flour	3/4 l	milk
150 g	oatmeal	30 gr.	salt
1 kg	sheep suet	Sheep's stomachs/tripe (optional)

Wash and clean the liver and remove all blood vessels and membranes. Mince the liver thoroughly into a paste. Mix with milk and salt and then rye flour, oatmeal and flour. The mixture should be thick. Chop the suet, finely or coarsely, depending on your tastes, and mix with the liver paste. This mixture is traditionally sewn up into sheep's stomachs, but sausage skins or plastic bags that are suitable for cooking in can be substituted. Fill the bags and close them well. One lifrarpylsa is about the size of a man's clenched fist. The cooking time given is for this size.

Drop the sausages into boiling salt water and cook for 2-2 1/2 hours. When the sausages are dropped into the water, it is a good idea to prick them few times with a pin to prevent them  from bursting. Turn over occasionally. Eat hot with boiled or mashed potatoes, cold with porridge or skyr, or use as topping on bread. Frying is a good way to use up leftover sausage. You can either brown it in the pan with some sugar, or sprinkle some sugar on it before eating. Serve with mashed potatoes.

Liver sausage is often preserved in skyr-whey, along with other traditional foods, such as blood sausage, sheep's head jam and whale blubber. This pickling produces a sour flavour that is definitely an acquired taste! Food preserved in this way is traditionally eaten during the old month of Þorri, at festivals called Þorrablót.

 

Lifrarbuff - Liver patties My mother used to make Lifrarbuff fairly often when I was a kid, especially in the autumn when it was available fresh (autumn is the main season for the slaughter of sheep).    500 gr.  lamb's liver  1/2 - 1 cup  flour  1 ea.  egg  3 ea.  potatoes, raw  1/2 - 1 cup  milk  2 medium  onions  1/2 tsp.  baking powder  to taste  salt, pepper and/or other favourite spice  Remove all membranes and blood vessels from the liver and peel the potatoes. Peel onions and chop coarsely. Mince together liver, potatoes and onions. Mix in flour, baking powder and spices. Add the egg. Thin the mixture with milk, until it is the consistency of porridge. By this time it should look like a disgusting mess.

Drop the mixture by the tablespoonful on a hot frying pan and fry on both sides until firm. Serve with butter-fried onion rings, mashed potatoes, green peas and rhubarb jam. Fried eggs are also good with this dish.

 

Beinlausir fuglar - "Boneless Birds" I have no idea why this dish is called "boneless birds". My aunt often serves it at family dinners, and it is a great favourite of mine. To the basic recipe of meat and bacon she adds mushrooms and onions. Use lamb for preference.   1 1/2 kg.  lamb, beef,  or horse meat  50 gr.  butter/margarine  to taste  salt and pepper  500 ml.  water  100 gr.  bacon  30 gr.  flour  Traditional preparation: Cut the meat into thin slices, and roll each in a mixture of salt and pepper. Put a slice of bacon on each slice of meat, roll up and tie up with twine. Brown on a hot pan. Add the water and cook until done through. Use the flour to thicken the sauce. Serve with potatoes, rhubarb jam and green peas. Easy method (Recommended), with bacon and mushrooms: Cut the meat into bite sized pieces and brown on a frying pan. Put in a pot with the water and bring to the boil, lower cooking temperature to simmer. Cut the bacon into pieces, fry lightly and add to the meat. Cut one large onion in half and cut the halves into thin slices, crosswise. Fry on a pan until transparent and add to the meat. Cut some fresh mushrooms (about 1/2 kg.) into slices and fry in butter until soft. Add to the meat. Simmer until the meat is done.

Flavour the dish to taste with salt and pepper, and Season-All (optional).  I always add a touch of garlic as well. You can make a sauce out of the cooking liquid by thickening with flour, but I recommend just pouring everything into a large bowl and serving it up that way. People will be wanting to drink the cooking liquid afterwards! By using more water, you can make this into a hearty, warming soup.

Serve with potatoes - boiled or caramelized - and a fresh salad.

 

Steiktar Rjúpur - Fried rock ptarmigan This is THE Christmas dish in many homes, although not in mine. I must admit that I have never tasted ptarmigan, but this is such a typical Icelandic Christmas dish that I had to include it here. Some of my friends claim that there wouldn't be any Christmas in their homes without it. For some, it has to be birds shot by their father, brother or uncle, but these days more and more people are too lazy to go through the whole process of shooting, hanging, plucking and cleaning the birds. These people simply go to the next supermarket and buy the birds ready to cook.   3 ea.  rock ptarmigans, ready for cooking  75 gr.  fatty bacon  90 gr.  butter/margarine  450 ml.  boiling water  450 ml.  boiling milk  2 tsp.  salt  300 ml.  cream  2 tblsp.  flour  caramel colouring for the sauce - optional  Cut slits into the bird's chests and draw strips of bacon through (this is to ensure that the flesh will not be too dry). Truss the birds. Melt the butter in a cooking pot and brown the birds on all sides in the fat. Heat water and milk to boiling and pour over the birds. Add the salt and cook for 1-1 1/2 hours. Remove the birds and strain the cooking liquid. Thicken with a mixture of cold water and flour. Add the cream and adjust the flavouring to taste. Divide the birds and serve with mixed vegetables, dried fruit (stewed), pickled red cabbage, redcurrant jam and caramelized potatoes.

- optional: add a little redcurrant jam to the sauce for extra flavour.

 

Rúllupylsa - Rolled Sausage By request. This is a good way of using up cuts of meat that are often considered inferior because of their high fat content. This sausage is generally used as a topping for bread.   1 kg.  mutton, pork or beef bellies, and fatty scraps of meat. Mutton or pork is best.  2-3 tsp.  salt  1/2 tsp.  saltpeter (optional)  1 tsp.  sugar  1 tsp.  ginger  1/2 tsp.  ground pepper  1 tblsp.  onion, finely chopped  Wash and dry the bellies. If they contain ribs, remove them. Beat with a meat hammer to soften. Cut the bellies into a regular shape, large enough to roll up. Cut the rest up in strips. Rub the spices on one side of the bellies and arrange the meat strips on top. Roll up the bellies tightly, taking care to obtain an even thickness. Hold together with a fork or some toothpicks, and sew closed with twine. Start at the middle and work towards the ends. Truss up with more twine. Rub with a mixture of salt and saltpeter, 3 tblsp. salt and 1 tblsp. saltpeter. Preserve by freezing, salting or smoking (leave out the onion and use less spice if smoking). Cook for 1 1/2 to 3 hours, depending on size. The sausage is done when it can be easily pierced through with a pin (use a slender knitting pin). When it's done, it should be pressed - place on a cutting board, put another cutting board on top and weigh down with something heavy. Keep it pressed until cold. Cut into thin slices and serve on bread.

 

Lambakæfa - Lamb Pâté In Iceland, it is economical to buy a half or even whole sheep carcass (divided into various cuts) to keep in the freezer, and sometime you just don't know what to do with all this meat! This pâté is a good way to use up those scraps that you don't know what to do with, and cuts that have begun to dry out from being in the freezer for just a little too long.   5 kg.  meat on the bone (lamb or mutton)  1 1/2 kg.  sheep suet (optional)  120 g.  onion, quartered  150 g.  salt  2 tsp.  ground pepper  2 tsp.  allspice, ground  1 tsp.  cloves, ground      Note: If you leave out the suet, use fatty meat. Some fat is necessary to hold the pâté together. Wash the meat and cook in a little water with the suet (if using), onions and salt. When the bones can be easily pulled from the meat, it is done. My mother likes to pour off some of the cooking liquid at this point, and continue to gently fry the meat in its own fat for a while (at a low temperature - it must not burn). Put the cooking liquid aside and skim off the fat - do not throw away! Remove the bones and gristle from the meat and run it through a grinder or food processor with the onion pieces. Don't grind it too finely - it must have some texture.

Knead the pâté (use a mixer with kneading hooks) and thin with the cooking liquid and fat. It should be fairly thick. More fat makes it more spreadable. Add the spices to taste. The colour of the pâté should be pale, almost white. My grandmother likes to whip the pâté, which makes it very light.

To store, pour into molds (a deep cake mold or bread pan is fine). Allow to cool to room temperature before putting in the refrigerator to cool completely. Remove from the mould and cut up into suitable pieces. Wrap up in kitchen foil, pack into plastic bags and freeze.

Alternative storing methods include pasteurizing in jars, pouring into cheesecloth bags and dipping in melted tallow or keeping it in brine (not used anymore - to my knowledge). For short term storage, pour into jars or bowls and pour melted fat on top.

Slice or spread on fresh bread.