It's Oh So Quiet

So this week, we drew Iceland!

What is Icelandic cuisine like, you might say? Well, we didn't really know, either. Thanks to
this site and inspiration from Miss Bjork, we found some recipes to try. I was rather alarmed to find out that Icelanders eat both horse meat and PUFFINS! Cute, cuddly puffins. I'm going to pretend that it's because they can't get chicken there.


It seems that, so far anyway, many of the countries on our list have fish-centered cuisines. We had hoped to get a nice piece of cod or even haddock to bake, but Kroger, in addition to being one huge Charley Foxtrot right now because of reorganizing, had no good fish to offer. We spent so much time trying to find the ingredients we needed that we quickly settled on having salmon again. I grabbed some red potatoes for an interesting side dish - Caramelized Potatoes , and the BF picked up some pickled beets and pickled herring for Sildersalat. I wasn't convinced about the salad, and the BF wasn't so sure that caramel sauce and potatoes would go together.

This recipe was super easy. Just peel potatoes and boil until tender but not soft enough for mashing. Make caramel sauce with sugar and butter (and I had to add a little water because it got too hot too quickly), then coat the potatoes in the sauce and simmer for a few minutes. We decided to add some carrots too, because carrots and caramel sauce? Come on!

The herring salad was also pretty easy to put together, and interesting to look at. Just slice beets, apple and herring, and toss with mayo and/or sour cream or yogurt. We did 1/4 cup greek yogurt and 1/4 cup mayo, and we also added a little sliced onion and salt and pepper. Chop the pieces pretty small and you've got yourself a pink appetizer! We ate the salad with club crackers, and y'all, it was pretty good! I might make this for Soup Night sometime.

So here is our plate: salmon with a tarragon/mayo sauce, and caramelized potatoes and carrots. We also made some honey oat bread, but it wouldn't be ready until after dinner.

So you're probably wondering how those potatoes turned out? Y'ALL. They were delicious! It was so weird! Somehow that caramel sauce just went right along with the potatoes. The carrots were a nice addition, but I would've eaten this either way. The sauce brings out the sweetness in the potato, but not in a crazy way. And the salmon with tarragon was a nice contrast in flavors.

The coolest thing about this project is that we get to learn about a country and/or culture that we may not have otherwise known much about, and it's a great excuse to try some new foods. I didn't think I'd like pickled beets or pickled herring, but I was wrong. And who knew caramel and potatoes could be so tasty?

We'll be skipping next weekend because I'll be in New Orleans for the Rock and Roll 1/2 marathon , but I am looking forward to pulling the next country out of the jar.

And just because I can only go so long before I post another Sifl and Olly link (at least this one is relevant):