Icelandic Food: the Singed and the Rotten

A couple of years ago I did a presentation on the 10 most disgusting foods on earth for my Toastmasters club. Little did I know that a day will come and I try one of those!

Iceland is a very remote corner of the earth with harsh climate and little vegetation and fauna. Life was hard, winters were long, and people had to get really creative to have something that would pass as edible. As I read somewhere, they ate leather shoes and an odd manuscript to get by.

What made matters even worse, was lack and expensiveness of salt, making lots of food-preserving techniques unavailable for them. 

The food might be awful, but they sure know (nowadays) how to serve it:

So some of the icelandic foods are... drumroll, please... 

Breakfast Recipe - Breakfast Nests

I am here. Kinda. Life has been busy over the past week, lots of activities, lots of new experiences... Snowboarding for the first time in my life? Check. Dinner in a rotating restaurant? Check. (I'm glad the rotation was fairly slow...) Experiencing the 4D theatre (motion, water spray, wind blowing). Check.

Throughout this week I cooked some of the breakfasts I shared earlier - crepes, frittata, rice pudding.

Today, I finally decided to make something new - and it was oh-sum! Awesome, that is, pardon my Russian accent :)

Please note: you need a muffin baking form for this one and a rolling pin (wow, I just learned a new word... rolling pin!)

Ingredients:

toast bread

carrots

zucchini

deli meat

cheese

oil

salt

 

Recipe:

2 Weeks of Breakfast: Day 14. Breakfast Cheesecake

That's it - I did it! Two weeks of waking up real early with the sole purpose of making a breakfast for my hubby, and a different breakfast each day at that! I survived through all those days when I really wanted to just bury myself in the pillows and blankets and hibernate for a day or two.

No, I am not going to stop making breakfasts. But now I will allow myself to skip a breakfast here and there. And repeat the recipes. And make some really easy ones - like toasts with yogurt :)

Anyway, here's breakfast #14 which turned out to be more like a dessert. Like a cheesecake. My hubby felt this one was the best out of all 14.

You're supposed to bake it in the evening - and serve cold in the morning. 

Ingredients (for 2-4 servings):

Filling:

  eggs - 4

  baking cheese (minimum 10% fat) - 500 g.

  sugar - 1 cup

Crust:

  sugar - 1 tbsp

  hot chocolate powder - 2 tbsp

  flour - 3/4 cup

  baking soda - 1/2 tsp

  cold butter - 50 g.

Recipe:

2 Weeks of Breakfast: Day 13. Simplest French Toast

You know what? I think I got me a winner: this recipe is really simple, tasty - and fast. Even if right now speed isn't my topmost priority, it sure is for most people's breakfasts.

There are quite a few French Toast recipes. I remember an exceptionally complicated one I attempted a year or so ago - there were numerous spices like nutmeg and cinnamon involved, and it had to be baguette, and the baguette had to be left soaking in your fridge overnight and baked in the oven in the morning.

And you know what? After all these efforts, it turned out the proportions in the recipe were off. The baguette stubbornly remained half-dry by the time we woke up, and it didn't taste all that great anyway. So complex recipes are not always the best ones to follow.

Today's simple french toast is perfect illustration of that.

Ingredients (for 2 people):

bread - 4 pieces

milk - 2/3 cup

eggs - 4

sugar - 2 tbsp

liquid vanilla - 1 tsp

salt - 1/4 tsp

butter (for cooking)

icing sugar (for decoration)

berries, yogurt, fruits, honey, maple syrup, ice-cream - whatever you want

Recipe:

2 Weeks of Breakfast: Day 12. Crepes (Blinis)

Seriously. I know I mentioned this quite a few times earlier this week: it's maslennitsa. And today is the last day! So we had blinis (crepes) for breakfast. Nice and thin and lacy. And - most importantly - tasty.

There are millions of recipes, of course - I chose the one to my liking and slightly modified it. 

For about a dozen blinis:

Ingredients:

eggs - 2

salt - a pinch

sugar - 1 tbsp

boiling water - 1 cup

milk - 1 1/4 cups

sour cream - 1 tbsp

flour - 1 1/4 cup

baking powder - 1/2 tbsp

oil

Recipe:

2 Weeks of Breakfast: Day 11. Kaiserschmarrn with Dried Apricots

Kaiser-what? I looked it up. Wikipedia insists this really is a dessert. A pancake, for that matter, and a thick one at that. Well, I had this recipe saved as a breakfast one - albeit sweet, indeed. And, as I mentioned a few days earlier, it's MASLENNITSA this week, so pancakes just fit. Just if you're curious, "kaiser" means "emperor" (I sense Cesar is from the same family... kaiser, cesar... see?) and "schmarrn" is "mishmash" in Austrian German. 

I got bored with wikipedia so can't tell you what emperor has to do with this breakfast dessert. Or dessert breakfast. But mishmash it is - for this 'pancake' gets torn into pieces.

Don't try this on a regular morning. And don't try this while everyone's sleeping - unless you wanna wake them up: you'll be operating a mixer. But it really is a simple recipe.

Ingredients:

flour - 100 g

rum - 1 tsp

eggs - 2

sugar - 2 tsp

milk - 100 ml (cold)

salt (just a pinch)

butter (for frying)

icing sugar (for decoration)

Recipe:

2 Weeks of Breakfast: Day 10. Grilled Sandwich

Uh-oh. I don't have eggs. I have just enough milk for 2 cups of coffee. I ran out of fresh fruits. That's what happens when you go to a late-night zumba class and forget all about groceries. So what on earth am I supposed to cook for breakafst with no eggs and milk?!

It turns out there is a solution - if you have an indoor grill. I do. So I made a grilled sandwich - I used to love them when I lived in Israel. Back then, I had a grilled sandwich machine which was impossible to clean for the fear of being electrocuted. Now I have an indoor grill machine with removable and dishwashable plates. And there are plates for Belgian waffles, too. But that's not the point - today I'm making grilled sandwich!

Ingredients:

bread (toastable)

deli meat

cheese

ketchup

butter

tomato

Recipe is simple:

2 Weeks of Breakfast: Day 9. Poached Eggs Sandwich

This morning I slept right through all of my alarms. I still managed to get out of bed before my hubby got out of shower, but I definitely had far less time than I needed for the planned since yesterday breakfast. 

Change of plans on the fly!

Flipping through the breakfast recipes saved on my laptop, mentally flipping through my fridge contents, flipping through a wonderful book I received a few years ago called "out to brunch", I finally got me a winner: poached eggs sandwich.

Now, if this is your first time poaching an egg, perhaps it's not gonna be a life-saver breakfast put together in 8 minutes. Just a warning. Well, not a warning... a watch-out.

Anyhow, the recipe is really for Eggs Benedict, but that definitely is not a quick breakfast solution as the sauce takes forever to make. I had to be inventive with the fridge contents and tight deadline (oh my, I talk like a project manager again).

Ingredients for 1 serving:

bread - 1 toastable piece (I really prefer whole wheat)

egg - 1

deli meat - 1 piece (I used prosciutto cotto; you can even use smoked salmon - actually, that'd be even better...)

spread or sauce (now, as I said it's supposed to be a sauce made all by yourself for eggs benedict. But since these were poached eggs sandwiches I was making, I grabbed a spinach spread from Fountain Sante, I just love it. Salty and rich - that's what you're looking for. And yes, you can make the poached egg sandwich even without sauce altogether - the runny yolks will be enough)

vinegar

salt

The recipe is quite simple:

2 Weeks of Breakfast: Day 8. Cottage Cheese with Dried Fruits

I had way too much wine and fried calamari for dinner last night to even consider frying or baking anything today for breakfast. Regardless, to maintain a balanced diet, you need to get your dairy at least every now and then.

So today' breakfast was simplicity itself: cottage cheese with dried fruits.

Ingredients:

cottage cheese

dried cranberries (sweet ones)

dried pitted prunes

dried apricots

fresh blueberries

jam (if you wish)

nuts

Really, I don't think I need to write a recipe, but here it is, just in case.

2 Weeks of Breakfast: Day 7. Frittata with Salmon and Green Beans

This morning - frittata! Now, if you think that frittata is just a fancy name for an omelette, think again: while omelettes are prepared by simple mixing of egg yolks and whites in a bowl, for frittata you need to beat the eggs until you get them foamy, with lots of bubbles - for lots of texture.

And no, I didn't know this until today :)

Ingredients (this will be enough to feed 4-6 people):

eggs - 6

green beans - 100 g

canned salmon - 80 g

basil - 2 sprigs (or 1/4 tsp of dried one)

olive oil

salt

pepper

So, to make a frittata, you need:

2 Weeks of Breakfast: Day 6. Oatmeal-Banana Pancakes

It's official: spring is coming. How do I know? Well, because this week is a MASLENNITSA (stress the first syllable) week. The week when, in Russian tradition, we cook lots of pancakes and crepes and blinis (which symbolize the sun) to welcome spring.

Like most religious and harvesting holidays (e.g. Easter), maslennitsa doesn't come on exactly the same week every year - I always have to google it to find out when exactly I am supposed to get that pancake pan going. Sometimes it's in February, sometimes - in March.

In the good old days in the centuries long gone, maslennitsa was HUGE. People used to eat blinis every day for a week. There was a designated day when a family invites his in-laws, and then hers, and then when everyone went TO in-laws, and so on. There were festivities and events like burning an over-sized Winter Figure (which looks like a scarecrow) and jumping over a bonfire.

Well, as the maslennitsa starts off today, I am not planning on jumping over bonfires, but I decided to make teeny-tine pancakes for breakfast.

Ingredients:

rolled oats - 125 ml (1/2 cup)

flour - 125 ml (1/2 cup)

sugar - 5 tsp (brown, preferably)

baking powder - 1/2 tsp

baking soda - 1/2 tsp

salt - 1/8 tsp

ground nutmeg - 1/8 tsp

banana - 1/2

egg - 1

yogurt - 125 ml (1/2 cup)

milk - 60 ml (1/4 cup)

liquid vanilla - 1/4 tsp

oil

Just follow the recipe:

2 Weeks of Breakfast: Day 5. Gurieff Pudding

Ahhh, the bliss of sleeping in... Well rested, relaxed, cradling a cup of coffee prepared especially for me by my beloved hubby - perfect timing to get into a more complicated breakfast recipe!

In Russia, people say children are supposed to eat porridge if they wanna grow big and strong and healthy. Problem is, most people (especially children) hate porridge. Perhaps, because parents are too pushy on the subject.

After moving out of my parents' place, I spent years enjoying my porridge-free world. But then something happened and I realized that I miss it. I crave it. A few more years passed - and here I am, getting creative with my porridge. This one doesn't even look or taste like one! 

So here's one recipe like that. But it certainly isn't something to be undertaken on a weekday morning...

Ingredients:

milk - 500 ml

semolina - 1/2 cup

eggs - 2

ground wallnuts - 500 g

fresh berries - 300 g

sugar - 1 cup

oil

fruits and berries for decoration

Preparation instructions: (breakfast recipe)

2 Weeks of Breakfast: Day 4. Birmingham Eggs

It's Saturday today. I planned to sleep in and make something really fancy for breakfast today. But then I made plans, which meant I had to be out by 9:30 am, which meant I had to wake at 8 am to allow enough time for the breakfast woo-doo. Which turned out quite impossible.

When I finally crawled out of bed half an hour past the alarm, it was quite clear I needed an alternative recipe. Faster and easier - but, perhaps, still fancy-looking, it being a weekend meal. And I found it! 

I have no clue why it is called Birmingham Eggs, but there you go:

For 1 portion:

1 bread slice (the toasting kind)

1 egg

some butter

salt to taste

Looks fancy and is easily made. Just follow the recipe: (breakfast recipe)

2 Weeks of Breakfast: Day 3. Rice Pudding (Kasha) with Dried Fruits

I am tired. I really wanna sleep in. It's grey and snowing outside. Is it grey or gray? Whatever it is, I wanna stay in bed, curled fetus-like under the blanket. 

   Please don't wake me, 

   No don't shake me, 

   Leave me where I am 

   I'm only sleeping 

   ~ The Beatles

But no. It's 2 weeks of breakfast project. Why did I get myself into this, again? Thank God I planned an easy one today - half of it I pre-cooked yesterday evening.

What's good is that this breakfast always puts me in a good mood: it's the most favourite breakfast from my childhood. Since rice takes awhile to cook, it was a Sunday-only option (in my childhood Saturday was a weekday... just think of it: 6-day week! hideous...) Most often my grandma cooked it for me. It's sweet, it's got colourful berries and fruits in it, and it's not mushi as oatmeal (now that I simply hated back then)...

Anyway, rice pudding with dried fruits:

Ingredients:

~ 1 cup of round rice (half-boil and drain it the night before to save some time in the morning)

1/2 cup milk

2 tbsp of sugar

1/4 tsp of salt

dried fruits (I used raisins, cranberry, apricots and plums)

SO here's what you need to make a rice pudding: (breakfast recipe)

2 Weeks of Breakfast: Day 2. Risnik

You know how every time you set yourself upon a noble path, working towards a grand goal, something interferes and sends all your efforts to the pooper?

It almost happened today to my breakfast-every-day project. Almost. It turned out I had to fast for a blood test this morning. Which meant I wasn't supposed to HAVE a breakfast.

But I grit my teeth and made one anyway. For my hubby, if not for me. Noble me!

This is a simple enough recipe if you cook the rice the night before. I called it 'risnik'. I won't bore you with curiosities of Russian language and explain how something made of rice becomes a 'risnik', but that's a made-up word - by me - that doesn't exist EVEN in Russian.

Ingridents:

300 g. of round rice boiled in milk (I boiled it the night before)

4 tbsp of flour

1 egg

salt-sugar to taste 

a bit more flour for coating

The step-by-step recipe (and some further musings) is hidden under the cut - follow the link below (breakfast recipe)

2 Weeks of Breakfast: Day 1. Egged Tomato

So I don't work right now. In the past, whenever this happened, I slept in and then wandered around the apartment in my pj's pretty much the whole day. Yes, I would spend some time online searching for jobs, but the rest of the time was just wasted.

This time, I am determined to make good use of this free time I have. Obstacle number one: how to get myself out of bed in the morning?

A book called "Julie & Julia" happens to be the one I am reading right now and it gave birth to this little project of mine: to get myself out of bed in the early am and get myself going, I will be cooking breakfast every morning for the next 2 weeks. A different meal, each time! A breakfast for me and my husband (and my husband leaves early).

So here I am, with my first breakfast, I will call it an "Egged Tomato" :)

Per one serving:

1 egg

1 fair-sized tomato

1 sausage/hot dog/piece of ham - whichever you happen to have

Time: about 10 minutes

I hid the rest of the recipe under the cut, follow the link: (breakfast recipe)