nordic Christmas food

recipes and food styling: Alessandra Avallone

  CHRISTMAS RICE (JULGROT)

preparation time:  30 minutes   cook time: 1 hour

for 6 serving:

• 170 g Originario rice (round grains)
•  90 g sugar –
• 80 g toasted sliced almonds
• 1.2 dl milk
• 1.5 dl cream
• 1 vanilla pod
• salt
• for the caramel cream: 200 g sugar  , 2.5 dl cream

1. Bring 3 dl of water to a boil in a casserole and let the rice cook for 3 minutes stirring it. Add the milk and the seeds taken from the vanilla pod, and bring to a boil again. Lower the heat and let cook for 35-40 minutes, until the liquid is completely absorbed. While cooking the rice, stir it once in while so it doesn’t stick to the casserole.
2. Put the mixture in a bowl, add the sugar, a pinch of salt and let it cool down. Whip the cream, add it to the rice and milk and sprinkle it with the almonds.
3. Prepare the caramel cream by putting the sugar in a pan and letting it melt over medium heat. Keep cooking for 10-15 minutes until it becomes amber in color. Add 1 dl of boiling water very slowly, stir, and let cool down. Whip the cream using an electric beater, pour it in the caramel and stir. Serve the rice with the caramel cream.

  CHEESE AND CARROTS OR CRANBERRIES BREAD

preparation time: 45 minutes + resting period   cook time: 25 minutes 

for 6 serving (12-16 bread rools) :

• 400 g 00 flour
• 130 g whole flour
• 100 g robiola cheese (soft ripened Italian cheese)
• 7 g dried brewers yeast
• 2 carrots or 70 g dried cranberries
• 15 g butter
• salt

Accompanying cream:

• 100 g butter
• 1 bunch dill
• salt

1. Mix the sifted flours in a bowl. Dissolve the brewers yeast in 2.5 dl of lukewarm water and pour it in the kneading machine bowl. Add the robiola cheese, the melted butter, and the carrots you previously grated, or the cranberries. Mix the ingredients at low speed, then add the flours one spoon at a time. Keep kneading until the mixture comes off the bowl. Put it in a floured bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and let it rise for 30-40 minutes in a warm place.
2. Keep some of the dough for the decorations. Cut the rest to obtain about 12 rolls and put them on a tray covered with parchment paper. Let rise for 20 minutes.
3. Spread the rest of the dough out with a rolling pin, cut out some decorations using a cookie cutter, and lay them on the rolls, pressing gently with your fingers. Oven cook at 200°C for 20-25 minutes. Whip the butter with an electric beater, and mix it with two pinches of salt and the chopped dill. Serve the rolls with the butter cream on the side.

  SMOKED SALMON SALAD WITH BEET, WALNUTS AND SOUR CREAM

preparation: 15 minutes + resting period    Cook time: 45 minutes

for 6 serving:

• 18 slices of smoked salmon (300 g)
• 1 large raw beet
• 3 medium raw beets
• some fresh dill branches
• 6 walnut kernels
• 250 g sour cream
• half lemon
• mixed salad leaves
• 2 spoons sherry vinegar
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt
• white pepper

1. The day before preparing the dish, lay the salmon slices in a single layer on a metal tray covered with some plastic wrap. Peel the large beet, finely slice it with a mandoline and use it to cover all of the salmon. Cover with plastic wrap and let the salmon rest in the fridge overnight.
2. Boil the medium sized beets in salted water for 45 minutes or until soft, drain them, peel them and cut them into wedges. Chop and toast the walnut kernels in a pan, and add them to the beets. Season with salt, sherry vinegar and oil.
3. Throw the slices covering the salmon away and season the fish with white pepper and a bit of oil. Serve it with the mixed salad leaves, the beet salad, and the sour cream previously mixed with some drops of lemon and some dill leaves.

  SPICED PORK WITH CIDER

preparation time: 15 minutes + resting period    cook time: 2 hours

for 6 serving:

• 1.5 kg boned pork loin
• 50 g sliced lard
• 50 g sliced “pancetta tesa” (stretched bacon) –
• 20 g brown sugar
• 1 onion
• 3 laurel leaves
• 2 star anise berries
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 teaspoon ginger powder
• 7.5 dl cider
• 2 tablespoons agave syrup
• 2 tablespoons acacia
• honey
• salt
• 6 black pepper grains
• 5 allspice grains
• 1 pinch of Cayenne pepper

1. Salt the pork loin and tie it to keep it in its original shape while cooking. Pour the cider in a fireproof casserole, add the onion your previously quartered, the laurel, the star anise berries, the cinnamon, the black pepper and the allspice grains, and put the pork loin in the middle. Put the cider on the heat and let it simmer for 15 minutes.
2. Cover the casserole with aluminum foil and oven cook at 120°C for 90 minutes. Take the pork loin out of the oven and once it cools down, wrap it alternating bacon and lard slices. Brush with a mixture of agave syrup and honey, and sprinkle with brown sugar mixed with ginger and a pinch of Cayenne pepper.
3. Oven sauté at 180° C for about 20 minutes. Wrap the meat in aluminum foil to keep it warm, pour 1 dl of cider marinade in the casserole and deglaze the gravy over high heat stirring it with a wooden spoon. Serve the pork loin with the sauce and with rosemary sautéed baby potatoes as a side dish.

  FRIED HERRINGS WITH VINEGAR AND FENNELS

Preparation: 20 minutes + resting period  Cook time: 20 minutes 

for 6 serving:

• 20 boned sardines (you may use fresh herrings or small mackerels instead)
• rye flour
• clarified butter
• 2 fennel cores
• 2 laurel leaves
• 5 cloves
• 4 dl white wine vinegar
• 75 g sugar
• salt
• pepper grains

1. Put the vinegar, the sugar, the cloves and the laurel leaves in a casserole. Bring to a boil, cover, and after 5 minutes, turn the heat off and let rest.
2. Add salt and pepper to 50 g of rye flour. Open the sardines on the long side and pass them through the coating. Fry them in 3-4 spoons of clarified butter and completely drain them on the paper towel.
3. Slice the fennels using a mandoline. Put two layers of sardines on a baking tray, cover them with a thin layer of fennels, and add the sauce. Let marinate for 1 hour before serving.

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