Icelandic Lamb

Icelandic Lamb Tenderloin Cut

If you ever come to Iceland you have to taste the Icelandic lamb. 
Leg of lamb (Lambalæri) with potatoes and gravy is a traditional Sunday meal all around the island and lamb meat soup (Kjötsúpa) is something that you quite literally cant miss. (honestly, they make it at all they top tourist attractions.)

If you hit the road in Iceland you will inevitably have to slow down or sway off it at some point to avoid hitting wandering sheep with their lambs. Not that they have the right of way or anything, but just because they will be on the road staring you down. They roam the highlands freely during the summer and have a tendency to wander down into the lowlands too.
Grass is always greener... and all that.
These three ran off the road when we passed them the other day.
Cute.

Enough Iceland trivia, back to food.

Preparation 

The tenderloin is easily the best meat on the Icelandic lamb. 
It comes from the area around the spine of the animal and is a muscle that isn't overly strained at any point. So it stays soft.
 

These pieces are about 200 - 250 gr each, not much but it's more than enough for two people.
They are available with of without the fat, but I recommend that the fat stay on. For reasons yet to be revealed.

Grab a very sharp knife and slice shallow grooves into the fat.
Don't cut right down to the meat, that will spoil it.

I like to make a diamond pattern by cutting across the groves again.

Seasoning

Lightly sprinkle with salt and dried herbs other spices at will. Rub them into the grooves.

The herbs I use are found in a nice little mix called "Bezt á lambið" the 'z' intentionally placed there for amusement as it does not exist in the Icelandic alphabet.

It translates as 'Best on the lamb' and it's an Icelandic production, two women wanting to share their herb mixing skills.


They list the ingredients as:
"only quality spices. Parsley, basilikum, mint, rosemary, majoram, oregano, lemon pepper, paprika, litle bit of salt (comes with the lemon pepper) and some more spices in smaller portions."

Cooking

Heat the pan at a low heat and place the Lamb sirloin fat down on it.
This way the fat will melt and cook into the meat making it nice and flavorful.

It's better to let it sit there and simmer in it's own juices on a low heat than to slap it down on a hot pan and burn the spices.

I leave it for 5 to 7 min, depending on the thickness of the meat.
Then roll it over to seal the other side.


Now pace it in the hot oven for another 10 minutes and then let it stand and rest for another 5 before cutting it.

See how it is nice and pink in the middle but has a lovely crust of spices on the top.

This time round I finished the dish off with a twice baked potato as a side as well as a generous helping of corn and green peas.

I'm telling you this is perfection.





 Look for my recipe for twice baked potato on my blog and check out some fun ramblings about the Icelandic sheep on my other blog.

Atlantic Salmon dinner

Simple Salmon Recipe with Sweet potato and red onion on the side.

We have a lot of fish here...
Big fish, little fish, pink fish, flat fish, white fish, fat fish, good fish, shark.

It's one of the perks of living in Iceland.

Admittedly I could/should probably cook more of it.

should'ave, could'ave, woulda've




I could make excuses all day...
But instead I'm going to try to mend my broken ways and cook more fish in the future.
I'm counting on you to keep me to this promise.

I'm starting out with a little something that can't go wrong.
It's so simple.

I'm not going to give any measurements because you basically cook what you need but I will say that for two people about 350-400 gr of salmon should be enough, the rest is up to you.

You will need

Fresh Salmon
Sweet potato
Carrots
Red onions
Lemon
Lemon pepper

Get the potatoes into the oven first... they take the longest.

Sweet potato side dish:

Cut your sweet potato into little squares.
The rule of thumb here is that the smaller they are the shorter the time it takes to cook them.

Cut carrots into equally small slices, they can be a little bigger because sometimes it's nice to have a little crunch to them.

Add some chopped red onion, any way you want to chop, I like irregular pieces for different flavors.

Mix with oil and a little salt in an oven dish and place in a very hot oven.

200dC


The sweet flavor of the onions when they are slightly caramelized in the heat make this one of my favorite side dishes.

Give them at least a good 20 to 25 min in the oven, sometimes even longer.
I poke the sweet potato with a knitting needle to see if they are done. (that's the only use I have for a knitting needle)

Of course it's a matter of taste, it depends on how you like your potatoes and carrots.

For me it varies, I sometimes like them to be completely cooked through making them soft and creamy, but at other times I want that little crunch in the middle, the al-dente effect.

This time, the picture shows, they are steamy hot and just barely cooked, nice and soft but not singed at the edges.


The salmon is a nice flavorful fish, it has a soft taste that you  either like or you don't.
I like.

This piece of freshly caught Atlantic salmon weighs about 450 gr.

I let it rest on the table for 20 min.




If you take it straight out of the fridge and slap it on the grill or pan you will shock the meat.
Just look at that color.





I cut it into nice equal pieces each one about 4-5 cm wide.

Check for the small bones and remove them if you find any, I got this bone-free at the fishmongers.

The nice woman there also de-scaled it for me because I wanted to leave the skin on during cooking.
 
Drop a generous dollop of butter on a hot pan and let it melt before introducing your salmon to the heat.

Leave it scales down on the pan on a low heat.
Sprinkle with salt and some lemon pepper.
Keeping it simple doesn't have to be boring.
The butter also gives it a nice rich flavor.

You can cover the pan with a lid for two minutes if you want to steam it in it's own juices.

When the fish turns a pale pink color it is done.
You could test it by cutting into it and if the color is consistent through the whole fish it is done.
The skin is crunchy and adds both texture and flavor to the dish.

A wedge of freshly cut lemon doesn't hurt.