Creamy Dill Potatoes

This is the quintessential Swedish comfort food -- dilled potatoes. I fancied it up some by baking with bread crumbs but you don't have to do that if you're crunched for time or want to keep things simple. You will need:

1 lb Swedish or Russian fingerling potatoes
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup chopped fresh dill
3 tbsp slightly salted butter
about a tsp of salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/2 cup bread crumbs

Boil the potatoes until you can easily stick a fork through them, usually about 30 minutes. Drain the water off and mash them roughly with the butter, salt, dill, pepper and sour cream -- you want it to remain chunky, not like regular mashed potatoes. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Put the potatoes into a baking pan and top with the bread crumbs, bake for about 12 minutes or until the top begins to brown. Allow to set for about 10 minutes before serving.

Butternut Squash Cyr Stew with Potatisklimp

How's that for a recipe title?! Don't be frightened, this Swedish-Russian fusion dish is worth the pronunciation and more. Potatisklimp are Swedish potato dumplings and operate quite a bit like matzo balls. Cyr is the Russian word for cheese, and here's why I chose it.

If you're lucky enough to live somewhere where they carry Northern European cheeses, look for Leipäjuusto. Also known as bread cheese here in the US, this does not melt the way most regular cheeses do. It's also got grill marks which impart a nice texture and flavor that I found went well with the butternut squash soup. I was first introduced to this cheese when I was in Russia, although there let's just say it wasn't made from cow's milk. Anywho, in this recipe you could also use a good Halloumi, but you'd want to add it when the soup was slightly cooler.

Here's what you need:

2 medium butternut squash, sliced in half and de-seeded
3 quarts chicken broth
1 white onion, sliced
4 medium carrots, diced
4 tbsp butter
salt to taste

1/4 cup butter, melted
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup fine bread crumbs or matzo meal
1/2 cup peeled and mashed Russian Fingerling potatoes
1/4 tsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
2 egg whites
1 lb Leipäjuusto or bread cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the squash cut side down on a baking pan or cookie sheet and bake for an hour. Remove and allow to cool.

Heat the butter in a large stock pot over medium until melted and add the onions and carrots. Cook until the onions begin to brown and add a few cups of broth. Add a cup or two of squash then more broth and mix, continue to do this until all the squash and broth is mixed uniformly in the pot. Add the salt and bring to a strong simmer.

Mix the egg yolks and butter; add the mashed potatoes and stir well. Add the spices and bread crumbs and mix until uniform, you definitely don't want any lumps. Whip the egg whites into stiff peaks and fold into the potato/egg mixture until even, but strive to not kill the fluffiness of the egg whites.

Take teaspoons of the potato mixture and roll gently into balls with your hands and drop into the simmering soup. Do so repeatedly until you're out of potato dumpling mixture and allow to cook for 5-10 minutes uncovered. Cover and cook another 10. Remove from the heat and add the bread cheese, stirring gently as to not break up the dumplings. This soup is most definitely enjoyed hot and fresh.

Swedish Black Forest Cake

This is another recipe I feel I should put a disclaimer on -- this stuff is rich. However, just by looking at it you know that. This dish serves about 8 and is based on kladdkaka, a Swedish recipe for what is basically a very rich, sticky chocolate cake. I had wanted to make a black forest cake, but seeing as my ingredients and time was limited I opted to make this instead and got Scandinavian on the traditional black forest recipe.

You will need:

9 inch round cake pan
1/2 cup cake flour
1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch cocoa powder, 2 tbsp set aside
2 eggs
1 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 cup melted salted European style butter
4 oz lingonberry sauce
1 tube marzipan
2 tbsp butter
1/2 pint heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup sugar

Preheat the oven to 300 and grease the cake pan. Combine the eggs and sugar and the dry ingredients separately. Mix the two until just combined then slowly add the vanilla and butter. Mix well and pour into cake pan, bake for 40 minutes. Allow to cool at least an hour.

Take the 2 tbsp of butter and grease a smooth surface, rolling pin and set aside the rest for your hands in preparation to handle the marzipan. Remove from the packaging and knead into a ball, then roll it out until it's approximately 9 inches in diameter.

Using a spatula, spread the lingonberry sauce over the top of the kladdkaka. Put the marzipan sheet over it and use a knife to trim any extra off the edges. Using an electric mixer, beat the whipped cream and 1/3 cup of sugar until fluffy. Spread over the cake like icing. Using a sifter, sprinkle some cocoa powder over the top. Store in the refrigerator until it is to be served.