Fabulous Frokost

[frokost = "breakfast"]

We've got an early-evening event to attend tonight (more on that in a later post), so I decided to make breakfast instead of supper for this week's Scandinavian Saturday meal.  I'm not always so good at timing a meal; I usually underestimate the amount of time it will take to prepare each dish.  I didn't want to do that tonight and end up late for our appointment, so I got up at 5:30 A.M. to make an ethnic breakfast instead.  Here it is:

Wanna know what everything is?  Read on . . . Oh, and remember: click on each photo to enjoy it in greater detail.

Hillary was my helper this week, but I didn't want to wake her at such an ungodly hour . . . so I let her sleep, and I made everything myself.  When it was all almost ready, I had her set the table and dish up the jams that were a part of this platter:

kaldt tallerkin ["cold platter"]

That's flatbrød ["flat bread," a crisp wafer] to the right with slices of gjetost ["goat cheese," a caramel-y Norwegian version] above it.  We each put a slice of cheese on a piece of flatbrød and then topped it with a dollop of svartebær syltetøy ["blackberry jam"], appelsin syltetøy ["orange marmalade"], or drue syltetøy ["grape jam"].  To the bottom right is røkt laks ["smoked salmon," this one a pepper-crusted version], which we enjoyed on its own (rather than adding it to our flatbrød sandwiches!).

Swedish bondomelett ["peasant omelet"]

Although I assembled the kaldt tallerkin from ready-made items, I followed a recipe from Beatrice Ojakangas for the next two items, including this omelet.  First I diced potatoes and onions and sautéed them in butter.  Then I sliced the greens from scallions and added them, diced ham, and dried dill weed to the sauté.  I beat milk, salt, and pepper into eggs and poured them over the sauté, cooking the whole mixture on low heat.  I shredded Jarslberg cheese and stirred some of it in midway through and topped the omelet with the rest of it at the end to melt on top.  I diced a green pepper and a tomato to sprinkle on the top just before serving.  It was so delicious . . . and filling!  With all those ingredients, a small portion per person had each of us full and wishing we had room for more.

fylte stekte epler ["filled baked apples"--specifically, almond-stuffed baked apples]

I made a few adjustments to Ojakangas' recipe, but what I made is in the same spirit as her version.  I halved and cored three apples and sprinkled them with freshly squeezed lemon juice.  I pulsed sliced almonds in a food processor and mixed them with sugar and water to form a paste, which I used to fill the hollowed-out apple halves.  I poured melted butter over each apple and then sprinkled on a mixture of brown sugar and crushed graham crackers.  I served each baked apple in a bowl, spooning the cooking juices over the top and drizzling it with heavy cream.  It brought back fond childhood memories of occasionally having baked apples for dessert, but the almond filling and sweet crumb topping made for a delicious variation.

Oh, I heated up a bunch of milk for some tasty beverages, too: hot chocolate for the girls and caffè mochas (espresso, milk, and chocolate syrup) for Susan and me.  It was a delicious treat to start the day the Nordic way!