Recipes + Cook Books

Chapters cover the basic menu stops, including soups, salads and sides, plus the likes of Steamed Crab Rolls from "Bites, Snacks and Little Plates"; Blueberry Bread from "Crackers and Breads"; and Lamb Sausage Wrap from "Sandwiches." Chapters on dessert offer such treats as Swedish Pancakes with Lingonberry Whipped Cream and Chocolate "Blini"; and a drinks section includes the unusual and very palatable likes of Lemon, Pepper, and Dill Aquavit and Yellow Mary Mix, a yellow-tomato bloody mary descendant. Illustrated with ravishing color photos that reiterate the sleek pleasures of the food, Aquavit is as special as its innovative and very worldly author. --Arthur Boehm

Fresh, local, and seasonal ingredients need not always be a notion married to temperate agriculture and culinary zones. The seasons of fecundity can be compressed; the nature of local can truly be wild. Such are the lessons in Kitchen of Light. There is an underlying joy throughout this book: the long winter has been beaten back and great food once again weighs down the table. Viestad takes the reader into the country and into the lives of the people who have made something of a celebration of food and cooking.

Duck Soup with Madeira ought to wake up the sleepiest palate. In centuries past, Maderia was bartered in Norway for dried salt cod. Porcini Consommé gives honor to the brief but glorious wild mushroom season. An entire chapter is given over to gravlaks, cured salmon you can do at home with spice and Aquavit. In a land where cod and potatoes are no joke, Viestad proves that a contemporary touch can be both relevant and exciting. Yellow and Red Cod with Pomegranate-Mango Salad, anyone? Feasting is well-represented, and seafood lies at its heart--salmon, halibut, mackerel, pollock, shellfish. And just when you are falling into step, Viestad turn the corner and presents the likes of Glazed Leg of Lamb with Roasted Root Vegetables.

In the end, after reading and admiring this beautifully photographed and designed book where travel meets food meets joy, you'll have a much better insight into the people of Scandinavia, and probably a deep and unresolved desire to travel and dine there. Kitchen of Light is not only enlightening, you can bring it home. --Schuyler Ingle

Ojakangas offers us true Scandinavian home cooking that features the best of what is in season. Scandinavian Cooking provides traditional menus for different occasions and seasons-from a Farmhouse Brunch with Buttered Potato Soup to an Old-Fashioned Christmas Smörgåsbord with Dip-in-the-Kettle Soup and Norwegian Cream Pudding, to a sumptuous Midsummer's Day Buffet with Salmon-in-a-Crust and Fruit-Juice Glögg.

A good Scandinavian cook has a flair for color, texture, shape, and simplicity in creating the food that these menus show off to perfection. Beatrice Ojakangas describes her experiences gathering recipes at the tables of friends on her visits to Scandinavia and the beautifully crafted tools and tableware that will help to make the Scandinavian dishes you prepare authentic.

Beatrice Ojakangas is the author of more than twenty cookbooks, including The Great Scandinavian Baking Book (1999), Scandinavian Feasts (2001), The Great Holiday Baking Book (2001), and Quick Breads (2003)-all available in paperback from the University of Minnesota Press. Her articles have been published in Bon Appetit, Cooking Light, Cuisine, and Redbook. She has appeared on television's Baking with Julia Child and Martha Stewart's Living, and lives in Duluth, Minnesota.

The definitive word on sumptuous Scandinavian cooking, now in paperback!

Drawing upon her rich knowledge of Scandinavian cuisine and culture, expert chef and veteran writer Beatrice Ojakangas presents a multitude of delicious yet remarkably simple recipes in this cookbook classic, available in paperback for the first time. Scandinavian Feasts features the cuisine of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland, and it includes menus made up of a bounty of appetizers, drinks, smorgasbord, meats, fish, soups, vegetables, desserts, and baked goods. Easily as engaging as the dishes themselves, each recipe comes with an introduction that explains the cultural importance of the feast and details its seasonal significance.

During the long, dark Scandinavian winter, the meals tend to be hearty and substantial. In Sweden and western Finland, a traditional Thursday lunch consists of a meal of pea soup and pancakes. A typical winter dinner might include Danish crackling roast pork with sugar-browned potatoes topped off with an irresistible ice cream cake. Christmastime gatherings, in particular, are often a chance to celebrate with a cup of hot glogg or Swedish punch. When the winter is finally over, the seemingly endless summer days are savored along with the fresh fruits and vegetables that are hard to find after the short growing season. During the white nights of Sweden and Norway, it is customary to serve a midnight supper after a concert or the theater, while a special occasion such as a baptism or anniversary might call for a feast of dill-stuffed whole salmon followed by kransekake, a beautiful towering ring cake of ground almonds.

No matter what your level of expertise as a cook or where you live, the recipes are easy to use. The ingredients commonly found in most grocery stores and a conversion chart for metric measurements is included. Scandinavian Feasts is sure to delight enthusiasts of Scandinavian culture and lovers of fine food everywhere.

Beatrice Ojakangas is the author of two dozen cookbooks, including The Great Scandinavian Baking Book (1999), also published by the University of Minnesota Press. Her articles have appeared in Bon Appétit, Gourmet, Cooking Light, Cuisine, and Redbook, and she has appeared on television's Baking with Julia Child and Martha Stewart's Living. She lives in Duluth, Minnesota.

Throughout this culinary memoir, Rosenberg interweaves the historical and cultural context of Swedish cooking, explaining the history of waffles and the traditions behind Saint Lucia Day. A Swedish Kitchen includes 80 recipes that highlight traditional Swedish flavors and ingredients, such as red currants, cloudberries, and cardamom. Recipes are designed for use in the American kitchen enabling readers and cooks to easily prepare such Swedish favorites as, rabarbersoppa (rhubarb soup), prinsesstårta (princess cake), and Janssons frestelse (Jansson's temptation).