Saturday, 3/18/17

I sent Jason and Carter off to North Amherst with bread, some of the caponata,  and a giant bread pudding (from the NYT) and hard sauce . The bread pudding used up a bunch of unpopular cake from our freezer. I think I should have made more custard base for it as it is a bit dry, but the bourbon hard sauce covers a lot of mistakes.

I assume they had a good meal as I went off to Boston with my Mom and her friend Alice to have a fancy Icelandic meal. Here is the menu:

Small Tastes of Icelandic Nature:

Forest Mushrooms in Volcanic Croquettes

Langoustine with Black Garlic-Herb Garden

Smoked Lamb and Leaf Bread

Lightly Smoked Sea Trout

Broccolini, shaved broccoli, crisp rye bread, cream of eggs

Chargrilled Filet of Icelandic Lamb

Leeks, oyster mushrooms, watercress, onion jus

White Chocolate Brownie

Skyr ganache, crowberry sorbet, meringue

Everything was amazingly delicious; I had been skeptical but I cleaned every plate. The leaf bread is almost like a pappadum, thin and crispy (there was also a silky horseradish sauce with it); the crispy rye was more like that, too (Alice, who has been to Iceland, explained that they don't have much wheat there, so that is why the breads are so thin), the lamb was mild and tender (and the braised leeks were incredibly flavorful), and the dessert was both beautiful and lovely to eat. The brownie was more like a goo-ey fudge; the Skyr (a cheesy yogurt or maybe a yogurt-y cheese?) was lush and sweet and the crowberry sorbet wasn't super flavorful but provided a nice fruitiness. We had a terrific trip and may go again next year.