Recipes from Chef Anders Svahnstrøm from Lofoten Fiskerestaurant, Chef Nils Jørgen Aas of Theatercaféen at the Hotel Continental, and Executive Chef Bjørn Artz and Sous Chef Andre Wels, of the Grand Café at the Grand Hotel.
During a visit to Oslo, Norway in August 2005, I found wonderful restaurants and fabulous chefs.
Lofoten Fiskerestaurant is the perfect place to enjoy fabulous seafood with beautiful views of the Oslo fjord. 31-year old Finnish chef, Anders Svahnstrøm is the Chef de Cuisine, and has been working in Norway for the past 7 years. He began as a sous chef at Lofoten Fiskerestaurant in December 2001, before being promoted to head chef in 2002. Please read our Restaurants section for our article on Lofoten Fiskerestaurant.
Asparagus with a Mango and Lobster Salad, and a Lemon Thyme Beurre Blanc Sauce
For 4 persons
Ingredients
12 asparagus
1 mango
meat from one lobster
1 red chilli pepper
1 lime, cut into slices
some good extra virgin olive oil
1 shallot
lemon thyme
1 cup white wine
butter
Maldon salt
pepper
fresh lemon juice
Method of Preparation: Peel the asparagus. Cut the mangoes and lobster meat into small dice and mix together. Add the chilli brunoise and lime slices, salt, pepper and olive oil to taste.
Beurre Blanc Method: Cook the onion and lemon thyme in a little olive oil over low heat until the onion is soft. Add the white wine and reduce it to a third. Whisk in the butter until the sauce thickens, and then add the Maldon salt, pepper and some lemon juice for taste. Pass the sauce thru a Chinoise, and keep it warm. Do not let it boil again. Cook the asparagus al dente.
Presentation: Assemble the asparagus on a plate with the salad and finish it with the sauce.
Pimiento Pepper Baked Halibut, Marinated Pointed Cabbage and a Demi-Glaze Sauce
For 4 persons
Ingredients
600 grams (approximately 1 1/3 pounds) halibut filets
2 pimiento peppers
basil, parsley and thyme
garlic
1 pointed cabbage
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon champagne vinegar
fresh ground black pepper
chives
Maldon salt
2 pring onions
Preparation Method: Process the pimiento pepper with the herbs, garlic and olive oil in a blender until the sauce is very smooth. Glaze the fish with the sauce. Bake the halibut in the oven for approximately 12 minutes at 165° C (approximately 350° F).
Cut the cabbage into thin slices. Marinate it with the oil and vinegar. Add Maldon salt, pepper, spring onion and chives to taste. Make a nice demi-glaze to serve with the halibut. Always taste it before adding butter to the demi-glaze.
Theatercaféen at the Hotel Continental, Stortingsgaten 24/26, is a 350-seat restaurant that opened in 1900, and is the largest Vienna style café in Europe. The restaurant has an old-world elegance, an excellent menu, and live piano music to create a special ambience. Nils Jørgen Aas is their Chef de Cuisine. Read about Theatercaféen in our Restaurant section.
Filet of Red Deer with Fried Parsley Root, Wild Mushrooms,
Wine Sauce and Oven-baked Potatoes.
Ingredients
190 grams (7 ounces) red deer filet
80 grams (3 ounces) parsley root
100 grams (4 ounces) chanterelles
100 grams (4 ounces) fresh spinach
120 grams (4.5 ounces) potatoes
0.1 liter (3 ounces) wine sauce (See below)
olive oil
Maldon salt, pepper
Method of Preparation: Prepare the meat, and brown the meat in a pan approximately 6 minutes in a medium oven, at 170° C (350° F). Sauté the chopped parsley root, chanterelles and spinach.
Cut the potatoes in half, blend with olive oil, salt & pepper, and bake in the oven at 200° C (400° F) for approximately 12-16minutes (until tender). Finish with Maldon salt
Wine Sauce Preparation: Chopped Charlotte Onion, thyme, and some whole white peppercorn. Add some sugar for a light caramel color and then add ½ bottle of red wine (reduce before adding the glaze), and ½ of the glaze from the wild game. Boil everything together and taste, and finish with more pepper and salt. Add some cornstarch mixed with water, to obtain the right consistency.
Fried Arctic Char with Creamed Root Vegetables, Red Wine Syrup and Pommes Anglaise
Ingredients
200 grams (approximately 7 ¼ ounces) filet of arctic char (with skin)
80 grams (3 ounces) carrot cut in cubes (mirepoix)
80 grams (3 ounces) celery in cubes (mirepoix)
some chopped parsley
0.3 litre (9 ounces) red wine syrup
120 grams (4.5 ounces) small potatoes
Method of Preparation: Prepare the fish filet with skin (but without bones); add salt and pepper, brown it in a pan, 3 minutes will be enough. Blanche the root vegetables (al dente), add some reduced cream, and boil together for 5-6 minutes, and then add salt, pepper and the parsley.
Boil the potatoes carefully (for approximately 20 minutes, depending on size). Before serving add some butter and parsley.
Red Wine Syrup Preparation: 150 grams (approximately 5 ounces) sugar, melt the sugar to caramelize, add 1 bottle of red wine, and cook to reduce it by 80%. Let it cool down before serving.
Grand Café at the Grand Hotel, located at Karl Johans gate 5, across from the Stortinget (The Parliament), opened in 1874, and has entertained celebrated guests throughout the years, including the playwright Henrik Ibsen, who had lunch there everyday. Executive Chef Bjørn Artz has an impressive background, working at some of the top is hotels including the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten in Hamburg, Germany, Hotel Sacher, Vienna, Austria, and the Bellevue Palace in Bern, Switzerland, before joining the Grand Hotel in Oslo. Sous Chef Andre Wels also has seasoned his cooking skills at some impressive places after being educated in Germany at the Scandic Restaurant Rhapsody, including working at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Munich, Germany.
Marinated Arctic Sea Trout With Fennel
Recipe for 10 persons
Ingredients
1.7 kilograms (approximately 3.8 pounds) arctic sea trout filet, skinless (if not available
use another kind of trout)
0.3 kilograms (approximately 11 ounces) smoking wood
30 grams (approximately 1 ounce) juniper berries
½ litre (17 ounces) water
½ litre (17 ounces) fresh orange juice
125 grams (4.5 ounces) honey
1.7 kilograms (approximately 3.8 pounds) fennel
100 grams (4 ounces) garlic
1 kilogram (36 ounces) butter
50 grams (2 ounces) fresh thyme
10 tomatoes for Tomato concasee (crushed tomatoes)
0.1 litre (3 ounces) extra-virgin olive oil
1.8 kilograms (4 pounds) Rosewald or Malta potatoes
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
3 tablespoons chopped dill
0.2 litre (68 ounces) Pernod
sugar, salt, black pepper, Maldon salt
1.7 kilograms (approximately 3.8 pounds) arctic sea trout filet, skinless (if not available use another kind of trout) (approximately 3.8 pounds)
Method of Preparation: Heat the ground smoking wood and juniper berries in a steel casserole until it omits a blue smoke. Add water, boil and then seal it. Add half of the orange juice after chilling out cut fennel in boats and put them in a baking tray with the rest of orange juice, olive oil, half of the butter, thyme, garlic, Pernod and sugar, salt and black pepper. Bake it in the oven at 150° C for 30-40 minutes. Finish the fennel before serving with chopped dill and tomato concasse. Use the sealed juice of the fennel as a sauce. Boil the washed potatoes with skin and finish them with salt, butter and parsley.
Put the trout filets for 10 minutes in the smoke marinate, dry them good and fry them in very hot butter and oil from both sides and caramelise them in the oven with a lot of honey on top. Before serving season them with pepper and Maldon salt.
Pumpkin-Risotto a la Grand Café
For 10 persons)
Ingredients
1 kilogram (36 ounces) risotto rice (Arborio)
2 litres (68 ounces) chicken bouillon, dark
0,5 litres (17 ounces) Langhe Chardonnay
200 grams (7 ounces) shallots, diced
1 kilogram (36 ounces) pumpkin (Hokkaido type)
250 grams (9 ounces) Grana Padano cheese
150 grams (5 ¾ ounces) pine nuts
200 grams (7 ½ ounces) Mascarpone cheese
250 grams (9 ounces) butter
0.3 litres (9 ounces) extra virgin olive oil
30 grams rocket salad
2 tablespoons balsamic reduction
0.3 kilograms (11 ounces) sugar
0.3 litres (9 ounces) water
bay leaves, cinnamon, star anise, cloves, salt, black pepper
Method of Preparation: Cut a pumpkin into 6 wedges and dry in a 90° C (225° F) oven for 4 hours. Meanwhile boil water, sugar, star anise, cinnamon and cloves. Cut the skin off the pumpkins, dice them into 25 gram large pieces and mix them with the sugar and spices to marinate. Sauté pine nuts in salt and olive oil. Sauté shallots, risotto and bay leaves lightly in butter and then chicken bouillon, white wine and salt. When the risotto is cooked “al dente”- add the diced pumpkin, pine nuts, Grana Padano, Mascarpone and season to taste one more time with salt, pepper, butter and olive oil.
Presentation: Marinate the rocket salad with balsamic reduction and serve it on top of the dish.
Please note that all conversations are approximate.
For other articles on Norway, please read our articles in the Destinations and Restaurants sections.
For more information on Norway, please visit: www.visitnorway.com, www.invanor.no and www.visitoslo.com.
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