Dill-icious Brunch

Having recently bought a big bunch of dill at our local’s farmer’s market, I decided to make a Norwegian brunch today. While I don’t think Norwegians actually eat brunch, the food is quite typical as I have learned from friends from Norway. I actually have never been to Norway, but I lived in Sweden for six months. And while Scandinavians like to keep their nationalities quite distinct, their cultures are quite similar (and the Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian languages are mutually intelligible). If there are any Scandinavian readers out there, I hope I have not offended you.

In any case, I am sharing the recipes for a dill-icious Norwegian meal with you should you care to indulge. It consists of:

-Dill cured salmon
-Dill scrambled eggs
-Dill potatoes
-Cheese
-Bread

You can buy dill-cured salmon at almost any grocery store or specialty market. I think you can also buy it at IKEA (not just cheap furniture). Look for salmon from Norway that is ocean caught as opposed to farm raised. You will notice the difference. If you can’t find the dill-cured salmon from Norway, smoked salmon will work nicely as well.

Dill scrambled eggs.
Beat for eggs with a wisk, add a ¼ cup of milk (whole works best, but any will do), a dash of pepper, and ¼ cup of chopped dill.
Heat a frying pan, spread some butter, and add the eggs. Cook until fluffy.

Dill Potatoes.
Chop about eight medium sized red or new potatoes into bite-sized chunks. Add them to two quarts of boiling water and cook until tender (about ten minutes). Drain and return to pot. Add 2-3 tablespoons of butter and ½ cup of chopped dill. Mix gently.

Jarlsberg cheese goes well with this meal, as does dense multi-grain bread. Cracker bread would also be typical. Being American, we added our touch by having it with bagels and cream cheese. You can garnish the dish with some cucumber slices and chopped tomato, and maybe a stem of dill. Scandinavian mustard (which is slightly hot and sweet) is the perfect condiment.

Juices and coffee go well with this meal. Make sure your coffee is rich and strong though. Scandinavians like an extra dark roast. If you want to pair it up with a wine, I would recommend a fruity Gewürztraminer or Riesling.

For dessert (which we skipped), I would recommend mixed berries, although at this time of year they are getting hard to find.

Bon apetit!