Grilled Tuna with Mango Salsa

This recipe is so quick and easy, and very refreshing especially in the summer time when you really don't feel like eating something heavy. Although I love grilling my red meat In the summer time, this is a great alternative when the misses starts complaining.

As I am from a small lobster-fishing town in Iceland I had the luxury of adding some grilled lobster to my recipe. This is off course not necessary but it does make it very exclusive.

Mango Salsa

1/2 a mango, peeled and diced

1/2 red onion, chopped

1 chilli, finely chopped

1 lime, juiced

1 tbsp soy sauce

handful fresh coriander, chopped

2 tbsp honey

Tuna Steaks

2-3 cm thick tuna steaks

coriander seeds, crushed

olive oil

salt and pepper

1. Place the mango, chill, onion, lime juice, soy sauce, coriander and honey into a bowl and mix well.

2. Season the tuna steaks lightly with salt on both sides. Mix some pepper with the crushed coriander seeds and sprinkle on both sides of the tuna. Drizzle some olive oil over the steaks and place them on the hot grill for 1 - 2 minutes on each side.

3. Slice the tuna in 2 cm slices and serve hot with the mango salsa.

Icelandic Profiteroles - Isländska Semlor

Once a year in Iceland we dedicate a whole day for these treats.... it's called "Bolludagur". Everyone goes crazy for them and they come in all kinds of different flavors.

125ml milk

200ml water

150g flour

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

100g butter

4 eggs, lightly beaten

strawberry jam

5dl simple cream

chocolate sauce:

200g dark chocolate

30g butter

125ml full fat milk

1. Preheat the oven to 200˚C. Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Place the milk, cold water, salt, sugar into a pan and set over a low heat. Once the sugar and salt has dissolved add the butter. Once the butter has melted, bring to a rolling boil. Turn off the heat then tip in the flour and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon. As soon as the mixture starts to come away from the side of the pan, stop beating and tip onto a plate to cool.

2. Return the mixture to the pan, then gradually beat in the eggs, a little at a time, mixing well between each addition, until you have a smooth paste.

3. Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper. Spoon the pastry into a piping bag. Now pipe small balls onto the baking sheet, spaced well apart. Bake for 18-20 minutes until well risen and golden brown.

4. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before filling.

5. Whip the cream until fluffy. Cut each one in half. Add a teaspoon of strawberry jam on the bottom then the cream and close with the top.

6. For the chocolate sauce, break the chocolate into small pieces in a heatproof bowl and melt in the microwave. When the chocolate has melted add the butter and stir. Gradually whisk in the milk until you have a smooth sauce. Serve the cream-filled profiteroles with the hot chocolate sauce drizzled over.

Chocolate and Almond Cake

This cake is really fantastic! Light, yet rich and terribly simple to make. I wish I took this picture but my friend Marius "the gentle giant" from Norway took a series of pictures for a dessert book which is still to be published!

225g butter, room temperature

2 dl caster sugar

1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped out

1 dl brown sugar

4 eggs, separated

200 g sweet almonds

200g dark chockolate 70%

icing sugar to dust

1. Butter a round loose based pan (25cm) and put baking paper in the bottom so it will be easier to remove the cake from the base.

2. Put the butter, 1 ½ dl sugar, vanilla seeds and brown sugar in a bowl and whisk together until fluffy. Then add the egg yolks and stir together with a spatula.

3. Put the almonds in a food processor and pulse until fine sandy consistency. Add the almonds and chockolate to the bowl and mix together

4. Whisk the egg whites with the rest of the sugar until stiff in a separate bowl. Add ½ the egg whites to the cake mix and fold together, then add the other half and fold again. Pour the cake mix in the baking pan and bake for 50-60 minutes. Let cool for 30 minutes and shift some icing sugar on top. Serve with strawberries and whipped cream.

Blueberry Skyr Muffins

In the events of Sweden advertising and selling Icelandic Skyr, I made some SUPER HEALTHY Blueberry muffins. NO white flour, NO sugar, NO butter......sound awful!! Actually they were pretty good, high in protein and only slow carbs.

Makes 12 muffins

100 g spelt flour

100 g rolled oats

100 g whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

150 ml yogurt

250 g skyr (if you don´t have skyr then just use yogurt)

200 ml sunflower oil

2 large eggs

150 ml agave syrup

100 g blueberries

1. Set oven to 180C

2. Mix the dry ingredients well together in a bowl.

3. Mix the yogurt, skyr, oil, eggs and agave syrup in another bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix, as usual with muffins do not over mix.

4. Add the frozen blueberries to the batter and fold 3 - 4 times. If you fold too many times the batter turns purple.

5. Spoon the batter evenly into a muffins mould and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

Vanilla Custard & Rhubarb Soufflé

When I want to impress I bring put the Big Guns!! ...no not my biceps, I mean my absolute favorite desserts. Don´t be scared of souffles, this recipe is very easy and all you have to do is be well prepared. The special thing about this recipe is that when you take a spoon full of soufflé you all kinds of different flavors and texture. You have the hot creamy vanilla soufflé, cold custard, crunchy biscuit and sweet and sour rhubarb all at the same time!

Serves 6

400 g rhubarb, cut into small chunks

100 g caster sugar

25 g butter, softened

6 gingerbread biscuits, smashed to fine crumbs

150 g readymade vanilla custard, plus extra for serving

1 large egg yolk, plus 4 egg whites

2 tbsp granulated sugar

1 tsp plain flour

pinch of sea salt

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C. Put the rhubarb into the saucepan with the 100g sugar. Put the lid on and let it simmer on a medium-low heat for about 10 - 15 minutes, or untill the rhubarb is soft. Set it aside and let it cool down.

2. Butter the inside of 6 ramekin dishes and dust the inside with the smashed gingerbread biscuits. Then shake out the excess crumbs. Then put one tablespoon of the cooled rhubarb on the bottom of the ramekins.

3. Mix the rest of the stewed rhubarb with the custard, egg yolk and flour in a bowl. In another bowl, beat the egg whites, salt and granulated sugar until you have soft peaks.

4. Working very gently, fold 2 spoonfuls of the stiff egg whites into the rhubarb mixture. Then tip this into the bowl containing the rest of the egg whites and fold together very carefully.

5. Divide the mixture between the ramekins and level the tops. Bake the souffles in the preheated oven for 18 - 20 minutes, or until the souffles are lovely golden and have risen nicely.

6. Remove from the oven and directly make a hole in the middle of the soufflé with a spoon and dollop two or three tsp of vanilla custard into the hole. Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve!

Oatmeal Crumble Muffins

I love having newly baked muffins on a sunday mourning but I think it is important that they are at least semi healthy, just so your blood sugars don't go on a roller coaster ride. These muffins are a bit custerd-y when hot but firm and soft when cooled. Although the muffins have sugar in them they are not at all to sweet, but the crumble adds the slightly sweet and buttery taste which is crucial I think.

Makes 12 large muffins

Crumble Topping

80 gr whole wheat flour

40 gr rolled oats

50gr sugar

pinch of salt

60gr butter, cold

1. Add everything into a bowl and work together with your fingers, pinching the flour and butter together until a sandy texture. But the topping into the freezer until you make the muffins.

100 gr rolled oats

100 gr whole wheat flour

100 gr all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

200 gr butter, melted

70 gr cane sugar or brown sugar

350 ml plain yogurt

2 large eggs, whisked

1. Set oven to 180 C and butter a 12 muffin mould.

2. Mix together the dry ingredients in a bowl.

3. Melt the butter in a pan, then add the sugar and let it dissolve in the warm butter. Add the whisked eggs and yogurt and mix together.

4. Add the whet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir. Do not overmix!

5. Pour the batter into the muffins mould and sprinkle the frozen crumble topping on top. Bake for 30 - 35 minutes depending on your oven. Let the muffins cool down before you remove them from the mould.

Lemon-Banana Cake

This is such an easy cake to make, and I love how you just mix the dry, the whet ingredients together and your done. We Icelanders traditionally make the banana bread more like bread that you eat with butter but I actually like this twist on it. Quick and easy...thats how I do it!

120 gr all-purpose flour

140 gr whole wheat flour

125 gr brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

100 gr dark chocolate

80 ml olive oil/sunflower oil

2 large eggs, beaten

3 large bananas

60 ml yogurt, 3%

1 tsp vanilla extract

zest of one lemon

For the glaze

80 gr brown sugar

50 gr powdered sugar

juice of one lemon

To make the glaze: Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and let it sit for at least 45 minutes.

1. Set oven to 180 C

2. Mix the dry ingredients well together in a large bowl.

3. Mix the whet ingredients well together in a another bowl.

4. Pour the whet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together with a spatula. Do not over-mix!

5. Bake for approx. 60 min. Its better not to overcook the cake as you want that soft middle. Let it cool before you pour on the glaze.