Christmas buffet

This year our Christmas buffet was rather tiny. It contained only the most essential dishes in a typical Swedish Christmas buffet. In the picture you can read which dishes was served.

 

 The most important: the Christmas ham:

Christmas ham (julskinka) - the most important dish on the swedish Christmas buffet

The main dish at a Swedish Christmas buffet (julbord) is the Christmas ham (julskinka). 

This dish has a very long tradition.

In our family, we prefer to have a Christmas ham which is sugar salted and then smoked. This type of ham is most common in southern Sweden. The majority of Swedes do not want smoked ham on Christmas.

Earlier, it was common practice to boil ham yourself. This year we bought a ham, which is ready cooked.

Because the ham is already cooked it shall only grill after coating with egg and breadcrumbs. We mix mustard and one egg. The batter is brushed on the ham. Then we sprinkle breadcrumbs ("ströbröd" or "skorpmjöl") over it.

  Then it's time to grill the ham in the oven for 15 minutes in 200 °C (392 °F).

  When it has cooled slightly, you can cut slices and enjoy.

This preparation for the Christmas Eve buffet, we do already the day before Christmas Eve - that is on December 23.

Mustard - homemade with a mustard ball (senapskula)

Many families in southern Sweden have a tradition of self grind their mustard for Christmas.

The mustard is mainly used in the sauce that you have to lutefish / lutfisk / stockfish. It is also common to have it in the sauce for boiled cod. 

To grind the mustard you need an iron ball (sometimes called a mustard ball or a cannon ball).

In our family we have several mustard balls. The one we use the most is from the 1940s. A mustard ball is an important property and you have to care for it tenderly. 

You also need a round bowl. In the bowl you pour brown mustard seed.

Then you let the ball rotate in the bowl in which it crushes the seeds. When the seeds are crushed just enough you pour in some water and continue to grind.

Now a strong scent of mustard rises from the bowl and your eyes fill with tears. The mustard is complete. 

When the grinding is completed you scrape up the mustard from the bowl and put it in a nice jar. This can be set on the dining table when to eat.

The mustard is added to a white béchamel sauce. This can be done already when making the sauce in a pan, but it is also possible to add the mustard when you have poured the sauce on the plate. Then you have the ability to customize the strength. If you take too much mustard you can expect that it slams into the back of the head.

Here, the sauce with added mustard, is served with boiled cod, boiled potatoes and carrots.

Kajsa’s beetroot bread (rödbetsbröd)

Normally I do not use other people's recipes and pictures on this blog. But sometime you have to make exceptions. Here is one.

My brother in law, Per, showed on Facebook how he baked beetroot bread based on a recipe that he got from a friend, Kajsa.

The result - the finished loaves - looked somehow typical Swedish / Finnish. Therefore, they are out of place here.

The image, that has been photographed by Per, shows the ingredients used in baking (the potatoes should not be used).

Here you can read Kajsa's own description of how baking is done:

Beetroot bread (two loaves)

10-15g yeast
3 dl water or christmas beer (or any dark beer)
2 dl grated beetrot
3/4 dl oil (I used olive oil)
2 tsp salt (use less if using beer instead of water)

9 - 10 dl wheat-flour 

Stir the yeast in the water (or beer). Add oil, salt and beetroot. Mix in the flour little by little. Knead thoroughly. Let rise overnight.

Next morning, shape into two loaves. Let rise about half an hour. 

Bake at 175 degrees Celcius for approx. 45 minutes. (175ºC = 347ºF)

Let the bread cool on rack.

Per wrote on Facebook: 

"Tasting beetroot bread and I can tell you: it WAS delicious and looked very nice! (I tasted a slice with some cold butter a minute ago.)

If you want to use the more traditional method rather than letting the bread rise overnight, use 25 g of yeast instead, and fingerwarm water. Let rise for an hour, shape into loaves, let rise again for 45 min before baking.

Traditional bread baking (rågkakor)

In many Swedish homes, it is traditional to bake some of the the bread you eat. Even in our family.
Mostly, it is me baking the bread.
One of our favorite bread is round soft rye cakes. It is a bread with a long tradition. My wife has told me that her grandmother baked such breads.
Today it was me who baked rye cakes. A batch of dough is enough for four round cakes + a small bun made from the dough left over when making holes in the cookies.
I start with 50 grams of fresh yeast, which I dissolve in 0.5 liters of water warmed to 37 degrees Celsius (99 ° F). I also add 50 grams of melted margarine and 2 tablespoons syrup.

Seasoning consists of

• 1 teaspoon ground anise,
• 2 teaspoons ground fennel seeds and
• 1.5 teaspoons of salt.

Then it shall be seven deciliter rye flour and 5-6 deciliter of wheat flour .

All the ingredients are kneaded in an Electrolux Assistant - a classic Swedish household appliance.


The dough is fermented for at least 30 minutes. Then I take it on a breadboard and knead it.

When the dough is kneaded, I share it in four parts.Each part is rolled out into a round cake which is 17 centimeters in diameter. I put the cakes on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. There they rise for another 30 minutes.

When the cookies are fermented they are baked in the oven at 225 degrees Celsius (437 °F). 
When ready they look so good:

Time for glögg (mulled wine) while we wait for Christmas

Now we are in December - the Christmas season. December 24 is Christmas Eve - the most important day of the year in Sweden. But before we get there we will prepare ourselves for Christmas.
It starts already the first Advent.
At that time we will gather happily at the home of someone drinking glögg (mulled wine) and eat saffron buns and gingerbread.
Glögg is spiced wine, that we drink hot with almonds and raisins.
There are many varieties of glögg.
Now there is even vintage glögg.
This is how the 2013 glögg bottle looks. The design is inspired by traditional Dalecarlian painting

The taste is very good. Not too sweet and with a lot of flavor of wine and spices.