‘Fire + Ice’ anticipates the flavors of spring

When days turn gray and cold, and the holidays have past, I enjoy transitioning from cozy pumpkin spice flavors to a still wintery but fresher palate in anticipation of spring.

With dill, rye, coriander, juniper and lingonberry, Darra Goldstein’s “Fire + Ice: Classic Nordic Cooking” offers a respite from the sage and squash meals I’ve been favoring, while still not skimping on the comfort quality.

Goldstein’s writing is engaging as she shares travel and dining stories from her years living, working and eating in Scandinavia. Her recipes are woven in and out of instruction on Scandinavian fare and way of life.

I like to imagine that our much closer Alaska mirrors these white-lit countries of Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland, with their deep icy waters full of seafood bounty, and I consider the Nordic lands of “Fire + Ice” to be not so unlike my own.

My husband’s mother is Norwegian by birth and her father spent long seasons away on Alaskan fishing boats that left port from Ballard, Seattle. She introduced me to lefse with lingonberry preserves, bought my husband and I a kransekake for our wedding and gave me my first Christmas Eve lutefisk. Her love of Norwegian classics has given me greater affinity for Scandinavia’s unique flavors and dishes, and I was eager to get cooking.

I set to work on several seafood driven dishes of the book, grabbing fresh and frozen Alaskan salmon and large spidery legs of Alaskan king crab at the market. Meatier, with a more delicate sweetness, king crab doesn’t dominate a dish as much as its “crabbier” cousin the Dungeness and made a perfect fit for Goldstein’s vestkystsalat, or West Coast salad, which highlights a combination of shellfish and sports two dressings she ensures are not in excess — she’s right, they aren’t.

The recipes of “Fire + Ice” are surprisingly simple, despite several of their more complicated origins, and Goldstein is careful to give a heads-up if one is more labor intensive. She adapts for versatility, as in a recipe for roasted oysters inspired from a day on the mudflats of Denmark’s western coast, her instructions are considerate of the home cook and she graciously eliminates our having to build a fire pit or hunt down heather branches to replicate her experience.

Goldstein’s rendition of lohikeitto, or salmon soup, is fresh and not too heavy on the cream. I further simplified the recipe by using a filet of frozen salmon, which after a slight thaw, cuts easily into the instructed cube size. With the comfort of cream and potato, ample dill and a finish of briny trout roe, the salmon soup was a big hit.

I braved the gravlax, which was so easy I’m wondering why I’ve never made it before, and finally used my Ballard-sourced bakers ammonia in the havrekjeks, or oatcakes.

Originally drawn to “Fire + Ice” for its Nordic recipes, I lingered as Goldstein’s writing pulled me further in. With saffron and raisin studded buns, apple soup with juniper and Jansson’s Temptation — an indulgent dish of Swedish anchovies, onions, butter, potatoes and cream — “Fire + Ice”’s Nordic kitchen makes the perfect foil for gray cold skies, and my palate feels abated as I wait for the crisp bites of spring.

Who should buy this? Home cooks with the love for Scandinavia and Nordic cooking. Anyone with even a smidgen of Nordic heritage.

Publisher: Ten speed press

Price: $40

Vestkystsalat

West Coast salad, serves 6 to 8

This salad showcases the stunning bounty of the sea. Its classic ingredients are shrimp, mussels, crabmeat, and mushrooms, but lobster tails are often included. The vegetables can vary, too, with peas sometimes replacing asparagus. Some cooks add hard-boiled eggs to the salad, either mixed in or as a garnish, and summer-ripe tomatoes can also appear. The only constant, and crucial, element is the freshness of the ingredients. When the salad has a balance of sweetness and brininess, it really sings.

This recipe calls for some attention to its many different steps, but each one is simple. Once cooked, the components can be refrigerated and then assembled in a jiffy, making this an entertainment-easy summer meal. Opinions differ on how best to present the salad, whether on a platter with the ingredients laid out like a mosaic, or layered in a bowl. I generally use a glass bowl to show off the layers, then toss them gently with vinaigrette at the table. The second dressing may at first seem like overkill, but it makes the salad even more festive.

8 ounces small white mushrooms

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 cups water

1 cup dry white wine

1 tablespoon salt

1 pound unpeeled small or medium shrimp

1 pound mussels, cleaned

8 ounces fresh crabmeat

1 pound asparagus

2 heads Bibb lettuce

Garlic-Dill Vinaigrette

Creamy Dressing

GARLIC-DILL VINAIGRETTE

¼ cup white wine vinegar

1½ teaspoons Dijon mustard

2 cloves garlic, minced

¾ cup canola oil

½ teaspoon salt

Freshly ground pepper

½ cup chopped fresh dill

CREAMY DRESSING

½ cup crème fraîche

½ cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon concentrated tomato paste

¼ teaspoon salt

Freshly ground pepper

Trim the mushrooms and cut into ¼-inch slices. Toss with the lemon juice in a bowl and set aside in the refrigerator.

In a large pot, bring the water, 1⁄2 cup of the wine, and salt to a boil. Ideally, you’re using small shrimp (51/60 count per pound), so cook them for just over a minute. If using medium shrimp, adjust the cooking time accordingly—they need to cook about 2 minutes before they are done. Drain the shrimp, and when they are cool enough to handle, peel and devein them. If using medium shrimp, slice them in half lengthwise to make them bite-size. Set aside, covered, in the refrigerator.

Place the mussels in a large pot with the remaining 1⁄2 cup of wine. Cover the pot, bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and cook until the mussels open wide, 5 to 7 minutes, depending on their size. Turn off the heat and discard any mussels that didn’t open. Drain, discarding the cooking liquid. When cool enough to handle, remove the mussels from their shells. You should have about 4 ounces of mussels. Set aside, covered, in the refrigerator.

Trim the woody ends off the asparagus spears and cut the spears into thirds crosswise. Bring a little salted water to a boil in a skillet and add the asparagus. Lower to medium-low heat and cook, covered, until just tender but still crisp, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain and immediately run under cold water to stop the cooking. Set aside, covered, in the refrigerator.

Wash the lettuce and discard any blemished outer leaves. Tear into bite-size pieces. You should have about 6 loosely packed cups of lettuce.

To make the vinaigrette, stir together the vinegar, mustard, and garlic in a small bowl. Gradually whisk in the oil until an emulsion forms. Add the salt and season with pepper to taste, then stir in the dill.

To make the creamy dressing, stir together all of the ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside in the refrigerator.

To assemble the salad, decoratively arrange the prepared mushrooms, shrimp, mussels, crabmeat, asparagus, and lettuce on a large platter or layer them in a shallow bowl. Just before serving, pour half of the vinaigrette over the ingredients, passing the remaining vinaigrette in a small pitcher at the table. Serve with the creamy dressing in a bowl on the side.

Lohikeitto

Salmon soup

Serves 4 to 6

The secret of this much-loved Finnish soup is good fresh salmon and a good fish stock. With these on hand, it’s a snap to prepare, and it comes with a bonus: whoever makes the soup gets to eat the slice of buttered rye bread that has soaked up the stock’s goodness. Though you can buy decent fish stock, making your own takes only half an hour, well worth it for the depth of flavor it adds.

Many recipes for lohikeitto are heavy with cream. I prefer it on the lighter side and use only 6 tablespoons, but you can certainly do as my husband does and add more, in which case you may need to adjust the salt. I like to make this everyday fare festive by adding a dollop of bright orange trout roe to each bowl.

SALMON STOCK

1 salmon head (about 3 pounds), cleaned, with gills removed

1 small yellow onion, halved

1 carrot, peeled and halved

1 bay leaf

8 black peppercorns

1 teaspoon salt

8 cups water

SOUP

1 yellow onion, finely chopped

1 tablespoon salted butter

4 boiling potatoes, peeled and cut into 3⁄4-inch cubes

Pinch of ground allspice

6 cups Salmon Stock (see recipe) or prepared fish stock

Salt

Freshly ground pepper

1 thick slice sour rye bread, liberally buttered on one side

1 pound salmon fillet, skin removed, cut into 1-inch pieces

6 to 8 tablespoons heavy cream

1⁄4 cup finely chopped fresh dill

1 (2-ounce) jar trout roe

Place the salmon head, onion, carrot, bay leaf, peppercorns, and salt in a large stockpot. Add the water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, partly covered, for 30 minutes. Strain with a fine-mesh sieve into a large Pyrex measuring cup and set aside. Discard the salmon head and other solids.

In a large stockpot over medium-low heat, sauté the onion in the butter until soft but not brown, 6 to 7 minutes.

Add the potatoes and allspice, then stir in the stock and 3⁄4 teaspoon of salt. Season with pepper. Place the bread on the surface of the stock, buttered side up, and cover the pot. Simmer until the potatoes are just cooked, about 10 minutes.

With a slotted spatula, remove the bread (and eat it!). At this point you can either continue making the soup or turn off the heat and let it sit until you’re almost ready to serve it. About 10 minutes before serving, return the soup to a simmer. Drop in the salmon and cook very briefly, until the fish is barely opaque, just 3 to 4 minutes.

Quickly stir in the cream and dill, making sure not to let the soup boil. Taste and add liberal grinds of pepper and more salt to taste. To serve, ladle into bowls and garnish each serving with a spoonful of trout roe.