Being a little disheartened by my previous Nordic Challenge reads, I chose to seek solace in my library's cookbook collection. There I found, among many tempting titles,
Kitchen of Light: New Scandinavian Cooking with Andreas Viestad. While I do not know that a cookbook makes an acceptable reading challenge selection, I really must tell you to read this book. It's beautifully put together with lavish photographs, lots of little stories about Viestad's life in Norway, and so many excellent recipes.
I made four recipes from
Kitchen of Light:
- "Wild Mushroom Ragout" (blogged Feb 24)
- "Asparagus Sauteed in Butter and Mustard" (also blogged Feb 24)
- "Smoked Salmon, Asparagus, and Potato Cake Canapes" (blogged Feb 22)
- "Lamb Chops with Mushrooms, Zucchini, and Yogurt-Mint Sauce" (never blogged because we ate it all up before I could take pictures -- seriously good and easy, though)
Prior to reading
Kitchen of Light, I knew nothing about cookery from that part of the world and wasn't sure what to expect. Now that I've dabbled a little and enjoyed what I've tried, I look forward to trying out other cookbooks -- Helene Henderson's
The Swedish Table and Trina Hahnemann's
The Scandinavian Cookbook most especially.
Some of you already may be familiar with Viestad from his PBS program New Scandinavian Cooking or its sequel series Perfect Day. If so, I am extremely jealous of you! I missed it on PBS and the series' are no longer available on DVD.
Kitchen of Light: New Scandinavian Cooking with Andreas Viestad (Workman Publishing, 2003)