Those of you that know me , know that Scandinavia is no stranger to me. In a way through Certain Someone its like a second home. But even prior to meeting Certain Someone , I have relatives there in which I got to visit. My first visit to Stockholm , I feel in love. So how fitting my love has a beautiful summer home, by the sea, which I cant wait to go back and visit. I have yet to explore the other Scandinavian countries. I’m eager to see Denmark and Norway.One day.

I was so so happy to get a copy of The Scandinavian Cookbook by Trina Hahnemann (Andrews McMeel Publishing,LLC), through the The Library Thing Early Reviewer Program. If you don’t know about this ,please check it out. As all my books on Library Thing are cookbooks, that’s what I normally snag based on my profile. But they have all types of genres available, and the competition is tough. This is my second review for them.

The Scandinavian Cookbook is a big gorgeous book by the Danish chef Trina Hahnemann.In her first English cookbook, she breaks the book down into seasons and months so the reader truly understands the cycle of life in Scandinavia.Winter is long with little light and summer leads into those White Nights with the sun not going down until midnight or after. Its a beautiful corner of the world with a simple straightforward and delicious approach to cooking. Flipping through the gorgeous photographs by Lars Ranek one gets a visual Smorgasbord of fishes, pastries, vegetables, breads drinks, and just about anything else you can think of. I long to go back and make the Kartoffelkage (a choux pastry with marzipan, cocoa, and filled with cream). Of course she shows you how to make smoked salmon. With the seasonal approach all the dishes presented look so healthy, wholesome and appetizing.A nice balance.

I chose to make a simple Rye Focaccia and Salmon Burgers form the month of April because I had most of the ingredients on hand. I confess,I was out of capers, and really regretted it. Nevertheless the burger was fantastic. And the Rye Focaccia was outstanding and very simple to put together. The burger was basically fresh salmon chopped into a mince with green onion , capers, eggs, and breadcrumbs. I garnished mine with sprouts , rather the chives and capers. And I cheated with mayo out of jar rather than her homemade dressing with homemade mayonnaise,and creme fraiche.The focaccia which was to make 4 burgers, could have been stretched to six or even eight in my opinion. I was really hearty and I couldn’t stop nibbing throughout the day. What I love about this book is that there are basic recipes and components I can carry over into other seasons and dishes. Naturally I am submitting this into BYOB.

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