Smoked eel open sandwiches, eel smörrebröd two ways. One warm, one cold.

On the left, beetroot and apple salad on a toasted rye bread topped with smoked eel fillets and a fried egg.
On the right, seeded rye bread, quick cucumber pickles, horseradish sauce, smoked eel, quail eggs and salmon roe.

Spooncakes, made by granny. She made me pancakes the size of a teaspoon when I was little. Pancakes the size of a two euro coin. Flipping them over one by one, so patiently.
I love those puffed and crispy edges.

There is nothing pretty or cutesy about this post. This post is all about fish.

My grandfather used to smoke and can his own catch. Mostly it was smoked fish in oil or fish in aspic but sometimes meat chunks in jelly as well. My favourite was the tinned smoked eel but the smoked flounder was just as delicious. I have been holding on to the very last tin of smoked eel for very long. There will never be anything quite like it again. Even the eel itself is an endangered species now. The tin must be more than 10 years old, although I do not know the exact age.

One of the greatest taste sensations of this summer - smoked roe of European plaice. After lugging a whole smoked plaice home from the fishmongers,
I discovered it was full of roe! I creamed it with a spoonful of Hollandaise and spread on thin slices of toast. Heavenly!

Smoked arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) and thinly sliced raw lavaret (Coregonus lavaretus).

For months I pondered whether it would be possible to replicate the canning process without all the special equipment. As sad as it is, we no longer have the autoclave, I think it broke some years ago.
Then I read about using a pressure cooker for this task. It all seemed pretty simple and straightforward, except for the timetables. Europeans suggest much shorter cooking times than the Americans. Americans seem to be cooking the hell out of everything, the recommended time for smoked fish was around 100 minutes. Overkill? Germans suggest only 25 minutes.

Wikipedia states that to kill the botulism bacteria you should cook the foodstuff at 121°C for three minutes. That means turning the pressure cooker on "high".
Perhaps American pressure cookers are just weaker? Go figure.

My first try at pressure cooker canning was back in May, using freshly smoked garfish.
Considering that I am new to this, I opted for the middle ground and cooked the jars for 50 minutes.
I think I left a bit too much headspace, hence the first jar seems only three-quarters full.
One smoked garfish will give you enough to fill a 250ml jar.

August - September is the perfect time for European flounders (Platichthys flesus) as they are getting plump and seriously fatty, whereas in spring they are rather bony and should be left in the sea to grow some flesh. In the middle of August we ordered and received 5 kilogrammes of freshly smoked flounders direct from the fisherman. Ahh, the smell alone got me salivating (read, dribbling)! That's a good enough amount to try my hand at some more canning.

First I cleaned the fish of all the extras - heads, tails, fins, backbones. It's fine to leave the smaller bones there as these will be cooked soft during the process. Now take your jars, I prefer Weck jars, and fill with about 1cm to 2cm of olive oil. Start adding the fish, try to be as compact as possible, use up all the space, don't leave any gaps. You should even press down on the fish, lightly, to make sure it is all snugly fit. Leave about 5mm of space on top, for clean seal. There is no reason to fill the jar entirely with oil, it will just seep out during the first minutes of heating. My grandma used to put only two tablespoons of oil per tin and it was fine.
Place the lids on top of the jars and close with clamps.

You could also use tins if you happen to have them. For tins you need an automated sealer.

Place a rack on the bottom of the pressure cooker pot. Place jars on the rack and fill the pot with about a litre of water but it really depends on the size of your pot. Turn the heat on and let it all warm up without closing the pot. Once it starts bubbling, take the lid and seal the pot. Let it come to full power and then you can lower the heat slightly, letting it cook for 50 minutes (when using 250ml jars).

Important, do not open the pot before the contents have cooled down, and this might take quite a few hours, depending on the size of the jars. If you do not have the patience, the pressure created in the jars might cause the contents to leek out, or worse, the jars might break. 

Let cool for at least 3 hours. I even let it cool overnight. One time I opened the pot after two hours of cooling time and the oil in the jars was still boiling, it was that hot!

When using tins, the round flat ones, then you can stack these to make use of the whole pot.

Next day, check your jars. It is important to take off the clamps, otherwise you will not know if the jar is safely sealed or not. If the tip of the rubber ring is pointing downwards, it is most likely sealed but it will not give you a 100% guarantee. Therefore you must remove the clamps and check if the glass lid is tightly closed.
If, at any time, the lid on top becomes loose without reason, it is not safe to eat. 

For us, April began with snowfall and subzero temperatures. Like a true April Fools' joke.
Not very funny though. And it keeps on snowing!
Sadly the photo is a wee bit rubbish.

 Taken early in the morning with a mobile phone. It looked fantastic, like Christmas!

Miniature orange and pistachio bundt cake. 

Devilled eggs for Easter. Three flavours - ham, cheese and fish.

The traditional filling is with fish - using tinned Baltic sprats and the brine they are matured in. Some folk, like my dear gran, prepare their own brine of salt and spices (might include some or all of the following - black pepper, allspice, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, coriander seeds, bay leaves, cardamom, nutmeg) and cure the fish at home.
It's a real treat when done right, served with fresh potatoes, butter and sour cream. Or as a snack on a slice of dark rye bread smelling of caraway.
Somehow, for me, the smell of caraway is a key factor. Without caraway, bread just doesn't seem right.



Devilled eggs with ham

3 eggs, boiled
100g ham or leftover roast pork
1 tbsp horseradish
1 tbsp mayonnaise
salt and pepper

Halve the eggs. Scrape out the yolks, into a bowl of a food processor. Add the rest of the ingredients and let the machine run until it is all turned into a smooth paste.
Cut a tiny bit off the bottoms of the egg white halves, so they sit up straight, and fill with the meat paste.
For garnish I used tiny scraps of crisp fried bacon and slices of salted gherkins.



Devilled eggs with brined spiced sprats

3 eggs, boiled
3 brined sprats*, cleaned and filleted
2 tbsp brine
2 tbsp butter
fresh dill, finely chopped

Halve the eggs. Scrape out the yolks, into a bowl. Add the butter, strained brine and some dill. Mash with a fork until it is all creamy and thoroughly mixed.
Again, trim the egg whites and fill with the mixture. Pull the skin off the sprat fillets. By doing this the fillets will separate into two halves. Roll each half-fillet up into a "rose" and place on top.
For garnish, sprinkle with some extra dill.

*Sprats can be replaced with anchovies.

Garfish. Known for its green bones.
The garfish season here in the Baltic Sea is very short, just a couple weeks and it will be gone again. Until next year.

I filleted these fresh ones. It does require some knife-skill and patience to cut the flesh off completely bone free.
Placed on a bed of chives and lemon slices, I grilled these under a broiler for a few minutes, brushing with butter in between. Served with potato and caper salad with quail eggs.

What I love even more is the smoked version. It is great eaten just plain with some nice fresh butter and bread but it can be easily turned into a rough paté to spice things up a bit.

1 smoked garfish, about 50cm long
3-4 tsp creamed horseradish
1 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp cream cheese or spreadable cheese
a spritz of lemon juice
salt and pepper

Clean the fish, discarding the skin and bones. Toss all ingredients into a bowl and mash it all together with a fork, creating an even texture. Could use a food processor but I find it to be easy enough mashing with a fork. Taste, add salt and pepper. All done! Spread on toasts for breakfast or squish it between your lunchbox sarnies.