Fiskesuppe

My husband moved from Norway to Ontario, Canada about 18 months ago and for the most part, he's adjusted well, despite being tossed into a primary parenting role for my two kids! But there are several things that he misses, and one of them was a good Norwegian Fish Soup.

So being the wonderful wife that I am, I looked around for a basic chowder recipe and used that as a base for what my husband has declared as possibly the best Fiskesuppe he has ever had, and his favourite dish that I make.

Fiskesuppe

4 tbsp butter
1 large onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
4 tbsp flour
1 can baby clams, water reserved
Clam water plus water to make 750 mL
3-4 cups potatoes, peeled and diced
250 mL milk
250 mL table cream
200g cod
1 Knorr Homestyle Vegetable Soup Stock
1 tbsp Old Bay seasoning
Salt and Pepper to taste

Method

Melt butter over medium heat, add onions and celery and fry until soft.

Sprinkle with flour and cook, stirring, two minutes.
Add clam water, water, clams, potatoes, and cook until thickened stirring frequently.

Add milk, cream, soup stock, Old Bay, salt and pepper.
Cook on medium heat stirring frequently until thickened and potatoes are tender, add cod for the last 5 to 10 minutes.
Serve with a loaf of pumpernickel or crusty bread.
Makes six, large bowls.

Total time, about 90 minutes. It takes a while for the potatoes to cook through, but cooking it low and slow really brings out the flavour. If you needed to cut down on time, you could cook the potatoes separately, and then add them in with the fish at the end.

Nutritional Info Per Serving

• Calories: 341.6

• Total Fat: 17.0 g
• Cholesterol: 95.9 mg
• Sodium: 431.4 mg
• Total Carbs: 28.5 g
• Dietary Fiber: 2.8 g
• Protein: 19.7 g

Fiskekake

My husband is from Norway, and true to the stereotype, they eat a fair amount of fish. Hey, it's a stereotype for a reason.

We were visiting my mother-in-law who lives in Båtstø, south of Oslo in the Oslofjord, and she took us to this lovely little town called Holmsbu where we had the very best fishcakes I had ever eaten.

My husband and I have been striving to recreate the Holmsbu fishcakes, and while we haven't managed that feat just yet, we have created a very delicious alternative.

Wow...That Was Really...Bad!

So it came to be one night a few weeks ago that my husband, my cousin and I were seeking something to eat. We had been running around and had planned to eat at a small local take out joint, but when the line went out the door, my husband put his foot down. He needed to eat. Now.

So we went to a neighbourhood chain that we had never had occasion to visit before. Applebee's is large, well known, and always busy. How bad an Eating Experience could it be? Weeeellllll...

In The Beginning...

...we started eating.

Now we're blogging.

About what we ate, where we ate it, and if we'd eat it again.

Some Eating Experiences just need their stories told. So let's move on to the first story...