Skagen Cheesecake

It

has been a while since I blogged, autumn has been full of activities – among other things, I became a grandmother again to a wonderful little girl “Alva”. Now I will try and have a post a recipe once a week. This recipe is a wonderful dish as a starter or a light lunch.

Our dear daughter-in-law is from the Swedish west coast and loves fish and seafood, wanted to do something special for her when we celebrated Christmas and it turned out to be a reversed recipe for Skagen cheesecake from the magazine Buffet no 6 (2019). The result was a hit! It is now an absolute must when we offer a buffet! Easy to make and can be prepared well in advance of serving. You can garnish an hour or two before serving.

Important to remember:

• Peel the shrimp yourself, it’s cheaper and tastier.
• Taste and adjust the seasoning to suit you and your family, increase e.g. horseradish or lemon, etc.
• If you use horseradish in a tube, you may want to increase the amount slightly, if you use horseradish in small transparent cups that are much stronger in taste, you need to be a little more careful, add a little horseradish at a time and taste.

 Ingredients

Bottom:
300 g of dark rye bread (as compact as possible) In Sweden we use a bread called Kavring)
75 g butter

Filling:
400 g peeled shrimp
1 cup crème fraiche (6.7628 US fluid Oz)
7 oz (or 200 grams) of natural cream cheese (Philadelphia cheese)
1/2 dl finely ground horseradish (in a tube)
2 tsp Dijon mustard
0,08 oz (2ml) salt
3 tsp finely grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons finely chopped dill
4 tablespoons finely chopped chives

4 tablespoons well-chopped spring onions (can be excluded)

Garnish:
1 small red onion (chopped well)
pea sprouts
Dill
Chopped hard-boiled eggs (can be excluded)

 Method:

Bottom:

1. Dress a springform dish with a removable edge (9 inches or 23 cm in diameter) with parchment paper.
2. Melt the butter and let it cool for a little while (5 – 10 minutes).
3. Run the bread in a food processor and pour in the melted butter, mix well. Put it into the springform and press it down.
4. Cover and let it rest in the fridge for at least one hour.

Filling:

1. Peel and chop the shrimp roughly. Put aside.
2. Mix the crème fraiche, cream cheese (Philadelphia), horseradish, mustard, salt, lemon zest and lemon juice, taste and adjust the seasoning.
3. Mix in shrimp, dill, chives and possibly chopped spring onions.
4. Pour into the mold, you can garnish at this moment – but personally, I prefer to wait until after cooling for at least 4 hours. Use your imagination when it comes to decoration. Well-chopped hard-boiled eggs make it fuller; radishes are suitable as well. Cover and allow to cool for at least 4 – 6 hours.

Garnish and serve!

Enjoy!

Background:
Skagen is a place in Denmark; this recipe, however, has nothing to do with Skagen in Denmark. Skagen mixture (Skagenröra in Swedish) is a mixture that was first introduced by the Swedish culinary chef Tore Wretman in 1950. Below you can find his original recipe for Skagen mixture which is a mixture of precooked shrimps, mayonnaise, salt and pepper, and lemon juice. Later two other chefs added dill and horse reddish to the mixture – this is, however, the way it is served in most restaurants today in Sweden.   It is a very trendy dish served as a starter. It is utterly delicious to serve this mixture with baked potatoes as well.

4 pieces av white French bread
400 grams (14 ounces) of shrimp (best quality)
2 tablespoons of mayonnaise
50 gram (approx. 1,8 ounces) of the spawn of fish (for garnish – optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
Dill to garnish
Juice from half a lemon

Peel the cooked shrimp and squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Chop and mix with the mayonnaise.  Add salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste.
If you want to serve the new version – you add horse reddish to taste and some well-chopped dill.
Fry the bread in butter for a couple of minutes on each side, put the mixture on the bread or beside, garnish with dill and slices of lemon.