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These simple Vietnamese spring rolls are perfect for a quick and healthy snack or light meal. They are also known as ’summer rolls’. They are great to whip up on your own, but are also a fun dish to serve when you’re having friends around for a casual dinner, because everyone can do their own and experiment with the fillings. :)

What I had in mine today:

Ingredients
* salmon, cooked in the oven with some soy sauce, sesame oil, pepper/salt and sesame seeds
* 90 g vermicelli noodles
* Rice paper wrappers (I bought mine in the Thai supermarket near ‘Hlemmur’)
* a handful of coriander
* Spring onion, chopped
* Grated carrot
* I usually have some Thai basil as well, you can buy that also from the Thai supermarket.

For the sauce
* 1 1/2 dl salted peanuts, crushed
* 1 1/2 dl sweet chili sauce
* 1 tbsp fish sauce
* 3 tbsp fresh lime juice
And if you want it more spicy, add some dry chili ;) Remember to taste the sauce to check if you need some more of the ingredients.

S prefers to have chicken instead of salmon so I did that also.

Just feel free to mix it up with what you like, that’s half the fun!!!

DO THIS: 

• Cook the rice vermicelli noodles. Remember that they are really thin so it goes quite quick. Just boil water in a pot and then add the noodles, turn off the heat and stir. Let it be in the hot water until it’s ready, just taste and see. Pour the noodles into a sieve and pour cold water all over the noodles. When they are cold, squeeze out all remaining water.
• Do the sause: Mix all the ingredients together.
• When everything is prepared on the table you can just start to make the rolls.
• Start by dipping one sheet of rice paper wrapper into a bowl of hot water until it softens (make sure not to soak for too long), then place the sheet on a plate.
• Place a portion of each remaining ingredient. Make sure not to overfill the roll.
• Fold the bottom half of the wrapper over the filling, then the left and right edges of the wrapper inwards towards the centre, over the filling.
• While holding the filling in position with your fingers, carefully roll the wrapper and filling upwards to form a tight roll. See pictures.

The first two rolls might be a bit messy. But they will still be good, fresh and tasty, and you’ll get ‘the trick’ very quickly, I promise. :)

ENJOY!!!

Love
xx
Jennifer

INSTAGRAM: Jenniferbergp & Cookitwithjen

Eyewear from Chimi / T-shirts from RBW and TCI

Here are some pics from our trip to Geysir and South Coast. We were very lucky with the weather and thank god for that, because that does the trip so much better! And the pic when me and my friend are running from the Geysir is hilarious haha. We knew that it would ‘explode’ any minute and we knew that the wind was in our direction so if the geysir would ‘explode’ we would get totally wet. But we really wanted to take a cool picture without the tourists but it didn’t go so good hahaha.. Well well, we got a funny pic and a lot of tourists in the background.

We also went to a cave that I’ve never been before. I’ve done the South coast trip many times but haven’t been to this cave and inside there was a waterfall. It was so beautiful! I don’t really know what to call it, cave is probably not the right word but it was a crack in the mountain and you needed to walk in to the crack to get to the waterfall. Really fun to explore! And our dog, Knútur, needed a lot of help through the way haha. He is the cutest. He isn’t the most flexible dog…. ;)

Love
xx
Jennifer

INSTAGRAM: Jenniferbergp & Cookitwithjen

Eyewear from Chimi and my swimsuit is from Lisa Blue

One of my best friends came for a visit this week, so nice to finally meet her again! And of course I took her to the Blue lagoon. It is a bit commercial but I still think it’s something you should have on your ‘to do list’ while you’re here in Iceland. Because you can’t find this kind of heated blue lagoon anywhere in the world.

Love
xx
Jennifer

INSTAGRAM: Jenniferbergp & Cookitwithjen

The other day me and S invited our friends for some awesome, and I mean, AWESOME ribs with a home made barbecue sauce. I had never done these before and I got this recipe from one of the funniest chefs I know in the world -Matty Matheson-. You just need to check him out, he has his own cooking program and you actually have a video when he does these ribs! I have put the recipe down here, and also the video. :)

Well, if you love ribs I really recommend to try this, it’s different from what I have done or eaten before and it’s spicy, and I LOVE spicy food. I also got bbq sauce left after I did these ribs, and it’s perfect to store in the freezer for another time. :)

I also did a welcome drink that was really good, a gin & tonic with blueberry and thyme.
Here is the recipe:

Handful of blueberries
2 sprigs of thyme (one for garnish)
1 tablespoon simple syrup (just cook 1dl water with 1dl sugar until all sugar melts)
1 shot of gin
Tonic water
Ice cubes

1. Add the blueberries, thyme, and simple syrup to a glass and muddle.
2. Add a shot of gin and then fill the glass with ice cubes.
3. Pour over the tonic water and garnish with another sprig of thyme.

For dessert I did my creme brûlée, again haha. But it’s seriously so good and I wanted to share it with our friends. I will post the recipe for you soon, and also step-by-step pictures on how to make it.

BACK-ALLEY RIBS

2kg. pork side ribs for 6 pers.
water
salt

For the pomegranate molasses barbecue sauce:
2 onions
5 jalapeños (use less if you don’t want it too spicy)
4 cloves garlic
1 knob of ginger
4 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons mace
1 tablespoon ground clove
2 tablespoons ground coriander
3 tablespoons smoked paprika
3 tablespoons Korean chili flakes
4 pomegranates (save some for garnish)
4 tablespoons molasses
4 tablespoons maple syrup
4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 cups water

For the dukkah:
white sesame seeds
black sesame seeds
pistachios
fennel seed
sunflower seeds
pumpkin seeds

For serving:
limes
pomegranates
cilantro
parsley

1) To cook the ribs, place ribs in a pot with cold, heavily salted water (make it taste like the ocean) and cover. Bring to a boil, then reduce to medium heat and let simmer. Skim the scum from the top. Cook until tender, about an hour and half.

2) To make the pomegranate molasses barbecue sauce, heat the canola oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Chop onions, garlic, jalapeño, and ginger and cook in the oil until golden brown. Add the cayenne, garlic powder, onion powder, mace, ground clove, ground coriander, smoked paprika, and Korean chili flakes. Add all of the seeds and juice from the pomegranates, then add the molasses, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, and water. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 1 hour. When cool, blend in a blender until smooth.

3) For the dukkah, take all the seeds and place in a blender. Blitz on pulse until crumbly. Place in a bowl and set aside.

4) Chop the parsley and cilantro and place in a bowl.

5) Heat your grill up really, really hot! Place ribs on grill and start basting with the barbecue sauce. You are gonna have to move quick here, so don’t crowd the grill. Glaze ribs, flip ribs, glaze ribs, flip ribs, until nice and sticky and charred. Repeat until all ribs are cooked

6) Place ribs on a nice cutting board and give them a final glaze of the barbecue sauce. Then sprinkle with the fresh-cut herbs and the dukkah. Slice the ribs into individual ribs for your guests. Add some lime wedges for a fresh hit of acid, squeeze some pomegranate juice and seeds on them, and you’re done.

Love
xx
Jennifer

INSTAGRAM: Jenniferbergp & Cookitwithjen

When I was in Sweden my mom had picked so much chanterelle mushrooms and I got a big bag of them to take home to Iceland. So lucky! In Sweden it’s like finding gold in the forest if you see these yellow mushrooms, they are very expensive if you buy them fresh in stores. I wish it would be easier to find fresh chanterelle here in Iceland, I’ve just seen it one or two times in Hagkaup. But someone told me they would come in later, so we will see.

I didn’t want to freeze these golden mushrooms, so me and S ate all of them in 3 days haha. We did chanterelle toast that is very classic to do in Sweden. You just fry them in a lot of butter with some salt, white pepper and parsley. Then serve it on a toasted bread slice, so simple and so good.

And then I did this delicious pasta, yum!

YOU NEED:
4 port.

500 g Pasta, tagliatelle
salt
olive oil

Chanterelle mushrooms and butter

3 shallot, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3dl creme 15%
3/4 stock cube (mushroom flavour)
about 1/2 dl of fresh theme, rosmarin and parsley, chopped
1/2dl creme fraiche
salt and pepper

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for serving

DO THIS:

Bring a large pot of water add a lot of salt and olive oil and let it boil.  Add the pasta and cook until al dente.

Meanwhile you’re cooking the pasta. Fry the chanterelle in a lot of butter until they get a nice brown colour and put it a side.

In a large pan over high heat, add some olive oil. Add garlic and the shallot, stir frequently for about 1 minute.

Add the creme and then the stock cube. Let it cook for 2-3 minutes. Lower the temperature. Add all the fresh herbs and then the creme fraiche, Stir everything together. Taste and adjust for seasoning. You can also add more creme if you need.

Add the pasta with some pasta water and the fried chanterelle, toss around. Serve with grated Parmesan.

ENJOY! :)

Love
xx
Jennifer

INSTAGRAM: Jenniferbergp & Cookitwithjen

This place is wonderful. Loved it very much and I will go back to it many times, hopefully! It’s not even that far from Reykjavik, about 40min driving and then 3km walking. It’s a perfect day trip and you also get a great exercise, perfect! So nice to just chill out in the hot spring after a walk in the mountains. We had some picnic with us and the weather was on top, so cosy. And our Knútur enjoyed it too. But he was so tired when we came home, he is not used to running in the mountains haha.

Love
xx
Jennifer

INSTAGRAM: Jenniferbergp & Cookitwithjen

My bf has turned 28 years old (almost 30) ;) haha. And I got flight tickets back just before his birthday. I had been away for 4 weeks and it felt so weird to be apart for so long… But finally I’m back with my boys.

We had the whole weekend to just be with each other and celebrate his birthday, also because it was a ‘holiday weekend’ in Iceland so S was free.

I did his favourite meal on his birthday of course, Hamburger haha. But I decided to do a luxury burger from scratch!! Own mayonnaise, own dressing and own bread! And yes, S was impressed ;) He was really satisfied! And for dessert I did my own Crème brulée, also a favourite. And I added a mango sorbet on the side.

Yesterday we had a family gathering for S, so I did my Strawberry cake again, but with different garnish. I covered the cake with meringue and burned it with a gas burner and topped it with fresh strawberries. And one cake wasn’t enough, so I did an ‘upside-down apple cake’ served with vanilla ice-cream and marble syrup, it turned out super good! Will definitely do it again. I found the recipe -here-, and there you have a video to see how it’s made. :)

JEN’S LUXURY BURGER

Hamburger bread: 

5.5 dl flour
25 g yeast
25 g butter
2.5 dl milk
0.5 tsp salt
1 egg

DO THIS:

1. Crumble the yeast into a bowl. You can buy dry yeast as well but I prefer fresh. Melt the butter in a pot.
2. Add the milk and stir. Heat to 37 degrees. Add the liquid in the bowl and stir until the yeast has dissolved.
3. Add salt and almost all the flour. Work the dough for 10 minutes in the machine or 15 minutes by hand.
4. Let rise for 40 minutes under a kitchen towel.
5. Knead the dough lightly with remaining flour. Roll into balls, one per bread.
6. Add a greaseproof paper on a oven plate, put the ‘balls’ there. Put a kitchen towel over and let it rise 30 minutes.
7. Preheat the oven to 225 degrees and brush the loaves with beaten egg.
8. Bake in the oven about 10 minutes until the bread gets golden.

Mayonnaise: 

1 egg
1-1.5 tsp Dijon mustard
1 pinch of salt
white pepper
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 dl neutral oil (not cold pressed! Gives to much taste)

DO THIS:
Place all ingredients in a tall cup. Use a hand blender and mix everything together. All the oil should be mixed in nicely and until the mayonnaise gets this white nice colour then it’s done. :)

You can keep it in the refrigerator for 1 week!

The best Hamburger dressing
It’s a secret recipe from ‘Shake Shack’, the best burger place in the world!!!

1,2 dl mayonnaise (I used my home made one)
4 slices of pickled cucumber with dill, it’s ok with the original too.
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika powder
A pinch of cayenne pepper

DO THIS:
Pour all ingredients into a container and use a hand blender until smooth. Season with a little more cayenne pepper if you want.

Caramelized onion

1 yellow onion and Butter

DO THIS:
Slice the onion and fry in a high heat pan with melted butter so it gets a little face, then lower the heat so the onion gets clear. Add more butter during frying.

And then you will need nice minced beef, cheddar cheese, fried bacon and salad, sliced thin!

DO THIS:

1. Take out the meat and divide it into portions, avoid mixing it too much, shape it easily to nice steaks.
2. Salt and pepper the steaks on both sides.
3. Then fry the meat in butter, high heat first, then a little lower. Turn the meat and add the cheese on the fried side.
4. Cut the new baked bread in half, fry them in a heated pan to get that final touch. Add the sliced salad. Serve the meat directly on the salad, continue with some bacon, then the onion and at least our home made dressing on the top.
5. Serve it with some home made sweet potato fries and some pickles.

ENJOY!!! :)

Love
xx
Jennifer

INSTAGRAM: Jenniferbergp & Cookitwithjen

My bikini is from Lisa Blue. Love that one and I got so many compliments about it. The colour suits me perfect as well, specially when you got tanned! ;) They have this one in black too. A very good thing about Lisa blue swimwear is that they donate 25% of the profits to saving whales and dolphins, so nice!! Please click the link here and read more about them. :)

One day in Croatia we decided to rent a boat and just explore a bit! :) Started the trip by going to Vis Island and it was so beautiful. There were random stops to explore along the cliffs of Vis Island and you could just jump off the boat into the crystal clear waters. Although the water was about 25 meters deep, it was so clear that you could see the bottom.

One of the places we went to was ‘Stiniva Beach’, you needed to park the boat and swim in to the hidden beach. Luckily our boat guy had a waterproof bag so I could carry my camera with me!

Another nice stop we did was at ‘Palmizana‘, they had a nice beach and very good restaurants. We stayed there a long time and had some champagne at their beach club called ‘Laganin’. :)

Love
xx
Jennifer

INSTAGRAM: Jenniferbergp & Cookitwithjen

What can I say, this place is beautiful, magical and full of joy! Me and my 7 girl friends went to Hvar in Croatia for one week, and I have a lot of photos to share with you so I will cut it down in different posts.

We took the flight from Gothenburg to Split and then the ferry over to the Island Hvar. We stayed in three small apartments in the old town with a gorgeous view. It was so pretty everywhere and the food was so good. I ate octopus almost every day haha, had cravings for that all the time… My friends stopped asking me what I was gonna have from the menu, because they knew if it was octopus there I would choose that haha. So yummy.

It was a lot of after beach partys, so you ended up there almost everyday haha. It was so much fun and so nice to just be in a bikini and party! Wish I could do that more often. ;) One place we were at called Hula Hula, one of the best after beach partys I’ve been to, you need to go there if you’re planning to visit Hvar.

More to come. :)

Love
xx
Jennifer

INSTAGRAM: Jenniferbergp & Cookitwithjen

These jumpsuits are mine and are from ASOS and NA-KD// Shoes from left are from H&M and to the right Malene Birger 

Some of our guy friends had an awesome garden party on Saturday! We had such a fun evening and the party turned out so good! These guys know how to throw a party haha. We were there quite early, already at 18.00 and the weather turned out to be OK, very thankful for that! And then we had some dinner with live music, so cozy! The night was full of dance and of course at the end I thought that I was the best DJ ever hahaha. So typical!

I have been in Borås a few days now and tomorrow we are finally flying to Croatia, we are 8 girls and we are going to stay there for 1 week. It’s gonna be so nice!! :)

Good night all, early flight is waiting…

Love
xx
Jennifer

INSTAGRAM: Jenniferbergp & Cookitwithjen