‘Rustic Scandinavian seafood stew with a pinch of saffron & lots of dill’

As I was cooking this in the kitchen, together Mr. N and I smelled the fresh dill and began talking about summer. He instantly thought of new potatoes and I thought of freshly grilled fish cought from the lake… and this brought me back to last years memories at my sister-in-laws and brothers summer house when we were fishing in the lake. We cought lots of  perch that we grilled and smoked afterwards, so delicious and what great times we had! There is something about dill that goes hand in hand with our nordic summers. Dill is the meaning of summer and lakeside, we could not do without it!

This seafood stew brings you back to those lovely warm evenings by the sea where the seagulls screech at the dock and the evening reflects beautifully of the amazing clean waters. There is a smell of smoke from the sauna, an occasional mosquito buzzing around your ear and a sense of calmness, like nowhere else. The key to this stew is to use smoked shrimps and a pinch of saffron. Of course, smoking the shrimps yourself would be even better, but for my convenience we bought them directly from the store. The smokiness adds a lovely country-like aroma to the seafood while the saffron brings a ray of sunlight and a subtle luxuriousness to the background.  This dish is an impressive dinner party starter, everyone can dive in the middle and eat with their hands and dip that lovely grilled rustic bread in the white wine sauce. It really is easy to make and takes about 15 minutes to complete! This dish was the perfect start to Easter with a cold glass of Chablis wine! Bon appetit!

Ingredients ( 2 large plates)

• 1 kg Mussels
• 200 g Smoked Shrimps
• Butter
• About 1 cup Dry white White
• About 1 cup Fish Stock
• A few threads of Saffron
• 1-2 Shallots
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• thyme/ Dill
• 3 cloves Garlic
• Handful of Red & Yellow cherry tomatoes

Directions

De-beard the mussels and remove the dead ones. Any easy way to check if they are alive, is by tapping them and if they do not close, they are dead, thus throw away. Once cleaned, begin making the stew.

In a heated large sauce pan, add a dollop of butter and the shallots and garlic. Stir around for a couple of minutes so they become translucent. Stir in the thyme, saffron, dijon and cherry tomatoes. Add in the dry white wine and fish stock and let it boil for a minute or so. Add in the muscles and smoked prawns and close the lid of the pan and let them steam for about 3-5 minutes. Stir the seafood around once in a while so the flavours mix and the mussels begin to open. Serve with grilled rustic bread, slices of lemon and lots of fresh dill.