What a great night at the Sons of Norway meeting here in Green Bay. We were thrilled to be asked along and really enjoyed the wide spread of nordic offerings. There is a film below showing all the huge range of delightful dishes, but this blog perhaps ought to be renamed; Gas Station Delight.

When we were invited along and heard that everyone was bringing along dishes I thought I had better think up something which was unlikely to already be taken. Hence:-

Gas Station Delight

Wherever you go in Norway if you were to stop at a Gas Station it is highly likely that the first thing you saw as you walked into the store would be the Hot Dogs. As you are being served your Dog they often ask, “Do you want shrimp sauce on that?” It therefore is a Norwegian delicacy.

So I recreated it. This was all for fun but it turned out to be really enjoyed by many who tried it.

This basically is a shrimp and hot dog salad. I am thrilled that I have been asked for the recipe. So here for the forthcoming Sons of Norway newsletter is the magical ‘how to’ of my new Norwegian tradition. (If you are in Wisconsin and want to know more about Sons of Norway in Green Bay pop in a comment and I will give you contact details – BTW there are S.O.N. groups all over America.)

I bought good quality cooked hot dogs and sliced them quite thin and then I mixed them into the salad. In Britain I would describe the salad as a prawn cocktail and it is easy to make. Mix Ketchup (Tomato Sauce to you fellow Brits) with mayo till it is nicely pink (if it is leading to red you have too much Ketchup). I decided not to use garlic mayo in case there were some there who didnt’ like it. I bought a pound of shelled ready-cooked shrimp and snipped them small with scissors (If the tail is on take it off first) . Actually I snipped them off the tail shell bit and dropped those bits in a bag to freeze to make a later fish stock. I added a little thinly sliced cabbage but you might prefer onion if you are racey.

I told you it was simple. It worked really well.

In a Pickle

I also added a dish of surkal (Spelling?) of my own design. I knew there would be some Rodkal (Spelling?) there, indeed there was a great version on offer. I had seen a celebrity chef show when at my mum’s in Scarborough (check pronunciation) where they made instant pickles so I thought I would give it a go. I will be playing around with other variants using different fresh veg and perhaps herbs and spices now I know it works, but here goes…

I thinly sliced cabbage, and dropped it into boiling organic apple cider vinegar then turned it off and popped the lid on for a while. It really worked

Do feel free to make suggestions of future additions.

Now for the footage and fun photos…

Ah, I’ve found a pic of my pickle, it’s on Heidi’s plate here…

Here is footage of the wonderful S.O.N. supper, including Gas Station Delight

My fave Gas Station – Joker in Gudvangen, Norway

It is a family business…

A fun and friendly family

Back to Green Bay, and that supper.

There was some jealousy…

And some anxiety

But back to recipes – and this time proper British!

Here’s a how to…

“Chips! Proper chips!”

(I snip off a bit and drop it in first, when it starts to fizzle it is time for the rest.)

If you can leave them till they are sticking together all the better, but don’t risk burning them.

They are best drained before serving.

So don’t invite too many people!

You might prefer ketchup or mayo, I do know you must add lots of salt (Himalayan) and ground mixed pepper corns, but the real way is with Maggie (Hydrolised vegetable protein), splosh it on.