Lingonberry goes Christmas

I'm a Christmas person. I start waiting for it in September. When I was a kid I drove my parents mad when I insisted listening to Christmas songs at June! So little bit of Christmas in baking is okay now.

In this recipe I combined the traditional gingerbread taste with winter´s best berry: lingonberry. It's like sweet and sour mixed with Christmas. Wonderful!








Lingonberry-yogurt pie with a taste of Christmas

1 egg
0,5 dl brown sugar
2 tablespoon dark syrup
100 g melted butter
1 dl wheat flour
1,5 dl spelt flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground clove
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Filling:

4 dl greek yogurt
2 teaspoons vanilla sugar
0,5-1 dl sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon corn starch
3-4 dl lingonberries

Preheat the oven to 200 Celsius degrees. First let's make the base. Mix together wheat and spelt flour, spices, baking powder and vanilla sugar. Whisk the egg with brown sugar to make a fluffy foam. Add syrup and mix. Add the melted butter and flour mixture by turns. Take a pie plate, butter and flour it and press the dough evenly into the plate.

Then the filling: Just mix everything but the lingonberries together and add on the dough. Sprinkle the lingonberries on top. And then to the oven for 30 minutes to 50 minutes, test when the yogurt is set.

Funnel chanterelle soup

I'm so disappointed that we didn't have the time to go funnel chanterelle hunting to the Eastern Finland this year. That's usually our tradition. But I had to have those beautiful mushrooms so the local market place was the place to go.

This soup is perfect for rainy, cold, almost winter evenings. Don't add butter if you want it vegan.

Music for the food

Funnel chanterelle soup

1 l fresh funnel chanterelle
2 little onions
1 big potato (the kind that you would use for mash)
oil
(1 tblsp butter)
7 dl vegetable stock
2 dl oat cream (Oatly)
salt
black pepper

Put some oil (and the butter) to melt on a kettle. Add the chopped onions and let them simmer in the kettle until soft. Add the chopped mushrooms. Fry them for a while. Add the vegetable stock with diced potato. Let the mixture simmer for about 20 minutes and then add the oat cream. Puree the mixture and spice it with salt and pepper. Yummy!

Toffee biscuits

Lately I've been having these "I-really-wanna-bake-something" feelings. But usually we don't like to eat the goodies. So we don't bake sweet things that often. Yesterday I had that feeling again. I wanted to bake but what to bake? Biscuits!! Because I remembered the perfect recipe from my aunt. I used to love these biscotti-type of sweets. They taste like toffee and are super easy. And you can just have one with coffee now and then and have a jar of biscuits waiting in the cupboard.

Music for the biscuit baking session

Toffee biscuits

200 g butter
200 g brown sugar
1 egg yolk
2 tblsp brown syrup
3 tsp vanilla sugar
5 dl wheat flour (you can replace some with spelt flour)
2 tsp baking soda


Heat the oven to 200 Celsius degrees. Make sure the butter is room temperature and whisk it with brown sugar to make a foamy base. Add the egg yolk and whisk again. Mix the syrup with the butter-sugar-egg-mixture. In another bowl mix together the flour, vanilla sugar and baking soda. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix again. There you go! Now we have the biscuit dough. Split the dough into 4 pieces that are same size and roll every piece into a bar that is about 2 cm thick and the length of your baking tray. Add all the bars to your baking tray. The dough will spread when baked. Bake the biscuits for 20 to 30 minutes. They are ready when they are toffee brown. Cut the biscuits while they are hot. Enjoy!

Forest boletus pasta

The autumn is here! And we couldn't wait to go to the forest to pick up some mushrooms. And there were quite a few. I love the smell of the forest in the autumn. You can actually taste it in the mushrooms, too. Today we found lots of little boletus mushrooms, just enough to make a perfect dinner pasta dish for two. We added a little bit of bacon also but to keep it vegetarian just forget the bacon and add more mushrooms. And actually the taste was a bit better without the bacon.

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Forest boletus pasta

200 g fresh fettucine pasta (you can take the recipe from this lasagna recipe. But it's easy to remember also: add 1 egg to 100 g of flour with a hint of salt.)

1 onion

2 garlic cloves

150 g fresh boletus mushrooms in pieces

(70 g bacon in cubes)

1 tblsp butter

some fresh basil, chopped

salt 

pepper

squeeze of lemon juice

goat cheese

olive oil

If you use bacon, fry the bits on the pan. Add the pieces of boletus mushrooms with butter. Then add the chopped onion and garlic to the pan also. Fry them gently.

Boil the fresh pasta in salty water for few minutes. When the pasta is ready, take 1 dl of the pasta water (to be used later on) and drain the pasta. Take a big bowl, mix the pasta water with goat cheese, chopped basil, lemon juice and few drops of olive oil. The pasta should be well separated.

Serve the pasta with the boletus-bacon-fry and a slice of goat cheese on top.

Summer salmon soup

We've been trying to fish for a few times now but the devils are so smart that they just nibble the worm from our hook and line and stay in the lake. So we had to buy our fish from the store instead. For me this is one of the most luxurious foods and one of my favorite foods. It's so simple, it's traditional Finnish and the fact of buying a whole fish for it makes it something special. You make it with love.

Music for the food

Salmon soup

Half salmon (about 400 gr)
new potatoes
1 spring onion, chopped
2-4 garlic cloves
dill
water
2 dl cream
salt
black pepper
1 bay leaf


Soften the chopped onion in a butter on a kettle. Add the chopped garlic a bit later. Add water (not too much) and spices. Let them boil and add potatoes. When the potatoes are half done add the fish (we also used the gutted bits and pieces from the whole fish. It gives extra flavor to the soup. If you use those, remember to take the bones away and boil the bits before you add potatoes.) Cook until everything is done and then add the cream. Let is boil just a while and check the flavor.



With the soup
sour cream
1 garlic clove
salt

malt bread crutons

Mix minced garlic to the sour cream and add salt. Serve with the soup.

Lemony goat cheese lasagna

Italian food! We both adore it. The taste of every single ingredient, fresh tomatoes, herbs and everything. The meditative process of doing the food from the beginning, also the lasagna strips. The making of it is the perfect quality time for long weekend days, and the taste is heavenly!

Music for the recipe

Lasagna strips:

2 dl durum flour
2 dl basic wheat flour
3 eggs
1 tblsp salt

Mix the two flour and salt together. Add eggs and knead the dough about 10 minutes until it's tough but elastic. Make a ball from the dough and wrap a cling film onto it. Put it to the refrigerator for the time you're making the sauces.


Red sauce:

6 cloves of garlic
3 chopped red onions
few fresh plum tomatoes (buy the trusses of tomatoes) and few pieces of the tomato stem
5 dl tomato passata
oil
water
chili pepper
salt
pepper

Chop the onions and garlic cloves. Add oil to the pan and soften the onions. Add the fresh tomatoes whole and throw a few pieces of stem from the tomato too (it gives the perfect tomato flavor to the sauce!). Add tomato passata and some water, not too much. Let the sauce simmer about half an hour or until you finish everything else. Add spices.


Green sauce:

300 g fresh spinach (frozen is ok, too)
3 dl almond milk
150 g cream cheese
100 g goat cheese
2 cloves of garlic
lemon zest from 1 lemon
lemon juice from 1 lemon
salt
pepper
nutmeg

Fry the spinach on the pan to make them soft. Chop the garlic cloves and add to the pan with everything else. Let the sauce simmer so the goat cheese melts into the sauce.


The lasagna:

On top of the lasagna:
100 g goat cheese

Warm up the oven to 200 Celsius degrees. Make the lasagna strips with a pasta machine or just roll them thing with an empty wine bottle. When everything is ready, grease a lasagna pan. Add a layer  of red sauce first. Add a layer of lasagna strips. Add green sauce layer. Keep continuing like this. The most top layer should be a green one. Put a cover on the lasagna pan. Put the lasagna in the oven for a half an hour or until it's done. Then add pieces of goat cheese on top and put the lasagna on the upper level in the oven to get a beautiful crust on top of it. It takes about 15 minutes but check the lasagna regularly. Take the lasagna from the oven and let it sit. Serve with good red wine in a good company!

Good morning, Asparagus!

It's asparagus season! And we love it. This morning we woke up and started to think about breakfast. We didn't have anything special but what we did have was asparagus, eggs, avocados and basil. Simple is the best. So here is a dish that is worthy of a fine dining restaurant menu. Luxury in the easiest way to your mornings.

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Asparagus, poached egg, hollandaise and avocado platter
for 2

Put a cast iron pan to the stove to heat up (for the asparagus). Then jump in to making the sauce:

Hollandaise sauce: 
 2 egg  yolks
1/4 dl water
1 tblsp vinegar
50 g clarified butter (ghee)
splash of lemon juice
salt

Put the egg yolks, water and vinegar to a metallic bowl and put the bowl over the simmering water bath. Whisk constantly for a minute or two until the mixture is slightly thickened. Take the bowl away from the heat and add the clarified butter slowly while whisking constantly. Add the lemon juice and salt.

Asparagus:
4 asparagus stalks
butter and oil

Peel of the asparagus stalks thinly (not the buds). Cut the wooden, white end of the stalk away so that the stalks fit to your pan. By now the cast iron pan should be hot so add a drop of oil and butter to it and let it melt. Put the asparagus stalks to the pan. It takes about 2 minutes per side but check it out yourself.

Poached eggs:
2 eggs
cling film

Put a kettle with water to boil (use the boiling water that you used when making the sauce). There are a few ways to make poached egg, use the one you are familiar with. We made it like this: Put a piece of a cling film on top of a glass so that the film makes a little nest for the egg. Crack the egg on top of the film and make a little bag and wrap it tight. Put the egg bags into the boiling water, keep the top of the bag out of the water. Boil 5 minutes, after that remove the cling film and put the egg in to the plate.

Serve everything with avocados and basil and a hint of parmesan cheese.

Falafel and quinoa surprise

Falafel is one of the foods that goes along with both of us when wanting a hearty, almost meaty, protein dish. It's also easy and cheap to make, especially if you buy lots of dried chickpeas at once. But we also keep ready-made chickpeas in our cupboard, if we need to make a quick food after work or when just hungry and lazy. They are also perfect for a quick hummus desire. We usually make the falafel in the oven, not frying in a pan or deep-frying (because it's easier and healthier that way) but you can choose the way you want to cook them.

Quinoa is a newer friend in our kitchen. This quinoa salad was actually made from what we had in our refrigerator. So also a perfect quicker-than-falafel dish. You can make this as you are waiting the falafel to cook in the oven.

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Falafel balls
about 20-25 balls

1 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 dl onion, chopped
3 1/2 dl chickpeas, soaked and boiled
3/4 dl whole-wheat flour
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp cumin
drop of Naga chili sauce or chopped chili of your choice
1,5 dl coriander or parsley, chopped
1 tbsp tahini
1/2 lemon juice
salt
pepper
1-2 tbsp water, if needed

First fry the chopped onion (not garlic) on the pan with olive oil to make them tender and sweet. Add all the other ingredients on a large bowl (or straight to blender) and grind them together. I like to leave some texture to the mix but you can make it quite smooth, too. Check the taste, add spices if needed and add the soft onion to the mix. Then just mix together (not in blender anymore). If the mixture feels too dry and you cannot make a ball out of it, add a bit water to it. Roll the balls and cook them in the oven, 200 degrees about 30 minutes.

Quinoa surprise salad

3 dl quinoa
6 dl water
1 tsp salt

4 spring onions
1 sweet red pepper
1 bunch of romaine salad
1 dl salty peanuts

sauce:
1 bunch of parsley
1 dl of salty peanuts
1 garlic clove
1/2 lemon juice
1 dl olive oil
1 tsp honey
salt
pepper

Put the water to boil, add the salt to it. Rinse the dry quinoa under the cold water and add to the boiling water. It takes about 15-20 minutes the quinoa to be ready. Slice the spring onions, chop the pepper and salad to the bowl. Make the sauce for the salad: put all the sauce ingredients in a blender and mix until smooth. Mix the boiled quinoa and sauce to salad base. Garnish with peanuts.

Fake meatballs with Zucchini and tomato sauce

And we're back! Now actually one of us is studying to be a cook so recipes in our household are developing quickly. This fake meatball recipe has been on our test kitchen quite a few times, just to find out the perfect taste and texture. I love meatballs and the battle first started when I challenged Z to make real meatballs and "meatballs" from soybean meal. And then I would be the judge which ones would be the best. Nowaydays I don't even want to eat real meatballs anymore, these are my favorites.

This dish is a tribute to the classic Italian meatball pasta dish but with a vegetarian twist. The delicious soya meal balls, the tasty and rich tomato sauce that has been cooked for hours and lighter version to replace the pasta: zucchini slices.

Music for this recipe

Fake meatballs (soybean meal balls) with Zucchini and perfect tomato sauce 
for 4


The balls:
6 dl of light or dark or mixed soybean meal (granules)
1 vegetable stock cube
water
1/2 dl olive oil
1 onion
3-5 garlic cloves
1/4 of Habanero chili
fresh herbs of your taste (basil, coriander, rosemary...)
salt
pepper
1/2 packet Philadelphia-cheese
1 egg

Tomato sauce:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion
3 garlic cloves
1 tsp honey
about 15 cherry tomatoes
4 dl tomato passata (puree)
fresh basil
1,5 dl red wine
2 dl almond milk
salt
pepper

Zucchini:
2 large zucchinis
salt
water


Do the balls:  Put the soybean meals into a large bowl and crush the vegetable stock cube there too. Add plenty of water so that all the granules are under the water. Let them just soak there for half an hour. Meantime you can chop the onion to little bits and sauté it on a pan. Also chop the garlics, chili and herbs. Mix oil, onion, garlic, chili, herbs, salt and pepper in a bowl. After the granules have soaked up take balls between your hands and squeeze all the water out of it. Then add the soybean granules to the bowl with oil-spice-mix. The point is that we do not want extra water to the soybean meal ball mixture. Blend it all together. Add 1/2 packet of Philadelphia and one egg to the mixture and mix it all up. Taste the dough and add spices if you want. Leave the mixture to rest in a refrigerator for an half an hour.

Heat the oven to 175 degrees. Roll the balls and place in a baking tray. Bake in the oven for about 30-40 minutes.

Tomato sauce: Put oil on the pan and chop the onion and garlic and sautée them. Add the honey to make the taste a bit caramelized. Half the cherry tomatoes and add to the pan. Fry a bit, no too much. Add the tomato passata (Mutti is the one we use), red wine, handful fresh basil leaves, salt and pepper. Let the sauce simmer in a low temperature for an hour or two depending how patient you are. The taste just gets better depending on how long you let it simmer. You can actually do the sauce first and while waiting for it do the balls or just drink the red wine. When you're done with the waiting check the taste and add the almond milk to soften the taste a bit. Add more basil leaves on top.

Zucchini: Rinse the zucchinis and slice them lenghtwise just like you would make tagliatelle. Peeler is great for this! Put a kettle full of water and a pinch of salt in it and on a stove to make it boil. When the water boils, add the zucchini slices. Now you have to be quick, because we want the zucchini to be al dente. So just put them there, max. 20-30 seconds depending on the thickness of the slices. Then take them away and drain.

After all these are done it's time to eat! Add the zucchini slices on a pasta plate, then the balls and add the beautifully rich tomato sauce on top. Then sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top. And there you have the perfect fake meatball, fake pasta dish that is simply delicious and you want be feeling as quilty after this (compared to eating a real meatball pasta dish).