The Wind in the Willows (kaislikossa suhisee)

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Do you have a sound that you love? I do have, and it comes from rowing a boat among the reeds. the reeds in a lakeAs far as my knowledge goes, we have two types of reeds in the lake where our summer house is located. They grow in a small bay near to us, and this bay is also a hiding place for pikes. They seem to like shallow water.reeds in the lake During my last visit to the summer house, there was one day when the temperature climbed to 25C. I took our rowing boat with my husband and we headed to the reeds for a “water safari”. We did not see any pikes, but it was nice anyway. rowing among the reedsI have tried to illustrate the rowing in the reeds experience by sharing these photos, and if you are intrigued, like my new “Pearlspotting” page on Facebook and you can access a short video to hear the sound that I love.

What does Finnish barbeque look like?

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On our first night in Helsinki, we were invited to eat barbeque with my brother and his girlfriend. They had made the groceries, so all we needed to do was to go outside, set the fire and start waiting for food to be ready!barbeque: tomatoes, chicken, sausagesThey started grilling sausages, chicken and tomatoes (we had prepared an olive oil, garlic and herbes de Provence dip for the tomatoes). garlic, herbs and olive oil dip for tomatoesTomatoes turned out delicious, and so did the chicken! It was one of the best chicken I have ever eaten (the best grilled chicken in this world is served at Le Tyrolien in Algiers…).

The next set of food to be grilled included halloumi cheese and blue cheese-stuffed mushroom. My husband’s favorite. Very tasty and so easy to make.  halloumi and blue cheese mushroomFinally, there was only a slice of salmon left. It was rather easy and fast to grill it without the usual aluminum foil. Don’t you just love the presentation of salmon on sausages…?salmon and sausagesFor dessert we had grilled, sliced pineapple with cardamom-flavored whipped cream. Yummy!

PS In case you wonder where these cute, colorful plates come from, they are Finnish made and designed by Iittala (www.iittala.com). The plates come in many colors (unfortunately no longer in brown) and can be found here: https://www.iittala.com/Tableware/Plates-and-bowls/c/Plates%20and%20bowls?q=%3Aname-asc%3Atype%3APlates+and+bowls%3Aseries%3ATeema

Short stay in Helsinki (my personal highlights)

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After the summer house we spent only two full days in Helsinki. It was a brief visit, and it rained very often, so we did not get to visit as much as we had planned. But this short stay was very pleasant and I made a mental note of returning to Helsinki again this autumn (each year I say this, and then by the time the cold weather begins in Paris, we prefer to travel to warmer places. Let’s see about this autumn). The Senate Square, Helsinki

Some highlights of our Helsinki visit were (not in any particular order):

  • Walking around Kauppatori (The Market Square) and Senaatintori (The Senate Square): watch the luxury cruise ships leave for Tallinn and Stockholm, admire the architecture dating back to the first part of the 19th century (the Russian rule), contemplating at the market by the sea whether to buy a reindeer skin or one kilo of strawberries!
  • Visiting Artek, the world famous Finnish design and furniture shop (http://www.artek.fi/index.html). A must! Artek
  • “Grillata“: prepare and eat Finnish barbeque (which includes salmon of course). For cooking ideas, see What does Finnish barbeque look like?
  • Kappeli (http://www.kappeli.fi/): this restaurant/bar/cafe opened in 1867. It is a Helsinki institution and located in a beautiful, wooden building right by the Market Square. We had just coffee.
  • Putte’s Bar (http://www.puttes.fi/): I ate a very good Funghi pizza that came with chanterelle mushrooms. I loved the pizza but I have two remarks about the place: I had made a reservation and we were seated downstairs, in the darkest corner. Also the wine is super expensive (like almost everywhere in Finland).
  • Liberty or Death (http://libertyordeath.fi/): we drunk cocktails with famous ice hockey players. Could it get more Finnish?
  • Alppitori (http://www.ravintolatori.fi/alppila/): they have excellent hamburgers. My chicken burger came with avocados. My husband’s burger came with crispy bacon. And the best part is that they have French rosé wine for 25€ per bottle.
  • Siltanen (http://www.siltanen.org/): we had drinks at this club/bar/restaurant that I like very much. It is trendy and hip, and has that industrial feeling. They have DJs and groups playing almost every night.

Time went by very fast and sooner than I realized, I was sitting in an airplane looking at those thousands of tiny islands scattered around Helsinki and its coastline. Helsinki archipelago

How to survive 36C in Paris?

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I left Finland for Paris yesterday. Weather in Finland was not the greatest during my holidays, but it is not ideal in Paris either:  today the mercury may climb to 36C and the entire week is supposed to be hot.

Since there is no beach to go to in here, how does one survive in Paris during a heat wave (une canicule)?

1. Before you go to sleep, take a towel or a tissue, and sink it in cold water. Then place it on your body (head, legs, stomach, whatever). Amazing! It really helps. And stays fresh and cool for a long time.

2. Close the shutters. It keeps the sun light and the heat outside. I usually hate shutters (even curtains), but this is a must. Think about Provence: there is a reason why all houses have shutters and why they are closed even during the day time. Parisian shutters3. Drinking: Drink water but also fruit juices. I learned this in the Sudanese dessert: fruit juices are excellent for hydrating the body, considered better than water by the Sudanese nomads. I am not following this rule very carefully, as I am half way through my second big cup of coffee, and coffee and sodas should be avoided…

4. Eating: Eat fruits. Make salads. Serve tapas. For example, I often make a salad which is a mixture of different types of melon, cucumber, feta cheese and boiled potatoes. As simple as that, and delicious. Or prepare tomato & mozzarella. Make tabouleh. Enjoy gravlax (smoked salmon) and smoked fish (served cold, and rich in vitamins).

5. Go to movies! Cinemas have a cooling system that most apartments in Paris don’t. But before you purchase a ticket, make sure the AC works…

Now that I have shared with you my personal survival tricks, please tell me what yours are!

 

 

Very easy tartiflette

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The sun is back and we had tartiflette for lunch at our summerhouse terrace.lunch at summer house terraceThe recipe I used could not be easier: put sliced potatoes (peeled), onions, garlic and thinly-cut smoked duck into a glass bowl. Mix. Add cream and black & white pepper. Mix again. Add special tartiflette cheese on the top of the ingredients. Cook under aluminum foil for 1h – 1h30 minutes. Enjoy with either red wine or dry white wine (for example AOC Vin de Savoie Apremont).tartiflette

PS Duck can be replaced by lardon. To give more taste, onions and garlic can be sautéed in a frying pan.

Our beautiful lake has turned into a monster!

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This is what our lake looked like yesterday evening.  Colours were stunning but we could see the storm approaching… beautiful view of a Finnish lakeAnd this is the view tonight! The wind is so strong that it disturbs the internet connection. We cannot go and check the fishing nets. Hoping  for a better day tomorrow. It is barely 10C but after posting these photos I will head to the sauna to warm my bones…. storm at a Finnish lake

The 24 hour lamb leg

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July 14 is the French National Day, also called Bastille Day. We are in Finland at the moment, far away from Paris celebrations, but my parents decided to create a special meal for their French son-in-law.

Two days before the big day we begun defrosting a lamb leg, bought at the local farm. On the eve we placed the leg in the largest bowl we found at the summer house and covered it with olive oil. We then added herbes de Provence (mixture of dried herbs), fresh rosemary, thyme stems and black pepper, with only a little bit of salt. Next we cut plenty of garlic into small pieces and put them on the lamb, not forgetting to place (unpeeled) garlic cloves aside in the bowl.preparing 24 hour lamb legIn the end, we added a cup of water, covered the leg with aluminum foil and put it in oven. At the summer house we have a traditional Finnish oven called leivinuuni, which is specifically made for cooking: excellent for making crunchy pizza, bread, overnight porridge, meats, etc. The moment we started cooking the lamb leg, it was around 110C inside the oven.Traditional Finnish oven, leivinuuniThe next morning I moistened the leg with juice that had come out of the lamb. The dish was looking good. I repeated this a few times during the day. In the evening, after approximately 24 hours, we removed the leg from the oven. The temperature had decreased to 50C. My Mom had prepared a green salad with home-grown tomatoes, cucumber, olives, feta cheese, onion and basil leaves. My husband served red wine (AOC Côtes du Luberon). The lamb leg was excellent: juicy, not greasy, not dry; just perfect. The garlic cloves melted in the mouth. France was properly honored!

PS I did not have time to do it yesterday, but today I prepared some eggplants (with olive oil and herbs), and we finished the lamb with oven-baked eggplants.

Finnish fish tajine (part 2)

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Yesterday’s fish tajine turned out excellent and I thought to write down the recipe before I forget it. Finnish Fish Tajine

PREPARATION (see also the previous post Finnish fish tajine (part 1)

  • Peel and cut potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, eggplant, and place them in a large bowl (clay pot gives deeper taste but glass is fine, too)
  • Add spices: couscous mix, coriander powder and crushed coriander seeds, curcuma (also called turmeric), paprika, cinnamon sticks, lemon pepper and harissa paste
  • Add olive oil (in addition I used oil from a sundried tomato jar and it gave a lot of taste!)
  • Add fish broth (I used homemade frozen burbot broth)
  • Peel a lemon and cut it into thin slices
  • Add green olives

Mix everything thoroughly. Add fish pieces in the end (I had frozen pieces of burbot, which is an excellent fish for tajines and stews because of its solid texture). Leave the dish to marinate in the fridge for several hours. Heat the oven to 250C. Let the dish cook during one hour. The fact that the dish was cooked under a rather high temperature gave the vegetables a lot of taste (in fact the trick is to let the vegatables to almost-burn! but in order not to burn them totally, you should keep stirring the dish regularly). Finnish fish burbot tajineEnjoy “Finnish fish tajine” with cool rosé wine, for example AOC Côtes du Luberon from the South of France. Serve harissa aside for those who like it hot. I am confident to say that your dinner will be a great success!

PS I was a little bit in a hurry, but to prepare the dish more properly you should probably heat up the spices, garlic and onion in a frying pan (it is important to “open up the spices”with oil). Secondly, if you don’t have burbot, try to find a similar type of fish that has firm texture. Lastly, should you want to save money and do something even easier, try with canned tuna.

Finnish fish tajine (part 1)

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When the sun shines in Finland, one has to enjoy it. So, when I spend time at the summer house by the lake, I try to do as much as I can outside. Even my cooking preparations!

My parents have burbot (made in Finnish) in the freezer (it is a winter fish), so today I decided to make a fish and vegetable stew. I invented a recipe as I was advancing. I started peeling and cutting potatoes, carrots, eggplants and onions. I placed them in a large bowl and added garlic, green olives, couscous spices, harissa, slices of lemon and olive oil, and left the dish to marinate in the fridge for several hours. It is in the oven now and will be eaten after the sauna. I wonder if it will taste anything like a Tunisian fish tajine? Probably not, but I am sure it will be tasty on its own curious way… As my husband brought with him some rosé wine from the South of France (AOC Côtes du Luberon), and I think it our dinner will be just fine! cooking at the summer house in Finland

PS Burbot is an excellent fish, but unfortunately many people are afraid to buy it because of its weird looks. Some people consider it difficult to prepare, too (getting rid of the skin etc.). This is a pity, because the texture of the fish is wonderful for preparation of many types of dishes. If you have your special burbot dish, I would love to hear about it!