Itsenäisyyspäivä the french way

The finnish Independance Day (december 6) deserve something special for dinner, to celebrate the event properly. And so we made a veal entrecôte "à la normande" (the Normandy way). The entrecôtes are seared a couples minutes each side, and flambé with calvados (apple brandy). Once it's done, put the meat on the side, and deglaze the pan with a glass of dry french cider (from Normandy or Brittany, depending on what you can find in shops). Add a bit of veal stock, let reduce the liquid for a few minutes, then add a few spoons of thick cream (like crème fraiche), salt & pepper, and put the entrecôtes back in the sauce to finish the cooking. The meat should be pink, and soft when touched with a finger. During this time, cut in slices or cubes a few acidic apples (like granny smith), and gently roast them in butter, add a bit of black pepper and a pinch a caster sugar until almost soft. They should have a bit of crunchiness left in them. Dress the plate sauce first, then the meat, and finally the apples on top. Serve with a light red from the Loire valley, or why not a chilled bottle of cider. Delish.

Almost Fisherman's pies

Take small ovenproof dishes, and fill them with whatever fishes or shellfishes you fancy. In our case it's cod, prawns and butter pan fried button mushrooms...

... then cover the mix with a creamy sauce made of fish stock, milk, cream, bit of flour, butter, dill and a bit of lemon juice. Now - and this is the critical moment - if you want to make a classic english Fisherman's pie, you add a layer of mash potatoes on top of the sauce.

15-20 min. in the oven at 175, and it's ready to serve. In our case, these fish pies were meant as a starter. For a main, the real Fisherman's pie is ideal. Don't forget a pint of ale.

 

Ooh what a disco sound

 Something to lift the mood as we enter winter...

THE GIBSON BROTHERS ooh what a life (1979 Official Audio)  

Wonderful Wonder

Stevie Wonder's 1982 classic hit "Do I do" in 12 inch extended version, with jazz legend Dizzy Gillespie at the trumpet and SW himself at the harmonica. One of the greatest piece of funk ever released, for me on par with Michael Jackson's "Don't stop till you get enough" (posted on this blog). The last 2min. see SW rapping on the beat. Genius...

Biking week-end in and around Hämeenlinna

We spent a week-end in Hämeenlinna, touring the city and the general area (roughly 50km) with our bikes. We did finish the 1st day having a diner in restaurant Carl-Wilhelm in Vanajanlinna, which is a golf resort & hotel, 8km outside the city. If you've never been to Hämeenlinna, there's a lot to discover, with some lovely landscapes. And the food is not bad either.

Cheesy - The Rolling Cheese

Cheese monger "The Rolling Cheese" in Töölö: 3 small pieces of (very) good french hard cheeses without bread or anything else + 2 glasses of ordinary french red wine: 47€.  If it's not a scam, I don't know what is! 

Now, this is what you can have at home...

... or that, and the ratio price/quality/quantity is still a better deal

Cherries on top

Today is the french national day (called the Bastille Day in anglo-saxon countries), and for the occasion we're making a classic french dessert, a "Clafoutis aux Cerises" or cherry clafoutis. The recipe below comes from - believe it or not - a tv program magazine called "Télé 7 Jours" (7 days tv). Since the 60s, the mag dedicates its back pages with easy to do food recipes, and last time we were in France, I took photos of some of them.

So, for 6 pers. you need 500g of cherries, 90gr of caster sugar, 3 eggs, 60g of cornstarch, 25cl of  plain milk, and 20g of unsalted melted butter. 

First you whip the eggs and sugar until the mixture becomes almost white, then add the cornstarch, the milk and butter and gently whip some more.

Preheat the oven to 180°, then take a oven plate and generously grease its surface with a piece of butter. Add the cherries, pour the batter on top, and to the oven for 30-40 min. Dead easy.

(the recipe says 30 min. but it's better to leave the cake a little longer, as in my experience, it's always a good idea to be flexible and not to follow instructions to the letter; you should always adapt them according to your needs and tastes, like a little more of this or a little less of that, or try different fruits like apricots, apples, pears, or even add a bit of alcohol in the batter like calvados or brandy, etc...)

There you go: Clafoutis aux Cerises. Yummi!

She likes to watch things on TV

 ANAKELLY satellite of love (Ronan Remix)