Des moules, des frites.

It's been a while since we've had "moules frites" for the last time, but while strolling in K-Citymarket Easton, we noticed they had mussels from Sweden. These are actually close to the mussels you can find in France - unlike the blue mussels from Danmark - as they are quite small in size, which is preferable for degustation. And so back at home, we decided to cook "moules à la crème" - mussels in cream sauce - which is one of the most popular way to do it in the north of France and in Belgium (we have long history of shared gastronomy with our belgian cousins). In a deep marmite, add half a chopped onion or shallot, some chopped parsley, salt & black pepper, and a full glass of dry Muscadet. Bring to the boil, add the mussels for a couple of minutes, then a few spoons of thick rich cream. The thicker the better. Stir a bit and serve immediately with crispy fries. Now, there are several possible declinations from this recipe: without cream (à la marinière), the wine can be replace by beer (the belgian way), or cider (à la normande), Cheeses like Roquefort or Camembert can be added to the cream sauce, or cream with curry powder, then with tomato and chorizo sausage (the spanish way), etc... There are a lot of recipes to try.

On a side note, this dish is a perfect exemple of home vs restaurant. We spent something like 35€ for 2kg of mussels, onion, parsley and a bottle of wine for 2. Now, if you go to restaurant "Belge Bar & Bistro" on Keskuskatu, you will pay per person...

... Wine not included of course. Oh and btw, there are no such things as lobster broth, creamy garlic broth or beure blanc with mussels. At least not where I'm from. 

(in France you pay between 12-15€ max for 1kg of mussels + fries)

Fête Nationale

To celebrate the "Fête Nationale du 14 juillet" (french national day 14th of july), we grilled in the garden under the evening sun. This is the same meat from the message "grilling with airfryer" (scroll down a bit /or use tag: beef), namely Atria's "World's Best Steak" marble beef, which is arguably among the best money can buy in this country. The difference with the larger piece we previously cooked in the airfryer is, that we trimmed the excess fat to to make 2 tournedos / chateaubriands - 250gr each. The meat - seasoned with sea salt & black pepper - is then grilled approx. 5min. each side to be red and juicy - at roughly 55° inside each piece. Once the grilling's done and the meat rested a bit, it is served with a bearnaise. A green salad and a bottle of Châteauneuf du Pape L'Oratoire des Papes 2022 complete the dinner.

Frozen raspberry

In a blender, put some ice cubes, scoops of raspberry sorbet, fresh raspberries, a few drops of raspberry syrup, and a generous dash of vodka or gin. Blend the mix well and pour in a frozen glass. At first, the drink  has a light puree consistency, but as it becomes warmer, it liquifies. This recipe works for lots of fruits like strawberries or pineapples (using white rum), as long as you can find the corresponding sorbets (most of the time in K-Citymarkets). Alcohol is not mandatory but...

 

World cuisine or just a big mess?

Yakitoris with airfryer, bad idea? 

Any japanese worthy of the name would do seppuku at the sight of the pic below. Traditionally, the japanese use a shichirin (long and narrow grill using binchōtan wood for grilling at very high temp.) to cook their skewers. But since we live in Finland, finding a working shichirin is easier said than done. Airfryer then!

We prepared a marinade with japanese teriyaki base sauce, sake, garlic, lime, a bit of sesame oil, and Shishimi Togarashi (japanese spice mix). Pieces of organic chicken have been left soaking in that mix for a couple of hours in the fridge, then cooked for approx. 12min, the time for the meat to reach 71°.

Since we still had a rack of pork ribs in the freezer, we decided to have it along the skewers, using the same marinade with a bit of added honey for better caramelization (ribs recipe below). 

From there, things went sideways: the meat is served with a moroccan taboule salad with lots of herbs like mint, coriander, etc... (recipe in this blog), homemade marinated red onions (white vinegar, water, sugar, black peeper corns, left in the fridge a couple of days before use), Pirkka hummus heavily customized with olive oil, lemon juice, cumin, and cayenne pepper powder, and middle eastern flat bread (not on the pic) To go along, a chilled bottle of "Arthur Metz Pinot Noir Rosé" from Alsace. 

So... Morrocanese? Japanan? Or just yummi.

Where are the dogs?

It's kinda tricky to find joints in Helsinki selling hot dogs outside the occasional late night food trucks. The only places where you're sure to find some any hour of the day are the gas stations. And this exactly where we've been to... 

Melba... again

Pieces of Polka strawberries topped by a scoop of italian vanilla ice cream, and burried under a (very) generous amount of whipped cream. We were so eager to eat that thing that we didn't bother making strawberry sauce, or to roast some slivered almonds. 

 

It's a french thing

During the summer days, there isn't a more popular dessert/palate cleanser/refreshment in France than a "Colonel": a scoop of lemon sorbet (Limone Di Sicilia in our case) soaked in vodka. Great to round up a meal.

Juhannus korean style

It's Juhannus, and to celebrate it (way to speak), we have decided to make pork ribs korean style. So, as you can seen on the pic, we used 2 types of korean bbq sauces and mixed them 2/3 1/3, then added a bit of lime juice for tartness, cayenne pepper powder for extra spiciness and a few drops of sesame oil for that grilled nutty flavor.

A rack of 1kg of pork ribs has rubbed with sea salt and black pepper, and airtight sealed in a foil pocket. Then cooked in the oven for 3 hours at low temp. 140°. After that time, the foil is removed, the meat generously brushed with the bbq sauce, and back in the oven under a hot grill for 8-10min. each face.

The result is a rack of pork ribs wonderfully caramelized and crispy, super tender because it has been previously slow cooked (even overcooked) in the oven, and the meat literally falls off the bone. Really ymmi.

Served with the mandatory fries, but instead of coleslaw, we had a korean kimchi salad (spicy fermented cabbage - not on the pic). A few cold beers completes the lunch.