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

Antipasto

Found these italian black truffle sausages in k-citymarket Sello, which gave us the occasion to do a great italian antipasto: "Salsiccia e mozarella al forno". Dead easy to do and super quick to cook.

The sausages have been gently roasted in a deep pan with a bit of sun flower oil, lid on for 10min. Once cooked, they've been butterflied (split open), and placed in small oven plates. The filtered juice has been poured on the sausages (you can eventually add some crushed tomatoes or a few spoons of Marsala in it) as well as generous pieces of fresh mozarella di buffalo on top. A bit of black pepper and cayenne and to the oven under the hot grill for a few min. until the cheese melted.

Best enjoyed on its own with a good country bread and a glass of italian red or white. Yummi.

Du pain, du vin, du Boursin*

"Boursin" is a national institution. A monument in the french gastro folklore.

Most children are introduced to the world of cheeses through Boursin - along with 2 other classics "Babybel" and "La vache qui rit". Since its creation in the 60s, generations of french have enjoyed this garlic & parsley flavored fresh cheese, and I could bet my life that there isn't a single french who doesn't know about it. There are many ways to eat it: spread on bread or in sandwiches, with eggs, mixed in sauces, or like us on a baked potato. While slowly melting on the hot potato, the Boursin releases its engaging garlicky scents that makes you really hungry. And it's super yummi.

Can be found - sometimes - in Prisma or K-City market.

* "bread, wine, Boursin" refers to the commercial slogan used for over 20 years on tv.

With the Boursin baked potato, a few pieces of grilled pork tenderloin and a salad (as well as strong Dijon mustard). A few glasses of a light Saint-Nicolas de Bourgueil bought in France complete the dinner. 

Juhannus "à la française"

The "Juhannus" tradition in Finland is about to go to sauna. Then swim in lakes or elsewhere. Then grill some things, usually sausages but not only. And to drink, reasonably or not. The point is to be with friends and or family and have a good time. So...

1kg of thick premium entrecôte for 4 pers.

grilled rare to perfection...

served with green beans with persillade, and strong Dijon mustard...

followed by some stinky french cheeses...

all washed down with bottles of Pommard "Grand Clos des Épenots" 1er Cru 2010

(bought online on a french site specialized in Bourgogne wines)

Bread and spread

 5 different Bruschettas: on top, artichoke & white truffle cream with Parma ham. Middle left: smoked pepper cream, spring onions (white & greens), sweet pepper slices, black olives and smoked garlic. Middle: Provolone & Gorgonzola cheeses with sun dried tomato in oil. Middle right: tomato pesto and tuna marinated in hot chili oil. Bottom: Olive pesto, salame milano and sun dried tomatoes in oil. A few few glasses of dry white are the preferred option because of the outside heat.

Baa...

Roasted goat cheese salad with a mustard & herbs dressing.

(green salad, potatoes, spring onions, sun dried tomatoes)

Antipasti as a lunch

All the italian cured meats & sausages @ K-Citymarket Sello

Difficult to begin an italian lunch without a glass of Prosecco or Martini Rosso.

top left: Spianata Calabra, and right: Mortadella al pistacchio.

bottom left: Culatello San Valentino, and right: Finocchiona.

Served with sun dried tomatoes, peppers, and olives from San Severino in spicy oil.

Organic white beans salad with chopped red onions & tomatoes, lots of fresh basil, italian virgin olive oil, salt, black pepper & chili flakes. I usually add Parmesan shavings in this salad when served with, for exemple, a grilled "salsiccia", but since we had cheeses afterward...

Provolone (top) and Taleggio.

The drink of choice for the meal is a bottle of Barbaresco Riserva 1999

Late lunch the spanish way

We buy most of our wine online because the selection at Alko (state controled alcohol shops) is very limited, and to say the least quite poor. That being said, I must admit in all fairness that sometimes, you can find very good or even great bottles. The downside being that you're left with no choice but to pay the finnish price, that is up to 20-30% more than in France or Spain. That's why, all the reasons above make us shop regularly on french & spanish wine sites. Take this one for exemple: Hacienda Monasterio Reserva 2015 (we bought as well bottles of the "Reserva Especial 2013"). Truly great wine(s) from Ribera del Duero, developed by renowned  danish oenologist Peter Sisseck, also the creator to what is considered to be probably the finest spanish red wine money can buy, the world famous "Pingus" (named after his nickname). And guess what? We just have bought bottles of Pingus last week, although it has to be said that it's the 2nd wine from the domain "Flor de Pingus". A bottle of Pingus vary from 800 to 1200€, or even more depending of the vintage.

And so, the best match for the wine is a "Solomillo de Toro". The beef is a 170gr piece of marble filet of Black Angus. Grilled on a hot parilla for 2.20min. each side. The meat is rested for 5min. before to be sliced the spanish way. As the above pic shows, the meat is cooked perfectly, red & juicy. The side is a baked potato with a topping of cream cheese, creme fraiche, finely choped spring onions, parsley, black pepper & salt.

2 great spanish cheeses: Iberico (matured 9 months, left) & black truffles Manchego (right).

Italian expresso & irish Bailey on ice to finish the meal. Not very spanish... anyway.

EDIT 20.7.2020

we've just received our bottles from Spain today.

Diet is so overrated

... and so with this in mind, we decided to go full throttle to death by cholesterol, which is so underrated. Fortunately for us, we'll live another day to put this theorem in pactice again.
So...

Côte de cochon fermier bio, reduction de sauce au vin & échalotes, purée de rutabagas caramélisés.

A chunky organic pork rib, with a reduction of red wine sauce & shallotts to the point of being a thick, sticky sirup, and a purée of caramelized rutabagas (usually eaten during the Christmas period in Finland).

The holy trinity of stinky cheeses! Top left: Reblochon, bottom left: Fribourg, right: Époisse. Best enjoyed with wines with strong bodies like those from Bourgogne (Baune, Hautes Côtes de Nuit, etc...) or even something from the Rhône valley like a Châteauneuf du Pape. And of course, a good country bread and some dark yellow butter (to add insult to injury).

Tarte au citron meringuée

And then, what's best to round up the meal than a lemon & meringue pie. The slight acidy makes a welcome diversion after all the cheesy fat.

Entrecôte with a blue cheese sauce

Entrecôte au Bleu d'Auvergne

Pommard, one of the greats from Bourgogne.

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The "Bleu d'Auvergne" (literally translated as "Blue of Auvergne") is a blue cheese from the Auvergne area - center of France. It is creamier than Roquefort, with a pronounced deep flavor (if extra matured). It's perfect for warm or cold sauces (salads). But of course, it can be eaten just as it is.

Tuplaracletteburger 29.6.2013

2/3 naudanlihaa, 1/3 possua (luomua molemmat), paahtoleipää, kananmuna, suolaa, pippuria, iso sipuli (pilko melkein pyreeksi). Tämä sekoitus sai maustua rauhassa yhden yön jääkaapissa. Taikinan tuoksu oli seuraavana päivänä herkullinen.

Double raclette burger

Laita leipä hetkeksi mikroon (20s./700W), sen jälkeen pieneen pussiin esim. pakastepussi ja anna leivän pehmetä hetki. Toinen koulukunta grillaa mieluiten leipäpalat.

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Juusto suoraan Alpeilta. Tätä käytetään paljon esim. gratinoiduissa ruuissa.

Leikkele-juustolautanen 14.4.2013

Assiette anglaise

Illallinen koostui yksinkertaisesti leikkeleistä ja juustoista. Vasemmalta alhaalta lähtien Ferrarese-valkosipulimakkara, viherpippurikanipatee, maalaispatee, ilmakuivattu Maestro Jamón Serrano, Comté-juusto 24kk, Bleu de Brebis ja alhaalla keskellä maalais-Munster -juusto (AOC,  pienten tuottajien herkullinen juusto Itä-Ranskasta). Kaksi viimestä mainittua juustoa olivat todella kypsiä, ja makuelämys oli sen mukainen. Luulin, että olisin jo tottunut voimakkaisiin "navettamakuihin", mutta ei. Tällä kertaa raja tuli minulle vastaan. Onneksi punaviini Châteauneuf-du-Pape taltutti hieman tuota voimakkuutta.
Nämä herkut löytyivät Espoon Sellon K-marketin leikkele- ja juustovalikomista. Hyvä valikoima, mm. Serrano-tyyppisiä kinkkuja oli useampia.

Juustot à la tanskalainen 24.3.2013

Fromages à la danoise

Tällä kertaa päätimme skipata tuoreen leivän ja nauttia juustoista "tanskalaiseen tapaan"; keksit, viinirypäleet ja portviini. Juustoiksi ostimme: Comté (kuvassa etualalla, ransk., ei pastöröity), Camembert au lait cru (ei pastöröity), Manchego (esp., lampaanmaitojuusto), Bleue d'Auvergne (lampaanmaitojuusto). Koska tästä tulikin pääateriamme, niin punaviini valikoitui juomaksi. Aika mahdoton ajatus oli juoda portviiniä ruokajuomana..
Tunnustan, ettei minusta saa keksi-juusto- rypäleet -ystävää. Rapea maalaisleipä, voi, juustot ja punaviini on se ainoa oikea yhdistelmä minulle.

Ankkafestivaali 26.12.2012

Foie gras de canard aux figues & confiture d'oignons

Ankanmaksa ja sipulihillo  

Cassoulet au confit de canard

Cassoulet (ankan confit, valkoiset pavut ja Toulouse-makkara -pata)

Fromage basque Ossau-Iraty, Pont-l'Évêque, fromage italien Taleggio & Saint-André

(fromage=juusto)

Bourgogne Savigny-Les-Beaune 1er Cru Les Feuillets

Ankan confit 6.12.2012

Confit de canard, pommes à l'ail

Ankan confit, ankan rasvassa paisteut perunat ja herkkusienet runsaan persiljasilpun ja valkosipulin kera. Loppusilauksen perunoille antaa ankanliemi. Suomalaisen säväyksen tuo puolukkasurvos. 

Livarot, Maroilles, Conté.

Ei pastöroituja!