Toulouse Sausages with Beluga Lentils, Fennel & Herbs – not quite a cassoulet

June 3, 2013 by aplough

Toulouse Sausages with Beluga Lentils, Fennel & Herbs

There is a magical place not too far from Helsinki city center that everyone who visits the area should really go and see.

Note the huge boat coming in beyond this seaside cabin

It’s an island just off the coast, in view of Länsisatama (west harbor) where the boats come and go between Helsinki and Tallinn, Estonia. Pihjalasaari is a small island, which is best reached by ferry (€5.50 for an adult round trip ticket) which leaves every 15 minutes from the dock just behind Caruselli Cafe. Grab yourself an ice cream cone from Jäätelotehdas in front of Caruselli and sit in front of the harbor to watch the boats come and go for a while. Then grab the ferry and enjoy the 10 minute or so ride through the archipelago, out past the beaches where the wind surfers take off, right up to the shore of the island.

Pack a picnic lunch: you’ll want to stay awhile. If you’ve forgotten a lunch, there’s a small cafe in the middle of the island toward the back. Take a right onto the trail near the beach that runs up the coast and it’ll take you past the small, charming beach shacks that are individually owned by a lucky few. The day we went, in late May, there was an elderly couple enjoying afternoon tea inside the shack with the Finnish flag flying out in front.

Tea for two.

If you’ll be on the island between 11:00 and 14:00, bring something to grill! The grill is hot during those hours and open for use. There’s a sauna for rent on the backside of the island, or you can just warm up to a nice sweaty temperature on the rocks by the sea and then jump into the mild salty but very refreshing waters. Continue your trek around the island, past the bilberry and wild raspberry bushes. You’ll pass by the caretaker’s cabin and if you happen to glance beyond (which of course you will now), don’t be alarmed if there’s a little more skin on display than usual…

Beautiful views

Continue on over the bridge and you’ll reach the camping area where you are welcome to stay overnight. In which case, you’ll really need some snacks. It’s a place that feels miles away from the city, but is really right in the backyard – giving locals and tourists alike a quick taste of the charming archipelago life and the beautiful Finnish nature.

When you arrive back home after a day out in the sun and a vigorous trek around the island, what you need is something hearty and tasty to sustain you. Give my version of a cassoulet a try. It’s not quite a cassoulet, I’m afraid: any good French country wife would let her cassoulet cook for hours and hours to let the flavors really combine and soften. However, something must have gone right, because we were halfway through dinner and JJ asked for the recipe. Not bad for something that will take a mere half hour out of your day in order to get it on the table.

Bon Appetit!

Let’s get started, shall we?

Toulouse Sausages with Fennel, Beluga Lentils & Herbs

Step 1:
Get the lentils started first as they take the longest. In a medium size (2 liter/2 quart) pot, combine
1 cup beluga lentils
3 cups water

Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer, and allow to simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

Step 2:
Meanwhile, in a large frying pan heat:
2 tablespoons olive oil

Add:
1 onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1/2 Fennel bulb, diced
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Simmer for 15 minutes over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are soft and slightly caramelized.

Step 3:
After the lentils have cooked for 10 minutes, add
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons each of finely chopped fresh herbs: sage, parsley, thyme and oregano

Simmer for 10 minutes. Add the vegetable mixture and allow the mixture to continue to simmer.

Step 4:
Heat the frying pan you used for the vegetables over medium heat. Don’t add any more oil. Add:
2 Toulouse sausages, cut in half lengthwise and sliced into 1/2″ / 1,5 cm pieces

Fry the sausages in the pan until cooked through and slightly browned and crispy. Pour the lentils over the sausage and stir. Add:
juice of 1/2 lemon.
stir and simmer for 2 more minutes. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve.

Serves 4.

Toulouse Sausage with Beluga Lentils, Fennel & Herbs

Maple Spelt Banana Bread – a healthy update for an old favorite

May 4, 2013 by aplough

Maple Spelt Banana Bread

Every week I do most of my grocery shopping at the Herttoniemen Ruokapiiri just down the road. They have a small selection of carefully chosen items: fruit; produce: lettuce, herbs, cucumber, onions, potatoes, root vegetables, etc; fresh bread from Coquus; fresh pasta from The Pasta Factory; organic meats: beef, lamb, chicken, as well as the occasional option to buy moose meat – or beef bones for your beef broth or your dog. They source organic cheese, yogurt and raw milk locally; buy whole grains and flours from Finnish farmers; and offer canned smoked fish, tall jars of tomato puree, whole grain pasta, healthy cereals, juice made from Finnish berries, and their very own sauerkraut made from cabbage grown at the Herttoniemen Osuuskunta. They have organic eggs, and then they have something else I’ve grown to love: “Tuplamunat” or double eggs – eggs that have two yolks instead of one, and are absolutely perfect for making creamy quiche or chocolate pudding. There is always something to delight and make me smile.

I love the place. The volunteers always greet me with a friendly hello and let me know what’s fresh or new or just plain amazing. The food is fresh and of high quality. We eat much, much better because the quality of the products is excellent, and my grocery shopping is simplified because I don’t have to circle the big aisles of processed crap that I find in the large grocery stores in order to get what I really want. Occasionally I still need to stop by one of the larger chains for toilet paper and the like, but mostly, everything I need can be found in that little corner shop.

Check out this short video clip from their website to get a sense of the spirit of it:

Herttoniemen ruokapiiri

It’s open on Tuesdays from 16:00 – 19:00 and on Fridays from 16:00 – 18:00. In the summer, they arrange a farmer’s market in the parking lot across the street, and invite the local farmers to come on in and sell their goods directly to the public. If you live in the area and haven’t visited yet – what are you waiting for? I highly recommend it. Note: nobody is paying me to praise it – I simply have full admiration and respect for the concept, and enjoy it so much that I want to share the good things in life!

Morning coffee with Maple Spelt Banana Bread

Every week, for some reason, I buy bananas. And every week, they look so good, I end up buying a few more than we actually need. At some point, I always end up with a couple of bananas that are well beyond the stage where you’d want to peel back the skin and eat them fresh: their skin is deep yellow, heavily speckled with black, and the fruit inside is soft with a high amount of natural sugars. They are much too sweet to be served over cereal or oatmeal or yogurt, and I often peel and slice them and toss them into the freezer to be added to smoothies instead.

But there is an even more delicious option that most of you already know: Banana Bread.

Packed full of seeds, sultanas and whole grains

Banana bread can actually be pretty unhealthy – made with bleached white flour & too much white sugar, and I wanted to make something a bit more nutritious and tasty than that.

So today, Saturday morning, bright and early, I pulled a large bowl out of the cupboard, tossed in and smashed 3 very ripe bananas, and started making banana bread. Spelt flour and spelt flakes from the Herttoniemi ruokapiiri stood in as the substitute for the flours, and maple syrup replaced the sugar, but I used 1/2 cup rather than one cup. I added ground flaxseed tossed in sunflower seeds and sultanas as well. It took less than 10 minutes to get the ingredients mixed together and into the oven – an efficient little project.

The bread baked as we did our morning clean up and projects, and by the time its warm, enticing fragrance began to fill the house, we were more than ready for a coffee break and a slice of the delicious bread. The result was a satisfying loaf with a lovely grainy chewiness from the spelt flakes and sunflower seeds, and a pleasant sweetness from the maple syrup balanced by the lemon juice.

Perfect.

Ethiopa Yirgacheffe in the French Press goes nicely with this bread

This is what good weekends are made of: a slow start, a sweet treat baking slowly in a hot oven, a glance out the window across the horizon of a world waking both from the slumber of sleep and of winter – a moment to think about how good life really is, when we have the luxury to sit back, even for a moment, and dream over a slice of something as simple, basic and wholesome as fresh banana bread.

Happy Weekend, my friends!

Maple Spelt Banana Bread

Preheat oven to 175°C/350°F. Lightly oil a bread pan and line the bottom with a strip of parchment paper.

1 1/4 cup whole-grain spelt flour (can substitute 1/2 whole wheat and half regular wheat flour)
1/2 cup spelt flakes (can substitute oatmeal)
3 tablespoons ground flaxseed
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 egg
1/4 cup olive oil
3 very ripe bananas, peeled and mashed
juice of 1/2 lemon, about 3 tablespoons
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 golden sultanas

Add all ingredients to a large bowl. Stir together with a spatula or wooden spoon until well combined. Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan and bake for 50 – 60 minutes (oven temps and pan sizes vary, and the starting temperature of your ingredients will also have an impact) until the top is a deep golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Cool in the pan for 5 minutes; remove and cool on a wire rack for another 10 minutes, then slice and serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes one loaf.

Vappu Munkki – May Day Donuts

May 1, 2013 by aplough

Munkki, then salad, then munkki and sima. What can I say? Vappu comes but once per year!

Hauskaa Vappua! Happy May Day!

Glazed Donuts & Sugar-coated Donuts

I’ve written about the Vappu celebration a year ago in my post about Sima, the traditional drink consumed on this day. Today I give you the natural companion to Sima: Munkki.

A munkki is simply a donut. Since we’re in Finland, most donuts have cardamom added to them, which is a wonderful addition because it adds a depth of flavor to the donut, so I highly recommend it. The Munkki is a Vappu tradition – on the eve of May Day, you’ll see them for sale all over the place in grocery stores, cafes, restaurants, and little pop-up stands.

Up close and personal. Couldn’t eat just one…

I couldn’t get Vappu Munkit out of my mind yesterday. I went to the gym first thing in the morning, and doubled my cardio because, I thought, if I was going to make a batch of fresh donuts, there was no way I was going to stop at just one. I had no idea how good these would be fresh out of the pot.

I had never actually made donuts before, but it turns out that the process is long in time, but short on effort, with the exception of the actually frying time, which requires attention otherwise your donuts will burn and no one will be interested except the neighbor’s dog. But don’t worry – these are actually very easy to make.

One thing to know before you start: the first donut out of the pot must absolutely be consumed by you. You see, it’s a test donut of sorts: has the dough risen enough? Is the oil hot enough? and – will you have enough energy to complete the frying process if you don’t eat at least one to keep you going? My first test donut was a “donut hole” – which you’ll naturally have if you make the “rinkkilä” – the donut with the middle cut out. My donuts were mostly the full round ones because I thought I might want to fill them with jam. In the end, I didn’t, because after coating half in sugar and the other half in glaze, I felt they were sweet enough, but you certainly can. Vanilla or chocolate custard, or a raspberry or blueberry jam were at the top of my list should the need to fill the donuts strike me. If you try that, let me know how it goes!

Trying to add a little virtue to a evening of donut decadence

Onward to the actually donut making process. This recipe makes a big pile of donuts – roughly 30. After eating three by myself, I quickly realized it was imperative that I reach out and share the love, so H&S and their boys were happy to help us work our way through the remaining heap, washed down with a glass of sima.

Hauskaa Vappua!

It’s not over yet! You still have time to make these donuts.

Vappu Munkit / May Day Donuts
This recipe is an adaption of two donut recipes: Munkkirinkilät from Yhteishyvä Ruoka Toukokuu 2013 and Crispy and Creamy donuts from allrecipes.com.

15g / 2 (.25oz) bags of dried, active yeast
1 dl/ 1/2 cup water
3 dl / 1.5 cups 2% (kevytmaito) warm milk
1 dl / 1/2 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cardamom
2 eggs
50 g / 1/2 cup butter
12 dl / 6 cups flour

Pour the water into a large mixing bowl or into the bowl of your stand mixer. Sprinkle the yeast over the top. Allow the water to absorb the yeast for 5 minutes. Add the milk, maple syrup, salt, cardamom, eggs, butter, and 3 cups of flour. Mix with the flat beater in a stand mixer until well-combined or with a regular hand-held mixer.

Continue to add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough pulls away from the edge of the bowl. If you are using a hand mixer, you will need to finish this process by hand, on the counter, kneading the remaining flour into the dough. Be careful here: your goal is a nice soft dough that is slightly sticky. You may not need all of the flour – aim for between 5.5 – 6 cups total.

Once the dough is smooth and elastic, grease a large bowl. Place the dough in the bowl, flipping it once to grease both sides. Cover the bowl with a clean dish towel and let it rise in a warm, draft-free place, until doubled in size: 30-45 minutes.

Punch the dough down and turn it out onto a lightly floured counter. Flour your rolling pin and roll the dough out into 1/2″/ 1.3cm thickness. Cut out donut rounds using a cookie cutter or, as I did, using a small drinking glass. If you have a donut cutter – even better – you’ll be a lot faster than I was! You can reroll the dough scraps to make more donuts, or cut them into small pieces, roll them into little rounds, and let them rise, and them fry them like donut holes.

Cover the donuts with a clean dish towel and allow them to rise for 30 minutes. Prepare your donut toppings while the donuts rise.

Frying the donuts
Line two baking pans with parchment paper and set a wire rack over the top to of each to catch the drips.

Pour 1/2 liter/1/2 quart of oil into a 3 liter/3 quart heavy-bottomed pot (I used a cast iron pot). You can use a larger pot, but you’ll need to add more oil to get the right depth. You want 2-3 inches/5-8cm of oil in the pot. Heat the oil to 175°C/350°F. Fry a test donut to make sure the oil is at the right temperature. You’ll know it’s ready when a doughnut hole dropped into the oil browns in about a minute.

Fry 2 – 3 donuts at a time. Donuts take 1-2 minutes per side to fry, and are done when they are a dark golden brown. Flip, and fry the other side. Fry 2 – 3 donuts at a time. Using a slotted spoon, remove the donuts from and place on a wire rack. Once cool enough to handle, either toss the donuts in sugar, or dip one side in the glaze (see below).

Allow to cool to room temperate (if you can wait that long) and consume with sima or coffee.

Makes approximately 30 donuts. Best consumed, with friends, the day they are made, but can be frozen.

Donut Toppings:
While the donuts rise, prepare your donut coatings. I chose two options. The easiest is simply granulated sugar, in a plastic or paper bag, or in a small bowl, for coating the donuts. If you put the sugar in a bag, you can add the hot donuts, fresh from the oil, and shake it. If you choose to put the sugar in a bowl, you can quickly turn the donut in the sugar, effectively coating the whole thing. Whatever works best for you!

The glaze, straight from the allrecipes.com donut recipe cited above, is something to talk about. So good! And dead easy. This recipe will coat all of your donuts, but I halved it and it worked well.

In a small pot combine:
60g / 1/3 cup butter
4 dl / 2 cups powdered sugar

Bring to a simmer over low heat until the sugar and butter are well-combined and just beginning to simmer. Add
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 tablespoons hot water

Stir well with a spoon until thoroughly combined. The mixture will be runny like a syrup. Pour the mixture into a small bowl to make dipping the donuts easier.

If you want to add sprinkles to your donuts, it works well with the glaze. Pour your sprinkles onto a plate or into a bowl. Dip the donut into the warm glaze, then into the sprinkles, and set on a wire rack to cool and dry.

On the way to H&S to share the love.