Eat Simply, Eat Well

I’m game for this meal anytime!

When I was growing up, in Seattle, WA, we talked about reindeer and Santa Claus in the same sentence:  as in the eight pulling the fat, white-bearded, red-suited man’s sleigh:  “on Dasher, on Dancer, on Prancer on Vixen.  On Donner, on Cupid, on Bonner and Blitzen…and the most famous of all…Rudolph, the Red-nosed Reindeer!”  The light from Rudolph’s bright red nose was Santa’s way of finding the chimney attached to your house above your stocking on Christmas eve.  He definitely wasn’t dinner.

But it’s not Christmas, Santa won’t be making an appearance for a while, and living in Finland, I’ve enjoyed my share of reindeer meat.  There are reindeer herders in the north of Finland who raise the animals as people do cattle or lamb in other countries.  There is a season for fresh reindeer, which  is nearly over now that the Spring is fast approaching, so it’s time to buy it now and eat up.  The most typical form is a shredded reindeer, stewed for a long time in it’s own juices with pepper, salt, bay leaf and served up with mashed potatoes and lingonberries, which grow all over in the Finnish forests in late August and early September.  My freezer is full of lingonberries I picked myself.  I haven’t, however, adopted the habit of shooting my own reindeer, so alas, my home food supply is seriously lacking in that department.

You can get good quality reindeer from local markets here – from beautiful reindeer center cut roasts, cooked to medium rare and served with roasted potatoes and green beens, to the shredded reindeer mentioned above, to a small packet of freshly ground reindeer on demand at the Hakaniemi market, picked up by a good friend on her way to your house to concoct a dinner with you.  That, my friends, is the best kind.

Reindeer from Finnish Lapland (full disclosure: not my photo)

Now I understand if you’re living in a place where reindeer is not readily available.  Don’t let that stop you from enjoying the recipe you’ll see at the bottom of this post.  If you know someone (yourself, your husband, brother, friend, neighbor, work mate) who likes to hunt, barter a few pounds of ground game:  that deer he/she is proud of, make the burgers on this page, and invite that person over for dinner.  You’ll all be happy about it, trust me.  At least about the burgers, that is.  I make no guarantees about your dinner company.

These burgers, called Lindström burgers (pihvit) are something I’d only had once before. When Johanna suggested we make them with wild game meat, I was all ready to try it. Hirvi (moose in Finnish) was not to be found but Poro (reindeer) was, and I have to say that of all the times I’ve enjoyed a meal with reindeer, this one was the best. The beets and vinegar with the capers and potato mellowed the “gaminess” of the meat to create the perfect blend of flavors. Those of you who eat game know what I mean.

Serve the Lindström burgers without a bun.  Instead try a combination of quinoa and amaranth combined with chives, salt and pepper, or cook up some mashed potatoes to go with it.  Traditionally these are served with a  creamy mushroom sauce, but we amped up the meal by serving them with fresh Tzatziki, and I could have eaten this again and again. Rosemary, Hazelnut Green Beans on the side made for the perfect meal.  Finished off with this Lemon Tart, there were no complaints around my table.  There won’t be around yours either, I dare say.

Reindeer Lindström Burgers

The original recipe came from Soppakellari‘s blog, who had adapted a recipe by Polkkapossu (the food blog world is a beautiful for thing for sharing and adapting and passing good food along.  Thanks to both!).  She made hers with ground beef and served them with mushroom sauce, and didn’t use oatmeal – I am sure they were delicious!  So if you don’t have a side of deer in your freezer, no worries, you can still enjoy these at home with another type of ground meat.

So here they are Soppakellari’s Lindström pihvit made Polkkapossu’s way and adapted to give us a new way to enjoy reindeer:

Reindeer Lindström Burgers


450g / 1 pound ground reindeer meat
1 medium size yellow onion
15 small capers
3 raw beets, peeled, grated, and pan cooked in 3 Tablespoons of red wine vinegar
2 small potatoes, peeled and shredded
2 eggs
3/4 dl ruokakermaa/ 3/8 cup half&half (sorry!  the conversion is a little weird – can’t we all just use metric?)
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 dl / 3/4 cup oatmeal

In a blender or a food processor, combine the onion, capers, beets and potatoes and combine until the mixture is roughly chopped (it should be a bit chunky – you don’t want it to be smooth at all, more like a salsa texture).  Transfer the mixture to a medium-sized bowl and add the reindeer meat, eggs, cream, salt and pepper and the oatmeal.  Mix all ingredients together with your hands until just thoroughly combined.  Do not over mix. 


Heat the oven to 225°C/425°F.  While the oven heats, let the mixture rest for at least 10 minutes to allow the oatmeal to absorb the moisture from the other ingredients and for the flavors to combine.  Line an oven pan or cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside. 


Divide the mixture into 12 equally sized balls.  Heat a frying pan over medium high heat.  Flatten each ball into a patty like a burger and fry on each side until they are slightly browned.  Place all of the reindeer burgers onto the parchment covered pan, and cook them in the oven for 15 minutes.  


While the burgers cook, make your Quinoa & Amaranth Pilaf, Rosemary & Toasted Hazelnut Green Beans, and Tzatziki.  

Rosemary,  Roasted Hazelnut Green Beans

Tzatziki
can be made ahead – the flavors taste better if they are combined together and then refrigerated for at least an hour


1 cup Greek yogurt
1 cup shredded cucumber, skin on, preferably organic
2 Tablespoons of fresh mint leaves, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Tablespoon grated lemon peel
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Place all ingredients together in a small bowl and mix with a spoon to combine thoroughly

Rosemary & Toasted Hazelnut Green Beans


250g / 1/2 pound green beans, ends trimmed
2 shallots, sliced thinly
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons fresh rosemary, roughly chopped
1/2 cup hazelnuts, roughly chopped

Heat a frying pan over medium heat.  Add 1/2 cup of warm water and bring it to a simmer.  Add the beans to the pan and cook, stirring slightly, until they are a bright green.  Remove beans from the pan and set aside on a plate.  Pour out the leftover water. 


Return the frying pan to the stovetop over medium heat.  Add the olive oil to the pan, allow it to heat up for a few seconds, and add the shallots.  Cook the shallots 2-3 minutes until the begin to soften, the add the hazelnuts and rosemary.  Stir the mixture until the hazelnuts are toasted a nice golden brown.  Add the beans back to the pan and toss to coat.

Quinoa & Amaranth pilaf


1 dl / 1/2 cup dried quinoa
1 dl / 1/2 cup dried amaranth (if you don’t have it, use all quinoa)
2 Tablespoons freshly chopped chives or 1 Tablespoon dried
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
5 dl / 2 1/2 cups cold water

Combine all ingredients in a small pot.  Place over high heat, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and let simmer for 15 minutes.  Toss the mixture with a fork to fluff.  

The dinner serves 4

Come on over.

I have eaten 4 pieces of lemon tart in the last two days.  That’s a lot of lemons.  And eggs.  I am going to blame it on Harvey.  I don’t know Harvey.  I only know the recipe called Harvey’s Lemon Tart, by Marco Pierre White.  The ingredient list was fantastic:  vanilla bean in the crust.  Lemon zest and juice of 5 lemons in the filling.  9 EGGS!  Harvey said we shouldn’t skimp on the filling because the tart (that is, ONE tart) should be nice and full.  The tart pan should be 20 cm in diameter, he said.  The oven at 120°C.

Off we went, Johanna and I, to the local store to pick up our lemons and eggs and butter and cream to make Harvey’s tart.  We followed Harvey’s directions to the letter.  (or rather, Johanna did. I was busy with making the main course of Reindeer Lindström Burgers which you’ll have to try out as well!

I don’t own a tart pan of any size.  I do own a cheesecake pan that is roughly 28 cm in diameter.  We used this. The crust was baked first, at 220°C, and with the vanilla bean and lemon zest, smelled divine.  The cold lemon filling mixture (or rather half of it – there was WAY more filling than needed for one tart) was poured into the hot crust to seal it off so there would be no leakage.  Other than the butter dripping from the cheesecake pan (I guess I need to buy a tart pan with a removable bottom), this worked quite well.  We baked the tart at 120°C for 30 minutes as instructed, pulled it from the oven, and let it cool for one hour.  At this point, the filling was still…sloshy.  There was no way it was going to set.  Meanwhile, Johanna had made another tart with the leftover crust and filling, and the skeptic (yes, that would be me) had raised the oven temperature to 150°C.  After 30 minutes, this one looked beautiful, but not quite “jiggly”.  We cooked it 10 minutes longer, and what a beauty it was!

The garden will have to wait.

The perfect lemon tart to bring a bit of sunny Spring joy to a snowy winter day.  Despite Harvey’s poorly designed instructions.  Many thanks to Marco Pierre White – the vanilla bean in the crust is subtle genius.  And to Johanna for finding the recipe and making it so that I could take pictures and write this post.

We took a chance and popped the second tart back into the oven to bake again.  30 minutes later, it was a little cracked in the middle from the early shaking to detect the level of sloshiness, but otherwise beautiful.  The perfect tang and zip of lemon next to the sweetness of the sugar and the delicate snap of a crust.

A few notes:  Use organic lemons, and wash them first in warm water. You will using a fair amount of lemon zest, and you don’t want the wax and toxins from non-organic lemons to mess up your beautiful tart.  If you don’t need two tarts, freeze the second (just wrap it highly in plastic cling wrap, then aluminum foil before freezing).  Then you have a lemon tart at the ready when you need one.

Here is the modified recipe below – leaving Harvey to his own devices, though keeping most of his ingredient proportions intact, and making this one simply:

based on Marco Pierre White’s Lemon Tart
makes 2 tarts & freezes well, though the crust won’t be crisp coming out of the freezer
Note:  revisions made from the recipe on the Caterer and Hotelkeeper website

Rustic beauty

Pastry Crust
500 g plain flour
175 g powdered sugar
250 g unsalted butter
grated zest of one organic lemon
1 vanilla pod, split open
2 eggs, beaten

Sift the flour and powdered sugar on a work surface and work int he butter with a pastry cutter or a fork. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the lemon zest, scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean pod, and add the 2 eggs.  Combine the mixture with your fingers until everything is combined into a smooth dough.  Divide the dough into 2 parts, flatten each half into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 


Preheat oven to 180°C.  Roll out the pastry crust onto a lightly floured surface that is that is large enough to line a 20 cm tart tin, (or a 9″ pie pan would work just fine as well…or a cheesecake pan as we used).  Lay the rolled pastry over the tin and press it lightly into the bottom and sides.   Repeat with the second crust.  Prick the pastry crust all over with a fork, and bake the pie crusts for 10 – 15 minutes in the oven, or until lightly golden brown. 


Reduce oven temperature to 150°C.


Lemon Filling

Winter dose of Sunshine

9 eggs
400 g white granulated sugar
grated zest of 2 organic lemons
juice of 5 organic lemons
250 ml of whipping cream

While the crust is cooling in the fridge, make the lemon filling.  Whisk the eggs, sugar, and lemon zest together in a large bowl until smooth.  Add the lemon juice and the cream, and stir with a rubber spatula until evenly combined.  Try not to add too much air as this will form bubbles that you’ll need to skim off later.  Allow the filling to rest until the crust has finished baking.  Divide into two equal parts.


When the crust is baked and ready, remove any foam or bubbles on the surface of the lemon mixture and pour the lemon mixture into the hot pie crusts.  Bake in the 150°C oven for 30 – 40 minutes, until the center of the tart is slightly firm but still jiggles.  Remove from the oven and cool for at least one hour.

For garnish
50 g of powdered sugar
fresh mint sprigs
fresh berries (raspberry, blackberry or blueberry look beautiful)

Using a sifter or a wire strainer, lightly dust powdered sugar around the edge of the tart (optional.  I’d run out of powdered sugar at this point, which is why you can’t see any in these pictures).  Place a few fresh mint sprigs in the center and toss a few fresh berries onto the tart, or serve the berries on the individual serving plates.  Each pie serves 8.

This color reminds me of Spring

I don’t know about you, but after a long, full day on the job, I look forward to something good to eat – but I am not usually in the mood to wait long for it. Week night food prep needs to be fast, because chances are good that by the time I get around to getting dinner together, I haven’t eaten for 5 – 6 hours, and I am tempted to grab the nearest snack to settle the rumbling in my stomach. 30 minutes from start to finish – that’s a good goal, and even better if most of that time is spent with something bubbling on the stove or cooking in the oven, while I wrap up my work day, check the mail, put stuff away, and beep-beep-beep!  the kitchen alarm announces that dinner is served.

Extra Sharp Cheddar adds zing

I like dinner prep to be fast – but I don’t like Fast Food – that is, junk food. No pre-packaged, cook-it-up in the microwave, E-code filled, preservative loaded fare for me. I still want my dinner to be creative, colorful, and healthy.  I still want the table set – complete with a cloth napkin because I don’t like the paper ones for home at all – and I prefer to enjoy whatever it is I’m eating with my husband, a friend, or both! Every dinner is a chance to slow down for a moment and enjoy life’s simple pleasures,  and every meal I cook is a chance to experiment with flavor combinations and preparation methods.

It’s winter, and baby, it’s cold outside. I want soup. In fact, it’s been snowing non-stop for days and days, and even after a quick loop out skiing on the trails behind our house, it’s still soup I’m craving. Veggie soup – with a kick. So here we go:

Broccoflower Soup with Cheddar and Cumin

2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 large garlic clove, minced


Heat the olive oil in a medium-sized stock pot over medium-high heat.  Saute the onion and garlic until tender and translucent, about 5 minutes.  Add 1 Tablespoon of flour and stir to combine.  


Stir in:

My inspiration

2 cups chicken broth

So simple, so delicious.