Imam bayildi - The Imam Fainted (aka ground meat stuffed eggplant)

I work hard and don't take enough time for lunches with colleagues. Once in a blue moon I  manage to surpass myself and even meet an old friend or a colleague for a lunch. Last time I did so it was summer, August I think. I haven't seen him for years, so it was extra fun. He suggested a small café and lunch place is the very center of Helsinki, Café Rouge.

Café Rouge describes themselves: "Good food ends with good talk! Come and enjoy our delicious homemade food, great coffee and friendly service. We heartily welcome you!" And so it was! I thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere and almost came fast friends with the owner Maggie 😊

But the food, that's the point, non? I ate "the imam fainted" dish for lunch - a dish which I had heard of, naturally, but had never had before. As it was my only experince until now, I can't really compare that much, but I can say, I have not been able to forget it since.

On Tuesday I had a package of ground meat and nothing else. I was fresh out of ideas of what to do until I saw aubergines (i.e. eggplants) in the shop! Not in season, but when I remembered the imam's predicaments, I just had to have this.

Saved my Tuesday. Will save another Tuesday. Very quick, supeeeeeeer tasty. Go, do. Have a happy Friday 💓

PS This recipe is based on multiple ones in the web, overridden all and handcrafted by me. I can take no account of how this is supposed to go. I think it shouldn't originally include meat - but it was in the Café Rouge's one and so it is on mine too.


The Fainted Imam (Pyörtynyt imaami)

1 eggplant per diner (it feels a lot but you'll be bound to eat it)
~100 g ground meat per diner
1 onion, diced
garlic
tomatoes (maybe 4)
tomato pyré
paprika powder
chili powder
cumin (juustokumina)
coriander powder
sumac
pepper
salt
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of sugar

First, wash the eggplants. Put on a pan as they naturally lie and cut lenghtwise almost in half, but don't cut through! Take off. Put olive oil in the pan and heat fairly hot (you're not deep frying, so not that hot). Put the eggplants on the pan, be careful, the oil might "jump". Put on a lid and let be until softened; until they sort of form a "pocket". But do not cook through yet. I have no idea now long mine were on... maybe 10-15 minutes? They need to soften considerably.

Meanwhile, on another pan, sauté diced onion until translucent, then add garlic and ground meat. Then add tomatoes, tomato puré and all of the seasonings. This is up to your taste, I'd say at least 1/4 teaspoon of all. You can let this sauce stew until the eggplants are ready.

Once you feel the eggplants are ready, put on a oven-proof pan (if they aren't already on one). They have "opened up" like you see on the pic. Scoop a good amount of the sauce in the eggplant. Bake in a 180 C oven for about 20-30 minutes.

I was VERY happy with mine! They maybe went a bit over as I was paddling on with something else, but it didn't affect anything. The pic is not much to look at, but it gives you an idea - I'm so hoping you'll taste these! :)

Review: Brasserie Kämp at Hotel Kämp, Helsinki

Helsinki is the largest city and the capital of Finland. In Finland there's about 5,5 million of us, and in greater Helsinki area (Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa which are very, very side by side to each other) there lives about 1,1 million of us.

We have one hotel above others in Helsinki. It's Hotel Kämp, established in 1887 by Carl Kämp. It has been a luxury hotel and place-to-be-seen for all Finnish socielites from the beginning - and is still today - although it did function as office building during 1965-1999. Luckily it was restored to be a hotel again. It's the most know five-star hotel in Finland and all of the stars stay there when visiting Finland (e.g. Madonna, Bruce Springsteen...).

I have always wanted to stay in Hotel Kämp. I live close by and work in the Helsinki area, so I don't need to stay in Helsinki hotels for the sake of not being able to go home. But we do enjoy Helsinki and mini-vacation in Helsinki every once in a while. Sometimes just for not having to drive to home, for example when a long-drawn wine dinner is in program 😊

Last February, we stayed overnight in Kämp for our anniversary - oh my! Kämp did not let me down. I loved the overall atmosphere - I mean there was a green rubber duck in the bath! - but also and perhaps even mainly for the service. I'm always happy to pay more, even much more, for exellent service.

I do visit every once in a while otherwise too, for their lovely Kämp Bar, or sometimes After Work Jazz at Upper Lounge. It's always such a comfort to go to Kämp - a bit like coming to home somehow. (No, we do not live in a house like Kämp.)

As Hotel Kämp was established in 1887, they are having their 130 anniversary this year. To celebrate, we went for late lunch (at 16.00 / 4 pm) on Saturday. We were having a lovely Christmas shopping day, and we really had a very jolly good feeling when going into Kämp.

Kämp's restaurant is Brasserie Kämp, and it's made up from basically two different atmospheres and rooms: luxury restaurant inside and a bit more modest, but still luxurious terrace - which actually means it's all indoors really, warm and all, but you have big windows to the street. I prefer the terrace, and we did get a table there.

We started with Ruinart Champagne (myself) and cava (for him). I had pre-ordered the Kämp 130 menu, so no choice was required at this time (always nice, not having to decide). The three-course menu is 46 €, which is not bad at all. Ofter times people see Kämp as more high-priced place, I suppose for the look and feel, but it really isn't. Though 21 € for a glass of Ruinart is a bit rich - even if it is one of my favorite champagnes.

The menu started with smoked eel with pickled leeks and mustard seeds. What enjoyment! Ruinart worked really nice with it too. Although so did his chardonnay (I was driving, so not for me). Most of the times the starters are the highlights of the dinner, this time too. The dish sang to us. The only problem was the waiter - we had to wait many minutes before receiving his wine, while the food was already there. Luckily this was a cold dish.

The main was red wine braised brisket with champignons and shallots (and carrots). Oh what a jus this came with! I could have drank it, I'm sure. We both had red wine with the main, but what it was we'll never know - the waiter did not introduce the wine to us. Also this time we waited some five minutes to get the wine - the waiter went so far as to bill another table before coming to pour us the wine. The dish went a wee bit cold, while waiting. And it's a principle of mine not to start eating before the wine is there. Still, not get to get caught on the small stuff - it was enjoyable.

The dessert was Kämp 130 chocolate cake with blackcurrant sorbet. Very, very good - and this from someone who does not really like sweets or desserts 😊 He had dessert wine as well, Finnish blueberry wine called Sametti (velvet in English). The cake was beautiful velvety consistency too.

It was an enjoyable evening. Alhough the wine pouring wasn't quite right, the waiter was very nice and good in his job otherwise. It would take more to upset me from my love to Kämp.

It's funny, how some places - and some people too - just feel right. When that happens, you should enjoy it and allow that sometimes things are not fully perfect. But almost perfect still.

Happy birthday Hotel Kämp 130 years old! I will be back yet again 💗

Keywords: #hotelkamp #kamp130menu #kamp130years

Onion soup - the correct recipe

What very hectic few weeks. Hope it gets normal about now, and there's again more time for cooking...! Although as you may have noticed from my Instagram account, I haven't been exactly starving over the weeks and weekends either :)

Today I want to post the only correct onion soup recipe. So pay attention now! In short: you don't need any extra sugar. You should not add any extra sugar. In any format. No. Just say no.

If you cook it properly, the onions have exactly the correct amount of sugars in them naturally. And oh boy it's good! But you need some patience, and lots of time. Actually, you can make it day or two ahead of serving too.

Onion soup for two to three (or more as a starter)

500 g yellow onions
3 cloves of garlic
5 dl consommé (or 6 dl if you don't want to use wine)
1 dl white wine
2 bay leaves
1 star anise
fresh thyme branches
salt
(25 g) butter
(olive oil)
pinch of black or white pepper

Gratin

(slightly stale) sourdough break

Guyére, Comté or such cheese (grated)

First, peel the onion. Then cut in full rings or half rings. Remember: you need a sharp knife and good ventilation! Or else, you know, crying is a cleansing feeling. Mince the garlic too.

Put a lush amount of butter on a pan and melt. (Or you an use olive oil or a combination.) Add onions, garlic, bay leaves and thyme. Sauté for a few minutes until translucent, do not brown. Lower heat, put the lid on, let simmer for 15 minutes. Again, do not brown yet. Stir every once in a while.

Once you've had your quarter of an hour of proofing the cooking wine, take off the lid, turn heat higher and brown until golden. Now this you have to pay attention to: they have to be well cooked. I mean well cooked. Browned. Golden brown. But not burnt!

Here you see what you start with and what's close to target state. (The black you see on the target is the pan, not something burnt 😊 )

 

 

When you feel comfortable with the target state, add your consommé and wine and let simmer (so turn down the heat) for as long as you have. At least on hour. If you want really good onion soup, you can do 8 hours of slow cooking (or even low-heat oven). But an hour or two will do. 

Finally, taste to salt and pepper. Remove thyme and bay leaves. Put on plates or bowl of choice. Add a piece of break to the bowl, top with grated cheese and gratinate in oven (high heat, only minute or few). 

Serve. Wonder why onion can be so good. And so cheap. Maybe you can live on onion? Remember to drink the wine you opened too (no point of it going to waste). Receive bravos from diners. Be happy.

Brussels sprouts ceasar "salad" and Mondays

I'm very partial to brussels sprouts, I've always been. Even when I was young and fairly picky - I picked even the smallest onions from any food etc. - I always loved brussels sprouts. Go figure.

As you might have read, I've been travelling quite a bit during the last few weeks (five cities in three weeks). Now it's all week at home for at least a few weeks! While I like to travel somewhat for work, it's not really much more than offices, airports and not-too-healthy dinners. All made better by interesting work and colleagues of course :)

Either way, now that I'm at home I have soooooo long to-do list! But I do look forward to it :) Some nights it'll be going out in business or with friends, or some Christmas stuff - I'm crazy for Christmas! - but tonights I started to tackle to-do's.

That meant that I needed something quick but really good (as it's Monday etc.). One of my old (=young) colleagues has a blog too, and I saw this brussels sprouts ceasar salad in there about a month ago. I've been pretty much thinking about it since :) So at last I cooked some up today.

Never mind I say "salad" instead of salad. It's a salad, still. But no worries losing any weight with the one I make! :D But you'll enjoy yourself much more than any calories can count. (Except if you don't like brussels sprouts. If not, move along to the next recipe then.)

Brussels sprouts ceasar "salad"

Brussels sprouts, as much as you can eat
Chorizo
OR Bacon
(Or you know, why not, go crazy, add both!)
(Olive oil, sea salt)

The sauce

1 minced garlic clove
1-2 anchovy fillets (sardelli in Finnish)
2 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tsp grainy dijon mustard
½ juice of a lemon
3 tbsp grated parmesan
pinch of salt

Start by washing and cleaning the brussels sprouts. Put on an oven pan with sliced chorizo. Or you can use bacon too. Put on a pre-heated oven of 225 C. I cook both for about 5 mins, took the chorizo out, rolled the brussels sprouts in the chorizo fat (mmmmmmmm) and cooked the sprouts for some 10 minutes still, until a bit scorched. Seeing as chorizo has a lot of flavor (and salt) in it, I didn't use other oil or salt.

When the sprouts and the chorizo (or bacon) are cooking, prepare the sauce: just mix everything together. Taste and adjust as needed.

Once the sprouts have cooled down a bit, mix everything togerher. Garnish with some (more) parmesan and enjoy!

Mondays could be worse.

Smoked salmon with broccolini and funnel chanterelles

During the week we either sometimes skip the cook altogether and eat sandwiches (Finnish type, will post later on), eat leftovers or coo something simpler. Well-you-know-why. This particular dish is also a nice light lunch for the weekend.

Any mushroom would do here, but since funnel chantarelles and aplenty in Finnish woods, and have a nice earthy taste, we cooked them did time. They worked actually surprisingly well! Self-picked - feels like hunter-gatherer :)

I was in three days in Stockholm the week before, in Gothenburg for Friday, in Copenhagen Mon-Tue and will be in Oulu Thu-Fri. 'Nough said. This food brought me joy and comfort for this almost only night at home this week <3

Smoked salmon with broccolini and funnel chanterelles
Cold-smoked or warm-smoked salmon (lax)
Broccolini
Funnel chantarelles or other mushrooms
Pepper
(Salt)

This is very basic to prepare:
- If you use cold-smoked salmon, just sear lightly. But beware! This is a very salty fish, so don't add extra salt (to anything) and you might even want to soak the fish. But we really like cold-smoked salmon cooked, so that's what we use. If you use warm-smoked salmon, just warm up (always preferrably in a pan)
- Wash and cook broccolini in a pan.
- Cook funnel chantarelles in a pan.
- Add pepper to taste.

Light, tasty, simple but still complex......... I feel comforted.

Port wine slowly braised pork cheeks with risotto

We live in the countryside and during summer we have summer chicken <3 Wait until next summer - I can't get over my enthusiasm for freshly laid eggs! But this post has actually almost nothing to do with the chicken.

The reason I bring them up is that we do love to travel, and during the summer our lovely neighbors take care of our chicken (paid in eggs!) when we're away. They also help us out in so many other ways too that every once in a while we like to treat them to a nice dinner. This time we started with french onion soup (recipe coming later), port wine slowly braised pork cheeks and risotto, and tarte tatin for dessert (we'll do another to get the photo and then you'll get the recipe ;) ).

If you haven't yet cooked pork cheeks, don't be scared! They are super since they are very cheap, especially compared to value. The only thing you have to remember is to cook them long! They have fat in them and they are not nice to eat if the fat hasn't melted. I've had some too little cooked at a restaurant and it's not nice. So as long as you remember to cook them until very ripe, you're home free.

The photo is not much, as we didn't plate this time, and we were all SO hungry. I guess the photo still gives you two of the most important things: the ripeness of the cheeks and the consistency of the risotto.

The risotto is perfect consistency in this photo. Remember that. It's important. For years now I've taken my perfect risotto recipe from "Basta!" cook book by Saku Tuominen (Finnish only, I think). Saku has lived in Italy for many years and he has simply the best recipes; I have all three of his cook books. Risotto is actually really simple to make, as long as you remember few key things:
- Cook it slowly, add stock or broth very slowly.
- Don't let it dry out at any point.
- Don't overcook the rice.
- Use actual risotto rice.
- Do not add cream.
With that said, just try it! I've failed miserably a few times, I still do if I'm not paying attention. But mostly I succeed and it's goooooooood!

Braised pork cheeks
2-4 pork cheeks per person (I've used about 1,2 kg for this recipe, so adjust per your kg)
1 dl tomato pure
2 red onions
2 tbsp bell pepper powder
4 dl port wine (or red wine)
salt and pepper
Clean up the cheeks of the excessive connective tissue and fat. Cut onion in large rings or large dices. Put cheeks in an oven dish and add all of the other indegrients. Let braise in 120 C oven for at least 4 hours; we did 6 hours and they were really nice, not dry at all.

Perfect risotto (serves 4-6)
6 shallots
1 l premium quality vegetable stock
100 g butter
350 g risotto rice (e.g. Carnaroli or Arborio)
1 dl white wine
100 g grated parmesan
olive oil
salt and black pepper

First, dice shallots. Sauté them in good amount of olive oil in fairly large pan. Add risotto rice, sauté until it becomes a bit translucent. Be careful, I've burnt my rice doing this many times...

Combine stock and wine. Keep risotto on very low and keep adding the liquid in small amounts at a time (about 1 dl). You have to keep an eye on it! But as long as you do, and add the liquid slowly, you have no problems. You should have added all of the liquid during some 20-40 minutes, depending on how low heat you keep the risotto. I like to take 40 minutes. Once ready ie. al dente to your taste - taste to know! - turn off heat, add butter and parmesan and salt and black pepper to taste. Remember! The diners wait for the risotto, risotto waits no one - i.e. serve immidiately when ready.

Note: If you want to, you can use more wine (then use less stock, you should have 1,1 litres combined). This will give your risotto more acidity. I do this at times.

This time I served with roasted cauliflower and broccoli (simply just cut on put in an oven dish; sprinkle salt, pepper and olive oil and roast in 220 C ~15 minutes). It went okay with the dish, but did not add anything so special (in my opinion).

I'm glad to hear your thoughts if you do try this dish out!

Chili con Carne - guaranteed to make you sweat!

Chili con Carne is one of our all times favorites. It's like an addiction - but the more good kind of addiction I think!

This recipe is originally from a cook book printed in 1997 (!). It's of Swedish origin (!) and it's called "The American Cookbook" (!). I have it since I was Au Pair in America in 1998, and my mon (bless her!) gave me this book to go with me. It's a... cook book of sorts. But I love it for the memory. And for this recipe! Naturally, I've done personal amendments to the recipe though. (Mine's better.)

The recipe is supposed to feed 6-8 (maybe Americans - sorry!), but the way I do it, it feeds the two of us like 15 portions at least. Which is nice.

I will promise you: it will make you sweat and sniff! But in a good way. Don't be scared about the amount of chili in the recipe! Try it out. Or don't if you feel scared still - use less. At any rate, do not eat the same day you prepare it! Must rest overnight.

Chili con Carne
1 kg minced meat
1 large onion
(much) garlic gloves (originally 3 cloves)
2 bell peppers diced
1-2 tbsp jalopeno diced
½ dl chili powder (sic!)
2 ½ tsp cumin (or more, I use more, I love cumin) (juustokumina)
2 bay leaves
smoked bell pepper powder
2 frech chilies diced
2 dl tomato pure
3-7 dl meat broth
2 cans crushed tomatoes (Mutti preferably)
4 cans of ready kidney beans
(1,5 dl porridge rice, uncooked)
olive oil
salt
black pepper
pinch of sugar and cinnamon
Serve with creme fraiche and grated cheddar

First, sauté the onions and fry minced meat in olive oil, adding garlic and bell peppers in the end and fry them for a few minutes too. Add jalopenos, chili powder, chili, cumin, bay leaves, smoked bell pepper powder, tomato pure and fry for a few minutes more (keep stirring). Add crushed tomatoes, the rest of the seasoning and a right amount of the broth (see below). Also - and this is optional - add the rice. I add not much, as I don't want to turn it into a porridge, but some, since it makes it more to eat on.

The reason why the scale is so large for the broth is that it depends so much on what you like and what type of tomato you use (you can also used canned whole tomatoes). I like my chili fairly "wet" (but not runny). If you use rice, you will need more broth.

At this stage everything is in but the beans. Let simmer for at least two hours. This is important. Do not think you can do this faster. Keep on low heat. Towards the end of the simmering (maybe before 15 minutes you're done), add the kidney beans. Once you feel it's ready, cool down and refrigirate. Eat the next day. You'll love it.

Note1 on the chili powder: like said, use less if you feel like it. But if can handle any heat, you should be able to handle this. But only if you a) let simmer for two hours and b) let rest overnight. If you taste while cooking then... Have fun :) (And yes I taste while cooking since you have to. It's one of the curses of being the cook I think.)

Another note2 on the chili powder: I've used the "regular" chili powder before, but this time I tried one tablespoon each of regular chili powder, chipotle chili flakes and guajillo chili flakes. No less firy, but more tasty.

A note3 also on adding cinnamon and sugar: I think anything tastes better with a pinch of sugar. So I add it pretty much to anything. But even to this amount it's no more than one teaspoon. Also, cinnamon enhances the flavor in tomato-based foods. So I always use that too in these types of food. But remember it's a pinch (or else, put on the Christmas carrols).

Now you're done! Do tell me if you like it :) It's minimal work, maximum pleasure <3

Zander Walevska

We had bought zander in July for some dish we never got around preparing at the time - hence putting the zander in the freezer. But as we know, fish doesn't get any better in the freezer, and it can actually go bad too if left alone for too far. (Trust me I've tried.) So I decided to cook the zander over the weekend. But logistical reasons, I had a very short time to decide what to do from the zander. Via some magical mystery brain-kinda-way, I decided on Zander Walevska. This dish is actually often quoted as "Zander in Mannerheim way" in Finland. Mannerheim is a hugely famous (in Finland anyway) military leader and statesman, passed away already in 1951. Which title - Walevska or Mannerheim - for this zander is correct then... let me know if you know. This recipe below is my take on multiple recipes I found in the web; mostly based on the one in Turun Sanomat. Serves 4 (or.... 2 at least).

This is a rather easy disg to do. And oooooooohhhhhhhmg how good it is! You basically inhale everything on your plate. So if you want to have "just a little", don't even put it on your plate. Then you might be able to save some for later. If you would want to. Why would you, I'm not sure.

There were some "funny" mishaps while preparing this dish, like the piping bag breaking and someone forgetting to pick all the fish bones... But of course, cooking is like that. I'm fairly happy with the duchesse roses, after working with the torn down piping bag and VERY hot mashed potatoes... You live, you learn.

Hope you do better than me - enjoy! :)

Duchesse roses
~500 g of floury potatoes
3 tbsp butter
3 egg yolks
½ tsp nutmeg
water from boiling the potatoes and/or milk
salt, black pepper

Gratin sauce
 1,5 dl dry white wine
1,5 dl fish broth
1 shallot or small onion
~15 small fresh button mushrooms (or as much as you like)
½ dl wheat flour
1 dl cream
1-2 dl grated cheese (robust tasting)
butter
thyme (dried or fresh)
salt, pepper

Other
~800 g zander (about 4 fillets)
~1 dl de-shelled shrimp (larger the better)
fresh thyme twigs to garnish

First, get the mashed potatoes going: wash, peel and dice the potatoes. Boil in salted water until cooked. Pour the boiling water away, but take some in a cup before you do. Let steam dry on a warm stove (the stove can't be on though!).

Add the butter and mash until pureed. Add the yolks and the seasoning, if it feels dry, add some of the boiling water, cream or milk once you have the desired consistency (it has to go down the piping tube you know). Let cool.

Butter a casserole tin. Once the mashed potates have cooled down enough, use piping bag or piping tube to create pretty roses on the sides of the tin. If you don't have anything for piping, use two spoons the best you can. No worries, the taste is the same :) Cook the potatoes in 225 C oven for about 10 minutes, or until it stars to brown a bit. Not too long though, it'll get more time in the oven soon. Once ready, let it rest.

For the gratin sauce, start with peeling and mincing the onion. Clean the mushrooms, if small leave as is, or cut in half or if very big, slices. Heat up a pan, add butter and minced onion. Sauté the onions, add mushrooms and sauté a bit more. Add the flour and heat for a few minutes (don't fry, they'll turn brown and it's not the point). Measure in the wine and fish broth, add bit more butter and seasonings. Boil about 10 minutes. Add cream and boil a few minutes more. Taste, add salt or pepper if needed. Add cheese and let melt.

Put the zander in the casserole tin (where the duchesse potatoes already are). Put shrimp on top of the zander. Pour the sauce on top of everything; try to get it even.

(It's easy to overcook the shrimp in this recipe, so try and use the larger ones you get. Alternatively, you can add shrimp on top of everything few minutes before the dish is ready - provided you have pre-cooked shrimp. If you do this, you can always put a bit of grated cheese on top to make it pretty too.)

Bake in 225 C for about 15 minutes or when the grating is nicely brown. Not too much though, otherwise the zander and shrimp will go over (they won't get spoiled still though).

Garnish with fresh thyme twigs and enjoy with cooled white wine! I'd go for Riesling, although this time we enjoyed it with Gewürstraminer (since we had it), and it did go really well. I guess it's your basic rule of thumb; if you use the same wine for cooking and dringking it always (?) goes together.

I'd do this on a Sunday, but I'd also do this on a Tuesday to brighten up a day :) 

Welcome! My first blog ever!?

Well, this has been long time brewing... But never did I get around doing this. Before now. I read a lot of blogs, so I suppose I'm haf way there.... Hmm. Hope you enjoy this blog! Would love to hear any and all comments too (roses but throns as well, nothing develops without). We're off!