Loving the winter with tartiflette aka cheesy potato gratin

It's been a funny little winter this year in Finland. I take pride in not complaining about the weather, but this year even I've had to complain a bit. I'd love the winters to be "normal", which to me means snow (from just some to a lot, I don't complain), minus degree celsius (from just some to a lot, I don't complain) and overall enjoyable winter. This year we've been getting mostly rain and ice. And seeing as one of my hobbies is outside horseback riding... Well. Snow and minus degree is good, ice is not.

Just hoping our lovely globe doesn't get much too much warmer...

Either way, any type of weather you'll be happy with once preparing yourself a lovely "little" tartiflette! If you haven't tried, it's high time. It's originally from Alps, which means you really do need to get Reblochon as the cheese. It won't do with a substitute. But as it's readily available in good cheese shops, even it isn't a problem.

Tartiflette aka cheesy potato gratin

1,5 kg potatoes, peeled
1 slide onion
200g smoked bacon or other such meat (such as lardonnes)
fresh thyme spring
1 dl white wine / broth (I used a mix of white wine vinegar, sherry and water)
(raw sausage such as chorizo*)
2 tsp crushed garlic
500 g piece of Reblochon cheese
salt
black pepper

Cook the potatoes in boiling water for 15 minutes or so, until slightly soft. Drain, let cool and slice.

Cook the bacon and raw sausage. Put to wait on side and soften the onions in the fat left from bacon and sausage. When onions have softened, put the bacon and sausage back on the pan. Add the thyme, wine/other liquid and seasonings, simmer for 5 minutes, then remove the thyme.

Heat the oven to 180 C. Layer the oven dish with half the potatoes, top with the bacon mixture and follow with the remaining potatoes, making another layer. Or else just mix all of it together.

Place the whole piece of cheese** in the centre of the dish on top of the potatoes. Cook in the oven for 25 minutes until golden. It looks like this before the oven:

* You don't need to add this, but it makes it even better. You can use any type of sausage, but if you use raw sausage, cook it before adding to dish. Pre-cooked sausage you can just add when putting the dish together.
** You do need to use the cheese as WHOLE. We've been trying to use less, but it does not melt as it should and the result isn't anything as good. 


If you can imagine potatoes and meat with cheese.... you'll love this! The Reblochon melts and creates a type of "cheese sauce"... I'm getting hungry just by thinking of it! We'll definately do another batch during this wintertime still 💓

Teriyaki salmon bowl

I'm trying to start to eat better and overall take a bit better care of myself - part of which I need to eat more. I eat to little during the day, I can skip all meals during a day due to busy schedules, which means I stuff myself during the evenings and eat wrong because I'm too hungry.

So maybe this excellent bowl is one step closer to the new me - or actually sort of the old me :) But rest assured, even if you are all well with your diet, you're bound to enjoy this 😍 Recipe credits to Soppa365.

Teriyaki salmon bowl (for four)

400 g salmon (lax)

1 tbsp butter

3 dl sushi- or jasmin rice

Teriyaki sauce

1 dl soy sauce

¾ dl sugar

1 dl dry white wine or sherry (or sake)

1 tl sesame oil

1 tl grated fresh ginger

Salad
salad of your choice

cucumber sticks

cherry tomatoes

avocado (half for each person)

Salad dressing

1 ½ tbsp rice wine vinegar

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tsp dijon mustard

Garnish with

fried sesame seeds

spring onion
sriracha dressing (your choice)

Start by boiling the rice of your choice according to the recipe in the package. Then mix together the indegrients of the teriyaki sauce, pour into a frying pan and heat up, keep boiling and stir. Let it simmer down and thicken, but not too much (totally sticky is a bit too much; it should be somewhat runny still). Pour to a bowl to wait.

Cut the salmon into serving size (four pieces). Heat butter in a frying pan and fry salmon pieces for a few minutes. Pour the teriyaki sauce into the pan. Fry the sauce and the salmon (not too high heat) for 5-7 minutes (or as the salmon is to your liking), turning the salmon over once. Keep pasting the salmon while frying.

Cut the indegrients of the salad to your liking and mix the salad dressing. You can either mix the salad together with the dressing, or do as I did, and arrange the salad in the bowl and pour the salad dressing on them. Either way, leave room for rice in the bowl.

Put the rice on the bowl too, top with the salmon. If you've left the teriyaki sauce sufficiently not-too-thick, you can also you it as the sauce for the rice (highly recommended!!). Dress with sesame seeds and spring onions (unless you forget them.......).

Now the only thing to do is to enjoy! It's the perfect mix of sweet, fresh and salty... Love.

So it was Christmas

Phew! What a December it was... I was running to catch my tail at work as well as on my free time - but happily I'll tell you I was fairly successful :) But it meant I unfortunately had to drop out all of the not-priority-number-one actions, such as this blog.

But now I'm back :) We did eat in December and Christmas time, as well as we've been already eating in 2018 (btw WHO can believe it's already 2018!!!?). Will get you up to speed :) To start, here's what we enjoyed after new years' with guests: home-made blinis with champagne and "all-the-fixins": salmon roe, vendace roe, diced onions and sour cream (with the roe), gherkins and honey, cold-cured salmon, cold-cured reindeer-mayo salad and mushroom-mayo salad. Yum!

Happy New Year 2018!