second take on the steak

spent the last few days at the cottage visiting my parents, certain someone and the dog got to go with this time. i had decided to try the cognac coffee marinated steaks another time, just to make sure the first time's success wasn't accidental.

the picture isn't that great, bad lighting, i was hungry, and what not...







i thought that there must be some sort of bbq-sauce at the cottage, but no. to solve that problem i mixed some dijon mustard, ketchup (oh yes...), crushed black pepper, oil and white vinegar to stand in for the bbq-sauce, then added some cognac and coffee. exact measures? nope, some of this, some of that...

placed the steaks into the plastic bag and left to marinate overnight







next day, mom peeled and cubed some veggies to be roasted in the oven







the oven of a wood-burning stove to be exact. the veggies turned out great...







...the steaks were a tab bit more challenging on that stove...but they turned out perfect, if possible, even better that the first time. after browning the steaks on the hot pan on both sides, i placed them on a plate and kept warm while i made the sauce. poured some of the marinade and generous amount of cream to the pan, brought to a boil, added some sugar and the steaks for a few more minutes before serving. blissful, if you're carnivore, that is.

a fair warning, after this picture it's just about the dog and snow...







the dog loves it at the cottage. the reason is very simple, it's the only place where he can run free, in the winter that is. and boy, did he run. he also tried to escape at night but we had smartened up and locked the door (he had learned to push the door open during previous visits...)







a sunrise at approx 9am on jan 26







it's been a weird winter. there's been so much snow that the freezing temperatures haven't been able to freeze the lake like usual. there is some ice, then slush, then a lot of snow. the dog is light enough to be able to walk/run on it. mom and dad haven't been able to put the nets under the ice this winter...therefore no fresh fish.







he was almost too fast for me...







we have no idea why the dog loves playing lumberjack...he dug this birch from under the snow and tried to bite it to pieces...

plenty of the white stuff

i did say i won't complain about the amount of snow, but i will complain about how hard it is to walk in almost hip-deep snow. good exercise, for the dog, as well, but hard. buster commented about snowing in finland, he was right, it mostly snows here, at least this winter. i wish it stops snowing by midsummer...







snow does make everything look pretty







even at night. that's the almost full moon lurking behind the trees...







ps. i've found out the that surgeons i met on friday are actually quite accomplished doctors in their field...i still wish they'd operate on me rather sooner than later.

mac and chicken casserole

this dish feeds a crowd, is ridiculously simple and easy to make and only uses 5 ingredients: cooking cream (i used 7%), curry paste (mild or hot), chicken tenderloins (or fillets), pasta (torino rye pasta) and leek.







not sure what i was thinking making such a huge patch of this...but this halves easily. anyways, started by mixing 5 dl of cream (go as light or fatty as you like, or change it to any stock) with 2 heaping tbsp of mild curry paste (i like rajah). put that aside and cook the pasta (500gr) according to package instructions, leave slightly under-cooked.







brown 600 gr of chicken tenderloins (the tiny muscle in the chicken breast), i wanted to have the tenderloins in big chunks to give texture.







mince and sautee a leek (25 cm)







place half of the cooked pasta on a oven dish...







arrange the chicken and leeks on top, add the rest of pasta, and pour the cream and curry mixture on top, place in 200C oven for 30 mins (or until cream is bubbly).







technically, you really don't have to cook this in the oven to finish it. the pasta and tenderloins are almost cooked, if you put them in a huge pot, add the cream and bring the mixture to a boil on the stove while mixing it occasionally, you could skip the oven part all together.

i had some cheese in the fridge but opted not to add any to this, don't let that stop you!

i happen to like the whole wheat/rye pastas, nothing stopping you from using all white, if that is what you like (remember to get your fiber somewhere else, though!)

crab and gruyère soufflés

until yesterday i was a soufflé-virgin...







some time ago i noticed the existence of delicious magazine and with not much thinking i subscribed it...there's been many interesting recipes and in january issue i found a recipe for crab and gruyère soufflés. also, certain someone and i happened to be shopping earlier this week and i came about soufflés dishes that were on sale...clearly karma telling me the time for soufflé had arrived.

you'll only be seeing pictures of the dishes in various stages, i was nervous (and had something else cooking at the same time, not a good idea...). i made half the recipe since there were just the two of us. dishes buttered and breadcrumbed, ready for more







the recipe says to use 1½ dl soufflé dishes, i did, but with half the recipe i got 4 and the was plenty left in the bowl for the dog to lick. recipe should make 6 portions. i left the red chilli out, was too busy mixing and whipping to conduct a search in the fridge, and used different kind of crab meat.







as the soufflés started to rise and brown on top, and certain someone not yet home from work, i was starting to get really nervous... certain someone appeared in the nick of time to help me get these out of the oven.







i was dreading for the moment the soufflés would collapse, it did not come!

the taste was amazing, like really delicious fluff with bites of crab meat.







certain someone was asking whether this was fancy food and would we ever go to a restaurant to eat this...nope, we won't, but why would one, this really isn't that difficult to make. i'm thinking soufflé has a bad reputation as being "challenging" because fancy chefs don't want people trying this at home! besides, so what if it collapses...it's still eatable.







ps. went to the doctor's yesterday, namely three (!) surgeons. these guys seemed to think that prosthesis isn't what i need, not sure if that is good or bad news. it's now decided that they will scrape some more bone off and place wonder-material (i forgot the name of it) which will grow matter on and in itself to perform as buffer between my ulna and radius (i hope i got it right...). if this doesn't work there are still more options to try and fix my wrist. their thinking was that if they do the prosthesis now, it's pretty much it, all other options after that wouldn't be improving the situation, just barely maintaining what is left.

oh, and the schedule? there is no wonder-material to be had in the whole wide world, they don't know when there will be any, they need to call the factory. the surgery would take place, if extremely lucky in getting some material, late spring, but more likely in early august!!! i'm so not a happy camper!!!!!!! i did tell them that i will go bananas if i have to wait until august...

the minimalist's oatmeal pancakes

i was browsing the new york times website (hello, my name is liisamarja, i'm nyc-holic) and found a video for cardamom-scented oatmeal pancakes with apricots and almonds. i had been blissfully unaware of the minimalist, mark bittman, until i saw him on tv, the show where he travelled spain with gwyneth paltrow and mario batali, spain - on the road again. somehow, spain hasn't been on my list of countries to visit, but the food on that show made me wanna go...

hmm...where was i...right, the pancakes. the recipe looked easy (always a plus) and quick, and there was no baking soda in it (baking soda doesn't agree with my stomach) (there seems to be way too much information this morning!)







i started last night, cooked the oatmeal, and took out the dry ingredients...







...chopped the almonds and apricots (look for ones that have no sulfides in them)...







...measured the dry ingredients into a plastic bowl...







...to have everything ready in the morning.







i made the oatmeal out of quick cooking oats, texture is a lot smoother that with regular oats.







the wet go in, the batter was rather thick







in the video bittman seems to use a lot more oil for frying these, i used approx 1 tbsp of oivariini for the whole batch, but i can imagine how much better a little more fat would make these...







i got 12 pancakes out of the batter. i have, finally, learned how to adjust the stove at the shack in order to have the pan just right for pancakes. too low and they dry out and don't brown at all, too hot and they get too dark and not cooked the middle...







bittman says to eat these with honey, or nothing at all. certain someone had his "au naturel" as did i for the first one...







...but as i'm still struggling with maple syrup addiction, had to have just a little with the second one...