Salmon Cream Cheese Crackers

I made these at Christmastime as an appetizer and they were great! I really came to love gravlax in Finland and I try to use it as often as I can. Be sure to use gourmet mustard, the plain old yellow kind will not suffice.

crackers

cream cheese

fresh dill (I had to use dried... boo.)

cured salmon gravlax

Mustard (must be artisan!)

Spread the crackers with a layer of cream cheese, add a dollop of mustard and put a slice of gravlax on top. Garnish with dill (fresh if you have it) and refrigerate until serving.

Carrot Salad

From Kari and Emmi Koivisto

Ok, this recipe is so simple, but I thought it deserved a post.

I love carrots, but had never enjoyed them like this before:

Finely grated, with pineapple, raisins or great with salad dressing.

Grating the carrots really brings out their sweet, juicy flavor. It is a perfect side dish for those nights where you don't have time to put a lot of time into dinner, but still want something healthy and delicious.

serves 4

5-6 large carrots

pineapple (or raisins)

Peel the carrots and finely grate them into a bowl. Toss in the pineapple (or raisins. or both) and serve.

Karelian Stew

from Mandi

Karelian stew (Karjalanpaisti) is a traditional meat stew from Karelia, the eastern part of Finland where Ben's mother is originally from. It is hearty and uses tasty root vegetables found in Scandinavia. I would love to try this in a dutch oven sometime, it seems like perfect camp food.

Serves 4

1-2 lbs of beef, pork or lamb chunks

1 Tbsp butter

1 rutabaga, chopped

3-5 carrots, chopped

4 small onions, chopped roughly

4-5 cups water or beef broth (enough to cover food in the pot)

15 peppercorns

4 bay leaves

salt to taste

6-8 potatoes

Heat the oven to 275 F. Wash and chop all vegetables except potatoes (set them aside). Brown the meat in the butter in a sauce pan and layer meat cubes, onions, and vegetables in a lidded casserole dish. Pour water or beef broth over the meat and cover.

Bake in the oven, stirring occasionally until meat is tender (about 5 hours). While the stew is in the oven, boil the potatoes. Once 5 hours is up, take out the stew, remove bay leaves and peppercorns and serve over boiled potatoes.

Christmas Beet Salad

from Nordic Recipe Archive

This is a traditional Finnish dish at Christmas time and goes well with ham, turkey or other meat dishes. It reflects the local produce available this time of year in Scandinavia. It is even better the next day so feel free to prepare it in advance.

2-3 potatoes

2-3 carrots

2-3 beets

2 pickles

1 apple

1 very small onion

1 cup sour cream

Peel and cook potatoes and carrots until soft, remove from heat and let cool. In a different pot, do the same with peeled beets, once soft reserve 1 tbsp of the water. Cut the potatoes, carrots, beets, apples and pickles into small cubes. Mince the onion and mix all of the vegetables together in a bowl. Cover the bowl and put in the refrigerator for the flavors to mingle together. Mix together sour cream and 1 tbsp beet water to dye it pink. Serve the cream on the side.

Lettu (Finnish Crepes)

This is what Ben's Finnish grandma would make for breakfast sometimes. And though Ben usually is not a breakfast person, he does love Lettu.

Traditional Finnish Crepes are usually small (about 8 cm diameter) , and although they are a little thicker than regular French crepes, they are much thinner than a pancake.

Serves 4

4 cups milk

4 eggs

1 tsp salt

2 cups (400 ml) flour

8 Tbsp (100 grams) butter, melted + butter for cooking

Whisk the eggs, salt and milk together. Slowly add the flour a little at a time, and once it is mixed, add in the melted butter. Cover the batter and let it stand for 30 minutes to an hour.

Heat a frying pan until very hot. Generously butter the pan and pour the first batch of crepe batter in the rounds. You may have to tilt the pan around to get even coverage on the bottom of the pan. Fry until the bubbles on the batter surface begin to set and flip the crepes over.

Fry the crepes until they are golden, remove and continue frying with the rest of the batter. You may have to add more butter to prevent sticking.

Serve with jam, fresh berries or fruit, whipped cream, or syrup.

Kaaliruoka (Cabbage Meal)

from my Finnish Mother in Law, Ulla

This is a dinner that Ben remembers from his childhood. It is so filling and simple, I can see her whipping this up for her 8 hungry kids after a long day teaching ballet. Thanks for the idea Ulla!

1 lb ground beef

1/2 white cabbage, chopped into bite sized pieces

1 medium onion, minced

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp brown sugar

2-3 cups rice

1 beef bullion cube

1 Tbsp dried parsley

salt and pepper to taste

Cook rice (enough for about 3-4 cups... this isn't an exact science) with beef broth or a beef bullion cube. Brown hamburger along with the onion and garlic in a large pot. Drain grease and return to pot along with the chopped cabbage, and parsley. Cook for a couple of minutes until the cabbage starts to soften. Stir in cooked rice along with salt, pepper and brown sugar. Serve (it was great with tomatoes!)

Nordic Cocoa Cookies

from Nordic Recipe Archive

Mmmmm, these cookies are the chocolaty cousin of the Danish butter cookie. They feel very light and are so easy to make.


6 Tbsp butter
4 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg yolk
4 Tbsp cocoa
13 Tbsp flour
1/2 tsp baking powder

Beat the soft butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add in the egg yolk, and beat until smooth. Sift the flour, cocoa and baking powder and slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Mix until just combined, then wrap the dough in plastic and put in the fridge for 30 minutes to harden.

Roll the dough out into long cylinders about 2-3 centimeters thick. Then go down the cylinder and slice it into pieces about one inch long. They should look like little tootsie rolls. Take a fork and use the prongs to flatten, forming fluted cookies. Carefully put the cookies on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 8-15 minutes.

Maailman paras pannukakku (World's Best Pancake)

-or-
Finnish Pancakes

from Mandi

Although these pancakes could be eaten for breakfast in America, they are sweet enough for dessert. They come out very soft and taste great with jam!


1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups milk
3 eggs
4 Tbsp butter

Preheat the oven to 375. Begin by combining all dry ingredients. Then slowly add the milk, being sure to mix it well. Then add the eggs. On a stove, heat up the butter until it is melted and pour it on top. The mixture will be VERY runny, but that is ok.
To bake, lay baking paper on the bottom of a broiler pan until it is completely covered and pour the batter in. The liquid should be 1/2 inch or less thick. Carefully put the pan in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. The top will turn a dark brown, the pancake should be removed just before burning. Serve warm.

Creamy Fish Soup

Adapted from Nami-Nami

6 cups fish stock (I used vegetable)

5 potatoes, diced 

5 carrots, chopped (optional)

1 onion, minced

7 oz (200 g) cream cheese

10 oz fish (salmon or trout)

3 tsp lemon pepper

dill

salt

Bring the fish stock to boil, add potatoes and simmer until tender.  Cut the fish into large chunks and set aside.  Lower heat and add the cream cheese and spices, stirring until blended.  Then, while the soup is still warm, add fish.  Depending on how hot the broth is, the fish should cook through anywhere from 2 minutes to 30 seconds.  

Sprinkle with dill and serve.   

Hasselback Potatoes

from Bread and Honey

Basically, these are just really pretty baked potatoes.  I took the advice of Alicia from B&H and topped them with caramelized shallots and leftover gruyére.     

Potatoes

Salt & Pepper to taste

Topping: (optional, but delicious!)

Shallots (can substitute with yellow Onion.)

1 Clove of Garlic

1 medium Onion

1 1/2 Tbsp Sugar

2 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar

1/2 tsp Salt

1/4 tsp Pepper

2 tsp Parsley

Olive Oil

1/4 cup Gruyére

Make a series of cuts about 3/4 of the way through the potato.  Do not cut all the way!  Bake in the oven at 400 (until cooked) for about one hour.  While baking, start on the onions.  Chop up garlic and cut onion into larger strips, add sugar and cook on medium for about 10 minutes.  Add vinegar, salt and pepper and cover pan, cooking on low heat for 15-20 minutes.  Once soft, add parsley.  Once potatoes are done, top with onions, shredded cheese and enjoy! 

Finnish Meatballs

from Helena

Meatballs are a classic Scandinavian dish that has variations from Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland.  It is made with a meat of choice, a filler, and sometimes a sauce.  The differences in recipes are based on family preference as well as what ingredients were at hand in each area.  There are many possibilities, but this is the basic meatball recipe that I got from a Finnish Grandmother and you can play with it how you will.  

Basic Meatball

1 lb ground beef 

1 Egg

1/2 cup milk, cream or water

1/4 cup oats (or flour, bread crumbs etc...)

1 medium Onion, minced

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

There are other recipes that use nutmeg, mustard, thyme, allspice, white pepper.  Feel free to experiment.

Saute onion in olive oil.  Blend all ingredients together.  Form meat into little balls (because that is what they are... balls of meat...) They can vary in size, but these should be about the size of a golf ball.  Then you have two options:

Option 1.  Heat a skillet with a little olive oil.  Fill the skillet with meatballs and fry for about 5 minutes, then turn them over.  Keep them on until they are cooked through (about 5 more minutes).  Once browned, let them cool and drain a bit and keep them warm until served.  This way is less healthy, but tastes better.    

Option 2.  Use an ungreased baking dish, plop all meatballs inside (make sure they have a little breathing room so they don't get stuck together into one conglomerate mutant meatball)  

Serves 4... unless you have a eating machine like Ben, and then it only serves two.  Whatever.

Piparkakut -or- Finnish Ginger Cookies

This is a traditional Finnish cookie that is spicy and delicious.  It is usually made around Christmas time and cut into little boys, girls and pigs.  Why pigs?  I have no idea.    

1 1/2 cups Butter

1 cup Brown Sugar

3/4 cup Molasses or Dark Syrup

3 tsp Cinnamon

3 tsp Ginger

1 1/2 tsp Cloves

1/2 tsp Allspice

3 tsp Orange Zest

2 Eggs

2 tsp Baking Soda

5 cups Flour

Combine butter, sugar, syrup and spices in a saucepan.  Stir constantly until almost to a boil, then transfer to a mixing bowl.  Allow to cool to room temperature (stirring helps) then stir in eggs, sifted dry ingredients and mix well.  Chill in fridge overnight.  On a prepared floured surface roll out dough 1/4 of an inch thick, cut into shapes (I just made circles and pressed them with a fork.  Boring!) and bake at 350 until lightly browned (mine took about 8 minutes, but the recipe to wait 10-12)  They taste great alone but feel free to frost them when cool!

Makes about 24 cookies