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Bärlauch suppe – Wood Garlic soup, and little information about this delicacy.

It’s springtime in Austria, and one sure sign of it is liverwort starting to bloom, and tender wood garlic leaves pushing through forest soil. I went to the forest this morning to see if the wood garlic was big enough to be picked. I didn’t know anything about wood garlic before I moved to Austria….

Finnish Carrot Rolls – Porkkana sämpylät

Like many of my recipes, I also learned this from my Grandmother. She baked very good carrot rolls. I went to her place after school very often for lunch. Home-baked carrot rolls were the standard thing on the table with other food. The recipe is straightforward, and you can vary it as much as you…

Maisemakahvilan Raparperipiirakka – Finnish Rhubarb Sheet Pie

Spring is slowly arriving in Austria. Birds are going crazy, and first, wood garlic leaves are poking their heads up from the forest soil. One sure spring sign is that my vegetable Hadler has rhubarb for sale. Today was the day! I managed to get some fresh rhubarb. It’s still grown in the greenhouse, but…

Finnish macaroni bake without milk and egg – Makaroonilaatikko lihaliemeen

In Finland, we have this comfort food called makaroonilaatikko. It can be made without meat and then served as a side dish, for example, meatball sauce or different meat sauces. The other version is with minced beef. This is the favorite of many kids and adults alike. It’s nothing like American mac and cheese, but…

Finnish Salmon and potato bake – Lohilaatikko

I am emptying my freezer, and I found a piece of salmon that I need to use away. Salmon bake or lohilaatikko, as we call this simple dish, is everyday food in Finland. Easy and fast to make. You can make it bake-ready already the previous day, and when you come home, just shove it…

Lindströms Patties from black beans – Kasvis Lindströmin pihvit

I love Lindström Steaks. I am trying to go more towards vegetarian foods, so I wanted to try this classic recipe to see how it would work as a vegetarian dish. Originally, Biff à la Lindström is a Swedish dish made from onion, potato, red beet, capers, and ground beef, which are made into patties…

Finnish Bilberry pie in Brioche Dough – mustikkapiirakka pullataikinaan

Bilberries grow wild in Finnish forests. People forage them for their own use every fall. You are either a fan of crispy bilberry crust or brioche (pulla) crust if you live in Finland. This is a forever-ongoing dispute between my father and me. My favorite is cake crust, and he loves pulla. He can’t stand…

Avocado Pasta

I like avocados a lot. This is a simple and speedy pasta sauce recipe from avocados that you can make in two ways. The sauce can also be used as a dip, so it’s versatile. Our family loves this simple pasta dish. I often saute some shrimp in garlic and chili to top the pasta….

Lihakeitto – Finnish meat soup

My grandmother was an excellent cook. She didn’t cook fancy foods but those simple and honest home-cooked, traditional Finnish dishes. One of my favorites was her bone soup or meat soup. Pot-au-feu type of soup. Meat boiled in homemade meat stock so long that it starts to fall apart . Then, meat is removed from…

Moscow stew a la Mysi Lahtinen – Moskovan pata

Finnish food has influences from Swedish and Russian food heritage because Finland has been closely connected with both true the times. Examples of Swedish influence are f.ex meatballs,semlor or sandwich cake. From Russia come f.ex blinis, Karelian pies, or Stroganoff. One of my all-time favorites is Moscow Stew by Mysi Lahtinen. Inspiration for this beautiful…