Lamb-Cabbage Soup (Lammaskaalikeitto)

http://www.finnguide.fi/finnishrecipes/recipe.asp?c=5&t=&p=168

4 - 5 portions

Ingredients:

500 gr minced lamb
1 kg cabbage
3 carrots
2 onions
1 tsp black peppers
2 bouillons
1 tsp marjoram
2 laurel leaves
2 - 3 cloves of garlic
1 liter water

Preparation:

Wash and slice the cabbage and the carrots. Peel and chop the onions finely. Place the minced lamb meat in a frying pan and allow it to brown in the cooking oil together with the chopped onions (and garlic if you wish).

Bring the water to a boil in a saucepan and add the seasonings and bouillons. Add the vegetables to the boiling water followed by the browned meat and onions. Allow the soup to simmer at a low heat for at least 2 hours.

Serving Suggestion:

Serve the Lamb-Cabbage Soup hot together with slices of bread.

Oven-Poached Pike (Uunihauki)

http://www.finnguide.fi/finnishrecipes/recipe.asp?c=3&t=&p=147

Ingredients:

1 ½ – 2 kg pike, cleaned and scaled
½ tbs salt

Filling:

1 dl short-grain rice
4 dl water
½ tsp salt
2 tbs butter
2 eggs
½ dl shredded chives
½ dl shredded dill
½ tsp lemon pepper

Preparation:

Rub salt on the inside and outside of the pike.
Prepare the rice. Add 1 dl short-grain rice into 4 dl salted boiling water and allow to simmer at a low heat for approximately 30 minutes.

Boil the eggs in water for at least 8 minutes. Rinse the boiled eggs under cold water and remove the shell from them. Mash the eggs finely with a fork, in a mixing bowl.

Add the boiled rice, butter, shredded dill, shredded chives and lemon pepper to the mixing bowl and stir well.

Fill the pike with the mixture and close the seam with wet "cocktail sticks". Place the pike into a greased oven casserole and cook at 200 degrees Celsius for approximately 45 minutes.

Baste the pike a few times with water, cream or white wine, during cooking. Remove the "cocktail sticks" before serving.

Serving Suggestion:

Serve the Oven-Poached Pike together with boiled potatoes and vegetables.

Liver Steaks (Maksapihvit)

http://www.finnguide.fi/finnishrecipes/recipe.asp?c=4&t=&p=99

4 portions

Ingredients:

500 - 600 gr thinly sliced beef liver
cooking oil
salt
ground white pepper
marjoram

For the breading:

2 eggs
1 dl breadcrumbs
1 dl flour

Preparation:

Sprinkle the seasonings on both sides of the liver steaks. Coat the steaks with flour, dip them in whisked egg, and then roll them in breadcrumbs.

Brown the liver steaks in oil in a frying pan (2 to 3 minutes on each side).

Serving Suggestion:

Serve the Liver Steaks hot together with sautéed onion rings or lingonberry sauce, and boiled or mashed potatoes.

Herring with Lemon (Sitruunasilli)

http://www.finnguide.fi/finnishrecipes/featuredrecipes.asp?c=1&t=6&p=28

Ingredients:

4 Herring fillets
1 lemon
1 – 2 red onions

Marinade:

juice from two lemons
½ dl sugar
1 ½ dl water
8 – 10 cloves

Preparation:

Clean the fillets under cold running water and allow them to soak in cold water for a few hours.

Bring to boil the ingredients of the marinade. Set aside to cool.

Slice the lemon and onions into thin pieces. Strain the fillets and slice into 2 cm pieces. Place the fillet pieces into a glass jar in layers together with the lemon and onion slices. Pour the liquid into a jar. The fillet pieces must be totally covered with liquid.

Close the jar with a lid and leave to marinate for 1 – 2 days in a cool place before serving.

Serving Suggestion:

This dish is served cold. Fish dishes should be served as starters for the Christmas meal and served with boiled potatoes.

Boiled Tongue (Keitetty kieli)

http://www.finnguide.fi/finnishrecipes/toprecipes.asp?c=4&t=&p=103

Ingredients:

1 cow tongue (600 gr) or 3 – 4 pork tongues
2 carrots
1 onion
1 tsp peppercorns
2 laurel leaves
5 cloves
1 liter water
1 tbs salt

Sauce:

4 dl broth
1 dl cream
3 tbs flour
20 gr butter
2 - 3 tbs horseradish paste
salt

Preparation:

Rinse and scrub the tongue(s) well. Place into a large saucepan. Wash the carrots and peel the onion. Cut the onion in half and place into the saucepan together with the carrots. Add enough water to cover the tongue(s). Add the seasonings.

NOTE: If you use cow tongue, do not add salt to the water as it stiffens the meat. If you use pork tongues, you can add salt to the water.

Bring the water to a boil. Cook at a low heat until the outer skin begins to peel off. Pork tongues need approximately one hour and cow tongue 2 ½ - 3 hours to become tender.

Remove the tongue(s) from the broth and set aside until cooled. Peel off the thick outer skin and cut the tongue(s) diagonally into very thin slices.

Sauce:

Strain the broth. Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the flour. Stir for a while but do not allow the flour to brown. Pour in the broth, whilst constantly stirring, and cook at a low heat for 10 minutes. Add the cream and horseradish paste. Check the taste and add a dash of salt if needed.

Serving Suggestion:

Serve the Boiled Tongue as cold cuts, or warm together with boiled potatoes, sauce and pickled vegetables.

Salmon Soup (Lohikeitto)

http://www.finnguide.fi/finnishrecipes/toprecipes.asp?c=5&t=&p=164

4 portions

Ingredients:

1 salmon fillet (500 – 600 gr)
1 ½ liters water
1 kg potatoes
2 onions
2 dl cream
1 – 2 tsp salt
10 white / black peppers
3 tbs shredded dill
50 gr butter

Preparation:

Peel and cube the potatoes. Cut each onion into 4 pieces. Pour water into a saucepan and add the salt, peppers, onions and cubed potatoes. Bring to a boil and allow to simmer at a low heat for approximately 15 minutes.

Cut the salmon fillet into 5 - 6 slices. Add the cream and shredded dill to the saucepan. Place the salmon fillet slices in the soup and boil for approximately 5 more minutes. Add the butter and decorate the soup with some shredded dill.

Serving Suggestion:

Serve the Salmon Soup hot together with rye bread slices and butter.

Kalakukko

http://www.cookadvice.com/

Filling:

2 lb Fish, small
11/2 lb pork, sliced into strips like bacon, but about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick
3 tsp Salt (omit salt if pork is already salted)
Allspice (optional; traditionalists omit this)

Dough:

2 1/2 cup water
3 1/4 cup Rye flour (sifted)
1 3/4 cup Wheat flour, about (sifted)
4 tsp salt
1/2 oz yeast (2 standard packages)

Cooking:

1. Clean the fish, removing fins, large scales and entrails.

2. You may leave the heads if you dare to eat them.

3. Mix the flours and salt.

4. Add the yeast to the water.

5. When the yeast is fully dissolved, make a thick dough by pouring flour mixture into water and blending well.

6. The ratio of flour to water depends on the nature of the flours.

7. This ratio of 1:2 by volume works well in Finland with Finnish flours.

8. Where flours contain more gluten you should use slightly less water.

9. Set aside about 4 T of dough to be used later.

10. Roll out the remaining dough into a circular shape about 3/4 inch thick.

11. Assemble the meats into the dough: cover the inner half of the dough circle with half of the pork (the pork should cover a circle whose diameter is half the diameter of the rolled dough).

12. Then put all of the fish over top of the pork, and add allspice and extra salt if you are using them.

13. Finish with the second half of the pork.

14. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Lift the edges of the dough all around the filling and glue together with a little water so that you have the filling surrounded from all directions with about 3/4-inch-thick dough.

15. Put upside down (the seam downwards) on a baking sheet and let it rise about half an hour at room temperature.

16. Put the kalakukko in a 500 degree F. oven for long enough to brown the dough, which will seal it against moisture.

17. Then lower the temperature to about 250 degrees F. and let it bake for 4 to 7 hours depending on the size of the fish (bigger fish need more cooking time).

18. You can brush some melted butter over the top of the dough just after lowering the temperature; this will give it a prettier appearance.

19. If it starts to leak while baking, fill holes with the dough which was set aside.

20. Serve hot or cold.

21. NOTES: * Rye bread pie with fish and pork filling -- This is an ancient national food prepared and eaten in Savo (eastern Finland).

22. * Kalakukko was used as travelers' food because it stays edible very long when unopened.

23. Also in medieval times salt was the only way to preserve meat and it was expensive, so with this way you could use all the salt in salt pork.

24. The word kala-kukko means fish-cock (the bird).

25. * You can use any small fish (shorter than about 8 inches).

26. Small scales and spikes don't matter because they soften during the prolonged cooking.

27. Make sure you use un-smoked pork.

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