Various Forms Of H20, Cold, Cold Autumn Evenings & The Best Braised Pork

The weather gods were unable to make up their minds last week. It alternated between snow, rain and ice pellets coming down. On Tuesday, the sun showed up for a few hours, melted most of it and went down against a clear, pastel-coloured sky.

At the end of the week, Helsinki somewhat resembled a giant chocolate and cream slush puppy with the remaining few autumn leaves, mushrooms and berries acting as the coloured candy sprinkles. Then a burst waterpipe at Helsinki’s main station caused havoc, not only closing the station but causing major damage to shops and businesses.

We are waiting anxiously for heaps of snow. The x-country skis have been unpacked and prepared for many kilometres of enjoyment and sweat. One of few things that generate body heat out in the cold as well as turning the long winter and short dark days into fun.

Earlier today we went walking around the bay which is starting to freeze over. Much further, towards the island, a powerboat went by along an unfrozen passage. A minute later, it’s wake followed and filled the sky with the most amazing sound when it hit the ice. It sounded like a combination of tram wheels on a track in addition with the sound of a howling wind. The ice layer heaved a bit and large cracks appeared.

Looking out over the steely grey bay on Sunday, thoughts turned to hearty meals and wine in front of the fire. The perfect meal for the occasion was my pork chops with a mozzarella and mustard crust. It is one of my favourite meals and I have recently reworked and perfected it.

Braised Pork With A Mozzarella & Mustard Crust

Lean Pork fillet or chops

1 onion, chopped

Brown the pork and the onion in a little olive oil in a pan.

Then sprinkle with salt, pepper and 2-5ml dried sage (or to taste and depending on the amount of meat).

Make a mix of:

100 - 250ml vegetable stock (depending on amount of meat)

50 - 200ml white wine - you might as well use a good one, then you can sip on the rest while cooking.
2 Bay leaves

Pour into the pan with the meat and onion.

Bring to boil, then lower heat and simmer over low heat till very tender (at least 45 minutes). You may need to top up the liquid during the cooking time.

In the meantime, make the crust.

Mix together:

4 Tablespoons rolled oats (or breadcrumbs)

2 Tablespoons finely chopped parsley

150 ml grated mozzarella cheese

1 Tablespoon wholegrain Dijon Mustard or a mustard of your choice (use less if you are using a stronger flavoured mustard)

If you are making lots of porkies and this is not enough – double the ingredients

Moisten the cheesy mix with about 50 ml of the juices in the pan to hold it together.

When tender, remove the pork from the pan and put on oven sheet or platter.

Keep simmering the gravy.

Top the pork with the crumb and cheese mix and grill till bubbly and golden.

Serve with the gravy (and wine, of course).

Finally, I spotted this inspiring meal, A Wintery Pasta from a link on the on the Limes & Lycopene site.

Helsinki Automotive, Autumn Colours & Tomato Bread With Herbs

I have spotted quite a few interesting old motor vehicles around the city in the last couple of months. Usually, some really old and interesting motor vehicles and motorbikes feature as exhibits in the parking garages in the city.

The parking garages that connect the two shopping centres of Kamppi and Forum, as well as the main station, are probably the most interesting parking garages around. It is the only place I have ever lived where they put an effort into making even a parking garage user-friendly. Apart from the fact that they always have interesting old vehicles on display, they entertain you with taped birdsong, all year round. The birdsong changes ever so often and next to the elevators to the Stockmann department store is a board that has all the information about the bird you can hear singing at the time. Other fun things to do or look at when in the parking garage … curved mirrors, a fishtank, rides for the kids and lastly, water buckets and gear to clean your windows before you head off. In any case, if you were intending to hibernate down there for the winter, you are not going to get bored too soon.

So, I headed out to go and photograph a few of the vehicles for this blog. These little French numbers may be a new fad. A few of them have popped up around town recently.

It was definitely the end of autumn yesterday when we had snow coming down all day. To celebrate the yellow and red season a little longer, I baked a rich tomato loaf and added some summery green herbs and olives. (It occurred to me that a few of the vehicles in this blog also sported green, red and yellow colours.)

Tomato Herb Bread

4 - 4 ½ Cups Bread Flour (I used wholewheat)
1 ½ Cups Finely Chopped Ripe Tomatoes (skinned if you prefer)
Small Can of Tomato Paste (70g)
¼ Cup Warm Water
1 Packet Yeast (11g)
2 Tablespoons Raw Sugar
2 Tablespoons Virgin Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons Herbs de Provence
2 teaspoons Salt
½ Cup Green Olives, quarters (optional)

- Dissolve the yeast in the water.

- Mash or puree the tomatoes, depending how ripe or juicy they are.

- Blend yeast, tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, oil, salt and herbs together.

- Add the olives if using.

- Stir in as much flour as needed to make a firm dough.

- Knead till smooth.

- Place in a greased bowl let rise covered until twice its size – about 1 hour.

- Deflate and form a loaf. You can put into a greased loaf pan.

- Pre-heat the oven.

- Let the loaf rise until double again.

- Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with more herbs.

- Bake at 200 C for 10 minutes, and then turn the oven down to 170 C and bake for a further ½ hour or till nicely browned and hollow sounding when tapped.

France On 3 Wheels & Pumpkin And Coconut meet on All Saints Day

Our tour of southern France along the Cote D’Azur and through Provence was one of our more enjoyable holidays and much too short. We flew to Nice for the first weekend. A beautiful city. We enjoyed hiking along beautiful beaches and drinking ice cold beers in the hot sunshine. We thought all our Christmases had come when we discovered that they had a exhibition of Rodin Sculptures in the Matisse Museum. A combo made in heaven for lovers of sculpture. Their modern art museum MAMAC was equally impressive with a wonderful exhibition by artist Robert Longo, called, Retrospection.

After the weekend, we locked up one of our backpacks at Nice station and headed to Cannes by train. In Cannes, we hired a 400cc scooter, a Piaggio MP3 from a place called Elite Bike Rentals. It was a brand new machine and a pleasure to ride. It has enough space underneath the saddle to pack a smallish backpack, or 2 helmets plus jackets and two small shoulder bags.

   

Our tour started by heading north through Grasse, the Perfume capital. Then we had the pleasure of winding mountain roads and bends riding through the 25 km long Gorges Du Verdon that ends at the lake Lac de Sainte-Croix.

   

Overnight in the town by the hot springs Digne Les Bains and then across the lavender fields and olive groves to Provence. On the way we fell in love with a beautiful small town on the river Sorgue. We spent the day there and stayed overnight. L’Isle sur la Sorgue is also famous for its antique shops and markets and we spent an unusual lunchtime there in the park by their large waterwheels while listening to the chestnut trees cracking the caps of the nuts and dropping them around us.

 

 

Next stop was Avignon, surely the most beautiful city in France and home to the Pont made famous in the song. If I had to choose a home in France, it would be in this city or region. While exploring the town we had some fun at an exhibition called ‘Games with Mirrors’. From there we visited the Roman aqueduct at Pont Du Gard and the Roman amphitheatre in Nimes. Next stop was the ancient city of Arles that was founded in the 6th Century BC. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its Roman and Romanesque monuments but I am familiar with it as the city of Van Gogh.

Unfortunately, our trip through the Camargue was cut short by the wind. It was blowing so fiercely that we thought we would get blown sideways, right across the Camargue. So we escaped and headed out towards Marseille and the coast back in the direction of Cannes where we had to drop the bike on Saturday morning. On the way we discovered some delightful facts about France, such as how popular Elvis is and the wonderful bakeries on every corner.

 

It was not easy saying goodbye to the Moto, but we picked up a car and drove along the Mediterranean coast through Monte Carlo to Menton, the last beach before reaching the Italian border. There we turned north and drove through the Maritime Alps to Lyon feeling envious of all the young men on their motorbikes enjoying their weekend cruising in the Alps. I must also admit that we admired but did not feel too envious of all the cyclists riding up those mountains. On the way we did go up mountains such as the Col du Galibier, tracing the footsteps of the Tour de France. On to Paris, where we encountered few tourists, good warm weather and enjoyed the views from the Eiffel Tower as well as the top of Notre Dame. After spending a morning with the sculptures in the Louvre, an exhibition of Dutch art at the Pinacothèque  and and an afternoon in the exquisite Museum of Hunting and Nature, we spent a day at Versailles before returning to Helsinki. Sigh!

Back in Helsinki the weather it is much colder, the leaves are mostly on the ground now and the days getting shorter. First I had to get ready for visitors. For 2 fun-filled weeks we had visitors from West Australia and England visiting us. So much fun that the blog was somewhat neglected. But as the last few people left on the 30th, thoughts turned to baking for All Saints Day or Halloween.

I was inspired by the squashes and gourds on sale in L’Isle sur la Sorgue and I thought hard of something a bit different in terms of pumpkin.

I remembered a recipe downloaded some years ago from the ecobites website. After my disastrous hard drive crash in April, it had been lost. I went back to the site to look for it. Originally called Organic Pumpkin Bread, I found it much too light and fragile to make a loaf. So I turned it into a baked dish and served it with yogurt for brekky or cream and maple syrup for morning tea. I have made some adjustments to the ingredients to compensate for items that was unavailable and increased the spices to suit my own taste.

Pumpkin Coconut Bake

1 cup toasted pumpkin seeds (pepitas) + 2 Tablespoons

2 cups coconut flour

1 tsp baking powder (aluminium free)

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp nutmeg

2 cups cooked pumpkin or, if unavailable, sweet potato works well

½ cup organic honey

1/3 cup light brown sugar

1/3 cup coconut oil

2 large organic eggs

¾ cup plain organic yoghurt

- Preheat the oven to 160 degrees.

- Toast pepitas in a baking tray in the oven for 8-10 minutes.

- Chop the pepitas to a course consistency.

- Mix dry ingredients together including the pepitas.
- Puree pumpkin and stir sugar, honey and pumpkin together.
- Warm the coconut oil for a few seconds in the microwave till liquid.
- Beat the oil and eggs together.
- Add dry ingredients, then pumpkin and blend.
- Add the yoghurt.
- Oil and line a small baking dish (1 litre) with baking paper.
- Sprinkle the extra pepitas over the dish before baking.

- Bake for about 35 minutes or until well browned.

- It freezes very well and can be reheated in the oven for brekky.
Serves 8.

 

Finally, while searching for interesting props for my baking venture I found this nose. The description had me somewhat tongue-tied.