Recipes Archives - Naked Plate

Cook amazing meals, get back me-time and save money with Hello Chef!

March 30, 2017 by Minna Leave a Comment

It all started when my sous chef Malihah left back to her home Indonesia. Yes I had sous chef, who I taught to cook and bake my favorite food. She was crucial part of my daily housekeeping routines. That’s the luxury of living in United Arab Emirates, we have help at house and we are not shamed about it. In my country Finland, it was perceived a failure of woman to seek for domestic help. Being working woman with incredibly tight schedule to do daily chores is challenge. Big struggle for me at least. Who doesn’t want to eat and cook amazing meals, I do, but have no time for thinking of what to cook and shopping.

Naked Plate food blog cookin Hello Chef! recipes

I did this at lunch break in 30 minutes Beef Kofta, Quinoa Tabbouleh and Hummus

Malihah, my sous chef, she sat with me to plan the meals, she proposed and remind me of great recipes I’ve taught her to cook and then we made shopping list. She did all the food shopping, carried the groceries to our kitchen, placed them in pantry and fridge. Before cooking she washed, cut, sliced and chopped and executed our meal plan. We were eating well, home cooked economic meals. Now that she was gone, it took me a while to resume to my daily routines with my household and start cooking. It was extremely difficult for me, after the day at office my brain was totally blank, no band width to think of meals, no energy to go to shopping. The suppose best part, actual cooking felt boring and unpleasant. It was not one of those moments; Oh I love cooking! I hated it. Only at weekends, when there was no rush, I was capable to cook and actually enjoy it. I ordered take-outs few too many times and gained weight at same time. That had to stop.

Eating well made easy by Hello Chef!

I did some research and found out Olivia from Hello Chef!. We met her couple of years ago at Taste of Dubai, but it was not for me at that time, remember I had luxury of sous chef. Later on I got more insight of Hello Chef! at Hacker Kitchen event where Olivia made cooking demo and showed how fast and easy it is actually to cook instead of ordering in. I knew Olivia the foodpreneur has what I needed to ignite cooking at my kitchen. Time to browse in Hello Chef!

Keep on reading you’ll find one of my favorite recipes from Olivia, try it you’ll see how easy home cooking is. I have code for you to get your trial box with 50 AED less. I particularly asked Olivia to give me something to share with you to get you back in cooking.

Get back hours and save money weekly

To date I have saved 4 hours and hundreds of UAE dirhams weekly. I don’t do the grocery shopping anymore, that gives me back 4 hours weekly for myself, well appreciated me-time.

HelloChef! MealPlan with recipes and ingredients delivered home

HelloChef! cooking can start – box delivered to home

I am those folks who go shopping and buy loads of stuff out from planned shopping list. Who am I kidding, I do not make shopping lists, I just went in market and looked for seasonal food or more likely what I felt like cooking on that day. At supermarket, I want to try new products, buy some ‘healthy’ snacks and end up having hundreds of dirhams spend unnecessary. Then realize at home that I did not buy actually food food, to prepare proper meal. That’s gone now, for 5 weeks, 6th starting I have now gotten box filled with easy recipes for delicious dinner ideas with the fresh ingredients from Hello Chef!. All I need to do is to receive the box and place ready sorted daily ziplock bags to fridge. All recipes will take 30 minutes to prepare and cook. Yep and bonus you find your self enjoying the cooking part a lot. That feeling when you serve dinner you actually made, even if you are single, or should I say particularly for singles or busy couples, this is rewarding.

Olivia from Hello Chef! says inside everyone is an incredible cook. Someone that can cook an amazing meal any night of the week.

Now that I am back to cooking I feel good about myself all the time. I still have three days to choose, if I eat out or have a cheat day and order in. Or just two days detox, four days Hello Chef! meal plan and one cheat day. Erhm either way… well deserved. I am loving this.

I am now waiting Sundays to receive my box, feels like I am getting a gift, I never check the menu in advance, it’s nice to have surprise menu. My choice is low carb box for two. Very good for singles as well, you may have the other meal for lunch next day. Other options are vegetarian and family boxes, I have tried them all, sure you find your fave after trial. Loving the flexibility of Hello Chef! meal plan, once you register, It’s easy to manage your subscription and change the plan or skip the week, or pause subscription.

Vietnamese Chicken Salad recipe

Check the example recipe from HelloChef!, link to full recipe follows below. Can there be easier or faster chicken salad recipe, 20 minutes and you have bowl of crunchy, juicy vibrant chicken salad with awesome salsa, the dressing makes big difference. What I love about these boxes is, that I get exactly the amount of needed ingredients. There’s no waste. When shopping for cooking, we usually needed to buy cans, jars and bottles of ingredients which you might or might not use later on. I had to clear my pantry quite often from expired condiments before. Not anymore.

Click to open Vietnamese Chicken Salad recipe pdf

Vietnamese Chicken Salad | Naked Plate

Look what I cooked – Vibrant Vietnamese Chicken Salad

I have bought vegetarian box for two for 280 AED per week, one meal makes 35 AED per person. On 3rd week we changed to low carb box for two for 330 AED. It’s been my favorite. The box has 1 fish, 1 beef and 2 chicken recipes and ingredients. Price of one meal makes 41.25 AED. No wasted food and hours saved every week for something else than shopping and planning of meals. What would you do with extra 4 hours weekly?

Here’s coupon code for your trial week, use at www.hellochef.me insert nakedplate at check out.

Don’t go quite yet! Read about Foodpreneur Olivia Manner from Hello Chef! here.

Trendy Dubai | Molecular Gastronomy – Very Indian Tresind

December 25, 2016 by Minna Leave a Comment

Derived from French expression très Indian Dubai based modern Indian restaurant got it’s name Tresind. The chef Himanshu of Tresind marries a progressive fine dining approach with traditional Indian cuisine. Their creative molecular gastronomy methods not only make food look artistic but brilliantly brings all together respecting the original recipe and flavours. I have been into molecular gastronomy from the time it was brought to Dubai on 2012 at Marta’s Kitchen.

Tresind introduced their menu at Taste of Dubai on March 2016. I got slice of Vada Pao Pan Pizza and thought then I have to dine there to deep dive into forward-thinking modernist Indian cuisine with a twist.

Tresind Mango Frooti

Tresind Tropical Fruits, Mango Frooti (picture captured by Minna Herranen)

As usual, in Dubai foodie heaven, having so many options to choose for, it took couple of more months from me to actually go and dine at Tresind. I got invited to try Tresind 9 course tasting menu and was impressed of everything on the entire experience. Food was clearly Indian cuisine but with modern twist. It’s all about light, healthy and colourful so very millenial style dining, not westernized but very Indian. Ever since my visit they have won several awards and introduced another interesting restaurant Carnival by Tresind. Modern Indian is IT now in Dubai food scenes.

At the moment Tresind has absolutely value for money Lunch set menu in their offering. It’s an extensive lunch set menu at AED 99 per person from Sunday to Thursday.

Back to my experience at Tresind. Before going to food I must mention that waiter knew the food, it’s always pleasure to fine dine in a restaurant where waters are knowledgeable. It makes the whole dining rolling smoothly and allow us to know the food we are going to get. Tresind had paired each plate with suitable wine, however I cannot comment weather it was success or not, I am aqua drinker. In all honesty I think Indian cuisine works well without wine.

Tresind food

Tasting lunch started with modern art of chaat, the Indian snack flavours composed under our eyes as in any chaat stall. It was entertaining work of food artist painting for us a tasty tangy sweet but savory chaat art. I really liked the way chaat was served with smoky effects sponge like Gujarati Dhokla, tamarind chutney, mint & coriander chutney, sweet yogurt, chaat masala gel, palak patta, mustard water, fresh pomegranate, nimbu sev and red chili pepper all spread on wide tray as a canvas – very artistic.

Followed by Chilli hoisin duck khurchan with pickled carrots and beets, Deconstructed pani puri, Zaatar Pav with Pindi Channa Hummus and Sundried tomatoes & olives, Tandoori Portobello Steak, Vada Pao Pan Pizza, Khandvi Sorbet to clear palate, Paneer Cafreal, Potato Sphere Dahi Kebab, Daulat Ki Chaat.

Tresind chilli hoisin duck khurchan, pickled carrots and beets

Tresind chilli hoisin duck khurchan, pickled carrots and beets (photo provided by Tresind)

Tresind Signature Recipe – gift for you

Thanks to nice people from Tresind I have signature recipe to share with you. I asked chef to share one recipe from their summer menu and got this wonderful Mango phirn popsicle recipe. See the Tresind presentation on top of the post. My eyes were eating the dessert before I get to taste mango lollies with passion fruit salsa. Who doesn’t like mangoes!

SUMMER MENU RECIPE_TropicalFruitsMangoFrooti

Here’s my take of Tresind signature mango ice lollies. I was more into easy presentation and froze mango lollies in egg shape silicone molds and dipped them in dark chocolate and fresh coconut and pistachio nuts. It was great mock up from the original recipe which was more of the inspiration than one to one follow thru for me this time. What if you try to make ice lollies inspired by Tresind, the way you like it.

Naked Plate Mango ice lollies

Mango phirn ice lollies made by Naked Plate blog’s Minna

I have had bad, good and very good food experiences, Tresind was one of those very good ones. However it is just me, you should try yourself, this might be specially for you if you find Indian food too heavy and intense. I was invited by Tresind, all of my writings are my own opinions though. Value of 9 course signature Chef’s tasting menu was 365 AED. I might be bias because I love Indian food and molecular gastronomy. To read more about Tresind experiences and particularly food reviews from real Dubai foodies visit The Cluttonous couple and The Thezzy Files

Check out Tresind set lunch menu worth 99 AED. Good value for money!

Hey don’t go yet, you might like to check out my post from 2012 Do play with your food – Look-see into Molecular Gastronomy

The Best Raw Vegan Dessert for Non-vegan

June 26, 2016 by Minna Leave a Comment

Raw Vegan Dessert has two words which could be a red flag for regular omnivore; raw and vegan. But not this raw vegan dessert made for non-vegans. It’s chocolate mousse, raw granola and caramel sauce. If you would like to add more veggies and raw food to your diet, easiest is to start with scrumptious desserts. I got chance to join mini workshop on raw vegan cooking (… erhm we did not cook anything) and photography organized by Karin from The Official Kalista at Ripe Fresh Market in Dubai.

Who knew that spinach sinks to chocolate mousse like no other and it tastes good as well. Is there anyone out there who does not like chocolate?! Give this dessert a try, I am sharing Karin’s fool proof easy recipe and it’s 100% plant based. I declare it is The Best Raw Vegan Dessert for Non-vegan…ever.

Two other key ingredients I did not even know exist are sprouted oats and lucuma. I swear lucumas never travelled as far as to Finland so I really had cap in my basic fruit knowledge. Sprouted oats do not require cooking and is healthy raw option for regular oats. Lucuma mixed with date syrup makes instant caramel sauce with added healthy functional aspect. Peruvian and Ecuadorian lucuma loved by the Incas is a super nutritious fruit that contains beta carotene, iron, zinc, vitamin B3, calcium, and protein. Good for skin and digestion.

Raw Vegan Salted Caramel Chocolate Dessert Recipe

(1 serving)

Granola:

1/3 cups of sprouted granola (regular oats are good if not making vegan recipe)

1/3 cups pitted dates

1/3 cups almonds

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

Add all ingredients to food processor and blend until you get granola=like consistency

Chocolate ‘mousse’

1 cup spinach (as much as you can squeeze to one cup)

1/2 avocado

1/3 cups raw cacao powder

1/2 tsp vanilla powder

3 tbsp date sugar (yes there is sugar made from dates, look for organic food stores)

1 sachet (1 tsp) of Berryfect bilberry powder (Finnish Arctic super food from Ripe Fresh store or Bilberry.ae )

1 tbsp coconut oil

pinch of Himalayan salt

Add all ingredient to a processor and blend until you get creamy consistency. Fold with spoon to check that all spinach is well blended.

Caramel sauce

2 tbsp lucuma powder

2 tbsp date syrup

Whisk together in a bowl

Now you have three key components raw granola, choco mousse and caramel sauce. Layer them in nice dessert bowls or glasses and decorate with fresh seasonal fruits and berries as much as you like. Chocolate mousse is very rich and I find it better with more fresh fruits to add bite and tangy flavors to complement chocolate and maple like taste of lucuma based caramel sauce.

In below image the draft styling by Karin from The Official Kalista

So What to Eat to Beat Diabetes & Pumpkin Salad Recipe

December 27, 2015 by Minna Leave a Comment

It’s simple, you need to eat to beat diabetes! While November was the month of Diabetes awareness, it is important to remember basic tips to Beat Diabetes on any month of the year. I was invited to participate to The Landmark Group initiative Beat Diabetes. I prepared very typical Nordic style menu of Pumpkin salad, Quinoa with Fresh Herbs and Pan Fried Sea bass fillets with fresh dill and lemon. Scroll down for Pumpkin Salad recipe and video.

Balance your meals and make the healthier food choices. Think of adding healthier foods rather than limiting of what to eat. Pick up the foods which suits for your taste. I have listed some foods which you may add to your diet. They are also recommended by American Diabetes Association.

Food to include in your diet:

Eat more common non-starchy vegetables
Dark green leafy veggies
Fish high in Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Protein foods
Nuts
Berries
Whole grains; it means the entire grain—which includes the bran, germ and endosperm (starchy part)

Non-starchy vegetables:

The best choices of grains:

Bulgur (cracked wheat)
Whole wheat flour
Whole oats/oatmeal
Whole grain corn/corn meal
Brown rice
Whole rye
Whole grain barley
Whole farro
Wild rice
Buckwheat
Millet
Quinoa
Sorghum

The best choices of starchy vegetables:

Parsnip
Plantain
Potato
Pumpkin
Acorn squash
Butternut squash
Green Peas
Corn

The best choices of proteins:

Plant-based proteins
Fish and seafood
Chicken and other poultry
Cheese and eggs

Watch the Pumpkin recipe video here

Zucchini – Pumpkin Salad recipe (for 4 persons)

Ingredients
1/2 pumpkin
1 zucchini
1 red onion
2 tbs sunflower seeds
2 tbs pumpkin seeds
2 tbs cashew nuts
green leave for garnish

Marinade / salad dressing
50 ml extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil
4 tbs of lemon juice (1 lemon)
½ ts chili flakes
1 ts Honey
2 ts fresh grated ginger
1 tbs fresh chopped mint
¼ ts ground black pepper
¼ ts salt

Mix all ingredients of marinade and keep aside.

Slice pumpkin and zucchini with potato peeler in to long slices or use spiral slicer to get long strips.

Slice the red onion with knife or mandolin to thin slices.

Mix vegetables with marinade and let stand for half an hour or more.

Roast seeds and nuts on dry pan; watch out, they burn quickly. Or buy ready roasted but not salted seeds and nut as per your liking.

Garnish marinated vegetables with roasted seeds and nuts and nice fresh green leaves.

Follow hashtag #eathealthy #beatdiabetes for inspiration at Instagram or Facebook.

You might check how easy it is to prepare fish in less than 10 minutes. Watch the video recipes of Pan Fried Sea bass fillets with fresh dill and lemon

Pumpkin Salad idea is from my all time favorite Finnish food blogger and cookbook author Mari Moilanen. I got permission to share. Look at her blog Jotain Maukasta aka Something Tasty. She has food photos I can only wish to take.

Why We Love Super Food Salad (And You Should, Too!)

October 28, 2015 by Minna Leave a Comment

In Dubai we are surrounded with superlatives or super everything, Super Food Salad is just that, it makes super impact to health. The trendy healthy eating encourages us to make better choices and that’s not bad at all. Most super foods happen to be low in calories and are naturally gluten free, they are very easy to add into many diets. Recipe included below. I have re-created the salad and replaced broad beans with snap peas, I did not find miso paste from my supermarket, but found Japanese miso dressing and used that instead, worked perfectly.

‘What’s cooking at The Beach’ was the theme for bunch of food lovers invited for the food tour at The Beach in Dubai Marina opposite of Jumeirah Beach Residence towers just on the shore. Honestly I haven’t visited Dubai Marina neighborhood because of terrible traffic jams or lack of parking space at Marina. It was really surprise for me that there is underground parking at the basement of The Beach. Well okey, there is also a metro and a tram nowadays to avoid traffic. I will be going again just because it’s so easy to park and you have over 40 restaurants to choose on beautiful contemporary stylish beach side go-to destination. It seems I am liking many of the Meraas project in Dubai, think Boxpark and Citywalk at Jumeirah.

We started at Big Chefs for scrumptious breakfast, they bake and prepare everything in house, we had chance to bake with their chef. Next stop at DriDri gelato parlor for wonderful Italian churned ice creams and gelatos and Fratelli La Bufala, mamma mia what juicy Neapolitan pizzas, I mastered one of my own. Multo bene! The Counter, custom made burgers, where you can ask them to make your burger from hundreds of ingredients, just like you want it. Stylish Joe’s Café, elegant but relaxed café for fresh-pressed juices and formal dining. Keep reading or scroll down, watch few photos I snapped with my iPhone at The Beach.

Chef Melad Joe's Cafe The Beach

Chef Melad Kattouf of Joe’s Cafe The Beach

Oh yes, back to The Super Food Salad. I got Joe’s Café’s chef Melad Kattouf’s guidance and recipe of soba noodle salad with plenty of green super foods. Chef Melad has worked his way up from managing the kitchens of Michelin star restaurants to developing and planning food concepts. “There is nothing better than having a home cocked healthy meal, that looks great and taste excellent” is one of Melad’s beliefs… and mine too.

Superfoods are multi-taskers, here’s reasons why we love Super Food Salad:

Beans are a good plant-based source of iron (up to 13 mg per 3/4 cup), a mineral that transports oxygen from lungs to the cells in your body

Sprouted foods are high in B vitamins, high in minerals like potassium, iron and calcium and the protein

Broccoli has a high source of vitamins A, C, K and B-6 and folate. To preserve as many nutrients as possible and avoid turning it too bitter steam broccoli for three to five minutes. Broccoli can enhance detoxification and is believed to reduce inflammation

Pumpkin seeds, are one of the best sources of plant-based omega-3s

Fermented foods are good for digestion. Enzyme rich miso is the elegant Japanese term for fermented soybean paste. It’s rich of antioxidants that protect against free radicals

Joe’s Café’s Super Food Salad recipe

Ingredients
Broccoli
French beans
Soba noodles cooked al dente
Broad beans
Bean sprouts
Pumpkin seeds slightly roasted
Mixed green leaves

Miso dressing:
1-2 table spoons miso paste or ready miso salad dressing
Lemon juice
Water
Extra Virgin Olive oil

1. Steam the broccoli and French beans 3-5 minutes and cool in ice cold water to stop cooking and keep color nice and green.
2. Roast the pumpkin seeds on dry hot pan, watch out they burn easily.
3. Clean the broad beans and remove the skin.
4. Boil the soba noodles according package instructions or until it become al dente.

Put the soba noodles on mountain formation on the plate first. Mix all the ingredients with the miso dressing and put it on the top of the soba noodles. Garnish with roasted pumpkin seeds.

Joe's Cafe's Super Food Salad

The Super Food Salad – Joe’s Cafe, The Beach, Dubai Marina JBR

Super good super food salad is ready for serving!

Keep on scrolling here are my snap shots….

Thank you you reached the end …….big smiley emoticon here !!!

Namrata with Chef Melad in some images, Check out Namrata’s and Nancy’s beautiful blog ‘SheSaidSheSaid‘
Carla with me and Namrata in foodie selfie, check her amazing blog ‘Memoirs of a Taste Bud‘

Nordic diet | Beef Stroganov

July 15, 2015 by Minna Leave a Comment

No it’s not a new weight loss program, its way of eating. Eating Nordic way is all about being locavore aka using as much as possible locally sourced seasonal ingredients. It’s a balanced diet of protein, carbohydrates, and beneficial fats. The traditional Northern Europe diet emphasizes quality homemade and homegrown food, avoiding processed foods. Nordic diet consists of a wide variety of grains, berries, vegetables, fish, poultry, and game (hunting) meats. Since hunting is not option for most, the nearest of organic meat as wild meats is organic farmed poultry and beef. Nordic diet is comparable to celebrated Mediterranean diet in terms of nutrition.

I’m partnering with the good folks at OBE Organic, an organic and halal beef company from the Outback of Australia, that’s available right here in the UAE. Have you tried OBE Organic beef yet?

See what delicious iftar meal I made for you using their organic, halal and grass-fed beef. It’s Beef Stroganov alias Beef Stroganoff recipe.

Originally from Russia “Beef à la Stroganov with mustard” was lightly floured beef cubes (not strips) sautéed, sauced with prepared mustard and bouillon, and finished with a small amount of sour cream without onions and mushrooms. Stroganoff is popular in Nordic countries. In Sweden, a common variant is “korv-stroganoff” aka sausage Stroganoff, which uses the local falukorv sausage as a substitute for the beef. In Finland, the dish is called makkara-stroganoff, “makkara” meaning any kind of sausage. Beef Stroganov is also a common dish in Finland. Finnish Stroganov is served with diced brined pickles.

DID YOU KNOW: OBE Organic’s beef is certified organic, 100% grass-fed and halal? Find OBE Organic halal beef in the meat section at select Carrefour stores in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. And while you’re at it, “like” their page here on Facebook: OBE Organic Halal
Search for hashtag #HealthyRamadan in Twitter and Instagram, give some insta-love and tweets if you like.

Here’s how the OBE Organic meat packing looks at Carrefour supermarket meat section.

Korean Barbecue Bulgogi

June 27, 2015 by Minna Leave a Comment

Looking for healthy, easy and fast Ramadan recipes?

It’s been Korean food trend for a while in Dubai. Having tasted Korean barbecue bulgogi in few Korean restaurants, I was sure this is the beef dish I can re-create in my home kitchen.

This barbecue cooks quickly without having barbeque grill, just normal frying pan works best. It takes max 15 minutes to prepare a healthy Korean style meal. Slice the beef and dip into marinade for half an hour or more.

Bulgogi Korean Barbecue recipe

1 onion

For the marinade:

1 apple or peer, peeled and finely grated

4 tbs soy sauce

2 tbs sesame oil

1 ts tahini sauce

1-2 tbs sugar

1 tbs honey

1 tbs crushed garlic

1 tabs sesame seeds

black pepper for your liking

Method

Cut beef in slices (or strips)
Cut onion in about 1/2 cm thick
Mix all marinade ingredients in bowl
Add beef and onion strips to marinade and let meat marinate for 30 minutes
Heat the frying pan and grill beef on high heat

Sprinkle with toasted sesame seed and serve on lettuce leaves

I have been partnering with OBE Organic, an organic beef company from the Outback of Australia that’s available right here in the UAE.

Follow hashtag #healthyRamadan on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to get cooking inspirations for your daily menu planning.

DID YOU KNOW: OBE Organic’s beef is certified organic, 100% grass-fed and halal? Find Bbe Organic halal beef in the meat section at select Carrefour stores in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Where to buy OBE organic

Sailors Beefsteak – Finnish recipe (Merimiespihvi)

June 20, 2015 by Minna Leave a Comment

In Finland this dish is called Sailors Steak; it’s said to be old favorite in sailorman galley. Browned meat, non alcoholic malt drink or beer, potatoes and onion is cooked in casserole in oven, or on top of the stove. I make it always in oven, that’s the beauty of it, Sailors beef steak cooks without attention. Preparation takes 15 minutes and cooking by itself 2 hours. This is fool proof recipe with the unique flavor.

SAILORS BEEFSTEAK RECIPE: (serves 4)

INGREDIENTS:

600 g organic beef tenderloin (or any meat cuts for your liking)

8 potatoes (abt. 1 kg)

4 small onions sliced (two sautéed and two raw)

25 g butter or cooking oil

Salt and pepper

1 sprig of thyme

2 bay leaves

1 1/2 cups of beer or malt drink

For serving: pickled cucumber or beetroot and sprinkle of chopped fresh parsley

METHOD:

Pre-heat the oven to 180 °C
Cut the meat into slices across the grain. If you use other cuts than tenderloin, pound the meat cuts with a mallet to tenderize.
Brown the meat in a hot skillet quickly on both sides using only half the butter or oil. Remove to a plate.
Lower the heat and sauté 2 of sliced onions in skillet slowly in the rest of the butter until they are soft and golden.
Peel and slice the potatoes as thinly as possible.
In a 1liter (1 quart) casserole dish, layer the potatoes with the browned meat and onions, sprinkling each meat layer with dash of the salt and pepper. I start with a layer of potatoes, meat and sautéed and raw onions. Repeat and make the last layer one of potatoes.
Rinse the skillet with the beer. Pour into the casserole. Add the bay leaves.
Cover with lid. Bake for 2 hours in 180 °C oven or until the meat is tender and potatoes are soft.

Sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley. Sailors Steak is traditionally served with pickled beetroots or cucumbers.

I have used OBE Organic beef tenderloin which I bought as a part of Ramadan collaboration with the good folks at @OBEOrganicHalal, an organic beef company from the Outback of Australia that’s available right here in the UAE. This Sailors Beefsteak – Finnish recipe (in Finnish ‘Merimiespihvi’) is one of my favorite because of the effortless cooking, practically it takes 15 minutes to prepare, plus cooking time in oven without no stress and standing by stove. I did not want to share this as part of Ramadan recipes because it has beer, nevertheless it’s non-alcoholic malt drink available here in UAE in every supermarket, but it can be easily associated to it’s boozy version.

DID YOU KNOW: OBE Organic’s beef is certified organic, 100% grass-fed and halal? Find @obeorganichalal beef in the meat section at select Carrefour stores in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. And while you’re at it, “like” their page here on Facebook: www.facebook.com/obeorganichalal.

Sprüngli Truffle Cake – wonky chocolate cake

April 14, 2015 by Minna Leave a Comment

Seductive specialties, light and airy temptations, delicately smooth chocolate indulgences, confectioner’s craft with tradition. Sprüngli is loaded with superlatives. I got their classic truffle cake recipe and boy it did not dissappoint. I want to think my homemade truffle cake belongs to that 1st class.
…

Baked Finnish Cottage Cheese

September 23, 2014 by Minna Leave a Comment

You can make ricotta cheese at home! Yes I did it, but I am not sure if it’s really worth of all that dairy produce I used. It’s easy and rather effortless to make but wow that amount of milk you need for so small quantity of cheese. No wonder this was popular traditional food to make at home before 70’s in Finland. At the time when we still had small dairy farmers, like my grandparents. I would be stirring this cheese mixture more so often would I have couple of milking cows with me.

For making two 15 x 15 cm squares of baked ricotta style cottage cheese (about 600 grams), you have to carry home 5 liters of milk and 1 liter of buttermilk or Laban as it’s called in Emirates. The Italian ricotta recipe does not call for eggs, but adding eggs makes the texture to form easier and taste is similar to ricotta cheese bought from market. We call this kind of cheese in Finland “Kotijuusto” which means “Cottage cheese” or “Munajuusto” meaning “Egg cheese”.
After liters of dairy stuff is purchased then next challenge is to have big enough pan where to cook the milky cheese. I have used 8 liter saucepan.

Baked Finnish Cottage Cheese recipe

Ingredients:
5 liter full fat milk
1 liter buttermilk (laban)
200 g sour cream (optional)
4 eggs
1 ts salt

Preparation:
Whisk 4 eggs together with buttermilk and sour cream, keep aside.
Heat the milk to boiling point and add buttermilk-sour cream-egg mixture.
Heat the milk mixture to the boil again, keep stirring but don’t let mixture to boil.
Curds will separate from whey (liquid) and float to top.
Just when milk starts to raise remove from the heat. Let stand for half an hour.
Collect the cheese mass with skimmer into strainer or special cheese mold lined with cheesecloth.
Press lightly the cheese mass to get off the whey. Stir the salt in the mass evenly.
Fold the cheesecloth over the cheese mass and put the light weight on the top.

Don’t forget to set the cheese mold over the empty large bowl to collect the whey liquid.
Allow the cheese to solidify in the fridge overnight.

On the next day turn the cheese over on baking tray and remove the cheesecloth gently.
Brush with egg and bake in oven in 250°C until beautifully browned.

***

Tips from cheese master:
– Use the cheese whey for liquid ingredient for baking bread, whey is full of protein.
– It’s not necessary to bake the cheese, it tastes gorgeous as is.
– Use your favorite flavors to make sweet or savory ricotta.
– Add herbs or pesto to cheese mass before putting it to cheese mold/strainer eat fresh without baking.
– This recipe can be made without eggs.
– Serve sliced on open sandwich or with fresh berries or jam on brunch or breakfast.

Traditionally cottage cheese is made from colostrum, milk for calves on calving time. In Finland it was food eaten at feast. My grandmother made the cheese and baked it at wood-fired oven, my mom made it at home when I was child. Finally I have made traditional Finnish ricotta aka cottage cheese first time only this summer, after I visited in Finland and brought with me the special wooden cheese mold. It was not easy to find the wooden mold, seems that most of us like to buy ricotta and cottage cheese from market. Fair enough, making cheese at home requires lots of milk and it’s hard to consume all the excess whey liquid. I could not throw it away. It’s protein rich food. It took me several batches of bread and pancakes to clear the strained milk whey.

I mastered the Finnish baked cottage cheese aka ricotta, but am not convinced to repeat the cheese factory until I have cow farm on my own.

In one of the images you can see the wooden cheese mold square 16 x 16 cm. Round shape cheese is made in colander and have za’atar (Arabic: زَعْتَر‎) spice mixed in.

Say Cheese!