Singer sing me a song

Last weekend we had a visitor from the UK and on Sunday we took her out to the Akseli Gallen Kallela museum just out of Helsinki city centre. Gallen Kallela seems to have cornered the market in Kalevala art. The exhibition we saw was sketches for his grand project (& ambition) to be the national Kalevala artist. Something he has arguably achieved even if the project as he imagined it was never completed. The Musuem is housed in his old studio and was built in that period of the late 19th/early 20th century which gives it a suitably garnd scale and then factor in the eccentricities of an artist (he had a monks cell installed in the tower) and you have a wonderful space, full of light and slightly dotty.

The exhibition was really interesting, especially now I have read the Kalevala and know the stories. There was one in particular which was a very geometric version of the defence of the Sampo which really got my attention and although I've been searching for it on the net I haven't found it. However during my searches I found this portrait of old Väinämöinen which I really liked.

Our friend is a vegetarian and we enjoyed cooking proper food without meat. We made a lovely Miso soup and served it with rice on the evening she arrived, then we cooked a Thai red curry with tofu on Saturday night and had a lovely pasta with tomatoes, olives, chili and spinach on Sunday. All very simple to make and easy to do on a evening after work.

This week I have been out a couple of nights and finally last night the boss & I made some fajitas. It was an object lesson in the fact that shop bought stuff is not as good as cooking it by yourself. Yes we were pushed for time and lacked motivation and yes we bought the simple shop ready ingredients. The guacamole was the most disappointing and we have now learnt our lesson anew (the hard way) that good food is home made food.

Tonight we had some home made chips baked in the oven and some steak with red onions and mushrooms. Lovely.

Tomorrow the kitchen closes for one week as I am off skiing in France. Service will resume in early April.

Cookamungaphobia

Time for some opinions

I've been busy reading recently and catching up on music so I thought I would take this blog post to give you some opinions on the music I've just got hold of and a book I've just finished.

No Line on the Horizon by U2. The first time I heard it I really had nothing good to say about it: maudlin, death by mid tempo, lacking focus, really poor production, ersatz, trying to hard to be clever, is that your idea of a melody? Second time I actually picked up that a few songs differed in tempo but I still am not convinced. It all seems to be a bit of a blur as one song blends into another. Maybe this will be a grower and won't let the casual listener in but that is on the evidence so far the most charitable conclusion. I have read some gushing reviews on the web which I have to disagree with. I think I'm also annoyed that the hype coming from the band seems to be so at odds with the final album. If this is the their third masterpiece then they are doing a good job of making it difficult to spot.

I'm not sure how I got into the Killers, I think I bought their first CD on a whim one day in Bristol after work and played it over and over again. It was, and is that good. I think their second album was even better if maybe not as memorable. By that I mean it lacked the big immediate classics of the first album but is still a good listen. Now I am catching up with their new album. I have to say that this is an odd one. It beats U2 by a mile but at times it sounds like most of the tunes (and especially the rhythm parts) are the pre programed tunes that come on a cheap Casio keyboard. This is the key to this album they seem to be going towards dance music and in the vein mined by the Scissor Sisters. I kind of miss the guitars. However it does work. Curious.

Like the Killers, Franz Ferdinand seem to be turning more dancey in their third effort and while I am not a massive fan this is probably as good as the Killers.

I am becoming aware as I write this that somehow all of these albums have failed in gaining my instant acceptance. That they were all downloaded at the same time and listened to on the bus backwards and forwards to work over the course of a day or so may mean my views are more linked to my world than their worth. Or it may mean that I am right in my opinions. You listen to them and you decide.

Which brings me to Barack Obama's book. Hmm what to make of it. Well here it is: how can a man who claims to want to change so much of the political landscape around him sound so like the politicians he says he wants to change? Only when he spoke about race did I get the feeling his passion took flight and I found myself wading through chapter after chapter where he spoke of his desire to be different and then marched himself through every imaginable focus group tick box there was.

The good news is that today has been a beautiful day in Helsinki so I took the boss and my mother in law for a walk over the frozen sea. We were not alone as many Helsinki residents took the opportunity to ski, walk, run, ice fish under lovely spring skies. This is one of the reasons we came north to do this and to be out under blue skies on days like this. It may be hard to get through the dark winter months here in Finland but you feel it is worth it on days like today. Maybe I should go give that U2 album another listen?

A full stop

Pork rolls with Mozzarella, Spinach & Garlic served with Beans

This was an idea for a Monday night super that occurred to me on the bus on the way home from work. I had jotted down in my diary “beans” so had popped a mixture on to soak the night before. The problem now was I had no idea what to do with the beans. I had planned to read my book but wasn’t in the mood to take in Obama’s pontificating so was idly staring out the window when I hatched the plan.

It is a recipe that seems to fit into what the Kitchen does best. We take midweek food, the stuff you eat everyday after work and try and give it a little bit extra. What we also do is plan what we eat and when so that we save money and don’t waste food. I have always made a conscious decision to leave my opinions on politics and religion out of this blog but on the subject of people in the west wasting huge quantities of food I have to say it is a sin.

Serves 2
2 pork fillets thinly rolled out like a pancake
100g of blanched spinach – you will need to adjust this depending on how big (or how flat) your pork fillets are.
50g of mozzarella chopped up
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
Salt & Pepper
Olive oil
Butter
Vermouth

250g of mixed beans

Put on the beans to cook for about 1 ½ - remember do not salt them until cooked
Meanwhile on the flattened pork place half of the spinach, mozzarella and garlic
Roll up the meat so it looks like a slightly fat tube
Pin the meat together with cocktail sticks

In a pan warm some olive oil, them melt a knob of butter into it and add a dash of vermouth
Place the 2 pork rolls into the pan and put a lid on
Cook for about 20 minutes on a medium heat
Keep an eye on the liquid in the pan you don’t want it to evaporate

When the beans are done season them with salt & pepper. If you want to add some extra spinach to them it will be very tasty.

Finally when the meat is done serve up and enjoy.

We had some left over spinach today because the only bag in the supermarket yesterday was too big to use in one go so I popped the rest of it in with some mushrooms and served it as a side to some Salmon & Rice.

Kathy I'm lost I said though I knew she was sleeping

Thurs 26th February 2009 and it is snowing in Helsinki. A day off and a proper snowy day. Not as cold as the ones we have been having for the last few weeks which is a welcome change. There has been something about sitting in the living room watching the snow come down that has been feeding my obsession with giving my posts a title taken from a song. If you know the song, you can get an insight into the mood of the falling snow.

The year is turning, the days are lengthening and we have had some excitement recently in the back garden when we thought we had some potential Lynx tracks in the snow. On closer inspection it proved to be from another as yet unidentified creature. However as this is the season to see them, and they have been spotted only a few kms further into the city from here, we remain hopeful that we might still see a Lynx in the back garden. I wonder if they like cat food?

Cooking wise the Kitchen has been busy. We made a lovely roast vegetable and cous cous dinner last night. I built it around some fennel I had bought in the supermarket. I used the fennel and other vegetables I had to hand (beetroot, onion, courgette), chopped them all up, drizzled olive oil over them, seasoned them, added a few whole cloves of garlic and then I tried to balance it with some chili. Then I covered in foil and roasted the vegetables for just over an hour at about 180C. To the cous cous I just added some mushrooms and some sun dried tomatoes. It worked well and was simple.

On Monday night I poached some salmon in miso soup. I simply got an ovenproof dish, put the two pieces of salmon in it, covered it with the miso, added a few vegetables like mushrooms and peas, seasoned with a little soy sauce and sesame oil, covered it all in foil and baked it. I served it with some fried rice and it was a very satisfying and easy supper.

In other parts of life I have been busy reading and my current book is The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama. I haven't made up my mind about it or him yet. He seems to talk a lot about being different while ticking all the boxes that confirm our cynical perception of modern politicians. I keep asking myself is he for real? It is however good to take a detour from fiction.

The last book I finished was Revolutionary Road. Which I enjoyed despite the bleak terrain it covered. I am going to see the film this evening. Hopefully it will be able to live up to the book and a good film to follow last weeks excellent movie.

Update: The film is a bit of a curate's egg. First the good, the acting is terrific, especially Di Caprio. However the screenplay has sacrificed too much of the book's detail about the characters and who they are and how they got to where they did to really make sense. For casual viewers of this film you will not care about these people. The other sin the screenplay makes is to make the first part of the two part ending obvious which wasn't the case with the book. So all in all I would have to say if you have read the book you will be kinder to this film than if you have not. Either way it will be a depressing night out.

Next week we will receive a visit from the UK: The boss' mother is coming for a week and we're currently planning some nice meals and activities for her. There is some lamb in the freezer that has been waiting to be used up so we will definitely treat her to that, we are also thinking of making some spring rolls for her and a mild Japanese curry. On the activity front there will probably be visits to the Winter Gardens and the Botanical Gardens but hopefully we will also get a tour of the Finnish parliament as well. Should be fun.

Deja Vu

Those of you who have read some of my earlier posts will remember reverie on a theme of skiing in Finland here. Well yesterday was the day of the big race and boy did I get my comeuppance for that posting!

I was up at 6am, having my breakfast, a last banana and waxing my skis. I was collected at 6.45am and after collecting one other competitor we were off up to Lahti. Everything worked smoothly in terms of finding my numbered bib, where to put the stuff I wouldn't be needing until after the race, where was the start etc etc. I even managed to get a little union jack to put on my bib!

Then race time came along and we were off!! I have to say that going to Paloheinä and training is completely different from racing. There were lots of people to compete against yesterday. On top of that the terrain was a lot harder. I had no watch on so had no idea of how I was progressing until the last drink stop 5 km out. I found out then that I was on course to exceed even my hopes for the race and I set off with renewed vigour. However those last 5kms were meant to separate the weak from the strong with endless dips and steep climbs and by the final 3 kilometres I was running on empty and discovering hitherto undiscovered reserves of bloodymindedness. Then finally the last 1km sign came upon me just in front of the towers of the Lahti ski jump and I began the final tuck into the stadium.

And then it happened.

On entering the stadium the Finn in front of me fell over and legs screaming in pain and hanging on for dear life I somehow avoided him and squeezed myself over the finish line.

Poetic justice? I would like to think so.

Then it was done and I swore blind I would never ever do it again. However here I am the following morning thinking "hmm...maybe I could do the longer one next year". As the boss has correctly pointed out: I am crazy.

For the data nerds: In my first Finlandia race I was placed 267 out of a field of 802. My time for 32km was 3 hrs 4 mins and 58 seconds including the wait at the start. The fastest person was 1hr and 19 mins! There's a goal to aim for....

Time I had some time alone

On Wednesday night this week the boss & I did culture. We went to the Finlandia Hall to hear the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. The excuse months ago when I bought the tickets was no more sophisticated than to get a chance to get into the building and the tickets were reasonably priced and the programme offered the possibility to hear Sibelius' Symphony #4. However a late change in the programme meant we were actually treated to Tchaikovsky's Symphony #4 in F Minor instead. It is a piece of music I have known for a long time and have loved. Researching it post concert well I read that structurally it is an awkward peice of symphonic composition I have to say that as a piece of live music it was simply wonderful. The Orchestra did a wonderful job and I have slightly more idea what a conductor is for.

Much later that night as I was in bed and not quite asleep and not quite awake the memory of Caspar David Freidrich's "Wanderer above a sea of fog" came to mind as a partner to the symphony. It seemed to encapsulate and speak of the same themes. Given that both works originate from the same time it is not unreasonable to think of them in the same breadth. I cannot begin to describe how that painting has been a direct influence on me and it feels natural to see the wonderful symphony we saw been linked to this painting.


Then on Thursday night I went out to see "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". In a strange way Brad Pitt's subtle performance (with one or two exceptions which I am generously waving through as a playful nod to David Fincher's advertising past) seemed to mine a similarly forlorn romantic vein that gave the two evenings an unexpected but not altogether unpleasant resonance.

At the end of the movie people applauded which my Finnish colleagues at work told me is unheard of in Finland. Personally I think this movie deserves all of it's 5 Star reviews. It is no flawless masterpiece but that I think in a way adds to its charms. It does however continue the trend of movies which feature the impossibly beautiful Cate Blanchett being, well not as beautiful as she is.

Now I have to figure into all of this the reading of Revolutionary Road which I have found to be surprisingly gripping tale of Suburban Americana. I just hope that it falls off the rails in the way it is always promising to do.

Updating this post a few days later I can assure that this book has fallen off the rails in the most harrowing of ways.

Now amongst this strangely comforting mix and fusion of Romantic late nineteenth century art & music, 1950s America and 21st Century movies the kitchen managed to produce some passable food this week.

Chicken with Taragon and Capers


This is not a French recipe but it does give a generous and respectful nod to their cuisine. We used frozen chicken from the freezer making it even easier to cook on a busy weekday.

Serves 2

Olive Oil

2 cloves of Garlic
4 assorted pieces of chicken thighs and wings
1 tin of tomatoes
2 stalks of celery finely chopped
1 good lug of red wine vinegar
Plenty of tarragon
2 tablespoons of grainy French mustard
1 tablespoon of capers
100g of mushrooms
Salt & Pepper

Heat the oven to 180C.
Put everything in a heavy bottomed pan
Put it in the oven for 3 hours plus
Serve with sweet potato mash

Simple hey?