Warm autumn soups

It is one of the best things when it becomes chillier in autumn - to make hot soups. I am hugely ffond with all kinds of pureed soups. Here are a few ones I made recently, which I liked really much! Really simple but good. Root vegetables are a Big Word.

Red turnip-soup

1 large turnip
1 beetroot
1 small onion (or half big)
salt & pepper

Peel and slice the vegetables into a kettle, and pour water just enough to cover them. Let simmer under cover until soft. Puree with a blender and add salt and pepper to your liking.
I didn't really add any spices here, because it tasted so velvety and soft on it's own, the apple gives a nice flavor. But I ate this with blue cheese and sprouts!

Beetroot-celery soup

4-5 beetroots
1 red onion
few garlic cloves
4-5 stems of celery
few tbsp coconut milk
coconut oil
herbs, cumin seeds, salt, pepper

Peel and dice the onion and garlic, saute them in the coconut oil for a while. Add the celery and beetroots, pour water until they are just covered. Let simmer under cover until soft. Add spices and coconut milk, puree with a blender. Taste if needs to be added something. Serve with roasted sun flower seeds.

Rhye-flaxseed rieska

I craved for something warm and I craved for bread. I found an inspiring recipe of a rhye-bread on a flax-seed package, and I used the idea from it. I ended up making these flat breads, which they call "Rieska" in finnish.

Rhye-flaxseed FLATbreads!

3 dl sesameseed (or any other, like oat, coconut) milk
(soaked sesameseeds+few figs, dash of salt & cardamum and blended with water)
1 tsp of baking soda
½ tsp of baking powder
dash of salt
cumin seeds
few tbsp of sugar / syrup
½ dl flax seeds (whole)
about 5 dl rhye flour

Mix all the ingredients except for the flours, add them last. The batter becomes quite thick but sticky. Let the oven heat in 200 degrees. Take small balls of dough and pat them into round flat breads on the baking sheet. Stick with a fork and let bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes until slightly brown. Enjoy warm with a splash of olive / coconut oil (or butter), salt, pepper and herbs!

Pies and food.. but just one recipe

I made so many delicious things in the summer, but this time I only want to write down the pie-recipe we used last night for making lingonberry-pie for dinner. I mean as a dinner. I'll post images later on.. I'm just lazy. But our recipes are always so good and successful that I have to start writing them down more often! Here of course you can use any berries you wish, we just had a craving for lingonberries. Or at least I did.

Lingonberry-pie

The base:

Wet mixture:

0,8 dl oil (we used coconut oil, feel free to use butter etc)
1,5 - 2 dl oat milk
1,5 dl muscovado sugar

Dry mixture:

5 dl flour
1 large teaspoon of baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
spices : cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg

200 g lingonberries

Mix separately the dry and wet parts and after that whisk together. If the batter seems to sticky add some liquid. Heat the oven in 180 degrees and pour the batter on a round pie casserole (the base becomes quite thick this way, you can use also baking tray to make a thinner pie) and put on the lingonberries. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes (or until the base seems cooked), and if you wish add after that some crumbles :

2 large tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp sugar
2 dl oat flakes

Mix together the oil and sugar, add oat flakes. Pour evenly on the lingonberries, and cook for another 5-10 minutes until slightly brownish.

Kitchen meme

How do you enjoy your coffee/tea?

Usually I drink tea - coffee is a speciality for me, and then it should be of good quality and well made. I prefer tea plainly as it is, in winter I tend to use honey, but not much and it must be solid (the running kind of honey seems to be sweeter). I'm up for everything except for black tea or cheap teabags. Green & herbal teas are good. Fruity teas not. When I drink coffee I usually take a cappuccino, or then coffee made in a pan (or a presso-pan) just plain or with hot milk.

What's your favourite breakfast?

It depends, on the season and what I'm doing. Often I like just plain liquid breakfasts, water, tea and some fresh squeezed orange juice for example. Or then smoothies, raw porridge (i became so fixated with this last winter, I ate so much raw porridge - just soaked over night in oat milk, seeds and some berries and indian sugar&spices, yam). Or just fruit.

Peanut butter?

YEs... But I have to keep myself from buying or making it too often because I spend one can in a wink of an eye. ;) All the nut spreads are a weak spot, tahini even more. (By the way, banana with peanut butter/tahini is super)

What kind of a dressing do you want with your salad?

Olive oil&vinegar

Coke or Pepsi?

Neither

You're feeling lazy, what will you make?

Eat fruit, yoghurt? Tea? Skip?

You feel like cooking, what will you make?

Start composing with the ingredients, take a recipe but do it differently in the end. IT depends ;O)

Does some dish give you bad memories?

Yes. Spinach soup from the early school years, and some salty porridge we had one time. Those are the few times I couldn't eat because the food made me feel like puking.

Does some dish remind you of someone?

Of course. Kampanisut reminds of my grandmother in the north, also makaronilaatikko (macaron casserole). Some certain candies remind me of my childhood friends (still friends though). Chocolate pie reminds me of my friends last year in study, 'specially my room mate. Fish soup reminds me of my grandfather (the best I've ever had, the school soups are disgusting compared), and fish anyhow of the other grandfather from mom's side.

Is there a dish you would refuse to eat?

Yes. Very many ready-made-dishes you can buy in the stores I'd refuse, meat (i do eat fish occasionally), chicken no, sodas. But mainly I eat pretty much anything, if it's not spoiled and gone bad. And milk I wouldn't drink, it just disgusts me (Although in this same breath I say, I could try fresh milk just because of interest).

What was your childhood favourite food?

Makaronilaatikko, meatballs, spaghetti&tomato-tuna-sauce, candies and pulla, chips.. everything trashy :-D

Is there a food you hated as a child but now love?

Very many. For example olives, many vegetables and root vegetables, coffee, green tea.

Your favourite fruit and vegetable?

It changes. On the season and location - in Finland you can't get the delicious fruits you can get abroad. In finland best are apples in season.

Your favourite junk food?

Hmmm. I don't know if I really like that much junk food, I'm sad to say. For ex. I don't like pizzeria-pizzas (and part of this is that the few times I've had it I've felt horrible after it, like I couldn't move for the rest of the day) but I do like home-made pizza. But I don't think that is any more junk food. BUt hey, does ice cream count? But that I mostly like the italian gelato and sorbet kind of things.

Your favourite snack?

Fruits, nuts

Do you have any weird food habits?

I like cold porridge. I mean the oat porridge that has been cooked and cooled.

You're on a diet. What shall you eat?

Mmm, well, I don't think so much of diets but I think I would mainly watch I don't eat anything that makes me feel heavy and uncomfortable, like candies, chips and food with preservatives. Drink much liquid. Eat liquid.

You finished your diet. What would you like to have?

Mmm..

How hot do you order your Indian/Thai food?

I like hot. But the finnish hot is different from Indian hot..

Something to drink?

Water, with lime/lemon. Wine.

Red or white?

Winter mostly red, summer white. It's not that black and white but red feels sometimes too heavy to be drunk in summer.

Your favourite dessert?

I like desserts of many kind.

The perfect nightcap?

Nightcaps are totally unfamiliar to me

What's your first baking or cooking memory?

Mm, well, I remember I used to make pulla when I was younger and that felt quite difficult. Don't know if that's the first one but..

Who has most affected your cooking?

Many things. My mother, all the information including books, blogs. VEry much vegan, vegetarian and living food-stuff. Nigella Lawson - although i haven't made her recipes but I love her presence.

Do you have a photograph as an evidence from your early cooking?

Hmm. No? Not sure.

Do you suffer from any sort of a cooking fear, does even a thought of cooking a certain dish make your hands sweat?

Naaahhh... I'm quite fearless

What's your most used or valued kitchen utensil and/or your biggest disappointment when it comes to your kitchen utensils?

I like a blender. You can do so much with it. I'd really love some really professional knifes - but ... the truth is that I always have used really crappy knifes. Maybe when I grow up ;)

Name a funny or weird food combination that you really like.

Dhmm, mmm. Banana and blue cheese is good, but dunno that's weird

Name three eatables or dishes you just can't live without.

cheeses, fruit, mm,, ahh, I get confused

What's missing from your cooking?

Mm, ahh, many things, my focus is now spread too much to think on this

Beetroot pie

Beetroot pie

Well, okay, maybe this is more of a bread, but because it's kind of sweet I do call it a pie. I felt the need to write down this recipe, because this was such a success! The result was soft and moist, and I think a lot if it had do to with the ingredients. I used organic spelt flour with gives a nice taste for this.

Wet setting:

2 dl of almond milk (soak overnight and blend with water and soaked raisins - or just use some other kind of milk)

0,5 dl olive oil

1 dl muscovado sugar (or indian sugar)

0,5 dl crushed almonds (use the leftovers of the milk)

2 dl grated beetroot (1 big or 2 small)

Mix separately:

4,5 dl finely ground spelt flour

1 tsp of baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp clove

½ tsp cardamom

Mix the wet and dry portions together nicely. Lay the ready dough evenly on a baking sheet or muffin tins, if you like. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes in 175 degrees.