Viili

The most discussed cook book over the last few years has most certainly been Natural Harvest - quite an interesting phenomena to anyone even slightly interested in cultural taboos. Semen and this viili I just made have at least two things in common. The oblivious one is the way they look. The second one is that strictly speaking, neither one is a vegan ingredient. But as I found out, viili could be.

Viili is a fermented milk product popular around Scandinavia and probably my personal favourite. Compared to yogurt it's rather sour and has a structure much more ropy (here's a demonstration). It can be eaten as such or with jam, talkkuna or ryecrisp pieces. I've never seen it sold vegan but it turned out just as easy to prepare with vegetable milks as it is with cow milk. Micro organisms usually aren't too picky.

You need couple of spoonfuls from an older viili batch to get the bacteria. This is most easily done by buying a jar of non-vegan viili, unless you have a chance to come and get some straight from me. Then you just need to fill the cup with milk, mix it a bit and leave uncovered on some warm place overnight. Next day you can refrigerate the cup. It takes a few more days for the taste to evolve right. Check now and then to find your preferred intensity.

The front cup in the photo with the velvety fungus surface is made out of soy milk. I used a sweetened brand but the basic taste was quickly run over by the characteristic taste of viili. The oat version didn't look as adorable but I actually preferred its taste. Oat milk is usually much thinner, forms some watery spots and takes longer to mature so I used a dollop of oat cream in it as well. The result can be seen in the background.

Mämmi Pizza ‒ Mämmipitsa

This time of the year every place seems to be filled with pie recipes featuring quark and canned peach halves. Those round, bright yellow peaches look like egg yoiks and are a great symbol for the rebirth of the Sun and the nature. I got a bit fed up with quark after pasha and so I thought I'd try a salty version.

The recipe for the crust comes from Ahmed Ladarsi and the sauce is basically Jo Stepaniak's gooey grill sandwich filling. The latter one could've been a bit thinner and the amount sufficient for two pizzas or a gratin. But at least both turned out tasty. Next time I think I'll fry the tempeh, precook the crust and just warm up the whole.

The crust:
- 200 g (1.5-2 dl) mämmi, not artificially sweetened
- 1 dl rye flour
- 1 dl wheat flour
- 1 dl water
- 20 g yeast
- salt
- 1 tablespoon rape oil

The sauce:
- 2 dl water
- 0.5 dl mutritional yeast
- 2 tablespoons pea flour
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons tahini
- 1.5 tablespoons ketchup
- 2 teaspoons potato flour
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 2 garlic cloves
- turmeric
- mustard powder
- salt

The filling:
- 150 g tempeh
- 5 canned peach halves
- 1 dl tomato sauce
- rosemary or marjoram
- black pepper

Dissolve the yeast and the salt into lukewarm water. Knead in the mämmi and the flour. Cover with a towel and let the dough rise for about an hour in a warm place.

In the meanwhile, whisk the sauce ingredients together in a sauce pan to avoid clumps. Let the mixture come to a boil, move aside from the stove and whisk a bit more.

Spread the dough on a baking sheet. Mine came out ⌀ 27 cm. Brush with oil. Sprinkle with pepper. Slice the tempeh. Arrange the slices and peach halves on the pizza. Cover with the sauce and sprinkle with rosemary. Bake until golden (about twenty minutes in 200°C).

Enjoy after cooled down a bit with your favourite chili sauce.

Nutritional values / 1321 g:
energy 1577 kcal
fat 52 g
protein 67 g
carbohydrates 216 g
fiber 35 g

Verdant Lunch Salad ‒ Vehreä lounassalaatti

Now that it's bright again and things are getting warmer it feels more attempting to skip a warm meal.

- 4 dl canned peas or pea sprouts
- 10 g arame (or seaweed of your choice)
- 1 dl pickle dices
- 1 red onion
- 2 slices of rye bread
- 1 tablespoon oil used in preserving sun-dried tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon hazel nuts
- 1 tablespoon sea buckthorn juice

Let the seaweed soak in water. Dice the bread and sauté the cubes in the oil. Slice the onion into circles. Crush the nuts. Fish the seaweed out from the water (which you can use in a soup or sauce) and spice with the juice. Arrange everything but the nuts into an aesthetically pleasing art work that you can jumble up when eating. Sprinkle the nuts on top for the final touch.

Nutritional values / 648,5 g:
energy 734 kcal
fat 24 g
protein 34 g
carbohydrates 88 g
fiber 26 g

Paskha ‒ Pasha

No, I haven't stopped eating. But I'm having a rather busy period in my life at the moment (I've heard smart people see deadline jams coming up and start working beforehand.) so new recipes may come out in a bit slower rhythm than before.

The Sun has really started shining along the Spring Equinox. Here in a Southern city the snow has almost disappeared already and I've changed into a lighter coat. To honour Päivätär I thought I'd make something special. For the orthodox christians this hilariously named thick treat is an Easter dish that marks the end of the lent. But there's no reason why the rest of us couldn't enjoy it as well. It's definitely not a light dessert option though ‒ I managed to have two tablespoons last night before giving up.

- 5 dl soy yogurt
- 100 g soy spread (fresh cheese type)
- 1 dl icing sugar
- 0.5 dl potato flour
- 1 tablespoon quality margarine (I used Keiju 70%)
- 2 tablespoons sea buckthorn juice (or lemon)
- 1 dl dried sweet cherries (or raisins and nuts)
- 1 dried orange skin

Drain the yogurt overnight (in a cheesecloth, old stockings or a coffee filter). Chop the cherries and mix everything together. Spoon the resulting paste into a mould, again lined with a cheesecloth or such. Refrigerate for another night so that there's some pressure on the mould and extra liquid can come out. Draw your favourite Sun symbol on the paskha and spread a spoonful over a white bun.

There are really beautiful wooden moulds made especially for this purpose but I just used a coffee filter. I didn't bother to press out the air and only waited for couple of hours so the result looks rather clumpy. But at least the taste is perfect.

Nutritional values / 800 g:
energy 2027 kcal
fat 54 g
protein 28 g
carbohydrates 117 g
fiber 7 g

Beetroot Wraps ‒ Punajuurirullat

Since I've managed to constrain myself from posting a beetroot recipe for couple of months after Christmas I can now continue:

I've been wanting to make something like these ever since I saw this pretty picture. The rieska part is adapted from here. In a way they come close to Celia Brooks Brown's beetroot tortilla recipe (a photo here) and Nami-nami also recently posted a sandwich filling which is kind of like a simpler version.

Then I just figured out that buckwheat fits with sour creams, sour creams go together with beetroot while beetroot pairs nicely with peas which go together with horseradish. So naturally, horseradish should fit perfectly with buckwheat! Just kidding. These ingredients do sound random but at the end, the ensemble plays it groovy. In case you want a whole lunch wrap instead of finger food for cocktail parties add some pea crush.

Buckwheat rieska:
- 5 dl oat yogurt
- 2.5 dl buckwheat grains
- 1.5 tablespoons sunflower oil
- 2 tablespoons buckwheat flour (or wheat)

Beetroot filling:
- 2 beetroots, cooked or pickled
- 1 good punch of pea shoots
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise (I used a cheap market brand that happens to be vegan but real chefs make it themselves)
- 2 tablespoons black currant cram
- horseradish (wasabi paste goes fine)
- mint (fresh if you have)

Let the grains soak in the yogurt overnight (or at least two hours if you're in a hurry). In the morning, mix in the oil and the flour. If the mixture looks a lot drier than last night, add some oat milk as well. Spread on a baking tray and cook 30 minutes in a 250°C oven.

I find it helps to roll the rieska inside its baking sheet as soon as it comes out from the oven. If it looks crumbly already at this point, sprinkle with water and let it rest for a moment.

In the meanwhile, dice one of the beetroots and mash the other. Mix the mashed one even with the mayonnaise, the black currant and the spices.

Spread the beetroot paste on the lowest third of the rieska. Array the beetroot dices below the paste and the pea shoots above it. Roll as if you were making a Swiss roll and cut into pieces as if you were making makisushi (I got ten pieces). Secure with tootpicks if you wish. Serve with more pea shoots.

Nutritional values / 1 roll / 90 g:
energy 147 kcal
fat 3,8 g
protein 4,5 g
carbohydrates 23,4 g
fiber 2,8 g

Rose Kissel ‒ Ruusukiisseli

Somehow I had associated this dessert with English kitchen - perhaps because of all those puddings and fruit soups. But when I recently tried to google a recipe I couldn't find much of anything in English. What I did find was a Wikipedia article explaining kiisseli (from a Slavic word meaning sour) is popular only in Eastern and Northern Europe. I can certainly verify that claim for Finland. They're among the basic groceries and young people even like to make drinks out of the thinner soup-like varieties.

Though I still find myself a bit unconvinced that a dessert this simple could not be known in the English-speaking world, I thought I'd write down one version. Bilberries, strawberries and black currants are perhaps among the most classical flavours but I decided to use rose this time. There are two layers to complement each other but you could make just either one. Kiisseli is often prepared from plain juice but I wanted to get some odds and bits to chew. I also tried throwing some potato pearls into the white layer but that only made the mouth-feel resemble a barley porridge so I left that out from the final recipe. The thickening agent is nearly always potato starch but you might use for example ground flax seeds instead.

The milk layer:
- 3 dl soy milk (or other fatty milk)
- 3 tablespoon sugar
- 2 tablespoons potato flour (+ 0.5 dl water)
- rose water
- almond extract (just a drop)

The rose layer:
- 4 tablespoons dried rose hip pieces
- 4 dl water
- 1 tablespoon blackcurrant juice (non-sweetened, non-watered)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 tablespoons potato flour (+ 0.5 dl water)

Dissolve the sugar into milk on a hot stove and season with rose water and/or almond extract. Let the milk come into a boil. Dissolve the potato flour into a dollop of cold water and pour it gradually into the pot, whisking all the time (to avoid clumps). Let the mixture come into a boil again and remove it from the stove. Stir well and pour your serving cups half full.

Wash the pot and fill again with rose hips and water. Let them simmer for a while to soften the hips and get the flavours out. (Taste to decide.) Season with sugar and black currant juice. Now repeat the potato flour adding as before. Remove the pot from the stove, stir well and pour on the milk kiisseli.

Serve either hot or cold. If you refrigerate these the structure will evolve from gluey to jelly.

Nutritional values / 957 g:
energy 517 kcal
fat 6 g
protein 14 g
carbohydrates 101 g
fiber 4 g

Chocolaty Sauerkraut Stew ‒ Suklainen hapankaalipata

My favourite food is called mush. Others have invented flashier names for it though I think they're only designed to hide the truer essence. You hardly need a recipe for them since their very idea is to take a pot and stuff it with anything you find from the closet or the refrigerator. This can sometimes lead into quite dubious looking concoctions. I'm still sincerely wondering if I should divide this ingredient list into two, just for the sake of people with further developed taste buds than me. But then again, perhaps there are some other twisted minds out there.

If you can't stand sauerkraut but would like to give this a try nonetheless, flush the sharpest taste out of your kraut with water ‒ or just use freshly shredded cabbage instead. One warning: I've never run into this problem myself but little birds told me that using vanilla-flavoured chocolate in salty dishes may result in even weirder taste results.

- 300 g seitan strips
- 5 dl sauerkraut
- 2 dl beans
- 2 large apples
- 40 g dark chocolate (semi-sweet, at least 70 %)
- 1 tablespoon rape oil
- 1 tablespoon tar syrup
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon caraway seeds
- 4 dl beer (I only had dark lager this time but I imagine stout or thick porter would fit even better)

In a large pot, heat up the oil. Fry the seitan and the beans until they've acquired some colour. Drain the sauerkraut and add it into the pot. Add the spices as well. While they warm up, peel (or just wash if you're using organic) and cut the apples. Mix in the apple chunks, the beer and finally, the chocolate. Let the stew simmer for few more minutes so everything becomes just one big mess.

Decorate with pickled onions.

Nutritional values / 1510 g:
energy 1778 kcal
fat 45 g
protein 126 g
carbohydrates 182 g
fiber 52 g