Once upon a time...dining in the woods

Once upon a time there was a little girl called Little Red Riding hood...in this story she had red boots instead (maybe she was partly Puss in Boots). She was so excited about going out into the woods and picking mushrooms. She loved walking around in her little red wellington boots that she had had since the early nineties. She wandered around with her weaved basket hoping to find some of the delights that the autumn season brings us...mushrooms. She listened to the birds chirp, the woodpecker pecking on some dried wood and watched as the squirrels were scurrying by. She picked and picked until her basket full of mushrooms; there were chanterelles, yellowfoot, black trumpets and her favourite sheep polyphore.

She was so excited and couldn't wait to make a mushroom pie. Once the pie was done she packed her basket and headed back into the forest to enjoy the pie with her new friends :)

For the crust:
150g butter (room tempered)
2.5 dl all purpose flour
0.5dl oats
salt

Filling:
1 onion
70g Kale
250g mushrooms
40g goats cheese
100g grated cheese (use a medium strong cheese that melts and crisps up like a Emmental or Västerbotten)
2 dl cream
3 eggs

Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Pinch together the butter, flour, oats and salt until you get a pastry dough.
Press into a baking form.
Bake the pastry for a few minutes until it creates a bit of a crust. Remove from the oven.

Sautee the onion in some butter or oil until soft. Add the mushrooms and last the Kale. Sautee until all the ingredients are a bit soft and the mushrooms aren't too soggy.
Put the onion, mushroom and kale onto the pastry and crumble on some goats cheese.

Break the eggs into a bowl and whisk the egg a bit with a fork to break the yolk. Mix in the cream. Season with salt and pepper.
Pour the mixture into the baking tray.
Add the grated cheese on top.

Bake in the oven until the cheese has melted and become golden brown approximately 30-40 mins

I have to say this is one of the most fun days I had. I really enjoyed spending my whole day in the woods. It was so much fun to set up the dining table between the trees. It was also a lot of hard work. I don't know how many times I was laying in the bilberry bushes, tripping over branches and slipping on moss :D But boy was it all worth it. We should all set up a table once in a while out in the wild and just enjoy eating in  the beautiful surroundings.

Chanterelles with Kale, Goats cheese, Yoghurt and Rye Nachos

Although I always think of myself as a summer person I can't help but get excited about the autumn too. There are some things that come with it that I really enjoy. I love the way the trees change colour, I love the produce we can get this time of the year that brings some colour to the darkness. And mostly I enjoy the time when mushrooms start popping up everywhere in the forests. I love picking mushrooms...it's like going shopping for free without the hassle of queuing anywhere.
How can you not love the gold found in the woods. Chanterelles are probably the easiest mushrooms to find due to their vibrant fiery yellow colour. They are just beautiful. If they are not too wet they will still look vibrant after pan frying them on a hot pan in some butter. I had noticed that it's better to add the salt afterwards...this way the moisture will not be drawn out of them the same way and they will keep their shape and colour.

I was inspired by a picture I saw on Instagram by gkstories (green kitchen stories) and since I happened to have the chanterelles I had picked, some kale and goats cheese I decided to make my own version. It turned out to be a hit at the table so I've already made it a few times.

You need:
Chanterelles
Kale
Turkish Yoghurt
Chevre Goats cheese
Parsley or other herbs
Rye Nachos with sesame seeds (or other rye crisps)

How to:
Pan fry the Chanterelles in butter.
Pan fry the Kale until it gets a bit crispy.

Spread dollops of yoghurt on to a plate and spread in a circle.
Add crumbles of goats cheese
Top with Kale, Parsley and Chanterelles.
Season with salt
I also decorated withs some nasturtium leaves and flower petals.

Add a few Rye nachos or place a pile in the middle of the circle.
Scoop up all the goodness with the nachos. It's so good and so much healthier than a plate of typical nachos with cheese :)

I served these as a side dish along with a nectarine salad, sweet potato fries and grilled cauliflower for some grilled meats.

Blueberry pie

Blueberry pie is probably one of my favourite pies. The Forests of Finland are filled with these blue superfood berries that anyone can go out and pick thanks to the liberal laws known as Everyman's right. I never thought of these as superfood but I guess that's what they are classified as nowadays :) and I don't mind. It just makes the pleasure of eating pie sound more healthy :D
Abroad I always wondered why the blueberries were so different...i guess these vitamin packed pearls that dye your hands and lips purple are known more as bilberries elsewhere but to me it's the blueberry as I know it.
Most people in Finland pick these berries fresh from the small bushes and either use them fresh during the summer or fill up the freezer to survive the cold winters.

 Here is my favourite way to eat them....and that's just as a simple rustic crumble pie.

For the crumble crust:
170g room tempered butter (I used salted butter)
60g oats
190g all purpose flour
85g granulated sugar

Filling:
400g blueberries or berries of your choice
sprinkle with a bit of sugar and if you have some leftover crumble you can add some more on top.

Pinch together the butter, oats, flour and sugar until its a bit crumbly. I always make mine with some extra butter so when you pinch it properly it will feel more like a cookie dough. Spread the dough into a pie form pressing with your fingers to get is somewhat even but don't worry, this pie is not attending a beauty pageant.

Bake in the oven 200-220°C for about 30-40 mins until the crust has become a bit golden.
Let it cool down and serve with Vanilla sauce.

Visit Perugia

During the summer I visited a lot of wonderful cities in Europe.

Up on the hilltops, surrounded by fields as far as the eye can see, is the beautiful capital of the Umbria region Perugia. This pittoresque historic city is well-known as a cultural and artistic centre of Italy. Surrounded by it's defensive walls it's such a quirky little area to walk around.

Hidden behind every little archway is a new adventure to be found. I don't know how many cobbled squirming pathways I walked up and down, one arched stairway more beautiful than the other.

In between walks it's good to refresh with some ice cream once in a while :)

The first days, I spent walking around and ending up in mediocre restaurants typical for tourists.
I mean they were okay if you are just looking for pastas and pizzas,  but for me that gets very boring and for me it's disappointing to eat overpriced food when I know how much good produce Italy has to offer.
Luckily for me behind the Fontana Maggiore fountain was one pathway on which I stumbled across a very modern and casual looking restaurant, Societa Anomina. It was day time and the young chefs were sitting outside on an old horse cart watching Youtube clips and laughing.
Immediately it felt like the type of place I was looking for. I took a photo of their menu so I could google it once in the hotel.

Pictures say so much more than words and I was happy to see that the dishes were beautiful and not drizzled with the thick balsamic syrup which you still find in so many restaurants pretending to be up to date and modern :)

As the evening arrived I headed back to Societa Anomina, the restaurant I had stumbled upon. The  food was amazing and much better than what I had eaten the previous days.
I loved the ambience of the very laid-back restaurant and enthusiastic staff.

Everyone was very professional and I enjoyed every bit of my dinner until the wee hours at night.
I had a couple of snacks first. I had the egg salamoia which was a preserved egg. It may sound boring but it was actually really good and went well with the smoked sardines that I also had.

Next I had the dish called Overground, creamy Burrata with smoked aubergine, red onion, zucchini and crispy crumbles of potato.  

It was delish!

 After this I had sweetbreads with a creamy purée of potatoes from Pietralunga and Hibiscus powder. The sweetness of the purée and the bitterness of the cranberry-like hibiscus complemented the rich and fatty sweetbreads.

I ended my dinner with a ceviche. Unfortunately I can't remember anymore which fish was used in this dish I'm just guessing it may have been a Corvina Or Seabass. This was a perfect way to end a dinner when you don't want a heavy dessert, but instead a refreshing bowl of raw fish.

The staff of the restaurants you like, are usually the best people to recommend you your next restaurant. Even these guys had a recommendation or two but were jokingly saying I would be anyways disappointed as they are the best :)

The next day I went to look for the restaurant they had recommended the night before. Again I was positively surprised by the new world that had been hidden in the end of the stoney pathway that at first look had just looked too boring to even bother to go to.

....but lucky for me restaurant La Fame was recommended to me.

The whole area where it was located was the coolest little artsy area full of colourful paintings, graffiti wall art and sculptures hidden here and there.
And as for the restaurant....I think it was the best place I had ever found so far in Italy. I loved every thing about it.
The place was full of people and luckily I had made a reservation earlier, because all the seats were taken.
I got a table for one,  right next to a garage door full of graffiti :D

For someone this sad little table could've been a disappointment but for me it was by far the best table in the house...just like the owner said to me when happily presenting it to me.
Best Table in the house....don't you agree? :)

The small wooden tables were placed in a dark alley with the most cosy feel filled with locals laughing and chatting whilst drinking wine.

 There was even a small chess board placed infront of an old door with cushions inviting someone to have a go at the game.

The staff was really friendly and seemed very passionate and knowledgable about their food and natural wines.

As a starter I had some Tuna sashimi with tomato water, basil mayo and one of the best creamy Burratas you could ever imagine, so rich in flavour.

Next up were zucchini flowers served with bluefish, tzatziki, celery and salsa verde. The combination of flavours was amazing and nothing I had had before. It was crunchy, soft and refreshing. I was also really happy to see that they had not ruined the beautiful zucchini flowers by covering them up in a batter.

I can't remember when I would have eaten a more perfect pasta dish....or sorry let me correct and say gnocco, which I had as a main. The gnocco just literally burst in your mouth filling the palate with refreshing lemon ricotta accompanied by a bisque full of flavour of the sea, topped with fresh raw tartar of sweet gambero rosso ( local red shrimps). It was amazing!

 

The dessert was my least favourite. It was good but maybe I was just too full to enjoy it fully. Don't get me wrong...it was really good. A hazelnut and chocolate mousse sweet and creamy and chocolatey...but it didn't surprise my tastebuds as much as the rest of the dishes.

The last night I had been planning on going to a remote restaurant recommended to me but I was too tired so I didn't want to go very far. I was thinking of going back to La Fame but ended up trying one of the places that the hotel and most people had recommended.....however this was a disappointing way to end my trip. The restaurant looked nice and I sat in a cosy inner courtyard but already looking at the menu it felt like I had again fallen into the tourist trap. This restaurant La Taverna, is by no means a bad restaurant and I'm sure a lot of people will be really happy with this choice....but for me it was too old fashioned.

I decided to go with whatever was recommended to me. As a starter I had an onion tart with truffles. This pie was good and seemed like a good start for the dinner.

Next came the beetroot pasta with Gorgonzola sauce. It may sound like the perfect combo...and it is....but if you can taste nothing but gorgonzola it's just disappointing. I love blue cheese....but this was waayyy too much. I really love beetroot too and I think if you appreciate your ingredients you shouldn't hide them all under a thick sauce that you can't find anything else in the dish. I struggled to eat this dish because it was just boring. I'm sad to say, but just because it's an original recipe from years back it doesn't mean it should be kept forever.

Before the bill came the waitress brought me a shot of rich chocolate which was quite nice, especially for chocolate lovers. The wine card was great and the atmosphere had it's own cosy charm. 

Perugia really is a beautiful city and I do recommend to stop by if in the area :) especially for eating at Fame....I know I will be thinking about that gnocco for a long time.