Finnish Recipes

Herring Dish (Kala Laatikko)

  • 1 salted herring
  • 1 onion
  • 3 raw potatoes
  • 1 egg
  • 3/4 quart of milk
  • small pieces of butter

Pare the potatoes and slice them with the onion. Remove skin and bones from herring and cut in pieces. Place on the bottom of the dish 3 layers of notatoes, 1 layer of onion, and 1 of herring; repeat till there are 2 layers of onions and herring and three of potatoes. Break the egg into the milk and whip it; pour over the onion, herring and potatoes. Butter the top of the dish. Bake in hot oven till it is done.

Haddock (Horicki Kaitoa)

Boil the haddock in salted water for 7 or 8 minutes. Rinse in fresh water and boil again in a liquid half milk, half water, with a little salt. Butter to taste.

Pea Soup (Herne Sopaa)

Boil the peas till they are soft, adding a small quantity of potatoes, and small pieces of meat or a meat bone. Salt to taste.

Lamb and Cabbage

  • 2 lbs. lamb, cut up
  • 1 head of cabbage--medium size
  • 2 tablespoonfuls of butter
  • 2 tablespoonfuls of flour
  • 1 tablespoonful of whole pepper
  • 3 cups of water
  • salt

Put one layer of meat and one of cabbage in pot, sprinkle flour over layer, add cool butter, salt, pepper and cool water. Boil under cover on slow fire for two hours.

Rice Cream

  • 1/2 cup rice
  • 1 1/2 pints of milk
  • 1 teaspoonful of vanilla
  • 1/4 lb. of almonds
  • 1/2 cup of sugar
  • 3 teaspoonfuls of gelatine
  • 1 pint of cream

Wash rice, put in boiling milk, boil until rice is tender, stir in the chopped almonds, vanilla and sugar, cool off, add whipped cream and gelatine (dissolved in boiling water.) Serve with fruit sauce.

Fish Soup

  • 1 1/2 tablespoonfuls of butter
  • 2 1/2 tablespoonfuls of flour
  • 1 1/2 quarts fish stock
  • 1 pint of milk
  • 1/2 pint of sour cream
  • 2 boiled carrots

A few drops of onion juice, and a little chopped parsley. Melt butter, stir in flour, add fish stock and milk a little at a time, let all come to a boil, remove from fire, add whipped sour cream, parsley, onion juice and sliced carrots.

Strukli

Mix together 2 or 3 eggs and cream cheese. Roll bread dough flat on the table and spread the mixture over it. Roll the dough as for jelly roll, then cut into pieces about 3 inches long. Cook in water for 1 hour.

Rolled Flank Steak

  • 1 big flank steak
  • 2 slices of white bread 1 onion
  • 1 teaspoonful of salt
  • 1 tablespoonful of butter
  • A little chopped parsley
  • 1/2 teaspoonful thyme

Chop ingredients together, spread it on the steak, roll up and sew together. Bake in hot oven for 1 1/4 hours.

Fish Pudding

A fresh, sound haddock of medium size is selected. Scale, clean and rinse well in cold water. Cut the fish in three pieces lengthwise along both sides of the bone, and lay each piece in a cloth to dry well for at least a couple of hours. Scrape the flesh with a knife from skin and bones, which should make about three cups full of raw fish. This is put in a wooden chopping bowl with a large tablespoonful of butter, a heaping tablespoonful of cornstarch and a teaspoonful of salt. Pound smooth with a wooden mallet for about 3/4 of an hour. Then mix well in a whole egg. Now beat well, adding 2 cups full of milk and 1/2 cup of cream, adding about 2 tablespoonfuls at a time. Turn into a buttered cakepan with an inverted funnel in the center. Place this in another pan of warm water and steam in a moderate oven for about 1 hour, keeping the pudding covered. The secret in making this delicious dish is in preparing in a cold room and working it well. Serve hot with cream sauce and capers.

Beef Olives or Poupies

A good tender slice of round steak (about 2 pounds) is wiped clean and dry and cut in strips about 4 inches wide by 6 inches long and 1/2 inch thick. Each slice is filled with 2 or 3 pieces of suet or, better still, marrow, and well seasoned with pepper, salt and a dash of ginger, rolled up and tied with a string. Have the skillet hot; brown a lump of butter the size of a large egg; place the poupies in the skillet and turn until well browned on all sides. Add a little water and baste every 15 minutes or so, using about 2 cupfuls of water in all to make the gravy. Let them sizzle for from 1 to 1 1/2 hours, depending on size. Thicken the gravy with a little flour and water and season to taste. Remove strings and serve hot.