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Or pullaa, as they're called in Finnish. In fact, "pullaa" is a rather generic term. It generally refers to a sweet bun with a variety of toppings or fillings. For instance, there's "Dallas pullaa" - those filled with curd (maitorahkaa - that I still don't know the exact English term for) & slivered almonds. Then, there are "Boston pullaa" - those filled with chocolate. Why they are named after US cities, I've no idea ;) But the basic pullaa is filled with cinnamon & usually sprinkled with sugar pearls, another item that's perculiar to Finnish/Swedish kitchens, I learnt.
2.5 dl milk
25g fresh yeast OR 1 packet (11g) dried yeast
1 egg
0.75 dl sugar
0.25 tsp salt
1 tsp cardamon
8 dl flour (approx)
1 dl melted butter
Filling:
80-100g butter
1.5 dl brown sugar
generous shakes of ground cinnamon
1. Proof yeast in lukewarm (42 C) milk with 1tbsp of sugar. After 5 minutes, it should be foamy.
2. Mix all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Pour yeast mixture into mixing bowl gradually while mixing together with a spatula. Add the rest of the room temperature liquids. When all ingredients are mixed through, start kneading :)
3. Dough should be slightly sticky so that it pulls away from the sides of the bowl but not so dry that it lifts off the bottom of the bowl. Add a tsp of milk at a time if it's too dry and a tbsp of flour if it's too wet.
4. Leave dough to rise in the large mixing bowl covered with a cloth until doubled in size (approx. 1 hour).
5. Preheat oven to 200 C. Ensure butter is at room temperature.
6. Punch down dough and cut into 2 portions. Roll out one portion on a lightly floured surface (make sure u flour your rolling pin as well!) into a rectangle about 20cm wide.
7. Dot or spread generously the slightly soft butter onto the dough leaving 1cm margin.
8. Crumb brown sugar generously over the butter and sprinkle with cinnamon.
9. Roll up the dough lengthwise and pinch the end to seal. (use a little water/milk if dough won't seal)
10. Cut the roll at 2.5cm intervals. Arrange pieces, swirl-side up, on a tray lined with baking paper. Leave at least 5cm between each piece. Leave to rise for at least half an hour.
11. When the buns have nearly doubled in size, glaze gently with milk. Bake for 30min in preheated oven.
minibeanie is 1 year, 7 months, 3 weeks & 3 days old
minibeanie's BFF :D
minibeanie is 1 year, 7 months, 3 weeks & 2 days old
Of late, it has been a renaissance of all food Finnish :D A Finnish friend's mum & aunt are visiting and we all learnt from the experts how to make karjalanpiirakka (Karelian pie - little pastries of rye flour filled with rice porridge). And a couple of days ago, I made a batch of pullaa (essentially cinammon buns but flavoured with cardamon).
Now that DH is off to Finland for 11 days, I suddenly have a craving for lohikeitto (salmon soup) which I haven't had for more than a year since I left Finland. Thankfully, I've the opportunity to visit a supermarket today that is the only place in Chengdu to stock dill so here we go....
300g salmon, skinless, 2cm cubed
1 large onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 large potatoes, cubed
2 medium carrots, cubed
1 tbsp butter
fish or meat stock
milk or cream
black pepper, freshly ground
salt
large handful of dill, finely chopped
1. Heat up a large pot. Melt butter and saute onions and garlic until onions turn translucent.
2. Add potatoes, carrots & stock. (the amount of stock depends on whether cream or milk is used. I like my soup creamy so the proportion of stock to milk I had is 3:2)
3. Boil until vegetables are cooked through.
4. Add milk or cream.
5. Lower heat and add cubed salmon.
6. Season to taste with black pepper and salt.
7. Simmer for a few minutes to ensure that salmon is cooked. Add dill. Hyvää ruokahalua! Bon appetit!
Traditionally, the soup is eaten with rye bread. I thawed 2 pieces that I'd stashed away in my freezer and dunked them into the soup. hmm!
Some versions of lohikeitto do not add carrots or garlic but add chives or parsley. But this is how I remembered it and besides, you can't run away from the chief ingredients of salmon, potato and dill ;)
minibeanie is 1 year, 7 months, 3 weeks & 1 day old
The subject of genes is fascinating. And today, I can add 1 more thing I know about minibeanie. To my amusement/chagrin/disappointment all rolled into one, I think he's pitch deaf. Just like his dada.
The laundry in the washing machine was done. At regular intervals, it gave 3 long beeps. I repeated the pitch and minibeanie followed suit. The only problem was that his pitch was consistently off. Just like his dada.
Well... I may be wrong of course - he may yet surprise me one day :) At least, I know his mämä can carry a decent tune. Just like my dad.
minibeanie is 1 year, 7 months & 3 weeks
I read a very interesting article recently, "'Supermodel' satellite set to fly" and here's an excerpt....
"Gravity is the force we experience daily; it keeps our feet on the ground. But there is this general misconception that it is constant everywhere on the globe, which is not true. If we go to the North Pole we will weigh more than if we are at the equator."
Therefore, the main insight from this article is that I weighed more in Finland than I did in Singapore!! :D ha!
minibeanie is 1 year, 7 months, 2 weeks & 2 days old
Gosh, I started writing this on 27.2 and see when I finally finished it ;P
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Our holiday got off to a good start when the cheapest category car we rented for 19 days, a 1.3l Hyundai Getz, was upgraded for free to a Toyota X Trail. And did I mention that it was a 4WD? :D Yay! That meant we could throw all our luggage, 1 Samsonite, 1 trolley bag, a huge duffel bag containing all our food, a tent, a hook-on baby chair PLUS minibeanie's pram, into the car without that sardines-in-a-can feeling. Another advantage of having a 4WD was that we could go off the beaten track in search of olive groves hidden in obscure locations (no thanks to inaccurate & badly drawn maps from the local tourist information center). Then of course, dada had some off-road fun ;)
Mount Zero, so obscure that it wasn't on our Tomtom GPS maps
minibeanie loving the wheel & all the fancy knobs and switches
We spent nearly 3 weeks in Victoria, Australia. We had the warm hospitality of my cousin, Eileen, and her husband to thank for letting us put up at their house. minibeanie was also really happy playing with his cousins :) We'd many memorable moments at Eileen's house - the Ozzie barbie, the kids taking a communal bath in the backyard, the quiet evenings after the kids have slept and us adults having cheesecake and wine.....
Our plan was to visit the Great Ocean Road & Yarra Valley for 4 days each with the hope of making day trips for Puffing Billy, the only steam train in Australia, and to see the cute penguins on Phillip Island. Well, at least on paper that was the plan anyway. First off, we loved Great Ocean Road (GOR) so much that we extended by a day and 2 days before heading to Yarra Valley, the devastating firestorm in eastern Victoria broke out. We made alternate plans pronto and decided on another wine producing region, Grampians. As for Puffing Billy and Phillip Island, there was no time not to mention the fact that Puffing Billy was right in the line of fire, so to speak. Besides, with the total fire ban around, no way the steam engine would have been used - we would have been sitting on its electric cousin Puff Diddy instead.
The Great Ocean RoadThe GOR drive was spectacular with its undulating coastal roads with crashing white surf on one side and towering cliffs on the other. But much has already been written and I don't think I can do justice to the natural beauty and tranquility of the place in a few sentences.
We spent our 5 days driving to the 12 Apostles, looking for the blueberry farm in vain, enjoying the beach in late afternoons and enjoying a Devonshire cream tea at a 1900s guesthouse that had obviously seen better days together with its grumpy proprietress. We also had our fair share of fish & chippies - excellent flaky fresh fish coated with guilty crispy batter. hmm....
The GrampiansA few things stood out in my memory about Grampians. The beautiful, luxurious brick house we rented right by a golf course frequented by a 30-strong herd of kangaroos, the aptly named Best's wineyard (one of the few family owned vineyards left in Australia) that still has a 1860 vine from France and the 4WD experience of driving up mountains in search of Mount Zero olives.
Pinot Noir!
Bunjil, the traditional creator land of the land, & his 2 dingoes
There was minibeanie's first time on the beach. I'm glad he was past the age of putting sand into his mouth ;) He liked it even if the water was rather chilly.
Then there were the animals that minibeanie got to see up close & personal. Cows, pigs, chickens, ducks, guinea pigs, kangaroos....
minibeanie is (older than) 1 year, 7 months & 1 day old
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