When there’s nothing in the fridge…

..make a pie.  I didn’t have many ingredients, but this is what I did and it turned out alright. The crust was a bit odd, sort of bread-like, a bit spongy, but still tasted good. If you use wheat flour, it might take a bit longer in the oven and you’ll probably need to add some water too.

There’s-nothing-in-the-fridge pie

2 eggs
2 dl grated cheese
1,5 dl flour of your choice (I used half almond and half soy flour)
1 tsp baking powder

Break the eggs into a bowl. Add flour, baking powder and grated cheese and mix together into a dough.  Put the dough into a pie mold evenly and bake in 225C for 10 minutes. When it has rised a bit, take out from the oven to place the topping.

Toppings:

4 tbsp pesto sauce
cherry tomatos
100g feta cheese (or goat cheese would be good too)
black pepper

Spread pesto on the bottom. Don’t worry about the pesto being too oily and making the crust soggy – it actually makes it super crunchy in the hot oven.  Cut cherry tomatos in half and place them on top of the pesto.  Crumble feta cheese on top of everything and finish with a pinch of black pepper. Put back in the oven in the same temperature and bake until the cheese has melted a bit and has some colour to it. Let the pie rest for a while, then eat!

Tuesday Pub @ Gastropub Tuulensuu

Last night we met up with some friends from school at Gastropub Tuulensuu one of Tampere’s many excellent gastropubs. The reason we choose Tuulensuu this time around was because they have a special Sour Ale & Lambic week going on 18.-26.3.  (You better hurry if you want to go test it yourself! ) They had an incredible list of beers, particularly Belgian beers, lots of which they’ve imported themselves which means if you’re in Finland you’ll only find it here. You can see the list on their website here or browse through it in the bar or just tell the bartender your taste and they’ll point you in the right direction. In addition to their extensive beer list they have wine, cider and a mouthwatering menu which can be found here.

Last night the bar was surprisingly full for a Tuesday evening. There were couples having dinner, friends meeting for drinks and a larger group of people. Tuulensuu’s customer base is perhaps a little older than we are, but that shouldn’t deter anyone. The service has generally been efficient and knowledgeable. The atmosphere is bistro-classic not the type of place you’d bump into ‘trendsters”, with very low lighting and dark wood furniture.

Last night I opted for Tuulensuu’s own brews which were on tap last night. I first took the Tuulensuu Karpalo Lambiek (4€/25cl or 8€/50cl). It turned out to be pleasantly balanced with a bit of a bitter kick at the end from the cranberry. Not sweet at all and definitely sour. Not a bad lambic at all so I do recommend this if you want to try one of their own. Next I tried the Tuulensuu Sorbus Lambiek (4€/25cl or 8€/50cl) for comparison. It had an herb-y somewhat funky Jagermeister whiff to it and a very interesting taste. Definitely not everyone’s cup of tea (or pint of beer for that matter). I’m still not entirely sure if I liked it or not. It was very sour with an interesting aftertaste bordering on licorice/salty licorice. Kind of reminded me of this Finnish candy, noitapilli. I think I liked the aftertaste but the overall taste lacked some depth and flavor and I think that was my main concern with this beer. But I don’t regret trying either of the beers and for 4€/8€ I think they were definitely worth the money.

In addition to their regular menu they had a selection of Belgian cheeses for 3€ and being the cheese nibblers we are we had to get some! Firstly we were pleasantly surprised that 3€ gets you 4-5 nice sized slices of cheese to snack on, good value for money. We tasted the Oud Brugge (a lovely cheese we fell in love with last year during a course in Belgian gastronomy), Orval and Bink. If I remember correctly the Bink was the mildest tasting of them. The Oude Brugge was as good as I remembered, creamy fairly mild yet surprisingly complex with a hint of sharpness. The Orval cheese is produced in the same abbey as Orval beer (Orval Cistercian Trappist Abbey to be precise). They use whole-fat pasteurized cow’s milk which gives the cheese a delicious soft creamy consistency of the Port Salut variety. I highly recommend trying one or more of the cheeses. I don’t know how long they’ll have them I hope for longer than the Sour Ale & Lambic special!

All in all a nice place to have a drink or even dinner. Perhaps not the cheapest but well worth the money.

-Laura