During the Labor Day weekend I was invited to cook for a small group of food lovers. The participants came from different parts of the United States and we all met in Coupeville on Whidbey Island just north of Seattle. I flew into Seattle on Thursday and headed directly to Seattle’s Pike market.
Pike market must be one of the most colorful and plentiful markets in the world. Bustling with shoppers, tourists and the most beautiful fish, seafood and produce. And flowers! The local ladies (and gents) create bouquet after bouquet of colorful combinations of flowers, branches and grasses. You simply cannot walk out of there without an armful of these bouquets. It just makes you so perfectly happy! And every time I leave a bit of my heart there with the screaming fishmongers, the piles of fresh produce and beautiful flowers.
Here is one of the dinners from Coupeville. The place is well known for the local Penn Cove mussels, so let’s start with a classic mussel recipe, exactly as I learned it years and years ago in France.
Moules Marinière Serves 4
3 pounds or 1.4 kg of mussels, cleaned and scrubbed
1 small leek, cleaned and chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
½ bottle white wine
½ cup or 1.2 dl heavy cream
½ cup or 1.2 dl chopped parsley
Olive oil
Use a large pot to cook the chopped onion and leek with some olive oil until translucent. Add the white wine and bring to boil, then add the mussels and close the lid tightly for a moment, then stir the mussels, and close the lid again. The mussels will open in a couple of minutes. Add the cream and chopped parsley and stir. The dish is ready as soon as the soup starts to simmer again. Serve with a baguette or sourdough bread.
Poached halibut with grated fresh horseradish
and melted butter Serves 4
4 6 oz or 170 g pieces of halibut
4 tablespoons grated fresh horseradish
4 oz or just over 100 g butter, melted
1 quart or 1 liter water for poaching
Salt
In a wide sauce pan or casserole heat the water to boil and add salt. Carefully place the halibut pieces into the boiling water. When the water starts to simmer again, turn the heat source off completely. Let the halibut sit in the hot water for 8 to 10 minutes, then remove with a slotted spoon or spatula and place on a serving dish.
Serve immediately with grated horseradish and a bit of the melted butter.
The wilted spinach with onion (see my bytes from March 2009) is a perfect accompaniment with the halibut.
By now you have had it in the kitchen, so here is a quick dessert recipe that is almost like cheating. You will love this short cut! Just a couple of minutes, and you will be ready to serve dinner.
Peaches in chocolate yoghurt Serves 4
2 peaches
1 cup or 2.4 dl of natural yoghurt
3 tablespoons of Nesquick chocolate drink powder
1 tablespoon of coffee or cocoa liquor (optional)
Mint leaves and blueberries to decorate (optional)
Rinse peaches, cut open and remove pits, then cut into slices or larger cubes and place into a serving bowl or platter. Whisk Nesquick and liquor into the yoghurt and pour the mix over the peach slices/cubes. Decorate with mint leaves and/or blueberries. I said it was simple.
Years ago when organizing a large wedding on Whidbye Island I found a baker. Not just any baker, but in my opinion the best in the world. She, with her daughter creates the most wonderful chewy sour dough breads and multi-grain creations, which now can be found in a few selected stores. The only place in Coupeville carrying these breads is a small wine and gourmet place called Bay Leaf.
The bakery is hidden in the middle of the thickest of forests and impossible to find.
I am sorry to say that I do not remember the name of the baker, but the name of the bakery is Screaming Banchee. No, I am not kidding. Names are different over there. Talking about names: in the village of Deception near Deception Pass in the north end of Whidbye I found a place called Deception Caterers. I wonder how that name would fly in New York?
Paavo Turtiainen manages a catering and event planning company, which is based in Manhattan, and serves some of the world’s most famous people, royalty, institutions and companies. Paavo is still today known for his close personal association with film legend Ingrid Bergman and producer Lars Schmidt. Throughout his journeys, Paavo has taken with him food values and flavors that he first learned about growing up in rural Finland. From the mouthwatering open air markets of France, where Paavo worked in Bergman’s home, the joyful nature inspired food of the Finnish and Swedish summers, to the cosmopolitan food markets of New York, Paavo brings many special and inspiring flavors and ideas to the table with the simplicity and accessibility of his Finnish beginnings always in mind.
