Recipe of the Month; Jan 2006
I almost forgot having a recipe up this month!
Therefore, (in thundering voice) Behold: the first recipe of the New Year! (end of thundering voice)
Anyway, this is a nice marinade I cooked up that worked wonders on pork, and did okay on beef as well… 
Here goes:
Get a coffee cup or other smallish cup.
Fill the bottom with some good, strong Finnish mustard. If you don’t wish to order the prime stuff, make sure the mustard you do have is strong enough to burn in your nostrils when you smell it in the jar/tube.
Then, add olive oil so that no part of the mustard is above the surface.
Add about a tablespoon of vinegar. Mix.
Add some ground black pepper (about a teaspoon) and either freshly squeezed garlic or garlic powder (about a teaspoon). Mix.
Add a dash soy sauce (mushroom soy preferred). Mix.
Add some barbeque seasoning mix (about two teaspoonfuls). I had McCormick’s. Mix.
And presto! Premium seasoning mix to put on your pork steak. Make sure you add the mix when the meat is already on the hot pan, otherwise the salt in the soy will make your meat dry. Just put it on with a spoon, smooth it out over the meat, then season the other side as you turn it. Yum.
In the sense that there’s mustard in it, makes this too a traditional Finnish thing. In Finland, you simply cannot have pork without mustard. It’s almost a social taboo of sorts. If there’s pork and/or ham on the menu, there’s always mustard. As is the case with pea soup. Ask any Finn. 
To recap:
Mustard
Olive oil
Vinegar
Black pepper, ground
Garlic / garlic powder
Soy sauce
Barbeque seasoning mix/powder
January 29th, 2006 at 11:42 am
Anyone tried this yet?
February 1st, 2006 at 9:09 am
Not yet, but I’ve only just started returning to a ‘normal’ diet after being ill and eating weird stuff for a week. I do actually have a tube of Finnish mustard in the cupboard (it gets added to any number of things - haven’t tried it with pea soup though), so I’m set to go. Watch this space!
February 5th, 2006 at 12:15 am
Alrighty then…
I think next month I’ll feature another scandinavian specialty, which will most likely gross out everyone with the possible exception of Scottish and British people. It’s called “maksalaatikko” in Finnish, and is basically a dish involving liver, rice, syrup and raisins, and is eaten with lingonberry jam…and, it’s quite delicious, too. I know, sounds weird. Look to that.