Pete & I invited Marina & Ilkka over for a dinner two weeks ago.

For a starter I cooked the classic French pea soup crème ninon. I found the recipe from Hans Välimäki's cook book called Ruokaa Ranskasta (translation: Food from France). I had some game broth left and it really gave a perfect flavor for the soup, and the added sparkling wine made it nicely foamy. Crème ninon is defenately one of my favorite soups.

For the main course Pete cooked entrecôte of Eastern Finncattle ("kyyttö" in Finnish). The Eastern Finncattle we had was raised in Pappilanpuisto farm at Loppi in Finland. Finncattle is a Finland originated cattle breed. You can't buy the meat often as the breed is endangered with only about 600 heads. But the few times I have eaten Finncattle it has been the most delicious bovine. Eastern Finncattle is the oldest farm animal breeds in Finland.

With the entrecôte Pete made a hollandaise sauce and some roasted root vegetables. It was almost a nerve breaking moment when Pete was whisking the hollandaise. It is so easy to fail but somehow he managed to succeed. The whole dish was perfect and it was accompanied with Chapoutier's Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2006 redwine.

Redwine from the year Pete & I met. Madeira wine from my birth year. I love to drink wines with stories!

During this autumn seeing all the apples in the trees I have been dreaming of a tarte tatin. Now I finally baked it. Tarte tatin is one of my favorites. We accompanied the tart with Madeira wine (Malvasia 1980 ABSL) and Mövenpick ice cream. I had two different flavors of Limited Edition Oceania to try. At first we tasted Meringue & Berries Pavlova and after that the Vanilla & Macadamia. The last one was a perfect match for the tart. But the Meringue is my favorite if you feel like having just the ice cream without a tart. You can find these Limited Edition Oceania ice creams during this autumn.

In cooperation with Drum & Mövenpick.