Monday 18 December 2023

December 18, 2023

 

 

For our 18th Yule Calendar entry, we have a Yule recipe! It's a traditional Karelian stew that is also served at many Yule feasts in Finland. In my childhood home, we always serve this stew on Yule, in addition to the baked ham, vegetable casseroles, beetroot salad, and Karelian pastries. In my experience, the stew is more common in the east than on the west coast where the people have other specialities on the table.


Here's an old family recipe by Her Finland. I guess there may be many versions of this dish, but this one is close to what I have eaten myself. You can serve the stew with boiled or mashed potatoes and lingonberry jam. Visit the original recipe page to learn more about the dish. The preparation is pretty simple, you just have to wait for a long time before you can take it out from the oven!


Picture from Her Finland


Karelian stew


Ingredients with Finnish measurements:

¼ kg beef round steak
¼ kg pork round steak
1 big onion
2 carrots
1 teaspoon salt
10 whole allspice berries
1 bayleaf
Water
A bit of butter


Ingredients with US measurements:

0.5 lb beef round steak
0.5 lb pork round steak
1 big onion
2 carrots
1 teaspoon salt
10 whole allspice berries
1 bayleaf
Water
A bit of butter


Peel the onion and carrots. Chop into big cubes. Cut the meat into 3 x 3 cm cubes (1 x 1 inches). Butter the surface of a large stew pot.

Brown meat cubes in a separate pan with butter.Brown evenly for a great taste and color. After browning, add everything into a pot for the stew.

Rinse the pan used for browning the meat with water and pour the water into the pot. The water should only just cover the meat and veggies, but not any higher. Add in the spices.

Let stew slowly simmer for 2-3 hours in an oven at 350 F /175°C. If the meat starts to get really burned, cover the meat with foil or a lid.

Serve with boiled potatoes or mashed potatoes, lingonberry jam, and pickled cucumbers.



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