Chicken and rice in a pan

Rikhard’s team is named after its developer Risto Mikkola. RONI LEHTI

The chef of Pippuri.fi with food called Rikhard’s höystö Risto Mikkola cooked himself the winner of the Northern Finland chef qualifiers. The competitions were Mikkola’s first and – so far – last cooking competitions.

Mikkola has good memories of the competition organized by the hotel and restaurant association. He was then a “young chef” at the end of the 1980s and worked at the Kaarlenholv restaurant in Oulu.

The owners of the restaurant seem to see the talents of an enthusiastic chef, as they suggested participating in the qualifiers in Northern Finland. And it came from there. The final was held at Helsinki’s Sausage House in the restaurant Omenapuu.

Mikkola no longer remembers who won the entire competition. But what about the recipe developed by Mikkola?

– Broiler was a must-have for everyone. I cut it into strips on the chest and quickly fried the meat and side dishes in a pan. At that time, adding bananas and peaches to food was exotic. I was numb when I won the qualifiers.

The award-winning egg cooker is still in use at Mikkolo. The egg-shaped cooker, which holds four eggs at a time, has served faithfully for over 30 years.

Mikkola had actually forgotten the whole recipe, but one day his mother called and said he had found it.

– My mother said that she has done Rikhard’s service many times and that it is so good, Mikkola laughs and continues:

– I also made a recipe for the competition food at the local Citymarket, where my mother was working at the meat counter. Both the winnings from the qualifiers and the competitive prize were advertised there.

And of course, Rikhard’s entourage also made it to Charles’s vault’s menu. The name of the food, of course, tells about its developer, but the name had to be slightly modified. So Risto became Rikhard.

Rikhard’s entourage

400 g chicken strips (lightly salted)

0.5 dl of rapeseed oil

1 onion as chips

1 pepper slices

1 banana in slices

2 fresh or canned peaches in fair pieces

half a lemon juice and grated peel

1-2 teaspoons of salt

0.5 teaspoons black pepper

1 tablespoon blackcurrant jelly

2 dl whipped cream

1. Fry the chicken strips in a frying pan in canola oil until lightly browned.

2. Add onion and paprika and fry for 3 minutes. Add all remaining ingredients. Simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. Check the taste.

Pumpkin seed rice

3 dl jasmine rice

4 dl of water

0.5 teaspoons of salt

1 dl of parsley chips

1 dl pumpkin seeds

1. Wash the rice in a colander with cold water. Add 4 dl of water and salt to the pot. When the water boils, add the washed rice to the pan and stir.

2. Boil the rice, stirring, for about 1 minute. Lower the heat of the stove to one, and put the tight lid on the pan. Let the rice simmer in a saucepan under the lid for 20 minutes without stirring the rice.

3. Mix the parsley and pumpkin seeds with the rice, and serve with the garnish.

Hacienda Lopez de Haro Blanco 2018, Spain (13.99 €)

Full-bodied chicken strips and sweetening fruit create a great need for plenty of white wine. We look to Rioja, Spain.

Bodega Hacienda López de Haro has a number of credit farmers whose quality, love of work and community make them an integral part of the bodega’s activities.

The grapes of Hacienda Lopez de Haro Blanco are the old vines of Viura from the rugged slopes of San Vicente de la Sonsierra in La Rioja, picked by hand in October. Some of the wine is matured in French and Eastern European oak barrels. There is more in the mix (Malvasía, Chardonnay, Tempranillo Blanco, Sauvignon Blanc and Garnacha Blanca) to provide diversity that will challenge the taster over and over again and delight its enjoyers.

The succulent aroma of the wine serves flowers, white currants, honeydew melon and pear, tinged with light minerality. The taste is mildly fruity, dry and intense. The elegant aftertaste lingers mineral and lightly toasted, carried by a wonderful acid structure.