Lamb tartare and oven cheese are delicious together

Lamb and oven cheese are a great pair of flavors. Roni Lehti

With the chef Risto Mikkola began planning this Easter lamb meal, he thought about the availability of meat.

– Almost all stores offer lamb tenderloin, Mikkola says.

He decided to leave the meat completely cooked, and make the tenderloin tartare. The meat is scraped, finely chopped or minced from the tendons and membranes with a sharp knife.

The website of the Sheep Association shows that just over a third of the combined consumption of mutton (sheep and lamb) is domestic. In the case of lamb, the degree of domestic consumption is about 50 per cent, ie every second serving of lamb is domestic meat.

Mikkola offers oven cheese with lamb tartar. In the oven, the cheese gets a beautiful and delicious surface.

– Fried oven cheese or egg cheese works really well with lamb.

Last Christmas, Mikkola “found” Hämäläinen cheese at his Christmas table with his sister and yarn. Couch potatoescouple familiar from the TV series Mici ja Maicci In addition to the familiar Christmas delicacies, they offered fried egg cheese, which Mikkola immediately fell in love with.

– The recipe for this cheese has been passed down from generation to generation in Mika’s family. Now it is also available to readers of Iltalehti, Mikkola rejoices.

Mikkola himself wanted to try out how to make cheese with the raw materials of the trade. Good thing it came.

A good tip for all cheesemakers is that you should choose regular buttermilk (not Gefilus or AB) to make the cheese run.

When making cheese, the remaining whey can be used for many purposes. It gives a nice acidity to its bun, pancake or pancake batter. Whey also produces a good brown or white sauce, which can be finished with a lotion of cream.

Finally, Mikkola’s mother’s whey pancake instructions: 0.5 l of whey, 2 dl of wheat flour, 2 eggs, 30 g of melted butter and salt. All ingredients are mixed, poured onto a baking sheet and baked.

Lamb starter

500 g of lamb tenderloin, minced

1 red onion, chopped

2 tablespoons mint, chopped

2 tablespoons parsley, chopped

2 tablespoons chives, chopped

1 roasted garlic paste

1 tablespoon mustard (preferably granular, eg Dijon)

1 teaspoon salt

black peppercorns

1. Mix all the ingredients together and shape the steaks.

Oven cheese

1.5 l of whole milk

0.5 l of buttermilk

2 eggs

100 g of melted butter

2 teaspoons salt

1. Boil the milk. Add the buttermilk and mixed chicken eggs to the pan, stirring gently. Bring to the boil and let stand for 30 minutes without heating. Strain the curd and add the melted butter and salt to the curd, mix.

2. Put the curd in a cheese mold or strainer protected with gauze. Place the strainer / cheese mold on top of the bowl and the weight on top of the curd. Transfer to the refrigerator to drain overnight.

3. Remove the cheese from the sieve and gauze. Bake in a 225-degree oven for about 10 to 15 minutes to give the cheese a beautiful color. Serve with lamb tartar.

Viña Pomal Ecologico 2018, Spain (€ 12.88)

Lambstart finds its mate in a freshly balanced Spanish organic red wine. The softness of the wine and the acidity of the ripe cherry make it a great pair for tartar.