Meat, fish, and vegetables

Engineer and amateur chef Olli Ahola-Luttila grilled a summer meal that has a little bit of everything. Read the instructions for making the main foods, sides and sauces.

Foods on the summer barbecue menu
• Dry aged sirloin steak
• Gridiron Baltic herring
• Roast potatoes and mojo sauce
• Roast Jerusalem artichokes and chimichurri
• Roast tomato and spinach
• Cucumber, spinach, ginger and yoghurt

Grilled dry aged sirloin steak:
• Dry aged sirloin steak
• Salt
Cook the steak on a hot barbecue grill to your preferred level of doneness and season with salt. Slice thinly before serving. Last, season the strips with salt.

Gridiron Baltic herring
• Whole Baltic herring
• Salt
Gut the Baltic herring. Place the fish in a hinged gridiron and salt them. Broil over embers until done. Sprinkle with salt just before serving. At their best straight off the grill and onto the table.

Roast potatoes and mojo sauce
• Small waxy potatoes
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Garlic
• Rosemary
• Parmesan cheese

Place the potatoes, unpeeled, in an oven pan. Salt and douse with olive oil generously. Add 3–4 whole garlic cloves and 2–3 whole sprigs of rosemary. Toss so that all the potatoes are coated in oil.
Place the pan in a 220°C oven and roast for 1–1.5 hours, stirring occasionally. The potatoes should wrinkle and brown considerably.
Top off with ample Parmesan cheese.

Mojo sauce
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 toasted slice of bread
• 2 garlic cloves
• 0.5 dl (1/5 cup) olive oil
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
Roast the bell pepper on the grill until black. Cover with aluminum foil and leave to stand for 10 minutes. Remove all the peels and seeds.
Place all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Complete by seasoning to taste.

Roast Jerusalem artichoke and chimichurri
• Jerusalem artichokes
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Chimichurri
Place the unpeeled Jerusalem artichokes in an oven pan. Salt and douse with olive oil generously. Toss so that all the artichokes are coated in oil.
Place the pan in a 220°C oven or on the grill and roast for 1–1.5 hours, stirring occasionally. The artichokes should wrinkle and brown considerably.
Mix the chimichurri sauce and pour over the oven- or grill-fresh artichokes.

Chimichurri
• Bunch of flat-leaf parsley
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/4 bunch oregano
• Salt and pepper
• 0.5 dl (1/5 cup) olive oil
Blend all the ingredients in a food processor. Complete by seasoning to taste.

Roast tomato and spinach
• Small tomatoes of different colors
• Fresh spinach
• Basil
• Garlic
• Chili
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Balsamic vinegar
Tomato and spinach salad is a favorite this summer. Place the tomatoes in a small oven pan. Add lots of olive oil, a splash of balsamic vinegar, salt, chili and a generous amount of garlic, thinly sliced. Roast in the oven or on the grill at 220°C for 20 minutes. Blend in basil and spinach and serve with any protein.

Cucumber, spinach, ginger and yoghurt
• Fresh cucumber
• Spinach
• Ginger
• Salt
• White vinegar
• Yoghurt
Peel the cucumber and remove the seeds. Cut into 0.5 cm (1/4 in) slices. Place the cucumber slices in a bowl and add some salt. Add a splash of white vinegar and grate a 1 cm (1/2 in) piece of fresh ginger on top. Mix in the spinach leaves. Serve by placing the yoghurt on the plate and freshly made salad on top.

The original article was published in Insinööri-magazine in Finnish on 16 June 2023.