On the menu on Shrove Sunday

Crème Ninon

Wolfberger Cremant D'Alcase Brut, Alsace, France

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Potato Blinis with Whitefish Roe, Cured Salmon and Creamed Forest Mushrooms 

Dr Pauly Bergweiler Blitz Riesling, Mosel, Germany

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White Chocolate & Macadamia Yoghurt with Blood Orange & Pomegranate

 

 Recipes will follow after some sleep...

Lunch at Postres

To celebrate my dear friend Ilona's birthday a special lunch was in order and so we decided to book a table at Postres, one of the few Michelin starred restaurants in Helsinki. The cuisine is modern Scandinavian based on the classic French style. They have two menu choices for lunch, 29€ or Chef's menu for 53€. We mixed a little bit and the price was from between the two menus.

We started with the house Champagne, which suited our occasion and was pleasantly toasty, waking up an appetite. The bread was irrisistably fresh, the best "saaristolaisleipä" I have ever tasted. I liked how the butter was set on a small stone.

We asked for a white wine that would go with both the starter and the main and got a nice Rheingau Riesling which was exactly the kind of wine I love; acidity, fruit, freshness, maybe just off dry. (And it didn't break the bank either.)

Our starter was a beautifully served mussel soup, with a touch of Thai flavours such as coconut, curry and coriander.  The flavours were fresh and balanced, and of course there was a pretty foam. Wonder when that will go out of fashion...

 The main course was the very seasonal burbot, which I have eaten only once before, if you don't count the roe of burbot, which is great with blinis. There were panfried pieces of burbot, burbot liver and a sort of quenelle with a fish mousse inside, as well as a mayonnaise (blisfully forgot what it was flavoured with but it was very tasty!), a parsley puree, carrots, ryebread croutons and a potato snow. It wasn't only beautiful in presentation but also tasted good and satisfied the appetite. The flavour of the fish is quite delicate and everything on the plate was in balance.

 Dessert was a baked chocolate mousse with "tiger ice cream". The mousse was like a softer version of a fondant, fluffy and moist. Tiger ice cream was like a gourmet version of the shop bought stuff and the orange flavour came in the ice cream and a quark as well as gel, jelly and segments of orange. Couldn't fault it, and the dessert wine from Mas Jullien (Southern France) really complimented the orange flavours.

Cloudberry filled profiterols were presented with our coffees, and even we were quite full they were the cherry on top.

All in all the lunch was perfect, and pretty much what I expected it to be. Service was friendly and professional, at the level that the Michelin inspectors would aspire it to be. If I have to come up with any criticism it is that I personally wish that even the Michelin places would relax just a little bit. Who really wants the napkin put on their lap or their table brushed off breadcrumps? However, for me it is a place that is well suited for a special occasion, and I will definately want to go back. Would recommend for anyone who enjoys this kind of food!

Paris in April

All pictures from http://weheartit.com

Hoping and wishing we can go.
What are your favourite things in Paris?
Hotels, restaurants, cafes, markets, picnic places, museums, shows, day trips, anything.
Je suis très excité!

Carrot Pancakes with Roasted Carrot Houmous

 Hello there, hope you had a great weekend! Mine went quick with two birthdays and one christening, a lot of food and wine but no cooking.
So I'm here to share the recipe of last week's healthier version of Sunday lunch, again from the Modern Vegetarian cookbook by Maria Elia. The dish could be a light lunch or even a starter.

I had to do some experimenting with the recipe as chickpea flour was nowhere to be found, and I gave up after visiting three speciality shops. I replaced it with ground almonds, and while the flavour was great, the texture of the pancakes didn't seem right. I will give these another go as soon as I get hold of some chickpea flour. I love houmous and the roasted carrots gave it a lovely twist.

Carrot Pancakes with Roasted Carrot Houmous
Makes 4 pancakes

Pancakes:
150g carrots, grated
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 green chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
1 tsp baking powder
100g chickpea flour(besan/gram flour)
50g semolina (that's mannaryyni for the Finns, had to think about that for a sec myself)
2 tsp salt
150ml-200ml water
olive oil for frying

Houmous:
200g carrots, peeled
4 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
200g chickpeas, cooked (Tinned are fine)
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
juice of half a lemon
2 tbsp tahini
1 tsp cround cumin

Salad:
Any pretty little leafy salad variety
Mint
flaked almonds, toasted
Feta cheese (optional)


Dressing:
25ml sherry vinegar
25ml water
2 tbsp ev olive oil
1 tsp dijon mustard
pinch of sugar
1 garlic clove, crushed

1. Preheat the oven to 200C.

2. To make the houmous, cut the carrots into thin slices, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast on a baking tray for about 20 mins until soft( mine were maybe forgotten a little and they bacame a little caramelized...). While still hot, put the carrots in a blender with the remaining houmous ingredients, and mix until smooth, adding olive oil if needed. Check the salt and pepper and add if needed.

3. To make the pancakes, mix all ingredients, except olive oil, together to form a thick batter. Heat olive oil in a small no stick frying pan until hot, spoon in quarter of the batter and fry until golden on both sides. Repeat to make 4 pancakes.

4. Whisk the salad dressing ingredients together and season to taste. Mix the salad ingredients together and add the dressing.

5. Place the pancake on a plate, top with houmous and salad. Voila!

Monday dinner

 It's starting to look and feel like winter finally, with heaps of snow and temperature going down to -20 celsius soon. On days like these nothing tastes better than my home chef''s Asian style noodle soup. We often have it on Monday nights, and it always tastes so good. He makes the broth separately with lots of spices, the flavour is intense with chilli, ginger, garlic, star anise and a hint of sweetness. The broth is poured on a bowl full of chopped vegetables and cooked noodles. Plenty of coriander is needed, as well as either tofu or prawns. I might share the recipe one day as well.
It is really a weeknight dish for us normally but you could make it more special and enjoy a glass of medium dry Gewurtztraminer.

We have sun!!!

Homemade Lavender and Dark Chocolate Macarons

I can't resist macarons.
If I see them at a bakery, I must have one of every flavour.
When my boyfriend asked me what I wanted for my birthday last year, I wished for macarons.
Instead of a pretty box from a patisserie I got a book, Parisian macarons by Sylvie Aït-Ali. (You can find a great tutorial video on the book's webpages) "Make them yourself." Food porn at it's best, dozens of colourful variations of the pretty little biscuit.

I found a recipe for a chili chocolate macaron but made own adaptation with lavender instead of chilli. I tried to make them a lavender colour but I was too afraid to muck the marenque up and didn't add enough colouring. It was also a challenge to find the right temperature and time for them but the last batch of four oven trays was close to a success. I will be making more macarons in the future and will post a recipe when I have perfected it. Meanwhile, enjoy some pictures!

Banoffeeeeeeee!

It was 2004, London, I fell in love.
With Banoffee pie. It was a revelation. From then on, I'd order it almost whenever it was on the menu. Crispy pastry, sweet bananas, gooey toffee and cream, mmmmmmm.

It was about time now I learned to make it! It's pretty easy, only boiling the condensed milk for three hours is a bit boring, so it's good to plan ahead when making this. I don't probably have to mention that this is not for the calorie-consious of us. I like to believe Nigella when she says that it's all about moderation, also when it comes to moderation, so you have to be immoderate sometimes. There is some wisdom in her sayings every now and then.

Banoffee pie (from Food for thought cookbook)

 Pastry:
50g caster sugar
100g butter
150g white flour

Toppings:
400ml tin of sweet condensed milk, boiled in the tin for 2-2,5 hours
4 bananas, sliced and mixed with lemon juice to avoid browning
285ml cream

piece of dark chocolate

1. Preheat the oven to 180c.

2. Cream the sugar and butter together in a bowl until light and fluffy. Stir in the flour until the mixture forms a ball. Press the mix into a greased 20 cm spring-form tin or something similar.
I cheated with shop bought oat pastry. Nigella would approve.

3. Prick allover witha fork to prevent the pastry from rising. Bake for 25 mins until golden. Cool down. Remove sides if you used a spring form tin.

4. Open the tin of condenced milk and spread on the pastry.

 5. Place the bananas on top of the toffee.

6. Whisk the cream and spread over the bananas. Grate dark chocolate on top.

Enjoy without guilt. You deserve it.