Luumua ja mantelia - Plum and almond

 Eilen töiden jälkeen nappasin pussillisen luumuja kaupasta sen kummemmin miettimättä mitä niillä tekisin, mutta tänään tuli himo tehdä luumu-mantelipiirakkaa johon Englannissa asuessani rakastuin. Yleensä kun yhdistää kaksi rakastamaansa ruoka-ainesta on lopputuloskin tuplasti rakastettava, tässä tapauksessa ehkä vielä enemmän.Tätä tulen ihan varmasti tekemään uudelleen ja uudelleen ja uudelleen...  Ohjetta jouduin hetken etsiskelemään ja lopulta päädyin helpoimpaan ja kauneimpaan reseptiin joka löytyi blogista jota voin muutoinkin suuresti suositella, ihana Cannelle et Vanille. Noin hienoihin ruokakuviin haluan minäkin pyrkiä!

After work yesterday I grabbed a bag of plums from the shop without thinking, but today I had a epiphany - I needed to make a plum and almond tart! I fell in love with this dessert in England. This recipe combines two ingredients that I love so I double-love the recipe, if not a little more even. I'm sure I will make this again and again and again... After some searching I ended up with the easiest and prettiest recipe that I could find, at the wonderful blog Cannelle et Vanille. I recommend this blog to anyone, the photography is something to aspire to!

 Luumu-mantelipiirakka
 Ohjeesta saa yhden suuren piirakan tai kaksi pienempää, kuten minä tein. (Luumut ei siis ole jättiläislajiketta!)

150 gr kananmunan valkuaista
155 gr sokeria
70 gr vehnäjauhoja
65 gr mantelijauhoja
190 gr suolaamatonta voita, sulatettuna ja viilennettynä
Pussillinen luumuja

1. Vatkaa valkuaiset ja sokeri kevyeksi vaahdoksi.
2. Lisää vehnäjauho ja mantelijauho, sekoita.
3. Lisää sulatettu voi varovasti kunnes taikina on tasaista.
(4. Alkuperäisessä ohjeessa kehoitettiin pitämään taikina yön yli jääkaapissa, minä kärsimättömänä laitoin piirakan uuniin noin tunnin jäähdyttelyn jälkeen ja hyvää tuli!)
5. Levitä taikina voideltuun piirakkavuokaan, täytä noin puoliväliin. Asettele puolikkaat luumut taikinan pinnalle leikkauspinta ylöspäin, upota
6. Paista 175 asteessa noin puoli tuntia kunnes taikinan pinta on kullanruskea ja reunat mukavan rapeat. Tarjoile vaniljajäätelön tai -kastikkeen kanssa

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Plum and Almond Tart
This recipe will make one large or two small tarts (I made small ones, those are not giant plums!)

150 gr egg whites
155 gr sugar
70 gr flour
65 gr almond flour
190 gr unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1. Whisk together the egg whites and the sugar into a light foam. 
2. Add the flour and almond flour, mix. 
3. Slowly add the melted and cooled butter until the batter is smooth. 
(4. According to the original recipe you should leave the batter in the fridge overnight. I'm a rebel (And impatient) so I didn't and think my tart was still fantastic. Up to you what you decide to do!)
5. Spread the batter onto a buttered tart pan. Fill the pan about half way up. Top with the halved plums.
6. Bake in 175 degrees celsius in the oven  for about 30 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and nice and crisp on the sides. Serve with vanilla ice cream or custard.

Portobello meets Chickpea

 Ajattelin että voisin alkaa välillä kirjoittelemaan myös suomeksi tänne blogiin, ihan kokeilumielessä. Pääkielenä pysyy toistaiseksi kuitenkin englanti.

Suuresti ihailemani Kulinaarimuruja-blogi voitti kuukauden ruokahaasteen ja valitsi elokuun haasteruoka-aineeksi sienet, suureksi ilokseni! Sienet on huippuja! Tänään löysin itseni pähkäilemästä ruokakaupasta että mitäs tänään, ja mieleeni muistui haaste. Kanttarellit kutsuivat kyllä mutta nyt kaipasin jotain tosi simppeliä ja pääsyin portobellosieniin. Kasvisyöjillehän ravintoloissa näitä usein tyrkytetään mutta luulempa että onnistuin nyt kehittämään uuden makuyhdistelmän savuisista kikherneistä ja portobellosta, ja no juustoa pitää aina olla. Jotenkin tämä sopii tähän syksyiseen tunnelmaan joka alkaa pikkuhiljaa hiipimään sieluun. Eikä kokkailussa menny koko iltaa! Tällä siis osallistun haasteeseen, saa käydä äänestään sit loppukuusta.

So, I decided to give it a go to blog in Finnish for a change, just to see how it goes. English will still remain the main language for now. Today's recipe of portobello mushrooms filled with smoky chickpeas is taking part to the monthly food challenge of August with a mushroom theme, hosted by Kulinaarimuruja, you may go and vote for me at the end of the month!

 Kikherneillä täytetyt portobellosienet

Tarttet:
1 suuren portobellosienen per syöjä

2 rkl oliiviöljyä
Pari valkosipulinkynttä, hienonnettuna
Purkin kikherneitä (voit toki liotellakkin jos tykkäät)
2 tl Savupaprikaa
0,5 dl tomaattimurskaa
loraus tulista chilikastiketta
Tuoretta basilikaa
Suolaa & pippuria

1 dl hyvää cheddaria tai muuta kelpoa juustoa raastettuna
(ja joo no ehkä enempi ku desi, oman maun mukaan)

Salaattia, esim rucola ja kirsikkatomaatti toimii!

1. Kuullota pannulla valkosipuli oliiviöljyssä. Lisää kikherneet ja savupaprika sekä tomaattimurska ja chilikastike, hauduta keskilämmöllä muutama minuutti. Mausta lopuksi suolalla ja pippurilla ja lisää basilika.

2. Puhdista sienet ja leikkaa kannat pois. Lorauta uunivuoan pohjalle oliiviöljyä ja suolaa sienten alle. Lusikoi kikherne sienten päälle ja lisää juustoraaste.

3. Paista uunissa 225 asteessa n.15 minuuttia. Tarjoa salaattipedillä.

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 Portobello mushrooms filled with smoky chickpeas

You'll need:
A large portobello mushroom per person

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
A can of chickpeas (Or soak and cook if you wish)
2 tsp smoked paprika powder
0,5 dl chopped tomato
Splash of hot chili sauce
Fresh basil
Salt & pepper

1 dl of grated cheddar or other yummy cheese
Salad to serve with, cherry tomatoes and rucola was good for me

1. Warm the olive oil in a saucepan. Sautee the garlic on medium heat, add the chickpeas, paprika powder, chopped tomato and chili sauce and cook for a few minutes. Season and add the basil.

2. Clean the mushrooms and chop the stalks off. Place on an oven dish with some olive oil and seasalt. Spoon the chickpeas on top and at the cheese.

3. Bake in 225 C for about 15 minutes, serve on a bed of salad.

Yummy Vietnamese Style Rice Paper Rolls

 We love these Vietnamese style rice paper rolls, and we've been making them for about a year for parties and whenever we fancied them. Quite often that is! I've started to prefer these to sushi, maybe because I've eaten too much sushi, but these are also fresher with more vegetables and herbs, and the sauce is amazing! We use the same recipe for an Asian salad dressing which we make ALL the time. I've been wanting to blog the recipe since the first time we made them but never managed to get decent enough pics until now. I guess it's more like a rolling tutorial than a recipe but here it comes. Hope you like!

 Vietnamese style rice paper rolls

Ingredients
Rice paper sheets (from Asian Supermarkets, in Helsinki there's many in Hakaniemi)

Fillings of your own choice, for example
Chinese cabbage, rice noodles, bean sprouts - these are needed to bulk the rolls
Crunchy veggies chopped into stripes ; peppers, carrots, sugarsnap peas, cucumber, courgette
Prawns, tofu, mushrooms or other form of protein, marinated to your liking.
Avocado, cause it's tasty!
Coriander and mint leaves

Cold water on a plate

1. Place a rice paper sheet in the water for about 30 seconds or until it has softened.

2. Place the soft sheet on a plate and fill. Start with the herbs so that they will be visible and your rolls will look prettier! Don't overfill as then the rolls won't stay together.

3. Wrap the roll. Fold the bottom up first, then the sides and roll. Try to make them as tight as possible, so that they are easier to dip and eat without making a huge mess. (We always make a mess anyway) I also make lots of different filling combinations so you never know what you gonna get!

4. Repeat until your pile of rolls is big enough. We always, always make too many. Eyes bigger than bellies etc. You can make a salad out of the excess veggies and dipping sauce, just mix them up and it will be good!

(Picture instructions below)

Dipping sauce

Soy sauce 0,5 dl
(Sweet soy sauce, 1 tablespoon, optional)
(Yuzy vinegar, 1 tablespoon, optional)
Rice wine vinegar 0,2 dl
Honey 2 teaspoons
Fish sauce 1 teaspoon
Juice of two limes
Chili, 1, chopped finely
Ginger, 3 tablespoons, finely grated
Garlic, 2 cloves, finely grated
Scallion, 1, finely chopped
(Some sesame oil and sesame seeds, optional)

Mix all ingredients together.
We never actually measure the ingredients, but taste and add stuff if needed,
so the measures here are estimates only.

Dip

Assembly line

Ready!

Herbs first

Fillin'

Rollin'

Voila!

Wine recommendation Cono Sur Vision Single Vineyard Riesling

YUM YUM YUM Enjoy!!!

Beetroot and Beluga lentils

I tend to shop interesting foods and then forget them in the cupboard until the best before date has long gone. Today I found a bag of fresh beetroot that really needed using and started to look for something to go with it and discovered some beluga lentils at the back of the top shelf. (After I'd chucked a few other "best before last year" products in the bin)

Never having used beluga lentils (aren't they pretty!) before, I googled and found a nice recipe at Ahmija blog. Only 20 mins cooking in veg stock, rinse and they're ready! Me, I am not a fan of overnight soaking business etc.

Marinade:
1,5 dl olive oil
2 tbsp honey
0,75 dl white balsamic
2 tbsp lemon juice
Salt&Pepper
2tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

Mix the ingredients and add to the lentils when they're still warm.

Beetroot was washed, peeled and chopped into wedges. In an oven dish, add olive oil, salt and pepper, and a few crushed whole garlic cloves. Cook in 200C for 20 mins, then add crumbled feta cheese, and cook another 25 mins or until the beets are cooked through.

Chop some fresh spinach and top with the lentils and beetroot. Enjoy!

Pomegranate & Blood Orange

Cut segments out of a couple of blood oranges, add a little grenadine for colour, place at the bottom of a bowl.
Mix some rich Turkish yoghurt with crushed macadamia nuts and grated white chocolate, season with cinnamon and a little brown sugar. Place on top of the oranges.
Chop a pomegranate in half and remove the seeds. Spoon a generous amount on top of the yoghurt and finish with a little more white chocolate. Voilà!

Creme Ninon aka Posh Pea Soup

 

Creme Ninon is so easy to make and tastes so good, great light starter for a nice dinner. My recipe goes something like this:

(serves 2-4)

2 small bags of frozen peas (can use fresh when they're in season but frozen are always good)

1 onion, chopped

Olive oil, 2 tbsp

1 herby veg stock cube

Water, enough to cover the peas

Plenty of fresh mint leaves

Cream, 1dl, whipped but not too much

Champagne (I used Cremant d'Alsace) , 1dl

1. Sautee the onion in the olive oil in a saucepan until translucent.

2. Add the peas, veg stock cube and the water. Bring to boil and let simmer for a couple of minutes, don't overcook the peas. 

3. Add the mint leaves and blitz with a stick blender. Pass through a sieve to make it very smooth.

4. Serve the soup on bowl, add a dollop of cream in the middle and pour a small amount of Champagne around it. 

5. Enjoy with some more Champagne. Oh la la!

 

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!

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.

Spicy Sweet Potato and Coconut Soup

 This soup has amazing thai-style flavour, a combination of sweet, spicy and acidity that really tickles the tastebuds. It is absolutely great as a starter or even as a light meal on its own, as it is quite creamy and filling. Serve an off dry or medium white wine with it and the flavours will be even more wonderful. I love a good Riesling but I'm pretty sure that a Gewurtztraminer or a Pinot Gris would work as well. Go for something from Alsace and you're at least on the right track.

Sweet Potato and Coconut Soup
(New food for thought, Jane Noraika)
(Serves 4)

1 onion, finely chopped
sunflower oil
25g of root ginger
2 tsp roasted and ground cumin seeds
1 small fresh chilli (I cheated with jarred chilli paste)
600g sweet potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
400ml coconut milk
750 ml veg stock
juice of 1 lime
salt and pepper
fresh coriander

1. Fry the onion in a large saucepan. Add the ginger, cumin and chilli and cook until the onion is translucent.

2. Add sweet potato, coconut milk and stock, cook until the sweet potato is soft.

3. Process with a blender until smooth. Add lime juice and seasoning. Serve with coriander. I also added some crayfish tails.

Fresh!

Spent two hours walking in the fresh snow today. It was beautiful! Finally a proper amount of the white stuff, and the days are getting lighter as well. What follows are some pics from the walk and a lunch salad idea - recipes for salads are a bit pointless, aren't they?

Vanhakoski rapids

Pihlajamäki skatepark

Vantaa river

The reward

Lunch today was a fresh salad of crayfish, avocado, cucumber, pink grapefruit and green herb marinated olives dressed with lemon pesto and extra squeeze of lemon. Add mayo if you like!