Moles

Moles beer has finally come to Helsinki. When I came to Helsinki a year ago I had an afternoon before my interview to wander around. I was lucky enough to find a pub called Black Door that had real ale on tap which after the beer desert of Trondheim was wonderful in itself and as I enjoyed a beer I noticed that on their wall several Hand Pump Tags from the Moles brewery. Now after a year of waiting for it to put in an appearance it has finally come back. Happy happy days!

Yesterday was meant to be a day off but I ended up at work for most of the day, however in the late afternoon I managed to escape in town, did some foraging in the oriental supermarkets in Kallio and as I was heading home I popped into the Pullman Bar at the Railway station and had a pint of Moles Landlord's Choice. It was excellent and tasted as good as I remember. The even better news is that the brewery has obviously sent a few barrels over as I have seen that it will be featured in a couple of other pubs that sell real ale around town so I know it will be a good few weeks!

Afterwards the Boss and I went to see the new Bond film. While I enjoyed it I have to say that 24 hours later I find myself refering to it as "The Bourne Redundancy". I still enjoy Daniel Craig as Bond and I approve of his hard portrayal of the character but in this film it seemed as if he kept the character in too tight a straight jacket and it eventually served to make him seem less of a man and more of a terminator.

So today has been my catch up day off and a chance to play in the Kitchen. We've been out and foraged successfully and I feel inspired about all the opportunities to cook again. I think I suffered a bit in the week after Barcelona in respect to cooking. If you have to eat out every night, coming home to a Kitchen can be a bit of a come down. Especially if you get caught in the circle of the same ingredients prepared in the same way. Sometimes it can be comforting but last week it was a bit of a dead end. However this afternoons dinner put paid to that.

Tuna steak with deep fried julieened leeks & red pepper served with sticky jasmine rice and a pea and mint puree. When I write it out it sounds very posh but trust me it wasn't actually very complicated to put together.

It takes about an hour to cook everything so maybe it is not a weekday supper but it isn't so difficult to do.

Serves 2
2 tuna steaks
110g rice
4 handfulls of julieened leeks
half a red peper sliced into strips
Seasoned flour

Pea & mint puree
250g peas
1 sprig of fresh Mint
A pinch of sugar
Creme Fraiche

Boil the peas in water with a sprig of mint and a pinch of sugar until just cooked
Puree
Add a few spoonfuls creme fraiche until you get the consistency you want
Add salt & pepper and a spoonful of freshly chopped mint

To cook the vegetables, dust with seasoned flour and cook very quickly in oil heated to about 140-160C

Cook the rice

Cook the Tuna on a hot griddle, max 3 mins pers side but it will depend on how thick it is.

Once everything is done arrange on a plate and enjoy!

I had loads of pea puree left over so will be using it in some soup in the next few days.