An unusual supper

It is funny isn’t it? I was cycling home from work this afternoon and wondering whether it was time to put the blog on hold for a few weeks. I was feeling that I did not have the motivation to write about all the things that are happening around me in a way I would want to publish.

It is of course that time of year: Spring is on the way and that reinforces the inbetween-ness of now. One set of adventures are over and the next set are still coming. Nothing is inherently wrong with the above state of affairs and there are still plenty of things getting me excited on a daily basis but somehow the blog was not one of them. I'm not sure how to convey my pride in putting up the washing line outside in a way I would think was interesting to the world. Maybe it was a sense that the blog had fallen into a routine and I did not and do not want that.

However as is the way with this life this evening’s dinner was a triumph of coincidence and made me want to start typing away this evening.

The seeds of this are to be found in our habit in the kitchen of planning our menus for the following week somewhere around Wednesday or Thursday. Last week for the reasons mentioned above I had used the Potatoes, Pasta. Pulses, Rice formula to get myself going and written in my diary was Salmon & Potatoes without any elaboration. However when I came home and looked through the fridge I found we had half a box of bean sprouts that needed to be used. For some reason inspiration struck and I quickly adapted my plans and decided to do an Asian style Salmon & Potatoes. After all they eat potatoes all the time in Asia right?

I have to admit that I had a degree of trepidation with this Asian inspired fusion as it could easily be a step too far. However I decided to carry on regardless and I am pleased to say that it worked.

So here is a midweek supper of Asian style salmon and potatoes.

Serves 2
2 salmon fillets
1 onion sliced
As many potatoes as you want thickly sliced
Fresh coriander chopped
Soy sauce
Sweet chili sauce
Sesame oil

I used a ridged grill pan for this recipe and if you have one you should use it too.

Pre-heat the oven to 150C
Put a little sesame oil in grill pan and medium heat on the stove top.
Begin to gently fry the salmon and onions. I “basted” the salmon with sweet chili sauce while cooking and seasoned with soy sauce
Meanwhile boil the potatoes in salted water until they are just done. You do not want to overcook them
When the salmon and onions are cooked put in an ovenproof dish and place in the oven to keep warm
Turn up the heat on the grill pan and fry the potatoes until just crisp on the outside
Add the bean sprouts and quickly fry them
Put it altogether on a plate and sprinkle with the coriander
Serve

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.

A wednesday supper

Life is busy at the moment. The days at work are getting longer and I was caught out this morning sending an e-mail before 7am. Still I came home prepared for tomorrow as opposed to running to catch up. So once home we made a simple midweek supper. I hope you like it.

Salmon with Red rice and vegetable medley
Serves 2

The idea with this dish was to have sort of Miso crust on top of the salmon and if I'm honest tonight's effort represented the first attempt. If you follow the instructions below you will get the miso flavour but not the crust. I need to work on in but I thought you should know. It falls nicely into three parts.

Salmon steaks deboned
Mixture of wild red rice and basmati rice 400g*
Garlic 2 cloves finely chopped
Half a pepper cut into strips
3 sticks of celery chopped
2 large mushrooms finely chopped
Miso paste
Soy sauce
Chinese rice wine
Vegetable oil 1 tablespoon

1)
Put the one and half times the volume of water in a saucepan with the rice.
Put on a ring and bring to the boil.
Boil hard for 3 minutes or so
Simmer on a low heat with the lid on for just over 10 minutes
Take off the heat, do not touch the lid and leave for about 15 minutes.

2)
Heat the oil in a pan, add the garlic, celery and fry gently. Add the mushrooms. Add a dash of soy sauce and rice wine.
When cooked remove from the heat and set in a bowl.

3)
Spread some miso paste on the side you want to be the presentation side.
Make sure the pan is very hot.
Put the salmon in miso side down and cook quickly.
Turn over and allow to continue cooking.

Just before the salmon is finishedon down add the vegetables and rice together.
Serve the salmon on the bed of rice.

*The reason for so much is the leftovers create a handy lunch.

*****
We also made some lovely chicken stock out of the bones from the chicken the other night which ended up as roast chicken with cheesey mashed potatoes, pesto and roast tomatoes. It was lovely. We used most of the chicken leftovers in a tasty minty meal last night but still have enough for one more meal. So one chicken has made 3 meals and provided stock for a lot more. That's the kitchen working the way we like.

*****
I have finished reading my book and enjoyed it very much. I look forward to putting some thoughts up here soon.

There's a beer festival in Helsinki on Saturday and I am very much looking forward to it.

Until next time, waste nothing, learn Finnish and play guitar.