Salmon Cured with Beetroot and Beluga Vodka -Gravlax

Just when we've finished with the Xmas celebrations,  the preparations for New Year's Eve can start. Since I wasn't that active at posting my recipes during Christmas due to a lot of business travelling...I realised it's not too late to make cured salmon for New Year's eve.
The Russian's celebrate their Christmas now so why not celebrate the New Year with some Russian influence.

Being a Finn, we always eat Cured salmon or Gravlax on many festive occasions (Christmas, New Year, Midsummer, Birthdays and whenever we feel like it). I prepared my cured salmon 3 ways and one of them I particularly like making for xmas due to the vibrant red color of the beetroot that dyes the otherwise peachy orange fish. This salmon will be perfect for your New Year's festivity and it's really not difficult to make....just watch out for the beetroot juices.

Vodka and Beetroot cured Salmon

300g Salmon
40g Coarse Sea Salt
4g Sugar
100g Beetroot
a few sprigs of Dill
2cl Vodka (I used Russian Beluga Vodka but any vodka will do) + some for the chef ;)

How to prepare it:
Clean the Fish fillet but you can leave the skin on. Cover evenly with the salt and sugar. Grate the beetroot and pat it onto the fish. Add some dill and pour over with the vodka. To get into the festive mood why not take a shot yourself :)

Wrap into cling film and place into a plastic bag to prevent all the juices from making a massacre in your fridge.
Next day just remove all the toppings and pat the fish dry. Cut into thin slices and enjoy!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Here are also the recipes for my other Cured Salmons:

Ginger and Lime Cured Salmon
300g Salmon
40g Coarse Sea Salt
4g Sugar
20g Ginger
1 Lime zest

Prepare the same way as above. Just sprinkle on the sugar and salt. Grate the Ginger and the lime and wrap it all up. Serve the next day.

Lemon and Dill Cured Salmon
300g Salmon
40g Coarse Sea Salt
4 g Sugar
1 Lemon zest
A big handful of Dill (or as much as you can fit onto the fillet)

Again, prepare as the one above. Sprinkle with sea salt and sugar. Grate the lemon zest onto the fish and cover completely with lots of fresh dill.

I Hope You All Had a Very Merry Xmas

I just managed to get home for xmas from being away for 3 weeks. I arrived 2 days before xmas eve and am therefore really sorry I had no possibility to post any christmassy recipes. However, I hope you had a great and relaxed christmas :)
I'll post some of my recipes soon and they are not too late to use for New Years or whenever you like <3

Here's just a few pics from my Christmas preparations :)

Roasted Butternut with Yoghurt and Dukkah_Savoury/Sweet

Are you the kind of person who's bored of always having the typical breakfast? Well I kind of am. I don't like eating sweet things in the morning and would even rather have a bowl of salad or congee.
I was inspired to try something from the leftover butternut that I had from making my Indian curry last time, so I surfed the web for some inspiration to get more ideas of roasted pumpkin and found the answer to my prayers. On Molly Yeh's blog http://mynameisyeh.com was exactly what I was looking for....a savoury dish with pumpkin perfect for breakfast. I had played around with similar ideas but only now did I realize that this is what I wanted for brekkie the next day. I changed the recipe just a bit and also made a sweet version which was the one I was planning on making earlier. These dishes are perfect for a brekkie/brunch when you need to please both the people who like to eat savoury stuff in the mornings and the sweet tooth.

I recommend you roast the pumpkin or butternut squash the night before....this way you don't have to stand too long in the kitchen in the morning....cause I definitely am not a morning person and am too lazy to make anything too complicated while yawning in my pyjama.

So here's a super easy and comfortingly delicious bowl of yoghurt taking it to a whole new level!

Why not try this with sweet potato too .)


Ras el Hanout Roasted Butternut with Dukkah, Yoghurt and Kale (SAVOURY)

You will need:

Butternut
Cumin
Ras El Hanout

Chili
Kale
Salt

Turkish Yoghurt
Olive oil (only for the savoury)

Dukkah (flavoured with cumin)

1) Preheat the oven to about 220°C
2) Peel and dice the Butternut into small cubes approximately 1 1/2 - 2cm
3) Place them into a oven tray/ baking form and lightly coat with olive oil
4) Season with ras el hanout, cumin and salt
5) Roast the seasoned butternut in the oven for approximately 45mins turning them once in a while to get them evenly caramelized.

You can reheat the pumpkin or butternut easily the next day in a pan or oven.

To make the Dukkah:

Pepitas ( I used the seeds from my butternut and roasted them in the oven)
Hazelnuts
Pecans
Almonds
Sesame seeds

cumin

1)Toast the seeds and nuts and crush them or use a blender like I did. However I prefer to keep an uneven texture and not blend them too finely to get a lot of different crunch.
2) Add some cumin (or space of your choice) and mix.

You could make a bigger mix of toasted nuts and just add spices to the amount you need...this way you can use the nuts for all kinds of different portions with just playing around with the spices.

To assembly

Heat the Pumpkin with the cumin and ras el hanout in a pan adding some Kale.
Pour a dollop of yoghurt into a bowl and make a small well in which you pour some olive oil. Add the spiced up butternut and kale. Sprinkle with some red chili if you like the heat. Put a handful of Cumin flavoured dukkah on top and serve.

This is definitely my favourite breakfast right now!

Cinnamon and Cardamom Roasted Butternut with  Yoghurt and Dukkah (SWEET)

You will need:

Butternut
Cinnamon
Cardamom
Honey

Turkish Yoghurt

Dukkah (flavoured with cinnamon and cardamom)

1) Preheat the oven to about 220°C
2) Peel and dice the Butternut into small cubes approximately 1 1/2 - 2cm
3) Place them into two separate oven trays/ baking forms and lightly coat them with olive oil
4) Season with cinnamon, cardamom and honey
5) Roast the seasoned butternut in the oven for approximately 45mins turning them once in a while to get an evenly caramelized finish.

You can reheat the pumpkin or butternut easily the next day in a pan or oven.

To make the Dukkah:

Pepitas ( I used the seeds from my butternut and roasted them in the oven)
Hazelnuts
Pecans
Almonds
Sesame seeds

cinnamon and cardamom

1)Toast the seeds and nuts and crush them or use a blender like I did. However I prefer to keep an uneven texture and not blend them too finely to get a lot of different crunch.
2) Add some cinnamon and cardamom.

To assembly

Heat the Butternut flavoured with cinnamon in a pan or oven. It doesn't need to be hot.
Spoon a dollop of Yoghurt into a glass or bowl. Add the sweet Butternut and sprinkle with the nutty Dukkah and enjoy. For extra sweetness drizzle with honey.

Both of these are so wonderfully easy and comforting to spoon into your mouth while cosily sitting on the couch half asleep.






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Sweetpotato Porridge (From leftovers of sweetpotato casserole)

After my Thanksgiving dinner for one, I still had a bit of sweetpotato casserole left over. I thought why not just add it to my breakfast porridge.
 I've tried porridge with pumpkin and vanilla before so why should this be any different. This is a perfect way to use up any sweetpotato/ pumpkin mash you would have laying around in your fridge. It's even worth making from scratch.
Even the pecans added a nice texture :)

You can find the recipe for my sweetpotato casserole here http://bit.ly/2gadM2D

I made my porridge with barley but you could use any kind of your preference for example oats.
Just make the porridge as you would do normally (or according to the instructions on the package) and mix in the leftover puree. The vanilla flavour adds a nice touch too.

1dl barley (I used Myllärin rikottu ohrasuurimo)
2dl water
pinch of salt
Cook for about 5 mins
Add 4dl milk and let simmer while stirring for another 15 mins
Let it rest under a lid for a few more minutes
Add the sweetpotato mash or casserole and mix.
Handful of extra Pecans.

Voilá!

Stuffed Quail with Sweet Potato Casserole (Thanksgiving for one)

In Finland we don't celebrate Thanksgiving but I've always wanted to arrange a proper American style Thanksgiving dinner party for my friends. I was so sure that I would've this year but even this year I realised it too late.
On the same day I still felt tempted to make a Thanksgiving dinner even if I was celebrating it all alone and thought I'd had to skip it since in no way was I going to roast a whole turkey just to be eaten by myself. However I couldn't't get the idea out of my head and came up with the perfect thanksgiving dinner for one :D

Why should I have to roast a whole turkey when I could just stuff a small quail :) Besides, I even prefer quail to turkey.

This stuffed quail is perfect for a dinner alone or two or why not give all your guests their own little bird to carve into. So much more sophisticated and I think it's a fun idea.

This doesn't have to be only made at Thanksgiving....I for sure know I'll have to let my friends try this dish one day :)

You will need:

1 quail (or as many as you like)

butter, herbs, salt

Stuffing (makes enough for 1-2 birds) :

1 slice of bacon (25g)
1 small Apple (30g)
1/2 schallot (20g)
1 clove garlic
stale bread (20g)
1 tbsp dried lingonberries or cranberries
15g walnuts
rosemary
sage
lemon zest / clementine
chicken stock

1)Rinse the bird to remove any excess blood.
2)Using your finger you can make a small pouch under the skin of the bird on the breast making it easy to fill the space with some herbs and butter
3)Chop all the ingredients for the stuffing, remember the bird is really tiny to fit in too big chunks....so for the sake of the bird keep them tiny.
4)Roast the bread and chopped walnuts in a pan
5)Sautee the bacon, onion and garlic in a pan. Add chopped herbs.
6)Mix all the ingredients together and grate some lemon or clementine.
7) Season to taste
8)Time to stuff the bird...You'll be surprised how much stuffing can fit in
9) tie the bird with string to keep the legs and wings close to the body keeping it's shape

How to cook the bird:
Heat up the pan and roast the Bird in butter on all sides until nice and golden. You can lower the heat once the skin has gone nice and crisp and golden. Quail doesn't take too long to cook. Since it is a whole bird it will take a bit longer than a spatchcocked bird (I almost wrote satchquatch :D sounds the same but that would be a bit funny :D).
You can either leave it on the pan on low temp or put it in the oven for a few minutes on low heat. I roasted my bird on high heat approximately 5 mins and lowered the temp. I kept it on the pan for a total of 10 min maximum and put it in foil to rest. It's difficult to say an exact time since every bird is a bit different and so is the stove in every kitchen. You could even finish it off in the oven.  Quail however can be left a bit pink inside unlike chicken. Just please make sure not to dry out this beautiful tasty bird.

Sweetpotato casserole

240g sweet potato
30g butter
1dl cream or milk (I used 10%cream)
a small dollop of  vanilla bean paste
pinch of salt

1) preheat the oven to 225°C
2) Peel, Slice and dice the sweet potato and place into a casserole/oven form
3) add the cream and butter
4) add vanilla and salt
5)Place the sweetpotato in the oven. As soon as they are soft and a bit roasted on the top mash them with a fork and place pecans on top
6) sprinkle with a bit of muscovado sugar
7) put back in the oven unitil the sugar has melted.

I served my quail with the sweet potato casserole and some Kale.
I also made a quick gravy using the burnt goodness in the pan from roasting the bird by adding chickenstock and flour. I also added a bit of clementine juice to it.

Hope you enjoy!