Thursday, August 25

FUSHI-Finnish "sushi"


In the summer there's plenty of nettles everywhere. For a lot of people it's a pest but for me it's free food. Nettles are really healthy and can be used in most ways that spinach could be used, just remember to cover your hands with gloves so they don't burn.


I picked some nettles and came up with this crazy idea to make sushi with them instead of using the nori seaweed. I then thought about the idea a bit more and wanted to use ingredients that are common in Finnish cuisine. They turned out great and now I call them FUSHI.


Pick nettles...for this bigger leaves are better.
Blanche the nettles in boiling water quickly till they turn a bit brighter in color. This way they will also stop burning and will be easier to handle.
Dry the leaves on a kitchen towel and spread them onto some cling film creating what looks like a nori sheet used for making maki rolls.
Now you can fill them with whatever you like.
I filled mine with smoked salmon, chargrilled whitefish, crayfish, boiled egg, herring, dill, chives, cured salmon etc. Just mix and match like you would when making sushi :)

This one is filled with Matjes Herring, egg and Nubberöra

Here I'm torching or chargrilling the Whitefish

This roll is filled with crayfish, smoked salmon, mayo, sour cream and chives
I even made some to look like nigiris using boiled new potatoes with a bit of Chargrilled whitefish, smetana (sour cream), whitefish roe and dill on top.


Instead of the Gari ginger I pickled some cucumbers.
Peel the cucumbers. With a mandolin or vegetable peeler, create thin strips that resemble the thinly sliced ginger. Pour some rice wine vinegar on top and add sugar.

Also for the dipping sauce which normally would be soy sauce I made a vibrant green dill oil. Just add a bunch of dill in the blender and cover with a bit of rapeseed oil. Blend until really rich in color and finely chopped.



I think these are superb! I hope you like these too!





Here are some more hints on what I put in my rolls:

Sugar salted salmon roll:
cut a nice piece of salmon lengthwise in the size of a maki roll
cover with Seasalt and sugar (50% each) and leave for a couple of hours
Rinse the salmon from salt and sugar and pat dry with a towel.
Lay the Nettles like a Nori mat and roll around the piece of salmon.
Cut into slices and serve.
You could even chargrill the salmon a bit or roast on a dry pan quickly, still keeping the salmon nice and raw.

Crayfish and salmon roll:
Mix warm smoked salmon with a bit of Mayo and smetana (sour cream) to make a paste
Spread onto the nettle leaf mat.
Cover with crayfish tails and chives.
Roll tight.

Herring roll Nubberöra:
I used marinated Matjes herring (it's a bit pickled and quite salty and sweet)
Cut part of the herring filé into long strips.
Chop the rest into dices and mix with smetana (a rich sour cream), some red onion and dill.
Boil an egg..hardboiled
Chop the egg whites and yolk separately. even try to make the whites into strips.
Spread the herring and sour cream mix onto the leaves.
Lay the herring strips and egg on top and roll.

I also filled one with Charred whitefish and egg and chives.
and one with Grav lax (cured salmon) and cucumber and dill.

"Nigiris"
Boiled new potatoes
Chargrilled/ torched whitefish
Smetana
Whitefish roe
Sprig of dill


Why don't you try ingredients typical for your country! Just go wild! :)

I'm sorry I don't have exact amounts on the ingredients but I still thought this was a nice idea to share with you guys :)






Wednesday, August 24

Wild Salad with Bluecheese and Walnuts




In spring and summer the wildlife is full of edible greens. It's become a trend in a lot of high-end restaurants to forage your own ingredients, which I think is great. I'm quite new to this, but have been trying to get to know my surroundings little by little. The most important thing when foraging though is that you are sure about what you are picking so you don't end up eating something poisonous. Also make sure you have the right to pick them...atleast mine were picked on my own property.

For the Salad you will need a mix of wild edible leaves and flowers
Roquefort blue cheese
Walnuts
Honey




 I really love how the bitter taste of some of these leaves disappears when you add roquefort and honey. The flavours go so well together just like the marriage of roquefort and endives.
It's amazing what flavours you can find in the wild...some are bitter, some sour or acidic like the crisp taste of green apples and some again really herblike or sweet.
Impatiens glandulifera 

Fireweed

wild pansy

Hylotelephium telephium or orpine

red clover

common yarrow

Broadleaf plantain

Dandelion leaf

sheep sorrel
The leaves I used for my salad:
Clover
Broadleaf plantain
Dandelion leaves
Common yarrow
Hylotelephium telefhium or orpine
Impatiens glandulifera (Note! this plant is slightly toxic, however the flowers and seeds are edible, however I only eat this once in awhile)
Fireweed
Sheep sorrel
and last but not least...
Wild pansy, also known as viola tricolor, Johnny jump up, heart's ease, heart's delight, Jack jump up and and kiss me, come and cuddle me etc. We have a saying that the ones we love have many names...I's say we love the pansies <3



Make sure the leaves are clean.
Sprinkle with Blue cheese, walnuts and drizzle with honey.
Enjoy the taste of Nature :)



Monday, August 22

Stone Fruit Galette


Galettes are a wonderful and easy way to serve a pie without even using a pie form. I really like how rustic it looks. I was again at the cottage and saw some peaches, nectarines and cherries on the table  that my mum had bought, so I wanted to try a new recipe. For galettes and pies just use whatever fruits or berries available...atleast that's how I usually get inspired.






I think this turned out beautiful :)

For the galette you will need:

165g all purpose flour
45g oatmeal
150g softened butter (I used normal salted)
20-30g sugar
cardamom
cinnamon
salt

For the filling:

1 peach
1 nectarine
10 cherries
sugar





Heat the oven to 175°C.
De-stone the fruits and cherries. To remove the stone from the stone fruits it's easiest to just cut them in half and remove the stone by hand. The cherries I kind of crush with the flat side of the knife making them split and the pit or stone to become visible. Be careful however when doing this not to cut yourself or wear delicate coloured clothes...cause if your cherries are as juicy as mine you'll end up looking like you've just slaughtered someone...you have been warned :D

Pinch together the butter with the dry ingredients and spread onto a baking sheet. place the fruits and berries on top. pinch together the edges of the pie to create a crust edge. Sprinkle some sugar on top.

Bake in the oven for approximately 35-45 minutes until the crust is golden. If you want the crust to shine a bit you can make a egg- milk wash to brush over the edges...I think this would look a bit prettier.

Serve with some whipped cream. I served mine with lightly whipped cream, flavoured with a hint of whiskey and sugar. You can also use rum or just vanilla if you like.

Wednesday, August 17

Grilled Carrots with Feta and Roasted Almonds served with Chicken and a Mint-Yoghurt Sauce


Carrots are so sweet during the summer and I just couldn't resist buying them. I've already had these carrots three times this summer. The amounts are not really that important and they are just so vibrant and beautiful as a side dish. I served mine with marinated and grilled chicken and a mint and yoghurt sauce.







You will need:
9 carrots (550g)
40g peeled and roasted almonds
40g feta cheese
honey
mint

Boil the carrots until they are just a bit softer and have turned even more vibrant in color. Cut them in half lengthwise. Grill them on the barbecue to create stripes or just fry them on a dry frying pan to get a bit of chargrilled effect.
Lay the carrots onto a plate and just sprinkle with the almonds, feta and mint.
Drizzle a bit of honey on top




Grilled chicken
I used boneless chicken thighs (Kariniemen paistileike)
For the marinade I used:
ground cumin (approximately 1-2 tbsp)
garlic (in this case however I used garlic salt 1 tsp since I didn't have fresh)
BBQ oil (I used Caj P BBQ oil)
garam masala
pinch of cayenne pepper
meat stock
Honestly the amounts are not so important and you can use whichever spices you prefer.

Grill the boneless chicken thighs until done. These will take a bit longer than a chicken breast.



Yoghurt sauce
200g Turkish yoghurt
15-20g chopped mint leaves
a pinch of salt
and a squeeze of lemon or lime







Monday, August 15

Very berry crumble


Love it when I go to the summercottage and can pick loads of berries in the forrest :) This is probably the time of the year that I make all kinds of berry pies and crumbles.


I had been picking lots of different berries and ended up making this delicious and really easy to make crumble straight in a pan.





You will need:
Mixed berries
I used
400g bilberries
80g strawberries
25g raspberries
20g wild strawberries
40g red currants

120g normal salted Butter (Room temperature)
70g Flour
90g oatmeal
30g Sugar
40g  sticky Brown sugar

10g vanilla powder




Heat the oven to 200°C
Pinch together the butter with the dry ingredients (except the vanilla powder) until you form a crumble like dough.
Put all the berries into a ovenproof form or even into a cast iron pan like I did. Sprinkle with the vanilla powder or sugar.
Crumble the dough over the berries but not covering them completely.
Bake in the oven for about 30-40 minutes until the crumble is nice and golden.

Serve straight from the pan with some vanilla sauce or ice cream. Let the Berry crumble cool down a bit because it will be boiling hot otherwise.