Farang -Stockholm-

Couple weeks ago, i took my fiancee to eat in this new restaurant in Stockholm Sweden, called Farang. It's a cosy restaurant where you can taste flavours from Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia, all mixed together. I knew this restaurant already earlier, since i am originally from Helsinki, Finland and the first Farang was opened there in 2011. The co-owners of Farang Stockholm are Tomi Björk, Matti Wikberg and Kim Öhman. Tomi and Matti are also the Co-owners of the Farang Helsinki. Tomi is also famous in Finland of being the head judge in Master -and Junior Masterchef Finland. He also has his own Tv cooking-show called "Tomin keittiössä". Well there was a little backround to you about the place, you can read more from their webpage www.farang.se. 

We booked a table and were lucky to even get one, since this place is newly opened, so it was fully booked. The atmosphere was really open and spacy. I liked that you could actually see in the kitchen and see the chefs working there. I was happy to see also Tomi Björk in the kitchen preparing meals.

In Helsinki i had already tried out the "Vegetarian Tasting Menu", which is served at least for two persons, but mostly for the whole table. I can say that, that was probably the best food experience i had ever had, when i ate that in Helsinki, so i was really exited to taste another tasting menu here in Stockholm.

We tooked the first menu which was 690kr /person that included vegetarian/fish and meat dishes, but since i don't eat meat i asked them to change mine to fish or vegetarian versions and they were happy to do that. We started up with a drink called "Ladyboy". It was a coctail mixure of : Beefeater Gin, ginger, mint, lime, lychee & ginger beer. Tasty & good kick start for the meal. The first tasting dish came really quick after the ordering. The first dish was "Cha  Plu Leaf with smoked salmon, roasted peanuts & trout roe". It was a perfect little piece of delicious flavours. I might think it was the best thing actually in the whole menu. I could have eaten just those! So fresh, full of flavours that it felt you had a party in your mouth. Seriously. SO DAMN good!








The next dish was "Pike Perch Sashimi, Vietnamise style" with asian herbs& black vinegar dressing. OH MY GOD! This was yet again 10/10 points. The fish just melted in my mouth and the flavours were so good. People often say, that why spend so much money on fancy food when you get so little on the plate? I mostly also agree with them, but i have to say, that this whole menu was really worth of every penny.  And it was plenty of food, i was so full in the end i could not eat even a little bite more.

The next dish was "Softshell Crab with green mango, mint, pomelo, green nahm jim and peanuts". I must say that i was really waiting to get this dish, since i just LOVE crab meat. But i must say, that the crab was not the star of this dish. It was actually the green mango salad. The salad was so delicious, kick of mint and acid, it would just have been perfect like that, without the crab. The crab was a bit dry and little over salty, but whatta heck, It still was good! If i have to give critic a bit, so there it came. I would have served that salad with fresh crab meat rather than the fried one. Anyway the pace of dish after dish was perfect, you really didn't have to wait to get the next little dish.





The next dish was called "Crispy pork with palmsugar caramel" so it contained: crispy fried braised pork, rice vinegar, roasted onion. My boyfriend Modde, ate that, but since i do not eat meat, i got my own dish with Fried fish and somekind of sweetsour sauce. And of course they served rice with all the dishes.

Modde said, that the pork was good, but he would actually prefered vegetarian or fish dish. He felt that the meat dish was too heavy after having so light and fresh start. I myself enjoyed once again my dish. It was crispy white fish, i forgot what fish was it, or there was a bit translation error, since the waiter spoke swedish and i do not understand everything in swedish. Anyway the fish was good, but nothing really that special, what the dishes before had been. But i'll give them a big credit for creating a dish just for me, that was not one the menu in the first place.

At this point we started to get quite full already, but there was still couple dishes and the dessert to go. The next two dishes came at the same time. Other one was "Thai Roti bred with Mussaman Curry"and the other one was called "Morning Glory, ‘Salt & Pepper’ Tofu" contained: watercress, bok choy& crispy fried silken tofu. The Curry was again, really tasty, but i just wanted to jump to the Tofu dish, that i had been waiting for the whole night. First mouthfull of that heavenly dish, oh, i just could have died. If i would have, i would have died happy! It really was the best dish with the two first dishes, of the whole menu. The watercress, Bok choy, crispy tofu and the broth all together were so damn delicious. Again party in my mouth. Modde, who by the way is an old vegetarian, but eats meat nowdays, thought this was the best dish of the night.

We were really full allready, but there was one more dish left before the dessert. I actually had tried to change all the meat dishes away to a fish or vegetarian dishes, when we ordered the whole menu, but i guess there was a missunderstanding with my crappy swedish and with the waiter, so that's why they just changed my dish. But it was ok, since Modde eats meat anyway. Modde got dish called: "Veal Cheek ‘Serembam" which was slow braised veal cheeks, aromatic chili broth & mint-sprout salad. I got the same, but without veal and with salmon. I have never in my life even eaten veal and i think it's horrible to eaven eat that, a little baby cow. Buhuu. Modde said that it tasted good, but the texture was really weird. It was so soft, he said. He tasted my salmon and said that weirdly the salmon felt like same kind of texture, so i guess it was the point of me also having it with salmon then. My salmon was perfectly cooked, soft and the min-sprout salad  and the broth was delicious. I think anyways the salads were exellend on all dishes. So overall both dishes were good.

We were so happy and satisfied of the menu already so, i think we were kinda high off the food, if you know what i mean. Hah! At this point the waiter asked if we wanted to wait for a bit to "let the food go down", before we get the desserts, so we said yes. It was nice to take a little break, since we were so full. So we had time to chat a bit and i was compering the experience in Helsinki Farang to this one. I actually like the Stockholm restaurant as a place a bit more. It's a bit bigger than the Helsinki Farang, but overall i think the food is as good as it is in Helsinki. The staff was really friendly and they came right away to the table to serve you. Really nice experience and we will defenetly go back again...as soon as we get more money hah!

Last but not least, the dessert. It was called: ‘HOLA HOLA 5’ and it contained: thai style marinated fruits, sweet peas, lime, vanilla coconut stock & guava watermelon sorbet. DE-to-LICIOUS. The coconut stock was so soft and creamy, fruits were delicious and the flavours were great. Only thing that i did not get in the dish was the sweet peas. But  F* that, it was still good!

So i can definetly recommed this restaurant for all food lovers all around the world. If you want to taste a little piece of Asia, in the middle of Stockholm, Farang is the place to go. It's not the place, where you eat quickly or cheaply, but it is all worth it. So take time, sit down with your friends and have a great experience of flavours and food. Overall an exellent service, Exellent food and Great experience. Thank you Farang!

Warm Quinoa salad with fried Tofu

This is a salad i made a while ago. Really refreshing, filling, tasty and healthy dish. People who say, they hate salads, have propably always eaten tomato-lettuce-cucumber salad with some crappy dressing or without anything.. and that's all. I have heard so many times from peoples mouth, SALADS are BORING. Honestly, i just think people are ignorant and not willing to try out stuff. I really believe in the saying "Better food, Better mind" and i think people should really start thinking what they put in their mouth. Not eat the same crap all the time like most people do. Try out something new, live out a bit! You could be suprised how much you actually might enjoy things more!

Well back in business, here is how to make this delicious, fast and easy salad!

• 1 packet of Firm Tofu
• 1-2 dl Quinoa 
• Celery (fresh not the root)
• Cucumber
• Chickpeas ( i used the ready canned ones)
• Some mixed salad ( I used salad mix with lettuce, carrot, cabbage etc.)
• Sunflower seeds or seed mix. Pine nuts are exelled too!
• Olive oil
• Sesame oil
• Herbsalt ( I use Herbamare)
• Salt & Pepper
• For dressing i used some Fig balsamic vinegar dressing which goes really well with this

First cut the tofu on cubes. Heat up pan and add olive oil & sesame oil on the pan and the tofu cubes.
Add some pepper & salt ( or mixed up spices if you want to spice up the tofu some more). When the tofu is fried nice and crispy, put it a side to cool down a bit. Prepare the salad. Wash salad mix, cut the celery and cucumber on small pieces. Put them on a bowl. Add some chickpeas, sunflower seeds or pine nuts. Mix well and add some herbsalt and pepper. Boil some water and add the quinoa in the boiling water. Let it boil about 5 minutes until the quinoa is soft. Stir all the time while boiling. Pour the water out from the pot. Add the warm quinoa and the fried tofu in the salad. Mix well and serve. Add some Fig balsamic vinegar dressing and enjoy!

Vegetarian Noodle soup with Tofu

I have made this type of dishes a lot lately, just because i love noodle soups. Especially here in Sweden, there is lot's of Thai/Vietnamise restaurants that have exellent noodle soups on their menus. So i have got my inspiration of these from those restaurants. This is quite basic soup, lot's of differet veggies and tofu stir fried in oyster sauce and served with rice noodles and vegetarian broth. Here is a recipe how to make this delicious dish:

You need lot's of vegetables, you can choose what you want to use,  but here is a list what i used:

• Zuccini
• Carrots
• Fennel
• Cauliflower
• Broccoli
• Fresh champions/shiitake mushrooms
• Leek
• Cabbage
• Garlic
• Bamboo shoots
• Fresh Coriander
• Chili
• Mixed salad ( i used mixed salad bag with fresh spinach, lettuce, etc)

You also need: 

• Rice noodles 
• Tofu ( i used the ready fried one)
• Oyster sauce
• Salt & Pepper
• Vegetable broth
• About 1/2-1 liter of water
• Ginger 
• Olive oil
• Sesame oil

First prepare all the vegetables, wash well and chop to pieces. Boil some hot water on a tea boiler and also measure about half or one liter water on a pot on a stove. Add vegetable broth in it, some fresh chili, garlic and graded ginger. Add Some pepper and salt. Taste that has enough taste. Let it come to boil and after that put a side to wait. Same time that you are making the broth,  the tea boiler is also ready, so add the rice noodles in a big bowl with a lit. Pour the water in so that it covers the rice noodles. Add lit and let it stand there about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile start preparing the stir fry. Add some olive oil, sesame oil, fresh chili and garlic on a pan, heat up and add tofu. Fry it like a minute or so. Then add carrots, cauliflower and broccoli.  Add some salt, pepper and oyster sauce. Mix well and cover with lit for 1-2 minutes. After that add rest of the chopped vegetables (not the salad and coriander). Pour some more oyster sauce in, add oil if needed. Add again some pepper and salt. Mix well and cover with lit like for 3 minutes. Then mix again. Keep the heat enough down, that the vegetables don't go too soft. They need to be still a bit crispy.

Then pour the water out from the ricenoodles. Add some noodles on a deep plate.First add some salad on top, then some stir fried vegetables on and  last pour some broth in. Sprinkle some coriander  and little bit oyster sauce on top and enjoy. So "Helvetin Hyvää" as we say in Finnish ( which means so "F*king good, haha)

Clams with creamy Fennel and Parsnip sauce

This one i made yesterday for the first time. I really like Clams, but i have never made them myself like this before. This is really fast and traditional recipe, exept i made my own little twist on it.

Here's how to make this:

• One bag of clams 
• About 4-5 dl cream
• About 1 dl white wine
• One bunch of Fresh parsley
• Salt & Pepper
• Half small Fennel
• One Parsnip
• One small Onion
• 3 Cloves of Garlic
• Olive oil 

First wash the Clams well. Soak and twirl them in cold water for a while so that the sand will get well off from the Clams. Then Cut the onion, garlic, parsnip and fennel to small pieces. Pour some oil on a hot deep pan and add the veggies to the pan. Fry the mix until veggies look soft. Add some white wine on the pan, put the heat a bit down. Add cream, salt and pepper. Spice up the broth until you think it's tasty enough. Add the parsley. And last add the clams. Shake the pan that the clams get mixed well with the broth. Cover with lit and let it boil on a small heat for about 3-4 minutes until the clams have opened up. Serve with some fresh white bread and enjoy!

Finnish Style Cabbage dish

I haven't updated my blog since November so i had a lot of pictures in my camera. I have made lot's of Finnish traditional dishes lately, maybe also because have missed Finland so much. And yes i am a Finn, living in Stockholm now thou. Anyways back to business. This is a really traditional old school food from Finland. It's Finnish name is "Kaalilaatikko" and normally it's made with minced meat, but i have again made my vegetarian version of it. This dish is really good when it's made well. Some people hate it, but it think it's because they have got the bad version of this at schools in Finland. Here is a recipe how i make it delicious!

• Half of a Cabbage
• One onion
• Minced soy meat
• 3-4 Garlic cloves
• About 3-4 dl porridge rice 
• Oil
• Butter
• About 3-5 dl Cream
• About 3-4 dl Vegetable broth
• Salt & pepper

First boil the rice until it's allmost soft. Heat up the oven to 225 degrees. Fry some soymeat with onion on the pan. Add spices and garlic. Put a a side to cool down. Fry the cabbage on pan in oil just like about 5 minutes, until it's shiny. Don't fry it done, cabbage needs to be crispy.  Add some salt and pepper. Spread some butter on a flat long oven bowl, that the butter covers all the inside of the bowl. Pour the rice and the soymeat mix on the oven bowl and mix it until their mixed together. Add the vegetarian broth and cream on the bowl. Pour it all over that it fills up the bowl with liquid. Cook the dish in the oven about 30-40 minutes, until the surface looks golden brown. Serve with some Cowberry jam and enjoy.

Creamy Salmon Soup

This is quite basic scandinavian style salmon soup and easy to make. I really love creamy fish soups. My granma used to make the best fish soups. This one is warming at the cold winter days. Cheap, quick and easy to make. Takes about 30 minutes to make.

Here's what you need:

• About 6-9 potatoes
• 3 Carrots
• Celery
• Dill
• Fresh or frozen Salmon. 
• One onion
• 3 dl whipped cream
• Allspice (Jamaica pepper)
• Fish broth
• about 8-10 dl water
• Salt & pepper

First peel the potatoes, carrots and onion. Cut the celery. Measure water in the pot and put all the vegetables in the boiling water. Add fish broth & some Allspice (Jamaica pepper). Cut the fish into cubes. Let it boil until potatoes are getting softer. Add the fish cubes into the boiling pot. Put the heat lower. Add the cream and the dill. Add some salt and pepper. Taste that has enough spices. Enjoy with some dark break and glass of cold milk.

Tofu steaks, Creamy Garlic Potatoes & Fennel sauce

I was on a experimental mood couple days ago. So i wanted to try out to make my own recipe of tofu steaks. I also love the taste of fennel so i decided to try out to make a sauce by using it, and damn it was good! Here is a recipe how to make this delicious dish:

Tofu Steaks

• 1 packet of Tofu ( i used the ready marinated one)
• About 3 dl Frozen Spenach
• 3 cloves of Garlic
• 1 Onion
• 2 eggs ( i used one for these, but i think it wasn't enough)
• About 1 dl bread grumps
• About 2 dl Flours
• Olive oil
• Salt & Pepper
• Chili powder
• Santamaria Roasted Cummin-Pepper mix
• Santamaria Garlic & Pepper mix

First chop the tofu on small cubes and  melt the spenach. Chop the Onions and garlic too. Add everything in a big bowl. Use Hand plender to chop the mix down to almost like a puree. Add the spices and eggs. Mix with using a spoon. Add the bread grumps and the flours (not all at one time) and some olive oil (about 1/2 dl). Mix until it comes more stiff. Add more flours, if it looks too soft. Add some Olive oil on pan and heat it up. Make flat handsize steaks with your hands and put them on the hot pan. Fry both sides until the steaks get colden brown. Ready to serve!

Fennel Sauce

• About half of the Fennel
• Half Onion
• 4-5 dl Cream
• Salt & Pepper
• Santamaria Cummin-Pepper mix
• About 2 tablespoons of flours
• Olive Oil  

Chop the fennel and onions in to a small cubes. Pour some olive oil on a pot and heat the fennel-onion mix in it. Let it cook until the fennel gets smooth and soft. Put the heat down to smaller heat and add the cream. Mix the flours with a hint of cold water in a mug, until it's liquid. Pour it into the the pot. Sterve well until the the sauce starts to get thicker. Add a hint of salt and pepper( I use mixed black and white pepper roast). Add also some roasted Cummin ( I used Santamaria Roasted Cummin-pepper mix). Ready to serve!

Creamy Garlic Potatoes

• About 10 potatoes
• 5 Cloves of Garlic
• Salt & Pepper
• Olive Oil
• Santamaria Garlic-Pepper mix 
• Santamaria Barbeque & Grill mix
• About 4-5 dl cream

Peel the potatoes and chop them into small cube shaped slices. Heat up the owen to 225 degrees. Pour some olive oil on a flat oven bin. Add the potatoes, chopped garlic and spices. Mix well and then last add the cream. Let it cook in the oven about 30-40 minutes, until the surface looks colden brown. Ready to serve!

"All you can Find"

I made this veggo-plate one day when i was too lazy to go to food store and just crabbed stuff that i had at home and made food from them. I cook like this quite often, haha! So i found some dry soyballs, green longbeans, beetroots and full grain couscous. Here's how i made this delicious dish:

• Dry soyballs/Soy bites (about 2-3 dl is enough for two people)
• Beetroots 
• Green beans ( i used frozen ones)
• Couscous
• Butter
• Garlic 
• Salt & Pepper
• Olive oil
• Spices like, garlic-pepper mix, grilling spice and cummin-pepper mix

First peel the beetroots, cut them in cubes and put in a boiling water. Add a hint of salt on the water. Put the green beans on a bowl to melt. Boil some water on a waterboiler and pour it into a bowl, where you add the dry soyballs and cover it with the lit. Let them stay covered for about 10-15 minutes, until they are soft. (Optional: You can also boil them in a pot). Then when the soyballs are soft, pour the water out, run some cold water on top of them (to make them cool down quickly) and squeeze the water out of the balls with your hands. Add the balls into a bowl, add olive oil and the mixed spices. You can use your own imagination to spice them up. I always mix different spices.After that pour some olive oil on pan and heat it up. Fry the balls until they are crispy. Put them on side to wait. Add some oil on the pan and fry the green beans. Just add hint of salt and pepper. Put them on the side to wait. Meanwhile boil some water with the water boiler again. Add about 3 dl couscous into a bowl. Pour about 2 dl water in and mix, add more water if looks too dry. Add some salt and a big chunk of butter. Mixx well, cover with a lit and put a side to wait for about 3-5 minutes. The beetroots should be ready at this point. Pour the water out, add some butter, chopped garlic, salt & pepper and mix. Serve everything together and enjoy. This was delicious!

Potato-Leek soup

I eat soups often. You can make them normally quite fast and simple. There is so much great options for delicious soups! This on is one of my favourite soups, that my mom always made me when i was sick. It's fast and simple to make and really good. Here is a recipe for you to make it:

• About 8 potatoes (normal size)
• One Leek
• 1-2 Vegetarian stock cube
• 3-5 Garlic cloves
• Salt & pepper
• Some mixed herbs like thyme, tarragon, oregano ect. 
• About 1 liter water
• 1 dl cream (optional soy cream if you want to make it vegan)
• Couple drops of Olive Oil
• Some grated cheeze on top (optional)

First you peel the potatoes and cut them on small cubes. Add  the potatoes, water and the vegetarian stock in a pot, let it come to boil. Meanwhile cut the Leek and garlic. Add them to the boiling water. Let it boil about 20 minutes or so, until the potatoes are soft. Pour the stock in a bowl, leave about 2 dl on the bottom of the pot. Use a hand blender to mash the potatoes and leek into a smooth puree, add the stock a little bit more to make it more like a soup, but not too much. Save space for the cream. Put the pot back on the stove and add cream, hint of olive oil, some salt & pepper and some herbs. Sterve well. Serve with some fresh bread, sprinkle some grated cheese on top and enjoy. So good!

Palak Paner And Tomato-Physalis salad

I made some basic Palak Paner last sunday. It's my favourite indian dish, that you can get probably in all the indian restaurants here in Scandinavia. It's simple and quick to make and really delicious! Here is what you need to make it:

• Basmatin rice
• 2 bags of fresh spenach 
• 1 package of Ricotta cheese
• About 2 dl Cream
• 1 Onion
• 3 cloves of Garlic
• Salt & Pepper
• Chili powder
• Ginger powder
• Roasted Cummin ( I used Santamaria roasted Cummin & Pepper mix)
• Olive oil

First put the rice on a rice boiler or boil it it a pot. Meanwhile start cutting the onions and garlic to small pieces. Wash the spenach and cut it in to small mince. Cut the Ricotta cheese in cubes. Pour some olive oil in cooking pan. Let it come to heat and add the cheese on the pan. Fry the cubes on both sides, until the surface is golden brown.  Put the cheese on the side and start frying some onions and garlic in the oil. When the onions are glazed, add the spenach. Cook until the spenach is soft. Add some salt, pepper, chili powder, ginger powder and roasted cummin. Mix well. Add the cream and  the fried cheese. Mix softly that you don't brake the cheese cubes. Taste and add more spices if needed. Serve with some basmatin rice and enjoy!

I made also this Tomato-Physalis salad on a side dish. Just cutted some red onion, different types of cherry tomatoes and added some Physalis to the mix. Last i added just a hint of sea-salt and some gurmee balsamic vinegar and mixed it well. Simple and so good!

Fried Salmon with oven Potato, Thyme sauce and Pizza salad

This one i made couple days ago. Here in Sweden, you always get this delicious Pizza salad in all the pizzerias when you order pizza. It's really simple and delicious, so i decided to make it as a side dish with this fried Salmon. They worked well together! The buttery thyme sauce goes well with fish too. Here is a recipe for this dish:

You need:

• Oven potatoes (2 big ones for two portions)
• Fresh salmon files
• One lime
• Fresh Thyme
• Fresh Cabbage
• Butter
• Cream
• Flours
• Salt & Pepper
• White vinegar
• Olive Oil
• Sugar or Honey
• Lemon pepper ( I used Santamaria Lime&Peppermix)

First wash the potatoes and roll them in the folio and let it cook in the owen in 225 degrees for about 1 hour. Don't start cooking the fish untill the potatoes are about to be ready, because the fish and the sauce takes only a short time to cook.

Then make the cabbage salad. Boil some water on a tea boiler. Grade or cut the cabbage in thin slices and wash the slices well. Put a big bowl under the strainer and the cabbage on top the bowl. Pour the boiled water on top of the cabbage, so that it strains into the bowl under it. Pour the hot water again on top of the cabbage so that it goes a bit soft. Then run cold water thru the cabbage so that it cools down. Pour it to a bowl, add some salt and pepper, white vinegar, olive oil and sugar or honey (i used honey). Mix it well and taste that it has enough vinegar and spices. Put the cabbage salad covered in the fridge and let it spice up there for an hour or so too. This salad is even better, if it has been standing in the fridge for a day.

Prepare the fish. I bought ready cutted files, without the skin. Just added some salt and peppe, fresh thyme and lime pepper on top of the fish. Squeeze some fresh lime juice on top just before you start cooking it. Add a good piece of butter in the pan and fry the fish from both sides that it comes nice and golden brown. Use a spoon to scoop the butter on top of the fish while you are frying it. Put the fish on a plate and cover it with a lit.

Make the sauce. Add some butter (about 60 grams)  in a sauce pot, let it melt, then add some freshly cutted  thyme in it. Add about 1 tablespoon of flours, keep the heat low. Mix the flours well on the butter and when it's all mixed add just a half or one dl water and then about 1 dl cream. Mix and let it come to little boil. Add more cream if it's too thick. Add some salt and pepper and taste that it has enough flavour.

Serve the fish with oven potato, pizza salad and the buttery thyme sauce and enjoy. Simple and so good!

Beetroot Risotto with fried Tofu & Eggplant

I love Risottos. This one i tried out, since beetroots were in the season and really cheap at stores. They give a lovely color for the risotto. Normally my favourite risotto is basic mushroom risotto, but this one simply got one of my top lists! I served it with fried tofu that i just marinade with soy sauce, pepper, garlic and some herbs and fried it in pan. Also served it with pan fried eggplants and some salad. Here is a recipe how to make this delicious risotto:

• 1 pack of risotto rice (Aborio is good one for risottos)
• About 2- 3 small beetroots
• 1 onion
• Pecorino cheese
• White wine
• Vegetable broth
• Water
• Salt & pepper
• Olive oil

First mesure about 1 liter water in a pot and add the vegetable broth into it and some pepper and salt. Taste that it has enough salt. Let it come to boil and keep in small heat. Meanwhile peel the onion and beetroots. Cut them both in small cubes. Add some oil on the convex shape pan and add the beetroots in. Let it heat up about  5-10 minutes that the cubes start to get a little soft. Add onions into the mix. Then add the rice. Pour some more oil and start turning the rice over and over until it gets "translucent gloss". Start adding the vegetable broth little by little, that the rice is covered with the broth. Add some white wine, about 1dl is fine, depends how "winy" you like it to taste. Put a lit on and let it boil. Stir the risotto often and add broth when the rice has sucked in the last added broth. Let the risotto cook in medium heat about 30-40 minutes, depending how good stove you have. Remember to stir it a lot, that the rice don't burn. When rice starts to be soften add some grated Pecorino, salt and pepper and stir again. Serve with the tofu or what ever you like, or just eat it like that. Grate some Pecorino on top before eating. Enjoy!

Veggie Burger

I love burgers, well who wouldn't? I love to make different variations of vegetarian burgers. Mostly i use soy-meat ( the fake meat made from soy), tofu or variation of beans. Today i tried out a new recipe. This one, i made up in my head while cooking. That's the way i love to cook. Just use things that you like and you think might go well together! People who are not vegetarians, usually say that you cannot make a good vegetarian versions of some basic meat dishes. That is so not true! The key is to know how to use spices! No one likes a steak that tastes like cardboard, so remember to be bold and just play with the flavours! I made the fries also by myself.

 

Here is what you need for the veggie steaks (8 pc): 

• One packet of Beans ( I used a "Zeta" ecological beans-mix)
• One packet of Red lentils ( I used ready cooked " Go Green" ecological lentils)
• 2 eggs
• 2 cloves of garlic
• Pecorino cheese
• Fresh coriander
• Half red onion
• 1 red chili (or just half if you want it to be milder)
• 1 dl flours
• 1 dl breadcrumps
• Salt & pepper
• Spices like: Ginger powder,  Santamaria Garlic & Pepper, BBQ pepper, Lime-pepper -mixes.
• Cheddar cheese ( I used one called " Red Devil" -a spicy cheddar)
• Vegan ham ( Optional, i used  Astrid och Aporna fake ham)
• Tomato, cucumber & pea sprouts
• Mayonnaise (mixed basic mayonnaise with some honey, smoke flavoured salt and paprika powder)
• Burger buns

First pour the beans and lentils in a bowl. Add the garlic, onion, fresh coriander, chili, all the spices and some grated Pecorino cheese into the mix. Mix with a hand blender (or in blender) to make it like a smooth paste. Don't mix too long, so that it still has good texture. Taste the mix, add some more spices if you think it needs more taste. Add 2 eggs and mix it with using a spoon. Add the flours and breadcrumps into the mix. The pastry should be stiff enoug to mold stakes with your hands. Mold some some flat stakes with your hands and fry them in the hot pan with some oil on it. 

Heat the buns on the pan. Pile some Cheddar cheese,  veggie stake,( fake ham), tomatoes, cucumber, mayonnaise and pea sprouts on the buns and serve with fries. Enjoy!

Delicious Fish

I have always loved Fish alot. When i was little, we used to fish with my grandpa at our summer gottage. It was him, who teached me how to fish and prepare delicious and simple food from fish. These two portions are examples of how to make fried fish tasty and good in simple ways.

Basic what you need for spice up the fish (you can use different variations):

• Salt & Pepper (Sea salt is really good with fish)
• Lemon pepper
• Garlic & pepper mix
• Dried dill
• Lemon juice

In the top picture is fish file from a fish called Pangasius. It's a genus of shark catfishes, native to Asia. You can get this frozen or fresh in your local stores mostly and it is quite cheap. The bottom fish is very common used fish in Scandinavia called Baltic Herring (Silakka in Finnish) . You can get i fresh anywhere here in Scandinavia, files or whole. 

The first step of making the fish is spice it up. Sprinkle some salt & pepper on top, use some other spices if you like, try out different things. Squeeze some fresh lemon juice on top. Lemon also starts to cook the fish with its acids so you need to do it just before you actually start frying the fish. 

You need some eggs & breadcrumps to get the crispy cover for the fish. Mixx the eggs in a bowl and either dip the fish in or smear the egg on both sides of the fish. Then pour some breadcrumps on a plate and flip the fish on both sides that it gets enough breadcrumps on it. Then fry the fish in Olive oil or butter on a hot pan until the surface looks golden brown. 

Here in these portions, i have served the fish with mashed potatoes, some peas, fried onion. On the top picture i have made a creamy wild mushroom sauce from mushrooms that i picked from a forest. On bottom picture i have made a simple sour cream sauce just by adding some lemon, honey, pepper, dill and herb salt in the mix. If you want the recipe for the mushroom sauce, just feel free to ask me. The mushrooms are called in latin: Hydnum Repandum. Just click the name to read more about the mushrooms.

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I love Sushi

Sushi is one of my favorite foods. You can make so many different variations of maki-rolls / nigiris. Simply love them! I love the pickled ginger too, so that pink one is my favorite. Nowdays you can find almost all the ingredients from local food stores, but ofcourse you can find them in Asian stores too.  Here's one little recipe how i like to make Tofu-maki rolls.

You need:

• One packet of hard Tofu
• Avocado
• 1 Carrot
• Cucumber
• Iceberg lettuce
• Nori (Seaweed)
• Wasabi
• Rice vinegar
• Sesame seeds
• Soy sauce
• Heinz tartar sauce (or cream cheese, mayonnaise)
• Sushi rice or plain porridge rice
• Sesame oil, Chili oil, salt, pepper & Soya sauce for the marinade for tofu
• Cooking oil for frying the tofu. 
• Rolling mat

First cut long thick slices from the tofu and marinade them. Put the rice in a rice cooker or in a pot. I myself use rice cooker, because it's easier to cook rice in it and you don't have to watch after it. Nowdays you can find rice cookers really cheap in basic home elektronic stores. Start preparing the vegetables next. Cut long thick slices and put them a side. Prepare some big wide slices from the lettuce. Fry the tofu slices in oil on a hot pan until all the sides are nice and golden brown. Put the tofu on cooling down. Meanwhile the rice sould be ready. Pour the rice on a flat bowl/dish and let it coold down. When the rice has cooled down, pour some rice vinegar all over ther rice, but be carefull that you don't pour too much! The key of making really good sushi is to make perfect rice. It takes a long time to learn it, but practise makes perfect! Mix the rice gently. Prepare the nori on top of the rice mat. Be sure that you have the right side on top. So put the shiny side down. First add some tartar sauce with using knife (you can also use mayonnaise or cream cheese, but i like tartar in my maki)Then add the lettuce. Then add rice, make a nice little ball in your hands and put it on top and start pushing it flat on the matt. Make sure you leave about 2-3 cm free space on top of the nori. Add  a little stripe of wasabi by using your finger in the middle of the rice and sprinkle some sesame seeds on top. Then add some tofu, carrot, cucumber & avocado evenly on top. Start rolling the maki with the mat. Squeeze it tight in every roll and when you come near to end, stripe some water on the end of the nori seaweed with your finger and roll the maki to the end. Cut about 2-3 cm thick pieces with using a sharp knife. Serve with soy sauce, wasabi and pickled ginger. Enjoy!

Vegetable Stew

Warming stew with lot's of flavors and vegetables. Such a wonderful dish! Perfect on a cold winter day. I made this over a year ago, so i'm not sure if i remember the correct recipe, but i'll try. So here it comes:

Ingredients:

• About 5 Potatoes 
• 2 Carrots
• 1 big Onion
• 1 Broccoli
• 1 Sweet potato
• 1 Zucchini
• About 2 dl Meat substitute made from Soy (You can find these in most of the food stores and also in Asian stores or ecological stores.) 
• 3 cloves of Garlic
• Fresh Parsley 
• Vegetable broth
• Olive oil
• Chili
• Salt & Pepper
• Soy sauce
• Fresh Tarragon
• Santamaria Garlic & Pepper mixed spices

Peel the potatoes, onion, carrots and sweet potatoes. Chop them into small pieces and add into a pot of boiling water (about 1-1 and half liter, depends how much vegetables you are using). Add vegetable broth (cube or fresh, i used couple of cubes), chopped chili and garlic, salt and pepper and some olive oil into the stew. Let it boil for about 5 minutes. Add the meat substitute (soy meat), broccoli and Zucchini into the pot. You can add some soy sauce and other spices according to your taste. Let the stew boil until all the vegetables are soft and the broth looks nice and thick. Finally add some fresh Tarragon to the mix, and let it rest for a little while. Serve with some garlic bread and enjoy!

Breakfast

I have always loved to make different kind of sandwiches. It's easy to make delicious breakfast with simple things. I Just love to use differet type of cheese like Pecorino, Mozzarella, Smoked creamy cheese, Emmental and Brie. Add some capris, jalapeno, pepper and herb salt if you want a spicier sandwich. Fresh basil, cherrytomatoes, avocado with some Garlic & pepper goes really well together. I also love Avocado with a hint of lemon pepper on top and that vegetarian caviar which is made from seaweed. Delicious!

 Bake it in oven, eat fresh, use your imagination and use spices! Those are the keys of making delicious simple sandwiches!

Spinach-Halloumi Pie

This one is one of my favourite salty pies. Really tasty and simple! Here is a recipe for you:

Ingredients:

• 3 cloves of Garlic
• 1 Onion
• 1 dl Cream
• 1 box of frozen puff paste (or you can make fresh one yourself)
• About 2-3 dl frozen spinach or if you use fresh, i think one big bag is enough
• Half box of Philadelphia cream cheese (i used the Spring onion & Pepper one)
• 2 Eggs 
• 1 packet of Halloumi cheese
• Pepper
• Butter

First fry some onion, spinach and garlic on the pan with some butter until the onions look soft. Add pepper to the mix. Then add some chopped Halloumi to the mix ( i chopped it in small cubes) and let it cook for about 5 minutes on a low heat. Add the Philadelphia cheese and cream, mix it well. Put a side, let it cool for a little moment. Mold melted pastry on buttered casserole, that it goes all the way up on the sides. Save some pastry for use later on the top of the pie. Add the eggs on the cooled down spinach-halloumi mix and pour it on the casserole. Put the leftover pastry slides on top and cook the pie in the oven in 225 ºC for about 30 minutes, until it looks golden brown on top. Enjoy with some fresh salad !

Fried Tofu with Spicy Carrots and Vegetables

This is simple and easy home-cooked meal. My mom taught me the recipe for the delicious spicy carrots and i love to make variations of it often. Here is a recipe for you:

Ingredients:

• Summer potatoes
• Carrots
• Tofu (Hard)
• Asparagus
• Cherry tomatoes
• Rocket
• Spring onions
• Sour cream
• Honey
• Salt & pepper
• Fresh Tinjam
• Santamaria Lime & pepper or lemon pepper
• Olive oil
• Butter
• For Tofu marinade: Sesame oil,  Santamaria Garlic & pepper mix, Santamaria BBQ & Grill mix

First marinade tofu with some sesame oil, salt, pepper, and variation of mixed spices listed above or you can variate your own mix. Put the potates, carrots and asparagus boiling on seperate pots. Mix some lemon pepper ( i used Santamaria Lime & Pepper mix) , honey, salt and pepper with sour cream. Put it cool in the fridge. Start frying the tofu on a hot pan. Make the salad; Add some rocket, cherrytomatoes and springonions, some salt & pepper and some olive oil. When the carrots are ready, pour the water out, add some butter, salt & pepper, garlic & pepper mix and fresh tinjam on the pot. Mix it well. Pour the water out of the asparagus, add some pepper, salt and butter. Serve the fried tofu with boiled potatoes, spicy carrots, asparagus, rocket salad and the sour Cream sauce. Enjoy!

Papaya Salad with Tofu & Edamame beans

I found Papaya couple years ago, when i first ate papaya salad in a lovely Thai restaurant in Helsinki, called Lemon Grass. It was one of the greatest and simplest salads i had ever eaten. The power of the flavors are amazing! I made my own variation of the basic Papaya salad by adding some tofu and edamame beans in. Normally you put green beans and salty peanuts on in, but this one is without them.  The Recipe goes like this:

Ingredients:

• 1 green Papaya (You can fid this in most of the Asian stores)
• 2-3 Garlic cloves
• Red Chilies ( as much as you can take the heat! In Thailand, they make it really strong!)
• 1 Carrot
• Cherry tomatoes
• 1-2 branches of Spring onion
• Ginger
• Soy sauce (Kikkoman or other light soy)
• Fish sauce
• Sesame oil
• Basic cooking oil
• 2 limes
• Tofu (hard)
• Edamame beans (You can find these frozen in some stores and most of the Asian stores)
• Lettuce (Optional, for decoration if you want)

First marinade the Tofu with Soy sauce, Fish sauce and Sesame oil.  Add little bit of Garlic, Chili and Ginger on the marinade too. Peel the Papaya with special peeler ( that one you can buy cheaply in Asian stores) Or if you don't have a special peeler, you can use normal vegetable grater. First take the green peel away. Start peeling long thin slides into a bowl from the Papaya. Peel as much as you need, but stop peeling when you reach to the hard center of the Papaya. Mean while you can start cooking the Tofu on a hot pan with some cooking oil on it. Peel some thin slides of carrot also into the bowl. Add some half cutted Cherry tomatoes and some Spring onion into the mix. Add finely chopped Garlic, Chili and Ginger into the mix. Melt some Edamame beans on microwave(about 3 minutes), peel them and add the beans into the bowl. Pour some Soy sauce & Fish sauce in and mix it well. When the Tofu is cooked golden brown, put it on side to cool down. Add the Tofu into the salad and mix again. Squeeze some lime juice on top mix and taste that it has enough spice and taste! Add more sauces if needed. Pile the salad on top of lettuce and enjoy.