email@petesfoodblog.fi
Pete's Food Blog
DECEMBER, 2021
My first Christmas
in Katajamäki, Keuruu
Thai Massaman curry; Vegan apple pie tray; Vegan feast; Kung Pao chicken; bread oven pizza, Candied orange peel dipped in chocolate; Chicken korma; Flour sweetened mashed potato bake, Traditional Finnish Christmas meal; Christmas fruitcake
1st December, 2021
Thai Massaman (Mussaman) curry
I include this, beacuse although it doesn't look very appealing and is quite complex to make; this is quite definitely the best curry I have ever eaten.
Massaman curry and Massaman curry paste
Massaman curry paste
Ingredients:
5 small dried hot red chillies
2 chipotle chillies
1 tbl chilli flakes (I used mild Urfa flakes)
2 tbl coriander seeds
1 tbl cumin seeds
1 tbl crushed cardamom seeds
10 whole cloves
5 cm pice of cinnamon stick
2 pieces of mace
3 tbl vegetable oil
200g shallots or onions, roughly chopped
25 g garlic, roughly chopped
1 tsp shrimp paste
25 g fresh ginger, grated
2 lemongrass stalks roughly chopped
8 tbl coconut milk
Massaman curry paste. Method:
Toast the dried chillies on a hot, dry pan for 1 - 2 mins.; then transfer them to a spice grinder.
Re-heat the pan and toast the spices, then add them to the grinder.
Grind to a fine powder.
Fry the onions and garlic in the oil over a medium heat until thoroughly browned. Add the shrimp paste and spices and fry for a further 2 minutes stirring all the time to avoid sticking.
Tip into a blender along with the lemongrass, ginger and coconut milk. Blitz into a smooth paste.
Massaman curry
Ingredients:
500 g stewing steak and or pork, cut into 3 cm chunks
600 ml coconut milk
1 teaspoon of crushed cardamom
10 cm cinnamon stick
300 g waxy, small potatoes
8 shallots, halved
1 full quantity of Massaman curry paste (see above)
2 tbl fish sauce
3 tbl tamarind paste
1 tbl palm-(or soft brown-, coconut-) sugar
75 g roasted peanuts
Method:
Using just 350 ml of the coconut milk and 350 ml of water, bring to the boil the meat, cardamom, cinnamon, plus 1 tsp salt. Simmer gently for 2 hrs with a lid partially on the pan.
Cut the peeled potatoes into 2,5 cm pieces.
Uncover the curry, remove the cinnamon and add all the remaining ingredients (including the coconut milk) except for the peanuts. Simmer for 30 mins or until the potatoes and meat are tender.
Stir in the nuts before serving.
3rd December, 2021
Vegan apple pie tray
Ingredients:
500 g sharp apples, each core removed cut into 16 segments
7,5 dl plain white flour
2¼ dl rolled oats
1½ tbl baking powder
1½ tbl vanilla sugar
1½ tbl cinnamon + some to sprinkle over the apples
1½ tsp crushed cardamom
375 g vegan margarine (eg. Oat based Keiju in Finland).
3 dl sugar
3 dl soft brown sugar
3 dl oat-based yoghurt
1 dl oat based "milk" drink.
Serve with oat-based vanilla sauce
Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 200°C
Mix in a bowl the flour, baking powder, oats and spices.
In a second bowl, cream the fridge-cold margarine with the sugars using a fork. Thoroughly stir in the flour mixture to form a crumb texture. Set aside 2½ dl of the crumb mixture for later and stir in the yoghurt and "milk" to form a cake batter.
Using a spatula, spread the cake mixture over a parchment lined baking tray. Lay over the apples, side by side and sprinkle with cinnamon. Finally, sprinkle over the crumb mixture that was set aside.
Bake for 45 minutes in the middle of the oven. Leave to cool before cutting and serve with vegan vanilla sauce.
5th December, 2021
Vegan feast
Today we had a vegan feast:
Starters - Black garlic hummus with carrot sticks (see here using black garlic instead of roasted garlic)
Main - Whole roasted cauliflower with hummus and vegan cheese coating; Beetroot mayonnaise ( 1 dl vegan mayonnaise blitzed with two pickled baby beetroots); Parsnip with apple compote ( see here ); Roasted Celeriac slices with lavender, flax seed and vegan cheese au gratin (Substitute the turnip here for celeriac).
Dessert - Vegan apple pie tray here
9th December, 2021
Kung Pao Chicken
Ingredients:
4oo g chicken breast, cut into 2 cm chunks
1 tbl balsamic vinegar
1 tbl hoisin sauce here
1 tbl soy sauce
1 tbl water
1 tbl runny honey
1-2 tsp chilli flakes
1 tsp sichuan pepper corns
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbl vegetable oil
2 spring onions, finely chopped for garnish
Serve with boiled brown rice
Method:
Brown the chicken pieces in a frying pan using the oil and a high temp.
Combine all the remaining ingredients, except the spring onions, to form a sauce. Pour over the chicken and fry until the chicken is sticky and cooked through. (You may need to add a touch of water to prevent the pan from drying out).
Serve with plain boiled brown rice and spring onion garnish.
11th December, 2021
Bread oven pizza
Today I made pizza for the first time using the bread oven.
Toppings: Garlic, blue cheese, pineapple, salami and anchovies.
15th December, 2021
Candied orange peel dipped in dark chocolate
Ingredients:
3 Oranges - preferably organic
Up to ½ kg white sugar
1 dl caster sugar
200 g 70-80% dark chocolate
Method:
Wash the oranges and dry thoroughly. Cut vertically into 8 segments. Using a sharp knife, remove the flesh leaving the pith intact.
Cut each piece of peel into 3 - 4 strips.
Put the peel into a saucepan and add enough water to cover. Bring to the boil and then boil for 5 minutes.
Strain off the peel. Return to the pan, cover again with fresh water, bring to the boil and boil for 30 minutes.
Strain the peel - saving the cooking water. Dissolve as many grams of white sugar as there are ml of water in the reserved liquid. Add the peel to the syrup and bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer for 30 minutes.
Leave the peel to cool in the syrup. Place an oven rack over a sheet of baking parchment and using a slotted spoon, transfer the peel pieces to the rack, making sure they do not touch each other. Place in the oven set at 50°C for 30 minutes.
Put the caster sugar in a bowl and in batches, toss the peels to coat them. Place on a baking tray lined with parchment and leave in the (cold) oven, with the door ajar - for 24 hours.
Melt the chocolate in a small bowl, by holding the bowl over a pan of boiling water. Dip the peels, one at a time, into the melted chocolate and leave in a cool place to harden.
Transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to two months. (Make excellent Christmas presents).
17th December, 2021
Chicken Korma
Ingredients:
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 carrots, juliened
1 onion, sliced
2 bayleaves
10 curry leaves
400g tin crushed tomato
2 tbl tomato puré
120 ml chicken stock
1 tsp salt
1 tbl vegetable oil
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tp each of:turmeric powder, chilli powder, fenugreek seeds, coriander seeds, cumin and garam masala.
400 g chicken breast cut into bite size pieces
1 tsp finely grated ginger
120 ml coconut cream
100g ground almonds
Serve with boiled rice
Method:
Lightly fry the garlic, onion, carrots and ginger. Add the bayleaves, curry leaves, spices, stock, tomato and tomato puré, sugar and salt and simmer with a lid on for 30 minutes.
Leave to cool for 5 minutes and remove the bayleaves, then blitz the sauce in a food processor until smooth.
Return to the pan, add the chicken and cook over a medium heat for 25 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
Stir in the coconut cream and ground almonds.
Serve over boiled rice.
23rd December, 2021
Flour sweetened mashed potato bake - Part of the traditional Finnish Christmas meal
Traditional Finnish Christmas meal: Ham, brandy mustard, Mashed potato bake, rosolli salad and mushroom salad
Ingredients:
2½ kg floury potatoes
¾ dl plain flour
3 dl potato boiling water
2 dl thick cream
3 dl milk
salt
( 1 tbl syrup optional)
6 knobs of butter
3 x 1½ l foil baking tins
Method:
This Christmas treat is sweetened by means of a chemical reaction between the protein of the flour and the mash, which occurs only between 55°C - 70°C.
Peel and boil (DO NOT USE SALT) the potatoes until they are mashable .
Reserve the potato boiling water. Thoroughly mash the potatoes leaving no lumps (a potato-ricer would be useful here). Leave the mash to cool down to hand temperature, then thoroughly mix in 3 dl of the potato boiling water.
Sprinkle in and mix in half the flour, then leave in the oven set at 60°C with a lid on - for 30 mins.
Sprinkle and mix in the remaining flour and return to the oven for 5 hrs. after which turn the oven off and leave the mash in the oven overnight.
Mix in the cream and enough milk (about 3 dl) to form a very loose porridge consistency.
Season to taste with salt and if so desired 1 tbl syrup - depending on how sweet the mash has become and according to your own taste (I do not use syrup at all).
Divide the mash into the three greased foil tins. They should be no more than half full, because the mixture bubbles and expands in the oven.
Top each tin with 2 knobs of butter and bake for 2 hours at 150°C.
"Rosolli" salad - Traditioanl Finnish Christmas meal salad
Peel 3-4 carrots and dice into 1 cm cubes. Par boil the carrots until they still have a bite to them. Strain and drain.
Peel and de-core one apple- dice into 1 cm cubes.
Cut a handful of dill pickles into 1 cm pieces.
Dice two pickled beetroots into 1 cm cubes.
Mix all together and top if desired with two hard boiled eggs cut in halves.
Traditional Christmas forest mushroom salad
The best mushrooms for this are salt preserved Woolly milkcaps. In which case, even after soaking the brine out of the mushrooms, you probably wont want any more salt*.
Ingredients:
4 dl finely chopped mushrooms (If using salted mushrooms - soak out the brine in copious amounts of water 6-8 hrs). Squeeze all the liquid out of the chopped mushrooms.
½ a medium sized red onion, chopped up as finely as is possible
1 dl of sour cream or my vegan sour cream here
1 dl of creme fraiche (I have used vegan creme fraiche "Oatly's imat fraiche")
1 tsp white vinegar
½ tsp sugar
A few turns of pepper * Salt to taste
Method:
Squeeze any excess moisture out of the mushrooms Mix all the ingredients together. Let it stand for a minimum of 15 minutes. Keeps in the fridge, well covered, for up to 5 days.
23rd December, 2021
Christmas fruitcake
Ingredients:
250 g butter (preferably lightly salted)
235 g sugar
4 eggs
315 g plain cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
120 g cocktail cherries + 4 tbl of their liquid
1 dl raisins
100 g chopped candied orange peel
80 g sugared (glacé) cherries
100 g chopped almonds or hazel nuts
Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 160°C
Grease and coat a 1,8 l cake tin using semolina or coarse flour (I have always used a cake former with a hole in the middle).
Cut both lots of cherries into halves.
Mix the baking powder with 1 tbl of the flour.
Put 1 dl of the flour in a small bowl and stir in the cherries, candied peel, raisins and nuts; coat thoroughly - this helps the fruit to be dispersed evenly throughout the cake.
Using a mixer, cream the butter and sugar, then add the eggs one at a time, mixing each well into the batter. Mix in the cocktail cherry juice.
Blend in the baking powder/flour, then add the remaining flour and mix to an even consistency.
Using a spatula, mix in the fruit and nuts.
Transfer the batter to the cake tin and even it out using the spatula.
Bake for 35 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 140°C and cover the cake with foil; bake a further 55 minutes. Finally, remove the foil and bake for 10 minutes longer making sure the top doesn't burn.
Remove from the tin once cooled and wrap in foil. The cake can be eaten fresh, but it is better if stored for two weeks first in the fridge.