Tuesday, October 25

Butternut Squash Puree with Whitefish and Zucchini Flowers


Sometimes I'm just like a kid at a toy store when I enter the Food court...Even though I love the summer time and kind of feel disappointed that the weather is getting colder I can't help getting excited when I see all the lovely pumpkins and butternuts displayed on a big table....I think I even let out a squeal of happiness when I saw them...Yikes!
Butternut squash is probably my favourite especially when making purees or soups. I feel like there's so much you can do with Butternuts without even having to add too much spice, salt or butter.


I was inspired by the colors of the pumpkins and also got really excited when I saw zucchini flowers. I just simply couldn't resist.
So here I am at 33000ft heading to Bordeaux and writing about my meal I had yesterday :) and some today as well.


Pan fried Whitefish with Butternut puree and Zucchini flowers

The Whitefish
Put some oil in the pan and add a knob of butter.
Sprinkle with flake salt. Add the pieces of fish skin side down. Fry until the skin is golden brown and crispy. Instead of turning over the fish use the butter and oil in the pan and baste the fish using a spoon.  If necessary flip the fish over but just for a really short time. Remove the fish from the pan....and even if it doesn't look cooked all the way through it will continue cooking a bit afterwards. I prefer my fish underdone to overcooked. It should be nice, juicy and flakey.

The Butternut Puree
Peel the butternut and remove the seeds (If you like you can dry and roast the seeds later)
Dice the butternut into small cubes...they don't have to be even, since you are going to puree them anyway.
You could roast them in the oven to keep maximum flavour but this time I kept it really fast and simple and I know some people would be really angry with me for cooking my butternut in water but it's just so fast and I'm trying not to add butter to everything :D.
Pour lightly salted water on top just enough to cover half of the butternut. You could add butter and whatnot...but honestly butternut has so much flavour on its own that for once I want to keep it really simple and really healthy. Boil until soft.
Drain away the excess water.
Put into a blender and blend until smooth.
If necessary thin the puree with either using stock, cream, coconut milk or any of your preference.
I added just a tiny splash of cream cause I happened to have an opened cart. Honestly the amount was so tiny that I still consider this to be really healthy.
Season with salt if needed.

The Zucchini flowers
I haven't eaten zucchini flowers very much in my life and I've actually only seen them being deep fried and filled with stuff. I decided to just try and pan fry them. Another way I tried was putting them in the oven with a bit of butter on top....This way when the butter goes a bit nutty it's delicious (of course when you add butter everything tastes good..oops)
Yesterday though, I just lightly fried them, keeping them still a bit crunchy and still they were super good (and a bit healthier than the buttery option).



This really is a super easy meal for any occasion and right now pumpkins and butternuts are in season. I think I could eat butternuts every day :D





Monday, October 10

Seaweed noodles with shrimps, ginger and mango



 I went to Stockholm recently and my friend introduced me to a new food product, seaweed noodles. I had never tried these before but they were great and sooo healthy. I even ended up buying a few packages with me home :D (I must be old...before, I'd fill my suitcase up with clothes when on holiday....not healthy seaweed)


Normally I would make this noodle salad with glass noodles, but whenever I have the chance I will definitely replace them with these wonderfully crunchy strings of seaweed.
I've made this salad many times and I just never get bored. It's good on it's own or as a sidedish. I  love how refreshing and full of flavour it is.

Here's what you need:
1 pack of seaweed noodles 300g or glass noodles (by the way these don't taste much on their own so they are perfect to use with most flavours)
Shrimps (or why not use tiger prawns or lobster)
1 mango
1 lime
1 chili
1 knob of ginger
handful of fresh mint
handful of coriander
fish sauce (just as much until the saltiness is to your liking)
(sometimes a hint of sugar just to balance it off)

If I have this on it's own as a meal,  I usually add one diced avocado.

1) Cook the noodles (although these seaweed noodles don't even have to be cooked)
2) peel and cut the mango into dices
3) chop the ginger and chili
4) grate the lime zest and squeeze the juice into a bowl, add the fish sauce and balance off with sugar if needed
5) mix all the ingredients together and decorate with the herbs

Enjoy the salad on it's own or have it as a side dish like we did this time.
We had a seafood feast with my friends with Grilled Lobster, Tiger Prawns, squid tentacles and as a side dish the seaweed shrimp salad.






Sunday, October 9

Bas Bas


There's a lot of really nice restaurants in Helsinki and Bas Bas (Baskeri & Basso) is definitely one of my favourite restaurants at the moment, especially when I'm in need of high quality comfort food. The reason I love this place is the whole ambience. It's probably one of the cosiest restaurants I know and it's a place I wouldn't mind living in :D



 The restaurant is always full of people but it's open really late so if you want to have a seat without a reservation it's possible after the busiest hours. I've never made a reservation myself and have always been able to get a seat...most often at the bar....but I do go after 22:00lt (I'm a late muncher). It's open from Tue-Fri so don't plan to go on a Saturday night.





The staff is always happy and you can just feel the warm welcome when you arrive. The menu changes all the time but there are a few dishes that are probably there to stay. The menu is written onto a blackboard on the rear wall and has all the bistro favourites that I love; like beef tartar, salmon carpaccio or sage pasta.



The food itself is really simple but that's why I love it. The ingredients they use, are of good produce and you can really taste the freshness of them. I really think this is my upgraded comfort food and I've never been disappointed.










I definitely recommend this place. It's also a popular place for a lot of top chefs in the area. As soon as they've closed their restaurants they head to Bas Bas with the staff for a midnight snack.







I don't always eat bread but here the baguette is so super crispy and good that I just can't resist :)