Thai Marinated Beef with Mixed Greens and Mango Salad

Ever since I got the cookbook 'Travels with Thai Food' by the authors of 'Spirit House,' I've been wanting to try new combinations and recipes (Thanks Ms. P!) I rarely cook by the book, but when entering unchartered territory, such as this, it's really handy to have such a comprehensive guide (and such lovely pictures).  After pouring over the book with A one night, we settled on this recipe for dinner and I went on the hunt for the grocery list.

The beef can be a fillet or any other decent quality beef. But it should be marinated a day in advance if possible. The marinade calls for: lemongrass (bruised and chopped), a large chilli, coriander, kaffir lime leaves, lime juice from one lime, galangal, ginger, sesame oil, sugar, and fish sauce. I cheat a little because I have a pre-made Thai paste that has most of the aforementioned ingredients. I would love to have lemongrass and galangal fresh, but I just wouldn't use it fast enough- and I hate to waste anything. (Lemongrass freezes just fine- though I don't have a freezer). I just added some lime juice, the oil and fish sauce and covered the beef and set it in the refrigerator.

The salad called for a variety of things that can only be found at the asian markets. Luckily, there are several in Hakaniemi and they are very close together. As it calls for a green and a ripe mango, coriander, mint and basil, watercress, garlic and lime, quite a few fresh ingredients were needed. I used Thai mint basil, rather than buy mint and basil separately (those cross breeds come in handy!) 

Watercress is a perky little green bunched into uneven sprigs, highly aromatic (though I can't quite put a finger on the scent, but it just reminds me of an Asian restaurant). I roughly pulled the leaves from the bulkier stems and put them in a strainer for a rinsing. I wasn't too meticulous however about some stems left on, as I felt this gave the base of the salad some nice crunchy bulk.

Green and ripe mango

Thai mint basil

I was a little shocked to find such a large pit in the mangoes. For some reason, I remembered more flesh. The green mango was especially hard, but it made it easier to peel and julienne. After all the greens had been torn and washed and tossed, I added the mango strips. 

 A made the tamarind dressing by chopping a few cloves of garlic, a large red chili, and a teaspoon of sugar and crushing them in a pestle and mortar, adding a tablespoond of fish sauce, 2 tablespoons of lime juice, a tablespoon of tamarind and a splash of water. Since this is rather spicy at the end, a little goes a long way, but it's definitely worth the effort.

I loved this meal, it was light and had such a variety of tastes mixed together. It might take some accustoming to the uninitiated, but basil/mint/coriander/lemongrass/spicy.....yummmm.

Guilty Pleasures Salad

Pssst! Want to know the real reason I couldn't remain a vegetarian? I.love.bacon.

I also love blue cheese and salads and dijon mustard. Truly some of my favorite things. That's why this combination makes a killer salad. A salad so good, it serves as a main course. A salad so good, it deserves a blog post. 

So simple: fry up some bacon and drain it on paper towels, or use some leftover bacon. Throw together some chopped lettuce (I used ice-berg and ruccola) and tomatoes, chunks of blue cheese and add the bacon once it has cooled a bit. For the dressing, use some of the bacon fat, a pinch of sugar, salt and pepper, a heaping tablespoon of mustard (yellow or dijon) and a tablespoon of apple cider or white wine vinegar and whisk together.

Sweet and Sour Pickled Vegetable Salad

I've long wanted to figure out the whole pickling deal. I don't know why it really took me so long. I guess it just sounded complicated. It sounded like a lot of mason jar sterilizing, large bubbling vats, and endless storage space (or friends to give this stuff away to). Friends I have, storage space and patience for mason jar sterlizing....? maybe not. BUT browsing through my terrific Thai cookbook I realized that many recipes call for pickled vegetables, and it's not hard to do in the slightest!

Different recipes also call for different types of pickling. The pickling I've done here requires a large amount of sugar, which is why the salad is called 'sweet and sour'. The sour comes from the rice wine vinegar. The flavor combination really works here. And it's another fun way to incorporate the ever healthy bean sprouts into a recipe.

This recipes makes about 2 large lunch meal salads, or 4 small side salads.

The prep time of this recipe is 2.5 hours, because of the time you will allow the vegetables to pickle in the brine. Besides that, the work involved will take you no more than 10 minutes.

Pickled vegetables:

1 carrot, julienne

1/2 cucumber, julienne

1/2 cup rice vinegar

1/2 cup water

1 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

Salad:

1 cup Chinese cabbage, chopped

1 cup bean sprouts, washed

2 scallions, diced

1/2 large red chilli, sliced on the diagonal

2 tbs soy sauce

juice of 1 lime

2 tbs crushed peanuts or cashews

1.) Start by making the brine for the pickled vegetables. This requires that you boil the water, vinegar and sugar until the sugar has dissolved and cool the mixture.

2.) Pour the brine over the jullienne vegetables in a large jar or bowl and let marinate (or pickle) for at least 2 hours. I left mine in the fridge so they would be nice and cold with my salad.

3.) Meanwhile, prepare the rest of the salad ingredients.

4.) Drain the pickled vegetables, reserving the liquid. Add the vegetables to the salad.

5.) To make the dressing, add the soy sauce, lime juice and 1/4 cup (125ml/4 fl oz) of the pickling brine.

6.) Sprinkle with the nuts and serve.

Stir Fried Garlic Bean Sprouts and Shrimp

I'm glad to have a few new ways to eat bean sprouts, other than in a salad and on a delicious hummus and sunflower seed bagel. This made a super easy side dish, but could also be paired with rice or egg noodles to make a main dish. If using pre-cooked shrimp, this is a fast and easy recipe that everyone will eat right up.

2 tbs vegetable oil
4 cloves of garlic, diced
1 1/2 cups of cooked, peeled and deveined shrimp, if using large shrimp, you may want to coarsley chop them
1 1/2 cups of bean sprouts, washed and drained
2 tbs fish sauce
2 tsp sugar
2 large scallions, diced
1 tsp white pepper

1.) Heat the oil in a large wok or skillet. Add the garlic and fry briefly until golden.
2.) Add the shrimp and heat through or cook if the shrimp are still raw.
3.) Add the fish sauce, sugar, and scallions and cook for a few more minutes until the scallions are softened.
4.) Add the bean sprouts and white pepper, toss, remove from heat and serve immediately.

Stuffed Mushroom Salad

I had about 10 button mushrooms left in the fridge, a smidgen of pesto left, and I finally remembered this salad that I've been wanting to make for a long time. Usually salads are something I throw together at the last minute to accompany a meal, and this one requires slightly more thought, but it doesn't have to. In the original recipe, raw mushrooms were stuffed with pesto. In mine, I decided it might be nice to bake the mushrooms after being stuffed to let the oils and herbs marinate and soften the mushrooms. This serves 2 if you're working with leftovers, like me. Feel free to up the anti if you've got guests because this is a simple yet delicious and impressive salad.

10 buttom mushrooms

1/2 cup basil pesto

50 grams oakleaf or butter lettuce

50 grams arugula (rukola)

10 black olives, pitted and halved

about 5 or 6 large sundried tomatoes, diced

tablespoon of torn fresh basil

parmesan shavings (garnish)

2 tbs olive oil

2 tsp white wine vinegar

1/2 tsp dijon mustard

1.) Heat the oven to 170C. Remove the stalks from the mushrooms gently, leaving the caps intact. Spoon the pesto into the caps. Bake 15 minutes or until soft and brown. Let cool.

2.) Whisk together ingredients for the dressing. Set aside or in the fridge.

3.) Mix the lettuce and arugula on separate plates, top with the mushrooms, basil, olives, sundried tomatoes and parmesan.

4.) Drizzle the dressing to serve.

Asian Spicy Sweet Mustard Salad Dressing

With ready salad greens and a random assortment of veggies in the fridge you can make any salad in no time. If you haven't planned the perfect salad, any veggies will do, though then there's more emphasis needed on a good salad dressing.

I used a mixture of readied greens that was mostly rucola and spinach leaves (plus this pretty looking kind with red veins which I couldn't find out the name in English for- in Finnish it's punamangoldi) The rest of the ingredients were chopped red cabbage, red onion, tomatoes, and bean sprouts. I refrained from over complicating this one- as fridge veggies go I could have also added cucumber, carrots, beets, avocado, celery, just to name a few (I think I have an assortment from the whole vegetable section of my grocery store in my fridge).

Now for the dressing, I wanted to make something Asian inspired to go with the shrimp egg rolls I was serving. From enough Chinese food experiments, I happened to have these ingredients already on hand, but if you don't already have them, go make the investment from your local asian market. I really recomment. None of it goes bad for a long time and you will find other occassions to use them that really give authenticity and flavor to your other recipes:

This will make enough for 4 servings only- you can double the recipe if you need, but it's so fast to make that I just whip it up whenever I'm in the mood. Balsalmico and olive oil are my typical standbys;

3 tbs rice wine vinegar (sushi vinegar)

1 tsp toasted sesame seed oil

4 tbs vegetable oil

2 tbs prepared mustard (I like to use a very spicy one, but honey mustard or dijon will also work)

1 tsp sugar or honey

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp Chinese 5-spice blend

Put all of the ingredients into a tupperware, seal the lid on top. Shake well until well combined (over the sink if your tupperware lids aren't fitting well). These ingredient porportions can, of course be tweaked to your personal preferences

Lentil Rice Salad

Craving vegetables like a madwoman, as usual. Since my recent move, I've recently stocked up on spices that were running low, or that had gotten lost in the transfer somewhere. I've also stocked up my staples, brown rice and lentils being obvious pantry necessities for me.

I'm still making a lot of Indian food lately, maybe it's just a phase, but ironically I received a package from JoNaners today. Tibetan prayer flags. Love them- just the perfect decoration to go in my new flat. Next I'll have to do a little traditional Tibetan food.

This salad is really nutritious and satisfies hunger for a long time. With lowfat yogurt in the sauce and minimal oil used, this is really healthy. Nevermind the carbs, brown rice is long carbs and great fiber :) Omit the yogurt sauce or use soy yogurt and this recipe is vegan.

• 1 cup brown rice
• 1 cup green lentils
• 2 tsp tumeric
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp anise seed
• a couple bay leaves
• 1 tbs lemon juice
• 2 tbs peanut oil
• 200 grams broccoli (I used ready frozen florets)
• 2 carrots, jullienned
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, jullienned
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp garam masala, crushed
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 can of peas, drained
• yogurt dressing (recipe follows)

1. Boil 3 cups of water and the first 4 spices in a large pot. Add the rice and lentils, bring back to a boil, then turn down to a simmer and let fully cook, about 40 minutes.
2. While the rice and lentils are cooking, chop all of the vegetables.
3. Heat oil in a pan to medium high, add the onion, garlic, coriander and garam masala and stir for a few minutes.
4. Add the broccoli and carrots and cook for another 5 minutes.
5. Add the bell pepper and cook for another 5 minutes. And then add the peas.
6. Once the rice and lentils are ready, remove the bay leaves, and drizzle a little more oil and lemon juice through the rice.
7. Mix rice and vegetable mixture together in a large salad bowl. Let cool.

Yogurt Dressing

• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1 tbs lemon juice
• 1 tbs mint leaves, dried or fresh
• 1 tsp of cumin or anise seed (I used both separate times and liked both equally)

Mix all these ingredients together and spoon on top of the salad for a little extra moisture and flavoring.

Madal Ravintola

Saturday, some friends and I went to a new little restaurant in Kuurvi, Sörnäinen (Kulmavuorenkatu 4) called Madal for lunch. For a little restaurant in Sörnäinen, this place was pretty upscale, with a long menu, a wine list, and both domestic and Nepalese beers to choose from. I've tried the Nepalese beer, Gorkha, at another restaurant in Kamppi, called Pikku Nepal, and I'm not wildly impressed. Somehow there is a nice bitter after bite to it, but otherwise I prefer just regular old 'kotimainen,' domestic Karjala. (Never thought I would say that!) It makes me miss Fordham's Copperhead Ale from Ram's Head in Annapolis....

I ordered the Madal salad with king prawns (ok that's what normal shrimp are called in Finland, and if you ask for 'katkarapu' you'll get a tiny version of regular shrimp) By the time the food came, I was really hungry- the wait was about 30 minutes for the food, but it was worth it.


The boys all got some kind of lamb, beef or chicken, but the girls' table went veggie. M and A both had the paneer (soft homemade cheese) in a red curry sauce.

I would recommend this place to anyone that likes good Indian or Nepalese food, but wants something a little more fancy, for a date or special outing. The portions were modest, but the flavour, presentation and service from this restaurant were outstanding. Also, the restaurant has a lunch buffet with 3-4 choices before 3PM for only 8,50e. I'll have to check that out some other time.

Italian Dinner for Two

Since I have the last chance to cook for A for a while, I wanted to make something special as a sendoff. I'm sure once he's in Berlin he'll be in donerkebab heaven, but for now I wanted him to enjoy some nice Italian.

My menu was a little off season, since I made a Southern Italian Ratatouille inspired by the Food network, and I really wanted to use a little zucchini. The multitude of different vegetables really hit the spot.

Italian Salad

• Head of lettuce (arugula, or romaine, or a mixture)
• Handful of black or kalamata olives, pits removed
• approx. 1o cherry tomatoes
• 1 roasted red pepper (I used jarred to make my life easier)
• olive vinaigrette (recipe follows)

1. Tear lettuce into forkable bites.
2. Toss in other ingredients.
3. Mix in the vinaigrette.
   

Olive Vinaigrette

• 3 tbs green olives with pimento and juice
• 3 tbs red wine vinegar
• handful of basil leaves
• fresh bunch of parsley leaves
• black pepper
• 4 tbs olive oil
• 2 tbs grated Parmesan

1. Mix all ingredients in the blender, adding oil and Parmesan last.

Southern Italian Ratatouille

• 1 zucchini, sliced on the horizontal
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 can of mushrooms or one pound fresh button or cremini mushrooms thinly sliced
• 2 onions, diced
• 3 tomatoes, diced
• 1 cup spinach, frozen
• handful of basil leaves, torn
• 2 tbs thyme or rosemary (or both)
• 4 cloves garlic, diced
• 4 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 3 tbs Parmesan cheese, grated

1. Heat half of the olive oil in a large saute pan. Add 1 onion and half of the garlic and saute until golden and aromatic. Add zucchini slices and saute on medium low until soft. Remove from the pan to another plate or oven dish.
2. Heat the other half of the olive oil in the same pan as before. Add the other onion and the rest of the garlic and saute. Add the mushrooms, spinach, red bell pepper, thyme or rosemary and salt and pepper. Saute until softened.
3. Mix the mushroom and zucchini together, add the chopped tomatoes and basil and toss.
4. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
5. Keep warm in oven if necessary, while preparing the rest of the meal.

This makes a lot of ratatouille, or 4 servings. However, the leftover ratatouille is versatile for use in leftovers! I used some the next morning in a delicious egg omelet. I plan to use the rest for an appetizer, on top of say, bruschetta. Or, it can be served over rice, with potatoes, or tossed into some tomato puree and vegetable broth to make a delicious soup!

Shrimp Pasta with Herb Cream Sauce

• pasta for two servings, I used whole wheat rotini, about half pound for two very hungry people
• half pound shrimp
• 3 cloves garlic, diced
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1/2 cup cooking cream
• 1 can crushed peeled tomatoes
• 1 tbs oyster sauce
• 1/2 cup dry white wine (optional)
• 1/2 cup torn basil and parsley leaves

1. Set water to boil with a pinch of salt and a splash of oil. When boiling, add pasta and cook to instructions.
2. Heat olive oil in a saute pan. Add the diced garlic and and shrimp. Cook until shrimp are just cooked, turning from grey to pink. Remove shrimp from pan. I bought frozen raw shrimp, so I was not able to peel and devein until after this step.
3. Peel and devein shrimp at this time if you have not already.
4. Add the tomatoes, basil and parsley to the pan and simmer for a few minutes.
5. Add oyster sauce, cream and white wine and simmer for another 4-5 minutes.
6. Add basil and parsley leaves and season with salt and pepper to taste. (For a little heat, add some crushed red pepper flakes.)
7. Strain pasta and return to pot. Add sauce and shrimp to the pasta and toss thoroughly.

Wahlah! Yummy and easy, but still tastes so gourmet.

Bon Appetito!