Carrot Cake

One year ago this week, a dear friend moved from Helsinki, back to her native Deutschland. We had a weekend winter tradition of wearing pyjamas to the supermarket, baking a cake and snuggling under the duvet eating the said cake and watching atrocious television.

Our favourite was undoubtedly a wholemeal carrot cake with cream cheese icing.

Falafel does it better

My English piglet left Helsinki today. To ensure that she didn't require the services of easyJet's catering facilities (vom!) I packed her off with a hearty meal in her tummy.

Homemade falafel and pita bread.

I didn't get home til gone 17:00 and the airport required her presence from 20:30, so it was a whip-up-in-a-jiffy meal.

•  tin of drained chickpeas,
• large dollop of red curry paste
• sprinkling of cumin
• few cloves of garlic
• small red onion
• 2 red chilies
• sprinkling of flour

then...whizz, whizz (blender) bang! bang!

I formed them into little balls (coating my hands with flour made it less messy/sticky) and baked them for 15 minutes or so, shoved them inside homemade pita (see earlier post) with mayo and rocket.
FIT.

Thai soup

For some reason I woke up with a craving for Thai soup. It was there at breakfast. It was there at lunch...and I knew it was really becoming a problem once I started having to concentrate on not answering every question with "Thai soup". So, with the work day over, on went the saucepan, in went the chicken stock, the red curry paste, the juice of two limes, the lemongrass, the chunk of grated ginger, the three cloves of garlic, the pinch of cayenne pepper, the two chopped red chilies, the sliced mushrooms, the spring onions, the glug of soy sauce, the few glugs of thai fish sauce and some shredded chicken. And away it simmered until my flat mate arrived home. Then, in went a handful of prawns, a bunch of coriander and the tops of the spring onions and onto the table it all went.


Craving satisfied? Not exactly. It was so good, now I just want more...

Banoffi, Banoffee

Last weekend my best friend from England came to stay. Chancing upon a tin of condensed milk in the cupboard it was decided that a Banoffi Pie was in order.
Banoffi (or Banoffee) Pie was invented at the Hungry Monk restaurant in Jevington, Sussex, near where I grew up, but despite owning a copy of 'The Deeper Secrets of the Hungry Monk' recipe book, I did as I always do and made it my own.

Tune, Choon, TUNA

A combined effort between me and my flat mate. Originally we made these with tuna but unfortunately tuna seems to be like gold dust these days. Or maybe its because we ate these nearly every night during the winter and exhausted Finland's tuna stocks...they were perfect after a nice sauna and dip in the sea (Avantouinti). Nowadays we substitute the tuna for salmon.

• 250g fresh tuna, shredded
• juice of 4 limes
• bunch of coriander
• ripe avocado, chopped
• spring onions
• ginger, grated
• garlic,
• thai fish sauce
• soy sauce
• 2 red chilies

Mix all the (imprecise!) ingredients together and form into small patties. Grill for a few minutes each side and serve with salad and a bun. Making aioli or a pineapple salsa as a 'burger relish' or sundried tomatoes make it even tastier!

Born epicurean

I was lucky enough to grow up in a household where we would eat a homemade meal together every night. Naturally, after years of being exposed to my mother's and father's culinary expertise, I have sneakily gleaned a significant amount of know-how and a self-assured attitude towards cooking.

For me, it's not just about the pleasure of eating good food. Undoubtedly I'm devoted to the pursuit, but the sourcing of ingredients, the preparation, are all part and parcel of the enjoyment.


I don't slavishly follow recipes, just give me a bunch of random ingredients and I will make something edible... improvisation, spontaneity, experimentation...it's imagination as much as it is understanding flavour combinations.


This collection is more for my own memory. A cut-and-stick of various concoctions and experiments attempting to satisfy cravings, feed nostaligia and cure home sickness.

"Some people eat to live, others live to eat"