Gaijin

Here are some pictures of an amazing dinner on Saturday night, I cannot describe how good the food was, so I let the pictures speak for themselves.

Menu of the evening :

(tasting menu for the whole table)

MUSSEL
green shell mussel, yuzu-honey dressing, gari-ginger, sesame

PORK BUN
pork belly, kimchi mayonnaise, pickled cucumber, soft bread

SASHIMI
sashimi of the day

FOIE & UNAGI
glazed eel, duck liver, nori-bread, beet root

SOFT SHELL
soft shell crab, walnuts, apple-fennel salad, mustard-apple dressing

BABY BACK PORK RIBS
pork ribs, soy-mirin caramel, togarashi

‘XO’ SCALLOPS
fried scallops, rare Chinese ‘XO’ sauce, seaweed caviar

GAIJIN HOT POT
braised veal cheeks, roasted eggplant puree and pine nuts

GOHAN
Japanese rice

‘UMESHU PLUM’
umeshu-plum sorbet, white chokolate, umeshu marinated plum

Want to know more about Gaijin (or maybe come to Helsinki and eat there with me?;)), read more here.

Salmon in Lemon & Pepper Sauce

28.10.2011

After enjoying TGIF drinks with my coworkers in the city I came home and I got an inspiration in the kitchen from Epicurious. This dish was fresh, light and easy to make.

Salmon in Lemon & Pepper Sauce

Ingredients

1 cup crème fraîche or sour cream
3 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice, divided
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel, divided
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons olive oil plus additional for brushing
2 tablespoons chopped shallot
6 6-ounce salmon fillets
1/4 cup small fresh dill sprigs
1/4 cup fresh tarragon leaves

How To Do It

Whisk crème fraîche, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and 1/2 teaspoon lemon peel in small bowl. Season with salt and generous amount of pepper. Let it sit in the fridge for 15-30 min while you prepare the other dishes.

Whisk honey, 1 tablespoon olive oil, onion, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon lemon peel in glass baking dish. Add salmon fillets and turn to coat. Cover and chill at least 15 minutes and up to 1 hour, turning salmon fillets occasionally. Position rack in top third of oven and preheat to 200C. Line large baking sheet with foil and brush with olive oil. Transfer salmon fillets, with some marinade still clinging, to rimmed baking sheet. Roast until salmon is just opaque in center, about 14 minutes.

Meanwhile, toss dill sprigs, tarragon leaves, remaining 2 teaspoons lemon juice, and remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil in medium bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Place 1 salmon fillet on each of 6 plates. Top with green tarragon and dill salad. Drizzle with lemon-pepper sauce and serve with the creme fraiche sauce and a fresh salad.

Lemon and Rosemary Chicken

27.10.2011

I'm not a big fan of cooking chicken at home, but sometimes I do find great chicken recipes, I really want to try. This one is from a Finnish food blog Fanni&Kaneli (Fanni&Cinnamon):

Lemon and Rosemary Chicken

- 8 chicken legs (naturel)
- 1 organic lemon
- 500 g potatoes
- 10 garlic gloves
- 4 table spoons olive oil
- fresh rosmary
- sea salt and black pepper
- glass of white wine (maybe two, one for you, one for the chicken ;))

as a bonus I added 1/4 bag of dried italian herb mix.

Put the chicken legs in a casserole. Cut the potatoes and lemons in to wedges.Make sure your poato wedges are not too big. Peel the garlic gloves and halve the bigger ones. Put the potatoes, lemons and garlic gloves in to the casserole with the chicken.

Add olive oil and the crushed rosemary leaves. Add sea salt, pepper and a italian herb mix. Mix the marinade well into all ingredients. Add the white wine. Bake in 200C in the mid section of your oven for 40-50 min until the chicken is cooked and the potatoes have gotten some colour.