Fish cakes with Awesomesauce

I love and adore fish. In (almost) all shapes and sizes. It's a little tricky to get my hands on the good stuff here in Berlin, though, which is a shame. On the other hand, then I don't feel it to be such a sacrilege to chop the fishy into tiny bits of mush. Like in this fish cake recipe.

I've been pretty sceptical about fish cakes in general since I had some in the University which were so appallingly bad that it almost put me off them for good. I've had better luck since, but they still hadn't become a favourite. This recipe does tip the scales to the other direction, namely the direction of awesomeness, though!

And since it's me and I love to bury everything under a delicious puddle of sauce, this recipe wouldn't be anything without the home made sriracha mayo. You can also buy both parts, the sriracha (which is a chili sauce for those who think it sounds like something of a Cthulhu monster. Cthulhu also doesn't ring a bell? Well, never mind. It's a chili sauce, yeah? That's all you need to know. Sriracha, I mean. Not Cthulhu. But I'm sure you catch my drift...) and the mayo, or you can make either or both yourself. I decided to take the homemade road, since I didn't want any additives or processed sugar in my sauce, and boy did it turn out DELISH! The only slight disappointment was the not-so-spiciness of the chilis I used. Make sure you choose properly hot ones to get more kick, or leave (at least some of) the seeds in.

The sriracha takes time to cool, so if you're making it yourself (Do try! It's soooo good!), either make it beforehand or take a small portion and stick it into the freezer for a little while to cool it down enough to be mixed with the mayo.

Fish cakes with superawesome sriracha mayo

Cake recipe again from the lovely Syötävän hyvä, Sriracha from Nomnompaleo and mayo from Herkkusuun lautasella

makes about 6 cakes


Cakes

ca. 400 g salmon

half of a red bell pepper (ca. 1 dl of cubes)

6 tbsp almond meal

1 egg

1/2 tsp soy sauce / tamari

1 tsp lemon juice

a dash of garlic powder

generously salt


Sriracha 

(I made half a portion, but here's the whole recipe)


700 g fresh red jalapeno peppers / chilis, stemmed seeded and roughly chopped

8 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

3 tbsp tomato paste

3 tbsp honey

2 tbsp fish sauce

1 1/2 tsp salt


Mayo

1 egg

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

2 dl neutral oil (I used sunflower)

some white pepper

some salt



To serve: mayonnaise, sriracha (or other chili sauce), rucola/salad, avocado, sesame seeds


Prepare sriracha and mayo first, or use shop bought.

Sriracha

Prep chilies. Pro tip: use gloves. Throw all ingredients into a high speed blender. Puree until smooth or leave a little chunkier, as you please. Pour into a saucepan/skillet, bring to boil. Reduce to low heat and let simmer for 5-10 min, stirring occasionally. By cooking the sauce we strengthen the flavour and cut the sharpness of raw garlic. Once the foam subsides, the sauce should be bright red and you shouldn't be able to detect any raw veggie smell. Taste and adjust seasoning. Transfer into sterilized glass jars (sterilize by soaking in boiling water for a minute or so) and let cool. If you're using it straight away with the fish cakes, take out a small portion and stick it into the freezer while you make the mayo.

Mayo

Pour all ingredients except the oil into a stick mixer jar. Keep the mixer in the bottom of the jar, start mixing and pour in the oil in a thin trickle while mixing. When the mayo is done, adjust taste. I added a little more mustard.

Cakes

Make sure to buy a de-skinned fish fillet, or remove skin by yourself if you know how. Chop salmon into small cubes either with a knife or give it a couple of pulses in a food processor. Try to leave it a bit chunky though, so don't blitz it into a puree.

Chop the pepper into small cubes, the smaller the better. I had slightly more cubes than 1 dl, and the cakes turned out great.

Mix the "dough" and pat into flat cakes. I don't remember how many I made, but the recipe says it should be roughly six.

Cook in butter/oil for about 3-4 mins per side. Watch out not to overcook, since no one likes dry salmon.

Mix about 3 tbsp of mayo with 1 tbsp of sriracha, or do a mixture that better suits your taste buds. Serve cakes with mayo, rucola and avocado. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Done!

Lentil watermelon salad with a Secret Ingredient

Lo and behold, a post that's not about sweet stuff! I had a brunch with my lovely ladies here in Berlin, and I wanted to test out a recipe from a wonderful new book, Mielekkäät eväät by Outi Rinne, who is the multitalent behind a delicious Finnish blog Mieliruoka. Outi writes that lentils are a good vegetarian source of iron that needs vitamin C for its absorption, so combining lentils into a salad with fresh veggies is a good idea. The salad is very nice by itself, but it is made absolutely perfect by a mint vinaigrette and my newest addiction, coconut bacon, which deserves its own post where I will sing its praises in more detail.

But here, without further ado, Outi's wonderful recipe. Enjoy!

Lentil watermelon salad

4 portions

Salad

2 1/2 dl beluga lentils (or some other small, shelled lentils. I used troy lentils)

1/2 tsp salt, black pepper

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 l water melon cubes

2 young red onions with their stalks (or 3-4 scallion stalks)

250 g lollo rosso or some other reddish sort of lettuce 

1/2 red radicchio (or more of some sort of lettuce you can get your hands on)

coconut bacon / parmesan chips

Mint vinaigrette

1 pot of mint 

5 sprigs of parsley

(some coriander leaves, if you happen to have some)

1 dl basil leaves

1 1/2 dl olive oil

juice from 1/2 lemon + 1/2 tsp grated lemon zest

1/2 tsp salt

black pepper

1 garlic clove

Prepare mint vinaigrette by putting all ingredients into a blender or hand mixer jug and buzz into a smooth vinaigrette. Put into the fridge while you prepare the salad and the Awesome Secret Ingredient (aka. coconut bacon).

Cook lentils according to the package. Note that some lentils require soaking; I soaked my troy lentils overnight although the package called for only 3 hours. I wasn't entirely sure if the recipe called for 2,5 dl cooked lentils or the amount of lentils you get when cooking 2,5 dl raw lentils, so I soaked 2,5 dl, ended up with 6 dl of cooked lentils of which I used 3 dl for the salad. After cooking rinse the lentils with cold water. Add salt, black pepper and olive oil and mix.

Cube watermelon, slice the onion into thin slices and mix with the lentils. Spread the lettuce on a tray of  line a salad bowl with them. Spread some of the vinaigrette on top. Spoon the lentil melon onion mixture on top and finish with the rest of vinaigrette before serving. Sprinkle with THE MOST AWESOME THING EVER, aka. coconut bacon, or parmesan chips.

Sweet potato falafels and quinoa tabbouleh

 Dinner is served! I've been almost deliriously happy to be puttering away in my mom's lovely kitchen after my travels. The first week has seen a couple of main dishes, lots of healthy sweet treats and breakfast aweomeness. After the ashram diet I've put on a few kilos already, but boy has it been worth it :D

The Finnish summer decided to play its trump card and drop the temperatures below 10 degrees and accompany the freeze with rain and wind. Thanks! But I don't really mind, Finland is still Finland: the air is clear and clean which makes a change after the dusty Kathmandu and everything is super green and lush after the rains and the wonderful spell of warm summer weather that just conveniently ended before my arrival. Any my mom's excited that she doesn't have to do the cooking, for once!

So, let's get to it, shall we? This time I have a main dish for you. Or actually two, combined into one delicious meal. These recipe is from one of my favourite blogs, Feelgood Kitchen. And even though the blog is in Finnish, fear not, English speakers! I have translated them for you, so that you can enjoy recreating the yumminess, if you so choose.

Without further ado: sweet potato falafels and a fresh, lovely gluten free alternative for the middle eastern staple, tabbouleh. The falafels were a bit on the dry side for my liking, so next time I'd add some more moisture to the mix. The baking time was also a little longish for my oven, so I recommend keeping an eye on the things while they're baking away, so that they don't get even drier or burn. The original recipes for both the falafels and tabbouleh are doubled, and my ratio of sweet potato / chickpea might have also been a bit off, but the falafels were good anyway, especially with the light and fresh tabbouleh.

The tahini sauce might have worked better with a lighter tahini; mine was an organic and quite flavourful. I also can't take quite as much raw garlic as was called for in the recipe and only used one clove. The sauce turned quite pungent, so I took the liberty of softening it a bit with maple syrup. I also served yoghurt as a second sauce, and I think it was a very welcome addition.

Sweet potato falafels

(original recipe here, in Finnish)

makes ca. 20 small falafels

smallish sweet potato (ca. 300-400 g)

1 can chickpeas / 3 dl soaked and cooked ones

1,5 tbsp tahini

2 cloves of garlic

1 onion

0,5 dl chickpea flour

couple of handfuls of fresh coriander

1,5 tsp cumin

0,5 tsp chili powder

a fair amount of salt

black pepper

on the surface: olive olil & sesame seeds

Prepare the sweet potato in the microwave oven: wash it, stab it a couple of times with a fork and wrap in slightly damp kitchen roll. Stick in the microwave on a microwave proof plate, nuke for 3 min. Flip the sweet potato around, nuke another 3 min until soft. If you don't have a microwave, chop the sweetie , drizzle with olive oil and roast in 200 degrees until soft. Let the sweet potato cool down a bit.

Add all inredients (not the chickpea flour!) in a food processor and blend into a doughy paste (it doesn't have to be smooth). You can also use a stand mixer. Check the flavour and add spices, if needed. Mix the chickpea flour to the dough in the end.

Heat the oven till 225 degrees. Roll the dough into small balls with moist hands, set on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sesame seeds, if you'd like. Bake for 35 minutes (too much in my oven) or until the falafels are a nice golden colour.

Lemon tahini sauce

1 dl tahini

0,75 dl water

3 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp olive oil

1 clove of garlic, crushed

a sprinkle of salt and black pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients. Add water until the consistency is to your liking. The sauce will keep in the fridge for a couple of days.

Quinoa tabbouleh

(original recipe here, in Finnish)

2 dl cooked quinoa 

1/2 small cucumber

2 tomatoes

1/2 bell pepper

a small handful of fresh parsley

a small handful of fresh mint and coriander

0,5 tsp salt

0,25 tsp cinnamon (I added more as I'm a cinnamon junkie)

1,5 tbsp olive oil

1,5 tbsp lemon juice

Dice the veggies and chop the herbs. Let the tomatoes sit on a couple of sheets of kitchen roll for a bit so that they don't make the tabbouleh soggy. Mix quinoa with spices, olive oil and lemon juice. (Pro tip! I like to cook my quinoa with lemon juice and soy sauce/tamari. If you follow my lead, then you can reduce the amount of lemon juice in the recipe. Try what suits your taste buds the best!) Add diced veggies and chopped herbs. Mix and enjoy!

The tabbouleh was even more delicious the next day, as the cinnamon popped up way more then. Super omnom!