Mint Chocolate Muffins

I found this recipe from a Finnish baking blog "Kinuskikissa". These muffins were really crumbly and nice, I will definitely try them again with different fillings and tastes, this time I used mint truffles. This recipe makes about 16 muffins.

150 g butter

1,5 dl sugar

2 eggs

3,5 dl flour

2 tsp baking powder

2,5 tblsp cocoa powder

1,5 dl milk or cream

150-200 g chocolate

- Beat the butter and sugar until foamy.

- Mix in the eggs one at the time.

- Mix the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder together and sieve into the batter, adding milk at the same time.

- Crush half of the chocolate and mix into the batter. Leave half of the chocolate into chunks and use them as hearts of the muffins as shown in the pictures.

- Bake at 225 degrees in the middle shelf of the oven for 12-15 minutes.

Thai Curry

This is one of many ways to make a thai curry and an easy introduction to the cuisine. You can use any vegetables you like and make the curry paste to your own taste adding more chilies if you like it hot.

Curry paste:

2-3 fresh chilies (or to taste)

4 cloves garlic

1 - 1.5 inches fresh ginger

1/2 onion

handful of fresh coriander

lemongrass (preferably fresh, I had to use jarred lemongrass)

soy sauce (or fish sauce)

oil for frying

about 500 ml coconut milk

200 g mushrooms (chuncks)

1 pepper (sliced/chuncks)

1 small courgette

1/2 block tofu (small chuncks)

salt/soy sauce/ fish sauce

lime juice

fresh coriander

- Roughly chop all the curry paste ingredients before blending, blend until smooth.

- Fry the curry paste on medium heat for about 10 minutes, then add the coconut milk and bring to boil.

- Add all the vegetables and tofu, simmer until cooked, about 20-25 minutes

- Season to taste, add some lime juice if required and garnish with some fresh coriander.

- Serve with rice or noodles.

Baba Ghannouj

Baba Ghannouj is best served with freshly baked bread.

2 aubergines

1/4 red onion (finely chopped)

1 clove garlic (crushed)

1 peeled tomato (chopped)

1 tblsp tahini

lemon juice

salt

parsley (finely chopped)

- Half the aubergines lengthwise, Place them the peel side up on an oiled oven dish and grill until soft.

- Scoop the flesh out, mash or blend and add onion, garlic, tomato and tahini. Season to taste with salt and lemon juice and garnish with fresh parsley.

Spaghetti Siracusani

This recipe is from "The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook", very simple and tasty dish. We have made small alterations to it but it's still basically the same.

olive oil

3-4 garlic cloves (crushed)

1 pepper (cut into strips)

1-2 courgettes (cut into strips)

2 tins good-quality tomatoes

1 tblsp capers

3 tblsp good calamata olives

salt

pepper

fresh basil

parmesan

spaghetti or other pasta

- Fry the garlic on a low heat for a minute, then add courgette and pepper and cook on a medium heat with the lid on, stillirg occasionally, until cooked but still firm to the bite.

- Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 20-30 minutes. Boil your pasta.

- Season to taste and garnish with fresh basil and parmesan.

Mung Dal & Aloo Gobi

These are my boyfriends versions of the famous curries. The coconut milk adds softness to the cauliflower and potato curry and makes it moister. Daal shouldn't be too dry either. Daal is flexible with spices so you can change them to taste. We try to use different spices in all the curries served at once so each of them has an unique taste. We had the curries with homemade naan bread and raita.

Mung Daal:

3-4 dl Mung lentils (or other lentils), soaked for 1/2 hour

oil/ghee

1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds

small bit of star anis

1/2 tsp cumin seed

2 bay leaves

1/2 tsp black mustard seeds

(cardamon pods)

(caraway seeds)

(kalonji)

(cloves)

water

salt (to taste)

oil/ghee

1 medium onion

1-2 fresh chillies

an inch ginger

2-3 cloves garlic

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

lemon juice

fresh coriander

- Fry the seeds in hot oil adding the bigger seeds at first, smaller seeds next and finally the mustard seeds and bay leaves.

- When the bay leaves are browned add the lentils and stir fry for a couple of minutes.

- Cover with water and add the salt.

- Put the lid on and and simmer until soft, adding small amount of water if necessary.

- Fry onion, garlic, ginger and chili in a separate pan for a couple of minutes, then cover with a lid and simmer until soft. When the onion mix is soft, add the ground spices and fry for a further minute, and then add to the lentils.

- Cook for another two minutes, then season to taste with salt and lemon juice, and garnish with fresh coriander.

Aloo Gobi:

4-5 medium potatoes (chopped)

a small cauliflower (florets)

a tin coconut milk

oil/ghee

4-5 green cardamom pods

fresh coriander

for the curry paste:

a medium onion

3 cloves garlic

inch of ginger

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp ground fennel

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1-2 fresh chillies (to taste)

1/2 tsp salt

lemon juice

fresh coriander

- Blend the curry paste.

- Heat the oil, fry the cardamom pods for a couple of minutes. Add the curry paste and fry for a few minutes on a high heat, then keep cooking the paste on a low heat for about 10 minutes.

- Add the coconut milk, potatoes and cauliflower and simmer in the sauce until soft.

- Season to taste with salt and lemon juice, and garnish with fresh coriander.

Lingon Berry Tart

I got this recipe from a friend's mum and I've been using it quite often since it's quick to make and tasty. You can use any berries, apples or rhubarb on this crumbly tart. The dairy topping suites extremely well with sour berries, it's made with "kermaviili" but you can use quark as well.

Pastry:

150 g butter (room temperature)

1 dl sugar

1 egg

3 dl flour

1 tsp baking powder

Topping:

200 g kermaviili, quark or sour cream

1/2 dl sugar

1 tsp vanilla sugar

1 egg

Any fruit or berries on top.

- Mix all the pastry ingredients using your fingertips, put into a fridge for a while.

- Butter a tart dish and tap the pastry mix evenly on to it.

- Add the topping and sprinkle your berries on top.

- Bake at 200 c for about half an hour on the lowest oven shelf.

Cretan Briam

We tried to imitate a lovely dish we had in a Cretan restaurant: a soft and smooth vegetable stew with tomatoes and a hint of cinnamon.

a medium aubergine (chunks)

a large courgette (chunks)

a large pepper (chunks)

3-4 medium potatoes (sliced)

a large onion (sliced)

3 cloves garlic (sliced)

a few glugs olive oil

2 tins tomatoes

tomato puree

splash of water

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp cinnamon

salt

pepper

- Mix all the ingredients expect for the potatoes in a big bowl. Oil a big casserole dish and put the vegetable mix in it. Place the potatoes on top, sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and cover.

- Bake at 170 degrees for about 2 hours until the vegetables are very soft.