RecipeMuncher

Well, after some pretty busy work weeks I found myself with a free weekend night (a rare thing for me) and so some friends and I planned a last minute summer BBQ. We all love good food so instead of buying in lots of stuff we all brought dishes…it was so much fun!  I made a total of four things with the help of my friend Kate. I tried a new recipe from Food & Wine magazine and absolutely loved it.  The recipe is from Sue Zemanick, who was voted “Best New Chef” by Food & Wine magazine a few months back.  The recipe was Chile-Lime Crab Salad with Tomato & Avocado.  I highly recommend trying it out and not skimping on the the quality of the ingredients.  This salad is so fresh and tasty, but must have top quality ingredients for you to get the full experience.  

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As part of my adventures in Finland, the evening after the wedding (my reason for being in Finland) in Tampere we headed up to the tower “Nasinneula” for dinner. We had been told that this was supposed to be one of the best restaurants in Finland, but knew nothing more so arrived with an open mind.

The entry to the tower was very cool, with a projected fishpond on the floor that rippled when you walked through it. Sadly I forgot my camera and consquently have no photos, which is a huge pity, as both the view from the tower and the food were more than a little decorative. On the whole, revolving restaurants are not the best places to eat because the food usually suffers from laziness as the owners rely on the view to earn the bucks, but Nasinneula is a pleasant exception.

I started with an aperitif which used a seabuckthorn berry liqueur and ginger ale.

Entree was Reindeer pastrami with asparagus topped with a poached quail egg and tomato salsa. I thought all the separate ingredients were lovely but the tomato salsa overpowered the pastrami a bit.

Then we were served with a small morel soup, which was delicate, creamy and scrumptious (although not as good as my perfected mushroom soup).

This was followed by a trio of fish dishes: A tartare of baltic salmon (good but unexciting), a ballantyne of perch - this was beautifully presented, topped with a tiny tuile and exquisitely fine onion and caviar. The third fish was grilled white fish, which I think was the most “fishy” fish I have ever eaten; neither I nor my partner were very taken with the white fish.

The main course was Reindeer fillet with a dark lingonberry sauce, celeriac &amp; vanilla mash and served with a jerusalem artichoke and potato cake. The reindeer was really very good (reminded me very much of kangaroo) and the combination of celeriac and vanilla in a savoury dish was fascinating and delicious.

We then had two cheeses: Heelmar and Valdemar cheeses served with lingonberry honey.

Dessert was Seabuckthorn &amp; white chocolate cake with seabuckthorn sorbet. I was a big fan of this dessert, but my partner was less enthusiastic about the astringent taste but I really enjoyed the contrast between that astringency and the creamy white chocolate.

Altogether a very good meal at a restaurant I would recommend. 62 euro per head. If you would like to see someone elses photos and read their thoughts on this restaurant, you can find a review at “Only slightly bent”.

My flight from Montreal yesterday was cancelled. Just like that. No announcements, nothing. I freaked. I often do.

After checking things out, I learned I was put on another flight to Dulles airport instead of Reagan. I did not want to fly to Dulles: it’s far away from my apartment, a pain to get to Arlington, and that is exactly why I bought my tickets to Reagan. Okay, long and aggravating story short, I called up Jenn and asked her to pick me up in exchange for free dinner [Jenn said she'd be happy to pick me up even without getting a free dinner, but that's just ridiculous lol].

This was our second time at Han Sung Oak Restaurant, and once again, it was so good.

I had a dish of grilled beef mixed in with vegetables, an egg and rice. It was cold, which was refreshing in this hot weather, and just hit the spot.

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