Katriina Mueller, Author at Finding Feasts

Our first mushrooming trip!

Mushroom foraging NSW — Slippery Jack Mushrooms

I was introduced to wild mushroom foraging by Bella and her parents early this autumn. Although it was something that mum grew up doing in Finland it wasn’t something that transferred over when she moved to Australia.

Bella and I had always planned mushroom picking trips but seasons came and went. Finally, one weekend in March when Bella’s parents were making their usual weekend trip we decided to join them.

With an early morning wake up we packed the kids, dog and rations and made the 1.5 hour drive down south to Belango State Forest in the Southern Highlands of NSW for our first mushroom experience.

Finding feasts - Mushroom foraging NSW — Saffron Milk Cap Mushrooms

Continue reading “Our first mushrooming trip!” →

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Soft Shell Crab in a Sesame Tempura

Finding Feasts - Sesame Tempura Soft Shell Crab — Soft Shell Crab in a Sesame Tempura Recipe

Soft Shell Crab in a Sesame Tempura – This recipe is now one of my all-time favourite dishes to make as it is so simple and the prep involved is really quick and easy, but you end up with a simply stunning dish both in taste and in presentation.

I have served soft shell crab twice so far, in the Blondie/Bella dinner party nights that we hold for each other’s families every 6 weeks or so. The first version was this recipe but I threw some coriander into the batter for a bit of Thai inspiration – I named that dinner ‘All Thaied Up’.

As you can guess from the title, it was a Thai/Asian theme. There were 3 courses (4 really, but dessert was a purchased pistachio ice cream when my peanut ice cream didn’t work out so it’s not included as a course). Just prior to this dinner party two fellow makeup artist friends took me out to Longrain here in Sydney, for a belated birthday dinner. The night was the hottest night on record for Sydney – it was still 33 degrees at midnight! People were walking around with their shirts lifted off their bodies and skirts hitched up just to try and cool down. It was a funny sight in Sydney at night, especially in Surry Hills. Anyway, I was so inspired by Longrain that I purchased Martin Boetz’ book, Longrain: Modern Thai Food, and set forth to recreate some of his dishes (by the way, the Ginger Rogers cocktail is an absolute MUST! Although it’s unfortunately not in the book)

The first course for my dinner was the Light Red Curry of Angus Beef, the second course was the Peanut Curry of Grilled Beef (I did it with lamb) and the third was the Sesame and Coriander Soft Shell Crab (not a Longrain recipe). The fourth was going to be his (Martin’s) Peanut Ice Cream, which was just sooooo amazing, but the recipe isn’t in his book so it was purely guess work – which failed! But my soft shell crab was fantastic! I served it with 2 dipping sauces, a sweet chili sauce, and a ginger and soy sauce.

If you are brave enough you can purchase live crabs, but I’m not! I get my soft shell crab from an Asian mini mart in Chatswood. They come frozen in a nice little box of about 10 or so, with each crab neatly put into a plastic sleeve which means I always has some in the freezer for emergencies!

Blondie

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Basil Pesto with Cashew Nuts

Basil Pesto with Cashew Nuts – With spring now here, the heady scent of fresh herbs is hard to ignore. It’s impossible to walk pass the veggie shop and not grab a bunch of basil – I will have fresh basil growing in my garden again shortly, but till then I’m happy to pay for it.

Pesto is eaten in large amounts by my family, especially my son who has it on pizza, pasta or just by the spoonful after I’ve made a fresh batch of pesto. I make it 2 ways, the first being the obvious – that’s with pine nuts and a nice bitey, hard cheese – and the second is this recipe.

I find that using cashews makes the pesto a little creamier and the flavour to be a little more subtle – and they are also cheaper than pine nuts, which is a benefit if working within a budget.

The cheese in this recipe is just the grated Parmesan from your local supermarket’s fridge section.

I freeze my excess pesto in zip lock bags and break off chunks as I need them, which means I generally always have some on hand. I have been doing it this way for years and have never had an issue, but feel that I should bring up a conversation I had with my brother-in-law. He mentioned something about the breeding of the botulism bacteria, something to do with the basil and the freezer not being able to freeze it to a temperature that is safe and stable. I have also looked into it and am happy to continue with this way of storing as we really do go through it quite fast. I’ve happily eaten my pesto up to 2 months of it being frozen.

Has anyone had problems with freezing pesto? I would love to know.

But that being said, for me there is always a meal if you have pesto in the house. If you have yet to make fresh pesto for yourself then I urge you to give it a go.

Enjoy!

Blondie

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Karjalanpiirakat – Karelian Pies

Karjalanpiirakat – Finnish Karelian Pies are a delicious, creamy rice filling encased in a thin rye bread and then topped with an egg and butter mixture. I realise that it may not come across as particularly inviting, but they certainly are a joy to eat.

Karelian Pies are one of the most traditional of Finnish dishes and are in fact a protected dish by the European Union.

These pies are eaten at most gatherings that my Nana holds, with a friend of hers now the designated Karelian Pie maker for her and probably a majority of the Finnish community in Canberra.

I have only just come to learn the reason that Nana doesn’t make them herself, and that is because the first time she did made them, Grandpa had said to her, “If this is the best you can do, then don’t bother making them again”.

My husband is amazed that he lived past that point!

The number one key to making these is to make the rye base as thin as possible… and then go thinner.

Number two is to make sure there is enough salt in the rice mixture otherwise it will be just too bland.

These are a process of love, enjoy it – Blondie 🙂

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