Salmon & Avocado tartare

I've become aware of the fact that my time in Singapore is limited (I'm moving back home mid-September) and as my recent visit to London reminded me of the expensive sushi grade salmon prices I decided that it was my last chance to get myself together and actually give making a homemade salmon tartare a go.

I absolutely love tartares - salmon, tuna or a mixture of both and I frequently have them whenever I'm eating out. So, having my hopes up high I did some research on the internet and to my great disappointment I did not find the recipe that I was looking for. Well, to be honest I didn't know what I was looking for exactly, but whatever I found just didn't feel right. Don't get me wrong - the recipes and pictures looked divine, but they were just not was I was looking for. So I had no other choice than to improvise... and it turned out so well that I'm actually thinking of giving tuna tartare a shot as well!

Because I've had quite a few tartares I kind of knew what I wanted mine to have. Also, I was sure about the things that I didn't want my tartare to include - onions and no mayo based dressing, as I wanted to keep it healthy. I love the taste cooked onions give to soups, fry-ups and roasts, but I just don't like raw onions. I never have and the chances are that I'll never will - I even make all my fresh salads without raw onions. But that's just my thing. If you love onions then by all means add some to the tartare. So after deciding on the ingredients and actually buying them it was time to mix it all together. I was aiming for a light, but at the same time creamy, and flavourful tartare. The resulting tartare was exactly what I had wanted for - simple, creamy and with a nice oriental touch. I served my tartare with some cracker bread, but it would also go well with toasted baguette or even Indonesian krupuk.

Also, apart from being really delicious and filling, both avocado and salmon are two of super-foods - so in addition to having a filling meal you're also doing your body a whole lot of good.

Ingredients

(Serves 1)
- 1 Ripe avocado
- 140g sashimi grade salmon fillet, skin removed
- Juice of 1/4 lemon (plus zest to serve)
- 2 tsp sesame seeds
- 3-4 tsp soya sauce
- Small piece of root ginger, crushed
- 1/2 tsp fish sauce
- Crackers, to serve
- Dried coriander, to season
- Pepper, to season

Directions
First halve the avocado, remove the seed and peel both sides. Then smash one side up with a for and add lemon juice, 1-2 tsp soya sauce (it all depends on how salty you like your food), fish sauce and crushed ginger. Mix well and set aside.

Then cube the other half of avocado and salmon and place them in another bowl. Add the remaining soya sauce, 1tsp sesame seeds, some fresh pepper and a pinch of dried coriander. Mix well.

Mix the avocado puree together with the salmon. Place a piece of clingfilm in a bowl, then place the tartare in firmly in the bowl. Keep in the fridge until serving.

To serve the tartare, remove it from the bowl - this is where the cling film comes in handy. Sprinkle it with some sesame seeds and serve with crackers or toasted bread. Enjoy!

Chocolate chip muffins

Before even going to my today's post I need to apologise for leaving such a huge gap between my posts. After finishing off my master's I basically went travelling for 2,5 weeks - flying back to Estonia to visit my parents and popping over to London to check on my flat and now I'm back in Singapore and have almost managed to get rid of my jet lag. I have to admit that it is a lot more difficult to make myself get up in the morning if there's no need for it - I could easily just stay in bed the whole day. I honestly thought that I'd have time to cook something new and share it with you, but it would have been really difficult to make my hungry family wait until I take my pictures so getting new material for the blog whilst I was in Estonia was nearly impossible. It's a different story with London as I was there alone for half of the time and my sister joined me for the other half of the week, so no issue of keeping the family waiting, but we were so busy with all the shopping and appointments that I just didn't have the time and the energy to whip up something worthy of sharing. So that's my explanation for not updating my blog. I'll try to be better over the rest of the summer, but I already know for a fact that there are at least 2 weeks when I'm travelling - so no posts coming then.

Now to the recipe then. In my honest opinion, every girl (or a guy for that matter) should have a simple basic muffin recipe which can be put together without having to go shopping for all the special components that some recipes require. This is a very simple and straightforward recipe and basically all one needs to do is to mix together the ingredients in a big bowl and then bake the muffins.

In order for muffins to be good, the recipe does not necessarily need to be complicated. I made these for  my little sister when she had a friend sleeping over. She actually wanted to make muffins herself from a  muffin mix, but I just could not let her do that - homemade ones are so much better! And all that was left over was "taken care of" by my other sister and my mum - even my dad had few, and that's something.

All in all, this is an amazing quick-fix for an upcoming party if you're short of time, but still want to make something tasty yourself, rather than resorting to ready made mixes or ready made muffins ... I promise that by serving these muffins - moist and fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside -  positive comments are guaranteed. Or a lovely movie night in, picnic, having friends over for coffee or even better - if you feel like having something indulgent for breakfast. Enjoy!

Ingredients

(Makes 18)
- 2 medium eggs
- 200g caster sugar
- 250ml milk
- 125ml sunflower oil (or other vegetable oil)
- 400g plain flower
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 175g chocolate chips (can have more or less than that)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a 12-hole muffin tray with paper cups / grease the tray or use silicone muffin cups. Then beat the eggs in a bowl and mix in the oil and milk. Add the sugar and mix until its dissolved. Then add the dry ingredients - sift in the flour, baking powder and salt and mix until smooth. Finally add the chocolate chips and give it a nice stir so they're scattered evenly throughout the batter.

Fill the muffin cases 2/3 full and bake for around 25 minutes. Enjoy right out of the oven or let them cool. For even more indulgence serve with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.

Basic muffin recipe from BBC Good Food