spelt risotto

i was anxious to try the risotto spelt i got from vääksyn mylly (mentioned in my last post). i still need to go to italy to eat "proper" risotto, but this turned out great.







beside the risotto spelt i used onion, garlic, spinach and dried mushrooms.







i still have a lot of dried mushrooms that i try to incorporate into as many dishes i can (and remember...perhaps i should move the jars from the top shelf to a more prominent place...). a little of the dried mushrooms goes a long way, just pour boiling water on top...







...the mushrooms puff up in no time.







as with any other risotto i started by sauteeing minced onion and the spelt in rape seed oil







then added the mushrooms, grated garlic and spinach which was still a bit frozen...







...then added low-sodium vegetable stock and let simmer on low for 25 mins. at this point i felt like the evil witch cooking up concoctions...the color wasn't very appetizing.







added grated parmesan towards the end on the cooking time.







at the end the color had tamed a bit. seasoned the risotto with just crushed black pepper. certain someone said it was very tasty, i have to agree. one of these days i need to make a risotto with wine and cream and all the other fancy necessities to compare with this very rustic version.







while the risotto was cooking i was pestering the dog...the dog has come a long way from running under the table at the sight of a camera but i don't think he enjoys the attention of a camera. he didn't outright move away from me, but did give me a very bored look...

some fish, pulla, souvenirs and the moon

last week i made a trip to my hometown. these tiny beauties here are perch, or perca fluviatilis, slightly breaded and fried in butter, ready to be eaten...







...this is how you catch them...my dad is usually the one to do the fishing as he knows the best spots to catch something.







scaled and gutted, ready for cooking







white pepper, just a little salt is mixed with half rye flour and half all purpose flour.







ready for pan.







as my brother's birthday happened during my visit, he got a whole lot of pulla in several shapes and forms. this here was baked in a tin and filled with demerera sugar and coconut.







on my way home i stopped at two locations to buy some "souvenirs". first at kuhmoisten kädentaitajat to get some honey and sea buckthorn juice. super healthy but awfully sour, i dilute 2 tbsp to a glass of water and i think it needs at least 3 tbsp of sugar not to curl my tongue...but i'm brave and drink it as is, eww.







in kuhmoinen they also sell the products from vääksyn mylly / vääksy mill (i visited that place on my way up). they have tons of locally grown grain products. i bought, well, a lot of all sorts of things, but this risotto spelt was the most interesting. i already tried it for risotto, but more on that next time.







this rye loaf is from hyvän olon mestari. they bake the bread on the premises and if they (still) have that rye bread, it's usually still warm...it is so good you can't believe! it's just that the side effects of fresh rye bread are painfull and i will not get into details here...







the other night i was already in bed reading when certain someone said "come see the supermoon". superwhat? i usually try to pay attention to when the moon is full and go out to take pics. this supermoon had escaped my attention totally. i had to get dressed and out with my camera to capture sight. hmm, i need to say try to capture the sight as it was magical to the naked eye and my pictures didn't quite have the same magic in them...