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...

ice, little signs of spring, maybe

on wednesday, there was a biting wind at the cottage by the lake. the sun made everything pretty, though.







so fragile







and sparkly







this tiny lingonberry is making its way thru the snow already







strong spring sun melts parts of the road to cottage early on, some shady parts remain frozen until late may...







once back at the shack, the dog stole my socks and the mouse punished him immediately!







this morning we woke up to this...maybe spring isn't here just yet

jumbo size laskiaispulla

for some reason i made the first batch of laskiaispulla already a month ago, maybe because lent was in the mid february last year, or something.

i wanted to experiment a little and made a normal pulla dough but baked it into 3 jumbo buns.







first divided the dough into three pieces and formed them into huge balls which i places in paper baking tins (more or less to secure them from spreading allover in the oven). here, all three after the second rise getting an eggwash.







sprinkled some slivered almonds on top before...







...placing them into 190C oven for 15 mins.







once cooled, i cut top third off with serrated knfie...







...and took out the strawberry jam and marzipan.







i decided to grate the marzipan in order to be able to spread it more evenly on the bun.







as this was to be his and hers, the other half got jam.







generous amount of whipped cream before placing the "lid" on.







i would like to be able to tell that this served 8, the truth is closer to 3...

lent menu, pea soup & lent buns / pastry (hernekeitto & laskiaispulla)

today is ash wednesday, the beginning of lent. everyone, i assume, might have a few things to repent, observing lent isn't neverthelss my way to do it. after the long, dark, cold, dreary (did i forget something?) winter the renewal comes naturally with spring.

however, i did make the traditional pre-lent dishes, laskiaispulla (lent pastry) and hernekeitto (pea soup). my laskiaispulla is filled with strawberry jam and whipped cream...







i made pulla dough with 2,5 dl milk, full recipe here. let the dough rise till it doubles, then roll it into a log, divide into 8 pieces, roll them into balls between the palm of your hand and the work surface, place on a baking sheet and let rise for 20 mins...







...normally i'd make about 15 smaller buns of the same amount of dough but as it's lent... traditionally you're supposed to eat big and fat (so that you pigs will grow to be huge and your grains plentyfull in the coming summer)







before placing into 200C oven for 10 mins, i eggwashed the buns







certain someone likes to have his with marzipan (almond paste), on the right







the pea soup then...another very old tradition.







i've made it several times before so this time i wanted to try little something different. there is a recipe on the side of the package of peas, to that i added 0,4 liter water, 2 carrots, 100 gr celeriac and fresh marjoram







i cubed the carrots, celeriac and the smoked ham. i added these only after the peas and onions had been simmering for 2 hrs.







i had some smoked ham rind in the freezer, the rind was simmering in the pot from the start. the ham appreared on this post. the ham rind in totally optional but gives a lot of taste. this could well be a veggie dish as well, just leave out the smoked ham and replace it with smoked tofu (if there is such a thing!)







the soup was garnish with fresh marjoram and served with rye bread.