yellowfoot soup

few posts ago i was foraging, this soup was made of the mushrooms we got. i cooked in my tiny new kitchen at the apt i've been moving into for the last few months...this really isn't a recipe, more sort of guidelines, here's what i used:

yellowfoot mushrooms (any kind will do)
onion
parsnip
stock cubes
cooking cream
all purpose flour

eww! not the kind of protein i want in my soup! he was humanely taken care of and is now a city spider.

sweated out the mushrooms on medium high heat for a few mins, then transferred them into a 3 liter pot. i like my mushrooms in chunks, but it's ok to chop them smaller.

chopped the onion and parsnip into ½ cm cubes and toasted them in a spoonful of butter on medium high heat until the onion was well translucent. meanwhile...

...added a veggie stock cube into the pot with the mushrooms...

...after the onion/parsnip mixture had been toasting for 4 or so mins, i added 2 tbsp of all purpose flour, mixed well and let flour cook for a few mins before gradually adding approx 2.5 dl of boiling water while mixing well to avoid lumps. then transferred the mixture into the pot with the mushrooms.

mixed everything well together, added another 2.5 dl of boiling water and approx 2 dl of cream and let the soup simmer for 15 mins. i don't like to cook my veggies into mush, but here the purpose was to get the parsnips really soft, to the point of them falling apart and thickening the soup.

ta-daa! this made two portions, one for my dinner, another for my lunch at work the following day. no salt you ask? yep, no added salt. there is some (tiny amount) in the stock cube, but i like my veggies as they are. feel free to add some to your taste.

no post without the dog...here having a sip at the cottage.

cabbage casserole & another with pasta

went to the store to get ground beef for a pasta casserole i was planning to make for dinner, but noticed this nice head of cabbage calling my name... sometimes that happens. this time listening to that voice resulted in very tasty cabbage casserole.

as you would have it, it all starts with cabbage, recipe is very simple and adjustable:

1 kg cabbage, shredded
400 gr minced beef browned (or go vegetarian and use tofu in some form)
1 liter veal stock, or any stock you have around (i made some from knorr fond)
2 dl barley pearls (quick cooking rice is fine, or precook brown rice for half the cooking time before adding to this recipe, if you omitted the beef and didn't use tofu of any kind, you could add more grains, if so, add more stock as well)
1 dl dark syrup

cooked in 200C oven for 1 hour, first half hour covered.

here, although the in season young cabbage cooks relatively fast, i wanted to save some time and sauteed it for about 10 mins on medium high heat, just to wilt it and get the cooking going. (if time isn't an issue, skip this part and mix with other ingredients raw. cook in the oven for 2 hrs, first hr covered with foil, for the second hr make sure the dish doesn't dry out and have some more stock around to add if needed.)

browned ground beef is one of my sins, i could eat all this...but didn't!

there are several types of fonds (basically it's an industrial variety of concentrated pan-juices) around. they are very convenient, but some contain too much salt, and of course, additives of all sorts. this particular "taste" from knorr is ok, but there is the fine line after which, if you add too much, the food has an "industrial" taste.

pearl barley, quick cooking kind. as the package says "domestic option to rice".

the dark syrup i used, to me syrup is the secret to this dish. if you think it's going to make it too sweet...start with a smaller amount.

i had one medium size sweet potato around, grated it roughly and added half to this dish (sweet potato is good for you, don't have any, don't worry, not essential). placed the cabbage, browned meat and barley in a big bowl, mixed well, placed the mixture into an oven dish, poured the stock and syrup on. on hindsight, some butter on top would have made everything taste even better...

...but for someone who used to hate everything with cabbage (=me), this was oh-so-good. when taking off the foil at half-time, check if you need to add some more stock. if it looks wet, you're good, if it looks dry at half-time add a good 3 dl more stock.

the second dish was mac and beef casserole. in finland it is traditionally made with white elbow macaroni, ground beef, milk and egg mixture to set it. i'm not a fan of white pasta, so i used full-grain spelt pasta.

recipe goes:

400 gr pasta, cooked
400 gr ground beef, browned
150 gr grated cheese (i used swiss type polar)
3 dl cream (used the fattier version, there are some lighter ones around)
(and that half of a roughly grated medium size sweet potato, totally optional, but it'll be good for you...)

you can certainly use more cheese if you like, i thought that with the full fat cream, i should go easy on the cheese (the cheese is only 15% fat).

again, mixed 2/3 of the cheese, pasta, ground beef and sweet potato in a big bowl, placed the mixture into an oven dish, poured the cream on top and covered with foil and placed next to the cabbage dish into the 200C oven for a half hr.

after the half hour took the dish out, added rest of the cheese and returned the dish to the oven for another 15 mins for the cheese to melt.

the spelt pasta might be an acquired taste as it is very "healthy" (but nothing a good squirt of ketchup can't cure). this was perfect to have right out of the oven, but if re-heated it could use a bit more liquid, whether in the form of cream or stock of any kind.

tomorrow you'll see what we had for dessert...

monster beet and miracle potatoes

way back when i was busy planting everything, i did hide some potatoes in the dirt with hopes that we might get some new ones later in the summer. it was just days after i had planted the potatoes that i read one should not plant potatoes in soil that used to be grass. well, that's just what i had done, turned over the huge pieces of grass that i dug out while digging for the raised beds onto a patch...the soil under the grass seemed so good, full of fat worms...the reason for not planting was this tiny bugger/parasite that would end up eating and/or rotting the potatoes. as the seedling potatoes weren't a huge investment i decided not to worry. certain someone had been sure for days (if not weeks) that we wouldn't get a single potato...but low and behold! today we decided to take a look and maybe have for lunch...can you tell how happy i was to see these!

gloves would be advisable, but i find them a nuisance, unfortunately my hands are starting to show the wear...we only dug out 2 plants, plenty to boil for lunch.

i wish i had marked which kind of beet seeds i planted here, all of them got to be monsters like this one! there is no way to pickle these, no jar big enough...

i almost felt sad to dig it out.

on to the carrots...they've grown nicely, too.

got enough for lunch, they just need...

...a little wash, garden hose comes in handy...

...no scrubbing required!

what an amazing color! however, the picture really doesn't make justice to it, somehow reds don't turn out well in pics.

i got the recipe from elizabeth over instagram (don't you just love instagram!), it's very simple, just chick peas, onion, beets, vinegar and oil...

i decided to grate the beet by hand, not a very bright idea, the kitchen looked like someone was butchered there...

but how sweet the beet was! i ended up using red wine vinegar and one of my better olive oils in the salad. certain someone has had some issues with chick peas (how can anyone have issues with peas?) and has not gladly eaten them before. i loved this salad, thanks E!

i did not do a single thing to the carrots, the chicken i browned in rapeseed oil, the potatoes had to have some butter on them. very simple and easy lunch in 20 mins, from the garden to table...being able to eat veggies that i grew myself is curiously satisfying!

zucchini frittata, fresh from the garden

i was so happy with the frittata i made at the cottage some time ago, i wanted to try if zucchini would make a decent filling for one. first, i have to complain a bit...gardening this summer...oh, boy, took forever for everything to get going because of all the rain and chilly weather. in my book +8C on a july morning is chilly. now that the weather is finally getting a bit warmer, everything is puffing up in record time. like my zucchini, just last week they were tiny, barely bigger than my thumb, this week they are almost bursting at their seams!

took out my late grandma's well seasoned cast iron pan and placed it in cold oven, then cranked the oven to 220C. rinsed my veggies (zucchini, kale (which grows like crazy), radishes (certain someone eats them as they are), chives, oregano)

quartered the zucchini and sliced each quarter, placed them on a hot pan with 1 tbsp canola oil (i didn't know until recently that canola oil is plain old rapeseed oil, but that that name isn't used because of what the first part of the name implies), and browned the slices for 2 mins. too long and you end up with zucchini mush, you don't want that, all the goodies, vitamins and such, will disappear. remove the slices from pan and keep aside.

next placed the roughly minced kale on the hot pan, added ½ dl water and steamed the kale just so, keeping it still bright green. again, too long and all the goodies go elsewhere. you won't believe how good the kale is, compared to the green things you get in the winter. and aren't i lucky, the deer nor rabbits have found them! yet...

took six eggs (organic) from the little grocery store toivo, and added a generous amount of minced herbs (chives, parsley, oregano) and mix well...

...took out the by-this-time very hot pan from the oven, first layered half of the zucchini on the pan, then all the kale, then sauteed red onion (red only for the fact that there was half of a big one left and i wanted to use it, 1 medium white minced is good replacement) (oh, forgot, i did sautee the onion until translucent, and it pays to drain the kale, otherwise you'll end up with soggy frittata.)

rest of the zucchini went on top...

...then poured in the egg-herbs mixture, and wiggled the pan in order to get the eggs to go everywhere. placed the pan back into the 220C oven for 25mins.

this makes a light lunch for 4, we had it warm with tomato. later in the day i had a piece straight from the fridge, equally tasty. i only added salt (maldon flakes) while eating, little salt goes a long way like that. however, i will admit that not using salt while cooking takes some getting used to.

paz's strawberry salad & backyard chanterelle toast

i got intrigued by chef paz's post on strawberry goat cheese salad a while back...not because i like goat cheese but because i liked the look of the salad. paz's got her idea from laylita's recipes...

i use a lot of onions in my cooking and never in the day had i done this before (trick from chef paz). soak the onions in cold water to take the bitter bite off, there's always a first and this trick worked. there is the distinct onion taste but the sharpness is gone.

olive oil and balsamic vinegar for the dressing.

castello white cheese (this link in finnish), which i think in this case was rather camembert than brie, but they both are rather mild cheeses, so same difference, i guess. i just noticed that the castello website has a lot of cheesy recipes.

made a bed of arugula, added quartered strawberries, sliced onion, the cheese and roasted pinenuts (please, pay attention to them while roasting, they aren't really that good when burned, and they do burn quite easily...) and poured the dressing over. certain someone said this is a very handy salad as the dessert comes with it...meaning the berries, but he did say he liked it. i did, too. next time i might use balsamic glaze instead of balsamico for the sweetness...and a stronger cheese. thanks, paz for inspiration, this was tasty!

the other day certain someone had noticed there were some chanterelles in the back yard.

he picked them up...

...and i made them into a stew, i guess you'd call this. started by sauteeing 1 minced white onion on medium heat, once they were translucent i added the mushrooms and sauteed further until the juices from the mushrooms started to dry out.

then i added "some" cream (please let your conscience tell you how much) and let it simmer and reduce.

toasted some bread, buttered (gasp!) it and ladled the mushrooms on it, a sprinkling of maldon flakes...to die for.

after dinner the dog supervised certain someone fix his guitar.