as luck would have it...

(she carefully lifts her head to see if anyone is still out there...)

the luck would have it part? the weather, what else! just as i had planned, carefully i might add, to grill some veggies and ambitiously try to do the same to a couple of nice steaks, the heavens open and it not just rains but pours down...

plan B was in order, there was the oven...

the veggies got chopped, the mushrooms filled with a mixture of cream cheese, minced mushroom stubs and fried bacon and topped with some more bacon. i tried a new cut of bacon here and it sort of worked. the traditional strip would have worked better.  

as the oven was on i decided to put the asparagus there as well. 200C with fan on for 15 mins. placed the other veggies on another baking tray, they cooked for 20 mins.

oozing goodness...

lemon juice for the asparagus

minced some lovage and thyme for the other veggies

i'm loving fennel right now

the steak got the old and tried method of pan frying. done my home work on how to get it right on the stove at the shack, not sure i'd been as lucky with my spanking new (coal) weber.

those two seem to have endless stories to tell each other...

ps. if you've ever mixed windows, chrome, nokia booklet and an apple apparatus you might have some sort of idea of my IT desperation during the past several weeks. whether i actually manage to post this online remains to be seen...

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.

potato frittata

i've been reading alexis stewart's blog ever since she got it going after she quit the whatever radio blog (loved her portion of it, too). she frequently makes frittatas of all vegetarian sorts (all her food is vegetarian). while at the cottage i came across one of mom's very old cast iron pans which got me thinking...

this isn't exactly a recipe (what else is new?) but sort of adaptation of several, and collection what mom had (that needed to be used soon) in the fridge: potato, fennel, onion and ham frittata with chives.

first, crank the oven to 225C and place your well seasoned cast iron 9"/20cm pan into the cold oven. if using any other kind of pan, please, make sure its handle can hold the heat of the oven (you really don't want a smelly plastic meltdown in your oven) (trust me).

i was making this for 3 persons. i sliced 6 smallish potatoes, chopped one medium white onion, one fennel and 100gr of ham (totally optional).

cracked 6 eggs into a bowl, added 1dl of grated swiss cheese, and later on approx 2 tbsp of chopped chives.

first sauteed (with a view!) the fennel and onion until translucent, removed them onto a plate...

...browned the ham and placed it next to onion/fennel mixture.

by this time the oven and pan in it were hot. carefully oil the hot pan, place half of the potatoes on the bottom...

...then layer the onion, fennel, ham and rest of the potatoes in the pan. be careful, you really don't want any more burn marks on your hands (i didn't either)...

...then mix the eggs, cheese and chives and pour the mixture onto pan, shake a little to make it go everywhere.

place the pan into the oven and bake for 15 mins.

let the frittata rest for a few minutes before slicing it. i'm told that frittatas are good cold as well, we ate all of this warm...

fake jansson

the other day i felt the need to have jansson's temptation for dinner but felt lazy. normally i would think that getting something pre-cut is a waste of money as you'll end up paying a lot more for potatoes and onions (needed in jansson's), but like i said, i felt lazy...

...therefore got a 1kg package of frozen potato-onion mix from the store's freezer (jansson's is such a staple dish in finland, they sell the mix a lot, and the recipe is printed on the package). i thought i had a tin of anchovies at the shack but all i could find were a jar of "sardells"... closer inspection proved that they are the same, just prepared different. in a tin the fish would be packed in salty, vinegary and oily brine, which is ideal for seasoning jansson's. the jar lacked the vinegar, but i decided to use the oil anyway (duh! there wasn't anything else).

first poured half of the semi frozen potato-onion mix into a dish, spread the tiny fish on top...

...then poured in the other half of the mix, made it somewhat even, poured the oil from the jar all over, then poured the 3dl cooking cream all over as well.

after 40 (or so) mins in 220C oven...

...you get this bubbly goodness.

you'd be wise to wait a few minutes before digging in, you really don't want to burn your mouth (like i did). for me, you absolutely have to have pickled beets with jansson's. i know people who will eat jansson's with lingon berry jam, but it really doesn't need anything. if you think you don't like fish, well, by the time the dish has been bubbling away in the oven, the tiny pieces of fish have gone to mush and you almost don't even see them...love this dish (it's good even cold).

salmon on fennel and leek

on saturday certain someone had gone shopping and bought salmon and fennel for sunday lunch. i had not felt like eating much all week, let alone cook anything so i was looking for something very easy...

for some reason i've started to like fennel, i figured it would go swell with salmon. there was some leek in the fridge, so that went in as well.

sliced the fennel lengthwise, on hindsight, the mandolin would have been very useful in getting nice thin slices and getting everything in the oven at the same time.

placed the sliced fennel on an oven dish...

...and the chopped leek (just the white part) on top, then added ½ dl of white wine (just because there was some left in the fridge) and 1 tbsp of butter and ½ tsp of salt on top and placed the dish into 200C oven for 15 mins. now, had i sliced the fennel much thinner, all would have gone in at the same time. live and learn.

meanwhile, i checked there were no bones in the fish.

after 15 mins i took the dish out, placed the salmon on top, smeared the salmon with teriyaki sauce (certain someone is daft about it) and placed the dish back into the oven for 25 mins, the last five with the fan on. the salmon pieces were well over an inch thick, if smaller use shorter time in the oven, you don't want to overcook fish, it gets dry.

the fish was yammy, fennel and teriyaki are so good together. there was leftovers for lunch today.

the weather improved much since yesterday and the dog is spending his time outside.

i went out to get the snow off my car, broke a sweat, the flu can really drain your energy. did have some left to throw the rubber bone with the dog for a while.

powershot of the dog.

curly oak in the yard.

what is this? why aren't we going for a walk? maybe next week, she says, when i'm feeling better, i promise.