my minestrone

there were some large white beans in the pantry that needed to be used. i figured that a minestrone soup would be a good place for them to drown...







others to join the beans were:

celeriac, 2 parsnips, 3 carrots, a tin of crushed tomatoes, white cabbage, whole wheat elbow macaroni, onion, garlic, parsley, vegetable stock, smoked ham (could easily be left out, still a tasty soup)







once chopped the veggies amounted about:

1 cup celeriac
1 cup carrots
½ cup parsnip
½ cup cabbage
½ cup onion, 2 cloves of garlic got just smashed







i have no idea why i had bought these beans. it says they are "ecological and organic" but come from the other side of the world, namely china, the mere distance making them not ecological. and, sorry china, i have hard time believing your farming methods are up to western standards of organic. i need to start reading the fine print in packages even more carefully! but yes, these were easy to use, just rinse and there you go...







as with any soup, i started by sauteeing the veggies first in 2 tbsp of rapeseed oil for a few minutes, until fragrant, in a hot pot. i like to use this particular pot as it has a non-stick surface. then added the crushed tomatoes and vegetable stock to barely cover the veggies and left to simmer on medium low for 20 mins







as usual, tied the parsley stems and sunk them in the mix for extra flavor







meanwhile...i minced the smoked ham. i think there was 200gr (or 300gr) in the package, but little goes a long way if you get good stuff with strong smokey flavor. but, like i mentioned, the ham can be omitted, i think i would add green beans, maybe, or some leafy greens, or nothing. there are plenty of flavors going on without the ham







as there really wasn't any other spices (no salt, no pepper) i thought some hot sauce / sriracha would be good. this was the amount i dared to put in...again, my tastebuds could have used more but my stomach was thankful for the tiny amount.







after 20 mins i added the minced ham, 1 cup of elbow macaroni, 2 cups of vegetable stock, and mixed well...







...before adding the beans. carefully mixed in the beans and simmered on medium heat for another 10 mins for the macaroni to cook.







to finish, i mixed in ½ cup minced parsley. this patch served certain someone and i for dinner and there will be 2 lunches for both of us to take to work. i'm sure this will taste even better when reheated.







certain someone got dessert, quark and strawberries from the freezer. stupid me, i got regular quark and i really need to eat just the low-lactose kind...

dry chicken enchiladas

dry enchiladas? yep, ended up not drowning them in tomato sauce, therefore dry. served with avocado, tomatoes, lettuce and sour cream with chili powder.







this was my attemp to make chicken enchiladas featured in the february issue of delicious magazine. or, perhaps i should say my version of their enchiladas. the recipe from the magazine isn't online yet, but here's one similar.

i used multigrain tortillas, bbq salsa, pineapple salsa, 500 gr chicken tenderloins, 3 stalks celery, one onion, parsley and gruyère (almost got aged cheddar from the store but decided that we had plenty of cheese in the fridge to use here)







first browned the tenderloins on a hot pan with some oil and placed them in a bowl to cool a bit before cutting them to 1 inch cubes.







sauteed the chopped onion and celery on the same pan (with the chicken juices and oil) until slightly wilted







added the celery/onion mix into the bowl with chicken, poured in the bbq salsa, half of the pineapple salsa and generous amount of parsley and mixed well







filled the tortillas and placed on an oven dish







poured rest of the pineapple salsa on top







there was some of the filling left so i just placed that on top as well before adding the grated cheese (about 1 cup)







i miss the cheddar here...







after 20 mins in 200C oven with fan on. my tastebuds would have liked more heat (chili/jalopenos), but my stomach was happy as was...serves 4.

second take on the steak

spent the last few days at the cottage visiting my parents, certain someone and the dog got to go with this time. i had decided to try the cognac coffee marinated steaks another time, just to make sure the first time's success wasn't accidental.

the picture isn't that great, bad lighting, i was hungry, and what not...







i thought that there must be some sort of bbq-sauce at the cottage, but no. to solve that problem i mixed some dijon mustard, ketchup (oh yes...), crushed black pepper, oil and white vinegar to stand in for the bbq-sauce, then added some cognac and coffee. exact measures? nope, some of this, some of that...

placed the steaks into the plastic bag and left to marinate overnight







next day, mom peeled and cubed some veggies to be roasted in the oven







the oven of a wood-burning stove to be exact. the veggies turned out great...







...the steaks were a tab bit more challenging on that stove...but they turned out perfect, if possible, even better that the first time. after browning the steaks on the hot pan on both sides, i placed them on a plate and kept warm while i made the sauce. poured some of the marinade and generous amount of cream to the pan, brought to a boil, added some sugar and the steaks for a few more minutes before serving. blissful, if you're carnivore, that is.

a fair warning, after this picture it's just about the dog and snow...







the dog loves it at the cottage. the reason is very simple, it's the only place where he can run free, in the winter that is. and boy, did he run. he also tried to escape at night but we had smartened up and locked the door (he had learned to push the door open during previous visits...)







a sunrise at approx 9am on jan 26







it's been a weird winter. there's been so much snow that the freezing temperatures haven't been able to freeze the lake like usual. there is some ice, then slush, then a lot of snow. the dog is light enough to be able to walk/run on it. mom and dad haven't been able to put the nets under the ice this winter...therefore no fresh fish.







he was almost too fast for me...







we have no idea why the dog loves playing lumberjack...he dug this birch from under the snow and tried to bite it to pieces...

plenty of the white stuff

i did say i won't complain about the amount of snow, but i will complain about how hard it is to walk in almost hip-deep snow. good exercise, for the dog, as well, but hard. buster commented about snowing in finland, he was right, it mostly snows here, at least this winter. i wish it stops snowing by midsummer...







snow does make everything look pretty







even at night. that's the almost full moon lurking behind the trees...







ps. i've found out the that surgeons i met on friday are actually quite accomplished doctors in their field...i still wish they'd operate on me rather sooner than later.

mac and chicken casserole

this dish feeds a crowd, is ridiculously simple and easy to make and only uses 5 ingredients: cooking cream (i used 7%), curry paste (mild or hot), chicken tenderloins (or fillets), pasta (torino rye pasta) and leek.







not sure what i was thinking making such a huge patch of this...but this halves easily. anyways, started by mixing 5 dl of cream (go as light or fatty as you like, or change it to any stock) with 2 heaping tbsp of mild curry paste (i like rajah). put that aside and cook the pasta (500gr) according to package instructions, leave slightly under-cooked.







brown 600 gr of chicken tenderloins (the tiny muscle in the chicken breast), i wanted to have the tenderloins in big chunks to give texture.







mince and sautee a leek (25 cm)







place half of the cooked pasta on a oven dish...







arrange the chicken and leeks on top, add the rest of pasta, and pour the cream and curry mixture on top, place in 200C oven for 30 mins (or until cream is bubbly).







technically, you really don't have to cook this in the oven to finish it. the pasta and tenderloins are almost cooked, if you put them in a huge pot, add the cream and bring the mixture to a boil on the stove while mixing it occasionally, you could skip the oven part all together.

i had some cheese in the fridge but opted not to add any to this, don't let that stop you!

i happen to like the whole wheat/rye pastas, nothing stopping you from using all white, if that is what you like (remember to get your fiber somewhere else, though!)