from garda to päijänne & bouillabaisse

i'm spending the last days of my summer leave at the cottage. the lake was amazingly calm on yesterday morning.

peculiarly shaped tree along the path in the forest.

the dog enjoys a dip in the lake after a walk, it's getting too hot for all his fur...

the nieces and nephew spent a couple of nights at the cottage as well. the dog never had so many adoring fans rubbing him all day long...

...but he did need his rest at the end.

the fish has been plentifull, perch here.

i had wanted to make bouillabaisse for a long time. decided to try a simplified (what else!) version with just one kind of fish and shrimp. dad here de-boning the perch filees.

i did the fancy-pansy mis-en-place getting everything ready, and the second i had dumped the last ingredienst into the pot, i remembered that i had forgotten to take pics...

for the soup i used:

1 liter of fish stock (that mom made yesterday with zander bones)
2 dl white wine
1 onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
½ tsp dried thyme
½ tsp dried tarragon
3 stalks of celery, sliced thinly
2 carrots, diced into 1cm cubes
1 parsnip, diced into 1cm cubes
1/4 celeriac, diced into 1cm cubes
1 bulb of fennel, diced into 1cm cubes
1 can (400gr) crushed tomatoes
½ dl lemon juice
300 gr perch filees or any other fish or combination of fishes
250 gr shrimp, slightly thawed

brought the fish-stock to a boil, added the first 5 ingredients and let simmer briskly for 10 mins, then added the veggies, cooked them for 10 mins, then added the fish, cooked for 5 mins, then added the shrimp and lemon juice and turned off the heat and let the pot sit for 5 more mins.

for the garnish i mixed (with immersion blender, all together)
1 egg
1 dl rape-seed oil
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dijon mustard
3 cloves of garlic (grated)

i knew certain someone would like this soup, but i wasn't so sure about my parents...my mom did pic out the shrimp but dad was brave enough to try the garlicky garnish as well.

after lunch, certain someone took me out on the lake in the row-boat.

malcesine, part one

lago di garda, malcesine, from the walls of castello scaligero







one of the harbours







alpine snack, on monte baldo







everyone seemed to be drinking this so we had to try it, it being aperol spritzer. at the hotel pool...







spaghetti frutti di mare







dessert, gelato (what else?!). my current favourite flavor is bounty, on the left, certain someone tried banana.

off to italy...

finally, we're going to italy. there's been talk of it for many years, but other destinations have won, mostly croatia. i might be able to post something while away, meanwhile, here's something from the garden.

how did that thing get up on the stalk?







these poor little violets are fighting for some sun.







i hope the peonies will wait for me, the buds are getting bigger...

fish, fish, onion tart.oh, ice anyone?

now that the lake has been free of ice for some weeks, my parents are back to fishing. water temperature is at refreshing 6 degrees C. there has been a lot of fish, (european) perch here, keeping themselves fresh in a fish-trap (katiska in finnish).







the other day we talked about my mummi (dad's grandmother) and a perch dish that she used to make eons ago. i don't remember ever eating that particular dish, but i took my parents word for the dish being very good. we had plenty of the fish, some bacon and butter and that's all what's needed.

i started by layering the fish, bacon and butter in a small dutch oven...







...topping everything with bacon, and some more butter. somehow i think that the amount of butter i used wasn't even close to what mummi would have used.

placed the pot on hot stove until everything started heating up, approx 10 mins. then put the lid on and placed the pot in the oven (approx 200C, hard to be sure on wood-burning stoves) for 4 hrs.







this certainly isn't a looker, but it was so tasty and actually better once it cooled to room temperature. dad said it needed salt, i hadn't added any while preparing thinking that there'd be salt in the bacon. this was so good on slightly dried rye bread, with some more butter!

the bones and what-not had melted into mush and though you can see the tiny fish bones, they were so tender that i didn't bother picking anything off, just spread it over the bread.







this big boy (a zander) got caught tuesday...







...and we had it for lunch yesterday, with warm german potato salad. some of my aunts and uncles were visiting at the cottage on tuesday, i made burgers with caramellized onions, the potato salad and crepe suzettes for dessert. and flambeed for the first time ever! and no one took any pictures of it! i was surprised as to how good the crepes actually are, i might have to make them again, soon...with pics.







there were plenty of left-over onions (picky eaters...), i decided to make an onion tart of them. i had caramellized a full kilo of thinly sliced yellow onions over low heat in "some" butter for an hour. as the filling was going to be smooth and soft (added some chanterelles and cream cheese to the onions) i wanted the crust to be little hardier.

i ended up using 6 dl all-purpose flour, 1 dl rye flour, 1 dl rolled oats (long cooking ones), 220 gr butter and one egg. first mixed the dry ingredients and butter, ideally that should be done with pastry blender but as there was none (and no machine) i used my fingers, and mixed in the egg. placed the dough in the fridge for an hour before rolling it, the placed the rolled dough in the fridge for another hour before blind-baking it for 20 mins in 200C oven. spread the filling (approx 4 dl in total) and baked for another 20 mins, for the last 5 mins oven turned off. could this be my own, very first pie crust recipe? i'm tempted to try adding more rye flour for a more robust flavor...







with green salad and tomatoes the tart made a nice late dinner.







the weather was acting up all day yesterday, rain and shine, rain and shine. around 6 pm it started raining again, heay, the rain got icy really fast, and i thought why this shower of hail didn't come on tuesday, we could have had ice in our drinks!







15 mins later all was quite and sunny again.

shy frog, and others

at the cottage, i took a walk yesterday morning with my mom, who almost stepped on this creature, poor thing, trying to hide behind tiny fingers...







a woodpecker was making noise up on a barren tree







these probably aren't edible like fiddleheads, but interesting shapes nevertheless.







on monday night, fog came pretty...







...fast, there's 15 mins between these pics.







over the weekend, the dog enjoying a brushing session...