my take on divan

anna olson's fresh is on tv again and as i don't have much to do in the afternoons i tend to watch it, when i rememeber it's on, that is. the other day anna was making a turkey divan. the dish looked interesting enough to try, since turkey isn't as readily available over here as it is in the US and canada, i decided to make one with chicken. i had not known that there is a dish called divan and that it is, in fact, usually make with chicken...live and learn.







i wanted my divan to have more veggies in it, so i added a carrot, spring onion and zucchini. didn't use bell pepper, i do like the taste but i get serious heartburn from it.







started by sauteeing the minced onion, cubed carrot and finely chopped stem of the broccoli (waste not...) in some rapeseed oil and butter for a few minutes before adding the flour.







then added 2 cups vegetable stock (no chicken stock in the pantry nor freezer), ½ cup grated swiss cheese, ½ cup white wine (certain someone's unfinished bottle), ½ cup cream and 2 tsp dijon mustard, ½ tsp dried thyme and some crushed black pepper.

i found out from several recipes that a divan dish usually has serious amounts of mayonnaise in it as well...like this one. not entirely a bad idea, but just calories you really don't need. i don't have anything against mayonnaise, but have it with something you can really taste it in, and not a whole cup (2,5 dl!)







i don't like mushy veggies, so i added the bite-size zucchini...







...and minced spring onion and parsley with chopped chicken (5 cutlets that i had browned earlier) to the pan and mixed well. turned off the heat but left the pan on the stove. some recipes suggest that you use any leftover chicken, or turkey, and why not? i guess you could even use tofu if you wanted to go vegetarian.







the broccoli got just a dip in boiling water, because boiled to oblivion broccoli is rather disgusting, i wanted it to still have some bite left when the dish came out of the oven.







after placing the quickly blanced broccoli in an oven dish, i poured the "sauce" on top...







...and added ½ cup grated cheese and 2 tbsp breadcrumbs mixture on top (left out the oil from anna's recipe).







20 mins in 200C oven and i had lunch. anna suggests that you serve this with either pasta or rice but i had it as is. i though that the added veggies made this a complete meal, but it would certainly feed more if served with pasta or rice. this batch fed certain someone and i twice with generous portions.







just because i haven't been posting (like, for ages) doesn't mean i've been idle (ahem...you might still be right if you thought that). i've been meaning to clean and organize the kitchen cupboards at the shack for the longest time. i figured that this type of cleaningn wouldn't include heavy lifting, the spice jars are light enough to manage with the left hand as well. this is the messy spice cabinet before...







...and after. i did go thru everything and tossed it if 2 yrs had gone since best-by date.







before shot of the canned goods fighting the machinery.







they look more at peace now...







while i was at it, i cleaned other cabinets as well. i did have to toss some items but not as much as i had feared. it's amazing how much more space there is when what you have is in order...sugars, nuts, teas and coffee here

so, SO bad for you

i'm still seriously debating with myself whether this cake was/is worth all the pain...it certaily is very delicious, but it's hard to enjoy it knowing what (and how much) went it. salted-caramel six-layer chocolate cake from the november issue of martha stewart living.







i started the baking on sunday, thinking that the machines would do all the work...yep, or not. here oiling bottoms of the pans so that the parchment paper doesn't go all over...something weird the pic you ask? waste not want not, that thingy is still very usable eventhough the handle decided to go its separate way.







...see?







i halved the recipe, which kinda seemed like a good idea, since the original recipe serves 12! not sure if the original batter would be as runny as my halved one...







...but i managed to get three somewhat equal thickness layers. this is a super moist cake, could be used with some other fillings as well.







i had never made caramel before...didn't burn myself and the candy thermometer really came handy (second time i've used it in...hmm...5 years).







just part of the butter that went into the caramel...sigh. and the baking stopped, until today that is. my wrist was screaming by the time i got the butter mixed in, so i figured it'd probably be a good idea to take a painkiller, the opiate kind. boy, was i wrong. went to bed, had nasty dreams, felt like throwing up and spent monday in bed in a state that resembled a very bad hangover. swore to myself to take all of those pills back to the pharmacy, i'm never going to use them up. the little masochist in me rather takes the pain than feels like puking all day long. oh, sorry if i spoiled your apetit for the cake!







this morning i took the caramel out of the fridge to "thaw" a bit...







...before speading it on the cake layers. i used 8" tins for the layers, probably should have gone with 6" tins, but the 6" ones i have aren't tall enough. i only got three layers, and a lot of left-over caramel.







the caramel was somewhat hard to spread, perhaps i could have warmed it a bit more.







the cake layers were very chocolaty, and frosting was even more so. i think next time i won't use the cocoa powder+water in the frosting.







the salt crystals on the frosting really hit the right spot. will i attempt baking again any time soon, like when the wrist is still on the mend? nope, unless certain someone wants to learn the fine art (which i don't see happening...). he might try a bread of some sort, though.

you know it's almost winter when...

the chimney sweeper comes for the yearly visit







you start using the fireplace again, to heat







you neighbour gets a new puppy. well, i guess they can do that any time of year, but this puppy is so cute...







time to change the tyres







start drinking the "remedies" to scare off the flu. 1 tsp of honey to one glass of ginger infused water, every morning, room temp. not sure if this helps, or me washing my hands a lot...avoiding other people might be the best way not to get a cold, perhaps not the easiest, though.







the dog starts sleeping indoors in the day time...







...very close to the chair anyone is sitting on







the roof of car looks like this in the morning







you wonder if the oregano can still be used...







...or the sage...







...and the thyme.







when the shadows are long and sun barely makes it above the horizon...







...and shines thru stuff.







you curse your lazy ass for not planting these last week when the ground wasn't frozen







when the water in the dog's water bowl is one solid piece of ice...

good riddance, and other things

yesterday, finally, i got rid of the cast. i snapped pictures of the x-rays taken before and after the surgery...the first one shows clearly what the problem was, besides the fact the there was no soft tissue in between the ulna and radius...







after...the doctor chiselled off the weird growth (that grew there in just 18 months, after the firt surgery). the ligament (sutured into a pillow-like form) taken from my thigh is now approx where the arrow is, filling that carved area. another doctor called this procedure "ambitious attemp" and asked what the back-up plan was...not sure how i should take that.

my doctor says it will take 6 months to determine whether this works, or not. the other procedure discussed was a scheker DRUJ prosthesis. obviously, i'm hoping this will have been the last surgery on the wrist, but it won't be a surprise if it wasn't...







the scars are no worse than before. the latest on the left, the one on the right is from 20 odd years ago. mobily in the wrist is ridiculous, getting a fork-load of food into my mouth is an effort. i'm doing exercises to remedy that problem.







a new little shop has been opened in the sello mall in espoo, it is called toivo. they sell mainly local and organic produce, and baked goods from small local bakery.







they have jams, jellies, juices, pastas, beans, nuts and such. i got organic whole wheat spelt spaghetti, hulled hemp seeds and maple syrup. hope the hemp seeds won't get me into trouble...







i still can't get over that the flowers are starting to bloom in mid-november!







i'm waiting for snow for the full moon pics to be more dramatic.







eternal begger, the dog