Gingerbread biscuits (piparit)

My friend Nina came over tonight and we made lentil soup and baked gingerbread biscuits (or pipareita, as they are called in Finnish). I confess, we cheated and used the ready-made pastry! But give me a break. It's a tough week and I'm short for time. I'll make it my mission to make gingerbread dough from scratch next Christmas.

Tähtitorttu - Finnish Christmas plum pastries

Christmas is only a few days away, but I've been so busy with other things this year that I haven't had time to get into the Christmas mood at all. No presents bought, twinkle lights remain hidden away in some closet, and so on. Tonight, however, I got a glimpse of that feeling. My friend Maria and I made Finnish Christmas star-shaped plum pastries. I wonder how we managed to eat them, considering they were preceded by double portions of risotto!

More Christmas spirit in store tomorrow: My friends Nina and Tina are coming over to make gingerbread cookies. Time to go cookie mould shopping...

PS. I am travelling soon to China for two weeks, where I won't be doing much cooking, but I'm hoping to post some culinary tidbits during the journey. When I get back in mid-January, it's back to Plenty and the daily delight of cooking!

Plenty: Lemon and aubergine risotto

By now I am ready to swear that the amount one cooks is directly proportional to one's stress levels and other measures of a good life. It's been a busy month in anticipation of a big day, which is now behind me. Christmas is approaching and friends are visiting home, hence lending one opportunities for communal cooking.

This evening my dear friend Maria came over. Maria is also a recent Ottolenghi convert. Together we tried a newbie from Plenty together: Lemon and aubergine risotto. Easy, fun, delicious. The recipe was for four, but we shamelessly finished it all between the two of us! Absolutely heavenly.

Lemon tart à la Välimäki

I was going to make lemon pudding but ended up making a lemon tart for the first time. It just so happens that the day before I was browsing Finnish chef Hans Välimäki's book Välimäki and came across this super rich but delicious looking recipe (amerikkalainen sitruunapiiras). And it really is rich: 5 eggs, 2dl of cream and lots of sugar. But who cares! Treats are treats. And this certainly was one. I love lemon desserts. They are sweet, yet tangy, fresh, and a little bitter, hence the perfect way to cut off and end a meal. I'll definitely be making this again!

Moroccan vegetable couscous

I love this meal for many reasons, not just for its wonderful flavours, but because it reminds me of my childhood. I usually make this with carrots, onions, leek, zucchini or pumpkin, chickpeas, red pepper and raisins. It's a feast of vegetable goodness cooked in with diced tomatoes and spices like cumin, coriander and tumeric.

Pumpkin lasagne

Last week I had lunch at Kiasma and they had a wonderful pumpkin lasagne, leaving both me and my lunch companion yearning for more. After some browsing online, I picked this recipe, minus the proscuitto. It took a while to make (about 2.5-3 hours from start to finish) because of all the oven roasting. You can cut a lot of the time by not making your own white sauce, though. Unlike the one at Kiasma, this one was super cheesy, filled with pecorino and taleggio (and yes, that thick white layer in the middle of the photo is indeed the taleggio). In fact this is probably the most cheesy lasagne I've ever eaten. It was delicious, but I'm not sure whether it beats the Kiasma version. I garnished my portion with thyme sprigs, which accentuated the sweetness of the pumpkin nicely.

Baked apple and oats with honey

I got this recipe from Noora Shingler's Marjoja ja maskaraa book on healthy living and have made it countless times in the last few months. Completely free of white sugar, it uses honey as a sweetener, and very little butter. Then it's just oats, apple, cinnamon, optional raisons and you're done. It's very easy and quick to make. Freshen it up with some ice cream on the side. By now my friends and colleagues know that I am a little obsessed with Aino's chocolate ice cream. I thought it went well with this too (of course...).

Spicy red lentil soup

Made a staple dinner tonight: red lentil soup with a whole host of gorgeous spices. It takes about 10 minutes to prepare and 15 minutes to cook, so very quick and easy, as well as healthy and delicious!

Breakfast: Eggs Benedict

This one speaks for itself.

Plenty: Leek fritters

I've been glancing longingly at the recipe for these Turkish-inspired leek fritters for a while. Leek pancakes - how could anyone say no? This takes a while to prepare, mainly because it entails chopping and frying a few things like leeks and shallots, plus there's a host of others things to measure out for the rest of the batter, like spices including cumin, coriander and cinnamon (!). I had a couple of unnecessary casualties too owing to my carelessness: I rubbed my eye with fingers after chopping chili (eyeball was on fire) and at some point i burned the tips of my thumbs (don't know when, but now they are a little sore and red). It was well worth all the physical pain though. These shot straight to at least my top 5 Ottolenghi recipes. The cinnamon in particular threw off the cumin, coriander and tumeric in a wonderful way. I don't think I'll make the sauce (greek yogurt, parsley, coriander, garlic, lemon juice) next time though. It was nice, but I think just a drizzle of lemon juice on top is a more refreshing way of enjoying these guys and their interesting flavours.

Plenty: Roasted parsnips and sweet potatoes with caper vinaigrette

To not have cooked properly for a week has been a sad deprivation. It's already November 10th and this is my first blog entry for the month. Sinful. I've been busy meeting friends, attending plays and other events lately, and diverting as they were, I've missed my glorious long evenings at home cooking, reading and listening to music. Tonight, though, I got back on track and made Roasted parsnips and sweet potatoes with caper vinaigrette from Plenty. Do I need to mention what a great success this was? It was heavenly. Again the photo doesn't do any credit to the flavours of this meal. Parsnips, sweet potatoes, red onions, garlic and cherry tomatoes are roasted with olive oil, salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme. After about two hours when they're ready the vegetables are covered with the dressing, made with lemon juice, dijon mustard, olive oil, maple syrup (!), capers, salt, and topped with sesame seeds. It's a feast.

Plenty: Very full tart

I've been waiting for the right time to do this. Ottolenghi's Very full tart is easy, but takes a while to prepare since there are lots of vegetables to roasted (red and yellow paprika, aubergine, sweet potato, courgette, cherry tomato, plus onion, fried) on top of baking the tart. It took a little longer too because I made my own shortcrust pastry, since they don't sell ready-made savoury ones in Finland. It was easy enough to make oneself though. So, once the pie crust and vegetables were roasted, they were covered with ricotta and feta, and egg whipped with double cream. Mamma mia. Yes it is a very full and very rich tart. But again, Ottolenghi delivers! The key is precisely in the slow oven-roasting that gives the vegetables a wonderful sweetness. Divine.

Plenty: The ultimate winter couscous

Ultimate suggests maximality, fundamentality, extremity, the utmost of a given something. So to claim something is the ultimate this or that is no light assertion. Ottolenghi delivers again, though. This is the ultimate winter couscous if there ever was one. Carrots, parsnips, pumpkin, chickpeas, dried apricots and shallots are roasted in the oven with lots of heavenly spices (including cinnamon sticks and star anise) and olive oil. Harissa and preserved lemon peel are added later. The couscous is perhaps the most precious yet, laced with saffron. The richness of flavours is astounding. I'll be making this again on a cold night this winter. Thanks goes out again to my darling neighbours, for the pumpkin.

Lasagne al funghi e zucchine

Tonight I put together this lasagne using the last batch of zucchini from my neighbours' country plot and some portobello and button mushrooms, with marjoram and the usual red and white sauce. It was light on the cheese, with only parmesan accompanying the white sauce, and garnishing the top. Was the perfect way to stuff one's face on a cold autumn's Saturday night.

Plenty: Baby poached vegetables with caper mayonnaise

This didn't sound so exciting on the page but delivered just as beautifully as the other Plenty recipes. Baby vegetables with caper mayonnaise however was delightful surprise, thanks yet again to my neighbours, who provided me with the season's last batch of baby vegetables from their country plot - carrots, potatoes and turnips. I also bought some baby corn and baby asparagus and fennel to poach.

The poaching liquid is sublime: mostly white wine, with generous portions of lemon juice and olive oil, plus bay leaves, celery, onion and salt thrown in. My attempt at the caper mayonnaise failed; perhaps I didn't mix long enough since the mayonnaise failed to go thick (as you can see from the picture: sadly runny). Still, it tasted wonderful, made with white wine vinegar, garlic, lemon juice and zest, dijon mustard, egg yolk, salt and chopped capers.

I'l definitely be making this again. The vegetables were poached so that they were cooked but still crunchy, and the poaching liquid more than did justice to all the flavours of the little guys. Heaven. For a vegan version, leave out the mayo - the veggies are still good :)

Hummus

I had an earlier post on hummus with ful, but I've been making hummus so often since without the ful to stuff into my lunch sandwiches that I thought hummus deserved the honour of it's own entry too. So here it is. So easy to make, so cheap, so delicious and healthy. That's paprika sprinkled over the top as a garnish. Gonna go have some now...

Rum raisin chocolates

To help my colleague celebrate the publication of his new book at work over sparkling wine, I made some rum raisin chocolates. I got the recipe from my friend Metti, who in turn got it from her French friend, which is why I like to think of these as French, though they don't really have a nationality. They're very easy to make: melt some coconut butter, add the dark chocolate, let it melt, then mix in crushed nuts (almond or hazelnut for example) and the raisins that have marinated for at least 3 hours in rum (or cognac). Then the melty mix is poured into a dish and tossed into the freezer until it has hardended, after which it can be cut into bitesize pieces. Mmmm.

Larousse gastronomique

Made a surpise find today at Stockmann's Hullut päivät sale: a beautiful soft covered edition of the classic Larousse Gastronomique for just 9 euros. No kitchen shelf is complete without it. I guess mine is now.

Goat's cheese, spinach and lingonberry salad

Nothing special this time, just a mixed salad of random leftovers I could find my fridge: lettuce and spinach, chevre, two kinds of cherry tomatoes, avocado, and topped with lingonberries, olive oil, salt, pepper and a small splash of balsamic. Voilà, leftover dinner salad.

Mushroom lasagne

The other day my friend Maria generously gave me half a kilo of funnel chantrelles she picked. I saw it as another opportunity to - that's right - tackle another Plenty recipe. I went for the mushroom lasagne prepared with no less than four different cheeses: ricotta, Gruyère, mozzarella and Parmesan. It's the first time I've done lasagne from a recipe, or this elaborately, making my own béchamel sauce too, which was so easy that I don't understand why I didn't make it myself before. I made half a portion, which was still enough for at least 3 people. And like Ottolenghi suggested, I enjoyed it with green salad, with avocados and cherry tomatoes. Finally, one more big thank you to Maria. I am so happy to have such lovely and thoughtful friends!

Plenty project: Tomato party

The ankle is still out of action but after yesterday's pumpkin success, I'm back in action on the foodie front. Today I made the simple, easy, fresh and delicious "Tomato party" recipe from Ottolenghi. Half of the tomatoes are roasted in the oven with olive oil, brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper, then thrown in with couscous, cherry tomatoes of all colours, tarragon, mint, oregano, garlic and more olive oil, salt and pepper. Too easy. I think I need to send Yotam some fanmail. How would he like Finnish salmiakki, I wonder?

Plenty project: Crusted pumpkin wedges with soured cream

A busy week coupled with a sprained ankle limiting by ability to tour food shops has kept my cooking quite tame this past week. This weekend I did however try a new recipe from Plenty. Because it's the season for them, I did a pumpkin recipe before it's too late. A pumpkin is sliced into thin wedges, then topped with olive oil and a thick coat composed of a mix of parmesan, white bread crumbs, garlic, parsley, thyme, lemon zest and salt, then tossed into the oven for a half an hour. Served with soured cream, mixed with dill, salt and pepper. I have to admit that this has been my least favourite Plenty food. I've spoiled myself rotten, to be honest, since this was very tasty, but didn't incite the same overwhelming feelings of gluttony as the others I've tried. Maybe it was the soured cream? I think it was a little unnecessary, a little too rich. I tried some of the lefovers later and the pumpkin wedges, in my opinion, tasted much better at room temperature than warm out of the oven. Anyway, thank you Yotam for a lovely autumn dinner.

NEXT DAY UPDATE: I had the leftovers for dinner tonight. Oh. my. god. They were heavenly. I take back all the doubts expressed above. I am so making these again before pumpkin season ends!

Plenty project: Sweet potato wedges with lemongrass crème fraîche

Part 3/3 of Saturday's dinner: Ottolenghi's Sweet potato wedges with lemongrass crème fraîche. These were divine. The sweet potatoes in Finland are almost always enormous, so they roasted, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled salt, and cumin, for about an hour in the oven rather than O's 30 minutes. Divine! The lemongrass crème fraîche was really the pièce de resistance. Try resisting crème fresh mixed with lemongrass, lime zest and juice, fresh root ginger and salt. (Side note: My crème fraîche mysteriously vanished somewhere between Stockmann and my kitchen, so I used quark instead, and it came out great.)

So in sum, you can imagine that after stuffing our faces with sweet potato wedges, mushroom omlette and quinoa salad, we needed a a bit of a breather. But we both concurred that it was quite a feast :)

Tonight another friend is coming over to make hummus with ful. Welcome friends! My kitchen awaits your excellent company and famished appetites.

Salla's black trumpet and porcini omlette

My friend Salla brought over some wild mushrooms - porcini and black trumpets - she picked in the country and made us an omlette to go with Ottolenghi's other treats. She fried the mushrooms with a red onion, chopped, and whipped the eggs together with some quark and parsley. Wonderfully autumnful! And topped with fresh parsley for a spark of freshness. Kiitos, Salla!

Plenty project: Avocado, quinoa and broad bean salad

Last night my friend and I had a feast. We made Ottolenghi's avocado, quinoa and broad bean salad, as well as his sweet potato wedges with lemongrass crème fraiche, and my friend's own wild mushroom omlette. Here's the first of them, the salad. And may I begin by saying that this is incredibly delicious and healthy. 20% of the calories in quinoa come from protein alone -- that's just as much as meat, but without all the fat and cholesterol. Great start. Throw the in Vitamin C of the juice of 2 lemons, all the vitamins and nutrients and good fats of an avocado, Vitamin A and protein from the broad beans, the antioxidants, minerals and fibres of the radishes, and garlic -- well, that's a classic goodie. Not only was this healthy and divinely tasty, but it was also beautiful, thanks also to the red basil. It was really easy to make, and leaves you feeling full, but light and energetic. Ottolenghi recommends it for brunch, served with good bread.

Quark with strawberries and muesli

Berry season is well over in Finland by now. The time has come to dig into the summer's yield of berries in my freezer. For the last couple of mornings I've bought quark and blitzed it with melted strawberries until it looks like all-bubblegum pink as below. Then I pile some self-made muesli, or Alara's organic muesli (which I've done lately due to laziness), mix and enjoy it all over the morning paper.

Slow roasted tomatoes

I picked off this recipe from Gwyenth Paltrow's GOOP site. I make it whenever I find cherry tomatoes on the vine for a decent price. Though any vine-ripened tomatoes will do, cherry tomatoes are just a wee bit sweeter. In addition to halved tomatoes, all you need is olive oil, salt, pepper, and about 3 hours of doing something around the house while the tomatoes ripen in the oven (at 130-150C). The tomatoes are ready when the skin has curled well at the edges and the tomatoes have lost a good deal of their volume. I've enjoyed them as Gwyneth does, with mozzarella and fresh basil, but I've also had them with pasta and tossed them into salads. Most of this batch will be enriching my pitta bread lunches this week, accompanied by avocado, cucumber, lettuce and homemade hummus.

Plenty project: Mushroom and herb polenta

To my delight, my friend Mira bought Ottolenghi's Plenty after reading my blog and hearing praise about the book from another friend. Last week we made a Plenty cooking date - the first of many to come, I hope! Mushroom season has arrived in Finland, and Mira had some freshly picked chantrelle mushrooms. I had polenta (courtesy of my wonderful neighbours who brought it straight from Italy) and joining forces, we decided to make the Mushroom and herb polenta recipe. It was heavenly! To my surprise, Mira had even managed to find Taleggio at Stockmann's Herkku food halls. The outcome was hearty and delicious. Especially when a little cooler, the parmesan-butter-rosemary flavoured polenta plus the herbs in the mushrooms really stood out, as did the Taleggio cheese. I'll definitely be making this again come winter, when one longs for a heavier and cosier yet replenishing meal. Thanks also goes out to Mira's partner Valtteri for his excellent skills in polenta stirring!

Sweet potato and carrot soup

A simple soup that I picked out of a magazine last spring. Too easy. Just boil 1kg of sweet potato and 3 carrots all in chunks in a litre of water with a cute of vegetable stock until they are soft. Then puree it all and flavour with 1/2 teaspoon of ground giner, 1 teaspoon of curry and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Garnish with parsley. Non-vegans can add a dollop of sour cream on top too. I tend to toast some Finnish archipelago bread and dip it into the soup. Spicey bread for spicey soup.

My brother's demon pasta

The other night I was exhausted and short on time so my brother volunteered to make a pasta for dinner. When I arrived, there was a splendorous smell in the air. Not only had he made food, but also a much loved starter: fried halloumi, now served with sliced plum cherry tomatoes and basil. I don't know why but the basil leaves a bizarrely great after taste reminiscent of gingerbread...

After enjoying the halloumi (as fresh off the pan as possible, before it goes all rubbery - I hate that!) were having spaghetti with red pesto, red onions, green and black olives, and cherry tomatoes, with grated parmesan on top. A quick demon mix of things he found in the fridge.

Plenty project: Burnt aubergine with tahini

I've been glancing at page 122 with longing since I made Lentils with grilled aubergine. The aubergine for Burnt aubergine with tahini is prepared in the same way: the aubergine is held directly over the flame of the gas cooker and turned around until it is totally deflated and the skin is burnt all over. After that the smokey-smelling flesh is scooped out and left to drain. This time we mix in water, tahini, pomegranate molasses (which I couldn't find and replaced with a 1:1 ration of lemon juice and honey), garlic, salt and pepper, parsley, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, and garnished with extra virgin olive oil, pepper and pomegranate seeds.

It was the first time a seeded a pomegranate so I turned to YouTube for some help. I found a fantastic video of a Persian woman using her aunt's method for seeding a pomegranate. Unlike all the other videos featuring an awful mess and splashings of water in a bowl, this woman works her magic by making some shallow slits into the pomegranate shell. It was very easy and worked well even for a beginner like me.

Macarons, served

The first macaron, oozing with lemon curd:

The first bite of the first macaron. Nice and full on the inside with a pleasant chewy texture moistened by the lemon curd:

Macarons: Baking

This afternoon I made maracons, the subject of many urban kitchen legends. As I wrote in my earlier post, I used the Italian meringue method, which entails heating the sugar and water to 120C before slowly stirring it into the beaten egg-whites. This part wasn't so easy. I soon discovered that it can turn into a disaster very quickly if you let the syrup go even a little above 120C. I found my heartbreaking when all of the sudden my precious 24h-old eggwhites were squandered as the sugar turned brown and hardened into a big lump. No, one cannot make macarons from baseball-like lump of sugar hard enough to break a window. So I started that process from scratch.

In the end, I managed to get everything mixed and form some sorts of circles on my baking sheet (above). It was the longest 10 minutes of my life waiting for the first batch to be done. They didn't come out as beautiful as I had hoped, but pretty enough, and as I discovered later after patting some lemon curd between two halves, they were very chewy and lovely tasting. Success in some department, at least! The second batch, however, was a complete disaster, even though they were from the same dough. The only thing might be a slight fluctuation in temperature (to 190C) by my moody gas oven, or that the baking tray was different, made of a more heavy metal as opposed to the aluminium tray used for the first batch. Who knows. The other general problem was the food colouring. For some reason the macarons did not come out as yellow as they should have, but were more cream coloured (though in the photos below they are fine, thanks to some editing...). Did they get too toasted on top? Too little colouring? Again, these are the mysteries of macaron baking that few know the answers to.

Next time I'll give the French method a whirl. This wasn't so bad, but was a little stressful. I am happy with the result, though I have some way to go before I can boast my macaron skills.

Macarons: Preparations

This week I will try making macarons for the first time. Friends say that they are quite simple to make, but require patience and precision. There's also the question of whether to make it with the 'Italian' or 'French' method of meringue preparation. I have recipes for both, and am oddly attracted to the more complicated (but apparently also fool-proof) Italian method. Here's a baking blog with recipes for both and an explanation of the difference between the two methods (in Finnish).

I went supply hunting today. All I really needed was a proper decorator bag and a tip for it. I got the tip and a reusable, machine-washable (!) bag from Kokkipuoti, hands-down the most beautiful and well-equipped cooking utensil shop in Helsinki. I also got some yellow food-colouring powder. The remaining ingredients I got from the Herkku foodshop; organic sugar, organic eggs, and this 'luxurious' lemon curd. Yes, you guessed it, I'm making yellow lemon curd-filled macarons.

Blog after blog recommends letting the egg-whites sit in room temperature for 24-48h before baking. I'm not taking any chances! Tomorrow then we'll see how it all works out. Miserable failure or jubiliant success?

Plenty project: Hummus with ful

Tonight I made another Plenty recipe by Ottolenghi: Hummus with ful. I'd heard that making hummus isn't really difficult, but I had never heard of ful. Still, I braved my uncertainties to prepare this meal, wonderfully simple yet overwhelming in its strong flavours. I soaked the chickpeas overnight, and after boiling them for a couple of hours this afternoon, added tahini, lemon juice, garlic and salt, plus some of the boiling liquid and voilà, hummus is born. A lot of it. So much that my brother said that we could just make a cake out of it all. Or fill a hundred pitta breads. Next, the ful, which was even easier: broad beans, olive oil, lemon juice, cumin, garlic. There was no photo in Plenty, but in the Guardian blog photo, the ful is just as much a paste as the hummus, though in the instructions Ottolenghi doesn't say anything about putting that through the food processor. With some googleing I got the impression that one does indeed serve the beans as beans, disintegrated a little from cooking, so that's what I did. I also left out the onion to serve as well as the egg.

Below you can see my plate, with the hummus spread at the bottom, topped with the ful, some extra olive oil and lemon juice, then garnished with ground paprika and parsley. I also served it with toasted pitta bread. Heavenly! The lemon juice and garlic come through especially strongly thanks to the ful. One plate was enough, it was so filling.

As I keep repeating, it's a simple meal, as well as very nutritious; fibre, zinc and protein from the chick peas, iron, magnesium, manganese, copper, and calcium from the tahini (sesame seeds), broad beans help prevent diseases like Parkinson's and control high blood pressure, plus loads of Vitamin C and calcium from lemon juice, and all the familiar benefits of garlic.

Paccheri alle zucchine

Today I used the last of the giant zucchinis grown by my neighbours. I made this first a year ago and it's an easy and reliable dish from Aglio & Olio. First you finely dice zucchini and onions and toss them in the frying pan with plenty of olive oil. Once they become golden and juicy and lose their volume, you add cherry tomatoes, chopped into quarters, and once they start to lose their shape a little, a bunch of finely chopped basil and parsely, plus salt and pepper according to taste. The recipe is made for paccheri, but I couldn't get any from the shop today so I used its little cousin rigatone instead. Grate some parmesan on top and your done. For the vegan version, leave out the parmesan.

Plenty project: Warm glass noodles and edamame beans

I finally started my summer holiday - a little late, I know, but better late than never. I spent a bit of my first day of vacation to hunt for ingredients for my next Plenty dish: Warm glass noodles and edamame beans (recipe here). Surprisingly, a majority of them were available from my local supermarket. Glass noodles, though, were only in one of five shops (Stockmann), and not cheap. (Note to self: it's really time to do that excursion to Hakaniemi's ethnic food shops).

The dish, composed of a wonderful collection of ingredients, including root ginger, lime juice, and fresh red pepper, is delightfully fresh. I had fun trying out some new ones, like palm sugar and tamarind paste. The result was a beautifully fresh dinner. Ottolenghi suggests adding tofu or roasted peanuts to make the meal more hefty, but in my opinion it was already perfectly filling, leaving you feeling full but lightly so. It was one of the those foods that, though I was full, I kept eating just because it was so good... and I still don't feel like falling over! Anyway, I highly recommend this to anyone since it is impossible not to marvel at such deliciously warm freshness. It's also very healthy; edamame beans are packed with protein and Omega-3, amongst other things. Not to mention the goodness from the ginger, lime, and sesame seeds...

Salad with parmesan, fresh herbs and pine nuts

Usually when I need a salad to accomany a main course, I end up making this, my favourite, because it is so fresh and flavoursome. And so easy and quick. First I tear up some lettuce - one or two varieties is enough - and add in some fresh leaves of rocket and basil I then chop some cucumber, shave some parmesan and toss in some pine nuts (which can be roasted on a frying pan beforehand, time permitting). I then mix all of these in a bowl, then toss them with some extra virgin olive oil, a small splash of balsamic vinegar, and sea salt and freshly ground peper to taste. Like any lettuce-based salad, serve immediately after adding the dressings, since it goes flat and wilty soon.

Goodie basket

My neighbours came home today from a three week holiday stint at their country house. I gave them some of the sourdough bread I baked yesterday, but what I got in return by far outweighs what I gave. I got a whole basket full of fresh (and needless to say, organic) vegetables and other goodies straight from their own land. Have I got some great cooking ahead of me this week! The basket contained two enormous zucchinis (weighing 2kg and 1.4kg), beans, carrots, onions, new potatoes, basil, coriander, lettuce, plus blackcurrants and redcurrants, a jar of home-grown and made rhubarb chutney, and a package of organic barley. I am thrilled. And feeling incredibly lucky and thankful to have such generous neighbours. Here's a peek at the contents...

The goodie basket - monster zucchinis peeking out

Zucchini, lettuce, basil

New potatoes, beans, carrots, onion, lettuce

Barley, blackcurrants, redcurrants, rhubarb chutney

Sourdough bread loaf #2

The second loaf came out beautifully. I pressed it down to make it a little flatter, and took it out a little earlier so the surface came out beautifully golden all over (i.e. no burnt edges). I'm folding both loaves away now to rest overnight. What a day!

Sourdough bread loaf #1

A peek of the first loaf. One side is a little burnt, but otherwise I am happy with the result. I was so worried it would be a disaster. The crust is rock-hard, but I was a little naughty and cut through a little bit on the side, and to my relief the loaf is nice and cushiony on the inside.

Baking day for sourdough bread

Today I've been caring for my sourdough baby, getting it ready for baking. First thing in the morning I took my sourdough starter and added the flour, water and salt to make the dough. It's been a day of patient waiting and mixing now and then. At one point my mixer overheated and went kaputt. With smoke slowly rising from the poor overworked machine, I had to sort out the fuses that had gone elsewhere in the incident (including the light to my bathroom, the fridge and computer), and somehow keep up the pace, now mixing the dough by hand. Later I fetched my mother's Kenwood mixer and finished off the mixing with that. What a day. The dough is now resting for a final four hours before baking, giving me just enough time to prepare and eat dinner (making baked butter beans).

Zucchini and parsley quiche

Last summer my neighbours brought me enormous zucchinis from their garden in the country. By enormous I mean that they were at least the size of my arm from elbow to finger tip, and weighed at least a couple of kilos. I jumped at the opportunity of learning to make all sorts of new dishes with zucchini, including this lovely quiche, a simple one with just zucchini, fried onions and parsley, but delicious. Toss a nice salad on the side to get your greens and voilà, dinner! The season is upon us again, so this month will probably also see a revival of some of the pasta dishes that I fell for last year.

Plenty project: Royal potato salad

Plenty project, recipe #2. While new potatoes are still in season, it is imperative to try Ottolenghi's Royal Potato Salad. First, you make the pesto base (garlic, basil, parsley, pine nuts, parmesan and olive oil), then add freshly boiled new potatoes and peas, mint, white wine vinegar, salt and pepper, and you're done! So easy and so delicious. Ottolenghi also folds in some boiled quail's eggs, but those can be left out too if you ask me. I served a fist-sized portion of this on top of a large bed of lettuce, and it was a very filling meal. A great summer food, ideal for picnics or the like. The leftovers also made a perfect lunch the next day.