check our cityguide www.fieldreport.net
things I see www.urbanfields.net
Is there anything better than a bowl of salty edamame? I always ordered them in japanese restaurants, but had no
clue what I was eating was actually soybeans. I found out this spring, more or less the same time I discovered that Zollinger is selling soy seeds.
This April I'll started the experiment of growing my own edamame. Wasn't too difficult, only next time I'll have to plant 10 times as much :-)
Cooked in very salty water - delicous!
3 big courgette plants in the garden means courgettes almost every day. This is a dish I could eat almost daily these days. Even better it's easy and fast.
puff pastry
2-3 medium size courgettes
1 small onion
a pack of feta cheese
1 bunch of fresh mint
some black olives
Fry the onion in a dash of olive oil. Add the finely cut courgettes fry for an other 3-5 minutes. Season. Take of the heat and add the feta cheese, the olives and the chopped mint. Roll out the dough, fill the pie and bake for 15 minutes or until slightly brown.
Serve with fresh green salad.
Our garden is in full blossom now. So many courgettes I don't know what to cook with them any more. We probably will have to start eating the flowers too - fried in batter a l'italienne.
Today I could also harvest the first beetroot and carrots. Soon the berries are ripe too.
What a lovely time of the year.
An other veggie day today. Again adapted from jamies italian cookbook. A stew of fave beans, peas, spinach, leek and artichokes.
Cook you artichokes, preferably small violet ones, take off the outer leaves cut into half's and take out thin white "hair". Blanch your fave beans in salted water for 1 minutes, then blanch the leek for 3-4 minutes, and then the spinach. You can do this in the same boiling water, using a big spoon. Boil the peas in broth for ten minutes.
MIx all together and cook on low heat for 10minutes. Add a good handful of chopped parsley and fresh mint. Season with salt, pepper and a dash of good olive oil.
Eventually you can add some lemon zest or smokes ham or tuna, that could be nice too.
Serve mixed with fresh pasta.
In Sardinia again, she is not eating fish, I'm not eating meat it seems this is unintended vegetarian holiday.
At least till the weather is good enough to start the grill.
In summer we don't get much nice veggies here but it's spring now we can buy things like artichokes, asparagus and most of all fave - my all time favorite vegetable.
Yesterday we tried this very nice Melanzane parmiggiana oven dish from jamies italian cookbook.
3 eggplants
Olivoil
1 onion peeled and cut
1 garlic glove finely sliced
1 tsp dried oregano
800 gr ripe tomatoes deseeded and skinned or tinned ones
sea salt and black pepper
Little wine vinegar
1 handful fresh basil
4 handful fresh grated parmigiano
2 handful bread crumbs mixed with a little fresh oregano
Slice the eggplants (1cm slices). Make a tomato sauce with the onion, oregano, garlic and the tomatoes and let it simmer for 10 - 20 minutes.
Grill the eggplants, preferably on a grill or a grill pan without using olive oil.
In a ovenproof dish layer the ingredients starting with the tomato sauce, followed by little parmigiano, and then the eggplants. Continue in this order. Finish with a good handful of parmigiano and the bread crumbs.
Cook for 30min in the preheated oven ( 190° ).
Jamies italy is an inspiring cookbook. Quite a few simple and fast dishes that can be done , even if one, once again, comes home to late from the beach or the playground or the garden or... What I always like with jamies recipes that they give you a basic idea with which you can play around and make your own dish.
Spring is good. Last night I made myself this very quick and very tasty salad. The asparagus and the radish are from our allotment. First harvest this spring.
I don't have cress in the garden but at the moment I really like it I so probably sow some tomorrow. Supposed to be good in keeping the slugs away too.
Luke warm potatoes peeled, radish, some spring onions greens, a horse radish sour cream dressing , an organic trout filet, some cress and some lemon zest - voilà. Fresh and light and delicious.
Decorate with one asparagus the rest eat with salt pepper, lemon and mayonnaise if you like ( I do ).
The season only started we will eat so much more :-)
This is probably the most beautiful veggie of all. Sorry sorry I don't want to be mean to all you beautiful carrots, potatoes and such. You know it's the intrinsic values that count, and this radish certainly is not the best veggie of all. Though, served with a pinch of salt, fresh lemon juice and olive oil it makes a nice apéro. Of course it also a nice addition to any salad. I probably should try to roll it into sushi once.
I not so good in soups. Or at least not as good as I would like to be. I can do nice minestrone type of soupes. But I always make them the same way. I definitely lack fantasy and I don't have a good book. But I love soups especially vegetable soups.
Inspired by a post on 101 cookbooks I tried Heidis Borccoli soup. It's delicious, fast and they way I like soups.
croutons
5-6 ounce chunk of artisan whole wheat bread, torn into little pieces (less than 1-inch), roughly 3 cups total
1/4 cup butter or olive oil (I like 1/2 and 1/2)
1 1/2 tablespoons whole grain mustard
1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
soup:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter or olive oil
1 shallot, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large potato, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch cubes (1 1/2 cups)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 1/2 cups light, good-tasting vegetable broth
1 large head of broccoli (12 ounces or 3/4 lb.), cut into small florets
2/3 cup freshly grated aged Cheddar, plus more for topping
1 - 3 teaspoons whole grain mustard, to taste
smoked paprika, more olive oil, creme fraiche (optional)
Preheat your oven to 350F degrees and place the torn bread in a large bowl. In a small saucepan heat the butter until it has melted. Whisk the mustard and salt into the butter and pour the mixture over the bread. Toss well, then turn the bread onto a baking sheet and bake for 10 - 15 minutes, or until the croutons are golden and crunchy. Toss them once or twice with a metal spatula along the way.
While the croutons are toasting, melt the butter (or olive oil) in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in the shallots, onion, and a big pinch of salt. Saute for a couple minutes. Stir in the potatoes, cover, and cook for about four minutes, just long enough for them to soften up a bit. Uncover, stir in the garlic, then the broth. Bring to a boil, taste to make sure the potatoes are tender, and if they are stir in the broccoli. Simmer just long enough for the broccoli to get tender throughout, 2 - 4 minutes.
Immediately remove the soup from heat and puree with an immersion blender. Add half the cheddar cheese and the mustard (a little bit a a time). If you are going to add any creme fraiche, this would be the time to do it. Now add more water or broth if you feel the need to thin out the soup at all. Taste and add more salt if needed.
Serve sprinkled with croutons, some toasted pumpkin seeds, the remaining cheese, a drizzle of olive oil, and a tiny pinch of smoked paprika.
We accompanied it with baked chèvre on red chicorino salad - yummy!
Stefan made this lovely soup for us the other day.
Tomato aromatico
Preheat the oven on 180 °. Cook slowly for approximately 1 hour till the oil starts to take on the scent of the tomatoes.
Meanwhile fry an onion and a little garlic, add the bread crumbs, add 1 tin of pelati, some withe wine and some water.
Let it simmer for 10 minutes. Add the tomato aromatico and chopped fresh basil leaves. And cook for an other 10 minutes.
Season.
Beat 1 egg yolk and add 2 tbs acceto balsamico.
Serve with a bit of the acceto mixture and a basil leave on top.
We served it with freshly made focaccia.
