Report from a vacation, part 2: Special food edition!
Where did the time go? I'm going back to work again on Monday, hopefully rested enough to deal with more stupid customers. Mom and Dad came home from Naples earlier this week and had brought me wine. They know me so well! Stupid!cat spent all day yesterday catching the same field mouse and bringing it into the house where he proceeded to chase it all around the hall. We got hold of the poor little thing and released it into the wild, and stupid!cat hurried after it to catch it all over again.
I'm ending my vacation with a bang. Tomorrow, I'm heading out to a friends' cabin for our annual barbecue party! Plenty of good food, probably a little too much to drink, many many strange conversations and a whole lot of laughing. Yay!
You might have noticed by now that I like to cook. What you probably don't know is that sometimes, I tend to cook obsessively. Once I get started, I just can't stop! Today was one of those days. I'm sure my friends will appreciate it tomorrow...
(I use European measurements. You can find a pretty good converter here. Please forgive my poor translations...)
I started out by making dessert. While I was housesitting for my parents, I noticed that the redcurrants were ripe in the garden so I made sure to bring some with me home. They got turned into pie!
Redcurrant Meringue Pie
1 pie, 8 pieces.
Crust
125 g butter
3 dl flour
1/2 dl sugar
1 egg yolk
Filling
2 dl custard
6 dl redcurrants
3/4 dl sugar
1 1/2 msk potato starch flour
Meringue
2 egg whites
1 1/4 dl sugar
1. Mix the ingredients to the crust and spread in a pie pan. Put it in the fridge for 30 min.
2. Rinse and clean the redcurrants. Put them in a saucepan, sprinkle sugar and potato starch flour on top. Heat while stirring until it's thickened. Put aside to cool.
3. Heat oven to 200 degrees C. Bake the crust in the lower half of the oven for 10 min. Take the pan out and lower the temperature to 175 degrees.
4. Spread custard over the bottom of the crust and spread the redcurrants on top.
5. Whisk the eggwhites until they've turned into a firm, white foam. Add the sugar a little at a time, while whisking, until it's ready. (You should be able to turn the bowl upside down without anything spilling out.)
6. Spread the meringue on top of the redcurrants. Put the pie into the oven and bake for about 15 min, until it's turned golden brown.
Yummy pie! (In the background are the mint and the limes that will be turned into many many mojitos tomorrow.)
Once I was done with the pie, I still felt like baking, so I decided to make some bread.
Focaccia
Dough
7 dl flour
25 g yeast
3 dl water
1 tsk salt
1 msk olive oil
Topping
Olive oil
Salt flakes
Whatever you feel like...
1. Put the yeast in a bowl. Heat the water until finger warm, 37 degrees C. (If you use dry yeast, like I do, the water should be a little warmer - about 40 degrees.) Pour the water over the yeast and stir until it's dissolved.
2. Add salt, oil and flour and mix the dough. It should be pretty sticky. Cover the bowl and let it rise for 40 min.
3. Spread the dough in a big, flat pan and let it rise for another 35 min. Heat the oven to 225 degrees C.
You can use pretty much anything you want for toppings. I decided to go with marinated sundried tomatoes and garlic, fresh rosemary, and a little leftover mozarella.
4. Make little holes with your fingertips and spread the toppings over the bread. Sprinkle with olive oil and salt flakes.
This is what the Focaccia looks like before going into the oven.
5. Bake for about 15 min. (You may need to adjust the time depending on the size and shape of your pan. My Focaccia had to bake for over 20 minutes before it was done.)
Done! Depending on which toppings you choose, this bread can be served either as a side dish, as this one is supposed to be, or as a meal all on its own, if you decide to put meat or cheese or vegetables on it.
I also prepared a few things for tomorrow morning. For example, I'm going to marinate mushrooms in some olive oil, lemon juice and fresh thyme and then put them on the grill. I'm also going to make Tzatziki with strained yogurt, cucumbers, some salt and pepper and a lot of garlic.
Last year, I prepared a melon salad that I've been asked to make again. It's made from fresh watermelon in little bits, feta cheese, chopped red onions, fresh mint and with a sprinkle of balsamic vinegar on top. It's especially good with spicy food.
Now my only problem is that I won't get to eat any of this until tomorrow...
I'm ending my vacation with a bang. Tomorrow, I'm heading out to a friends' cabin for our annual barbecue party! Plenty of good food, probably a little too much to drink, many many strange conversations and a whole lot of laughing. Yay!
You might have noticed by now that I like to cook. What you probably don't know is that sometimes, I tend to cook obsessively. Once I get started, I just can't stop! Today was one of those days. I'm sure my friends will appreciate it tomorrow...
(I use European measurements. You can find a pretty good converter here. Please forgive my poor translations...)
I started out by making dessert. While I was housesitting for my parents, I noticed that the redcurrants were ripe in the garden so I made sure to bring some with me home. They got turned into pie!
Redcurrant Meringue Pie
1 pie, 8 pieces.
Crust
125 g butter
3 dl flour
1/2 dl sugar
1 egg yolk
Filling
2 dl custard
6 dl redcurrants
3/4 dl sugar
1 1/2 msk potato starch flour
Meringue
2 egg whites
1 1/4 dl sugar
1. Mix the ingredients to the crust and spread in a pie pan. Put it in the fridge for 30 min.
2. Rinse and clean the redcurrants. Put them in a saucepan, sprinkle sugar and potato starch flour on top. Heat while stirring until it's thickened. Put aside to cool.
3. Heat oven to 200 degrees C. Bake the crust in the lower half of the oven for 10 min. Take the pan out and lower the temperature to 175 degrees.
4. Spread custard over the bottom of the crust and spread the redcurrants on top.
5. Whisk the eggwhites until they've turned into a firm, white foam. Add the sugar a little at a time, while whisking, until it's ready. (You should be able to turn the bowl upside down without anything spilling out.)
6. Spread the meringue on top of the redcurrants. Put the pie into the oven and bake for about 15 min, until it's turned golden brown.
Yummy pie! (In the background are the mint and the limes that will be turned into many many mojitos tomorrow.)
Once I was done with the pie, I still felt like baking, so I decided to make some bread.
Focaccia
Dough
7 dl flour
25 g yeast
3 dl water
1 tsk salt
1 msk olive oil
Topping
Olive oil
Salt flakes
Whatever you feel like...
1. Put the yeast in a bowl. Heat the water until finger warm, 37 degrees C. (If you use dry yeast, like I do, the water should be a little warmer - about 40 degrees.) Pour the water over the yeast and stir until it's dissolved.
2. Add salt, oil and flour and mix the dough. It should be pretty sticky. Cover the bowl and let it rise for 40 min.
3. Spread the dough in a big, flat pan and let it rise for another 35 min. Heat the oven to 225 degrees C.
You can use pretty much anything you want for toppings. I decided to go with marinated sundried tomatoes and garlic, fresh rosemary, and a little leftover mozarella.
4. Make little holes with your fingertips and spread the toppings over the bread. Sprinkle with olive oil and salt flakes.
This is what the Focaccia looks like before going into the oven.
5. Bake for about 15 min. (You may need to adjust the time depending on the size and shape of your pan. My Focaccia had to bake for over 20 minutes before it was done.)
Done! Depending on which toppings you choose, this bread can be served either as a side dish, as this one is supposed to be, or as a meal all on its own, if you decide to put meat or cheese or vegetables on it.
I also prepared a few things for tomorrow morning. For example, I'm going to marinate mushrooms in some olive oil, lemon juice and fresh thyme and then put them on the grill. I'm also going to make Tzatziki with strained yogurt, cucumbers, some salt and pepper and a lot of garlic.
Last year, I prepared a melon salad that I've been asked to make again. It's made from fresh watermelon in little bits, feta cheese, chopped red onions, fresh mint and with a sprinkle of balsamic vinegar on top. It's especially good with spicy food.
Now my only problem is that I won't get to eat any of this until tomorrow...