Fennel, Potato and White Bean Soup

I admit, when we started planting our garden in the spring we may have been a little over ambitious.

Now of some vegetables we have more than we can ever eat.

Fennel is one of those vegetables.

Don't get me wrong, I love fennel! But we have like kilos of it.

So I desperately needed to find a recipe with lots and lots of fennel in it.

That is just one of the probably 5-7 baskets of this year's fennel harvest...

And I found this wonderful summery soup in "Casa Moro - The Second Cookbook" by Sam & Sam Clark of restaurant Moro in London.

Yes, another one from this book. You should get it. It's a fantastic cook book with soo many delicous recipes!

What you need:

170g dried white beans

4 tbsp olive oil

4-5 fennel bulbs (approx. 500g total), finely diced

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 tsp fennel seeds (optional)

3 medium waxy potatoes (approx. 350g), peeled, diced and lightly salted

1 litre bean liquid and/or water or chicken stock

about 40 threads of saffron, infused in 2 tbsp boiling water

2 tbsp chopped fresh fennel leaves

sea salt and pepper

the fennel, potato and bean soup with homemade flatbread and hummus.

Directions:

Soak the white beans overnight, then drain, cover with generously with fresh water and bring to the boil. Simmer for about 1-1.5 hours, until soft, then drain, reserving the cooking liquid.

In another pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat.

Add the diced fennel with a pinch of salt, stir well, lower the heat and fry for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until fennel becomes soft and caramelizes.

Add garlic, fennel seeds and potato cubes and fry for another 5 minutes.

Pour in the bean liquid and/or water/stock and the saffron infused water.

Stir well and bring to a gentle simmer.

Cook for another 10-15 minutes or until potatoes are soft, then add the drained beans.

Season with salt and pepper and simmer for a few more minutes before stirring in chopped fennel leaves.

Serve!

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Notes:

• If you don't have fennel tops, chopped parsley or chervil will work as well!
• I served mine with flatbread and homemade hummus (both recipes from the Moro cookbook, as well!), but I can image it being really, really good with fish, served almost like a sauce or stew.

Long Weekend Result - excess turnips and lettuce!

That's not bad at all!

As you can see, we have lots of turnips and lettuce at this point.

Organic, small production, seasonal and local!

If you live nearby and want some, make us an offer, and I am sure together we can figure out how to get it to you.

You can write us here: littlehausontheprairie@gmail.com

There will also be more of the following soon: zucchini, potatoes, tomatoes etc. ... we'll keep you updated!

Also...if you need thyme or chive, we have lots of those, as well!

June Harvest No 1: Rhubarb!

I know Calgary probably has one of the shortest growing season, and I am sure a lot of you harvested their first vegetables and herbs in April/May already.
We are still waiting for most things to be ready for harvest. Mostly what we planted and what is ready now is greens, such as fennel greens, dill, kale or spinach.

Therefore it just fills me with pride and joy to walk into our garden and pick something more substantial that I can actually cook with rather than just using it for salad, such as rhubarb.

Don't get me wrong, salad is great.
But rhubarb? That's about child hood memories of grandma's rhubarb crumble or rhubarb compote with vanilla ice cream.

Wil is already thinking about making rhubarb wine (as well as saskatoon berry wine, dandelion wine, elderflower wine etc.).

We'll see how that works out.

I'll go for the compote and cake for now!

Red beets salad with caramelized pecans and dill

After travelling and extreme floods, here is finally a new blog post with a fantastic summer salad.

This red beets salad is super refreshing and a perfect way of getting all the raw vegetables and nuts you need.
It's a nice addition to all that meat at your barbecue party and can also be served as a nice and healthy appetizer or as a light lunch or dinner.

I cannot wait to use the beets from our garden for it! Still have to wait a little on those ones...

What you need:

4-5 red beets (fresh)
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
5 spring onions, chopped into fine rings
300-350 g (approx.) 1-1.5 cups of yogurt (around 3.2-3.5% fat)
150-200ml (approx 0,25-0.5 cup) heavy cream
150g pecans chopped
1 bunch of dill, roughly chopped
1 bunch of chives, roughly chopped
salt, pepper, honey/sugar
olive or carmelina oil

Directions:

Peel the red beets.
You may want to use gloves for that because of the red dye. I didn't and it washed off my hands quite easily.
With the grating attachement on a food processor (ideally) roughly grate the beets.

In a pan slowly roast the chopped pecans.
When browned, add some honey or sugar and caramelize the pecans with it.
Remove from heat and set aside to cool down.

In a pan heat up some olive/carmelina oil at medium heat.
Add the garlic and spring onions and sautée for a few minutes, until soft (do not fry them!).
Set aside and let cool down.

In a big salad bowl mix together grated red beets, yoghurt and cream.
Add dill and chive, as well as garlic, spring onions and roasted pecans.

Mix well.

Season to taste with salt and pepper and maybe a tiny bit of sugar.

The salad tastes even better a day later, after it has been sitting in the fridge for a while.

Notes:

All the measurements especially for the yogurt and cream are pretty much measured by eye.
I don't follow a recipe when doing it.
It always depends on how big the beets are. The beets should be nicely coated with the yoghurt-cream mix.
And regarding the dill and chive: Be generous! You cannot really screw anything up by adding 'too many' fresh herbs.

You could use sour cream instead of yoghurt, as well.

Spring anticipated Grilled Vegetable Terrine

It really has to turn spring now! I even made a mediterranean vegetable terrine the other day to lure spring over. I may be a little too optimistic, given that I now live in a country where winter lasts until the end of April. But I had way too much braised beef and meat stews in the last couple of months, and now I'm craving something less hearty and savory but fresh and healthy.
I found this recipe in one of my mediterranean cookbooks and instantly fell in love.

You'll see, the to-do list for this dish is long. Vegetable dishes usually require a little bit more work.
But it's actually quite easy to prepare, once you figured it out. The result not only looks impressive and tastes delicious, it'll definitely add more color and fancy to your spring/summer buffet.

Ok, I try to keep it as short as possible, also because I accidentally erased my first draft, which was really, really long....

Here is what you need:

2 red peppers (quartered and seeded)

2 yellow peppers (quartered and seeded)

2 zucchini (sliced lengthwise)

1 eggplant (sliced lengthwise)

1 red onion (cut in rings)

1 garlic clove (finely chopped)

75g raisins

1 tbsp balsamico vinegar

1 tbsp white wine or red wine vinegar

2-3 tsp tomato paste

400-500ml tomato juice

4-5 tsp powdered gelatine

basil leaves

salt, pepper

olive oil

Directions:

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 

Place the peppers on the baking sheet, skin side up, put them on the upper rack of your oven, turn on the broiler and broil them until their skin has turned black. You'll will only be able to easily peel the skin off the flesh with your fingers, once it has burnt completely. just make sure to let the peppers cool down for a few minutes before you start peeling, otherwise you'll burn your fingers.

Sprinkle salt over the egg plant slices and let them sit for a bout 20-30 minutes. The salt draws out the excess water of the eggplant which otherwise makes it mushy and unappetizing. 

Once enough water has been "sweated out" pat slices dry with paper towel.

Just like the peppers, place the egg plant slices on a parchment paper covered baking sheet, brush the upper sides with some olive oil and broil until golden brown.

Then do the same thing with the zucchini slices.

In a pan heat up 2 tbsp of olive oil. Add onion rings and garlic and sauté until onions are translucent.

Add tomato paste and both vinegars, and cook for about five minutes.

Slightly grease a bread pan (or even better: a terrine pan) with some vegetable oil. Line with plastic wrap and allow the plastic wrap to hang over the edge of the pan. 

In a saucepan heat up the tomato juice. Add the gelatine and stir until dissolved.

Cover the bottom of the bread pan with a thin layer of the tomato juice.

Now start layering the vegetable slices and onion-raisin mix.

It doesn't really matter in which order you place the vegetables in the pan. But it'll probably be best to start off and finish with the peppers and have the onion-raisin mix be in the middle.

Make sure to always pour a little bit of the tomato juice on top of each new layer. You can also press each layer down with your hands so that the juice spreads evenly and gets in every corner of the pan.

In between season with salt and pepper.

After you have placed the last vegetable layer on top of the others pour the remaining tomato juice over it. 

Chill in the refrigerator for a couple of hours or overnight, until gelatine has set.

By pressing a big plate on the top of the bread pan, turn the terrine upside down. 

Remove the pan and the plastic wrap.

Decorate with basil leaves and serve!

Notes:

I served my terrine with a yoghurt sauce I quickly made the next day. I just mixed yoghurt with some heavy cream, stirred in some finely grated cucumber and chopped mint, and seasoned with salt, pepper and a bit of sugar.

PS:
There will definitely be more terrine in the future. Next time probably with some meat in it, as well.

PPS:
Now that our chickens have turned into awkward teenagers and we had to put them into their coop, we decided to get our second batch of cuteness for the brooding box...

Elderflower-Strawberry Punch...finally!

I know, I know...

Some of you have been waiting for me to post this recipe.

To be honest: 

the basic punch mix was sitting in my fridge waiting for the right moment to get used.

I found the recipe in the German cooking magazine "Lust auf Genuss" .

It is relatively easy to make and so much fun because ideally you get to pick elderflowers that in May/June grow everywhere, even in the city of Berlin!

Until a few months ago, I didn't even know what these flowers were.

 But it is fantastic that you can just walk around and pick them.

If eldeflowers don't grow where you live or you want to prepare this punch outside elderflower season you can just use syrup instead.

Most organic and grocery stores carry it (at least here in Germany).

elderflower umbel, looking a bit rough

 Anyway this punch is the perfect summer drink.

Have some friends over, throw on the barbecue and enjoy the nicest days of the year!

What you need:

400ml white wine (e.g. Sauvignon Blanc)

700ml water

1 lemon

150g sugar

1 bottle prosecco/cremant/champagne 

10 elderflower umbels 

(those saucer-shaped things were the blossoms sit on...)

300-500g strawberries

 icecubes

Cut the lemon into slices.

In a saucpan heat up wine, water, sugar and the lemon slices.

As soon as the sugar dissolved remove the mix from heat.

Carefully wash the elderflower umbels and remove them from dirt.

Add the elderflower umbels (keep some blossoms for garnish) to the mix, 

cover it up, and let it sit over night.

The next day pour the wine-elderflower mix through a fine strainer or even better, 

through a piece of cloth.

Wash and quarter the strawberries.

Put icecubes and strawberries in a big bowl or can. 

Add some of the leftover elderflower blossoms. 

First pour in the wine-elderflower mix, 

then top off with a bottle of prosecco/cremant/champagne.

Serve in wine or special punch glasses!

PS:

• The mix is quite intense and sweet. I used two bottles of prosecco instead of just one, which was totally fine. That way you have more punch...

• Also when using the syrup instead of the flowers, I would recommend to replace the sugar with the same amount of syrup. The good thing here: it won't have to sit overnight.

Gazpacho

Summer is approaching and it's steadily getting hotter and unfortunately more and more humid here in Berlin.
A good reason to dig out refreshing and light summer recipes.
I started off with Gazpacho a cold spanish tomato based raw vegetable soup.
This sounds awful, I know.
But, let me tell you, it was pretty damn good!
It is really easy to cook, the ingredients are cheap, and it certainly helps to keep or get back into summer shape (I know with most of us, this is, of course, not the case...).

All you need is:

900g tomatos
1 cucumber
2 red or yellow peppers
1 fresh red chilli
2 garlic cloves
175g white bread crumbs
2 tbsp tomato purrée
5 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
a dash cumin
salt and black pepper










Peel the tomatos.
Therefore place them in boiling water first (for about 30 seconds)  and then quench the tomatos in ice cold water.
That way it's easier to remove the tougher skin.
It will come off easily now.
Quarter the tomatos.
Peel and chop the cucumber.
Cut the peppers and the red chilli and remove the seeds.
Press or finely chop the garlic cloves.
Mix all the vegetables together with breadcrumbs, olive oil, white wine vinegar and tomato purrée.
Season to taste with salt, pepper and cumin.
Put half or a third of the mixture into a blender.
Add 150-250ml of water, depending on how juicy the vegetables are.
Blend until smooth.
Do the same with the rest of the vegetable mix.
The Gazpacho should not be too thin but have a rather creamy texture.
Therefore be careful not to add too much water.
You can always add more in the end.
Refrigerate it for a couple of hours.

Best served with ice cubes, croutons, some basil or parsley for decoration and maybe a dash of worcester sauce!