Wild Mushroom Risotto

We picked some wild mushrooms (I don´t know the names in English, one big "tatti" and a couple of "haperos") on a forest trip and used them in a creamy risotto. Wild mushrooms have more flavour than basic shop ones, but if you can´t get anything else then the cultivated variety will do. This recipe makes about 4 portions.

3 dl abrorio rice

1,5 dl white wine

2 shallots or a small onion (chopped)

olive oil

1-1,5 litres vegetable stock

mushrooms (chopped)

thyme

parmesan (grated)

fresh basil

salt

pepper

(splash of double cream)

-Fry the onion in olive oil on a medium heat until it's soft golden, adding the mushrooms and thyme towards the end. Make sure not to brown the onion!

- Add the rice and fry for a couple of minutes.

- Add the white wine and cook until the liquid has evaporated.

- Add a couple of ladles of stock and keep on a simmer.

- Keep adding small amounts of stock, stirring and letting the liquid evaporate before adding more. Continue doing this until the rice is cooked but still a little chewy.

- Right at the end season the risotto with salt and pepper, adding some parmesan (and also some cream if you wish).

- Garnish with some extra parmesan and fresh basil (or some other fresh herb) and enjoy!

Tips: To get a nice creamy texture keep stirring the risotto constantly. The perfect risotto is slightly runny and the rice firm to the bite.

If you boil chick peas keep the boiling water and freeze it - it makes a tasty veggie stock perfect for the risotto.

These are the kinds of mushrooms we happily used in the risotto! :)

Classic Potato Gratin

This is a very basic potato gratin recipe found at epicurean.com - I don't usually like gratins very much but this recipe is a worthy exception. We had this lovely gratin with some steamed broccoli and a tomato sauce.

floury potatoes (thinly sliced)

few cloves of garlic (thinly sliced)

cream

butter

salt

pepper

(parmesan cheese)

- Soak the potatoes in cold water for half an hour, drain and dry with a towel.

- Butter an oven dish and sprinkle about half of the garlic along the edges of the buttered sides of the pan.

- Make a thin layer of potatoes and add some butter pieces, salt, pepper, cream and garlic on top. Repeat this until the potatoes have been used.

- Bake for one to one and a half hours at 200 celsius, adding the parmesan halfway through, until the potatoes are very tender and have absorbed all the cream.

Bean Burgers

This is originally Celia Brooks Brown´s recipe, although we've altered It a bit. We had the burgers with some potato wedges + home made buns, tomato, cheese, lettuce, rucola, fried onion, jalapenos, kermaviili (mayo would do too) and ketchup. Guacamole or a home-made salsa is also an excellent addition to these burgers.

pinto beans (soaked and boiled)

1 onion (chopped)

150 g mushrooms (chopped)

3 cloves garlic (chopped)

bread crumbs

1 egg

1 teaspoon dijon wholegrain mustard

splash of vinegar

salt

pepper

chili flakes

ground cumin

fresh coriander

soy sauce

- Fry the onion, garlic and mushrooms until soft

- Mash the pinto beans in a bowl

- Add all the other ingredients except breadcrumbs and mix well

-Add the breadcrumbs until the mixture is just dry enough to handle

- Preheat the oven 200-225 degrees and line an oven tray with baking paper

- Make the burgers with wet hands and place them on the oven tray

- Brush the burgers with olive oil and bake until they are firm and slightly crispy on top (about 20-25 minutes).

Basic Pizza

I love homemade pizza with a crispy base and good toppings. Here is one very simple recipe that doesn't require a pizza oven or pizza stone.

Dough:

2,5 dl warm water

2 teaspoons salt

6-7 dl flour

1/2 bag yeast

oil

Quick tomato sauce:

1/2 tin tomatoes (drained)

tomato puree

garlic

salt

pepper

sugar

herbs

Toppings to taste: this time we had mushrooms, pepper, red onion, tomato, fresh mozzarella and some basic cheese + some rucola for garnish.

- Add salt to the warm water

- Add half of the flour and yeast

- Add rest of the flour and knead well

- Add a splash of oil

- Let the dough rise at least 1/2 hour in a warm place (until its size has doubled)

- Oil a baking tray and, using your hands, shape the dough until it's flat and evenly covers the baking tray.

- Add the tomato sauce and toppings

- Bake at 250°c for 15-20 minutes

Tomato Bruschetta

We had a lovely pre-festival brunch on sunday with some friends: lots of food was provided, and I made a tomato bruschetta with my boyfriend. We also had some feta salad, hummus, fresh fruit, smoothie and orange juice among other things. A lovely start for a lovely day!

White bread (sliced)

olive oil

garlic (crushed)

black pepper

dried herbs (eg. oregano and thyme)

salt

fresh mozzarella (sliced)

topping:

tomatoes (peeled, de-seeded and chopped)

1/2 small red onion (finely chopped)

fresh basil (chopped)

salt

pepper

rucola to garnish

- mix the spices and garlic into the olive oil and spoon on to the bread

- put the mozzarella on top and bake at 200 degrees on top shelf of the oven until the cheese develops some brown spots

- combine the tomatoes, red onion and basil

- spoon them on to the hot bread

- garnish with some rucola

Tip: The easiest way to peel tomatoes is to make a small x cut on the bottom before covering them with boiling water. Don´t soak them for too long and rinse thoroughly in cold water or the tomatoes will start to cook.

Geoff´s Enchiladas

This is my boyfriend´s own recipe: very warming and tasty with just the right amount of spicyness.

wheat or corn tortillas

kidney beans (soaked over night and boiled in salted water)

1 tin tomatoes

1 medium onion, finely chopped

tomato puree

3-4 cloves of garlic, sliced

1 pepper, diced

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

2 teaspoons paprika (or 1 teaspoon of paprika and 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika)

2-4 chilis (dried or fresh)

1 tub kermaviili (sour cream if you can´t get kermaviili)

vinegary chili sauce (for example Tabasco, Encona or something more exotic)

ground white pepper

salt

black pepper

jalapenos

grated cheese

handful fresh coriander, coarsely chopped

- fry the pepper and chili on a high heat for a couple of minutes

- add the onion and garlic, fry until nicely coloured, then turn down to a low heat, cover and cook until onions are soft and golden

- add the ground spices and fry for a minute

- add the tinned tomatoes, tomato puree and a little water

- bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 1/2 hour

- add the beans and simmer for another 1/2 hour

-season to taste with salt, pepper and some chili sauce

- fill and roll the tortillas and place in a baking dish

- cover with kermaviili, jalapenos, grated cheese and a twist of black pepper

- bake at 225 c until the cheese has browned

- garnish with fresh coriander and serve with salad

Hummus, Tzatziki and Courgette Dip

Dips are perfect party food and great for picnics since you can pre-prepare them and keep them in the fridge until it's time to eat. This time we had a few dips for dinner and served them with some basic veg and homemade bread.

Hummus:

chickpeas & stock

tahini

garlic

lemon juice

salt

(pepper)

- Soak the chick peas over night and boil them. (You can use tinned chickpeas too but I prefer the dried ones)

- Mash the chickpeas well in some of their own stock

- Add crushed garlic, salt and lemon juice (for your own taste)

- Add couple of table spoons of tahini

Tip: The hummus mix should be a bit runny before you add the tahini which thickens it up.

Tzatziki:

thick Greek yoghurt

cucumber

small clove of garlic

mint

(salt and lemon juice)

- Grate some cucumber (you can drain it if necessary to get rid of its juices)

- Stir cucumber into yoghurt

- Add the crushed garlic and mint (fresh mint if available, dried is ok too)

- Salt and lemon juice for taste.

Tips: Be careful with garlic, salt and lemon juice! If the yoghurt is bitter, lemon juice is not needed at all.

Courgette (Zucchini) Dip:

(original recipe from one of Jamie Oliver´s cook books)

plenty of courgettes

olive oil

chili flakes

garlic

lemon juice

salt

pepper

mint

- Chop the courgettes fairly small

- Heat up olive oil in a big pan.

- Add some chili and garlic and fry them for a couple of minutes

- Add the courgettes and fry them in a medium heat until they are soft (add the mint towards the end of this if dried)

- Add salt, pepper (fresh mint) and lemon juice to taste, and add some extra olive oil to loosten the mix if needed.

- Let cool before eating.

Simple Berry Smoothie

I make smoothies whenever I feel like having something quick, healthy and refreshing. This time I used some lovely Finnish berries that I had in a freezer. Almost any fruit or berries will do. Smoothies make a lovely breakfast or a healthy dessert as well.

small handful of blueberries

small handful of strawberries

2,5 dl (a cup) of plain yoghurt

splash of milk

couple of ice cubes

sugar/honey to taste

(vanilla sugar or extract)

Blend everything in a blender and voilá, it´s ready to serve.

Tip: If you use frozen berries, no need for defrosting them unless they are really big. At least my blender can handle them easily enough.

Grilled Aubergine Salad

This is a lovely dip-kind of salad that goes extremely well with crispy white bread. We had it with fresh home baked flatbread and some nice greens. The recipe is from a book called New Vegetarian Food ("Kansainvälisiä kasvisherkkuja" in Finnish) by Christine McFadden.

2 aubergines

1 red onion

1,5 dl olive oil

dried chili flakes

cummin seeds

sesame seeds

2 garlic cloves

salt

pepper

30 ml (2 table spoons) lime juice

Yoghurt sauce:

1,5 dl plain yoghurt

good handful of chopped fresh corriander

zest of half a lime

1 garlic clove

salt

pepper

- Slice the aubergine and onion into chuncks. Put into a big bowl.

- Mix the olive oil, chili flakes, cummin seeds, sesame seeds, garlic, salt and pepper. Pour on top of the veggies and stir well. Marinade for at least half an hour.

- While the veggies are marinating, mix yoghurt, fresh corriander, grated lime zest, garlic, salt and pepper. Leave to sit.

- Lay the vegetables on a oven tray and grill both sides approximately 5 minutes or until they are slightly browned. Cool them down for a while.

- Mix the grilled vegetables with the yoghurt sauce and let it sit in room temperature for an hour.

Tip: Don´t slice the red onion or garlic too small before grilling since they burn easily!