Arctic Cloudberry

Chicken and gnocchi soup with fresh herbs and sour cream

23:04

Chicken, gnocchi and vegetable soup with fresh oregano and rosemary

I'm hanging by my fingertips here. Crazy colleague woman is working me to the bone on the Project, husband barely recognises me anymore and I'm not sure how much longer I can keep up with this good wife shit.

Luckily - oh I can't say that - Incidentally, the colleague's cat was bitten this morning so she had to take him to the vet which gave me a moment's respite and a chance to work on my other stuff, my normal job. A pretty busy job even without a massive extra project with obsessive crazy powerpoint lady. Anyway I don't know what's going on with that cat, he's not even a year old and has been bitten twice, shot (?!) once (very evil and we were all very angry and managed to create a massive social media thing, but the shooter was never caught) and I don't remember what else, I think once he just ran against a wall just for the heck of it and had to be taken to the vet to be stitched up. I suggested he might be better suited for an indoor life (in a round, padded room). He's clearly not making loads of friends out there. And it's not like he has to build a life amongst the bins in the backyards of Peckham. He lives in Upper bloody Bucklebury.

But anyway, domestic goddessing has had to give way a little. Husband still thinks he's being well cared for though. I'm sure he'll eventually work out that I am just chucking whatever I can find in the fridge and/or freezer together with some pasta. Luckily he loves that kind of thing, tasty veg and some meat or seafood and pasta with a bit of sour cream or creme fraiche for sauce, sometimes I chuck in some wine. Mostly I just drink it.

Tonight I also had a meeting with the neighbours. Not the fun kind where me and upstairs lady drink bottles of prosecco, eat chocolate, watch Downton Abbey and talk about online dating. Purely theoretical in my case, but I am really curious because being as old as I am I missed the whole online thing being busy attending assemblies, playing the pianoforte with a heaving bosom (we didn't even have ultra bras those days, so the whole heaving business required some effort and real chicken fillets, not the nice silicon ones we have today) and dropping handkerchiefs left right and centre for gentlemen to retrieve, so it's interesting to hear how it all works including the apparent trend for men to send images of their... you know, "little soldiers" to the ladies. Yes really, I couldn't believe it either, but it happens a lot apparently in the tinderscape. There was an article recently talking about how women are getting really bored and annoyed at receiving these unsolicited pictures now.

So unfortunately not that kind of a meeting this time, but the kind where we talk about gutters, damp, chimney stacks and pitched roof coverings with our two other neighbours. One of them is very nice in a kind of completely useless way. The other one, also completely useless, so useless in fact that he didn't even turn up, is a bit of an unpleasant person, the kind that goes behind my back to complain about my fuchsias to the others. Yes, I cause a lot of trouble in the neighbourhood with my fuchsias.

Luckily the other, very nice and delightfully eccentric neighbour made us lovely Gin & Tonics and we did the freehold gutter/roof talk really quickly and then just chatted about my sexy upstairs single lady neighbour's FB profile picture and London mayoral elections.

The point of all this is to frame the necessity for this quick and easy recipe, which looks like real food, but is basically just chucking loads of whatever was in the fridge & freezer together with some gnocchi and sour cream, But so clever am I that husband had no clue that this was basically the same dish he ate from Monday to Wednesday last week.

Chicken and gnocchi soup with carrots and courgette

Recipe: Chicken, gnocchi and vegetable soup with fresh herbs (serves 4)

Oil
1 yellow onion
1 carrot
1 celery stalk
2 garlic gloves
1/2 sweet potato
1 bell pepper (I had a bit of yellow, red and orange just for the colours)
500 ml chicken stock
1 small or 1/2 large courgette
1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 tbsp chopped fresh oregano
(or thyme, basil whatever you have)
400g chicken (skinless and vo
250g gnocchi
1/4 cup sour cream
Salt
Pepper

Chop the onion, carrot and celery, mince garlic, peel and chop the sweet potato and core and thinly slice the red pepper, chop the courgette and cut chicken into cut size pieces.

Heat olive oil in a deep sauce pan. Add onions, carrot and celery to pan, fry on low to medium heat for five minutes. Add the minced garlic and continue frying for another 2-3 minutes. Add the sweet potato, bell pepper and the herbs, fry for a few minutes. Add the chicken stock and cook until the carrots are done. Add the chicken pieces and the courgette and cook until chicken is done. Add the gnocchi and let simmer for another 2 minutes until the gnocchi pop to the surface. Add sour cream, and salt and pepper to taste.

blue cheese

Professional thin crust pizza base and Do your own pizza bar

21:28

Homemade thin crust pizzas with meat and vegetables

Unsurprisingly pizza is one of husband's boys favourite foods. Show me a teenager who doesn't love pizza and I - well I don't know what I'll do - burst into song maybe or at least be very surprised.

For some reason I haven't done pizza that often, and we never order takeaway pizza. I am not a fan of fast food or takeaways for many reasons, but mainly because I'd rather cook myself. So kids only get takeaway at ours when I'm away and they are alone with their dad. So I bet they are already looking forward to my next trip to Finland which will leave husband defenceless to their pleas for a takeaway dinner.

Although come breakfast they will miss me as I always do a big hot Sunday breakfast which poor husband just can't match. And who will bake them biscuits when I'm not here. NO ONE!

I made them gooey chocolate chip ones this time.

I don't want the kids to think this is some kind of crazy health farm (gooey chocolate chip cookies seem to help), but I want to give them a good example for life like I got from my parents; a lifestyle of moderation (and moderation in moderation), appreciation of homemade food, occasional treats, respect for food and eating together as a family.

And I also want them to be active and not spend their days on the sofa with their headphones on playing on their smartphones. So this weekend I took them and husband hiking in Epping Forest (any Finn must get into a forest every once in awhile). I was so happy surrounded by the trees and the quiet and the smell of the forest. I exclaimed to the kids making slightly insane sweeping gestures with my arms "with this, who needs Xbox?!" Their faces seemed to imply they still saw a need for the Xbox. But they enjoyed it, had a bit of a sprinting competition and even climbed a few trees, all of them, husband included.

This homemade pizza is a happy medium which in future we will definitely do more often. It's fun when everyone can top their own with what they like. They are so tasty, much better than any takeaway pizza and you know exactly what goes in them so even if not exactly health food, they're ok.

I made a bit of a buffet of toppings that everyone could choose from. I roasted some red onion and orange and red peppers fully realising that these would be for just husband and me. And I made a tasty tomato sauce with fresh herbs, the rest of which I will use for a pasta dish during the week.

These were the fillings in our pizza bar

ham
grilled chicken
pepperoni
roast red onion, red and orange pepper with fresh rosemary
black and green olives
jalopenos
anchovies
blue cheese
mix of grated mozzarella, cheddar, edam and monterey jack
tomato slices
fresh basil

And some rocket leaves to sprinkle over them once out of the oven. All for me, it turned out.

Husband is the pizza pro but he was busy with the kids so I was left in charge of the dough making this time. I did the base according to his instructions though as best I could.

Recipe: Professional Thin crust pizza (makes four 12 inch / 30 cm round pizzas)

800 g all purpose flour (or white bread flour)
250 ml lukewarm water
100 ml lukewarm milk
1 sachet dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
3 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil

Mix all ingredients together, I use a wooden spoon at this stage because the dough will stick everywhere like there's no tomorrow. Once it starts forming a sort of a ball tip the dough onto a well floured work surface. Start kneading adding more flour as necessary until the dough forms a smooth and elastic ball. I found myself adding quite a bit of flour in the process.

Divide into four equal sized pieces and form into balls. The balls should feel quite tight and springy, I am not going to use husbands metaphor of 18 year old's boobs here. Oops. Wrap each pert ball individually into cling film tightly and refrigerate until needed.

When ready to assemble your pizzas heat oven to 250C. On a floured surface open the each dough ball into a flat round using your fingers. If you want you can use a rolling pin, but professionals do it all by hand. Keep pushing the dough out until you are happy with the size and thinness. Move onto a pizza pan and pound slightly with a meat tenderiser. This will stop the base from bubbling.

Spread a generous layer of tomato sauce on top leaving about half an inch of the rim of the crust uncovered. Then add on your toppings and finish with grated cheese and fresh tomato slices. Bake for 10-15 minutes until cheese is bubbling and crust is looking light brown and crispy.

Thin crust pizza with homemade tomato sauce with fresh herbs

Recipe: Homemade tomato sauce with fresh herbs

(makes quite a lot so rest can be used for a pasta dish or frozen for later)

1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
1 red onion
2 garlic cloves
500ml passata (or canned tomatoes, if using fresh you will need about 650g tomatoes)
2 tbsp tomato paste
salt
pepper
sprinkling of sugar
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
2 tbsp chopped fresh oregano
(or 2 + 2 of dried)
1 tbsp red wine vinegar (optional)
3 tbsp grated pecorino romano (or parmesan)

Heat oil in a lidded sauce pan. Saute the chopped onions for a few minutes. Add the minced garlic and continue sauteing for another couple of minutes. Add the tomato passata and paste, salt and pepper, a sprinkling of sugar and the herbs. Cook on a low heat for about 30 minutes. If you want it very smooth you can blitz with a hand blender.

Cook uncovered to concentrate it a little until you are happy with the thickness of the sauce, add the vinegar if using. Check the taste and add salt or pepper if needed.

#mealplanningmonday

Meal planning Monday 12th October - Confessions of a workaholic

22:21

Rendeer calf tenderloin, wild chanterelle cream sauce and potato and parsnip mash

I'm not really a workaholic, but I'm quite enjoying my job and it has been a bit crazy busy lately. I'm working on a big new project with a ~~slightly~~ obsessive colleague so days have been long. To the extent that husband is sending me melancholy text messages with sad faces stating that he can see that I'm still in the office. We have this app on our iPhones where we can see where the other one is.

No, it's not creepy. It's cute.

So there was some serious leftover business for husband during the week. I did make him a hasty sauteed reindeer thingy chucking in way too much truffle oil. The oil has a strong smell, but it's yummy when used moderately. A half teaspoon will do, so you might want to use an actual teaspoon, not necessarily pour the stuff directly from bottle to pan. Just sayin. You should have seen husband's nostrils flaring. They actually make a sound. He's got a keen sense of smell. I remember from my "trying to sneak a smoke without him knowing - not a chance" days.

Or the time I came back from a work trip to France having had a lovely artichoke and garlic (a lot of raw garlic) salad the night before, merci beaucoup. He slept on the sofa for two nights.

I managed to make my lovely moose stroganoff one night and I did make up for things at weekend. I baked delicious Finnish potato flatbreads for our lazy and leisurely late Saturday brunch and pan-fried gorgeous reindeer calf (yes - they probably are too cute to eat, it's like eating labrador puppies, who does that, who) tenderloin with potato and parsnip pure and wild chanterelle cream sauce for Sunday dinner. It's been quite the game galore I realise, partly because I'm going to Finland soon for more wildlife for my freezer and partly because I didn't have time to do much shopping.

Unfortunately this week I'll be away again for a few nights, so husband is left to his own devices but with my devices in tupperware boxes to help him through.

Rendeer calf tenderloin, chanterelle cream sauce and potato and parsnip mash

I soon realised this is not the way to plate reindeer tenderloin. It could be seen either as phallic or poopy/toilet humour-like (remember Mr Hankey the Christmas Poo from Southpark). These interpretations are not an appropriate way to showcase this beautiful tender cut of delicately flavoured reindeer so I decided to go for the sliced approach - above.

Meal plan for the week:

Monday - Weds

Chicken pasta bake and freezer leftovers for husband

Thursday

Chilli con moose

Mexican rice

Friday

#fishfriday

Baked salmon with prawns and cream

Gnocchi or potatoes

Saturday

Pizza night with kids

(This has been postponed a few times so hopefully will happen this time)
Oven fries

Sunday

Khoresht-e Bademjan (Persian Eggplant Stew)

Persian rice

Trafditional Finnish potato flatbreads

Reindeer with truffle oil on bed of rice

Sauteed reindeer - taste of the fells

baking

Finnish potato flatbreads - Perunarieska

23:16

Traditional Finnish unleavened potato flatbreads

These unleavened soft little flatbreads are made with mashed potato and are best eaten warm smeared with butter. I made a batch of fresh mash for these, but the recipe is perfect for using up any leftover boiled potatoes or mash. That's how the recipe probably originally was born. Finns used to eat potatoes pretty much at every meal in some shape or form, usually just boiled. Nowadays many are venturing into the realms of rice and pasta as our world has become more global, as they say, which I think is a bit stupid, but it just means people know more about other countries and cultures and are less stuck in their ways.

My parents generation is still very much unglobal, stuck in their ways and having a love affair with their potatoes. My Mum ever the adventurer sometimes makes pasta. Dad's not a fan and last time I spoke to them he was tangibly traumatized by having had to eat pasta three days in a row. Mum still sometimes cooks the same amounts as when there were 7 of us there instead of just the two of them. Even when I'd finished my chat with Dad and was speaking to mum I heard him muttering to himself in the background about the neverending pastathlon whilst watching Midsomer Murders. They watch more British TV in Finland than we do here.

We took them to Oxford once when they were visiting. We walked around the pretty town centre and they kept pointing buildings to each other saying oh we've seen this and look at that one, remember that? We were a bit surprised because we didn't think they'd been there before. They explained that they know the place because Inspectors Morse and Lewis live there. Obviously.

I made these potato flatbreads for our Saturday brunch and served them with an omelette and a salad. Husband was a bit suspicious pinching the bottoms of the breads asking if they were actually done. The consistency is soft and moist and unlike normal bread because of the mash. But after I explained this and confirmed that indeed they are supposed to be like that (a sentence I used to have to use a lot in my early days of domestic goddessness) he seemed happy and in the end gave me his Del Monte man approval announcing "This bread is very good".

Finnish potato flatbreads - Perunarieska

I baked them on a wire rack and after patting them nice and round I turned them around to get the rack pattern on top before pricking with a fork and baking. Fiddly but pretty.

Baked Finnish unleavened no-knead flatbread

Recipe: Traditional Finnish Potato Flatbread - Perunarieska

2 cups of potato mash (mashed potatoes, 50g butter, a splash of milk, salt)
2 cups of barley flour (I had no barley flour so I used wholemeal and plain half and half)
2 eggs
salt

Heat oven to 250C (my oven only goes to 225C so I turned the broiler on a bit to give the breads nice colour on the surface).

The original recipe calls for barley flour, but don't be too hung up on that. You can use plain flour if you want, or a mix of plain and wholemeal for a healthier option. You could chuck in some oats or rye bran.

Mix all ingredients together until well incorporated, but don't overmix to avoid the dough becoming tough. Definitely don't knead. Taste to check you have added enough salt.

Flour the work surface lightly and divide the dough into 4 balls. Flatten each ball into a half an inch or slightly thinner circle. Place on a baking sheet covered with non-stick baking paper and prick with a fork.

Place in a preheated oven and bake for about 15 minutes (or a bit longer if your breads are not very thin) until the breads have got some nice colour. Originally these would have been baked in a masonry oven so you can just imagine how delicious they would have been. Wrap in a clean tea towel and serve immediately with butter.

They stay fresh for a few days or you can also freeze them. Just warm up before serving.