Being back in the kitchen feels so good! Not that I missed the daily "what are we going to eat tonight, hurrying to the supermarket after a full day at the office, being once again to late to pick up the kid " kitchen but the " weekends lets cook something nice and drink a lot of red wine" kind of kitchen.

Kevin was in control of the kitchen last night, his cooking is always based on improvisation, starting with an idea or an ingredient. Things often change along the process.

What we had yesterday was this little tower made of 5 layers.
The whole did not really work together but the single layers were great. We will have to develop further.
The different layers :

Layer 1: Chopped radish.  That was a bit to strong in the flavor compared with the rest.
Layer 2: A mousse of sardines. Debone the grilled sardines. Quickly cook them in the frying pan with some almond slivers. Add dill and some noilly prat. Blend, season with salt and pepper.
Layer 3: Onion Chutney: In a heavy pan: Slowly cook a grated apple, 2 minced garlic, 2 cloves, a good bit of grated ginger, 2 shallots, 1.5 dl port wine, some chili, salt and pepper till it's a smooth purée.
Layer 4: Aubergine purée. Bake the aubergines for 30 min in the oven ( prick little holes into the skin ). Scrap out the flesh. Add minced garlic and shallots and some fresh chili. Fry for 3 minutes. Blend add chopped fresh mint.
Season with salt and pepper.
Layer 5. Avocado mash.

The next version will probably be just the fish , the aubergine and maybe some shiitake.

One thing turned out perfectly and will probably be seen rather often in our kitchen:

Celery stalk cakes:

Fry the shallots with some olive oil, add the chopped celery and rucola, fry very shortly,
quench with a little white wine .
Blend , then add the eggs. Mix . Fill into small forms like the ones on the picture. Bake in the oven ( 220° ) till they start to get slightly brown.

Decorate with the cress.

This is a new favorite in our home. Mackerel is one of the few fish not endangered by overfishing - theres so many of them -  but it's also a very tasty fish with a delicious taste. It goes perfect with the caramelized beetroot. We usually serve it with potato salad but you could also eat it accompanied with bread.

- 4- 5 Medium sized beetroot
- Olive oil
- 25 gr butter
- 1 tsb  chopped Thyme
- 3 Rosemary stalks
- 20gr brown sugar
- 150 ml balsamic vinegar
- 20 ml fresh lemon juice

Rub the beetroot with some olive oil, salt and pepper. Wrap into aluminum foil and bake 1,5 hours in the oven ( 180° ).
Take them out and let them cool a bit, peel and cut into slices.
Heat the butter with and the olive oil add the beetroot the thyme, the rosemary . Slowly cook over medium heat for 10 - 20 minutes till the beetroots are caramelized. When the beetroot starts to get soft add the vinegar and the lemon juice and cook till the juice turns thick like a sirup and the vegetables are tender.

- 8 Mackerel filets
- 1 tsb fresh Thyme
- olive oil
- 2 gloves of garlic
- zest of one lemon and a good squeeze lemon juice

Make a marinade of chopped garlic, thyme, olive oil and lemon
filet the fish, cut the skin several times. Marinate on the skin side.

Put the fish on a baking tray skin side up and bake in the oven ( on grill very close to the grill ) for 3 to 4 minutes.

The recipe comes from my favorite fish cook book - Tom Aikens Fish

This a new favorite of mine, lukewarm potato salad with cucumbers and mustard dressing.

Cook the potatoes till soft, meanwhile make a dressing of olive oil, white vine vinegar , plenty of dijon mustard and some crushed juniper berries.
Cut the cucumber into chunks ( without the seeds ) sprinkle with some sea salt and let sit in a colander in the sink for 10 minutes.
When the potatoes are done, drain and add to the sauce. Ad the cucumbers and a good handful of dill, serve lukewarm.

This lovely dish is from Nigel Slaters Tender Voulume I .
The mashy pumpkin goes very nicely with the crisp bread crumbs. The rosemary, orange zest, garlic and chili work beautifully with the pumpkin.

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 :-)