Catching summer: minestrone

'You're crazy,' said my elderly neighbor, a lady who once published her own cookbook and stopped cooking. She meant: to make minestrone with this heat. But I really had to do something with purslane leaves still fresh on stems and peas.

This time I had no stock, and made it with water. Stock is better. But we're bracing the heat and serving decent food.


Summer minestrone

1 leek
2 stems of green celery
1-2 carrots
1 tomato
1 medium potato or 3 tiny ones
1 onion
clove of garlic
fresh peas
fresh purslane

Braise the veggies in some oil, except purslane and peas, until tender.
Season with all kinds of herbs, use pepper, but use as little salt as possible.

Cook peas separately in water until al dente.

Add stock (water) to the braised veggies. if you use water, you will have to add a little salt. Season some more. Now add the peas and purslane, bring to a boil, remove from the heat, taste, serve.

Fish and fourspice

For the first time after two weeks, a period with disciplined workers in half of my home replacing windows and producing dust, I could regain a moment in my kitchen that didn't look too much like an encampment. And on summer solstice day, of which the eve was marred by heavily overcast skies, my newspaper delivered the most incredible: that a summer high was nigh.

Having come home with some fish at 7 pm I suddenly felt elation. A pressing urge was telling me that vitamin D was waiting on my porch and that I was to take full advantage. Cooking fast was key. So I threw together fish, four spices, and young thin carrots, and bingo.

Fish and fourspice

2 fillets of white fish
liberal sprinklings of: turmeric, ginger powder, curry, and chipotle chilli
olive oil, salt and pepper
young carrots
rocket/rucola salad for decoration

Preheat oven at 180°C

Place fish in oven pan, and liberally coat them with four spices. Turn the fillets around, and make sure they're evenly coated. Season with salt (careful) and pepper, and sprinkle with olive oil.

Steam carrots a little (which I didn't), then place them around the fillets. Take some foil, and cover the oven pan. Place in oven for 10-12 minutes (turn heat a bit lower) or until done. The fish is steaming in juices.

Wash some rocket salad, cut it, and decorate the fish. Serve at once.

Note: be careful with salt. In fact, next time I won't use any.
The ginger powder does wonders here for taste and is good against fishy smells.

Dash to the terrace and soak up that Summer Solstice Day Sun until it ends!

Garden beauties

I'm in dire need of a pick me up. To chase the deluge of last Monday's rain, here's a memory from mid July, when I basically lived on the porch: Achillea millefolium, a curry plant, and cynara Cardunculus from the garden.

Extracting red currant

The extractor (see under label Gadgets) was my tool to juice the remaining batch of red currant. I had this juice a) plain, b) over ice cream. The sun is doing such a great job out there in a dry summer that the red currant juice plain tasted not sour at all. Do you see this one coming? No extra sugar.

Gooseberry Galore

Oh, yes, I did stuff with berries this month. Very simple handlings only: go to the vine, pick berries, eat them. Though I had a modest harvest of yostaberry of my own, I couldn't resist a batch of gooseberry.

Gooseberry Galore

Wash + cut 'em, macerate 'em with the slightest soupçon of muscovado sugar, serve 'em with fresh cottage cheese with 1 tablespoon of linseed oil vigorously whipped in, is all I call a procedure.

Dog days

Dog days are upon us. Do we complain? No.
This is a picture from years ago, 4 July, by the North Sea,
of which the waters are currently tepid.
All hearsay, as I haven't seen this shoreline in months.
Spot the little ball.