Dine on a Dime

The first December storm was passing through. Surrounded by the "warm" waters of the Bay of Fundy we were lucky. It did not come down in the form of snow as further inland, but as a healthy amount of rain. The more unfortunate got up to 30 cm (1') wet white stuff within the last two days!

After the storm, view from the living room

This kind of gloomy fall weather demands comfort food.
Therefore we decided for something easy. Our choice fell on "latkes" or "potato pancakes" or "Reibekuchen" as it is familiar to us.

Potato pancake with apple sauce

Hubby was in the mood to do the work and he did a great job.

The orange bits are shredded carrots

A heap of crisp baked latkes arrived on the table nicely arranged on a platter, but you are lucky to get these few glimps only, because we were so greedy that most of them were already gone before I thought of grabbing the camera.

mmmh, sooo good!

We like our Reibekuchen with home made apple sauce.

He announced his home made dinner as "dine on a dime" because it is NOT very expensive. Really.

Sorry, nothing left behind.




Ingredients:

3 potatoes, shredded
1 carrot, shredded
3 eggs
1 cup of flour
salt, pepper to taste
vegetable oil
apple sauce

Directions:

Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Heat oil in a pan. Form small, flat cakes and fry them until golden brown from both sides.
Serve with apple sauce.

Got potatoes?

I could not wait any longer, I had to check upon my potatoes.
And YESSSS!
There were potatoes in the ground!
One plant yielded a bit more than a pound (600 g), not too bad for this hobby gardener.
Also, there was the second batch of green beans to harvest, ca 200 g, and of course lots of lettuce.

Goodies out of my garden!

Our dinner tonight was complete with some pork sirloin.

That means the dental "convalescent" is able to eat normal food again. :))

When I checked my flowers today I found one that I hadn't seen before. After doing some research it came up as Red Flax, linum grandflorum rubrum. Must have come of the $1 Wildflower package. I am surprised that anything came out of that at all, because the content looked more like sawdust than seeds to me. Well, well.

Last year I started out a vegetable garden with two raised beds. It was for fun.

My first garden, two raise beds in June 2012...

This year I have four and two potato towers. Still a size for me that it is more fun than work. And since we don't have a freezer we have to be able to eat it all as soon as it ripens.

... has doubled in size, taken July 17, 2013

 Since we had such a cold spring the corn started late, and I doubt if it will succeed this year, but we will see.

This bed has potatoes, corn, green beans, lettuce and cosmos flowers.

Tomatoes, basil, carrots, lettuce and marigolds

Peas, iceberg lettuce, a row of collard greens, 6 green cabbages, 4 broccoli and numerous radishes were already harvested.
In the herb department: Parsley, Summer Savoy, Cilantro, Lemon Balm, Chives.
Dill didn't work out this year. :(( Wrong spot, I guess.
Always something to do.
There is already another project on my mind....

Vegetable stew/soup

First I want to welcome Kitty Moore in my kitchen! Hope you enjoy my rambling about food and other stuff.

Today things were pretty easy.

Hubby was away all day and called later to tell me that I needn't make a big supper.
OK.
I made a thick vegetable stew/soup. Done within 20 min.

Ingredients:
3 potatoes, diced
2 - 3 carrots, sliced
1/2 cup celery, sliced
1/2 small onion, minced
bacon (optional)
pepper
salt
fresh parsley
water or broth

Fry the onion together with the bacon.
Steam vegetables in 2 cups of water or broth until tender. Add the onion/bacon and use a mixer to purée the soup. Season with salt and pepper.
Serve with fresh dinner rolls.

Potato and Onion

The other day the old bird feeder was filled with seeds and, now I am waiting for the birds to find it. While I was doing garden chores I could hear some in the trees around. I could get close enough. It is easier with flowers than birds.

In the garden my crocus got a white companion.

Today I tried a dish my mom often made. Sliced potatoes and onions layered in a pan and baked. There was still stew for J.P.

Cooking directions see below

Deutscher Text (siehe unten)

Bacalao - The Easy Way

  

 This dish we learned to love in Norway. 

There we used dried, salted cod that had to be watered out for about 1 night before preparing the dish. But here in Canada I just take fresh or frozen fish. It is easier to make and tastes good too.

(This is for 4 persons)
Peel 4 potatoes and slice or cut into cubes. Boil them for about 15 min., then drain the water.
Cut 1 pound fish (or 2 filets) into small pieces. (Haddock or Pollock) 
Open 1 big can of diced tomatoes and 1 small can of tomato sauce. Slice 1 onion into rings, and mince 1 wedge of garlic. Fry onion and garlic in 3 tbsp olive oil, add tomato sauce and fry a bit more before adding 1/2 of the diced tomatoes. Season with salt, pepper, paprika, sugar and Tabasco. 

10 minutes before serving add the fish and the potatoes in layers. Pour over the other half of the tomatoes and let it simmer on low heat for about 10 more minutes or until the fish is done. Don't stir!
Serve with fresh french bread. (If you like it add some sour creme too).

Bacalao - The Easy Way

Bacalao - Fisch in Tomatensoße
Dieses Gericht lernten wir in Norwegen zu schätzen. Dort wird es allerdings mit Stockfisch gekocht, der zuerst eine Nacht über ausgewässert werden muß. Hier in Kanada nehme ich frischen oder gefrorenen Fisch. Das geht viel schneller und schmeckt auch.
Für 4 Personen
4 Karotffeln schälen und in Würfel oder Scheiben schneiden. Ca 15 Minuten kochen, abgießen.
Den Fisch (500 g Köhlerfisch oder Schellfisch), oder 2 Filets, in kleine Stücke schneiden oder würfeln.
1 Zwiebel in Scheiben schneiden, 1 Knoblauchzehe fein würfeln. Beides in 3 Eßl Öl anbraten.  1 kl Dose Tomatenmark dazu geben. 1 große Dose Tomatenwürfel öffnen und die Hälfte mit in den Topf geben. Mit Salz, Pfeffer, Paprika, Zucker, Tabasko würzen. 10 Minuten vor dem Servieren die Kartoffelwürfel und den Fisch lagenweise in die Tomatensoße legen und den Rest der Tomaten auffüllen. Bei niedriger Hitze köcheln lassen bis der Fisch gar ist.  Dabei nicht mehr umrühren! Dazu frisches Baguette servieren. (Man kann auch etwas Creme Fraiche hinzufügen).

Bacalao - en enkel måte å lage den på.
Vi spiste denne retten for første gang mens vi bodde i Norge og vi brukte tørrfisk. Jeg likte det veldig godt men har senere brukt fersk eller frossen fisk istedenfor. Det går mye raskere på denne måten og smaker godt også.
Oppskrift for 4 personer:
Skrell 4 poteter og skjær dem i terninger eller skiver. Kokes så i 15 minutter før vannet slåes ut. Sjær 500 g fisk, eller 2 filets, i små biter eller terninger. Her i Kanada bruker jeg hyse eller torsk. 
Skjær en løk i skiver og 1 båt hvitløk i små biter. Begge freses i 3 ss matolje. Tilføy 1 boks tomatsaus. Åpen en boks med hermetiske tomatbiter og hell halvparten in i gryten. Tilsmak med salt, pepper, paprika, sukker og Tabasco. 10 minutter før serveringen tilsett fiskebitenen og potetene i lagvis. Fyll opp med resten av tomater. Kok på lav varme inntil fisken er ferdig. Serveres med fransk brød. (Om man liker tilføy litt surkrem). 

Steak and green String Beans

Today I decided to start my own blogging about the eternal question:

What shall we have for dinner today?

I try to keep my dinner cooking in a time frame of about 30 minutes and there are no fancy pots and pans or extraordinary ingredients in my kitchen.
This is about plain home cooked meals.
Mostly I do not plan meals ahead. I open the fridge door, peek inside and inspiration hits me - or not.

A look in the fridge shows a pound of fresh, green beans and two steaks (New York Strip Loin). And - of course- potatoes.
I see - writing about my dinner cooking gives me a clue that we do eat a lot of potatoes. But my husband LOVES them. No meal is a good meal without potatoes - must be the German heritage.

Start with stringing the beans. Modern beans are much easier to prepare than the ones I knew as a child. They always had long strings coming off.

Then bring potatoes and beans to a boil. They will be done at the same time.

While my husband is preparing (with salt, pepper and honey) and grilling the steak, (this seems always to be a "Man-thing"), I cook up a white sauce that is to go with the beans.

Melt 2 tbsp margarine or butter, add 1 1/2 tbsp flour and braise this for some seconds. Fill up with milk while stirring rigourously. When it got the right consistence add salt and nutmeg. Turn down the heat to low and stir occasionally.
Drain beans in a colander, keep 1/2 cup of the fluid to flavour the sauce. 
Place beans in a bowl and dress with the sauce. In Europe I used to have "summer savory" to flavour the beans with, but I was not able to find this herb here - so I give it a slight sprinkle with parsley instead.

By now the potatoes and the steaks are ready as well.

Dessert: Yoghurt and strawberry jam.

Remark:If available we use the old-fashioned type of yoghurt. The one that when cut with a knife doesn't loose its shape. It is more tart but way better.

I despise the "creamy" type. The slightly slimy texture of the "modern" yoghurt seems like pre-digested to me .

Our meal today: Steak and green String Beans