I don't have a green thumb but...

I like the idea of growing your own food. In practice, though, this is limited to herbs such as cilantro and watercress. This year I wanted to try something new.

Today we bought tomatoes and sweet pepper - and roses as you can see...



And a pot of lovely minature basil (minette basil?) which hopefull will live longer...



I was also considering cucumbers. Any other ideas what we can grow on a balcony with a roof and windows? And what to I call such a balcony? It's not a porch, is it?

Dish of the day: chicken with apples / Danie dnia: kurczak z jabłkami

I saw the recipe in one of the newspapers and simply thought this should be good. Maybe because the couscous salad with apples is very popular in my house. I modified the original recipe slightly: skipped the bacon, used red onion instead of yellow.




You will need:
4 chicken breasts, cut
2 red apples, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 yellow pepper, diced
1 green pepper, also diced
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 medium red onion, chopped
3 teaspoons of curry spice (I know I should make it myself, but I was rather tired)
crushed black pepper
3 tablespoons of rice oil (very nice)

Heat the oil in a casserole, fry the chicken. When it turns "white" add the garlic, onion, peppers and fry some more. Add some water if needed. Add the curry spice and apples. Cook until the apples turn yellow.

I served it with brown rice cooked with black cumin.

Yummy!

Potato salad with walnuts and pesto / Sałatka ziemniaczana z orzechami i pesto

Since it's barbecue season here in Norway, and despite the fact that such activities are not allowed where I live...



You will need:
12 small potatoes, cooked
2 dl of light sour cream, or anything lighter than that
2 tablespoons of pesto of your choice
50 grams of walnuts, chopped
1 dl of chopped ruccola salad
salt and crushed black pepper

Prepare the dressing. Pour over the potatoes. Done.



Easy food for lazy days.

On request: chili sin carne

You will need:
2 onions, peeled and chopped
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2-3 button mushrooms, cut
1 tablespoon of oil
1 red capsicum, cut
2 cans of red beans
2 cans of chopped tomatoes
1 small can of sweet corn
2 dl of water
1 tablespoon of tomato paste (this you can skip)
1/2 teaspoon of chilli powder (less if you are delicate)
1 1/2 teaspoon of cumin (this you cannot skip)
a pinch of turmeric (it brings out the colour, skip it if you don't care)
salt and pepper
oregano, fresh or dried

In a large casserole heat the oil. Add the onions, garlic and mushrooms. Fry and stir well. Add all the spices. Then add all the other ingredients. Cook until done. Serve with tortillas, some sour cream, cold salad and cold beer. You can make it cheap by buiyng your cans of food at Rema1000 (the beans there are decent), you can make it expensive using SW beans and fresh tomatoes. In any case it tastes better the day after. And the day after that again...

Oh, and excuse the lack of illustration. Forgot it thrice.

Wakey-wakey! Massaman curry at Bangkok Thai

The past few months were rather lazy in terms of cooking. The food spark has gone out of me and even when I did prepare something interesting and remembered to take pictures, I could not bring myself to posting about it. Closing of the only vegetable shop in our neighbourhood and trouble with Kolonihagens deliveries only added insult to injury. But now that spring is here I want to start cooking and writing about it anew. Let me start with a post about eating out.

Yesterday I tried the massaman curry at Bangkok Thai here in Oslo. It was prepared with chicken, potatoes and cashews. The sauce was creamy and not that heavy. I wish the potatoes were cooked better, but otherwise it was great to taste something new. I am too fond of green curry and the endless variations of it, so I order it way too often. The name of massaman curry supposedly refers to Muslims but here I wish a had a better reference than a standard sentence reiterated by all the on-line recipes out there.

Otherwise the dishes were good (Thai fishcakes in particular) though different from what the favourite Rice Bowl serves. The company was even better and from the restaurant we went on further downtown on this quiet evening.

Now dormant / I dvale / W uśpieniu

But I will be back...

Until then: enjoy your dinners!

Yellow turnip mash / Kålrotstappe / Brukiew purree

Yellow turnip, rutabaga, Swede: a simple vegetable with almost too many names. Actually a cross between cabbage and turnip. It's good, it's cheap and in plenty at this time of year. In Norway it is closely associated with festive occasions around Yule. In Poland it is considered to be poor man's food. But I wanted to try and prepare it for a simple - lazy - dinner.

You will need:
1 kg of yellow turnip (choose small roots)
2 carrots
salt and crushed black pepper
1 spoon of butter
some cream

I cooked the turnip with carrots in my pressure cooker - it took eight minutes. Otherwise cook in salted water until done. Mash all the ingredientes with an old-fashioned potato masher or a large fork.



Goes well with distinctive flavours.

Smacznego!