Fresh broad bean with quinoa

In Europe, broad bean is another seasonal vegetable popular in spring, other than asparagus. They are sweet and bright green when fresh.

1. Bring to boil 1 part quinoa in 2 part water with a pinch of salt, simmer for 15 minutes. Switch off heat, cover with lid and rest for 15 minutes for quinoa to swell up fully.

2. Remove broad beans from pods, if the beans are big remove outer shell. Cook in olive oil with a pinch of salt until raw taste gone, around 10 minutes.

3. Mix quinoa into broad bean and serve hot.

Crunchy Khol rabi pickle

khol rabi

Khol rabi grown in the cooler winter months are sweeter than those from hot summer. These are small ones bought in Rovinj vegetable market from old ladies who sell excess produce from their home garden.

 

khol rabi pickle

1. Cut off hard outer skin of khol rabi, cut into thin slices.

2. Season with salt & sugar 1:1, chili flakes & Sichuan pepper for an hour. Pour away excess marinade before serving.

Cold mackerel

Bought in Rovinj fish market very fresh shiny mackerels. As they are not very big, I made a local specialty - marinated fish.

1. Clean mackerels (or sardine/anchovy), sprinkle sea salt & sugar 1:2 over fish, around a small handful for this amount of fish in the photo. Marinate over night in fridge.

2. Pour away liquid, add olive oil to half the height of fish, bake at 150˚C for 45 minutes.

3. While hot, add juice of a lemon, chili flakes & Sichuan pepper. When cool, place in fridge for at least a day before serving.

Hill villages, Croatia

2 hours drive north west of Rovinj, near Delnice is beautiful mountainous area, with a lot of pristine rivers well known to fishermen for fly fishing.

There are hill villages dotted around, with small houses and farms, long thin plots of land to grow vegetable, green grass, flowering fruit trees, no rubbish, very tidy and well looked after.

What caught my attention is the total absence of billboard, big buildings, shopping malls, hypermarkets, glass fronted modern buildings, fences, railings, excessive use of modern materials, etc. It is like how all villages used to be in the old days, the simplicity is such a pleasure for the eyes.

Rovinj, Croatia

Visiting friend in Rovinj, Croatia who farms his olive trees in bio-dynamic method. It is the time to buy the freshly bottled extra virgin olive oils from end of last year's harvest. 

Our friend welcomed us with a 2kg lobster caught from the sea around there, it is as sweet as the best one I had eaten in Brittany years ago.

Rovinj is a good place to taste wild turbot, to cook, remove gut, bake whole at 220˚C for 10-15 minutes for 1kg to 1.5kg, then switch off heat and rest inside for another 10 minutes. Peel skin off and sprinkle fine sea salt and extra virgin olive oil before serving. My favorite part is the fin muscles along the edge.

turbot

 

Vegetable raise bed with cloche

raise bed cloche

This year I have added a translucent lid to the raise bed, the helps to keep temperature more constant, better for germination, and stops bird from pecking the seedlings.

beetroot & carrot seedlings

Spring flowers

While walking round the garden, I took photos of some spring flowers:

Thistle

 

Flowering quince shrub

Gooseberry flower

 

 

Ham with green pepper

The heat of just cooked green pepper warms up the ham and cuts down saltiness, a tasty finger food or a casual starter.

1. Bake fleshy green pepper whole at 170˚C until soft, around half an hour.

2. While hot, cut into strips, wrap a slice of ham around and serve immediately.

North coast Spain - villages

Lekeitio

Along the coast from San Sebastian to Bilbao, there are a string of small villages, all with well built harbours.

Elanxobe

In the old days, this is how far a boat could sail during the day, and they parked in the harbour at night.

 

bell tower near Bermeo

There are a few hiking options in that area, like this one up to the bell tower near Bermeo.

Fish market in San Sebastian

Looking at the display at the fish market, it is difficult not to buy some to try. I bought Hake liver and Brill with liver to try.

 

Brill & liver

The flesh of Brill is more delicate than other flat fish. The livers are best to be salted for half an hour first before fried to slightly crispy outside.

Brill & liver

Hake liver

A beautiful seaside town - San Sebastian, Spain

This is a very livable town, beautiful with semicircular sandy beach right in the middle of the town. 

Elegant old building blends well with thoughtfully designed new buildings. No big department stores and hypermarkets in the centre so small shops survive and keep the old town busy. 

There is excellent supply of quality produce in the market, and lastly, a lot of tapas bars or restaurants to choose from.

Asparagus

First vegetable harvest of the year - asparagus, a few pieces just enough for a starter.  Planted the root crowns 2 years ago, let them develop the root system for 2 years before harvesting the shoots.

The shoots will pop up in early summer, around April to May, by early June they should be left to grow to a bush to collect nutrients for continuous production year after year.

Broad bean 蠶豆

Peru broad bean flower

I planted broad beans bought in a hill village in Peru last December. They are two feet tall and have flowers, big flowers for the bean family, and really beautiful.

Peru broad bean flower

The flowers open in bright sunlight and close up in the evening.

Peru broad bean

Fig seedlings

There is a couple old fig trees in the garden, bearing fruits every year. The birds like them too, pick the fruits and fly to the nearby oak tree to eat. They obviously have to leave behind their digestion residue while resting after eating. This is why there are a lot of fig seedlings around the base of the oak tree.

Green house seed trays

It is busy germinating vegetable seeds time. This year I sow them in small trays and put in the green house. The temperature is more stable inside and is better in seed germination. 

It gives me a lot of joy to see seedlings popping out from soil, and they look so cute. 

芥菜苗

甕菜苗/Morning glory seedling

紅萈菜苗/red amaranth seedling

韭菜苗/chive seedling