Broad bean with herb nut sauce

Broad bean with herb nut sauce

With a lot of broad beans to eat, it is important to think of different ways to present them on the dinning table, so that I won't feel bored in the cooking and in the eating. I made a simple pesto like sauce using fennel fond, pine nut, cheese and olive oil, to make the dish more flavorful.

pesto like sauce using fennel fond, pine nut, cheese and olive oil

1. Chop up fennel fond and roasted pine nut, mix with grated cheese, olive oil and salt.

2. Cook broad bean with a little water and salt until just soft.

3. Mix broad bean with cooked grain (barley here) and the fennel sauce.

Vegetable garden

vegetable seeds germinated

After 2 weeks away, it is great to come back to see vegetable seeds sowed just before I left have germinated, around 80% success rate. This could be due to keeping the propagator boxes in the green house with windows open, for a mild day and night temperature. Also possible that I have sprayed them with seaweed extract, which according to James Wong's gardening book, improves germination.

broad beans

A lot of broad beans are ready to harvest, this first lot will be blanched and stored in the freezer. Then everyday, I will harvest what I need for the meal. The warmer weather means ants have been busy bringing aphids on the plants, 10% of plants are affected. I removed all the flowering tops to stop more aphids coming, also go round all plants to remove young shoots, just want them to ripen the existing bean pods faster.

lettuce growing among broad bean plants

After thinning broad beans, the lettuce and cabbage seedlings planted 2 weeks ago among them, will have more space and receive more light to grow big.  

cabbage growing among broad bean plants

Hiking along rivers, Croatia

East of the Istria peninsular is an area with a number of world class trout fishing rivers. These rivers are left, or kept very natural, no building, minimum human touches, used only for hiking and fishing.

River Kupa

River Kupa

source of River Kupa

The paths along are simple tracks, no handrails, no sign to remind you to be careful, some wooden constructions for crossing when necessary. The rivers are always crystal clear, it is rare to be in such pristine environment. Even better is to come in Spring, when bright green leaves just pop out from all the branches in the hills. 

River Kamacnik

River Kamacnik

River Kamacnik

River Kamacnik

source of River Kamacnik

Squid, Rovinj, Croatia

Squid, Rovinj, Croatia

Saw very fresh squids in the market, the lady is careful to point out, to tourist like me, that this is not the usual squid, it is harder. 

Squid, before cooking

On close inspection, the side flaps are smaller and closer to the pointy end.  The transparent thin backbone is tiny, nearly non-existent. After cooking, it turns bright red (I left the thin spotty membrane on). 

Squid, after cooking

The texture is not tough, but a harder crunch than normal ones, very tasty though. Learn something everyday.

Hiking in Istria, Croatia

mountainous Istria

Away from the coast of Istria there are a few high mountains, and many interesting hiking trails, scattered among small villages in the mountains, they are not famous at all, but well worth a detour.

1. Near Pazin at the center of Istria is this karst river, forming a few water falls and pools along its course, then vanished, disappeared into a cave under the town. 

 

karst river near Pazin

There is an easy walk along the river, and a guided tour of the cave. 

 

karst river near Pazin

2. At northeast Istria near Lupoglav, the Vela Draga Canyon is well worth a visit. 

Vela Draga canyon, view from top

Vela Draga canyon, view from top

Vela Draga canyon, view from bottom

The view from the top is good, but from the bottom is fantastic, this requires steady feet to walk down a not well maintained steep stony path down, also a great rock climbing area. 

Vela Draga canyon, view from bottom

Vela Draga canyon, view from bottom

 

Vela Draga canyon, rock climbing

Vela Draga canyon, view from bottom

There are simple restaurants in the villages for tasting local produces. 

wild asparagus local ham scramble eggs

sausage, smoked pork loin and sauerkraut

Baby cuttlefish with quinoa

Baby cuttlefish with quinoa

Baby cuttlefish looks so fresh and cute, tempted to buy half a kilo for lunch, spent half an hour cleaning them, removing eyes, back bones and ink bags. The tender texture is worth the work. 

1. Dry cleaned cuttlefish well. 

baby cuttlefish

2. Sweat spring onion and ginger until soft, add cuttlefish, a lot of liquid will come out. Continue to cook and turn over regularly until liquid reduced. Add cooked grain like quinoa, or barley or rice, mix well and season with soy sauce.

Baked fish in Rovinj, Croatia

 With a lot of spring onion in the market, I use a lot in cooking, including on baked fish. Great aroma and because of very short cooking time, spring onion stays green. 

 

baked rock fish, John Dory with spring onion & ginger

 

1. Season fish with salt and dry in fridge for a few hours.

2. Season ginger and spring onion with a little salt and olive oil, mix well and rest for 10 minutes, for spring onion to soften, cooks better this way. 

 rock fish, John Dory with spring onion & ginger, before baking

3. Place spring onion ginger mixture below and on top of fish in a baking dish. Loosely wrap with baking paper, bake at 180˚C for 15 minutes, rest for 5 minutes with oven door ajar.

Barley risotto with wild garlic and pea

I bought barley in the market, love the texture, like a fat rice grain but with a bit more texture to chew on.

It is easy to make a barley risotto type dish using whatever fresh veg on hand. 

Barley risotto with wild garlic flower and pea

1. Soak barley for a few hours. Simmer in 2 times its volume of water, season with miso and salt, until just soft, around 20 minutes. I like to cook a large batch, keep it at this stage for later use. 

2. Cook wild garlic flower and stem until soft, add fresh pea, sour cream and season with salt.

3. Add cooked barley in mix veg sauce, serve with crisp garlic slices and cheese.

Seafood dinner gathering in Rovinj, Croatia

Having dinner with friends, simply use fresh local seasonal ingredients available in the market.

 

Cuttlefish rocket salad

cuttlefish rocket salad

Cuttlefish is easy to become tough when overcooked, best is to blanch it quickly, to enjoy the unique texture. 

blanched cuttlefish

1. Blanch cuttlefish in boiling water for 10 seconds, cut into very thin slices.

2. Just before serving, mix with soy sauce, olive oil and rocket, as a cold starter. 

Slow seared squid with spring onion

squid with spring onion

I love the taste of squid that is lightly charred, that brings out the sweetness and concentrate its shellfish flavor. I used to think that this could only be done at very high heat, making the house smelly and oil splashing everywhere. Actually slow cook it at medium high heat is enough, let the juice coming out from the squid to evaporate, then the oil can caramelise the squid to generate colour and flavor, a tasty hot starter.

slow seared squid

1. Cook spring onion at medium heat until soft.

2. At medium high heat with 1 tbsp olive oil, sear squids, turning over regularly, let the juice dry up and brown the squids.

3. Add cooked spring onion, mix well and serve, no need to add any seasoning, full of its own flavor.

Spring salad

spring greens

mix herbs salad

Buy a mixture of young leaves and fresh herbs available, like rocket, lettuce, spinach, mint, fennel fond, mix with vinegar, honey, soy sauce and olive oil dressing, the flavor is refreshing. 

Baked sole with rosemary

sole

1. Season sole with salt and dry in the fridge for half a day.

sole and rosemary, before cooking

2. Place sole on baking paper, add ginger, rosemary and olive oil, wrap up. Bake at 180˚C for 12 minutes, rest with oven door ajar for another 5 minutes.

baked sole with rosemary

Seafood in Rovinj, Croatia

Having the usual spring stay in Croatia, love the little fish market in Rovinj that always have fresh catches daily.

Skate wing

skate wing

First time to buy and cook this fish, it looks really fresh and low price. Just season with salt and butter and bake at 180˚C for 20 minutes. There is a lot of meat, no fine bones and very easy to serve.  

Anchovy

anchovy

Another cheap fish to buy in the market, just need patience to clean them. Basically cut the backbone below the head and pull gently to get the intestine out. Dry well, season with salt and rest on paper towel to absorb liquid and keep in fridge for a few hours. 

anchovy shallow fried

Dust with corn starch and shallow fry gently until golden both sides. Any left behind will be kept in a marinade of lemon juice, soy sauce and brown sugar for the next meal. Anchovy is very tasty and cheap, but a lot of work.

Rock fish

 

rock fish

Beautifully pinkish, meaning it is a shrimp eating fish, normally more tasty meat. Bake at 180˚C for 20 minutes, wrapped in baking paper, seasoned with salt, ginger slices and liqueur, tender and juicy result, much simpler than steaming.  

Wild garlic leave flower stem

wild garlic along the river

Walk along the river and found wild garlic already flowering, a bit earlier than normal. Picked the younger leaves and also collected a big bunch of flowers. 

wild garlic flower

The flower stem tasted so juicy sweet that I would like to use it in cooking.

wild garlic flower salad

First made a simple salad with salt and oil, turn out to be too garlicky to eat much. Used the rest in cooking with other ingredients, like vegetables or tuna cubes. 

wild garlic flower with tuna stir-fry