Chicken and rice the summer cottage style

Preparing food on a sunny summer day is at its best in the open air. The food is simple and fast to make, and the best flavor is the fresh air and friends around.

Ingredients:
chicken
salt, black pepper
pineapple chunks
turnip rape oil
white balsamic vinegar
rice, tomato
lemon balm

Cook the rice according to the package instructions and add just before serving the diced tomato and chopped lemon balm. Fry the chicken on a wide iron pan ("Muurikka" pan) in a dash of turnip rape oil. When the meat is well done, add pineapple chunks with juice, spices and some white balsamic vinegar. The pan should be hot, so that the frying time is not too long and the chicken and pineapple stay juicy.

Salmon and turnip

This oven dish requires some patience, and some manual labor to slice the salmon and remove the skin.

Ingredients:
salmon
lemon juice
champignon
turnip
sweet pepper
sesame oil
ice berg lettuce
tomato
spring onion
white balsamic vinegar
olive oil

Cut the salmon off the skin into an inch thick slices. Pour lemon juice on top of the slices and let them marinade in a refridgerator for half an hour. Cut the vegetables into strips and put into the casserole dish. Lay the salmon and sweet pepper strips on top. Pour the marinade into the dish also. Flavor with salt, black pepper and sesame oil. Build the salad with the vegetables cut into strips, flavor with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Sweet potato and chicken

A simple and easy oven dish, not suitable for a busy day, though. The longer the food stews, the better.

Ingrediets:
spring onion
sweet potato
tomato
chicken
butter
broccoli
champignon
egg, beer

Stir-fry the chicken first. Slice the vegetables and put them on layers with the chicken in the casserole dish. Spice with salt and black pepper. Mix the egg with two desilitres (1 cup) of beer, and pour into the dish. Stew in 175 degrees Celsius (350 F) for about an hour or until the sweet potato is soft. The dish can be covered with aluminium foil for the first half an hour, but after that it should be removed for the food to get some color.

Strawberries

The easiest and sweetest dinner was created when the strawberries in balcony boxes gave their first harvest. The only things that could have been on the side were whipped cream and champagne.

Ingredients:
Home grown strawberries

Chicken in hot apple sauce

The ripening of Finnish apples gave the idea to use them in food making. Chocolate and chili are a splendid combination as such, but together with Finnish apples they form already a Finnish-Mexican alliance. Some added fructose is needed, however, to balance the acidity of the apple.

Ingredients:
apple, cocoa
chili, cheyenne pepper
white balsamic vinegar
fructose
turnip rape oil, sesame oil
chicken, rosemary
tomato, spring onion
ice berg lettuce
cottage cheese
pine seeds
olive oil
black pepper
basmati rice


Peel the apples and remove the seeds. Stir-fry the apple cubes in turnip rape oil and flavor with cocoa and the peppers. Add some fructose and let simmer for about half an hour, check the taste.


Sauté the chicken slices in turnip rape oil and spice them with rosemary. Boil the rice according to the package instructions. Cut the ice berg lettuce to thin slices, rinse in ice cold water and spin dry. Cut the green parts of the spring onions to the salad. Toast the pine seeds on a dry pan, and add to the salad. Finalize the salad with a dash of olive oil, a couple table spoonfuls of cottage cheese and some black pepper. Chop tomatoes and the white parts of the spring onion and mix them together. Add some white balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Redfin perch with tomato salsa

The flavors of a fresh fish are crisp and delicate. The frozen fish traveled from the other side of the globe doesn't give the same experience, even though it is often sold as "fresh". This time the dinner is vitamin and fiber rich, but has almost no carbon hydrates.

Ingredients:
ice berg lettuce
cucumber
lemon balm
roasted pumpkin seeds
olive oil
sesame oil
white balsamic vinegar
tomato
spring onion
basil
perch
butter

The basis of the portion is a simple green pumpkin seed salad, which gets some perkiness from common balm. Tomato, spring onion and basil are chopped for the salsa, then added sesame oil and balsamic vinegar. Let rest in a refrigerator for about an hour. Remove the bones from the perch filets and fry them on a moderate heat in butter for a minute or two on both sides.

Chicken pasta with cottage cheese

This quick pasta gets some extra character from sesame oil and cottage cheese.

Ingredients:
chicken
roasted champignon
onion
tomato, tomato puree
cream, tarragon
instant coffee
sesame oil
turnip rape oil
cottage cheese
penne pasta

The champignons are toasted on a dry pan. Add the oils and fry the onion gently. Add chicken slices and fry. The puree gives stronger tomato taste and a dash of instant coffee sharpens the roundness of the cream. Pasta is boiled in water with a pinch of salt. The portion is crowned with cottage cheese and black pepper.