Pike-perch with mushroom omelette, vegetables and aioli

What you need

2-3 pike-perch filets

2-3 sweet peppers

1 aubergine (read about aubergine benefits)

6-10 champignons

2-3 onions

6-8 small boiled potatoes

10-15 colorful cherry tomatoes

Home-made aioli

Egg whites (left-over from the aioli)

Olive oil

Lemon

Parsley

Dill

How to do it

Gently fry sliced and cut fish, vegetables, and mushrooms

In a smaller pan, fry cut onion and sliced mushrooms

Add whisked egg-whites

fry on both sides

serve with parsley, dill, lemon and aioli

Black bean stew

What you need

Black beans

1 turnip cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. Gongylodes, Kohlrabi in German)

1-2 onions

3-5 cloves of garlic

2-3 carrots

Lemon

Cumin seeds

Black pepper

Turmeric powder

Cayenne pepper

Red curry powder

How to do it

Peel and chop the carrots, turnip, garlic, and onion. In very little water gently boil the chopped veggies with the black beans and cumin seeds for about 30-40 minutes.

Blend

Add spice

Serve with lemon, feta cubes, parsley, and tortilla chips

Lovely laborous lasagna

Whenever you have a lot of people to feed and you feel like working 3-4 hours in the kitchen, then a rich lasagna is worth trying.

What you need

For the bolognese ("Bolo") sauce:

Aubergines (click the link to see health benefits)

Garlic

Parmesan cheese (black label parmigiano reggiano, aged 36 months)

Olive oil

Italian sausage (whatever that means to you ...I used “Citterio Milano”)

Onions

Brown sugar

Ground beef

Ground pork

Thyme

Garlic

Bay leaves

Carrots

Tomato sauce (Cirio Provista Sugo)

Red wine

Basil

Pecorino cheese (pecorino fiore sardo)

Marjoram

Squash

For the ricotta sauce:

Ricotta

Parsley

Eggs

For the béchamel sauce:

Butter

White flour

Whole Milk

Nutmeg

White pepper

Parmesan cheese

+

Lasagna pasta sheets

Mozzarella cheese

A reliable inspector (I had Jacob, brother of Robert the Serious Siamese).

How to do it

Bolo 1: Cut and fry the Italian sausage. Add cut onions and 2 teaspoons of brown sugar 

Once the onions are semi-translucent, add minced meat and fry

Bolo 2: Boil 2 garlic cloves and sliced aubergines in a little water mixed with olive oil. 

Drain water, add one cup of grated parmesan cheese and blend –put aside.

Return to bolo 1: Add thyme and thin slices of garlic. About 10 minutes later add 2-4 leaves of bay.

Cut carrots into small cubes

Add carrot cubes, tomato sauce, red wine and cut basil into Bolo1 –let boil.

Ricotta layer:

Break 3-4 eggs

Add ricotta cheese and chopped parsley

Mix and put aside.

Return to Bolo 1; remove bay leaves, and add grated pecorino. Then add Bolo 2 mixture and some (half a cup, 4-5 tablespoons) cut marjoram. Let simmer on low heat. Add 3-4 dl red wine (about 1 US cup).

Cube the squash, add to your Bolo 1+ 2 (now final).

Take a deep breath, and prepare the béchamel sauce:

Melt a chunk of butter (50-75 g).

Add 3-4 tablespoons of wheat flour.

Mix and keep on mixing. Once your butter-flour mix looks like cheap play-doh you can start adding milk; first a little, then slowly a bit more.  When you are minus five satisfied with the texture; add a cup of grated parmesan cheese, mix and set aside.

Now the three sauces look like this:

Start the assembly:

Spoon bolognese sauce to cover the bottom of an ovenproof dish, sprinkle a little mozzarella on top. Add lasagna sheets

top with a thin layer of béchamel sauce. Then add a layer of (green) lasagna sheets, then all of the ricotta mix.

Again a layer of lasagna, rest of the bolognese, some mozzarella and one more lasagna layer, then the rest of the béchamel sauce 

Finish off with a thick layer of mozzarella cheese

Bake one hour in 180-200 C ( 350-400 F) oven, 30 minutes under lid and 30 minutes without lid

 Ready to serve:

Finnish meat pie

Lihariisipiirakka ("rice-meat pastry") is a traditional Finnish dish.

There are several variations, my absolute favourite is the "Lihis", a deep fried doughnut filled with minced meat and rice.

Here is an easy Lihapiirakka recipe. 

What you need

Eggs 5-6  

Rice 5 dl (2 cups) 

Onions 2-3

Ground meat 500-600 g (about 20 oz)

Puff pastry, 2 sheets 
Bouillon cubes 2-3

Butter for frying

Pepper
Salt

How to make it

Boil all eggs but one

Cook rice in bouillon

Cut and fry the onions in butter with the ground meat

Now you have this:

Mash the eggs with a fork and mix with the rice and meat

Place one pastry sheet onto an oven tray, add filling

and put one pastry sheet on top.

Brush with a raw egg and prick with a fork

Bake in 200 C (390 F)  oven for 30-40 minutes

Serve with salad and feta cheese cubes

Or with pumpkin soup

Or just serve as is

Pumpkin soup

The beauty of pumpkin soup is that all you need is some pumpkins and any kind of bouillon.

And there are so many kinds of pumpkins to choose from...

I chose these:

Optional additional ingredients are:

carrots 

potatoes 

milk or cream or coconut milk

white pepper, turmeric (click link to read about turmeric health benefits)

+ parsley, pumpkin seeds and whipped cream for garnishing.

How to do it:

Peel and chop all ingredients, let boil in bouillon until soft
Blend to puré

Add milk or cream or coconut milk and the spices.

Serve it to your daughter

Serve it to your son

Serve it to your mother in law

Serve it to your man

Keep on serving:

Colourful oven egg food

What you need

Eggs 6-12

Milk

Bread

Grated cheese

Butter

Fresh baby spinach

Zucchini

Colourful bell peppers

Champignons

Onions

Cornflakes

Salt

Pepper

Turmeric powder

For an updated version, add:

Sesame seeds, Finn Crisps and colourful mini tomatoes.

How to do it

Butter an oven-proof dish and sprinkle the toasted bread slices with grated cheese

Updated Version: Do the same using the Finn Crisps

Slice the mushrooms and vegetables, then make a layer on top of the bread and cheese

Mix eggs 

 with milk and spices

Pour on the egg-milk-spice liquid. Melt some butter, mix in the cornflakes and sprinkle the buttered cornflakes on top, add sesame seeds to Updated Version.

Bake in a 170-200 C (340-390 F) oven for approximately 30-40 minutes.

Use a higher temperature if your dish is simmering -less if dry on top. Keep an eye on the cornflakes so they do not burn. It is perfectly OK to poke and stir.

Updated Version : Add chopped mini tomatoes and grated cheese about 5-10 mins before removing from oven

Ready to serve:

There will be left overs.

Here are mine:

These are excellent ingredients for a Man Salad.