Roasted potatoes and radishes



Roasted radishes, a very light meal with a lovely colour



Ironically it looks like summer has deserted Switzerland too this year after a semi-shadowed equally non-existent spring. The temperatures during the day are pushing through to 16 degrees Celsius (61F) with the effort of an untrained runner crossing the marathon finish line. People were wearing coats and scarves and one lady even had a coat with fur lining on yesterday. At least she was keeping warm and looked cozy like someone coming in from a chilly night and sitting down on a chair where a cat had been curling up for an hour.

Massive summer BBQ activity is delayed too. The national sausage called Cervelat hit the news again this week. This sausage is a Swiss phenomenon like "Wiener Schnitzel" or "Apfelstrudel" in Austria, "Kartoffelsalat" in Germany or "must leib" (dark rye bread) in Estonia. If something happens to such national food, it is bound to make the news. This time half a page of the morning newspaper was dedicated to the analysis that the Cervelat prices were going up by 10% at all major retailers. The positive side is that due to the delayed grilling season the wallets of the Swiss Cervelat afficionados will retain their weight for a bit longer.

Swiss national sausage, makes the news at least every year

In this cold mood, me wearing a wollen jumper, it seemed rather approapriate to heat up the oven to 200C (400F) and stuff it with some potatoes and fresh radishes.

Instructions:
Potatoes
1. Wash the potatoes and radishes thoroughly.
2. Cut the potatoes into quarters, place them in a baking dish.
3. Sprinkle with sea salt and add a couple of sprigs of fresh rosemary from the herb garden and a generous amount of peeled garlic cloves.
4. Drizzle with oil.
5. Cover with a piece of aluminium foil and cook in the oven for about 40 minutes. Then remove the foil and bake further 15 minutes to give the potatoes a nice crust.

Season the potatoes with herbs, garlic and sea salt

Roasted potato wedges with rosemary and garlic

Radishes
1. Halve the radishes and spread them in a baking dish.
2. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper.
3. Cook for ca. 20 min in the oven.
Radishes need a lot less time in the oven than the potatoes.



Fresh radishes ready to go in the oven

Freshly roasted radishes have a silky taste

I made a cheese-yoghurt topping from grated old Gouda, a couple of tablespoons of Greek yoghurt and a tablespoon of mayonese and had the potatoes as a main course. These can be also served as a side dish to a more meaty main course or to a grilled Cervelat. 

Keeping warm and happy.

Cold cucumber and strawberry soup

A refreshing soup in the strawberry season

I had an eye-opening moment this May when I realised that the lunch take-away places had stopped serving soup. I checked out all my regular soup places and sighed my way out shoulders sinking lower at each door. It seemed like all of them had agreed to stop serving soup as of first of May. It slowly sank in it that this must be the normal practice. Soup is served in winter and replaced by green and mixed salads in summer. OK, makes sense.

The thing that didn´t quite make sense was the fact that this year the whole May was an extension of winter. The maximum day temperatures swinging between 8-13 degrees Celsius. Far from the weather that calls for a cooling salad. Moreover, the prepared towers of salad boxes did not seem to be selling as fast as oven warm bread at all. But rules are rules or traditions are traditions. No soup after 1st May regardless of the outside temperatures.

The other thing that didn´t quite make sense for me, an eager soup fan, was a selfish question of what if I wish to eat soup all year round. The answer to that would be to make your own soup or go to a sit-down restaurant as they still serve soups all year round.

I can hear the nutritionists in the West, East and ayurvedic rush to explain that the hot weather requires cold or moderate temperature foods. Fair enough. In summer, there is a place for cold soups.

Gazpacho in Spain, šaltibarščiai Lithuania, cold beetroot and buttermilk soup in Estonia, a chilled cucumber soup or a highlight last summer a cold lemon confit soup at Le Pré Verre in Paris,  all a blessing in the heat. These are just a few that immediately flash through my mind when I think of cold soups.

Ingredients for the cucumber-strawberry soup

Cold cucumber and strawberry soup
Strawberries go well with black pepper and peppermint and let combine in a savoury dish equally gracefully.

Ingredients for 2 portions or 6 small appetisers
half a long salad cucumber, peeled and cut into small pieces
250g fresh strawberries, green tops removed, cut into small pieces
1-2dl tomato passata or any tomato sauce a nature
1 small clove of fresh garlic, chrushed
a small bunch of fresh thyme, finely chopped
a small bunch of fresh Moroccan peppermint leaves, finely chopped
juice of half a lemon
salt
black pepper
1 tsp sugar
extra virgin olive oil


Mix the cucumbers and strawberries with herbs and seasonings

Mix the cucumber and strawberry pieces with the tomato sauce, garlic, thyme, peppermint,  salt, black pepper, sugar and leave to marinate for 30 minutes.

Purée in a blender or with a hand mixer until smooth.
Taste for salt, sweetness and spice and ajust if necessary.
Keep refrigerated until serving. Serve with some extra virgin olive oil sprinkled on top.

The soup has low calories, however does fill the stomach quite well.



Cold soup of cucumber and strawberry served as a small appetizer

Cake Auction: Passion Fruit / Maracuja Cake

The past two weeks have excited the enthusiastic patissiers at the office as much as the eager colleagues who have been generously bidding or buying lottery tickets in the hope to win a piece of self made cake.

We saw masterpieces of decoration ("An ambulance cake"!) and "Divine drops of paradise" that took the happy winners, drooling in the corners of their mouth, to heaven even if just for a brief moment.

Our Brazilian-Mexican-Estonian team Baked produced a maracuja cake. This involved creating a recipe based on some special Brazilian ingredients. The cake was layered and wrapped in two different fresh cream mixes and pushed over the finish with labor intensive (whew!) chocolate deco. Our cake proudly raised over 360 Swiss francs or 380 dollars.

Passion Fruit / Maracuja cake from the team Baked

The money that all these cakes raised is supporting a local school for children with special needs -Heilpedagogischer Tagesschule Biel.

The teachers, the headmaster and the children make the school a most kind and genuine place. Their school, as they say themselves, is a place for encounter, learning and celebration. They celebrate happy and sad moments every morning with a ceremony and they take time to say hello to everyone before the work in the classrooms starts. At this bi-lingual school the children learn new things, develop various skills and celebrate life. Respect.

This Vol.2 of our cake is a little thank you to the generous bidders. Their money is well spent.

Celebrate life. Learn. ....and eat cake!

A Thank You eddition of the Maracuja Cake for generous donators