Midsummer Special: Oven Sesame and Barbeque!

I honestly didnt mean to make this post. The meal just turned out so well I could not resisist. It is weird how dishes you plan carefully, research and reflect, take several experimentation rounds to reach the desired quality. Then you do something rather impromptu, and it comes out fantastic!

Midsummer if any is the time of year when you should be roasting your stuff over a grill. I dont happen to own a grill, then my oven must do. Ok, I fried the chick on the pan but you could easily barbeque the whole set. This plate consists of veggie skewers, sesame coated chicken breast fillets and blue cheese champion mushrooms. This recipe makes for 2 hungryish eaters or 3 light eaters.

Vegetable skewers

I used metal skewers but if you have wooden ones, dont forget to put them to soak a few hours before. In this recipe everything is rather inaccurate, depending on taste and what you have handy. 1 long skewer or 2 smaller ones should be enough to feed one person.

You can also use mini champion mushrooms

• 8-10 mini plum or cherry tomatos
• Half of a large yellow bell pepper
• Stems of 4 large champion mushrooms
• 4-6 very small onions
• rape-seed or sunflower oil
• salt, pepper, paprika powder, chili etc. to taste

1. Peel onions, cut bell pepper in large square pieces, rinse tomatos and brush mushrooms (separate the stem), cut the browned part of stem off.
2. Put all ingredients in a bowl and add salt, pepper and spices. Add oil. Dont be too sparing with oil as the veggies are on their way to the grill and require some coating protection from the heat; on the other hand it's not necessary to soak them in oil.
3. Mix with a spoon so that everyting gets nicely coated with oil and spices.
4. Put the vegetables to 2-4 skewers and set aside.

Blue Cheese Champion Mushrooms

This is a summer classic! Bacon pieces are optional. You can use prosciutto instead, and my definate favourite is prosciutto added afterwards, as a topping. Some add onion into the cheese or under it, too.

• 4 large champion mushrooms
• 4-6 generous tbsp blue cheese
• 4 pieces of bacon (optional)

1. Brush the mushrooms clean with a baking or mushroom brush or kitchen tissue.  Do not rinse, it is a criminal act to rinse fresh mushrooms!
2. Gently push the stem to side, it should loosen with a mild snap. Take the stem off.
3. Fill the cavity with blue cheese and wrap a strip of bacon over. Set aside.

Garlic Yoghurt

 

Another classic and traditional companion to meats and grilled food. Simple to make and taste develops overnight, so if you can make it beforehand, the better. 

• Garlic gloves
• Turkish or Bulgarian, plain non-flavored yoghurt

1. Put yoghurt in a bowl, press garlic over.
2. Mix, set aside to set. Probably even better the next day ;)

Chicken Breast Fillets with Sesame Coating 

 

The original plan was to make chicken skewers. Then I recalled I had egg whites sitting in the fridge from zabaglione experimentations. (3 of them was more than abundant for coating 3 breast fillets) Since the oven was getting crowded anyways I decided to put them chicks on the pan. Sesame seeds, why not?! Sesame coating gives a nice, crispy coating with nice feel.

• 2-3 skinless, boneless chicken breast fillets
• 1-2 egg whites
• 2 dl (approx.) sesame seeds
• Butter, for frying

1. Take the fillets to room temperature 30-60 mins before cooking. If it's very warm, shorten the time or prepare immediately.
2. Pound them fillets gently with your knuckles to flatten them a bit.
3. Whisk salt and pepper into egg whites.

4. Put sesame seeds in another bowl.









4. Dip the fillets in egg white (one by one), then in sesame seeds. Let the egg white drip from the fillet before putting into sesame seeds.

Putting it All Togeher

1. Put the oven grill to 250C and heat up your frying pan (with an option to use lid, preferably).
2. Melt butter in the pan and when its bubbled and hot, add the chicken pieces.
3. Fry them from one side for 5 mins, then put the mushrooms and skewers into oven, as close as the roof with grill as possible.
4. Turn the chicks over and fry 5 more mins. Check the oven, and lower the grill pan if the vegetables start to go too brown.
5. Put the lid on, turn heat off and let the chicken fillets steam for a few mins. Take the grilled veggies from the oven.
6. Serve with garlic yoghurt!

Asparagus Pie with Two Fillings

Them asparaguses got the upper hand again. I saw them in the store with a nice price so I ended up buying two bunches of them. But then, what to make of them?

I like veggie pies but the fat content of crusts just makes me hesitant. So Google was my friend again and I was able to find some more light ones instead of the rather buttery one in the original filling recipe. Credit for this crust recipe goes to Himme who posted at Marttaliitto's website (in Finnish) about lighter, less-fat pie crusts. If you don't mind a buttery crust, just make one, it compliments the fair taste of asparagus better.

So, decided to make an asparagus pie. But then I couldnt decide whether to try a blue cheese filling or a lemon one. So I decided to try both!  Here are both of them. With blue cheese, be careful or it drowns the taste of asparagus.

Oatmeal Pie Crust

• 1 dl oatmeal (flakes, flour)
• 2 dl wheat flour (plain, whole grain)
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt (optional)
• 1/2 dl oil
• 1 dl water

1. Measure the dry ingredients in a bowl; then oil and water. Mix with a wooden utensil lightly.








2. Pat on the dough flat the pie tray. Bake 10 mins before filling and 30 mins with filling.

How to Prepare Green Asparagus

• Asparagus
• 1-2 tbsp lemon juice
• Pinch of salt
• Large, deep pan
• Water

1. Rinse asparagus stalks. Put some water with a pinch of salt and squirt of lemon juice to boil in a deep pan.

2. Snap the hard bit off and peel the asparagus but leave the tip part intact.









3. Boil the asparagus lightly for just a minute or two if you are adding them into the pies here (or something else to be baked, cooked or fried, check the recipe). If you use them as a side dish, just boil them until a fork goes through but the asparagus are not soggy. Then drain.

Asparagus and Blue Cheese Filling 

The filling for this pie I adapted from Maku.fi (in Finnish again). I replaced leek with summer onion and instead of cream cheese I used blue cheese. I also halved the orginal recipe. Doubling the filling makes for a baking tray (30 x 35 cm)

• 450 gr green asparagus
• 40 gr blue cheese
• 100 gr summer onion + stalks
• 3 eggs
• 200 g light sour cream
• 0,5  tsp salt
• Pinch of black pepper

1. Mix the dough, pat on a pie shell or baking tray and bake in 200C for 10 mins.
2. Peel and boil asparagus lightly in a large pan and drain.
4. Cut union 
 









3. Crumble blue cheese.









 
5. Beat eggs, mix in sour cream, pepper, salt, cheese and onion.

6. Put the asparagus on the baking tray or pie shell over the pre-cooked dough and pour the sour cream-egg mix over. Bake in 200C mid-lower part of the oven for 30 mins.

Lemony Asparagus Pie Filling

 

• 500 gr green asparagus
• 100 gr cream cheese (Oltermanni, Havarti, etc. or Port Salut)
• 3 eggs
• 200 g light sour cream
• 2-3 tbsp grated lemon rind
• 0,5  tsp salt
• Pinch of black pepper

1. Mix the dough, pat on a pie shell or baking tray and bake in 200C for 10 mins. 2. Peel and boil asparagus lightly in a large pan and drain.
3. Scrub lemon thoroughly under running warm water and grate the peel (just the yellow part, the white part is bitter).
4. Grate cheese. 
5. Beat eggs, mix in sour cream, pepper, salt and lemon rind. 








6. Sprinkle half of the cheese over the dough. Then put asparagus over it.








7. Pour sour cream egg mix over the asparagus and then sprinkle the rest of the cheese over. Bake in 200C mid-lower part of the oven for 30 mins.