Campfire menu 1
Our Chef Iikka Johansson wanted to share this simple but tasty summer menu for you.
“Let’s keep it simple and easy to cook for everybody. All you need is some good ingredients, robust cookware and a campfire.”
Summer vegetable soup served with grilled cherry tomatoes, flat bread and Finnish goat cheese.
This one is an easy starter. The soup itself you can prep beforehand in a bottle and just cook the condiments over fire.
For the summer vegetable soup
Serves 4
1 cucumber, peeled and chopped
1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped
1kg ripe tomatoes,chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
2 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped
2 tbsp sherry vinegar, or to taste
2tbsp olive oil
2tsp salt, or to taste
Place the cucumber, peppers, tomatoes, garlic and spring onions in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Add the sherry vinegar and olive oil and mix together. Cover and chill. Leave to marinate for at least 30 mins or overnight.
Put the vegetable mixture into a blender and blend until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary. Cover and refrigerate.
For the grilled cherry tomatoes
Serves 4
500g cherry tomatoes
Olive oil
Salt
Wash the tomatoes and place them in a bowl. Toss the tomatoes with a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Place the tomatoes in a sieve on the open fire. Turn the tomatoes half way through. Be careful not to overcook or burn the tomatoes too much. Sprinkle the tomatoes with salt and serve on top of the summer vegetable soup.
Flatbread
Serves 4
350 g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
350 g natural yogurt
2tsp salt
Place all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix together with a spoon.
Dust a clean work surface with flour, then tip out the dough. Knead for a minute or two to bring it all together.
Put the dough into a floured-dusted bowl and cover for 30 minutes.
Dust a clean work surface with flour. Divide the dough into 4 equal-sized pieces
With your hands, pat and flatten the dough, then use a rolling pin to roll each piece into 15 rounds, roughly 2mm to 3mm thick.
Place the pan on a high heat. Cook each flatbread for 1 to 2 minutes on each side, or until puffed up.
Serve with spreadable goat’s cheese
Grilled perch and leeks
Serves 4
1kg Perch or other freshwater fish such as pike perch or white fish
4 leeks, preferably young and thin
Olive oil
Salt
Fresh herbs and spruce sprouts
Brush the fish all over with olive oil and season generously inside and out with salt. Stuff the cavity with some fresh herbs and spruce branches
Use a sharp knife to cut the leek’s green part in half lengthwise. Gently rinse the leeks under cold running water to remove any dirt or grit.
Place the fish and the leeks on the grate. Grill over moderately high heat, uncovered, until lightly charred, about 10 minutes. Turn and grill until the flesh is white throughout, 10 minutes longer.
Transfer the fish to a platter and let stand for 5 minutes before serving. Cut off the burnt ends of the leeks. Serve with boiled new potatoes and brown butter sour cream.
Boiled new potatoes with whipped brown butter sour cream
Serves 4
For the potatoes
1kg new potatoes, such as Timo or Siikli
1/2 bunch of dill
1/2 bunch of lovage
Salt
50g butter
Wash and brush the potatoes. Place in a bowl and pour water on top of the potatoes until just covered. Pour the water in a saucepan and boil up. Cut the stalks off the herbs. Add salt to the water (1tsp / 1 liter of water). Add the potatoes to the water with the herbs stalks. Boil the potatoes until they are almost done. Sieve off the water and cover the saucepan with a lid. Finish cooking the potatoes in the steam for a few minutes. Chop the herb leaves and add to the potatoes along with the butter. Serve with the whipped brown butter sour cream.
For the whipped brown butter sour cream
50g brown butter
200g sour cream
1/2 lemon, juice and zest
Whip the sour cream in a bowl until light and fluffy. Add the warm brown butter slowly while whisking. Finish with the lemon juice and zest. Cover and set aside.
Sour cream pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream
Serves 4
3 eggs
600g sour cream
1 dl milk
3 dl flour
2 tbls sugar
1 ts salt
200g cream
250g strawberries
Add all the ingredients into a blender and blend for 30 seconds.
If you don’t have a blender
Whisk the eggs lightly in a mixing bowl.
Add half of the sour cream with flour, sugar and salt. Beat the batter until smooth.
Add the rest of the sour cream and milk and mix.
Chill the batter for at least 30 minutes.
Heat a frying pan over medium high heat. Add a knob of butter and pour or scoop the batter onto the pan using approximately 1,5dl for each pancake. Tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly.
Cook the pancake for about 2 minutes, until the bottom is light brown. Loosen with a spatula, turn and cook the other side.
Serve warm with whipped cream and Finnish summer strawberries.