Pan-fried smelt

"Fish (n.pl. fish or fish*es) - an animal that grows the fastest between the time it's caught and the time the fisherman describes it to his friends"

The only fishing I do is at fishmongers' or at a supermarket. I mean it's not like I've never held a rod in my hands, but all these occasions can be counted on fingers of one hand. I understand the "guy thing" in it and to some extent I understand the pleasure of it and the meditation (or whatever it may be called part), but I personally love to eat fish! Thus I only fish, where I'm sure I'll catch it and that is in a store!

The smelt fishing season (as far as I know) is very short and may last as short as a day. Like a lottery - you never know what you may get and how much. And although these little fish do take time to clean, they are still worth it, because it is such a delight!

Wild mussels in spicy tomato sauce

"You don't have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces. Just good food from fresh ingredients" ~Julia Child

There was a time when I thought cooking fish or any kind of seafood for that matter was some complicated business, unless it came in a form of frozen fish fingers. That was quite a while ago though. The more I cooked and the more I learned about food, the more comfortable I became with ingredients that came from water. As long as you keep it simple and limit yourself to a number of ingredients, it is nothing but easy and satisfying. With one remark here to make it sound a bit more complicated - as long as you don't overcook it! So a few very simple rules - find a reliable fishmonger and learn to trust your sense of smell and very few simple tricks. Mussels are very easy to prepare. They only need to swim in a bit of sauce, which in my case usually tends to involve a glass of wine and a few other simple ingredients, such as garlic, herbs, tomatoes, salt and pepper. 

Cream of carrot ginger soup

"Soup is just a way of screwing you out of a meal!" -Jay Leno

Potato pancakes with creme fraiche and caviar

"In a big family the first child is kind of like the first pancake. If it's not perfect, that's okay, there are a lot more coming along". Antonin Scalia, American Judge

When I was looking for a quote about pancakes, this one made me laugh, but then I thought - what if there was just one pancake (or child)? Everything must be perfect then! And I have been trying to perfect my pancakes in all kinds of shapes and forms, with a variety of ingredients. I can't say this recipe is perfect - I don't think such a thing exists in cooking. To me personally these turned out really delicious and I absolutely loved the texture.

Chili con carne in dark beer

After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one’s own relatives. -Oscar Wilde

Ok, so I've admitted a number of times I am a vegetarian! Which doesn't stop me from cooking meat for other people. To me it's been quite an interesting journey - cooking something that I don't taste along the way. It may be a bit too early to admit, but I do think I'm getting good at determining how the dish is turning out from the scents, texture, the way it looks. And I still remember how it's supposed to look, taste and smell. 

Beet, goat cheese and roasted pine nut tart

"Every guy thinks that every girl's dream is to find the perfect guy... Pleeeease! Every girl's dream is to eat without getting fat!"

I love love love beets! For quite a long time I had different associations with this root - haunted by memories of boiled beets from kindergarten. No kidding! Just remembering those meals give me shivers down my spine - meatballs with boiled beets and buckwheat. Yuck! At least the way the food was prepared... It took me a bit to recuperate from childhood traumas and just a bit more to completely fall in love with this amazing vegetable. I could it eat it with almost anything, but goat cheese beats it to the top of the list. 

Spinach fettuccine with black olives, capers, tomatoes and goat cheese

"The trouble with eating Italian food is that five or six days later, you are hungry again. " - George Miller

Once upon a time, a few months ago to be exact, I went on a business trip to Mykonos, Greece. Yeah, I know it sounds like business! Gorgeous island with beautiful beaches, friendly people and amazing food. Since I was there with a lot of other people, we had pre-booked dinners at different restaurants. Another upside to this short story - having a colleague, from Greece, who is proud to be Greek and is always going an extra mile to make other people fall in love with the country - well he was the one, who organized everything. He knows food and definitely knows how to showcase the best of what the country has to offer. Referring to him, Greeks treat food as love. 

Quail with oven roasted root vegetables

"Vegetarians! Stop eating my food's food!"

Now that coming from my mouth does sound confusing - I am vegetarian. I do love cooking, so that doesn't stop me from preparing meat for others. Although with time certain ethical morals start creeping in, but that would be a whole different story. Food is love, people who eat good food are happy, therefore I like to make people happy. That must be legitimate enough.  Another reason to cook meat - a month or so ago, when I was on vacation, I had a chance to visit one family of farmers who truly love food and home grown produce. They love to experiment, explore, cook and talk about it with such passion! They grow and raise almost everything one may think of on their land - all kinds of vegetables, chicken, quail, geese, turkeys and rabbits. Most probably I still missed something. We brought back home a lot of those absolutely amazing products and there I had quail!

Fish soup over wood burning open fire

Even if you've been fishing for three hours and haven't gotten anything except poison ivy and sunburn, you're still better off than the worm! #FishingStory

One of my top favorite things to do in summer is cooking over open fire on warm nights. There is something so magical about it! Starry nights, nightingales, good company... Had quite a bit of those this year as well. Also finally managed to find a big pot for cooking over open fire. Turned out it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be in the beginning. With many summer nights spent around the fire, the aim to turn it into a more involving social culinary experience proved to be so worth it!
Fish soup - salmon, shrimp and other goodies with all mandatory traditions - a sup of vodka and immersion of roasting charcoal.

Octopus braised in Cava (with video)

Talent without discipline is like an octopus on roller skates. There's plenty of movement, but you never know if it's going to be forward, backwards, or sideways. H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Last night I had a dream. I dreamt about cooking and taking delicious photos. It has been a while. The beginning of summer pulled me in with a bunch of projects, activities - and mostly all were work related. So thankful to a friend, who recorded the cooking process and turned it into a video! Someone deserves a bonus dinner! :)

Pan seared salmon & wilted spinach with coconut milk

“A photographer is like a cod, which produces a million eggs in order that one may reach maturity.”  George Bernard Shaw

Today there are two occasions to cook fish for dinner (for me it's usually next day's lunch for work) - it's Tuesday, so fresh fish is brought in. More importantly - bought a new camera lense and my hands were itching to take photos of some food! The normal crowd would probably go out on the street to get some photos taken, but since I don't blend in with the regulars in this sense - I needed something on my plate.

Pearl couscous with shrimp, fresh tomatoes and chives

"Couscous - the food so nice they named it twice!"

Today I am celebrating a little birthday! 4 years ago today I wrote my first blogpost. That was for the sake of sharing a recipe with some friends. That's when my little journey began and it got more and more intense along the way. Today I decided to treat myself to a dessert - something bright and colorful on the plate. Usually a birthday would call for a dessert. To me - seafood is the best dessert ever. I could have it for a starter, main course and dessert all at once.

Roasted stuffed peppers

We are all dietetic sinners; only a small percent of what we eat nourishes us; the balance goes to waste and loss of energy. ~William Osler

I cleaned my fridge a few days ago. Decided it is time to use all of the frozen goodies since the new season is fast approaching. Kept up to my promise for 2 days... Stopped by a store to pick up one thing and saw some gorgeous tomatoes and red bell peppers. So... Having a bright yet very light red dinner tonight!

Barley risotto with porcini and fresh thyme

"Falling in love is like eating mushrooms. You never know if it's the real thing until it's too late!"

I'm back on track to empty my fridge! Last year was unbelievably generous with mushrooms. Facebook was loaded with everyone's photos of porcini. Those gorgeous mushrooms where growing even in places where usually you wouldn't find them. At some point it was even beyond a joke. One morning, when I was staying at my parent's cabin, we took dogs out for a walk with my Dad, while enjoying our morning coffee on the go. Found so many porcini on the side of the road, that we had to rush back for a huge basket! Needless to say, whatever we cooked included mushrooms!