Nettle pancaces and home made ice cream by Friends

I think the realization that we can actually harvest the weeds of our backyard to be eaten has led me to a new era of exploring Finnish forests and eating leaves. So far I only managed to eat some dandelions and birch raw and dry some flowers and nettles for the winter. In the north one´s gotta be prepared for -30 even if it´s +30. We need herbs all year around.
A good website to get started:
http://www.arctic-flavours.fi/en/info/herbs/

Back to the story of a Finnish midsummer. By the time I curved to enjoy the Finnish midsummer in a cottage some of my new friends had made some dough for griddle pancakes.

At home I decided to edit the recipe to make a pancake in the oven to be eaten with some home made ice cream. The recipe of the ice cream is composed by the help of a friend and internet page called  http://www.ehow.com/.

I give the honor to them! Thank you World of friends for sharing!

Pancake ingredients (variate the amount of ingredients and you can make it as thick or as light you wish):

4eggs
7dl of rice or oat milk
A hint of rose salt
One tablespoon or less of cinnamon
One tablespoon of dried nettles 
5-7dl of spelt flours
50-70grams of ghee (= clarified butter)

Eee...how?

Whip eggs and milk. Add dry ingredients and then add liquid ghee. Spread dough into a tin covered by baking paper. Bake in 200degrees about 30min.

Home made ice cream ingredients:

Half of honey melon
Half of avocado
250grams of coconut milk
Hint of a hint of salt
Good squeeze of agave syrup

Handful of crushed nuts like cashew nuts or almonds

This is How to Do It!

Get a blander. If you haven't got one it´s a great reason to meet the neighbors and invite them to your kitchen! Or contact your new Facebook buddies =)
Peal and chop melon and avocado. Blend with coconut milk. Add salt and agave syrup, blend once more and mix crushed nuts.
Don't use a metal bowl to store it in the freezer. Mix every 1/2 hours until the texture is ice cream like. Take in the room temperature about 20min before serving.

By the time we made the ice cream and enjoyed it on a hot summer day in +25 degrees Oulu I got a message from somewhere in the cold North of Finland, where my loved hiking buddy stopped to have her shopped ice cream at the same time. I wish I could send her the alternative ice cream. Sincerely made with love.

Carrot and coconut ragout a´la Finnish midsummer team

Midsummer in Finland can be quite an adventure!
Instead of hitching I got a lovely red car, almost my own, and some two friends to get lost in the wild wild north Finland during the brightest day of year.
Unfortunately I gotta say after couple days of dry food in a gas stove and some 20km hiking my knee said it´s time to stop and hit the road towards a greener dinner table.
But one of my friends hiked so fast she ended up all the way to North Sweden by the time I managed to share this recipe in my blog, and the other one, an Argentinian tango teacher, probably danced his way down to London.
And, though I never danced tango with him (Yes, I am insane enough to let him go before stepping on his feet with my high heels!) I got lucky in the kitchen with him.
Apparently Mr. Tango had a great career as a chef before changing to tango shoe.

On my way to explore Finnish midsummer with my four wheeled red lover  we found a cottage with a handful of good friends who were into herbs and fresh greens big time. I decided to take one of Mr. Tangos recipe and tune it up with a hint of India and a good amount of the freshness of Finland. Of course inspired by the new friends of the cottage.

Ingredients (for 2 portions):

Carrot-coconut ragout in a whole weed tortilla with feta, salad and melissa

Half of zucchini
2-4 carrots
Rose salt
Curry
Black pepper
About 3 tablespoons of coconut butter
Sunflower and pumpkin seeds roasted

Do it!

Peal and grate zucchini and carrots. Heat the pan and fry them with the rest of the ingredients. Add seeds. Eat with love, friends and a lot of sun!
Fast and delicious.
And light enough so you still have some space to fit some nettle pancakes with raw home made ice cream in your belly =)