Chokeberries and a Day at the Beach

Sweden is having the most gorgeous summer.

I have been biking outside every day, just soaking in the beautiful weather and nature. We live in a small town with a forest five minutes away from our house, a lake fifteen minutes away by bike, and green fields pretty much everywhere.  I am loving it.

And with all the time we spend outdoors, a little bit of foraging was inevitable. That's how we stumbled upon chokeberries.

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Ljeto u Svedskoj je savrseno.

Svaki dan sam u prirodi, vozim bicikl, lutam nepoznatim poljima, odmaram. Zivimo u malom gradu sa sumom na pet minuta od nase kuce, jezerom na petnaest minuta voznje biciklom, i zelenim livadama svuda okolo.

Zaljubila sam se.

Setajuci sumom, nailazimo na njene brojne jestive plodove. Danas pisem o aroniji, a u narednim postovima o vrganjima, jabukama, bobicama zove i kupinama.

Unusual name, I agree. I assume it comes from its somewhat dry texture (It makes you purse your lips, my friend Ana says). That feature comes as an even bigger surprise since they look a lot like blueberries, but turn out not to be quite as juicy. 

Having read about them, however, I've learned that supposedly chokeberries might be some of the most powerful superfoods out there (there's even been some actual scientific research done to investigate their properties).

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O aroniji sam ranije cula ali je nisam nikada do sada imala priliku probati. Cvrsta na dodir i slicna borovnici, za aroniju kazu da je mozda najzdraviji plod koji postoji. Slicnost sa borovnicom ne ide dalje od izgleda, jer je aronija mnogo manje socna od borovnice, cak i trpka.

Bilo je uzbudljivo otkrivati ovu novu biljku, citati o njoj, ispitivati njen okus, njena svojstva. Zapravo sam odusevljena da nesto sto se tako jednostavno bere, cisti, ne kvari brzo, i sto nam nudi toliko dobrog u svom sastavu, zapravo uopste i postoji. Inspirisana sam.

So far, I have foraged around five kilograms. Some of it we ate, while most of it I cleaned, packed in portion-size mini plastic bags, and froze. We are looking at a winter-full of chokeberry muesli, chokeberry smoothies, and an occasional dessert.
And we will be going back for more.

I struggled researching for a recipe that uses chokeberries. There is quite a few out there, but I wanted to find one that does not require thermal processing, as I wanted them to retain their healthful properties. This recipe in part fulfills that condition.

It was adapted from a local store magazine (it used blueberries where I use chokeberries, and there are a few other adjustments). Swedes use deciliters instead of cups, so I am posting it just as I first read it. You can use one of the many scale convertors online to help you adjust the recipe to your preferred measurements, so it should not be a problem.

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Do sada sam ubrala oko pet kilograma aronije. Nesto smo odmah pojeli, a vecinu sam ocistila, spakovala u mini vrecice i zamrznula. Ove zime obogatit cemo muesli i vocne sokove aronijom (mozda cak i poneki dezert).

Naravno, uskoro idem nabrati jos.

Nije bas bilo lako naci recept za desert sa aronijom. Zapravo, postoji dosta recepata ali u vecini se aronija termicki obradjuje. Ja sam htjela da to izbjegnem kako bih sacuvala njena hranjiva svojstva. I recept koji sam odabrala tek djelomicno zadovoljava ovaj uslov.

Prilagodila sam ga na osnovu recepta sa borovnicama koji sam nasla u lokalnom magazinu.

Citrus Cake with Quark and Chokeberries

Ingredients

210 g flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 spring of lemon balm (Melissa)
1 lemon
3 eggs
3 dl sugar (I used 2 dl of stevia and 1 dl plain sugar)
11/2 dl olive oil

quark cheese
chokeberries

Method

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine half a cup chokeberries, 1 tbsp sugar, and 1 tsp water. When chokeberries begin to soften and the sugar has dissolved, mash them with fork until they resemble jam. Cool in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 175 C.

Cover the bottom of a springform pan with baking paper and dust it with coconut flakes. Coat the sides of the pan with butter. Set aside.

Sift flour and baking powder. Finely chop lemon balm leaves and grate the zest of the lemon. Whisk the egg and sugar until fluffy. Add lemon balm, lemon zest, milk and olive oil, and mix. Add the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Pour into the springform pan.

Bake the cake for 30 minutes or until the tester inserted in the middle is dry. Cool the cake on a wire rack. Squeeze 1 tbsp of lemon juice, combine it with half a cup of quark, and stir. Spread this on top of the cake and layer over the cooled jam as well. Sprinkle fresh chokeberries and lemon balm over top. Serve with tea or a drink of your choice.

Citrus kolac sa kvark sirom i aronijom

Sastojci

210 g brasna
2 kasicice praska za pecivo 
nekoliko grancica melise
1 limun
3 jaja
3 dl secera (ja sam koristila 2 dl stevije i 1 dl obicnog secera)
11/2 dl maslinovog ulja

kvark sir (ili krem sir)
bobice aronije
kokosovo brasno

Priprema

U manjoj serpi pomijesajte pola mjerice bobica aronije, 1 kasiku secera i 1 kasicicu voe. Kad bobice omeksaju a secer se otopi, viljuskom izgnjecite bobice dok smjesa ne pocne liciti na dzem. Ohladite u frizideru.

Ugrijte pecnicu do 175 C.

Prekrijte dno posude za pecenje sa masnim papirom i po njemu pospite kokosovo brasno. Maslacem namazite strane posude za pecenje.

Prosijte brasno i prasak za pecivo. Usitnite listove melise i naribajte koricu limuna. Rucno umutite jaja i secer. Dodajte melisu, koricu limuna, mlijeko i maslinovo ulje, i pomijesajte ih. Dodajte suhe sastojke i umutite smjesu. Uspite smjesu u posudu za pecenje.

Pecite kolac 30 minuta i ostavite da se ohladi. Pomijesajte jednu kasiku limunovog soka sa pola mjerice kvarka. Premazite povrsinu kolaca sirom, a preko njega stavite komadice zagrijanih i izgnjecenih bobica aronije. Ukrasite svjezim bobicama aronije i listicima melise. Servirajte uz caj ili neko drugo toplo pice.

The photographs from this post come from both our chokeberry-picking day and a bike trip to the beach. My niece takes part in all our activities, she learns and has fun (All the creatures love me, she says. Bugs, bees, butterflies, frogs. That must be 'cause they can see that I am such a good person.). Her boundless energy is truly captivating. When we're biking, she always wants to go first (we compromise depending on how safe the road is at any given moment).

And whatever we're doing, she wants to help.

Pictured with her in the photo are two of the three ducks we've been feeding at the lake. She named them Smiley, Eatey, and Surprisey (elaborate explanations for name choices, however unnecessary, do exist). There is also Swimmy who usually dives in the distance while we watch intently, each hoping to be the first one that spots Swimmy when it comes up for air. Not sure how much of all this I would notice if she weren't around, so I cherish it.

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Moja mala sestricna G. vrlo aktivno ucestvuje u svim nasim avanturama u prirodi. Uzivam posmatrati je dok uci i gradi svoj odnos sa prirodom (Sve zivotinje me vole, kaze ona. Bube, pcele, zabe, leptirovi. Mora da je to zato sto prepoznaju da sam ja dobra osoba.). Njena energija nema granice. Kad smo na biciklima, ona mora biti prva (uglavnom pokusavamo naci kompromis), a sve oko nas popraceno je narativnim sadrzajem.

Na slici iznad sa njom su dvije od tri patke koje smo hranili pri odlascima na jezero. Dala im je imena u skladu sa njihovim najistaknutijim karakteristikama. Cetvrta patka je uvijek na pucini; mi je posmatramo kako roni i takmicimo se ko ce je prvi primijetiti kad se pojavi na povrsini vode. Ne znam koliko bih primjecivala sve to da G. nije sa mnom, zato cijenim svaki trenutak s njom.

Summer savory

I owe you the photo story of one of our last trips to the mountains before I returned to Sweden.

I don't even know how I got M. to come, which is, when I think about it, how it happens most of the time. But he always enjoys it and keeps telling me it was a good idea to go hiking and such.

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Dugujem vam foto pricu naseg posljednjeg planinarenja prije nego sam se vratila u Svedsku.

Kao i obicno, ne znam ni kako sam uspjela nagovoriti M. da odemo do Umoljana, jer su dani bili dugi i topli, a obaveza i previse. Ali, nekako je pristao i mislim da mu je bilo lijepo.

Originally, I wanted us to go and get some more elderflower. The joy of it was that we ended up discovering two more elder trees (we laughed about not having spotted them earlier, even though they are sort of difficult to miss).

We picked a few flower heads and kept on walking to the nearby spring. All along the way we were stumbling upon trees of wild cherries. M. climbed up one tree and filled up half of a paper bag with cherries. People usually don't eat them but I don't really see why (not). They are more sour than the ordinary ones and not as meaty, but they do have their own special something.

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Ideja je bila da idemo brati jos zove na istom mjestu gdje smo brali i ranije. Na nase iznenadjenje, na samom pocetku puta naisli smo na jos dva drveta zove (smijali smo se kako ih nismo ranije primijetili, jer, vjerujte, ova dva je bilo jako tesko promasiti).

Ubrali smo nekoliko cvjetova i odlucili prosetati do obliznjeg izvora. Citavim putem nailazili smo na neobrane, divlje tresnje. M. se popeo na jedno drvo i nabrao pola fiseka, da probamo. Znam da se one inace ne jedu ali ne razumijem bas zasto. Da, kiselije su od standardnih tresanja i nisu previse mesnate, ali definitivno imaju svoj sarm.

Once you walk further away from the village, the nature takes over the sounds and smells completely. Nothing but the buzzing of bees, wind in the trees, and an occasional bird. And, oh, the fragrance that is in the air. The smell of multiple flower heads awash in the warmth of the sun.

We came upon a meadow filled with summer savory and yarrow. Working as a team, we sat down and filled up our bags. I always leave amazed at how much the nature gifts us with.

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Kad se tako udaljite od naseljenog mjesta, u jednom trenutku ne cujete nista vise od vlastitih koraka i zvukova prirode. Zujanje pcela, vjetar u krosnjama, poneka ptica. Meni su vrlo dragi mirisi, a planine Bjelasnice u ovo doba odisu raznovrsnim biljem koje je svuda uokolo. Tako smo naisli na livadu prepunu cvjetova kunice i cubra.

Sjeli smo u travu i brali, u drustvu sa skakavcima i pcelama koje su zujale oko nas. Uvijek me dojmi velikodusnost s kojom nam priroda daruje svoja blaga.

When we arrived home, I washed the savory (and yarrow) under the gentle stream of water, patted them with a soft towel and spread on a clean cotton towel to dry. I kept them in a cool place until they were fairly dry and then I packed them in small bags to have for the winter teas and spicing up of our summer meals.

I have used summer savory to flavor cooked green beans, and have discovered a delicious recipe for an herb, summer savory sauce to serve along grilled portobello mushrooms. Savory is a great replacement for pepper and I have enjoyed using it in my cooking. 

Yarrow tea was favorite of M.'s paternal grandfather. M. likes preparing it, and every time I drink it I feel a strong connection to the man I never knew but who, like I, loved yarrow tea very much. 

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Kad smo stigli kuci, ocistila sam stabljike i cvjetove cubra, kao i kunicu. Oprala sam ih pod tankim mlazom vode, lagano posusila mekanim rucnikom i rasirila na cisti, pamucni stolnjak. Cuvala sam ih u hladnoj i prozracnoj sobi dok se nisu dovoljno osusile, a zatim sam ih spakovala u male vrecice. Zimi cemo od njih praviti mirisni caj, a ljeti cubar stavljati u jela sa povrcem.

Zapravo, svaki put kad sam pravila buraniju ovih ljetnih dana, dodavala sam dvije do tri smrvljene stabljike cubra. Nasla sam i ukusan recept za biljni sos od cubra koji se servira sa vrganjima. Cubar daje aromu slicnu biberu, a dobar je i jer, za razliku od bibera, nikada ne uznemirava probavne organe.

Caj od kunice bio je omiljeno pice M.-ovog djeda sa oceve strane. M. ga voli pripremati a ja se svaki put kad ga pijem osjetim povezanom sa covjekom kojeg nikad nisam niti poznavala, ali koji je, kao i ja, volio caj od kunice.

Of course I already miss the beautiful Bosnia and Herzegovina, but there is also so much going on in Sweden and I cannot wait to tell you all about it. We are finishing up the blog redesign too, and new recipes are coming up soon. 

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Naravno, prelijepa Bosna i Hercegovina mi vec jako nedostaje. Ali i u Svedskoj se u ovih nekoliko dana otkako sam se vratila toliko toga desavalo da jedva cekam da vam sve pricam. Zavrsavamo sa redizajniranjem bloga (kako vam se cini?), a spremam i nove recepte, pa vise o svemu u narednim danima.