Dill might be my favourite plant in the garden. I love its strange, wispy leaves and nodding, blowsy flower crowns. Most of all, I love the smell. It reminds me of summers at my grandparents' farm like nothing else can. My grandfather died eight years ago and I haven't been to that old house since then, but still the smell of dill filling my small garden takes me back there, to those warm warm warm afternoons picking red currants, looking for frogs at the pond, wandering in the pasture with the horses, running back to the house with the smell of dill heady in the yard.
If you see some yellow flowers in this picture, they are cucumber blossoms. I'm hoping to make pickles this summer. But right now these vines boast just one, oddly shapen little vegetable, so I brought home a big field cucumber from the market and made snabbgurka ('quick pickle') instead.
This is so simple but makes the perfect, fresh, summery side dish. Kaninen's mother showed me how to make it. Use your trusty vegetable slicer to slice very thin rounds of cucumber (however much you want to eat) into a bowl. Peeling it first is up to you. Mix with 1/2-1 tsp each of salt and sugar and a lidful of white vinegar (ättika). Try to get a balance of salty, sweet and sharp. Cover your cucumber with finely chopped dill (or other herbs) and cover it with a little dish. Let it sit while you are preparing the rest of your dinner, say, boiling the potatoes to go alongside it. After twenty minutes or so: Eat!
Snabbgurka goes well with meats or with starchy vegetables like potatoes or roasted beets, anything that wants a nice sharp taste alongside it to cut through starchy or fatty foods.
PS I just noticed on my calendar that today marks the start of crayfish season. Timely, as crayfish are traditionally eaten with lots of dill crowns!
This guy likes dill, too.
♥
översättning:
ett enkelt recept för snabbgurka!
