Midsummer festival is the time of fragrant flowers and nights of the midnight sun. You can create an easy and comprehensive midsummer menu with the recipes of Jani Kinnunen from his popular Sivumaku-blog. For appetizers there are caprese burgers, for mains some tender spareribs with BBQ sauce and as dessert, delicious feta strawberries.
for 4
1 - 2 zucchinis
2 mozzarella balls
3 - 4 tomatoes
1 bunch of basil
1 tbsp dried oregano
0,5 dl virgin olive oil
basil vinaigrette (recipe below)
salt
black pepper
Chop the zucchini into disks about 1 cm thick. Place onto a big plate or into a plastic bag. Pour the olive oil on top and sprinkle the oregano onto each disk. Let marinate for 1 to 4 hours (in a hurry you can skip the marinating). Grill or fry the zucchinis until soft. Season with some salt and black pepper. Let them cool down a while to prevent the mozzarella melting on top. Cut the mozzarella and tomatoes into disks about 5 mm thick. Place the mozzarella on top of the zucchini, then 1 to 2 basil leaves and finish with a tomato slice. Splash some basil vinaigrette on top.
1/3 bunch of basil
1 dl virgin olive oil
2-3 tbsp white vinegar or balsamico
1 tsp Dijon mustard
salt
Crush the basil in a mortar or with a blender. Mix together all other ingredients except the oil. Then pour the oil in slowly as a thin ribbon while mixing until all ingredients are evenly mixed. Taste and season as you wish. In case the ingredients separate into layers, mix again thoroughly right before pouring on top of the burgers or salad.
1 kg spareribs
salt
1 onion
3 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
2,5 dl ketchup
1 dl dark syrup
0,5 dl dark sugar
0,5 dl cola
2 tbsp worchestershire sauce
3 tsp chili flakes
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp thyme, oregano and rosemary
1 tbsp ground smoked pepper
2 tsp tabasco
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
Boil the meat in salted water for 45 minutes. If it doesn’t fit your pot, cut it in half. Let the meat chill while you make the BBQ sauce.
Chop the onion and garlic. Heat a pot and dash some olive oil into it. Add the chopped onion and garlic and glaze for a while. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Let simmer for 20 minutes and then purée. Taste and season as you wish. Let the mixture cool down. Pour the sauce over the meat as a marinade, but save at least a glassful for brushing onto the meat while barbequing. Let the meat marinate overnight, or a minimum of a few hours. The spareribs will however taste good even with just a glaze, but it does taste even better with some time to marinate.
Heat up the grill and let the fat sizzle away. Turn the meat to get a slight char on all sides. This time you do not want grill marks or stripes, but an even surface with some color and a little char on top.
strawberries
feta cheese
liquid honey
fennel leaves
amaranth (to give texture, not a must)
Roast the amaranth on a dry pan until golden brown. Cut up the feta into a thickness of your choosing to create a base for the strawberry (1 cm thick for example). Place some fennel leaves on top of the cheese and put the strawberry on top. Splash with some honey and sprinkle the amaranth on top.
Now you are all set to enjoy and have a great midsummer!
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