Love... to cooking !

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Bell Peppers Stuffed with Chicken and Rice

“Are the days of winter sunshine just as sad for you, too? When it is misty, in the evenings, and I am out walking by myself, it seems to me that the rain is falling through my heart and causing it to crumble into ruins.”
― Gustave Flaubert, November

Ingredients (3-4 servings):
– 3-4 red bell peppers;
– 500g minced chicken;
– 80g rice;
– 200g tomato passata;
– 1/3 bunch dill;
– 1 tsp salt;
– 1/2 tsp black pepper.

Directions:
1 Mix minced chicken with rice, salt and black pepper.
2 De-seed red bell peppers.
3 Stuff well red bell peppers with the meat mixture.
4 Transfer the stuffed peppers to the large pot with the tops from bell peppers. Add tomato passata and water to cover the bell peppers.
5 Cook at medium heat for 40 minutes.
6 Serve with a half a soup ladle of broth

Featured

Quick Homemade Basil Pesto Pasta Recipe

The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself.
― Michel de Montaigne, The Complete Essays

Ingredients (2-3 servings):
-250g pasta
– 1 bunch basil
– 100g cashew nuts
– 2 garlic cloves
– 90ml olive oil
– 1 tbsp lemon juice
– 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper

Method:
1 Cook pasta al dente in salted water; drain water
2 Pesto: combine basil leaves, cashew nuts, garlic cloves, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper and mash with a blender until smooth
3 Combine pesto sauce with pasta, carefully mix and serve

Featured

Creamy Salmon with Knedlíky Recipe

“There is no perfection only life”
― Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Salmon ingredients (2 servings):
– 200g salmon
– 1 red bell pepper
– 100ml cream 33%
– salt to taste
– 0.5 tbsp sunflower oil

Knedlíky ingredients:
– 500g boiled potatoes
– 150g flour
– 50g wholemeal floor
– 2 eggs
– 1/2 tsp salt

Method:
1 Salmon
1.1 Preheat 0.5 tbsp sunflower oil in the skillet
1.2 Fry salmon (fully defrosted) one side until golden
1.3 Turn the salmon over, add salt, add chopped red bell pepper – fry salmon until golden
1.4 Add cream and cook for another 3-4minutes
2 Knedlíky
2.1 Mix boiled potatoes, flour and salt: mix until smooth.
2.2 Form two sausages 5cm diameter.
2.3 Put the sausages in the boiling water, covering the sausages. Boil for 20 minutes at medium heat.
3 Serve salmon with Knedlíky and dill

Featured

Paccheri con Salmone !

Show not what has been done, but what can be. How beautiful the world would be if there were a procedure for moving through labyrinths.

Umberto Eco

Ingredients (for 2 servings):
– 180g salmon
– 150ml 33% cream
– 250g Paccheri
– 3 garlic clothes
– 80g Parmesan
– 1/2 tsp salt
– 1/2 tsp black pepper
– 1/2 tbsp olive oil for frying
– chopped parsley/dill for serving

Method:
1 Grate Parmesan into a bowl and put in the fridge
2 Cut salmon into 1.5cm cubes
3 Chop garlic into slices
4 Simultaneously start boiling water for pasta and cooking salmon
5 Boil pasta in the salty water until ready, drain the water
6 Cook salmon for 5 min in olive oil, medium heat; add 33% cream and cook for another 5 min; add garlic slice and cook for another minute
7 Put the pasta in the frying pan with salmon for 1 min, carefully mix and transfer to the serving plates
8 Serve Paccheri with black pepper, grated Parmesan and chopped greens !

Featured

Goulash with Knedlíky

Bez práce nejsou koláče.
Czech proverb

Goulash ingredients:
– 400g beef
– 5 onions
– 1.5 tbsp paprika
– salt and pepper to taste
– sunflower oil for frying onion
– 3 tbsp flour for the sauce

Knedlíky ingredients:
– 500g potatoes
– 150g flour
– 50g semolina
– 2 eggs
– 1/2 tsp salt

Method:
1 Goulash
1.1 Cut beef in 2-3cm pieces
1.2 Chop onion and fry for 4 min in sunflower oil
1.3 Add beef and cook for 1.5 hours, add water when needed
1.4 Add 3 tbsp flour, mix well and cook for another 30 minutes, add water when needed
2 Knedlíky
2.1 Mix boiled potatoes, flour, semolina and salt: mix well
2.2 Form two sausages 5cm diameter
2.3 Put the sausages in the boiling water, covering the sausages, boil for 20 minutes at medium heat
3 Serve Goulash with Knedlíky and dill!

Featured

Aubergine Rolls with Walnuts !

May the wind under your wings bear you where the sun sails and the moon walks.
J.R.R. Tolkien

Aubergine stripes ingredients:
– 2 aubergines
– olive oil for baking aubergines
– chopped parsley for serving

Filling ingredients:
– 150g (baked) walnuts
– 2-3 garlic cloves
– 1/2 tsp salt
– 1/4 tsp black pepper
– 1 bunch dill
– 1/4 cup warm water

Method:
1 Preheat the oven to 200C (400F)
2 Slice aubergines lengthways into 4mm thick stripes, put on the baking paper and brush well with olive oil
3 Add walnuts halves over the aubergines: bake them together for 25min at 200C (400F)
4 Combine and blend the filling ingredients (including baked walnuts) until smooth: put 1tsp of the filling on each aubergine stripe and roll the stripes up
5 Serve cold with chopped parsley !

Featured

Spinach and Feta Fatayer: amazing with coffee !

What really knocks me out is a book that, when you’re all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn’t happen much, though.
J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

I love spinach fatayer: they are simple to make, amazing in taste. They serve great as an appetizer or as a snack with coffee or with soup!

Dough ingredients:
– 1 cup (1 cup=250ml) wheat flour
– 1/4 cup water
– 3 tbsp olive oil
– 1/2 tsp salt

Filling ingredients:
– 90g fresh chopped baby spinach
– 90g Feta cheese
– 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
– 1 tbsp lemon juice
– 2 tsp olive oil
– 1/2 tsp salt
– 1/4 tsp pepper

Method:
1 Preheat the oven to 220C
2 Filling: combine all filling ingredients and mix well with the hands
3 Dough: combine all dough ingredients in a bowl: knead the dough
4 Divide dough into 8 equal pieces and form a ball out of each of them
5 Roll out each ball into a 8-10cm diameter circle: put 1 tsp filling in the centre of each circle
6 Lift up ends of each circle to the centre to form Fatayers with your fingers
7 Put the Fatayers on the baking paper (sprinkle with Provence herbs or pepper or a little of olive oil): bake for 18 minutes at 220C
8 Serve with a cup of black coffee or black tea !

Featured

Spinach Pancakes for lunch

Her heart did whisper that he had done it for her.
Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

Pancakes batter ingredients (7-8 pancakes):
– 115 g fresh spinach
– 2 eggs
– 300ml milk
– 200g all purpose flour
– 2 tsp sugar
– 1/4 tsp salt
– 1/3 tbsp sunflower oil for frying

Serving ingredients:
– 150 g smoked salmon
– 100 g cream cheese
– fresh dill

Method:
1 Wash and dry spinach leaves.
2 Put in blender all pancakes batter ingredients: mash until smooth.
3 Preheat a skillet, add 1/3 tbsp sunflower oil (needed only in the beginning).
4 For each pancake pour 1 ladle of batter on the skillet. Fry at medium heat until bubbling, turn the pancake over and cook until golden.
5 Serve pancakes with soft cheese, smoked salmon and fresh dill.

Featured

Veggie chips with blue cheese sauce !

You must remain. I must depart.
Two autumns falling in the heart
Yosa Buson

Veggie chips ingredients (for 2-3 servings):
– 6-8 medium potatoes
– 4 large carrots
– 2 beetroots
– 1 tbsp sunflower oil
– Herbes de Provence to taste
– salt to taste

Blue Sauce ingredients:
– 200g sour cream
– 125g blue cheese (Saint Agur blue)
– chopped dill and parsley

Method:
1 Preheat the oven to 190C
2 Pill and cut veggies into thin strips
3 Mix veggie strips with Herbes de Provence, salt and sunflower oil: transfer to the baking paper
4 Bake for 50-60 min at 190C
5 Blue cheese sauce: combine sour cream, blue cheese, chopped dill & parsley: mix until smooth. Put the sauce in the fridge until the chips are ready
6 Serve veggie chips with a blue cheese sauce !

Featured

Healthy Banana-Oatmeal Pancakes: quick and delicious breakfast !

Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?
J.R.R. Tolkien

Ingredients:
– 180ml Kefir
– 1 large ripe banana
– 1 cup (200ml) oatmeal
– 1 egg
– dash of salt
– 1/3 tsp cinnamon
– sunflower oil for frying

Method:
1 Preheat a skillet, add some sunflower oil
2 Combine grated banana with Kefir, oatmeal, an egg, salt and cinnamon: mix well until smooth
3 Pour 1 tbsp of batter for 1 pancake, fry until golden both sides, medium heat
4 Serve with fresh fruits and enjoy !

Featured

Fresh Corn Pancakes with Basil-Mayonnaise sauce !

We must go on, because we can’t turn back.
R.L.S.

Pancakes ingredients:
– 4 fresh corn cobs
– 2 eggs
– 3-4 tbsp all-purpose flour
– 1/2 tsp salt
– 1/4 tsp black pepper
– sunflower oil for frying

Basil sauce ingredients:
– 1/2 bunch fresh basil chopped
– 4 tsp mayonnaise
– 1-2 cloves garlic chopped

Method:
1 Wash corn cobs, cut corn kernels off cobs with a knife
2 Combine corn kernels with eggs, flour, salt, black pepper, mix well until smooth
3 Preheat 2 skillets, add sunflower oil, keep medium heat
4 Add 1 full tbsp of corn-batter for 1 corn-pancake: fry 2-3 minutes each side until golden
5 Transfer ready pancakes on the paper towels to absorb extra oil
6 Basil sauce: combine chopped basil, mayonnaise and chopped garlic and mix
7 Serve warm corn pancakes with the basil sauce and enjoy !

Featured

Creamy Spinach-Gorgonzola Tagliatelle !

Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.
Viktor Frankl

Ingredients (2 servings):
– 250g Tagliatelle
– 100ml 33% cream
– 125g baby spinach
– 2 small red onions
– 180g Gorgonzola
– sunflower oil for frying onion
– black pepper for serving

Method:
1 Tagliatelle: cook Al Dente
2 Spinach-Gorgonzola sauce:
2.1 Chop onions
2.2 Chop spinach
2.3 Fry onion on sunflower oil until soft, add spinach and cook at medium heat for 2-4 min
2.4 Add cream and Gorgonzola – cook at medium heat until Gorgonzola melted
3 Serving: put Tagliatelle in the plates, pour sauce on the Tagliatelle, sprinkle with black pepper and enjoy!

Featured

Homemade Flatbread with Potato, Feta and Dried Tomatoes

To wisely live your life, you don’t need to know much
Just remember two main rules for the beginning:
You better starve, than eat whatever
And better be alone, than with whoever.
Omar Khayyám, Rubaiyat

Dough ingredients:
– 300g all-purpose flour
– 1 tbsp sugar
– 20g fresh yeast
– 150ml warm water
– 1 tsp salt

Filling ingredients:
– 250g potatoes (weighed boiled)
– 150g Feta cheese
– 4-8 dried tomatoes
– 1/2 tsp black pepper
– 1 tbsp olive oil for brushing the flatbread before baking
– sesame seeds

Method:
1 Dough
1.1 Crush yeast into ~35C water, add 1 tbsp sugar: mix well and leave the mixture for 15 min
1.2 Add flour and salt: knead the dough and leave it under cloth for 30 min
2 Filling
2.1 Peel potatoes and boil until ready: drain extra water
2.2 Combine and mix potatoes, feta, chopped dried tomatoes and black pepper
3 Flatbread
3.1 Preheat the oven to 200 C
3.2 Separate the dough into 4 parts: roll out each part into 16-20 cm round
3.3 Put 2 tbsp filling in the middle of each round
3.4 Lift up ends of each round to the center and seal them tight with the fingers. Then accurately flatten into 15 cm round.
3.5 Brush each flatbread both sides with olive oil and put on the baking paper
3.6 Sprinkle each flatbread with sesame seeds
3.7 Bake for 15-20 min at 200 C until golden and serve warm!
4 Enjoy with a cup of black tea

Featured

Christmas Walnuts Cookies !

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Dough ingredients (for 18 cookies):
– 200g all-purpose flour
– 110g butter
– 75g cane sugar
– 5g vanilla sugar
– 90g sour cream
– 1 egg
– lemon zest of half a lemon
– pinch of salt
– 100g grated walnuts

Method:
1 Preheat oven to 200C
2 Bake walnuts for 10 minutes at 200C to make them easy to chop, set aside
3 Combine flour, sugar, vanilla sugar, lemon zest, salt and grate butter to dry ingredients, mix well
4 Add sour cream, egg and chopped walnuts: knead a dough
5 Form with hands 2cm diameter balls out of dough, dipping them in flour
6 Bake the cookies at 190C for 25-30 minutes
7 Enjoy the cookies with Christmas fruits punch and Merry Christmas !

Featured

Sweet potato chips – quick and healthy snack !

Ah, Nothing is too late, till the tired heart shall cease to palpitate.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Sweet potato chips ingredients (for 2 servings):
– 3 large sweet potatoes
– 0.5 tbsp olive oil
– dash of salt

Sauce ingredients:
– 100g sour cream
– 80g blue cheese
– chopped dill

Method:
1 Sweet potato chips
1.1 Preheat the oven to 190C
1.2 Pill and cut sweet potatoes into strips
1.3 Mix potato strips with salt and olive oil and transfer on the baking paper
1.4 Bake for 30 minutes at 190C
2 Sauce: combine sour cream, blue cheese and chopped dill – mix until smooth and put the sauce in the fridge until the chips are ready
3 Serve hot sweet potato chips with a sauce from the fridge !

Featured

Quarkkäulchen – Potato and Cottage Cheese Pancakes with Homemade Cherry Compote !

Have you also learned that secret from the river; that there is no such thing as time? That the river is everywhere at the same time, at the source and at the mouth, at the waterfall, at the ferry, at the current, in the ocean and in the mountains, everywhere and that the present only exists for it, not the shadow of the past nor the shadow of the future.
Hermann Hesse

Quarkkäulchen ingredients (for 10 Quarkkäulchen):
– 300g boiled potatoes
– 300g cottage cheese
– 1 small egg
– 100g all purpose flour
– 2-3 tbsp flour for forming Quarkkäulchen
– 1 tbsp olive oil for frying

Cherry compote ingredients:
– 300g frozen cherries without stones
– 50ml water
– 1 tbsp cornstarch
– 1 tbsp brown sugar

Method:
1 Quarkkäulchen
1.1 Mix boiled potatoes, cottage cheese, egg and flour until smooth
1.2 Put some flour on a separate bowl
1.3 Form 1cm width 6-7cm diameter Quarkkäulchen with your hands using the flour from the plate
1.4 Preheat olive oil in the skillet
1.5 Fry each Quarkkäulchen until golden each side for 3-4 minutes at medium heat
2 Cherry compote: transfer in the skillet washed cherries, water, cornstarch and sugar: mix well and cook for 7-10 minutes at medium heat
3 Serve Quarkkäulchen with warm cherry compote !

Featured

Healthy Breakfast – Cottage Cheese Zapekanka with Homemade Cherry Compote

The centuries will roll by, and schoolboys will yawn over the history of our upheavals; everything will pass, but my happiness, dear, my happiness will remain, in the moist reflection of a street lamp, in the cautious bend of stone steps that descend into the canal’s black waters, in the smiles of a dancing couple, in everything with which God so generously surrounds human loneliness.
Vladimir Nabokov, Selected Letters

Zapekanka ingredients (4 servings):
– 500g cottage cheese
– 2 eggs
– 2 tbsp flour
– 2 tbsp semolina
– 2 tbsp sugar
– 1/2 tsp baking soda + 1/2 tsp vinegar in the same teaspoon

Cherry compote ingredients (4 servings):
– 300g frozen cherries without stone
– 1 tbsp cornstarch
– 50-70ml water

Serving ingredients (4 servings):
– 200g sour cream
– fresh mint leaves

Method:
1 Zapekanka
1.1 Preheat the oven to 190C
1.2 Batter: combine cottage cheese, eggs, flour, semolina, sugar, baking soda and vinegar: mix well with a fork until smooth
1.3 Transfer batter to the buttered baking form and bake for 30-40 minгеуы until golden at 190C
2 Cherry compote
2.1 Transfer in the skillet washed cherries, water and cornstarch: mix well and cook for 5-7 minutes at medium heat
3 Serve Zapekanka with warm cherry compote and cold sour cream

Featured

My first Chepalgash – flatbread with cottage cheese and scallion !

A big jug of coffee had just been set in the hearth, the seed-cakes were gone, and the dwarves were starting on a round of buttered scones, when there came a loud knock
J.R.R. Tolkien

Dough ingredients (for 4 flatbreads 25cm diameter):
– 300 g flour
– 250 ml Kefir
– 1/2 tsp baking soda
– 3/4 tsp salt

Filling ingredients:
– 50 g scallion
– 250 g cottage cheese

Method:
1 Dough:
1.1 Combine kefir with baking soda and salt: mix and leave for 15 minutes
1.2 Add flour to kefir and knead a gentle dough: leave under the cloth for 15 minutes
2 Filling: combine cottage cheese with chopped scallion and mix well
3 Chepalgash:
3.1 Separate dough into 4 equal parts and form a 10cm diameter disk with hands out of each piece
3.2 Put 1/4 filling in the middle of each disk
3.3 Gather the sides up sealing the edges with the fingers in the center altogether
3.4 Turn over the disk with filling and gently roll into a ~25 cm diameter disk
3.5 Preheat butter in the skillet
3.6 Fry each flatbread for 3-4 minutes each side until golden
4 Serve with a cup of sweet black tea with lemon !

Featured

Cottage-cheese Pancakes (Syrniki) with chocolate filling – perfect breakfast !

The world is full of magic things patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.
W.B. Yeats

Syrniki ingredients (2 servings or 10 small pancakes):
– 500g cottage cheese
– 1 egg
– 4 tbsp flour for dough + 2 tbsp flour for forming
– 1 tbsp semolina (to make them more gentle!)
– 8g Vanilla sugar
– 1/2 tbsp cane sugar (put 1-2 tbsp sugar if you like it sweet)
– 30-40g dark chocolate
– 1tbsp sunflower oil for frying

Serving ingredients:
– 200g sour cream
– fresh mint leaves

Method:
1 Combine cottage cheese, egg, flour, semolina, Vanilla and cane sugar: mix until smooth and leave to rest for 10 minutes to let semolina increase in size
2 Prepare 2 tbsp flour on the plate: form in hands each pancake with 1 tbsp dough putting inside 1 piece of chocolate and rolling in the flour to form round shapes.
3 After all pancakes are formed, preheat a bit of sunflower oil in 2 skillets for 3-4 minutes
4 Fry pancakes 3-4 minutes each side at medium heat
5 Serve pancakes hot with sour cream, fresh mint leaves and a cup of black tea with a piece of lemon!

Notes: Syrniki are very popular in my hometown, I made them today with chocolate filling – it’s a delicious combination of gentle cottage-cheese taste with a bit of dark chocolate reminding me my childhood 🙂

Featured

Sunday Cinnamon Rolls !

‘There you are! It only needed a little more energy,’ said Karlson. ‘Now just put on the coffee, and set a nice little tray and get out a few little buns…’
Astrid Lindgren, Karlson flies again

Dough ingredients (for 8 cinnamon rolls):
– 190ml milk
– 430g (+ 10-20g for rolling) flour
– 60g butter
– 21g fresh yeast
– 40g brown sugar
– 2 egg whites and 1 egg yolk
– 1/2 tsp salt

Filling ingredients:
– 60g butter
– 60g brown sugar
– 1tbsp cinnamon

Beautifying ingredients:
– 10ml milk
– 1 egg yolk

Method:
1 Filling
1.1 mix sugar & cinnamon
1.2 grate butter and keep it in a bowl at room temperature while the dough is being prepared
2 Dough
2.1 Warm up milk to 35C and add crushed fresh yeast and 20g sugar: whisk until smooth and leave in a warm place for 15 min
2.2 Add grated butter, 2 egg whites, 1 egg yolk, remaining 20g sugar, salt: whisk well
2.3 Add flour constantly mixing: mix until smooth and leave in a warm place for 30 min
3 Cinnamon rolls
3.1 Preheat the oven to 180C
3.2 Knead dough with a stretch and fold technique for 4-5 min and roll it out to ~40×40 cm
3.3 Butter the dough with grated butter from the bowl
3.4 Distribute evenly sugar & cinnamon mixture
3.5 Roll the dough up and cut in 5cm width buns
3.6 Put the buns on the baking paper 3-4cm aside from each other
3.7 Brush the buns with milk-yolk mixture
3.8 Bake the buns for 25-30min at 180C until golden!
3.9 They are wonderful for breakfast 😉

Featured

Baked Meatballs with Italian Herbs served with Red & White Sauces !

Easy, take it easy! Is there anything to eat? A few meatballs, perhaps? Or a little cream cake?
Astrid Lindgren, Karlson Flies Again

Meatballs ingredients (4 servings or 24 meatballs):
– 400g minced beef
– 2 eggs
– 4 tbsps flour
– 1 tsp salt
– 1 tsp Italian herbs

Red sauce:
– 100g cranberry jam

White sauce:
– 200g 10% sour cream
– 3 grated garlic cloves

Method:
1 Preheat the oven to 200C
2 Combine minced beef with salt, eggs, Italian herbs and flour: mix well until smooth
3 Form meatballs with your hands and put them in the baking form (no oil needed!)
4 Bake meatballs for 40-45 minutes at 190-200C
5 White sauce: mix grated garlic with sour cream
6 Serve meatballs with red & white sauces and enjoy ! 🙂

Featured

Quick and Simple Fresh Corn-Potato Soup !

It’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.
Lewis Carroll

Ingredients (2 servings):
– 3 fresh corn cobs
– 9 middle (~6cm length) potatoes
– 1 tsp salt
– 400-500 ml water
– bunch of green onions for serving

Method:
1 Wash corn cobs and wash & peel potatoes
2 Cut corn kernels off cobs with a knife
3 Cut potatoes in 2-3cm pieces
4 Cook potatoes & corn kernels for 15-20 minutes in salted water
5 Evacuate 3-4 tbsp corn kernels for serving on a separate plate
6 Mash the rest of soup with an immersive blender
7 Serve the soup with chopped green onions and boiled corn kernels!

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Simple Morning Scones inspiring a wonderful day !

A big jug of coffee had just been set in the hearth, the seed-cakes were gone, and the dwarves were starting on a round of buttered scones, when there came a loud knock
J.R.R. Tolkien

Ingredients:
– 225g flour
– 50g butter
– 1 egg
– 100ml milk
– 8g Vanilla sugar
– 17g cane sugar
– 1 dash of salt
– 1/2tsp baking soda & 1/2 tsp vinegar

Method:
1 Preheat the oven to 220C
2 Bowl1: whisk well an egg with milk, sugar, Vanilla sugar: pour in a Bowl2 1tbsp of mixture for brushing the scones
3 Bowl3: grate butter into the flour, add salt
4 In Bowl1 join ingredients from Bowl1 & Bowl3, add baking soda and vinegar in the same teaspoon: mix everything well until smooth
5 Roll out the dough to 1cm height
6 Cut the scones-to-be with your favourite cookie cutter
7 Transfer the scones-to-be on the baking paper and brush with the mixture from Bowl2
8 Bake the scones for 15 minutes at 220C or until golden
9 Enjoy with a cup of black tea or coffee if you, like me, don’t trade your morning coffee for anything. Serve with blackcurrant jam! 🙂

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Turkey with Apricots, Tomatoes and Cinnamon in Moldovan Style !

O, soare balcanic, revărsat peste văile şi dealurile moldave, o, acele iubiriscurte, scînteietoare, istovitoare, cît de mult aduceţi voi în scurta noastră trecere pe acest pămînt, şi cît de mult luaţi cu voi pentru a nu le mai întoarce niciodată…
Ion Druță, Frunze de dor

Turkey with Apricots, Tomato and Cinnamon in Moldovan Style

Ingredients (4 servings):
– 750g turkey breast
– 12 apricots
– 6 tomatoes
– 2 red onions
– 1 tsp paprika
– 0.5 tsp cinnamon
– 1 tsp sugar
– 1 tsp vinegar
– 0.5 cup water
– 2 tbsp water
– 250g golden millet

Method:
1 Cut turkey in 1-2cm cubes
2 Peel and chop onion
3 Wash and slice tomatoes and apricots
3 Preheat two skillets and melt 1 tbsp butter in each: put turkey cubes on one skillet and chopped onion on another, cook for 5 minutes
4 Add to onion: chopped tomatoes, sugar, paprika and cinnamon – stew for 5 minutes at medium heat slightly stirring
5 Add to turkey: onion-tomatoes-spices mixture – stew for 10 minutes at medium heat
6 Add to turkey & Co: apricot slices, vinegar, water and salt: stew for 10 minutes at medium heat – done!
7 Serve turkey with cooked golden millet and enjoy!

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Tagliatelle with Gorgonzola sauce for a quick and delicious working lunch !

It is not down on any map; true places never are.
Herman Melville, Moby-Dick or, the Whale

Tagliatelle with Gorgonzola sauce and cherry tomatoes

Ingredients (2 servings):
– 250g Tagliatelle
– 200ml 33% cream
– 200g Gorgonzola
– 250g cherry tomatoes

Method:
1 Boil Tagliatelle in salted water Al Dente and drain the water
2 Cut Gorgonzola in 2cm cubes
3 Pour 33% cream in the skillet and add gorgonzola cubes
4 Cook at medium heat gorgonzola in cream until it is melted
5 Add Tagliatelle and halved cherry tomatoes to gorgonzola sauce and cook for another minute
6 Serve and enjoy your day ! 🙂

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Homemade Flatbread with Potatoes and Feta !

It is not true that people stop pursuing dreams because they grow old, they grow old because they stop pursuing dreams.
Gabriel García Márquez

Dough ingredients:
– 300g all-purpose flour
– 1 tbsp sugar
– 20g fresh yeast
– 150ml warm water
– 1 tsp salt

Filling ingredients:
– 400g new potatoes (weight unpeeled)
– 150g Feta cheese
– 1/2 tsp black pepper

Serving/baking ingredients:
– 1 tbsp olive oil for brushing the flatbreads before baking
– chopped tomatoes for serving

Method:
1 Dough
1.1 Crush yeast into warm (30-35C) water, add 1 tbsp sugar: mix well until sugar an yeast are dissolved and leave the mixture for 15 minutes
1.2 Add flour and salt: knead the dough and leave it under cloth for 30 minutes (make the filling meanwhile)
2 Filling
2.1 Peel potatoes and boil until ready: drain extra water
2.2 Combine potatoes with feta and black pepper: mash until smooth
3 Flatbread
3.1 Preheat the oven to 200C
3.2 Separate the dough into 4 equal parts: roll out each part into 16-20cm round
3.3 Put 1-2tbsp filling in the middle of each round
3.4 Lift up ends of each round to the centre and seal them tight with the fingers. Then gently flatten into 15cm round.
3.5 Brush each flatbread both sides with olive oil and put on the baking paper
3.6 Bake for 15-20 minutes at 200C until golden and serve warm!
4 Enjoy with a cup of coffee and a good company 😉

Featured

Spring Salad with Chicken, Prunes, Walnuts and Cucumbers !

No one’s serious at seventeen
When lindens line the promenade.
Arthur Rimbaud

Chicken Salad with Prunes, Walnuts and Cucumbers

Ingredients (4 servings):
– 300g chicken breasts
– 2 eggs
– 3 cucumbers
– 70g walnuts
– 14 prunes
– 2 tbsp mayonnaise
– 1/2 tsp salt

Method:
1 Boil chicken breasts until ready and chop
2 Boil eggs until ready and chop
3 Wash and chop cucumbers, prunes and walnuts
4 Combine chicken, eggs, cucumbers, prunes, walnuts and season with salt & mayonnaise: serve !

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Home-made Flatbread with Tomatoes, Zucchini, Rucola and Pine Nuts !

With life as short as a half taken breath, don’t plant anything but love.
Rumi

Dough ingredients:
– 300g all-purpose flour
– 1 tbsp sugar
– 20g fresh yeast
– 150ml warm water
– 1 tsp salt

Filling ingredients:
– 1 cup dried tomatoes
– 250g mozzarella
– 1/2 medium zucchini
– 50g rucola
– 50g pine nuts
– 50g grated Grana Padano
– 2 tbsps olive oil
– salt & pepper if dried tomatoes are unsalted

Serving/baking ingredients:
– 1 tbsp olive oil for brushing the flatbread before baking
– fresh dill for serving

Method:
1 Dough
1.1 Crush yeast into warm (30-35C) water, add 1 tbsp sugar: mix well until sugar an yeast are dissolved and leave the mixture for 15 minutes
1.2 Add flour and salt: knead the dough and leave it under cloth for 30 minutes
2 Filling
2.1 Make tomato pesto: mash in the blender dried tomatoes, pine nuts, olive oil, parmesan (add salt and pepper if dried tomatoes are not spiced)
2.2 Wash and slice 1/2 zucchini
2.3 Wash rucola and let it dry
2.4 Slice mozzarella
3 Flatbread
3.1 Preheat the oven to 210C
3.2 Separate the dough into 4 equal parts: roll out each part into 16-20cm round
3.3 Put in the middle of each round: tomato pesto, zucchini, mozzarella, rucola
3.4 Lift up ends of each round to the center and seal them tight with the fingers. Then gently flatten into 15cm round.
3.5 Brush each flatbread two sides with olive oil and put on the baking paper
3.6 Bake for 15-20 minutes at 200C until golden: let them cool down and serve with a fresh dill
4 Enjoy with a cup of coffee

Featured

Warm rice salad with mushrooms and green peas: quick and healthy lunch!

If it rubs off, it means I’m in love
Ray Bradbury

Ingredients (2 servings):
– 120g boiled basmati rice
– 400-600g unpeeled green peas
– 10-12 medium button mushrooms
– 1 tbsp olive oil
– 1-2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
– salt and pepper
– dill for serving

Method:
1 Boil basmati rice until ready and drain water
2 Peel and wash green peas
3 Peel and wash (remove dirt with a paper towel) button mushrooms , then slice them
4 Wash and chop dill
5 Preheat the skillet with 1 tbsp olive oil and add sliced mushrooms and green peas: cook for 10 minutes, constantly stirring
6 Add to vegetables: boiled rice, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper: cook for another 5 minutes
7 Serve with chopped dill and enjoy!

Featured

Simple and Delicious Parsnip-Apple Chocolate Cake with Hazelnuts !

The cup of tea on arrival at a country house is a thing which, as a rule, I particularly enjoy. I like the crackling logs, the shaded lights, the scent of buttered toast, the general atmosphere of leisured cosiness.
P.G. Wodehouse, The Code of the Woosters

Ingredients:
– 125g grated parsnip
– 200g grated apples
– 250g spelt flour (wheat flour is also fine, but spelt flour gives a richer taste)
– 125g full cane sugar
– 1 tsp cinnamon
– 1/2 tsp cardamom
– 1/2 tsp baking soda & 1/2 tsp vinegar
– 4 tbsp cocoa powder
– 50g ground hazelnuts
– 50ml water
– 40ml olive oil
– 1 egg (one can replace the egg by 40ml olive oil for a vegetarian recipe!)

Topping ingredients:
– 2 tablespoons hazelnuts

Method:
1 Preheat the oven to 180C
2 Grate peeled apples and parsnip
3 Add flour+sugar+cinnamon+cardamom+cocoa+ground hazelnuts+water +olive oil+egg: mix all well until smooth
4 Add baking soda & vinegar in the same teaspoon and mix well
5 Transfer the batter in the buttered banana bread form and bake for 45-55 minutes at 180C
6 Decorate the cake with hazelnuts halves and serve with a cup of green tea!

Featured

Parsnip-Potato Cream Soup with baked vegetable chips: quick and healthy lunch !

Night is always darker before the dawn and life is the same, the hard times will pass, every thing will get better and sun will shine brighter then ever.
Ernest Hemingway

Parsnip Potato Cream Soup with vegetable chips recipe

Soup ingredients (2 servings):
– 350g parsnip (weight unpeeled)
– 350g baby potato (weight unpeeled)
– 100ml 33% cream
– 400ml chicken broth or water
– 1 tsp salt

Baked vegetables ingredients:
– 3 small carrots
– 1 parsnip (~100g)
– 1/2 tsp salt
– 1/3 tsp black pepper
– 1 tbsp olive oil

Method:
1 Soup
1.1 Wash and peel potatoes and parsnip
1.2 Chop potatoes and parsnip into 0.5-1cm cubes
1.3 Boil the vegetables in 400ml chicken broth or water for 15 minutes
1.4 Add 33% cream + salt: mash with an immersive blender
2 Vegetable chips
2.1 Pre-heat the oven to 200C
2.2 Wash and peel carrots and parsnip
2.3 Cut vegetables into thin strips
2.4 Put the vegetables stripes on the baking paper, sprinkle with olive oil & salt
2.5 Bake for 20 minutes
3 Serve and enjoy delicious and healthy lunch !

Featured

Pears-Mascarpone Dessert !

No one’s serious at seventeen
When lindens line the promenade.
A. Rimbaud

Cocoa cake ingredients:
– 1 tbsp cocoa powder
– 75g sugar
– 5g Vanilla sugar
– 80g wheat flour
– 3 eggs
– 1/2 tsp baking soda & 1/2 tsp vinegar

Cream ingredients:
– 250g Mascarpone
– 2 tbsp 33% cream
– 2 tbsp sugar

Fruits ingredients:
– 2 Conference pears

Method:
1 Cake
1.1 Preheat oven to 180C
1.2 Whisk sugar with eggs for 3-5 minutes
1.3 Slowly add flour to whisked sugar+eggs
1.4 Add baking soda & vinegar in the same teaspoon, cocoa powder: mix well
1.5 Pour the batter on the baking paper in the baking form ~25x35cm
1.6 Bake for 20-25 minutes at 180C
1.7 Let the cake cool down and cut into 1.5cm cubes
2 Mascarpone cream: mix in a bowl Mascarpone with 33% cream and sugar
3 Dessert
3.1 Cut pears into 1cm cubes
3.2 Put in the glass level by level:
3.2.1 cocoa cake cubes
3.2.2 Mascarpone cream
3.2.3 pears cubes
and repeat the levels again 🙂
3.3 Put the dessert into the fridge overnight and … enjoy with morning coffee !
Happy New 2021 Year !

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Pelmeni: Dumplings with Beef and Pork !

Patsuk opened his mouth, stared at the vareniki, and opened his mouth wider still. At that moment, a varenik jumped out of the bowl, splashed into the cream, flipped over and leapt straight up into his mouth. Patsuk opened his mouth again, and another varenik went through the same performance. The only trouble he took was to munch it up and swallow it.
Nikolai Gogol, Christmas Eve

Dough ingredients (~70 Pelmeni = 4-6 portions):
– 3 cups (1 cup = 250ml) wheat flour
– 170ml warm water
– 1 tablespoon 9% vinegar
– 2 and 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
– 1/2 teaspoon salt

Filling ingredients (~70 Pelmeni = 4-6 portions):
– 250g minced beef
– 250g minced pork
– 1 teaspoon salt
– 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
– 1 onion or 1 bunch of chopped chives

Serving ingredients (for 2 portions):
– 200g sour cream
– 2 teaspoons butter
– 1/2 bunch dill or 1/2 bunch parsley

Method:
1 Knead a dough from dough ingredients and transfer it to the fridge in a covered bowl for 30 minutes
2 Combine minced meat (no extra water!) + salt + black pepper + finely chopped onion or chives: mix everything well with a fork
3 Separate dough into 6 equal pieces: form a 1.5cm diameter sausage from each piece
4 Cut each sausage into 1cm width pieces and roll out each piece into a 5cm diameter round 🙂
5 Put 1 teaspoon filling into each round, fold the round into a half-moon and pinch all the edges together strongly with fingers, do it two times. Then pull together two corners and pinch strongly with fingers again. 🙂
6 Boil Pelmeni for 5 minutes in boiling water (at least 3 minutes after Pelmeni are floating on the top) and serve with sour cream, butter and fresh chopped parsley or dill
7 Enjoy !

Featured

Red Bell Peppers Stuffed with Beef and Pearl Barley !

Numai daca vremea ar sta locului am putea vedea lamurit ce este etern
Mihai Eminescu

Ingredients (for 4 stuffed peppers):
– 4 red bell peppers
– 450g minced beef
– 90g pearl barley
– 7 small tomatoes 🍅
– 1/3 bunch dill
– 1 small onion (to adda flavour to the broth!)
– 1 teaspoon salt
– 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
– 100g sour cream for serving

Directions:
1 Pre-cook pearl barley: boil for 12 minutes, then drain extra water
2 Mix minced beef with chopped dill & pre-cooked pearl barley & salt and black pepper
3 Wash red bell peppers, carefully remove the top part and de-seed
4 Stuff well red bell peppers with the meat mixture 🙂
5 Wash and cut tomatoes into 1cm cubes, peel small onion: put cut tomatoes and an onion into a large pot
6 Carefully put the stuffed peppers to the same large pot with the tops from bell peppers One can put them either horizontally or vertically, the main point is to be able to cover them with the water afterwards.
7 Add to the pot water to cover all the peppers: cook at medium heat for 40 minutes, but evacuate the onion from the pot after 10 minutes of cooking 🙂
8 Serve with sour cream and half a soup ladle of broth !

Featured

Healthy Banana Oatmeal Muffins !

“I don’t feel very much like Pooh today,” said Pooh.
“There there,” said Piglet. “I’ll bring you tea and honey until you do.”
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

Ingredients (for 10-12 muffins):
– 90g oat flour
– 120g ripe bananas
– 75g quark or cottage cheese
– 2 tbsp sugar
– 4g Vanilla sugar
– 1 egg
– 1/2 tsp baking soda & 1/2 teaspoon vinegar
– 1/2 tsp cinnamon
– 1/4 tsp salt

Method:
1 Preheat the oven to 180C
2 Dough: mix all ingredients in a bowl (baking soda+vinegar at the last step)
3 Pour the dough into a buttered muffin form
4 Decorate muffins with oat flakes and bake for 30-35 minutes at 180C
5 Serve with Kefir or black coffee

Featured

Italian pastry Soffioni: easy and delicious !

Noi leggeveamo un giorno per diletto
Di Lancialotto, come amor lo strinse;
Soli eravamo e senza alcun sospetto
Per più fiate gli occhi ci sospinse
Quella lettura, e scolorocci il viso;
Ma solo un punto fu quel che ci vinse.
– Dante

Dough ingredients:
– 150g wheat flour
– 1 egg
– 40g sugar
– 25g olive oil
– 1 pinch salt

Filling ingredients:
– 2 eggs
– 50g sugar
– 200g cottage cheese (or ricotta as in original Italian recipe!)
– 1 tablespoon orange zest (or lemon zest as in original Italian recipe!)
– 1 pinch salt

Method:
1 Knead the dough from dough ingredients and put it in the bowl to the fridge for 1 hour
2 Make a yellow mixture: whisk egg yolks with sugar for 3 minutes, then add orange zest and cottage cheese and mix all well
3 Make a white mixture: whisk egg whites with salt for 5 minutes
4 Join yellow and white mixtures and gently mix
5 Preheat the oven to 180C
6 Cut out a 10x10cm piece from a white paper
7 Roll out the dough to be a 20x30cm rectangular
8 Using 10x10cm paper square, cut out 6 squares from our dough
9 Put the dough squares in the 6 buttered muffin form baking cups
10 Add the filling to the middle of each dough squares
11 Join the four angles of each square in the middle of each pie
12 Bake the pies at 180C for 30 minutes and at 160C for 10 minutes
13 Cool the pies down for 30 minutes
14 Serve with powdered sugar and enjoy with a cup of green tea !

Notes:
– Soffioni Abruzzesi = Dandelion of Abruzzo from Italian. These cakes are especially popular in the region of Abruzzo during Easter holiday 🙂

Featured

Creamy parsnip soup with beetroot chips !

“La parole humaine est comme un chaudron fêlé où nous battons des mélodies à faire danser les ours, quand on voudrait attendrir les étoiles”
– Gustav Flaubert

Soup ingredients (for 2 large servings):
– 600g parsnips
– 250g potatoes
– 1 small onion
– 200ml milk or 33% cream
– 1 tsp salt
Beetroot chips ingredients:
– 1 large beetroot

Method:
1 Let’s first make beetroot chips:
1.1 Preheat the oven to 160C
1.2 Peel one beet root and cut 1mm width slices of it
1.3 Put beet root slices on a baking paper and bake them 30 minutes at 180C
2 Peel vegetables for soup, cut them at ~2cm cubes and boil 15 minutes in salty water
3 Leave 100-200ml vegetable broth with vegetables, add milk/cream and puree vegetables with milk/cream in a blender
4 Garnish the soup with root beet chips and black pepper
5 Enjoy !

Featured

Avocado breakfast is always a great idea !

You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep Spring from coming.
Pablo Neruda

Ingredients (for 2 servings):
– 3 small avocado
– 150g cream cheese (e.g., Almette cheese)
– multigrain bread (at best, home-made but in any case multigrain!)
– 6 cherry tomatoes
– parsley/dill for serving
– 1 tsp salt

Method:
1 Mash avocado pulp, cheese, black pepper and salt
2 Butter avocado-cheese mixture on multigrain bread
3 Decorate with parsley and cherry tomatoes

Easy Parmesan Tagliatelle Recipe

The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes.

W.S.C.

Ingredients:
– 250 g tagliatelle;
– 50-60 g butter;
– 70 g grated Parmesan;
– coffee cup of pasta broth.

Method:
1 Cook tagliatelle Al dente, spare one coffee cup of broth.
2 Melt butter in the skillet, slowly mix in grated Parmesan. Add pasta broth and cook for another minute while slowly mixing until smooth.
3 Add tagliatelle to the sauce and mix well.
4 Sprinkle with black pepper or some more grated Parmesan and serve!

Easy Deviled Eggs with Garlic and Dill

“A box without hinges, key, or lid,
Yet golden treasure inside is hid.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, or There and Back Again

Ingredients:
– 4 eggs
– 3 large garlic clothes
– 1/2 bunch dill
– 3 tsp mayonnaise
– 1/3 tsp salt

Method:
1 Boil eggs, peel them, cut in halves and carefully remove yolks
2 Combine eggs yolk, mayonnaise, finely chopped dill and salt and put the mixture in the eggs halves
3 Serve cold

Aubergines baked with Gorgonzola

When you see a good move, look for a better one.

– Emanuel Lasker

Ingredients (2 servings):
– 2 aubergines;
– 150 g Gorgonzola;
– 4-6 cherry tomatoes;
– 4-6 garlic clothes;
– olive oil;
– parsley;
– salt/pepper
– baguette for serving.

Method:
1 Preheat the oven to 180 C.
2 Cut aubergines into stripes 0.5 cm length and transfer on the baking paper.
3 Sprinkle aubergines with olive oil and salt. Transfer the baking tray in the oven for 20-30 minutes until slightly golden.
4 Grate garlic, cut Gorgonzola into cubes, cut cherry tomatoes into rounds.
5 Transfer garlic, then tomatoes’ rounds, then Gorgonzola cubes on the aubergines’ stripes.
6 Bake for another 10 minutes, sprinkle with black pepper and parsley. Serve with fresh baguette.

Delicious Carrot Walnut Muffins Recipe

“You would not enjoy Nietzsche, sir. He is fundamentally unsound.”P.G. Wodehouse, Carry On, Jeeves

Ingredients (for 12 delicious muffins):
– 1 and 1/4 cup flour (1 cup=200ml);
– 1/2 tsp baking soda + 1/2 tsp vinegar;
– dash of salt;
– 1 egg;
– 2/3 cup cane sugar;
– 8 g vanilla sugar;
– 1/4 cup sunflower oil;
– 1/2 cup milk;
– 1/3 cup chopped walnuts;
– 1 cup grated carrot.

Topping ingredients:
– 1/2 tbsp butter;
-2-3 tbsp cane sugar;
– 1/2 tsp cinnamon.

Method:
1 Preheat the oven to 180C.
2 Butter muffin form.
3 Bowl 1: mix flour+salt+baking soda+vinegar.
4 Bowl 2: whisk egg with sugar and vanilla sugar, then add oil and milk and whisk until smooth.
5 Combine dry ingredients from Bowl 1 with ingredients from Bowl 2 and mix well until smooth.
6 Add chopped walnuts and grated carrot: mix well.
7 Pour the batter into 12 muffin forms.
8 Bowl 3: mix melted butter with sugar and cinnamon and spread this mixture on the top of each muffin-to-be.
9 Bake the muffins for 25 minutes at 180 C. Let them cool down and enjoy with a cup of milk, kefir or black tea!

Delicious Chocolate Banana Layer Cake

“One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple.”
― Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums

Batter ingredients:
– 4 eggs;
– 110 g sugar;
– 8g vanilla sugar;
– 120 g flour;
– 1tsp baking soda + 0.5 tsp vinegar;
– 1.5 tbsp cocoa powder.

Filling ingredients:
– 120 g sugar;
– 400 g sour cream 30%;
– 3 bananas.

Method
1 Preheat the oven to 180 C.
2 Whisk sugar with eggs for 10-15 min.
3 Add baking soda + vinegar and carefully mix in.
4 Add flour and cocoa powder and carefully mix in.
5 Transfer the batter to the round baking form (28cm diameter), on the baking paper and bake for 20-25 min (check if a cake is ready with a toothpick) at 180C.
6 Prepare cream: whisk sour cream with sugar.
7 Slice the bananas.
8 Cool down the cake and separate with a knife into 2 layers.
9 Add half of a cream on the first cake layer and all banana slices, cover with the second layer, spread the remaining cream.
10 Put the cake in the fridge for 2 hours.
11 Serve with fresh blueberries and enjoy!

Bake with Kids: Fun Dog Cookies Recipe

A dog reflects the family life. Whoever saw a frisky dog in a gloomy family, or a sad dog in a happy one?
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes

Ingredients

100g grated butter
150g sour cream
150g sugar
2 eggs
560g all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
optional ingredients: poppy seeds, sugar powder, raisins

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C.
Whisk eggs with sugar, add grated butter, sour cream and baking soda: mix until smooth.
Gradually add flour and knead the dough.
Roll out dough to 0.6-0.8cm height and cut the cookies with your favorite cookies cutter. My preschooler adores dogs.
Optionally dip the cookie-to-be in poppy seeds or sugar powder
Transfer the cut cookies-to-be on the baking paper and bake at 180C for 15-20 minutes until slightly golden.
Enjoy soft and crumbly cookies. My preschooler loved them.

Flammkuchen Recipe with Smoked Salmon and Sour Cream | Easy Homemade Delight

I’m not much but I’m all I have.

― Philip K Dick, Martian Time-Slip

Dough ingredients:
– 220g wheat flour
– 1 egg yolk
– 2 tbsp olive oil
– 100ml water
– 1/3 tsp salt

Filling ingredients:
– 150g sour cream
– 2 small onions
– 100g smoked salmon
– 1 red bell pepper
– chopped parsley for serving

Directions:
1 Preheat the oven to 200C
2 Mix dough ingredients and knead the dough for 3-4 minutes
3 Roll out the dough into an oval, 3-4mm height
4 Put the dough on the baking paper and bake at 200C for 8 min
5 Chop onion, paprika and salmon
6 Spread the sour cream over the baked dough base, then add chopped onion, paprika and salmon slices
7 Bake Flammkuchen for 10 minutes at 200C
8 Serve with chopped parsley

Quick Soup with Chicken Meatballs. Approved by toddler.

Green was the silence, wet was the light,
the month of June trembled like a butterfly.
– Pablo Neruda

Meatballs ingredients:
– 500g minced chicken meat
– 3 eggs
– 5-6 tbsp wheat flour
– 2/3 tsp salt

Other soup ingredients (for the large pot of soup):
– 7 medium potatoes
– 6 medium carrots
– 100g soup noodles
– 1 tsp salt

Method:
1 Boil water in a large pot, add 1 tsp salt
2 While water is boiling, mix minced chicken meat, eggs, flour and salt: form meatballs – 1 tbsp for a meatball, dip the meatball in flour and put in the boiling water
3 Cut potatoes and carrots and add to the pot
4 Cook the soup for 25 minutes, then add soup noodles and cook until soup noodles are ready.

Bell Peppers baked with Chicken: quick and healthy lunch

Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.
Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own

Ingredients:
– 3 bell peppers
– 400g chicken breast
– 2 tsp sour cream
– 50g cheese
– salt/pepper

Method:
1 Preheat the oven to 180C
2 Deseed the bell peppers, cut in half and put into the baking form
3 Chop chicken breast, mix with sour cream, salt and pepper; transfer into the bell pepper halves
4 Grate the cheese on the bell pepper halves
5 Bake for 25-30 minutes
6 Serve with rice

Lazy Khachapuri for a quick yet delicious breakfast or lunch

We had our breakfasts – whatever happens in a house, robbery or murder, it doesn’t matter, you must have your breakfast.
Wilkie Collins, The Moonstone.

Khachapuri batter ingredients (2 servings):
– 2 eggs
– 100g grated Ciacotta (or Suluguni or butter cheese)
– 100ml Kefir
– 100g wheat flour
– 1 tsp salt
– 1 bunch of chopped parsley
– 20g butter for frying

Directions:
1 Combine all Khachapuri batter ingredients in a bowl and mix well
2 Preheat a non-sticking skillet at the medium heat: melt 20 g butter
3 Pour the batter uniformly on the skillet, cook for about 4 min one side (until golden), then flip (I flipped with two spatulas), cook for another 2 min
4 Serve lazy Khachapuri with fresh tomatoes

Homemade Swedish Meatballs !

Then he caught sight of the meatballs. Presto, he turned the button, the engine started buzzing, and Karlsson glided from the bed straight past the plate. He snatched a meatball on his way, rose rapidly up to the ceiling, and circled round the light, contentedly munching the meatball.
Karlsson on the Roof, Astrid Lindgren

Meatballs ingredients:
– 600g minced beef
– 1 small onion, chopped
– 1 clove garlic, chopped
– 100g breadcrumbs
– 1 egg
– 5 tbsp milk
– salt, pepper to taste
– sunflower oil for frying

Method:
1 Combine all meatballs ingredients and form meatballs, put them in the fridge for 2 hours (so that they keep the form when being cooked 😉 ).
2 Preheat the oven to 180 C.
3 Preheat some sunflower oil on the skillet and fry meatballs until golden all sides, medium heat.
4 Transfer the meatballs into the baking form and bake them 30 min at 180 C.
5 Serve the meatballs with mashed potatoes, creamy white sauce, cranberry jam and chopped parsley !

Eggs and Sprats Sandwich !

It was love at first sight, at last sight, at ever and ever sight.
V.N.

Ingredients:
– 110g canned sprats
– 3 eggs
– 2tsp mayonnaise
– black pepper powder
– chopped parsley
– fresh bread rolls

Method:
1 Boil eggs
2 Combine cut boiled eggs, sprats, mayonnaise, black pepper powder and chopped parsley: mash with a fork
3 Transfer the sprats-salad on the fresh bread rolls and enjoy immediately ! Black coffee goes along perfectly 🙂

Baked Garlic Potatoes with Tuna sauce !

Ah, it’s my longing for whom I might have been that distracts and torments me!
Fernando Pessoa, The Book of Disquiet

Potatoes ingredients:
– 1 kg potatoes
– 3 clothes grated garlic
– 1 tsp paprika
– 2/3 tsp salt
– 1/2 tsp black pepper
– 2 tbsp olive oil

Tuna sauce ingredients:
– 1 can tuna
– 1 chopped red onion
– 2 tsp mayonnaise
– 1 tbsp lemon 🍋 juice
– 2 tbsp cream cheese

Method:
1 Preheat the oven to 180C
2 Boil potatoes for 3 minutes, drain water and left them cool down for 5 minutes
3 Mix semi-boiled potatoes with grated garlic, paprika, salt, black pepper and olive oil
4 Transfer the potatoes pieces on the baking paper and bake 30min at 180C
5 Tuna sauce: mix tuna, cut onion, mayonnaise, lemon juice, cream cheese and mash with a blender
6 Serve with fresh tomatoes and cucumbers ! Enjoy !

Healthy Banana Pancakes

Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.
Anton Chekhov

Ingredients:
– 350-370g flour
– 400ml buttermilk
– 2 eggs
– 3 ripe bananas
– 50g butter
– 1/3 tsp salt
– 1/2 tsp baking soda + 1/2 tsp vinegar

Method:
1 Mix eggs, milk and salt until smooth
2 Add grated butter, grated bananas, floor, baking soda
3 Add vinegar in the same tsp and mix everything until smooth with a blender
4 Preheat the skillet
5 Put 1 tbsp of butter for each pancake (no oil!) on the skillet and fry until golden both sides, middle heat
6 Serve with honey and fresh fruits!

Red kuri squash baked with Camembert !

When you see a good move, look for a better one.
Emanuel Lasker

Ingredients (for 2 servings):
– 1 small Red kuri squash
– 120g Camembert
– the crema di balsamico and olive oil for serving
– salt, pepper

Method:
1 Divide squash into 4 parts and bake for 40min at 180C
2 Sprinkle with salt, pepper, cover each squash piece with camembert slices
and bake for another 10 min
3 Sprinkle with crema di balsamico & olive oil and serve!

Simple and Healthy Banana Oatmeal Cookies !

The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself.
Michel de Montaigne, The Complete Essays

Ingredients:
– 150g ripe banana
– 100g oat flakes
– 50g all-purpose flour
– 30g butter
– optional: 1 tbsp cane sugar
– 30g almond flour

Method:
1 Preheat the oven to 180C
2 Combine oat flakes, flour, sugar, almond flour with grated butter and bananas: mix everything until smooth
3 Form dough with a cookie cutter (1 tbsp dough for 1 cookie)
4 Bake the cookies at 180C for 20 minutes, serve with black tea or milk 🙂

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Love... to cooking !