Month: May 2020

Spinach and Feta Fatayer

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.

Lao Tzu
Spinach and Feta Fatayer

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

Filling ingredients:
– 90g fresh baby spinach
– 90g Feta cheese
– 1/4 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 Combine flour+salt+warm water in a bowl: knead the dough well for 5-6 minutes
3 Make a filling:
3.1 combine chopped spinach & salt: mix well with the hands for 3-4 minutes to get juice from spinach
3.2 add feta & walnuts & oil & pepper to the spinach & salt, mix well
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 teaspoon of a 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: bake for 15 minutes at 220C
8 Serve with black coffee and lemon slices !

Strawberry-Roquefort Sandwich !

After moral poisoning, one requires physical remedies and a bottle of champagne.

Stendhal, The Red and the Black
Strawberry-Roquefort Sandwich

Ingredients (4 small sandwiches):
– 50g Roquefort cheese
– 10 strawberries
– 4 slices of rye bread
– a few sprigs of greens onions

Method:
1 Slice and toast rye bread pieces
2 Wash and chop green onions
3 Wash and slice strawberries
4 Butter Roquefort cheese over the rye bread pieces, put over strawberries pieces & decorate with chopped green onions
5 Enjoy !

Pancakes with Rhubarb Compote !

Tea is at four; but any of you are welcome at any time!

J.R.R. Tolkien, “The Hobbit”
Pancakes with Rhubarb compote

Pancakes ingredients (10-12 pancakes):
– 2 eggs
– 1 cup (1 cup = 250ml) + 1 tablespoon wheat flour
– 2 pinches of salt
– 1 tablespoon sugar
– 500ml Kefir (hint: Kefir makes the pancakes especially tender!)
– 1 tablespoon sunflower oil for batter
– 1/2 tablespoon sunflower oil for frying

Rhubarb compote ingredients:
– 200g peeled chopped rhubarb
– 4 tablespoons sugar
– lemon juice from 1/3 lemon
– 2 tablespoons water

Method:
1 Make rhubarb compote:
1.1 Wash, peel and chop rhubarb in 0.5cm width pieces, transfer them into a bowl
1.2 Add sugar & lemon juice into the bowl and let them stay for 20 minutes
1.3 Transfer rhubarb mixture to a pan, add water, cook for 5 minutes at middle heat
1.4 Cover the compote with a lid to keep it warm!
2 Cook pancakes with you favourite recipe! I like the following one:
2.1 Whisk 2 eggs with salt & sugar
2.2 Pour Kefir in the whisked eggs
2.3 Gradually add wheat flour continuously mixing
2.4 Mix in 1 tablespoon sunflower oil
2.5 Preheat the skillet with 1/2 tablespoon sunflower oil (no more oil will be needed!)
2.6 Pour 1 soup ladle of batter into the skillet for one pancake
2.7 Cook pancakes until golden ~2 minutes on each side
2.8 Keep the cooked pancakes warm covered with a lid on a separate plate
3 Serve hot, decorate with fresh mint & sugar powder and … enjoy!

Adjarian Chirbuli (eggs in spicy tomato-walnut sauce) !

There was a huge moon over the western mountains, and it made the city seem even more mysterious and old, and the great black castle on the ridge stood out in front of the moon.

John Steinbeck, A Russian Journal
Adjarian Chirbuli

Ingredients (2 servings):
– 4 eggs
– 1 cup (1 cup=250ml) tomato sauce (pure tomatoes!)
– 1 chili pepper
– 40g chopped walnuts
– 1 chopped onion
– 3 chopped garlic cloves
– 1 tsp salt
– 1/3 tsp black pepper
– 1/2 parsley bunch for serving
– 1/2 tbsp olive oil for cooking

Method:
1 Chop onion & chili pepper and put them into the first bowl
2 Chop garlic & walnuts and put them into the second bowl
3 Chop fresh parsley and put it into the third bowl
4 Pour some olive oil onto a skillet and set the medium-low heat
5 Transfer chopped onion & chili pepper on the preheated skillet: cook for 5 minutes
6 Add tomato sauce, salt, chopped garlic & walnuts into the skillet: cook for 3 minutes
7 Carefully pour the eggs into the tomato-walnuts sauce (prepare holes for them in there with a spatula right before pouring in eggs): cook the eggs for 5-10 minutes
8 Serve hot with black pepper, fresh parsley and lavash or flat bread !

Buckwheat pancakes with Gruyère, Ham and Egg !

When the first fine spring days come, and the earth awakes and assumes its garment of verdure, when the perfumed warmth of the air blows on our faces and fills our lungs, and even appears to penetrate to our heart, we feel vague longings for undefined happiness, a wish to run, to walk at random, to inhale the spring.

Guy de Maupassant
Buckwheat pancakes with Gruyère, Ham and Egg

Batter ingredients (for 5-6 pancakes):
– 1/3-1/2 cup buckwheat flour
– 2 tablespoons wheat flour
– 1/2 egg
– 1 cup water (might be less or more, depends on buckwheat flour)
– 1 pinch salt
– 40g butter for frying

Filling ingredients (for filling 5-6 galettes):
– 5-6 eggs
– 80g ham
– 100g grated Gruyère cheese
– a few sprigs of green onions

Method:
1 Combine batter ingredients, mix them well and whisk until the batter is uniform
2 Grate Gruyère cheese, slice ham and put them in a fridge for a while in 2 bowls
3 Cook the pancakes
3.1 Melt butter in the skillet and pour ~1/2 cup of batter in it
3.2 Cook 2-3 minutes on one side and 1-2 minutes on another side
3.3 Repeat 2.1-2.2 for the remaining pancakes 🥞
4 Cook 5-6 eggs (as many as a number of pancakes you made) in a separate skillet with the melted butter, put them on a plate covered with a lid to keep them warm 😉
5 Warm up the pancakes in a frying pan with some melted butter and add in the middle of them the following levels:
5.1 Sliced ham
5.2 Grated Gruyère cheese
5.3 Cooked egg
6 Put the cooked galettes on the plates, and fold over their four edges
7 Garnish with chopped green onions & black pepper
8 Serve immediately and enjoy !

Hint:
Do not try to replace water by milk or butter by oil otherwise all the charm will be lost! 🙂

Rhubarb Pancakes for a perfect Saturday breakfast !

“Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind.
“Pooh!” he whispered.
“Yes, Piglet?”
“Nothing,” said Piglet, taking Pooh’s paw. “I just wanted to be sure of you.”

A.A. Milne, The House at Pooh Corner
Rhubarb Pancakes

Ingredients (for 12-14 pancakes):
– 2 stalks (200g) rhubarb
– 120g flour
– 90g milk
– 50g sugar
– 3g Vanilla sugar (Vanilla sugar adds a wonderful flavour to the taste!)
– 1 egg
– pinch of salt
– 1 tablespoon sunflower oil
– [optional] 1/2 teaspoon baking soda + 1/2 teaspoon vinegar

Method:
1 Peel washed rhubarb and cut it into 20-30mm width pieces
2 Mix well in a bowl flour+milk+sugar+Vanilla sugar+egg+salt+oil and whisk a little bit
3 [Optional] Mix in baking soda & vinegar in the batter if you want to make your pancakes fluffy 😉
4 Carefully mix in rhubarb slices in the batter
5 Preheat a skillet over a medium heat, add some sunflower oil
6 Pour 1 tablespoon of batter onto the skillet for each pancake and cook until golden on both sides (flip pancakes with a spatula, add sunflower oil when needed)
7 Transfer the pancakes onto the paper towels to get rid of extra oil
8 Serve pancakes with sour cream, strawberries or cooked rhubarb and … enjoy !

Hint:
Sour & sweet combination makes these pancakes truly delicious 😉

Strawberry Panna Cotta !

“Honey or condensed milk with your bread” he was so excited that he said, “Both,” and then, so as not to seem greedy, he added, “but don’t bother about the bread, please.”

A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh
Strawberry Panna Cotta

Panna Cotta Ingredients:
– 300ml 33% cream
– 150ml milk
– 90g sugar
– 1g vanilla
– 1/3 tsp agar agar powder
– 100g strawberry

Serving ingredients:
– 100g strawberry

Method:
1 Slice washed strawberries and put them in the glasses
2 Combine in a pan milk+33% cream+sugar+vanilla+agar agar powder
3 Warm up the mixture until boiling constantly stirring
4 Set the pan aside for 3 minutes
5 Pour the creamy mixture from the pan into the glasses over the strawberries
6 Put the glasses in the fridge for 2 hours or overnight and enjoy Panna Cotta with fresh strawberries and … wonderful mood !

Hints:
1 Some agar agar powders are different from others. One might need to make a first try to adjust agar agar amount 🙂
2 Before serving let Panna Cotta stay a little bit outside the fridge, it is tastier when it is not completely cold !

Cauliflower pancakes with Roquefort-garlic sauce !

Sitting with her on Sunday evening — a wet Sunday evening — the very time of all others when if a friend is at hand the heart must be opened, and every thing told…

Jane Austen, Mansfield Park
Cauliflower Pancakes

Pancakes ingredients:
– 1 cauliflower head cut into florets
– 2 eggs
– 3 tablespoons wheat flour
– 1/2 teaspoon salt
– 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
– 4 sprigs green onions
– 1-2 tablespoons olive oil for frying

Roquefort-garlic sauce ingredients:
– 200g sour cream
– 40g Roquefort cheese
– 3 cloves garlic
– a few branches chopped parsley

Method:
1 Wash a cauliflower head and separate into florets
2 Boil the cauliflower florets in salty water for 10 minutes, then drain water
3 Mash the cauliflower florets with eggs, flour, species, finally mix in chopped green onions
4 Line a plate with paper towels to put there pancakes afterwards to get rid of extra oil
5 Put some olive oil on a skillet and set the medium-low heat
6 Put 1 tablespoon of cauliflower batter for 1 pancake on a skillet and flatten with a spatula (my 29cm diameter skillet allows cooking 3-4 pancakes simultaneously)
7 Cook pancakes for 2-3 minutes on each side until golden, then transfer them onto the paper towels
8 While cooking pancakes, make a Roquefort-garlic sauce: mash grated garlic with sour cream, Roquefort cheese and chopped parsley
9 Serve cauliflower pancakes hot with fresh baby spinach, chopped green onions and Roquefort-garlic sauce !

Saturday pleasures: Rhubarb Meringue Cake !

Most of the dandelions had changed from suns into moons.

Vladimir Nabokov
Rhubarb Meringue Cake Recipe

Sponge cake ingredients (19cm diameter baking form):
– 2 eggs
– 2/3 cup wheat flour
– 2/3 cup sugar
– 3g Vanilla sugar
– 1 stalk rhubarb (150-200g)

Meringue ingredients:
– 2 egg whites
– 4 tablespoons sugar

Method:
1 Preheat the oven to 180C
2 Make the batter: whisk eggs with sugar, then carefully mix in the flour
3 Pour the batter into the buttered baking form
4 Peel rhubarb and slice it into ~0.5cm pieces and put them over the batter
5 Bake the cake for 25-30 minutes at 180C (check if it is ready with a wooden stick, it should come out clean)
6 Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool down
7 Whisk the egg whites with sugar until firm peaks for 5-10 minutes
8 Carefully put the whisked egg whites over the cake and bake for 30 minutes at 120C
9 Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool down
10 Serve with fresh strawberries !

Hint:
1 Meringue can stick to the baking form if you do not let the cake cool down before putting whisked egg whites on it 😉

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
Paccheri con Salmone

Ingredients (for 2 servings):
– 180g salmon
– 100ml 33% cream
– 300g durum wheat semolina pasta (ideally, Italian Pasta Superior Semola)
– 3 garlic clothes
– 80g Parmesan
– 1/2 teaspoon salt
– 1/2 teaspoon pepper
– 1/2 tablespoon olive oil for frying

Method:
1 Grate Parmesan into a bowl and put in the fridge for now
2 Cut salmon into 1.5cm cubes
3 Chop garlic into 0.5cm cubes
4 Simultaneously start boiling pasta (5) and cooking salmon (6)
5 Boil pasta in the salty water until ready and drain the water
6 Cook salmon for 5 minutes in olive oil with garlic, then add 33% cream and stew for another 5 minutes
7 Put the pasta in the frying pan with salmon for 1 minute, carefully mix and transfer to the serving plates
8 Sprinkle pasta with grated Parmesan, add black pepper and serve immediately !

Spinach Fatayer: serving ideas !

You would not enjoy Nietzsche, sir. He is fundamentally unsound.

P.G. Wodehouse
Spinach Fatayer

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

Spinach Fatayer filling ingredients:
– 120g fresh baby spinach
– 1/2 small chopped onion
– 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
– 2 tbsp lemon juice
– 2 tsp olive oil
– 1/2 tsp salt
– 1/4 tsp black pepper

Method:
1 Preheat the oven at 220C !
2 Combine flour+salt+warm water in a bowl: knead the dough well for 5-6 minutes
3 Make a filling: combine chopped spinach & onion & walnuts & oil & salt & pepper
4 Divide dough into 8 equal pieces and form balls out of them
5 Roll out each ball into a 8-10cm diameter circle: put 2 teaspoons of a filling in the centre of each circle
6 Lift up ends of each circle to the centre to form with your fingers rhombuses-like Fatayers 🙂
7 Put the Fatayers on a baking paper: bake for 15 minutes at 220C
8 Serve with a vegetable soup (see Leek-potato soup recipe here) or black coffee !

Spinach Fatayer Recipe