Valentina

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

Homemade Trdlo or Trdelník !

City sidewalks, busy sidewalks
Dressed in holiday style
In the air there’s a feeling of Christmas
Bing Crosby

I always tried Trdlo when being in Prague! Today I ventured to cook it myself – Christmas aroma filled up my kitchen and brought back some nice memories, flavour of frozen snowy morning and sparkling garlands. I can’t wait for Christmas eve to come to enjoy Trdlo again with a cup of cocoa.

Ingredients (for ~10 Trdlo):
– 190ml milk
– 430g flour
– 60g grated butter
– 21g fresh yeast
– 1tbsp brown sugar
– 2 egg whites and 1 egg yolk
– 1/2 tsp salt

Filling ingredients:
– 20-40g grated butter for buttering carton rolls
– 60g brown sugar
– 1tbsp grated nuts or walnuts
– 1tbsp cinnamon

Method:
1 Filling
1.1 mix in a cup sugar, cinnamon and grated nuts
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 1tbsp sugar: whisk until smooth and leave in a warm place for 15 min
2.2 Add grated butter, 2 egg whites, 1 egg yolk, salt: whisk well
2.3 Add flour constantly mixing, knead a dough and leave in a warm place under cloth for 30 min
3 Trdlo
3.1 Preheat the oven to 190C
3.2 Knead dough with a stretch and fold technique for 2-3 min and separate into 10 equal pieces
3.3 Form a long 0.8cm diameter rope out of each dough piece 🙂
3.4 Wrap paper towel carton rolls with a baking paper: butter baking paper with fingers
3.5 Wind up a dough rope around a buttered paper towel carton roll
3.6 Butter Trdlo surface with fingers before rolling in nuts-cinnamon-sugar mixture
3.7 Roll well each Trdlo in nuts-cinnamon-sugar mixture
3.8 Bake Trdlos for 15 minutes at 190C: serve hot! Jingle bells-jingle bells…

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 !

Quick and healthy Banana Chocolate Mousse !

Glück gibt es nur, wenn wir vom Morgen nichts verlangen und vom Heute dankbar annehmen, was es bringt – die Zauberstunde kommt doch immer wieder.
Hermann Hesse

Ingredients (2 servings):
– 2 ripe bananas
– 2 full tsp cocoa powder
– 300g natural 3.5% yoghurt
– 100g fresh raspberries
– fresh mint leaves

Method:
1 Combine and mash with blender: bananas+cocoa+yoghurt
2 Transfer banana mousse in glasses
3 Serve with fresh raspberries and fresh mint leaves!

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 🙂

Feta and Cottage Cheese Dumplings: simple and delicious lunch !

Bez opatrnosti aj šikovnosť je márna
Slovak proverb

Dough ingredients (2 servings):
– 6-8 tbsp flour
– 150g feta cheese
– 100g cottage cheese
– 1 egg

Serving ingredients:
– 250g sour cream
– 1 small red onion
– 1tbsp butter

Method:
1 Combine flour, grated feta cheese, cottage cheese and egg: knead the dough
2 Separate the dough into 4 equal parts
3 Form a 1.5cm diameter sausage from each part of dough
4 Cut out each sausage into 1cm width dumplings and set them aside
5 Pre-heat butter in the skillet and fry chopped red onion until golden
6 Transfer the dumplings into the boiling water and cook for 4 minutes at medium heat
7 Transfer the dumplings to the skillet with fried red onion: mix and cook for another 2-3 minutes
7 Serve the dumplings with sour cream !

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 😉

Cannelloni baked with Chanterelles and Leek !

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

Notes: inspired by Jamie Oliver Mushroom Cannelloni

Cannelloni & filling ingredients (4 servings):
– 200g cannelloni
– 250g leek
– 250g chanterelles
– 1 onion
– 1 tbsp butter
– 3/4 tsp salt

White sauce:
– 500ml milk
– 100g cheese
– 3tbsp flour
– 1 tbsp olive oil

Method:
1 Filling:
1.1 Wash, peel and chop chanterelles, onion and leek
1.2 Pre-heat the skillet with butter and fry onion 3-4 min, add chanterelles and cook for 10 min
1.3 Add chopped leek, salt and cook for another 10 min
2 White sauce:
2.1 preheat olive oil in the skillet, add 3 tbsp flour: mix well
2.2 Pour milk to flour & oil: cook 2-3 min until smooth constantly stirring, add grated cheese and cook for another 2-3 min: sauce is ready!
3 Cannelloni:
3.1 Preheat the oven to 190C
3.2 Fill cannelloni with filling (I used chopsticks for that)
3.3 Transfer filled cannelloni in the baking form and pour the white sauce over them
3.4 Bake cannelloni for 30-35 min at 190C until golden & serve with fresh greens!

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 ! 🙂

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!

Red Currant and Chocolate Muffins !

Beautiful days do not come to you. You must walk towards them.
Rumi

Ingredients (for 12 muffins):
– 150g flour
– 8g Vanilla sugar
– 52g sugar
– 50g butter
– 1 egg
– 40g chocolate buttons
– 1tsp baking soda + 1tsp vinegar
– 250g fresh red currant berries

Method:
1 Preheat the oven to 180C
2 Whisk an egg & sugar & vanilla sugar in Bowl1
3 Grate butter to the flour in Bowl2
4 Join Bowl1 & Bowl2 content, add baking soda&vinegar in the same teaspoon: mix well until smooth
5 Add half of berries to the batter & mix well letting berries to give juice to the batter!
6 Add the rest berries & add chocolate buttons: mix well
7 Transfer the batter in the 12 buttered muffin tin cups: bake at 180C for 25-30 minutes
8 Enjoy with a cup of black coffee !

Healthy Cold Summer Soup with Bell Peppers, Cucumbers, Garlic and Feta !

Многоточие – это следы на цыпочках ушедших слов
Vladimir Nabokov

Ingredients (3-4 portions):
– 3 cucumbers (270g)
– 1 small red bell pepper (200g)
– 1 small yellow bell pepper (120g)
– 700ml tomato juice unsalted
– 2 garlic cloves (10g)
– 100g wholegrain rye bread pulp
– 20ml virgin olive oil
– 1/2 tsp salt
– 100g Feta for serving

Method:
1 Wash and chop cucumbers and bell peppers
2 Peel, wash and grate garlic
3 Mash with a blender 2/3 chopped cucumbers and bell peppers+bread pulp+olive oil+tomato juice+grated garlic cloves+salt until smooth
4 Serve the soup with the remaining chopped cucumbers & bell peppers and with crushed Feta cheese
5 Enjoy – it’s a perfect soup for a hot summer day !

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! 🙂

Summer Strawberry Biscuit Roll !

Donwell was famous for its strawberry-beds, which seemed a plea for the invitation: but no plea was necessary; cabbage-beds would have been enough to tempt the lady, who only wanted to be going somewhere. She promised him again and again to come – much oftener than he doubted – and was extremely gratified by such a proof of intimacy, such a distinguishing compliment as she chose to consider it.
“Emma” by Jane Austen

Dough ingredients:
– 60g flour
– 60g sugar
– 4 eggs
– 3 egg yolks

Filling ingredients:
– 250g 33% whipping cream
– 250g fresh strawberries
– 8g Vanilla sugar
– 1 tsp sugar

Method:
1 Dough
1.1 Preheat the oven to 200C
1.2 Mix sugar with eggs and egg yolks and whisk them for 5 minutes
1.3 Add flour and whisk for another minute until smooth
1.4 Pour the dough on the baking paper in the 30x35cm baking form
1.5 Bake for 12-14 minutes until golden: remove from the oven
1.6 Carefully remove the baking paper (place on “new” baking paper sheet and remove the “old” one from top): roll the cake with the new baking paper sheet and let it cool down for 10 minutes
2 Filling
2.1 Wash and dry fresh strawberries
2.2 Mash 70g strawberries with sugar and vanilla sugar
2.3 Chop the rest 180g strawberries into 0.5cm pieces
2.4 Whip the cream until firm and carefully mix with mashed and chopped strawberries – beautiful filling ready!
3 Cake
3.1 Unroll the cake and put the strawberry filling on 3/4 of the cake
3.2 Roll the cake with the filling
3.3 Put the strawberry roll for 2 hours in the fridge
3.4 Enjoy 😉

Summer time – time for early breakfasts in the balcony: yoghurt, blueberries, toasted oats and almonds !

I think it is all a matter of love; the more you love a memory the stronger and stranger it becomes
V. Nabokov

Ingredients (for 2 persons):
– 400ml natural yogurt
– 400g fresh blueberries
– 100g oats
– 40g chopped almonds

Directions:
1 Toast oats and chopped almonds ~2-4 minutes until golden at medium heat (no oil, no butter)
2 Sprinkle washed blueberries over the yogurt
3 Sprinkle warm toasted oats and almonds over the yogurt and enjoy

Simple Quiche with Salmon and Spinach !

There is not a particle of life which does not bear poetry within it
Gustav Flaubert

Dough ingredients:
– 220g flour
– 100g butter
– 1/2 cup water
– 1/2 tsp salt

Filling ingredients:
– 200g fresh salmon
– 250g spinach
– 250-280g 10% sour cream
– 2 eggs
– 50g cheese
– black pepper

Method:
1 Filling
1.1 Wash spinach and pre-cook it for 15 minutes, then drain extra water
1.2 Chop salmon and pre-cook it for 5-10 minutes in water, drain extra water
1.3 Whisk sour cream and eggs together in a separate bowl
1.4 Grate cheese in a separate bowl
2 Dough
2.1 Mix flour, grater butter, salt and water: knead the dough
2.2 Pre-heat the oven to 200C
2.3 Roll out dough to 32cm round
2.4 Put rolled out dough into 32cm buttered baking form
2.5 Make in the dough small holes for airing
2.6 Pre-bake for 10 minutes at 200C
3 Quiche
3.1 Spread the pre-cooked salmon & spinach onto the pre-baked dough base
3.2 Pour sour-cream-eggs mixture over the salmon & spinach
3.3 Sprinkle uniformly the grated cheese and black pepper over the filling
3.4 Bake the quiche for 25-30 minutes at 200C until golden
3.5 Enjoy and have a great Sunday!

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!

Strawberry Crumble Cake for a perfect day start !

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
William Shakespeare

Dough ingredients:
– 200g flour
– 125g butter
– 1tbsp sugar
– 1 packet (8g) Vanilla sugar
– 1 egg
– 1/2tsp baking soda + 1/2tsp vinegar

Filling ingredients:
– 500g very fresh strawberries
– 1.5tbsp sugar

Method:
1 Dough
1.1 Combine flour, sugar, vanilla sugar and add chopped butter: mix to crumbles
1.2 Add baking soda & vinegar in the same teaspoon tothe flour-sugar-butter mixture and mix
1.3 Add a small egg and knead the dough
2 Filling
2.1 Wash, dry with a towel and slightly chop strawberries
2.2 Add sugar to strawberries and mix
3 Cake
3.1 Preheat the oven to 190C
3.2 Separate the dough into 2 equal parts
3.3 Put the first part of the dough into 18cm diameter buttered baking form and flatten
3.4 Distribute the strawberry filling over the dough equally
3.5 Grate the remaining part of dough over the filling 🙂
3.6 Bake 30-35 minutes at 190C
3.7 Put the cake in the fridge overnight
3.8 Enjoy the cake in the morning with a cup of strong black coffee ! It would be a great start of a day, believe me 😉

Spanish Potatoes Omelette with Red-Bell-Pepper-Tomatoes Sauce!

One should as a rule respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to avoid starvation and to keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny, and is likely to interfere with happiness in all kinds of ways.
Bertrand Russell, The Conquest of Happiness

Spanish potatoes omelette with paprika sauce

Omelette ingredients (2 large servings):
– 4 eggs
– 1 onion
– 500g new potatoes
– 30-40g butter for frying
– salt and back pepper
– fresh chopped chives for serving

Red-Bell-Pepper-Tomatoes Sauce (4 servings – also for morning toasts ;)):
– 250g cherry tomatoes
– 2 red bell peppers
– 60g cashew nuts
– 50g bread crumbs
– 3 garlic cloves
– salt and paprika
– 1tbsp olive oil

Method:
1 Sauce
1.1 Halve cherries tomatoes, cut red bell peppers and put them in the baking form
1.2 Sprinkle the vegetables with olive oil and salt: bake for 10 minutes at 190C
1.3 Combine baked vegetables, peeled garlic cloves, cashew nuts, paprika, bread crumbs: mash in the blender until smooth and put it in the fridge for 30 min
2 Omelette
2.1 Peel 1 onion and slice into pieces
2.2 Melt butter in the skillet and then fry onion until caramelized, set aside
2.3 Wash, peel and boil new potatoes for 10-15 min
2.4 Omelette batter: whisk 4 eggs with salt and pepper, add cut boiled potatoes & caramelised onion
2.5 Melt butter in the skillet and pour the omelette batter into it: fry at medium heat for 8 minutes
2.6 Flip the omelette with the pan and cook for another 2-3 minutes
3 Serve omelette with cold red-bell-pepper-tomato sauce and chopped chives!

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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