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
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.
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!
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 !
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.
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 !
I had for breakfast more paprika, and a sort of porridge of maize flour which they said was “mamaliga”, and egg-plant stuffed with forcemeat, a very excellent dish, which they call “impletata”.
Garlic sauce ingredients: – 200g sour cream – 3 tsp mayonnaise – 3 garlic cloves – parsley Method: 1 Boil potatoes 2 Potatoes-batter: combine boiled potatoes, chopped onion, eggs, flour, paprika powder and salt – mix well until smooth 3 Preheat the skillet with some sunflower oil 4 For each pancake drop 1 tsp of potatoes-batter in bread crumbs and fry for 2-3 minutes each side, medium heat until golden 5 Garlic sauce: mix sour cream, grated garlic, mayonnaise and chopped parsley 5 Serve pancakes hot with garlic sauce and chopped parsley !
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 !
I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo. “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.
Pancakesingredients (16 pancakes): – 700g potatoes – 100g cheese – 1 big red onion – 2 tbsp flour – 2 tbsp breadcrumbs – salt and pepper to taste – sunflower oil for frying
Garlic sauce ingredients: – 200g sour cream – 1 tbsp mayonnaise – 2-3 minced garlic cloves Method: 1 Combine grated raw potatoes, grated cheese, chopped onion, flour, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper: mix until smooth 2 Preheat the skillet with sunflower oil 3 One tbsp batter for one pancake: fry 3-4 minutes each side until golden, medium heat, transfer on paper towels to absorb extra oil 4 Garlic sauce: mix sour cream, mayonnaise and minced garlic 5 Serve warm pancakes with the sauce and enjoy !
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 !
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!
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!
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 !
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.
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!
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 😉
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!
Directions: 1 Filling: combine chopped beet greens with Feta & cream cheese & black pepper 2 Dough 2.1 Combine dough ingredients and knead the dough. 2.2 Let the dough stay in a warm place for 1 hour 3 Pies 3.1 Pre-heat the oven to 220C 3.2 Separate the dough into 4 equal parts with a knife 3.3 Roll out with hands a ~20 cm diameter disk out of one of dough pieces 3.4 Put 1/4 of the filling in the middle of the disk 3.5 Gather the sides up sealing the edges tight with the fingers in the center altogether 3.6 Turn over the dough with a filling and gently!flatten into a ~20 cm diameter disk 3.7 Cut out with a knife a small (~0.5-1cm diameter) circle in the middle of the pie to let the air go through while baking 3.8 Put the pie on the baking paper: bake for 20 minutes at 220C until golden 3.9 Repeat 3.3-3.8 for the left pieces of dough 4 Serve hot with a cup black coffee and enjoy with friends ! Without friends the pleasure will be totally lost.
Serving ingredients: – pomegranate seeds – parsley Method: 1 Prepare Pkhali ingredients: 1.1 Peel aubergines and cut into ~1cm cubes 1.2 Chop onion 1.3 Slice champignons 1.4 Peel garlic cloves 1.5 Keep the walnuts for 5 minutes in hot water (to soften them a little), then dry them with a paper towel 2 Cook champignons, onion and aubergines 2.1 Fry chopped onion and sliced champignons for 7 minutes at medium heat with some olive oil 2.2 Add aubergine cubes and cook for another 15 minutes or until aubergines are soft 3 Combine cooked champignons, onion and aubergines with garlic, softened walnuts, cardamom, salt, pepper, and vinegar in a bowl: mash until smooth with an immersive blender 4 Put the bowl in the fridge for at least 2 hours 5 Take the bowl from the fridge and form with fingers ~2cm diameter balls. 6 Put the balls on the plate and decorate with pomegranate seeds and parsley: serve, it’s a really delicious appetiser !
Notes: you can use the same recipe as a delicious pate for the sandwiches 😉
Nostalgia in reverse, the longing for yet another strange land, grew especially strong in spring.
Vladimir Nabokov
Ingredients (2 servings): – 1 Hokkaido pumpkin (Red kuri squash) – 125g fresh baby spinach – 150g Feta cheese – 35g pine nuts – salt and black pepper – 1 tbsp olive oil for frying pumpkin
Dressing ingredients: – 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Method: 1 Preheat the oven to 180C 2 Wash pumpkin, halve and de-seed it 3 Bake the pumpkin for 30-35 minutes at 200C and let it cool down 4 Peel the pumpkin and cut into 1.5cm cubes 5 Wash baby spinach and let it dry itself 6 Cut feta cheese into 0.5-1cm cubes 7 Fry pumpkin cubes in olive oil for 4-5 minutes at medium heat 8 Put the salad ingredients on the plates as follows: 8.1 Baby spinach 8.2 Warm pumpkin cubes 8.3 Sprinkle with salt and black pepper 8.4 Feta cheese cubes 8.5 Pine nuts 8.6 Sprinkle with balsamic vinegar 9 Enjoy !
Serving ingredients: – 200ml sour cream Method: 1 Prepare dough: 1.1 Add olive oil in the middle of flour heap and mix oil with flour 1.2 Stir in boiled water into the oily flour and knead the dough 1.3 Let the dough rest for 15 minutes 1.4 Separate the dough into 4 equal parts with a knife. Form ~1.5cm diameter “sausage” out of each part with your hands 1.5 Cut each “sausage” into 1cm width pieces and roll out each piece into a ~5cm diameter round 2 Prepare the filling: 2.1 Wash and de-seed the plums. Separate the plums into halves. 2.2 Cut each plum half into ~6 thin slices 2.3 Combine plum slices with 2 tbsp sugar and mix well 3 Make Vareniki: 3.1 Put 3-5 plum slices into each round, fold the round into a half-moon and pinch all the edges together strongly with fingers. Be careful: these plum slices are very naughty… 3.2 Put Vareniki into boiling water and cook for 5 minutes at medium heat 3.3 Serve warm with sour cream and enjoy !
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.
Filling ingredients (all ingredients for 4 servings = ~30 Vareniki): – 500g new potatoes – 200g champignons – 1 onion – 1 carrot – 1 tsp salt – 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Dough ingredients: – 260g wheat flour – 130ml water – 30ml olive oil – 1/2 tsp salt
Serving ingredients: – a few sprigs of green onions – 200ml sour cream
Method: 1 Prepare the filling: 1.1 Wash champignons, remove dirt from them with a paper towel and cut a thin slice off the bottom 1.2 Stew on olive oil chopped onion with grated carrot for 5 minutes 1.3 Add chopped champignons to onion & carrot and stew for another 10 minutes 1.4 Put the frying pan aside and let it cool down 1.5 Boil for 15 minutes peeled potatoes. Then mash them with 1 tsp salt. 1.6 Combine mashed potatoes with fried champignons and mix them well. 2 Prepare dough: 2.1 Add olive oil in the middle of flour heap and mix oil with flour 2.2 Stir in boiled water into the oily flour and knead the dough 2.3 Let the dough rest for 15 minutes 2.4 Separate the dough into 4 equal parts with a knife. Form a ~1.5cm diameter sausage out of each part 2.5 Cut each sausage into 1cm width pieces and roll out each piece into a ~5cm diameter round 3 Make Vareniki: 3.1 Put 1 tsp filling into each round, fold the round into a half-moon and pinch all the edges together strongly with fingers. Put Vareniki on the floured plate. 3.2 Put Vareniki into boiling water and cook for 5 minutes at medium heat 3.3 Serve immediately with sour cream, chopped green onions, miner’s lettuce and grated carrot !
Notes: one can make several servings of Vareniki (e.g., during a rainy weekend) and put them uncooked in the freezer. And then… enjoy the benefits of quick & delicious lunch during the week! 🙂
Love... to cooking ! 