Aromatic Moussaka

I happen to like all oven-cooked dishes and I happen to be a sucker for Balkan and Mediterranean food, Moussaka included. But I wanted to make it different this time so after some research on the net, after watching a dozen of videos, each and everyone different than the other, I came up with my combo. It is a time eater this one..so take your time.

Ingredients:

• potatoes. I used about 5-6 small ones. But the bigger the easier.
• 1 x big aubergine
  
• 400g minced meat. I used beef. Alternatives: lamb for an original Greek style Moussaka, pork for a fattier one or a mix between any of the above mentioned. ( I even saw a video with turkey minced meat :)) . It was so hilarious, a body builder guy cooking this moussaka with ingredients like 'baking spray' and 'all spice'. WTF are those? )
• 1 x can of tomatoes sauce or tomatoes
• 1 x onion
• 4 x cloves of garlic
• 1 x can Greek yogurt (if Greek one is hard to find, any creamy yogurt you find at the store)
  
• 1 x Greek feta cheese package (if Greek feta is not accessible, the local feta cheese)
• 2 x eggs
• 40g grated parmesan
  
• some mint leaves
• oregano, basil, rosemary, marjoram, thyme, sage (the regular Mediterranean spices combo). I used Italian spices mix, still cheating but better than the 'all spice' mix the muscle man used, no offense.
  
• salt & pepper
• pinch of cinnamon
• olive oil to fatten the pan and cooking form

Preparing:

• wash and slice (in max 1 cm thick , even slices) the aubergine(s), put them on a kitchen tissue side by side and spread coarse-grained salt on them and cover with a big baking pan, preferably with something heavy on top. Leave them for about half an hour like that. This step is important so that you get all the water out of them. That is a lot of water.
  
• peel , wash and slice thin the potatoes. Oil a baking pan and put the potatoes in the oven for at least 10 minutes on each side.
  
• drain and clean the aubergines with some tissue to remove both the water and the salt. Repeat the potatoes operation with the water-free aubergines. 7 mins on each side should be enough this time.
• chop the onions and 2 of the garlic cloves. Half of the garlic cloves will go with the onions in the meat sauce and the other half in the yogurt-cheese sauce.
• sauté the minced meat till it turns brown, then add the onions and half of the garlic and stir in.
• pour the tomatoes paste and add the spices, including a pinch of cinnamon and pepper, let in on medium fire till it has a nice consistency. Add half of the parmesan, stir it in and take the sauce off the fire. I didn't add any salt at this point, because feta is salty enough and the aubergines may have also kept some of the salt we used in the dehydration process.
  
• yogurt, feta, the other 2 garlic cloves, the eggs, the other half of the parmesan and mint leaves go straight in the food processor or blender. The taste that comes out is divine.
• now finally, in an oiled backing form, set first a layer of potatoes, than a meat sauce layer, then the aubergines and on top pour the cheese sauce.
• leave it in the oven at 200 degrees for about 30-40 mins till the top coat turns golden-brown.
  

Serve with olives and red wine or ouzo!

Smooth Pea Soup with Smoked Salmon Roles

Please, don't ask where are the roles, given the above picture... trust me, they are there somewhere, in there.. Just for the record, practice is always tougher than theory :P
This is probably not perfectly fit for the cold season, neither is it a typical Advent's dinner but I really enjoyed it today. If you feel like taking a pause from all the greasy holiday dishes, this is a wonderful, very fine delight. And it is as easy to make as it is to eat :)

What you need (4 portions):

• 250 g peas - I used dried ones for a starchier, hardier flavored taste, but you can experiment fresh or frozen beans just as well
• 4 slices of smoked salmon
• 2 shallots
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 hand of chives (tiny chopped)
• 3/4L vegetable stock
• 1 cup of cream or Crème fraîche
• butter
• spices: salt, pepper, nutmeg

How-to:
1. Boil the peas as advised on the package. Dried peas in my case 1, 1/4 h in 3/4L water. Fresh or frozen peas should be a lot less than that, if the above mentioned timing freaked you out.
2. Roll the salmon slices with some chives and pack them in sealing foil and leave them to rest a while (20 mins or so) in the fridge.
3. Chop the shallots and garlic cloves in tiny pieces and stew them in some butter. Add the drained peas, the veggies stock and let it boil for another 5 mins.
4. Spice up with salt, pepper and nutmeg, then purée the whole thing with a mixer. Add cream or crème fraîche
5. Cut the salmon roles in fine slices and decorate the soup as good as you can.

Bon Appétit!

I must say there is something that I like about the first picture, besides the taste. Probably the chromatic and non-chromatic in it.

Goat Cheese in Bacon Coat with Colored Lentils Salad

This comes out of my love for cheese and Mediterranean flavors, combined with the curiosity for what else you can do with lentils besides the traditional lentils soup. And of course you can do way much more. Lentils come in a large color palette, they are rich in proteins, dietary fiber, vitamin B, iron and other goodies. If curious, check this article in Health magazine.


Ingredients for 3 - 4 portions:

• 8 slices of goat cheese. I used "Frico Belle Blanche", a delicious, mild Dutch cheese. I think it's important to have a pretty firm cheese. Consider the fact that it would be heated and you want it melting on your tongue rather than in your pan.
  
• 8 slices of bacon or ham
  
• some branches of fresh rosemary
• 1 tbsp (olive) oil
  
• 1 tbsp honey
• 250 g red lentils
• 3 stalks of spring onion
• a bunch of rucola
• a branch of cherry tomatoes
• 1 tbsp tapenade or olives (optional - I completely forgot this ingredient and added it later, you can do without it)

For the vinaigrette:

• 4-5 tbsp (extra virgin) olive oil
• 2 tbsp vinegar
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  
• 1 tbsp mustard
• sugar
  
• salt
  
• pepper

How to do it. It's so simple, a child could do it.

• Boil the lentils according to the instructions on the package.
• While the lentils boil, cut about 1 cm thick slices from the goat cheese and wrap them in the bacon slices. Heat up ca. one table spoon of (olive) oil in the frying pan, add some rosemary branches. Roast gently the wrapped cheese slices on both sides. Add the honey and glace them. Too bad there is no "attach smell" option. I would have used it here, cause it's a symphony! ♫ ♬ ♫ ♪ ♫ ♫ ♪ ♬ As you take them out, spice them up with some pepper.

• When the lentils are ready, pour off the water and let them cool down. In the meanwhile cut the onions in rings and the cherry tomatoes in halves. Wash and dry the rucola.
• Mix the oil, vinegar, balsamic vinegar, mustard, adding salt, sugar and pepper till you are pleased how your vinaigrette tastes. Marinate the lentils with this nice oily-sour-sweet-spicy potion and add the veggies & greens.
• Serve the lentils salad and the goat delicacies on a plate. Enjoy!
  

I was kind of starving at the end, and never intended to post this recipe in the first place, so excuse the leftish arrangement, the poor quality of light and so on. But I can assure you it tastes great ;)


**Note: The sources I use for this blog are the internet and cooking books. I don't take credit for these recipes, neither do I claim inventing them. I just add my personal note, replace some ingredients , adjust the quantities to my taste, sometimes mix 2-3 recipes in one, and add some information or advice that I would have found useful myself.

Steamed Chicken stuffed with Coriander - Chili - Butter

This was my first steaming experiment and also a poor attempt to start a diet. I got this nice 2-layered bamboo steamer from the Asian store the other day. And it is indeed an easy, efficient and healthy way to cook. I had some small incidents but I won't let it happen again. Let's steam!

They say these ingredients are enough for four people, but I say it's for two only, and in this particular case those two persons are the 'today-me' and the 'tomorrow-me' (being selfish, or are these the first signs of a multiple personality?)

• 4 nice full chicken breast fillets
• 50g soft butter
• 4 tbsp fresh hacked coriander - (or any herb of your choice)
• 1 chili chopped in tiny pieces
  
• a regular can of coconut milk
• 200g basmati rice
• 350 ml chicken stock or water
• 1 carrot
• 1/2 cucumber
• 3 spring onions (as you see, I used 2 and 1 small leech, cause I ran out of onions)
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar
  

- Step 6 -

How to do it in 8 fun, simple steps:

1) mix the butter, chili and coriander

2) fill the pockets with the herb-butter stuffing

3) salt & pepper and wrap the stuffed fillet in backing paper, like a Christmas candy

4) put the coconut milk and chicken stock in a pot and as it starts boiling add the rice

5) lay the wrapped chicken in the steamer, the steamer on the pot, at (!) low heat. Here I had my first incident, the heat was too high and the milk burst out

6) let it there for 15-20 minutes, and stir the rice once or twice in the meanwhile. At this point I had my second incident. Never underestimate the heat of the steam!

7) while the chicken and rice are being cooked, you slice the cucumber, onions and carrot. For good aesthetics, you can challenge your patience by cutting them in julienne strips. Huh, now you probably wonder if I used my samurai skills to do that. No, I cheated to be honest, I used a special julienne cutter ;) Pour the vinegar over the strips.

8) when the chicken is tender and the rice has been boiled, take it away from the fire, unwrap the chicken and serve it on the coconut milk-rice and decorate with the salad strips.

Hot Flavored Pumpkin for Cold, Rainy Days

This was my Halloween themed meal, and though not my favorite of all dishes but still something to try for the open-minded (or should I say open-mouthed ?). As far as my research went, it is an African dish... but I wouldn't bet my pumpkin on it.
Start cooking this 2 hours before you are about to get hungry. Yeah, I know it sounds mean... but I talk from experience. Feel free to play with ingredients, quantities...The (imprecise) figures I will list here are enough for 2 servings:

Ingredients:

• a 2 kg Hokkaido pumpkin
• 300g chopped (or minced) lamb ( / pork / beef) meat
• a handful of rice
• half stalk of leek
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 onion
• some fresh parsley leaves
  
• raisins
• almonds
  
• 1 tbsp of hot paprika & 1/2 tbsp of sweet paprika powder
• 1 tsp of ground cinnamon (not only a spice, but also a medicine)
  
• a pinch of nutmeg
  
• a dash of coriander
  
• a touch of cayenne pepper
  
• juice and peeling of half a lemon
• one small dried chili (or big, or 2 big ones..depends on your tolerated level of hotness)
• some olive oil
• salt and pepper
• playfulness
  

How to prepare your pumpkin:

• Hackle the (already washed) parsley, press the garlic clove(s) and mix them with the meat , the cinnamon, some of the lemon juice and lemon peelings, the spices and salt. Cover the crazy mix and let it rest in the fridge for a while.

• Carve a cap in the pumpkin and hollow it out, just like you use(d) to do with your jack-o'-lanterns. Just don't get carried away and start carving teeth, eyes and nose. You can do that on next occasion. After throwing the juicy part and the seeds away, keep digging the orange consistent part out. This part is a bit challenging. I did it with a spoon and my Wii-muscles. But if it is too difficult, leave it there on the pumpkin's walls. It will end up in your tummy anyway. Spread generously some salt on the empty walls and turn the pumpkin upside down on a waterproof surface. Let the chemistry do it's magic.

• Bring the rice to boil for about 10 minutes. In the meanwhile, clean and cut the leek in rings. Then dice the onion and stew it a bit in the olive oil. Add the pumpkin flesh, then the leek rings and finally the lamb meat and keep stirring till it gets a nice brown color. Salt and pepper as much as you please...

• Preheat the oven at 200°C. Mix the rice with the raisins, the almonds, the crumbled chili, the spiced meat you kept in the fridge and what's left of the lemon juice.

• You'll notice the poor pumpkin cried you a river and now you're going to dry it up with some kitchen tissues and fill it up with the stuffing. Add some water or stock over it. Lay it on the baking plate and pour 1-2 cups of water around it, so that it has the necessary moist in the sauna.

• Keep it in the oven for about one hour till the orange flesh gets nice and soft.

• Serve it in the natural shell, with playfulness. Yes, I know I said it's enough for 2. So you need some nice company, 2 spoons maybe and if you're striving for perfection, some fine flavored red wine.

Enjoy it!

Cannelloni con ricotta e spinaci

Again, a first timer. This is not exactly a typical Sunday lunch meal (anyway not around here, maybe in Italy it could be...), but for a pasta and spinach lover like myself it is a Treat. Who doesn't like spinach, should better leave the page now, because I don't have an alternative green in my mind for now..For those who do like spinach but can't imagine a meal without some meat, there is still hope, so stick around.
Why cannelloni with spinach and ricotta? Because I ordered it on Thursday from the restaurant, in the lunch break and I must say it was a disappointment. The spinach tasted like it was frozen and thawed repeatedly for decades. And the tomato sauce was sour and, well, tomatoes and spinach are not a match made in heaven, if you ask me. Spinach and garlic, eggs, cheese, cream..yes, those make a happy family.
But enough with the criticism, let's prove we can do it better.

What we have down here are the ingredients for 2 full plates:

- A football team of cannelloni and their coach, that would make 12 guys which I nicely arranged in a "S" shaped fence. There is no cannelloni without the cannelloni, right?
This fence separates what will turn into the stuffing on the left side and what will make the sauce, on the right side.

Left side -> stuffing:

• 300 g frozen spinach
  
• 100 g Ricotta cheese
• 80 g of crumbled young Gouda cheese
  
• 2 small shallots
  
• 1 garlic clove
  
• 1 egg
  
• 1 tbsp. smashed pine nuts
  
• 1 tsp. freshly grated nutmegs
  
• love

Meat lovers who need more than love, may want to add some salmon or some bacon...I am sure it's allowed and I promise to try it. But to be true, cheese is my meat..

Right side -> sauce:

• 1 1/2 tbsp. butter
• 3 tbsp flour
• 1/2 cup of milk
• 1 cup of vegetable stock
• 50 g crumbled young Gouda cheese
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp. Parmesan
• love

How to prepare the stuffing:

1. Let the spinach thaw
2. Peel and slice the shallots and the garlic
3. Mix all the stuffing ingredients in a bawl and spice them up with salt, pepper, love, grated nutmeg and smashed pine nuts. I mixed them with the blender to save time and have a fairly even composition. If you like stirring better, then make sure you do it well :P
4. Now fill those over-sized macaroons using a tea spoon. If you have better ideas or instruments for this, please share it, cause it is a pretty laborious process, especially if you have to fill 2 or more football teams. Don't be scared that you have too much spinach paste. You'd be amazed how much this buddies can eat. And I "tasted" myself some spoons of stuffing on the way...it's irresistible.
5. Lay them down close to one another in the greased baking dish

How to prepare the sauce:

1. Melt the butter in a pot and braise lightly the flour while stirring.
2. Pour some milk and vegetable stalk one step at a time and keep on stirring cause you don't want any bumps in your sauce
3. Let it boil for about 10 minutes at low heat and preheat the oven at 175 degrees
4. Take the pot away from the fire and let the sauce chill a bit
5. Stir in the cheese and the egg
6. Spice with salt, pepper, love and nutmeg
7. Pour the sauce over the cannelloni and strew some Parmesan on top. Save some for later.
8. Let them bake for 30 minutes
9. For a nice look strew the rest of the Parmesan on top and a bit of nutmeg to give some color.

Buon Appetito!

My first Miso Soup

First encountered the term miso: in Murakami's books. First tasted it: last summer when a friend cooked it for me. First cooked it myself: today. Miso is a traditional Japanese soup based on a stock (Dashi -if you stay true to the Japanese way) and the miso paste which comes in a large variety .I didn't follow one recipe alone, because it 's not always easy to find all the ingredients and also make good use of what you already have in the fridge. The good news is that this soups is very permissive: you 're allowed to use almost any veggies. There are so many possibilities, that you could never get bored of it. Long story short...


Ingreditents used:

• 3/4 L vegetables stock
• 4 tsp mugi miso paste (麦): barley
• 3 fresh shiitake mushrooms
• 1 stalk leek
• 1 stalk spring onion ( scallion would be a great alternative)
• 2 stripes of dried Wakame (seaweed)
• 1 carrot
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp tamari soy sauce
• sesame seeds to granish

Steps:

1. Soak the wakame in water until soft and cut in advance
2. Wash the leek and the spring onion and slice them in rings
3. Peel, wash and slice the carrot. To create a nice flower shape, you can cut a couple of grooves along the side of the carrot before slicing it.
   
4. Wash and slice the shiitake
5. Cut the smoked tofu into small cubes
6. Boil the vegetable stock in a pot
7. Add the leek, carrot, shiitake mushrooms and tamari
   
8. Bring soup back to a boil and simmer for 2 minutes
9. Add the wakame seaweed and tofu cubes
10. Remove from heat
11. Add the sesame oil, spring onions and sesame seeds

Outcome:
どうぞめしあがれ (douzo meshiagare) = " Enjoy your meal!" in Japanese

It is easy to make and the stomach feels light and happy! Not to mention all the healthy goodies in it. Plus the soy proteins in the tofu make a great substitute for meat.