Onion Soup

I love soups. They're probably my favorite food - warm and comforting, and still a fairly light meal. I was prejudiced against onion soup for years, but an acquaintance who is a chef finally convinced me to try it (and gave me this recipe). I find it incredible how something with so few ingredients (the main one of which is the humble onion) can be so amazingly rich and tasty.
This soup is served with cheese. I usually use gouda or edam (as for everything else, really), but any cheese that melts and doesn't have a very strong taste will do.
I haven't yet tried the famous French onion soup, which is usually done with a sharper cheese, but it's on my "to make" list, so I'll let you know when I do.

Ingredients:

1 kg/2 lb 3 oz onion
2 stock cubes
1 cup sour cream
water
1 tsp sugar
cheese
toast
salt, pepper
oil
water

Peel the onions and chop or slice them roughly. Heat oil in a casserole and add the onions. Cook for about 30 minutes - without water at first, stirring often. If the onion start changing color, add a bit of water. When the onion is softened and transparent puree it in a blender or food processor (a hand blender will do as well). Return to the casserole, add the stock cubes (you could use real stock if you have some, but the cubes work just as well), 1 tsp of sugar and 1.5 l of water. Mix the sour cream with a bit of water and stir it in as well. When the soup starts boiling try it and add salt and pepper to taste.
Pour in bowls, grate or slice cheese on top and serve with toast or croutons.

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Leek And Spinach Quiche

I love quiches - mostly because they are extremely simple to make. Another thing I like is that there is an infinite number of variations you can come up with - depending on the season and the current contents of your fridge. Spinach and feta are one of my all time favorite flavor combos, and as I've recently discovered, leeks are a welcome addition, lending this recipe just a hint of sweetness. Add a glass of yogurt or milk, and you have yourself a perfect breakfast!

Ingredients
Ingredients


1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
3/4 C chopped leeks
300 g/10.5 oz spinach, washed and roughly chopped
5 eggs
2 C sour cream
1 C crumbled feta cheese
salt, pepper
1 tbsp oil

Preheat oven to 380°F/200°C.
Roll out the puff pastry and transfer it to your pie plate or baking tray. Trim the edges if necessary.
In an oiled pan, saute the leeks until soft. Add spinach and cook just enough for the spinach to wilt.
In a large bowl, beat eggs until they become fluffy and light. Beat in the sour cream. Add the feta, spinach and leeks and season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour the mixture over the pastry and bake until the quiche is golden and the filling is set (Baking time will vary depending on the thickness of the quiche. I used a 20x35 cm/8x14 in tray, and the quiche took around 45 minutes to bake).

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Simple Guacamole

After a few months' hiatus, I'm finally back! God, I've missed blogging, but the truth is, I was so busy I didn't even have time or energy to try out new recipes! However, things are slowing down a little bit, and while I won't be able to post every day, I hope there won't be any breaks as long as this one either.
For a start, I'll leave you with this extremely simple but gorgeous guacamole recipe. Here in Europe, guacamole is not the staple food it is in America, so I first tried it just a few years ago. I must admit that I didn't like it at all! To be honest, up until this point, I rarely if ever bought avocados... I know they're supposed to be very healthy, but I just couldn't for the life of me find a good use for them. So it's a mystery really, what drove me to buy some at the supermarket the other day. I guess I just loved how ripe and perfect they looked. So, when I got home, not knowing what else to do, I decided to give guacamole another try. I found a very simple recipe over at Pinch My Salt, and it worked beautifully. the only change I made was to add a bit of garlic. I'm happy to report I ate the whole batch alone, in one afternoon! So I guess I'm converted now!


Ingredients


2 ripe avocados
1 lime, juiced
1 chili, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 onion, finely chopped
2-3 tbsp chopped coriander (cilantro) leaves
salt

Halve the avocados, remove the seed and scoop out the flesh from the skin. Mash the avocados with a fork until you reach your preferred consistency. Add the lime juice, and stir in the rest of the ingredients.

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Orange Turkey/Chicken

Friday night is my absolute favorite time of the week: the weekend is stretching ahead of you, and there's a world of possibilities. This Friday was even better as, due to some brilliant and completely unexpected circumstances I finished work a bit earlier than usual. When I arrived home, I felt like treating myself to a tasty dinner and a cup of strong coffee and curling up in my armchair to read Dexter In The Dark (a great read, btw). I had an astonishingly beautiful piece of turkey breast, and thought I might somehow enhance it with bacon. However, then I remembered I had seen a pretty cool looking orange chicken recipe over at Dishing Up Delights and decided to give it a try. On Friday I made little turkey breast rolls with leeks and carrots, and then served them with the orange sauce. It was so good I had to make it again today, but this time I didn't bother with the rolls. I just stir-fried the meat with some carrots and followed the original recipe with just a few changes.
Even my husband enjoyed this recipe, and he generally doesn't like Asian cuisine. I, on the other hand adore it, and am really happy that I have finally found a recipe that truly tastes like stuff from a good Chinese restaurant.

Ingredients

1.5 lb/700 g turkey or chicken breast, diced
3 carrots, peeled and finely diced
1/2 cup toasted sesame seeds
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup scallions, sliced
2 tbsp corn starch
salt
oil

For the sauce

2 oranges, peeled and roughly chopped
1/2 cup chicken stock
3 tbsp soy sauce
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tbsp sugar,
2 tsp corn starch
salt and chili powder to taste

Season the meat with salt and coat it with the corn starch. Fry the meat and carrots in hot oil until the carrots are cooked and the meat golden. Remove from heat and when it cools down slightly, add the toasted sesame seeds, scallions and garlic.
In a saucepan combine all of the ingredients for the sauce, apart from the corn starch. Boil for 3-5 minutes, then run through a strainer (to get all of the juice from the oranges, mash them slightly with a fork). Return the strained liquid to the saucepan, bring to a boil, and add the corn starch dissolved in a tablespoon or two of water. When the sauce thickens, remove from heat and add it to the meat and vegetables. Stir to coat everything. Serve with rice.

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Lasagna

Lasagna is the Italian dish that I crave the most often. I usually use homemade sheets, but yesterday I wanted a quick lunch so I used store-bought. It was the kind that you don't have to cook beforehand, and I was very happy with how it turned out. Delicious and done in no time!

Ingredients

250 g (9 oz) lasagna sheets
500 g (1 lb) ground beef
100 g (3 1/2 oz) smoked bacon
2/3 cup chopped leeks
500 ml (2 cups) tomato sauce
350 g (12 oz) grated gouda
oil, butter
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp rosemary
salt, pepper

For the bechamel sauce

1 tbsp butter
2 1/2 tbsp flour
500 ml (2 cups) milk

Cook the leeks and bacon in a skillet. When the bacon starts turning golden, add the beef. Stir occasionally to help the beef separate. When the beef has separated, add the tomato sauce and simmer for another 15-20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and add the oregano and rosemary.
In the meantime, in a deeper pot melt the butter and add the flour. Cook for about a minute, stirring constantly. Add the milk, whisking to avoid lumps. Cook for a few minutes, until it starts bubbling and thickens.
Grease a baking dish with a bit of butter and arrange 1/4 of the pasta sheets to cover the bottom. Add a layer (1/3) of meat (spread evenly), then 1/4 of the bechamel and 1/4 of the grated cheese. Add two more layers of everything, and finish with pasta covered with bechamel and cheese. Bake for 35 minutes or until golden and bubbling.

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Rice Croquettes

This is my second attempt at rice croquettes. My husband used to eat them when he was a kid (I never did until now), so the first time round I tried his sister's recipe. However, I wasn't too satisfied with the end result, so I improvised a little bit. Basically, I used my onion rings batter, and just folded in the rice and ham.

Ingredients

1 cup rice
3 eggs
300 g (10 oz) ham (diced)
120 g (4 oz) flour
75 ml (1/3 cup) milk
75 ml (1/3 cup) sparkling water
2 tbsp fresh or 1 tbsp dried parsley (chopped)
salt, pepper

Boil the rice.
Separate the eggs. In a large bowl combine the yolks with the flour, water and milk. When the batter is smooth add the ham, rice and parsley and season with salt and a generous quantity of pepper (around 1/2 tsp). Whisk the egg whites, then fold them gently into the batter. Spoon the croquettes into hot oil and fry until golden.

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Cherry Cheesecake

Give me a piece of cheesecake with fruit and I'm a happy woman. It's probably my favorite dessert, but, funnily enough, I have only ever made it a handful of times, and never with gelatin. Up to now, that is. This recipe was adapted from a magazine, and I've been wanting to try it out for months. I finally mustered the courage last night. You see, I find gelatin really intimidating. I must say it wasn't all smooth sailing either: as it turns out, for some reason it just didn't work with the cherries. The instructions on the bag said not to use it with pineapple, kiwi, figs and papaya, but it didn't say anything about cherries. Anyway, I used a bag of vanilla pudding powder for thickening (around here a bag of pudding contains 40 g/1.5 oz of powder and is used for 500 ml/2 cups of liquid). When it was finished it still didn't look promising. To be honest, although it had cooled down almost completely, it was still way too liquid. I was starting to despair when I decided to shove it in the freezer. Which was a miracle really - after about an hour or two in the freezer it was perfect! It didn't freeze, and the consistency was just right. Afterwards I just transfered it to the fridge and it's been heaven ever since.

Ingredients

For the crust

250 g (8 1/2 oz) flour
125 g (1 stick) butter
50 g (2 tbsp) sugar
1 egg
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp vanilla sugar

For the filling

400 g (14 oz) soft cheese
500 ml (2 cups) whipping cream
1 bag (10 g) of gelatin
1 bag (1.5 oz) of vanilla pudding powder
500 g (1 lb) cherries
350 g (12 oz) powdered sugar


Combine all the ingredients for the crust in a bowl. It will be crumbly at first, but with a little patience it will all come together nicely. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
Bake in a springform pan for about 20 minutes (200°C/390°F) or until golden.
Combine the cheese with 150g (5 oz) of powdered sugar. Melt the gelatin in 4 tbsp of cold water and leave it for 10 minutes, then melt it (without boiling). Add it to the cheese and sugar, combine, and leave to cool.
In a pan combine the cherries, the rest of the powdered sugar and vanilla sugar and let it rest for 10 minutes. The cherries will release liquid. Add enough water to have around 500 ml (2 cups) of the mixture. Heat it, and when it starts boiling add 1 bag of vanilla pudding powder dissolved in a few (3-5) tbsp cold water and cook for another minute or two, stirring constantly. When both the cheese and the cherries have cooled, whip the cream and combine all three. Pour over the crust and refrigerate overnight.
Serve with whipped cream on top.

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Onion Rings

A bit of comfort food for Friday night!


Ingredients

2 onions
100g (3.5 oz) plain flour
2 eggs
oil
150 ml (2/3 cup) milk

Preheat the oil for deep frying to 190°C/375°F.
Peel and slice the onions into rings about 1 cm wide. Separate the eggs. Combine the yolks with flour, milk and 1 tbsp oil and mix until smooth. Whisk the egg whites until stiff and fold gently into the batter. Dip the onion rings into the batter and fry for 3-4 minutes. After removing the rings from the oil, set them on some paper towels to remove excess oil and sprinkle with salt.

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Pork And Mushrooms

When I came home from work today, I wanted something quick and decadent for lunch. I had some nice pork, and I came across absolutely perfect huge white button mushrooms at the supermarket. Thus, this idea was born.

Ingredients

1 lb pork (any lean cut)
2 lb button mushrooms
2 tbsp parsley, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup sour cream
1 cup grated parmesan
oil
salt, pepper

Cut the meat into narrow strips, season with salt and pepper, and start cooking in a hot oiled pan. Add the garlic and parsley. Wash and slice the mushrooms. Add them to the pork. The mushrooms will release a lot of liquid - cook until it has all evaporated and the meat and mushrooms have turned golden. Add the sour cream and cheese. The cheese will serve as a thickening agent. Cook for another few minutes, until the cheese is melted and the sour cream bubbly. Serve hot with rice.

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Roast Pepper Relish 2

This is the second version of my roast pepper relish, the one I will be storing for winter. It takes a bit more time to make than the first one, but it's definitely worth it! I'm not giving exact quantities, because I usually make huge batches for the winter, with 10-12 kg peppers. Of course, you can just make a little bit to see if you like it and eat it straight away.

Ingredients

1 part eggplant
4 parts red peppers
salt
chili peppers (optional)
oil

Roast the vegetables until the peppers' skin blisters. Peel the vegetables and remove the seeds from the peppers. Run everything through a food grinder. I guess you could use a blender as well, but that's tricky - it shouldn't be too chunky, but it shouldn't be a paste either. Add salt and chilies to taste (I use 100 g of salt for a batch of 6 l already peeled and ground veggies - that's 3.5 oz). Add oil - 80 ml per kg of relish (that's 1/3 cup per 2 pints). Cook on stove top or in the oven for 30 minutes.
Ladle hot relish into hot sterilized jars. Adjust lids and rings. Cover with a dish towel until you hear the tops pop. Refrigerate after opening.

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