Pac-Man Cheese Crackers

Being in a relationship with a geek for 6 years, I've faltered and embraced the geek culture as well. So, of course, when I stumbled upon the wonderfully cute Snack or Die page, I instantly knew I just had to make one of their recipes straight away! As I don't really have much of a sweet tooth, I opted for the Pac-Man cheese crackers. The original recipe used cheddar, but I had gouda, so I used that and it worked just fine. I'm honestly amazed at just how quick, easy and delicious these crackers turned out! It took me literally five minutes to make them (of course, baking time not included), and for something with so few ingredients, they tasted amazingly rich! To be completely honest, hubby and I almost ate the whole batch before taking the pictures!

Update: my Pac-Man crackers will be featured at Happy Love Strawberry's birthday blog event. If you would like to participate as well, please visit this yummy blog!


Ingredients

1 cup/120 g flour
4 tbsp/60 g butter
8 oz/230 g cheese
salt to taste
1/2 tsp pepper
4 tbsp/60 ml water


Just combine all the ingredients and pulse them in a food processor or blender, or shred the cheese and knead the dough by hand. Either way, it's really easy. Leave the dough in the fridge for 20 minutes, then roll it out (on a floured surface). You can, of course, use any shape of cookie cutters, but if you want to stick with the Pac-Man theme, use a round one first, and then cut out the mouth using a star-shaped cutter.
Bake in a preheated oven (400°F/200°C) for 20 minutes.

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Goulash

Goulash is a spicy Hungarian stew and one of my favorite dishes. I have been tweaking my recipe for years, and now I feel a bit of an expert on the subject. The key is to overcook the beef slightly, so that you end up with falling-apart tender meat.


Ingredients

1 kg/2 lb onion, diced
1 kg/2 lb beef (chuck or round)
2 potatoes, finely diced
3 cloves garlic
4-5 peppercorns
3-4 bay leaves
1 tbsp sweet paprika powder
chili powder or hot pepper flakes to taste
3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 carrots (sliced)
optional: 1 tomato, diced
salt
oil

Saute the onion in just enough oil to cover the bottom of a large pot. When it turns transparent, add the paprika. Cook for half a minute, stirring vigorously (paprika burns easily, and if it does, you'll end up with a bitter goulash), then add the Worcestershire sauce. Add the potato, garlic, bay leaves and a glass of water. Simmer on low heat. When the potato is cooked, remove the bay leaves and puree the rest in a blender or food processor. Return to the pot, add the meat (cut into 1 cm/0.5 in cubes), the carrots, peppercorns, chili powder or pepper flakes, salt to taste, tomato (if using) and water. Simmer on low heat stirring occasionally, and make sure there is always just enough water to cover the other ingredients. Cook until the beef is tender (around 1.5 hours). Serve with pasta, rice or mashed potatoes.

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Tomato Soup With Sausages and Eggs

I know a hot soup isn't exactly a typical summer meal, but it's been surprisingly cold here for the past few days, the temperature drop emphasized by incessant rain. I've been feeling a bit under the weather today, so a warm, comforting soup was just what I needed.



Ingredients

1 l tomato juice
1 l water
2 stock cubes
40 cm/ 16 in of spicy smoked sausage
8 eggs
grated cheese for topping
croutons
1 tsp flour
1 tsp sugar

Boil the tomato juice and water with the sugar and stock cubes. Add the flour (the best way is to mix it with a few tbsps of water in a cup beforehand, to avoid lumps), stir and wait 'till it starts boiling again. Now add the sausages (cut into 1 cm/0.5 in thick slices) and the whole eggs. Just crack them and pop them into the boiling soup, but don't stir. Cook for another 10 minutes without stirring. Pour into bowls, then grate cheese on top (I used gouda) and sprinkle with croutons. Croutons are generally made by rebaking bread with butter/oil and herbs. However, since this particular soup is quite strong, and the sausages release quite a bit of fat, I prefer topping it with croutons made without any fat. I just cut the bread into cubes and pop it in the oven for 10 minutes on 200°C/400°F.

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Trifle

As I've said already, I'm not much of a baker, so I'm always on the lookout for desserts that don't require the much dreaded use of the oven. Trifle is quick and easy to make and yet it's tasty and refreshing. Plus, you can pretty much use anything you like/happen to have, to create different varieties. I combined layers of pudding (two flavors - strawberry and vanilla), ladyfingers, nectarines, pineapple and figs. There's no recipe, really, just take whatever ingredients you want and layer them, then leave in the fridge to cool.

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Potato Salad

I love potato salad, and I simply HAVE to have it with fish. I was very intrigued by this interesting take on the old favorite that I discovered at Scott's Food Blog. As I had some nice grilled hake fillets planned for dinner last night, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to try out the salad. I made a few changes from Scott's original recipe, so you can follow the link and compare to see which version you prefer (or make any other changes you deem fit). I don't like capers, so I left them out, and I went with parsley instead of herbes de provence.

Ingredients

2 lb/1 kg potatoes
2 small onions, chopped finely
1 clove garlic or 1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 peppers
1/3 cup vinegar
1/3 cup oil
3 tbsp mustard
honey
salt, pepper to taste
1 tbsp parsley (fresh or dried)

Peel the potatoes, cut them into 1/2 in pieces and parboil them (parboil= cook so that they are only half-done). Scott cooked them in the microwave, I did it the old-fashioned way - choose whichever one you like. Drain the potatoes and place them in a baking tray, together with the peppers. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle a bit of oil over the potatoes. Bake in a preheated oven (400°F/200°C) for about 20 minutes (or until the potatoes turn golden). In a large bowl whisk together the mustard, oil, vinegar and honey (I'm not sure about the exact amount of honey, perhaps around 1 tsp. You'll have to taste it. It should be a well-balanced taste combo - don't make it too sweet). Season the dressing with salt and pepper and add the parsley, garlic and onion. I decided to change the original recipe and go with fresh onion instead of roasting it together with the potatoes. Peel and chop the peppers (the skin will come off more easily if you wrap the peppers tightly in aluminum foil for a few minutes while they're still hot). Toss the potatoes and the peppers with the dressing.

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Stuffed Vine Leaves

I love the fresh, tangy taste of stuffed vine leaves, but I don't get to eat them too often. Vine leaves are not so easy to come by, so I depend on my aunt who has a huge garden complete with grapevine. I hear you can also get vine leaves in a can or jar, but I've never tried those. If you happen to have fresh vine leaves, make sure they were picked before spraying, as vine sprays tend to be toxic.

Ingredients:

50 vine leaves
500g/1lb 2oz ground beef or pork (or mixed)
salt pepper
1 cup vinegar
1/2 cup rice
1 onion, chopped
1 egg
oil
2 tbsp fresh chopped dill
salt, pepper, stock powder

Boil 3-4l water with a cup of vinegar (taste the water, you want it to be pleasantly sour), and add the leaves. Blanch for a minute, then remove from the heat, and leave the leaves in the water/vinegar mixture to cool for around 2 hours (so that they absorb some of the acidity).
In the meantime, saute the onion on a bit of oil, add the meat and cook for 15-20 minutes, occasionally stirring and separating the meat. Remove from heat. Boil the rice, drain, and mix in with the meat. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the egg.
Remove the hard stems from the vine leaves. Place a spoonful of the filling on each leaf and make little rolls - around 2 in/5 cm long (fold the sides as well, you don't want the filling to fall out while cooking). Pack the rolls as tightly as possible in a steel or crock pot, so that they can't unwrap while cooking. Pour over just enough water to cover the rolls and then add some of the water you used to cook the leaves (you'll have to do this to taste, depending on how sour you want the rolls to be). Season with stock powder (alternatively, you could, of course, use real stock instead of water) and the chopped dill. Cook on low heat for about an hour. Serve hot with cool sour cream or yoghurt.

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Bacon And Cheese Potatoes With Apple-Raisin Sauce

My husband is away, so I've been alone this week. In my world, it usually means I eat nothing but fast food, cause I really hate cooking only for myself... However, my stomach's finally decided to take a stand and refuse to eat more junk, so I was forced to cook lunch today. I decided on a rather easy and filling option of potatoes with cheese and bacon and a sweet apple and raisin sauce.

Ingredients:

5 medium-sized potatoes
150g smoked bacon
150g cheese
salt, pepper

For the sauce:

2 apples
50g raisins
1tbsp butter
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp sugar
1 cup apple juice

Peel the potatoes and slice them, but not all the way through, so that the slices are still held together at the bottom (around 5 slices). Fill each pocket with either a piece of bacon or a piece of cheese (edam for me, but you can use pretty much any other kind), and season with salt and pepper. Place in a paper lined tray and bake for about an hour on medium heat.
For the sauce, peel and core the apples, and puree them in a food processor. I left around a third just diced, to get some texture. Cook the apples and the raisins on hot butter. Add the lemon juice, sugar and apple juice, and cook for another fifteen minutes.

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Fruit Salad

It was sizzling hot outside today, and I had the misfortune of having to go out. When I got back home all I could think about was the ice cold watermelon in the fridge. It turns out I had plenty other fruit as well, so I made a refreshing fruit salad. I just chopped up some bananas, watermelon, plums, nectarines and toasted almonds and topped it all with vanilla and strawberry ice-cream. A useful tip: squeeze a few drops of lemon juice on peeled bananas to keep them from turning black.

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Leftover Chicken Sandwiches

A word of advice: always thaw frozen meat before cooking it. Yeah, I know most people do this anyway, but I thought I should mention it. Yesterday morning I woke up earlier than planned, and I realized I had enough time to cook lunch before I had to leave. So, I open the freezer to have a look and spot a chicken. "Fine", I think to myself. "I'll just pop it in the oven, and we'll have a great roast chicken in no time!"
So I did. I just seasoned it as best as I could, being all frozen and that, and started roasting. The anatomy of the chicken seemed a bit awkward, but I couldn't be bothered to investigate. So, the chicken starts roasting (and thawing simultaneously), and I take it out to have a closer look. "How many goddamned legs does this mutant chicken have?? And why does it have drumsticks where the wings should be??"
Turns out it was a bag of chicken legs and thighs, not a whole chicken... Oh well, never mind. We ate them anyway, with some roast peas and tartar sauce.
I had a couple left today, so I made some scrumptious, oozing leftover sandwiches. Here's a picture and the ingredients...

Ingredients
Per Sandwich

1 bun
1 chicken leg
1/3 cup tartar sauce
a few slices of cheese (edam for me)
sandwich salad

For my sandwich salad

1/2 tomato (diced)
1/2 bell pepper (sliced)
1 tbsp sour cream
salt, pepper, powdered garlic, chives (all to taste)

For the tartar sauce (1 cup)

1/2 cup chopped gherkins
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp chopped dill
1 tsp lemon juice
salt, pepper

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Lunch Today: Vegetables Galore

Strangely enough, I woke up at 8 this morning (exceptionally early in my world), and couldn't go back to sleep, so I decided to cook something. I had plenty of wonderfully fresh and fragrant vegetables, so I made a healthy vegetable soup. The main course was stuffed eggplant. I had some eggplants that I didn't know what to do with, and finally I came up with this idea. I didn't follow any particular recipe, but they turned out very tasty, so I'll just try to remember what I did.

Vegetable Soup

Ingredients

3 l water
½ leek, sliced
3 carrots, diced
2 parsnips, diced
2/3 cup peas (I only had frozen)
1 smaller celeriac (diced)
1 kohlrabi, diced
salt, pepper
2 stock cubes
1 handful of noodles

Cook the vegetables for about 40 minutes, season to taste, and when everything is done, add the noodles and boil for another minute or two.

Stuffed Eggplant
3 smaller eggplants
500 g (1 lb) minced meat (I used beef)
1 onion
1 cup grated cheese
1 tomato
oregano
1 egg
salt, pepper

Wash the eggplants thoroughly, remove the stems and halve them lengthwise. Using a spoon, scoop out the center out of the eggplant halves. Dice the onion and the eggplant pulp and saute in a hot, oiled skillet. Add the meat and oregano. Season to taste. Cook for 20 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat, add the egg and half of the cheese and stir vigorously (you don't want the egg to start cooking). Stuff the eggplant halves and bake in a hot oven (180°C/356°F) for 40 minutes. Halfway through, put a slice of tomato on each eggplant half, and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.

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