Drunk figs

This recipe of figs was very popular before Christmas in many Lithuanian food blogs. But I finally made it only last week and posting only now. So if you have no problems with some strong drinks, it's a delight that you must try!!! The only thing that takes time to make the figs is that you have to keep them in brandy or whiskey ( the one you like more!) for at least a week to make figs really drunk... But after that week, it's a lazy job!

What we need:

about 500gr dried figs
300ml of brandy
300 gr of chocolate
You can add some butter to the melted chocolate if you want softer bite!

What we have to do:

1. Cut in each fig and place into a jar then pour over brandy. Close the jar and forget it for a week! Well, at least for 5 days...
2. One week later, take figs out of brandy. You can also add some nut inside a fig ( almond or wallnut). Then melt chocolate and dip each fig into the chocolate and place on a baking paper. Leave until the chocolate hardens. And finally enjoy!!!!

Profiterole with chocolate sauce and pastry cream

I posted profiterole recipe some time ago, but still keep making it as they are absolutely easy to make, always tasty and look pretty good... and children are always heading they hands towards them... :)

The recipe is the same just this time I made the pastry cream myself.

What we need:

For profiterole:

80gr of unsalted butter,

1 water glass of flour

1 glass of water,

1 tea spoon of sugar

1 tea spoon of salt,

4 room temperature eggs

for pastry cream:

3 egg yolks

2 tbps of sugar

2,5 tbps of flour

200ml of milk

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

For chocolate sauce:

200gr of bitter chocolate

30gr of butter

1 tbps of sugar powder

What we have to do:

1. Place water, butter, salt and sugar into a pot and leave it to boil. When it's bubbling add flour and mix well for 2-3 min until it turns into a lump. Then turn off the heat and remove pastry into a bowl and leave it to cool. When it's cool enough start adding eggs one by one and mixing carefully. Use a spoon or pastry bag to shape profiteroles onto a baking tray with baking paper. Preheat the oven 220C and place profiteroles. Bake for 15 min then reduce the heat to 180C and bake for 10 more minutes until profiteroles are light brown.

2. For pastry cream, put the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl and whisk until pale. Sift in the flour and mix well. Heat the milk to boiling and gradually whisk into the yolk mixture. Pour this mixture back into the pan and stir over low heat for about 7-10 minutes, or until the mixture is thick. Stir in the vanilla. Cool.

3. Fill each profiterole with pastry cream, using a pastry bag. Or you can cut into a middle each profiterole and add the cream with a spoon.

4. For chocolate sauce, break the chocolate into peaces, place above a pot with boiling water and let it melt. Then add butter and sugar powder. Mix it well and pour with a spoon over filled profiteroles. You can sprinkle some edible decorations or nuts on the top. You can also make a pyramid out of profiterles. Use your imagination!!!

Wild mushroom salad with peas and carrot

Whenever I go to LT I always enjoy different variety of mushrooms. This time I made some mushrooms salad with my mum's picked and pickled wild mushrooms. Well, she can't imagine late summer or autumn without mushroom picking in our neighbourhood forest.

What we need:
500 ml of pickled wild mushrooms ( champion mushrooms are good as well)
1 onion, chopped
4 tbps of pickled peas
1 boiled carrot ( optional)
salt and pepper to taste
2tbsp of mayonaise or sourcream

What we have to do:
1. Drain the mushrooms from pickling water. Add chopped onion, peas and cubed boiled carrot.
2. Add salt and pepper, mayonaise or sourcream.Mix it well and serve. Especially delicious with boiled potatoes with dill.

Cod in tomato sauce with couscous

I really love fish and I think I could eat it every seven days a week!!! This time it's cod with tomato sauce and couscous.

What we need:

1 cod
2 tbsp of flour
oil for frying
1 can of peeled tomatoes
1 onion
salt and pepper to taste
some chopped dill
lemon juice
crushed bay leave

What we have to do:

1. Clean the fish, cut into pieaces. Season with salt and pepper, bay leave, lemon juice. Roll in flour and fry in oil for 5-6 min.
2. Chop the onion and fry on low heat. When it is sof, add crushed peeled tomatoes, chopped dill. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Place the fish into a sauce and simmer for 3-4 min.
4. Serve with couscous or rice or any vegetables.

Enjoy!!!

Steamed pengasius rolls with pickled onion

What we need:

2 pengasius fish fillet
2 big pickled onions
rosemary
chilli pepper
black pepper
salt to taste
lemon ( juice and zest)

What we have to do:

1. Cut fish fillet into two pieces horizontally. Season with pepper, chilli pepper, lemon juice and zest, rosemary, put a quarter of a pickled onion and roll. Before steaming add some salt.
2. Steam for about 25 min or until they are ready. Serve with your favourite sauce or vegetables.

My family really likes to have these rolls with this sauce: fry tomato, onion and some fatter pieces of pengasius, add some fresh herbs ( basilicum, parsley or thyme go well). All these goodies are blended in a food processor with some lemon juice. Delicious!!!

Chickpea patties - Falafel

Sandwiches of these tasty fried patties are classic Middle Eastern street food. Although some versions use fava beans in addition to chickpeas, most recipes use only chickpeas. Falafel can be made with canned chickpeas or with a packaged mix, but fresh
falafel has the best texture and flavor. The original source of the recipe is from the book 'Cooking the Middle Eastern Way' by Alisom Behnke.

What we need:

250 gr dried chickpeas
2 tsp. baking soda
2 small onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. ground coriander
some fresh parsley, chopped
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper (optional)
200 ml plain yogurt
2 tbsp. tahini
1 tsp. lemon juice
olive or vegetable oil for frying
3 large pita pieces, cut in half
2 small tomatoes, chopped

What we have to do:

1. Place chickpeas in a large bowl or baking dish with 1 tsp. of the baking soda and cover with water. Refrigerate and leave to soak for 24 hours.
2. Drain chickpeas in a colander. Rub them lightly between your hands to remove skins. Rinse well.
3. Combine chickpeas, half the chopped onions, 2 cloves of garlic, and all of the cumin, coriander, parsley, salt, pepper, and cayenne
(if using) in a food processor or blender. Process until the mixture becomes a thick, smooth paste.
4. Transfer mixture to a large bowl and add remaining tsp. of baking soda. Cover and let sit, unrefrigerated, for 30 minutes.
5. To make tahini sauce, combine yogurt, tahini, lemon juice, and 1 clove garlic. Stir with a whisk until well blended. Cover and chill.
6. Use your hands to form chickpea mixture into patties.
7. Pour oil into a saucepan or deep frying pan. Heat over medium heat, until oil bubbles slightly when you dip a corner of a falafel patty into it. Carefully use a slotted spoon to place as many patties in the pan as fit comfortably. Fry 2 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Remove from oil and place on paper towels to drain.
8. To serve, fill the pocket of each pita half with 2 or 3 patties, some chopped onion and tomato, and a bit of tahini sauce.

Goulash from the magazine

I guess most people who enjoy cooking have this habit of collecting recipes. Let's say, whenever I see a nice recipe in a magazine I tend to cut it out and put it in a drawer with all the other load of recipes. Generally, only 10 percent or less are tried. But this recipe I looked at quite often because it had an amazing photo and very nice plates where it was served. So the source of the recipe is Easy living magazine somewhat 2007 autumn edition. This time I finally tried the recipe as Kevin from Closet Cooking has recently blogged mouth-watering goulash pie. In other words I was into goulash mood...

So what we need:

500gr of beef, cut into 2 cm cubes
3 tbsp of flour
3 tbps of oil
salt to taste
1 big onion, thinly cliced
1 teaspoon of all spice
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp of paprika
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
2 teaspoons of tomato paste
500ml of beef stock or 500ml water and 1 stock cube

I also added 100gr of fresh mushrooms

What we have to do:

1. Place the flour in a clean plastic bag. Shake a few pieces of meat in the bag until lightly dusted. Repeat until all the pieces of meat are coated.
2. Heat 3 tbps of the oil in a frying pan over the medium heat. Cook the beef in batches, adding a little extra oil if needed, until browned. Do not overcrowd the frying pan, as the meat will then steam rather then sear. Transfer to a large caserole dish or lidded saucepan.
3. Fry the onions over a low heat until tender. Add the onions, chopped peppers, paprika, mushrooms, bay leaves and allspice to the caserole and cook, stiring for 2-3 min. Pour in the stock and bring to the boil.
4. Cover the pan and simmer gently over a low heat for about 1 hour, or until the meat is tender. Mix the cornflour ( I didn't put as I liked the thickness of the sauce as it was) with 50 ml cold water and add the tomato puree and a dash or two of Tabasco sauce to the goulash. Bring back to the boil and simmer gently for about 5 min. Garnish with parsley and accompany with sour cream or fresh boiled peas. ( optional)

Turkish dumplings or Manti

Speaking about dumplings in every cuisine you can find different shapes and different names but the main idea is the same - flour/egg/milk pastry is filled with meat, or cheese or vegetables. This time I was a lazy bone and bought ready made manti, Turkish dumplings and made my sauce. A simple one which is great with simple pasta too.

What you need:

500gr of manti or ravioli or simple pasta

200gr of mushrooms

50 gr of permesan cheese

salt and pepper

dried or fresh dill, thyme or parsley, finely chopped

a pinch of nutmeg

1 tbsp of flour

200ml of milk or cream

olive oil or butter

What we have to do:

1. Chop mushrooms and fry in some olive oil or butter. Season with salt and pepper, add nutmeg. Add flour and stir, put herbs, then pour cream and mix carefully. Add half of grated permesan. Let it simmer for 2-3 min.

2. Put manti into a boiling salted water and boil for 2-3 min or until it rises into the top of the pot. If they are filled with meat, cook longer.

3. Drain manti and pour into the sauce with mushrooms. Stir carefully and serve garnished with grated permesan.

Beetroot soup with dried wild mushrooms

Whenever I go to LT, the first thing I ask my mum to make for me is this beetroot soup with dried mushrooms. As it was boiled for Big Friday before Easter, it is really lean but still absolutely delicious.

What we need:

2 l of vegetable stock
5-6 dried mushrooms
2 medium boiled beetroots
2 potatoes
1 carrot
1 onion
salt and pepper to taste
bay leave
dried dill
2 tbps of vinegar

What we have to do:

1. Clean and peel potatoes and carrots. Cut into pieces. Put into a pot with boiling vegetable stock.
2. Cut mushrooms and add to the vegetable stock( mushrooms must be kept into water for several hour or overnight then boiled for 20 min).
3. When potatoes are almost ready add chopped onion ( you can fry it in oil beforehand if you want), salt and pepper, bay leave and dill.
4. Add 2 tbsp of vinegar. The soup must be a bit sour and the vinegar will help beetroot to keep red colour. Cut the beetroot and put into the soup. Boil for 5 more minutes and serve.

Cake with apple jam and chocolate topping

This cake is definitely a failure in looks but a winner in taste. I found the recipe in one of Lithuanian blog - Kepykla penki where I was amazed by photos ( Thanks Rusvaplauke for helping to find the original recipe and of course for sharing the recipe!!!), but when I started making, I noticed that something is wrong and I'm not going to get the same result. But still it tasted great, so sometimes it's good to close your eyes before taking a bite! :)

What we need:
180g flour
203gr eggs ( yes, you have to weight eggs!)
180gr butter
180gr sugar
vanilla extract

some apple marmalade or jam
chocolate for topping

What we have to do:

1. Hea eggs and sugar until 40C and beat until it doubles.

2. Mix flour and melted butter, then add eggs and sugar.

3. Spread the dough 2mm on a baking tray and bake for 4-5 min in 220C. You get 4-5 layers.

4. When baked, remove from the tray on a clean towel and let it cool.

5. Spread some apple jam over each layer and glaze the top layer with melted chocolate. Leave it for 2-3 hours and taste!!!

Chicken with smoked mozzarella

During my visit in Lithuania I looked around supermarkets just to get some different ingredients, those that it's almost impossible to find in my neighbourhood in Istanbul. So one of them was smoked spicy mozzarella produced by Lithuanians. Well, it doesn't look or taste like mozzarella at all, as it is dry, not kept in any liquid, but I really liked smoky flavour, and I think it's absolutely amazing with beer or some heavy wine...
But what I made yesterday was skinned and boned chicken legs stuffed with fresh spinach and smoked mozzarella.

What we need:

chicken leggs boned and skinned
spinach
smoked mozzarella
salt and pepper to taste
thyme
spring onion
1 l of chicken stock
flour for rolling the chicken in
oil for frying
1 tbsp of tomato paste
3 cloves of garlic

What we have to do:

1. Clean the chicken, season with salt and pepper, thyme, and stuff with some spinach and a slice of smoked mozzarella, use toothpicks to help to keep the shape. Roll chicken in flour and fry in oil for 5 min.
2. In a frying pan add some oil, and fry garlic, then add spinach and chopped spring onions. Fry for 2-3 min then add chicken stock and put chicken into the same pan. Let it simmer for 10 min and add tomato paste. Simmer for 5 min again.
3. Serve with potatoes or rice or any salad. Enjoy!!!

American Apple pie

I call it American apple pie just because I first saw similar pie on some youtube film where one elderly lady was helping her grandchild to bake it. I definitely won't be able to find the video again but since then it's my favourite autumn pie when it's still warm served with vanilla ice-cream. I made this pie for my mother just because we had to use up her apples kept in a cold attic during the winter. Absolutely delicious and I really liked making these flowers... well, made too much pie crust. :)
What we need:
for crust: 200gr of unsalted butter
400ml of flour
1 tbsp of sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
3 tabps of water or milk
1 beaten egg for brushing + sugar to sprinkle over the top
for filling:
5-6 apples, peeled and cut into slices
5 tbsp of sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
3 cloves
2 tbps of starch
1 tbsp of butter

What we have to do:
1. Mix butter with salt, sugar and flour with hands until it's crumbled. Add water and make the dough. Divide into one bigger and the other into a smaller ball, add into plastic bag and leave in a fridge for 1 hour.
2. Peel and cut apples, mix with sugar and spices, add starch and mix. Leave for 20 min.
3. Roll the bigger ball of dough and cover the baking bowl, cut some holes with a fork, add apples with all the juices, then add 1 tbsp of butter and cover with another sheet of dough. Carefully stick the sides. Brush the dough with egg and sprinkle some sugar on the top. Cut the pie in several places to let the steam out.
4. Pre-heat the oven until 200C and bake the pie for about 50 min.

Easter in Lithuania

Not many traditions are still followed nowadays when it comes to Easter.My Lithuanian family don't follow all the traditions, either, but here's what we do. Every early Easter morning it is still important to go to church. After the mass, everyone hurries home with the belief that those who get home first, they will be first in all their endeavors. After getting home, everyone sits at the table, laden with traditional foods, especially eggs, eaten with horseradish, cheese, mushrooms and baked lamb or chicken. Eating begins with eggs, which are crushed by all family members. It's a king of competition. If your egg shell is stronger, you are destined to live longer.I still remember myself at my grandmother's house hiding a wooden decorated egg... Well, I don2t do that any more...
The egg being the symbol of life and rebirth of nature is given special meaning in Easter traditions. Traditionally, there are two methods of egg decorating: drawing designs with wax or scratching designs on dyed eggs. Numerous designs consisted of blossoms, snakes, wheel and cog, stars, branches of rue, snowflakes and many others.
Most common dye used was onion skins.However, nowadays, it's easy to choose any colour in any supermarket, even stickers are added. We made shapes on eggs with the help of herbs found in my mother's garden and onion skins. The herbs were rolled around the raw egg with some thin cloth, then boiled for 5 min in water with food colouring. After boiling, eggs are brushed with oil or some fat to get the shine!
On the first Easter day no visiting should take place until noon, but on the second day, ıt's a must to visit your relatives or friends, to play egg rolling or go strolling ( generally for children) and singing in order to get more Easter eggs. and of course, during Easter a lot of food is eaten and a lot is drunk. The latter is not a tradition but a habit, unfortunately...
That much about Easter in Lithuania, I hope you had wonderful Easter!!!

Happy Easter!!! See you in 2 weeks...

Today all day my hubby and I have been enjoying great weather, blooming trees and busy Istanbul. For dinner we've just had an amazing Greek dish ' Chicken Giouvetsi' which was reminded by Kevin in Closet Cooking. I'm not going to post anything about it due to the lack of time. Tomorrow morning I'm going to Lithuania to visit my dearest mum and to have a nice Easter and to celebrate her birthday! So that's it for now... See you in two weeks!!! Have the best Easter ever!!! xoxoxo... 

Crab sticks and rice salad

Today is one more Lent Friday and I believe it's really good not to eat meat at least once a week. So today's snack is Crab sticks and rice salad. This salad is very popular in Lithuania, almost as popular as potato salad.  So as I am already in Lithuanian mood ( heading for Vilnius on Monday), this salad was very right for me!

What we need:

2 glasses of rice, cooked

2 medium cucumbers, peeled and cut in small cubes.

1 glass of sweet corn

1 small green and red pepper, cut into cubes

a bunch of fresh dill, chopped

200gr of crab sticks ( real crab would be even better), sliced

spring onions, chopped

salt and pepper

4 tbsp of mayonaise

What we have to do:

1. Wash and boil rice. Let it cool.

2. Chop all the vegetables -  cucumber, peppers, spring onion, dill. 

3. Slice crab sticks and add to the vegetables. Then add sweet corn and cooled rice. 

4. Season with salt and pepper. Add mayonaise, mix it and serve. I also like to add some lemon juice to freshen up... :)

Potatoes, broccoli and mushroom gratin

What we need:

3 potatoes

1 small broccoli

4-5 mushrooms

1 small onion

2 glasses of besamel sauce

two handfuls of grated cheese

salt

pepper

rosemary

cumin

chili

oil

What we have to do:

1. Slice potatoes and boi for 10 min. Put into caserrole dish, sprinkle with salt, pepper and rosemary. drizzle some oil.

2. Fry onion and mushrooms with some olive oil. When done, place onto potatoes.

3. Boil broccoli for 5 min and put on the mushrooms. Sprinkle some chili pepper and cumin. Pour besamel sauce and cheese. Besamel sauce is easily done by melting butter, adding flour and milk or cream. 

4. Bake in the oven 175C for 20 min. 

Sandwiches for Easter or when you are hungry...

Recently I got into sandwiches and as a coincidence, one Lithuanian website started My Super Sandwich competition. Therefore, without a doubt I decided to take part in it. Anyway, next week I'm going to Lithuania for my Easter holiday and it's just one more opportunity to try some sandwiches with eggs. In the photo collage you can see five sandwiches which are really good for any occasion: breakfast, party, or any time you are hungry!!!

On the top of the photo you can see a classical tuna sandwich with bread, butter, lettuce, tomato, egg, mayonaise, red onion, tuna, some parsley. On the right side you can see a really great sandwich with toasted French baget, cream cheese blended with fresh dill and parsley, salt and pepper, and garnished with radish and dill. 

On the bottom, on the left a simple triangle sandwich made of toasted bread, butter, ham, cheese, ham again, mayonaise, lettuce and butter. Decorated with cucumber and radish 'flower' and parsley. In the middle, one more triangle sandwich with fried onion and tomato, then blended with boiled egg and mayonaise. All the mix is spread between two bread triangles. On the right a great breakfast mini sandwich with toasted bread, caramelized onion, omlete, fried mushroom on top! Delicious!!!

Chicken, green beans and tomato stoup

The term 'stoup' I first heard on Rachel Ray show and she explains it as it's something between soup and stew. Too thick to call it soup and too thin to call it stew... So take any name that suits you... But I really liked this 'thing' and it really wasn't just soup, we ate it as a main dish just with garlic bread toast!!! Perfect!!!

What we need:

200 gr of boiled or roasted chicken ( leftovers again!)

1 potato

4 tomatoes

1 onion

about 10 green beans cut into three pieces

1 red and green pepper

a bunch of basil leaves

4-5 cloves of chopped garlic

2 tbsp of tomato paste

1,5 l of chicken stock or water

salt and pepper

What we have to do:

1. Clean and cut green beans into smaller pieces, chop onion and peeled potato. Add into a saucepan, drizzle 1 tbsp of olive oil and fry for 4-5 min. Add some salt and pepper.

2. Add bell pepper and chicken stock. Simmer for 5 more minutes.

3. Add chicken pieces and chopped tomatoes. Simmer for 2-3 min. Then add tomato paste and basil leaves, and garlic. Simmer for 2 min again. And serve!!! Great with garlic bread ( mix garlic with butter, spread over bread and toast in the oven until light brown), but then use less garlic in stoup! Enjoy!!!

Whole wheat fusitti pasta salad

Whenever I go to my husband's friends' birthdays parties, the hit salad is always 'Makarna salatasi'. Turkish really like pasta dishes and many of them compare Turkish and Italian cuisines. Anyway, I love all the mix of vegetables or pasta, if it only tastes good! This recipe is one of my favourites ( I have about 5 favourite pasta salad recipes... hope to share one day... :) ), really simple and a lot of improvisation can be done!!!

What we need:

400 gr of boiled pasta ( I used whole wheat fusitti)

200 gr of pickled mushrooms

200 gr of boiled or roasted chicken ( a good way to use leftovers!)

1 red bell pepper

1 green bell pepper

some parsley and spring onion

2 medium cucumbers

salt and pepper

thyme

mayonaise or yoghurt  for dressing 

What we have to do:

1. Cut cucumber, red and green bell peppers into cubes. If necessary slice mushrooms, chop parsley and spring onions. 

2. Boil pasta and leave it to cool. 

3. Cut chicken into cubes.

4. Mix all the ingredients, season with salt and pepper and thyme. Add dressing and serve.

It's also very delicious to add a drizzle of lemon juice... it even makes it taste better!!! Sometimes I also add boiled peas or sweet corn.

One more sandwich... :)

As the sun shines brighter every day, the trees are blooming and the weather is really great, for breakfast I decided to make  spring sandwich. Well, nothing unusual, I just really enjoyed making carrot and cucumber flowers... :)

What we need:

2 slices of bread

1 egg

1 teaspoon of cheese cut into small cubes

1 teaspoon of sweet corn

1 tablespoon of mayonaise

salt and pepper

parsley

carrot and cucumber for decoration

What we have to do:

1. Boil egg in salted water. Peel and cut into cubes. 

2. Mix egg with cheese and sweet corn. Add salt and pepper. Some chopped parsley and mayonaise. Mix it.

3. Spread the mix over one slice of bread, then cover with another another slice and put the sandwich on a grill to get a bit of crunch.

4. Serve with some carrot and cucumber flowers and fresh parsley! Enjoy!!!

Have a lovely spring!!!