Pea and Mint soup

Finally I started actually cooking from Jamie Oliver's books. When I'm looking or reading his books I want to try all of his recipes. They look so interesting even if they are very simple. So far I've tried 2 new recipes. They were really easy and absolutely delicious. But most probably more than his cooking, I adore his personality, his devotion to food and making everyone eat healthier. Have you known that his story is like a fairy tale? Failing all exams at school and suffering from dyslexia, Jamie managed to become the most famous celebrity chef in the UK and one of the most known chefs in the world. And who would argue that he is very cute himself, not to mention his lovely wife and his 3 daughters with wonderful flower names!!! So let me start with a simple pea and mint soup from 'Jamie's Ministry of Food'. As Jamie says this soup can be eaten cold or hot with a squeeze of lemon juice. In Istanbul it is about 15C now so I had it hot with a slice of toasted garlic bread. Lovely!!!

What we need:

2 carrots
2 sticks of celery
2 medium onions
2 cloves of garlic
olive oil
2 chicken or vegetable stock cubes
800gr frozen peas
a small bunch of fresh mint
sea salt and freshly ground pepper

What we have to do:

1. Peel and slice carrots, slice celery, peel and roughly chop the onions and garlic.
2. Preheat a large pan and add 2 tbsp of olive oil. Add all the chopped vegetables and mix together with a spoon. Cook for around 10 min until carrots have softened and the onion is lightly golden.
3. Put the stock cubes in a jug and add 1,8 ml of boiling water. Stier until cubes are dissolved and add to the vegetables.
4. Add the peas. Give the soup a good stir and bring it to the boil. Simmer for 10 minutes.
5. When peas are softened, remove from the heat. Season with salt and pepper, add mint leaves. Using a hand blender pulse the soup until smooth.
6. Serve with a toasted bread with extra virgin olive oil or a portion of chips on the side. Enjoy!

How the Middle East serve Humus

Humus has become a very popular dish with many people. Most people I know in Lithuania serve it as a dip or as a spread on a slice of bread. However, in Middle East it is generally considered as a breakfast dish or as an appetizer during dinner. For breakfast humus is served by putting a thin layer of humus on a plate, making a kind of bowl with a spoon, dripping some olive oil and garnishing with tomatoes, peppers, parsley and fried eggs. For dinner eggs are skipped but pickled vegetables can be added. So this is the way I served humus yesterday as I had some guests that originate from the south-east of Turkey. On the plate you can see humus with olive oil, parsley, tomatoes, pickled cucumbers and peppers. Humus is generally eated by simply dipping a piece of bread into a plate. Not the most attractive way of eating, but that gives the authentic touch. And that is what I like most about world cuisines

What we need:

for humus:

300 gr of boiled chickpeas
3 tbsp of tahini ( sesame puree)
1 lemon juice
3-4 cloves of garlic
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon of cumin
3-4 tbsp of olive oil

for garnish:

tomatoes
parsley
olive oil
pickled cucumber and some peppers
red pepper flakes ( optional)

What we have to do:

1. Put boiled chickpeas into a blender, pour olive oil, lemon juice and finely blend. Then add salt, pepper, chopped garlic, cumin and tachini. Mix it well.
2. Spread some humus on a plate, garnish with tomatoes, parsley, olive oil, pickles. Enjoy with a piece of bread!!!

Lemon cheesecake

Recently I've been preaching much about healthy eating and the benefits of dieting. But when it comes to cheesecakes, sorry, I cannot resist. Lithuanian cuisine cannot boast of any kind of cheesecake so the first time I tasted a cheesecake was about 7 years ago in Germany. That was just a store bought frozen cheesecake but it was so different from what I'd tasted before and I loved the taste so much. Since then I have been enjoying cheesecakes only in Starbuck's ( very very rarely), on several occasions I tried to make my own. Even though they were tasty, the flavour was different. Few months ago I came across a photo of this cheesecake in a Turkish food magazine Lezzet ( it was one of the winning recipes in a competition where people had to use yogurt as an ingredient) and it was on my mind since then. There was no occasion, but yesterday we were throwing a dinner party at home and I couldn't resist and made it. It was the best cheesecake I've ever made and very close to or the same as that one from German memories.

What we need:

2 packs of wholemeal biscuits
75 gr butter
1kg of süzme yogurt ( it is like cream cheese just a bit lighter, in other words, yogurt cheese)
1 tbsp of starch
1 pack of vanilla pudding
150 gr of sugar
3 eggs
zest of 2 lemons

for lemon sauce:

2 egg yoks
80 ml lemon juice
150 gr sugar
60 gr butter
1 lemon zest
fresh mint and lemon slices for decorations


What we have to do:

1. Put biscuits into a blender and blend it into crumbles. Melt butter and mix it in the biscuits. Put the mixture into a baking tray. Press it evenly.
3. Mix yogurt with sugar, then mix in eggs one by one, add starch and vanilla pudding, lemon zest. ( I mixed with a mixer and it makes the mixture very fluffy and creamy). Pour it over the biscuits.
4. Pre-heat the oven 150C and bake for 1 hour. Then turn the oven off, open the door a bit and let the cheesecake cool in the oven. Then place it into a fridge for 8 hours or overnight.
5. Make the sauce by mixing all the ingredients ( egg yoks, lemon juice, butter and lemon zest) and slowly bring it to boil by mixing constantly. When the sauce thickens a bit, turn it off and let it cool, then pour over the cheesecake and place it in a fridge until serving.
6. Decorate with a slice of lemon and min leave. ( In a photo I put it next to the cake but originally the slice of lemon was on each piece of cake). Enjoy!!!

7. It makes 8 generous servings.

Do I like tuna?

Initially I was planning to name this dish radish and tuna carpaccio, but after trying it, I'm not sure any more. Don't get me wrong - I just love canned tuna, I love sushi with tuna, and I even liked this dish but with well-done tuna. When I saw beautiful tuna steaks in our local supermarket, I knew what I was going to make. For more than 2 years I've been waiting for the moment I literally find fresh tuna in a supermarket. I loved looking at the photos of tuna steaks and all great comments and advice that properly done tuna is pink in the middle. Cooking time is 15-20 seconds on each side ( for small pieces). So that was exactly what I did - seasoned, and fried according to numerous advice I'd found. The tuna pieces were beautifully pink and looked exactly like in the photo of one old magazine. But I couldn't enjoy raw fish. Sorry all gurmet food lovers or foodies, but I don't like raw tuna. It must be done, very well done. So after taking some photos and once again finished frying tuna and only then I completely enjoyed it - well-done mini tuna steaks!!! And for dinner I am making well-done tuna with soya beans. My hubby will like it too! Have a lovely day!!!

What we need:
1 tuna steak, cut into stripes
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp of wasabi paste
2 tbsp of chopped fresh mint and parsley
some vegetable oil
1 big radish
1 small red onion
1 tbsp of balsamic vinagar
1/2 lemon juice

What we have to do:

1. Peel red onion and cut into small pieces. Fry onion with some oil, season with salt and pepper. Add balsamic vinegar and sliced radish. Add lemon juice and some chopped parsley. Leave it for 10 min.
2. Season tuna stripes with salt and pepper, preheat the pan or gril and grill for 15-20 seconds on each side ( or longer if you are like me!). Take out of the pan and roll in wasabi paste and then roll in chopped fresh mint and parsley. Slice into pieces and serve with pickled radish salad. Enjoy!!!

Black-Bottom Coconut Bars / Kokosiniai ir kakaviniai kvadratėliai

I have some issues with coconut and just cannot resist it. So when I came across this Martha Stewart recipe, I knew I had to make it. Even if I had to forget my diet for a day, but it was really worth it. These lovely bars were leaded with coconut and chocolate flavour and not too sweet. My husband being brought up with baklava and other Turkish delight's sweetness wanted them to be sweeter. But they were so right for me!!! :)))

 

Black bottom coconut bars

What we neeed:

for chocolate base:

115 gr unsalted butter, plus more for pan

65gr of sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

32gr unsweetened cocoa powder

32 gr all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)

for coconut topping:

2 large egg

100 gr sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

128gr all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)

200gr sweetened shredded coconut, about 60 gr reserved for sprinkling

What we have to do:

1. Pre-heat the oven 175 C. Lay aliuminium foil into a baking pan.

2. For chocolate base, melt butter and mix with sugar, then add egg, flour and cacoa. Mix it well again and pour into buttered baking pan. Bake for 10-15 min. Don't overbake!

3. For coconut base, mix eggs with sugar, then add vanilla extract and mix in flour and coconut. Put the mix over chocolate base, even the top with a spatula and sprinkle the rest of the coconut.

4. Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs attached, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool completely in pan. Lift cake from pan, peel off foil, and cut into 24 bars.
5. Enjoy!!!

Tai vienas iš mano mėgstamiausių ir skaniausių kepinių, kurie visada pavyksta ir visų mėgiami. 

Kokosiniai ir kakaviniai kvadratėliai

Reikia:

šokoladinė masė:

115 gr sviesto ir dar trupučio kepimo skardai

65g cukraus

1/4 a.š. druskos

1 didelis kiaušinis

32g kakavos

32 gr išsijotų miltų 

Kokosų masėi:

2 dideli kiaušiniai

100 g cukraus

1/2 a.š. vanilės ekstrakto

128g miltų

200g kokoso drožlių ir dar apie 60g viršaus apibarstymui

Gaminam:

1. Įkaitinkite orkaitę iki 175C. Nedidelį kepimo indą ištieskite aliuminio folija ir ištepkite sviestu.

2.Pagaminkite šokoladinę masę. Ištirpinkite sviestą, įmaišykite cukrų, tada sudėkite kiaušinius, miltus ir kakavą. Gerai išmaišykite ir supilkite į kepimo indą. Kepkite 10-15 min. Neperkepkite.

3. Kokoso masei, sumaišykite kiaušinius su cukrumi, supilkite vanilę, miltus ir kokoso drožles. Išmaišykite ir sudėkite ant šokoladinės masės. Išlyginkite paviršių ir apibarstykite likuriais kokosais.

4. Kepkite kol viršus truputį pagels ir įsmeigus medinį pagaliuką jis ištrauktas būna švarus, apie 25-30 min. Atvėsinkite kepimo inde. Išimkite iš formos, nulupkite aliuminio foliją ir supjaustykite į 24 gabalėlius arba jei pjaustysite didesniais, tai gausis mažiau. Skanaus!

Rosemary Chicken Kebabs

With one more spell of warm weather in Istanbul, I decided to finish grilling season. This time went with my favourite flavours. I love how rosemary and mushroom juice accompany chicken. Instead of wooden sticks I used rosemary branches. So not only it tasted and smelled great but it looked nice as well.

What we need:

2 chicken breasts
some rosemary branches
mushrooms
green peppers
salt and pepper
lemon zest and juice
some olive oil

What we have to do:

1. Remove most rosemary leaves and chop it finely. Add salt and pepper, lemon zest and olive oil.
2. Cut chicken breast in chunks and mix with rosemary and oil mix. Let it rest at least 15 min.
3. Take rosemary branch and put on mushrooms ( I grilled them a bit beforehand), pepper and marinated chicken pieces.
4. Pre-heat grill and grill kebabs for 5-7 minutes on each side.
5. Serve hot with your favourite salad or side dish. Enjoy!!!!

Black Sea Salmon with pickled onions and red pepper

Last week my hubby ordered 3 Jamie Oliver books from Amazon.com. He knows my passion for Oliver's way of cooking and his personality in general. So it's kind of early Christmas present... Hopefully I'll get another on Christmas! :) Recently, I'm pretty into his new show on TV 'Jamie's American Road Trip'.I just love the show!!! My hubby isn't very good at cooking, although his scrambled eggs are amazing :D Yet at least once a week I make him watch any Jamie's show. I can say I have the whole collection by now. Anyway, the books should arrive next week so impatiently I am trying some recipes from his shows. This time I've chosen his way of frying salmon and added some pickled onion and pepper salad on top. Delicious!!!

What we need:
1 slice of salmon ( I used the Black Sea salmon which is a bit whiter but still tasty)
salt and pepper to taste
dried oregano

for pickled salad:

1 onion
1 pepper
salt and pepper
1 lemon
a pinch of sumak
olive oil
some parsley

What we have to do:

1. Preheat the frying pan.
2. Season a slice of salmon with salt and pepper. Leave the skin on. Place salmon skin on the pan ( don't put any oil in a pan or it will start to smoke) and fry for 5-6 min until skin gets crispy brown. Then turn upside down and fry for 2 min and remove from the pan.
3. Slice onion and pepper. Chop parsley. Add salt and with a hand cry to crush sliced onion. Then add pepper and sumak and lemon juice and oil. Leave for 20-30 min.
4. Put fried salmon on a plate and place salad on top. Drizzle some extra lemon juice if you feel like! Enjoy!!!


PS.
Have a look at Jamie's recipes from his new show: Jamie's American Road Trip Recipes A bit of America in your home!!!

Cauliflower in the oven

The most common way of preparing cauliflower in Lithuania is boiling and then frying it with onion, butter and a pinch of salt and pepper. But the quicker time goes, the healthier I want to eat. Recently, many blogs were writing of different ways of preparing cauliflower and I was intrigued by roasting it. I ate roasted cauliflower with chicken, deep-fried cauliflower but this time I was looking for pure cauliflower flavour with a touch of thyme, salt and pepper and a bit of olive oil.

What we need:

1 cauliflower head
1 teaspoon of thyme
1 tbsp of olive oil
a pinch of salt and pepper
some red pepper flakes
1 lemon

What we have to do:

1. Break of cut cauliflower into pieces. Season with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and thyme. Mix it.
2. Put a baking paper on a baking tray and place cauliflower. Drizzle some olive oil.
3. Put in a pre-heated oven 190C for 20-30 min depending on how soft you want. I prefer a bit crunchy.
3. When serving pour over some lemon juice to give more freshness! A great side dish!

Spinach and wallnut salad

We can say that it is a salad but I believe that in Turkey they would call it 'meze'. Both names are fine for me as long as it tastes great, healthy and easy to make!

What we need:

1 kg of spinach
50 gr of wallnut
1 roasted pepper
2 tbsp of natural yogurt
salt and pepper to taste
1 lemon juice
some red pepper flakes
garlic ( optional)

What we have to do:

1. Wash spinach in cold water, remove hard stems. Chop it. Then boil for 2 min in a pot. Drain and let it cool.
2. Break wallnuts into smaller chunks, add cool spinach and slices red pepper and garlic.
3. Mix yogurt with lemon juice, salt and pepper, red pepper flakes. Mix it well and pour over spinach and wallnut. Mix it again, garnish with some roasted pepper pieces and serve! Enjoy!!!

Lemon and Olive chicken

I got the idea for this recipe a few weeks ago from one of the Turkish TV programmes. I liked the idea of sauteed onion, lemon and olives together with chicken so finally I tried the recipe and I was more than happy! A very interesting and delicious recipe!!!

What you need:

1-2 chicken breasts
2 onions
200 gr of various olives ( I used black Turkish olives, green olives stuffed with red pepper and green olives pickled with mustard seeds and garlic)
3 lemons
salt and pepper to taste
some fresh or dried thyme
1 tbsp of olive oil

What you have to do:

1. Cut each chicken breast to make two thin chicken steaks. Season with salt and pepper and some lemon zest.
2. Pre-heat the frying pan, add some olive oil and fry chicken breasts for 1 min on each side. Then remove from the pan and drizzle with one lemon juice.
3. Slice onions and put then in a pan, let it sautee for a few minutes, then add olives, thyme and 1 lemon juice. Simmer until onion is soft.
4. Put chicken and sauteed onions with olives into a heat proof dish, add some slices of lemon and put in an oven ( 175C) for 10 min to finish cooking the chicken.
5. Serve with onions and olives. Add rice or potatoes if you feel like! Enjoy!!!

Apple Pie

Although it is still quite warm in Istanbul, you can feel autumn everywhere. And the best way to celebrate autumn is by enjoying lovely cinammon, clove and apple aroma and flavour. Innitially I was planning to adopt a recipe of wonderfully looking Apple Cream Cake from One Perfect Bite blog, but again I was too busy. So went with the basics, just this time I added corn flour to the pie crust which added more crispiness. The tasters were very pleased ( I skipped tasting this time due to the dieting I've started recently) so that I had no chance to take a photo of a slice. But still it was a very tasty and simple pie! One day I'll get to you Apfel Sahne Torte...

What we need:

for the crust:

200 ml of flour

200 ml of corn flour

100gr of unsalted butter

a pinch of salt and sugar

1 tbsp of milk

for filling:

6 apples ( peeled and sliced, and you can use more apples, depending on your baking bowl)

5 tbsp of brown sugar

1 teaspoon of cinammon

2 cloves

2 tbsp of corn starch

1 egg + 1 tbsp of sugar

What we have to do:
1. Mix flour, corn flour with salt and sugar, then add butter and with your hands try to crumble it until butter mixes with flour. Then add milk and form a ball of dough. Put it in a plastic bag and place in a fridge for 30 min.

2. Meanwhile, peel and slice apples, mix with sugar and spices, and cornstarch. Mix it and let it stay until some juice appear.

3. Divide the dough ball into one bigger and one smaller balls. And roll out the bigger for the pie pad. Make some holes with a fork. Then add the apples. Put some pieces of butter and add another rolled sheet of dough.

4. Brush the top with beaten egg and sprinkle some white or brown sugar. Cut in some places so that steam had where to go out.

5. Put into a pre-heated oven 200C for 15-20 min, when the pie starts bubbling reduce the temperature to 180C and bake for another 30-35 min depending on the amount of apples. Enjoy!!!

Grilled chicken with cauliflower and broccoli puree

My fridge was still loaded with cauliflower and broccoli after weekend's visit in local farmer's market. We've already enjoyed cauliflower soup so for dinner this time I made a puree from cauliflower and broccoli. It's basically the same and the soup just with less liquids and addition of broccli and omition of carrot, potato and onion ( but if you can still use if you want more puree-like dish as cauliflower and broccoli are quite liquidy vegetables).

What we need:

for puree:
1 small cauliflower
1 small head of broccoli
3 tbsp of milk
1 glass of water or vegetable stock
salt and pepper
some dried oregano or fresh chopped parsley

for grilled chicken:

2-4 chicken breast
crushed corriander seeds
chilli pepper
salt and pepper

for garnish:
cucumber
red pepper
parsley
some olive oil
salt and pepper
a clove of garlic

What we have to do:
1. Cut cauliflower and broccoli into smaller pieces and place in a pot, pour some water and milk over. Boil until soft, season with salt and pepper, dried oregano. When boiled, pour away most of the water and blend with a hand-held blender.
2. Rub spieces into the chicken breast and grill for 6-7 minutes.
3. Cut peeled cucumber, red pepper into stripes, grate some garlic, season with salt and pepper. Mix with olive oil.
4. In a serving dish put several spoons of cauliflower and broccoli puree, on the top put slices chicken breast, garnish with cucumber and red pepper salad and fresh parsley on the top. Enjoy!!!

Grilled eggplant appetizer

I must confess that recently I got very interested in a South Beach Diet. I heard about it first when I was trying to loose some kilos before my wedding. But at that time it wasn't the best choise because during the winter season Lithuanians don't eat many fresh vegetables and I had a very busy lifestyle. That's why I chose another diet which was very successful. However, changing living place and the joy of being able to try baklava every day, put many kilos back. Now it's time to go back on the track, but with a different attitude towards eating and healthy lifestyle. So for a start I decided to try some dished made from the list of products that are on 'Things to enjoy' list. And I love them so far. It's far too early to boast about any achievements but if you ever think of trying some of the dishes, have a look at Kalyn's blog - a great blog which helps me to be motivated and to believe that healthy food is still delicious!

What we need:

1 eggplant
1-2 roasted and peeled red peppers
1 cucumber
0,5 of onion
some parsley
1 tbsp of low fat cream cheese
1 tbsp of rice vinegar

What we have to do:

1. Slice eggplant and grill until tender inside.
2. Cut onion, roasted pepper and peeled cucumber. Mix with salt and pepper, parsley, vinegar and cream cheese ( you can also use crumbled feta cheese).
3. Put a tablespoon of roasted pepper and cucumber relish on a slice of grilled eggplant, garnish with parsley and serve!!! Enjoy!

Deviled Eggs with mustard

This dish once again prove that healthy food is tasty and as I am a spicy food lover, I added some pickled jelapeno pepper and it made this dished one of my favourite breakfast delights!!!

What you need:

2 eggs
1 pickled or fresh jelapeno pepper
2 tbsp of chopped parsley and mint
2 tbsp of mustard
salt and pepper to taste
1 cucumber

What we have to do:

1. Boil eggs for 2 minutes and then leave for 10 min in the boiling water.
2. Cut eggs in halves and remove egg yoks.
3. Cut jelapeno pepper, cucumber into small pieces, chop parsley and mint, add mustard and hard boiled egg yoks. Mash it with a fork and mix it well. NO MAYONAİSE!
4. Use a spoon or confectioner's bag to fill in the boiled egg white halves. Garnish with mint or parsley. If you want more pureed filling use a blender to blend and then stuff the eggs. Enjoy!!!