Away for a short break in Lithuania

What could be better than a short break in Lithuania?! For me nothing!!! Even a lovely bite of baklava or tel kadayf wouldn't stop me! :) So see you my dear BLOG in 10 days!!! Take care!!!
And for Turkish readers - KURBAN BAYRAMIN KUTLU OLSUN!!! Have a great Sacrifice Holiday!!!

Beylik Market in Beylikdüzü, Istanbul ( Beylik Pazarı)

Whenever I'm planning a visit in Lithuania, I always go to some Turkish markets to get some unusual ingredients so that I could prepare something unusual for my mum. This time I went for dried fruits and molases, but I couldn't ignore some other delicious Turkish deligts. Have a look at some photos I took.

Below you can see pickled grape leaves! Can you imagine Turkish cuisine without 'yaprak sarma' or stuffed grape leaves? I can't!!!

A good thing about Turkey is that you can get a great variety of various greens all year round!

Autumn speciality - pickled vegetables!

I couldn't resist pickled peppers stuffed with cheese.

A variety of Turkish cheeses, a pile of yufka or homemade phillo dough, and spicy sausage!

Loads of Mediterranean region olives!!! They are just perfect!!!
Tarhana powder - a key ingredient for a traditional Turkish soup - Tarhanası çorbası - a mix of flour and sun-dried vegetables and homemade dried noodles.
Tangerine season is here!!!
Huges piles of various pears! Those are said to be from Ankara. Not the best looking ones, but they taste great!!!

Autumn vegetables and fruits.

Super delicious pomegranates and quince.

Yes, it's not just Great Pazzar and Spice Market in Istanbul!!! Have a nice day!!!

Potage Veloute aux Champignons or creamy mushroom soup

After watching Julie&Julia, I had a kind of curiosity about Julia Child's cooking. I must admit I heard about her only when the first film trailors appeared on the Internet. So I finally have Julia Child' s book 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking' and tried several recipes. The first one was this creamy mushroom soup. I'm sure you know her famous quote that 'there is never too much of butter', but I think this time it was a bit too much for me as I use butter only in baking and generally prefer lean food. Anyway, the soup was really tasty, though a bit time-consuming. But I guess I'll stick to simple vegetable soups next time which had less butter.

What we need:

40 gr minced onions
6-7 tbsp of butter
3 tbsp of flour
6 cups of chicken stock
2 parsley springs
1/8 tbsp og thyme
salt and pepper to taste
440 gr of fresh mushrooms
1 lemon juice
2 egg yolks
120 ml of cream
optional: some more mushroom for garnish
3 tbsp of chopped parsley ( I used dill for garnish)

What we have to do:

1. Cook onions in 3 tbsp of butter for 8-10 min until soft but not browned.
2. Add flour and stir over moderate heat for 3 minutes.
3. Off the heat, mix in chicken stock and add mushroom stems. Simmer for 20 min. Skimming occasionally.
4. Melt 2 tbsp of butter in a pan and toss in mushrooms, salt and lemon juice. Cover and cook slowly for 5 min.
5. Pour the mushrooms into the soup and simmer for 10 min.(When mushrooms were done, I blended the soup.)
6. Beat egg yolks and cream in a seperate bowl. Slowly add one cup of soup. Mix it well. Then add all the cream and soup mix into the rest of the soup and heat it up for 2-3 min but do not let it simmer.
7. Off the heat, mix in the rest of the butter. Garnish with optional fried mushrooms and herbs.

Sher Ping Pancakes

According to Jamie Oliver, ‘sher ping’ translates as ‘pan-cooked filled pancakes’, but for me it means another day with Jamie in my kitchen. This recipe was taken from ‘Jamie’s America’ and was also shown in ‘Jamie’s American Road trip’ NYC episode. The recipe was introduced by a lovely lady from the north of China at her food counter in the Roosevelt Food Court. Even if it looks quite complicated to make, but it’s well worth mastering as they taste really great! Originally the pancakes are made with pork but it can be perfectly swapped for other delicious filling like chicken or seafood. And that was exactly what I did. I used just 200 gr of chicken and about a half of shredded cabbage, though recipe asks for a handful of finely grated cabbage. It really didn’t made any damage and we really enjoyed part of Jamie’s American food vision with Chinese flavours.

Sher Ping pancakes

What we need

( original recipe from Jamie’s America, page 49):

For the dough:

450g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting

225ml of water

4 tbsp of vegetable oil

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the filling:

400 gr minced pork ( I used 200 gr of chicken)

A handfull of finely grated cabbage ( I used about 200 gr of shredded cabbage)

A small bunch of fresh coriander

A thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated

4 spring onions, finely chopped

1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely grated

Sea salt

Fresh ground Szechuan pepper ( I didn’t have and have never heard about it before, so used chilli)

To serve:

Sweet chilli or chot chilli sauce

Soy sause

2 limes or lemons cut into wedges

What we have to do:

1. Make the dough by mixing the flour, water, vegetable oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Use your hands to knead it until smooth. ( The dough gets beautifully elastic). Cover it with a clingfilm and let it rest for a couple of hours.

2. Mix all the filling ingredients in a bowl. Scrunch everything together with your hand, season well with a good pinch of salt and Szechuan pepper ( any idea where to get them in Istanbul???).

3. Dust a clean surface with flour and cut the dough into 8. Divide the fillin into 8 even piles. Oil a tray and your hands. Pick up a piece of dough and create a patty like a mini pizza about 12 cm across and 1 cm thick.

4. Take one of your piles of the filling and pop it into the middle of the dough, then gently stretch the edgesof the doughout, folding them back in over the filling ( see photo collage). Do this all the way round and, once closed, press down on th estuffed pancake with your hand. It should be about 2.5 cm thick and 8 cm across ( Well, I didn't measure!)

5. Lay the pancakes on oiled tray and put them in a fridge for 20 min or so.

6. Pre-heat a pan on a medium heat. Add some vegetable oil and lay each pancake, folded side down, in the pan. Gently push down on them with a fish slice to flatten them slightly. Keep doing this until they're about 1 cm thick and 10 cm wide. Be careful that pan's not too hot, though, otherwise your pancakes will brown before they are cooked through.

7. After 4 min. you'll have golden colour pancakes, so turn the pancake over , push then down lightly and cook them for 4 min on the other side. When they are golden and crisp, the meat should be perfectly cooked, but you can always break one open to check.

8. To serve, pour chilli sauce into one bowl and some sauce into another. Pop a few wedges of lime or lemon on the side for sqeezing over, and dunk away in your sauces. Enjoy!!!

Stuffed zucchinis/ courgettes

When I saw those round little zucchinis in my local supermarket, I was amazed. They looked so nice and they were asking me to stuff them with some flavourful stuffing. So I did!!!

Sorry for inaccurate amount of ingredients as I put most of them without any measuring.

What we need:

several zucchinis
300 gr of ground beef
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
some broccoli
3 tomatoes
nutmeg
salt and pepper
paprika powder
dried oregano and mint
some thyme
feta cheese
parsley

What we have to do:

1. Preheat the pan and add chopped onion and garlic. Fry until soft.
2. Add ground beef and fry for 10 min. Stir from time to time.
3. Peel and chop tomatoes and put into a pan with meat.
4. Add spices and salt, chopped thyme and broccoli. Cook for 10 more minutes.
5. Clean the zucchinis and take out the inside.
6. Put the stuffing into zucchinis and sprinkle some feta cheese and thyme.
7. Place stuffed zucchinis into a casserole dish, pour some stock or tomato sauce and place the dish into an oven ( 170C). Bake for 30 min until zucchini is soft. Serve with your favourite salad or side dish! Enjoy!!!

Breakfast Salad

The joy of finding different type of lettuce in my area inspired me to various types of salads. So this morning I couldn't resist adding perfectly boiled egg, mustard, goat cheese and a handful of olives. What a great start of the day!!! And one Julia Child recipe on my 'to do' list today. And most probably you know that her recipes are pretty time-consuming!!! Have a lovely day everyone!!!

What we need:

a mix of lettuce and herbs ( I used frisee and oakleaf lettuce, parsley and dill)
a few cherry tomatoes
1 hard boiled egg per serving
some goat cheese
olives

for dressing:

1 tbsp of mayonaise
1 tbsp of mustard
1 lemon juice
salt and pepper
optional: a pinch of sugar or some honey

What we have to do:

1. Tear your lettuce leaves and herbs. Put them in a bowl.
2. Put all dressing ingredients into a little jar and put the lid on. Shake it well. ( This idea came form Jamie Oliver!!!)
3. Dress lettuce with the dressing .
4. Put a pile of dressed lettuce onto a plate, add sliced tomatoes, goat cheese, olives and egg. With a spoon add some more dressing onto the egg. Serve and enjoy!!!

Spicy carrot and cauliflower soup

This soup was really warming and it helped to push away the cooling weather in Istanbul ( today it's about +14C)so well . Anyway, I really got into soups recently as they are so pleasing, fulling and really easy to make...

What we need:

4-5 medium carrots
about a quarter of a medium cauliflower
1 potato
1 onion
3 cloves of garlic
a bunch of dill and parsley
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil
a pinch of nutmeg
1 green chilli
some red pepper flakes
about 2 litres of chicken or vegetable stock ( it can be more, depending how thick you want), or water

What we have to do:

1. Clean, peel and chop vegetables.
2. Preheat a pot with some oil. Add onion and garlic. Fry until soft but not brown of about 3 min.
3. Then add potatoes, chilli and carrots. Fry for 5 min. Stir time from time.
4. Add cauliflower and vegetable stock, season with salt and pepper, nutmeg. Bring the pot to boil and simmer for about 8 min or until vegetables are soft.
5. Add herbs and remove from heat. Puree with a hand held blender. Correct the seasoning, add some red pepper flakes. Serve hot with fresh bread or croutons!!!

Vegetable Jalfrezi

The great thing about this curry is the slightly sweet and sour flavour from the peppers and ability to experiment with other combinations of vegetables such as zucchini, aubergines or potatoes, plus it is a freezer-friendly dish. Moreover, it is another try of Jamie Oliver's recipes from 'Jamie's Ministry of Food'.

What we need:

1 medium onion
1 fresh red chilli
a thumb-sized piece of fresh root ginger
2 cloves of garlic• a small bunch of fresh coriander
2 red peppers
1 cauliflower
3 ripe tomatoes
1 small butternut squash
1 x 400g tin of chickpeas
groundnut or vegetable oil
a knob of butter
½ a 283g jar of Patak’s jalfrezi curry paste or Jamie's version ( see recipe below)
2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 lemons
200g natural yoghurt

What we have to do:

1. Put a large casserole-type pan on a medium to high heat and add a couple of lugs of oil and the butter.
2. Add the onions, chilli, ginger, garlic and coriander stalks and cook for 10 minutes, until softened and golden
3. Add the peppers, butternut squash, drained chickpeas and jalfrezi curry paste. Stir well to coat everything with the paste.
4. Add the cauliflower, the fresh and tinned tomatoes and the vinegar. Fill 1 empty tin with water, pour into the pan and stir again. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for 45 minutes with the lid on.
5. Check the curry after 30 minutes and, if it still looks too liquidy, leave the lid off for the rest of the cooking time. When the vegetables are tender, taste and add salt and pepper – please season carefully – and a squeeze of lemon juice.
6. Serve your curry with poppadums or rice, and with a few spoonfuls of natural yoghurt, a sprinkle of coriander leaves ( here I used parsley) and a few lemon wedges for squeezing over.

P.S. Here's another way of serving this curry: I used naan bread and stuffed it with a mix of lettuce, then some tablespoons of curry and a drizzle of lemon juice. And it was just an amazing meatless snack!!! And I'm sure Jamie Oliver would approve of it as he is so open for experimenting with food!

Jelfrezzi curry paste:

What we need:

2 cloves of garlic, a thumb-sized piece of fresh root ginger, 1 teaspoon of tumeric, 1,5 teaspoon of sea salt, 2 tbsps groundnut oil, 2 tbsps tomato puree, 1 fresh ground chilli, a small bunch of coriander, 2 teaspoons cumin seeds, 1 teaspoon brwon mustard seeds, 1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds, 1 teaspoon coriander seeds.

What we have to do:

Peel garlic and ginger. Put a frying pan on a medium heat and add cumin, mustard, fenugreek and coriander seeds toa dry pan. Lightly toast them for a few minutes until golden brown and smelling delicious, then remove from the heat. Add the toasted spices, and all the other ingredients into a food processor and ground them until a smooth paste.

Chicken Korma

I've never been to India and I've never been to an authentic Indian restaurant, that is why I don't dare trying new Indian recipes. But as I'm into trying new Jamie Oliver's recipes, I gave it a try to some of his interpretations of Indian dishes. I chose this recipe first as Jamie claims it's quite mild and creamier that other Indian curries. Now I know that it was a good choice and I loved all the flavours! At first I was not sure about the coconut milk and the amount of nuts, but coconut milk went so well with chicken and spices and nuts added some crunchiness. Lovely!!!

What we need:

800 gr of boneless chicken tights or breasts
2 medium onions
1 fresh green chilli
a piece of fresh ginger
a small bunch of fresh coriander
400gr of boiled or tinned chickpeas
groundnut or vegetable oil
a teaspoon of butter
100 gr of karma paste ( see recipe below or use a store bought version)
400ml of coconut milk
a small handful of flaked almonds
2 heaped tablespoons of desiccated coconut
salt and pepper
500g of natural yogurt
1 lemon

for korma paste:

2 cloves of garlic
a small piece of ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons of cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon of garam masala
1 teaspoon of salt
2 tbsp of groundnut oil
1 tbsp of tomato paste
2 fresh green chillies
3 tbsp of desiccated coconut
2 tbsp ground almonds
a small bunch of fresh coriander
2 teaspoons of toasted cumin seeds
1 teaspoon of toasted coriander seeds

What we have to do:

1. To make korma paste, peel garlic and ginger. Put cumin and coriander seeds into a pan and lightly toast them. Then put all karma paste ingredient into a food processor and blend it until it's smooth.
2. To make curry, pre-heat a big frying pan and add oil, then put chicken pieces cut into 3 cm pieces. Fry until light brown. Then move chicken to one side of the pan and add chopped onions, ginger, chili, coriander stalks and butter. Cook for around 10 min. Don't forget to mix.
3. Add the korma curry paste, coconut milk, almonds, desiccated coconut, chickpeas and about 100 ml of water into the pan and stir again. Bring it to boil and then reduce the heat and let it simmer for 30 minutes. Check the curry regularly to make sure it doesn't dry out and add extra water if necessary. When chicken is tender, season with salt and pepper.
4. Serve curry with rice, some natural yogurt, some lemon and naan bread. Enjoy!!!

Mushroom and Broccoli Tarte Tatin

I'm sure you've had many sweet versions of Tarte Tatin. I had some myself and they really taste great plus they are so easy to make and are budget-friendly. I got the idea of this savory version from the recent post in Once upon a plate. With some vegetable salad it makes a great meat-free dinner!!!

What we need:

250 gr of mushrooms
1 big onion
some broccoli
2 cloves of garlic
thyme
salt and pepper to taste
1 lemon
1 sheet of puff pastry
1 egg
1 tbsp of butter
some olive oil

What we have to do:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C. Grease a tart tin with butter.
2. Slice the onion, garlic and mushrooms. Pour some olive oil into a frying pan and place onion and garlic. Season with salt and pepper and let it get soft, then add mushrooms, sliced broccoli and thyme. Fry until they are almost done.
3. Put fried mushrooms, broccoli and onion into a tart tin, cover with a rolled puff pastry sheet and brush it with beaten egg.
4. Put it into the oven and bake until puff pastry is golden brown.
5. Then put a plate on the tart tin and turn the tarte tatin upside down. Add some lemon juice and serve. Enjoy!!!

A rather pleasing carrot cake with lime mascapone icing

I must admit that it was the first time I had a carrot cake. I have always thought that vegetables and sweet cakes is not a combo for me, but still I wanted to try it one day. Yesterday unexpectedly ( this can happen any time in Turkey - I should get used to that!) I had to host a dinner party at my house and had 4 hours to prepare. As there was no time to think much I gave my hubby a choice - a bannana tart or a carrot cake- and he chose the carrot cake as it sounded unusual. I know that it is not a good idea to try a new recipe at the day of a dinner party, but I also know that baking is like a science - if you follow all the instructions, you will succeed. So I chose a recipe from Jamie Oliver's book Cook with Jamie and just followed all the instructions. I loved the idea of lime mascapone icing and a nice combination of nuts and spices. So actually there was no real carrot flavour and brown sugar added lovely caramel flavour. A really pleasing cake and for a family style dinner it is a good choice.

What we need:
serves 8-10 people

250gr unsalted butter, softened
250gr light brown sugar
5 large eggs, seperated
zest and juice of 1 orange
170 gr of self-rising flour, sifted
1 tbsp of baking powder
100 gr of ground almonds
100 gr of shelled wallnuts
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
a pinch of ground cloves and nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger
250gr of carrots, peeled and coarsley grated
sea salt

for the lime mascapone icing:

100 gr mascapone cheese
200gr full-fat cream cheese
85 gr sifted icing sugar
zest and juice of 2 limese

What we have to do:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C. Grease and line a cake tin.
2. Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg yoks one by one, and add the orange zest and juice. Stir in the sifted flour and baking powder, and add all th eground almonds, wallnuts and spices, and grated carrot and mix together well.
3. In a seperate bowl, whisk the egg whites with a pinch of sea salt untill stiff, then gently fold them into the cake mix. Transfer the mix into a cake tin and cook in a preheated oven for about 50 min until golden and risen. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 10 min, then turn it out on to a rack and leave for at least an hour.
4. Mix all the icing ingredients together and spread generously over the top of the cake. Finish off witha sprinkling of chopped nuts. Enjoy!!!

Baked Sauteed cabbage with mashed potatoes

How do you imagine a real nothern dish? What do people in the North eat? And what is North exactly? Is it Scandinavian countries or Russia? What about Canada or Alaska? All these questions I've been asking myself as the same Lithuanian website introduced a new competition - Northern dish competition. Due to the misorganisation or
at the same site, I believe I wasn't able to post my recipes there, but still I want to share some ideas in my own blog. While thinking of the food I would like to eat in winter, I looked at the ingredients that can be found in cold / cool countries. I don't know why but cabbage was the first vegetable that came to my mind. I remember the lovely taste of sauteed saurkrout and jacket potatoes that were served by my late grandmother many many years ago. So below is the first dish that I believe could be eaten in Nothern country - baked sauteed cabbage with mashed potatoes.

What we need:
1 cabbage, shredded
2 medium apples, peeled, cored and slices in stripes
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
150 ml balsamic vinegar
fresh or dried rosemary
4 big potatoes
100 ml cream
20 gr butter
2-3 tbsp of oil
optional: smoked ham or bakon ( I did't use as I wanted meatless dish, but I'm sure smoked ham or bakon would have added wonderful flavour)

What we have to do:

1. Peel the potatoes, put into a pot, pour some water over, season with salt and boil until soft. Then mash the potatoes, add cream and a lump of butter. Mix it well.
2. Preheat a big pan, add some oil and put chopped onion and garlic. Then add cabbage and slowly sautee for 10 min. Then add apples. Sautee for 5 more minutes and add balsamic vinegar, season with salt and pepper. Mix it well and sautee for 5 more minutes.
3. Transfer cabbage into a casserole dish, then add mashed potatoes on the top, add some rosemary leaves on the top.
4. Put in a pre-heated oven ( 180C) for about 20-30 min until the top gets light brown.
5. Garnish with some fresh herbs and serve! Enjoy!!!

A Feel-Better Soup or Jewish Penicillin

This time I opened Jamie Oliver's new book Jamie's America. I love most of his really rustic recipes -From Navajo bread to prawn jambalaya... You can find all colours and most flavours of America. The reason I like this book is not just for recipes ( there are some that I'll never taste such as Luisianian alligator dishes or some that are just not appealing to me!), but more for it's variety of dishes which helps to learn more about different communities which all add flavour to the Melting Pot.
This time I tried making a simple chicken soup by using Jamie's favourite combination ( I believe influenced by his love for Italian cuisine) - celery, carrot and onion ( Italian trinity?! or American Trinity?!). Still I skiped one very important part of the soup, which I believe really adds Jewish touch - 'Schmatz' and it is the Yiddish word for chicken fat, which makes the matzo balls in the soup. I couldn't make myself collect chicken fat and do anything with it, therefore, it turned out just a simple and light chicken noodle soup. Still very delicous!!! But below I'm writing the original recipe from Jamie's America so give it a go even with those matzo balls. Maybe I'll do those matzo balls one day myself as the original picture in the book looks absolutely delicious... Just have to overcome that fat thing...

What we need:

2,5 kg chicken ( I used pieces of chicken breasts and legs for a lighter version)
3 medium onions, peeled and roughly chopped
3 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
3 sticks of celery, trimmed and roughly chopped
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
4 fresh bay leaves
a few springs of fresh thyme
salt and pepper to taste
2 handfuls of Jewish fine egg noodles or spagheti, broken into bits
1 small bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 small bunch of fresh dill

For the matzo balls:

4 large eggs
4 tbsps of chicken fat
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
130 g matzo meal ( or matzo crackers, blitzed to fine powder)

What we have to do:

1. Rinse the chicken and put it into a big pot. Cover with cold water. Bring it to boil, then turn down and simmer for 30 min. Skim the froth off the top of the chicken.
2. Add the chopped vegetables, garlic cloves, bay leaves and thyme springs, and season with a good pinch of salt. Bring it to boil and again simmer for 1 hour. Carry on skimming the broth, reserving 4 tbsps of this fat for matzo balls.
3. To make matzo balls, beat the eggs and add 70 ml of cold water, cooled chicken fat, salt and pepper. Beat it again and slowly stir in matzo meal until blended. Leave covered with a clingfilm, in the fridge for 30 min, then wet your hands in water and roll the dough into 20 small balls. Make them small as they double in size when they cook.
4. What the soup has had its hour and a half, use tong to remove the chicken to a roasting pan. Leave to cool. Remove the soup from the heat and strain it through the sieve or colander. Pull out the decent looking bits of vegetable and put these back into the soup, getting rid of anything else.
5. Put the pot on a medium heat and bring back to boil, then add the matzo balls. Put a lid on, turn the heat down and simmer for 20 min. Halfway through the 20 min, add noodles or spaghetti and cook gently for the final 10 min.
6. When chicken has cooled, shred the meat off the bone. Pile it onto a plate and get rid of skin and bones. Pick the leaves from parsley an dill and roughly chop them. Add the meat back to the soup, along with the chopped herbs and warm through for 3 min. Have a taste and season with salt and pepper if necessary. Serve hot!!!

It's great to win!!!

I love winning even if I won't be able to enjoy the prize. During October, one Lithuanian popular website www. delfi.lt was hosting Gourmet month which included writing various articles about unusual ingredients ( I mean unusual compared to Lithuanian taste buds) and arranging various recipe competitions. Unfortunately, Lithuanians are not very into taking part into such competitions as there were up to 15 participants in each competition. Some competitions are due to finish on 12th of November, but the winners of two competitions ( one-bite snacks and gourmet sauce) were announced yesterday evening. So I'm happy to boast about the fact that I've won in one-bite snack competition. Just still I don't know what I exactly won as the site wrote that 'Jolita is gets the third prize', but my photos and recipes are classified as the second place prize. So until they find out the mistake, I won't know. Anyway, it really doesn't matter as I just enjoyed the idea of winning something and I know that I won't be able to enjoy those 200 or 250 litas dinner or wine tasting in one of Lithuanian restaurant. It's just so not on the way... at least I have a Christmas present to some of my friend... Below have a look at the snacks I sent to one-bite snack recipe competition.

The first one is a kind of Waldorf salad served on celery stalks.

The second trotilla cups filled with spicy cream cheese and fried calmar stripes.

The last one - previously posted potato cups with flavoured cream cheese.

P.S. Have a look at the snacks which are the winners. I really liked the cream cheese balls with a grape rolled in pistachio flakes. Great idea and I'm sure it tastes great!!! I already know what I'll serve for my hubby's birthday!!!

Ravioli

Finally I've bought noodle machine and can make perfectly smooth ravioli dough. I like all kind of dumplings but I just hate rolling the dough until it's nicely smooth. I still remember telling my mother that I'll never make Lithuanian dumplings as it's so time-consuming. With the machine it's so simple and they turned out very delicious. For the dough I used basic noodle recipe and for the filling I used feta cheese and spinach - my favourite combo.

What we need:

for the dough:

400gr of flour, plus extra for dusting the dough
6 eggs
1 tbsp of olive oil
salt

for the filling:

100 gr of feta cheese
boiled spinach
salt and pepper

Permesan cheese for garnish

What we have to do:

1. Pour flour into a bowl, make a hole in the middle and add eggs and olive oil, salt. With a spoon or a hand start mixing eggs and combining them with flour. Knead the dough for 5 min and let it rest for at least 30 min. Then roll it out.
2. Mix boiled spinach with feta, add one egg, salt and pepper. Mix it well.
3. Put a teaspoon of filling onto the rolled dough, spray the sides with water and cover with another sheet of dough. Carefully press the sides and cut into squares.
4. Put ravioli into a salted boiling water, mix it. When water starts boiling again and ravioli floats to the top, boil for 1-2 min and take them out. Sprinkle with some permesan cheese and serve. Enjoy!!!