-
March 14, 2013 by potatoface
The older I get the more I feel like Grusinskaya, a character played by Greta Garbo in ‘Grand Hotel’. Simply: ‘I want to be alone…’ I just want to hibernate and stay at home all the time, watch old films (heck ‘Grand Hotel’) and eat comfort food. I allow Boyfriend to join me sometimes because he’s really good in pretending I’m not grumpy and he thinks I’m not short tempered but funny. Yeah, I know…
There is only one way when it comes to comfort food and it’s the Italian way. And in this case i’m talking about Pasta alla Siciliana. Unfortunately I watch too many films so when I hear Sicily I think of all amazing films based there or around Sicilian families. The Godfather (‘In Sicily, women are more dangerous than shotguns.’ ‘Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.’- Where can you hear lines like that? Forget about it!), Cinema Paradiso (‘Life is harder then films’), The Leopard (‘Yes, love, of course! Fire and flames for a year, ashes for thirty. I too know what love is.’ – do you know what I mean?…Precious!).
I also love adjusting my menu to what I’m watching, and I got Sopranos Box for my birthday, so I’m expecting to make a lot of this pasta dish and long hibernating evenings….Lots of Italian wine too.
Pasta alla Siciliana
pasta (any, I use fusilli, penne, gnocchietti, orechiette, etc)
aubergine
2 shallots
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
olive oil
1/2 cup of sour cream or ricotta cheese
can of chopped tomatoes
pinch of red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
chopped handful of parsley
vegetarian parmesan
1. In a pan, warm olive oil and add chopped shallots. Wait till they are translusent, add garlic and pepper flakes.
2. Fry for 2-3 minets, then add diced aubergine. Cover and fry till aubergine softenes. Add chopped tomatoes.
3. In the meantime boil pasta.
4. When tomato sauce thickens, add salt and pepper, cream or ricotta (or both if you feel decadent), parsley and drained pasta. Mix well, add parmesan and serve with a bottle of wine (each) and Italian themed film on the side.
Buon appetito!
pasta alla siciliana
pasta alla siciliana
pasta alla siciliana
Category dinner, lunch | Tags: aubergine,garlic,olive oil,parsley,pasta,pepper flakes,ricotta cheese,shallots,sour cream,tomatoes,wine,yummy | No Comments
-
July 22, 2012 by potatoface
deep fried crepes
This is my ‘pick me up and turn me round’ type of food..
Deep fried stuffed crepes
Ingredients
for the pancakes:
1 cup of milk
2-3 eggs
1 1/2 – 2 cups of flour
2-3 spoons of olive oil or melted butter
pinch of salt
1/2 cup of oil for frying
For the filling
220grams quark or ricotta
2 mashed bananas
1/3 cup of honey
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 cup of raisins or any dry fruit (cranberries, chopped apricots,etc)
deep fried crepes
1. Mix all the ingredients for pancakes. Leave it for 10 minutes. If it’s too thick after 10 minutes, add some water.
2. In the meantime warm up a non stick frying pan on the medium heat. When the pan is really hot, pour your mixture using a ladle and tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly.
3. Cook the crepes and flip when it starts to loosen. Use a spatula.
4. Cook on the other side for a minute, transfer it onto the plate.
5. Repeat till you use all the batter.
6. After you have all crepes prepared, mix all the ingredients for the filling.
7. Put about a tablespoon of the filling in the middle of the crepes, fold it like a tortilla, then fold it again to make them rectangular.
8. Heat oil in a pan. Wait until it’s really hot, fry your stuffed crepes on medium heat till they are crispy and golden brown on both sides.
9. Serve with a spoon of sour cream and sprinkled with icing sugar and cinnamon.
Pick me up and turn me round
I feel numb – born with a weak heart
(So I) guess I must be having fun …
Category brunch, dinner, lunch | Tags: bananas,butter,cinnamon,dried fruit,eggs,flour,honey,milk,oil,quark,ricotta,salt | No Comments
-
April 2, 2012 by potatoface
tomato soup
I’m addicted to watching food channels. It’s like my equivalent of a porn channel. I can’t wait till I get home so I can watch it, I get overexcited when I watch it, sometimes I get all dreamy and distracted. It’s not like I watch everything, I’m not that addicted, I have my favourites. The only problem is when you watch it, you get hungry and you have to quickly make something nice and full of flavour to eat. Soups are coming to the rescue!
Tomato and mozzarella soup
Ingredients:
2-3 cups of chopped tomatoes (or 2 tins of chopped tomatoes if you are making your soup during a commercial break)
2 diced carrots
1 diced parsnip
1 small chopped leek
pinch of sugar
coarse salt
freshly ground pepper
2 spoons of olive oil
knob of butter
fresh basil (handful)
mozzarella
1. Put carrots, parsnip, leek and tomatoes in a pot, add a pinch of sugar. Cover, simmer on a low heat.
2. When carrots are tender, using blender or food processor purée everything. Bring back to boil, add olive oil, season with salt and pepper, add knob of butter.
3. Take of the heat, add chopped basil.
4. Chop or tear mozzarella. Transfer soup into bowls, add mozzarella and serve with grilled ciabatta slices.
Category lunch, soup, starter | Tags: basil,butter,carrots,leek,mozzarella,olive oil,parsnip,pepper,salt,sugar,tomatoes | No Comments
-
March 6, 2012 by potatoface
mac&cheese
When it’s cold and gloomy outside, you might be craving comfort food. I would’ve never thought of having macaroni cheese, but few days of cold weather and early mornings at work and there I was. Comforting myself with children food.
macaroni cheese
Macaroni cheese
2 -3 cups of pasta (small)
2 knobs of butter
milk (about half a cup)
3-4 spoons of flour
nutmeg
pinch of salt
100 grams of vegetarian cheddar
100 grams of vegetarian parmesan
mozzarella
breadcrumbs
1. Boil water for pasta.
2. When your pasta is cooking, make your sauce (like bechamel) – melt butter in a pan, add flour and mix carefully on the low heat, then pour milk gradually, whisking. Try not to leave any lumps. Add pinch of salt and as much nutmeg as you like (spoon or two for my liking).
3. Drain pasta and grate parmesan and cheddar. Mix cheese, sauce and pasta (if you feel cordon bleu, add any veg you fancy or fresh herbs or go crazy and add some nuts). Add chunks of mozzarella to it.
4. Butter ovenproof dish, sprinkle some breadcrumbs and transfer your macaroni mixture into it. sprinkle more cheese on top and more breadcrums.
5.Bake in the oven until golden.
Category dinner, lunch | Tags: breadcrumbs,butter,cheddar,cheese,flour,milk,mozzarella,nutmeg,parmesan,pasta,salt | No Comments
-
January 22, 2012 by potatoface
When I was at university my best friend got me interested in Chinese medicine and the five elements theory. I was really fascinated by cooking according to the five elements and bought a lot of books. People probably thought we were witches as we had really, really long hair, were wearing bohemian clothes and talked about yin and yang, Earth becoming weak and not supporting Metal, etc. I had a poster on the wall which looked like a pentagram, but was simply a chart with all the foods I was using in a different section (element they belonged to). I’m still into all that jazz but my friend went even further. After studying ancient Greek and Latin, Agriculture, Biology, Nursing and Art, she started studying Chinese medicine. I was ecstatic when I found out, but she warned me that 7 years is one hell of a commitment and she might drop out at some point. Fingers crossed she won’t.
Last time she visited me she recommended me a book: ‘Ancient Wisdom Modern Kitchen’ by Yuan Wang, Warren Sheir and Mika Ono. The book is a hit, absolutely amazing.
And because it’s Chinese New Year I’m going to share a recipe with you for my favourite soup. The inspiration is taken from the book but it’s my variation. Enjoy!
watercress-miso soup
Watercress – miso soup
Ingredients:
2 cups of mushrooms (fresh enoki or mitake if you can find them, I’m sometimes using any mushrooms I can get – chestnut or portobello)
2 1/2 vegetable stock or water
1/2 block of tofu (I’m using a whole pack of marinated quorn tofu)
3-4 tablespoons of white miso
1 spoon of red miso
1 spoon of sesame oil
bunch of watercress
chopped green onion
small bunch of Japanese udon noodles
1. Wash and chop mushrooms.
2.Bring the vegetable stock/water to the boil. Add mushrooms, udon noddles, sesame oil and tofu, simmer over low heat, covered with the lid slightly ajar for about 8-13 minutes. Turn of the heat.
3. Remove 4 tablespoons of the stock from the pot and, in a bowl, mix it with the miso paste, making sure there is no lumps left.
4. Gradually pour miso mixture back into the pot and stir.
5. Divide watercress among the serving bowls. Spoon the soup over watercress. Garnish with the green onion.
Happy Dragon’s Year!
Category dinner, lunch, soup, starter | Tags: chinese,miso,mushrooms,noodles,sesame oil,soup,tofu,udon noodles,watercress | No Comments
-
December 21, 2011 by potatoface
I don’t understand people who make fun of brussel sprouts.
Anyway, if you want to try something christmassy but different, here’s the recipe for a nice quiche.
The one on the picture has got the base made of wholemeal flour. Not that it’s relavant.
brussel sprouts quiche
Brussel sprouts quiche
Ingredients:
For the pastry:
1 glass of flour
1/2 pack of butter
few spoons of cold water
pinch of salt
for the filling:
300-400 grams of brussel sprouts
100 ml of sour or soya cream
1-2 spoons of nutmeg
pinch of salt
2 eggs
200 grams of hard cheese (any type you like)
fresh or dried herbs (oregano, basil, thyme, parsley)
1.For the pastry go to the recipe for spinach and cherry tomato quiche and make it exactly the same way.
2. Pre-bake the base, in the meantime boil brussel sprouts in a lightly salted water (obviously you have to first cut off the stems, but not so much that the leaves fall. Cut a small X into the base of each sprout to allow the core to cook thoroughly) for about 5-6 minutes. Drain.
3. Arrange sprouts on pre-baked base. Mix eggs with cream, herbs and nutmeg. Sprinkle grated cheese on the sprouts, then pour cream and egg mixture over and sprinkle some more cheese.
4. Bake in 160 C till it’s golden and done.
Category dinner, lunch | Tags: brussel sprouts,butter,cheese,christmassy,cream,eggs,flour,herbs,nutmeg,salt,wholemeal flour | No Comments
-
September 10, 2011 by potatoface
stuffed peppers
Apparently stuffed peppers have got less calories than a tic-tac. I don’t know if it’s true but I love them. They are tasty. And it’s always better to stuff peppers then get stuffed.
So whenever you feel like stuffing your face or simply kicking the stuffing out of someone, stuff peppers instead. Let the force be with you…
stuffed peppers
Stuffed peppers
Ingredients
3 peppers
brown rice (half a cup)
100 grams of mushrooms
1 courgette
100 grams of green peas (fresh or from a tin)
herbes de provence (or fresh basil, oregano and thyme)
salt and pepper
olive oil
100 – 150 grams of cheddar cheese
1. Cook rice.
2. Chop mushrooms, fry them in olive oil. Add chopped courgette, add herbs, salt and pepper. Add fresh green peas, if you are using tinned peas, wait till courgettes are soft.
3. Halve the peppers. Mix vegetables with rice and stuff the peppers. Grate cheese and sprinkle it on top of the peppers.
4. Bake in the oven (180 C) till peppers are soft and the cheese has melted.
5. Serve with salad and roasted potatoes.
Category dinner, lunch, starter | Tags: brown rice,cheese,courgettes,grean peas,herbes de provence,mushrooms,olive oil,pepper,peppers,salt,yummy | No Comments
-
September 1, 2011 by potatoface
pasta with vegetables
This pasta recipe should be dedicated to my friend Marcelina because it reminds me of her. Basically the whole pasta dish is made with what you can find in the fridge – the one I’m posting is with spinach, mushrooms , tomatoes and courgettes because these are vegetables I always have in my fridge, but sometimes I use variations – mushrooms, broccoli and tomatoes or mushrooms, peppers and tomatoes.
My variations though are in a totally different category than Marcelina’s. She used to add things to her pasta which she found in a cupboard or fridge, but they were totally random, not going together at all. Something like sweetcorn, gurkens and walnuts for example. Her style of cooking was really adventurous and totally bonkers. Such an inspiration she was.
So here it is – pasta inspired by Marcelina.
Pasta with any veg you can find in your fridge
Ingredients
gnocchetti pasta (you can use farfalle, pennne or whatever you have in the cupboard)
tin of chopped tomatoes
1 courgette
spinach
mushrooms (a cup or 2 handfuls)
olive oil
fresh basil
1-2 cloves of garlic
salt and freshly ground pepper
parmesan (I use vegetarian one)
1. Chop mushrooms. Warm olive oil in a pan, add crushed garlic, fry for a minute, add mushrooms.
2. When the mushrooms are fried, add cubed courgette and chopped tomatoes. Cook for a few minutes, add salt and pepper.
3. When the courgette softens, add spinach gradually, stir.
4. In the meantime cook pasta.
5. When vegetables are cooked but not overcooked, add basil, drain your pasta, mix with your sauce.
6. Serve on a pre-warmed plate with grated parmesan on top and red wine, preferably Montepulciano d’Abruzzo.
Category dinner, lunch | Tags: basil,courgettes,farfalle,garlic,gnocchetti,mushrooms,olive oil,parmesan,pasta,penne,pepper,spinach,tomatoes | No Comments
-
August 8, 2011 by potatoface
wholemeal pancakes with spinach - no nonsense food
There is no story behind pancakes with spinach. I like spinach, I like pancakes, that’s why I have combined the two together. Cheese is nice as well. And that’s basically it. They taste good though, everyone should try them…
Wholemeal pancakes with spinach and cheese
Ingredients for pancakes:
1 glass of wholemeal flour
1/2 glass of soya milk (doesn’t have to be soya if you don’t have it)
2 spoons of olive oil
2 eggs
1/2 glass of water if the batter is too thick
Ingredients for stuffing:
spinach
200 grams of cheddar cheese
2 spoons of olive oil
salt and pepper
1. Mix all ingredients for pancakes, if the mixture seems to thick, add some water.
2. Heat the frying pan. It has to be really hot. Then when the pan is hot and your batter smooth and creamy, using the ladle pour some onto the pan, tilt the pan in a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly, leave until it sets, flip it and put it onto a plate on the side.
3. To prepare spinach, heat olive oil in a pan, saute spinach (you need to do it on a low heat, add spinach gradually and cover).
4. Add salt and pepper.
5. When the spinach is done, spread some butter in an ovenproof dish (you can use a separate dish for each person), grate cheese, spread some spinach in the middle of the pancake, on top of the spinach sprinkle cheese, roll the pancake, put it into an ovenproof dish.
6. When your ovenproof dish is full of rolled pancakes, sprinkle more cheese on top of them.
7. Leave them in the hot oven (180C) till cheese melts properly.
Enjoy!
Category dinner, lunch, starter | Tags: cheese,eggs,flour,milk,olive oil,pepper,salt,spinach | No Comments
-
July 31, 2011 by potatoface
spinach and cherry tomatoes quiche
When you invite people for dinner ( I don’t understand why you would want to do that but whatever), you don’t want everyone to enjoy themselves, drink at the table and gossip, while you are slaving in the kitchen. My best advise coming from experience is; prepare dessert in advance and for dinner serve quiche. It’s easy and simple, tastes nice, and when the guests arrive, you can stick it in the oven and enjoy nice conversation and an even nicer glass of wine. Another advantage is that even if you get tipsy during that process, your dessert is already made, so you are not going to mess it up. You can only burn a bit of your quiche, like what I did as you can clearly see on the picture…..
Spinach and cherry tomatoes quiche
For the pastry:
1 glass of flour
1/2 pack of butter
few spoons of cold water
pinch of salt
For the filling:
spinach (300 grams)
2-3 spoons of olive oil
cherry tomatoes
2 eggs
half a cup of soya cream (or ordinary single if you are pleased)
spoon of nutmeg
salt
any fresh herbs (basil, oregano, etc) but if you don’t have any, dried herbs de provence will do
200 grams of hard cheese (whichever you like, cheddar is absolutely fine)
breadcumbs
1. To make pastry sieve the flour, add a pinch of salt, cut room-temperature butter into cubes . Add it to the flour and using your hands mix it together until you have a breadcrumbs texture. Add cold water (just few spoons,enough to make firm dough) and using your hands mix everything until you form nice pastry, then leave in the fridge for half an hour.
2. Saute spinach in a pan with olive oil. Add nutmeg, a pinch of salt and herbs. Leave to cool for a bit.
3. Take the pastry out of the fridge, dust with more flour, roll it out on a floured surface. Butter flan dish, I usually sprinkle the dish with 2 spoons of breadcrumbs. Line the dish with pastry. I never use fancy baking beans, I just simply poke the pastry with a fork, leaving plenty of little holes.
4. Pre-bake pastry in an oven for about 20 minutes (temperature 150 C).
5. Take it out of the oven, sprinkle a spoon of breadcrumbs into the pastry, then some grated cheese. Spread spinach and add cherry tomatoes. Whisk eggs with cream and pour it into the pastry. Sprinkle more cheese on top.
6. Bake it in the oven till eggs set and cheese melts (30 -40 minutes, temperature about 170 C).
Serve with a salad and a smile.
Category dinner, lunch | Tags: cheese,cherry tomatoes,cream,eggs,herbs,nutmeg,olive oil,spinach | 2 Comments
