herbs | potatofaces.com herbs | easy vegetarian recipes

Posts Tagged ‘herbs’

Christmas party – menu

January 5, 2013 by potatoface

I said recipes were coming soon, but who truly can define ‘soon’.

In other words I was just being lazy, doing what you should over Christmas – do nothing, eat, drink, and be merry…

But here it comes, christmas party menu:

Beetroot soup with mushroom parcels

For the beetroot soup you need:

2-3 beetroots (fresh)

1 carrot

1 parsnip

1 onion

3 pints of water

salt

pepper

dried marjoram

oregano

lemon juice from 1 lemon

1 spoon of olive oil

1. Boil water in a pan. Add olive oil.

2. Peel all the vegetables , cut them into big chunks (onion in half) and add to boiling water.

3. Add salt and pepper.

4. After few minutes add lemon juice. Boil for 15-20 minutes, taste and add more seasoning or lemon juice if you need to.

5. You can take all the vegetables out of your pot (we need clear beetroot soup) and add herbs and a dash of an olive oil.

I’m not going to lie, you can make yourself mushroom parcels (like tortellinis with porchini mushrooms). My sister does. But I bought them frozen from a Polish shop (one can only do a few things at a time).

mushroom parcels

beetroot soup with mushroom parcels

Next thing on the menu were Beet and Goat Cheese Terrine with Rocket and Roasted Butternut Squash Salad

beetroot and goat cheese terrine

beetroot and goat cheese terrine

You can find the recipe in ‘Fresh’ by Anna Olson

I served it with Rocket and Roasted Butternut Squash Salad, Ina Garten aka Barefoot Contessa’s recipe:

You can find it in her book ‘Back to Basics’

or on the Food Network website here.

For the main we had Spanakopita (Spinach and Feta in Filo Pastry). I tried different variations of this Greek dish but my favourite recipe which I used over and over again is Jamie Oliver’s from his ’30 Minute Meals’ book

There were two deserts. One of them was mince pies in filo pastry, dead easy. You need to cut filo pastry into squares, brush with melted butter and arrange in a muffin tin. If you feel artistic and have time arrange them with corners making a star. Fill them with vegetarian good mince meat, zest of lemon and fresh cranberries, bake till golden and sprinkle with icing sugar and maybe little sugar snowflakes…?

mince pies in filo pastry

And there were also Gingerbread Cupcakes.

Christmas gingerbread cupcakes

Christmas gingerbread cupcakes

And the recipe you can also find on the Food Network website here.

Category dessert, dinner, Party, soup, starter | Tags: baking powder,butter,butternut squash,cheese,christmas,cinnamon,cupcakes,eggs,feta cheese,flour,garlic,herbs,lemon,mince pies,mushrooms,nutmeg,olive oil,pepper,pine nuts,rocket,salad,salt,spinach,wine | No Comments
French themed party

August 15, 2012 by potatoface

To achieve a successful French theme party you need:

1. to befriend a French person, preferably with a family (so you can have a French person times three = more legitimate French party)

2. miniature Eiffel Tower,

3. A la French menu,

4. lots of wine,

5. no nonsense taking attitude,

6. lots and lots of wine and cheese,

7. stamina…

8.selection of French music.

Now, it’s definitely not a good idea to start with a little session called ‘two Cosmopolitans drinking two cosmopolitans’…which is me and my ex flatmate (Kamil, mentioned before in this blog) downing two cosmos before the French arrived. Three words of warning – next day hangover.

And try not to delete half of the photographs you had taken (!)

Anyway, setting the table for the French themed party in my case was more like fishing from a basket of clichés. Baguette here, Eiffel tower there, and voila! Sorted.

French theme party

french theme party

french theme party

For dinner I made green bean and goat cheese tart. The inspiration came from Anna Olson’s book ‘Fresh with Anna Olson’, I just turned it into a vegetarian dish.

Green bean and goat cheese tart

Ingredients:

For the pastry:

1 1/2 cups of flour

120 grams of unsalted butter

1/2 cup of grated parmesan

2-3 tablespoons of cold water

Filling:

200-300 grams of green beans, trimmed and blanched

2 eggs

3/4 cup of sour cream

black pepper

pinch of salt

herbes de provence

120 grams of goat cheese

1. For the pastry pulse the flour and butter in a food processor until crumbly (you can do it by hand, just try to be quick so the butter stays cold)

2. Add parmesan and water and pulse again. Turn the dough out, shape into a disk, wrap in a cling foil and chill for 30 minutes in the fridge.

3. Preheat the oven to 190 C. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a circle. Line the tart shell with the dough, trim the edges. Chill for another 30 minutes (trust me, it’s worth it).

4. Stab with a fork a few times (helps letting the air out while baking) and bake till it starts getting golden. Let it cool.

5. Reduce the temperature to 160C. Arrange the green beans, sprinkle herbes de provance.

6. In a small bowl whisk the eggs, sour cream, salt and pepper. Pour this over the tart filling and crumble goat cheese over the top.

7. Bake till the eggs are set. (Don’t engage into a long conversation if you don’t want to burn your tart)

8. Let it cool a bit before slicing.

green bean and goat cheese tart

I served it with a salad made of rocket and watermelon with lemon and olive oil dressing and shaved parmesan on top.

There was also plenty of wine, cheese, baguette, etc.

Dessert is a different story. I decided not to make a cake but biscuits. There were two : normal shortbread filled with raspberry jam and hazelnut shortbread filled with nutella. Yum!

Vive la France!

shortbread biscuits

shortbread biscuits

Category dessert, dinner, French theme party, Party, tart, Uncategorized | Tags: butter,cheese,cream,eggs,flour,goat cheese,green beans,herbs,parmesan,salt,wine,yummy | No Comments
brussel sprouts quiche

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
Spinach and cherry tomatoes quiche – a dinner party winner

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
cauliflower croquettes – turning beast into beauty

June 13, 2011 by potatoface

Never underestimate perfectly nice vegetables like cauliflower. I know they look ridiculous, like a cross between a flower and an atomic mushroom cloud and they don’t smell very appealing, but you can always work with that. You can disguise it and turn it into a croquette. My sister makes them, I make them, Boyfriend loves them, even Fred the Dog is totally impressed with them. Try it!

(more…)

Category dinner, lunch, starter | Tags: blender,breadcrumbs,cauliflower,croquette,eggs,fresh,herbs,oil,pepper | No Comments