Summer is here, yay! I mean, FINALLY. It’s time for refreshing (home made!) beverages, folks. How about this one with dried hibiscus and rosebuds! They make a perfect combination in a tisane, be it served hot or cold. The addition of fresh fruit is, of course, optional – but I really like red currants (plus they are from our garden!) and I enjoy pairing them with my summer drinks. Strawberries (or any other berry) would be an equally delicious choice here, so, by all means, feel free to experiment.

Ingredients:
3-4 Tbsp dried hibiscus
2-4 dried rosebuds
cane sugar (or agave syrup, or other sweetener), to taste
a handful of red currants (or other summer fruit), washed

1. Steep hibiscus and rosebuds in boiling water (1l-1.5l) for 5 minutes. Strain and sweeten to taste.
2. Allow to cool, pour into a jug, add red currants and refridgerate. OR add ice cubes, if you like, and serve immediately. I usually prepare my summer beverages well in advance and keep them in the fridge.

Weather seems to be the Nº1 conversation topic among Europeans these days. Here in Central Europe we’ve been forced to turn on the heating again this week. It was 8ºC this morning when I got up… and it’s 1st of June, people (*checks the calender again*), yes, FIRST OF JUNE! Half of the seeds we planted back in April never appeared from the soil (despite having covered the garden beds with garden fleece); they have been either eaten by godknowswhatinsectpests or they’ve died due to the long period of cold and rain that’s been going on for weeks now. Poor thingies. I’ve been so unhappy. Not much luck with herb pots, either. Basil and marjoram pots are being colonized by small flies and ants and look no good. Thyme, rosemary, tarragon and rocket, on the other hand, are doing better but have a kind of sad appearance.

Oh my, I sound so depressed. Sorry! I actually intended to tell you about radishes. They seem to be OK with the weather conditions and are growing surprisingly well. I use them mainly in salads, sliced and spiced with dill. Very classic, yes. But then yesterday I had a light bulb moment (a.k.a. an idea) and I grated them and mixed with thick yogurt into a kind of tzatziki dip. I called it spread because I’m a spread kind of girl. I had some lemon balm* at hand and was curious to know how they would pair with radishes. Well, now I do know: radishes totally dominate the taste (surprise, surprise) and I think I know garlic also had something to do with it. But OK, next time I’ll try mint. Or stick to dill, most probably.

*Lately I’ve been drinking lemon balm (we call it melissa) infusion every night before going to bed. It helps you sleep better, did you know?

As I was searching online for a quick cracker recipe to spread my radish goodness onto, I came accross this delicious and healthy quinoa cracker recipe from Ilva of Lucullian Delights. I instantly liked the idea! I’m very fond of quinoa, specially of the white and red mix which I always keep in my pantry. These crackers are made very fast (if you have cooked quinoa on hand, even better!) and taste best while still warm. In case you’re not into radish tzatziki, may I suggest some other spread ideas that you can find on my blog? These are my favorite: tuna spread, sardine pâté, avocado spread, chickpea and dandelion spread.

And here are the two recipes in photos:

Grated radishes

Garlic clove

Lemon balm or melissa

Thick yogurt (Greek style)

Combine the grated radishes (squeeze the liquid out as much as you can), minced garlic, chopped melissa and yogurt, add salt (to taste), cover with a cling film and refridgerate for a couple of hours.

For quinoa crackers you need: cooked quinoa (240g cooked weight), 1 large egg (beaten)

Pecorino romano (grate 3-4 Tbsp, or to taste)

Mix together the cooked quinoa, beaten egg and grated pecorino, add spices (1tsp dried marjoram and 1tsp sweet paprika powder were my choice) and spoon into a mold, placed on a baking sheet (I used a 8cm pastry ring), pressing with a spoon to flatten into 1cm thick shape. Repeat until you run out of quinoa mix. With these quantities I got 6 crackers. Transfer the baking sheet into the hot oven (around 200ºC, I placed it on the upper rack but you know your oven better than I do) and bake the crackers for approx. 10 minutes, then flip over and bake for another 10 minutes until golden.

The quinoa crackers look as lovely as they taste. The radish yogurt spread is very refreshing and I’m going to make a lot of it again once it gets warm outside. It will soon… riiiiight??

Mmm, yummy!

These gnocchi have been on my mind for a couple of weeks now. I haven’t made them in such a long time! Silly me. Unlike the traditional ones, which tend to be on the heavy side, these gnocchi are very light and simply perfect for our Spring diet when we try to get rid of some extra kilos gained during the long winter (ahem). I drizzled them with a tasty sauce which reminded a bit of Louisa sauce (you might have heard of chicken Louisa – delicious dish that combines tomato, heavy cream and tarragon in the sauce – you really must try it in case you haven’t yet!!). I’m happy to report our tarragon plants are growing very well this Spring (unlike last year and the one before last) and I’m planning on making lots of dishes with it very soon (I’m especially longing to eat these muffins again, mmm!).

But first things first. The gnocchi recipe!

Ingredients for 4 appetizers (or 2 main dishes):
250g cottage cheese (or ricotta, if that’s what you have at hand), drained well
1 egg (L)
80g flour (I used white kamut flour, or use all-purpose), or more (it will depend on the moisture of your cheese)
a pinch sea salt
a pinch freshly grated nutmeg
1 Tbsp chopped parsley leaves (optional)
1 tsp olive oil
The sauce:
1 cup tomato passata (or home-made tomato sauce)
3-4 Tbsp heavy cream
sea salt, to taste
freshly ground white pepper, to taste
1 Tbsp chopped tarragon leaves

1. Prepare the gnocchi batter by combining the cottage cheese, egg, salt, nutmeg and parsley (if using) in a bowl. Mix well with a spoon, then start adding the flour slowly. The batter should be neither too moist nor too dry – you will know it’s ready once the batter (or should we call it dough?) will start detaching from the bowl.
2. At this point you can cover the bowl with a cling film and keep the batter in the fridge for up to 2 days. I would recommend you let it sit in the fridge for at least half an hour.
3. Bring a sufficient amount of water to boil, add a pinch of salt and prepare two teaspoons. Take a bit of cottage cheese batter with one spoon and with the help of the other spoon shape the “gnocchi”. Place one by one into the boiling water. They will cook very fast – once they swim onto the surface they’re cooked. Drain and place the gnocchi onto a serving plate.
4. Pour the tomato passata (or sauce) into a skillet, add heavy cream, salt and ground pepper. Cook for a few minutes to reduce slightly. Remove from heat and mix in the chopped tarragon. Pour the sauce over the gnocchi and serve warm.

There’s nothing like a creamy dessert served in a glass. I DO enjoy tremendously to bake cakes and pies but, to be completely honest, I find the procedure of layering different ingredients in glasses so very creative, entertaining and relaxing at the same time. Rather odd choice of words, I agree. But that’s how I feel about it! My only worry (or not even) is I might run out of ingredients before filling up all the glasses that I want to fill. One does, however, easily learn from practice… which in this case would mean the more desserts the better (which is a motto I’m willing to follow without resistance).

I’ve posted already several recipes for a dessert in a glass or “verrine” and you’re welcome to take a look at them (if you’re interested).
Raspberry, mascarpone and amaretto verrine
Faux tiramisu with quark cheese and apples
Banana dessert
Christmas verrine
Bulgur and custard verrine
Milk rice and pastry cream with quinces
Strawberry, cream and amaretti
Creamy cocoa nibs dessert
Mascarpone chocolate delight

And today I’m sharing another simple dessert with you. It’s very light and refreshing!

Ingredients for 4 (300ml) glasses:
400g plain yogurt
150ml whipping cream
agave syrup (or any other (liquid/powdered) sweetener of your choice), to taste
juice of 1 lemon
4 sheets gelatine
2 (medium) sweet apples, peeled, cored and diced
1 tsp ground cinnamon
a handful of biscuits of your choice (mine are maid with olive oil), crushed

1. Soak the gelatine leaves in water for 10′. Whip the cream and stir in the yogurt, add the sweetener and keep in the refridgerator until needed.
2. Bring a few tablespoons water to boil, add the diced apple and cinnamon and simmer for a couple minutes, until softened but still firm (not mushy, please!). Transfer the apples onto a plate and allow to cool.
3. Gently sqeeze the water from the gelatine leaves and place them in a skillet together with lemon juice. Stir with a whisk while heating, until dissolved (make sure you don’t bring it to boil). Stir the yogurt cream into the dissolved gelatine and whisk well.
4. To assemble the verrines, layer the ingredients in the following order: lemon yogurt cream, crushed cookies, stewed cinnamon apples – and repeat until running out of the ingredients (I like to finish the verrine with apples – but you are free to do as you choose).
5. Chill the dessert in the refridgerator for a minimum of 4 hours (or overnight). Enjoy!

It’s been a while since sharing a pasta salad recipe here and so it seems appropriate to tell you about this one that looks at least as good as it tastes! I mean, just look at those gorgeous colors! I think this must be the most colorful dish I’ve ever put together. I dawned on me last week that the asparagus season is upon us (yay!), which means in the next couple of weeks I’m going to be indulging in these beautiful green spears big time!

And the recipe for this colorful pasta salad? Too simple. I used tri-color pasta, cooked “al dente”, and once it cooled I mixed it with stripes of roasted bell pepper, red kidney beans, steamed and sliced asparagus and grated carrot. I made a simple vinaigrette of olive oil, white balsamic vinegar and lemon juice. And that was it…

These days I’m trying to eat as much dandelion as I can. I always go and pick it by myself because it means I get to spend time outdoors and look into the beautiful eye-soothing green color for a while. I consider myself fortunate to be able to pick it in a clean countryside environment, away from (at least some of the) sources of pollution. I look forward to dandelion every spring and this year especially so because winter seemed to take f-o-r-e-v-e-r to say goodbye.

Sometimes it happens I pick too much dandelion at once. As dandelion is not meant to be stored for more than a couple of days AND as two bowls of dandelion (eaten as salad) per day can easily become too much for me to gobble down, I found a way to eat more of it but with less effort: as an instant stir-fry. Take this plate (on the photo), for example. It made my lunch a couple of days ago and I felt most pleased about it. Cooked buckwheat kasha, scrambled egg, sauteed mushrooms and stir-fried dandelion with garlic (stir-fried in no more than 10 seconds!). Perfect early spring lunch, don’t you think? I ate it together with a bowl of dandelion (you didn’t see that one coming, did you?? ) and boy it felt good. Now I can go to pick another basket of dandelion…

For the past couple of weeks I’ve been enjoying this nutritious smoothie every morning. It’s really delicious (I guess you can pretty much imagine it for yourself) and prepared *almost* as fast as you can say Jack Robinson.

For 1 large smoothie you will need:
300g yogurt or kefir
maple syrup, to taste (I use grade C)
1-2 tsp barley grass powder
juice of 1 lemon
1 banana, peeled and sliced
1 pear, cored and sliced

Place all the ingredients into a blender jug and process until smooth. Enjoy immediately or transfer into an air-tight container to take with you wherever you go (to work, on picnic… you name it).

I would like to tell you that I’ve been enjoying the first days of Spring, but the thing is we’ve had another delivery of snow earlier this week (enough of snow for this season, pretty please!) and I’m still waiting for the Spring mood to come into this land. In the meantime I’m still cooking warming, comfort food (while dreaming of dandelion, the tastiest Spring vegetable – if you ask me).

I wanted to tell you about a dish I’ve cooked several times during the past weeks but I didn’t like the photos of it. Not a very photogenic dish, I’m afraid, but incredibly tasty: chicken, green and red cabbage – all sauteed together in one skillet. Talk about fast, healthy and yummy.

I’ve also made a dish (salad plate, in fact) that I’ve put together thinking of vivid colors: white and red quinoa, grated carrots, cooked red beet, pink grapefruit and chopped walnuts. Plus a simple vinaigrette made of olive oil, balsamic vinegar and lemon. While it definitely looked very pretty, I didn’t like too much the red beet and grapefruit combination. I guess I could have omitted the grapefruit… oh well.

And then we had this carrot and tomato soup for lunch today. Wow. It was so good! Wish I’d made more to have another bowl of it for dinner. Here’s how I prepared it… I diced a couple of orange and a couple of yellow carrots, some celeriac and rutabaga and sauteed everything on a bit of coconut oil until fragrant. Then I added a few tablespoons of tomato purée (passata) and vegetable stock. The soup simmered for 20 minutes, then I pureed it into cream and added salt and a few drops of sweet chile sauce. I served it with grated Grana Padano and thyme-spiced fried bread cubes (aka croutons). I tried not to lick the plate. I can’t wait to make this soup in summer – with young carrots and fresh tomatoes from my garden!

Happy Easter, everyone (and please, send some sunshine this way…)

Yarn wreath with felted flowers

Felted flower brooch

Spring wall decoration with dry vine branches

I’ve been on a creative kick lately. I’ve surrounded myself with felt sheets of various colors, needles, yarn and hot glue gun. Inspired by the coming spring (and longing for winter to end) I’ve been making dozens of felt flowers (some of them converted into brooches) and wall decorations. I’m having a lot of fun (can you tell? ) – not to mention how good it feels to be creative!

And here’s the photo of twisted grissini (with Parmesan, sweet paprika and rosemary, yummy!) I baked on Sunday. Great for snacking.

A twist on grissini

So, about yogurt cake. THE yogurt cake, to be precise. As I’ve mentioned a while ago, I’ll be remembering this winter for the particular yogurt cake I baked for the first time soon after the Holidays when we were longing for simple flavors and quick recipes to whip up on a weekday. I had had the recipe bookmarked for way too long (from the wonderful book Chocolate&Zucchini) and a snowy January day proved to be the perfect day to bake this cake. And boy, what a revelation!

This yogurt cake, or gâteau au yaourt, will bake make your day. Or more than that. You will want to eat slice after slice, for breakfast, after lunch or dinner, and all of a sudden you will feel the urge to prepare tea (or coffee) more often because it goes oh-so well with your favorite cuppa… And I am not exaggerating. I’ve baked one yogurt cake a week since the beginning of January. Now do the math.

It has become a habit of mine to prepare this cake in a guglhupf (bundt cake) mold (I like its shape) – but of course it can be made in a round (25cm) or even square cake pan. I used white spelt flour instead of all-purpose (wheat) flour and it worked just as good. I also reduced the sugar quantity and used home made vanilla (blond cane) sugar. Aaand I’m also known for adding an extra gram or two of flour – so that I can double the rum quantity in this recipe. Don’t blame me… but the aroma of rum in this cake is just TOO tempting!

*Merci beaucoup pour cette recette magnifique, Clotilde!*

Ingredients for a 25cm round (bundt) cake pan:
80ml olive oil (+ a Tbsp to grease the pan)
150g vanilla-flavored blond cane sugar (grind the seeds of 1 vanilla been together with sugar in a coffee grinder)
2 eggs (L)
1 Tbsp rum (… or 2 – in which case you simply use a little bit more flour)
240g white spelt or all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp (aluminum-free) baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
a good pinch sea salt

1. Preheat the oven at 180ºC. Grease the cake pan with oil, line the bottom with baking paper (no need to do that if using a bundt cake mold) and set aside.
2. Prepare 2 bowls. In one bowl, mix together the yogurt and sugar, add eggs (one at a time), oil and rum. In the second bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Add this mix to the yogurt mixture and blend together. Do not overmix!
3. Pour the batter into the greased cake pan and bake on the middle rack for 35-40′. The top should be golden brown and the inserted toothpick should come out clean. Let the cake stand for some minutes before transfering it onto a kitchen rack to cool. It will keep well for a few days, wrapped in foil.

Just to show you that this recipe works great even for a marble cake – simply add some cocoa powder to one half of the batter, pour into the pan and swirl the mixtures to create a marble effect.

Cabbage parcels make a very nutritious meal, no matter what you stuff them with or which type of cabbage you use (white, red, savoy,… you name it). Savoy cabbage must be one of the most beautiful vegetables I’ve ever seen, it has the most amazing texture and color and it is a very versatile vegetable. You can use it in soups and stews, in stir fries, salads (marinated, yum!) or you can make lovely parcels with its leaves. Today for lunch I made these delicious parcels (I guess you could even call them cannelloni), stuffed with quinoa (what a lovely grain!!), cauliflower and broccoli, drizzled with yellow-dyed bechamel (I adore turmeric) and topped with aged goat cheese – while the dish sizzles and bubbles in the oven, prepare a bowl of seasonal green leaves and pour yourself a glass of wine. If you’re a cabbage fan -like yours truly- you’re gonna looove this dish!

You need:
savoy cabbage leaves, blanched
quinoa (I used a mix of red and white), cooked
cauliflower florets, finely chopped
broccoli florets, finely chopped
a few cloves garlic, minced
olive oil
salt and ground black pepper
dried savory
yellow bechamel sauce (butter+flour+milk+salt+nutmeg+turmeric)
aged goat cheese, grated

1. Preheat the oven at 230ºC. Stir-fry the chopped cauliflower and broccoli florets in some olive oil until al dente, season with a bit of salt, pepper, savory and stir in the minced garlic. Now stir in the cooked quinoa and set aside while you prepare the bechamel sauce.
2. Pat dry the blanched savoy cabbage leaves. Place a few tablespoons of quinoa filling in the middle of each leaf, fold and place into a heat-proof clay, ceramic or glass dish.
3. Drizzle the parcels with bechamel sauce and sprinkle with grated cheese. Transfer to the oven and bake until bubbly and golden brown on top. Serve warm!

Pasta cooked in red wine – that was one of the notes scribbled down on my to-do list that I keep on my computer table. For a while I wasn’t quite sure what to do with it… with the red wine pasta, that is. I couldn’t imagine mixing it with a sauce of any sorts. And then I was worried the wine would make it taste rather acid. Oh well, if you don’t try it, you’ll never know, I said to myself. The idea of making the pasta into salad came to me while I was preparing radicchio salad. It was one of those “that’s it!” moments. Why to complicate! And so my red wine pasta became a salad – and a very delicious one, too.

As for the wine choice, I opted for a fruity merlot which, I think, paired extremely well with radicchio. You could try using other red wine, of course – I’m by no means saying my option was the best one. The proceedure is pretty simple after you decide on the wine:water proportion. I settled for 2 parts wine, 1 part water. You simply bring it to boil, skim off the wine foam, add salt and cook your pasta (fusilli bucati corti aka my choice) till al dente. While the pasta cooks, prepare the radicchio salad, mixing it with some cooked brown beans (or other legumes) and a simple vinaigrette: in my case that meant extra virgin olive oil, salt and red balsamic vinegar. Drain the cooked pasta and let cool (I added a few drops olive oil to it to prevent it from drying), then mix with radicchio salad. I served it with some crumbled feta cheese. I can’t wait to make this salad again! I liked everything about it – even though the smell of warm pasta wasn’t exactly what I would call appealing. Once cooled, its smell and taste improved significantly. I even let the salad rest in the fridge for an hour before eating and thought that was a jolly good idea.

So, what do you think? Doesn’t it look nice??

I will remember this winter for various reasons. First of all, it was very much like winter I used to know from the past – with lots of snow, frost and everything that comes with it. Un invierno como dios manda, a Spaniard would say. Then, there was plenty of delicious food I’ve cooked and an unreasonable number of yogurt cakes baked during the month of January (I have yet to tell you about this cake and I will – if I EVER get to photograph it, that is). And last (but not least), I will certanly remember this winter for the number of days spent in bed owing to this particular type of viral infection.

But viruses aside, one of the most pleasing dishes I’ve cooked during the past week has got to be this potato, fennel and curd cheese soufflé. I’m not even sure if the word soufflé is the correct one because most of souffles deal with mashed potato – while here I used potato slices instead of a mash. Whatever the name you choose, this delectable concoction of potato, fennel, curd cheese, aged goat gauda cheese and eggs will make you happy no matter how you serve it; as a side dish to a roast beef fillet, with a bowl of radicchio salad or simply on its own.

Ingredients for 4 small servings:
4-5 medium-sized potaoes
1 small fennel bulb
100g curd cheese
50g aged goat gauda (or other), grated
2 eggs
150ml milk
sea salt, to taste
1 tsp turmeric powder (optional)
1 tsp (dried) thyme
freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
olive oil, for the ramekins

1. Oil 4 small ramekins and set aside. Preheat the oven at 220ºC. Peel the potatoes and slice into thin rounds (3mm or so). Thinly slice the fennel, too. Place the potatoe and fennel slices into a skillet, cover with water and bring to boil. Season with salt, turmeric, thyme and nutmeg and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain well and set aside.
2. Mix together the eggs, milk, curd cheese and a pinch of salt. You should get a mixture that is not too thick and can be poured easily (it will depend on the curd cheese you use – simply add more milk if the mixture is too thick).
3. Arrange some potato and fennel slices on the bottom of each ramekin, add some grated cheese, then more potato and fennel, more cheese and so on until you run of the ingredients. The ramekins should be filled only halfway – have in mind the soufflé tends to rise considerably during baking.
4. Divide the eggy mixture equally between the ramekins and shake them slightly (to distribute the mixture evenly), then top with some grated nutmeg, if you wish. Transfer the ramekins into the hot oven and bake for about 40-45 minutes or until set and nicely browned. Let cool for some minutes before running a knife blade around the edges and invert the soufflé onto the plate. Eat!!

Appealing?

Pearled spelt is my new favorite grain this winter. Chances are I’m going to like it at least as much as I like barley (see the recipes here, here, here and here), if not even more. It cooks really fast and it pairs well with just about anything you can imagine. The dish I loved to the last bite combined the spelt with cabbage and cauliflower (staples in my kitchen these days) and went perfectly with aged goat gauda cheese. It became clear to me after the first bite that I simply have to share the recipe here with you!

Ingredients for 1 serving:
75g pearled spelt (farro perlato)
cca 0.5l water
2 cabbage leaves, coarsely sliced
1/4 cauliflower head, divided into florets
1 Tbsp refined coconut fat (OR olive oil)
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmed
1 tsp freshly ground coriander seed
sea salt, to taste
aged goat gauda cheese (or other cheese of your choice), grated

1. Put the pearled spelt into a skillet, cover with water and bring to boil. Reduce the heat, add a pinch of salt and let simmer for 20-25 minutes. Drain any excess water and set aside.
2. Heat the fat in a frying pan and saute the cabbage and cauliflower until softened but still a bit crunchy. Season with salt, nutmeg and coriander. Stir in the cooked and drained spelt, check the seasoning and serve onto a plate. Top with some grated cheese. Bon appétit!

As a huge kefir fan I always keep a bottle or two of it in my refridgerator. I’ve yet to try making my own kefir from scratch – but I need to get my hands on some kefir grains first! Although I drink it plain most of the time, I do like to mix it with fruit into vitamin boosting smoothies. My favorite combination of the moment includes kiwi, banana and cinnamon. Sweetened with limeflower honey it makes a delectable and refreshing drink.

Ingredients for 1 large smoothie:
2 kiwis
1 banana
250ml kefir
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 Tbsp (limeflower) honey

Peel the kiwis and banana, chop coarsely and place into a blender. Add kefir, honey and cinnamon and blend until smooth. Pour into the glass and enjoy!