duminică, 27 septembrie 2009

Ham Risotto

1 onion, 10 g butter, 100 g round rice, 1/2 l soup (or more, depending on the rice), 1 tablespoon Creme fraiche, 50 g parmesan, 150 g ham cut into small cubes, 1 tablespoon chives finely chopped, white pepper

Finely chop the onion and then fry it in the butter together with the ham. Add the rice and fry for another 2-3 minutes. Add the soup and stir occasionally until it's done. Add the chives, pepper, Creme fraiche and parmesan, mix well and left covered for 5 minutes to rest. Serve with pickles.

sâmbătă, 26 septembrie 2009

Feel - Jak Aniola Glos

I discovered a rock band from... Poland!!!
The singer has an amazing voice, I have no idea what are they singing about, but they sound pretty good...
They website is http://www.feel.net.pl/
Here is a sample of their music


Feel - Jak Aniola Glos

miercuri, 23 septembrie 2009

Rustic courgette, pine nut & ricotta tart

I didn't have time tonight to go to the movies because I had loads of work, so I decided to treat myself with an easy to make courgette tart discovered in a Good Foods magazine ;)
You can replace the ricotta with feta cheese...

2 tbsp olive oil, 4 courgettes , thinly sliced (try to use a mixture of different varieties if you can find them), 2 x 250g tubs ricotta, 4 eggs large, handful basil leaves , shredded, grating of nutmeg, 50g Parmesan , grated, 1 large garlic clove , crushed, 500g block puff pastry, dash of flour , for dusting, large handful pine nuts

Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.
Heat half the olive oil in a frying pan. Fry the garlic and the courgettes for 5 mins until golden around the edges, then set aside.
In a bowl, beat the ricotta with the eggs, basil, nutmeg, half the Parmesan. Set aside.
Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to a rough round about 40cm wide, then transfer to a baking tray.
Spread the pastry with the ricotta mix, leaving a 4cm border. Press the courgette slices into the ricotta, then scatter over the pine nuts and remaining Parmesan. Bring the sides up over the edge of the ricotta, pinch to encase the filling, then bake for 30 mins until the filling is puffed up and golden.
Leave to cool slightly and enjoy warm or cold with a crisp green salad.

marți, 22 septembrie 2009

The Fun Theory

Only the Swedes can think of something like this...


vineri, 18 septembrie 2009

Irish Film Festival in Bucharest part 3

Today was Short Film Day.
I haven't seen short films in a while, I'm not a fan, but the films that I saw tonight were great, so I didn't regret at all.
Here are some samples:





marți, 15 septembrie 2009

She's like the wind

"Nobody puts Baby in the corner"
Who doesn't know this line...
It was the best movie I saw when I was a teenager, and I think every girl I know had a crush on Patrick :)

RIP Patrick, you will be missed...

joi, 10 septembrie 2009

Moelleux au Chocolat

Here is the promised dessert. It it absolutely amazing... especially for chocoholics like me :D

300 g bitter chocolate, 6 eggs at room temperature, 200 g sugar, 150 g butter melted and cooled, 1 tablespoon rhum, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Butter 8 small ramekin dishes or one big one (26 cm diameter). Preheat the oven at 180 degrees. Melt the chocolate. In a big bowl mix the sugar with 2 whole eggs and 4 egg yolks, until it triples its volume. Add the alcohol and the vanilla extract. Mix for another 30 seconds. Add the chocolate bit by bit, mixing well with a spoon. Now add the butter also bit by bit. Whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks and then fold them into the chocolate mousse. Pour the chocolate mousse in the buttered ramekins and put them in the oven for 16 minutes (the small ones, or 35 minutes the big one). Leave for another 10 minutes to rest in the forms and then you can take it out.
You can serve it warm with vanilla icecream or cold with some cream on top.

miercuri, 9 septembrie 2009

Jamie Oliver's Amalfi baked lemons

Today is my mum's birthday and because she doesn't like presents!!! I decided to cook something nice for her. And this time she liked them...
So I'm sharing the receipes here: today Jamie's Oliver Amalfi baked lemons and tomorrow a really nice dessert.

2 large unwaxed lemons, 1 or 2 x 150g balls of buffalo mozzarella, sliced into 0.5cm thick pieces, 4 fresh basil leaves, 2 anchovy fillets, 2 ripe cherry tomatoes, halved, salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat your oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6. Remove the ends of the lemons and discard them, then cut the lemons in half crossways, giving you 4 x 2.5cm thick discs. Now, using a small knife, remove the lemon flesh leaving you with 4 hollow circles of skin. Basically, what we're going to do is flavour the mozzarella and push it inside the lemon skin so that it absorbs the lovely lemon flavour when it bakes. Now the mozzarella is obviously going to melt and ooze out when baked. In Italy, a lemon leaf is placed underneath each one to keep everything in place, but it's fine to use a square of greaseproof paper to do the same thing. So, lay a greaseproof paper square or a lemon leaf on a chopping board and place one of your lemon skin 'wheels' on top. Cut a piece of mozzarella to fit inside, then lay a basil leaf, half an anchovy fillet and half a cherry tomato on top with a small pinch of salt and pepper. Add a little dried chilli if you like. Put another slice of mozzarella on top - the lemon skin should now be filled up. Do the same to the rest of the wheels, place them on a baking tray, and cook in the preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes until golden and bubbling. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes, then serve with some hot grilled crostini. Simply scoop the mozzarella out, eat with the toast and mop up any juices.

joi, 3 septembrie 2009

Carrot Soup with Dill

I continued today with the cooking, making an easy and delicious carrot soup.
My mum just told me she missed the train (actually the train didn't run today at all because it is scheduled to run only at the weekend...) Maybe it's a cheap excuse from my mum's part not to try my cooking... but really the soup is delicious. You should try it :)

1 tablespoon oil, 1 onion chopped, 1 garlic clove, 1 l vegetable stock, 1/2 kg carrots peeled and chopped, 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme, salt, pepper, 1 cup of plain yoghurt, 1 spoon of chopped dill

Heat the oil in a large pan, add the onion, garlic and the carrots and sweat for 5 minutes. Add the soup and the thyme and cook for 30 minutes. Add the yoghurt and the dill and boil for another 5 minutes. Puree the soup with a blender and serve with croutons.

miercuri, 2 septembrie 2009

Ratatouille

My mum is coming home tomorrow from her short holiday so I decided to cook for her as a sign that I missed her ;) ... not that she will eat everything! So I started with a simple receipe of Ratatouille from the Good Foods Magazine...

2 large aubergines, 4 small courgettes, 2 red or yellow peppers, 4 large ripe tomatoes, 5 tbsp olive oil, small bunch of basil, 1 medium onion , peeled and thinly sliced, 3 garlic cloves , peeled and crushed, 1 tbsp red wine vinegar, 1 tsp sugar (any kind)

Cut the aubergines in half lengthways. Place them on the board, cut side down, slice in half lengthways again and then across into 1.5cm chunks.
Cut off the courgettes ends, then across into 1.5cm slices.
Chop the peppers into bite-size chunks.
Score a small cross on the base of each tomato, then put them into a heatproof bowl. Pour boiling water over the tomatoes, leave for 20 secs, then remove. Pour the water away, replace the tomatoes and cover with cold water. Leave to cool, then peel the skin away. Quarter the tomatoes, scrape away the seeds with a spoon, then roughly chop the flesh.
Cut the onions into quarters, peel the garlic.
Mix the vegetables with a little bit of olive oil and salt and pepper. Put them in a tray in a preheated oven for 30 minutes. Add the chopped basil, the sugar and the vinegar and leave in the oven for another 20 minutes or until the aubergines are cooked.
You can eat it warm with feta cheese.

P.S. Another way to cook the vegetables is by simply mixing them with a little bit of olive oil, the juice and skin from an orange, some garlic, thyme and 1 tablespoon of honey. Put them in an oven for 30-40 minutes until they are sticky and sweet.