Fruity Brownies

New week, new cake. This time from Savori Urbane

Brownie mix: 6 eggs, 300 g of sugar, a pinch of salt, 2 packets of Bourbon vanilla sugar or a teaspoon of vanilla extract or powder, 300 g dark chocolate, 300 g butter min. 80%, 300 g of flour
Furthermore 1 kg of peeled fruit (cherries, sour cherries, apricots, peaches, nectarines, raspberries, blueberries, etc.), 50 g hazelnuts, almonds, pistachios or finely chopped walnuts

Wash the fresh fruits and destone them. Slice ​​the apricots and pit the cherries.
Melt the butter and chocolate, stir occasionally, and let the mixture cool for about 10-15 minutes.
Preheated the oven to 170 C with ventilation, respectively medium setting for the gas ones.
In the bowl of the food processor, put the whole eggs with the sugar, vanilla and salt. Beat the eggs well (approx. 5-6 minutes) until you get a foamy mix, light in color. On top of it, pour in a stream, the chocolate with butter and mixed them for 1 minute.
Sift the flour directly into the bowl and mixed the dough for another 1 minute, at low speed.
Line the pan (28×38 cm) with baking paper and pour the batter for this chocolate brownie into it. Level it with the spatula and decorated it with the apricot slices, cherries and the rest of the fruits. Finish with 2-3 tablespoons of chopped hazelnuts, sprinkled over the fruit.
Put the tray in the oven preheated to 170 C and let it bake for approx. 35-40 minutes. An authentic brownie should be moist in the center, not completely baked. In the present case, we also have many fruits that leave juice during baking, so we should bake the cake a little longer, compared to its version without fruits.
Take it out of the oven and let it cool for one hour.

Prăjitură cu rubarbă și iaurt

Saw a beautiful picture on my favourite dessert blog Ciocovan and I thought to give it a try!

For the rhubarb layer: 400-450g rhubarb, 30g melted butter, 50g of sugar ½ teaspoon vanilla paste
For the sponge: 100g almond flour, 175g flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon cardamom powder, ½ teaspoon powdered ginger, 100 g of butter, 100g of sugar, 50g of honey, grated rind from 1 lemon, 2 eggs, 240g fat yogurt (10% fat)

First prepare the pan in which you will bake the cake. It is preferable to have a compact pan, without removable walls, so that the syrup formed during baking does not leak into the oven. If you don't have something like that, then you can wrap the base of a tray with removable walls in aluminum foil.
Prepare the mixture for the sponge:
Mix the flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, cardamom and ginger in a bowl.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, place the softened butter (let it soften at room temperature for 30 minutes), honey, sugar and lemon zest. Mix with the dough paddle until everything is homogeneous and the mixture looks like a cream.
Add the eggs one at a time and mix well after each one until incorporated into the mixture.
Add the dry ingredients mixed earlier and fold them in as well. At the end, add the yogurt and mix well.
Slowly pour the mixture over the rhubarb arranged in the tray. Level with a spatula.
Bake the cake in the preheated oven at 180C for 60-70 minutes, until it is browned on the surface and a toothpick inserted into it comes out clean.
Remove the cake from the oven and be patient for 15-20 minutes before removing it from the pan. To do this, first remove the papers from the side of the tray. Then place a large plate/tray over the pan and flip the pan over in one go.
Let the cake cool completely before slicing.

Salmon with bacon, sweetcorn and crushed potatoes

Interesting combination and soo tasty...

500g new potatoes, 80g bacon lardons, 2 salmon fillets (about 260g), 100ml white wine, 100g chicken or vegetable stock, 80g tinned sweetcorn, drained, 80ml double cream, Knob of unsalted butter, 3 spring onions, finely chopped, 2 tbsp chopped dill

 

Bring a pan of salted water to the boil. Halve the new potatoes and cook them in the boiling water for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, put the lardons in a frying pan, then cook over a low-medium heat for 3-5 minutes until crisp. Push them to the side and add the salmon, skin side down. Cook for 4 minutes until the skin is crisp and golden, then gently lift out the salmon and set aside.
Add the wine and stock to the pan and bring to a simmer. Let it bubble for around 3 minutes until reduced by half, then stir in the sweetcorn and double cream and return the salmon to the pan, skin-side up. The skin should be above the sauce, keeping it nice and crisp. Cook for a few minutes over a medium heat until the liquid has reduced slightly into a nice spoon-coating sauce. Taste and season with cracked black pepper – it may not need salt due to the reduced stock and cured bacon. Keep warm over a very low heat.
Drain the potatoes and use a potato masher to roughly crush them with the butter, spring onions and a pinch of salt and pepper. Divide between bowls and top with the salmon. Stir the dill into the sauce and drizzle over the top.

Baked Feta Pasta

The viral Tik Tok recipe that it's easy to make and tasty to eat..

500 gr cherry or grape tomatoes, 1 shallot, quartered, 3 cloves garlic, smashed,
100 ml extra-virgin olive oil, salt, crushed red pepper flakes, 1 block feta, 3 sprigs fresh thyme, 300 gr pasta, zest of 1 lemon, fresh basil, for garnish

Preheat oven to 400°. In a large ovenproof skillet or medium baking dish, combine tomatoes, shallot, garlic, and all but 1 tablespoon oil. Season with salt and red pepper flakes and toss to combine.  

Place feta into center of tomato mixture and drizzle with remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Scatter thyme sprigs over tomatoes. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until tomatoes are bursting and feta is golden on top.  

Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta until al dente according to package directions. Reserve ½ cup pasta water before draining. 

To skillet with tomatoes and feta, add cooked pasta, reserved pasta water, and lemon zest (if using) and stir until combined. Garnish with basil.

Tocană turcească de vinete

It's so tasty it's a sin!

2 eggplants, 1 white onion, 2 green onions, 3 cloves of garlic, 1 can of tomatoes, 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 500 ml water/soup, 500 gr of minced meat, 1 teaspoon oregano, 1 teaspoon paprika, salt and pepper, yogurt and fresh parsley for serving

Cut the eggplant into cubes. Salt them and put them in a bowl for half an hour to let the water drain.
Cut the onions and garlic. In a large pan, heat the 3 tablespoons of olive oil, add the minced meat and leave it there until all the water it left evaporated.
After the meat was browned, add the onion and garlic.
Let everything simmer for a few minutes, after which add the eggplant, the spices, the tomato can and the water/soup.
Let everything boil for about 25-30 minutes, during which time all the flavors combine harmoniously.
When serving, add a healthy spoonful of yogurt and fresh chopped parsley on top of each portion.

Roman Puntarelle Salad

When I went to Rome last month I discovered this salad and I was in loove....

500g puntarelle, trimmed, 100 ml extra virgin olive oil, 2-3 tbsp white wine vinegar,
6-8 anchovy fillets (in olive oil), 2 garlic cloves

Prepare the puntarelle (or for an easy life buy them ready-trimmed).
Put the olive oil, vinegar, anchovies, and chopped garlic in a bowl and whisk until well-blended and emulsified. Taste and adjust seasoning to your preference. Add the puntarelle and toss well in the dressing until coated. Serve as a side dish.

Grilled zucchini and squash salad with tahini lemon dressing

Yummy, yummy from Delicious magazine

2 zucchini, 1/4 cup (60ml) extra virgin olive oil, 1 garlic clove, crushed, 6 small yellow squash, halved, 1/2 bunch mint, leaves picked, 1/2 bunch flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked, 6 zucchini flowers, stamens removed, Zest of 1 lemon, 50g smoked almonds, roughly chopped
Tahini lemon dressing: 1/3 cup (90g) tahini, Juice of 1 lemon, 1 tsp runny honey,
1/2 tsp ground cumin 

 

Halve the zucchini lengthways and score the flesh a couple of millimetres deep into 5mm squares. Combine the oil and garlic in a large bowl. Add zucchini and squash, tossing to coat. Season with salt flakes.
Heat a barbecue or chargrill pan to medium heat. Cook zucchini and squash for 8 minutes, turning halfway, until charred and tender. Set aside to cool slightly.
For the tahini lemon dressing, combine all ingredients in a small bowl, stirring to loosen the tahini. Add 1/4 cup (60ml) water, a little at a time, stirring until dressing is thin enough to coat the zucchini mixture.
Spread tahini dressing onto a serving platter and top with zucchini and squash. Scatter with herbs, zucchini flowers, lemon zest and almonds to serve.