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.

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

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.

The Fun Theory

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

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:

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...

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.