Strawberries and cream cheese (Bianca)

Yesterday was Valentine's Day, so I decided to make it special, but nothing fancy. And since I celebrated the day with my best friend, my daughter Stephanie, we agreed to do girl stuff. For her, girls stuff means cooking or shopping :) It's being a long day in school for her, then lots of homeworks, so we skipped the shoppings and got to do the cooking. That's the one thing one can never go wrong with her. She loves to try things in the kitchen.
We wanted to make something that's quick, good and fun too ... so we did stuffed strawberries.
What we needed:
- 500 g fresh strawberries
- 75 g chocolate cream cheese spread
- 75 g cream cheese
- 1 tbls honey
- chopped nuts ( optional) to sprinkel on top ...or anything you want  


First we washed the strawberries.

 Then we cut off the top.

We scooped out the middle.

We use ready made chocolate cream cheese spread and we mixed 1 tbsp of honey with 75 g cream cheese and placed the mixes in pastry bags.

Now Stephanie filled each strawberry, then she sprinkled chopped nuts and sugar hearts on them.

And this is what we ended up with :) 

I hope you all had a nice Valentine's Day! Pin It Now!

Modern Romanian cuisine (3) - My ''Mamaliga''

Romania isn't best known for its food but it will be....I know. There is an incredibly rich culinary tradition here, homegrown in Romania, born out of the necessities of life, brought in by the Ottomans, Germans, Russians, Serbians, Hungarians.... Add to that a generous climate, fertile soil and the Black See that provide fabulous ingredients in abundance and you are ready to feast.
To understand Romania and to understand mămăliga, you have to understand traditional Romanian culture.
Historically, Romanians ate this golden bread (mămăliga - made from cornmeal) as a replacement to bread. It is inexpensive, easy to do every day, in every season and could be found in every house.
Mămăliga is similar to a porridge made out of wheat of cornmeal traditional for Romania. It is better known to the rest of the world in its Italian form named polenta.
Traditionally, mămăliga is cooked by boiling water, salt and cornmeal in a special-shaped cast iron pot called ''ceaun'' or ''tuci''.
Mămăliga is much thicker than the regular Italian polenta to the point that it can be cut in slices with a string, like bread.
Sometimes, mămăliga can be much softer, almost to the consistency of porridge.
Mămăliga is a fat-free, cholesterol-free, high-fiber food. It can be used as a healthy alternative to more refined carbohydrates such as white bread, white pasta or white rice.
In Romania, mămăliga is used as a bread substitute and can be served all day:
-with sour cream and jam for breakfast,
-stuffed with cheese and served with pickles as a all day meal
- used as the starchy base for meaty stews, grills, Sarmale recipe here….etc, at dinner.

Today I will introduce you to mămăliga, not in a traditional way of preparation, to demonstrate how versatile and deeply satisfying this peasant dish can be.Parmesan and Rosemary Polenta with Wild Boar Stew
Mamaliga cu rosmarin si parmesan servita cu tocanita de porc mistret
Serves 6 to 8
Rosemary Polenta
Ingredients150 gr of polenta
400 ml of chicken or vegetable stock
400 ml of water
100 gr of grated Parmesan cheese
fresh rosemary, chopped
olive oil
salt
Preparation
In a cast iron pot ''ceaun'' or ''tuci',' or a pot, add the water and stock to boil.
After water is boiling, reduce heat to the lowest possible setting.
Add salt and rosemary. Gradually stir in polenta; cook, stirring the mixture constantly, for 3 to 5 minutes or until polenta thickens and pulls away from sides of pot.
Stir in Parmesan and olive oil. Once it begins to stick to the side of your pot, before collapsing back into the mix, the mamaliga is done.
To prepare stew
Ingredients:
5 tablespoons olive oil
2 large onion chopped
1 kg boneless wild boar meat, cubed 1-2cm
1 tbs white flour
1/2 bottle of red wine
400 ml beef stock
400 gr canned chopped tomatoes
3 bay leaves from real spice
5 cloves garlic, crushed
1 dried chili peppers crushed from real spice
1 cinnamon stick from real spice
250 gr carrots chopped
250 gr celery sticks chopped
100 gr dry prunes
6 sun-dried tomatoes
fresh thyme chopped
fresh rosemary, chopped
salt and black pepper to taste
Directions:
To prepare stew, in a large cast-iron pot, saute the onion in olive oil until translucent.
Add and cook the meat over high heat, turning frequently, just until it's cooked on the outside. Add the flour and mix to incorporate. Add the wine and beef stock. Add the canned tomatoes and the bay leaves.
Gradually add the garlic, dried chili, cinnamon stick, sun-dried tomatoes, carrots, celery, prunes, herbs, and salt and black pepper to taste.
Simmer on low and stir occasionally for at least two hours or longer if possible.
The stew is ready to eat when the meat has totally fallen apart and most of the liquid has been absorbed by the meat.

Take out the cinnamon stick and bay leaves before serving.

Serve over the polenta or with pasta and top with grated cheese or parmesan bisquit.
Accompany with a full bodied red wine, and enjoy with good company.
Here you can find mamaliga not in a traditional way of preparation.
With Tiger Prawns and avocado salsa.

 ''Mamaliga'' with scalops and salmon rulade.

 ''Mamaliga'' with cod wraped in parma ham and lobster bisque.

 Black ''mamaliga '' with squid ink served with Tiger prawns.

 Red ''mamaliga'' with venison filet, goats cheese, red onions marmalade and thyme sauce.

 Filet of lamb with feta and aubergines roulade served with goats milk ''mamaliga'' and olive puree.

''Mamaliga'' stufed with goats cheese and served with fresh tomato sauce and catalan herbs olive oil.
Enjoy! Pin It Now!

''Taste of Estonia''

''Taste of Estonia''
The modern cuisine album "Estonian à la carte" is now available.
- 31 restaurants and cafes Chefs, carefully selected for the 2011 modern Estonian food.
- 100 inspiring recipes with food pictures- Chefs own authored.
- 288 pages / hardcover
The book is in English and Estonian.
Price - 25 Euros.
The book is now out in stores.
How to buy it? You can purchase a signed copy directly from me (send your request to nlontras@yahoo.ie with full details of name and address) which will cost you 25 euros + transport or you can purchase a regular book from „Rahva Raamat“ or „Apollo“ shops.
Please allow approximately 2 - 4 weeks for ground delivery. Refunds or exchanges are possible only in special circumstances. Contact me if any questions at nlontras@yahoo.ie .
The following pictures are from the book!

''Cuisine is the calling card, and cooks symbolic ambassadors, representing their country.
Food is and will remains one of the peculiarity of a great opportunity to introduce to the world of local traditions, values
and skills, and domestic raw material" says chef Dimitri Demjanov foreword to the album.
Contact me if any questions at nlontras@yahoo.ie .
Thanks and enjoy! Pin It Now!

Goan Fish Curry

A traditional fish curry from south-west part of India - Goa. Like most of the Goan food, this dish is hot and delicious....especially for those who love shellfish and spicy food.
Fish is a staple food in the Goan cuisine, but also includes all types of meat and vegetables, each cooked in its on unique way. Traditional Goan food is cooked on a wood fire that brings extra, unique flavor which no gourmet chef can duplicate in the modern day kitchen.
Almost all the food in Goa is served along rice. This style of fish curry is tangy and spicy.
Today I will present you my way of doing this delicious dish. I like this curry with large Tiger Prawns but you can use any shell fish or any fish with firm flesh.
Goan Fish Curry Recipe  for 10 portions
Goan  Curry Paste
5 whole red chilies or 2 tbs. crushed dry chilies
2 tsp. coriander powder from
2 tsp. cumin Seeds
2 tsp. turmeric powder
2 tsp. roughly chopped garlic
2 tbsp. roughly chopped ginger
1 tbsp. tamarind paste
To make the paste add all the ingredients to a blender with 5cl of water.

For the curry
1kg of clean mix shell fish (prawns, scallops, baby octopus, mussels)
1kg of large tiger prawns
coconut oil for frying
500gr diced onions
500gr chopped tomatoes
400 ml coconut Milk
4 green chilies deseeded.
500 ml ready fish bullion
Salt to taste.
Heat the coconut oil in a pot or wok. Add onions and sauté well until golden brown. Add the Goan paste to it and then add the chopped tomatoes and cook on low for about 2-3 minutes.
Add coconut Milk and fish bullion and bring to boil. Add salt to taste.
Add shell fish and green chilies to it and let it simmer for 5-7 Minutes.
For the Tiger Prawns
1kg of large tiger prawns
2 tsp. butter
2 clove of garlic crushed
juice from one lemon
Cook the tiger prawns on the grill, brushed with butter, garlic and lemon juice.
To serve
I serve this curry with plain boiled brown rice and some cucumber and yogurt salad with coriander and mint which makes for a balanced satisfying meal.
Garnish the Goan curry with grilled Tiger prawns and fresh coriander.

As well you can serve this with chapatis or popodomus, or simply on its own as a satisfying meal for lunch or dinner.
Enjoy!
You can buy all TRS spices here- www.real-spice.eu

Pin It Now!