MEDITERRANEAN BITES

Prosciutto Canapés With Olives And Cheese

2013-04-18T08:10:00.003-07:00

Prosciutto Canapés With Olives And Cheese

You have invited a few friends for a small gathering and now you need an idea for tasty bites to serve. It’s known that the party will go better when there is something good and interesting to snack and of course something cold to drink. Here is an idea for rich canapés with prosciutto, dried sausage, cheese and olives. Also make enough pieces because they will go quickly. This is not just a light snack but a filling appetizer that your guests will like. If you're quick at chopping and slicing ingredients you won’t need more than 30 min for these canapés. However if you are slow at preparing, best is that you start making them at least one hour before the party. Have fun making this delicious appetizer. Tasty small snack bites will make everyone happy.

Ingredients:

2 long baguette (French bread)
Prosciutto 15 slices
Dry red sausage (kulen) or dry Italian sausage, sliced thinly 300g /10.5 oz/
Gouda cheese, ½ cubed 200g /7 oz/
Pickles 15 pieces, sliced
20 Green olives, halved
Lettuce 10 leaves, shredded
3 eggs, hard boiled, sliced
Cream cheese, spread 250g /1 cup/
Toothpicks

Directions:

1. Cut baguettes into 1 inch thick slices. Cut Gouda cheese into ½ inch long cubes. Slice pickles, olives and eggs.

2. Spread cream cheese on each baguette piece, put rolled prosciutto over, slice of egg, 1 cube of cheese, piece of lettuce, slice of pickle and halved olive on top. Secure with 1 toothpick.

3. Repeat the process of making canapés only instead of prosciutto put slices of dried red sausage. You will get 40 canapés, half with prosciutto and half with slices of dried sausage.

Calories: 140

Preparation time: 40 min | Serves: 40

Did You Know? Canapes are French. First time were served in the 17th century at the high court society as spicy appetizers.

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Beef And Onion Stew

2013-01-22T13:02:00.003-08:00

Beef And Onion Stew

This is a very simple beef stew. I like to cook it with beef liver, but if you don’t like to use liver in your meals, just replace it with beef stew meat. This recipe is very easy, especially for those who haven’t yet dared to make stews. It is such a tasty dish, wich can be served as a main course with, my favorite mashed potato, rice or vegetables. Try it out.

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Ingredients:

· Beef liver, diced on small cubes 300g /10.5 oz/

· 5 medium onions, thinly sliced

· Olive oil 1 tablespoon

· Salt ½ teaspoon

· Water

Directions:

1. In a saucepan combine onions, olive oil, beef liver and salt. Pour water over meat and bring to a boil.

2. Reduce the heat on medium and continue cooking for 40 min. Add water constantly, to be over meat, until onion is completely soft and tender.

3. Serve with mashed potato.

Calories: 230

Preparation time: 10 min | Cook time: 40 min | Serves: 3

Did You Know? That Louis Lassen in the 1990 inwented the hamburger!

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Potato, Egg And Pea Salad

2013-01-20T12:41:00.002-08:00

Potato, Egg And Pea Salad

This salad is very simple, just cooked potatoes, peas, carrots and eggs spiced with mayonnaise, lemon juice and sour cream dressing. Besides being healthy, tasty and easy to prepare, this salad is quite practical because it can be served hot and cold as well. I usually like to serve it as cold side dish for fish. Nice, simple and refreshing.

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Ingredients:

· 4 medium sized potatoes, peeled

· 3 eggs, hard boiled, diced

· ½ cup frozen peas, thawed

· 2 onions, sliced thinly

· 2 small carrots, peeled and cubed

· 1/3 cup mayonnaise

· 1 tablespoon sour cream

· ½ lemon, juiced

· 3 tablespoons mustard

· 1 tablespoon olive oil

· Black pepper

· Salt

Directions:

1. Place potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with water, add 1 teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and cook potatoes for 10 min until tender.

2. Add peas and cubed carrots and cook for 2 min. Drain vegetables.

3. To make salad dressing - combine in a bowl mayonnaise, sour cream, lemon juice, olive oil and mustard. Mix and add pepper and salt in a bowl.

4. In a large bowl combine cooked potatoes, peas and carrots with eggs and onions. Gently stir in salad dressing until blended. Refrigerate until chilled and serve.

Calories: 240

Preparation time: 10 min | Cook time: 12 min | Serves: 4

Did You Know? That the average person laughs 15 times a day?

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Cucumber Fritters

2013-01-18T12:21:00.003-08:00

Cucumber Fritters

Cucumber is an ideal summer food, has a large water content and its taste is almost neutral. When combined with flour and eggs, you will get nice cucumber fritters that are crispy and delicious. Everyone can make plain fritters with eggs and flour, so this recipe with cucumbers is easy as well. Cucumber fritters are great when you want a quick breakfast and you're tired of scrambled eggs and toast. You can also make them as a side dish for lunch or dinner. They are also excellent as a quick snack if you're craving for something salty. Try and see how easy it is to make it.

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Ingredients:

· 3 large cucumbers

· 3 eggs

· Butter, softened 1 tablespoon

· A pinch of baking soda

· Buckwheat flour 1 cup

· Black pepper

· Salt

· Olive oil for frying

Directions:

1. Peel and grate the cucumbers, press out and discard the juice.

2. In a large bowl combine eggs, butter, baking soda and flour. Mix well and stir in grated cucumbers. Add enough flour to make a soft batter (like thick pancake mix). Season with salt and pepper.

3. Drop a spoonful of mixture in hot oil and fry on high heat. You can fry 5-6 fritters at a time.

4. Place fritters on paper towel-lined plate.

Calories: 280

Preparation time: 10 min | Cook time: 15 min | Serves: 20

Did You Know? That 84% apple is water?

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Mini Pizzas

2013-01-16T09:23:00.001-08:00

Mini Pizzas

Everybody loves them, crunchy and rich with filling, mini pizzas are ideal for any gathering. Great solution for birthday parties, celebrations and especially for children’s birthdays. Excellent as a snack. This recipe takes a while to prepare, but once you take them out of the oven, you’ll put a smile on everyone’s face.

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Ingredients:

· Milk 300 ml /1.2 cups/

· Water 300 ml /1.2 cups/

· 1 dry active yeast 7g /2 teaspoons/

· Oil 150 ml / ½ cup/

· Salt 1 tablespoon

· Sugar 1 teaspoon

· All-purpose flour 1 kilo /2.2 pounds/

Pizza Topping:

· 3 egg yolks, beaten

· Sour cream 200 ml /1 cup/

· Butter, softened 100 g /3.5 oz/

· Ham, shredded 400 g /14 oz/

· Gouda cheese, shredded 500 g /17.6 oz/

· Mushrooms 700 g /25 oz/

· Pepperoni, chopped ½ cup

· Ketchup

· Oregano

Directions:

1. In a large bowl combine milk, water, flour, yeast, oil, salt and sugar. Knead the dough for 15 min until smooth and fluffy and doesn’t stick to a bowl.

2. Cover the dough with kithen towel and leave in a warm place to rise for at least 40 min.

3. When the dough is doubled, take out on a floured work sourface. Divide into 3 quarters.

4. Roll out each of the 3 balls with a rolling pin and use flour to prevent sticking. Spread pizza filling evenly on top of each rectangle.

5. Prepare filling in a bowl by combining egg yolk, sour cream, cheese and butter. First spread ketchup on each rectangle, spread filling over and toss ham, pepperoni and mushrooms equally. Sprinkle with oregano.

6. Roll up the filling inside the dough starting from ends. Roll the dough with your hands in jally roll fashion until you finish the entire rectangle of dough.

7. Cut the rolled dough into individual rolls with knife, making each pizza roll 3 cm /1 ½ inches/ thick.

8. Place in greased baking sheet and leave to rise for 30 min before baking.

9. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 min at 180 degree C /356 F/ until lightly browned.

Calories: 560

Preparation time: 2 hours | Bake time: 15 min | Serves: 10-15

Did You Know? That peanut is one of the ingredients of dynamite?

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Mini Cornbread Muffins

2013-01-14T12:36:00.001-08:00

Mini Cornbread Muffins

Everyones favorite muffins, so easy to make, and very lovely looking for serving at any occasion. It’a a great snack for work, frends gathering or to bring for a picnic…

This is my basic recipe, and if desired you can add varios additives in the dough, for example cheese, dried tomatoes, ham, beef jerkey or any dried meat, and whatever comes to your mind. Since I like sesame with almost every muffin recipe, I added that on top, and muffins looked great.

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Ingredients:

· 2 eggs

· Milk 2 cups

· Oil ½ cup

· All-purpose flour 2 cups

· Cornmeal 2 cups

· Cheese 50g /1.7 oz/

· Baking powder 12g /2 teaspoons/

· Sesame 50g /1.7 oz/

· Salt

· Butter 20g /0.7 oz/

Directions:

1. In a large bowl combine eggs, flour, cornmeal, baking powder, oil, milk and mix until blended. Stir in cheese and salt.

2. Preheat the oven at 160 degree C /320 F/.

3. Grease muffin cups with softened butter to avoid sticking. Pour mixture into muffin cups making them two-thirds full. Sprinkle sesame on top of each muffin.

4. Bake in the oven for 20 min until golden, brown color.

Calories: 130

Preparation time: 10 min | Bake time: 20 min | Serves: 40

Did You Know? That every six seconds, somewhere in the world opens can of meat.

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Coconut Crescent Rolls

2013-01-10T11:33:00.001-08:00

Coconut Crescent Rolls

I finally caught a bit of time to try this recipe which I found in an old, dusty cookbook. Don’t know exactly to whom from my family it belonged to, but there are couple of recipes which I wanted to try out, with some changes of course. So I baked these coconut rolls, which don’t reguire for the dough to rise, and they came out soft and sweet, just like they should be.

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Ingredients:

· 2 eggs

· Butter 250g /1 cup/

· Coconut powder 150g /5.2 oz/

· Sugar 100g /3.5 oz/

· All-purpose flour 500g /3.5 cups/

· 1 baking powder /2 teaspoons/

· Milk 100ml /0.4 cup/

· Sugar powder for dusting 50g /1.7 oz/

Directions:

1. In a large bowl combine eggs, butter, sugar and baking powder and stir.

2. Add flour, coconut powder and milk and knead the dough well for 10 min until compact and smooth mass.

3. Divide the dough into 3 parts and place on lightly floured surface. Roll each portion into 1cm /0.3 inches/ high circle, and cut each into 8 wedges.

4. Roll up wedges from the wide end and place on greased baking sheet. Curve ends to form crescent shape. Leave for 15 min to rise.

5. Bake in preheat oven at 200 degree C /392 F/ until golden color. Sprinkle with sugar powder.

Calories: 150

Preparation time: 40 min | Cook time: 15min | Serves: 50

And for advices on eating healthy, complete body care, skin and hair care and herbal remedies read on HealthAndCare Journal.

Did You Know? That one kilo pack of sugar contains more than five million grains of sugar.

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Mocha Chocolate Coffee Cake

2013-01-08T11:35:00.001-08:00

Mocha Chocolate Coffee Cake

This is a pretty simple cake that all coffee lovers will welcome. Rich, creamy and juicy cake that you can serve to everyone, even to those who prefer tea over coffee. This mocha chocolate cake will be a nice and different dessert treat.

Mocha coffee is actually coffee with milk and chocolate. Mocha is served with the same amount of espresso coffee and hot milk or dark chocolate. Some like whipped cream on top, sprinkled with cinnamon or cocoa powder. Mocha containing a mixture of coffee and chocolate was purely a European idea. Coffee received its name from the port of Mocha in Yemen. In this harbor coffee beans were traded and they were named mocha bean. Now it has become one of the most popular coffees in the world. This is just a small introduction to the wonderful recipe that follows.

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Ingredients:

Cake Batter:

· 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour

· 4 egg yolks

· 4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

· 2 teaspoons baking powder

· 6 tablespoons sugar

· 4 tablespoons vegetable oil

· 1 tablespoon instant coffee powder

· 4 tablespoons buttermilk

Mocha Frosting:

· 1 ½ cups /350g/ butter, softened

· 4 tablespoons instant coffee powder

· 3 cups /320g/ powdered sugar

· 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

· 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

· Dark chocolate, grated for decoration

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven at 180 degrees C /356 F/. Grease and flour 2 cake pans 10 inch long.

2. In a large bowl combine flour, egg yolks, cocoa powder, baking powder, sugar, vegetable oil, and buttermilk. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed. Dissolve instant coffee in hot water and add it to a mixing bowl. Beat for 2 more minutes until blended.

3. Pour mixture into prepared cake pans and bake for 30 min. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

4. Meanwhile prepare Mocha frosting. In a large mixing bowl combine softened butter and powdered sugar and beat with electric mixer until creamy. Add cocoa powder, instant coffee and vanilla extract.

5. Beat with the mixer for 3 min until mixture is smooth and fluffy. Put the frosting in the fridge for 40 min to make it more firm.

6. Spread frosting evenly over the cake layer and decorate with grated chocolate on top.

Calories: 290

Preparation time: 1 hour | Cook time: 30 min | Serves: 20

Did You Know? The most expensive coffee in the world is called Kopi Luwak and comes from Indonesia.

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Pizza Phyllo Pie

2013-01-07T06:51:00.001-08:00

Pizza Phyllo Pie

This is very quick and easy pie which can serve as a main dish when you have unexpected house guests. Everyone loves pizza, and pizza filling can be used for various types of dough, and each pizza will turn out great. This recipe is with the easiest in the world-dough, available everywhere - phyllo dough. If you haven’t prepared anything with phyllo sheets, then you should start right now. With this dough you can make a huge number of sweet, sour, salty and savory pies and each one will be a succsess. You can not go wrong with this dough. Phyllo dough is usually baked in 25 min and the pie is ready for serving. Filling can be whichever you like, use your favorite pie-filling to make this crispy pastry and have fun baking.

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Ingredients:

· 8 sheets phyllo dough

· 6 tablespoons butter, melted

· Ham, shredded 200g /7 oz/

· Mushrooms 150g /5 oz/

· Mozzarella cheese, shredded 250g /1 cup/

· 2 cloves garlic, minced

· 1 small onion, thinly sliced

· 1 teaspoon dried oregano

· Pepper

· Salt

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven at 180 degrees C / 360 F/. Brush 15inch x 10inch x 1inch baking pan with butter.

2. Lay a phyllo sheet in pan, folding edges in to fit. Brush phyllo with butter and sprinkle with half mozzarella cheese, half ham, half mushrooms, minced garlic, and onion.

3. Top with remaining phyllo sheets and brush with butter. Sprinkle with remaining half of mozzarella, ham, mushrooms, garlic, onion and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle oregano.

4. Brush the last top layer of phyllo sheets with butter.

5. Bake in the oven until crust is crisp and golden brown color. Bake for 25 min.

Calories: 195

Preparation time: 15 min | Cook time: 25 min | Serves: 16

Did You Know? That Pizza Hut serves about 1.7 million pizzas a day in the world?

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Homemade Vanilla Croissant

2013-01-06T08:45:00.001-08:00

Homemade Vanilla Croissant

Is there anything more beautiful than eating warm vanilla croissants in the morning? Great way to sweeten and start the day. It takes a while to make homemade croissants, so take a few hours in the afternoon or evening, and don’t rush into making this on quick. There will be a lot of kneading, rising, shaping and than waiting for the dough to rise. But with results you’ll put a smile on everyone’s faces, and praises won’t fail. Also, yes, sometimes we just gotta give into carbs. And by carbs I mean homemade croissants, strait out the oven. They’re sow much better than brownies. Dough in this recipe has excellent structure.

You know how croissants are nice and soft when they’re warm, and than they become little firm when cool down. Well these croissants stay quite soft and nice and the day after. That is if anything remains the day after. I strongly recommend this recipe.

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Ingredients:

· Butter 250g /1 cup/

· Plain flour 800g /6.4 cups/

· Milk 2 dl /1 cup/

· 2 ½ teaspoon Dry active yeast

· 2 tablespoons sugar

· 2 egg yolks

· 2 teaspoons salt

· Oil 2 dl /1 cup/

· Yogurt 100ml /½ cup/

· Sugar powder for dusting 20g /¼ cup/

For Vanilla Pudding:

· Vanilla instant pudding mix powder 100g /1 cup/

· Milk 500ml /2 cups/

· 3 tablespoons sugar

· 1 egg

· 1 tablespoon milk

Directions:

1. Combine in a deep bowl butter, 2 tbsp of flour, 1 cup of milk, and 2 tbsp of white sugar.

2. Take a cup and dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Add 2 egg yolk, 2 tsp of salt, oil, yogurt, dissolved yeast and blend with remaining flour. Mix well, and knead the dough until it gets smooth. The dough should clear the sides of the bowl and doesn’t stick. Cover the dough, and wrap with kitchen towel. Leave in a warm place for 1 hour.

3. Once the dough is doubled, divide it into 7 parts. Pat and stretch the dough to form a circle, than cut it into 4 triangles. Smear butter over every triangle.

4. Cook the vanilla pudding. Pour 2 cups of milk, vanilla powder and 3 tbsp of sugar and cook all until milk boils. Stir constantly. When you get a compact mass the pudding is done.

5. Smear vanilla pudding over each triangle and roll out the dough to form croissant. Repeat with all remaining 6 parts of dough and fill it with vanilla pudding.

6. In a small bowl beat together 1 egg and 1 tbsp of milk. Glaze croissants with egg wash. Preheat the oven at 200 degrees C /390 F/.

7. In oiled baking dish place croissants and bake in the oven at 200 degrees for 15-20 min. When croissants get golden brown crust, take them out.

8. Sprinkle with sugar powder.

Calories: 320

Preparation time: 2 hours | Cook time: 20 min | Serves: 28

Did You Know? That if you listen the music while eating, digestion will be more successful by 25%

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Juicy Gourmet Burgers

2013-01-05T06:57:00.001-08:00

Juicy Gourmet Burgers

This beef burger tastes as good as it looks! Many cooks like to add a bunch of extras in the burger recipe like chili pepper, Worchester sauce, basil, chopped dill, etc. Still I mostly like to make this very simple recipe for a gourmet burger that usually suit everyones taste. Gourmet burger is extremely popular in the countries of central and eastern Balkans, particularly in Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Macedonia. Not only that, but every meat tossed on the grill. This burger recipe was tested, and is good and above all simple. Burger is juicy, tasty and compliments are never lacking.

Ingredients:

· Lean ground beef 500g /1 pound/

· Onions, diced thinly 50g /1/3 cup/

· Edam cheese, shredded 50g /1/3 cup/

· Ham, shredded 50g /1/3 cup/

· 1 clove garlic, minced

· Black pepper

· Salt

Directions:

1. Preheat an outdoor grill for medium heat, and lightly oil the grate.

2. In a mixing bowl combine meat, onions, garlic, cheese and ham until evenly combined. Season with pepper and salt and mix again.

3. Form the meat mixture with hands into 2 patties.

4. Toss on preheated grill and cook for 5 min per side, until no longer pink in the center. Serve with French fries.

Calories: 460

Preparation time: 10 min | Cook time: 10 min | Serves: 2

Did You Know? In the past 40 years, the food industry had a more rapid development than the development of the world’s population?

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Chocolate Passion Cake

2013-01-04T08:37:00.001-08:00

Chocolate Passion Cake

Who can resist a lovely passion cake, rich with creamy chocolate flavour? This chocolate cake is not too complicated to prepare and it’s terribly delicious. All chocolate fans will love this recipe. Even those who prefer fruit cakes will love it. The cake is huge, there are about 25 slices, and it doesn’t take that long to make it. The most important is that I haven’t yet met someone who wasn’t thrilled with this passion cake.

Ingredients for Cake Batter:

· 4 eggs

· Sugar 4 tablespoons

· 1 Baking powder /2 teaspoons/

· All-purpose flour 4 tablespoons

· Cocoa powder 1 tablespoon

Cake Filling:

· 5 egg yolks

· Sugar powder 200g /7 oz/

· Dark chocolate 200g /7 oz/

· Butter, softened 250g /9 oz/

· Heavy whipping cream 250 ml /1 cup/

· Grated chocolate 50g /1.7 oz/ for decoration

Directions:

1. Combine eggs, sugar, baking powder, flour and cocoa and beat with electric mixer until smooth mass.

2. Bake in the preheated oven at 170 degree C /338 F/ for 20 min until the batter gets firm to the touch. Leave to cool.

3. Take a thin knife to cut through the batter, to get two thin cake crusts.

4. For the filling first melt the chocolate in small saucepan. Beat with electric mixer 5 egg yolks and half of sugar powder until smooth foam. Stir in melted chocolate.

5. In another large bowl beat softened butter and other half of sugar powder until smooth mass. Combine with first chocolate filling and stir in.

6. Beat heavy whipped cream until firm and smooth and stir in with the rest of the chocolate filling.

7. Spread the filling on the bottom crust, put the second crust over and spread filling over the cake. Decorate with grated chocolate on top.

Calories: 430

Preparation time: 40 min | Cook time: 25 min | Serves: 25

And for advices on eating healthy, complete body care, skin and hair care and herbal remedies read on HealthAndCare Journal.

Did You Know? That Napoleon reportedly carried chocolate on all of his military invasions?

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Baked Pasta With Mushrooms

2013-01-03T09:30:00.001-08:00

Baked Pasta With Mushrooms

If you need to save up a little, than this inexpensive dish is a good choice for lunch or dinner. Baked pasta is a meal that everyone will know how to prepare. It’s easy, just parboil pasta, perhaps seashell or penne, and add cooked mushrooms, eggs and cheese. You’ll need 30 min only. Mix everything up and it’s ready for baking in the oven. Although when you make this dish often, after a time you can get bored with it. Change the recipe than. Instead of mushrooms add minced meat, or some different vegetables. I like to make this pasta with zucchinis, or just with cheese. In any case it’s a pretty cheap meal that tastes good.

Ingredients:

· Seashell pasta 500g /1 pound/

· Mushrooms 1 kg /2 pounds/

· 4 eggs

· Milk 500ml /2 cups/

· Cheese 250g /7 oz/

· Oil 5 tablespoons

· Salt

Directions:

1. Put pasta in boiling water and add 1 tablespoon salt. If you don’t want your pasta to stick, add 3 tablespoon of oil in water. While pasta is cooking prepare the mixture.

2. In a bowl whisk 4 eggs, milk and cheese. Add half teaspoon of salt.

3. Add little oil in the pan and fry the mushrooms.

4. When mushrooms get golden color remove the pan from the heat. Stir in fried mushrooms with pre-made mixture.

5. When pasta is cooked, strain it unwashed, and pour into a deep baking tray. Pour mixture over pasta.

6. Bake it in oven at 200C /390 F/ for 25 min.

Calories: 310

Preparation time: 15 min | Cook time: 30 min | Serves: 6

Did You Know? In

Austria

’s glacier was discovered the “iceman”, a middle-aged man who lived 5300 years ago. In his bag were found two mushrooms.

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Soft Beer Pretzels With Sesame

2012-12-29T11:43:00.001-08:00

Soft Beer Pretzels With Sesame

The other day I needed to bring some snacks for friends gathering. Instead of buying all sort of salty and sweet snacks from the store I decided to make salty pretzels with sesame. I was in need of a recipe where the dough doesn’t take hours to rise. So I combined recipes that I found on a web, into this one. The pretzels were a hit and everyone liked freshly baked pretzels. I shaped smaller size pretzels, so it turned out to be enough for everybody.

Also to make pretzels even more mouth-watering grease them with mixture of salt and soft butter. Make sure that the mixture is thick and grease it with spoon. This is a nice snack recipe that everyone will love.

Ingredients:

· Light beer 200ml /0.8 cup/

· Oil 200ml /0.8 cup/

· White flour 4 cups

· 1 tablespoon salt

· 1 tablespoon sesame

· 1 baking powder /2 teaspoons/

· 1 egg

· 1 dry active yeast 7g /0.2 oz/

Directions:

1. Combine in a large bowl beer, oil, yeast and baking powder.

2. Mix all and add sesame, salt and pour flour. Knead the dough for few minutes until it becomes smooth and doesn’t stick to the bowl.

3. Do not rise the dough. Stretch it, and with a sharp knife cut the dough into stripes 1 cm /0.3 inches/ wide. Take the stripes and form into pretzels.

4. Take a large greased baking sheet and place pretzels.

5. Lightly beat 1 egg and brush on pretzels.

6. Bake pretzels in the oven at 175 degree C /350 F/.

Calories: 105

Preparation time: 30 min | Cook time: 25 min | Serves: 20-30

Did You Know? That the grape will explode of you put it in the microwave

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Ham And Cheese Phyllo Pie

2012-12-29T10:18:00.002-08:00

Ham And Cheese Phyllo Pie

Ham and cheese pie is made in many different recipes. Sometimes we can use ingredients that we already bought, and often we put ingredients that are currently in the refrigerator. I especially like to make quick pies. The ones that doesn’t require hours of choosing ingredients at the market. To make this pie I grated ham and cheese, added sour cream and mixed everything. Placed the mixture in phyllo pastry dough and in the oven. And everyone was happy. Pie can be served for lunch or dinner.

Ingredients:

9 sheets phyllo dough
3 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 baking powder /2 teaspoons/
1 dl / 1/3 cup/ oil
100g /3.5 oz/ ham, grated
5 pickles
50g /2.5 oz/ bacon
100ml / ½ cup/ sour cream
100g /3.5 oz/ cheese
Salt

Directions:

1. Grate 5 pickles and ham. Cut bacon into slices.

2. Whisk the eggs in a deep bowl and add flour, cream, cheese and baking powder. Mix everything together. Add half teaspoon of salt.

3. Mix in it grated ham, bacon and pickles.

4. If the mixture is too thick add milk. It needs to be thicker than the mass for pancakes and waffles.

5. Take a large oiled baking tray. Develop 3 phyllo sheets and place in a baking tray. Pour mixture. If you want, add oregano to the mixture. Place another layer of 3 phyllo sheets over and pour mixture. Repeat once more and brush the last layer of phyllo sheets with oil.

6. Bake it in the oven at 170 C /338 F/ for 30 min until it gets golden crust.

Calories: 285

Preparation time: 20-30 min | Cook time: 30 min | Serves: 6-8

Did You Know? With consumption of 41 pound of cheese in

Switzerland

per person, the land of cheese reached a new record, which is 10 ounces per person

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Neptune Egzotic Seafood Plate

2012-12-06T12:55:00.001-08:00

Neptune Egzotic Seafood Plate

Here is a gorgeous recipe with various seafood, grilled and with vegetables. Seafood is a usual meal in Montenegro, at least in areas surronding Adriatic Sea. Many of us eat salmon, tuna, shellfish and we don’t really know how much is fish actually healthy. We eat fish because is tasty, but seafood is a source of vitamins and minerals, and has plenty omega-3 fatty acids. So try this healthy and very delicious seafood plate combined with few kinds of fresh fish.

Ingredients:

· Octopus, cooked and cut into small bites 200g /7 oz/

· Squid, each cleaned, cut into thin pieces 300g /10.5 oz/

· Shrimps, fresh 300g /10.5 oz/

· Mussel’s 4-5 pieces

· St Pierre (John Dory) fish, filet cut into slices 300g /10.5 oz/

· 1 Eggplant, cut into slices

· 1 Zucchini, cut into slices

· 1 Tomato, cut into slices

· 1 Red pepper, cut into slices

· Mushrooms, cut into small slices 100g /3.5 oz/

· 1 Lemon

· 1 Leaf of lettuce

· Salt

· Black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat the outdoor grill for high heat, and lightly oil grate.

2. Place octopus on grill, add squids, shrimps, John Dory filets and mussels. Stir and cook all fish on both sides for 10 min.

3. When the fish is done place vegetables on grill. Cook eggplant, zucchini, tomato, red pepper and mushrooms for 10 min. Cook on both sides on high heat until golden, brown.

4. On a large plate place lettuce and arrange all the cooked fish and vegetables. Decorate with lemon.

Calories: 490

Preparation time: 40 min | Cook time: 20 min | Serves: 4

And for advices on eating healthy, complete body care, skin and hair care and herbal remedies read on HealthAndCare Journal.

Did You Know? One carrot contains more than 200% of recommended daily dose of vitamin A?

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Peanut Cake With Vanilla

2012-12-06T11:34:00.002-08:00

Peanut Cake With Vanilla

I simply adore desserts that contain peanut taste. Like peanut butter cookies, or cakes, but in this cake recipe I will use grinded and baked peanuts. They are great and delicious ingredients for cakes. Especially if the peanuts are baked for about 15 min in the oven, or in a pan on low heat, and then grinded. It gives the cake great, tasty flavor. Also the peanuts should be unsalted. I made this cake for my last birthday and it was a crowd pleaser. A bonus point for this recipe is that there’s no baking for cake batter and filling. Indulge yourself with this lovely peanut cake.

Ingredients For Cake Batter:

· 5 vanilla instant pudding mix powder 200g /1 cup/

· Milk 1 ½ liter /6.3 cups/

· 10 tablespoons white sugar

· Butter, softened 450g /2 cups/

First Cake Filling:

· Ground biscuit 300g /10.5 oz/

· Grated chocolate 50g /1.7 oz/

· Powdered sugar 160g /5.6 oz/

Second Cake Filling:

· Coconut powder 300g /10.5 oz/

· Powdered sugar 160g /5.6 oz/

Third Cake Filling:

· Unsalted peanuts 300g /10.5 oz/

· Powdered sugar 160g /5.6 oz/

· Cold heavy whipped cream 250ml /1 cup/

Directions:

1. Cake batter is not baked. In deep dish cook together milk, all vanilla instant powder and add 10 tbsp of sugar. Cook until milk boils; stir constantly until the mass becomes smooth and compact.

2. When vanilla pudding is cooled, add softened butter. Mix the mass well using electric mixer. Divide into 3 separate deep bowls. We will mix vanilla pudding with 3 different cakes filling and create 3 layers.

3. In a first vanilla pudding bowl add grounded biscuit, grated chocolate and sugar powder. Mix everything good with electric mixer, and make a first bottom layer. Form with your hands, or spoon, layer 1,5 cm high.

4. In the second bowl add coconut powder and sugar powder. Mix all and form the second layer on top of the first one. Form with your hands 1,5 cm high layer.

5. For the last layer bake the peanuts in the oven. Bake only for 15 min until they get golden, brown color. Or if you wish bake them in a pan on low heat. Than take them out and leave to cool. Grind baked peanuts.

6. In a third bowl add grinded peanuts and sugar powder. Mix it well and form last cake layer on top.

7. For frosting mix in a bowl cold heavy cream until it gets tick. Spread it and decorate on top of a cake.

Calories: 610

Preparation time: 1 hour | Cook time: 15 min | Serves: 24

Did You Know? That…in the Middle Ages sugar was extremely valuable and was worth 9 times more than milk

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Simple Cheese Pie

2012-12-04T07:00:00.001-08:00

Simple Cheese Pie

Love everything that has cheese in it, pies, tarts, cakes, dishes, but my favorite is cheese pie. Never liked to complicated meals which take hours to make, I preffer to cook quick dishes with no fuss. For this pie you need 25 min, few ingredients and that’s all. One of the easiest pie recipes in which I used phyllo sheets. Whenever I have little time for cooking I choose this pie for lunch, dinner or snack. Its well moistened, easy and tasty cheese pie.

Ingredients:

· 9 phyllo sheets

· Cheese 250g /7 oz/

· Sour cream 100ml / ½ cup/

· Butter, softened 100g /1/3 cup/

· 3 eggs

· Baking powder 2 teaspoons

· Milk 100m / 1/3 cup/

Directions:

1. Whisk in a bowl eggs and milk.

2. Mix together sour cream, cheese and oil. Add baking powder and salt. This mixture can be hand-stired.

3. Preheat the oven at 170C /340 F/.

4. Take a large oiled baking tray. Develop and place the phyllo sheets in the tray. Pour the mixture over the sheets and cover with another layer of phyllo sheets. Bake it in oven for 25min until the pie is golden brown.

Calories: 250

Preparation time: 25 min | Cook time: 25 min | Serves: 6

Did You Know? With consumption of 41 pound of cheese in

Switzerland

per person, the land of cheese reached a new record, which is 10 ounces per person

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Creamed Peas, Corn And Cheese Cake

2012-12-01T07:08:00.001-08:00

Creamed Peas, Corn And Cheese Cake

Salty, delicious and rich cake that is made with 3 creamy layers. When I first tried it I really liked the combination of cooked vegetables, corn, eggs, ham and sour crème. It needs a bit of effort to make this cake. Takes about an hour to cook and prepare all the ingredients, and then forming layers. The effort will definitely pay off when you taste this gorgeous cake.

Notice: potatoes should be properly selected and not overcooked.

This is my favorite savory cake recipe and I think is more delicious than any cheese cake. It can be served as a cold appetizer, but it can also be excellent dinner or breakfast.

Ingredients:

· 1 small can /12 oz/ peas

· 1 small can /12 oz/ sweet corn

· Mayonnaise 600ml /2.5 cups/

· Sour cream 750ml /3 cups/

· 1 small can pickles

· Ketchup 50g / ¼ cup/

· 2 packages of toasted bread

· Gouda cheese, grated 60g / ½ cup/

· Ham 150g /5.2 oz/

· 6 eggs, boiled

· 5 medium sized potatoes

Directions:

1. Boil potatoes in salted water. Boil 6 eggs. Grate the potatoes.

2. This dish is made in the form of a cake, and it has three layers. Grated potatoes and mayonnaise will be divided into three bowls because these ingredients are going into each layer.

3. First, the bottom layer: On a large platter arrange the toasted bread in a form of a crust for the cake. Open a can of peas and remove excess water, pour the peas into a bowl and pour the sweet corn from the can. Add in a bowl half of the sour cream and part of mayonnaise and part of potato. Add 2 grated eggs. Grate half of a can of pickles and add to the mixture. Add salt by taste. Then spread the mixture from the bowl on toasted bread equally. The first layer is done.

4. The second, middle layer: Re-arrange the toasted bread. Grate ham and mix it in a bowl with half of ketchup. Then add a little sour cream, part of mayonnaise and part of the potato. Season it with salt. Spread the mixture over toasted bread, and the middle layer is finished.

5. Third, the top layer: Re-arrange the toasted bread again. Grate 3 eggs and half of the remaining can of pickles. Mix the ingredients in a bowl and season with salt. Spread the mixture on toasted bread. Then on top again put the last layer of toasted bread and spread over the remaining sour cream. Grate cheese over as a decoration. Leave the cake at least for 2 hours to cool in the refrigerator.

Calories: 305

Preparation time: 1 hour | Cook time: 20 min | Serves: 20

Did You Know? Ketchup was in the first half of the 19^th century sold in Western Europe as… medicine

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Spinach Omelet

2012-11-30T03:45:00.001-08:00

Spinach Omelet

There is no faster meal than omelet, and there’s nothing you can not add to an omelet to make it tastier. Excellent way to start your day. And while cook experts are still in dispute over the basic difference between scrambled eggs and omelets, I like them both. So some add milk, other add flour I recommend this easy omelet recipe in which I added cheese, spinach and sour cream. Spinach will give beautiful greenish color, and cheese will give distinct flavor. Add toast to a side and enjoy.

Ingredients:

Fresh spinach 500g /17.6 oz/
3 eggs
3 tablespoons sour cream
4 tablespoons cheese (Parmesan)
2 tablespoons breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon butter, softened
Parsley
Salt

Directions:

1. Cook spinach in boiling water. When it gets soft, take out and cut spinach into thin stripes.

2. Whisk eggs in a bowl.

3. Add 3 tbsp of sour cream, 4 tbsp of cheese, 2 tbsp of breadcrumbs and season with salt. Combine everything and add spinach in a bowl.

4. On preheated and oiled pan fry the spinach omelet. Sprinkle with parsley at the end.

Calories: 220

Preparation time: 10 min | Cook time: 8 min | Serves: 2

Did You Know? Consumption of spinach in the U.S. jumped 33% thanks to the popularity of comic strip Popeye in 1931!

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Easy Pasta With Mushrooms

2012-11-08T01:48:00.002-08:00

Easy Pasta With Mushrooms

Pastas are made in many shapes, different taste and color. What’s common is that almost everyone loves pasta, and it’s easy and quick to make. The usual color of pasta is green, and it comes from spinach. Next to it there’s red pasta, which comes from tomato puree. The most common question regarding preparation is- how long should we cook pasta?

The answer is simple; pasta should be cooked in very salty water. For every 400g of pasta should be 4 liters of water, and 4 tablespoons of salt. To test how well is cooked, try a piece of pasta, if it’s soft and stringy, then it’s well cooked. If later you would bake pasta, like lasagnas in the oven, than don’t cook it thoroughly.

Ingredients:

Shell pasta 500g /1 pound/
Mushrooms 600g /21 oz/

For Béchamel Sauce:

Butter 50g / 3 tablespoons/
Plain flour 50g / ½ cup/
Milk 500ml /2 cups/
Cheese 150g /4 oz/
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Directions:

1. Boil seashell pasta in water to which was added 1 tablespoon of salt and 2 tablespoons of oil.

2. Put in the pan washed and sliced mushrooms. Add half a teaspoon of salt and fry mushrooms on increased heat. Stir the mushrooms and fry until they get golden color.

3. Make béchamel sauce as dressing. Put the butter in a pan, and melt it and add flour. Stir constantly and cook the sauce on low heat.

4. When the sauce gets cream color, add milk, salt and pepper. Stir and continue to cook until the mixture becomes thick, and then the sauce is done.

5. When the pasta is boiled, strain it, without rinsing in water.

6. Pour béchamel sauce over pasta and add mushrooms. Stir it and serve the dish.

Calories: 680

Preparation time: 30 min | Cook time: 30min | Serves: 4-5

And for advices on eating healthy, complete body care, and herbal remedies read on HealthAndCare Journal.

Did You Know? Pastas emerge in Italy thanks to the Arabs; the first long noodles were brought to Sicily by Arab conquerors in 7 century!

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Vegetarian Beer Rolls

2012-11-08T01:03:00.001-08:00

Vegetarian Beer Rolls

I made this recipe now for the first time. I tried it a couple of nights ago at my friends and I really liked it, although this recipe is my variation. The rolls are light and doesn’t take that much to bake them in the oven. The preparation is always longer than baking, but it’s worth it. Beer gives great taste to the dough and grated lemon gives a little sour taste. Filling with marmalade is a great contrast to beer taste, the mixture will surprise you. And than sprinkle with sugar, which gives perfect taste to the rolls. Beer rolls are nice for dessert or snack.

Ingredients:

Beer 250ml / 1.1 cups/
All-purpose flour 7 cups
Oil 200ml /0.8 cup/
Grated lemon crust
1 Baking powder 12g /2 teaspoon/
Marmalade 100g /3.5 oz/
Powdered sugar 50g /1.7 oz/
1 dry active yeast 7g / 0.2 oz/

Directions:

1. Combine in a large bowl oil, yeast, beer, baking powder, grated lemon, and flour.

2. Mix everything well, and knead the dough until it gets smooth. The dough shouldn’t stick to a bowl.

3. Divide and form the dough into few pieces. Cut each peace into 8 parts. Smear marmalade over each piece equally and roll the dough.

4. Place rolls in an oiled baking tray and bake it in the oven at 390 degree for 25 min. Sprinkle rolls with sugar powder.

Calories: 160

Preparation time: 30 min | Cook time: 25 min | Serves: 50

Did You Know? That is scientifically proven that curses make us feel better, that is, they make it less traumatic to overcome the pain and agony of an experience

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Fried Calzone – Panzerotti

2012-11-07T12:43:00.001-08:00

Fried Calzone – Panzerotti

Perfect, soft and delicious. In short description of these calzones or as we on Balkans call them “panzerotti”. Usually you will find recipe for baked calzones, but I like to fry them in deep oil. I know it’s not a low-calorie food, it’s a complete opposite, but sometimes we can indulge ourselves. This is the ultimate comfort food recipe. Though similar pastries baked in the oven are equally delicious. Fot those who are on a diet, just look at the images and those who love good food, try them.

Ingredients:

All-purpose flour 1 kilo /2.2 pounds/
2 cups water
Oil 50ml / ¼ cup/
1 dry active yeast 7g /2 teaspoons/
Oil for frying 300ml / 1.2 cups/

For Filling:

Ricotta cheese 200g /7 oz/
Sour cream 200ml /0.8 cup/
Ham, shredded 200g /7 oz/
2 large leeks, sliced thinly
Salt

Directions:

1. In a large bowl combine flour, water, oil, and yeast. Knead the dough for 10 min until smooth. The dough shouldn’t stick to a bowl.

2. Cover with kitchen towel and leave the dough in a warm place to rise for at least 40 min.

3. Prepare the filling by combining in a bowl cheese, sour cream, ham, leeks and salt.

4. When the dough is doubled, take out on a floured work sourface. Roll out the dough and cut out pieces with a round cup.

5. Stretch every round piece with hands, and stuff with 2 teaspoon of filling. Fold dough over to enclose the filling, and press edges together to seal the calzone.

6. Heat the oil for frying in a deep pan. Fry each calzone on high heat until golden, brown color.

Calories: 590

Preparation time: 1 hour | Cook time: 25 min | Serves: 50

And for advices on eating healthy, complete body care, skin and hair care and herbal remedies read on HealthAndCare Journal.

Did You Know? That watermelon is a vegetable, and tomato is a fruit?

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Sun Dried Tomato Sausage Pasta

2012-11-07T10:47:00.001-08:00

Sun Dried Tomato Sausage Pasta

In Montenegro we like to serve as an appetizer all kinds of dried sausages, pork, beef, along with beef jerky, lots of Cheddar and Gouda cheese and olives. So making pasta with dried sausages and sundried tomato sauce with garlic is one of my favorite pasta dishes. Sauce with dried sausages fits very well with any pasta and spaghetti; it’s also a high-calorie and full of salt food. Treat yourself occasionally with this dish, but not to often.

Ingredients:

Farfalle pasta 500g /1 pound/
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 small onions, sliced thinly
4 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons sundried tomato paste
Dried sausage, chopped 400g /14 oz/
2 teaspoon mild chili powder
1 can tomato sauce 150g /6 oz/
Salt
Parsley

Directions:

1. Fill a deep pot with water and add 1 tablespoon of salt and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Cook until boil and add farfalle pasta. Cook and stir occasionally until pasta is soft. Drain without rinsing.

2. While pasta is cooking, take a large saucepan and add 2 tablespoons of oilive oil, sliced onions and 1 cup of water. Cook for 10 min until onions is very soft and tender.

3. In saucepan add garlic, dried sausages, sundried tomato paste and chili powder. Cook and stir for 3 min.

4. Pour tomato sauce in saucepan and cook and stir for 5 min.

5. Serve sauce over pasta and sprinkle with parsley.

Calories: 540

Preparation time: 25 min | Cook time: 25 min | Serves: 6

And for advices on eating healthy, complete body care, skin and hair care and herbal remedies read on HealthAndCare Journal.

Did You Know? On Earth there is so much gold that can cover the entire Earth layer in one meter thick?

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Classic Cream Puffs

2012-11-07T09:46:00.001-08:00

Classic Cream Puffs

Cream puffs in the Balkans are called “Princess Donuts” and are extremely popular cookies. They are the ultimate comfort dessert. Warm, cozy so lovely and beautiful looking, dusted with sugar to have a sharper taste are a famous French pastry. This is an excellent classic recipe for puff pastry with creamy and fluffy homemade vanilla filling.

Note: while preparing dough for puffs if you add too much flour, dough can get too stiff and puffs will not rise during baking. The same will happen if dough is more liquid than solid. Important is that density of the dough should be adequate, smooth and thick.

Homemade cream puffs will wow your guests with its amazing looks and even better taste. The recipe is not that complicated so you only have to follow it exactly, and have fun making it.

Ingredients:

6 eggs
Butter, softened 120g / ½ cup/
All-purpose flour, sifted 150g /1 cup/
Water 250ml /1 cup/
1 teaspoon baking soda

For Filling:

Milk 500ml /2 cups/
4 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
All-purpose flour 80g / ¾ cup/
1 teaspoon vanilla
Butter, softened 120g / ½ cup/
Powdered sugar for dusting

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C /356 F/. Grease and flour or line with parchment paper a large baking sheet.

2. In a pot pour water and bring to a boil. Add butter and cook for 3 min until completely melted. Quickly stir in flour and cook for 1 min until soft dough ball forms. Remove from heat and let dough to rest for 7 min.

3. Add 6 eggs, one at a time and stir well with spoon. Add baking soda. Dough should be sticky and thick. Dough is for 30 puff balls.

4. Drop about ¼ cup of dough by spoonfull on prepared baking sheet. There should be about 12 dough balls. Bake in the oven for 25-30 min until puffs are golden, brown. When done set aside to cool.

5. To prepare filling in a small bowl whisk egg and sugar. Pour milk in a saucepan and cook over medium heat. Stir in egg mixture, flour and vanilla. Stir and cook until milk boils and mixture is thick and smooth. Leave aside to chill.

6. When mixture is chilled, add butter and beat with an electric mixer.

7. When puffs are cooled, cut tops of each puff and fill with cream mixture. Dust with powdered sugar.

Calories: 210

Preparation time: 35 min | Cook time: 1 hour | Serves: 30

And for advices on eating healthy, complete body care, skin and hair care and herbal remedies read on HealthAndCare Journal.

Did You Know? That every bird must eat at least half its own weight in food each day to survive?

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