foodshots

Foraging through unkempt gardens

2012-09-14T08:28:00.001-07:00

Unkempt gardens are the best places where you can find fruit that grows spontaneously and unaided by modern chemicals and other plants that you would expect to take a long walk though the forest for. Here's the scoop:

I had some help - shy at first

But willing to give a loving helping hand eventually

We found piles of small golden and green apples.

Baby stinging nettle and mint

But the discovery for me were the elder fruits. You can find them hanging in the sun, ripening and waiting for you

I decided to pick as many as I could [approx. 3 kilos and another 3 afterwards]

And made the most delicious jam ever - with bourbon vanilla and lemon juice.

Other items on the day's menu were a thick gazpacho

And nettle puree with romanian polenta

All in all, it was a fun day

Courgette and mushroom summer pie

2012-07-27T04:01:00.000-07:00

This is a recipe I've got from a friend by word of mouth (very surreal nowadays).

So here it is:

Ingredients

Crust:

250 grams flour
8 grams yeast (fresh)
a teaspoon sugar
a tablespoon warm water
70 grams butter (melted)
3-4 tablespoons milk
one egg and one yolk

Filling:

350 grams [more is equally fine] cheese mix of your choice (make sure you use one salty cheese, with a more powerful taste and one fat cheese that will melt when baked)
a tablespoon dried thyme - I buy my thyme fresh and dry it myself
one egg and the egg white you didn't use in the crust
black pepper

Topping:

one and a half zucchini, courgette or [better] both
6-7 medium sized champignon mushrooms
100 grams cheese
pinch salt, pinch pepper

Method

Crust:

In a cup, mix the yeast and the sugar until the yeast liquifies. Add warm water and a teaspoon of the flour. Let sit for 5 mins. Then mix it well with all the other ingredients.

Let rest and rise while you prepare the filling and toppings.

Filling:

Grate the cheese and then mix with the other ingredients.

Topping:

Cut the courgettes/zucchinis in slices [2-3 mm thick]. Sprinkle salt and let them soften while the crust dough rises.

Cut the mushrooms in slices and place them in a tablespoon olive oil in a non-stick pan and fry them about 30 seconds to one minute on every side. Don't overlap the slices in the pan - use multiple pans or multiple batches. You'll need the specified cheese for assembly.

Assembling:

Place the crust in an oiled pie tin using your fingers or a rolling pin. Pour the filling over the crust. Place the courgette slices overlapping only slightly. Grate the cheese you saved for the topping on top of them. Then place the mushroom slices over the cheese.

Note: You can swap the layers of courgette and mushroom slices or you can mix them to form other patterns.

Then bake for 30 min at 190 Celsius. I actually didn't follow this last instruction and decided that a lower temperature and a longer time would be more appropriate in ensuring that the crust portion touching the filling doesn't stay raw while the outer layers burn. I didn't have a thermometer-enhanced oven so I can't tell you what the temperature was but I left it on low-to-medium for about 100 minutes.

So here it is - one of the most detailed recipes I posted so far.

I recommend this for lunch, brunch, as a side dish, as a main dish, etc.

Tuna s'witch

2012-07-14T14:39:00.000-07:00

Tuna carrot sandwich. Whip up a tuna salad: grate a large carrot, chop a white onion and mix with good quality tuna chunks in-oil. Add cider vinegar or lemon - or both [half quantities], and black pepper. Top slices of toast with this salad and add hard-boiled eggs. A good sauce that goes well with this is what I call a fake mayo: half-and-half mustard and full-fat sour cream.

There you go: tuna sandwich, with a switch!

Summer pork: this is how it's done

2012-07-04T02:08:00.000-07:00

I know that eating pork during hot summer days might seem like a bad idea, but I thought - if Spaniards dot it so well, why can't I?

So I went off buying pork (juicy and fat pork neck) and summer veggies (zucchini, mushrooms and garden tomatoes).

I brushed salt and coarsely crushed black pepper onto the pork slices and placed them in a non-stick pan on moderate-to-high temperature.

Meanwhile, i cut the vegetables into chunks and heated them on low with red onions until juices started to flow. By then I had just boiled some rice so I combined the two to form a so-called risotto.

It's very easy to make and quick as well - 20 mins tops.

To be enjoyed with a sprinkle of fresh dill even on hot summer days, in a shaded and cool place.

The recommended drink is pressed citrus and lemons, mixed with spring water and served ice-cold in chilled glasses and garnished with melon.

Seafood: crab | octopus | calamari

2012-06-11T11:13:00.000-07:00

I love those dinners where food is so great that I'm almost shy when it comes to eat it. Luckily for me, a great white was there [poured in cool glasses] to inspire confidence.

Oh, just look at those crisp and juicy octopus tentacles - a perfect blog banner for the summer if you ask me!

Green lentils cream soup

2012-06-11T11:00:00.002-07:00

Sauté diced carrot, celery, parsnip in a dash of butter. Add salt, pepper, spices. Add water, simmer until tender. Add green lentils, replace liquid while simmering.
Mix well in a blender. Serve hot. Goes well with onions and toast.
Works well for a light dinner.

Random dinner: chicken liver and cheese-stuffed shrooms

2012-06-11T10:48:00.000-07:00

Cook chicken liver in the oven with a tiny drop of oil and vinegar [apple-cidre and honey is what I used], a pinch dried herbs and bring it out when brown yet still moist. Meanwhile, place shrooms [champignons or other regular-shaped mushrooms] in the oven [same oven, worked for me very well], but not before you stuff them with cheese(s) of your liking.
Garnish with salad.
Enjoy.

Crudités salad

2012-05-08T06:31:00.000-07:00

Cut carrots and celeriac using a vegetable peeler. To get nice curly strips you'll have to keep them in ice-cold water for a while, but I didn't have the time. Next I added a lettuce leaf, for color. After the salt, vinegar and oil, I sprinkled a small amount of raw, unsalted sunflower seeds.

Super easy to "make" and a good idea to complete a light breakfast: toast [ I make mine in a non-stick pan, just heat the pan and place the slices there, flipping occasionally - until you feel the smell of toast and see the rich color], butter, fresh fruit, coffe, yerba mate tea.

Cheesecake no1: chocolate base and orange-prune chunks

2012-04-30T02:58:00.001-07:00

This must be the tenth cheesecake I've made but it's the first I took [acceptable] pictures of so I'm going to consider it as my first online cheesecake.

Recipe coming soon - I misplaced the paper where I wrote the quantities and it's a personalized recipe. Until I come back with the recipe, enjoy the pics!

Super foods: spring salad

2012-04-25T13:49:00.000-07:00

Baby stinging nettle - we always eat baby stinging nettle stew when spring comes but I've never summoned enough curiosity to test the statement that it doesn't sting when you eat it raw.
Well this year I felt a closer connection to my planet and the forest that can feed me if I respect it - I foraged for baby stinging nettle and ramsons [wild garlic - lat. Allium ursinum, meaning bear's garlic]. So, feeling that much closer to nature, I figured I can try and eat the stinging nettle raw - and it worked! Didn't sting and had a seed-nutty favour.

This inspired me to compose a spring super-salad: baby stinging nettle - a bunch, half a leaf lettuce - rolled and thinly sliced and a pinch of sunflower raw unsalted seeds, vinaigrette (sunflower seed oil and apple-cider-and-honey vinegar).

As for the ramsons [wild garlic], I decided that I wouldn't combine it with any other leaf and just added vinegar and oil.

Savory egg pate with red garden orache

2012-04-22T12:07:00.000-07:00

Blend hard-boiled eggs, natural mustard and dried condiments of your liking together until a smooth pate is obtained. Garnish with red garden orache.

Another take on the cheese biscuits

2012-04-18T03:14:00.001-07:00

Using the same recipe in this post, I made cheese biscuits/scones again. I had cow's and sheep's salty cheese and wondered if it would work. As you see, they came out a bit flat but were still tender inside and somewhat crisp on the outside. This time I washed the down with Carlsberg and got to share with friends.

Simple Food: An Afternoon Snack

2012-02-23T02:04:00.000-08:00

Bread and jam. And butter.

Green tea and honey.

A winter cake

2012-02-17T02:05:00.000-08:00

Since I'm digging out photos from the past these days, I thought why not show them the cake my sister got for her birthday? She's born in December, hence the winter theme.

It was delicious - simple sweet icing, and a bouquet of aromas inside - chocolate mousse and chocolate crust, cranberry bits - the whole package.

After a long wait: my photo camera's first trip to Capriciosa, Bucharest

2012-02-17T01:45:00.000-08:00

As I promised long time ago in the sneak peek post, here are shots from that one time I took my photo camera to Capriciosa Restaurant in Bucharest.

I started with Crostini Toscani - homemade chicken liver pate, topped with champignons and herbs.

I then moved on to a plate of Rigatoni con Porcini, which also boasted smoked aged cheese, but with such a long time since I went, I don't recall its name. Smooth taste and good textures.

Now, for dessert, I had:

a great millefoglie (above), classic - vanilla cream, caster sugar on top, and

my first, amazing, panna cotta - a very delicate cream dessert, which had a great red fruit sauce.

Simple Food: Breakfast

2012-02-13T07:17:00.000-08:00

Hard-boiled eggs, cheese, olives.
Whole-leaf green tea.

Simple Food: Delicious Zander Lunch

2012-01-24T03:00:00.000-08:00

Deep-fried zander served with carrot and beet salad, baked potatoes and a touch of flavour: raspberries and lemon wedges.

Simple and delicious.

Sneak peek: my camera's first trip to Capriciosa, Bucharest

2011-09-11T12:00:00.000-07:00

Stay tuned for more photos and the story.

The I-would-kill-for-a-beer cheese "biscuits"

2011-09-11T11:52:00.000-07:00

These were made and eaten a while back, when, on a summer afternoon, I remembered I had some cheese lying around in my fridge. This made me remember I had a good-looking recipe lying around somewhere in my bookmark folders.

The recipe was from Brooklyn Farmhouse and called for cheddar and sage. This is how their biscuits looked like:

I used the cheese from the back of my fridge - a traditional Romanian type, called burduf. And thyme instead of cheddar. And didn't respect the proportions at all - just added the right amount of flour and then used yoghurt and cream to moisten the dough. And then I divided it in twelve portions, to match the number of my cupcake-tray molds.

Couldn't eat more than one that night because I didn't have a beer so it would have been a waste.

So I recommend that these would be eaten at breakfast, lunch/brunch or even as a snack between meals. I also imagine they would perfectly accompany a natural tomato soup or yogurt/kefir.

Summer menu: a light afternoon

2011-08-09T15:19:00.000-07:00

Courgette carpaccio and a simple tomato and bell pepper salad. Colorful, cheerful and very very tasteful in accompanying grilled chicken.
As for the drinks - what could be better than water on a hot Summer day? Watermelon. I juiced half of a decent-sized watermelon and half of his paler relative - a cantaloupe. Squeezed in some lemon juice and served it when the night set in.

Summer menu: blueberry muffins

2011-07-14T09:48:00.000-07:00

A good dessert to finish a light summer meal.
Make muffin batter. Add a teaspoon of homemade fresh blueberry jam to every cupcake liner.
Bake for 15 minutes.
Let cool. Eat.

Summer menu: celeriac and celery soup

2011-07-14T09:42:00.000-07:00

Saute an onion or two sping onions in butter and oil until translucent.

Add cubed celeriac and celery stalks. Water, salt, pepper.

Bring to a boil. Simmer for 45 minutes.

Add a small bunch of celery leaves.

Let cool, puree.

Serve with oven-baked soft sweet corn and a dash of butter.

Summer menu: Broccoli gratin

2011-07-14T09:35:00.000-07:00

Heat broccoli in a non-stick frying pan until its color intensifies.
Place in a tray and cover with the assortment of cheeses of your desire. Salt, Pepper.
Bake until golden.
Garnish, serve.

Egg muffins

2011-02-27T14:05:00.000-08:00

Got a muffin tray? Got muffin paper/tray liners? Then this is as easy as breaking an egg.
Line the muffin tray with muffin paper [number of muffin papers must match the number of eggs you want to cook]. Place an egg into each paper.
Place into hot oven for about 8/10 minutes.
Retrieve cooked eggs, grate cheese on top, slice smoked bacon and garnish with spring onions.
Enjoy.

I love tea, just not in BLOOD flavour

2010-12-20T09:57:00.000-08:00

I'm not a vegan and I sometimes wear fur if it's vintage. I believe in leather as suitable for shoes and so on.

So I'm not PETA's most perfect spokesperson.
However, testing tea on animals is quite nasty/cruel/horrible/however you may put it.
I love tea, but not in blood flavour.
If you care, read HERE and help PETA in the best way you find appropriate.

http://www.peta.org/action/action-alerts/Tell-Lipton-Tea-to-Stop-Torturing-Animals.aspx

LATER EDIT: Lipton and PG tips announced they stopped unnecessary torturing of animals. By unnecessary they mean that they will still experiment on animals in countries where this is required.