"Maniac Cook"

Fast and Light - Vegetables in pan of the fantasy of the Chef

2014-02-11T20:13:00.000+01:00

Fast and Light - Vegetables in pan of the fantasy of the Chef

Having something home-cooked and still fast is the modern man's dilema. Every single day you have to come up with tasting ideas on how to treat yourself for dinner. This is what we had today. What do you think about it?

Ingredients for 2

2 cloves of garlic
4 medium size potatoes
3 small tomatoes
10 smaller champignon mushrooms
1 egg
olive oil, salt, fresh parsil and black pepper

Heat up the pan with the olive oil. Once the oil is heated, place the garlic cloves in it, without peeling it.

Once is the garlic cloves have the brown color take them out.

Slice the potatoes to smaller pieces and add them to the pan.

After the potatoes have turned to a light brown color, add the champignons.

Add some taste to your vegetables by chopping some fresh parsil and adding it to the ingrediends already in the pan.

Add the slices of tomatoes to the pan, lower the fire and cover the pan. Total cooking time 25 min.

The last ingredient is the egg. Add it at the end and mix it up.

Dinner is served

Maniac Cook & Pesto

2013-09-01T22:08:00.000+02:00

Combining ingredients according to your own taste, without forgetting the basic ones and minding the quality, this is how good food is made.

Pesto is one of the easiest sauces ever sold, yet very expensive in the market if u know what it is made from.

It is though important to know that the taste comes from fresh ingredients. Nothing apart those can give to whatever you are preparing the taste you are wishing for.

Forget about dried spices, those ones are just dull and will never give character to your dishes.

Ingredients for 4 people :

For my pesto I used Basil leaves (10 – 12 middle size leaves are enough), taken directly from the plant I got at home, few slices of pecorino cheese (30 gr), ¼ of a garlic, olive oil (a coffee cup) and pistachios (20 gr). I made a change to the original formula and used pistachios instead of pine seeds.

Start by blending the cheese with the olive oil. Once the mass is uniform add the leaves and at the end the pistachios.

Bon Appetit

Slow roast leg of lamb with chardonnay, rosemary, sage and bay

2013-01-19T18:07:00.001+01:00

Tonight's special is gonna be the lamb...my favourite meat especially while cooked slowly in white wine...

Ingredients (4 persons)

· 1 leg of lamb (the thick fillet end) with bone in (about 1Kg/2lb 4oz)

· salt and pepper

· 2 red onions

· 8 garlic cloves

· 4 rosemary sprigs

· 4 sage leaves

· 2 bay leaves

· 400ml white wine

· 5 big potatoes

· olive oil,

Preparation method

1. Preheat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas 2 and make sure the shelves are set to fit a casserole pot and roasting tray in.

2. Place the lamb in a big casserole pot and season it really well with salt and pepper. Cut the onions into quarters, keeping the root intact, peel off the skin and throw them in with the (unpeeled) garlic cloves, rosemary sprigs, sage and bay leaves. Pour in the white wine and drizzle the honey over.

3. Put the lid on and place the whole thing in the oven, leaving it for about four hours. Set a timer for 2 hours 30 minutes as that’s when you need to add the potatoes.

4. When the timer goes, toss the potatoes in a roasting tin with a good drizzle of oil and leave them to sit. (They won’t go brown with the oil on.)

5. Season the potatoes with salt and pepper, drizzle a bit more oil on them if they have sucked it all up and place them in the oven for the remaining hour and a half. Give them a toss about every so often.

6. Once everything is cooked remove them from the oven. The meat should be falling off the bone and the potatoes crisp and golden brown. There is no need to rest the meat after this long cooking time, so simply dish up and serve.

Bon appetit!!

Apple strudel alla Maniac Cook

2012-10-15T22:25:00.001+02:00

Hello everyone.

After several recipes of food, I wanted to try the sweets as well. Since I never actually had the chance to prepare something sweet I had to start with something easy easy, so that everyone is able to do it at home.

Here it goes:

500 gr of puff pastry
20 gr of cinnamon sugar
4 apples
1 egg
20 gr of raisins
Sugar in powder 30 gr

Divide the puff pastry into two parts, and by the help of a roller make two thin layers.

Cut the apples into very small pieces grater and add the cinnamon sugar to it.

Then divide the whole mass into two parts, and put it over the pastry layers. Add the raisins and form two rolls.

Use the egg to spread it over the rolls and put them into the oven, and bake them for 20 min at 200 degree.

Take the rolls out of the oven and leave them cool out for 30 min. After the rolls are colder, decorate them with some sugar in powder.

Have a nice strudel

Maniac Cook's Chicken Tortilla Wraps...Enjoy it

2012-10-12T00:06:00.000+02:00

Lunch has never been so smart and easy J

Having said so, what else could I add to my recipe today?

Well…how can I make it more interesting for you guys? I can start by saying the the time to prepare my newest recipe is just 30 min, time during which you will need to :

1.       Cook on a pan 200 gr. of chicken meat which was previously cut in smaller pieces
2.       A glass of semi-sweet white wine to be used for the meat
3.       250 gr. of creamy white yoghurt
4.       250 hr of lettuce salad
5.       One lemon
6.       One garlic clove
7.       30 gr. of cucumber
8.       6 cherry tomatoes, the juicy ones
9.       Salt, pepper, oregano, basil , olive oil
10 6 tortilla wraps

Step one : The Meat

Start by browning the chicken meat in a low fire with olive oil. Once the meat starts getting a brown color, add the glass of white wine and let the meat absorb it. Make the meat tasties by adding salt, pepper and some oregano to it.

Step two : The Sauce

Pour the cream yoghurt into a pot; add some olive oil to it, oregano and salt. Take the cucumber and cut it into very tinny small pieces and add it to the yoghurt. Mix the whole mass by hand. Then chop the garlic clove and add it as well. Once the whole mass is mixed, put the pot into the freeze and leave it there till we will need it for use.

Step three : The Salad

A normal lettuce salad. Wash the lettuce, chop it by using your hands into a bigger container, add the lemon’s juice to it, oregano, basil leaves, olive oil and salt. Use your taste for the spices. It’s always better than following a recipe done by someone else. Cut the tomatoes and add it to the salad and the end. Don’t add anymore salt once the tomatoes are there, otherwise your salad will be very liquidy.

Step four : The Chicken Tortilla wrap

Warm up the tortilla wraps before filling it with our ingredients. Then add the salad in the beginning, then the chicken and at the end the yoghurt sauce:

And your lunch is ready…

IN CASE YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT TO HAVE THIS WEEKEND …. WELL YOU CAN HAVE THIS.

I HOPE YOU DO ENJOY IT AS MUCH AS I DID

BON APETTIT

Beef, rice and a taste of Albania at least this time

2012-09-10T22:45:00.001+02:00

Pilaf was my favourite way of having rice when I was still living back home. Guess should come from the Middle East as a dish, but after centuries of culture mixture, let's say that today this side dish is gonna be an Albanian specialty :)

Ingredients:

1/2 kg of rice

1/2 kg of beef meat

1 onion

2-3 liters of water

20 gr of butter

1 clove of garlic

half aubergine - Just my deviation from the original recipe, but doesn't have to be there

salt, pepper, oregano, olive oil

Preparation:

Start by warming up the olive oil in the pot, crush the clove of garlic with your hand and put leave it on the hot oild till it starts getting a red color.

Cut the onions in very small parts, remove the garlic fron the pot, and add the onions.

Meanwhile cut you beef into smaller pieces, wait for the onion to get a nice yellow to red color, and add the meat.

Continue to mix so the meat does not stick to the pot and get burnt!!!

Start adding the water slowly so the combination of water and hot does not burn you. Once the 2 - 3 liters of water were added, cover the pot and lower the flames. The boiling process takes long time while using beef. Normally to 3 hrs, depending on how fresh the meat is.

Be carefull and check the pot every 20 min in order the water not to evaporate totally.

Once the beef broth is ready (once the meat is so soft that it can be divided into smaller pieces without much effort) its time to use it to prepare the rice.

As I mentioned before, eventhough its not into the original recipe, I use half aubergine because it gives a nice smell to the rice.

Into another pot start melting the butter and once its melted and hot, add the aubergines and the rice slowly. Continue mixing till they get the yellow color, and slowly add the broth.

For 500 gr of rice we will need 1 liter of broth.

Once the broth was added totally, lower the fire to minimum, and let it boil for 20 min uncovering the pot.

Once small holes are formed into the surface of the rice, turn off the fire, cover the pot, and let it to rest for another 20 min.

Your pilaf IS READY. Its a very tasty side dish, and goes really well to meat and especially meat balls. I prefer it also as it is casue its delicious and it reminds me so much of my granny.

Enjoy

Mallorca, paella and the 2012 holidays in an wonderful island

2012-09-04T11:51:00.003+02:00

Dear all,

Spanish do know how to leave a great impression while speaking about holidays. Last week in Mallorca was incredible. The view, the people, the weather, the sea, and the food did leave a sign I am gonna keep forever.

Our journey started in Palma de Mallorca, continued to C'an Picafort, Santa Margalida, Alcudia, Pord D'Alcudia, Cap de Fermentor and other few places, and ended there where it started.

Meanwhile, please find below a few pictures showing the beauties of this place.

Have a great day

Dorian

1. Alcudia

2. Tuna Fillet

3. Shrimps

4. Olives growning almost everywhere

5. Grilled Chicken

6. Sepie Salad

7. An hungry refugee

8. The Cathedral of Santa Maria of Palma

9. A friendly goodbye

10. Souvenirs

11. Port D'Alcudia

12. The two of us

13. Paella

Easy and smart Lasagne

2012-09-03T20:33:00.003+02:00

Hello all,

long time I last post something on the blog, mainly because I did go on holidays. But I am back, full of energy for a freash start.

Today's specialty will be the Maniac Lasagne, a slightly modified recipe to give to the dish its great traditional taste, but also to help your weight to be kept down.

Ingredients:

5 medium size tomatoes
2 small onions
1 carrot
250 gr of minced beef meat
500 ml of milk
200 ml of red wine
10 plates of dry lasagne
50 gr of parmigiano reggiano cheese
100 gr of wheat flour "00" type
salt, oregano, basil, pepper, olive oil

1. Start by browning the onions in olive oil, after having chopped them to small pieces.

2. Once their color starts turning to yellow-is, add the minced meat and the carrot and continually mix in order to avoid to get it burnt.

3. After 10 min, add the red wine, lower the fire and give the time to the red wine to evaporate

4. Meanwhile prepare the tomato sauce using the fresh tomatoes and a blender. once the wine has evaporated, add the sauce to the pot and let it boil for 1 hour minimum to a very low fire.

5. When the water has evaporated, add 250 ml of milk, and keep boiling for another 20 min until it becomes a unified mass.

6. While the sauce is getting ready, you can prepare the besciamella sauce using warm milk and wheat flour. Start by warming the milk, and slowly adding the flour to it. When the mass reaches a dense consistency take it out from fire.

7. Now the final part, putting everything together in the baking tin. Add a layer of lasagne plates and add the sauce prepared over it. Repeat the process until the plates are finished. you can use as many plates as you wish, but I prefer not to have a very thick lasagne, in order to control better the amount of calories I put inside my body.

8. On the top level add the besciamella sauce and cover the whole top part with it. Over the sauce add the Parmigiano cheese

9. Put the tin in over for 30 - 40 min at 170 degrees C.

Bon Appétit

Gnocchi in salsa di gorgonzola e spinaci ...before leaving to have a Paella in Mallorca

2012-08-24T19:49:00.002+02:00

Having said a lot about italian food, I could not leave for my holidays without sharing with you my last cooking session....the gnocchi with gorzonzola and spinach.

what do you need for this recipe?

1. 100 gr of gorgonzola

2. 100 ml of milk

3. 20 gr of Parmigiano-Reggiano in powder

4. 250 gr of spinach, you can use the choped and frozen one, as we will use it for the sauce

5. 500 gr of gnocchi (well, you can also prepare them yourseld but this will be the topic of one of my future recipes)

6. Pepper, salt, oregano and basil to taste

7. time to prepare 20-25 min

Start by warming up the milk. When the milk starts to get warmer, put the cheese in it, and let it boil until the whole thing becomes one dense sauce.

In a separate pot start to unfreeze the spinach. I personally put a little bit of olive oil to it, a pinch of salt and fresh pepper.

In another separate pot boil the gnocchi just for 5 min. You must know that the gnocchi must not be bloiled for a long time, otherwise they will be too soft and without taste.

Once the gnocchi are boiled, take them out of water and put them inside the pot where you have the spinach, and start mixing them together

When the gnocchi absorb throuout their surface the spinach, ad the cheese sauce.

Don't exagerate with the milk and the sauce, too much of anything is not good.

Once the gnocchi are in the plate, put some Parmigiano-Reggiano and decorate it with black pepper and basil

Bon Appétit

goodmorning to all from Maniac Cook's kitchen corner....

2012-08-18T09:31:00.002+02:00

the best way to start the day

and how to continue after...

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=411719305553283&set=a.393384074053473.89567.389639564427924&type=3&theater

This is how it started ..... can you guess how it looked after??? I dare you!

2012-08-16T23:01:00.001+02:00

I love the aubergines.....i adore them. Everytime I want something light for dinner , I rely on my favourite vegetable to make something new.

so here its how it started....can you guess how did it look like after?...

This is the step number 2: cut the aubergines into vertically to form several slices!

A little photo - presentation of my cooking world

2012-08-15T19:21:00.001+02:00

My passion about kitchen dates to a long time ago, when my grandmother, due to the economical problems that my country, Albania, had in those times, needed to use all her creativity in order the meals to be available on the table.And that was not an easy thing to do, especially when even the goods were not available at all.

Now things are far more different than in my childhood times. Cooking has know far more dimensions, and has been experiencing drastical changes in the way its served to the public, and this not only because the multibillion coorporates want so.

For me cooking is a way of expressing myself. And this not only in the kitchen area. I also love to take pictures of things related to food.

I hope you will enjoy this small presentation of how i live the cooking world...

The vegetarian stuffed peppers as my granny teaches...

2012-08-14T22:17:00.001+02:00

Good evening to all of you,

tonite its time to enjoy the stuffed peppers, a vegetarian recipe from the old country tought me once by my beloved granny.

Its easy and lovely, just a little bit of patience and you will enjoy a delicious dish.

Let's get started :

Ingredients:

1/2 cup uncooked long grain white rice
1 cup water
7 green bell peppers
6-8 tomatoes
1/2 garlic
1 medium onion
1 medium augergine
1 mozzarella
salt and pepper to taste
Oregano and parsley to taste
Extra virgin olive oil

The most important thing to keep in mind is always to use fresh vegetables. Avoid the ones in cans, or the dried garlic powder. You never know what they put in it.
Use fresh tomatoes to prepare the tomato sauce; it’s extremely easy and much healthier than the ones you buy in food stores.

Cut 7 medium tomatoes into smaller, add oregano, salt olive oil, black pepper and 1/2s onion, and keep blending until the whole sauce has some consistency.

When the sauce is ready, add a 150 ml of water to it and put to boil in a small pot for 10 min

In another pot you prepare the rice that we will use for the stuffing. For this we will use only rice, ½ of onion, 1 paprika cut into very small pieces, and olive oil.

First fry the rice with the ingredients mentioned, and then add water to boil. For ½ cup of rice use 1 cup of water.

While waiting for the sauce and the rice to be ready, we can clean and cut the remaining 6 peppers so that they are ready for the filling and baking in the oven.

The sauce, once ready we put at the bottom of the baking tin, together with the aubergine pieces and over it we put the filled peppers.

We should leave everything in oven for 25 min at 200 degrees Celsius.

After these 25 min, we take the baking tin out, and place a slice of tomato and one of mozzarella over the cut part of the peppers and put them for another 5 minutes inside the oven.

The stuffed peppers of granny Vera are now ready to be served.
Enjoy them

l' Arista - The Tuscan pork roast in milk....

2012-08-14T15:25:00.001+02:00

Arista

Arista is the Tuscan name for pork roast.
According to the legend the name arista derives from an ecumenical council held in Florence in 1430 to attempt to settle the differences between the Greek and Roman Churches, during which it was served roast pork loin seasoned with rosemary, salt, and pepper. The Greeks all began to shout, "Arista, arista! (good, good!)" and the name stuck.

Ingredients

Prep Time: 30 minutes /Cook Time: 1 hour
Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds (675 g) boned pork loin
2 cloves of garlic, slivered and the pieces rolled in salt and pepper
Several thin strips of lemon
Butcher's twine
3/4 pint (375 ml) whole milk, heated to boiling
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt & pepper

Preparation

1. Begin by cutting several slits across the grain into the pork, and placing pieces of garlic and strips of lemon into each hole.

2. Tie the meat so it will hold its shape and dust it with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a pot and brown the meat on all sides, then pour the hot milk over it.

3. Reduce the heat to a just a little bit, and continue cooking leaving the pot uncovered until the pork is done (1 to 1 1/2 hours), turning it occasionally and scraping the bottom of the pot to keep the curds that form as a result of the interaction between lemon and milk from sticking down.

4. By the time the pork is done almost all the liquid should have evaporated; at be careful not to burn the meat in the bottom

5. When the arista is cooked let it sit for a few minutes, remove the string, slice it finely and serve, with a tossed salad or spinaci rifatti.
Wine suggestion with this dish : Dolcetto or a Valpolicella Classico.

Running out of ideas!!!!!...

2012-08-13T22:59:00.000+02:00

My girl just brought them over....and I got no idea what I am gonna do with them

a little bit of "out of scope" ....

2012-08-13T19:34:00.001+02:00

Few months ago, after almost 2 years of wanting it, I did finally buy a new camera. It was actually like this that the idea of opening a blog where I would put my pictures of food, but not only, hit me. Now I am shooting everything I found interesting.

Well, it is mostly shooting food, I agree, but I got few pics I love, and that has nothing to do with food or cooking....

Today I came by this one...let me know what do u think about it!!!!

Getting some rest

2012-08-13T18:47:00.004+02:00

Away from the kitchen area at least for today...since the weekend was full of something everyday. Thus, I am enjoying my time off, while my girlfriend is doing what's usually my favourite activity...

Meanwhile, I was thinking to fill in the gap with some random picture I took once at a friend's garden. I enjoyed shooting them, but I enjoyed more eating them.

I hope you will enjoy them as much as I did.

And now I present to you the Nature's delights...

It's always time for a drink

Enjoy

Dorian

Traditional Cental European goulash soup

2012-08-12T19:14:00.001+02:00

I have never been a great fan of the central/northern European cuisine. Always found it heave for my stomach, too much of meat, spices, onion, garlic.....no way.
When I first came to study in the Czech Republic, I saw way to many of this food in the local restaurant, thus, I decided to start cooking myself instead.
Well, that was the initial shock that made my cooking abilities blossom, but yesterday my girlfriend begged me to cook a goulash soup for her, using less heavy ingredients to make it more acceptable for me and her...

Guys, after 10 years of living here, I can tell you something, should have tried this before :D

500 gr of ground beef
6-7 medium patatoes
1 medium onion, chopped
Red pepper in powder,
6 big tomatoes blended
chopped 2 -4 garlic cloves, diced and smashed
1 -2 tablespoon chopped parsley
olive oild, salt, oregano, pepper

Bon Apettit

Start by frying the onions, till they get a red colour, add the farlich and let them there for few minutes.

Add the meat to the pot and keep on mixing

when the meat is slightly fried, add the tomatoes into the potand let them boil for 10 min

once the 10 minutes have passes, add the patatoes

the goulash should boil for at least 1 hour to a medium fire.

the best thing of it is that the next day its taste is even better

enjoy your meal

Dorian

Focaccia with Zucchini

2012-08-11T09:25:00.000+02:00

Today's post will be about an italian specialty, the focaccia bread. Since the first moment I tried this kind of bread, I told myself that I would better learn how to prepare it fast.

Now, after a long time after I fist start preparing it, I did make few changes to the original recipe. Please read below about my focaccia with zucchini, and enjoy the pictures.

Thanks

La Focaccia

Ingredients
Half kilo of “00” white flour (if you prefer the whole-grain flour keep in mind that the leavening process will not give the results we are looking for, so I personally prefer a 50/50 mixture )
1 glass of water (350 ml)
½ coffee cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt to taste
5 grams of dry yeast

PREPARATION

10 minutes preparation + 20 minutes cooking
Puor warm water into a big bowl, add the yeast and mix them together with salt.
Start adding the flour slowly until it becomes a one mass- dough.
Allow to rise for at least one hour covered with a dish towel.
Then distribute it uniformly into a rectangular tin, slightly oiled, with a height of about 0.8 inch pressing with your fingers to make small dimples.
Sprinkle with the coarse salt (the bigger grain salt), oil and rosmamary leaves to give it the right taste.
Bake in a hot oven (200°c) for about twenty minutes.

Focaccia with Zucchini

INGREDIENTS
Servings 4
One big focaccia
2 zucchini
1 Patatoe
100 gr oz Parmigianino Reggiano cheese, fresh
100 gr oz Pecorino dolce cheese
Half of a coffee cup of olive oil
Salt to taste

PREPARATION
10 minutes preparation + 10 minutes cooking
Wash the zucchini and cut into thin slices.
Sauté the vegetables in a pan with 3 tbsp olive oil and a pinch of salt and cook then for about 15 minutes, then remove from the heat. On top of the focaccia place a layer of vegetables and cheese.
Grease a baking sheet with oil and place the focaccia on top.

The lunch was speaking french...

2012-08-01T23:19:00.007+02:00

Few days ago I was occasionally passing by a Quiche advertisement from a local food store in Prague...well, thats what came out of it...

enjoy.....and comment :D

Few words about this blog

2012-07-31T22:15:00.002+02:00

Hello there,

I am well aware of the fact that people usually consume others by words, instead of giving them what they are looking for, so I will start with a very simple photo presentation of what this blog is gonna share with all of you...

This is just a random presentation of my work...enjoy it.

PS: Looking forward for your comments of course :)

The Albanian burek

Spinach Quiche

The Crudo Rolls with fresh ricotta cheese

Preparing some Pasta

My favourite desert

Risotto ai porcini

Filled patatoes

See bass baked in Oven

Greek olives filled with FETA cheese

BackYard Grilling

La Focaccia