Green Pastry Puffs

January 20, 2013 at 18:12 (Other, Recipes)
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oliwkiOne of the things I’ve never mastered in the kitchen is making pastry. I’m hopeless at baking, I can’t even make dumpling dough, and certainly not other, more complicated types of pastry. Fortunately, it can be bought in shops nowadays, so even complete pastry incompetents like me can bake something nice.
Of course, being too dumb to make the dough is not enough, I’m also too lazy to make any complicated stuffing for these things, which I call puffs (for puff pastry, and because they look like small pillows) but which would probably count as… small pies? I don’t really know.

Anyway, if You can get Your hands on some ready-made pastry of sensible quality, You can make those easily. If not, well… I know of people who are actually able to make it, out of raw components, I’ve seen them do it even (mostly in France, as it comes from there, they call it pâte feuilletée, while we call it “french pastry.” Original, I know), but it still looks like sorcery to me. Or worse, because I have some understanding of magic ;)
It’s easy to make and can actually impress some people, even if You don’t pretend it’s all Your work, because these things are rarely done at home. So, if You have guests coming and want to treat them to something less usual, these are a good idea. Plus, You can always make bats and other witchy patterns on them, Magrat-style.

Ingredients

  • Package of puff pastry
  • Green olives, shallots or leek – something green and strong-tasting (broccoli or cabbage don’t work)
  • Feta cheese or plain quark if feta is too salty for you – something white and cheesy
  • Onion
  • Garlic
  • Olive oil
  • Spices : I put rosemary and thyme because I had them, allspice is also good, but not too much of it. Basil, oregano, pepper, but go easy on the salt because cheeses have lots of it already. Generally, depending on the vegetables and cheese You choose the filling will need stronger or milder seasoning.

Preparation

farsz

Heat up olive oil on a frying pan. Dice, or slice, all the vegetables and cheese. Fry all the stuffing ingredients on the pan for just enough time  to melt the cheese – it’s going in the oven anyway so there’s no sense in doing the same work twice.  I usually dice the ingredients really small because I like a more homogeneous filling, but I know of people who like big, distinguishable bits of various vegetables, too.

Once You have something resembling a mass, take it off the fire. Spread the dough on a clean, flat surface, and cut it in rectangles. This can be done in several ways – You can cut squares, put the filling on their center, and fold the corners inwards. You can cut squares, match them in pairs and only put the filling on every second square, then mold them together. You can cut oblongs and place the filling on one half, then fold them over to cover it.

For this case I took the second method, and on the picture here you can see half of my dough with filling. When using puff pastry for pies with filling, it’s a popular way to leave parts of the filling uncovered, but for this one I don’t recommend it. You need to make more filling if you want it to show and it dries up too much.
So, mold your pastries however you choose, and put them in the oven over medium-ish to small heat. For this kind of dough (and, well, generally) it’s always better to under-do than to overdo, because if it’s not done yet you can always keep it in the oven a little longer, but once it’s burned, you can’t un-burn it.

A good rule of thumb for this kind of pastry is – if you can smell it from the oven, it’s nearing completion. Take them out when their colour satisfies you, but be warned – letting it past honey-amber colour is a bad idea. Filling will be very hot, so watch out.

paszteciki

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Penne Primavera

July 26, 2012 at 17:41 (Pasta, Recipes)
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The cheese didn’t make it to the picture… sorry about that.

So, this was going to be a french dessert made of peaches, but I’m waiting for a sunnier day to take pictures of that. What we have here right now qualifies for Summer the same way I qualify for a “happy young woman”. You know it could be it, but somehow, it never is. And, of course, when in doubt I tend to turn to pasta, which is all very well and delicious, but it does put those additional kilograms here and there. But, to hell with that – there has to be some pleasure in this life, otherwise what’s the point? Might as well take a big swig of hemlock right now if I’m going to deny myself even that.

This is a genuinely my recipe –  I’ve invented it. Of course, hundreds of people have probably invented it too, because it doesn’t take some huge leaps of imagination, but it’s good and easy and that’s what counts. I  call it Penne Primavera, because I like faux-italian names and alliteration, but it works just as well with tagliatelle, fettuccine or spaghetti. Actually, pretty much every pasta in existence (with the possible exception of orzo and other minute pasta, because they get lost in the sauce).

The only actual difficulty with this recipe is the timing, because the sauce is based on melted cheese so it sets if you take it off the heat. Which means you’ve got to time it with boiling the pasta so that you have both ready at roughly the same time. It’s generally better to have pasta waiting for the sauce than the other way around, because if you have the sauce ready, you either have to leave it on the stove, in which case it burns or gets too thick and dry, or take it off, in which case it sets and doesn’t spread like it should. But it’s nothing difficult, really.
Oh, and it’s probably the only pasta recipe in the world that doesn’t really benefit from being sprinkled with grated cheese. No, really – it won’t ruin the dish, but it adds… nothing very much. So leave that Parmesan for Aglio e Olio, Primavera doesn’t need it.

Ingredients

  • Shallots (whole) – one to start with and say half per additional person
  • Tomatoes – one fresh tomato per person
  • Feta cheese – about 80-100 g per person
  • Olive oil
  • Garlic
  • Spices – the good old mixture of pasta spices, as usual

Preparation

Shallots and un-melted Feta cheese

Start with putting on a pot for boiling pasta. Then, chop the whole shallots thinly, down to the last green strand. If you end up with a mountain of greenery, don’t worry – it’ll shrink in cooking. Pour olive oil into a frying pan and fry the shallots on mild heat, stirring from time to time. When they get supple and nicely warm (the colour doesn’t change much), slice the cheese into thin slices and put them on the pan. Thin slices mean it’ll melt faster, but still you should keep the fire small and cover the pan for a while – that way the cheese will melt and not fry.

In the meantime, peel the tomatoes with aid from some boiling water (I usually use the pasta water for that, since it should be boiling now ; if it is, put pasta in) and chop them into small bits – the smaller, the better.
Now check on the cheese – there should be a white-ish, grainy mass with bits of green in the pan. Put in the tomatoes and all the juice that might have spilled during chopping. Mix it all up, add chopped garlic and spices, and cook on mild heat until surplus water evaporates and you’re left with a thick, golden mass. It will stick to the spoon, it will stick to the pan, so frequent stirring is in order.

Once your pasta is ready, you can pour the sauce over it and serve.

Serving

With a cameo by Great-Grandma’s China Plate ™

This is a dish of distinct flavor, and a colorful, jolly appearance – hence the name. It is also quite full of calories, as pastas generally are, so accompany it with a salad at most, and not a fried-chicken-and-cheddar salad, either. Chilled white wine will suit it very nicely, but so will most pink wines and  some lighter types of red. There are no unpleasant odors involved so it’s a good dish for an elegant or romantic occasion.

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Cannelloni Verde

March 22, 2012 at 15:06 (Other, Pasta, Recipes)
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I’ve been facing quite a conundrum lately. You may have noticed already that I like cooking ;) . And I like eating, especially that which I have prepared myself – because I can make things exactly as I want them. However, those of you who do your own cooking will probably know that a cook shall always crave the consumer’s appreciation : we’ll put the plates on the table and then watch, hawk-like, for any telltale glances, eyebrow-twitching, tiny grimaces or sounds that can give us a clue. Do they like it? Or not??

Such is the fate of artists, I’m told, and a dreary one it is. I remember my father, for example, never muttering even a word of approval whatever Mother did, and actually deriding my brother for offering that which he knew she needed. Then again, no need to worry my readers about that kind of jerkassitude. Today, I’m facing a different problem. My new S.O. likes everything, will eat everything and be happy about it. Really.
And how’s  Kitchen Witch with cooking ambitions supposed to do? I mean, I can compose an exquisite symphony for a cheese quartet, and he’ll eat it and say, “It’s good, thank you” and then promptly give me a peck on the cheek and go to sleep. Or, I can bash some random vegetables into a pot, boil them yellow with a generous helping of groat, then proceed to add way too much salt, thus achieving something horrible and unfit for animals, because of the salt. And he’ll eat it and say, “It’s good, thank you”. And I know he means it, it’s not like he pretends so I won’t be hurt. It’s not really a problem, but it kind of demotivates me when it comes to cooking. In the end I just disregard him and do whatever I want, but feel bad about it.
All right, enough rambling. In spite of this terrible tragedy that is a partner easy to please, I have recently tried out a new recipe. It’s a pasta recipe and it’s got a faux-italian name,  so you can see everything is still normal around here.
Cannelloni is a type of pasta used for baking and not boiling. It’s made into tube shapes, not very long and with a large enough diameter (which varies) to allow stuffing. You can put pretty much anything in it, and here’s an idea.

Ingredients

  • Cannelloni pasta – you can buy it, it’s not that rare. The actual amount depends on how much can you fit in a baking dish.
  • Cheese – go with quark cheese if you want the spinach taste to come out. Feta cheese will get you a spicier, but still balanced dish (or you can mix those two). Choose camembert for a strong, piquant taste, though it will dominate.
  • Spinach – in 1:1 proportion with cheese
  • Leek (optional)
  • Onion – in 1:1 proportion with leek and 2:1 with spinach and cheese
  • Garlic
  • Olive oil
  • Sour cream
  • Herbal spices : rosemary, laurel leaf, black pepper, thyme, basil, tarragon and juniper are all good choices.

Spinach, onions, garlic and leek.

Preparation

Chop the onions and fry them on olive oil over medium heat. Add the spinach and garlic and  fry for a while (if you’re using frozen spinach, make sure you evaporate the water surplus). When you’ve got a nice, warm and not too runny green mass, add the cheese and leek. Simmer over medium heat to melt the cheese. At this point it will look utterly horrible, so you can frighten your kids with it. If you don’t want to, make sure they don’t see it as the sight will make them refuse to eat anything.

Once the unspeakable eldritch horror on your frying pan achieves a thick, smooth form, use a knife, a spoon, a kitchen baster or sheer force of will to stuff it into the raw pasta tubes. I repeat, just in case – you do not boil the pasta. If you do, it goes soft and you won’t be able to stuff it with anything. The stuffed tubes are then placed in a casserole (oil it up a little) and the surface covered in sour cream. This is important – if you bake them bare, the pasta will dry up even more and you’ll get hard, splintering shells. You need to keep the water in with a layer of cream. Some grated cheese can go on the surface, too. if you like.

Place it all in the oven and bake in medium heat – too much and it’ll just dry up to the point of in-edibility. It needs 30 to 40 minutes, when in doubt you can poke a pasta tube and see if it’s hard or softening.

This sounds a bit complicated, I know, but it’s actually a fairly simple recipe and useful if you want to create an illusion of haute cuisine without too much work. However, it has proven impossible for me to take a reasonable picture of the actual dish, so I’m sorry to say you’d have to take my word for it.
Serve with wine, depending on the contents (stuffing possibilities are endless). If there’s no meat in it, or it’s chicken, serve medium-dry white wine, as is the case with mine.

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Golden cake

December 31, 2011 at 13:59 (Other, Recipes)
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You ask What is life? That is the same as asking, ‘What is a carrot’.
A carrot is a carrot and we know nothing more.

- Anton Czechow

Well, not to correct the great one, but we do know something more. Namely, we know that it’s a root vegetable, rich in vitamins and particularly good for the eyes. But I’m sure I’ve mentioned all that before, so let’s skip to the interesting part. Now you might have noticed that I’m not really all that big on desserts – there aren’t that much recipes here, but I did put some up and none of them had been for desserts so far. That’s because, although I do like sweets and suchlike, I’m not really crazy enough about them to justify all that work when I can buy some fabulous desserts ready, such as ice cream.

But carrot cake is different, because it’s very rare around here for people to even have heard about it, let alone bake it, and You certainly can’t get it in shops. So, once again, the Kitchen Witch is left to her own devices.
I’ve tried a few recipes, and regardless of their degree of complication, they all had one thing in common : they didn’t work. Something always went wrong along the line and I was left with a disgusting, dripping mass of semi-transparent carrotish goo. Unfortunately,  the same happens with this one, only rarer. And it’s the simplest one, so I’m sticking with it.

Ingredients

  • Carrots – one glass of grated carrot. Everything else should be measured with the same glass.
  • Sugar – one glass of sugar, or a little less if You so prefer. I find that one glassful does not make it overly sweet, but less does not ruin it either.
  • Flour – one glassful of Your regular white flour.
  • Vegetable oil – half a glass. You can use cinnamon oil for better effect.
  • Eggs – two
  • Cinnamon – one spoonful (large spoon, not a teaspoon)
  • Baking soda – one full teaspoon

Preparation

Now comes the good part. All you have to do is mix the ingredients until You get a sticky, orange mass – no grinding, no kneading, nothing. The only actual bit of work You have to do is peel the carrots and grate them, after that You’re practically done. Just throw it all into a bowl and mix, then pour into a baking mold of Your choice. Give it an hour in a solid heat, about 200 degrees. (I still sometimes get it almost raw, and have no idea why. If anyone has any thoughts, please share.)

This is especially good if You want to serve a dessert that will still have some reasonable health benefit (for a dessert, of course). Symbolically speaking, carrots have always been associated with wealth, due to their golden sheen. A popular Jewish dish for New Year around here is a special kind of cymes that consists of carrot slices fried in honey to give them the appearance of golden coins. These were believed to bring fortune and prosperity in the coming year.

Speaking of New Years, I hope 2012 is generous for You when it comes to health, happiness, and peace. So blessings for the New Year – those of You that still wait for it, that is – and see You in 2012!

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Celery and pepita

October 28, 2011 at 13:24 (Recipes, Salads)
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Si la femme savait ce que le céleri fait à l’homme,
elle irait en chercher de Paris à Rome

I forgot to include mayonnaise. Sorry about that.

Celery root. Big, gnarled, over-all strange looking. Important ingredient of many soups and salads, although rarely eaten raw. Actually, in many countries the root itself  isn’t known to be edible – my Mother made a small sensation in her day when, travelling in France, she mentioned a recipe that called for “celery, but not the green parts that grow above the earth. The part that grows below.” It had subsequently proved very difficult to obtain. And yet, it is a very valuable vegetable (VVV) when it comes to health concerns. Full of vitamins and minerals, especially recommended in cases of exhaustion and depleted strength such as recovering from an illness. It is also said to have an… invigorating influence on men, as the proverb above demonstrates, although I have not yet had an opportunity (or, indeed, a necessity ;) ) to find out. But if You can either corroborate or disprove the claim, I’d be happy to know.

So, how to eat it? Well, the simplest answers are often the best and it is certainly so in this case : a raw celery salad is the thing to do if You want to profit of all its properties in an enjoyable way. It is the simplest recipe imaginable, although today we’ll be making it a little differently, because we’ll be adding pepita instead of the usual sunflower seeds.

Pepita, or pumpkin seeds, are one of my favourite snacks and a great thing all round. They are also very appropriate for the season, as we’re nearing Halloween. Strictly speaking, I do not celebrate Halloween as such, and my Samhain celebrations tend to be a little chaotic at best, as there’s another holiday around where I live in the same time and it tends to interfere. But while usually I do my best with what I have, this year will be different, the reason being appropriately related to pumpkin seeds.
Because even though I made the actual salad (and the pictures) at home, as usual, I have subsequently packed it and took it with me as I left to spend the next five days… elsewhere. I have met someone and pumpkin seeds tend to be the leitmotif of our meetings. Right now I’m sitting on his couch typing this, and there’s a 1 kg bag of them beside me. Madness, but of the positive kind.

So, even though I was planning a feast of Samhein-related Witchcraft for my dear readers, once again I am limited to apologizing for the scarcity of my updates and placating You with a primitive recipe. But hey, it’s really good!

Ingredients

  • Celery root – they tend to be big, so half a root is more than enough for two
  • Pumpkin or sunflower seeds – as much as You like
  • Sauce base – this should be suited to Your tastes. Take mayonnaise for a rich, elegant effect, cream if You don’t like mayonnaise, natural yoghurt for the ultra-healthy version or olive oil if You are lactose intolerant/vegan
  • Thyme – preferably fresh
  • Green pepper

Preparation

This salad is simplicity itself.  Simply peel the celery (or indeed cut off the outer layer, as it’s hard to call it “peeling”), rinse the root and grate it on a big grater to receive solid, thick strands. Mix the sauce base – I always go with mayonnaise, I like mayonnaise – with thyme and just a bit of fresh ground pepper (green is best, You can add black instead but not red it doesn’t fit). Mix everything – the celery, the seeds, the sauce – and you’re good to go. This is a sister salad for carrot and sunflower, but since celery root is a bit spicy in itself, we’re not adding garlic here. And it’s more decorative, although it looks its best if other food you’re serving isn’t white. Usually I pair it off with roast potatoes.

For a more “exotic” feel, add some raisins. If You like raisins. And have a Spectacular Samhain!
Blessings.

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Stuffed peppers

September 27, 2011 at 14:45 (Other, Recipes)
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Well, it’s Autumn and no two ways about it.  The mornings are chilly and most of the summer fruit is no more. But much more delicious stuff is still available, and ready to make the coming cold more bearable. Of course, now that the sun grows dim, we have to prepare more complicated meals, to make up the lack of fire without with the fire within.

So, as an autumnal treat, I have prepared one of my more complicated recipes for You : the Hungarian stuffed peppers. As with all stuffed dishes, it requires some work, since the stuffing has to be prepared first, and the actual meal later. However, it’s not as demanding as it could be, because the peppers themselves are practically ready to go. Well, what did You expect? I like cooking, but I’m allergic to hard work, so ‘more complicated’ means, around here, ‘requiring 40 minutes’ preparation.’

The peppers used here are ‘Hungarian wax’ peppers, not the more popular bell peppers (capsicum annuum ; English nomenclature is quite confusing here. Apparently, C. Columbus is to blame), which have the best shape for what I have in mind right now.

Ingredients:

  • Hungarian peppers – one or two per person, depending on their size.
  • Rice – usually a glass (250 ml) is enough
  • Onions – as much as You like
  • Garlic – three cloves minimum
  • Soy meat/meat/mushrooms – really, the last ingredient is entirely up to You. If You want it to be ready really fast, go with mushrooms, although this tends to give the dish a mild taste and somewhat spongy texture, as mushrooms do. If You’re looking for optimal nutritious value, soy meat is perfect, and it will make the peppers keep longer if there are any left over than actual meat.
  • Seasoning : cayenne pepper or chilli powder, oregano and basil, laurel leaves.

You will also need some tomatoes or tomato purée to prepare the sauce in which the peppers shall be cooked.

Preparation

First, prepare the stuffing. There are two ways this can be done, although one of them I have never tried. The old-fashioned way given by a Hungarian cookbook I have is to leave the rice raw while preparing the stuffing, and the other is to have it cooked beforehand. I will go with the latter, as this is the way I always do.

Frying the stuff

So, cook the rice. The actual amount of everything depends on how much peppers are You using, so I’m skipping quantities here. Dice the onions and cook them in a frying pan on a small amount of oil. Add some garlic and, as the onion changes colour (white to gold, never brown), put the third ingredient of Your choice. I always go with soy meat for a bit of protein. Fry all that for a moment, then add the rice. It can go straight from the pot, no worries here. Mix everything and season it to suit Your taste. ( Just a tip here – if You want the dish to be spicy, You have the choice of achieving this with the sauce or the stuffing. In my opinion, go for the stuffing. It’s easier to counter a hot meal with a mild sauce then the other way around. Of course, if You want to make both extra-spicy, be my guest.) Good seasoning choices here include chilli powder and all sorts of pepper, but also savory, oregano, basil and turmeric for extra colour.

Now that the stuffing is ready, leave it off the stove so that it won’t burn, and prepare the peppers. They need to be hollowed out, but left intact to accommodate the stuffing. Of course, they are hollow in themselves, so what You really need to do is simply cut out the stems and the cluster of pips underneath. The easiest way to do this is to take a pointy knife, stab it vertically into the pepper and cut around the stem. (Be sure to dislodge all the remaining pips, they aren’t tasty.)

Use a small spoon to put the stuffing inside the peppers and take care not to rupture them or they will fall apart during cooking.  This is where the difference between raw and cooked rice comes in : if You use cooked rice, it won’t change its volume anymore (well, not significantly) so You can fill them up. When dealing with raw rice, You must allow for the volume change and leave some space.
Once filled, put the peppers in a wide, flat pan (do not try to cook them vertically, this never works) so that You can turn them around. Now, there are two ways this could go : You can prepare a real tomato sauce, with onions, garlic and all that, or You can just pour some water, add some tomato purée and spices and be done with it. What You prefer is up to You, but if the peppers themselves are well made, they don’t really need an elaborate sauce. To get the best of two worlds, You can add a spoon of cream to the sauce near the end. Cover the pan and leave them to simmer in the sauce, remembering to turn them gently around from time to time. Don’t let them stick to the bottom – You won’t be able to free them without ruining the effect.

Serve them in their own sauce, accompanied by a salad or another vegetable – french beans are my favourite. Since they are stuffed with rice, these peppers don’t need a side order of it. Mostly, they are a meal in their own right, which is great.

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Spaghetti alla crema

May 16, 2011 at 14:33 (Pasta)
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It’s been some time since we’ve seen some serious activity here, hasn’t it? So, in order to make it up to You, and prove that I still can cook, I’ll be treating You to something special today.

This is a recipe I made up myself when there was some cream left over in my fridge. That’s why it bears this faux-italian name. But regardless of any naming issues, it’s really good and easily done, as I don’t usually go for hard-and-time-consuming. Even though the dish is simple to prepare, it still can be quite impressive, especially if You serve it with some interesting decoration. So You can keep this in mind for any sort of elegant occasion. It can also be very filling, especially in bigger portions – I’d advise to make smaller plates of this than, for example, of napoli or aglio. So if You want to impress a dear person with how You can prepare an elegant, showy meal, and are incidentally starving, this recipe is for You.
It can be done in vegetarian or “carnivorous” version. I’m presenting vegetarian here, with appropriate hints when necessary. Oh, and the usual reminder : You do not need to go along with my obsession for spaghetti. This sauce goes wonderfully with tagliatelle and its cousins (much better than napoli does), penne and fettuccine. I have not tried other kinds, so if You do, I’d like to hear about it.

Ingredients

  • Spaghetti no.5
  • Green olives (may be swapped for bacon for carnivores or both can be used)
  • Thick, sour cream
  • Garlic
  • Cheese
  • Olive oil
  • Seasoning: basil, oregano… the usual stuff (You can add some pepper to spice up the mild taste of cream)

Preparation

The sauce will be ready within minutes, so time Your activities accordingly. My advice is to chop, grind and grate everything beforehand and only start cooking when You have the ingredients ready and waiting. So dice the olives (and/or bacon) thinly, then follow up with garlic, and grate the cheese. Put the water on for boiling pasta.

If You’re going for the meat version, it will take slightly longer than just the olives. Either way, pour some oil onto a frying pan and fry the olives (bacon) for some time over small heat, taking care not to overdo. Supervise them as You wait for the water to boil. Put the pasta into the pot, stir so it doesn’t stick, and wait for some time. By now, Your olives (bacon) should be near-ready or ready, so if there’s any spare time, take them off the heat. You can add some of the garlic, but not all of it, now.
Check on the pasta. If it’s still too hard, but getting there, it’s time to finish the sauce. Pour the cream onto the mildly-heated pan and stir gently, then add garlic and seasoning. Keep the sauce over small heat so it won’t congeal as You wait for the pasta. Cover with grated cheese.

Serving

This dish should be served hot, and eaten right after preparation. It does not keep well, nor does it lend itself well to reheating. Straight off the stove is the only option.

Serve with rich, red wine that will be able to compete with the sauce. As it’s not actually full of vitamins, You might want to add a light salad, best served beforehand. After this, chances are You won’t really feel like eating anything else.

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Spaghetti aglio e olio

March 8, 2011 at 16:36 (Pasta, Recipes)
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Aglio e olio ingredientsI really need to keep some decent intervals here, but unfortunately, nobody is yelling at me if I forget to post. It doesn’t help that I’m hopelessly lazy and short on herbs to write fillers about. So instead of trying to fight it, I’m going to yield to my nature (nice and mystic excuse, isn’t it?) and post the ultimate Lazy Recipe today.
This is what You do when You have no ingredients for other, more complicated dishes, or when You are dead against doing any work. It’s quick, it’s easy and it’s delicious. Quite healthy, too. So if there’s need to impress someone and do it fast, or just whip up something tasty while being absolutely exhausted, this is what You need.

Spaghetti aglio e olio – meaning literally ‘garlic and oil’ – is the simplest pasta recipe You could ever come across. Its only downside is that the ingredients must be of reasonable quality, because every little fault will show in a dish so simple. So use good, fresh garlic, high quality cheese (italian hard is best here) and only, absolutely only, olive oil. Other oils, even expensive ones such as grape seed oil, do not have the same aroma and they will result in something dull and bland.

Ingredients

  • Spaghetti no. 5 – as usual.
  • Garlic – three cloves per person at least.
  • Olive oil – quite a lot, for this particular dish, since it doesn’t contain anything else. But the exact amount depends on how oily You want it to be.
  • Cheese – a healthy amount of strong, piquant cheese. Grana padano is Your best bet, followed by parmesan.
  • Green olives – optional.
  • Seasoning herbs - fresh basil, oregano, maybe fresh rosemary  (sometimes, fresh parsley is used for this dish).

Tools

  • A frying pan big enough to hold everything is necessary, because You will be throwing all of the pasta onto it.
  • A (wooden) pestle if You want to do it my way.

Preparation

Since the ‘sauce’ consists of garlic heated with olive oil, there’s not much to do. So get the water for boiling the pasta ready, because everything else can be done while spaghetti is already in. As You wait for the water to reach the boiling point, grate the cheese and dice the olives if You feel like adding them.
As the water boils, put the pasta in. Remember to stir it so that it won’t stick.  Peel the garlic cloves and slice them, then pour olive oil onto the pan and heat it up.

Mashing garlic

Smashing pumpk- er, mashing garlic on a frying pan.

Now Your regular aglio e olio recipe will tell You to chop the garlic into small bits and toss it into the oil. But if You do that, You end up with garlic-flavoured oil (which is good) and small bits of semi-fried garlic that fly around and inevitably fall down to congregate on the bottom of the plate (which is bad). What we want, on the other hand, is a smooth mix of oil and garlic that spreads nicely on our pasta. So what do we do?
This is where the wooden pestle comes in. I say wooden, because I use a teflon-covered pan, but even for other kinds wood is the best material to use here. I’m certainly not going to bash at it with my marble pestle, especially since it wouldn’t accomplish much.

If You have a wooden pestle, slice the garlic and put the slices straight onto the frying pan. Then, use the pestle to mash the garlic while mixing it with the oil already there. Why, do You ask? Well, You could mash it in a mortar, but then You would have to transport it from one utensil to another and a) lose some of it in the process, b) have to wash all that has been used to do it. Mashing it straight on the pan prevents all that and ensures that all of our garlic ends up in the dish, while resulting in a smoother, more ‘sauce-like’ mixture.
If You’re not going to do this, chop the garlic into fine pieces and add it to the oil. Either way, heat them up together, stirring from time to time. Watch out not to overdo the heat – the garlic must not brown.

When spaghetti is ready (according to Your personal tastes), drain it and put all of it onto the pan where the garlic is cooking. Mix it gently to spread the oil and garlic on all of Your pasta. Add the seasoning and cheese – You’re done.

Aglio e olio

Little known fact about this dish - it isn't very photogenic.

Despite this long and rambling description, aglio e olio can be made in approximately 15 minutes. And, despite the not very impressive picture above, it’s a delicious dish. Yes, You do end up with more or less ‘bare’ pasta with green bits here and there and some cheese on top, but it’s still great. So great, in fact, that I got tired of trying to take a fancy picture of it and ate it.
Dry or semi-dry white wine is recommended – red might come out as too aggressive.

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Carrot soup

February 15, 2011 at 18:31 (Recipes, Soups)
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That’s life’s blessin’, darling. It always goes on.
- I wish I could remember where I read that.

Carrot soup ingredientsNo matter what happens, life goes on, which can even be jarring sometimes. Whether You got your heart broken one too many times, lost your job or can’t even find one to begin with, there always comes the moment when You have to look facts in the face: life goes on. And this means we have to eat.

So, regardless of all the chaos that’s made its nest in my life and ignoring all the little worry worms that pester me constantly, I’ll be continuing to cook and to tell You about it. Hey, You read blogs at your peril. But since I’m still adjusting to the situation, I’ll start with something simple. I believe this is actually the first soup recipe to appear here on KW.

Ingredients

  • Carrots – two per person minimum
  • Onions – half an onion per person
  • Celery root – depends on its size, but half a root should do
  • Water
  • Olive oil – two spoons maximum
  • Seasoning: pepper, basil and (if You’re into it) salt

Tools

  • Blender, or
  • Sieve and pestle

Preparation

Carrot soup in makingIn a pot of a sufficient size (depends on how much soup You want to make), heat up the olive oil. Dice the onions and put them into the pot. While the onions cook, dice the carrots and the celery root (yes, yes, You need to wash and peel them first. Thank you, Captain Obvious ) and add them to the pot. Fry all the vegetables for a moment, but be careful not to let the onions brown. When onion browns, its taste changes and we don’t want that here.
So keep on stirring the vegetables on the oil for a while – preferably untill they get a pale-gold sheen, or the onions are on the verge of browning – and when You feel they’re ready, pour the water in.
Now all You need to do is keep the pot on the stove, boiling, but not too violently. The vegetables need to be soft enough to mix smoothly, so the best way to go about this is to keep the pot over a small fire, cover it and go read something for about an hour.

If  You’re not using a blender, boil the vegetables longer – the softer they are, the easier You can run them through a sieve (basically You just fish the big bits out with the sieve, and then rub them around it with the pestle untill they mash). If You have a blender, You can shorten the boiling phase.
Mix the soup in whatever way You deem appropriate, then, and season it to suit your taste. It works best with fresh, aromatic herbs such as basil, mint or rosemary, with some pepper to spice things up.

Carrot soup

This is quite a nutritious soup, but it does not rest heavily on the stomach. It can be used as the first course if You’re planning some heavier dishes later. For health reasons,  it’s definitely worth recommending to frequent computer users, just like every other carrot-based meal.

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Crêpes aux épinards

December 21, 2010 at 14:53 (Other, Recipes)
Tags: , , , , , , ,

Crepes ingredientsWe all know that pancakes are great. I think there’s no need to justify this opinion. But just to point out one of their many qualities – You can make them with anything You like and each time achieve a different dish. These particular pancakes were made for a spinach fanatic’s birthday, and he liked them.

I ought to say, perhaps, that these are french crêpes, thin and large, rather than american “puffy” pancakes. The french variety can be used with different fillings and rolled up easily (or folded however You want them). They go just as well with sweet and spicy fillings.

Ingredients
I will not be giving necessary amounts for this recipe, because they all depend on how You want the pancakes to be. The first part is for the batter, the second for the filling.

  • Flour – unbleached flour is the healthiest and it gives a more interesting taste.
  • An egg
  • Bran – if You don’t have graham flour, I strongly advise enriching the flour with bran. It’s healthier and tastier that way.
  • Water – some people use milk instead, some use carbonated water, but plain old tap water has always been good for me.
  • Spinach – fresh, canned, frozen, whatever You can lay Your hands on
  • Onions
  • Garlic
  • Quark cheese
  • Vegetable oil for frying

Preparation

Mix the flour (and bran) with a small amount of water first – just enough to get a thick mass. Add an egg (one should be enough, unless You are making a lot of pancakes or want them with egg aftertaste) and mix again. This will ensure that You get it mixed smoothly : if You just put everything in at once, You get water with round noodles. Once You have the egg distributed nicely, pour in more water. The batter for crêpes should be thin, with milk-like density.

With the mixture ready, You can see to the filling. Chop the onions and garlic and put them over medium heat with a drop of oil (olive oil will give them a nice finish). Add the spinach and fry it for some time. If You’re using frozen spinach, fry it longer so You can eliminate water surplus. When You get a soft, green mass but with a visible “leafy” texture, mix the spinach with quark cheese in 1:1 proportion and You’re done. Now all You need to do is fry thin pancakes and wrap the filling in them.

Crepes aux epinards

Crêpes aux épinards can be served straight from the pan, but You can also prepare them earlier and then heat them up in the oven. With some grated cheese and sunflower (or pumpkin) seeds on top, they can be even tastier that way.

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