This is a savory, refreshing summer drink made with gin, basil and cucumbers.
Serves 1 drink
Ingredients
1 shotglass of gin (I used Prairy organic gin)
1/2 – 1 shotglass of simple syrup (Please see recipe below)
1/2 cup spritzer water
5 basil leaves or more to garnish
8 thin cucumber slices
pinch of ground black pepper
juice of 1/2 lime or more to garnish
pinch of salt
ice, optional
Methods
Make the simple syrup. It is very easy. Slowly cook 1 cup of water with a 1 cup of sugar in a small pot. Be careful not to boil it. When you see a nice thick syrup, it is done. Take off heat and let it cool. You can refrigerate what you don’t use for later use – if not used up in a few days.
Preapre the drink in a jar big enough to hold 1 cup of liquid. Add the gin, the simple syrup, spritzer water, lime juice, basil leaves, cucmber slices and salt. I also like to put in the lime peel. Put the top on and mix well. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Remove the plant material before serving.
Add ice if you wish.
If you don’t have time to put the drink in the refrigerator, you can use a muddler to gently bruise the vegetables with the simple sugar to get the juice out for a few minutes and then procede with the rest of the recipe from above.
You can garnish with fresh basil, cucumber slice and lime slice if you wish.
This is a tasty vegetarian dish that can be served for breakfast, lunch or dinner. It is made with simple ingredients that you most likely have in your kitchen. The eggs are poached in a rich tomato sauce made with onions, garlic and the spices of North Africa. I served this dish with home-made pita bread.
Shakshuka originated in Northern Africa and is now made all over the Middle East. This recipe uses the lovely spices of Northern Africa, the special trio of cumin, coriander and paprika. I like to add additional vegetables like green peppers, zucchini and cauliflower. Enjoy!
RECIPE
5 Servings
Ingredients
2 medium onions, diced
1/4 cup Extra virgin olive oil
2 green peppers or zucchinis, sliced
1 cup cauliflower florets
4 garlic cloves
1 tsp ground cumin powder
1 tsp ground coriander powder
1 tsp ground paprika
2 large tomatoes
hot pepper flakes to taste
5 eggs
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup parsley
1/4 cup mint leaves
Methods
In a large skillet, sauté the onions in olive oil for 5 minutes or until translucent.
Add the green peppers and continue sauteing while stirring frequently for another 5 minutes.
Add the spices (cumin, coriander, paprika) and the garlic. Stir for 1 minute.
Quickly add the diced tomatoes and 1 cup of water. Stir. Cook for 5 minutes.
Add the sliced zucchini and cauliflower if used. Let the mixture cook for 5 more minutes on medium high heat.
Continue simmering for 10 minutes covered.
Uncover and let the dish cook for another 5 minutes or so until the sauce thickens.
With a wooden spoon make a ‘well’ and drop in 1 eggs. Do this four more times with the other eggs, evenly spacing the eggs on top of the tomato sauce. Let the eggs poach covered in this lovely, well seasoned sauce until the whites are set and are not runny. I like to leave the yellow part runny.
Uncover. Add salt, pepper, parsley, mint leaves and hot pepper flakes.
Berries are ready! An easy way to use these delicious berries for breakfast is to make a dutch baby. Dutch baby is made with three basic ingredients: milk, eggs and flour. Watch it puff up in the oven and wow your friends and family with this delicious breakfast. Make sure your guests are seated at the table when you bring it out because it settles pretty fast.
RECIPE
4-6 servings
You will need a 10″ (2″ deep) oven proof skillet or something similar in size.
Ingredients
1 cup white flour
1 cup of milk
5 eggs
2 cups berries, sliced
4 Tbsp butter, divided
pinch of salt
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1-3 Tbsp sugar
Methods
1. Preheat oven to 425 F.
2. Mix milk, flour, eggs, salt, melted 2 Tbsp butter, vanilla extract until no lumps remain. You can use an electric mixer on medium speed for 1 minute if you wish.
3. Let it rest for 1 hour. You can make it the night before too.
4. Gently warm up the remaining butter in the oven proof skillet. Pour in the batter. Make sure the batter is at room temperature if after taking it out of the fridge.
5. ATTENTION! Do not open the oven door until the dutch baby is done. Bake for 20 – 30 minutes or until the top is nice and golden brown.
6. Let it cool for 5 – 10 minutes. Serve warm.
7. I served it with the berries, maple syrup and chopped nuts.
If you are like me and just can’t get enough of rhubarb right now, try these delicious, filling muffins. The tangy rhubarb works nicely with the whole wheat dough. They were gone fast in our house …
Fold the dry ingredients into the butter mixture until just barely combined, then add 2 cups of the fresh rhubarb and fold until evenly distributed.
Let the dough rest for 8 hours. (1 hour if using white flour).
Bake in a preheated oven for 25 – 30 minutes until a toothpick poked into the middle of a muffin comes out clean.
Cool for 10 minutes, then run a knife around each muffin to release from the tin and turn out onto the rack. Put the muffins on a wire rack and let them sit for another 10 minutes.
This new spring energy is as vibrant as it can be. Simple vegetarian dishes would be very nice to eat right now. I would like to share my recipe that I have been cherishing for years and making in the spring. This is a vegetarian take on the classic beef stroganoff dish. I used the nutty tempeh to replace the meat and added mushrooms to create this delicious dish. Enjoy!
RECIPE
Serves 4-6 people
Ingredients
1 pkg tempeh (500 gr)
olive oil
1/4 cup of shallots, finally chopped
1 Tbsp flour
16 oz mushrooms (oyster, crimini, portobello, white button)
8 oz green vegetable (spinach, broccoli)
1 tsp Hungarian paprika
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 cup wine
1 cup stock (vegetarian or meat)
salt
red hot pepper flakes, optional
few springs of thyme
10 cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup cream
black pepper
parsley
pasta
graded cheese (Parmesan)
Method
Sauté the tempeh in a little oil for 10 minutes or until the sides are nice and brown. Set aside.
Make the pasta according to its directions. Set aside.
In a large pan, heat some oil. Sauté the shallots for 5 minutes on medium high heat.
Add the mushrooms and continue sauteing for another 5 minutes. Sprinkle in 1 Tbsp flour, stir for a few minutes. Add the paprika and garlic. Stir for 1 minute.
Add the wine and the cold stock. Stir making sure there are no knots left from the flour. Add the thyme,vegetables, red hot pepper flakes (if desired), tomatoes and cook for 15 minutes covered.
Take out larger thyme pieces.
Take off heat. Add salt, pepper, parsley and cream.
Add the tempeh cubes so it can soak up some of the liquid.
The lemon yellow color can bring sunshine into our homes! This delicious dessert could become the center piece of your Easter celebration instantly. The tart and tangy lemon filled cake is topped with the fluffy sweet meringue. I like using lemons in baking because they offset the sweetness of desserts and give an interesting flavor. Also, it is packed with the important theme of Easter, eggs of course. It is super easy to make and delicious at the same time. In our house, my daughter will be making it for Easter this year.
RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
Crust
12 Tbsp (165 gr) butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla concentrate
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, cut and sifted
Lemon filling
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice + the zest (2-3 fresh lemons)
1/4 cup flour
Meringue
3 egg white, room temperature
1 pinch salt
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/3 cup sugar
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 325 F (170 C). Set the rack in the middle of the oven. Grease and line a 9″ baking dish with parchment paper.
Separate the 3 eggs for the meringue now as it is easier to do when eggs are cold. Make sure they are at room temperature when you beat them.
Make the crust. Cream the sugar, vanilla extract and the butter. Gradually add the flour with salt mixing by hand just until a crumbly ball forms.
Place the prepared dough in the pan. Using your hands press against the bottom and about 1 inch (2 cm) up the sides. Poke the dough with a fork about 6-8 times. Bake for 20 minutes or until the dough has a nice golden brown color.
Make the lemon filling. In a medium sized bowl whisk the eggs, sugar, lemon juice and zest and the flour together. Make sure you grade the lemons before you can them up. (It is almost impossible to zest a cut lemon).
When the crust is done baking, remove it from the oven. Pour the lemon filling over the crust and return it to the oven for 30-40 minutes, until the filling no longer jiggles and the center is mostly set.
Make the meringue in the last 5 minutes before the shell is done baking. In a clean, medium bowl, use an electric hand mixer to beat the egg white until stiff peaks form. Add about half of the sugar and the cream of tartar, whip for 30 seconds. Add the rest of the sugar and whip until combined.
Transfer the meringue to a pastry bag fitted with a large tip or zip-lock bag with a corner snipped off. I piped the meringue on the top covering the entire surface making large peaks each time.
Return to the oven for 10 – 12 minutes, until the meringues are lightly browned.
Let cool completely, then refrigerate for 1 hours.
Spring is my favorite time of the year, not only we start getting more fruits and vegetables but also it is so uplifting to experience nature coming alive and bursting with energy, to hear the birds chirping and seeing animals active again. Please check out my posts from last year on Spring eating (post) and other early spring recipes. Recipes: Hot and sour burdock soup (recipe), Spinach lasagna (recipe) and Sorrel/nettle stew (recipe). enjoy!
This is an amazing Thai inspired dish that uses coconut milk and Thai red curry paste as a base. I usually don’t add ready-made seasonings but this is a tasty and easy short cut, you won’t even notice. I chose bok choy and mushrooms for the vegetables, this combination is often used in traditional thai cooking and I really like how they work together. I also threw in some bamboo shoots to balance out the dish. If you want you can add some broccoli in place of the bok choy but this is really a personal preference. Oh and it is done in 30 minutes! Enjoy!
RECIPE
Serves 6 people
Ingredients
1 block of tofu (1 lb) (500 gr)
sesame oil
1 Tbsp ginger, finally chopped
5 cloves garlic, crushed
(26 fl oz) 2 cans coconut milk (1 liter)
4 Tbsp Thai red curry paste
handful (4-8oz) shiitake mushrooms, cut up
1 lb baby bock choy (I like half bok choy and half broccoli)
1 bunch scallions, sliced
little fish sauce to taste (1 tsp)
1 can of bamboo shoots (140 g), drained
soy sauce
1 tsp salt or to taste
1 lime
cilantro
1/2 tsp red flakes or to taste
1 pkg noodles (Thai, ramen)
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Boil water and prepare the noodles according to its directions.
2. Drain water off the tofu and pat dry. Cut the the tofu in 1 inch cubes and fry in a little oil. When done, sprinkle a little soy sauce on the cubes.
3. Heat a pan with oil.
4. Add the broccoli if used and stir fry for about 10 minutes on medium heat until tender.
5. Add the ginger and garlic, stir for 1 minute. Stir.
6. Add the 2 cans of coconut milk and the Thai red curry paste, stir. Continue adding bamboo shoots, red chili flakes (optional) and fish sauce, boc choy and mushrooms. Cook for 10 minutes. I would like also mention that if you add the bok choy and the mushrooms more at the last 5 minutes of the cooking, they will keep their shape better and will not get soggy.
7. Serve with the noodles and the tofu prepared earlier. Add cilantro, scallions and lime juice.
When you are on vacation, everything tastes better … and when the food is fabulous you are going to remember it forever. This is what happened to us when we visited the Arcadia National Park in Maine. We ate lunch at the park’s restaurant where they served popovers with every meal … the smell and the taste of these lovely rolls and of course the breathtaking view will stay with us forever.
Popovers are the American version of Yorkshire pudding, a British specialty. These souffle-like rolls are airy and ‘custardy’. They are made with an egg batter and baked in a muffin pan. The inside is hollow and the outside has a nice crust with a savory flavor. I like to serve it with jam and butter. Enjoy!
RECIPE
Makes 12 popovers.
Ingredients
2 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Pinch baking soda
1 tablespoon butter, melted
Method
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk and melted butter. Add to the flour mixture and mix well until no lumps remain.
Butter a muffin pan.
Evenly distribute the batter among the cups in the pan. Fill each cup until they are about two-third full. Put some water in cups that don’t have any batter.
Bake for 15 minutes at 450 F.
Reduce the oven temperature to 350 F and bake for another 20 minutes or until the outside is crusty and brown. Do not open the oven door until the last 5 minutes to prevent the popovers from deflating.
Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes. Take popovers out of the pan.
I am a big fan of buttermilk. I use it often in many of my recipes from pancakes to muffins … it makes food soft and gives an interesting tart flavor. The acid in the buttermilk will help rise the quick breads as the buttermilk reacts with the baking soda and the baking powder. It also breaks down the gluten in the flour making it is easier to digest so it is an important ingredient in the kitchen. I used to get buttermilk often from the store but since I learnt this simple little hack, I haven’t bought any.
So why make your own? Well for one it is cheaper. Also, it is likely you have milk at home and really all you have to do is add some acid to curdle the milk. I like to use apple cider vinegar but other acids will work like regular white vinegar or lemon. To make 1 cup of buttermilk, just take 2 Tbsp milk out of 1 cup of milk and replace it with the apple cider… and that is it. Seriously, will you ever buy buttermilk at a store again?
RECIPE
Ingredients
1 cup of milk minus 2 Tbsp milk (almond milk works nice too)
2 Tbsp Apple cider vinegar or white vinegar or lemon juice
Method
To make 1 cup of buttermilk, measure out 1 cup milk and remove 2 Tbsp.
Pour into a small dish.
Add 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
Let the mixture sit for about 5 minutes and then it is done.
