Zlamushka's Spicy Kitchen

Curried Sugar Snap Peas

2009-11-22T20:42:00.004+02:00

This simple dish I pulled together during one of my lonely lazy Copenhagen after-work evenings. It was one of those when you come back late from work, forgot all about shopping and the only thing you want to do is to look into the fridge and come up with some kind of cooking math:

"One tomato + one onion + a few sugar snaps equals tonight´s dinner".

Ok, happy. It is just me after all and I really hate a) going to bed hungry and b) throw away food if it is still edible.

So, unexpectedly enough, this turned out to be such a simple tasty stir-fry, that now, two years later, I still find myself cooking this one up:

CURRIED SUGAR SNAPS:

2 tbsp oil
1/2 onion
1 tomato
a few curry leaves
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp curry powder
salt
two handfuls sugar snaps

Heat the oil in a pan, add the chopped onion and fry until light brown. Add the curry, the cumin seeds and the tomato and cook until gravy-like. Add the curry powder and mix in the sugar snaps. Cook for a minute or two. Adjust salt to taste and serve right away.

Very simple, but tasty. Good with flavored or plain rice.

Salad Greens with Orange Dressing

2009-10-25T15:30:00.004+02:00

Summery lovely fresh crispy salad greens complimented with tangy cranberries and crunchy almonds, dipped in sweet & sour orange-mustard dressing. I am so in love with this simple salad, lately it has been my number one side dish to steaks and other juicy meats, like duck. Oh... what is up with duck and orange combo? It is just amazing...

This is a simple salad with exotic richness and taste. Must-try in my kitchen.

SALAD GREENS WITH ORANGE DRESSING:

1/4 cup orange juice
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp white vinegar
1 tsp mustard (Honey Dijon is perfect for this)
salt and pepper
6 cups mixed leaves
1 orange
1/3 cup almonds
1/3 cup dried cranberries

Wash the greens and mix with almonds and cranberries. Peel the orange and divide into segments. Mix all the ingredients for the dressing and pour over the salad. Mix well and serve.

Spicy (Soy) Chicken Stew

2009-10-17T17:44:00.012+02:00

Copenhagen got really cold these days. Each time I finally cycle home and take off my gloves and b**tch about the weather, I wish for a bowl of hot thick creamy soup. Today I was running around with the usual - shopping, laundry, etc. so when I got home, I was really ready to cook something hearthy. This is a very simple, yet delicious European stew that I used to make quite often during my vegan days. Served with mashed potato, this stew makes a filling dinner.

SPICY STEW WITH (SOY) MEAT:

1 cup cooked soy nuggets *
vegetable oil
500ml veggie broth (preferably mushroom flavored)
1 onion
2 carrots
handful of soaked dried mushrooms
3 bay leaves
10 black peppercorns
1 tbsp any grill spice mix (or my Cajun Spice Mix)
1 tbsp wholegrain flour
1 tbsp mushroom flavored soy sauce

* NOTE: Instead of soy nuggets, use cubed chicken.

Fry the soy nuggets (or chicken) in oil, until crispy. In a pan, heat some oil and add the chopped onions. Fry for about 10 minutes or until brown. Add the carrots and the mushrooms. Saute for another 5 minutes. Add the broth together with the spices. Bring to boil, lower the heat and cook until the veggies are 90% done. Add the fried soy nuggets and the soy sauce. Cook for about 3 minutes, stir in the flour and cook until thickened.

Serve warm with mashed potatoes and pickled beet roots.

I served mine with mashed parsnip roots. To do that, simply boil chopped parsnip in salt water until soft, drain and blend with a hand mixer. This is a lighter (and to mne tastier) version of the tradition.

You can naturally use cubed chicken instead of the soy nuggets.

Beetroot Sauerkraut Salad

2009-09-17T16:56:00.007+02:00

So we have this BBQ party tomorrow called "Work & Friends" organised by one of my colleagues from my new job. Bill is a crazy American, who likes his parties. As the summer is coming to an end, he thought this was the (last) biggest opportunity to gather a crowd down at the beach and throw some meat on the barbie.

Since we are a team of people from all over the world Bill wrote in his invite that everyone has to bring some food from their country. Now this is something I would hate to miss out on. So when I heard that I knew exactly what I was bringing. Danes love root beets and potatoes and sour stuff. I love sauerkraut, so this salad was a winner.

Well, we shall wait and see. There is a panel of judges (which I happen to be part of) that taste and judge. Definitely look forward to that part :-)

Anyhow, this is what I am bringing to the party:

BEETROOT SALAD WITH SAUERKRAUT:
(Cvikľový šalát s kyslou kapustou)

1 kg beetroot
800g potatoes
3 carrots
2 onions
5 cloves garlic
1/2 little celery head
400g sauerkraut (German fermented cabbage)
2 handfuls sprouted wheat
2 handfuls watercress
200 ml juice from the sauerkraut
5 tbsp oil
salt
pepper

Boil the potatoes and the beet roots in separate pans until soft. Peel the beet roots (and potatoes if necessary) and cut both into small cubes. Mix in a big bowl.

Grate the celery and the carrots and finely slice the onions. Press the garlic cloves. Add to the potato-beet root mix. Add the sauerkraut, sprouts and the chopped watercress. Mix together with the sauerkraut juice and the oil. Adjust the salt and pepper to taste and let sit for about two hours prior to serving.

This is a huge amount of salad that will (hopefully) feed everyone at the party tomorrow :-)

Chinese Tea Eggs

2009-09-12T19:30:00.004+02:00

Funny that when I lived in China I could not care less, but once I came back - I became to love these little patterned eggs. Often prepared on the streets, the smell of cinnamon, star anise and sugar is a standard "incense stick" of Beijing, very popular around our campus. Waking up to this aroma always felt somehow Christmasy. Now a similar feeling is evoked at home each time I cook them. And today, I felt like Christmas... Just got off the phone with my sister who is expecting her second baby and since we live thousand miles away from each other, she was quite disappointed to hear that I might not be there for Christmas.

This is for you, sweets :-)

CHINESE TEA EGGS:
(茶叶蛋 - cha ye dan)

5 eggs
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp rice wine
1 star anise
1 tsp sugar
1 cinnamon stick
small pice of ginger, cut into coins
1 tbsp dried black tea leaves

Boil the eggs for about ten minutes in salted water. Drain, rinse with cold water and set aside.

In a pan, heat 500ml water together with the rest of ingredients. Bring to boil, reduce the heat and let simmer for about 15 minutes.

Place one egg on a table. Lightly press on it with your hand and roll it back and forth on the table surface to crush the egg shell. Do not peal though. Repeat with each egg.

Place the eggs into the tea broth and let cook for about 40 minutes. Turn off the heat and let cool down. Take out the eggs and peal them. Serve cold.

Enjoy :-)

Buttermilk Veggie Sambar

2009-08-08T11:35:00.003+02:00

Another news to share with you...
I am moving out next week. Finally, a place completely on my own :-) aaaah, still in Copenhagen, but not bad. So, new job, new flat, new friends, good old me :-) Let us see how it goes.

You know how food sometimes evokes feelings in you? To me, whenever I think of sambars, I feel like dancing... mainly i think it because a) dancing involves drinking and drinking involves spicy hot lovely curry or b) because the word sambar somehow contains "samba" latino dance and that one I liiiike :-)

Sambars are thick and spicy curries often served as the first course of a traditional Indian meal. Containing one of three bases: tamarind, dhal or buttermilk, sambars make a universal sauce for any type of vegetables. As for my very first attempt, I have decided to try buttermilk based with Brussel sprouts as main veggies. I must tell you, not a bad shot. Here it is - a simple quick:

BUTTERMILK SAMBAR PASTE:
(Moru Kozhambu)

prep time: 15 minutes
makes: enough to cook 1 cup chopped vegetables with 2 cups yoghurt

2 tbsp oil
1 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
2 tbsp dhal (I used red lentils and mung dhal)
1 tsp coriander seeds
6 dried red chillies
1/2 tsp asafoetida powder
3 tbsp coconut flakes (I used dried)
1 cm piece ginger

Heat up the oil and fry the fenugreek seeds, dhal, coriander seeds, red chillies, asafoetida powder and sauté for about 2 minutes. Take great care not to burn it.
In a mortar, crush the spices well, add the coconut and ginger and process to a smooth paste. Add a bit of water if necessary.

To make a simple Buttermilk Sambar, you will need:

2 cups plain (soy) yoghurt
1/4 tsp turmeric
salt
1 cup chopped vegetables (I used quartered Brussel sprouts)
1 quantity Buttermilk Sambar Paste (see above)
tadka (Indian tempering)

Heat the oil in a pan and prepare tadka. Add the chopped vegetables with turmeric and fry until coated. Add enough water to cover the veggies. Cover the pan and let cook until soft.
Meantime, whisk the yoghurt with the Buttermilk Sambar Paste and salt.
Once the veggies are soft, lower the heat and slowly mix in the yoghurt paste mix. Right before it starts boiling, set off the fire to prevent curdling of yoghurt.
Adjust salt to taste and serve hot.

Off to my farewell party with my soon-to-be-ex...

... work mates :-)

Creamy Sunroot Soup

2009-08-05T20:06:00.010+02:00

Ok - my NEW JOB is now official and confirmed and so I have nothing else on my mind than celebrating :-)

Whenever compiling a festive menu for a precious visitor or a real gourmet, I always think of this one.... ....and the story behind it.

Shortly after I joined our company, I was asked to organise a team building. Me being always up for fun, I thought that was a real cool task. I googled a few places to consider and ran into a food house that specialised in organising company events. Now you could count all the nanoseconds that passed from the time I saw the offer until I said OK to it on one hand :-) Kitchen, cooking, food - that was it.

The event was fun - we were split into a few groups and had to guess different spices by their smell and different beers by their main brewing ingredients :-) My biggest challenge was recognising caraway seeds - I thought they were cumin seeds (other than that I was goood :-)

Anyway, afterwards we were invited to a table and served a wonderful 5-course dinner. It was absolutely delicious, but their starter - the soup was absolutely to die for!

After the dinner, when things calmed down and the chef was just standing around, I gathered all my charm to convince him that giving me his super wonderful recipe for his sunroot soup was a really good idea ;-)

This soup is a slight adaption to his - still untouchably perfect...

The main ingredient is sunroot or jerusalem artichokes (or "fartychokes" as the chef calls them as they do make you .... well whatever the name implies :-)

CREAMY SUNROOT SOUP:

800g cubed sunroot
200g chopped onions
3 cloves garlic
500ml vegetable stock
2 sprigs thyme
150ml cream
1 tbsp butter
salt
black pepper
lemon juice to taste

To garnish:
100g sunroot
200g bacon
1/2 bunch chives

Scrape and cube the sunroot, chop the onions and the garlic. In a pan, heat the butter and add the onions and the garlic. Sautee until golden. Add the cubed sunroot and stir-fry a bit. Add the thyme and the veggie stock. Cover and cook until the sunroot is done.

Strain the remaining water, discard the thyme sprigs and mash the soup. Add the cream and mix thoroughly. Bring to boil, adjust salt and pepper to taste, add the lemon juice and set off the fire.

In the meantime chop the sunroot, the bacon and the chives into small cubes. Fry the bacon pieces and mix with the rest in a bowl.

To serve, pour a big laddle into a soup plate and garnish with the mixture. Enjoy :-)

T&T - A Life(Time) of Cooking

2009-08-02T17:41:00.004+02:00

This month I am proud to announce two things:

1) Yasmeen of Health Nut is the proud hostess of the Tried & Tasted event, featuring Ganga´s Life(Time) of Cooking. I have to admit that Ganga´s blog is truly new to me. Having said that I have to say that her blog is a true gastronomic journey all around India and beyond.

For the period of over 2 years, Ganga has collected an extensive collection of drool-worthy recipes perplexed with lovely travel stories. I am sooooo looking forward to taste as many recipes as I can put my hands on :-)

Yasmeen, thank you so much for hosting and making me discover A Life(Time) of Cooking :-)

Everyone else, let´s get started. Here are the details ....

2) My T&T logo has undergone a dramatic change. Ksenia of Tales of a Spoon has been the most wonderful to volunteer to amend the logo each month :-)

August is truly gorgeous - what do you think?

Breakfast Scramble With Tofu

2009-07-14T20:43:00.004+02:00

Yummy morning ahead of us. Warm scrambled eggs with bits and pieces of tofu stir-fried over spring onions. It is a lovely way to start weekend and pack up on protein...

I would like to introduce to you a simple omelette, but would not like you to get stuck with that only combo. It is sooo easy to experiment with scrambled eggs - try sprinkle of smoked paprika powder or cumin powder, v-e-r-y goooood :-)

SCRAMBLE WITH TOFU:

1 egg
1/2 pack tofu
1 spring onion
oil
salt and pepper

In a bowl, whisk the egg together with the salt and pepper. In separate bowl, crumble the tofu. Heat the oil in a wok, add the spring onions and stir-fry gently. Add the crumbled tofu and continue cooking for about a minute. Add the egg mixture and heat through, breaking up the lumps. Adjust salt to taste and turn off the heat while the eggs are a bit runny - that is the way I love my eggs :-)

Serve with sliced fresh bell pepper...

Instant Harissa Chilli Paste

2009-07-10T14:21:00.001+02:00

Traditional term of Harissa in the Middle East refers to a simple rehydration of dried chillies flavored with salt. Spreading all over the continent over the last centuries, this name represents hundreds of chili pastes varying with families or regions.

In my earlier Harissa post, I went a bit further into the history of this wonder and introduced you to one of the most traditional Harissa recipes. Today, I would like to show you how to make my most favorite instant version of it:

INSTANT HARISSA CHILI PASTE

2 tbsp chilli powder
1 tbsp paprika powder (mild)
1 tbsp pressed garlic
2 tsp coriander powder
2 tsp chilli flakes
1 tsp salt
1 tsp caraway seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
3/4 dl boiled water
1/2 dl oil

Mix well all the ingredients apart from oil and water. Heat the water and pour over the dry ingredients. Add the oil and let soak through.

Store in the fridge in airtight container. This paste will happily hold for about half a year or even longer.

Use wherever the recipe calls for a chili paste.

Fermented Tofu Stir-fry

2009-07-05T19:47:00.008+02:00

Fermented Tofu or 豆腐儒 dou fu ru - is one of the stinkiest and strongest things you can possibly put into your mouth (with the exception of the "surströmming" - the traditional Swedish pickled (or rotten) herring).

"Stinky Tofu" or "Chinese Blue Cheese" is fairly popular in China or Vietnam, traditionally eaten with plain rice. This however is a combination that I find fairly hard to digest. Yes, I am aware of how healthy this fermented thingy is, but much rather have yoghurt please...

The one I own (above) comes in this gorgeous earthen jar, which I plan on keeping and using to ferment cabbage or make yoghurt. The tofu ru is of Zhejiang brand, which is supposingly the best :-)

So while I am still becoming friends with Tofu Ru on its own, let me introduce to you a simple actually quite tasty:

FERMENTED TOFU STIR-FRY
(豆腐儒炒菜)

a few florets broccoli
handful green beans
handful mixed green leaves
1 fresh chilli pepper
1 tbsp fermented soybean curd
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp water
sesame seeds (optional)

Heat oil in a pan and fry the sliced garlic. Add the chopped chili, fermented tofu, soy sauce, a splash of water and heat quickly through. Add the green veggies and stir well. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve with a nice dollop of rice.

Note: Above I substituted the green beans with sugar snaps. The sweetness of the peas really complemented the saltiness of the dish. Was yums :-)

Stir-fried Wood Ears with Cucumber

2009-06-30T06:22:00.002+02:00

Cucumber stir-fries have always been my favorite, particularly in summer. The freshness and crispiness combined with cooling juiciness - yums. Touched with chilies and garlic, how can you resist. Now before I get too carried away with adjectives, let me introduce you one of my favorite summer side dishes.

Just a small note: In my kitchen Chinese food is often times unmeasurable. It is more of a splash of this and handful of that, rather than cups and grams. Feel free to adjust the quantities to your own taste.

STIR-FRIED WOOD EAR WITH CUCUMBER

1 cucumber
oil
3 garlic cloves
5 cm fresh ginger root
handful of dried wood ear
3 dried chillies
3 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine
pinch of sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil

Slice the cucumber diagonally into thin slices. Cut the ginger into thin strips. Soak the wood ears in hot water for about 20 minutes or until soft. Drain well and squeeze all the remaining liquid.

Heat the oil in a wok and swirl it around. Add the garlic, ginger and chillies and stir-fry for a few seconds. Add the cucumber and the mushroom. Sautee for about two minutes. Add the sugar and all the liquid ingredients. Heat through and set off the fire. Stir through the sesame oil and serve immediately.

Greek Sautéed Fennel (or Onion)

2009-06-26T09:02:00.002+02:00

Traditional health medicine and a gourmet side dish, this fragrant light green furry bulb is not one of those veggies you would like to miss in your diet. Packed with nutrition and a very low amount of calories - fennel is one of the fullest veggies that can easily substitute a main course.

I am still yet to discover all the wonderful fennel dishes out there, so if you know any, do tell. In the meantime, I would like to share this simple sauté with you:

GREEK SAUTÉED FENNEL:

1 lemon
100 ml water
4 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp white wine
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp coriander seeds, crushed
1 bay leaf
2 big fennel bulbs*
salt,
6 peppercorns
25 g fresh parsley

* Note: Substitute 500g pickled onions or shallots for the fennel.

Slice the lemon to 5 thin pieces, discard the seeds. Mix the water, oil, wine, lemon, garlic, coriander, peppercorns and the bay leaf in a cooking pot and bring to boil. Lower the heat, cover and let simmer for about 10 minutes.

In the meantime, chop the fennel into 1 cm thick slices. Add to the broth and let simmer for about 15 minutes or until soft. With a slotted spoon, scoop out the fennel and set aside.

Let the liquid boil down to half and adjust salt and pepper to taste. Pour over the fennel and serve garnished with some chopped parsley.

Tastes great cold as well.

At last - here is a bunch of fennel leaves - I am not particularly mad about their liquorish taste, but people here in Denmark enjoy tossing a few strands into salads, yoghurt-based dips or in soups. Well, I guess I like more the way they look :-)

Strawberry Buttermilk Pie

2009-06-24T16:35:00.000+02:00

So it was my birthday in the beginning of this month and it is an unspoken tradition at our work that the B-day girl/boy should bring in something sweet for everyone to enjoy. However having 400+ people in the offices, there are plenty of cakes around us. So when my 27th was approaching I wanted to bring in something salty for a change, but somehow people remarked that June was fairly slow in birthdays...

I got the message and felt obliged to make a pie. Summer in Copenhagen is fairly warm this year and strawberries are a big hit, so I thought I bake something light. Influenced by my childhood summer treat,I am proudly presenting my version of our traditional Slovakian:

STRAWBERRY BUTTERMILK PIE:
(Jahodova Bublanina)

1 cup buttermilk
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
100g salted butter
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp vanilla sugar
2 eggs
lemon zest from 1 lemon
2 cups fresh strawberries
coarsely ground almonds (to garnish)

Whisk the butter with the sugar until smooth. Gradually add the eggs. I used a food processor, so the job was done very fast. Add the buttermilk and flour that you mixed with the baking powder and soda. Add the remaining ingredients apart from the strawberries.
Pour the dough into a greased baking form.

Wash and stem the strawberries and cut each in 4 - 6 pieces. Sprinkle these on top of the dough heavily, on top of each other, if necessary. Most of them will fall through, so no worries :-)

Bake in pre-heated oven at 200 Celsius for about 30 minutes or until done. The cake is done when a toothpick that has been pierced through comes out clean. Sprinkle with almonds and serve with coffee :-)

Yums.

This is my contribution to the Strawberry Feast hosted by Happy Cook over at My Kitchen Treasures.

T&T - I am hooked...

2009-06-17T06:49:00.012+02:00

Hooked on Heat got me all hooked up recently. I have been eye balling the lovely recipes of Meena for months now, but never somehow got to try them. But now that Hooked on Heat is in the spotlight of this month´s Tried & Tasted event I can only be sorry that I havent cooked like this before. Meena´s recipes are a true drooling feast...

KC of Kitschow - this month´s hostess has more. What I can offer are only my humble re-creations of Meena´s wonderful recipes, but please - recipes only. No way I am even attempting to re-create her mind-blowing drool able pictures.

Here is how I witnessed my curry month :-)

1) Masala Lamb - absolutely delicious spicy stew, a total hit at a party I went to last week. The girls were crazy for a re-fill. I used chopped lamb (ok, I haven't cut them that tiny) together with the bones. It came out perfect. Since there was less meat (due to the bones), the overall dish came out quite fiery for some of my friends. So I took a bowl out and mixed in some Mango Chutney. It really toned it down well....

2) Baingan Ka Bharta - a perfect curry mash of roasted eggplants, tomatoes and spices. Meena suggests peeling off the eggplants, once roasted. I havent, as a) I was lazy and b) I thought it would come out a bit more eggplanty that way. I was right and no one had any objections. After all, the bowl was left clear, so it would have been late anyway.

3) Matar Pulao - lovely fragrant spiced rice boiled to perfection, garnished with fried onions and mixed with peas. A simple side dish that will make everyone go "oooooh" for more...

4) Ginger-Chilli Shrimps - Super spicy quick meal, fantastic with rice or bread. Ours came with pea pulao, which I thought complemented the spicyness really well. Glass of chilled white wine and shhhhh, let us enjoy the moment :-)

5) Spicy Lamb Burgers - I had some leftover lamb mince and thought of making simple burgers tonight. I thought, well maybe Meena has an idea. And whoopsie, there they were spicy Indian burgers. Yums. With baked beetroot and parsnip skordalia, this one was a winner :-)

6) Chocolate Dipped Strawberries - an absolute after-dinner delight. There is nothing sexier in the universe than these adorable mouth-fed strawberries drank with chilled champagne....

SO here was my little showcast of my cooking adventures for June and now I d love to see yours :-) there is still a week to go, so hurry up over to KitsChow and check out the event...

T&T - Hooked On Heat

2009-06-03T18:55:00.003+02:00

Whoever is not yet familiar with Meena´s Hooked On Heat, please don´t even continue reading before you actually check it out.

Hooked On Heat is a truly special festive recipe collection embedded with little cute stories :-) Reading Meena´s posts has always been a great pleasure for me. The pictures she takes are absolutely drooling and so are her dishes.

I am extremely excited to start cooking from Meena´s Blog. This month - KC of Kitschow is the hostess. Check out her post to read about the rules.

Join me in cooking from Hooked on Heat :-)

T&T - Another 30-Day Vegan Challenge

2009-05-18T19:54:00.009+02:00

Ok, this was a bit overdoing it. Unlike last time, I did not go completely vegan for the month of May, but hell I tried some super-delicious vegan dishes - all courtesy of Susan V - the mother of Fat Free Vegan - the most powerful vegan blog in the virtual cooking universe.

Susan´s fabulous blog has been nominated in my T&T event as Blog of the Month for May. Check out what I made - all highly recommended.

1) Okara Coconut Cookies - fantastic soft smelling wonderful cookies made of leftover soy beans. Susan, just like me makes her own tofu :-) and just like me, she ends up with tons of okara. Always ready for more recipes, this one was a complete keeper :-)

2) Panch Phoran Dal - advertised several times at my blog, this dish is simply unforgetable. Crunchy cauliflower coated in rich creamy sauce embedded with whole fried crispy spices. Aargh, ... oh, and it is spicy, too :-)

3) Brussel Sprouts with Basil and Garlic - I was quite impressed with the full-bodied taste this dish provided once ready. I have had a bag of sprouts in my freezer since early summer last year and coudnt just get rid of them. Now I wish there were some more as they were gone in a second :-)

4) Spicy Kasha Vegetable Salad - made with bulghur as I could not figure out what kasha was (and I still cannot). Being a true Slavic root, kasha literally means porridge, so that is where I got lost.. regardless, it was a great - My Tabbouleh-like salad, full of flavor, aroma and freshness :-)

5) Spicy Red Pepper Hummus - by far one of my most favorite. I am a hummus freak and whenever there is a hummus recipe featured in my T&T event, I am trying it. This one was so robust, flavored and with the addition of my own home-made Harissa paste, super spicy, too :-)

You still have 7 days left, so kschh-kschh into the kitchen ;-) Check out this month´s hostess Vaishali of Holy Cow! for more details.

Vegan Nut Cookies

2009-05-18T18:48:00.011+02:00

I call these "unexpected visit cookies" for a few obvious reasons. They are super easy and fast to make, have only a few ingredients that you certainly have on hand at all times, but mostly - these little crunchy sweets have not yet let me down. Perfect with afternoon milky tea or dipped in café latte.

Oh, have I mentioned that they are very vegan friendly?

Ok, let me share a few with you :-)

VEGAN WALNUT COOKIES:

(makes about 60 cookies)

100g baking margarine
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 c flour
1/4 cup ground oatmeal
1 cup ground walnuts *

* Note: Use ground almonds or hazel nuts for a change.

To enhance the lovely smell add a teaspoon of vanilla essence. My favorite is pandan essence, which is fairly similar to the one of vanilla, yet a bit more fragrant. ..

Anyway....

Whisk the butter together with the sugar until combined. Add the flour, oatmeal, essence (if using) and the walnuts. Form little round cookies and place them on a baking tray. Bake at 150 degrees for about 25 minutes.

You re supposed to wait until they cool down, but I rarely can wait, the smell is just adorable.

Stacked up wrapped in transparent wrapping paper with a ribbon, they make a gorgeous gift...

T&T - Fat Free Vegan

2009-05-03T13:39:00.005+02:00

The best way to introduce T&T for May 2009 would be in this month´s hostess Vaishali of Holy Cow own words:

It's easy to celebrate the FatFree Vegan Kitchen. This is a legendary blog that just about anyone who's ever googled up a recipe has to be familiar with.

I am convinced that there is no more than a handful of foodies that have not heard of Susan´s blog. I have been cooking from FFV long before I even thought about opening my own virtual kitchen. Susan´s masterpices have been a great inspiration to me. Her blog is not only about cooking, but also about techniques, beautiful foodography, health, nutrition, but foremost - pure love of vegan culture.

I really hope that regardless of your dietary requirements, you will find a few recipes that will take up a proud place among your favorites.

Come and join us in this scrumptious event, click here for more information...

Among all of the recipes I ever tried, here is one really simple, but really tasty. I have made it at least 5 times already and have not yet got tired of it. Here is Susan´s Cauliflower Dal with Panch Phoran compared to mine...

Happy Cooking :-)

Whole Wheat Flour and Tibetan Campa

2009-04-29T09:00:00.007+02:00

I don't buy whole wheat flour, I make my own. Not because it saves any money or time, but simply because I am addicted to the fresh aroma of roasted wheat berries and because there is SUCH a big difference between the home-made and store-bought.... tremendous.

Just try once with me and you will know exactly why...

WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR:

whole wheat berries

(that is a simple recipe :-)
Heat a heavy pan and dry roast the wheat berries for about 3-5 minutes over medium heat shaking the pan occasionally. They should darken a bit and become rounder, just as on the picture above. They might jump a bit every now and then.
Set off the fire and let cool down.
Grind in a coffee grinder to the desired consistency.
Smell and taste (can be eaten raw)

Sprinkle on anything for extra crunch or use as regular whole wheat flour wherever requested.

Here is a simple traditional everyday Tibetan dish called:

CAMPA:

roasted whole wheat flour (recipe above)
black tea
salt
ghee (or oil)

In a bowl mix the flour with the ghee, sprinkle some salt and slowly add the black tea until you reach a consistency of firm dough.Form little walnut-sized balls and eat with any veggie dish or just like that with a cup of tea.

I had mine with Nepalese Stir-fried Greens.

This combo is featured in MY 21-DAY VEGAN CHALLENGE COOKBOOK available here FOR FREE :-)

T&T - A flavorsome veggie tour

2009-04-26T06:41:00.013+02:00

Lisa of Vegetarian Kitchen is one wonderful woman and a passionate cook. She is one of those bloggers that will not leave your site without a comment. Her and I have been virtual friends for years. On numerous occasions, I have cooked from her kitchen, so when Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen announced her as this month´s choice, I was only happy, as I was finally given a choice to compile my long journey into Lisa´s cooking world.

Here is what I tried and tasted this month:

1) Quinoa Oat Croquettes - my absolute favorite. I made so much of it, froze it and was eating it almost every day I think :-) Just had my last piece two days ago :-( I tried them baked, fried or just like that and cannot decide which way was the best. The one I really liked thou was to shallow fry them in chilli oil, which gave them a nice kick in the butt :-)

2) Best Ever Mushroom Sauce - where I actually cheated a bit. I thought youghurt would make the sauce a bit sour, so I went for soy cooking cream and oh boy it was great. Packed with kcal, I know, but yum like hell :-) This definitely was my best ever mushroom sauce...

3) Guacamole - A simple classic, goes perfectly with just about anything. There are never enough excuses not to make another guacamole :-)

4) Fresh Chunky Salsa - another simple classic, perfect at any occasion. Ate mine with the quinoa oatcakes.

5) Cabbage Poriyal - simple cabbage stir-fry, Indian classic. I added shredded carrots to mine, as I was out of peas.
Looking forward to see what you guys came up with :-)

Cucumber Shrimp Salad

2009-04-18T15:36:00.006+02:00

When you say: "Let´s have Chinese tonight", a common picture of a cheap greasy take-away occurs to most of us (at least around Europe). Even after living in China eating in fancy or not-so-fancy restaurants, the connotation in my brain remained. Cheap - yes, greasy? Ok, that is a bit of a bad word, but let us be honest - there is a generous amount of oil floating around food - particularly in the Northern part.

You can of course disagree and prove me wrong million times and so will I do today. Here is my version of this super tasty, fresh and healthy:

FIVE FLAVORED SHRIMP SALAD:
(五味虾仁 wu wei xia ren)

1 cucumber
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp rice vinegar
12 big shrimps or 1/2 cup small shrimps
1 tsp chopped ginger
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 little fresh chilli
1 tbsp coriander leaves
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 cherry tomato

Slice the cucumber finely and marinate in a mixture of salt, sugar and vinegar. In the meantime, blanch the shrimps in hot water for about a minute or two. Drain well, place in a bowl and mix with the rest of ingredients.

To serve, place the cucumber slices on a plate in a big circle and scoop the shrimps into the middle. Enjoy :-)

Sprouted Wheat Berries

2009-04-16T19:43:00.007+02:00

Sprouts - raw foods literally still growing while you re chewing on them. Sprouts - the freshness in its best. Sprouts - crispy health packed with nutrition... These are a few little connotations of mine to a word "sprouts".

When KC of Kitschow announced her Weekend Wokking edition started by Wondering Chopsticks, I knew exactly what I was going to make. Without trying sound too smart, wokking sprouts is easy........

........ all you need is a splash of oil, a sprinkle of salt, a handful of sprouts, splash of rice wine and soy sauce and two minutes of your time. The crispy wonder is ready :-)

A method I like ot play with is sprouting. Some time ago, I posted a detailed recipe on how to sprout mung beans. Today, I would like to share my way of making:

SPROUTED WHEAT BERRIES:

wheat berries
Sterilized glass jars with broad mouth
Gauze
Elastic band
water

Soak the wheat berries in fresh water for couple of hours or overnight. Drain them well and rinse. Place them in a jar, cover with gauze and fasten with an elastic band. Pour in some water, shake gently and pour out (through the "gauze sieve").

Put the glass side-down and leave. Berries need to be rinsed regularly 2 – 3 times daily. It is not necessary to take them out of the jar, just fill it with water, shake gently and strain through the gauze.
On the 3rd day stand the jar as normal and fill with lukewarm water. Lazy berries, that didn’t want to sprout will fall on the bottom of the jar. We do not want those, anyway. Throw them away and enjoy the fresh sprouted ones :-)

You can eat them just like that, in salads, pasta dishes, pizza, sandwiches..... I like them mostly fresh, but you can easily throw them in the last few seconds when wokking :-) Enjoy.

KC, thanks for introducing such a lovely blog to me, you know how much I love Chinese Food :-)

T&T - Lisa´s Vegetarian Kitchen

2009-04-05T12:48:00.005+02:00

The spring is here and it is time to switch to a bit of lighter cooking :-) Finally, even here in Denmark, the sun is up and shining. Let me hope it will not disappear this quickly.

The Blog of The Month for April is a real tasty blog that show casts home made light meat-free dishes from all over the world. Lisa´s Vegetarian Kitchen is a place you should definitely check out, if you havent already. I have tried many dishes already and can only say that as long as Lisa´s cooking I ll keep comming back :-)

Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen is this month´s hostess, so be sure not to miss this one out :-)

For a start, I was having hard time resisting Lisa´s Cabbage Poriyal. I made mine with carrots instead of peas, but I could make this everyday with different veggies, it was THAT good :-)

Stir-Fried Bak Choy with Pine Nuts

2009-03-26T20:46:00.006+02:00

I love greens - cooked, braised, sautéed or stir-fried, I simply am addicted to the soft crunchiness they retain regardless of the cooking method. I have made plenty dishes with greens on this blog and outside it as well and I just cannot get enough. Rice and greens, I could go on that forever....
Here is a simple stir-fry elegantly topped with dry-roasted pine nuts - my little royal:

BAK CHOY STIR-FRY:

400g bak choy greens
1/2 tbsp ginger (optional)
3 small whole garlic cloves
2 small red chilies
1 tbsp pine nuts
2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
salt, black pepper

Heat a big casserole of salt water and once boiling, blanch the bok choy leaves for about a minute or two. Drain and wash under a cold running water.

Heat the oil in a wok, add the chopped gigner (if using), diagonally sliced chilies and whole garlics. After half a minute and add the drained bak choy leaves. Sautée for about a minute and stir in the sesame oil. Take off the fire and serve.

And here is my royal dish served together with some veggie dhal in my very hyggelig (comfy in Danish) informal way of spending Fridays with my best buddy - TV. Feet up, lean back, enjoy :-)