I’m a Rainbow Too – Poetic Salad for an Uncertain Beginning

What you need to have… 2 black radishes, 50 g pumpkin seeds, 1 red grapefruit, 1 big orange, 1 spoon olive oil, 50 g baked walnuts, salt, beginning of the year enthusiasm, some Mircea Dinescu inspiration

What you need to do… grate the radishes. Peel the pumpkin seeds, throw the shells in the thrash bin (doh!), throw the kernels in the salad bowl (doh doh!). In case you start to feel hungry and wanna throw the kernels in your mouth instead, have a sip of some sweet&strong liquor (e.g. sour cherry liquor – vishinata). It will cut down (for a while…) your desire for salty hunger-cuts. So… back to grating the radishes. Peel the grapefruit and orange. Make sure you remove all the bitter peel of the grapefruit. Do the peeling on top of the salad bowl, so that you keep all the yummy&healthy juices. Chop the walnuts and throw them in the bowl. Add salt and olive oil; stir well. It may well be that the radishes call for some extra oil. It all depends on you if you wanna give in or not to the call The Squirrel can testify that not giving in does not in any way diminish the pleasure of the ingesting the final Rainbow.

There! Happy new year! Many thanks Mr. Mircea Dinescu and his “Lacrimi si sfinti” (Tears and saints) new restaurant for providing inspiration on December 31st, that is put to a practical good use on January 5th (as you may well see for yourselves in a couple of minutes, and as the Squirrel & Collaborator already have)

Some theory on cullinary creativity that does not go off limits

http://gizmodo.com/5869188/why-does-asian-food-taste-so-different-from-western-food Many thanks to Dotty for bringing this to my attention. And here’s the link to the paper in Nature referred to in gizmodo http://www.nature.com/srep/2011/111215/srep00196/full/srep00196.html. And some more theoretical buzz http://www.foodpairing.com/.

Enjoy and good luck with practical implementations!

Queen Beetroot with the Chocolate Spade

What you need to have… 500 g raw beetroot, 200 g flour, 1 orange, 6 eggs, 250 g brown sugar, 400 g crushed walnuts, 5 spoons cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon vanilla essence, a pinch of salt, 4 spoons rhum, some butter for greasing the pan, 50 g grated dark chocolate, or chocolate flakes

What you need to do… Preheat oven at 180. Peel and grate beetroot in a laaaarge bowl. Grate orange zest on top. Roast walnuts (no oil needed) and crush ‘em. Mix egg yolks with sugar until creamy. Sift baking soda and flour. Add walnuts, egg yolk cream, flour with baking soda, cocoa, 3 spoons of rhum, and vanilla over the beetroot. Mix well. Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt and 1 spoon of rhum until stiff. Gently mix the egg whites in the beetroot composition. Put in a greased pan, and on the Queen goes to the oven! Where it should stay for 30-40 min. Pinch the Queen with a fork, and if it comes out clean it’s done, if not, have patience for a few more minutes. Once out of the oven sprinkle with grated chocolate and allow to cool. Serve with (or without) whipped cream.

Enjoy!

 

The Bitter Sweet Symphony of a Kiwi Cheesecake

Here’s something for the ones who enjoy very dark chocolate, unsweetened coffee, or other things with a bitter touch.

What you need to have… 200 g ricotta cheese, 150 ml liquid sour cream, 500 g soft cheese/ kwark, 4 eggs, 1 orange, 2 kiwis, 125 g sugar, 3 spoons flour, 1 spoon vanilla essence, 1 spoon rhum, a little butter

What you need to do… Preheat oven at rather low temp – 180 degrees should be fine. Mix cheese, sour cream and sugar. Add orange grated orange zest. Add eggs one at a time. Add flour, sliced kiwi, vanilla, and rhum. Now, the more you mix the kiwi, the more salient the bitterness of the cake (because the black seeds, which is actually responsible for the bitterness, will break and release their load of bitterness). So you can decide for yourself how much of a culinary masochist to be.  Butter the pan. Bake for 1 hour. Check in the meantime, different ovens might require different baking times.

Enjoy!

The Beef Under the Spell of Celeriac

The story goes like this. The Squirrel has been high on celeriac lately. Here’s one of the high’s.

What you need to have… 500 g celeriac,  200 g beef/ veal tenderloin sliced, 2 carrots, 2 red onions, 6 garlic cloves, 3 tomatoes, 150 g olives, 250ml dry white wine, 1 teaspoon honey, 1 lemon, fresh parsley, salt, pepper, 3 bay leaves, 1 spoon butter

What you need to do… Preheat oven (medium). Chop onion finely.  Fry meat and onion in butter. When onion is soft and meat is golden, throw in all other coarsely chopped veggies (peel tomatoes… easier to do if you leave them in boiled water for a couple of minutes). Stir and leave on medium fire for a couple of minutes. Add wine and honey . Add salt & pepper & bay leaves. Leave for 2-3 minutes on high fire. Cover and lower the fire. Allow to simmer for some 15 minutes. Transfer everything in an oven pot. Slice lemon and distribute nicely (i.e., according to your current aesthetic  high)   on top. Sprinkle with half the parsley. Bake  15 minutes, until crusty. Remove from oven and add rest of the parsley.

There!

Goes well with steamed rice. Soooooooo delicious, the celeriac aroma pervades your senses, contaminates the beef, and is flooded by the freshness of the baked lemon. Irresistible!

November Sunny Saturday Lunch (under the spell of garlic)

The Squirrel and her Collaborator decided to celebrate the unexpected sun of this November’s  Saturday of the Dead by dedicating themselves to kitchen creativity. With amazing results that make one’s mouth water. Here’s how to get there.

First, you need a sunny November day. Sun-day is also acceptable, although Saturday is the classic. Second, you need lots of garlic (the Holy Graal of the kitchen). Third, patience and other collateral means for hunger relief is always a plus.

The end products… KapiaFruit Pork steak drowned in wine (with garlic), mashed celeriac and potatoes (with garlic), Nutty Quince desert.

And here come the details.

For the Drowned Steak, you need to have… 500 g lean pork tenderloin, 2 red peppers (eastern European Kapia), 1 apple, 2 slices quince, MANY garlic cloves (a big fist full of), 2 spoons olive oil, 500 ml dry white wine, salt, pepper, rosemary

… and to do… make vertical notches on the tenderloin and insert uncut gloves. Sprinkle tenderloin with salt, pepper and ground rosemary (if you use fresh herbs, add them in the notches with the garlic). Put in a deep oven tray. Chop peppers, apple, and quince. Throw over pork. Sprinkle with oil and 1 glass of the wine. Put in preheated oven, low fire. Every 15-20 min, add sauce over pork, 2-3 cloves, and 1/2 glass of wine in the tray. Allow to cook for about one hour.

For the mashed potatoes and celeriac, you need to have… 1 celeriac, 3 potatoes, 25 g butter, 1/2 glass of milk, salt, pepper, 3 garlic cloves, rosemary.

… and to do… peel and chop celeriac, boil for some 20 minutes in salty water. When soft, add pealed and chopped potatoes. Leave for 10 more minutes on fire. Remove from fire and drain almost all water. Mash until creamy. Add butter, milk, salt, pepper, ground garlic, rosemary, and mash some more.

For the Nutty Quince, you need to have… 4 quinces, 1 cup brown sugar, 2 cm vanilla stick, 1 orange (zest and juice), 50 g walnuts, few drops of cognac

…and to do… grate 3 quinces, chop 1. Cut vanilla stick longitudinally. Add to quinces, sugar, 1/2 glass water. Place pot on very low fire (could be useful if you have a hob). Stir every once in a while. Add orange zest and juice. Keep stirring, don’t lose patience! Simmer for around 1 hour, stir constantly. Add nuts. Remove from fire, add cognac. Allow to cool. Serve with cinnamon cookies and whipped cream.

There you are, food’s ready, (s)mash it & enjoy! Go for a walk, or walk at least to the balcony, and breathe in the last rays of sun.

 

 

A classical: brie cheese and roasted nut salad

What you need to have… 1/2 celery root, 200 g carrots, 1 apple, 1/2 avocado, 30 g walnuts,  50 g brie cheese,  1 lemon,  100 g yoghurt,  2 spoons mustard, 1 teaspoon honey, ground coriander seeds, fresh parsley

What you need to do… Grate vegetables and apple in a salad bowl. Chop avocado and throw in the bowl. Remove cheese rind, cut in cubes, and add to the bowl. Roast nuts and leave aside to cool. When cool, smash and sprinkle over vegetables. Add salt, pepper, and coriander, and mix. For the dressing, mix lemon juice, yoghurt, mustard, honey, and fresh parsley. Pour over salad and mix.

There you go! Now, get yourself busy with something else for some half an hour, allowing flavors to join forces for enhanced gustative pleasure. Sit down and enjoy.

Minty Goatee Peas

After a long absence, the Squirrel runs out of her hollow and comes back to sharing with you (whoever is left around ) her latest taste highs. Funny, she resumes exactly form where she left it the last time she wrote, from dry peas, this is. Fine, so dry peas mark milestones on the Squirrel’s calendar of shared cooking, this is something to remember.

So… the hour has changed last night, it’s getting dark earlier, maybe you’re impatiently hungry for some daylight deliciousness, so it’s be about time to get back to business

What you need to have: 1 can dry peas, 2 garlic cloves, 50 g hard goat cheese, 2 spoons liquid creme fraiche/ cooking cream, salt, pepper, dill, fresh mint

What you need to do: throw in a pot the peas with 2 spoons of the brine, the minced garlic cloves, a little salt, pepper, and if you’re using dry dill. Bring to a boil. Lower fire and add the cream. Grate the cheese  and stir well for around 2 min (until cheese melts into the sauce). Remove from fire, add fresh mint (and if you use fresh dill).  That’s it!

Sit down, relax and enjoy the savory greenness of it It goes well next to grilled chicken, and a glass of dry white whine.

GreenMix: Creamy Pea(rl)s with Fresh Basil

What you need to have… 200 g dry peas/ 1 can peas, 1/2 Knorr cube (chicken, vegetables, whatever… ok, maybe fish wouldn’t work so well ), 4 garlic cloves, 50 g sour cream/ creme fraiche, 1 bunch fresh basil, 1 lemon

What you need to do… if you’re using the dry peas, let them soak in water for about 1 hour. Wash the peas, and throw them in 400 ml boiling water. Add the 1/2 Knorr cube and the chopped garlic, stir, and let simmer on medium fire for about 1/2 hour. Add salt and freshly ground pepper (a lot!). If you’re using canned peas, forget about the soaking, throw the peas and the garlic in 400 ml broth and lower the simmering time (some 10 minutes should do). When peas are cooked, remove from fire, add sour cream and chopped basil. Sprinkle with lemon juice. Enjoy!

Orange Is the New Black: Orange & Dark Chocolate Tart

Omg! The Squirrel is in an ecstatic state of body&mind. So much pleasure that she can hardly type anymore. Yet the reason for such intense ecstasy has to be shared! Here it comes… A bit more elaborate maybe than the salads and other easy-going inventions posted before. But oh-so-definitely worth trying!!! It pays off for every single measure of effort & time invested! And in fact it’s less complicated than it may seem on a first sight.

What you need to have… 150 g. cookies (digestive biscuits), 30 g. butter, 30 g. roasted almonds, 6 eggs, 6 oranges, 1 lemon, few drops rhum, 150 g. creme fraiche, 200 g. sugar (preferably brown) + 150 g. more for the orange-caramel, 200 g. dark chocolate

What you need to do… preheat oven at 180. Blend cookies, butter, almonds, and 1 egg. Leave aside blender knife and use own hands to work dough (you’ll feel even more connected to the delicious thing you’re creating ). Put baking paper in a 25-cm round pan (preferably with detachable sides), and distribute dough evenly on the whole surface and approx. 2 cm up on the sides. Bake for some 20 min. Lower fire to 150 – 160. In the meantime, melt chocolate (bain marie, microwave, what you wish). Spread melted chocolate over crust. Ok, you’re half way through.

Now the orange cream… Beat 5 eggs with sugar and rhum. Add grated peel & juice of 4 oranges, lemon juice, creme fraiche. Pour the mix on top of chocolate. Bake for some 45-50 more minutes (til  cream looks stiff). Meanwhile… do the orange caramel. Grate peel of 2 oranges; peel them over a bowl, making sure that no bit of the juice is wasted. Chop. Burn sugar in a pan, with a little bit of water. After it boils, lower fire and wait til it caramelizes (might take a while, don’t lose patience!). Throw the orange peel, juice, and pieces in the pan. Don’t freak out, weird things are gonna happen (e.g. sugar will harden, sputtering noise). It’s only normal. Stir (don’t expect ingredients to nicely melt into each other; also, expect some resistance from hardened sugar). Remove from fire. You should be left with some dark syrup, with stuff in it (sugar bits, orange pieces). Brake sugar pieces into smaller ones. Add bits of caramelized orange, sugar, and syrup on top of cake.

That’s it! Take a deep breadth and enjoy! Have people over, spread  & share the orange/ black ecstasy.