Eggplant sandwich paste with cumin

We had this old recipe of grilled eggplats which I now developed into an eggplant sandwich paste. The good thing about it is that it can be seasoned in various ways, this time I made a cumin and turmeric version, but soon there will be other versions too :)

Ingredients 

• 3 big eggplants
• 2 cloves of garlic 
• olive oil
• salt, pepper
• 1 tomato
• 2 teaspoons of ground cumin
• half a teaspoon of turmeric
• juice of quarter of a lime

Wash the eggplants, and cut them in half. With a smaller knife slice the inside of the eggplants on the bias from both directions but do not cut through the husk. Place thin slices of garlic into the cuttings. Oil the top of the eggplants with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle some salt and pepper on them. Cover them with tin foil and cok them in the oven at 200 deg Celsius at least for an hour or until the inside of the eggplant becomes completely soft and creamy, so that you can easily smash it with a fork. It doesn't matter if the husk becomes crispy a little bit, we won't be using that in this recipe (although that part of the eggplant is very tasty too). When it's done, crape the inside of the eggplants out of the husk. Add some more salt, and the cumin, turmeric and lime juice. At the end, cut the core out of the tomato and chop it fine, mix it with the paste. Mix the whole thing and taste it, it might need some extra salt or seasoning. I think by the next day it was even better than when it was fresh. 

Chocolate chip oat-flake cookies

The original version of this recipe is the family's favourite cookie recipe, but I redid it a little, and substituted the plain flour with whole grain flour. You couldn't tell the difference in the taste. I also added a little cinnamon and rum flavour which isn't part of the original recipe but makes it very delicious. 

Ingredients for 24 pieces approx.

• 15 dkg of oat-flakes
• 15 dkg of whole grain flour
• 12 dkg of brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder
• 10 dkg of dark chocolate
• 10 dkg of butter
• 2 teaspoons of rum flavour
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• half a teaspoon of baking soda

Take 10 dkgs of the oat-flakes and frizzle them in a dry saucer pan. Let it cool and then grind them until it becomes like flour. Mix this with the rest of the untouched oat-flakes, the flour and sift the cocoa powder into it. Add the cinnamon and the baking soda too. Chop the chocolate up and mix it with the flour. In another bowl mix the butter first with the sugar and then the eggs. Measure the rum flavour and mix it with the egg and butter mixture. When all of this is done, put the two parts together and let the dough rest for 10 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200 deg Celsius. Form little balls out of the dough and press them with your palm onto an oven pan (previously line baking paper onto the pan). It only needs 6-8 minutes tops in the oven, it burns quickly so be careful.

Milk rice with cranberries and mango

I love milk rice and I found ripe mangos in the store, plus some fresh cranberries too. It also has peaches in it but only canned ones, since it's only May but still... :)

Ingredients:

• 2 dls of rice 
• 1 litre of milk
• 20 dkgs of fresh cranberries
• 1 can of canned peaches
• 1 ripe mango
• 1 packet of vanilin sugar
• zest of half a lemon
• half a teaspoon of cinnamon
• liquid sweetener or sugar

Combine the milk with the rice, the vanilin sugar, the lemon zest, the cinnamon and the sweetener in a bowl and put it on medium heat. It's important not to stop stirring in order to avoid the milk to burn on the bottom of the dish. Cook it until the rice puffs and absorbs the milk, and it becomes entirely soft. Then take it off the heat and let it cool down. Meanwhile wash the cranberries, dice the mango and the peaches. Add the fruit to the milk rice and let it rest in the fridge for an afternoon. It's best served cold.

Elderflower pancakes

One of the surprises of today's trip to Gerecse were the elderflowers that we found on our way back. We managed to pick a couple of pieces and I used them for one of my favourites, elderflower pancakes.

 Ingredients for 4

• 5-6 bigger eldelflowers
• 30 dkg of flour
• 2 eggs
• 2 packets of vanilin sugar
• milk or water
• a bit of oil
• zest of half a lemon

First of all, wash the elderflowers very carefully. Pick the flowers off the stalks and put it aside until you make the dough. Measure the flour. Mix the two eggs, some of the milk, the vanilin sugar and the oil in a bowl. Add the flour little by little, add some more milk if it becomes too thick. Repeat this until there isn't any flour left,
and add as much water or milk as the dough needs to be perfect. In the end, mix the flowers with the dough. Let it rest for a bit, you might need to add some water. Make the pancakes and eat them with some honey or maple syrup right away! :)

Rosemary - potato souffle with rosted vegetables and apples

It is very easy to make, perfect when you are in the middle of a big research for your university thesis for example, and you don't have too much time to cook. Potatoe might not be the lightest of food but if you have it with roasted vegetables, it's not too heavy.

Ingredients, serves 2

For the souffle

• 2 big potatoes
• 1 clove of garlic
• fresh rosemary leaves according to taste
• 5 dkg of cheese
• 3 tbl spoons of cream
• 1 dkg of butter
• 1 egg, yolk and white separated
• salt and freshly ground pepper

Peel and dice the potatoes. Cook them in salted water. When it's done, pour the water out and smash the potatoes with a fork. Add the butter and cream. Chop the garlic and the rosemary fine and add them to the potatoes. Grate the cheese and ad dhalf of it to the mixture. Let it cool for a bit and  then add the egg yolk. Beat the white and then mix it with the potatoes. Pour the mixture into the previously buttered souffle dishes and sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top. Put the dishes into a pan, pour some water into the pan and put it in the oven at 190 deg Celsius, until the cheese gets golden.

For the roasted vegetables

• carrots
• mushrooms
• apples
• dark wine vinegar

Peel the carrots, cut them in halves. Put them into a heatproof dish onto a bit of oil, add some water and cover it with tin foil. Start cooking them in the oven at 200 deg Celsius. Meanwhile wash the apples, cut them in halves, cut the core out and cut them in wedges. The mushroom also needs to be cut in wedges. When the carrots are half done, add the apples and mushroom, pour some wine vinegar onto them and cover it again with the foil. Cook them unti the apple becomes soft, then remove the cover and cook it another 10 minutes. 

Courgette stuffed with millet and raw carrot salad on the side

If you have very fresh and tender carrots at home, they are perfect for a raw salad because that's when they have the best taste. They go really well with other vegetable dishes or basically anything... I used yoghurt for this one, to make it light.

Ingredients for the stuffed courgettes:

• 2 bigger courgettes, preferably straight ones
• 1.5 dls of millet 
• 2 spring onions 
• salt, fresh ground pepper
• a bit of ground nutmeg
• a couple of drops of lemon juice
• grated cheese

First of all, the spring onion has to be chopped fine for the millet and browned in a bit of olive oil. Then you can add the millet and toast it a bit, then add the water (which is always double the amount of millet you are making). Add a teaspoon of salt, and pepper according to taste Let the water boil away, which takes approximately 10 minutes and when done, turn off the heat and cover the dish with a plate. You can start preparing the courgettes: wash them and cut off the ends. Cut them alongside in two parts, and keeping a distance of 1 cms from both sides, gouge them. Don't throw away the inside parts, because we will use them in the stuffing. They need to be chopped fine and thrown in to a pan with a bit of oil just until they soften. Then you can mix them with the millet, add the lemon juice and the nutmeg. Give it a good stir and stuff the courgettes with the millet. Sprinkle the top with the cheese.  Pour a small glass of water under the courgettes before you put them into the oven so they don't burn. Half an hour at 180 degrees should do the trick. 

Ingredients for the carrot salad:

• 2 tender carrots
• 1 clove of garlic
• 2 tablespoons of yoghurt
• salt, pepper

Cut the carrots Julienne style. Smash the garlic and mix it with the yoghurt along with some salt and pepper. Put the dressing on the carrots and give it a good stir. Taste it, and let it rest until the courgettes are being made.

Chicken and mung bean sprouts casserole with millet on the side

Until now I have always used mung bean sprouts in fake home made chinese food, which is stupid because it's something that goes with so many other ingredients. This is how this chicken casserole  was born last week.

Ingredients:

• 1 chicken breast fillet
• 1 packet of mung bean sprouts
• 3 tbl spoons of sour cream
• 1 tbl spoon of Worchestershire sauce
• 2 tbl spoons of soy sauce
• 1 clove of garlic
• salt, freshly ground pepper

Dice the chiken breast and start cooking them on a bit of oil. You can cover it in order to cook it faster. Add the bean sprouts too, because it doesn't need much time, like the chicken. Add some salt and fresh pepper. Meanwhile chiop the garlic fine. When the bean sprouts start to become soft, add the Worchestershire and soy sauce, mix the whole thing carefully, cook it for a little bit and then add the sour cream. At last sprinkle the garlic onto it and mix it, wait until it wabbles and then take it off the heat.

The millet works the same way as rice, the water needs to be twice the amount of millet. Boil it for 10 minutes until the water disappears. You can add some onions if you like, to give it more taste. Add some salt too, once it's boiling. I usually leave the cover on after it's done so that the steam softens it even more after it's done.