@photo Bulgur is one of the main highly-nutritious cereals. It is derived from a variety of grains, usually durum wheat. Bulgur is known as a common dish in the Middle Eastern and Indian cuisine, and in the recent time, it has also become present on the grocery lists all over the world. Bulgur is a […]
Recipes
French Onion Soup
French Onion Soup
2016-08-09 11:17:18
French onion soup, known in France as “Gratinée des Halles” is a rich and warming meal-in-itself. It makes and ideal lunch on a chilly day. Even people who do not normally eat soup or onions usually love the taste and textures of this wonderful dish. The ingredients may appear simple, but during the cooking process they are completely transformed. The onions are very gently fried in butter, which means they take on an almost sweet caramel flavour. The soup is then topped with crusty French bread sprinkled with cheese, and grilled until the cheese is bubbling and golden.
The recipe originated in the soup kitchens around Les Halles marketplace in Paris. It became a classic, keeping the market traders warmed-up and satisfied, ready for a hard day’s work.
To make this dish a little more special, you can serve the soup in individual bowls with their own lids.
Ingredients
- Onions (peeled and finely chopped) 450 g
- Butter 2 tbsp
- Olive oil 1 tbsp
- Sugar 1 tsp
- Flour 1 tbsp
- Beef stock 800 ml
- Dry white wine 300 ml
- Salt
- Black pepper (freshly ground )
- Freshly crushed garlic 2 cloves
- Bay leaves 2
- Fresh thyme 1 sprig
- Gruyere or Emmenthal cheese (grated) 100 g
- Crusty French bread 8 slices
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Instructions
- Heat the butter and olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pan and when hot add the onions and crushed garlic cloves. Sprinkle on the sugar and gently fry for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions begin to turn golden. Now cook very gently for a further 30 minutes, stirring frequently. It is important that that the onions do not stick to the base of the pan or burn.
- When the onions are soft enough to turn mushy when crushed, add the flour and stir in well. Pour in half of the white wine and use a wooden spoon to scrape any deposits of onion off the bottom of the pan. Then add the rest of the wine, the bay leaves and thyme, the beef stock and season generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Cover and simmer very gently for 1 hour.
- When the soup is ready, slice the French bread and grill the slices on one side only. Remove the bay leaves and thyme from the soup. Pour the soup into heat-proof serving bowls and place 2 slices of toasted baguette on the surface of each serving with the toasted side facing down. Top with the grated Swiss cheese and grill until the cheese is golden and bubbling. Serve immediately.
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Frozen Mixed Drinks for Summer
Looking for some refreshing beverages to treat yourself to on a hot summer’s day? For an adult twist on some fruity delights, check out these frozen mixed drink recipes. All you need is a simple shopping list to feel like you’re sipping frozen margaritas on the beach. By taking advantage of some of the best […]
Apple and Blackberry Strudel
Apple and Blackberry Strudel
2016-08-02 10:30:55
Yields 6
As the autumnal nights start to approach, thoughts start turning to comfort food. For those who live in the countryside it’s a great time to go foraging or blackberries. This recipe is a great way to combine blackberries with apples-also plentiful at harvest time, to create a warming and flavorsome dessert. The word “strudel” means whirlpool, which is a great way to describe the beautiful swirls of soft pastry layers inside this delicious dessert.
The trick to making a great strudel is to roll the pastry as thinly as possible. But you don’t have to be a top pastry cook to do that- just follow out top tips below and you too can achieve a truly professional looking strudel. It’s much easier than it looks!
Ingredients
- Ready-made puff pastry 500g
- Plain flour (for rolling pastry)
- Butter 150g
- Fresh white breadcrumbs 75g
- Cooking apples 400g
- Blackberries 100g
- Juice and peel of a lemon half
- Chopped hazelnuts 50g
- Cinnamon ½ tsp
- Sugar 50g
- Icing sugar for dusting
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Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 410 F.
- Remove pastry from refrigerator and whilst it warms to room temperature, peel, core, quarter and slice the apples and wash the blackberries. Sprinkle the fruit with the lemon juice to avoid discoloration.
- Spread a clean tea-towel over the work surface and sieve 2 tbsp. of flour evenly over the tea towel.
- Place the pastry in the center of the towel and use a well-floured rolling-pin to roll the pastry out to the edges of the towel. A second linen towel can be used between the pastry and the rolling-pin if necessary. You are aiming for rectangular-shaped pastry base that is so thin that it is nearly transparent. Trim the edges of the pastry.
- Melt 50g of the butter and brush over the pastry. Heat a further 50g of butter in a frying pan and fry the breadcrumbs until light brown.
- Spread the fried breadcrumbs over the pastry and add the apple slices and blackberries, taking care to keep the outer 5cm of the pastry edge free so that fruit does not leak out when you roll the strudel. Spread the chopped hazelnuts, sugar, cinnamon and grated lemon peel evenly over the fruit.
- Carefully lift one of the longer edges of the tea-towel under the pastry and start to roll the strudel, like a Swiss roll. Seal the edges with water so all the fruit is sealed inside the strudel.
- Lift the strudel onto a well-greased baking tray and twist into a crescent shape. Brush with 50g melted butter and place in the oven for 20 minutes at 210⁰C. After 20 minutes turn the oven down to 190⁰ C /gas mark 5 and bake for a further 20-30 minutes until crisp and golden.
- Remove from the oven and cool for 15 minutes. Dust with icing sugar and serve sliced with whipped cream.
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Life & Cooking https://lifencooking.com/
Homemade Drinks to Boost Your Immune System
@photo The immune system is a set of structures and processes in the human body and it protects your health from various diseases. The components involved in the immune system’s daily task are: spleen, bone marrow, thymus and white blood cells (leukocytes). All these healthy actors assist the immune system to protect you from a […]
Filled eggplant
Filled eggplant
2016-07-26 07:58:51
Eggplant belongs to the group of nightshade vegetables, together with potatoes and tomatoes. Besides having a beautiful and unusual color, it is tasty and nutritious. The eggplant is rich with fiber, B vitamins (B1, B3 and B6), manganese
and copper. This vegetable consists of phytonutrients, which have antioxidant activity and also the same ones can protect brain cell membranes.
We prepared a delicious recipe for you and we’re sure that you won’t resist to prepare it.
Ingredients
- Eggplant 3
- Mixed minced meat 1 lb.
- Onion 1
- Tomatoes 2
- Green Pepper 2
- Grounded cheese ⅔ lb.
- Eggs 3
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Instructions
- Wash every eggplant, get rid of the stem and cut them lengthwise into two halves. Remove the core from the eggplant and cook it on medium heat in a pan with one tablespoon of cooking oil. Cook until the eggplant core becomes soft (you will need 10-15 minutes). While cooking the core, season it with chopped fresh basil leaves and salt.
- In another pan, add a tablespoon of cooking oil and the previously chopped onion; first cook the onion, then add the minced meat. Add spices (pepper and salt) and cook the meat until it becomes brown. Chop the tomatoes and the green pepper into small cubes and mix them with the eggplant marrow and then add the minced meat.
- When you get a homogeneous mixture, with a spoon fill each half of eggplant with this filling. In a bowl, beat the eggs and add the grounded cheese. Easily move the spoon over the stuffed eggplant to get a flat surface and then on the same, stir a thick layer of the egg-and-cheese mixture.
- Put the stuffed eggplants in an oven tray (previously oiled) and bake in oven on 350 F for 40 minutes.
- When baked, let them cool for 5 minutes and serve warm. As an addition to this dish, you can serve cold sour milk in a separate bowl.
Notes
- If you don’t consume meat, use soy crumbles and other vegetables by choice to fill the eggplant halves. Instead of regular milk-based cheese, use vegan parmesan cheese or any other plant-based cheese and exclude the beaten eggs. To have a soft surface, you can mix the cheese with tomato sauce.
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Life & Cooking https://lifencooking.com/
3 Delicious Steak Marinades
@photo Craving for a steak, but you do not want to shell out a lot of money at the restaurant, or the restaurant is too far from your place? No problem! These mouth-watering steak marinade recipes are the answer to your appetite’s longing and the ingredients may just be in your cupboard the whole time. […]
Parmesan Eggs
Parmesan Eggs
2016-07-19 08:11:45
These delightful puffs closely resemble meringue, but they are a savory snack. The beaten egg whites create a little cloud for the egg yolks to sit on, making this not only fun to eat, but pretty to look at as well.
Ingredients
- Whole eggs 8
- Grated Parmesan cheese 1 T
- Salt ½ t
- Black pepper to taste
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Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375 F. Grease a baking sheet and line it with parchment paper.
- Crack each egg into two bowls, separating the yolks from the whites. With a hand mixer, beat the egg whites on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form.
- Fold the grated Parmesan cheese into the egg whites with a rubber spatula, but do this quickly so that you don’t ruin the stiffness of the whites. Sprinkle with salt.
- Use a spoon to scoop the egg whites onto the lined baking sheet. You should be able to get 8 “clouds” out of this. Make sure that the clouds are spaced about one inch apart from each other.
- With the back of the spoon, create a little well in each cloud and pour one egg yolk into each.
- Bake for 14 minutes (a few minutes less if you want runnier eggs) and remove from oven. Season with salt and black pepper.
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Have You Discovered Fennel?
If you haven’t discovered fennel yet, you’re about to be introduced to one of your new favorite vegetables. This extraordinary bulb originates from the Mediterranean. It can be eaten either braised or roast as a vegetable or raw in salads. The bulb is sweet and fairly crunchy and adds an intriguing aniseed flavour to salads. […]
Moussaka
Moussaka
2016-07-12 07:57:18
Yields 4
Moussaka is a dish whose main ingredient is potatoes and minced meat, although in some kitchens the ingredients deviate from the basic recipe. The name of this dish comes from the Arabic word musaqqa’ah, which means “chilled.” In some countries, people use eggplant instead of potatoes. For this recipe, we’ll suggest that you keep the potato on your grocery list as (its half-sweet flavor makes a perfect combination with minced meat).
Ingredients
- Mixed minced meat 500 g
- Cooking oil 100 ml
- Onion 1
- Potatoes 4-5 large
- Milk ½ l
- Eggs 3
- Cheese (by choice)
- Water 1 cup
- Salt
- Pepper
- Paprika
- Parsley
Add ingredients to shopping list
If you don’t have Buy Me a Pie! app installed you’ll see the list with ingredients right after downloading it
Instructions
- Finely chop the onion and put it in a deep pan with cooking oil. Fry on medium heat and then add the mixed minced meat (previously thawed – if you usually use frozen meat). Fry the minced meat until it changes its color. While cooking this mix, add the spices (salt, pepper and paprika).
- In greased casserole pan, add one row of potatoes (previously washed, peeled and chopped in circles) and season with salt. On this potato base, add half of the meat and stir it well, so that you cover the entire row. Repeat this step by adding one more row of chopped potato circles and the rest of the fried meat. Add one glass of water and put the casserole pan in the oven (previously heated on 200°C). While the dish is in the oven, beat the eggs and mix them with 500 ml milk and chopped parsley. After ten minutes, take the pan from the oven and cover the moussaka with this topping. If you want, you can add some grounded cheese. Put back in the oven and let it cook for 40 minutes.
Notes
- Moussaka can be served warm, at room temperature or cold.
- For topping alternatives try chopped tomatoes and grounded white cheese.
- If you need vegan/fasting alternative for meat, use soya and/or mushrooms.
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Life & Cooking https://lifencooking.com/