C’mon Inner Peace, I Don’t Have All Day…

Happy Easter to all Cristian  Orthodox and less Orthodox! It is a time for forgiveness and peace in our hearts and minds. They go together always. Otherwise, the mind will drive you insane, and will make you unhappy. Trust your heart and go with it. I asked my heart what shall I do? It answered back to return to the state I was some years ago and it felt happy suddenly. But then my mind turns me around and gives me trouble. If I can’t find peace for a while then I must go through this. I accept and pray for peace in my heart and mind. Where are you, peace? Please, please, come back to me! Talking to myself sometimes helps and I even manage to make myself laugh. ;)) Just imagine me talking aloud or in my mind makes me smile. I remember a pic I found on the internet some time ago. It describes perfectly the state I am in: C’mon inner peace, I don’t have all day… God, I am so restless… In fact I have all day as this is a unique process for every person. 🙂

It helps if I do something I enjoy so I thought of writing on my blog and whinge a bit. I am soo good… I kiss myself… I make myself smile and laugh even. Thanks myself. xxxxxxxxx

And now back to writing a delicious recipe for hot days. I can not say summer days as hot days start in April now or even March. This weather!  If you don’t want to stay in the kitchen but still want to eat something good why not try this Mediterranean Chicken Parcels recipe? The source is “Cookshelf Chicken” by Tom Bridge, 2000. I recommend it for your kitchen, and you can find it zucchinihere,  too. And of course I made it once upon a time…and eat it too.

Mediterranean Chicken Parcels

Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 6 skinless chicken breast fillets
• 250 g (9 oz/ 2 cups) Mozzarella cheese
• 500 g (1 lb 2 oz/ 3 1/2 cups) courgettes (zucchini), sliced
• 6 large tomatoes, sliced
• 1 small bunch fresh basil or oregano
• pepper
• rice or pasta to serve

Method:

• Cut 6 pieces of foil each about 25 cm (10 inches) square. Brush the foil square lightly with oil and set aside until required.
• With a sharp knife, slash each chicken breast at intervals, then slice the Mozzarella cheese and place between the cuts in the chicken.
• Divide the courgettes and tomatoes between the pieces of foil and sprinkle with black pepper. Tear or roughly chop the basil or oregano and scatter over the vegetables in each parcel.
• Place the chicken on top of each pile of vegetables then wrap in the foil to enclose the chicken and vegetables, tucking in the ends. To aid cooking, place everything on the shiny side of the foil so that once the parcel is wrapped up, the dull surface of the foil is facing outwards. This ensures that the heat is absorbed into the parcel and not reflected away from it.
• Place on a baking tray (cookie sheet) and bake in a preheated oven, 200 °C/ 400˚F, Gas Mark 6, for about 30 minutes.
• To serve, unwrap each foil parcel and serve with rice or pasta.

Bon appetite!

Ce faci in 15 minute

Inca o zi caniculara. Si inca o reteta vegetariana. Imi place nu numai ca e usor de facut, in timp scurt dar imi place si si titlul ei. E chiar haios. Sa vedem: no-nonsense Ratatouille poate fi tradus asa: ghiveci serios, Ratatoiulle cu sens, ghiveci fara prostii, etc. Hahaha!

Pana ajung sa scriu reteta ma mai gandesc care din titlurile astea se potriveste mai bine, conform cu starea mea de acum. Pana atunci mai bat campii cu gratie de balerina. Reteta am cules-o dintr-o carte care m-a salvat de cateva ori, pentru ca nu vroiam sa stau mult timp la cratita. Iti recomand si tie sa faci rost de Carolyn Humphries, ‘Simply Stylish Meals in 15 Minutes’, 1999, daca esti o persoana ocupata, grabita sau cateodata obosita de atata gatit, sau mai stiu eu ce dispozitie mai ai si pur si simplu vrei sa gatesti repede ca sa mananci si sa ai timp pentru altceva. Pe mine m-a atras titlul atunci cand am vrut sa gatesc ceva si mi-a placut si timpul de obtinere. Daca stau sa buchisesc, nu sunt chiar 15 minute dar hai, treaca de la mine. Tot pe acolo e, sa zic maxim 30 de minute. Si pentru ca e assa cald, o mancare doar cu legume e varianta ideala sa trec peste temperaturile acestea mari.

Ghiveci serios 😉  

Preparare: 10 minute

Gatit: 20 minute

4 portii

Ingrediente:

• 1 vanata mica, feliata
• 3 zucchini, feliati
• 1 ceapa, feliata
• 1 ardei gras, feliat
• 4 rosii, taiate cubulete
• 45 ml (3 linguri) ulei masline
• 2,5 ml ((1/2 lingurita) oregano uscat
• sare
• piper
• 15 ml (1 lingura) pasta rosii
• 30 ml (2 linguri) vin rosu sau apa

Preparare:

• Pune ulei intr-o tigaie mare si adauga legumele. Lasa la foc mediu cca 5 minute sau pana incep sa se inmoaie, amestecand continuu.
• Adauga oregano, sarea si piperul, pasta de rosii amestecata cu vinul sau apa. Puneti capacul peste tigaie si lasati la foc mic cca 15 minute, amestecand din cand in cand, pana se inmoaie legumele, dar nu foarte tare.
• Serveste cu paste in unt si parmezan ras deasupra. O delicatesa, ce mai!

Pofta buna!

Vegetalele la mare pret

Datorita caldurii foarte mari, care este o tema constanta nu numai in realitate dar si  in retetele mele recente, ma gandesc ce mananc. Rar, carne, dar zilnic vegetale. Profit ca sunt in sezon, se gatesc usor, te saturi fara sa simti ca te-a umplut de numai poti respira si te umplu de energie. O alta reteta pe care am incercat-o si care mi-a placut foarte mult este caserola de legume, sau legume la cuptor, o reteta culeasa si ea din aceeasi carte pe care o tot mentionez aici de ceva vreme, ‘The Practical Encyclopedia of East European Cooking’, 1999.

O vreme vei citi aici multe retete vegetariene sau vegane pentru ca pe o asa vreme de vara, nu ma vad mancand si scriind prea mult despre carne. Nu ma atrage. Urmeaza acum o bunatate de mancare, cu multe legume, foarte diferite si colorate, sa le mananci cu ochii, nu alta, din bucataria bulgareasca. Sper din tot sufletul sa iti placa ceea ce urmeaza si sa te indemne sa petreci putin timp in bucatarie si langa aragaz, doar de dragul unei retete sanatoase si gustoase.

Legume la cuptor

4 portii

Ingrediente:

• 1 vanata
• 115 g (1/2 cana) okra (bama), taiata pe jumatate, in lungime
• 225 g (2 cani) mazare proaspata sau inghetata
• 225 g (1 1/2 cana) fasole verde taiata bucati (cca 2,5 cm)
• 4 zucchini, taiati felii de cca 1 cm grosime
• 2 cepe taiate marunt
• 450 g cartofi taiati cubulete
• 1 ardei rosu, feliat
• 397 g conserva rosii taiate
• 150 ml (2/3) cana bulion vegetal sau apa
• 60 ml (4 tbsp) ulei masline
• 75 ml (5 tbsp) patrunjel proaspat, tocat
• 5 ml (1 lingurita) paprika
• sare
• 3 rosii feliate si 1 zucchini pentru decor

Preparare:

• Incalzeste cuptorul la 190°C, gaz 5. Taie vanata in bucati de cca 2,5 cm. Pune toate legumele intr-o tava mare de cuptor sau caserola cu capac.
• Toarna peste ele rosiile din conserva, bulionul vegetal, uleiul de masline, patrunjelul, paprika si sarea si amesteca bine.
• Niveleaza legumele si orneaza alternativ cu felii de zucchini si rosii.
• Pune capacul caserola sau acopera bine tava cu hartie de copt. Lasa la cuptor pentru cca 60-70 minute. Serveste fie fierbinte, fie rece cu paine.

Pofta buna!

Courgette Rice With Feta & Olives

This is the last day of July and I would love to end it with a recipe. Especially because I was a bit idle these days, I wasn’t in the mood of writing almost anything. But I will do my best now and put into English my last recipe that was in Romanian. Let me tell you a little about this recipe. As you are already accustomed now, there is a story behind the recipe. I was at my sister’s house and I wanted to impress her with my cooking skills. My sister is very conservative in cooking and she has her tastes, as we all do. I asked her if she had tried a risotto before. She said no. So then, I would make  one for her and her husband to taste and see for themselves how they liked it. I searched the Internet on one of my favorite sites, www.bcgoodfood.com and there I found the recipe. It contained one of my favorite vegetables, courgettes or zucchini. Perfect, I said to myself. It didn’t have meat as well, so it was a very healthy and light dish for a hot summer day. I worked hard but in the end I failed to impress. My sister is just not into rice or anything not-meaty. In my humble opinion, it is a very delicious dish and I would make it anytime. But it is not for everybody. There are people who would hate it and there are people who would love it. So, there you go! 😉 De gustibus non est disputandum.

But in spite of that, for those who would like to try it, here is the recipe, adapted so that it can be made anywhere. I tell you why. In Romania, for example, courgettes are quite expensive and rare in the supermarkets so they can be replaced with another squash that you can find in large amounts everywhere in the summer time. And so on.

Courgette Rice With Feta & Olives

Serves 4

Ready in 25-35 minutes

Ingredients:

• 100 g feta cheese, crumbled (or fat cow cheese that you can find fresh at the market)
• handful of pitted black olives , roughly chopped
• 3 tbsp flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped (this is the best but if it is winter and you can’t find fresh, try dry or may be you put some fresh ones in the freezer)
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 3 courgettes, roughly sliced (or other squash)
• 250 g risotto rice , such as arborio
• 1 l hot vegetable stock (if you don’t have this stock, try boiled water but it will ruin a lot of the taste)
• 140 g petits pois (or go with peas, fresh or frozen)

Method:

• Mix together the feta, olives, parsley and 2 tbsp of the olive oil.
• Heat remaining oil in a large, deep pan. Tip in onion, sizzle gently for 5 minutes until softened. Add courgettes, soften for a couple of minutes, then stir in rice.
• Pour in a ladleful of stock and stir until all the liquid has been absorbed. Add another ladle of stock and repeat until all the stock has been used, adding petit pois a couple of minutes before the last ladle. If you use peas, put them a little more ahead as they take longer to soften. Simmer until rice is tender and juices creamy. Ladle into bowls, then scatter over feta and olive crumble.

Bon appetite!