Ma petite kuhinjica: 2013

Friday, November 15, 2013

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Watermelon marzipans - recipe from 'Three Little Halves'

Coming up next... "little upside down cakes" which became my all-time favorite dessert recently! Yes, they are even better than crème brûlée that was holding the 1st place for a long time. I guarantee you will all love and appreciate these "little upside down cakes".

Hint: Somebody once said for this "little upside down cake" that it is what crème brûlée wants to be when it grows up! So true!

Want to take a guess? :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuA8K1mQWMc

Green Bean Mooncake (Taiwanese Style) by Julie

I am posting this recipe on behalf of my friend Julie Chen. Thank you Julie for sharing! I look forward to seeing you soon in NYC :)

Happy birthday, Julia Child!

Let's celebrate birthday of the woman who has revolutionized American cooking and inspired so many people in the kitchen.

I suggest we roast a chicken today, according to her recipe:

"Julia Child presents the chicken sisters..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7dLXEc9tZM&feature=youtube_gdata_player

"This is Julia Child, bon appetite" :-)

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Cannelini Beans with Kale

I made this dish several times and loved it each time. It is delicious and nutritious. It also looks very pretty on a plate and can be served as a main or a side dish.Try it!

Ingredients

1 cup dried cannellini beans
1 cup chopped onion
3 cups (packed) coarsely chopped kale (lacinato)
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons lemon zest
3 tablespoons toasted pine nuts

Preparation:

Soak the beans overnight. Place beans in pot with enough cold water to cover by 3 inches and cook until soft. Drain beans. Sauté onions in 3 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil and add drained beans. Cook the beans on each side until they get golden color (about 5-10 minutes on each side on medium heath). Do not stir. Add kale and remaining 3 table spoon of olive oil. Toss to combine. Cook 2-3 minutes until the kale starts to wilt but stays crispy. Add lemon juice and zest and stir to combine. Turn off the heat and add toasted pine nuts. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Serve warm.

Enjoy!

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Plum Dumplings (Knedle sa sljivama)

This is a great summer recipe to use all your plums in. Activates umami taste receptors too ;) I will be making it again this summer for sure - it is very much loved in our family.

Udon in dashi broth with mushrooms

This is me embarking on Japanese cooking once again and trying to get that umami dashi (that I like so much) with a help from mushrooms that contain a lot gluatamates :)
Here is my dashi recipe - I think it was decent ;)

Cauliflover and Potato Samosa

I wanted to try my luck at Indian cuisine for a while and found this samosa recipe that I loved and decided to share!

Healthy Homemade Chocolate

Here is the recipe I used: http://wellnessmama.com/6764/chocolate-recipe/.
Note: Make at least 2 times the amount from the recipe :)
Indulge!
Here are some pictures of my chocolatiers ;)

Quick fruit cake

I have received the first apricots of the season in my farm box this week and it reminded me of the desert my mom makes during summer. You can replace apricots with different fruit, I have tried with raspberries and with pineapple. I don't think it would work with strawberries, I like slightly tart fruits for this recipe, which gave me the idea now that it would probably be very good with sour cherries, if anyone knows where to find them in California? I have been trying to find them fresh for so long and am still searching... Till then, here is the version with pineapple.

Grandmom Dula's brocolli patties

Ok this recipe is way overdue to be posted by now. After few moms told me their kids loved it I decided to share it here with all moms looking for ways (that actually work) to introduce more vegetables into their kids diets.
I grew up loving this and still love it so the recipe is not restricted to kids by all means. Also this recipe is as much delicious with spinach and cauliflower (original recipe) as it is with broccoli.

I was looking for more flavorful savory
ways to use this healthy vegetable and tried this soup. It turned out this may be my favorite way to use sweet potatoes thus far so I decided to share the recipe with you.

Pita bread

Success ... in this case measured by the puffiness of pita bread! :)
I saw the new video that Chef John posted on "How to make pita bread at home" and had to try it out right away! I have so far tried Chef John's recipes for ciabatta and for pizza dough, and they both worked perfectly. This one was no exception. Please follow the instructions from his video and/or his blog.

Kaiserschmarrn

This dessert is truly royal, as the name says. It brings back warmth and memories of Christmas markets in Vienna and Budapest.
So delicious and easy to make. I know that I say 'it is easy to make' for most of my recipes, but it really is!

No knead bread

The "no knead bread" became so popular in 2006. when Mark Bittman published the recipe in his "Minimalist" New York Times column. The recipe was adapted from Jim Lahey, the owner of Sullivan St Bakery in NYC.

Food decoration ideas

I wanted to share few of my favorite food decoration tips. Please feel free to add to this post your favorite ideas and what inspires you to decorate your food, whether it being just for the fun, making food more appealing to children, holiday celebrations, marking certain days and making them more special, etc.

1. It's no secret that I adore penguins! That is why they take the 1st place here :)