Courgette from the oven

This is a very tasty, full vegetarian dish... My daughter's boy-friend like it very much!

















"Courgette from the oven"

- 3 courgette, sliced
- 80 ml olive oil
- 2 small onions, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- salt, pepper
- 3 eggs
- 50g parmesan
- leaves from coriander /optional/
- one glass cooked rice

Heat the oil in a saucepan. Add the onion and garlic, than courgette. Stir for 5 min.

In a big bowl combine the courgette, rice and 3 eggs with parmesan and coriander.

Grease a baking dish. Spread the mixture into the dish. Bake for about 25-30 min in a warm oven.

Roasted vegetable and ricotta rolls

I love this full, rich smell of baked rolls with vegetable and garlic...

















"Roasted vegetable and ricotta rolls"

For dough:

- 1/2 kg white flour
- 2 tsp fast-action dried yeast
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 glass warm water

Mix all together in a food processor or by hand. Cover with a clean towel and leave it to rise for about 1 hour.



For the filling:

- 1 medium courgette
- 1 red onion
- 1 yellow pepper /or green/
- 1 glove garlic, chopped
- salt, pepper
- Theme or rosemary leaves

Cut vegetables into 1 cm cubes,  add garlic salt and pepper. Cook in the middle of the oven for about 25 min.

Transfer the dough to a floured surface and roll into a log shape. Mix ricotta cheese with vegetables and spread over the dough. Roll it up into a log shape. Cut with a very sharp knife into rolls.

Prepare the baking tray, spread oil on it and place the rolls. Wait another 30 min and bake in the middle of the oven for 20 min.

Sonia's Dad favorite soup

From the mail from Sonia:
Sooo.. :) i promised you some cookie recipes, but i haven't had the time yet (however today I plan to make some cinnamon buns so i will take some pictures and send you the recipe :)... for now i realized that about 4 weeks ago i was making these soup dumplings that we absolutely loved when we lived in taiwan.

The 'broth'

2 quarts of water
2 pounds chicken bones (wings/back/neck)
2 ounces of Virginia Smithfield ham (or cured Chinese ham if you can get it), cut into 4 pieces
1/2 pound of pork skin & fat (you can ask your butcher for this, he’ll most likely just give it to you. you could also use pork belly, or just a fatty cut of pork)
1 inch piece of ginger, sliced into 4-5 ginger “coins”
2 green onions, cut into 3″ pieces
2 large garlic cloves, smashed with side of your knife
2 teaspoons of Chinese rice wine (or dry sherry)

add some gelatin to help it setttle

The Filling
1 lb ground pork
1/4 lb shrimp, shelled, deveined and minced finely
3 stalks green onion, finely minced
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger (use rasp grater)
1 teaspoon Chinese rice wine (or dry sherry)
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil

Hot Water Dough
(makes about 40 dumplings)

400 grams of all-purpose flour (but please re-read the part above re: dough)
3/4 cups boiling hot water
1/4 cup cold water
1 tablespoon cooking oil

To make the broth put all the ingredients into a large pot. After it starts to boil, reduce the heat and cook for another 3-4 hours. Keep cleaning the surface from impurities in order to have a nice clean broth. When finished, add a little bit of gelatin into it and pour it into a deep baking pan. Put it into the fridge (for example) to help it settle. Once settled, take a fork and run through the broth to create little squares.

Put all the ingredients for the filling into a bowl and mix it well. Then add the broth gelatin and mix the entire mixture one more time.

For the dough: Put 90% of the flour in a large bowl. Pour about a third of the hot water in the flour. Stir vigorously. Add more hot water. Stir more. Add the last bit of the water and stir vigorously until the dough begins to form. Add the cold water and oil. Keep stirring vigorously. Stop when you can’t stir anymore.

Roll the dough until very thin, then put the filling in and make little dumplings out of it. :) 

Bring some water to boil and use the bamboo steamer to steam the dumplings. Let them steam for about 15 minutes or until done. 

Serve the dumplings with a dipping sauce that consists of a mixture of soy sauce and red vinegar (can be rice vinegar if you don't have a red one). Don't forget to grind some fresh ginger as well :) enjoy!

Chocolate and pecan brownies

My daughter asked me to bake a cake for a charity... I chose this one because it's tasty and people like chocolate brownies a lot...

















"Chocolate and pecan brownies"

- 110g salted butter
- 180g caster sugar
- 70 g brown sugar, muscovado
- 150g dark chocolate
- 2 eggs
- 120g white flour
- 2 spoons cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp instad coffee
- 60g chopped pecan nuts

Put the butter, chocolate and sugars to the saucepan. Heat gently and, mix well and leave to cool.
Beat the eggs, pour in the chocolate mixture and whisk until it is well combined.
Sift the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder over the mixture, add pecan nuts and mix again with a spoon.
Grease a tin, spoon the mixture into the tin and bake in a warm oven for 25-30 min.

Easy scones

I love to eat scones slightly warm with a nice strawberry jam and clotted cream but you may also use a butter instead of it.


















"Easy scones"

- 230g self-raising flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 4 dag butter
-100 ml milk
- 50 liqueur for  a nice smell

Mix all together with a food processor or just your fingers. Make a nice ball, roll out and cut into rounds using a cutter or a glass?
Place the scones on a baking sheet and bake them about 15 min until golden brown.

Cucumber and chilli salad

This is a delicious salad for a hot day. It goes very well with grilled dishes.


















Cucumber-chilli salad"

- 1 long fresh cucumber
- 1hot red chilli

for marinade:

- 100g sugar
- 1/2tsp salt
- 100 ml rice vinegar
- 100 ml water

Peel and trim cucumber. Cut it in a half, scoop out the seeds. Cut into thin slices.

Cut the chilli lengtways in half /wear the rubber gloves! ;)/, scrape out the seeds. Cut into very thin stripes.

Marinade:

Pour water in a small pot, add sugar and salt. Stir until dissolves. Bring to a boil, remove from the heat , add vinegar and let cool.
Combine all together in a bowl. Cover and marinade in a fridge at least for one hour.

Onion and coriander pasty

My grandma used to baked it in the evening, for a supper. I loved this smell from the oven...

















" Onion and coriander pasty"

- 500g white flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 10g fast action yeast
-300 ml water, warm not hot

- 1 chopped onion
- 1 tbsp chopped mint leaves
- 3 tbsp chopped coriander
- black pepper

Mix the flour, water, yeast and salt. Leave the dough for one hour to double.
Turn the dough to a floured surface, roll it and cut into 8 pieces. Place them on a baking tray. Put oil on the top and cover with a mix of an onion, coriander and mint. Wait another 30 min and bake in the oven 200stC for 20 min.