Grilled Vegetable Pita

 Inspired to make something light and fresh as it's been very hot here in Hamburg.  It's a simple mixture of Mediterranean ingredients, available and accessible in price in German supermarket.  A light supper idea on a hot day, served with some cold soup aside!   

Ingredients (for 2)
2 pitas
1 small zucchini
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 yellow bell pepper
salt&pepper
a sprinkle of dried oregano
a sprinkle of dried basil
50g feta cheese
50g humus
some rucola

Directions
1. Cut zucchini and bell peppers in bite size.  Cook in skillet with a plenty of olive oil for about 5 min.  Season with salt&pepper, oregano and basil.
2. Slice pitas in half and toast for a minute or two.
3. Spread humus inside the pocket of pitas.  Sprinkle crumbled feta cheese.  Tuck in rucola and grilled vegetable. 

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Argentinian Empanadas

 I made Empanadas as snack for the guests who came to watch World Cup soccer match with us.  Who can resist home-made Empanadas hot from the oven??  They're prefect for game nights!!  A friend from Chile taught me how to make the dough and it has become the hall of fame of my cookbook.  It's slightly crunchy but not too hard, perfectly buttery and not too heavy or greasy.  You can get creative with fillings and go vegetarian; tomato&mozzarella, corn&chili peppers&bechamel sauce, spinach&ricotta and etc.    

Ingredients (makes about 25)
 ...<for the dough>
1kg/2.2lbs flour
250g/7oz shortening/unsalted butter 
300ml/10oz water
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs

 ...<for the filling>
800g/1.8lbs ground beef
2 small onions
2 boiled eggs
green olives (seeded)
4 cloves garlic
1/3 cup raisins
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. paprika powder
salt&pepper

1 egg to brush tops

Directions
1. Make the filling.  Chop onions, olives, garlic and boiled egg finely.
2. In a skillet, heat olive oil and cook garlic and onions until translucent.  Add ground beef and cook until the color changes.  
3. Add raisins, olive and egg.  Season with nutmeg, paprika powder, salt&pepper and cook for another 1-2 min.  Turn off the heat and set aside.
4. Make the dough.  In a large bowl combine flour and salt.  Add melted shortening/butter, beaten eggs and water and knead well.
5. Dust a flat working surface and a rolling pin with flour.  Roll out the dough to 2mm/1/12" thickness.  
6. Cut out 20 round shapes.  Place the cooled filling in the center, water the edge and fold in half.  Pinch and twist to seal the edge.    
7. Brush tops with beaten egg and bake in oven at 180°C/350°F until golden brown. 

Spare Ribs

 

 My last trial with home-made BBQ sauce for the ribs was not very successful and I decided to use commercial BBQ sauce this time.  It was way easier and tastier!!  I'm officially convinced to make ribs more often now that I know I can do ribs without the fuss.  Baking at lower temperature for a long time makes ribs fall-off-the-bones tender without the surface being burnt. 
Ingredients
ribs 650g
1/2 cup BBQ sauce 
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
2 tbsp. brown sugar

Directions
1. Mix oregano, chili powder, pepper, garlic powder and brown sugar well and rub on ribs.  Let ribs rest for 1-2 hrs.
2. Line aluminium foil in baking pan and lay ribs.  Roast in oven, uncovered at 130°C/260°F for 1.5 hrs.
3. Brush BBQ sauce on both sides of the ribs, cover with aluminium foil and roast for another hour.

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Ratatouille Spaghtti

I had to stop updating my blog for a while as I had a small injury, trip to Spain...well, enough with excuses, I want to accomplish what I decided to do so I will re-start writing towards my goal, 100 articles.  

At the end of month, just before going on a trip to Madrid, I made pasta with leftover ratatouille for dinner.  Such a no-brainer idea but you won't fail with this simple pasta, with some Parmigiano/Grana Padano flakes on top.

Ingredients (serves 2)
200g spaghetti
1 1/2 cup ratatouille
Parmigiano Reggiano/Grana Padano

Directions
1. Cook spaghetti al dente.
2. Meanwhile, heat ratatouille in a skillet/pan.
3. When spaghetti is done, add into the skillet and combine with sauce for 30 sec.
4. Serve with flakes of Parmigiano Reggiano or Grana Padano.

 

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Hijiki & Ginger Rice

 I made flavored rice to serve with spring rolls and would like to share the recipe.  Hijiki is a kind of sea vegetable traditionally consumed in Japan, which is very rich in essential minerals and fiber.  You can find it in Macrobiotic or Asian food store but it's usually dried so you will have to rehydrate before using.  I love making Onigiris (rice balls) with leftover rice (if we get some)!

Ingredients (serves 4-6)
3 cups rice
3 1/2 cups water
2 medium carrots
30g ginger
10g (dried) Hijiki
1 tsp. Dashi powder
1 tbsp. sake
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. salt 

Directions
1. Slice carrots and ginger very thinly.  Rehydrate Hijiki in water for 30 min. 
2. Wash rice and place in rice cooker/pot with water.
3. Add carrots, ginger, Hijiki (cut if it's too long), Dashi powder, sake, soy sauce and salt.
4. Cook in a rice cooker or pot as usual.

Spring Rolls

 Chinese food and their cooking style is very much incorporated to every day meals in Japan and spring rolls are definitely one of my favorites since childhood.  Well, they are deep fried and time consuming so I don't make them so often though.  The basic is with pork but many varieties exist, from vegetarian to shrimp&avocado!!  They do freeze very well after frying and cooled.   

Ingredients (about 30-35 spring rolls)
500g ground pork
100g(dry) vermicelli
300g canned bamboo shoots
2-3 dried shiitake
50g ginger
3-4 stalks of spring onion
2 medium carrots
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tbsp. sesame oil
1 tbsp. Chinese chicken stock powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tbsp. corn starch

1/3 cup water

30-35 spring roll wrapper

2 tbsp. corn starch/flour & 1/2 cup water as "glue"

vegetable oil for frying

Directions

1. Soak both dried shiitake and vermicelli in a plenty of hot water for 30 min. Chop softened shiitake, vermicelli, bamboo shoots, ginger carrots and spring onion finely.

2. Heat vegetable oil in a large wok and fry ginger and spring onion for 2-3 min.  Add pork and cook until the color changes.  Then add shiitake, bamboo shoots and vermicelli.  Season with chicken powder, salt&pepper, drizzle sesame oil and cook for another 2-3 min.  Dissolve corn starch in water and pour over the wok to thicken the filling.  Turn off the heat and cool to room temperature.

3. Wrap filling. (See the sequence of photos below.)  Place wrapper diagonal and place 1-2 tbsp. filling near bottom.  Fold over the bottom corner, then both sides.  Roll up towards the end and seal the end with starch glue.  

* Try to wrap as tight as possible in order not to leave any air pocket!!  

4. Heat vegetable oil to 180°C/350°F and fry the rolls until golden brown. 

-Jun. 18 grocery shopping € 16.57/ € 157.55 left

Croquetas de Bacalao

 I probably haven't been off my cooking duty like last two weeks since I moved to Germany.  We've been too busy going out to bars, restaurants, friend's place to watch World Cup games and never had proper meal at home.  How weired it feels to have an empty fridge!  Well, the exception was for Mexico VS Brazil game night; salt cod croquettes.  This Spanish pinchos can be served with Aioli sauce or tomato sauce and makes a perfect snack for a sports night.

Ingredients (makes about 30 small bolls)

250g bacalao/salt cod (desalted and boiled)
50g butter
1/4 cup and 2 tbsp. flour
700ml milk

1/2 cup flour
1-2 eggs
Panko/bread crumbs
olive oil for frying

Directions

1. Melt butter in a skillet and cook bacalao.
2. Add flour and cook for 3-4 min.
3. Then add milk gradually just like making Bechamel sauce.  Turn off the heat and cool to room temperature. 
4. Prepare flour, beaten eggs and bread crumbs in separate bowls/baking pans.  Make small bolls of cod mixture.  Dust them with flour, dip in eggs and coat with bread crumbs.
5. Deep fry in olive oil at 180°C/350°F  until golden brown.  

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