First of all, apologies for the blurred picture. Tech issues. Don't ask :).
Second of all, if, like us, you're a fan of Crème brûlée (creamy custard French dessert with a cruncgy caramel burnt topping), why not try it in its topless (yes we're aware of how that sounds :D ) and mint-flavored version? It's as delicious as any custard dessert ready made in supermarkets, only healthier and fresher.
Enjoy.
Last year: pregnancy-induced break from cooking. :)
Creamy spaghetti with a strong dill taste, curled up into little nests filled with red caviar. :)
The image speaks for itself so I shall delay no further. Enjoy.
Last year: no cooking except another kind of bun in the oven :)
A soup perfect for summer and that wears the flavors of Caprese. I imagined it and day-dreamed of it for two weeks before I got the chance to make it. The result was every bit up to the high expectations I had while fantasying about it. Pretty light and quite fast to make. All you need is a soup pot and a sandwich maker (and, optionally, a hand-held blender to puree the soup after it's done). :) Enjoy.
Last year: no cooking due to morning sickness (another kind of bun in the oven).
Oven-baked baguette with a herb and garlic butter filling (similar to the one we made for our Onion-tamarind soup), topped with a fresh tomato salsa and gloriously ethnic slices of the famous Jamon Serrano (air-dried in the Spanish mountain winds).
An authentic and fast to make Spanish tapa (starter).
Recipe source: BBC's Good Food.
Last year: no cooking due to another kind of bun in the oven :)
This is a simple to make and simple-tasting (in a good way) dessert, perfect for breakfast. It's not the impressive dessert you might serve for a dinner with friends, but it's definitely a comfort food for hurried mornings :)
Last year: no cooking due to another kind of bun in the oven.
Filled and folded omelets are a specialty of many nice restaurants, but something home cooks very often fear to try themselves, because it seems complicated to make (at least to make it flawless and not a stir-fry, that is).
We'll show you here that it's not complicated at all. :)
Last year: no cooking due to pregnancy (another kind of bun in the oven) :).
The combination of chicken and a gorgonzola and mushroom sauce is classic and delicious. But we like to make it in a lighter (and we think more flavorful) way than the classic recipe (like Ina Garten's for example), replacing the cream with white wine, which lends an intense flavor beyond belief to the final dish. And the sauce is still as creamy as the original because of all the melted cheese. :)
Also, our addition of caraway really tastes like the perfect thing to match the rest of the flavors. Try it.
P.S: If you still feel like using cream, try replacing at least part of it with the wine and observe the difference. You'll be making our version from then on. :)
Last year: no cooking due to morning sickness (another kind of bun in the oven). :)
A delicious carpaccio of smoked raw salmon long marinated in juices and with flavorful veggie pieces on top. From the wonderful Swedish cuisine.
This is one of my favorite things in Ikea food court, I order it all the time. I also eat it quite a lot at home too - it's delicious and I like to believe it will keep me healthy for a long time (so I can feel less guilty for all the sweets I eat) :).
Enjoy.
Last year: nothing due to another kind of bun in the oven.
We use the Herbes de Provence blend in almost anything. It matches Mediterranean things like tomato sauce, mozzarella etc perfectly. But the same could be said about any thyme-basil mix. What makes the Herbes de Provence really special though is the lavender. It adds a subtle perfume and flavor that inject poetry into what you're consuming.
This is classic French bread that makes a perfect frame for the herbs. Enjoy :)
P.S: The bread is so short of height not because it doesn't rise properly, but because we used a 1 kg loaf tin for only a 500 g bread. Don't worry about the rising, not only does it do it properly but you'll see it's puffy and delicious. :)
Last year: No cooking due to another kind of bun in the oven.
Delicate artichokes and lemon juice and zest and a generous helping of freshly ground pepper transform the simple spaghetti into something truly delicious. A simple but absolutely lovely combination I daydreamed while commuting for school :). Because that's one of my little obsessions ;).
It's so good I wouldn't be surprised to find out it's a classic I knew nothing of. As a bonus, it's also vegan and detoxifying (not as much as fresh stuff, but still). Enjoy it on a busy day when you don't have more than 10-15 minutes to cook (as you'll see it won't take you more than that).
Last year: no cooking due to morning sickness (another kind of bun in the oven).
This is nice frittata-like traditional dish in Korean cuisine. If if you think it resembles an omelet (an easy to make mistake if you look at the ingredients) you couldn't be wronger. The main thing which is different is the unique texture obtained by adding water and by cooking it in a water bath. The result: a deliciously airy and puffy and moist dish, spicy and light-tasting at the same time.
Enjoy. :)
Recipe source: here.
Last year: no cooking due to another kind of bun in the oven.
They make me think of summer :)
These are, honestly, the most fudge-like brownies in the world, and the most intense dark chocolate and flavorful sour-ish raspberry tasting ones you could possibly find.
And it was to be expected, considering the recipe was long tested and improved and finally made available for everyone by the nice testers in the kitchen of BBC Good Food.
Recipe source: The May 2012 issue of the Romanian BBC's Good Food.
Last year: pregnancy-induced break from cooking.
Dear friends, we're on vacation right now and we'll take a bit longer than usual to reply to comments and post new things :). But we'll be back in about two weeks. Meanwhile, we're leaving you with this and you have absolutely no right whatsoever to complain.
An Indian-inspired meal for a weekday evening when you're low on energy. Spicy fried chicken legs with flavorful cous cous (all in one pot) and a lovely and light tomato and basil raita.
Enjoy. :)
Last year: pregnancy break and no cooking ;).
