The one and only, the classical creamy Italian dessert with coffee and mascarpone. It needs no introductions. I think this is what I order most whenever I go out. Sometimes, when I have a lengthy paper to finish in too little time, I live on water, chewing gum and tiramisu (made in advance or, when things really get desperate time-wise, store bought). For days. Up to a week even (it's the maximum I can go on sweets without giving in to something salty). And as strange as it might seem, those days of eating the same thing and burying myself into books and writing are the best :)
Whatever your routine with tiramisu is, here's a simple and delicious way to make it. Enjoy and have a Happy New Year! :)
Last year: Carrot and clementine cake with carrot-ginger marmalade, honey-cream cheese frosting and balsamic glaze.
Two years ago: Spicy chicken and eggplant with mascarpone pasta.
What attracted us the most to the idea of this cocktail (besides the fact that it's sweetened with maple syrup which I love, of course) is... its name. Since we're easterners and all, you know ;).
Plus, it's a little rough, like a manly cocktail, since it has whiskey, but also bitter-sweet: it has quite a lot of grapefruit juice, the already mentioned maple syrup and grenadine syrup. So it's enjoyable for the ladies as well. Rough, bitter and sweet. Just like our Eastern side of Europe. :)
Recipe source: here.
Last year: Breakfast braided bread with cheese and ham filling.
Two years ago: Avocado stuffed with cheese and tomatoes and Mexican nachos with mixed dips (salsa, guacamole, garlic sauce and cheese fondue).
Some of you may remember our first chocolate truffles, spiced with cardamom and cinnamon, or our whole truffle cake for that matter, or our raw vegan version of truffles.
The point is, we may have a little addiction here, as you can see for yourself; and no matter in what form you make the truffles they'll always be delicious and keep you coming back for more.
But the other major passion we have about desserts is infusing them with all kinds of flavorful alcohol. So, this is what I did here also: combined the best of truffles with one of the best liquors out there: Amaretto (that gives a strong almond flavor to anything).
You already have no excuse not to make these. But if you also add to the balance how easy they are to make and how fun it can get to get your fingers dirty, you really shouldn't postpone it. ;)
P.S: And they fit right into the Christmas cookie madness :)
Last year: Vanillekipferln (Austrian vanilla crescents).
Two years ago: Spicy turkey fillet in tomato-coriander sauce and Butter and smoked salmon pasta.
This is what we had for Christmas dinner in 2011, and since the holidays are almost upon us, we decided this would be a good time to share the recipe.
A whole duck, rubbed with Chinese spices, slowly baked in the oven on a grill so all the extra fat could drip away for the meat to get crispy, served alongside a lovely sweet-and sour sauce made with bitter cherry jam and wine.
I'm generally mad about duck meat (one of the healthiest out there) and have had it in various other forms, but I think this was my favorite recipe with it. Bogdan agrees :). It takes a while to make, but it's not that difficult once you put it in the oven. Honestly the waiting is the most difficult part :)
You should really try it as soon as possible. Enjoy :)
Recipe (barely) adapted from Crazy Mother Cooker.
Last year: Tapenade, wild mushroom and red onion galette (vegan).
Two years ago: Moldavian Tochitura with polenta.
Ever since pineapple started being available in its canned form, this cake has become a classic of the American cuisine. Found commonly in American homes throughout the twentieth century, it eventually leaked into the European cuisine as well.
We made it during a movie night with friends and it was fluffy and sweet and delicious, in a home-like and uncomplicated way. Cozy and nice :)
You can find more on the history of this dish here.
Recipe source we followed: here.
P.S: This actually reminds me a lot of a particular cake my mom made for me on my 6th birthday. It had pineapple rounds just like these on top, six of them, and a little birthday candle in the middle of each round. A total of six candles. For my little six-year old self. I seem to have a particular vivid memory of that birthday cake, since I can't remember the ones before or after. And today is again my birthday :)
Last year: Classic Pavlova (New Zealand and Australia).
Two years ago: Light and colorful field salad and Drink of the gods (Gottergetrank).
We like vegetable fritters in almost any form - as you may have noticed - (Indian-style carrot fritters, Eggplant croquettes, Greek zucchini keftedes or Potato and cheese spicy fritters).
This time, we felt like letting the cheese and onion (which are almost all the time ingredients in the other various recipe of fritters) fully develop their full flavor unmatched by anything else. Just strong red roasted onion flavor with lovely aged Gouda. Well... and a little something else. What goes best with onion and cheese, besides wine? Yup, you guessed it. Bacon. Smoky, tiny, cubes of low-fat bacon (low-fat means more smoky, salty flavor). :)
With fresh veggie slices to top them for a nice extra crunch and a touch of watery cold freshness.
Fast to throw together and even faster to eat :). Enjoy.
Last year: Turkey fillet with chestnuts.
Two years ago: French onion soup with toast and oregano.
Today our blog is two years old! :) Therefore, we have a little surprise. For the first time in our little virtual kitchen, we proudly present these lovely macarons.
The fanciest French cookie of all times! An epitome of French debauchery, as far as food goes! (And also the hardest to make - achieving victory when making these is a terribly important cultural milestone for any amateur chefs out there, so we might as well be proud too ;) ). Since it's our blog anniversary, we decided to post these rather than a cake, since it's such an important achievement for all the wannabees in the baking business ;).
The basic recipe we followed is here.
But the inspiration (and especially the encouragements we needed in order to dare) came from here. Thanks Andie! :).
Last year: Classic Chocolate cream pie (American) + 1-year blog anniversary.
Two years ago: Complete-meal salad with basil and Simple fried bananas with cinnamon and honey. (A.k.a. our humble beginnings). :)
A new addition to my smoothie mania collection. A pretty consistent and yummy one, so flavorful from the main three components I believe it deserves to be labeled as "dessert" too, not just as a "drink". Which is precisely what I did. ;)
As all smoothies, ready in no time and a nice cup of energy to go. Enjoy!
Last year: Sticky sweet and sour chicken wings.
Adding a bit of shredded coconut to savory things like stir-fries gives them a nice crunch and a touch of consistency.This was an Asian-inspired stir-fry with all the classic things like soy sauce, ginger, garlic and chili that transformed a basic combination of veggies into a delicious and elaborate-tasting meal.
It's very fast and easy to make and definitely worth it for a quick lunch on busy days. Enjoy :)
Recipe inspired from here.
Last year: Hummus (Middle Eastern).
A lovely cream soup using roasted butternut squash, fresh red chili and creme fraiche. The pumpkin flavor is sweet and intense, the cream adds it a touch of richness, and the spiciness gives it just the kick it needs to remind you not to take the lovely taste for granted, wake up and enjoy it. All in all, it's the perfect warmer for cold fall days. :)
Recipe source: here.
Last year: Pita bread (perfectly puffed) tutorial.
The most classic chicken dish of the Persian cuisine. The chicken pieces are warmly flavored with turmeric. The thick sauce that accompanies it is made of ground walnuts and pomegranate molasses. Tangy and rich and sweet and bitter notes create an unmistakable taste. The whole thing takes a while to cook, but the slow food experience is all about allowing the flavors to blend properly and create something wonderful, right? Enjoy :)
Last year: Amaretto chocolate milk pudding (German).
Whenever we find very large mushrooms at the local market, we're quite happy and buy them asap, because that means we'll make stuffed shroomies. :) With all sorts of lovely yummy fillings.
This time we wanted to keep it vegan, and since we love both artichoke hearts and cous cous, the choice of ingredients was simple. We added white wine and pine seeds for flavor, some truffle oil for a more intense mushroom taste and some peppermint tea and Mediterranean herbs for a touch of freshness.
Enjoy :)
P.S: Recipe idea vaguely inspired from here, but greatly adapted.
Last year: Red lentil ragu with basil and ajvar.
Chocolate chip cookies are a well-cherished American tradition ever since the 1930s when Ruth Wakefield accidentally invented them by putting regular chocolate chips in a cookie dough, thinking they would melt just the way baker's chocolate would. The chocolate chips didn't, however, melt during baking, but the recipe became a huge success, known as "Toll House cookie" or "Toll House chocolate crunch cookie", Toll House being the inn where Ruth cooked home-meals for customers during that time.
To this day, every Nestle bag of chocolate chip cookies sold in the USA today has a printed recipe of her cookies on the back :)
Traditionally, every chocolate chip cookie must contain both white sugar and brown sugar and backing-resistant semi-sweet chocolate chips. Most recipes (but not all) also include chopped nuts of all sorts, as we did here also. And another lovely variation is using salted butter to create an over-the-roof pleasant contrast.
As a personal history note, I should say that I intended to make this on the 7th of February 2012, in the evening. I even fried and chopped the nuts, preparing them for the cookies. As I was feeling tired, I postponed to the next day. But sometime during the night, our little girl Mira, still residing in me, decided she wanted to see the world, therefore the cookies had to wait... and wait for another 2-3 weeks or so until I recovered and we both grew accustomed to each other enough to create a routine that allowed me a bit of spare time. When I found the time and the energy to bake them, I just got the nuts from a jar in which my mother had put them (to save for my later use) and in which they stayed as a reminder the whole time since before the birth. :). I will always associate these cookies with those crazy tired-worried-incredibly joyful roller-coaster weeks :)
Recipe adapted from David Lebovitz, via Crazy Mother Cooker.
Last year: Irish soda bread buns with mixed seeds.
A slightly more complicated main dish (but fast to make) consisting in pork steaks browned in a flavorful sage sauce, served with a potato and carrot puree, caramelized apples and fresh salad leaves. The sage and the caramelized apples are a match made in heaven, and nothing would suit it more than the pork meat and that puree. Plus a touch of freshness from the leaves :). A complete and perfectly balanced taste adventure. :)
Recipe adapted from Radu.
Last year: Winter tabbouleh with roasted eggplant and feta.
Wild mushrooms are really special because of their intense flavor. If you generally like mushrooms really for their taste and not their texture or meat-replacing qualities, trying wild mushrooms is like amplifying that.
Creamy, hot, crazy intense in flavor, served with fresh chives and a drizzle of truffle oil, this soup made out day and it's perfect especially in the cold season.
We had it with warm slices of hazelnut bread. The match was made in heaven:
If you have the time, you should definitely try to make the bread too. If not, just enjoy it as it is. Have fun either way! :)
Soup recipe adapted from here.
Last year: White chocolate and blueberry cupcakes.
This has become our favorite bread from the moment we first made it. Even from before it was completely baked we decided this would become our favorite bread, because the smell of toasted hazelnuts and fresh hot bread that was sneaking out through the oven's door was so tantalizing we knew there could be no going back after tasting this.
It's not complicated at all to make, you just have to be patient enough for the rising time. It's perfect warm even by itself, it's a dream come true when slathered with a little butter and a pinch of salt, and it's the perfect accompaniment to stews and soups.
We had it with a cream of wild mushroom soup and the combination of the two flavors was fantastic:
Anyway you plan to serve it, I definitely recommend having it as fast as possible. It will be delicious with anything you choose to match it with. :)
Last year: Fettuccine Alfredo (Italian).
We recently discovered arancini (fried risotto balls) and can't get enough of this lovely finger-food appetizers. Their name means "little oranges" and they're called that because of their orange-like color they get from the breadcrumb crust.
For this particular recipe we used a bit of our risotto carbonara.
Every time you have a little leftover risotto this is the thing to do with it. Enjoy :)
Last year: Chicken liver parfait with sage and red wine.
We're all carbonara fans here, right? So why not have a risotto in the lovely creamy smoky carbonara style? Of course, risotto is by default a rich and creamy and delicious dish, but a little extra love never hurt anyone, right? Yes, that's what we thought too. No reason whatsoever why we shouldn't. So here it is ladies and gentlemen. The epitome of risotto creaminess: the risotto carbonara.
Idea adapted from here.
Last year: My mum's pumpkin pie (with puff pastry).
The hybrid between carrot cake and coconut bars. All crunchy and textured from the specific carrot and coconut chewiness and, in this case, intensely rich-caramel-like tasting from the brown sugar and the butter. Lots of both. I mean, in that moment when you just look at a recipe and it starts with 250 g butter you know it's going to be good, right? No, I'm not trying to kill you, why would you say that? :D
Recipe slightly adapted from here.
Last year: Chickpea, avocado and pesto salad.
We're fans of quesadillas mainly because of their comfort food taste, but also because they're so fast to make. So we make them every time we don't have much time on our hands or we'd rather watch movies than spend our afternoon in the kitchen.
Since our snacking routine relies heavily on wheat tortillas which we almost always seem to have around the house, all these quesadillas, sincronizadas and wraps should have become quite predictable by now :). This availability of wraps lying around makes such snacks even more so a "comfort" food.
You can have them in various combinations, as long as you try to keep the ingredients Spanish or Mexican enough.
Here we filled them with a red bean and zucchini mix, spiced with garlic and jalapenos and held together by delicious melted cheese. Enjoy.
Inspired from here.
Last year: Baked Camembert with rum raisins (French).
If you're a fan of the bright green flavor of zucchini, here's a comforting soup that really makes it shine without many other ingredients to hinder it.
Flavored with thyme, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil to serve and topped with croutons, this soup warms the spirit :).
Extremely simple and extremely delicious.
Recipe source: Adi Hadean.
Note: if you want more creaminess and don't care about keeping it vegan, you can replace the potato with liquid cream.
Last year: Chocolate banana bread with white chocolate chips.
The ideal thing to do when you have some left-over grilled chicken on your hands. Pair it with broccoli, a bit of Gruyere cheese (which we had left from baking a glorious Gruyere, rosemary and potato bread, by the way) and breadcrumbs and there you have it: a lovely casserole dinner with just 15 minutes of baking time. Not to mention that the actual pairing of tastes and textures is truly wonderful.
Enjoy :)
Last year: Potato, cheese and mushroom gratin.
Belgian brownies baked in muffin papers. A soft, gooey and intensely chocolate-flavored composition, with very little flour but with lots of sugar. A traditional Belgian recipe which collapses after being taken out of the oven creating this unique and recognizable appearance. And of course, don't even think about not making these with Belgian chocolate :)
Recipe source: Smitten kitchen.
Last year: Polish buttermilk drink (Kwasne Mleko Ze Szczypiorkiem).
Grill-able cheese (Halloumi) is a really interesting and delicious specialty from Cyprus. Often accompanied by grilled veggies, rubbed with garlic oil and served on bulgur pilaf. And that's exactly how we had it here as well. Easy to make at home on a grill pan, it quickly became a go-to dish in the Western world, as happens to most delicious local specialties. Taste it (in case you haven't already) and you'll understand why :)
Last year: Scottish cardamom griddle scones with butter and honey.
If you happen to get your hands on a good piece of deer meat of at least 500 g (like we happily discovered it in one of our local markets), you really must try to make this delicious goulash in the manner they do it in in Northern Croatia. It doesn't use any heavy sauces like cream of any type and the meat is really lean so it's very light but it makes such a delicious and comforting dinner. You feel as if you've been invited to a ostentatious medieval royal banquet.
It's also perfect for the current deep autumn mood and temperatures. Enjoy :)
Recipe source here.
Last year: Scottish cardamom griddle scones with butter and honey.
If you like sun-dried tomatoes this is another way to allow them to enhance your meals: in a comfy potato salad, creamy with yogurt and mayo and greatly infused with lemon juice, chives and dill. Very easy to make and a nice comfort food.
Recipe slightly adapted from here.
Last year: Scottish cardamom griddle scones with butter and honey.
Everyone loves molten chocolate cakes, right? Well, we sure do. And while we're big fans of chocolate, especially in its cakey-melted form, I always couldn't help wonder how it would be like to create a caramel version of the famous cake. Thus, what you see here was born.
We had some cajeta (goat milk caramel) on hand and made these lovely squares. Of course, the cake is perfectly good to make with regular dulce de leche as well. Anyway you'll have it, it will surely be a special treat :).
Recipe inspired from here.
Last year: Scottish cardamom griddle scones with butter and honey.
Is it just me, or does autumn seem like the perfect time for the smell of freshly baked bread to hit you when you enter the house after a long walk through the cold?
This is one of my favorite breads, especially while it's still warm and freshly torn to pieces. It makes a lovely snack or starter and it really doesn't need anything else besides its glorious self.
You can have it with small sips of white wine and it makes the ideal picnic fare. Really, if you showed up at my door with this and a picnic blanket I would not think twice to accept the invitation :)
It doesn't take too long to make, it uses a scone dough so there's no waiting for any yeast process and it's pure cheese&carbs goodness.
Enjoy.
Recipe source: many sources since it's a classic, a good example here.
Last year: Tagliatelle with Gorgonzola and spinach sauce.
One of the simplest Romanian salads, especially enjoyed in spring and throughout the cold season instead of otherwise unavailable other fresh ingredients.
It used to be my favorite salad when I was little (up to the end of my teenage-hood), in combination with simple French fries with a topping of melted cheese. It's what I would eat everyday :). As you may have realized, it's one of those salads meant to be enjoyed not one its own, but next to a main course.
It tastes fresh and crunchy and sour-ish and it's delicious :).
Last year: Simple strawberry, cream and rice crispies treat.
There are several versions of Mexican rice, all as traditional as they can get, this is just one of them. It's not as spicy as you would expect from the Mexican cuisine, but it's rather flavored with all the right herbs the recipe calls for. Easy to make and very suitable for when you have to feed a lot of people, as the quantities are easily doubled (or tripled... and so on :D ).
It can be served as a main course on its own, but also goes great as a side. We, for example had this next to Lemon-pepper grilled chicken, but you can serve it anyway you prefer.
Enjoy. :)
Last year: Sweet potato and prosciutto starters.
Chicken breast pieces rubbed with a spicy-zesty mixture of pepper, lemon zest and juice and some lemongrass, then grilled fast on a fiery cast iron grill pan. The final result is a delicious main with a strong up-kick flavor that will make your day a bit sunnier.
Super easy, fast, and light :).
We had this with a side of Mexican rice.
Enjoy.
Last year: Fritata with bell peppers and Tirolean sausages.
I can't even begin to describe this. A short buttery crust that melts in your mouth. A creamy explosion of mascarpone, agave syrup and fresh rosemary, topped with baked fresh fig slices, both flavorful and wonderfully textured.
I love it when the fresh fig season starts. Because then we can make this.
I only have one advice about this recipe: double or triple the batch :D.
Idea adapted from here. I used my own crust and replaced the honey with agave syrup; we're trying to stay away from thermally exposed honey when it's not really a must.
Last year: Spicy Guinness mustard.
A nice weekend afternoon cocktail we've picked up from Saveur.
It combines mint, lemon and light golden rum. Enjoy:)
Last year: another kind of bun in the oven (and no cooking for a while) :)
A salad so simple and common in the Romanian households I shouldn't even post it, but since not everyone coming to visit our virtual kitchen is from our country we decided to share it anyway.
It's, of course, full of raw and green power :)
It's not the type of salad to be had on its own, but rather near a meaty or hearty main dish. We like pairing it with things like Truffle potato puree.
Enjoy :)
Last year: nothing except another kind of bun in the oven. :)
The classic combination between potato puree and truffle-flavored oil is such a staple in restaurants in recent years for a very good reason. It's absolutely and simply delicious. As if potatoes - which we know are so good in various combinations or on their own - were only created to provide the perfect base for highlighting that lovely oil. And it's so easy to make you have no excuse not to try it.
It makes a good side but it's also lovely on its own. We like it on its own, just with some assorted salad.
Enjoy :).
Last year: another kind of bun in the oven (and not a lot of cooking due to the morning sickness that came with it).
This is a delicious way to cook thin beef steaks the Brazilian way: marinated in garlic oil, fried, topped with melted cheese and accompanied by crispy potato slices. We made it in no time and ate it in something like five minute tops. The feel of your cutlery sinking in this special steak and the way it prefigures what the mouth-feel of it will be like is almost like the too-much-talked-about sensation of butterflies-in-your-stomach.
Even I loved it and I'm not even a fan of red meat. Bogdan adored it. Enjoy :)
Recipe source: Saveur.
Last year: another kind of bun in the oven and taking a break from cooking :)
Lovely brownies made with chocolate and almond flour and with a nice creamy dollop of mascarpone right in the middle of the dark chocolate mass. As a bonus, they're easier to make then they look. Enjoy.
Last year: another kind of bun in the oven and no cooking :).
