DECEMBER FAMILY TRADITION

I may call my self very old fashioned person. I like to keep up traditions and habits in our family. All kinds of activities, that keep on loosing the meaning these days in the modern world. Baking sweets for X - mass, crafting Eastern eggs, picking grapes in autumn, making own sour cabbage and many more. For me it’s important to show my children the basic, simple and beautiful things in life.

I do live healthy life, eat light and fresh meals with less meat, but on this one special day in year I do forget everything around me. All the childhood memories, tastes, smell come back to me, when I visit my uncle Miloš for the traditional shambles (I hope to use the right word for explanation). Teaching kids to be great full for what the nature gives to us, we all enjoy the tasty home made meals. It’s always a sad day for the poor pigs, but I try not to think about it too much. Well, life must go on!

CRISPY CHICKEN AND PORK PAN

With three kids and full time job, I may not find enough time for cooking in the working week. But I just can’t imagine leaving my kids without honest home made food. Therefore I try to cook fresh, easy and as simple as possible. Here is my recipe for nice meat & vegetable dinner. Enjoy!

CRISPY CHICKEN AND PORK PAN

2 pc of pork flitch

6 pc chicken leg

4 large carrots

1 large onion

¼ kg Brussels sprouts

medium pumpkin  - any kind

1 big lemon

garlic

olive oil

salt

pepper – black & red

fennel

cumin

honey

 

For 3-4 person

 

Place meat in to pan, sprinkle with salt, black pepper, cumin & fennel. Add ½ of fresh squeezed lemon juice, olive oil & large spoon of honey. Use your hands and mix the meat with all the flavors. Add bits of lemon and garlic (just cut the whole bunch of garlic in to half, and place it in to pan – you’ll gen a nice sweet garlic paste after baking) and pure one cup of water in to the pan. Heat up the oven to 180 degree Celsius. Cover the pan with foil and bake covered for 35 minutes. Then take of the foil and bake for another 15 minutes uncovered. Sprinkle the meat with gravy from the pan now and then – it will give the meat a nice crispy touch.

Meanwhile cut the vegetable in nice thick pieces (carrot, onion, pumpkin, Brussels sprouts), add olive oil, salt, pepper, cumin. Then place on to oven next to the meat and bake on the dame temperature, till it gets nice crunchy.

And that is it! If you wish, you may prepare nice fresh tomato/cucumber salad as addition to the warm dinner. My kids loved this meal, and the empty plates have been the proof!

WARM CHICKPEA SALAD WITH ROSEMARY MEAT BALLS

I’m a meat eater. Everyone in my family is. For me it is natural to have some well prepared piece of meat on the plate few times in the week. It’s mostly fish or white meat, but I will never give up my grand mum’s meatballs. She used to prepare them for us since we were kids. I remember the smell of freshly baked meatballs in her kitchen. She always made small portions of the size of a golf ball. So yummy! This is my version.

 WARM CHICKPEA SALAD WITH ROSEMARY MEAT BALLS

400g of fresh minced meat

1 yellow onion

2 cloves of garlic

Herbs – rosemary, thyme, mint

½ cup of breadcrumb

¼ cup of milk (classic or almond)

2 middle size carrots

250g / or two hands full of green young beans

4 middle size brown button mushrooms

300g chickpeas (you may use also can package)

2 large tomatoes

fennel seeds

roman cumin

salt

pepper

lemon

 

Meet balls:

Cut ½ onion and 1 clove of garlic. Place them in a hot pan; add olive oil a stir till they get light brown colour. Take the meat and mix it with salt, pepper in a large bowl. Then stir in the mixture of breadcrumbs, milk, onion and garlic, plus thyme and rosemary (nicely chopped). Use your hands. Mix it all together, and then start rolling small meatballs. It depends on you, what size you choose to roll. Don’t worry if you end up with larger balls, than you have expected. Just freeze a portion for later on.

Heat up the pan. Use Ghee butter, pork fat or olive oil. When hot, place the balls on the pan. Leave them on one side for 2-3 minutes till they get nicely brown on the high level, then turn. Lower the heat, and let them cook for approx. 7-8 minutes.

Warm chickpea salad:

This salad contains warm and cold ingrediences

For the warm part, peal carrots, ½ onion and all the other vegetable for the recipe. Cut everything into nice pieces. Use a second pan. Grill the greens first with a light touch of olive oil (onion, carrot, beans). Add fennel seeds and cumin, salt & pepper. Then add mushrooms and grill nicely.

For the cold part, cut tomatoes, mint and 1 clove of garlic. Mix it with chickpeas, salt, pepper and olive oil. If you use cooked can chickpeas, you just need to rinse them with fresh water. If you use dry chickpeas, leave them in a bowl full of water over night. Then you have to cook them for 15 minutes in salted water the next day.

Add the warm part of the salad and let it sit a little  Use fresh juice from ½ lemon to give it a final touch. I do eat this salad without any additional meat very often as a main course.

Use some nice bowl or plate, serve 2 – 3 spoons of the salad and garnish it with the meatballs. I think you will have no complains. 

Enjoy :)