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!

JEMINE COOKING CLASS FOR KIDS

Every kid loves to play. The funny thing about them is, that even if we think that toys would make them happy, they love to explore the simple things in life at the end. My girls are great example for it.  They always love to watch and to help in the kitchen, join me at work, help everyone around them. My friend Barborka told me about the cooking class for kids at Jemine few days ago. Without thinking, I knew right away, what to do on Saturday morning with my kids.

Anet and Janica from Jemine – official ambassadors of Jamie Olivier & Food Revolution Day for Slovak Republic, who I may call my friends, are two great young woman, who put all their energy behind teaching young generation, school kids and even grownups how to eat proper healthy and tasty food. Few months ago they have opened their Cooking school at Stará Tržnica. Great project, beautiful interiors, marvelous kitchen, tasty recipes. As you may see on the pictures, our kids have really enjoyed every minute of their cooking class. Just have look on their web side for more info about their work and coming cooking classes at www.jemine.sk .

Have fun while cooking! 

XXX M.

GINGERBREAD MAN FRIDAY

.... Friday visit in my friends house....

AUTUMN HUMMUS

Hummus - Middle Eastern Cookery. A paste or dip made of chickpeas mashed with oil, garlic, lemon juice, and Tahiti and usually eaten with pita – that is what you find browsing at Google. But do you know that this delicious dish can be also served as main course? It’s very healthy, refreshing, tasty and nutritious. Let’s see what happens when you mix it with autumn season vegetable – pumpkin. Z iVery simple but interesting recipe:

AUTUMN HUMMUS

1,5 kg of fresh pumpkin, you may use Hokkaido – nice sweet taste

1 can of pre cooked chickpeas (or 1 large cup of dry chickpeas - cooked)

½ cup of fresh yogurt

olive oil

garlic clove

bunch of cherry tomatoes per one person

small spoon of fennel seeds

small spoon of cumin

black pepper

salt (I have used Flore de salt  - lemon taste)

bread – brown, pita, tortilla – depending on you - bio if possible

1 large cup of vegetable stock

½ of lemon

4 large portions

 

 

Step by step:

Clean the pumpkin and cut in two similar halves. Cut the first half in small pieces, add butter, pepper, salt, vegetable stock – and then cook in a pot for max 10 minutes, till it gets soft, but still compact in texture.

Pre heat the oven to 185 degree Celsius, cut the second half of pumpkin in to suitable pieces (depending if you wish to serve one big piece or several small pieces on one plate), use baking paper as a base in the pot, then place the pumpkin, cherry tomatoes. Use salt (Flore de salt), pepper, olive oil, and fresh herbs (what you have by hand – basil, rosemary, thymine – they all fit great with this dish). Cover nicely all the vegetable with oil and then bake for aprox 25 – 30 minutes, till they get nice & crispy.

While baking concentrate on the first part of pumpkin – cooked! Drain the cooked water, pour the pumpkin in to a higher bowl (or mixer – Vitamix) and add cooked chickpeas, yogurt, 4-5 spoons of olive oil, grain one garlic clove. Mine while take the fennel seeds, cumin, salt and pinch of brown sugar. Bake them on a pan, till you smell the flavors – 3-4 minutes. Then use a mortar to crush the hot mixture. This is a traditional way, how rise the flavors and taste of the herbs and spices. You will fall in love with this procedure. I always feel like a old witch – hahahahaaaa! Add the spices and lemon juice to the pumpkin / chickpea bowl – and mix till you get nice smooth compact texture. And yes – our pumpkin hummus is ready. Always taste your result. It may happen, that you’ll have to balance the flavors little bit.

The rest is very easy. Just place the hummus on a plate. Add crispy baked pumpkin & tomatoes, sliced bread. Give it the last touch of olive oil, Flore de salt and pepper…..and enjoy!

 

RECYCLED HOMEMADE BREAD ROLL CAKE

 

Bread is holy in our family. When I buy it, we newer eat it all up. When there is none home, everyone wants a piece. The same is with bread rolls. I do not eat that much bread anyway, but my kids and hubby just can’t live without it. So what to do, when you end up with 2-3 days old bread rolls in your kitchen? Newer throw them in to trash! There are so many animals out there, which will thank you for it! Fish, bunnies, pigs…. But you may also try to bake a recycled cake with them. Here is the recipe:

RECYCLED HOMEMADE BREAD ROLL CAKE

4 old bread rolls

2 cups of milk (almond optional)

4 large eggs

4-6 spoons of coconut sugar

2 apples

1 spoon of cinnamon sugar

optional:

dry fruit, coconut chips, berries, chocolate

It’s so simple! Mix the milk with eggs, than add sugar. Cut bread rolls in to similar pieces, grate apples. Mix bread rolls, apples, cinnamon (or optional fruit). Than combine dry and wet ingredients.  You end up with kind of mash (don’t be scared!). Take baking bowl, wiped with butter, and sprinkled with flour. Heat up the oven to 185 Celsius. Place the mash in to the bowl and bake for aprox. 45 minutes.

The result should be a nice crunchy cake on the top, with nice soft spongy middle. Let it cool down. When serving – sprinkle the cake with cinnamon sugar and garnish it with home made marmalade or compote.  Yum!  

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 :)