Lamb with Vegetables and Aubergine Sauce/ Hunkar Begendi/ Баранина с Овощами и Соусом из Баклажана

This is a Turkish dish, which translates as "Sultan's delight". I rarely cook lamb, but somehow I liked the whole idea of meat stew with vegetables and nice creamy aubergine sauce...and since the recipe called for lamb, so lamb should it be.

Preparation takes around 1 hour, really not too long and it's easy. I love aubergines, so this aubergine sauce was also very interesting for me to try. The result is tender meat with juicy autumn vegetables and creamy aubergine paste. Lovely!


700g lean lamb meat, chopped
2-3 tb.s. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 Charleston peppers
3 juicy tomatoes
salt and pepper

3 medium aubergines
2tb.s. butter
2tb.s. flour
2 cups milk (around 400ml)
salt

In a large frying pan with some olive oil cook cubed meat until it's juice evaporates and it browns a little, season the meat.

Add onion and peppers to the meat, stir and cook for 5 minutes, add chopped tomatoes. Cover with the lid and cook for about 30-40 minutes, until the meat is tender.

In the meantime, wash and dry aubergines. Place them one by one on stove above the fire and turning from time to time cook so that the skin can be peeled off. Let them cool a bit and take their skin off. Cut them into small cubes or blend with blender.

Place milk, salt, flour and butter onto a small saucepan and cook on medium heat, whisking all the time until the bechamel sauce thickens. Mix it with the aubergine and add mashed garlic if you are a fan of it, like me:)

Serve meat with vegetables over the aubergine sauce. Enjoy!

Watermelon Cheese Salad / Салат из Арбуза и Сыра

A very easy and refreshing late summer salad, when watermelons are everywhere in abundance:) Especially here in Turkey.

Use sweet and preferably seedless type of watermelon, fresh young cheese and herbs to get a light and healthy snack.

Recipe adapted from Macro magazine
for 6 portions

1 kg watermelon
250g white young cheese or your favourite
small bunch of mint (or use dry mint leaves)
small bunch of parsley
45ml balsamic vinegar
10ml runny honey
60ml olive oil
salt and black pepper to taste

Scoop watermelon with melon scoop. Cut cheese into cubes. Place watermelon balls and cheese cubes onto plates, add fresh leaves and sprinkle with oil, vinegar and honey. Season to taste. Very quickly!:)

Chicken, Grapes and Blue Cheese Salad / Салат с Курицей, Виноградом и Голубым Сыром

This is just a well known great combination of tasted and textures. Sweet fruit and sharp cheese dressing, juicy pieces of chicken meat, crunchy walnuts. I love these fruity salads so much! Hope I've inspired you to make it. Give yourself a treat!:)

200g roasted chicken meat, sliced
1 medium red apple
2 handfuls red grapes, cut in half
handful toasted walnuts
rucola (enough for 3-4 people)
some parsley leaves

2 egg yolks*
1 large garlic clove
about 100ml olive oil
about 80g blue cheese
1-2 t.s. lemon juice

Place rucola leaves into a salad bowl. Add chopped grapes, sliced apple and toasted walnuts.

Beat egg yolks, adding gradually olive oil into the mixture. Add lemon juice and crushed garlic. In the end add blue cheese and continue beating.

Divide mixed salad between dishes, place sliced chicken on top of every dish and sprinkle with blue cheese dressing.

* If children are going to eat it, I would not add egg yolks. The dressing will be just as delicious without them.

Enjoy!

Spicy Carrot Dip / Пряный Морковный Дип

I love hummus, but I rarely can eat it, because beans are too heavy for my stomach. But I found a really tasty alternative! Carrots, garlic, chili pepper, tomato... creamy and aromatic. Very healthy as well! And easy to digest!:)

Makes one medium sized bowl.

200g carrots
salt to taste
2 garlic cloves
1/3 t.s. cinnamon powder
1/2 t.s. dry mint powder
1 t.s. chili pepper flakes
1 tb.s. tomato paste
2 tb.s. olive oil

Boil peeled carrots until soft. Pour the remaining water out. Add to the pan with carrots mashed garlic, mint, pepper, cinnamon, salt, tomato paste and olive oil and blend with hand blender until creamy. Add more oil if you like. But 2 table spoons were enough.

Try it with any bread, raw vegetables, or chips even!
Enjoy!!

Chicken Sauté in Peanut Sauce/ Куриное Соте в Арахисовом Соусе

We love chicken sauté in this creamy, spicy, fragrant peanut sauce. And this is something we miss a lot since we live abroad, away from the Netherlands. It's just really delicious as part of a lunch or just as a snack. Back in Holland I would never think to cook it myself. But since there is no alternative any more I have to:)
This recipe is a good enough variation to bring back those tasty memories. It takes about 20 minutes to put together and grill, which is always a bit plus for me:) If you like a lot of sauce I suggest to make double portion.

2 large chicken breasts (about 200g each)
wooden sticks

4 full tb.s. crunchy peanut butter
1,5 tb.s. soy sauce
1 spanish red pepper
2 cloves garlic
2tb.s. coconut flakes
2cm fresh ginger root
juice and zest of 0,5 lemon
0,5 t.s. chilli pepper flakes

olive oil
some honey

Makes about 7-8 sticks

Soak wooden sticks in water for 10 minutes.
Cut chicken breasts into medium sized stripes.
Combine in blender all ingredients for the sauce (written in the middle) and whizz. Add a little bit of oil. Toss chicken pieces in marinade and leave for 5 minutes.
Sprinkle grill pan with oil. Thread the chicken onto the skewers and place onto grill pan. Fry on medium high heat several minutes from each side. Drizzle with some honey (about 1 tb.s.) and serve with rice or s salad...

Chicken Mushroom Loaf with Cheese/ Запеканка из Курицы с Грибами и Сыром

This loaf is so easy to put together and it is one of my favourite dishes. I must say I could eat the entire thing in one day...I just have to stop myself all the time:)

It's juicy, full of flavours, low on fat and carbs and with a lot of different vegetables. My kids eat this stuff every time I make it, it's a 100% success. It's also easy to take with you on a trip/picnic, if you slice it cold and make sandwiches. Very convenient:)

500g chicken breasts, minced
1 large red onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
2 garlic cloves
250g mushrooms
small bunch of dill
2 eggs
3-4tb.s. flour (I use WW)
salt, black pepper

sheep cheese/parmesan for grating on top (not too much)
a couple of spoons of ketchup or spicy tomato sauce


On olive oil cook half of the onion and carrots until they begin to get golden. Add chopped mushrooms and cover with frying pan the lid. Cook, stiring a couple of times for about 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 175C. Brush baking dish (rectangular for baking bread) with olive oil.

Mix minced chicken with another half of chopped onion, chopped garlic and tomato. Season to taste. Add chopped dill, eggs and mushroom mixture. Regulate thickness of the mixture by adding more or less flour. Don't make it stiff though.

Transfer everything into prepared baking dish. Spread some ketchup over the top. Cover with aluminium foil and bake 30 minutes. The remove foil, sprinkle with grated cheese and bake for about 15 more minutes. Enjoy it warm or even cold.

Mafaldine with Mushrooms and Aubergine/ Паста с Грибами и Баклажаном

It was quite a while ago that I tried new pasta recipe at home. But this one touched my soul so much!:) All those flavours are just exactly what I like. So I have to share the recipe here!

Earthy flavours of mushrooms, aubergine and walnuts combine so well in this easy to prepare pasta. Recipe is adapted from Dutch cooking magazine.

app.250g mafaldine or other type of pasta
app.200g mixed mushrooms
1 aubergine
1 clove garlic
salt, black pepper
t/s/ balsamic vinegar
dried oregano, 1t.s.
handful chopped walnuts
olive oil
Pecorino or other sharp cheep cheese

Heat water to cook pasta.
Thinly slice aubergine and sprinkle with salt. Set aside.
Coarsely chop mushrooms.
Pour olive oil into frying pan and add aubergine stripes. Cook for 2-3 minutes and add mushrooms and garlic.
Add pasta into boiling water and cook for about 9 minutes, until al dente.
Sprinkle mushrooms and aubergine with oregano and season to taste. Add balsamico.
Divide pasta between plates and add hot mushrooms. Sprinkle with cheese and walnuts.

Feta Stuffed Baked Peppers/Печеный Перец с Фетой

Light and tasty starter or side dish. Mediterranean style vegetables, full of fresh flavours. So great to eat it in the open air finally...summer is near!

8 small green bell peppers
200g feta cheese (or white cheese)
dried mint
dried paprika flakes
1 tomato, chopped
handful black olives (pitted and halved)
some olive oil

Preheat oven to 200C. Mix all ingredients and stuff peppers. Oil baking dish and place stuffed peppers into it, drizzle with some oil over peppers.
Bake for 20-25 minutes. Great with rocket salad.

Rocket, Ricotta and Olives Salad/ Салат с Руколой, Рикоттой и Оливками

Simple, yet delicious light salad. You could use salty cottage cheese instead of ricotta too, making it even lighter. Great source of vitamins and protein in a tasty form:)

mixture of rocket and red leaf lettuce
100g ricotta cheese, crumbled
1 large fresh tomato or roasted
handful pitted black olives
olive oil
lemon juice

Well, there is not much description, actually, just combine everything together and enjoy! Makes great brunch and it's quite filling too.

Grilled Champignons with Olives/Шампиньоны Гриль с Оливками

Tasty, very easy, healthy and quickly. We enjoyed these mushrooms simply with rucola and some olive oil with black pepper. Full of flavours starter!

large champignons (I had about 400g)
olive oil
black pepper
1 medium sized onion
2 gloves garlic
2t.s. dry thyme
splash of balsamic vinegar
7-8 black olives
some grated sharp sheep cheese
parsley

Preheat oven to 200C. Remove stems from mushrooms, cut them. Slice onion and garlic and fry on olive oil, add mushroom stems, thyme and black pepper. Cook about 7-10 minutes until a bit browned, add a splash of balsamic vinegar.

In the meantime place mushroom caps on oiled baking form and brush with some olive oil on top. Bake for 10-15 minutes. Take them out, pour some of the juice out, if there is too much, spread stuffing over the mushroom caps, sprinkle with a bit of cheese and chopped olives. Place under grill for about 5 minutes.

Creamy Penne with Garlic/ Сливочные Пенне с Чесноком

This is an absolutely delicious creamy pasta without cream actually. So easy and quick- perfect for me!
I use whole wheat penne here, to make it more healthy...well, you should know me by now:)

ww penne for two
handful roasted pepitas
1 egg yolk
2 garlic cloves
some olive oil
dried or fresh basilicum
parmesan or sharp sheep cheese - optional

Cook pasta till al dente. In the meantime on frying pan heat olive oil, add chopped garlic and heat it through, one minute approximately.
When pasta is cooked, drain it and transfer to oil and garlic. Add egg yolk and stir well. The yolk will be almost cooked, so I would not worry about raw egg. Add basilicum, divide between plates, garnish with pepitas and cheese if desired.

Easy Fried Rice/Жареный Рис

A very quick and easy dish, can be made with some leftovers too. Tasty and full of flavour.
Adapted from BBCgoodfood

1 egg
vegetable oil
app. 50g sausage for frying
150g mushrooms
200g frozen peas
2 garlic cloves
1 t.s. ginger powder
app.3-4tb.s. soy sauce
1t.s. sugar
250g cooked long grain rice

Fry egg on vegetable oil, swirling it and cutting into small pieces. Take aside. Put sausage and mushrooms in the pan and fry for a couple of minutes. Add peas, garlic and ginger. Now add rice and pour soy sauce with sugar. Heat through and turn the heat off. Return egg and serve.

Roasted Cauliflower with Walnuts/Запеченая Цветная Капуста с Орехами

An interesting and delicious combination.  Another way to deal with cauliflower.
Inspired by the recipe from gourmettraveller, this is my version.

1 kg cauliflower, cut into florets
4tb.s. olive oil
100g walnuts
2 garlic cloves,
parsley
1 lemon, juice and zest
some salt
sheep cheese

Preheat oven to 200C. Place florets in a baking dish, sprinkle with some oil and walnuts. Bake for 25 minutes.
Serve with a dressing made of olive oil, garlic, lemon rind and lemon juice, parsley. You could put large, but thin slices of cheese on top of the cauliflower, while still quite warm, for the cheese to become soft. If you prefer lighter version, omit cheese part:)

Bulgur with Vegetables and Mint/Булгур с Овощами и Мятой

Quick and healthy side dish. I could not find saffron at home, for the presentation it would have been better, but    the taste did not suffer in anyway.

bulgur, cooked in chicken/vegetable broth

*with saffron

1 large tomato

2 small green bell peppers

2 garlic cloves

2 tb.s. lemon juice

half an onion

1 zucchini

salt/pepper to taste

small bunch of mint, chopped

On olive oil cook garlic and onion, add bell pepper, zucchini, thinly sliced and tomato. Cook for about 10-15 minutes, add mint and lemon juice at the end. Serve mixed with bulgur.

Pasta with almond and parsley

We really liked this pasta, I had to share this recipe with you also!

200g your favourite pasta
small bunch of parsley
small handful of crushed almonds
app.70-90g sheep cheese
olive oil
butter
rind of half a lemon
2 garlic cloves

Cook pasta till al dente. Heat olive oil and butter, add garlic and almonds and fry until golden, add chopped parsley and peel, pasta and cheese, stir and serve.

Vegetable lasagne with ricotta

A very tasty summer vegetable dish.

6 sheets lasagne
olive oil
3 small zuccini (grated)
1 carrot (grated)
2 garlic cloves
salt
paprica flakes
1 green pepper
250g ricotta
2 big tomatoes
1tbs. tomato paste+ water

In a frying pan on medium hight heat cook carrot, garlic, zuccini and green pepper until they are soft. Oil medium sized form, place 2 sheets of pasta, sprinkle with sauce+tomatoes, distribute some of the vegetables mixed with ricotta, then another layer of pasta, filling...the last layer will be pasta, sprinkle with sauce and parmesan.

bake for 30 minutes at 170C.

Easy spaghetty with neapolitan sauce/Легкие Спагетти с Неаполитанским соусом

Very tasty and simple

200g spaghetti
2 large tomatoes
2 garlic cloves
1 medium green pepper
black pepper, salt
butter
parlsey

Cook spaghetti al dente. On butter cook tomatoes, garlic, add pepper and simmer for several minutes (about 10 minutes), add some water if it gets too thick.
Serve pasta with sauce, parsley and parmesan to taste.

Pasta with Peas and Ricotta/Паста с горошком и рикоттой

Very light and fresh pasta.

pasta app.200g
olive oil
smoked sausage app.100g
2 thin leeks
2 garlic cloves
app.200g frozen peas
app.100ml chicken stock
100g firm ricotta or cottage cheese
parmesan
lemon rind

Cook pasta.
In a pan on olive oil fry leeks and garlic, add sausage, then peas and stock, simmer for about 5-7 minutes, add lemon rind.
Serve hot with sauce and cheeses.

Aubergine and sheep cheese tortiglioni

Just very good combination, and very easy as well.

2 small aubergines, cut into small chunks
2 big tomatoes
1 small onion
dry basil
tortiglioni or penne (for 2)
olive oil
sheep cheese

Cook pasta. On olive oil fry aubergine pieces and onion, add tomatoes, basil and season to taste. Cook for about 10 minutes, serve with pasta and cheese cubes.

Risotto with leek and bacon

250g rice
chicken stock
salt, black pepper
100ml white wine
3 big leeks
app.100g bacon stripes
parmesan
parsley
butter

Fry bacon several minutes, take it out, add leeks and some butter and add rice, after 1 minute pour wine, wait, until it evaporates, add enough chicken stock to cover the rice. Simmer for 20 minutes, adding more stock when needed.
Before serving return bacon, sprinkle with parsley and stir in parmesan.