Cabbage has never been my favourite veggie. I guess that's just because I've never tried making anything with it. All I've tried was a raw cabbage in a salad, pickled cabbage or a filling in an empanada...
So when I bought a cabbage a few days ago I didn't want to make the same - too boring. I had to think of something more impressive. Hmmm..What about... baking a cabbage? Seasoned with spices, roasted in butter and baked in a sour cream sauce. Sounds good. The smell while I was roasting it was great and I knew it was going to taste great, too. It was nicely browned, fragrant and reminded me of roasted brussels sprouts.
And then I took it out of the oven. Wait a moment. Am I eating a cabbage? A cabbage??? Can a CABBAGE taste SO good? Noo way. Try this recipe, especially if you don't like cabbage.
Baked Cabbage
1 head cabbage
3/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp cumin seeds
pinch sesame seeds
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp salt
8 tbsp vegetable stock
5 tbsp sour cream
1/2 tbsp butter
1)
Cut the cabbage into 8 equal wedges. Place in a salted boiling water
and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from water, pour on some cold tap water
and leave to drain.
2) In a large saucepan, melt 1 tbsp
of butter. Place the cabbage on one side and roast until little browned
on both sides. Add cumin, paprika, salt and 4 tablespoons of vegetable
stock. Cover and saute for about 15 minutes on medium-low heat.
3) Preheat your oven to 220C.
4)
Pour the remaining vegetable stock into a large oval baking dish so all
the bottom is coated. Place cabbage wedges and spread sour cream on
top. Sprinkle some butter on top. Bake for 10 - 15 minutes or until tops
are golden brown.
Recipe by collecting memories
This is one of the easiest cakes I know and therefore I do make it very often. It doesn't contain much butter because I just wanted to make it a little bit healthier and not to blame myself for eating four slices at once. This might be good with other berries too but the amount of sugar should be decreased then. Hope this will become your another favorite easy-yummy-summer-cake.
Currant Cake
175g flour
1 tsp baking powder
pich salt
1 tsp vanilla sugar
200g sugar
40g butter, melted
2 eggs
80ml milk
2 cups red and black currants
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp flour
1) In a small bowl, beat together eggs, milk and butter.
2) In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, sugar, vanilla sugar and salt.
3) Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Spread the mixture into a lightly greased cake tin.
4) Coat the currants with 1 tablespoon of flour. Sprinkle them on top of the batter and sprinkle 1 tablespoon of sugar.
5) Bake in a 180C preheated oven for 40-45 minutes.
Recipe by collecting memories
I love experimenting. But what I love most is when these experiments turn out great. Just like this green lasagna. When I cut the first slice I was amazed by the bright green colour. What surprised me even more, was the perfect texture. It was so easy to slice it nicely and take it out of the baking pan without leaving it in the room temperature after baking to set. But actually when I saw that green colour, I was a little bit scared - I was afraid there was too much spinach! And this is how the story began. My mother brought a few large bags of spinach from her own garden. So that meant I had to think of something delicious to make to use up these spinach. I searched for a recipe, browsed the tried ones until I found lasagna noodles in my cupboard and came up with idea of making green lasagna.
And that was a very good idea.
The taste was amazing! There wasn't too much spinach. The layers were creamy and so so good. I took too many photos again.. But at least you can see how this lasagna looks from every angle.
Spinach & Ricotta Lasagna
14 no-boil lasagna noodles
4 packed cups chopped spinach (about 300g)*
2 tbsp oil
1 onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 white bell pepper, chopped
60g parmesan cheese
100g mozzarella cheese
2 eggs
400g ricotta cheese
2 cups pasta sauce
1/3 tsp salt
pinch ground pepper
*I packed the cups with already chopped spinach very tightly. It might be more than 300g - this is just an approximate measurement. I think it will be ok if you add a little more or less of them.
1)
Heat oil in a pan and add onions and bell pepper. Saute until softened
and lightly golden. Add garlic and saute a little more. Turn off the
heat and let cool a bit.
2) In a large bowl, lightly
beat the eggs. Add ricotta, spinach, half of parmesan and half of
mozzarella cheese. Add salt and pepper. When the onion/bell pepper mixture has cooled, add it to the spinach mixture. Mix everything until combined.
3) Preheat oven to 180C and prepare a 23x23 square baking dish.
4)
Pour 1 cup of pasta sauce onto the bottom of your baking dish and coat
it evenly. Place lasagna noodles on top. Spread some spinach mixture on
top of them. Repeat these steps 3 times (except for the pasta sauce).
Finally, spread the remaining pasta sauce onto the noodles and sprinkle
with the remaining mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Cover with foil and
bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for additional 15-20 minutes. Let
sit for about 15 minutes before serving.
Recently I've been making lots of savoury snacks and main dishes. I guess sometimes I get a little bored of sweet treats especially when I bake so much and have leftovers every day. Sometimes I even have to eat them all day long. So a hearty vegetarian meal or a salty snack is sometimes like a relief. But next day I find myself craving for sweets again.
But now I'm actually trying to eat less sweets as in three days I'm having a birthday. That means I'll eat A LOT of sweets so this is kind of a preparation for it. I just can't decide what cake I want to make. I'm considering caramel, mocha, chocolate blackout or tiramisu. Ahh that's so difficult. !!
So this time I made empanadas with a vegetarian filling. I couldn't resist it after seeing the recipe on the wonderful Healthy Recipes blog. Even though I've made some alterations, the ingredients remained the same and the result exceeded my expectations. The pastry was flaky, buttery and soft in the middle. And the filling, despite being quite simple, was amazing - all the ingredients and spices matched together perfectly. So I just wanted to share this amazing recipe and encourage you to try it.
Recipe adapted from Healthy Recipes.
Vegetarian Empanadas
Dough:
280g/2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
113g/1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1 large egg
80ml/1/3 cup cold water
1 tbsp white vinegar
Filling:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 small white bell pepper, finely chopped
3 cloves minced garlic
220g mushrooms, finely chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
Egg wash:
1 large egg
1 tablespoon water
1) In a large bowl, mix
together the flour and salt. Add butter and cut with a knive until the
mixture resembles fine bread crumbs (or pulse a few times in your food
processor).
2) Whisk together the egg, water, and vinegar in a small bowl. Add to the flour mixture and mix just until forms a ball.
3) Cover with plastic wrap and chill the dough for 1 hour.
4) Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high
heat. Saute onion and bell pepper about 4 minutes.
Add garlic and mushrooms. Saute about 5 more minutes, until mushrooms
are tender and all the liquid is absorbed. Add spices. Cook one more minute, stirring. Remove from
heat and set aside.
5) Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Whisk together the egg and water for the
egg wash. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove dough from
fridge and allow to rest 5 minutes at room temperature.
6) On a lightly floured surface, with a floured rolling pin, roll out
dough to about 4mm thickness. Cut twelve 10-12cm circles. Place one heaping tablespoon
vegetable mixture on one half of each circle, leaving a 2 cm border.
Brush egg wash on empty side of circle, fold dough over to make a
half-circle and close edges, then crimp edges with a fork.
7) Place the empanadas on the prepared baking sheet. Brush with egg wash.
Bake for 10 minutes. Turn empanadas over, brush the other side and bake 5
minutes longer, or until lightly browned on both sides. Cool ten minutes
on a wire rack before serving.
Simple oatmeal cookies are always a perfect choice when I crave for something sweet but not overwhelming. They're quick to make, keep for many days and are easily portable. These are very crispy around the edges and slightly chewy in the middle with a buttery, oaty taste. Simplicity wins!
Oatmeal Cookies
200g butter, softened
200g brown sugar
1 egg
125g flour
2 1/2 cup quick oats
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1) Beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add brown sugar and beat until incorporated. Add in the egg.
2) In another bowl, mix together the flour, oats, baking soda and salt.
3) Mix the dry ingredients into the butter mixture.
4) Preheat oven to 180C.
5) Form the dough into balls and flatten a little bit. Leave some space for them to spread during baking. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown around the edges and slightly soft in the middle.
