Mutancana

Ingredients

• 200 gr lamb or beef
• 50 gr shallots
• 20 gr almonds
• 20 gr raisins
• 20 gr dried figs
• 20 gr dried apricots
• 20 gr prunes
• 1 tbs butter
• 1 dessert spoon honey
• 2 tbs vinegar
• Water
• Salt
• Oregano
• Sumac to decorate

Preparation

Take a large pan or pot, put the butter into it and heat, then add chopped lamb or beef (the original recipe requires lamb, but I prefer beef), stir fry until the meat changes colour. Then add shallots and cook couple of minutes more. Add lukewarm water and vinegar, cook on low heat about 45 minutes if you use lamb and 1.5 to 2 hours if you use beef.

In the mean time  chop dried fruits and boil almonds. 

Add raisins, prunes, honey and salt to the meat and cook 5 more minutes. 

In a seperate pan stir-fry peeled almonds, dried figs and apricots with some butter couple of minutes. 

Lastly add the almond mix to the meat and sprinkle some oragano and cook 5 more minutes. 

You can serve with rice pilaf. Enjoy!

Power Bars

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup of walnuts
• 1/4 cup of almonds
• 1/4 cup of hazelnuts
• 1/4 cup of raisins
• 1/4 cup of dried mulberries
• 9-10 dried figs
• 9-10 dates
• 1 tblsp chia seeds
• 1 tbsp flax seeds
• 1 tbsp sesamme seeds
• Sea salt (optional)

Preparation

Firstly, put nuts in a blender and crush. Be careful not to make nut butter, couple of minutes is sufficient. Cut fruits in small pieces and add to the blender, blend until you have a dough texture.You can use any type of nuts, fruits and seeds,  I just used what I have at home. Put the dough in a bowl, add seeds and salt and knead. Wrap the dough in a plastic film and roll. You can use prchement paper as well. If you do not cover the dough, it will stick to the roller. 

Bake it in 200 F around 3 hours. You can cut into pieces after or before you bake them.

Enjoy!

Quince with Olive Oil

 Ingredients

• 2 Quinces
• 5-6 small or 1 big potato
• 6-8 shallots
• 2 carrots
• 1 cup of frozen peas
• 3-5 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• lemon juice
• Salt
• Sugar (optional)
• Water
• Dill to decorate

Preparation

Cut quinces in half and keep them in lemon water about 30 minutes. Then boil water, some sugar and the seeds of the quinces in a pot. After it boils put quinces in it and cook until they get soft and change colour. In a pan roast garlic and shallots with olive oil, then add chopped carrots and stir fry couple of minutes. If you have small potatoes, put them whole, if not chop them and add to the pan, lastly add peas and stir fry couple of more minutes. Add salt, lemon juice and 1/2 cup of water. Cook until vegetables get soft. 

Take quinces in a wide pot and add vegetable mix on top of them, add remaining water, cover, and cook about about 10 minutes. Serve with fresh dill. Enjoy!

Buckwheat Soup

Ingredients

For the Soup

• 1 small cauliflower
• 1 small onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup any kind of wine (I used Shaoxing)
• 1 tsp thyme (fresh or dry)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tbsp peanuts (you can also use cashews)
• 1 tsp cayene pepper
• 1/4 cup sour cream (optional)
• 2 cups of any kind of stock
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Black pepper

For the Topping

• 1/4 cup buckwheat
• 1/2 cup finely chopped cauliflower 
• 1/4 cup crushed peanuts
• Lemon juice
• 1 tsp paprika

Preparation

Take a large pan and heat some olive oil in it. Add sliced onions (you can also use shallots) and garlic, bay leaves and thyme. Stir fry until onions get brownish. Then add wine, and bring it to boil.I used rice wine, but you can use any dry white wine. After couple of minutes, add cauliflower (set aside 1/2 cup of it), peanuts, sour cream (you can skip this if you are vegan), cayenne and salt. Close the lid and simmer it until cauliflowers become tender.

Add stock and black pepper, close the lid and simmer it another 20-25 minutes.

 

Then take out bay leaves and blend the soup until it becomes creamy. If it is too thick add more stock and cook it couple of minutes more.

Meanwhile to prepare the topping, take a pan and add some olive oil. Add finely choped cauliflower, buckwheat and crushed walnuts and stir fry it until it gets brown. Add lemon juice and paprika and take from the heat. Serve soup with this topping.Enjoy!

Eggplant Parmesan

Ingredients

For the eggplant

• 4/5 small or 2 big eggplants
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup kadaif or Panko bread crumbs
• 1/3 cup bread crumbs
• 1/3 cup parmesan cheese
• 150 gram grated mozzerella
• 1 ball of fresh mozzerella
• Olive oil

For the sauce

• 3 tomatoes or 1 can of diced tomatoes
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 small onion
• 1 clove of minced garlic
• Fresh basil
• Olive oil
• salt/pepper/cumin/oregano

Preparation

Mix bread crumbs, kadaif and parmesan cheese. Beat eggs and dip sliced eggplants into egg first and then bread crumb mix and layer them on a baking pan and drizzle some olive oil on top. If you do not like the bitter taste of eggplant, you can sprinkle some salt on them and wait couple of hours beforehand.

Bake eggplants around 20 minutes in 400F (200C) preheated oven. I have fried eggplants beforehand, so I only baked them around 10 minutes. 

In the mean time to prepare the sauce; chop onions, tomatoes and fresh basil. In a frying pan stir-fry onions and garlic with olive oil, then add tomatoes and tomato paste with some water and simmer around 15 minutes. Lastly add basil and spices, and cook couple of more minutes. 

Take a glass baking pan and spread some sauce on the bottom, put eggplants on the sauce and put mozzerella slices and sprinkle grated mozzerella. You can use either fresh mozzerella or grated one. I have used both. 

Then put two more layers of eggplant, sauce and cheese depending on the size of your baking pan. Mine was a little bigger, so I did not fill it all to obtain more layers.

Bake in 350 F (175C) preheated oven around 30 minutes. Serve hot. 

Enjoy!

Chicken Parmigiana

Ingredients 

• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 egg
• 2 gloves of garlic (minced)
• ½ cup Panko bread crumbs (I used kadaif)
• ½ cup bread crumbs
• Salt, pepper, garlic powder
• Olive oil
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
• Parsley
• 2 tbs mozzarella

For the sauce

• 1 small onion
• 1 clove of garlic (minced)
• ¼ cup tomato paste
• 1 tbs ketchup
• Olive oil
• Salt, pepper, cumin, oragano

Preparation

Slice chicken breasts in half horizontally, so that you have 4 pieces.

Mix egg, chopped parsley, garlic, salt and pepper. 

Marinate chicken breasts in the mix at least 20 minutes.

In the mean time to prepare the sauce, put some olive oil in the pan and add chopped onions and garlic. Cook until brown. Add 1 cup of warm water to the tomato paste and add it to the pan. If you use tomato puree, you do not need to add water. Add all the spices and ketchup and simmer until it gets thick.

Combine bread crumbs and parmesan in a plate. I could not find panko bread crumbs so I have used kadaif instead. It gave a different flavor.

Coat chicken with bread crumb mix and shallow fry in a pan until brown.

Put chicken breasts on a baking tray, spread tomato sauce over them and sprinkle mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Bake around 20 minutes in 400F preheated oven. You can garnish with parsley or fresh mint. You can also serve it with spaghetti or tagliatelle. Enjoy!

Shrimp Mushroom Alfredo

A little heavy, but delicious.

This recipe is for 2 people.

Ingredients

• 85 gram (3 oz) tagliatelle
• 150 gr (around 5 oz) mushrooms
• 100 gr (around 4 oz) shrimp
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (a little more for decorating)
• 2 1/2 tbsps butter
• Olive oil
• Salt, black pepper,cayenne pepper
• Vinegar (optional)
• Mint or parsley (optional)

Preparation

Cook pasta first according to the instructions on the package. Spare 1/4 cup of pasta water. Marinete shripms with salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper and vinegar about 15 minutes. Put olive oil in a pan and cook marinated shrimps until they get pink. Set aside the shrimp for now. I only had baby shripms, but it is better if you use  jumbo ones.

Then put 2 tbs butter in a pan and add sliced mushrooms and minced garlic, cook until mushrooms turn into brown.

Then add heavy cream, salt, and black pepper, and cook couple of minutes. Add the rest of the butter and  parmesan, cook until they mixed well.

Add cooked pasta and pasta water into the mix and cook couple of minutes more until it reaches a good texture.

You can garnish with parsley and parmesan. I did not have parsley, so  I used fresh mint.

Enjoy!