egg bread buns

This kids recipe in very original and easy. To make it short, it’s the perfect recipe for kids who want to learn to cook. If you tell me otherwise, I simply won’t believe you. Unless you don’t know how to break eggs?

It’s really something fun to do with your kids. Put all your ingredients on the table and you will see your little darlings coming to see what’s happening. This time, eggs will not be cooked in boiling water but rather in the oven. Once the cooking finished, you will present your bread buns filled with egg, cream, tomato and parsley. Your kids will find them so good and pretty that they will be asking for all year long. A bun per person is more than enough. You can take two kinds of rolls (campaign and white). Take white bread as it tastes better for this recipe. The whole is satisfying, add a little dessert right after and I don’t think children will call you for something else today. Read also: How To Make Beautiful Baguettes Bread at Home Preparation time: 5 min Cooking time: 10 minutes, but you can easily put 20 Ingredients: Egg Bread Buns Serves 4 Small round buns (preferably white bread) 4 small eggs 4 tbsp. coffee cream 8 cherry tomatoes 4 tablespoons (50 g) grated cheese Chopped parsley Salt and pepper Preparation: Egg Bread Buns - Preheat oven to 360°F ( 180°c) and cover your plate with parchment paper so that your buns do not stick to it. - Head off the buns, reserving little hats for the future. - Remove much of the bread without breaking the back, press down with your fingers to make a well. - Cut the cherry tomatoes in quarters. - Pour 1 tsp. coffee cream into the bottom of your bread. - Break the egg over, add the halved cherry tomatoes, sprinkle with grated cheese and parsley. You’ll probably have a little egg that could run down. It does not matter. - Add salt, pepper and close with ”hats”. - Then put the bread on the plate and bake at least 10 min. You can go up to 20 mn without worrying, depending on your taste. Serve hot, with a green salad and your meal is ready. So what do you think of this easy kids recipe?

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Falafil

Preparation and cooking times
Preparation time 10 mins
Cooking time 6 mins
Vegetarian

Ingredients - Serves 4

400g can chickpeas , rinsed and drained
garlic clove , chopped
handful of flat-leaf parsley or curly parsley
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1⁄2 tsp harissa paste or chilli powder
2 tbsp plain flour
2 tbsp sunflower oil
toasted pitta bread
200g tub tomato salsa , to serve
green salad , to serve
1 small red onion , roughly chopped

Preparation

1. Pat the chickpeas dry with kitchen paper. Tip into a food processor along with the onion, garlic, parsley, spices, flour and a little salt. Blend until fairly smooth, then shape into four patties with your hands.
2. Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan, add the burgers, then quickly fry for 3 mins on each side until lightly golden. Serve with toasted pittas, tomato salsa and a green salad.

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Hummus

Ingredients:

• 1 can of Garbanzo Beans

• 2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

• 1 clove of Garlic

• Juice of 1 Lemon

• 2-3 tbsp Tahini Sauce

• Salt

Preparation:

Drain 1/3 the water from the can of garbanzo beans into a bowl and keep it aside first; it shall be used later on. Then, mix the Garbanzo beans with the other ingredients in a blender. Blend the ingredients for 1-2 minutes. If it looks smooth already, it’s good to go. In order to create more fluid consistency, you can add some water and blend it with the mixed ingredients. Once everything has been blended, Hummus is ready to serve.

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Beer-onion soup – take 1

This is an attempt in a variation of the traditional French onion soup which came out tasty, but with a few things which need improvement – so I’ll have to try it again later. I’ve been with a cold lately, and my doctor said that soups would be a good thing to have. Mostly I wanted to have something light for dinner after a heavy lunch, so an onion soup seemed like a good idea.

Getting home I realized that it wouldn’t be a smooth ride. I only had one (medium) onion, and I’d need at least two of them – next time I’ll definitely use more. I also didn’t have any wine leftovers, and since I’m taking some medication for the cold and can’t drink alcohol, I didn’t want to open a full bottle to use only 1/2 cup, so I decided to use beer instead (as I had already tried, and liked, a Guiness stout onion soup in one of my favorite pubs), so I used a local lager, with good results. I also tried to cut corners and use a simple toasted sliced bread, but it wasn’t dry enough and ended up quite soggy, but next time I’ll try to get some hard bread or day-old baguette. Finally, I only had some Colby-Jack cheese so that’s what I used, but some harder cheese will probably be better. In the end, the soup itself was good, but we ended up scooping the bread out of the bowl and discarding it.

Ingredients (for 2 people):

• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced (the best amount would be 1 small / medium onion per person
• 2 tbsp. butter
• salt & pepper
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 12-oz. bottle of beer (I used a lager; a darker one would work too – lighter beers probably won’t work as well)
• 2 toasted slices of bread (as I mentioned, it didn’t work well – I’ll try it again with either store-bought croutons or a harder bread)
• 2 slices of Colby-jack cheese
• Parsley for decoration

Melt the butter in a medium pan and add the onion, salt and pepper, cooking for about 10-15 minutes, stirring constantly, until the onions are browned. Add the stock and the beer and scrape off the pan, and mix it well again, cooking for another 10 minutes over medium heat.

Transfer the soup to oven-safe bowls, top it with the bread, then the cheese, and add them to an oven pre-heated to 400ºF (200ºC). I find that placing the bowls in an oven tray helps getting them out easier. Bake it for 10 minutes until the cheese is melted; if you have a broiler you can also use it to speed up the baking (in ~3-5 minutes the cheese should be good).

Top with a small parsley sprig and enjoy!

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Beets/parsnip soup

In my daughter’s school the parents association often prepare something for the teachers, as a way to thank them for taking good care of our children. It’s a nice gesture, and whenever we can we try to participate. Last week they decided to prepare a “soup lunch”, where many parents would bring soups and we offered to prepare something. Since I imagined most people would bring “traditional” soups, I decided to try something different, and when I saw some beets on the supermarket, it looked like a good idea.

Having never prepared a beet soup before, I didn’t know whether the beets would stand on its own or it needed something to thicken the soup. Potatoes were an option, but since I was trying something new, I decided to go with parsnips, which I had tried in a soup a while back and gave a nice aroma to the dish.

It turned out to be quite good (and, indeed, very different). The bright burgundy color was really enticing, and offered a good contrast for the decoration. The only problem I had was that I think I used too much salt, to balance the sweetness of the beets; next time I’ll just less salt and embrace the “beetness” of the soup instead.

Ingredients (for 8-10 people):

• 2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
• 5 beets (~2” diameter), peeled, chopped in small pieces
• 2 parsnips, peeled, chopped in small pieces
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups water
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• salt & pepper
• parsley and cream for decoration

In a large pan, heat the oil, then add the onions and season them with salt and pepper. Fry them until they’re golden brown. Add the beets then add the stock and water, and bring it to a boil. The beets take a long time to cook, so chopping them in small pieces helps making the process faster.

When the beets look almost fork-tender, add the parsnips and cook for another 10-20 minutes, until the parsnips themselves are fork-tender. Using a blender (or an immersion blender, which I did), purée the soup until it’s clear of any lumps. Adjust the salt (careful on this step), and serve with a sprig of parsley and a touch of cream. The soup can be prepared a day in advance and stored in the refrigerator, just reheat it (adding some water if necessary) prior to serving.

Enjoy!

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Green eggs and ham – take 1

Even though we don’t have any Irish heritage in our family (as far as I know), St. Patrick’s Day is kind of a big deal here in the US, so my daughter asked if we were going to do something to celebrate it. I actually find it quite fun – there’s a St. Patrick’s Day street race which I’ve been many times, there’s green everywhere, and there’s beer (sometimes green too). And since my kids still like Dr. Seuss’ books (including “Green Eggs and Ham”), I tried to mix those together as the dinner theme… And I’ll definitely need to improve my presentation skills for this one.

I imagined it would be quite easy to do that – while cooking the eggs, drop some food coloring on the yolk and that would be it. Well, not as easy. The drops started falling off the yolk into the whites, and trying to do “bring them back up” only caused one of the yolks to break… The ham steak wasn’t as hard, although the color wasn’t as uniform as I’d like. The kids actually liked it, though, so I’ll likely try it again next year, this time trying something different to make the picture as it is below (minus Sam-I-Am).

Ingredients (for 2 people):

• 1 large ham steak
• 2 eggs
• green food coloring
• 1/2 tbsp. butter

Prepare the eggs: in a large non-stick pan, melt the butter and add the eggs at least 1” apart (so they don’t mix). Cover with a lid and wait for about 30-60 seconds, until the yolk starts hardening. Carefully drop some green food coloring on the yolks, and, using a brush, very lightly bring the drops up as the gravity brings them toward the white. When they’re done enough, remove and reserve.

In the same pan, add the ham steak and drop some more food coloring on it, brushing it on its surface. Cook it for 3 minutes on one side, then turn it and add some more drops of the coloring.

Enjoy!

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(Not) Chicken tikka masala

Ever since moving to the US, I started trying (and liking) the many Indian restaurants which exist around here. One of my favorite dishes is the Chicken tikka masala, a dish made with chicken chunks in a creamy sauce. But I always thought that it would be hard to make, so when I found one recipe for that dish which was supposed to be easy (“Quick Chicken Tikka Masala”) I decided to give it a try. And… it definitely wasn’t the same thing as I had tried – it tasted good, but I don’t think I can call that by the original name.

The chicken was not cubed, but that wasn’t the main issue (I could easily have done that myself). The sauce, instead of the rich, creamy sauce I was used to, was a chunky, lighter version. Maybe using cream instead of yogurt, and possibly not blending the sauce caused that, so some later time I’ll have to try a different recipe to see if it will work out better. At the end it was tasty, as I mentioned before, and indeed quite quick, but it didn’t meet the expectations that I had for that dish.

Ingredients (for 4 people):

1 lb. chicken tenders

1/2 cup flour

4 tsp. garam masala (a blend of spices used in many Indian dishes; I found it in my local supermarket)

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. turmeric

1 large onion, finely chopped

6 garlic cloves, minced

4 tbsp. olive oil

4 tbsp. fresh ginger, minced

1/3 cup whipping cream

1/2 cup parsley for decoration

Stir the garam masala, salt and turmeric. Sprinkle the chicken with 1/2 of the mixture and reserve the rest. Dredge the chicken on the flour, then cook it on a large skillet with 2 tbsp. of the oil over medium heat, about 2 minutes per side until brown, then reserve.

Heat the remaining oil on the pan, then add the onions, garlic and ginger, cooking until they start to brown, stirring frequently. Add the remaining spice mix and stir. Add the tomatoes, and bring it to a simmer, stirring and breaking the tomatoes. Cook for another 5 minutes, until it thickens.

Stir in the cream and the chicken. Cook over medium heat until the chicken is cooked through.

Garnish with the parsley, then serve with white rice.

Enjoy!

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Vietnamese Chicken-Noodle Salad

Ingredients 

3/4 cup sesame seeds
3/4 cup canola oil
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice, plus lime wedges, for serving
3 tablespoons Asian fish sauce
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper
8 ounces rice vermicelli
cooked chicken, shredded (about 3 cups)
2 celery ribs, thinly sliced
1 carrot, shredded
2 cups mixed herbs, such as cilantro, basil and mint


Directions 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spread the sesame seeds on a rimmed baking sheet and toast for about 5 minutes, until golden. Transfer to a food processor. Add the oil, lime juice, fish sauce, garlic, ginger and 3 tablespoons of water. Puree until smooth and season the sauce with salt and pepper.

In a large bowl, soak the rice noodles in boiling water until tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and rinse the noodles under running cold water to cool; drain well.

In a large bowl, combine the chicken, celery, carrot, herbs and two-thirds of the sesame sauce. Season with salt and pepper and toss to evenly coat. Serve the noodles topped with the chicken salad, along with lime wedges and the remaining sauce on the side.

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Indian Spiced Chickpea Salad

Ingredients:

1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
2 Tbsp peanut oil (or other high smokepoint oil)
1 tsp mustard seeds
2 cans chickpeas, drained and well-rinsed
3/4 cups plain yogurt
1 1/2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 green onions thinly sliced
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh mint
salt to taste


Directions

Measure out cumin seeds, fennel seeds, and red pepper flakes and combine, crushing slightly with mortar and pestle or heavy meat mallet if desired. 

Heat oil in large heavy frying pan until shimmering. Add mustard seeds, cover pan, and cook until popping stops, about 1 minute. Remove lid and add cumin seed/fennel seed/red pepper mixture and cook, stirring for 30 seconds. (Be careful not to burn these aromatic ingredients. Lower heat and add chickpeas, then cook 3-4 minutes, stirring a few times so the chickpeas are well-coated with oil. Turn off heat and let chickpeas cool about 15 minutes.

While chickpeas cool, slice scallions, and finely chop mint and cilantro. Stir together yogurt and lemon juice in a medium-sized glass (or other non-reactive) mixing bowl. When chickpeas are cooled nearly to room temperature, add them to yogurt mixture and stir to combine. Then gently fold in sliced scallions, chopped mint, and chopped cilantro. Season with salt, then let sit at least 15 minutes for flavors to combine. Serve salad at room temperature.

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Russian Salad

Russian Salad Recipe:

• 2 medium potatoes
• 1 cup of green beans
• 1 cup of carrots
• 1 16 oz can of pineapple tidbits
• 2 cups of grapes
• 1 green apple and 1 red apple
• 1 cup of sour cream
• 1 cup of mayonnaise
• a few teaspoons of apple cider vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste
• a few teaspoons of sugar

Cut the carrots and green beans into half inch strips and set aside. Peel and dice the potatoes into bite size pieces as well and set aside. Boil all three of these vegetables (separately since they have different cooking times) until they are cooked but still have a bite to them. You shouldn’t overcook them because they will become too mushy in the salad and that won’t be good!

Next cut the grapes in half, dice the apples into small pieces, and drain the pineapple tidbits and set aside.

Place all the vegetables and fruits into a large bowl. Whisk together the sour cream, mayo, vinegar, salt, pepper, and sugar until smooth. Then pour over the salad mixture and combine. Refrigerate overnight, it tastes best when it’s very very cold.

[the picture above is garnished on the part of my sister in law :-) with a tomato peel rose and mint leaves]

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French Spinach Pie

I have already posted one spinach pie recipe, so this one I shall call French Spinach Pie, because my mother got the recipe from our neighbor, who was from France and quite an accomplished cook.  It is very easy to make, and delicious for a quick luncheon, brunch or even for dinner.  Plus, the recipe makes 2 pies, so you can feed a small crowd, or give one away!  I generally am lazy and use frozen pie crusts for this particular pie, but if you are motivated, by all means, make your own crust and it will be even more yummy, I’m sure.

• 2 unbaked 8″ pie shells
  
• 3 eggs
• 1 pound cottage cheese ( I use low fat)
• 4 oz. shredded cheddar cheese (I have used other types, including mexican mix!)
• 2 TBS Parmesan cheese
• 2 TBS melted butter
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 1 1o oz. package of frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed of water
  
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. In a large bowl, add all ingredients  (except pie crusts!) and mix thoroughly.
3. Pour into pie shells, and bake at 375 degrees until set and lightly browned, about 40 minutes.
4. Serve warm or room temperature.

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Indian Pies

I read about these small thin pies more than 40 years ago. You can make them with the dried fruit of your choice. Bill and I love the apricot ones better than prune or even dried apples.  They are delicious for breakfast with tea or coffee, or for dessert after dinner.

Get the best quality organic dried fruit that you can find. The good stuff is more expensive but you can make it go a long way.  I cook (in water), soften, and mash 1/3 to 1/2  pound of fruit at a time and refrigerate it to have on hand so I can quickly make a small pie every day.   I also make the pie crust, take off what I need for the first pie and refrigerate the rest in plastic  wrap.  I get about 5 indian pies from a crust that according the Better Homes & Gardens Cook Book is suppose to make one two crust pie. ( Note that I roll my crusts very thin.)

A word of caution: Pie crust does not keep well for long.  I have made mine last up to 5 days but 3 days is better. You can always make an extra pie and keep it for the next day.  Or use a recipe that doesn’t make as much crust.  I’ll give you both below.

It may be crazy, but if I have company coming I would make fresh crust.  When I serve other people I want everything to score 11 on a freshness-scale of  1 to 10.  They probably would never know, but I would.  Guess its just a habit I got into many years ago. If someone just dropped by unexpectedly on the day I made the “last” pie however, I would not hesitate to serve it.  (I know  — don’t tell me — it makes no sense.)

Watch your amount of fruit as well.  I keep mine at least 5 days without problem, but be aware of the possibility of spoilage since your conditions may not be the same as mine.

Its a great time saver to have the crust and filling already prepared since it only takes about ten minutes to put the pie together.    Roll out the dough. Place in pie plate or on stainless steel cookie sheet.  Spread a thin layer of fruit on the crust.  (Once you make one you can adjust the amount of filling to your taste.) Place a few thin slivers of butter on the fruitif you desire.  Roll out second crust. Place on top of crust with fruit.  Seal edges.  Make vent holes on top by piercing with fork.  Bake in 400 degree oven for 30 to 34 minutes.  (I like to have the crust a little brown.)

Remove from oven and cool thoroughly for best flavor.

Ingredients:

Dried Apricots (Cover with water.  Simmer until soft.  Mash.)

Pie Crust:

2 cups finely ground whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp of salt (BH&G cookbook calls for 1 teaspoon) (* see my note at the end)

2/3 cup of shortening (I use Spectrum Organic Shortening.)

cold water

For less crust:

1 1/2 cups of finely ground whole wheat flour

1/2 cup of shortening

1/2 tsp of salt

cold water

#1 Sift salt and flour into mixing bowl.  Add half of the shortening. (My pastry cutter was my grandmother’s. It’s very old, but I really enjoy using it.)

#2. With pastry cutter, cut in shortening until well mixed.

#3. Add the other half of the shortening and cut in until well mixed. It is very important to cut in half the shortening first and then the other half.  The  crust in no where near as good if you do it all at once.  Just one of those unexplainable things.

#4.  Cut in properly, this is what the flour and shortening will look like.

#5. Add a little cold water to a small section of the mixture.  With fork mix water into that section. Continue until all mixture is moist and you can shape the ball of dough with your hands.

#6.  Shape ball of dough and slightly knead it so it will hold together.

#7. It is important not to handle the dough anymore than what is absolutely necessary, otherwise the crust will be tough

#8. Ball of crust will look like this.

#9.  Cut off what you need for one pie and wrap the rest in plastic wrap and store in frig.

#10. Just cover dried fruit with water.  Simmer on low until very soft.

#11. Mash.  Cool.  Use some for your pie.  Put rest in bowl and cover with plastic and refrigerate.

#12. Bottom crust rolled out and placed on cookie sheet.  I am spreading the apricot on it.

#13. I’ve just rolled out the top layer and am placing it on top.

#14. Pinch edges and then pierce top randomly with fork.

#15. Finished Pie

#16. Have a slice!

* regarding the salt:  I’ve started leaving the salt out of the pie crust.  I’ve made it both ways plenty of times and as far as taste is concerned I don’t think it makes a difference.  Also, it might be just me, but the crust seems to keep longer without the salt.

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Irish kidney soup recipe

Serves 8

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs lamb kidneys;

2 onions, coarsely chopped;

2 carrots, sliced;

1 or 2 tbsp lemon juice;

10 whole black peppercorns;

2 large sprigs thyme;

1 bay leaf;

8 cups beef or lamb stock;

2 tbsp cooking fat;

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste;

Preparation

Prepare the kidneys by removing any membrane covering them, if present. Cut them in half lengthwise and cut around the fatty white core to remove it. Cut each kidney halves into thick slices.

Heat a stockpot over a medium heat, add the cooking fat and cook the onions, stirring occasionally, until they start to soften, about 6 minutes.

Add the kidney slices to the hot pot and brown them on each side.

Pour in the stock and add the whole peppercorns, thyme sprigs and bay leaf.

Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and let simmer, covered, for about 3 hours.

Add the carrot slices in the last 45 minutes of cooking.

When the soup is ready, discard the thyme sprigs, the bay leaf and use a slotted spoon to remove most of the whole peppercorns.

Add 1 or 2 tablespoons lemon juice, to taste, taste for seasoning and enjoy.

P.S. Be sure to check out the Paleo Recipe Book. It’s a cookbook I’ve created to help you cook the best food for your health. It contains over 370 Paleo recipes and covers absolutely everything you’ll ever need..

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Yotam Ottolenghi's legume noodle soup recipe

I like to think of this heartwarming, thick soup as the Iranian answer to minestrone. In Iran, they call this wonderfully wholesome and ­nourishing dish ash-e reshteh, and it leaves a real smile on your face. I found reshteh noodles at an ­Iranian grocer, but linguine would do the job just as well. Serves eight.

125g dried chickpeas, soaked in water overnight with 1 tbsp bicarbonate of soda

125g dried butterbeans, soaked in water overnight with 1 tbsp bicarbonate of soda

2 large onions, thinly sliced

10 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

80g clarified butter

1½ tsp turmeric

Salt and black pepper

225g yellow split peas

Roughly 2 litres vegetable stock

35g chopped parsley

35g chopped coriander

15g chopped dill

100g spring onion, thinly sliced

150g baby spinach

100g reshteh (or linguine)

150g soured cream, plus 1 tsp per portion to finish

1½ tbsp white wine vinegar

4 limes, halved

Drain and rinse both the chickpeas and butterbeans, then boil them separately in lots of fresh water until almost cooked – anywhere ­between 25 and 55 minutes – and drain.

In a large, heavy-based pot, sauté the onion, garlic and butter on ­medium heat for 20 minutes, or ­until soft and golden-brown. Stir in the turmeric and some salt and ­pepper, then lift a third of this mix from the pot and transfer to a dish for use later.

Add the chickpeas and butterbeans to the pot, then add the split peas and stock. Simmer for 30 minutes, skimming off the froth occasionally, or until the peas are tender. Add the herbs, spring onion and ­spinach, stir and cook for 15 minutes more; add extra stock (or water) if the soup is very thick. Taste and season generously.

Add the noodles and cook for about 10 minutes, so that they are just done. Stir in the soured cream and vinegar, adjust the seasoning and serve at once, garnished with extra soured cream and the reserved cooked onion mix. Serve lime halves to squeeze over every portion

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