Halwa – Helva- Semolina for weddings and funerals

Here we are with a very special recipe indeed… For weddings and funerals… to sweeten our mouths…

500 gr semolina
250 gr butter
1 pint (568 ml) semi skimmed milk
500 gr sugar (may be less)
pine nuts (as much as you like)
ground cinnamon

1. Heat the pan (I used an iron casserole) at maximum level, add the butter, once it is melted, add the pinenuts and roast them until they turn brownish.
2. Lower the heat on the hob, add the semolina and begin stirring it. Now this will take 35 – 40 minutes so you better have a good podcast on or some nice music or a book on the other hand!
3.  Once the colour of the semolina begins turning yellowish, switch the hob off.
4. Add the whole milk and continue stirring, because it is too hot, the semolina will absorb all of it.
5. Then add the sugar, switch the hob on (make sure it is the smallest one) continue stirring, it will look slurry, do not get disheartened it will taste delicious! Stir until the sugar melts and is absorbed by the semolina, it takes about 5 minutes so do not go anywhere otherwise you might burn it!
6. Switch the hob off, put a kitchen towel in between then close the lid, let it cool down a little bit.
7. Place the desert on a glass serving plate with the help of a big spoon. Serve with cinnamon!

Enjoy!

Puy lentils, cous cous and greens

Summer is coming and here is a dish which you can not refuse on a hot day served with some cider! Yummy!

Serves 4

Ingredients:
250 grams of puy lentils (washed and boiled, leave it in a bowl nicely peppered)
250- 300 grams of wholemeal cous cous (try to find slightly bigger ones or risi might work! use 100 gr for each person as a main dish)
1 red, 1 yellow pepper
4 – 5 pieces of spring onions
2 – 3 cloves of garlic (I added some dried garlic as well)
half or a whole can of dried tomatoes
a glass of white wine
thyme
salt and pepper
redpepper flakes or tabasco
olive oil

1. Boil the puy lentils for about 20 minutes till they get crispy, but soft. Add generous amounts of blackpepper, then let it cool down.
2. Boil some cous cous with a drizzle of olive oil and again, cool it down.
3. Chop the peppers and fry them gently with a bit of olive oil and dried garlic.
4. Once the peppers are soft enough add the dried tomatoes with chopped garlic, stir them gently for a couple of minutes.
5. Mix the puy lentils, add generous amounts of thyme, stir it, then pour some white wine, simmer it down for 5 – 10 minutes.
6. Add the cous cous and stir well, then pour this mixture into a bowl.
7. Finally add the chopped spring onions then serve with  a drizzle of lemon juice on it and some yoghurt aside!

Enjoy!

Solar Cooker

This is something I came across today…
wonderful idea! and good for tackling the
climate change! Hoorah!
(wonder if I can cook borek with it?!)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7991654.stm

Jerusalem Artichoke Soup

New year! New recipes!

This is some recipe from River Cottage which I adapted slightly. I remember when I was a child my mother was giving me jerusalem artichokes as a snack, its taste is so vivid and very special too!

I think it had been years since I had it last, when I found them in the farmers market, I enjoyed the same memory. I am not sure the new generations will have the same opportunity like us, like picking olives from the trees, enjoying sunshine and so on, but I think we should try our best to achieve that. So I suggest you all to have a look at this link and apply if you feel like you can buy a land in the proposed land for another Heathrow terminal!

Click here for Greenpeace Campaign link

Now, how to cook jerusalem artichokes?

I really like them in Mediterranean way, marinated in olive oil with lemon juice and cold but soup is not bad at all!

Here are the ingredients:

4- 5 medium size jerusalem artichokes (peeled and chopped roughly)
2- 3 garlic cloves (chopped)
1 medium size onion (diced)
1 big or two small leeks (chopped) I think you can use potatoes instead
double cream (I want to try plain yoghurt next time)
50 grams unsalted butter or equivalent olive oil
dill

How do we cook it?

1. Once you melt the butter add all the chopped vegetables and let them relax for about 15 minutes.
2. Add 5 standard glasses of or 1 litres of water. (If you like vegetable stock add it to the water)
3. Once you bring it to boil, simmer it down till the vegetables get really soft.
4. Put the soup in blender or liquidise.
5. Add 50 ml of double cream and chopped dill to serve.
For making caramelised butter
You can serve your soup with a sauce on top of it as in Turkish style, simply melt 20 grams of unsalted butter, add red chilli flakes or redpeppers with dried dill or dried mint. Be careful not to burn the sauce then pour it slowly over the soup just before serving in bowls.

Enjoy!

Photo by Cafemama

New Year’s Eve Dinner

Happy New Year! Happy and healthy new year for all of you!

I had a wonderful time on New Year`s Eve, having some friends coming over gave me the reason to cook some food. These are certain dishes that go very well together.
Here is the dinner menu:

Spinach and Feta borek
stuffed peppers
beans marinated with olive oil
ember roasted aubergine pate
carrot salad with yoghurt and garlic
grilled red peppers
cacik
mixed green salad
And it was great to see Jayesh brought great Indian chickpea curry as a top up! I am hoping to put the recipe as soon as I get from him. I am gonna add the recipes for the ones with no links as well.
Bear in mind, when I say we had these for dinner, I mean a longer period than a standard British dinner. It is a bit more Mediterranean style – like all night, bits and pieces- with an Indian touch served with Corsican and Argentinian wine : )

Enjoy!

Photo by Flickr user IanL