Dr. Filomena

This was our New Year’s eve dinner. Let me use this opportunity to invite all our friends to the house warming party here in Luxembourg on 17 January

Pumpkin soup: cook pumpkin and a potato, both cut up into cubes in small amount of water until cooked, drain a bit, mash, season, add some cream and cook some more.

Blanched asparagus with yoghurt sauce: drop asparagus in boiling water for a minute or so, drain, soak briefly in ice cold water. Mix yoghurt with fresh squeezed lemon juice, salt, pepper, extra virgin olive oil; pour over the asparagus.

Mangold cheese pie in buckwheat crust: make buckwheat dough, roll out, place in baking pan. Cook mangold and a sliced carrot for about 15 minutes. Drain, cut mangold in slices. Mix mangold and carrots with cheese (we use skuta, but could use ricotta or perhaps cottage cheese) and season to taste. Add a couple of whisked eggs if you like (I did not this time). Fill the crust, bake at high temp for about 45 minutes.

Pita sirnica (cheese burek): I assume everyone knows how to make burek Just layer phyllo dough and a mix of fresh cheese (skuta), sour cream, salt and egg, greasing each layeras you go. Finish with two layers of the dough and bake at medium temperature. The trick is to pour a cup of hot salty water on top when baked, cover and let it sit for a while.

Šunka v testu (ham in bread): this beauty deserves a separate entry as far as recipes go. Basically, cook ham, make dough, wrap and bake. I only helped a little, but the bulk of the work was done by the man of the house. Hat’s off!

Apple skuta cheese cake (see recipe here) with a twist: this time I used wholemeal flour and brown sugar. Came out even more declicious!

We had a wonderful evening and our guests seemed happy enough Thanks for the great company, guys! We’ll be eating leftovers for a while, but not complaining about it one bit!

It was so good to see Slovenian friends after a long time. The picture includes some of the highlights of the evening: salmon baked in honey mustard sauce with a walnut breadcrumb topping, double chocolate walnut brownies, mulled wine and of course a certain DJ’s music wish of the day, pineapple cake.

Thanks to all for the great company!

If I do eat bread, I want it to have some taste. I miss the spelt bread from Ljubljana and have not yet found anything as yummy over here, so decided to try some baking. Here comes my first attempt at buckwheat bread.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 cups buckwheat flour

• 1 cube fresh yeast
• salt
• cool water

I came across tips on making yeast solution in place of the usual mixture of yeast, warm water and sugar. It works like a charm.  So to start this bread, mix a cup of cold water with a cube of yeast and a teaspoon of salt and let it sit in a cool place (room temp is fine, e.g. on a window shelf) for 5 to 24 hours. Overnight works well. Takes some planning ahead, but the results are worth it.

Most recommend cooking buckwheat flour prior to using it, but I tried using is straight from the sack and it worked, so why make things harder on you. Just mix the two types of flour,  add the yeast solution and mix well. Let the dough sit until it rises twofold.

Knead the dough again, form a loaf (I made a small loaf and several mini ones) and let it rise again. For a nicer crust, you can whisk an egg and coat the top of the loaf before baking, but in any case, make several cuts across the top to prevent the loaf from breaking open at the side.

Bake at about 180°C for about 35 minutes, depending on the size of your loaf/loaves. Once baked, wrap in kitchen towels and let cool before cutting.

Came out pretty good. Finally, bread with actual taste to it again. I sliced my loaves, put them in the freezer and have a couple of slices for breakfast.

Dober tek!

A week ago I noticed green tomatoes in the grocery store. I honestly don’t remember ever having seen them before, but this time I felt a strong urge to try making fried green tomatoes. Who hasn’t seen the film, right? Anyway, off into the shopping basket they went. A note: no idea if this is true of them in general, but these stayed nice and firm in for a week. A good thing as I tend to overshop my veggies. After some web research for a recipe I wasn’t sure which one to use, but since I don’t like fried foods in general, I was thrilled to have found this site: SimplyRecipes not because of the originally posted recipe, but one of the comments.

Claude wrote:

“Sorry, those aren’t real fried green mators! I was raised on real ones since I was 3 years old. The recipe is simply this (pasted down from grandparents living in the 1800′s)…

Slice em no more than 1/4 inch thick
Dip in milk
Dip in flour mixure (salt & pepper only)
Fry (on med heat) until dark brown (in lard, corn or veggie oil)

Simple huh? That was the way it was and that’s how they were made.

ps we used lard but veggie oil is better for you; I now use corn oil.

No eggs, no cornmeal or olive oil…if ya want’a zest em up, use seasoned salt instead of regular salt. I still eat them at least once a week and at 89 years old I’m still doing fine!”

So Claude’s way it was. I did exactly as described above.

Slice and dip in milk

Dip in flour mixure (salt & pepper only)

Fry (on medium heat) until dark brown (in lard, corn or veggie oil)

Thanks, Claude! I had no idea these things were so good! And without even trying to make them with batter using eggs, olive oil and fancy spices, which I do normally enjoy, I knowI prefer them this way.

Such a nice combination of fresh and sour with the warmth of the frying pan. Delicious.  Will be made again around here.

As one my wonderful new friends here in Luxembourg was throwing a house-warming party, I decided to take my chances and test the oven at the apart hotel I’m staying at. Apparently, the oven was only used once. That was by another guest four years ago and it was a disaster in more was than one, so it has been off-limits ever since. However, the owner was kind enough to let me talk him into allowing me to attempt to use it. With utmost care of course. I must say that the oven and myself got along quite well and as it was cooperative, here comes the result.

What sets these muffins apart is the grated zucchini (courgette), which makes them nicely moist and allows them to keep fresh longer. Not that this particular batch had to wait too long, but good to know. They also freeze well.

Ingredients for 12 muffins:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup shredded zucchini (courgette)
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips or chopped up dark chocolate
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.

Combine the egg, oil, milk, lemon juice and vanilla; mix well.

Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in zucchini, chocolate chips and walnuts.

Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 20-25 minutes.

The  entire batch (save the one I left at home for the owner of the apart hotel as agreed) held its own against other foods at the party. They were gone soon enough and received several rather favourable reviews, so I do believe I will be making more of them shortly. I may decide to make them in the miniature muffin models the next time, however, as they’re obviously too large as snacks and we ended up cutting them into pieces.

With thanks to Janet for the original, only slightly adapted recipe.

Not really sure if this is due to it being October, a slight case of nostalgia for a certain very hot pumpkin soup I recently had, being sick and my body crying out for extra vitamins or just the fact that my heart skipped a beat when I saw an irresistibly orange slice sitting invitingly all alone in the front row of our store’s vegetable stand, but I decided on pumpkin soup for dinner.

Having done some web research I found that there must be as many ways of preparing this dish as there are cooks in the world. Subtract those who stick to the best recipe devised by one of their maternal-line ancestors. At least, everyone seems to agree that the end result is delicious and healthy. Apparently, pumpkin is a good source of vitamins and minerals, particularly beta-carotene, vitamin C, and potassium and helps prevent arterosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, which can lead to strokes and/or heart attacks.

I don’t know about any of that, I just know that Lisa still owes me her own best recipe and that I wanted pumpkin soup. 

I simply cut it up into small pieces, added a small amount of water (an unorthodox move, I’ll get smashed for not having used soup) and let it simmer for some 20 minutes, stirring and mashing in between with a fork. Remembered that I rather like onions and garlic so chopped a shallot and two cloves of garlic and added into the pot. Simmered for a while longer, mashing the pumpkin bits more and more with that fork. Added pepper, salt and basil. Turned off the heat and added some vinegar (don’t ask… I like vinegar!) Turned out yummy! To me, at least. Then again, I was not cooking for Her Majesty. Incidentally, I do like her new horse.

Please note: this is not, I repeat, not the best pumpkin soup ever. It may not even be very good. I suppose most would like to add a potato and/or a carrot as well as sour cream or at least some milk. It did the trick for me, though. Vinegar and all. Although I must confess to having taken a sip of the walnut brandy procured at the Vianden nut festival and to having been exposed to my rediscovered grandson’s palaverous take on the Queen’s visit to Slovenia and the implications of the widely-discussed dinner reception. 

Aaaaaaahhhh the good old times… are back!

The Foyer. One of my top three favourite places in Luxembourg.

My absolute favourite bartender in Lux

And the drink he introduced me to. Lo and behold, a real kir royal again!

As luck would have it, the Foyer is in danger of being closed down. The powers that be will be making their decisions by the end of next week. FINGERS CROSSED!!!

See you there tonight?

Kjebapchinja at Destan restaurant in the Old Bazaar (Stara Čaršija) in Skopje

Still very much processing impressions from the trip through the ex Yugoslav republics and autonomous provinces, my project of making something that includes pastry, spinach and cheese may have taken a turn in the direction of zeljanica, the veggie variation on the famous burek.

One of the things I found on the trip is that our southern cousins have great food and though the meats such as čevapi and pleskavice (my favourite was the one in Belgrade) are simply mouthwatering, especially when combined with kajmak and true burek is out of this world, the true riches are found in their fruits and vegetables.

open-air market in Skopje

I was finally able to eat REAL tomatos again. Tomatos with a delicious taste unlike the EU-prescribed reddish water in plastic wrapping offered in Slovenian supermarkets. Granted, such veggies can also be found in Slovenia on a few select open-air markets, when in season in our country.

open-air market in Skopje

How could one not be impressed! Fruits and vegetables were diverse and plentiful so I could see myself very well switching over to a vegetarian diet, which would undoubtedly have been completely unimaginable both to the people in the area and to my travel companion.

Flia

In Kosovo, we were introduced to a dish we’d never heard of before: flia. It can take hours to prepare and is usually made at social occasions. The end result is akin to a lasagne made of multiple layers of crepes without filling, served with yoghurt. Mode of preparation: make crepe dough, bake a layer, spread oil and cream on the baked layer, spread oil and cream on top, bake in the oven, remove from oven and repeat the process until you run out of the dough. Sometimes, onions are used as well.

The fast food in the ex-yu area is so diverse and tasty that I can’t see the usual burger and pizza places making their way into the region big time anytime soon. Especially pizza in Kosovo as I’ve never seen anything like it before: a gas station every mile of the road from the Macedonian border to Priština and every gas station featuring its own pizza restaurant. Bizzare! Almost as bizzare as such signs alongside the same road:

Speed limits in Kosovo

Back to the subject of the post. I’ve been planning on making a cheese spinach pie for weeks and yesterday finally did something about it. Having been preoccupied bothering MP candidates for the upoming Slovenian elections with questions on their political platform, I was running late so did not keep to a recipe but just threw some ingredients together in hopes the end result would feed my dinner guests and not leave any undesirable consequences.

I mixed a pound of spinach with salt, pepper, onion and chilli pepper seeds. Added a pound of cottage cheese, a spoon of sour cream, half a cup of grated cheese and an egg. Mixed well. Took ready-made pastry, oiled the pan then placed a layer of pastry, oiled it, topped with another layer of pastry, then a thick layer of the filling, topped with a layer of pastry, oiled it, added another layer of pastry, topped with filing etc, finishing with a layer of crumbled pastry which I sprinkled with oil. Baked at 180°C for about 40 minutes. I should have then poured more milk/sour cream or similar on top and bake for another minute or two, but well, didn’t. I like these pies to have crunchy tops as opposed to the soft, greasy ones.

So here is the result:

It turned out quite edible even if it’s not really zeljanica. Most people will use more eggs, more sour cream and pour one type of a dairy mix or another over the top before the baking is done.

With all the goodies from our own “down south” comfort food not boasting low-calorie properties, I think I’ve had my fix for a while and will be eating salads for a while , but nothing can stop me from having real coffee… Not now that I have my own coffee set from Sarajevo’s Baš Čaršija.

Enjoy! And possibly read Michael Flocker’s book on the Art of Hedonism kindly shared with me by our wonderful Belgrade hostess.

Bosnian coffee as served in Sarajevo, with ratluk

To serve two, you will need:

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup thinly sliced white onions
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 cups seeded, chopped plum tomatoes
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1/3 cup sliced stuffed green olives
• 2 tablespoons drained capers
• red pepper flakes
• 2 fillets sea bass
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute onions until soft. Stir in garlic, and saute about 1 minute. Add tomatoes, and cook until they begin to soften.

Stir in wine, olives, capers, and red pepper flakes. Heat to a simmer.

Place sea bass into sauce. Cover, and gently simmer for 10 to 12 minutes, or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

Transfer fish to a serving plate, and keep warm.

Increase the heat, and add butter to sauce. Simmer until the sauce thickens. Stir in cilantro.

Serve sauce over fish. With love.

You can serve these yummy treats as a standalone dinner or as a side.

To stuff 12 mushrooms, you will need the following:

• 12 whole fresh mushrooms
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Clean mushrooms with a damp paper towel. Carefully break off stems. Chop stems extremely fine, discarding tough end of stems.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and chopped mushroom stems to the skillet. Fry until any moisture has disappeared, taking care not to burn garlic. Set aside to cool.

When garlic and mushroom mixture is no longer hot, stir in cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, black pepper, onion powder and cayenne pepper. Mixture should be very thick.

Using a little spoon, fill each mushroom cap with a generous amount of stuffing. Arrange the mushroom caps on prepared cookie sheet.

Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the mushrooms are piping hot and liquid starts to form under caps.

Serve. With a smile, of course

coming tomorrow: sea bass cooked in wine