Dr. Filomena

You know how we sometimes tend to overdo food shopping before holidays? Well I’ve done it again. And since I’m trying not to throw any more food away, I made some more vegetable cheese rolls. These are a quick and easy way to use the extra about-to-expire fridge contents.

Dough:

• 1.5 cup  flour
• 2 oz butter
• hot water
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• salt

Heat up some water, add butter, mix well, pour the liquid on flour, mix and add salt and vinegar. Knead well and add warm water as needed, until the dough is soft, smooth and even. Split it in two parts.

Filling:

• 1 lb mixed vegetables
• 2 cups sour cream
• 1 or 2 eggs
• 1.5 cups shredded cheese (more or less is fine)
• salt & seasoning

I used frozen soup vegetables and veggies from cans I had opened (peas, corn, beans). For an even better taste you may want to stir fry them quickly with onions.

Roll out each of the two balls of dough and place on a kitchen towel.

Distribute the veggies across surface, then cover with a mixture of sour cream and egg (set aside a few spoons). Season whichever way you like. I used salt, pepper, thyme and basil. Follow with shredded cheese (in one of these I used mozzarella that would have gone bad and it worked well). This will bind everything nicely.

Roll up with the help of the towel underneath.

Transfer on baking paper. Cover with the remaining sour cream/egg mixture. (Actually, I used cream cheese – yes, that would have gone bad – in the place of sour cream and it worked well.)

Bake at 180°C for 30 minutes, raise temp to 230°C and bake for a few more minutes for a nice crust. That’s it.

I cut the roll into pieces and put them in the freezer for quick lunches.

Belgrade, photo by dr. fil

Quoted from a book I’m reading, this prayer was allegedly carried in the purse of a certain wife of a President of a country at war. I will share details later. Can anyone guess who she and the author were (before googling it)? The prayer was written by an experienced, decorated soldier who lead secret service operations during said war.

Dear Lord
Lest I continue
My complacent way
Help me to remember
Somewhere out there
A man died for me today
– As long as there be war
I then must
Ask and answer
Am I worth dying for?

Luxembourg really is a pretty town and my recent experience on account of carlessness has shown that one can get pretty much anywhere on foot in reasonable time. Forget buses on Sundays unless you check schedules in advance 😉

Went out for an early morning walk with Nikki. After an hour and a half, my toes were frozen solid. Walking into a local (as in frequented by real Luxembourgers) coffee shop, I realised that as much as the tea and croissant helped warm me up (not to mention reading the newspapers), what warms the cockles of m heart are the people around me. These ladies and gentlemen have plenty of laughs enjoying each other’s company. Where everybody knows your name (30 years later). Moien.

I pass this piece of art almost every day on my way to work. Some days I pay it more attention than others. It’s such a beautiful sunny day. Wish it were for all.

No particular message this time around… just a shot I like. A seagull taking a bath in freezing weather at the Champs-Élysées in Paris. I guess there is a message after all. Enjoy life, even if circumstances don’t seem perfect 😉   They never are, anyway…

Photo by dr. Fil, Paris

The horn of plenty is full no more. Who took from it and forgot to pay his debts?

Guest photo by: PhotoPy, Paris

How many faces do you see?

Photo by dr. fil, Paris

Always shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.

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!