While He Was Out

Pimientos Padrón Project – Part 2

whilehewasout — Tue, 21 May 2013 15:38:20 +0000

Click here for Part 1!

Status report on the Pimientos Padrón Project: started with 24 seeds altogether – about half of them survived the “kindergarten”. Out of the remaining 12 I have given 6 seedlings to my mum who somehow managed to kill them all in a few days :p

I have re-planted my 3-3 remaining seedlings into 2 big flower pots. Interesting – one of the pots I filled with earth I bought last year and one of them I filled with fresh earth bought this year. The seedlings in the old-earth-pot did not die, but did not even grow an inch, so eventually I stayed here with 3 lively seedlings. Never mind, because my balcony is so small, it will probably be small even for 3 plants But look at those 3, growing taller every day!

They were enjoying the room temperature in the windowsill for a while after re-planting, and then I moved them to the balcony (about 2 weeks ago). Watering them every day now and hoping for lots of sunshine!

My California Chicken

whilehewasout — Mon, 13 May 2013 11:22:38 +0000

Chicken again you say… I say the BEST EVER chicken dish! At least, the best that came out of my kitchen. Ever! A full healthy-hearty meal in one pan that is not only easy to make but sure to impress on a cold May day (or any day, really) Please don’t judge this dish by its appearance, I’m sure you could also serve it in a more fashionable way or snap a more impressing photo – however we enjoyed it mounted on our plates just as it came out of the pan, all mixed up and flavors going round and around every bit of ingredient.

I had to find a name for it to be able to post it nicely here, and decided to call it fancy “California Chicken”. The explanation is simple, here in Hungary bell peppers are called California Peppers – as one of the main ingredients for this dish is bell pepper, I though it would do!

Ingredients:

3-4 pieces of chicken upper thighs
half red bell pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1/2-3/4 cup tomato sauce
1 tsp minced garlic
salt, pepper, 1 tsp cumin seeds

2-3 medium potatoes, sliced

Preparation:

On a bit of olive oil, sautee the onion and add the chicken bits. Cook for a few minutes then turn the pieces. Add the peppers, garlic, spices and the tomato sauce. Mix and add the potato slices on top. Cover and let it all simmer for about 45 minutes on medium heat (lower if it starts to jump around too much).

I have made this dish about 3 times already and it was always a huge hit!

Hopefully you will also give it a try, and if you do, let me know what you think

The Easiest Oven Baked Garlic Shrimps

whilehewasout — Mon, 06 May 2013 14:15:49 +0000

There was a beautiful box of shrimps at the store the other day and I was ‘allowed’ to buy it on condition that I peel them for both me and my Mr. Well this surely won’t stop me, really not a big deal doing it for 2 – I’d probably think about it if I wanted to make a meal for a bunch of people, having to peel a kilo of shrimps might turn out to be a real challenge!

As I see it, shrimps are best when the recipe is kept simple. An easy marinade, some time in the oven, and tah dah!

The Easiest Oven Baked Garlic Shrimps

Ingredients:

Fresh or thawed shrimps, peeled
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
juice of half lemon
4-5 tbsp olive oil
salt, pepper

pasta of your choice

Preparation:

Mix the garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Pour it over the shrimps and bake for about 30 minutes on 180°C/360°F. Serve over your favorite pasta!

Cinnamon-Berry Swirl Buns

whilehewasout — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 09:58:56 +0000

I had a small box of fresh blueberries the other day and after having used a handful of it over the course of a few days (mixed into natural yoghurt, with some nice muesli – my favorite breakfast really!) I though it is time to do something else with what was left of this amazing fruit. And why wouldn’t it end up in a soft, sweet, fruity bun? Don’t talk to me about how great it would be in a salad instead, no one will take you seriously

Cinnamon-Berry Swirl Buns

Ingredients

For the dough:
3.5g (half packet) dried yeast
180 ml warm milk
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 egg
pinch of salt
100g sugar
25g melted butter
450g all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting

For the filling:
200g berries – I had about 100g blueberries and some frozen raspberries (thaw first if you have it frozen)
20g sugar

Preparation:

1. Mix the yeast with the warm milk in a bowl, then put it aside. Beat the eggs and salt in a large bowl, then add the cinnamon, sugar, melted butter, 300g of the flour and the milk and yeast mixture. Mix in the remaining 150g of flour and work it into a nice dough ball. Dust the top with flour, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rest in a warm place for about 1 hour, or until the dough has doubled in size.

3. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Dust your workspace with flour and flat your dough and shape into a rectangle. Mash the berries a bit and spread them on top of the dough. Sprinkle with the sugar and roll up the dough tightly. Cut the roll into 6-7 pieces and place them on the baking tray (it might get a bit messy at this point ). If any of the berries/juices escaped, just scrape it up from the workspace and pour on top of the swirls. Let them rest for about 20 minutes (or until you pre-heat the oven).

3. Sprinkle with some extra sugar if you like, and push into the pre-heated oven. Bake for about 30 minutes at 180ºC/360ºF.

Lemon-Garlic Chicken Skewers

whilehewasout — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 11:15:46 +0000

Like it or not, the most common meat in our house is chicken. There was a time when I got really fed up with this animal – but then I realized it is probably my fault because the most common dish I prepared was chicken breast with veggies or chicken breast with rice and so on… quite little creativity : ) So you see, chicken is great, you just have to dig into all those 1903648372174 recipes around the cooking world and pick a nice one! We are friends again with chicken – it ends up in a nice potaje, shredded and mixed into chicken meatballs, or roasted on bamboo sticks after spending some time in a nice lemon-garlic marinade… mmh…

Lemon-Garlic Chicken Skewers

Ingredients:

1-2 chicken breast halves
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
juice of 2 small lemons

1/3 cup olive oil
salt, pepper, fresh parsley

white rice to serve.

Preparation:

Prepare a marinade with the lemon, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Cube the chicken breast(s) and mix with the marinade. Let is rest for some time before preparing the skewers.

Bake on the grill or in the oven, about 30 minutes, and serve over fluffy white rice, sprinkled with fresh parsley.

Enjoy!

Cocoa Marble Cake

whilehewasout — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 10:15:17 +0000

There are those recipes that are among the favorites folder of your recipe collection – at easy reach, for whatever occasion: sweet cravings, guest visits, a detail for a sick relative. This is definitely one of those – thank you Henri for giving me a new favorite! This cake is extremely easy and truly delicious. I have done it 4 times already, shared with friends and family, all of them were equally satisfied.

I have reduced a bit the amount of sugar and skipped the vanilla.

Marble Yoghurt Cake

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup plain yoghurt
1 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions

1. In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
2. In another bowl, beat together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs, beating after each addition. Mix in the yoghurt until smooth. Whisk in the dry ingredients until just combined.
3. Remove about 2/3 to 3/4 cup of batter and place in a separate bowl. Add the cocoa powder and mix until smooth.
4. Pour enough of the light batter to evenly coat the bottom of your greased pan. Then add the chocolate batter and light batter in a checkerboard pattern. Once all the batter has been added, take a knife or a toothpick and run it through the batter, swirling it around (or simply add the light batter, then add the chocolate batter in spots, grab a fork and move it around a few times in the batter).
5. Bake for about 45 minutes at 180°C/350°F, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, before placing on a cooling rack to cool completely.

Pimientos Padrón Project – Part 1

whilehewasout — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 11:01:10 +0000

It is that time of the year again! When I get enthusiastic about planting something on my mini balcony. This time I’ll try to be more practical and instead of going with jungle sized tomato and bell pepper plants that simply won’t have enough space to grow, I have planted little Padrón pepper seeds. These will hopefully produce cute little green peppers that can be consumed fried in olive oil and sprinkled with coarse sea salt – I have tried it in Spain and fell in love with this truly flavorful and easy to prepare dish.

I picked up the seeds at a store at the Barcelona airport last year. Couple of weeks ago I planted them in a biodegradable egg carton – separated the top of the carton, lined it with a plastic bag and placed the other half of carton on top. Filled the compartments about 3/4 with soil, placed 2 seeds into each compartment and topped with a little more soil. Placed the whole thing in the windowsill, watered it every day and waited patiently

And voilá! About 2 weeks later, the first mini plants appeared:

Growing stronger and taller every day!

Click here for part 2!

Surimi Crabstick Patties

whilehewasout — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:31:31 +0000

Since the turmoil around the horse meat in the supermarkets we are reluctant to buy ground meat but this has put me into an uncomfortable situation, because meatballs made of ground meat are not only one of my favorites but also a to-go meal for any occasion. Easy, fast and delicious. Now, without ground meat, one of the main ingredients of my meatballs, what is a woman to do? Well replace the meat, of course! So far I have made ‘meat’balls from leftover roast chicken, white beans and the biggest success of all, surimi crabsticks! I love surimi and generally use it to enrich salads, but I’m proud to announce that they also taste great in patty form. Give it a try, I’m sure you will love these!

Surimi Crabstick Patties

Ingredients:

100g surimi crabsticks, minced
1 egg
1 onion, minced
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tsp lemon juice
salt, pepper
1 big handful of stale bread roll
2-3 tbsp breadcrumbs

Preparation:

1. Soak the bread in water and then squeeze the water out, tear into little pieces and mix with all the other ingredients in a bowl. Add more breadcrumbs as needed to get the right consistency to make patties.
2. Form palm sized patties of the mixture, cover with breadcrumbs and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
2. Sprinkle with a little olive oil and bake in oven or fry the patties in a pan.

Serve with green salad and mayo, or over bread, or with any other side of your choice! I’m certain it would be also great cooled, with a piece of lettuce in a sandwich, we never had any leftovers to try that

Greek Easter Sweet Twisted Bread

whilehewasout — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 16:51:52 +0000

I was sure I wanted to prepare a sweet bread this Easter as well, as it is a Hungarian tradition (and so good!!), but I also wanted to change the tried and perfect recipe a little bit. Wandering about a couple of blogs I came by a Greek recipe for sweet bread (Tsoureki), that perfectly matched my needs: sweet, traditional, ‘braided’, EASY, and goes well with the Easter ham and horseradish. I have made a double dough and made 3 breads, 1 for us to keep, 1 for the grandparents and 1 for the girls back home. The recipe is a definitive keeper, it is divine!! I could even imagine this for Christmas due to its gingerbread-ish spices.

Greek Easter Sweet Twisted Bread

Ingredients:

500g flour
125g butter
125g sugar
12g dried yeast
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
2 eggs
125ml milk

1 egg yolk and little milk for brushing and almonds to decorate.

Preparation:

1. Mix the dry ingredients. On low heat, melt the butter in the milk. Beat the eggs, mix with the milky butter and mix it all with the dry ingredients. Knead for about 10 minutes (I used my hands here again).
2. Place the dough in a floured bowl, sprinkle with a bit more flour, cover with cling film and let rest for about 2 hours.

3. Let’s make the traditional twisted shape: start with rolling the dough into a long snake, fold in half, twist the 2 ‘arms’ and tuck in the ends (you can make 1 piece, or smaller ones – I have made a double batch and cut the dough in 3 parts).

4. Place the breads on a baking paper lines baking tray, brush with the mix of an egg yolk and a little milk, sprinkle with almonds and pop into the preheated oven. Bake for about 30 minutes at 180 degrees C (360 F).

Enjoy all by yourself with butter, marmalade, honey, ham, veggies, egg salad or share with your loved ones : )

Happy Easter!!

Hungarian Green Pea ‘Thick Soup’ or Zöldborsófőzelék

whilehewasout — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 10:14:37 +0000

I do not like to make complicated dishes. Sometimes I may get tempted by a recipe or two (or rather, a photo!) and set out on the culinary journey to create the same at home, but most of the time I’m making the fastest, easiest, simplest dishes (this of course does not mean that they are not equally delicious ). This is one of those – a hearty, traditional Hungarian meal in less than 10 minutes, perfect for those moments in the kitchen when I want to prepare something fast in the morning that I can take to work for lunch and my Mr only has to re-heat and devour when hunger strikes.

Zöldborsófőzelék

Ingredients (for two):

720ml/680g can of green peas
1 tbsp flour
1.5-2 tbsp oil
salt, pepper and powdered paprika

sausages to serve.

Preparation:

1. Heat the oil until it starts to simmer. Add the flour and mix well until fully incorporated and there are no lumps. You can add more oil if it looks too thick.
2. Add the peas with the liquid from the can and mix well. Add a bit of salt, pepper and powdered paprika, mix and cook until you reach the desired thickness – some like it pretty dense while I prefer a bit less thick.

Serve with a pair of pretty fried sausages for a nice plate of comfort food.