Saturday, December 6, 2014

Quesadilla

One of our favourites in a summer bento, whenever we go on day trips is quesadilla !! :)) yamm!

As you probably know, quesadilla is made with vegetables and cheese, all mixed up between 2 flat breads. Mine is no exception, although right now I´m on a gluten free diet so I would probably try some buckwheat or flax seeds flour , the one in these pictures is made with normal wheat flat bread.

Ingredients

1 red bell pepper chopped

1 yellow bell pepper chopped

1 avocado chopped

1cup of chopped spinach or kale

5 green onion chopped

2 medium sized tomatoes chopped in cubes (the smallest the better, if you ask me)

parsley, cilantro, etc according to your taste add some more greens

cheese as much as you want in order to "bond" together the mixture with the two breads (I usually use 2types of cheeses, emmentaler and gouda cheese)


Method

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl.

In a large frying pan grill your breads for a minute on each side if you like them crispy if not skipp this. Place one bread in the pan and add one layer of cheese then the vegetable mixture as much as you want and top with cheese and place the second bread on the mixture. On medium -low heat with a lid on preferably fry the quesadilla on each sides untill the cheese is melted and the two breads are bonded. Make sure you press the breads from time to time to help them stick to eachother.

That`s it! I kept it in the refrigerater for 2weeks, it probably lasts longer but I dear you keep them longer!!! :)


Sauce
greek yoghurt, pureed garlic to taste, mustar, a tsp of curcurmin powder or fresh pureed if you have.

Mix the ingredients and add salt and pepper to taste.



Happy cooking!


Food pics:)




Snap.Over. pictures I like. over. :) of stuff that I cooked!

Friday, October 3, 2014

Shouronpou

小籠包   ( しょうろんぽう) Shouronpou sau pe romaneste
 "aluat cu carne"

Desi blogul asta trebuia sa fie in engleza, m-am gandit sa postez si in limba romana . :))) probabil si in germana si japoneza!
Reteta pe care o voi impartasi azi face parte din bucataria asiatica. Relativ simpla, foarte gustoasa si daca sunteti vrednice si faceti vreo 30-40 de bucati, v-ati asigurat masa de pranz sau seara pentru cateva zile. Le puteti pastra in congelator pana la 3luni poate chiar mai mult. Nu e super ??! simplu ca buna ziua.

Iata reteta :))
Ingrediente pentru 8 bucati

pt aluat:
-200 gr. faina alba (sau ce preferati)
-1 lingurita praf de copt amestecat sau cernut impreuna cu faina
-100 ml lapte
-1lingurita ulei de susan
-sare si piper dupa gust

pt umplutura:
-100 gr. carne tocata porc
-3 cepe verzi
-o bucatica de ginger proaspat - aprox 1cm lungime si 3 catei usturoi  (eu le-am pisat impreuna, folosind instumentul de pisat :)) habar nu am cum se numeste)
-o jumatate lingurita susan
-3 frunze de varza
- sare piper dupa gust

Etape:

1. Se formeaza aluatul intr-un castron, amestecand toate ingredientele si framantand coca pana devine elastica.  Se impatureste in folie de plastic si se da deoparte.

2. Legumele se spala bine si se toaca marunt asa cum vedeti in poze.

3. Legumele tocate marunt se amesteca bine cu carnea si gata!!









4. Pt 8bucati se imparte aluatul in 2 bucati aproximatix egale ( la ochiometru) apoi cele 2bucati se impart in 4 deci vom avea 8bilute de aluat pe care le intindem cu sucitorul in cercuri cat se poate de rotunde. ( Eu am facut 16 buc deci am impartit in 4 apoi fiecare bucata in 4 deci 16 bilute de aluat. ;)))
Intre timp trebuie sa impartim si carnea.  Aplatizam cu ceva si impartim in 8 bucati egale (asa cum vedeti in poza de sus ;))  Se umplu cercurile de aluat cu carne si se formeaza falduri - strangem marginile cercului intr-un mot !! ;))) avem grija sa inchidem bine aluatul, pt a nu se desface in steamer/ tigaie. 
 




Eu le-am facut in steamer dar daca nu aveti steamer le puteti face foarte bine si in tigaie.  Pt steamer:  puneti apa si le puneti in steamer, acoperiti si lasati vreo 30 minute sau mai putin . Incercati una sa vedeti daca este gata carnea. Pt. tigaie: sincer nu am facut in tigaie sholompo dar am facut gyouza si nu e mare diferenta, tot aluat cu carne in alta forma!! cateva picaturi de ulei in tigaie, puneti shoronpou si lasati sa se rumeneasca putin pe fund 3-4 minute la foc potrivit , apoi adaugati apa. Shoronpou trebuie sa fie aproximativ jumatate in apa, acoperiti cu un capac sau folie aluminiu si lasati pe foc mic, pana se evapora apa. Daca ati incercat carnea si nu s-a facut mai adaugati putina apa si mai lasati putin la aburit ;)))

Asa arata capodoperele mele de arta :)) se putea mai bine de atat !!! data viitoare :)
Eu le-am mancat cu sos (sos soia 1 lingurita, suc lamaie 1lingurita, ulei susan 1 jum ling. si cateva seminte de susan! ) orez alb simplu si o salata de varza.
                           
POFTA BUNA !!!

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Japanese hamba-gu with a twist of cheese and milk

Today I craved for japanese hamburger/hamba-gu. The japanese version of a hamburger comes without a bun and it is served with rice, veggies and a gravy /sauce. After a litlle research, on different blogs and some You Tube channels, I came up with something pretty delicious. The recipe is very easy and it makes up a pretty well balanced meal!  both me and my husband ate everything in a few minutes!!
This is how it looks like. I still have to work on the presentation / ;)) pls bear with me, I`ll get better.
 

 
 
 
INGREDIENTS:
-1onion
-500 gr minced meat (pork, beaf, mixed, chicken,etc) I used pork today, that`s all I had in my fridge
-2Tbs. milk
-200 gr bread crumbs
- salt, pepper, nutmeg to taste and 3cloves of garlig-smashed
- 1egg
- some flour to cover the burgers before you fry them
-1 or 2cups of water
-100 gr of cheese (gorgonzolla, ementaller, etc your favourite- one that is creamy and melts nicely)
 
Sauce
-2 scallions-white part only or half onion
-50 gr butter
-2Tbs. tomato puree
-4Tbs. ketchup
-1Tbs soy sauce
-a pinch of sugar
-1Tbs red wine or Japanese sake if you have
 
STEPS:
1.  Boil your veggies (carrots, brocolli, potatoes, etc) and set aside.

2. Chop your onion and sautee until it`s soft and gold. Let it cool. Soak the bread crumbs in milk.

3. In a bowl mix your meat with salt, pepper, nutmeg , add the bread crumbs and the sauteed onion, mix well. Add the egg and mix again. Now make 2  meatballs with the cheese cubes in the middle, and put them in the fridge until you ready to cook.

4. Add butter to a fry pan  and sautee the onion, then add wine, soy sauce and sugar. Let it "boil" for 2minutes then on low heat add ketchup and  tomato puree, mix well , done!

5. Cover the meatballs in some flour and make sure you press them and they are about 2cm thick. In another fry pan, add some oil, when it`s hot add your burgers and fry on each side for 4 minutes then lower your heat and add about one- two cups of water, it depends on the size of your pan. The burgers should be half in water ;) when the water it`s gone, your hamburgers are done.

HAPPY COOKING !! ;))

Thursday, August 14, 2014

St. Gallen, Switzerland

St. Gallen, Switzerland 08.2014

The city of St.Gallen with its Abbey District (UNESCO World Heritage site) is the center of eastern Switzerland.  "The tourist destination St.Gallen-Lake Constance contains 32 different municipalities reaching from St.Gallen’s Lake Constance shoreline to the beginning of the rolling foothills of the Alps and the St.Gallen Rhine Valley." A beautiful summer destination where you can enjoy the sun and the Alps :)) A little tip- you might want to book a hotel on the German side of the border, prices tend to be lower than on the Swiss side.  From Konstanz, where we booked our hotel, it takes about an hour with the Sbahn and the ticket costs around 28 Euro for a round trip. You can either switch Sbahn no. S8 in Kreuzlingen for S14 or walk directly to the station and get on S14 to St Gallen. The two cities/countries are not really separated by a custom office or something....you just walk back and forth between two countries. How cool is that? Keine Grenze!  The scenery is really awesome, cows, greeeeeeen, blueee water, just countryside.  I LUV Milka ;))

Have you ever been to St  Gallen ? If you were, what do you think of  their German? isn`t it a bit funny? or maybe it`s just me and the German I`m used to hear in NRW?? :))

Here is the official site of  St. Gallen:

http://www.st.gallen-bodensee.ch/en/region-touring/st-gallen-lake-constance/places/stgallen

and the Swiss Railway official site

http://www.sbb.ch/home.html


And some pictures :))

                                                                   The Post Office

                                                 The Abbey UNESCO World Heritage site
















Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Paris

PARIS 09. 2013

Apart from being `almost` robbed twice, once in front of Gare du Nord and once again in front of  Eifel Tower, the trip was amazing!! Paris is an amazing city and you need days to discover everything that it has to offer. It`s definitely worth a visit! It is recommendable, like in any other big city to buy one day passes or 2-multi for either hop-on hop-off if you`re lazy (expensive though!!!) or metro/ bus/ trams that will allow you to move freely from one place to another without any hassle. For shorter distance we walked and walked and walked.......Taro chan was sooo tired :))
We went to Paris by Thalys, a comfy 4.5hours ride from Cologne Hbf  to Gare du Nord. These are some of the pictures I took.:)))



                                                                      Taro chan ;))







In case you didn`t know, they say that Paris is the second biggest Japanese community in Europe after London. The 3rd place belongs to Dusseldorf, Germany!! I haven`t seen too many Japanese in Paris though...it is a big city but... There is a little (literally little!! 狭いいい)street called Rue de la Anne if I remember well, full of Japanese eateries. I was very eager to try the okonomiyaki restaurant!!!  It was good but not as good as I thought!  one thing is for sure, it definitely suits the size of an authentic Japanese restaurant!! Watch your head when you go upstairs!



                         Galeries Lafayette huuge shopping centre! of course, veeery expensive!











                                                      Sacre Coeur ! beautiful inside out.





                                                               Notre Dame Cathedral



The Seine River





          
                                    Angelina Patisserie 住所: 226 Rue Rivoli, 75001 Paris, フランス