Cheese Scones with Flavour

Its very difficult to get a cheese here in Bulgaria that has any taste, well that is if you don't want to spend an absolute fortune! So these scones will have flavour even with a cheese that is not strong tasting on its own. Enjoy with a cuppa or you can have them for lunch with a meaty salad.

40g Butter cut into sml chunks
7 oz Sr Flour
Pinch salt
2 oz cheese grated
1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp Mustard powder
100 ml Milk
Mix together flour, salt, mustard & cayenne together with your hands then add butter & rub in with finger tips till it looks like breadcrumbs. stir in cheese & add milk a little at a time stirring with a knife till dough is soft.
Turn onto a floured top & knead gently. Roll out to required thickness & cut out. Place on a greased baking sheet brush tops with milk & bake in pre heated oven 220c for 10 - 15 mins.
Best warm with a spread of butter but just a nice on their own :D

Curried Mince with Potatoes & Spinach

It's fresh spinach season here so lots of lovely fresh grown & cheap Spinach in the markets. Iron packed & tasty I love it in this dish. This is a tasty & filling meal easy to prepare & goes down a treat!
I cook this as a healthy meal but you can add oil if you prefer.

250g Mince beef, pork or lamb (I use pork here in Bulgaria)
Frylight or olive oil
Garlic
Onion
Mushrooms
Tomato
Chicken or beef bovril (healthy option) or oxo cube
1 tsp medium Curry powder
1 tsp Ginger or inch fresh ginger
1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper
1 pint water
Potatoes peeled chopped into quarters or new potatoes washed
Fresh Spinach
Spray a large fry pan with fry light, fry off the mince  drain the fat & place back in pan. Add garlic, mushrooms & if using, onion. Cook on a simmering heat till softened then add curry powder, oxo or bovril, ginger & cayenne. Mix in then add water & chop up tomato add this to the mix, stir then add potatoes cover pan & cook on a slow simmer for one hour.

Check liquid doesn't dry out.

 When potatoes are cooked add spinach & wilt.

Mix in

Serve on its own or with a salad.

Enjoy

Chocolate Oranges

Well I knew you could do this with strawberries.
And I knew you could do this with cherries.
And now I know you can do this with oranges, too
.
Chocolate-covered orange slices.  Just peel and segment an orange, careful to remove as much of the white pith as possible without breaking the membrane.  Melt a square or two of semi-sweet baking chocolate and dip away.  Place on wax paper-lined plate and refrigerate 10 minutes until hardened.

Any other good ideas for chocolate dipping?  Because a girl can never have too many chocolate options.

Italian Pot Roast

This is my very favourite dish. My mum is my inspiration for this & I am amazed I can make it taste as good as her! My mum is a truly fabulous cook & can make anything. Mum makes the best pastry too & I have been bought up with no money but the most fabulous food & desserts. Mum has traveled the world in her later years & always bought back recipes from foreign lands. When everyone around me was eating meat & veg I was being treated to curry that blew your head off, this in the days when take away food was the chippie down the road or the pie, mash & liquor shop. I will never forget the curry where we were all jumping around as mum had used tbls instead of tsp! There was only ever two dishes she bought back which I really didn't like, a baked cheesecake from somewhere & a cataplana from Portugal, ughh to both of them!
I wish I had photos of the amazing black forrest gateaux she became renound for it was as tall as a skyscraper & was a moist creamy deliciousness. Mum also used to make me my favourite strawberry tarts, I so miss her fabulous cooking.

This dish is so blooming easy but people think it must be very difficult to make because it is so fantastic, to me this was mums signature dish & now it is mine. It's a definite dinner party dish, you don't need to be up to your ears in the kitchen for two days to impress :)
So this dish is made with Beef but I also use Pork & Goat The photo's here are with pork.

The relevant size joint of beef
1/2 cup Brandy or Rakia
1/2 a cup Red wine
Oxo cube
Peppers Red & Green chopped
Onion chopped (I omit these as I'm intolerant)
2 Cloves of Garlic
Ginger 1 tsp or fresh
Mushrooms
Few fennel seeds
Cornflower
Place the beef in a casserole dish & add the brandy, wine, oxo, onion, garic, peppers, ginger, mushrooms & fennel seeds.

Marrinade the meat, covered, overnight. Baste occasionally & turn the beef half way through.  

Add water till it is 1/3 way up meatc.

Cover & cook in med - low  oven for 4 hours or more, turn halfway through
Check on gravy so it doesn't dry out & if it needs replenishing remember add water but also a little wine.

Take meat out & carve separately.

Thicken gravy with cornflour & pour over the plated meat, I use the term loosely as its so tender. Do NOT cook this all day as you will just cook out all the flavour of the meat!
If you are watching your weight you can serve without thickening as I do, but for dinner parties I always thicken it.
This can also be cooked on the hob... Place in stock pot instead Bring to the boil then simmer
slowly for two hours or more.

Serve..... best with roast potatoes & seasonal veg but can also be served with mash potato or rice.



Banana-Honey-Lemon Syrup

Talk about simple.  This yummy honey-lemon-banana combination goes together in minutes (I was going to say seconds, but that would be hyperbole).  And it is sooo good -- the sweetness of honey joining the tang of lemon juice.  I had it over whole grain waffles from Trader Joe's, but it would be equally delicious over pancakes, and maybe even ice cream. 

Next time you're looking for something to jolly up your morning meal, whip up a batch of this.

And when you're done, try not to lick the plate.  It's really not very classy (she says, wiping syrup off her nose).

BANANA-HONEY-LEMON SYRUP
3/4 c. honey
4 T. lemon juice, divided
2 ripe bananas

In small pan, heat honey and 3 T. of lemon juice until just bubbling.  Remove from heat.  In separate bowl, slice bananas and squeeze remaining lemon juice over; swish fruit around in bowl so bananas are covered with juice (this will keep them from turning dark).  Add into honey mixture and serve over waffles or pancakes.

NOTE:  If you're not feeding a crowd, feel free to divide recipe in half or in quarters.  The banana slices look a tad gnarly the next day.

ANOTHER NOTE:  I have linked this post to Works for Me Wednesday over at We Are That Family blog.  Check it out for some great ideas.

Chicken Cacciatore

Mmmm I love this easy chicken recipe. you can almost add anything but there are a few basics that make it a Cacciatore, A traditional Italian dish you serve with any type of pasta. I think this is a warming meal in winter as well as a relaxed summer dish served with a side salad it makes great out door food!
It may be a traditional Italian dish but can be very easily adapted to be at home in Bulgaria. 

Fry light or Olive oil
Mushrooms sliced & chopped
Onion chopped
Pepper any type chopped
Garlic head crushed & chopped
Mushrooms chopped
Carrots x 4 diced
Chicken breast, 1 per person, diced
Large jar or can of chopped Tomatoes
Salt
Pepper, ground black
2 tsp Oregano
Bay leaf
3/4 cup Red wine
You can also add, black olives, ham & mozarela cheese.

Over medium heat in a large skillet. Brown chicken on all sides in fry light or
hot oil, about 10 minutes. Remove chicken. Add chopped onion, green pepper, mushrooms and garlic. Sauté until onion is tender. Mix in the carrots. Stir in tomatoes, wine, oregano, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Add chicken back to sauce and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about 45 minutes, or until chicken is tender. Discard bay leaf and serve with spaghetti or other pasta.
You can also serve this with a side salad & roast potatoes.

Shamrock Cookies



Five lessons learned while making cute little shamrock cookies:

1.  Despite rolling dough between wax paper for ease of removal, note there will be no ease of removal.



2.  "Chill dough until it is firm enough to roll" means waaaaay longer than an hour.

3.  Sprinkles go on before baking, else the effect will be similar to trying to stack grapes on a hill.

4.  "Cook 9 minutes" = too long.

5.  Even if the cookies on the plate never quite measure up to the cookies in my imagination, I am still a sucker for cute little seasonal cookie cutters (only $2!!  At Ross!!). 

Happy St. Patrick's Day.