Lentil Mushburgers

My, my... look at all the dust that collected here again. It's been too long since I posted last here, but we did recently have a treat of a meal. In fact, it was so good I decided to blog about it. I also recently finished reading Eat and Run by Scott Jurek and Steve Friedman. Great book, very entertaining and good enjoyable read. Needless to say, it has some very interesting *vegan* recipes, one of which is for the fantastic lentil mushburgers. I usually don't read or apply cooking instructions to the letter, but prefer to follow my instincts and have fun experimenting in the kitchen. Never having prepared anything vegan before, I felt uncertain on how to go about things and preparing the meal, so I yielded to Scott's easy to follow steps. In hindsight, it was also a wise decision.

Ingredients

1 cup of lentis

2 1/4 cups of water

1 teaspoon of dried parsley

3/4 teaspoon of black pepper

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon of sea salt

2 cups of fine bread crumbs

1/2 cup of ground flax seeds

1/2 teaspoon of paprika

2 tablespoons of olive oil

2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast

1 1/4 cups of finely chopped onions

3/4 cups of finely chopped walnuts

3 cups of finely chopped mushrooms

1 1/2 cups of destemmed finely chopped kale or spinach

3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar

Preparation

Cover the lentils with water by about an inch. Bring the lentils and water to a boil. About 10 minutes into the boil, remove from the stove and drain. Throw away the water, this helps avoid cramps lentils may give, and it may also ease flatulence caused by lentils. Add the 2 1/4 cups of water, parsley 1 garlic clove and 1/4 cup of chopped onions. I chopped fresh parsley, can't think of why not since it was in season.

While lentils are cooking, combine walnuts, bread crumbs and flax seed in a large bowl. Add nutritional  yeast, salt, pepper and paprika. Mix well. This mixture will later be used to compound everything together. Once in the bowl, let it sit and sauté the vegetables. 

In a frying pan, heat up the olive oil, caramlize the onions, add the remaining garlic, mushroom and kale (again, I had the luxury of the one of the most underrated super vegetables: fresh kale). 

Sautéing should take about 8-10 minutes. Once the mushrooms become soft, turn off the stove and let the pan cool down.

Once the lentils are cooked, using a potato masher or wooden spoon, mash them together into a thick paste.

Now combine everything. Add the vegetables to the mixture from the large bowl, mix well. Then add the lentil paste to the same large bowl, mix ever more.  I had to add an extra little bit of olive oil to make it all stick together. Your mileage may vary, obviously. 

Once this becomes homogeneous, store it in the fridge to cool down. It may need up to an hour to really cool down. Using your hands, scoop out a ball of the paste that fit in the palm of your hand. Roll the ball between your hands and form burger patties. This whole amount should give between 10 and 12 burgers.

The patties can be stored in the fridge for a day or two. If you do put them in a fridge, make sure there are air-tight and well covered. Otherwise, they will crack and dry out. Patties can also be frozen. 

To make the mushburgers, the patties must then be either grilled on the BBQ, fried in a skillet or broiled in the oven. They need to get crips and lightly browned. Along with a nice whole wheat bun, they will make a wholesome, completely vegan and fantastic mushburger. 

Instead of fries, a selection of seasonal vegetables will make an awesome accompanying dish. On olive oil and finely chopped onions, you can sauté carrots, zuchini, marrow, beans, potatoes, broccoli, kohlrabi or whatever other veggie you can find.

Finally, Scott, thanks for this gem. It is truly awesome!

Obožavam vanilice!!!

Obožavam vanilice ali se do skoro nisam usudila da ih pravim misleći da neće biti onako dobre, kao prave :-). Ali, ovaj recept je super, i uspele su mi iz prvog.

Za vanilice je potrebno:
250 gr putera
1 jaje
1 žumance
4 kašike šećera
1/2 kg brašna
sok od 1 limuna

Umutiš puter, jaje i žumance, šećer i sok od jednog limuna, i kašičicu ekstrakta vanile. Dodaš brašno i zamesiš testo. Oklagijom razvučeš testo da bude debljine 1/2 cm. Vadiš modlicom vanilice (što manje to bolje) i redjaš u pleh premazan puterom, a onda i pečeš na 180 C pazeći da ostanu bele (desetak minuta, možda i kraće, zavisi od rerne - povremeno gvirneš unutra da vidiš šta se dešava).

Pečene vanilice mažeš džemom od kajsija (ako je domaći još bolje), sastavljaš po dve, pa ih uvaljaš u prah šećer (kome je dodat i vanillin šećer).

Mogu odmah da se jedu, i mnogi kažu da su vanilice svakim danom stajanja sve bolje, pod uslovom da prežive, ali mi to još nismo iskusili :-)

Jovo nanovo..

sa pisanjem. Nadam se da cemo istrajati ovaj put. Gledala puno okolo naokolo. Pravila. Jela, naravno..tu i tamo slikala. 

Chocolate crinkles

Potrebno je:

60 gr putera

225 gr iseckane cokolade (moja 70%)

100 gr secera

2 jaja

2 kasicice ekstrakta od vanile 

225 gr brasna 00

prstohvat soli

1 ravna kasicica praska za pecivo

Za posipanje:

prah secer (i kristal po volji)

Istopite na pari cokoladu i puter. Umutite jaja sa secerom (mutite oko 2 minuta), dodajte istopljenu cokoladu sa puterom, vanilin ekstrakt, i postepeno dodajte prosejano brasno, prasak za pecivo i so. Kada je sve dobro umesano ostavite masu da odstoji u frizideru najmanje 3 - 4 sata.

Uzmite testo i pravite loptice od oko 3 - 4 cm precnika, trudeci se da ne mesite mnogo, jer ce se testo ugrajati.. nista zato.. vratite ga malo u frizider da se opet stegne pa Jovo nanovo..

Pleh oblozite bakpapirom.

Secer u prahu stavite u jednu cinijicu. Svaku lopticu posto ste je formirali uvaljajte dobro u secer da pobele. Stavljajte ih jednu do druge, malo razmaknute, i pritisnite loptice ili dlanom ili dnom case na pola cm debljine.

Pecite ih na 170 - 180 stepeni.. od 10 - 15 minuta zavisi od rerne (ne treba da budu tvrdi kad ih izvadite iz rerne). Ohladite ih na resetki i stavite u zatrvorenu posudu da bi se bolje sacuvali..ukoliko ne nestanu pre toga..

p.s. Mozete prvo da ih uvaljate u kristal secer pa onda u prah.. mozda je efekat bolji (nisam probala, kazu..)

2. p.s. u medjuvremenu se i udala.. ; ))

What's new in the kitchen?????

http://www.forjapanwithlove.com/

For all we’ve lost, hope is in fact one thing we Japanese have regained. The great earthquake and tsunami have robbed us of many lives and resources. But we who were so intoxicated with our own prosperity have once again planted the seed of hope. So I choose to believe.

Ryu Murakami

Cik pogodi sta je????????

Torta od cokolade i smokvica (!)

Dodje i kraj leta. Jesen polako ali sigurno ulazi u nase kuhinje.
Da ne daj Boze sacuvamo liniju koju smo teskom mukom odrzavali celo leto.
Nisam ljubitelj smokvica, ali nisam uspela da je ne probam zbog cokolade.
Nasla sam je na jednom od predivnih foodblogova koji ovde uzimaju sve vise maha.
http://www.semidipapavero.net/2010/09/torta-cioccolato-e-fichi.html

Naravno da cete je napraviti kad imate drage goste.. da podelite sa njima plaisir a i kalorije, sto da njima bude bolje nego vama??? 
Uzivajte.

Za biskvit:

250 gr brasna 00
200 putera
120 gr prah secera
50 gr kakaa
2 zumanca
kasika hladne vode

Umesite testo radeci ga brzo. Oblikujte loptu koju cete uviti u foliju i staviti u frizider pola sata. Nakon toga cete razviti u pleh (okrugli) i izbusiti dno viljuskom, vratite je u frizider do trenutka kada cete je peci.
Dok pripremate krem stavite tortu da se pece u ugrejanu rernu na 180° - 15 minuta. Kad je izvadite ne gasite rernu..

Krem od cokolade:

2 cela jaja i 3 zumanca
40 gr secera
150 gr putera
200 gr cokolade

Umutite jaja i zumanca sa secerom dok ne bude penasto dobro umuceno. Istopite na pari puter i cokoladu, stavite da se prohladi malo i sjedinite sa umucenim jajima. Dobro promesajte.

Za kraj:

100 gr marmelade od smokava
500 gr smokava
secer u prahu

Kada se prohladi torta (biskvit), premazati je marmeladom, napuniti kremom od cokolade i staviti ponovo u ugrejanu rernu na 180° oko 5 minuta. Ostavite da se ohladi.
U medjuvremenu smokve stavite u poseban pleh i pospite bogato secerom u prahu, stavite pod grill oko 5 minuta da secer karamelizuje. Kada se ohlade stavite na tortu. Frijatno!!

Poslednje travke sa balkona..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chives

Христос Воскресе!

Stotine i stotine raznih uputstava na internetu čekaju čitaoce da pročitaju kako da ofarbaju svoja (uskšrnja ;-) jaja. Eto onda i ovaj blog da opiše svoje malo iskustvo u istom. Za farbanje jaja postoje veoma različiti načini, te farbom, te u najlon čarapi, te voskom, te pastelnim bojama, flomasterima i koječime još. Ove godine, sticajem nekih raznih okolnosti, najzgodnije je bilo da se farbanje jaja obavi na neki jednostavniji način. Lukovina dakle, koja ne samo da je brza i daje lepu crvenu boju jajima, nego je pri tome i još sasvim prirodna i zdrava. One zelene i žute boje za jaja ponekad ofarbaju i belance ispod ljuske, pa kad dodje vreme da se to pojede nekako ne bude čoveku svejedno...
Elem, za farbanje 12 jaja je dovoljan 1 kg luka. Oljuštiti sve glavice i luske od luka staviti u šerpu. Neko kaže da ljuske malo treba prvo smlačiti u vodi koja se potom prospe. Taj korak smo preskočili. Jaja medjutim, treba izvaditi iz frižidera da se malo ugreju na sobnoj temperaturi, jer će jaje lako na naprsne ukoliko se hladno stavi u šerpu da se kuva. Malo smo se posle to igrali i maštali na papiru, gde smo crtali ideje za ukrašavanje jaja. Za postizanje tih toliko važnih šara opet postoje mnoge preporuke. Gumice, konac, aluminijumska folija, vosak i tako. Mi smo za to koristili -- selotejp. Njega je malo pipavo seći u željeni dezen jer se stalno lepi za prste, makaze i podlogu. Ali se lepo drži na jajima dok se ista kuvaju i posle ga je lako skinuti. Tako izlepljena jaja lagano spustiti u vodu sa lukovinom i uključiti ringlu. Voda treba da provri, i onda se smanji vatra pa se jaja na tihoj vatri kuvaju jedno sat vremena.
Kad su jaja skuvana, pustiti ih da ohlade, i skinuti selotejp pod blagim mlazom mlake vode i potom jaja, jedno po jedno premazati sa krpom, malo natopljenom sa uljem. Od toga jaja dobiju lep sjaj i duže traju.

Vita jela zelen bor evo vama odgovor

To je jedna vrsta karfiola.. ovde ga zovu rimski brokoli ili rimski karfiol.
Karakteristican je po neobicnom obliku.. toliko je lep da ga je steta kuvati.

Uglavnom se koristi za pastu ili samo obaren pa kako ko voli.. zacinjen samo sa malo maslinovog ulja i soli.
Za pastu.. dacu vam jedan recept, cim ga napravim sledi i slika..za sada nema!
Kolicine zanemarujem jer je odokativno..

Jedna srednja glavica istog.. ociscena i podeljena na cvetove stavi se u kipucu, slanu vodu.
U istu stavite i pastu ( neku kratku u svakom slucaju.. 250 gr ??!!) dok se ne skuva..
U tiganj, na ulju, proprzite luk crni (nekoliko glavica..po volji) dok se postane providan, staklast..posolite malo.
U medjuvremena ce se skuvati i pasta sa "karfiolom" ocedite od vode i sjedinite sa lukom u tiganju dok se sve lepo ne sjedini.. posolite i pobiberite po zelji. Izrendajte sir (grana) i Prijatno vam bilo!!

Sta je ovo ???
Sutra recopis..
ne malo sutra.. nego sutra!!

Летњи пудинг (Енглеска)

Састојци:

Око 1,2 кг. помешаних зрелих, очишћених, оцеђених рибизли, боровница, купина и малина
Око 200 гр. шећера (може и мало више или мање у зависности да ли волиш слађе или не)
1 кашика свеже исцеђеног лимуновог сока
8 до 10 кришки белог хлеба

Прављење:

Помешај воће (прво рибизле и мање деликатно воће) са шећером и лимуновим соком. Смесу стави у шерпу и полако кувај (на лаганој ватри). Додај малине. Настави да куваш док воће не пусти сок (немој да прекуваш смесу јер ће воће изгубити свеж укус). Склони са шпорета и остави да се охлади (да смеса постане млака).

Узети посуду од једно 1,5 л. и поређај хлеб (хлеб треба да се додирује, па чак и преклапа, између парчића не би требало да буде рупа).

Када је завршено са хлебом, у то ставити смесу од воћа. Преко смесе ставити остатак хлеба (воће ће тако бити потпуно затворено са хлебом). Руком притисни хлеб – сок од воћа ће почети да „улази“ у хлеб. Преко тога стави тањирић (мало мањи од посуде). На тањирић стави тежи предмет (око 1-1,5 кг) и остави у фрижидер преко ноћи. Следећег дана ће можда бити сока на таљирићу. У том случају сачувај га.

Склони тањирић и ножем пажљиво одвоји хлеб од посуде. Окрени пудинг на тањир и прелиј га соком (уколико си га имала). Служи пудинг са шлагом, павлаком или Девон кремом.

Jedna od letnjih pasta...

Linguine sa paradajzom (datterini), fetom i maslinkama

Evo nas opet..nadam se ovaj put for good.
Dugo toplo leto..bar kod nas.

Gajili smo, mamman naravno.. paradajz na terasi.. ova pasta nije sa istim..ali od te vrste, datterini se zovu. Mali duguljasti i preslatki.


Mere nemam. Sve je odokativno, ali bogato..pa ko kako voli.

U tiganj stavite maslinovog ulja.. (da podmaze dobro tiganj)
cen belog luka, oljusten i nekoliko listova bosiljka, svezeg
kad se ugreje ulje dodajte paradajz isecen na polovine..bogato neka bude
poklopite i pustite da se krcka 5 - 10 minuta
izrendajte feta sir (ili bilo koji tvrdi beli sir, slaniji) i dodajte, promesajte i pustite nekoliko minuta da se istopi
dodajte 2 - 3 kasicice patea od maslinki, ako nemate izmiksajte maslinke (bez koscica ; )) dodajte u sve
ostavite jos malo da se krcka
u medjuvremenu stavite pastu da se kuva, kad je skoro gotova iscedite i sjedinite u tiganju sa paradajzom, pustite minut dva sa se sjedini sve i that's it!!

jedna od pogaca..

i za ovo sledi recept..

???

Dry green peas cream with buckwheat and poppy seeds

Delicious..

Kiflice..jedne od mnogih

800 gr brasna
2 kasicice soli
1 kasicica secera
1/2 kesice suvog kvasca
150 ml mlake vode
500 ml jogurta
150 ml ulja
2 belanca (zumanca ostavimo za premazivanje kiflica)
malo margarina za premazivanje

U mlaku vodu pomesati suvi kvasac sa secerom i ostaviti da nadodje.
Brasno pomesati sa solju, u sredinu dodati belanca, ulje, kvasac koje je nadosao i na kraju jogurt (da ne bude hladan). Zamesimo testo..po potrebi dodajte brasno, ali testo na kraju mora biti mekano cak malo lepljivo. Ostaviti ga da nadodje.
Napraviti kiflice..
Premazati ih umucenim zumancetom i staviti malo margarina na vrh svake..po zelji posuti susamom ili cime vec zelite..u zavisnosti sa cim ih zelite jesti da li slatke ili slane.
Peci u zagrejanoj rerni dok ne porumene na 200°c.

Dugo se nije nista pisalo.. za sada samo slika, da pozelimo dobrodoslicu prolecu!!

Chocolate Berry Bombs

This is a really special treat. Like the name says, this dessert is made of berries and chocolate. The basic layer is made of strawberries that you cut in halves or slices.
Once you have your strawberries, spread a nice thick layer of Nutella. Then decorate the top with any number of blueberries. Blackberries, even raspberries will also do nicely. After you are finished decorating, you can put the ready berry bombs into the refridgerator for 30 mins.

And there is your Chocolate Berry Bomb. Enjoy.
This recipe was brought to you by Vid.

Lamb Kapama (Jagnjeća Kapama)

Well lookie lookie, all the dust that settled here. It's been a while since the last post so I figured I should put this whiff of culinary inspiration to good use. As always, here is a little etymology perspective on this dish. It likely has a Turkish origin, like many other in the Serbian cuisine. To begin with, the dish is called: Jagnjeća Kapama (Jagniecha Kapamah). This dish itself is a very succulent and flavorful lamb stew. Here is a list of necessary ingredients, with options that can be used according to preference and taste:

Ingredients:

1. 1kg of lamb, diced preferably (or a lesser amount, depending on how people the dish is for)
   
   


2. an equal amount of spinach -- fresh only. Don't even think of using frozen or preprocessed spinach! (if spinach is hard to come by or less preferred, collards will do nicely, mixed with a little bit of swiss chard, say 3:1)
   


3. 2 nicely sized leeks


4. 2 cloves of garlic (or 1 or 3, depending on how many vampires you need to scare away)


5. 1 medium sized onion


6. 1-2 teaspoons of salt (blood pressure or taste may advise less)


7. a little bit of cooking oil


8. a little bit of paprika (ground red pepper)

Like always, I struggle with exact measures. I just think of those as a guideline and like to follow my cooking into an experimenting and sensing journey at the stove.

Preparation:

Heat up the oil in a large pot and let the diced onion turn mellow over high heat. Once the onion gets soft and golden, drop the lamb on top and let it fry for a while. Make sure you tend to the lamb by turning it over to prevent it from burning or sticking to the pot. After the meat has fried, add some water and let it stew.

While the meat is cooking, you can tend to the greens. Cut them down to strips, about 1 cm wide, again use your own judgment here. The leeks slices can be smaller too.
I tend to slice the green end of leeks wider, and narrow it down a bit towards the white ends.
Next, braise the coarsely diced leeks, with the paprika, finely chopped garlic. Some recipes recommend removing the lamb to braise the greens in the fat from the meat. Others don't. I prefer not to, the greens absorve the meat flavor either way. Once the leeks turn soft, add the spinach or collards (they typically need less cooking time than the leeks). Finally add some water and let simmer over low heat until cooked. Occasionally add water. And that's it, it's really not that complicated.



Cooking tips:

Any lamb meat will do nicely for this dish. If you can't find diced lamb stewing meat, shoulder blade chops will do nicely. Only cut them down to smaller pieces. I guess lamb chops would do too, but that's just ever so much nicer on the grill.
Adding the garlic and salt when braising the meat will root those two flavors deeper into the final result.
Almost any green will do. Mix up spinach together with collards and/or swiss chards. Even kohlrabi leaves. The more flavour, the merrier. At least that's my take on it.


Serving tips:

Serve hot. Plain yoghurt is a must. Balkan style is preferred, of course. Be careful, a nice hot plate of kapama with yoghurt will also make you eat a lot of bread. And the multigrain, thinly sliced, calory and health conscious varieties are optional. Leave them for a weekday sandwich. Sour dough, or nice organic white breads will round off the whole experience.
Bon apetit!

Srecan rodjendan!!!

Lenjost je uzela maha..nista o kuhinji, samo o dragim osobama.. samo o jednom rodjendanu danas. Osmom.

Srecan ti rodjendan Vide!!