Radish

The radish is a root of a plant in the mustard family that was first cultivated in China, then in Egypt and Greece, where the vegetable was so highly regarded that gold replicas were made of it. In Greek and Roman times, the radish was very different; it was grown for winter storage, often weighed 50 to 100 lbs. each, and was eaten cooked or raw and seasoned with honey and vinegar.
A mild to peppery root available in colors from white to red to purple to black. Radishes range in size from 1/2 inch globes to the carrot-like 1.5 foot Daikon.
You can also find black radishes, popular in eastern Europe, which are more strongly flavored. They are popular in Asian cookery and have a very mild flavor.

Go for firm-skinned radishes, with no blemishes. If they feel soft, they are likely to be spongy inside. Any greens still attached should look fresh and perky. The bigger the radish, the less crisp its texture, so avoid larger examples.

To increase the crispness of radish, soak them in iced water for a couple of hours. Wash, then chop off the greens, if present, then slice off the root. Leave whole, slice or chop, as required.

Always prepare radishes just before using, as they loose their potency when cut. Mooli or daikon radishes can be sliced, diced or grated.

Sour cherries and berries compote

Spring is here. Or better to say, summer is here because for the last 2 weeks is been very hot for this period of time. So, here is something light and refreshing for hot days.

Ingredients

1 kg cherries

1 cup mulberries

1 cup red currants

1 cup raspberries

1/2 vanilla bean, split in half

2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 tablespoon  Cognac, optional

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 cups water

Directions

 Combine all ingredients in a large pot. Cover, and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally,  about 30 minutes.  Remove the vanilla bean pods. Let cool completely.

Enjoy!!!

Baked macaroni and salty cheese with zucchini

Ingredients:

500 g macaroni

1 kg sheep cheese

1 zucchini

3 eggs

1 glass milk

4 tablespoons butter

50 g blue cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 120 Celsius degrees.

Boil the pasta until al dente, according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cool water to stop the cooking, and return to the pan you boiled it in. Set aside. (Mix in a little butter to keep the noodles from sticking if it’s going to be awhile before you make the sauce). You can boil zucchini with the pasta. When is done, put them in bowl aside.

Mix cheese, eggs, butter and milk in a bowl. In a tray covered in butter put macaroni. Add a zucchini layer and the cheese mix on top of it. Decorate with zucchini and add the blue cheese on top.

Baked it for 30-40 minutes. You can serve it hot or cold with tomato sauce. Enjoy!

Green Algae Salad

 

Get ready for a really healthy salad. Go green! Go algae green! It is something different, but very tasteful and easy to make.

Ingredients:

- dried green algae – 1/2 cup (soak green algae  in warm water to cover for 45 minutes – rinse, drain and chop)

- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated

- 1 teaspoon sugar

- 2 tablespoons sesame oil

- 3 tablespoons soy sauce

- 3 tablespoons vinegar

- 1 tablespoon salt

- 3 tablespoons fish sauce

Directions:

Add everything  in a bowl. Whisk together until sugar is dissolved.  Let the  salad to marinate for at least an hour. So, the green algae absorb the ginger,vinegar, fish sauce and oil. This will provide the salad a nice deep flavor.
Enjoy!

 

Homemade chocolate fudge with almonds

This was my mother recipe for a long time. Is easy to make and very delicious. For this recipe I used baby milk powder (I had left from my little one, since I start giving him cow milk). It taste a little bit different, but is also very good.

Ingredients:

300 g powder sugar

100 ml water

100 g butter

250 g milk powder

50-100 g cacao

2 tablespoon lemon juice

1 vanilla extract

Directions:

Grease the bottom and sides of an 8 x 8 x 2 inch (20 x 20 x 5 cm) pan with about 1 tablespoon (14 grams) of room temperature unsalted butter. Set aside.

Grizzle through a strainer, cacao and milk powder. In a bowl, put the sugar in cold water, mixing till sugar is melted, and then put it on fire. When is start boiling, add lemon juice. After everything is mixed, put aside and add butter. After the butter is melted, add cacao, milk powder and vanilla extract and mix till is homogenize. Pour into prepared pan add almonds and let cool.

Garlic

Everybody heard about garlic or used it at some point. Today I will tell you why is good to use garlic in food, why is healthy to eat it. So next time, be adventures and use it in your recipes.

In folk medicine garlic has been said to cure just about everything. Some of the old stories of garlic’s healing properties have doubtful validity, but many of its claimed health benefits have been backed up by modern scientific research.

Benefits:

- is a powerful natural antibiotic, albeit broad-spectrum rather than targeted

-  can have a powerful antioxidant effect

-  assist some people in the management of blood pressure, cholesterol levels

- acts as an antiseptic & helps in curing the wounds very quickly

- contains chemicals that prevent cancer

- stimulates the immune system of body & helps in fighting against various diseases

- prevents & relieves chronic bronchitis, respiratory problems, and catarrh

- acts as a nasal decongestant & expectorant.

- is helpful for hum oral asthma, hysteria, dropsy & scurvy

- works as a cleanser of the digestive system, helps in curing flatulence, kills internal parasites and is an excellent internal antiseptic

Cooking tips and hints:

Choose firm, plump bulbs with dry skins. Avoid soft or shriveled cloves and garlic stored in the refrigerated section of the produce department.

One raw garlic clove, finely minced or pressed releases more flavor than a dozen cooked whole cloves.  When garlic cloves are cooked or baked whole, the flavor mellows into a sweet, almost nutty flavor that hardly resembles any form of pungency. This nutty flavor makes a surprisingly nice addition to desserts, such as brownies or even ice cream.

When sauteing garlic, be very careful not to burn it. The flavor turns intensely bitter, and you’ll have to start over.

The smaller you cut it, the stronger the flavor. Chopping finely and/or pressing a clove exposes more surfaces to the air, causing a chemical reaction to produce that strong aroma and potent flavor.

Store fresh garlic in an open container in a cool, dark place. Unbroken bulbs can be stored up to 8 weeks. Once broken from the bulb, individual cloves will keep 3-10 days.

Vegetables spring rolls in the oven

This is a vegetarian and healthy spring rolls recipe. I’love spring rolls , but they are full of calories. So I have been thinking for a long time about some spring rolls healthier than the normal ones. So, yesterday, I tried something new and adventures. In the end, they were so great, that I decided i will do it more often. It takes a little bit of time to cut the vegetables, but the result makes for the effort.

The filling is light, full of tender-crisp vegetables and you should be able to taste and distinguish every single ingredient in the filling.

So, let’s start!

Ingredients:

12 – 14 ready made  rice wrappers or shits of filo pastry

1 carrot

1 red pepper

1 small cucumber

1  small zucchini

1 small eggplant

soy sauce

1/4 tablespoons sugar

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 thumb-size piece of ginger, grated

2 tablespoons lime or lemon juice

Directions:

Julienne cut carrots, cucumber, zucchini, eggplant and red pepper by hand or use mandoline to get thin slices.  After slicing thin with a mandoline, use knife to thinly slice further into very thin matchsticks.

Good spring roll wrappers are found in Asian markets.  Do not buy spring roll wrappers that you find in regular supermarkets near the produce section (usually refrigerated, next to the tofu).  Keep the spring roll (or egg roll) sheets under barely damp cloth or paper towel. They dry out very easily. If they dry out, they break apart.

I used rice wrappers, which are dry and very thin and you have to put them first on a wet towel to be able to make the rolls. Take each wrapper and fill with a few slices of each vegetable.   Not to much filling.  Put every roll on a tray with a baking sheet. After you are done, coat all the rolls with olive oil and put it in the oven. Depends on how the thick is the wrapper leave it in the oven 8-12 minutes each side.

Serve it warm with the sauce made from soy sauce, garlic ginger and sugar mixed all together. I didn’t put salt, because soy sauce has salt in it.

Enjoy!