Broccoli and Anchovies Tagliatelle | You've Got Meal!

This recipe is about using some of the most common items in your pantry, in order to create a super simple and easy to cook fresh pasta recipe that is sure to give you a lift after a hard day’s work or accompany a nice glass of Pinot Grigio for brunch.

The ingredients are: 

• Tagliatelle, of course (home made from 200 grams of flour and 2 eggs, quantities that make enough for 3), 
• 8-9 anchovies fillets, 
• 4-5 cloves of garlic, 
• 400 grams of broccoli florets, 
• about 100 grams of red pepper (we used the Kapia for this because of the shape), 
• 50 grams of capers, 
• the juice from half a lemon, 
• salt, pepper, chili flakes,
• fennel leaves or parsley for garnish

We talked a lot about homemade pasta in past posts, and we most certainly hope that you guys give it a try because it’s definitely worth the extra effort. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil; it should be big enough to give both the pasta and the broccoli room to boil. I suggest starting with the sauce (if you can call it that) after the water starts boiling as it takes very little time and you want the pasta done in time. So, in heavy base large frying pan, heat up some olive oil on medium heat and pop in the sliced peppers and anchovies, cook them until the fish dissolves in the hot oil, it will take about 3 minutes. Again, keep in mind that you need to synchronize your pasta with the anchovies very well. 

For the homemade tagliatelle the cooking time was about 5 minutes, so we added the pasta to the water at the same moment as we started cooking the fillets. So, next, add the garlic and capers in the oil and cook for 1 minute. At the same time pop the broccoli in the pasta water and cook the vegetable and the tagliatelle for 1 minute – you want to sync the capers&garlic with the broccoli. After that, use whatever kitchen tool you need to remove the broccoli and pasta and put them in the anchovy pan. Mix the ingredients well so the tagliatelle are covered by the anchovy flavored oil. Remove from heat and sprinkle the lemon juice on the whole thing, feel free to add more if you find it necessary. For garnish you can use some parsley leaves, but we went for some fennel.

Enjoy,

Fried Perch Fillet With Chickpeas And Spinach

This dish should be the picture front for the definition of light dinner. It’s subtle, light, flavorsome, super easy to make and a nice sight on the table. I used perch for this dish because I had it in the fridge, but feel free to substitute it with any fish at your convenience, be it fattier or not -  the side dish packs enough lemony, tangy taste to overcompensate for some salmon, for example.

The amount you use totally depends on how many people you plan on cooking for. For the side dish: chickpeas (for 4 portions I used around 100-130 grams of beans), 1 fennel bulb, 2-3 garlic cloves, lemon, 100 grams of baby spinach leaves, 1 chili, 1 tbs of sugar, salt, pepper, olive oil.

Boil the chickpeas, it helps if you keep it in water the night before. Remove the beans from water and put them aside. Slice the fennel, dice the garlic, slice the chili and pop them all in pan with some hot olive oil, cook on medium heat until the fennel softens. Add the chickpeas, sugar, salt, pepper and mix well to make sure the beans get coated in melting sugar. Add the juice of 1 lemon and, again, mix all the ingredients together, cook until all the liquid from the citrus has almost evaporated. You can now choose to mix the spinach leaves for a minute with the chickpeas still on the heat, thus mellowing the greens, or just mix them off the heat, keeping them crunchy (I prefer it that way). Sprinkle some more olive oil and lemon juice to the side dish if you feel the need to. 

To prepare the fish, just fry in it a pan with a couple tbs. of olive oil until cooked (the time depends on the type of fish and its thickness). Sprinkle some salt and pepper and place the fish on top of the chickpeas.  

Enjoy,

Seared Salmon, Potato and Sun Dried Tomato Puree and a Lemon and Caper Sauce

This recipe was the result of the incredible power of marketing! A local supermarket managed to get me to buy 3 salmon steaks, 200 grams each, for a decent price. Can’t say that I regret it, the fish was really good and the sauce and side dish proved to be wonderful companions.

Brie and Roasted Peppers Crostini- Appetizers August (3)

The appetizer presented today takes advantage of a classical combination (brie cheese and roasted peppers) in such a great way that you will crave for this crostini from time to time. It is also amazing because you don't need fresh ingredients except the parsley, but you should always have parsley in your house...just saying!

Basically, if you have the cheese and a jar of roasted bell peppers in your fridge you have something to serve your suprise guests.

Fried Shrimp and Spicy Broccoli

This recipe is one of the first ones that made us into thinking we should make a blog and one of the recipes we like cooking the most. It’s a very easy to make, delicious and packs a lot of flavor. And, hey, you’re eating broccoli, that’s gotta be healthy for you.

For the shrimps, we used frozen (500 grams), but you can use fresh. The idea of cooking the seafood is that you will both boil and fry it for short periods of time, so it doesn’t over cook.

Summer Drinks: Lavender Lemonade

  

By now we all know that lavender is the new thing. We use it in decor, in a vase, in a pot, on your walls, in perfumes, on your cookies, in your sugar, you name it. I have to admit I am on board with this trend, I love it and I can't resist it.

I made lavender cookies in the past, I loved them  although not everybody does. This is why I hesitated for so long to try and use lavender in drinks, because if the taste comes out to intense and more on the bitter side, nobody else would enjoy it but me. The only thing that made me want to try it was the secret hope that my drink will turn out pink or purple. IT DIDN'T. :(( I've seen that some people made it pink, it didn't happen to me. But the taste of the lavender syrup... it was amazing!!! Who cares about colour anymore?

Lemon and Garlic Chicken- Slow Roasted Goodness

This turned out to be the perfect dish for us during this weekend. The time spent preparing the ingredients is minimum, but the result is perfect. While the chicken is cooking, you have time to watch some bad TV to do other things around the house, but because is slow roasted, the chicken is very tender and juicy, so nobody will complain.

You use few ingredients, but with great impact and flavor:
1 free range chicken, cut into pieces
2 lemons, cut into chunks (we peeled most of the skin because it was very waxed)
7-8 garlic cloves
some thyme
1 glass of white wine
3 tbsp oil

Place the chicken in an oven tin, add the garlic, thyme and lemon, then the oil and rub the chicken on all sides to soak in the flavors, then pour the white wine. 

Cover the tin with foil and put in a preheated oven for 2 hours at low heat, as Nigella suggests :).

After 2 hours, remove the foil and let the chicken cook for another 45 minutes, at medium-high heat this time.
As you can see, we used free range chicken, it was pretty wild, a fatty compared to the ones we usually find in stores. The skin is thicker and it won't win first place in looks, but the taste is so much better. Cooking it this way just brings out the best in it.

The lemon, alongside the wine and the slow roasting, makes the chicken sooo tender, but also caramelises the skin in the end, when the foil has been removed. Delish!!! Try to think of a reason not to try it....see? No reason not to try it.

Enjoy,

Lemon Drizzle Cake

If you're ready for something sweet but also sour, buttery and moist, this recipe is perfect. It makes a great breakfast, you can serve it in the afternoon with tea or better yet, spoil yourself with a decadent dessert if you add it some cream and/or berries.

For one loaf you will need:

Recipe from the book "Carte regala de bucate"- Principesa Margareta a Romaniei

225g room temperature butter
225g sugar
225 all purpose flour
4 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
2-3 tbsp poppy seeds

For the syrup:
2 lemons juiced
100 ml water
200 g sugar

• With a hand mixer mix the sugar and butter until you get a white cream. 
• Add the eggs one by one and keep mixing.
• In a different bowl, mix the dry ingredients, the flour with the baking powder and the poppy seeds.
• Mix the dry ingredients with the wet ones.
• Pop it in the heated oven in a bread tin and let it cook for 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
• While the cake cooks you should prepare the sauce. 
• In a small sauce pan mix the water, sugar and lemon juice and simmer it for 10 minutes
• As soon as you take the cake out of the oven pierce the whole top with a fork and pour the hot sauce on it.
• The cake will absorb the syrup and it's gonna go from great to amazing in a couple of minutes.
• Let it cool in the tray before cutting it.

Extra: If you like lemon zest, you can add the zest from 1 lemon in the cake dough after you add the eggs.

Enjoy!
Mrs. G.