Warm Potato Salad/ Salata calda de cartofi

One of the most cooked meals back in my parent’s home was something called “Oriental Salad”, which is basically potato, pickles and boiled egg salad. Not much of culinary wonder piece, but, trust me, it would sure hit the spot. 

Oh, and by the way, that is one of the 3 or 4 dishes that my younger sister knows how to cook. So, 4^th of July and everything, I wanted to cook a nice, warm, summer, potato salad that was both light and flavoursome. 

The ingredients are as it is:

500 grams of boiled new (red) potatoes- rinse them under cold water then pat them dry with a towel. Do not peel them, the red skin will bring a gorgeous touch to the dish;

150 grams of bacon, cut into thin strips

2 chillies, one green and one red

2 hard boiled eggs, cut into sections

2 oranges

2 tbs of chopped fennel leaves

2 tbs of chopped parsley

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Start of by cutting the potatoes into cubes the boil them just until they are cooked enough, but be careful not to overcook them or they will crumble, keep trying them out. Meanwhile, fry your bacon strips, leave them to cool off for a minute so you can handle them, then use a knife to dice the meat into small pieces. Use one orange for its juice and the other one cut into small cubes. Mix all the ingredients together, nice and easy, you want to keep everything intact.

Despite the fact that this recipe had bacon and egg, the end result is a very light and fragrant  dish, with a very nice kick from the orange and the fennel and the awesomeness of bacon (maybe I should trademark that….). You can pair this dish with a Bordeaux style rose (made from a cabernet or merlot grape) or with a light, young red. We had a 2009 Portuguese red made in the same region as the Port wine (Douro) that really went well with the salad.  

By the way, I also tried to add some yogurt and Kalamata olives to the dish, it works just great, but I wanted the potatoes to not be covered in the pictures, I just loved that red skin. 

In casa parintilor mei una dintre cele mai  des pregatite feluri de mancare era salata orientala, practic cartofi fierti, muraturi si oua fierte. Nu e chiar cea mai tare inovatie culinara, dar cateodata era exact ce iti lipsea. Ah, si sa nu uit, asta este si una dintre cele 3-4 feluri de mancare pe care chiar si sora mea stie sa le faca. Deci, cu 4 iulie in gand, am vrut sa pregatesc o salata calda, de vara, care sa fie si usoara dar si plina de arome.  Am folosit: 500g of cartofi rosii noi fierti pe care am pastrat coaja,150g bacon, fasii subtiri, 2 ardei iuti, unul rosu, unul negru, 2 oua fierte tari, 2 portocale, 2 lgite frunze de fenicul, 2 lgite patrunjel tocat, ulei de masline, sare si piper. Cartofii se taie in cuburi destul de mari si se fierb mai tari. In timp ce se fierbi cartofii, se prajeste putin baconul si se lasa la racit, o portocala se stoarce si se pastreaza sucul, iar cealalta se taie cuburi. Amestecati ingredientele cu atentie pe farfurie, adaugati si ierburile. Chiar daca contine cartofi si bacon, preparatul este foarte usor si proaspat, feniculul si portocala merge foarte bine cu minunatia de bacon. Puteti servi salata cu un roze sau cu un rosu tanar si light. Noi am ales un rosu portughez 2009 cu un nume interesant (vezi poza) , care se face in aceeasi regiune ca si Porto.   Am incercat sa adaugam si putin iaurt si masline kalamata, se potriveste bine, dar nu am vrut sa acopar cartofii in poza, imi place la nebunie  coaja lor rosie.
 

Enjoy,

Mr. G.

It's Elementary! Boiled Corn on The Cob

The smell of boiling corn on the cob is one of my favourite summer smells, it's just something so comforting and exciting about the scent.

I don't want to get all food-blogery with you and explain to you how to do it because it is not rocket science and I did not invent a special method.

I just remove the husk and the silk, wash it, then in a pot put half of the husks, then the cobs, then water, then husks again and cover it. That ensures plenty of flavour. I never salt the water, I just salt the corn after it is boiled.

I don't want to get into timing, because it depends so much on how young is the corn, how many cobs you put in the pot and how you like it. I boiled it for 20 minutes.

Final step: remove from pot + salt the corn + stuff your face with it like there is no other way!

Enjoy,
Mrs. G.

Vegetarian Green Beans Stew with Cucumber Salad Recipe

Do you sometimes find the abundance of the summer overwhelming? This is not a complaint, just to clear it up. It's just that when we go to the market and see all the fruits and vegetables that we missed so much we wanna grab everything and ask each other if we got enough like it is the end of world. Does that happen to you?

This weekend we went outside the city to see my grandmother and somehow we managed to come back with an impressive quantity of green beans from her garden. We thought we will divide it in 3: for some soup, with lemon (refreshing), for a beans-and-tomatoes-sort-of-a-stew and for some garlicky salad.

Let just start with the stew. I called it stew because I had no other better idea, but I never considered it a warming stew or your typical comfort food, but that may also be because I associate it with summer because my mom always used to prepare this from the freshest, most tender green beans. Of course, you can also make it with canned or frozen green beans and you can add some meat and some heat. We will talk about that in 4 or five months.

Also, as you can see in photos it is not the really green and rounded type of green beans, we used a more yellow, flat kind.  I find that the thin, rounded ones are better in salads or stir fries because they hold their shape better.

Ingredients for 3 servings:

500g green beans
1 onion
2 tomatoes
some tomato juice
1 bay leaf
a bunch of dill
salt and pepper

In a tall pan heat up some vegetable oil and then cook the chopped onion until golden. At this point you can also add some garlic if you fancy. After the onion is golden add the green beans and stir for a bit. Add water or stock until it almost covers the beans. At this point you can add the spices- bay leaves, dill (at this point I used a dill flower), salt, pepper and some chilli if you like it spicy.

Let it simmer and when the beans are half cooked, add the chopped tomatoes and the tomato juice. Let it simmer for 10 minutes or until it is done. Before you turn off the heat, sprinkle some more dill and check for salt.

This vegetarian dish goes perfectly with some pickles, but to let yourself be completely "summered" try a simple and fresh ....

Cucumber salad: 

Cut 4-5 small cucumbers in slices, sprinkle some salt over them, then some vinegar (we used balsamic, but you can always choose to be a rebel :)) and, of course, some dill.

Enjoy,
Mrs. G.

Asian-Style Chicken Noodle Soup

For the past 24 hours we've been having tremendous amounts of rain falling, a matter very difficult especially for our ceiling, that decided that it had enough and made us a gift in the form of a couple of leaking spots. In this dire situation I did what any foodie would do: I cooked some comfort food, more precisely an Asian style chicken soup.I just love this type of cooking soup, that beautiful way in which they manage to combine great tastes. A very special combo for me is one that brings together spicy, sweet and salty in perfectly balanced dish.



For a rather rich and otherwise thick soup I used: 

2 packages of pho noodles, 2 tbs of canned bamboo slices, 2 green onions, a thumb size of ginger, 2 green chillies (use red for a nicer coloring), 2 garlic cloves, 3 tbs of black chanterelle mushrooms,2 tbs of canned mung bean sprouts, some sweet corn, soy sauce, 200 grams of boiled and finely diced chicken meat, mint leaves for garnishing. 

Start by heating up 3 tbs of vegetable oil and cooking in it the diced ginger and chilli for 2 minutes. Add the chopped onion, diced garlic, corn and  mushrooms and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add the soy sauce and mix for another minute, after which  add the stock, bring to a simmer and cook for a couple of minutes more. Turn of the heat and add the chicken and the noodles that will cook in 3 minutes. Pour in a soup plate and garnish with mung bean sprouts and mint leaves (add some more extra soy sauce if you need salt). 



So there you have it, the perfect way to admire any leaking walls: with some comforting chicken soup. You won't think about the amount of work needed to repair the damages. That's what I call eating your problems away.

Take care,Mr. G.