Garlic and Tomato Sauce Chicken/ Ostropel

Ingredients: 

2 whole chicken legs, and, optional some breast meat
1 tsp chilli
1tsp smoked paprika

salt and pepper
2 tbs dark sugar
2 cans of plum tomatoes
Garlic - insert amount here (we used both garlic and spring garlic)
Parsley

The whole idea behind this dish is to use and combine the sweetness of the tomatoes with the caramelised taste of cooked garlic. The amount of garlic used is up to you, in our kitchen this dish is called garlic extravaganza, so that should give you an idea of how much we use (to be precise, 3 garlic heads).

The recipe is a super easy one, a rather oldschool dish made by our grandparents, who used very ripe tomatoes to give an unique taste (the season being what it is, we substituted those with canned).  First, rub the meat with salt, pepper, chilli and paprika. Heat up about 2-3 tbs of vegetable oil, put your chicken legs in and cook them until they start getting golden brown on all sides (by they way, we almost burned the meat when watching TV-damn you, Doctor Who! ). If u want to use breast meat, make sure you start cooking it a bit later, as you don't want to burn it.  Add the sugar and cook until caramelized ( about 3-4 minutes). Add the canned tomatoes, lower the fire to a medium, cover and let it cook for about 15 minutes. After that add the garlic; the faster you throw in the garlic and the more it cooks, the sweeter and less pungent the flavour will be (kinds like a garlic confit). If the liquid dropped too much, just add chicken stock. When the meat is done (it should come of the bone easily), turn the heat off and add the chopped parsley.  

Enjoy!

Sweet Sunday- Easy Sour Cherry Sponge Cake Recipe ( Chec/ prajitura de visine- cea mai simpla reteta)

I had some frozen fruits in my freezer so I thought I would use them until fresh fruits arrive at the market. I started with the sour cherries.

This recipe is so simple and with guaranteed results. It has 3 ingredients and one rule. Beware, this will involve math: you will need n eggs + n tbsp of flour + nx2 tbsp of sugar (and the cherries, duh!).

For example, I used 4 eggs + 4 tbsp of flour + 8 tbsp of sugar. You don't even need baking powder.

Separate the eggs, beat the yolks with 4 tbsp of sugar and then gradually add the flour. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with the other 4 tbsp of sugar until light, fluffy and stiff. It's better to beat the egg whites on their own and when you're almost done, add the sugar. This will make it easier to beat them well.

Carefully and only using a spatula, incorporate the egg whites in the mixture.  The secret is air. You don't want to beat them when you mix them, or you will lose the light and fluffy texture. Place your dough in a parchment paper lined tray and add the cherries on top. I baked it in a bread tray.

RO: Am mai avut niste fructe de anul trecut prin congelator si am zis sa le folosesc pana nu apar cele proaspete in piata. Am inceput cu visinele. Ca reteta, mai simplu de atat nu se poate. Are 3 ingrediente si putina matematica: cate oua doresti + tot atatea linguri faina + dublu linguri zahar (si visine). Eu am folosit pentru o forma mica de chec 4 oua, 4 lg faina, 8 lg zahar. Separam ouale, batem galbenusul cu jumatate dinzahar si treptat adaugam faina. Intr-un bol separata, batem albusurile cu celelalte 4 lg zahar pana se fac spuma. Mai usor, mai intai batem albusurile pana aproape se intaresc de tot si la final adaugam incet zaharul. Puneti aluatul intr-o tava cu hartie de copt, adaugati ciresele deasupra si coaceti pana cand scobitoarea iese curata.

Enjoy!