Chicken leftovers meatballs

How many time has finding yourself with some roasted chicken leftovers that no one wants to eat happened to you?

Once I made those meatballs and since then my kids keep asking me to make them again and again.

chicken leftovers meatballs

Just put boneless chicken, dried apricots, walnuts and parmesan cheese in the food processor. With wet hands, form the meatballs and then either bake them in the oven or fry on the pan.

The meatballs are so tasty, eaten warm or cold. Serve them with salad, or add some rice as a side dish if you prefer. Then if there are going to be a few left ( which never happens in my family ) just make a nice sandwich. I like them the best with just lettuce salad, but you can find your own way of serving it.

So, no eggs, no flour, just 4 ingredients and you will have a completely new dish on the table. And most importantly no food waste. Have a wonderful lunch.

Figs

Are you perhaps a fan of figs  ?

Many primates eat figs, but none of them is able to make lovely dishes with them.

Figs

Sandwiches, salads, all kind of deserts, to stuff meat, make a jam and eat with pattées… Let your imagination run wild, with figs you can hardly go wrong.

No matter if you love them fresh or dry, it has a lot of nutritional benefits. Eating half a cup of figs has as much calcium as drinking half a cup of milk. Ounce for ounce, figs have more fibre than prunes and more potassium than bananas.

Dried figs are an excellent source of minerals like calcium, copper, iron, manganese, selenium and zinc – all important for healthy red blood cell formation, as well for cellular oxidation. So, when fresh figs are not available, try soaking some dried figs in water for a few hours and blend into a sweet and creamy fig pudding or add to your favourite smoothie. 

Figs have a 55%natural sugar content, making them the sweetest of all fruits. No wonder that the fig tree is a symbol of abundance, fertility and sweetness. Aside from being able to replace sugar with fig puree, it can also replace fat in baking. Furthermore, figs naturally help hold moisture in baked goods, keeping them fresher.

Not necesserly related to cooking facts, but here are some interesting informations regarding figs.

  • Fig trees have no blossoms on their branches. The blossom is inside of the fruit! Many tiny flowers produce the crunchy little edible seeds that give figs their unique texture.
  • Figs are harvested according to nature’s clock, fully ripened and partially dried on the tree.
  • Many believe it was figs that were actually the fruit in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, not apples.
  • The early Olympic athletes used figs as a training food. Figs were also presented as laurels to the winners, becoming the first Olympic “medal.”
  • In Roman times figs were considered to be restorative. They were believed to increase the strength in young people, to maintain the elderly in better health and to make them look younger with fewer wrinkles.

And remember, the fig tree is wise, so eating those fruits helps us to make wise choices in our lives.

I wish you to enjoy these delightful fruits 😊

Roasted pepper and amaranth moussaka

For today, here is one of my latest moussaka – roasted pepper and amaranth moussaka.

roasted pepper and amaranth moussaka

If you still haven’t noticed moussaka is one of my favourite dishes. It is easy to make and there are plenty of combinations. It could be a vegetarian dish, too. You can add rice (or any grains) and the meat you like. In the end, you can just beat a few eggs with any cheese leftovers, sourcream or oat cream, pour it over, put into the oven and there you go.

My favourite thing about it is that it always looks golden brown and it smells so good. If you already have peeled roasted pepper,  then half job is done.

Now the only thing you need is to saute some onions, add salt and the spices you like. When the onion is nicely glazed add garlic and mincemeat. In a separate pan fry the amaranth for about 10min, drain well and add to the mixture. You might need to season the mixture again.

In a bowl beat 4 eggs, salt and the cream you have chosen. You can use just milk as well.

Now it’s time for layering. Slightly oil the baking tray. Lay pepper, then mince mixture. I had some white sheep cheese so I’ve just sprinkled some over it. Then pour 1/3 of the egg mixture. Repeat the layers. Finish with pepper.

To finish it off – a simple crumble for the top. My kids say this is the best part. Melt some butter and stir in breadcrumbs ( I use a gluten-free option). Sprinkle generously over the mousaka.

Bake covered in the preheated oven at 200°C for a half an hour, then remove the cover and let the crumble become a lovely golden brown colour.

You can make it a few hours before, just switch the oven off and leave the mousaka inside. It will stay nicely warm. Serve with salad or greek yogurt.

I invite you to make your combination of this lovely dish.

You can message me with how it turned out.

Can’t wait to share tips with you.🥰

Nettle soup

nettle soup

It might looks like mud, but in fact this nettle soup is very tasty and healthy above all.

If you can get some freshly picked young nettle leaves  don’t miss the chance to make this soup.

Start by frying some onion olive oil. Add salt and spices you like. Nettle has strong taste and it goes well with spices such as turmeric and paprika. Stir well, let it fry for a minute and add blanched nettle leaves. Stir, pour over beef stock and cook for about 20-30 minutes ( depends how young the leaves you’ve got are). Remove the pot from the heat. Use a stick blender to puree the soup. Return to the heat, season to taste and add rice/oat milk or fresh cream.

Note to be careful, fresh nettle leaves sting , although it is believed to be good for rheumatism.

I prefer to wear gloves, but you can try without them if you want😉.

Lemon bars

These might not look like your regular lemon bars because we didn’t use white flour and white sugar but despite the colour being different they still taste delicious. Here’s how you make them.

Lemon bars

In a bowl mix 260g of flour, 150g of butter and 30g of sugar until the dough looks crumbly. Press it down in an ungreased dish and bake for 20min at 180°C. In the meantime mix 60g of flour, 90g of sugar, 4 eggs, a tsp. of vanilla essence, the zest of two lemons and the juice of one. When your dough is done, pour the mixture over it and place back in the oven four 15min.

And they’re you have it, lemon bars full of flavour. If you want the lemon to be less prominent you can always use the zest of just one lemon. Or just add two drops of lemon essential oil.

Those bars you can also make with other citrus zest as orange or lime 🍊🍋

Olives

Have you ever been to Greece?

My first thought about Greece is those lovely sun dried black olives. I know you can find them in shops all over the world and they’re a good thing to make a summer lunch from in a minute. If you want a Greek touch, then start with a glass of Ouzo, make a huge Greek salad with Feta cheese and olives and finish it with a slice of water melon, well chilled.

Olives

My favorite are Thassos olives, sun dried and cured with salt and vinegar. This way their skin almost looks shriveled like a raisin does from the sun. There are a few very simple methods to make those black dried olives yourself, but honestly I haven’t tried any of them.

I’m sure that if you love olives you already use them in many different way, starting from cocktails, salads, pizzas, sandwiches, casseroles etc.

But did you know that olives are a fruit, not a vegetable? So no matter if you choose green, purple, and brown or black – you are eating fruits – tell it to your mum :-). The only difference between green and black olives is ripeness. But unlike other fruits, olives are not edible ripe, they must be treated before edible.

Except they’re delicious, salty and fun to eat, they are great for your health. Consider them one of the best antioxidant food you can find. They are extremely rich in vitamin E.

Eating olives help improve your memory and even more helps skin stay soft and beautiful. Olives are not fattening, it’s interesting that they have a negative calorie load. Eating a few olives before a meal can take the edge off your appetite.

So start eating olives if you haven’t already and you will do a great thing for your body. Just the fact that olive tree is evergreen and can live up to 2000 years might make you think about it.  

Aunty Nena’s chicken breasts

Easy to make and delicious aunty Nena’s chicken breasts. I love recipes named after dear people who made them. Every time I make it I recall memories of this brave and great women.

Aunt Nena's chicken breasts

This time I left the recipe to my daughter to make, and she did it perfectly.

All you need are chicken or turkey breast escalopes, thinly sliced prosciutto or smoked ham, four eggs, sour cream or cooking cream and grated cheese of your choice.

Take a casserole dish, slightly oil and lay down escalopes . Cover them with prosciutto. Beat cooking cream and eggs and pour it over. Sprinkle with grated cheese on top. Bake in a preheated oven on 200°C or until golden brown.

It can be eaten hot, warm or cold. Serve it with any kind of veggies as a side dish (remember what mum said – three colours on a plate). When cold, you can easily cut in small cubes and arrange over a salad. It’s great to put in a sandwich as well.

I am sure you will find the way you like them most.
Just one important thing – do NOT SEASON them, no needed salt or anything.

Bon appétit à tous.🍽

Plum dumplings

My granny has been making us plum dumplings using a traditional Hungarian recipe since I was little. It was quite common to eat potato soup and those dumplings for lunch. The used recipe was switched multiple times and here is the most recent one we’ve settled for, the best one yet in our opinion.

plum dumplings
  • 1kg of potatoes
  • 300g of flour
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 100g of butter
  • Tsp. of salt
  • Tbsps. of semolina
  • 10 plums
  • Cinnamon and powdered sugar mixture
  • 200g of bread crumbs

Peel the potatoes and boil them until soft. Mash them and leave them to cool (it’s important for them to be completely cold so that the butter won’t melt and make the dough sticky). Mix in the flour, butter, egg yolk, salt and semolina with your hands until you’ve got a ball of dough. Roll it out on a working surface and cut them into 5cmx5cm squares. Put aside the remaining dough for later use. Cut the plums in half and remove the seeds. Put a tsp. of the cinnamon and powdered sugar mixture in the remaining holes and place the plum half face down on the dough squares. Fold them, make nice balls and place on the floured surface. Let the water boil and cook the dumplings until they swim out to the surface. Fry the bread crumbs on butter and place the dumplings in the pan, roll them to be completely covered.

 Take the remaining dough and roll it into a sausage. Cut pieces about 1,5 cm wide and roll them out to form a fat worm shape. Boil them and cover them in bread crumbs just as you would with the dumplings. And there you have it, lovely plum dumplings without wasting any dough. Those little worms we used to eat with sour cream as a savoury dish, and then continue with fruit dumplings.

Those dumplings you can make with other fruits as well. The best ones are with apricots or sour cherries. The leftovers kids love to eat the next morning with a glass of milk for a breakfast.

Those dumplings on the photo were made by my dad and my daughter – my dream team ♥♥

Tea Time for Traditionally Built –Alexander McCall Smith–

Tea Time for the Traditionally Built, is the tenth book in the No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series. I love these books, I rarely read something written with such warmth.

Tea time for the traditionally built
Amazon.co.uk

I recommend you start reading from the first book, but I chose the tenth because the title remind that sometimes a good cup of red bush tea might be the best solution of all. Madame Ramotswe never starts the day without it. 

The main character is Precious Ramotswe, a traditionally built lady who really enjoys her food. She says that men wanted women whose shape reminds them of good things on the table.

You will naturally come to empathize with her, following her believes in the traditional Botswana moral and human values. She runs a small detective agency, cooks traditional Botswana meals for her husband and two adopted kids. Special moments in her life are late afternoon chats with her best friend who makes the best fruit cake ever.

Despite this irresistible fruit cake, you will discover sweets as banana cake and ginger loaf bread.

For Botswana people beef plays an important part in alimentation. She often reminds us how Botswana beef is fine, grass-fed beef, and taste so much better than the meat of those poor cattle which were kept cooped up or fed with food that they shouldn’t eat.

The main vegetable is pumpkin. On a daily base she prepares beef stews, pumpkin soups and pumpkin chilly, or just boiled flesh of a pumpkin softened with a lump of butter and served with a slice of beef, dripping in a gravy.

I believe you will enjoy these little novels, that their good humor will bring a smile on your face and that the food will bring the sunshine of Botswana in your kitchen.

And don’t forget an occasional cup of tea ☕

Zucchini and mini meatballs pasta

Let me share with you this recipe for zucchini and mini meatballs pasta that you can easily make in 20 minutes time.

Zucchini and mini meatballs pasta

First season the minced meat the way you like. Then start making mini meatballs with wet hands throwing them directly onto the hot slightly oiled frying pan. Fry them for about 5 minutes, shaking the pan. When the meatballs are nice and brown, put them aside, but do not let them cool. I like to wrap them in the alum-foil, that way all the juices won’t evaporate.

In the same pan put zucchinis cut in little cube shapes, but not too small to avoid falling apart during frying. Add some oil or butter, season and fry about 10 minutes or until they start getting golden brown. At the same time cook the pasta of your choice.

When the zucchinis are ready, transfer the meatballs back in to the pan. Add boiled pasta and season to taste. There are a few different ways you can finish this zucchini and mini meatballs pasta dish. You can either leave it as it is, just sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on top, or you can add some cooking cream – which what we did here. You can even add some tomato sauce and season with Mediterranean herbs.  

The one on the photo was made by my teenage daughter, while I was at work.

I feel proud ♥♥ Wouldn’t you as well?