Warm spiced Cauliflower and Chickpea salad with Pomegranate seed

A perfect warm salad for  a cold day. Vegetarian, full-tasted and aromatic. Besides, a benefit for weight-watchers is that new research shows chickpea-rich-diet helps in weight reduce. So, let's move on.

You'll need:

• 1 small head cauliflower
• 3 tablespoons regular olive oil
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
• 250 grams home-cooked chickpeas (or drained weight from 1 can or jar)
• 2 tablespoons harissa paste (according to taste and the heat of the harissa)
• 4 smallish ripe vine tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon sea salt flakes (or to taste)
• 4 tablespoons pomegranate seeds
• large bunch fresh flatleaf parsley (approx.1/2 cups)
  

Preheat the oven to 220ºC. 

Trim the cauliflower and divide into small florets. Pour the oil into a large bowl, add the cinnamon and cumin seeds, and stir or whisk to help the spices disperse. Tip in the prepared cauliflower and toss to coat. Pour the contents of the bowl into a small oven tray (I mostly use  my silicone tray 25 x 25 cm) and place in the oven for 15 minutes. Don’t wash out the bowl you’ve been using just yet.

Add the chickpeas to this bowl, and add the harissa (available to buy in all North-African and Mid-Eastern deli shops), tasting it first to see if you want both tablespoonfuls, and, at the risk of being repetitive, toss to coat. Quarter the tomatoes and add them to the bowl, and shake or stir to mix. When the cauliflower has had its 15 minutes, remove the tray, quickly tip the chickpeas and tomatoes over the cauliflower, and toss to combine before returning to the oven for a further 15 minutes until the cauliflower is tender.

When it’s ready, remove from the oven and sprinkle the salt over the vegetables, then (and this isn’t the last time) toss to combine with half of the pomegranate seeds before dividing between 2 bowls. Divide the parsley leaves – without chopping them – between the 2 bowls and toss to mix. Scatter with the remaining pomegranate seeds.

Wait to cool down a bit and hop onto it.

(Originally from www.nigella.com)

51 tasty cheeses from around the globe

Chocolate fudge cake

Let me be clear: in the cooking world there's no Ale, no Jamie, no Giada, no Gordon godforbid .... there's only one divinity and its name is Nigella. Now we may continue.

In her cookbook Nigella's bites, there are festivities popping out on every page, and there's one chapter called "Comfort food" with various recipes made to ease the pain and give you the feeling similar to mum's hug and partner's kiss. I always return to this one, a sleeping beauty, as I call it, for the full joy in all seasons. It is not a quick one, yes, it takes time to prepare, but, oh boy, how worth it is.
Not only it takes a long bake (fudge) but also it needs several hours, if not overnight, sleeping (yup, that's where the name comes from) in a fridge to get together and smooth the chocolate taste.
Find original recipe HERE , in shrine itself.

Fresh Spring rolls

I was hooked on vietnamese cuisine years before I even went there. During my stay in China, I had to do a little research for various reasons. I discovered asian, fresh taste with less grease and meat than chinese, but not-as-minimal as japanese or overspiced like indian. Although I still enjoy Nasi Goreng, Tikka Masala and hot TomYam soup that once was really my life-saver, there is something little no ordinary viet meal should start without - THE Spring rolls.


Vietnamese cuisine is based on the principle of balanced combination of 5 tastes. Fresh vegetables and fruits are the main ingredients, and as someone who enjoys salads on everyday basis, I was totally enlightened.

Still, just like there's hundreds of curry variations, there's a plenty of different for this lovely fresh feast. The major difference is, of course, Fresh or Fried. For me, "Fresh or Fried" always recalls a funny situation from a Phan Thiet restaurant, where I came to grab a bite. Although there was an "english" menu without images, I tried to order fresh ones, noticing they were assigned with the same name in vietnamese script. I don't know who tried harder to understand and be clear, me or a lovely waitress, but we had, like 5 minutes conversation with the "Fresh or Fried?" question rooted in. It involved my acting as a chopper, a bubbling hot oil, and the cracking sound medium, and her laughing out loud, and probable thinking "Note to myself: Check out where this guy took his drugs".

Anyway, fried ones are for those who prefer heavier, greasier but crunchier bite. It is tasty as well, but I don't eat fried food and prefer the fresh ones, so here's this one.


Catchiest ingredient is the rice paper, so find your local supplier, or get it online. Safest way is to find your own oriental food shop and see what they got.
They come in plenty of shapes, sizes and thickness, and trust me, no one can tell you which one is good for you. After years of doing it, I came to the one I prefer. These are easy to handle, and that's actually the main reason.


So, to make 8 of these beauties (which is a serving for me only, but regular people use it as a starter with 2 pieces each, so you're warned) you'll need:

• 8 rice paper sheets
• 8 shrimps (carnivores, use sliced chicken and stop complaining), steamed, we're not animals
• 10 leaves lettuce, chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, chopped
• 1 cm fresh ginger, finely chopped
• 1 spring onion, finely chopped
• 1 fresh carrot, shredded
• 1 cucumber, shredded
• 1/2 cup fresh sprouts, any kind
• 2 + 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp water
• 2 + 1 tsp sweet chili sauce
• 1 tsp white sugar

Mix vegetables in a bowl, add 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice and 1 tsp sweet chili sauce, and stir well.
Use large bowl full of warm water for soaking paper. Use ONE WRAPPER at time, soak it in water for few seconds, until it softens, lay it on clean dry cloth and place shrimp in the middle, followed by vegetables mix. Fold sides inward and tightly roll the wrapper. If unsure of what I'm talking about see HERE
Mix 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice, 2 Tbsp water, 2 tsp sweet chili sauce and 1 tsp white sugar in a small bowl and dip spring rolls in before tasting.

The perfect match is Saigon Export beer.

Poppy seed baklava

Baklava is one of my favorite sweets. Although I usually get sick of all the sweetness, I still remain in eternal love with this layered beauty. For those who avoid allergens like nuts, there is a Poppy seed baklava, a sort of layered pie, filled with tasty black gold, and soaked in rich sugary syrup.

You'll need:

• 1 cup of sugar
• 1/2 cup of water
• 1 lemon, washed

To make syrup, wash lemon, peel skin finely. Lemon juice, skin, sugar and water bring to boil and leave for 15-20 minutes, boiling. Remove from heat to cool.

• 500 g of filo pastry
• 250 g of ground poppy seed
• 1 cup of warm milk
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup of coconut oil
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 pack of baking powder

Pour warm milk, coconut oil, sugar and poppy seed into a bowl and leave for 5-10 minutes. Add baking powder and eggs and mix well. Grease baking dish and put two layers of filo on the bottom, with sides covered. Pour poppy mixture onto it, to cover the pastry. If you like you may add: washed raisins, crushed walnuts or chopped dates on top of it. Repeat process until you've used it all, and cover with the double layer of filo. Use sharp knife to cut it into squares, and bake this beauty in the oven at 180°C for 30-45 minutes. While still hot, pour syrup on top of it, evenly spreading, and let it cool.
Enjoy without hesitation. 

Prunes swiss roll

Most of the time I am a kitchen snob, I love exotic ingredients brought from all over the world. I do experiments with them just to see their behavior when combined with other stuff (local, that is). Today I present another one: prunes flour. First time it caught my attention, after my friend uploaded THIS recipe on Facebook, and not knowing what it was, it stayed on my mind for weeks. Then she surprised me, giving me a bag of this wonderful, tasty, aromatic gold, that made this cake absolute winner. Order your stash of gold at www.allnut.rs

To make sponge, you'll need:

• 6 eggs


• 6 Tbsp of sugar


• 6 Tbsp of AllNut prunes flour


• 1 Tbsp of baking powder

The egg whitesmust be whisked for a full 10 minutes with an electric whisk, until pale and thick, adding sugar gradually. It’s thick enough when it’s about three times the volume. When you lift out the whisk, the thick mixture that drips off should leave a trail on top of the rest. Add yolks, then prunes flour and finally baking powder.

Pour the mix into the largest base, covered with greaseproof paper and bake 10 minutes at 200°C/fan180°C/gas 6 (preheat the oven, of course). When done, trim the stiff edges, and remove the paper, while it is still warm, put in a clean kitchen cloth and roll up.

To make cream, mix:

• 1 cup of sour cream


• 1 cup of whipped cream


• 2 Tbsp of caster sugar

and cover the already cold sponge all over. Take

• 100 gr of prunes (washed in warm water, chopped)

and sprinkle on top of cream, and roll it up. Wrap in plastic sheet, sit it seam-side down and refrigerate  for two hours.

Food glam

Food porn is a new trend, that really started to pollute our minds along with anorexic models, over-designed interiors, Hollywood CGI blockbusters and (worst of all) fashion-bloggers. Food porn, just like the others I mentioned, has the same aim as the regular porn: to make something (not so attractive in reality) looking much better . To achieve it, regular porn uses all kinds of tricks, from heavy makeup and fetish costumes to soft lighting and rhythmic music. Well, similar thing happens in kitchen studios.

To make a mouth-watering photo, production uses army of food-stylists, directors, light and set decorators, visual effects coordinators.... whole production to make a burger look better. To cut it short: most of it is a lie. Actual food is not prepared that way, and food prepared for a photo shoot is not made for eating.

First rule is to undercook meat and vegetables - once prepared, they start shrinking, the unfriendliest process of hours-long shootings.

Milk? No, usually it is a shampoo, yogurt or wall paint to look nice while poured in a glass. Sometmies it is glue in a bowl of cereals (they tend to become sloggy).

Tweezers are unavoidable tool in all kinds of photo sessions, so why not here, too? Sesame seed, Cumin seed, all seed...you don't really think it falls without control onto bum? Nope, hours, tweezers and glue are the magic words here.

Heavy tools are used to design food - branding iron and blow torch do amazing grill effects on meat. Shoe polish provides nice color and final touch.

Honey and maple-syrup do not always look good on camera and are usually switched for motor oil. In same fashion, glycerin is used to give the sense of freshness/moisture appearance and almost all ads are heavily covered with it. Also, hairspray and deodorant spray for matte appearance.

There's also food chameleons: mashed potato. Spray-colored it looks as fabulous ice-cream. All flavors. If baked, it is magnificent pie-crust that doesn't crumble while sliced. Injected by syringes into meats, provides rich & tasty puffy look.

To make bubbly drinks even bubblier (if possible) you put the dish washing liquid in. For smaller bubbles pop in the antacid tablet.

Still not convinced? Take a look at this:

Orange jelly

Obviously, I love oranges. But I hate peeling them. I love freshly squeezed orange juice, but I prefer to chew it. Here's how to do it:

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="602"] Orange jelly[/caption]

Squeeze 4 soft oranges. If you feel really naughty, mix up some red grapefruit, or pommelo. Prepare a small cup of ginger tea. Variations you may use: Fruit flavored tea, Apple and cinnamon tea, Hibiscus tea... and add two spoons of gelatin after couple of minutes. Be careful, you need to soak it in (2 tbsp of) cold water before mixing it with hot tea. Stir thoroughly, and add three spoons of fructose (or sugar, if you really, really want to burn in every nutritionist's hell). Add orange juice slowly mixing it. Pour into model or glass bowls, and put into fridge for few (4-5) hours.

You may prepare it with some fruits of colors e.g. cherries, strawberries, blueberries.

Salt sprinkled chocolate clementines

Sometimes it is really easy to please yourself. Sometimes it is really easy to impress others with the taste that you present. This is one of those U-hafta-try foods that will make you do it again, and again and again.

a)Get good clementines, and peel them.

b)Melt dark chocolate and dip single slice into it.

c)Sprinkle sea salt over chocolate and put in the fridge.

I know, really hard to prepare. If you feel naughty you may use pomello or red orange. If you feel totally sinful melt dark, milk and white chocolate separately, then do combo of covers.

d)Grab your loved one and sin.