Sweet Laban with Orange Blossom Water, Crushed Hazelnuts & Strawberries

Yesterday I bought fresh strawberries for the first time this season. Contrary to everything I believe in & stand up to, the strawberries have been...imported, not locally produced. They are big, shiny and what's worse, they must have been sprayed with chemicals and pesticides! I could resist anything but temptation! I was in the shop and I suddenly a boxful of bright red fruit eyed me. I had visions of French toasts early in the morning. I would fry them up in a sweet omelette, cover in snowy sugar & top with fresh strawberries. Once back home, I chickened out and the idea of a heavy dessert didn't sound so great afterall.

This is my own version of Strawberry French Toast Recipe that sheds drastically most of the calories and reminds you of the delicate taste of Middle Eastern desserts. xoxo

Sweet Laban w Orange Blossom Water, Hazelnuts & Fresh Strawberries

(my version of decadent French Toast with Strawberries)

Type of cusine: Middle Eastern/Fusion/Low Fat

I'll start by clarifying that laban means yoghurt in Arabic. :) When I lived in Saudi I would always buy dairy products from Almarai. I have always loved the grassy taste of fresh milk and yoghurt and it is such a pity I can't find this brand in Romania :(

I find that yoghurt inspires me to create beautiful sweet and savoury dishes and I always manage to put it to good use.

Ingredients

4 big tbs of full fat yoghurt

2 tsp of clear honey

1 tsp of preserved orange rind

2 tsp of orange blossom water

a handful of crushed hazelnuts (almonds or pistachios)

a handful of fresh strawberries

85% dark chocolate

Mix the yoghurt with the honey, hazelnuts, orange rind and orange blossom water. Top with slices of stawberries and freshly shredded chocolate.

That's it! Have you ever had such a quick and uber delicious/guilt-free dessert before?

This was the first time I have ever made it and decided that yes, it's worth blogging about it!

To make the toast however, fry a slice of brown bread or ciabatta in low-fat butter (less than 80% fat) and put the sweet laban mixture, fruit and chocolate on the bread. Pair with black coffee or green tea with mint. That's another a perfect breakfast. :))

Thai Chicken Patties with Lemongrass

My mother bought a free-range hen and she gave me the breast.  I was craving something Asian really badly. It didn't take me long to decide to make some Thai patties with lots of ginger, lemongrass & ... ramson. OK, ramson is not exactly Thai, but it's plentiful this time of the year in Romania and it tastes like garlic. 

I remember that last time I made chicken patties was more than a year ago when I posted my Madras Cheese Cream inspired by Claude Olivier, a Swiss food blogger I admire very much. He has this wonderful blog where everything he cooks is pure gourmet, but he does it so...effortlessly. There are wonderful recipes of starters, main courses, soups, desserts, beautiful photography, great restaurant reviews, wine pairing etc. Everything he posts is truly delicious and I have many times drooled all over the laptop dreaming of his recipes. 

Thai Chicken Patties (spring is beautiful) 

Type of cuisine: Asian/Thai/Low-fat

This is one of the easiest recipes in the world. It doesn't take long to make and it goes a long way if you have a party (it's perfect for a light starter). Or they are oerfect as a snack for lunch. 

Ingredients

500 gr of minced chicken breast

+

coriander/crushed garlic/grated ginger

+

the greens (finely chopped spring onions, wild garlic/ramson, parsley, lemongrass)

Method

Grind the chicken breast and place it in a large bowl. 

Grate the ginger and the cloves of garlic & chop the herbs.

Mix the meat with the greens and the spices, plus one tsp of coriander. To make the patties, shape them by hand and...

1) place them on parchment paper & roast them in the oven for about 25 minutes. 

  2) fry them if you don't care much about calories :)) 

I must say that fried patties are crunchier and very moist. I opted for roasting them in the oven at 180 degrees (as I tend to avoid frying and using oil as much as possible).

For this reason they were a little dry, but dipped in sweet chilly sauce they were amazing and totally guilt-free :))

The ginger gave them a mildly spicy taste and imparted a heavenly delicate flavour. Totally loved them with celandine salad with a simple lemon dressing. 

Yes, I must say I am totally in love with spring. What a beautiful, gorgeous, delicate and surprising season!

an edible celandine yellow flower - *I love spring*

Easy peasy: Skinny Mash with Sweet Peas & Rosemary

I know I will have not invented the wheel with this post, but I have to tell you something: it is simply scrumptious! And, I should add, so ridiculously easy to make! While your potatoes and sweet peas are boiling, microwave half a cup of 1,5% fat milk with a teaspoon of low fat butter (real butter should be 80% fat, so this one is at least 20 % lighter) and chop a branch of fresh rosemary. Once the potatoes soften, drain and mash the lot, season with salt, then mix with milk and butter. Finally incorporate the sweet peas & chopped rosemary. 

Perfect for a lazy Sunday. Goes well with roast beef with blue cheese sauce & seasonal salad, as you can find here and here. xx

Best Crop of the Season: Herb Salad with Chevre & Beetroot Carpaccio

Last spring we went to Ireland on a short trip. We spent almost three weeks and boy, how quickly time flies when you are having fun! We met up with family and friends, taking millions of photographs and doing quite a lot of wining(no, not whining!) & dining  :)) There's absolutely no reason to whine about Ireland, apart from the high cost of living & unreliable weather, otherwise all is perfect - especially the food & eating out.

This salad is inspired by one great lunch we had with friends in the small town of Athenry, Co. Galway.  For  those who are not familiar with that part of the world or have never been to the west of Ireland, Athenry is 25 km east of Galway. Although I visited it only briefly during two not-so-sunny afternoons, I loved its vibe. It is vibrant, clean & has some great little spots to eat out. I was telling you some time ago about my epiphany about scones & lemon curd. This is a follow-up!

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I have waited for what seems like a long time for spring to arrive & to be able to buy the best greens of the season: spring onions/garlic, ramson aka wild garlic, crunchy radishes and orach.

In Romania we cook orach sour soup with beef stock & lovage, which is very nice indeed, but I had other plans for my favourite purple herb of the season. 

Herb Salad with Chevre & Beetroot Carpaccio in Sweet Mustard Vinaigrette

Type of cuisine: vegetarian/low fat/healthy

All quantities are given for two persons

a small bunch of wild garlic

1 spring onion

1 spring garlic

half a baked beetroot, cut into thin slices

8 slices of chevre

4 small radishes

For the vinaigrette you will need: 4 tbs of extra virgin olive oil, 2 tsp of Dijon mustard, 4 tbs of balsamic vinegar, 1 tbs of clear honey.

Mix and shake the liquids well.

Chop/cut/slice the herbs, the radishes, the cheese and the beetroot and place them on a dish.  Sprinkle the sweet mustard vinaigrette over and enjoy :)

You can serve with croutons, salty crackers, brown bread fried in cumin & olive oil or plain chips.

Couldn't have been easier and/or healthier - apart from the chips or the fried bread, that is :// - and it certainly brought back some memories of green Ireland, Galway, Athenry, and the New Park Hotel where we had lunch. You can click on the link and read their menu. Maybe you can steal some ideas and recreate some of the dishes for yourself...until you visit Athenry and have brunch/lunch/dinner on their premises - I recommend the experience!

New Park Hotel

Cross Street, Athenry,

Co. Galway, Ireland

http://www.newparkhotel.ie

Inspiration

Shopping is great in Ireland. I found that food is mainly organic and people focus more on quality & eco-friendly, free-range products. Milk, butter, beef, chicken and veggies all taste like the real thing - the way they were meant to taste! I fell in love with the place and we will certainly go back. Next time, maybe, we'll rent a small holiday apartment. That will give me the possibility to go shopping, cook indoors and experiment with different local Irish ingredients. 

I discovered this small, family-owned butcher shop which gave me great ideas. The staff was extremely friendly and let me take some snapshots. 

what a great idea!

men @ work :)

A fake door / painted mural



(I don't want to boast, but it was delicious) xx

Celandine Salad with Salmon & Grapefruit Mustard Sauce

It's almost April and spring has arrived with alacrity, after two months of mercilessly cold, snowy weather. I semi-hibernated half of the winter, hence my rare posts :( Now, however, I am back. The revival of nature and the green and fabulous atmosphere at the farmers' market make my head buzz with ideas. Cooking is fun when you have so many choices, i.e. fresh veggies and herbs at hand.

This morning, as I was flicking though Mike's iphone, I found some old photos we took in France in August 2010 when we visited France: Bergerac, Dordogne, Aquitaine and Camargue. This last, I should add, is one of the most peaceful & beautiful places on earth. (If you click on the link, a page will pop up and it will bring up memories one of the most precious & beautiful holidays I have taken so far.) 

No matter how much I may sometimes mutter and grumble, France is an ideal location to spend at least a couple of days a year- just to soak up the scenery, enjoy French food down to the last morsel, sip some great wine, make the de rigeur visite aux caves, take some memorable snapshots and listen to Claude Challe: Best of Love CD while driving along winding roads. You've got to hand it to the French: they have turned tourism into a fine art. There are some serious lessons that we here in Romania could learn by taking a few notes while in France, if we are serious about tourism.  Nothing is left to its own devices, no stone is left unturned; any tiny village, site or place of historical, natural or cultural importance is to be 'discovered' - and the French will do their best to make sure you do!

I hate crowds (as I am sure the French do too). As a matter of fact, any time we visit France we try to avoid them, by going in the off-season (April-May and Sept-Oct are the best months), and by going deep to explore the real France.  Yes, despite the best efforts of their excellent tourism marketing machine, there are many hidden corners where you will only find...well, French people!  This is the France of the French - of the locals who live, eat, work, drink, have fun & buy their daily baguette from the nearby boulangerie and cheap but good wines in tens of litres from the local vineyard.

Here are some snapshots of Les Beaux de Provence and Monpazier, the latter a medieval village in the Dordogne region, listed as "one of the most beautiful villages in France"...and while you scroll down, I will have posted a beautiful salad a la francaise, which is very much my style.

Les Beaux de Provence

Vintage car in Monpazier

Les Beaux de Provence

Resting in Monpazier

Celandine Salad with Salmon & Grapefruit Mustard Sauce

Type of cuisine: French, low fat, healthy

for my love

Celandine is a wonderful herb that grows in spring and has "fleshy, dark green, heart-shaped leaves", as it is described in Wikipedia. In Romania we eat  its leaves which have a delicately sweet taste. 

I overdose on it each spring and never get tired of it. 

For lunch today, I played the French card with a little bit of...je ne sais quoi.

Well, I do know, but I am just teasing! 

You will need a small bunch of celandine which you have to wash thoroughly (this is the most boring part!), then peel & skin a grapefruit, chef-style. Squeeze a thick slice to make a small cup of fresh juice and keep aside. In the meantime, make the creamy mustard sauce. 

Mix the grapefruit juice with a teaspoon of Dijon mustard, add a measure of extra virgin olive oil, single cream (or yoghurt), mustard seeds and a pinch of herbes de Provence (or similar).

Place the drained celandine on a plate, with the filet of smoked salmon and the slices of grapefruit. Drizzle the sauce on top and sprinkle some mustard seeds carefully - otherwise, they'll bounce off the plate.

 I am certain you will fall in love with this French-bistro spring salad, so make the most of this beautiful season & maybe even plan your summer holidays accordingly :)

xoxo Yolanda

Perfect Breakfast: Pink Buckwheat w Rosewater

This morning I woke up at 6 and in the stillness of the house I started planning my day over a cup of black honeyed coffee. Yes, I take honey in my coffee. :) I started working for a while till I got distracted by Pintrest. It was a constructive distraction though- it inspired me to create my own beautiful space around me. There are always tiny things that can easily go unnoticed in the whirlpool of life -a  quick snapshot of the sunrise, a dried rose resting at the bottom of the jar, loose green tea, the spritz of perfume on freshly showered skin, the chill out tunes of lounge.fm.

What has inspired me today (so far)

good morning, sunshine

Roses (detail) by Tarasov

frozen in a pink universe

pretty in pink

Last week I bought buckwheat. You may hum a long: "whaaat?" :)  Don't worry, I had held back before buying a bag of buckwheat, as I had no idea how to eat it. The woman in the shop said it was good in soups, but they always tell you that. Throw anything in hot water and you'll get soup ://

But after google-ing it, I was amazed to find out how packed with all the good stuff buckwheat is!

                                                 Nutrients in  Buckwheat

1.00 cup (168.00 grams)

Nutrient%Daily Value

manganese34%

tryptophan25%

magnesium21.4%

fiber18.1%

copper12.5%

Calories (154)8%

source: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=1

While many people think that buckwheat is a cereal grain, it is actually a fruit seed that is related to rhubarb and sorrel making it a suitable substitute for grains for people who are sensitive to wheat or other grains that contain protein glutens. Buckwheat flowers are very fragrant and are attractive to bees that use them to produce a special, strongly flavored, dark honey.  

(same source as above)

To cut the story short, I must say buckwheat is absolutely delicious, both in savory and delicately sweet dishes. 

A couple of nights ago I made a buckwheat salad with mushrooms and herbs and this morning....

Pink Buckwheat with flavoured yoghurt and rosewater

type of cuisine: fusion, healthy, low fat

What you have to know about buckwheat is that, immersed in warm water, it softens quite quickly. 

Ingredients

half a cup of buckwheat 

rose tea (to flavour the water)

2 tbs of rosewater (to flavour the yoghurt)

2 tbs of yoghurt

a handful of raspberries

2 tsp of honey

Preparation & Method

Pour warm water over the buckwheat, add 2-3 rose buds and let the buckwheat soften for at least 30 minutes. 

In the meantime puree the raspberries, mix them with clear honey, rosewater and yoghurt. 

Drain the buckwheat and pour the flavoured yoghurt over it. 

It is a great combination and rosewater + raspberries pair so well. I make my own flavoured yoghurt at home all the time. I wouldn't even dream of buying it from the supermarket. 

If you recall, last year I posted Gourmet Yoghurt for Foodies which will give you an idea how easy and drop dead gorgeous flavoured-yoghurt making is :)

#inlove

snapshot on Twitter @NiTuairisc

PS. This is my 100th post. 

Guilt-Free Carrot Cake w Sweet Labneh & Spices

Lately I have been baking quite a lot. Basically (as lame as it might sound), the same cake with minor modifications: The Best Banana Bread in the World- with and without spices, followed by The Most Delicious Brownie in the World- with spices and without spices, just plain & extra chocolaty with orange rind preserve, all inspired by the wonderful Rachel de Thample. Rachel wrote a beautiful gem of a book called Less Meat More Veg which is jam-packed with great tips & ideas, fabulous guilt-free recipes, drooling photographs & amazing low-fat desserts that seemed to have been written just for me!!! :))

Guilt-free carrot & orange cake w nuts, sweet labneh & spices

Inspired and adapted from Rachel de Thample's Less Meat More Veg

Type of cuisine: low fat, healthy, fusion

This cake is a loose adaptation of The Best Banana Bread in the World, in the sense that we use carrots instead of bananas. Needless to say, honey, spices, nuts & rich coconut milk go into this delicious recipe. 

It's so ridiculously easy and once you taste it, you are in heaven & back to share it with the one(s) you love. 

I altered the quantities, the shape (loaf instead of cupcakes), and added a squeeze of orange juice, a handful of chopped almonds & a dollop of sweet labneh with orange blossom water. 

 Ingredients

1 medium-sized carrot, thinly grated

250 ml of creamy coconut milk

3 tbs of honey

orange rind from one orange

the juice of 1/2 orange

~~~

a cup of flour

2 sachets of baking powder

1 tsp of freshly ground cinnamon

1 tsp of ginger powder/ or freshly grated ginger

a generous handful of raisins

a handful of chopped almonds and walnuts

~~~

labneh mixed with honey and orange blossom water

Preparation & Method

Preheat the oven at 180 degrees C.

Mix together the honey, orange rind, grated carrot, coconut milk & the juice of half an orange. Use a vertical blender to puree all the ingredients. 

In a separate bowl mix the flour, baking powder, spices & nuts. 

Mix the two lots and whisk lightly. 

Grease a tin with butter or olive oil and bake the cake for around 30-40 minutes. 

My impressions

Carrot cake has always been one of my top favourite cakes ever, though originally, the list of ingredients included in carrot cake would always make me have second thoughts... I don't like the amount of oil that carrot cake should contain and every time I tried my luck with it (and skimped on the oil), I failed abysmally 

:(

...Until today when I baked my version of "Honeyed carrot cupcakes" (page 216) which is absolutely mind-blowing & totally addictive, by the way & it encapsulates everything I believe a cake should be endowed with:

* a great personality - check

* a fabulous taste - check

* a healthy & guilt-free element - no oil, no eggs - check

* honey/instead of sugar - check

* spices to give it a fusion boost - check

For these reasons and many more I warm-heartedly recommend this beautiful book Less Meat, More Veg which has inspired me to create beautiful things in the kitchen and has unlocked my creativity to play along with recipes & ideas.

Thank you, Rachel sweetie for bringing these dishes to light and give me so many reasons to enjoy the beauty of simple pleasures...called life. xoxo

My vegan carrot loaf with spices

 

and the original from Less Meat More Veg #endlesslove

xoxo 

Labneh Cheesecake with Honey & Lime Leaves Matcha

I have been meaning to put together a cheesecake since...last year when I made and blogged about Cheesecake a mi manera, if you remember. In the meantime, after discovering that I can actually make labneh at home, I have been dreaming of a labneh cheesecake.  Labneh is strained yoghurt cheese, which is very light, smooth, soft, and velvety.  

Call it Cheesecake a mi manera 2, if you want, this cheesecake has some of the ingredients I like the most:  labneh, lemon juice, honey, kaffir lime leaves. 

Labneh cheesecake with mascarpone, honey, matcha lime leaves and vanilla powder

Type of cuisine: Fusion/Low Fat

Ingredients for the base: digestive biscuits, 20 gr of Danish butter, warm water

Ingredients for the cheese cream: a cup of mascarpone cheese, 2 cups of strained yoghurt cheese (7% fat), lime leaves powder, vanilla powder, lemon/lime rind, 4 tbs of honey, the juice of two slices of lemon, dissolved gelatin.


Start by taking care of the cream: strain the yoghurt beforehand. Grind the kaffir lime leaves. Mix the mascarpone with the labneh and add the honey, lime zest, vanilla powder, the juice of half a lemon and the lime leaves matcha. Finally add the dissolved gelatin in milk.

Pulverise the biscuits with the melted butter and a small cup of warm water and a pinch of lime leaves powder and transfer the smooth base onto a circular dish. Press with your palms and fingers to stick it to the bottom and bake it for maximum 10 minutes @ 150 degrees C.

Take the dish out of the oven and pour the cheese cream. Chill for a couple of hours and enjoy with a cup of earl grey.

The lime zest, rind and kaffir matcha will impart a lemony, fresh flavour to the cake and the honey will make the cake taste delicately sweet. Really loved and will certainly repeat the experience. :)

The Most Delicious Brownie in the World

Some time ago I made The Best Banana Bread in the World :) No bragging, this is indeed the best banana bread in the world and let me tell you what were the criteria to label this delicious cake as "the best":

* it's healthy

* it's mildly sweet; it contains one spoon of honey and the natural sweetness of ripe bananas

* it's spicy :)

* it's vegan (no eggs, no milk)

* it's fat free (no oil, no butter) - yes, it's possible to bake an awesome banana bread without the obiquitous cup of oil

There is no secret that I love relatively guilt-free desserts and I have a pet hate for oil and animal fats. 

I adore brownies. They are so moist & smooth as a result of the packet of butter at the core of their velvety texture. Fair enough. I once made a brownie following the text book, and I must say it was divine. But is there a brownie to appeal to my taste which doesn't compromise on the flavour, the moisture and the deep chocolaty taste?

So I looked, I browsed, I searched, I scrolled down until "butter" cropped up in the recipe and then I gave up. 

But it just occurred to me to add melted bitter chocolate and ganache to The Best Banana Bread in the World and there I had The Most Delicious Brownie in the World, inspired by Rachel De Thampe who wrote a wonderful book called Less Meat, More Veg. I hope you will try this version and enjoy it in the morning with a cup of strong coffee with cardamon. 

so delicious and soft it melts into your mouth

brownie crumbles