Sepia Tagliatelle With Cream Sauce

Ingredients:

300 g of pasta nero di sepia

1 tin of pink salmon, in chunks

1 pot of creme fraiche, double cream or alternatively ricotta

3 tbsp parmigiana cheese, grated

1 teaspoon butter

Bunch of fresh parsley leaves, chopped finely

Bunch of fresh dill, chopped finely

salt&pepper

*

Super easy pasta recipe with a twist in form of the sepia flavored pasta. Just cook the pasta al dente as per instructions on the package (usually around 8-10 minutes in boiling water with pinch of salt and then put aside with a lid on the saucepan for a few minutes finish, drain afterwards). Meanwhile, place a  frying pan over medium heat. Add the butter and have it melt, then add the salmon followed by the cream. Mix slowly until combined. Season with fresh herbs, salt and pepper. Serve on top of pasta and sprinkle with parmigiana cheese.

Bon Appetit!

Dutch-style Pancakes

Ingredients:

(2 pancakes)

1 whole egg
1/2 cup flour
150 ml milk
2 tbsp sugar
1 apple, peeled, cored and cut into circles
2 slices prosciutto ham or bacon
Dutch pancake syrup Suikerstroop or mable syrup
1 teaspoon butter
pinch of salt
*

Let's move away from the exotic and look into something from the traditional Dutch cuisine. In reality, Dutch cuisine didn't have much to offer if we omit Surinamese, Indonesian or Turkish/Moroccan influence. Nevertheless, the Dutch love their pancakes. There are pancake houses all throughout the country and
pancakes are prepared in many ways. The most traditional and interesting one is the Pannenkoek met appel en speck - pancake with apple and bacon. Mix the flour, pinch of salt, sugar and a little of the milk to a smooth paste. Add the remaining milk gradually, while whisking. Add the egg, beating the mixture well.
Melt the butter in a frying pan and wait until it sizzles. Pour in enough of the mixture to cover the entire surface of the pan (spread the mixture evenly by tilting the pan). While the pancake bakes on lower heat, add the slices of apple and bacon (or for lighter version prosciutto ham), turn carefully to the other side after a couple of minutes and bake until pancakes have golden color on both sides. The pancakes need to be served with the syrup otherwise the combination of tastes is not in balance and trust, it is really worth trying :)
Bon Appetit!

Carrot And Coconut Soup With Roasted Almond Flakes

Ingredients:

1/2 can coconut milk (cca 100 ml)

1 big carrot, peeled and chopped

1 tbsp spicy sweet and sour curry sauce

1 teaspoon butter

1/4 cube chicken bouillon

pinch of chili powder

handful almond flakes

salt&pepper

*

And the exotic taste continues. When she saw the soup on Anna's blog, she immediately wanted to try it out.  She made her own intake of the recipe and this is how she came up with an super fast, easy and certainly interesting soup version. Melt the butter in a saucepan, throw in the chopped carrot, roast for a little while, pour about three cups of water over and bring to boil. Add the chicken bouillon and cook until carrots are soft, afterwards pour in coconut milk, the sweet and sour curry sauce, season with salt and pepper and a bit more chili powder if you like it hot. Roast the almond flakes either on separate pan or in the oven. Put soup aside and mix with blender or immersion mixer until soft. Serve soup with the toasted almonds.

Bon Appetit!

Caribbean Style Chicken

Ingredients:

Pack of chicken drumstick 4-6 pieces or half a chicken, boned

1 cup of pumpkin, peeled and cut into cubes

1/2 sweet potato, peeled and cut into cubes

1/2 red pepper, sliced

1 tomato, cut into cubes

1/2 cup water

2 teaspoons butter

1/2 teaspoon Roman cumin

1/2 teaspoon muscat nut powder

salt&pepper

*

Let's start the New Year with a bit exotic meal, easy, tasty but a little bit more time consuming. She was inspired by meals that her boyfriend was cooking and she wanted to try her own intake. She baked the drum sticks separately in the oven, only season by salt and pepper, but they can be also added to the stew and cooked slowly with the stew. Place a bigger saucepan on the cooker and heat it up. Melt the butter and add vegetables cut in cubes, water, season with salt, pepper, cumin and muscat nut powder, cover with a lid and let stew on lower heat for about half an hour to 40 minutes until soft. Serve with rice or potatoes.

Bon Appetit!

Macaroni With Mushroom Cream Sauce

Ingredients:

300 g pasta, here macaroni

200 g mix of fresh mushrooms - meadow, oyster, cantharellus mushrooms etc., chopped in bigger pieces

150 ml cream or creme fraiche

80 g bacon stripes

1 tbsp flour

Bunch of fresh thyme leaves, chopped finely

Bunch of fresh rosemary, chopped finely
2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

salt&pepper

*

There were never enough dishes with mushrooms in autumn and winter. This time a version of super fast and easy pasta meal. Cook the pasta al dente. Fry the bacon stripes on a sauce pan until crunchy, get rid of the surplus fat. Add the mushrooms and stir for a while, season with salt and pepper. Pour cream over and cook. Sauce made with creme fraiche will not be too liquid, but if you use cream, you might need to thicken the sauce with a little bit of flour. Mix thoroughly so no lumps remain in the sauce. Add the end, throw in the chopped herbs. Serve with pasta and sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.
Bon Appetit!

Portobello Mushroom Salad

Ingredients:

1 pack of mixed salad leaves, preferably with argula included

2 big Portobello mushrooms, cleaned

100 g blue cheese

100 g bacon strips

1 big cooked red beetroot, cut in pieces

10 cherry tomatoes, cut in halves or quarters

Handful walnuts

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon honey

salt&pepper

*

She had this salad as a dinner in a spa restaurant in Maarssen after an amazing relaxing day in the spa, and she couldn't wait to retry at home. The preparation took a little while longer than other salads, but it was certainly worth it as this salad was simply delicious. Wash the portobello mushrooms, place them into a roasting pan or plate and roast them in pre-heated oven for about 8 minutes until they soften. Take them out and put some blue cheese on the top, place the cut beetroot and the walnuts in the roasting pan along with the mushrooms and roast for a few more minutes so that the cheese melts and walnuts are toasted. Fry the bacon strips until crunchy. Prepare the vinaigrette by simply mixing the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, salt and paper. Throw the mix of salad leaves on a plate, add cut cherry tomatoes, rest of blue cheese and bacon strips. Take the rest of the things out of oven and add them on the plate. Drizzle with the vinaigrette and sever with bread if you like.
Bon Appetit!

Chicken Breast In Port Wine Sauce

Ingredients:

1 big piece of chicken breast, sliced in the middle and halved

1 pack of pancetta bacon (8 slices)

1 cup of port wine

1 cup of rice

Handful raisins

Handful walnuts

Bunch of fresh thyme leaves, chopped finely

Bunch of fresh rosemary stalks, chopped finely

A few cloves

salt&pepper

*

There are so many ways how to prepare chicken. Wrapping has become one of the preferred ways for them. This time the inspiration came from a Dutch Allerhande magazine and has proven to be a very taste alternative. Slice the chicken breast in the middle and halve it so that you are left with four smaller pieces. Season with a bit of salt and pepper. Wrap each piece in two slices of pancetta, secure with a toothpick if needed. Place the wrapped chicken pieces on a hot frying pan and fry from both sides shortly so that the pancetta releases some fat and seales the chicken meat. Remove and place into a roasting pan and put in a 180C pre-heated oven, bake for about 8 minutes until the meat is done. Start boiling the rice. Add some salt and cloves to flavour. Meanwhile when the chicken breast is in the oven and rice is boiling, use the frying pan with the pancetta fat and throw in the raisins and walnuts. Roast for a while, afterwards raise the heat a bit and pour the port wine over. Season with salt, pepper and finely chopped thyme and rosemary. Cook until the liquid starts to reduce and walnuts with raisins are soft. At the end take the chicken breast from the oven and place into the mixture and cook a bit longer. Serve with rice.

Bon Appetit!