Zucchini Crunchies- Falafel Art

Happy New Year everyone!

I hope you´re all having a good start of 2017. We celebrated the countdown
here in Andalucia quietly. Our New Year´s eve had been really very peaceful. There were not much fireworks in the area where we live and probably that´s because municipalities in Southern Spain have cut public spending. 

Today, I have a recipe that has been proven very delish at home and it´s so easy to make.
This recipe is similar to the arabic dish Falafel, though the main difference is that this is 

made of  grated zucchinis instead of the usual ground beans or chicpeas.

I sure hope that this would make you want to eat more. I have two methods of
making this dish as follows....

1. by deep frying... you have to fry the balls under a medium heat for about 7 minutes 

2. and if you choose to bake,  preheat the oven and bake at 190°C for about 25 minutes 

    turning sides to get that golden brown color. In this recipe, I chose to bake them.

Zucchini Crunchies - Falafel Art

4 med zucchini, grated

1 medium onion, very finely chopped

1 cups bread crumbs

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese  or gouda cheese 

2 eggs

1 tsp ground cummin (optional) 

1 tbsp garlic powder

1 tsp pepper

2 tsps salt 

Instructions: Preheat the oven at 190°C

1.  In a bowl, grate the zucchini, add salt, carefully combined with your hands 

    and let it stand for about 20 minutes. The salt will help release the liquid 

    from the zucchini.

2.  Place a clean cloth in another bowl and pour zucchini wringing out its liquid until 

     all water is squeezed-out, discard the liquid.

3. Place zucchini in a bowl, add the onions, breadcrumbs, cheddar cheese, eggs, 

   garlic powder, ground cummins (optional) and pepper. Mix well until the 

   ingredients are well blended.

5. Using a table spoon, scoop the mixture onto your hands and shaping it into a ball. 

6. Place all shaped balls in a baking pan lined with baking paper… bake fore 

   25 minutes turning sides of each piece until lightly brown in color.  

   Serve hot or cold, as snack or side dish...

YOGURT DIP (optional)

A Yogurt Dip is a good addition to this dish if you want a bit of the 

mediterranean flavor. Below are the ingredients, you just have 

to combine them  thoroughly and refrigerate until further use.

Ingredents:

150 ml plain greek yogurt, choose the lighter one with less fat

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 clove crushed garlic

1 dash of dried dill 

salt and pepper, according to your taste

   

Have a good start of your week!

Crispy Potato Fritters

We call it "Rösti" in Austria. I´m not even sure whether this is viennese dialect, but this fritter is simply heavenly to eat especially when crispy and hot. There are a couple of things to consider preparing this by-dish....don´t worry steps are simple and the secret to making crispy potato fritters  is choosing the right type of potato.

I prefer to use the ones for french fries. As there are so many sort of potatoes available in the market, you really really have to get the ones that are used for french fries..

Ingredients: ( Makes 4 fritters)

4 big potatoes (ask for the type used for french fries)

2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon garlic powder

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

   salt and pepper

   cooking oil

                                  

Preparation:
1. Peel potatoes and grate on a clean cloth or if you prefer, you can use the shredder accessory of your
    blender/mixer.

2. Extract the liquid-out of the potatoes by wringing the cloth tighter until no more
    liquid comes out.

3. Place the shredded potatoes in a bowl, add the betaen eggs + the rest of the
    ingredients.Season with salt and pepper and the ground garlic.

4. Fry in a pan with 2 tablespoons olive oil for about 2 minutes each side or until both
    sides become crispy and golden brown in color. Arrange on a platter and serve hot..
    May go with any grilled meat or can also be enjoyed as a snack with any sauce, mayonnaise...

Enjoy cooking! 

Beef roulade + Recipe

Making a beef roulade is very simple even if you don´t have that much cooking experience. The most important thing to do is to gather the ingredients and make them  ready before starting to cook. With all the ingredients ready on hand, your cooking is halfway done.

There are many variations in cooking this dish depending on how fillings are preferred by the cook . 

Some like it with pickles or with bacon and cheese, some use only vegetables.  And so, if you plan to make this dish, think first on how you would like your fillings would have to be.

Here´s how I prepare mine:

Ingredients:

1 Kg beef filet cut thinly (of good 4 pieces

size of about 250 grams each)

emmentaler cheese (gouda will also do) 

thinly ready-cut ham 

Soy sauce (optional)

3 1/2 cups Beef broth

ground dried garlic

Salt & pepper 

Créme fraíche 

cornflour (optional)

For additional fillings:

1  cup zucchini, 1 cup red bell pepper

1 medium onion, 1 cup celery stalk 

(all cut into small cubes)

4 mushrooms - sliced

1 clove crushed garlic

1 tbsp butter 

Preparations:

1. Prepare and cut the meat thinly, pounding it carefully to extend the side and to make it larger for later folding. Stack the pounded meat on a platter and set aside for later use.

2. Heat a larger pan with 1 tbsp butter under medium heat, fry the crushed garlic,  the onions, bell pepper, zucchini, sliced mushrooms and the celery stalk until all are brown in color.

Add 1/2 cup of the beef broth and simmer in low heat until the veggies become soft (but not too soft). Cook until the liquid evaporates and the vegetable pieces are glazed. Set aside as filling and the rest braised veggies as additional pieces to be served  with the roulade + gravy later.

3. Spread the meat on a cutting board to fill it... beginning with the ham, then the cheese and the vegetable filling....

4. Fold all the sides using metal skewers or toothpicks to tightly close the holes

to prevent the melted cheese from flowing  out of the roulade.

Season with salt, pepper and ground garlic on all sides.

This is optional, you may brush the meat with soy sauce too if you like.

5. In a hot pan with  2 tbsps olive oil, fry each roulade for about 2 minutes on each side. Add the 3 cups beef broth and simmer under low fire for abou 40 minutes.

Take out the roulade and put them in a bowl, set aside.

Meanwhile, add 2 tbsps of créme fraíche to the pan, stirring constantly that it completely blends with the broth.

If necessary, add 1 tsp of cornflour dissolved in 2 tbsp water to thicken the liquid and to make it into a gravy.

Put the roulade back to the pan and coat each of the pieces with the gravy.

Arrange each roulade on a plate, adding the braised vegetable (rest of the fillings, to add color to the plate) plus a bit of the gravy. 

Serve hot with cooked rice and green salad  with tomatoes and  vinaigrette.

Happy Cooking!

Sunday Roast

Stir-Fried Rice

The last weekend had been again a busy one for us. I rarely find the time to do crafting nowadays for we have been on the road running errands for mom-in law´s new flat . Glad to have finished that  big granny square blanket  last week. I´m intending to do quilted pillowcases for a dear friend who requested them a couple of years ago, and these will be my priority project. 

The blog today is about my cooking last weekend that included what I did with the leftover rice from the previous day. Although this is very simple to make with the simplest ingredients, it is truly delicious and I´m sure your family would love it too.  What to do with those left-overs? Being frugal at home is a good deed, nothing is thrown for as long as food are still ok.

Cooking the leftover rice, here we go.....

In a pan, fry 2 cloves of crushed garlic in 2 tablespoons olive oil til golden brown, add diced onions and stir til the pieces are sort of transparent in color ( a bit glassy). 

I used frozen green peas to add more taste to the rice. But first,  I steam these just enough that they are thawed and become soft. Add these to the pan with the onions and fry for 3 minutes. Stir in the leftover rice... mix well. Stir-fry for 2 more minutes and sprinkle a bit of soy sauce for taste... season with salt & pepper. The result with the green peas added was really superb. I sometimes eat this as main dish (meatless) or eat this with just a portion of dried fish (in Europe , dried fish are available in asian supermarkets).

Roast Pork Chops

This is my easiest way of roasting a whole piece of meat.. whether I´m roasting a beef, duck, goose, or pork... my procedure is always the same.

Roasting the pork

Coat or brush the meat with 2 tbsp soy sauce, if the meat is bigger, then add more soy sauce til the whole piece is well coated. Add salt and ground black pepper. If you like, rub crushed garlic onto the meat. Let the meat absorb the seasoning for about 20 minutes.

Place the meat in a deeper oven tray half filled with water, add 1 tbsp soy sauce (optional) and 1/2 tsp salt and dash of ground pepper. Turn your oven to 250°C (482°F ) and place the tray in the middle rack of the oven. Roast for about 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, reduce the oven temperature to 220°C  (428°F) and continue roasting for 1 hour and 45 minutes. Pour liquid to the meat every 15 minutes turning 3 times during the roasting process thereby adding more water if the liquid is reduced by evaporation. 15 minutes before the end of the roasting time, remove and transfer the liquid to a casserole , set aside, then roast the meat to make it more crispier. Take out the meat from the oven and cut it into slices and place on a platter, keep warm til it is served. 

You can leave the thinner consistency of the liquid. . If you want a thicker gravy, either add creme fráiche or 1 tbsp flour dissolved in 3 tbsp water, let the liquid boil under low fire consistently stirring til flour mixture is well blended. Adjust the seasoning if necessary. Serve hot with the fried rice.

When the kitchen commotions were finished on that day, I knew it was time for a cup of freshly  brewed coffee and some sweets!

Happy Thursday !


Partying at : French Country Cottage