Zucchini boats

There are probably thousand different ways on how to do filled zucchinis or courgettes - with cheese, mushrooms, meat, etc. I had a zucchini, a bit of Gorgonzola and some corn, so those recipes weren’t good enough for me. Luckily I did find something with those ingredients in one of the Estonian sites. Pretty interesting and definitely something for people who like blue cheese. Serves two.

1 zucchini (about 20 cm long)

some lemon pepper

0.5 tbsp butter

1 small onion, chopped

125 g frozen or canned corn

1 garlic glove, crushed

0.5 tsp pepper

150 g blue cheese

3 tbsp chopped parsley

 

Place zucchini into boiling water for about 3-5 minutes. Drain. Peel, if you think it is necessary - I didn’t because the zucchini was young enough for me. Cut in half.

Using a small spoon, scoop out the zucchini flesh and cut into cubes. Sprinkle lemon pepper into the zucchini shells.

Heat butter in a saucepan. Add onion, corn, garlic and zucchini cubes. Simmer until softened (but don’t burn!). Season with pepper. Transfer crumbled blue cheese into the saucepan, also add the parsley. Stir thoroughly and simmer until the cheese has melted.

Flip the filling over the zucchini shells. Bake at 200 degrees C until the filling is set (for about 15 min). Serve without any side dish or with some meat. The best side dish would probably be a steak or some grilled sausages.

I only had pork cubes at hand, so I prepared a sauce. As the blue cheese gives pretty strong flavour to the zucchini boats, I tried to make a milder sauce. For that, I fried the pork cubes with chopped onion until not pink anymore. Seasoned with salt and pepper and poured over with some light cream. Added some mustard as well. I would call it a success. In terms of taste anyway.

Apple mousse

An apple a day keeps the doctor away, right? But sometimes I get sick of eating just an apple every day. It gets boring. So I tried apples in a mousse. Simple, pretty light and perfect in a hot summer day. Should be suitable for WW as well (maybe cut down on sugar a bit though).

Anyway, here’s a recipe for four:

450 g apples

1.5 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp grate lemon rind

3 tbsp sugar

2-3 tbsp water

2 eggs, separated

grated chocolate to serve

 

Place peeled and chopped apples with lemon juice and lemon rind into a heavy saucepan. Add sugar and water, stir and simmer at low heat until apples are soft. It took about 10 minutes. Mix in egg yolks and let cool.

Beat egg whites until stiff. Carefully fold into the apple-mix. Pour into dessert glasses, top with some grated chocolate and serve immediately.

You can’t see the apples at all. But they are there and you’ll feel them under your teeth. This nice mousse goes very well with soft apples actually. J only commented that “its like eating air”. But what does he knows. I think it was tasty and healthy. Five points. This will be one of those staple desserts that I will rely on when I want something quick, light, but decadent.

Kaisershcmarrn

According to an Estonian cookbook, kaiserschmarrn - a fluffy pancake sprinkled with sugar - is a German national dish. Austrians prepare kaiserschmarrn as well, but bit differently - with rum-soaked raisins for example. I tried the German version and it turned out to be pretty tasty, a good change for regular pancakes and also a nice alternative for an oven pancake.

Serves four (1 pancake each):

8 eggs

4 tbsp sugar

150 ml milk

400 ml flour

0.5 ts sugar

100 ml raisins

2-3 tbsp butter

Separate the eggs. Beat egg yolks with sugar until fluffy. Stir in milk, flour and salt. Let it stand for about 10 minutes, then fold in raisins.

Beat the egg whites until stiff. Carefully fold into the batter.

Heat the pan and melt some butter on it. Pour 1/4 of the batter into the pan and bake at low heat until the pancake has set and the bottom is golden brown. Turn over the pancake and cook until this side is also golden brown. I was afraid that it will be difficult to turn the pancake, but it held together very nicely and did not break, so no worries.

It tastes good when cold as well, so maybe it would be a good snack for serving in parties.

Spicy peanut butter salad

I have already written that I need to have a tuna can in cupboard, just in case. The same story is with peanut butter - I don’t use it as a bread spread, only for taste in some dishes which is why I always need to have some in my kitchen. Just in case, a reason good enough for me.

So, what on earth is this. Like some leftovers tossed together. I bet J taught the same thing when he found a bowl of this in the fridge, with a post-it “warm it up and eat, will have dessert later”. Later on he asked why he had to warm it up. Because it was a salad and one is not suppose to warm salads. I don’t know where he has been living. One can and in many cases must warm up salads. At least this one, I thought it tasted better when warm. If you like peanut butter, you should try it. Here’s where I got the idea. Made some changes though, but oh it was good. Serves two (pretty huge portions though).

2 tbsp creamy peanut butter
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp unseasoned rice vinegar
1 tsp chili-garlic sauce (I used this kind of sauce)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp ground ginger

salt and pepper

water

200 g chicken
100 g rice noodles

1 carrot

half bell pepper

1 chicken bouillon cube

 

Place chicken in a heavy saucepan, pour over with cold water and bring to boil. Add the bouillon cube and boil for about 30 minutes, until the juices run clear. You might want to add some parsley, salt or pepper or something else to spice up the chicken and the stock. I only used a bouillon cube and was satisfied with the result. When chicken is ready, remove it from the saucepan. Keep the stock - you’ll need it later. Shred or slice the chicken in the way you prefer.

Combine peanut butter, soy sauce, rice vinegar, chili-garlic sauce, sugar, ginger, and 100 ml stock you used for boiling the chicken. Mix until smooth. If you are preparing a larger amount of salad, it is more comfortable to use a blender or a food processor for that. Season dressing to taste with salt and pepper.

Grate the carrot (use  a grater with larger holes) and cut the bell pepper into matchstick-size strips. I cut them into 1cmx1xm cubes, but I guess smaller and thinner strips will go better with rice noodles.

Soak rice noodles in hot water for a couple of minutes (I drained them in the same stock where I boiled the chicken). Drain and transfer to a bowl. Add carrot and bell pepper. Pour dressing over and toss to coat, adding more broth if dressing is too thick.

Yum. Although you won’t see the sauce in the picture, it is there. Its nice and light taste blew my mind! Leftovers were even better, honestly, though the next day the salad looked even less appetizing. But its not in the looks, in the taste! Next time I’d use different kind of noodles, maybe some kind of pasta. Should be just as good.

Best ever carrot cake

I have tried several recipes for carrot cake and this time, by combining many different recipes all together I have come up with the best ever carrot cake that I have made. It was the most soft, moist and the most delicately flavored.

3 eggs

5 tbsp vegetable oil

6 tbsp sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

250 g flour

1.5 tsp baking soda

1.5 tsp baking powder

1.5 tsp ground cinnamon

0.5 tsp ground cardamom

2 cups grated carrots (about 3-4 carrots)

handful of raisins

 

In a large bowl, beat together oil, sugar and vanilla. In another bowl mix together flour, baking soda and baking powder, cinnamon and cardamom. Fold dry ingredients (flour mixture) into the wet ingredients. Stir in carrots and raisins. Mix everything until combined and the batter is thick and chunky. Scrape batter inot prepared pan - I used a 23 cm diameter round baking mold with a hole, but I guess a regular round baking mold or a pan is just as good.

Bake at 175 degrees C for about 40-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let it cool for 10 minutes in the mold, then place on a wire rack to cool.

Prepare the frosting:

2 tbsp warm butter

2 tbsp cream cheese

2 tbsp confectioners’ sugar

0.5 tsp vanilla extract

 

In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese sonfectioners’ sugar and vanilla extract. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Frost the cooled cake.

I couldn’t wait for the cake to cool, so I frosted it when it was still warm and it was still ok - the frosting did not start to melt or anything.

So, the next thing to do is to start eating. And at the same time ttrying to ignore the fact that it is pretty heavy and calorie-rich. Yes, it was very dense, but so good…The next day after the frosting sat on it, it became even more moist.