Tomato Cheese Salad (Not Caprese)

When you want to throw together a quick tomato salad  as a side dish for meat or for eating just like that with a slice of good bread, then consider this version that uses a different kind of cheese than the well known mozzarella and spring onions.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2-3 medium tomatoes (as ripe as you can find);
• a few spring onions;
• crumbly white cheese;
• extra virgin olive oil;
• salt and pepper to taste.

HOW TO MAKE:

Cut the tomatoes discarding the green part where they were attached to the stem. Cut the spring onions as a medium chop. I did it o a diagonal, for looks. Brake the cheese into bite size bits and top the salad with them. Add the olive oil (about a spoonful per tomato or less) and season with salt and pepper. If the cheese is already salty (which it should be) use more pepper then salt. Mix well to get a nice sauce of olive oil, tomato juice, black pepper and little bits of cheese.

Now, about the cheese, use what you like but it would be better if it was a crumbly kind, not a soft creamy kind. Usually, the crumbly cheeses are a little tangy and fermented as well as salty. I used a so called "kneaded cheese" or "barrel cheese" from the Romanian mountains in the Sibiu region (notorious for the sheep growing).

EspressoStyle Recommends: La Turn, Sibiu

La Turn is a restaurant terrace situated in Sibiu, Romania, in the historical center of the city. We are talking about the European Capital of Culture of 2007. It has excellent placement towards both main piazzas of the medieval city of Sibiu. We sat on the terrace in the Little Piazza. The food is good, not the absolute best, but definitely above average. It's Italian based cuisine, which in itself is a plus, especially if cooked well, but for the restaurant market in Romania that is over saturated with Italian oriented menus, it turns into a minus. Well, that being said, it's a good joint. Let's go to the food.

We started with a chicken salad for her and some salmon crostini for me. They were bot good, especially the crostini (although it could have been jut my raging hunger at the time). Anyway, they were baked just enough to melt and brown the cheese a bit. Lovely. Bread was not great, but not bad either.

Next came a dish of penne pasta al forno (baked in the oven) with chicken meat and mushrooms, a pink sauce and mozzarella on top. That was good, not too fat and totally eatable. The reason I save up on the praises is because the ingredients used were average, at best. The lean chicken breast strips, the sliced (maybe even canned) champignon mushrooms, cheap mozzarella. The pink sauce saved the dish by being light enough and smooth. Other than that, great.

The girl who served us was quick and communicative, with good knowledge of the menu. Smiles and everything.

For desert: a fried batter thing called "papanashi" (romanian classic) with cream and fruit jam for her and just espresso for me. Sadly, both of these were below average.  The papanashi was too fat and over fried and the espresso a bit bitter. Considering though that by this time we were full bellied and more indulgent, I got past very well and made it a nice lunch out. 

Scenery in the Little Piazza of Sibiu is just satisfying enough, anyway.

I give it 3 stars out of 5 for food quality, and also 3 for atmosphere. That means it was very nice. 4 stars means I was very impressed and 5 is reserved for the very best in the business.

That also means I warmly recommend La Turn, in Sibiu, Romania.

Chicken Yogurt Sauce Pita Wraps

This is an excellent weekend breakfast, a Saturday evening party treat or even a "watching the game" food, depending on the occasion or your mood. It is easy to make and requires almost no time to prepare.

That is, if you use the store bought pita wraps (like I did). Don't worry, even the greatest chefs do it most often then you think.

Anyway, it is a delicious and most importantly, healthy meal.

INGREDIENTS:

• pita wraps (use as fresh as you can find);
• chicken breast;
• green onions;
• some grated yellow cheese (ca use cheddar or even a blue cheese);
• salt, pepper, chilly flakes to taste;
• red salsa or just plain ketchup.

FOR THE YOGURT SAUCE:

• 1 cup plain yogurt;
• 2 springs finely chopped green onions;
• 1 minced garlic clove;
• salt, pepper;
• a tablespoon olive oil.

HOW TO MAKE:

Just mix together all the ingredients of the yogurt sauce in a bowl and give them a good stir.

Grill the chicken breast cut into finger thin slices that have been salted and peppered. Cut the grilled meat into finger style strips. Put a few strips of meat on an open pita wrap. Do not let the pita wraps out of their bag for longer then a few minutes or let the bag open for they will go all dry and stiff. Cut a few green onion springs into 1 inch long bits and sprinkle over the meat. Grate or brake the cheese and sprinkle over the other stuff.

Now use the garlic sauce to moisten the whole thing like in the picture. Last goes in the ketchup. Wrap and enjoy with care not to drip sauces on ones clothes.

Pork Steak (and other holiday treats)

For the winter holidays in Romanian homes it is a given to have at least one or two pork products or dishes. Along side other starters, baked things and all kinds of desert, almost everyone has the simple pork steak on the Christmas and New Ears Eve table.

So, as a good family that we are, the nice pork raw steaks came from my father in law, already salted, peppered and seasoned with lots of dry time. I just took the pork cuts and roasted them slowly in a thick skillet with some sunflower oil and some water (just to cover). It took the water just about half an hour to steam away and leave the steaks browned and tender soft. We served it with some wonderful mashed potatoes made by mom with her special tool inharited from her own mom.

Next you have a little photo hint of some of the other things that were on our Christmas table in 2010.

Cheese, olives and mini meatballs platter.

A la Rouse Salad.

Turkey jelly with garlic.

Sweet Mac'n'Cheese

It's one of our favorites in the evenings when one just gets the craving for "something good" but one doesn't have anything good (bought) in the house. It's a tasty and easy to make recipe that totally satisfies the whole family.

INGREDIENTS:

• a pack of pasta (small cut shape: fusili, little macaroni, cavatappi etc. etc.);
• 3 eggs;
• 2 cups grated white cheese;
• 2-3 tablespoons vanilla flavored sugar;
• 1,1/2 cups sour cream or yogurt;
• margarine and breadcrumbs for the baking dish.      

HOW TO MAKE:

Boil the pasta in plenty of water with a lot of salt.

Mix together the eggs, grated cheese, sugar and one cup of sour cream or yogurt. Drain the soft  boiled pasta and let cool for 10 minutes, then mix together with the cheese egg mixture. Take a baking dish and rub the interior good with a knob of margarine, then coat well with breadcrumbs. Poor the pasta cheese mixture into the baking dish and poor the leftover 1/2 cup of sour cream or yogurt on top. Spread it evenly. Bake on medium heat for 15-25 minutes, until the surface looks nice and golden brown. Serve hot or cold with cream, more sugar or better yet with some fruit jam.

Baked Quinces With Mascarpone & Walnuts

This Saturday we had some friends for lunch to sample my very good Osso Buco Milanese and my wife decided to make something nice for desert (as desert is really not my strong point in cooking, ... yet!) She came across this recipe of baked quinces and since we had some in the fridge, she made them. They were so tasty as the natural taste of the fruit cut off the fatty-ness of the cream mascarpone cheese on top. The toasted wallnuts complemented the baked soft quince very nice and the lemon zest was just the perfect touch.

INGREDIENTS:

• quinces (half per serving);
• 20 gr. butter;
• 200 ml. orange juice;
• 80 gr. walnuts (a sprinkle per serving);
• 50 gr. raisins;
• 1 tablespoon honey;
• 150 gr. mascarpone cheese;
• the grated zest from 1 lemon;
• cinnamon on top.

HOW TO MAKE:

First you wash the quinces, cut them in half and scoop out the woody part with the seeds. They should look like little boats with a hole in the middle. You mix together the butter, honey and 3 tablespoons of orange juice and paint the halved quinces with this mixture. Them put the quinces in an oven tray (sliced side up) and poor the rest of the butter honey mixture into the tray. It is better to cover the tray with aluminum foil first. Bake at medium heat for approximately 45 minutes. The quinces should be tender, by now.

In the mean time, you toast the walnuts and then make a mixture with the mascarpone cheese, raisins, honey, lemon zest. 

After you've taken out the quinces from the oven, let them cool by the window for 15 minutes. Then scoop a tablespoon of the cheese raisin mixture on top of each quince and top with the roughly ground walnuts and a bit of cinnamon. Pop them back into the oven for just 1 minute (the cheese composition melts fast). Take them out and let cool. Serve warm or cool. 

People seemed to have enjoyed them.

Linguine With Broccoli & Two Cheeses

INGREDIENTS:

• linguine pasta for 2 (half a pack);
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil;
• 2 cloves garlic, minced;
• half a broccoli, into flowrettes;
• 2 spoonfuls of kalamata olives;
• 100 gr. Grana Padano Italian cheese;
• 100 gr. Gorgonzola cheese;
• salt, pepper, oregano to taste.
 

HOW TO COOK:

Heat olive oil in a pan and throw in the garlic. Turn heat to lowest and add the chopped broccoli to the pan. Stir and sote for 3 - 5 minutes, then add a ladle of water from the pasta pot. Add the olives and seasoning and reduce (boil to evaporation) the liquid for the next 5 minutes. Add the linguine pasta that you have boiled according to the indications on the package, strained. Mix everything together in the pan. If it is too dry feel free to add some more of the water in witch the pasta have boiled. Add half the Grana Padano grated cheese and turn off the heat Add theGorgonzola cheese cut into chunks. It will stick to everything (knife, hands) but that is part of it's charm. Give it a final stir. Watch as the cheese melts coating the pasta. Transfer servings to the plates and sprinkle the rest of the grated Grana Padano on top. Serve hot.  

Toamto Olive Oil Cheese Mush

Summer is now in full swing and the fresh tomatoes in my father's organic garden are ripe. Now I eat almost a kilo a day as they are my favorite vedge in the summer and the combination with olive oil and salty cheese are irresistible.

How many of you have shoved a piece of bred directly into the salad bowl after the tomato pieces are gone, just to gather the delicious olive oil tomato juice and spice sauce that formed on the bottom!? Well, however impolite, I do it too, when I eat at home, of course. And this time I decided to make it into a dish of itself.

So when I finished a plate of delicious fresh ripe tomatoes seasoned with olive oil, salt and pepper and cheese, I decided to cut another small tomato into thin and irregular slices and put it into the plate, then cut it some more with the side of the fork, making it into a rough mush. Then I threw in some more salty white cheese shavings and seasoning. Poor some more of the flavorful e.v. olive oil and you are done. Enjoy as a bread spread and taste the summer.

As a personal thing, I chop some hot red chilly pepper and throw it in also.

Caprese Salad With Home Grown Basil

Made with the basil leaves from my balcony, that I planted from seeds.
"Caprese" means "from (the island of) Capri" in Italian. It consists of ripe tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, fresh basil leafs, extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper. Some people do variations (adding pesto sauce, for example). Like most italian recipes, it has few ingreds and therefor you must use the most fresh and quality ingreds you can find. If you like the tomato zest olive oil cheese combo, take a look at this.