This cabbage and carrot slaw is simple, healthy and nutritious. It is super easy to make and requires only a few ingredients. A perfect side dish to literally anything.
Cabbage and carrot slaw
It tastes even better the next day.
Ingredients
- 1 medium-sized cabbage head
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 carrots
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 4-5 Tbsp 5% white vinegar
- 4-5 Tbsp olive oil
- fresh herbs (dill, parsley, green onion)
Instructions
- Cut the cabbage in half and peel of a few of the thin outer layers. Cut each half into quarters, then cut out the tough core in the middle. Slice each quarter crosswise into thin shreds. Add salt and squeeze the shredded cabbage with your hands.
- Peel the carrots and shred them.
- Transfer the shredded carrots and cabbage into the mixing bowl. Add sugar, white vinegar and olive oil. Gently toss everything together. Taste and add some more salt if needed. Garnish with fresh herbs before serving.
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This post was posted in Salads
Golden Baked Мashed Potatoes
If you find yourself with more left over potatoes than you can deal with, this recipe is for you!
Golden Baked Мashed Potatoes
While you can just simply reheat mashed potatoes, or make pancakes, my favorite way to serve leftover mashed potatoes is this Fluffy Baked Mashed Potatoes.
Ingredients
- 1,2 kg potatoes
- 90 g butter
- 100 ml heavy cream or milk (warm)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Peel the potatoes. Chop the potatoes into cubes. Place them in a medium pot. Add salt to the water and cook for 15-20 minutes. When they are fork tender, strain the potatoes.
- Add butter and mash until smooth and creamy.
- Next, pour the warm heavy cream or milk. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Coat a baking dish with butter. Transfer potatoes to the prepared dish. You can make some shapes on the top.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Bake uncovered for about 15 minutes until the top is golden.
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This post was posted in Main Dish
French Buckwheat Crepes with smoked salmon
French Buckwheat Crepes with smoked salmon and sour cream are delicious. Must try!
French Buckwheat Crepes with smoked salmon
Servings 8 crepes
Ingredients
- 250 g buckwheat flour
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 350 g milk
- 350 g water
- 2 eggs
- 50 g melted butter
- 8 thin slices of smoked salmon
- 8 Tbsp sour cream
- Some fresh or dry dill (optional)
Instructions
- Mix buckwheat flour with salt, milk, water, and eggs together. Add melted butter and whisk until you get a smooth batter. Let rest for at least 2 hours. When you are ready to cook the crepes, stir the batter before frying each crepe.
- Heat a lightly buttered nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add 1/4 cupful batter to skillet and immediately tilt to fully cover the bottom of the pan with a thin layer. Cook for a few seconds.
- Without flipping the crepe, place a slice of smoked salmon in the center, add 1 Tsp of sour cream, and sprinkle with dill.
- A few seconds later, as the crepe seems to be ready, carefully lift one side with a spatula and fold it to make a triangle, or a square.
- Transfer the crepe to the plate and serve right away.
This post was posted in Main Dish
French Buckwheat Crepes with ham and cheese
French Buckwheat Crepes with ham and cheese are easy to make at home, and are delicious. It is important to prepare the Buckwheat crepes batter (gluten free) the day before, or at least 2 hours before cooking.
Family and friends have told me this is as good as the “Galettes Bretonnes” you can find in Brittany, in western France.
French Buckwheat Crepes with ham and cheese
Ingredients
Buckwheat Crepes (for 12 galettes)
- 250 g buckwheat flour sifted
- 350 ml water
- 350 ml milk
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 2 eggs
- 50 g melted butter
Filling (4 servings)
- 8 slices ham
- 120 g grated cheese (Emmental, Gouda, Gruyere…)
- Some butter
Instructions
- Mix buckwheat flour with salt, milk, water, and eggs together. Add melted butter and whisk until you get a smooth batter. Cover with plastic and and let rest for at least 2 hours. When you are ready to cook the crepes, stir the batter before frying each crepe.
- Heat a lightly buttered nonstick skillet over medium high heat.
- Add 1/4 cupful batter to skillet and immediately tilt to fully cover the bottom of the pan with a thin layer. Cook for a few seconds until the surface isn’t liquid.
- Without flipping the crepe, place a slice of ham in the center and sprinkle a little cheese.
- A few seconds later, as the cheese is melting and the crepe seems to be ready, carefully lift one side with a spatula and fold it.
- Fold the other sides to make a square.
- Remove the crepe from the pan and serve quickly.
- You can add more grated cheese over the top.
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This post was posted in Main Dish
Beef And Feta Pasta Dinner
Pasta and ground beef is nothing new, but when you add feta cheese, onion and fresh dill to it, it takes your pasta to a whole different level. Enjoy this Beef And Feta Pasta Dinner!
Beef And Feta Pasta Dinner
You might seriously consider making a double batch of this Beef and feta pasta dinner because your family will definitely ask you for more.
Ingredients
- 4 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion
- 1 lb ground beef
- 500 g pasta uncooked
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 200 g feta cheese
Instructions
- Peel and chop the onion.
- Coat the bottom of a skillet with olive oil. Add onion and sauté until softened and brown, stirring once in a while.
- While the onion is cooking, cook pasta, according to the package directions. Drain pasta and set aside.
- Fully cook the ground beef. Drain grease. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Use your hands or the tines of a fork to crumble the feta cheese.
- Add onion, ground beef and crumbled feta to cooked pasta. Shower on a generous dusting of fresh dill and using two spoons, toss the pasta well.
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This post was posted in Main Dish
Potato salad (Russian salad)
This is the most traditional Russian salad we make for any holiday, and New Year’s Eve is the biggest holiday of all, when “Olivier” would be on all tables. What makes it more special is “leftovers”… You can eat it the next day and joke that the salad is from last year.
If you like it, try other salads from my cooking blog!
Potato salad (Russian salad)
Ingredients
- 4 large potatoes
- 3 medium carrots
- 7 hardboiled eggs
- 1 lb bologna
- 7 pickles
- 1/2 raw onion
- 1 can peas (14 oz)
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook potatoes and carrots in a medium pot in their skins until tender. Do not overcook.
- Peel the vegetables and eggs.
- Cut the potatoes, carrots, bologna, eggs, pickles and onion into small 1/4 inch squares.
- Mix all the ingredients with mayonnaise, salt and black pepper. Chill salad before serving.
- For a fancier presentation, serve it in mini cups.
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This post was posted in Salads
Mini Pavlova
Pavlova is a dessert, named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, who toured Australia and New Zealand in 1926. It is a meringue dessert with crisp crust and soft light inside, topped with cream and fresh berries.
You can make meringue shells ahead of time and freeze them. I usually make the cream the same day I want to serve my Mini Pavlova. And as always this dessert is a perfect mini dessert for my Cafe Gourmand.
Mini Pavlova dessert
I rarely use food coloring when baking. I like my desserts to have their original color. But if you are cooking for Valentine's Day or for a Princess party, you may add some food coloring to your dessert. This time, I used one tiny drop of red coloring to make the cream pink.
Ingredients
Meringue
- 4 egg whites (room temperature)
- 1 pinch of salt
- 220 g confectioner’s sugar
Cream
- 200 ml heavy whipping cream ( 35%) very cold
- 100 g mascarpone cheese
- 1,5 Tbsp sugar
- 1 drop red food coloring (optional)
- Fresh berries raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries…
Instructions
Meringue
- Using mixer, begin beating your egg whites and salt on a low speed, steadily increasing up to medium high.
- While beating on a medium speed, slowly add the confectioner’s sugar, about 1-2 Tbsp at a time. Once all the sugar is added, keep beating until the egg whites hold stiff peaks.
- Preheat oven to 230 degrees F. Draw circles of approximately 4-8 cm diameter (you can use a pint glass as a guide) on each of the parchment lined sheets.
- Spoon meringue into piping bag, fitted with 3/4 inch tip. Pipe meringue to cover circles on prepared baking sheet. Pipe two more rings of meringues on top of outer edge to form walls of Pavlovas.
- Bake in center of oven until dry and crisp, about 1 1/2 hours.
- Turn off the oven and let the meringues completely cool in the oven. Once cooled, you can top them with whipped cream and berries.
Filling
- With mixer, beat together very cold heavy cream and mascarpone cheese, until whipped gradually adding sugar. Add food coloring. Don’t overbeat the cream, or you will end up with butter.
- Spoon cream into piping bag.
- Right before serving, pipe frosting on the pavlovas and top with fresh berries.
- If you have some leftovers cream, you can pipe it into a small glass and garnish with some fresh berries.
Notes
Pease don’t waste your egg yolks, you can always make Creme brûlée.
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Lemon Infused Vodka
This is my home-made lemon infused vodka. This strong alcoholic drink has a pleasant lemon aroma. You can either drink on its own or use it to make cocktails. Please consume with moderation.
Lemon Infused Vodka
Ingredients
- 1 organic lemon
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/2 l vodka
Instructions
- Peel the lemon then slice it.
- Place the lemon slices into the jar then add sugar and vodka.
- Cover and keep 7 days at room temperature, out of direct sunlight.
- Discard the lemon slices, strain the infused vodka thru a fine mesh. Transfer vodka into a bottle. Serve chilled or use for the cocktail.
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This post was posted in Drinks
Cowboy caviar
Cowboy caviar (or Texas caviar) is a simple, healthy, colorful, and delicious appetizer, salad, side-dish, or dip. Using canned beans and corn is a quicker alternative to cooking dry beans. Spend less time in the kitchen but don’t forget to prepare in advance to allow the different flavors to blend together before serving.
Cowboy caviar
The jalapeño can be replaced by a few pinches of chili powder.
Ingredients
- 1 can (425 g) Black beans, Red beans, or Black Eye peas, or Tri-Bean blend drained and rinsed
- 1 can (425 g) whole kernel sweet corn drained and rinsed
- 1/2 red onion peeled and minced
- 1 bell pepper (red, yellow or orange) cored and cubes
- 1 jalapeño cored and minced
- 3 tomatoes cubed
- 1/4 bunch Fresh cilantro chopped
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar or lime juice
- 4 Tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a salad bowl, mix, cover, and let chill for about one hour in the fridge.
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This post was posted in Salads
Walnut Raisin Cake
This easy to make cake is perfect for a breakfast. The Walnuts and raisin go well together.
Walnut Raisin Cake
Ingredients
- 150 g walnuts
- 250 g softened butter
- 200 g sugar
- 4 eggs
- 200 g all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 150 g raisins
- Some powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.
- Grind the walnuts in a blender.
- Using a mixer beat the butter with sugar.
- Add the eggs and mix.
- Add the flour and mix.
- Add the walnuts. Mix.
- Add the raisins and mix with a spatula.
- Pour the batter in the pan.
- Bake for about 40 minutes or until а toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Once the cake cooled down, transfer to a plate.
- Dust it with powdered sugar before serving.
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This post was posted in Desserts