Sunday, February 24, 2013

Spinach Soup with Leek and Feta cheese

With spring approaching I start to think more often about green colored dishes on my table. Spinach is always a good choice according to me - it has light taste and low calories value. I cook spinach very often. It is good as a part of dips, roasted dishes and soups. 
This is one of my favorite vegetable soups - it is light, with low amount of calories, which makes it good at the end of the winter overeating period.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Homemade baked potato chips

Baked potato chipsWhat is the reason why chips are accepted as a non-healthy food? 
Is it the frying that makes them bad? Or are there all the flavour enhancers, food colors and other additives, part of the store-bought bag of chips? If one or both of the questions are answered with yes, homemade baked potato chips should be accepted as healthy tasty variety of the food most people like so much. They get crispy and crunchy. 
They are flavoured the like you prefer - you can sprinkle some salt, cayenne pepper or vinegar salt above.
Homemade baked potato chips

Friday, February 08, 2013

Taramosalata


Have you heard about the omega-3 acids? Of course you have. These unsaturated acids are included in many facial products and are sold separately as food supplements. Human body can not generate them and this is the reason why we reach for the foods which are known for containing them.
Doctors claim, our bodies need them for growth and development and they protect us against stroke and heart disease. Omega-3 acids affect mood in positive way by beating depression and lowering the symptoms  of the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). 
Omega-3 acids can be found in varying concentrations in the fish roe of the different varieties of fish. And since ancient times, long before anybody has thought about omega-3 acids and their health beneficial properties, people have enjoyed the salted fish roe of different types of fishes, because it is very, very tasty. 
The roes of Beluga, Ossetra, Sevruga, Salmon, called caviars are delicacies, which have no place on the common people everyday's table. But the fish roe of many other fish varieties is eaten in many countries of the world, salted, fried or processed in another way. 
Greeks and Bulgarians love to eat taramosalata. This is a spread, prepared from salted cod  fish roe. You can find taramosalata in the menu of nearly every Greek reastaurant. In Bulgaria you can find taramosalata in the big food chains, but my mummy has always prepared home-made taramosalata, because it is far better.
This creamy smooth paste, result of emulsification of roe with olive oil, lemon juice and onion, requires a lot of bread. One slice as an ingredient of the recipe to make mixture less greasy and to provide puffiness to it. But also far more slices to be covered with this delicious spread. This is my mother's recipe for preparing taramas:

Friday, February 01, 2013

Cheese sticks

Cheese sticksThese cheese sticks are irresistible. Their salty taste is welcome on the table with a bowl of soup, with a glas of beer or inbetween two spoons of sweet dessert. Recently I hosted a ladies' party with lots of sweet treats and I was looking for something which will act as the coffee beans in the perfume shops, something which cleans the previous tastes and gives vent to another ones. I made these sticks. 
One portion at first. 
Second portion after I ate the whole first batch still hot. 
Believe it or not, these sticks became the stars of the party. 
Cheese sticks preparation
The recipe is from one of my very favorite blogs - Alexandra cooks. 
Usually the first time I prepare somebody else's recipe, I follow the amounts of ingredients strictly and next time I adjust them to my taste. This time there is no need of such adjustments - these sticks are perfect, so I recommend you to follow the exact amounts of the ingredients, as follows:

Cheese sticks with CheddarCheese sticks recipe