Broccoli dumplings with ricotta cheese - Polpette di broccoli con ricotta - Okruglice od brokule s ricotta sirom

This recipe is part of the contest Kuvarigrice, our host for February 2016 is Kata

I adore kale, cabbage and broccoli, but I hate cauliflower! Isn't it strange?

Cauliflower is one of the very few things that I don't like. More then its flavour I don't like its texture. I have always compared broccoli to cauliflower and I was hesitant to tast it. First time I ever ate broccoli was in Sweden, in December! I know what are you thinking: why should you make all those kilometers to taste broccoli for the first time...in Sweden?! But during our travels in North European countries, me and Mr.M., we used to walk and walk and we often got so hungry that I would have eaten cauliflower too, mhhh....no, cauliflower would  be still there, all alone  on the dish! In that occasion I have ordered my dish, it was main course dish with meat and vegetables and broccoli! Firstly I continued to look at those green blooms, then Mr.M. described its flavour and texture and at the end I smelled them (I was very discreet in doing it). I gathered all my courage and I ate my first small piece of broccoli. It was surprisingly sweet and solid, not mealy at all and I liked it! So I "cleaned" my dish completely and from that moment I started to thing about broccoli as a tasty and perfect winter vegetable. 

Now I often use broccoli as side dish, I prepare the soup and pasta with it, but it's my first time preparing dumplings with broccoli. During last February days I was thinking about something else to offer to my friend Kata for our contest and I'm very satisfied with the result. I hope you will also love it, especially because it is very easy, healthy and so seasonal!
To make this dish even more healthy I've decided to avoid frying the dumplings, so I baked them in the oven with very, very little olive oil.

Winter pie - Crostata invernale - Zimska pita

I must admit that I don't like dried figs, I don't like figs at all, neither Mr. M. likes them, but ... then I've baked this pie and I must admit that I liked it, I liked it a lot! Mr. M. is still hesitant, so I think he basically doesn't like it.

All started with Lara's proposal to use dried figs for December round of our contest "ajme, koliko nas je!". Lara is writing Slatki blog (Sweet Blog!) and she is my new friend, for the moment just a virtual friend, but I have the impression that we will meet soon!
But what to do with dried figs? What can I prepare with the ingredient I never ever use....My parents adore dried figs, so do my parents in law. We have a big white fig tree in our "garden with the view" (you all remember why I call it this way, don't you?) and every summer when I go back from holidays I bring plenty of figs with me to Italy and everybody is so, so happy to receive fresh and ripe figs as a gift! Our fig tree produces small, but very flavourful figs (everybody says so!), but my mother doesn't dry them, she use to prepare a jam occasionally. I also prepared it once, because some figs smashed during our return trip, but then this jam went back to Croatia, because I didn't ate it! This is all my experience with figs.

I couldn't miss this challenge and I have decided to try to prepare something with dried figs despite I don't like them, so I mixed figs with almonds and oranges and the result is very good, I'm satisfied because I have prepared a real winter pie and it is another good idea how to recycle your dried figs if you don't finish your Christmas provisions.

Ajme, koliko nas je! - Pripremali smo crveni radić

Moram priznati da je ovo bio težak zadatak, ali na kraju sam ipak vrlo zadovoljna da sam vam predložila ovu neobičnu i vrlo sezonsku namirnicu!

Ja obožavam boju i svestranost crvenog radića i sigurna sam da ćete ga od sada i vi nastaviti kuhati, a ne samo od njega pripremati nekuhana jela i da ga više nećete izbjegavati na tržnici! Samo je stvar navike, pa će onda i njegov "lagano" gorak ukus ubrzo postati ugodan.

Meni je najglavnije da sam ovoga mjeseca srela puno dragih ljudi u blogosferi i puno novih prijatelja i nadam se da ću vas jednoga dana uspjeti i vidjeti! Drago mi je da vas nisam previše uplašila s mojim izborom, pa evo predstavljam vam najhrabrije učesnike: . . .

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I must admit this was tough challenge, but at the end I'm very happy I have proposed this unusual and top-seasonal ingredient!

I adore the colour and versatility of red radicchio and I'm sure from now on you will all continue cooking it, not just preparing uncooked dishes with it, or even avoiding to purchase it! It's just a matter of habit and also its "slightly" bitter taste will soon become pleasant.

The most important experience this month is that I found a lot of nice people in the blogosphere and a lot of new friends that I hope to meet one of these days too! I'm happy I have not scared you too much with my choice, so I present you the most couragous participants: . . .

Ajme, koliko nas je! - tema za novembar

Jako sam sretna i ponosna, jer sam nova domaćica u igri "ajme, koliko nas je!" za mjesec novembar 2015. godine i nadam se da ću dobiti puno zanimljivih novih recepata. Kada sam dobila poziv od Kristine odmah su mi se počele vrtiti ideje u glavi, ali nije bilo lako odabrati samo jednu namirnicu. Jesen nam nudi različite boje i okuse, pa mi je prvi zadatak bio odabrati najpopularniju namirnicu koja će se lako uklopiti u bilo koje jelo. Htjela sam odbrati namirnicu koja će upaliti vašu kreativnost, obavezno sezonsku, ali ne previše kompliciranu za obradu. Nadam se da sam u tome uspjela. Željela bih da uživate u pripremi jela i da jedva čekate da mi pošaljete vaše recepte. . . to će biti još jedna lijepa inspiracija i avantura!
Imate vremena novembar za reckanje, kuhanje, pa i za pečenje crvenog radića! Ako ste kao ja u stalnom trku, slobodno šaljite recepte iz vaše arhive.

Vaša remekdjela šaljite na alex(dot)gorek(at)gmail(dot)com

Što nas više ima, to će nam biti zabavnije!

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I’m so happy and honoured I will be hosting the contest "ajme, koliko nas je!" for the month of November 2015 and I hope I will receive plenty of interesting new recipes. When I've received the invitation from Kristina the ideas started instantly bursting in my head, but it was not easy to choose only one ingredient. Autumn is offering the variety of colours and flavours, so the very first task was to identify the most popular and versatile ingredient. The one that will turn on your creativity, very seasonal, but not too difficult to be cooked. I hope I did a good choice. I want you to enjoy preparing and sharing your recipes. . .it will be another beautiful inspiration and adventure!

You have time whole November for cutting, cooking and also baking red radicchio! If you are running as I do, send me recipes from your archives. 

Send your masterpieces to alex(dot)gorek(at)gmail(dot)com

More people - bigger fun!

Aubergine hand pizzas - Pizzette di melanzane - Mini pizze od patlidžana

Recept sudjeluje na kontekstu  "ajme, koliko nas je!" domaćica Jelena s bloga JelinaJela:

http://www.jelinajela.com/2015/08/tema-za-septembar-ajme-koliko-nas-je.html

In these last years I’ve discovered plenty of new varieties of aubergines that I didn’t know before. In the market you can usually find the same old dark violet and oblong fruits, more or less puffed up. Last year I’ve tried the “pearl aubergines”, very long and thin light violet fruits that are perfect condiment for a pasta together with cherry tomatoes and black olives. This year I’ve cooked light violet striated puffy aubergines with a bright white pulp and less seeds inside. What I like most of aubergines is their slightly bitter flavour, therefor I never peal aubergines and I never let them lose the water before cooking them. This procedure is usually recommended in all recipes: peal the aubergines, cut them, put some salt on them and leave them to rest for some time in a colander.

It was so hot this last July and August, I almost didn’t have a willpower at all to turn on the oven, but it’s better to cook something in the oven then to stay near to the heat of the burner. Luckily the aubergines can be cooked in the oven and it was easy to make a decision what to prepare with them.

If you like Italian food and you like aubergines as much as I like them, you will love this trat for sure. This is not a complicated stuff, you just need to assemble all ingredients into small pizzas and bake them in the oven until the cheese get melted and golden brown. It is similar to another tasty Italian dish, the wel-known Parmigiana, but much easier and quicker to prepare.

The result is a “hand-pizza in one bite”. It is still aubergine season here in Italy and nice ripe aubergines can be found in the market. I think I will have to repeat these pizzas one of these days for dinner.

Buon appetito!

Quince candies - Caramelle di mela cotogna – Bomboni od dunja

This recipe is part of the contest Kuvarigrice, our host for October 2015 is Kristina

Almost one month passed from the first (and hopefully the last!) this year snowfall. And it arrived silent, there is always the same perception of stillness and calm when it comes to snow. The snow continued to fall all night long and it was impetuous and so powerful and the signs of ruin appeared in the morning under the thick white cover. Tree branches were too weak to bear heavy weight of wet snow and collapsed, whole trees collapsed. A sad view of disaster remained all around for days. And then the snow started to disappear and the sound of the chainsaw arrived. We will miss our beautiful weeping willow and the pine in our garden. Just two miserable logs and many twigs and pine needles still lie on the moss-covered soil. I’ve picked up from the ground some pine branches and pine cones and took some pictures with the last quince candies that I forgot to have in a jar from last November. The combination of two fragrances is pleasant: smell of resin and light cinnamon perfume of dried quince go together surprisingly well. Today  I offer you the beauty from the waste.

Quince jelly - Gelatina di mela cotogna - Želatina od dunja

This recipe is part of the contest Kuvarigrice, our host for October 2015 is Kristina

Nella lingua croata la mela cotogna si dice dunja, ma Dunja è anche un nome femminile, è un bel nome Dunja. Sono state scritte tante storie e canzoni sul frutto giallo e misterioso dal cuore duro. Il suo profumo ci rimanda indietro nei tempi quando la mela cotogna veniva usata per profumare le stanze da letto e i cassetti della biancheria e ci osservava dall’alto degli armadi. Tempo fa ho letto il libro di Paolo Rumiz “La cotogna di Istanbul”, la ballata narrata in versi che ci fa viaggiare nel tempo, tra una guerra e l’altra nelle terre tormentate dei Balcani del sud e racconta il sottile collegamento tra diversi popoli che si sono intrecciati nei luoghi del vecchio impero Austroungarico. E’ un libro che, con i suoi versi, esprime le emozioni del “saudade” Balcanico che l’autore ben conosce. Mi sembra che la mela cotogna rinchiude in se un poco di questa malinconia così tipica del popolo Slavo. Il frutto piano piano rilascia questa sensazione di tristezza intorno a se e la sua fragranza rimane nell’aria col passare del tempo.
Perché torniamo sempre in dietro nel tempo e più si va avanti più si fanno i salti nel passato? Anche in cucina! Ci ritornano in mente i vecchi odori, i sapori quasi dimenticati, i ricordi delle tradizioni e delle cose che non si fanno più sovente. Mi ricordo che quando ero bambina le confetture e le conserve si facevano sempre in casa. Le facevano le nonne, poi le mamme ed infine le figlie! I vasetti si riutilizzavano di anno in anno, ma i coperchi? Spesso veniva usata la carta cellofan stretta coll’elastico intorno al vasetto per fare il sottovuoto. Conservo il ricordo della dispensa nella casa della nonna materna piena di vasetti riposti in modo ordinato sulle scansie accostate al muro. Oggi è impensabile conservare qualsiasi cosa in questo modo, poco sterile, poco sicuro, ma all’epoca le conserve duravano lo stesso a lungo, erano buone e ci regalavano la frutta e la verdura durante i mesi invernali.
Prima che appassiscano le cotogne nel cesto della mia cucina, ho voluto provare a fare la gelatina. Il frutto e i semi della mela cotogna abbondano di pectina e il prodotto finito è totalmente al naturale, basta zuccherare il liquido a piacimento e farlo bollire lentamente fino a raggiungere la voluta densità della gelatina.