Wednesday 14 December 2011

More food.

I have no time at all because I have to pack my bags for my flight tomorrow, yet I'm cooking. Cooking Chicken with vegetable... Chow. Sooo, here's how you marinade chicken:

Lemon (slices or juice)
Garlic
Rosemary
Olive oil

And here's how you cook them vegetables:

Carrots
Potatoes
Salt
Olive oil
Aubergine
Paprika
Beef stock
Oregano
Basil
Rosemary
Pepper
Parsley
Cumin
Coriander
What else?

Pre-boil diced potatoes and carrots in salted water, fry aubergine and paprika in lots of olive oil, add everything else, water, mix and cover. Don't forget to something. Whatever. Cook the chicken separately, sprinkle with salt whenever. It's kind of changes the taste when you salt it to the end. Probs not the taste we are used to.

You may kiss le cook.

Friday 11 November 2011

Um... Tofu-egg thingy... A man's comfort food. Period.

0.5 pack cubed firm tofu in a pan, biblical amounts of oil and curry powder, whisk 2 eggs with 1 tbs of soy sauce, pour over the fried tofu, low heat, turn over. Voilà! - a man's comfort food.

Friday 4 November 2011

Japanesey (while smirking)

I didn't have to think about this one. I knew immediately what I wanted to cook.

I marinaded 3 diced chicken breasts in miso paste, in the meantime I made some onigiri with japonica rice, then i cooked 3 large onions with a dash of Kikkoman soy sauce, I replaced the contents of the fry-pan with the diced chicken, when it was cooked I added the onions back and mixed it all with some Kewpie mayonnaise and served the meal with some wasabi.

Monday 22 August 2011

"Le Recipe" (Haruki Murakami's The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle + Briusly)


Rice
Coconut milk
Green paprika
Tofu
Butter
Chilli
Spinach
Beef/Chicken

Curry powder
Garlic
Olive oil


Marinade meat strips in curry+garlic+olive oil
Boil rice
Shallow-fry meat, set aside, clean pan
Fry sliced paprika in butter, add drained and cubed tofu, cook until brown
Add chilli, meat, coconut milk
Form a pit in a bowl of rice, lay it out with spinach leaves, pour in the piping hot meal.

Wednesday 27 July 2011

Tai Vel Makaronai

labai paprastas receptas: ypatingai nekaltas alyvu aliejus, puse tubeles dvigubos koncentracijos pomodoru pastos, puse skardines kapotu pomidoru su zolelemis ir cesnaku (arba pjaustyti pomidorai ir kapotas cesnakas), labai daug sampiniJonu, dziovintu raudonelio, baziliko ir daug petrazoliu, siek tiek druskytes, nemazai vandens praskiesti tai pastai ir kai isvirs, sumaisyti su makaronais, i lekstute ir uzbastyti tarkuotu ypatingai subrendusiu cederio suriu, bet kad neistirptu iki galo. voila!
p.s. ultra-gerai suveike prideti smulkiai pjaustyti rauginti agurkeliai ir siek tiek sutriuskinto cili.

Monday 27 June 2011

Super-tasty Spinach Salad

Lots of fresh spinach leaves
2 tomatoes
15 green pitted olives
2 hard boiled eggs
Olive oil
Oregano
Parsley
Black pepper
Salt


Cut spinach to thin strips, tomatoes to thin pieces also, and olives to 'o' slices. Mix everything apart from eggs and put it in a dish, top it with sliced eggs.

Friday 17 June 2011

Super-simple Curry

You'd better believe me when I say I invented/discovered the easiest dish in the world! I'll just get on with it then.


You'll need:
Frozen vegetables
Curry powder
Cream
Salt

Do I need to walk you through this? Just boil the vegetebles in a pot until they're aaalmost ready (I chose broccoli, cauliflower, baby carrots, green peas and spinach (you want to cut those to small pieces after they're boiled)), you drain them and toss them into a frypan to cook in olive oil covered, you add lots of curry, mix everything and 20 minutes before it's ready you add  cream! And that's that!
Oh, for a full meal boil some rice (brown short grain is super-good with that!).

And there you have it! Pretty straightforward for a tasty meal like this, huh? :)

Saturday 14 May 2011

Miso Pasta

If you happen to like traditional Japanese soup called Miso, you will find no problem finding all the ingredients in your cupboards. If not, try it out - it’s amazing and so easy to cook. I’ve combined some of the ingredients into a mild-tasting pasta meal.


YOU'LL NEED:
Spaghetti (or any other pasta) for 2 persons
Salt
Butter, 1 tablespoon
Instant Dashi (Bonito stock) 1 pack
Miso Shiro (White Miso paste) 1 tablespoon
Dried parsley (or Nori flakes)
Ground cinnamon


Boil pasta in lightly salted water, drain. While the pasta is cooking, dissolve Miso in 50ml of boiling water. Set the heat on absolute minimum. Add butter and mix well. Sprinkle the Bonito over the spaghetti and mix again (you could probably dissolve it with the Miso for more intense flavor – I did not think about at the time) Splash the pasta with dissolved Miso, sprinkle liberally with parsley and with just a little bit of cinnamon to add warmth, then mix for the last time. It’s ready and it looks great :)

Itadakimasu!

Tuesday 26 April 2011

Teriyaki salmon with Mediterranean style vegetables.


Here's a piece of advice: In a good meal, as much as in a person, appearance is very important. Garnish your meal to look appetizing and don't smear the plate with food before it's even served.



There's a very tasty recipe I've found for cooking delicious salmon East Asian style. The fanciest ingredients you will need are Teriyaki sauce (a.k.a. marinade) and Sweet Chilli Sauce. I happened to readily have both :) There is no need to copy-paste the recipe, so please follow this link.

Instead of the recommended stir-fry vegatables, though, I stir-fried some Mediterranean style vegetables I bought frozen mix and just added soy sauce, but in case you can't get your hands on one, there are plenty of recipes for how to cook it from fresh vegetables, for example this link or that link :)

I happened to have been made some delicious mashed potatoes to have with the meal, but the whole idea is to serve the salmon with vegetables only.
It's also healthier not to mix carbohydrates with protein That's because your stomach produces only one type of acid at a time, and that type of acid can either break down carbohydrates or protein foods at that time. One of them has then to wait until the other one is finished with. And that's why you feel full for longer. It basically rots in there. Sorry for the unappetizing ending, but you have to know.

Sunday 17 April 2011

Found some Concentrato di Pomodoro in the fridge.

Ei, vienintele followere, išradau naują receptą! Tiesą pasakius du. Tik prisimink, kad didžioji dalis idėjų pasaulyje yra building up on previous ideas.


•Pasta

Pasta (spaghetti) for 3
Salt
Butter

Olive oil (Napolina, lemon and dill flavoured)
Tomatoes 2
Dried basil
Garlic cloves 3
Lemon juice
Concentrato di pomodoro (tomato pasta?) 50g
Salt


Boil pasta in salted water until it's still a bit hard on the inside; if you're not planning on serving it right away, bear in mind that even if drained, pasta will continue to soften and it's not as good overcooked.

For the sauce use a frying pan. Throw diced tomatoes in plenty of preheated olive oil, sprinkle dried basil and chopped garlic on top, mix it, add a dash of lemon juice and the concentrated tomatoes :), mix it again, add some salt to your liking, mix it yet again (I know...) and let it rest off the hob for a bit.
Mix it well with pasta, and sprinkle with oregano and pepper for decoration. Oh, I kept on adding hot water to it because it was too concentrated and kept on drying further. You have to dilute the sauce to mix it evenly with pasta.


•Couscous 

For cooking couscous, use the same recipe I've reccomended previously, but add a bag of Chai tea and a bit of butter to the boiling water.

Olive oil (Napolina, lemon and dill flavoured)
Tomatoes 3
Dried basil
Concentrato di pomodoro 50g
Greek style salad cheese 100g
Eggs 2
Salt
Lemon
Thai sweet chilli sauce

Again, diced tomatoes went into a fry pan with the preheated oil, basil was sprinkled liberally, concentrate was added... I don't like this way of writing. OK, then sprinkle the crumbled cheese, throw in the two eggs, sprinkle some salt on them and, this important, don't mix it too much. Don't move anything until the eggs start turning white, then mix it a bit and leave it again. But make sure the sauce doesn't start burning and, also keep on adding hot water trough the course to dilute it. Let it rest off-hob.
Add it on top of the couscous, add some sweet chilli sauce, squeeze few drops of lemon on top and decorate it with a half a slice of lemon sticking out of the pool of the chilli sauce and swallow your tongues :)

Friday 15 April 2011

Lithuanian Samogitian oven-baked potatoes.

My mother mother told me this recipe earlier this week when I was visiting her. It's an old 'Žemaitiškas' recipe. I don't know if it's any better than any other recipes, but the fact that it comes from that region and from those times really appeals to me.

Potatoes
Carrots (optional)
Oil
Cumin seed
Ground pepper
Salt


I quarter them then set them to boil. It's my personal preference but I also like to add some carrots. When the water starts boiling vigorously, I drain the potatoes, immediately sprinkle them with cumin seeds, ground black pepper, salt and splash it with olive oil (any oil is good, really). Don't overdo the dry stuff, better less than too much. Then I mix everything in the boiling pan and shuffle the spiced potatoes in a tray. I bake it until the ones on top start turning brown on the surface. Ta-dah! (An imitation of a fanfare, used typically to call attention to an impressive entrance or a dramatic announcement.) Oh wait, set the oven for around 200ºC.

Sunday 27 March 2011

Couscous Recipes

There are some things I like to eat with couscous. This is the recipe for easy-made couscous. If you're Mr. Fancy-pants, you can steam it, use Chai bags or stock to alter the flavour.

When cooking any of these, I usually have to add water during the process so that it would not start burning.
I'll start with the easiest one which makes a soft-tasting breakfast.


Olive oil
Tomatoes
Celery sticks
Paprika (optional)
Soy sauce (optional)
Dried parsley
Black pepper
Salt
Ground coriander
Eggs


Olive oil
Tomatoes
Mushrooms
Black pepper
Dried parsley
Eggs
Soy sauce
Salt
Cheddar cheese (extra mature, crumbled)

 I tried arranging these in order of  going to the pan, well, more or less. As for the amount, just work it out yourselves. Usually it's 2-3 tomatoes, 3-5 celery sticks and 2-3 eggs. When you put eggs in, mix everything and make sure the eggs are cooked. The vegetables should still retain some crunchiness. Just top a plate of couscous with that or mix it in a pan and enjoy a mild-tasting meal.


Meats that go well with couscous are chicken and fish. I have another recipe that's quite easy yet very tasty.

You'll need to shallow fry some Coriander Chicken, some couscous (link to recipe above) and some probably Mexican-tasting stew:


Olive oil
Tomatoes
Green paprika
Lime
Dried chilli
Salt
Fresh parsley leaves

It's super-simple - just cut it however you want it, squeeze a half of lime over it when it's cooked for a bit, leave the rind in the pan, make it chili with chilli, salt, cut parsley and 'tadah!' But make sure everything's cooked this time.

Coriander Chicken

I have a very simple yet tasty recipe for marinating chicken:

Chicken
Ground coriander
Soy sauce
Salt (if needed)
Black pepper (optional)

It's pretty straightforward, really. You just cut the chicken if you need to,  sprinkle the spices, splash the sauce and mix well. Lick your finger to make sure everything tastes right but is not too salty. Coriander doesn't have a strong flavor, so be a bit more liberal with it. Chicken does not have to drown in soy sauce, but there should enough of it to soak the chicken well. Place it in a fridge for an hour or more.

Tuna Stew

Broccoli 1
Red onion 1
Tuna (canned, in oil) 1
Parsley (fresh or dried)
Black pepper
Cream 75-100 ml
Salt
Soy sauce (tasty one, e.g. Kikkoman)


  1. Cut broccoli into pieces to fit into a pot. Salt it and boil until soft.
  2. In the meantime cut the onion and cook it in a pan using a spoon or two of oil from the tuna for some time.
  3. Add tuna (without the remaining oil).
  4. Add the boiled broccoli, parsley and pepper and then pulverize it using a spatula.
  5. Add the cream and mix everything.
  6. Add some salt if needed, but remember that soy sauce is salty as well.
  7. When in a plate, splash with some soy sauce.


Feel free to add a dash of hot water at any time if you see or hear it fries instead of boiling.
You have to get it off the hob and let it rest covered for up to 20 minutes.
Try it on hot potatoes.

Creamy Yet Spicy Chicken Pasta

Dice whichever part of chicken you like, make it small pieces. At least 300g. Marinade it for some time with tasty soy sauce (not dark!) e.g. kikkoman, enough of it so you wouldn't need to use salt, and ground coriander (or garam masala spice blend). Click here for recipe for chicken. In the meantime start boiling 400-500g of pasta, e.g. 'spirali' in salted water. Fully cook the chicken in a large pan (I used wok pan so that everything would fit), reduce the heat and add the boiled pasta, add around 200g cheese spread e.g. dairylea and mix thoroughly. Add 2x400g chopped tomatoes with basil chili and oregano (get it from sainsbury's or make your own) and mix it well again. Once in a plate, sprinkle some black peper, some grated parmigiano if you feel like it and squeeze a quarter of a lime over it.

Įžanga

Gerai, tai čia aš dėsiu visokius savo išgalvotus receptus. Jeigu kas tai vertins, labai džiaugsiuosi, jei ne - meluosiu, kad tiesiog užsirašau juos čia, kad nepamirščiau.

Žinot, kaip kartais būna - atsidarai šaldytuvą, o nera nieko, kas būtų panašu į patiekalą. O į parduotuvę eiti tingi. Tada žiūri į turimus produktus, uostai prieskonius, jų derinius ir bandai suprasti, kas čia su kuo tinka. Arba stovi parduotuvėje, ir galvoji, ką pasigaminti vakarienei. Pirma sugalvoji kryptį, sakykim: "Šiandien noriu vegetariškai", o tada eini į daržovių skyrių ir pirštu badai: "Šitas, šitas, šitas... Neee, šitas ne.", iki galvoje viskas susiformuoja į padorų receptą. Arba: "O ką, jeigu šitas su šituo??" Na bent jau man tai taip būna. Kartais vaizduotė nuvilia, bet dažniausiai pasiseka ir būna taip skanu, kad tenka užsirašyti.

Tai grečiausiai ne kūriniai, o artadimai. Turiu omeny, kad nors aš ir pats viską sugalvoju, negaliu pareikšti, kad va štai čia mano išgalvotas patiekalas, nes kažkas panašaus ko gero jau egzistuoja pasaulyje, o gal net tavo virtuvėje. Tiesiog gyvenu savo receptų prasme uždarokame pasaulėlyje ir džiaugiuosi savo patiekalais.

Pastebėsit, kad mano prieskonių racionas gana ribotas (ir ne tik ju - bet cia gi ne apie vienaragi vaivoryksciu padaze), kai kurie prieskoniai dominuoja. Problema su jais yra ta, kad aš dedu jų tiek, kiek man atrodo teisinga, ir nežinau, kaip paaiškinti. Šiek tiek užberkit, o tada paragaukit. Religinių kiekių tikrai nereikia, geriau mažiau, o ypač - druskos.

Ko gero čia įdėsiu ir ne savo bet man patinkančių receptų, o jei kas pasidalins - ir jūsų. Prašau negailėti patarimų ir jų, ir produktų ir gaminimo atžvilgiu.


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