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.