Baked Eggs in Avocado

Lately I have seen a few photos of this interesting breakfast idea and I have been wanting to try it.  So today we are going to a barbecue later on in the day and needed a quick breakfast/brunch and something that is healthy and not too heavy.  This dish turned out to be a success and I'll definitely make it again.  Next time I would like to improve on it and make it look even better.  It is really difficult to make sure that the egg whites stay inside of the avocado, therefore I carved a little bit of it before placing the egg inside.  Some of it still came out while baking.  Next time I'll carve it even more.  So here is the easy recipe for this tasty breakfast dish.

(Serving Size: 2)

Ingredients:

• 1 avocado, halved and pitted
• 2 eggs
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• optional: crumbled and cooked bacon (I did not use this)
• optional: 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh chives (I did not have any today, so I did not use this either)

Directions: 

• Heat oven to 425 degrees F (about 220 degrees C)
• Put foil inside of a small and deep baking dish
• Place the avocado halves into the baking dish 
• Crack 1 egg into each avocado half
• Season with salt, pepper and cayenne pepper (to taste)

• Bake in a preheated oven until done (about 15-20 minutes)

• When done, take out and sprinkle with bacon and chives if you decide to use them
• Serve warm with Mimosas if you would like

Bon apetit!  : P

Risotto With Scallops, Mushrooms and Peas

Risotto is one of my favorite dishes and I have already posted one with calamari on our blog in the past. Ivan and I both had a craving for risotto, but we did not have any calamari. I only found mushrooms and scallops in our fridge and I found a recipe using these ingredients online. Since we love peas, I decided to add them to the risotto as well.  The end result was a success and I plan on making it again in the future.  We used the Sea Queen Bay Scallops and they were very tasty and great for this risotto.  We also used frozen peas and left them to defrost until it was time to add them to the dish.  So here is my recipe:

Ingredients:

• olive oil
• 1 pound of sea scallops
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 pound of mushrooms, sliced
• few pinches of dry thyme or a handful of fresh thyme springs
• 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 cups of Arborio rice
• 1/2 cup of white wine, such as Pinot Grigio
• 3-4 tablespoons of tomato sauce (or to taste)
• 8 cups of chicken stock, heated
• 1/2 cup of frozen peas

 

Directions: 

• In a large, deep skillet heat olive oil over medium-high heat until hot.  
• Sprinkle the scallops with salt and pepper and brown well on both sides, about 2 minutes.  

• Remove to a plate and cover to keep warm while you make the risotto
• Reduce the heat to medium, add more olive oil and heat until hot
• Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes until soft
• Toss in the mushrooms and thyme and cook until mushrooms lose their liquid and are lightly browned, about 10 minutes

• Season with salt and pepper
• Add the rice and stir 2 minutes to coat with the oil, then season again

• Stir in the wine and cook for 1 minute to evaporate the alcohol
• Add tomato sauce and keep cooking for another minute

• In the meantime, heat up chicken stock and keep simmering while making the risotto
• Pour 1 cup of the warm chicken stock and stir with a wooden spoon until the rice has absorbed all of the liquid, then add another cup and repeat the same process.  Keep adding stock 1 cup at a time until the rice is cooked

• When the rice is close to being 'al dente', add peas and scallops and carefully stir.  Add the remaining stock (if any left) until risotto is cooked.  
• Finally sprinkle chopped parsley over the risotto and serve with your favorite wine

• You can also sprinkle some parmesan cheese over the risotto if you wish

Enjoy! : )

Inspired by the recipe found here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/risotto-with-wild-mushrooms-and-scallops-recipe.html

Okra with Chicken and Vegetables (Bamija s piletinom i povrcem)

It has been a while since we wrote on our blog, but we were both really busy.  We'll try and make it up in the coming months.  We have been trying to cook lighter and healthier food, lots of salads, vegetarian and pescetarian recipes.  Once in a while we eat chicken.  Recently I made this recipe with okra, chicken breast and other vegetables and served it with cooked rice.  We both liked it and the meal wasn't heavy.  My family makes recipes with okra and I always liked the taste of it.  Here is the recipe for this tasty okra and chicken dish.

Ingredients:

• 2-3 chicken breasts, sliced into cubes
•  about 1 pound of okra (fresh, or you can buy already sliced frozen okra)
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 carrot, peeled and sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tomato, peeled and cubed
• tomato sauce (optional) - you can add if you would like a stronger tomato taste
• 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh parsley
• salt, pepper and Vegeta (to taste)

Directions:

• Heat up oil, add sliced chicken and saute until it starts browning
• Add onion and carrot and keep cooking for about 30 minutes
• In the meantime, prepare okra.  (Okra is usually very slimy and this can be good too because this makes the sauce thicker, but in this recipe I found a good way of getting rid of much of this slimy texture.)  
• Wash okra well and do not cut it yet. 
• Boil water in a pot and add the whole okras and boil for a few minutes.  
• Take out, drain and let cool.  
• After this, cut the top and bottom end of it and throw out, like shown in the photo below.  

• Cut the rest of the okra, like shown in the photo below, into about 1/2 - 1 inch thick pieces, and put to the side

• After cooking chicken for about 30 minutes, add the cubed tomato, garlic and salt to the chicken, mix well and cook for a few minutes
• Add sliced okra, stir and keep cooking until everything softens, add more salt (if needed), pepper and Vegeta 

• When done, sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve with white rice or mashed potatoes.  You can also served it with fresh bread.
  
   

Bon apetit!  Dobar tek! :-P