Tofu and Mushroom Pasta Sauce

This is a healthy, vegetarian recipe. It can be prepared quickly and it invites experimentation - you can try it with slightly different ingredients and way of preparing. This version is fairly spicy, so feel free to adjust the amount of hot pepper flakes.

Ingredients:

• One package of firm tofu, cut into small cubes
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 4 ounces assorted mushrooms, sliced
• 1/3 cup minced onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 teaspoon hot pepper flake
• 16 ounces tomato sauce
• 3 tablespoons chopped green olives

Directions:

• Drain tofu and cut up into small cubes.
• Fry tofu in olive oil until it starts turning brown.

• Take out tofu with a slotted spoon.

• Add a bit more oil if necessary and fry sliced mushrooms.

• After a few minutes add cut up onions, green pepper, and garlic. Fry until onion starts to brown and get translucent.

• Add tomato sauce and hot pepper flakes.
• Simmer for 20-30 minutes.

• Near the end throw in cut up olives. Here I've pitted green olives and cut them up. You can also use already pitted black olives.
• Separately boil water and add farfalle pasta to the pot. Boil for around 12 minutes so that the past is al dente.

• Serve with a green salad and a glass of wine. Enjoy :-).

Istrian Chicken "Žgvacet" (Stew)

Žgvacet comes from the northwest part of Croatia, a peninsula called Istria, that is next to the Adriatic coast. It is a type of stew similar to goulash, and can be served with pasta, gnocchi or homemade "fuzi" (type of homemade pasta).  It is very simple to make, and is very tasty.  I found this recipe in a recipe book when visiting my family in Croatia.  This is how the recipe goes:

Ingredients:

• 1 package of boneless chicken breasts or chicken tenders, cut into bite-size pieces (cubed)
• 3 tablespoons of oil (I prefer grapeseed oil)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup of tomato sauce
• 1 tablespoon of flour
• 1/2 cup of red wine
• chopped fresh basil (or dry basil) to taste
• Vegeta to taste
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• Heat up oil and saute onion until fragrant
• Add cubed chicken breast and garlic and saute for a few minutes
• Add flour and mix well

• Add wine, tomato sauce, basil, Vegeta, salt and pepper and mix well

• Cook until the meat is done (about 30-40 minutes)

• Serve with gnocchi, pasta or homemade "fuzi"

Prijatno!  Enjoy! :)

Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers

We both love stuffed peppers.  Usually our moms make them stuffed with ground beef and rice and cooked in sauce, or they can also be stuffed with potatoes and baked in the oven.  Since we have been making more vegetarian recipes, I decided to make peppers stuffed with mushrooms, tofu and potatoes and baked in the oven.  I was really happy with the result and will definitely make this recipe again.  This is how I made it:

Ingredients:

• 6 cubano peppers
• 5 medium potatoes, cubed
• 1 package of tofu (I used firm tofu), cubed
• about 1 cup of cubed mushrooms
• 3 teaspoons of Ajvar (you can buy it in any international store - we buy it at City Fresh Market)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• salt, pepper and Vegeta (to taste)
• olive oil (to taste)

Directions:

• Heat the oven to about 400 F (200 C)
• Slice onion into very small cubes
• Slice potatoes (leave one potato for later) and mushrooms into small cubes
• Wash, clean and remove seeds from peppers and cut the top 'caps' off and save for later

• Heat up olive oil and saute onion until fragrant, about 5 minutes
• Add cubed potatoes, mushrooms and tofu and saute for a few more minutes

• Add Ajvar, salt, pepper, Vegeta and mix well
• Finally add garlic and parsley (optional) and mix well

• Fill the peppers with the potato/mushroom/tofu mix and cover with the mushroom 'caps'

• If there is any of the filling left, you can place it in a separate baking dish and bake and serve as a side to the peppers
• Place peppers in a baking pan 
• Cut the last potato into cubes, add a little bit of salt and place around the peppers in the baking pan
• Mix a little bit of olive oil, few teaspoons of tomato sauce and 1/2 cup of water and pour into the baking pan around the peppers

• Place in the oven and bake for about 45 minutes, or until the peppers start to brown on top.
• Take out, let cool and serve with the left over potato/mushroom/tofu stuffing and sour cream on top.

Bon apetit!  Prijatno!  :-P

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

Škampi na Buzaru (Scampi a la Buzara)

Today I made Škampi na Buzaru or Scampi a la Buzara.  It is a traditional Croatian dish that is made in Dalmatia by the Adriatic Sea coast.  It is made by cooking shrimp in a tomato and garlic sauce and it is a great appetizer and tastes great with fresh bread that you can dip in the sauce.  I served a traditional bread from Bosnia and Croatia called somun/lepinja with this dish that we bought at City Fresh Market.

Ingredients:
- 1 pound of shrimp (I used cooked shrimp)
- about 3 tablespoons of olive (or to taste)
- 2 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped)
- 1/2 cup of tomato sauce
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- about 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley
- 5 teaspoons of bread crumbs
- 1/8 teaspoon of Vegeta (optional)
- 3/4 cup of dry white wine
- salt to taste
- fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions:

- Wash shrimp

- Quickly put tomatoes in boiling water and take out, then peel them (this makes it easier to peel the tomatoes) and slice them

- Mince the garlic

- Chop the parsley

- Heat up the olive oil and saute the bread crumbs for a few minutes until toasted, but don't let them burn

- Add garlic, parsley, sliced tomato, tomato sauce and Vegeta and saute until tomato starts to break down

- Add salt, pepper and white wine and mix well

- Add shrimp and mix well

- Cook covered for about 15 minutes or until shrimp are cooked.

- Serve with Polenta or fresh bread

Prijatno!  Enjoy!  : )