Tag Archives: midweek meal

Leftovers wholemeal galette

 If you could have a look at my freezer you would found there a disc of shortcrust pastry. It’s very handy to have one there, so once you don’t know what to cook or unexpectedly a friend decided to come over, you can prepare a nice tasty galette (or mini quiches, click here for the ideas) in almost no time. Tip: make a couple of crusts ahead, shape into discs (it takes less space in the freezer and then easier to roll out) and freeze. For the filling you can use almost whatever you can find in your fridge or even freezer, wether it is savory or sweet stuff. And another tip: freeze roasted or boiled chicken, deli ham leftovers; or if you bought too many fruits and berries, clean and cut them and freeze as well.
 This time I had a roasted chicken and gammon leftovers, I combined both. Gammon was a bit dry, so probably I won’t use it next time. But the chicken tasted quiet nice, especially mixed with lots of leeks sautéed in a butter and few cherry tomatoes. Some cream cheese (on any other cheese) on top makes this delicious wholemeal galette only better.
Leftovers Wholemeal Galette
If you fancy to try sweet galette click here. Cherry one!  😉

Leftovers wholemeal galette

  • Servings: 4-6
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients 
Wholemeal shortcrust pastry
100g wholemeal flour
100g plain flour
120g butter
1-2 tbsp iced cold water
Filling
roasted chicken leftovers
leek, sautéed in butter&oil
few cherry tomatoes, cut into halves
2 quill eggs (1 egg yolk separated), optional
some cream cheese
S&P to taste
Method
  • For the pastry combine ingredients, shape into a disc and keep in the fridge for 30 minutes, or freeze until needed.
  • Roll out the pastry into 2-3mm thick disk, arrange filling. Pour over slightly bitten eggs, if using. Dot with creame cheese. Fold in the pastry edges. Brush with remaining egg yolk.
  • Bake in preheated 180C oven for 30 minutes.
Enjoy!

Barley and Vegetables salad

  Hello, lovely readers. I miss blogging, baking cakes whenever I want.. Honestly, I have no idea how some new-mums  manage to post often. May be their husbands or sisters cook, take photos and then write posts. 😀 Even if you don’t know what mom has been up to all day, just believe me she is often so busy! There are endless tasks – feeding, playing, caring, plus laundry, cooking.. Motherhood turned out wonderful, emotional, sometimes crazy and difficult; so I still need to organize this new life somehow..
 I have always wanted to prepare those colorful and beautifully arranged on a plate salads, that I’ve seen million times on the Internet, but never get a chance to do. Finally, few months back I made it (haha, exactly months, not even weeks). This delicious salad is super healthy and extremely easy to prepare plus it can be made ahead and then reheated, if you wish. I prefer it’s served warm over chilled.
barley-vegetables-salad

Barley and Vegetables salad

  • Difficulty: super easy
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Ingredients
pearl barley, cooked
roasted red and yellow pepper
roasted eggplant
cherry tomatoes, sliced
feta
olives, optional
sliced red onion, fresh or pickled
fresh chopped parsley
pine and pistachio nuts, chopped, optional
Dressing
lime or lemon juice
EV olive oil (or your fav veg oil)
salt, pepper to taste
Method
  1. Arrange barley and all other ingredients on a large serving plate.
  2. In a small jar combine dressing ingredients, shake well and pour over salad.
Enjoy!

Rigatoni with mini meatballs

 Pasta is always wanted and favourite meal in my family. One of the important thing – it shouldn’t be overcooked, then I add some sauce and voilà – super speedy and tasty dish is on the table! During this week I made these rigatoni. They look awesome and tasty, don’t they? 🙂 I also had some minced veal in the freezer, plus a can of whole tomatoes and fresh basil. You simply can’t go wrong with these nice ingredients! This flavourful and tasty lunch or dinner can be ready in a half hour or less. Enjoy!Rigatoni with mini meatballs

Rigatoni with mini meatballs

  • Servings: 2
  • Difficulty: easy
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You can also add a quail egg to the meat mixture, optional.
Ingredients 
250g dry rigatoni
Mini meatballs
150-160g veal or beef, finely minced
1 tbsp finely chopped onion
1/2 tsp dried marjoram
freshly ground sea salt and black pepper, to taste
Tomato sauce
1 shallot or 1/4 medium onion
1/2 tsp dried garlic (or 1 chopped garlic clove), optional
1 can of whole tomatoes (about 250g drained)
1/3 tsp dried oregano leaves
1 tsp dark muscovado sugar (or sub with white)
freshly ground sea salt and black pepper, to taste
1 tbsp olive oil, for frying
Garnish
some parmesan shavings
few basil leaves
Method
  1. In a bowl, mix meat mince with onion and all spices. Shape small meatballs – about 2cm in diameter. Place them in a greased baking tin and roast in preheated 200C oven for 15-20 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a frying pan on a medium-high heat, add chopped onion and garlic, saute for 5-7 minutes. Add whole tomatoes, roughly crush them with a spoon. Add oregano, sugar, salt and pepper, and simmer on a low-medium heat for 5-8 minutes until it’s thicken a bit.
  3. Transfer mini meatballs in a tomato sauce, cover and simmer for 5 minutes more. Adjust the seasoning.
  4. Bring a large pan of salted water to boil. Add dried rigatoni and cook according instruction on a pack. Drain, drizzle with olive oil.
  5. Put rigatoni on a serving plate, pour over the tomato sauce with mini meatballs. Top with parmesan shavings and basil leaves.

Enjoy!

Wheel bread with herbs

 I believe almost everyone loves freshly-baked bread. I bet you can easily imagine its irresistible aroma right now in the air.. 😉 If you have ever tried to make your own bread, you may know that it’s a complex and work-intensive process, especially if you’re making a starter for the dough. The fermentation takes up to 4 days, and you need to keep an eye on the starter and feed it almost like a baby. So, not everybody has a patience or simply time to make it, and for those mankind created yeast! Using yeast makes our lives easier (at least for me); such dough doesn’t take all that much time, and you only need a few ingredients to make a simple bread. And definitely homemade bread is tastier that a store-bought one.

 It wasn’t complicated at all to make this beautiful wheel bread. Actually, it reminds me more a pie without a filling, but I absolutely love its texture (because of corn flour) and awesome herb-y smell! Wheel bread with herbs

I recommend consuming it the same day it’s made.
Ingredients for 6-8 Servings
Dough:
8-9g instant yeast
2 tsp white sugar
200g corn flour
300g plain flour
1 tsp salt
320ml warm water
Filling:
3 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
5-6 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped 
2 tbsp olive oil
salt, freshly ground pepper to taste
 
Method
  1. In a cup, put yeast and sugar, add some warm water, stir, cover and keep for 10 minutes.
  2. In a large bowl, sift flours, add salt. Then stir in the yeast. Slowly add all warm water and knead the dough. Place the dough on a table and knead it, then put back into bowl, cover with plascti wrap or towel and leave to rise for 40-60 minutes.
  3. For the fiiling, in a small bowl combine all ingredients.
  4. On a lightly floured surface kneed the dough lightly. Roll out into 5-6mm thick circle, cut into 5-6cm width strips. Spread the fiiling on the dough. Then arrange all strips into ‘a rose’ (on a lined baking sheet), starting from the smallest strip, continue rolling other strips around it.
  5. Bake in preheated oven 190C for 25-30 minutes.
  6. Allow it to cool slightly on a wire cooling rack. Serve with a glass of milk or cup of tea.
Enjoy!
Adapted from here

Coriander Chicken Drumsticks

 Today I realized that I haven’t ate chicken for quite a long time. When I was a teenager chicken drumsticks weren’t available as a separate part of a chicken. When my mother wanted to prepare chicken for dinner she used to buy whole chicken thighs and cook it as is or cut into two parts.. I’m not even sure that drumsticks are on sale in Russian stores now, may be except the capital. Anyway, nicely spiced and roasted chicken drumsticks is a good and quick-to-cook midweek meal (with some rice or potatoes on a side) or a very good accompaniment to a beer! For this recipe I grind dried coriander seeds, then add turmeric and mild paprika, stir into the meat along with olive oil and let it marinade. If you’re hungry, skip the marinating and roast it straightaway! 🙂Coriander Chicken Drumsticks

Coriander Chicken Drumsticks

  • Servings: 2-3
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients
500g chicken drumsticks (I used without skin)
2-3 tsp dried coriander seeds
1 tsp turmeric
3/4 tsp mild paprika (or hot if you like)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp lime juice (or lemon)
2-3 garlic clove, unpeeled
freshly ground black and white pepper, to taste
sea salt, to taste
  • Grind or crush coriander seeds, mix with turmeric and paprika. Combine with olive oil and lime juice. Rub the marinade into chicken drumsticks. Add garlic cloves, season generously with pepper and salt to taste. Cover and leave to marinade in the fridge for 1-3 hours, or skip this step and arrange chicken (with all marinade juices) onto a baking tray or dish.
  • Bake in the preheated 200C oven for 20 minutes. Then low the heat to 150C, cover with a piece of foil and bake for 10 minutes longer or until the drumsticks have cooked through.
  • Serve warm, but they are also good cold. The cooked drumsticks will keep in the fridge for 2 days.

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