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Savory pumpkin pancakes

Hello blogofriends and foodies! Hope your Sunday is going to be exceptional! May be you planning to go out for a picnic with your family or date out with your beloved.. Whatever you will choose to do today, firstly, do not forget to have a delicious and nourishing breakfast! 😀 Like this one – always favourite pancakes, but this time they are savory: with slightly sweet pumpkin, salty parmesan and aromatic spices!

These pumpkin pancakes are bursting with autumn flavours, plus you can use pumpkin or squash leftovers! Even if the morning is not your favourite part of the day, try to start it with a smile on your face, and you will feel the difference throughout the day! And of course, brighten up the morning with this wonderful breakfast! 🙂

Savory pumpkin pancakes

Servings: 2
Time: 30mins
Difficulty: easy
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Adapted from Jamie Oliver magazine

Ingredients

Pancakes

200g pumpkin/squash puree

1 egg

250ml full-fat milk

150g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

a pinch of fresh nutmeg

1/2-1 tsp chilli flakes

1 sprig rosemary, leaves finely chopped

30-40g finely grated parmesan

olive or sunflower oil for frying

Extra for serving

some grated parmesan

chopped fresh parsley

sour cream, mixed with chopped parsley, lemon juice, S&P

few oak leaves lettuce or any other, optional

In a bowl, mix pumpkin puree with the egg and milk. Stir in flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, chilli, rosemary, parmesan.
Heat a little oil in a frying pan, spoon some of the batter to make a pancake. Cook for 1-2 minutes on each side, until golden. Serve with extra parmesan, if desired.

Enjoy!

Tsvetaeva Apple Pie

On this day, 8 of October, 123 years ago one of the greatest poetess in Russian literature – Marina Tsvetaeva drew the first breath.

She was born in the intelligent family: her father Ivan was a famous philologist, art critic and a professor of Fine Art in Moscow University and mother Maria was a pianist. Marina Tsvetaeva begun to wrote here first poetry being a 6 years old child, her poetry was written not only in Russian, but also in French and German languages. Her mother was terminally ill with tuberculosis and that time was believed that a change in climate could help to cure the disease, so young Marina spend quite a long time in Italy, Switzerland and Germany; lately she studied French literature in famous Sorbonne University.

Tsvetaeva published the very first poetry collection in 1910 on her own money..

Russian Civil war (1917-1922) was severe time for the poetess and here own family. She rejected Russian Revolution and wrote the cycle of poems about the war, glorifying those who fought against the communists. While here husband joined the White Army (anti-communist), she had no support and lived in starvation with her daughters.

In 1922 Marina Tsvetaeva left the Soviet Union and moved to Berlin, lately her family lived in Prague and finally settled in Paris. Unfortunately, living abroad didn’t made here life easier, they lived in poverty and were homesick for Russia. Tsvetaeva did whatever she could: began to write more prose because it made more money than poetry. Meanwhile, her husband and daughter were involved in NKVD (predecessor of KGB), and when French police interrogated Marina Tsvetaeva, she was shocked about news that her husband was a spy. Furthermore, police implicated here son in the murder of former Soviet defector.

Finally, in 1939 she returned to Russia..

Returning to the apple pie recipe and its name. It’s being said that such apple pie was served in the house of Marina Tsvetaeva and her sister Anastasia. Young Marina spent a lot of time with famous poets and writers on the literary evenings, and it’s been known that she served an apple pie to her visitors. I really want to believe that she really had an opportunity to participate and enjoy such evenings, where this tender and delicious apple pie was served. At least there was something striking and good in her life.

Tsvetaeva Apple Pie

Servings: 6-8
Time: 2hr
Difficulty: moderate
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You can make the dough one day ahead and keep it in the fridge.

Ingredients

Dough

150g butter, at room temperature

250g plain flour

4 tbsp sour cream, 30%

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp apple vinegar or lemon juice

Filling

3 sour medium apples

1/2 lemon, juice

250g sour cream, 30%

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract, optional

100g white sugar

2 tbsp plain flour

Method

For the dough, in a large bowl, add butter, sift the flour and mix until mixture resembles crumbs. Add sour cream. Dissolve soda in vinegar or lemon juice and pour in the dough mixture. Mix to combine. Knead a dough a bit, shape into a disk, cover in plastic wrap and put in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Take the baking tin, grease it and line with baking paper. Roll the dough into the circle to fit the baking tin. Put the tin into the fridge.
Preheat the oven to 200C.
Peel (optional), core and thinly slice apples, sprinkle with lemon juice.
In a bowl, with electric or hand whisker beat sour cream with egg and sugar. Add vanilla, if using. Sift the flour. Whisk to combine.
Take the baking tin with dough from the fridge. Arrange apple slices. Pour over the sour cream mixture.
Bake for 20 minutes. Then reduce the heat to 180C and bake for 25 minutes more. If the top begins browning too much, cover it with a foil.
Allow the pie to cool completely in the baking tin. Then carefully transfer the pie onto the serving plate. Slice and serve with cup of hot tea.

The remaining pie cover with a foil and keep in the fridge up to 2 days. The pie will be even better on the next day, as the cream becomes thicker.

Boyar Millet Kasha (Porridge)

Millet is a tiny and round-shaped grain, that usually has a yellowish color. It is edible (and it’s not only for feeding birds) and delicious grain with mild nutty taste. Millet is a quite popular grain in Russia, though not that much as buckwheat, but still it’s widely used and served as a savory side dish or breakfast cereal; and it is also good for adding to stews and soups.

Millet is more than just an interesting alternative to common grains, it is a good source of anti-oxidants and vitamins, especially folic acid, niacin, calcium and iron. Millet is high in fiber and contains no gluten. Moreover, it helps to regulate blood sugar level, which is helpful for diabetics and those trying to lose weight.

Have you ever tried or cooked millet? What’s you favourite way to consume it?

I called today Sunday Breakfast ‘Boyar Millet Kasha (Porridge)’. Boyars were members of the highest rank of the feudal aristocracies in 9-16th centuary in old Russia. They were immensely powerful people and occupied the highest positions in the government: boyars were the major legislators of old Russia, as members of The Boyar Duma (the advisory council to Tzar). Needless to say, it was extremely wealthy class with various privileges. I guess, their everyday food was diverse too, including spices and nuts (which were expensive and not affordable to the lower class), and they could enjoy this beautiful and delicious millet porridge. 🙂

Russian Boyar Millet Kasha (Porridge)

Servings: 3
Time: 30mins
Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

Millet

200g millet

400ml milk

300ml water

a pinch of salt

1 tbsp sugar

Topping

50-60g black or brown raisins

1 large apple

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla, optional

50ml warm water

30g butter

2 tbsp sour cream, optional

2 tbsp chopped walnuts

2 tbsp honey

Wash millet thoroughly under running water.
Warm the milk and water in a medium saucepan, add millet, salt and sugar. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until millet is ready, stirring occasionally. The millet should be creamy, so add more hot water if it’s too dry.
Meanwhile, soak raisins in hot water for 5-10 minutes, drain.
Cut the apple into small cubes. In a small pan, add apple cubes, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, water and simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes or until apple soft.
Stir in butter and sour cream, if using. Stir raisins and apple into the millet (or top). Top with nuts, raisins and drizzle the millet porridge with honey. Serve warm.

Enjoy!

Boyar millet porridge with apple and black raisins

Sweet potato&Raisin Cookies

I had only few tablespoons of leftover mashed sweet potatoes and I couldn’t throw it out. I don’t know how this idea came into my mind when I decided to make cookies, and you know what? Leftover sweet potatoes puree got the new life! I mixed ingredients like for shortbread cookies; I was trying to make it a bit healthier, so I used fine oats instead of plain flour and raisins for a sweet taste. You can even omit the sugar or maple syrup and add more black or golden raisins, they have quite enough its natural sweetness.

And what’s your way of using up leftover puree? 🙂

Sweet potato&Raisin Cookies

Servings: 4
Time: 20mins
Difficulty: easy
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-As you can see I used only 70g of puree, but the recipe can easily be doubled or tripled.

-You can make fine oats by grinding regular oats or use store-bought.

Ingredients

70-80g (3/8 cup) sweet potato puree (without salt or pepper)

12 Tbsp fine oats

5 Tbsp ground almond (almond meal)

25g butter, soft

1 Tbsp brown sugar or maple syrup, optional

1 tsp molasses, optional

50-70g black raisins

1-2 tsp slivered almonds, optional

In a bowl, mix oats with ground almond, add soft butter, sugar (or maple syrup) and molasses if using. Mix until just combine. Fold in raisins.
Make a log (4cm diameter) and cut into 1cm-width discs.
Arrange cookies on a lined the baking sheet. Press into each cookie few almonds, if using. Bake in preheated 180C oven for 12-15 minutes or until light brown color.

Vegetable Tian

The first time I saw a layered vegetable dish, I couldn’t took took my eyes off the screen. It was so colorful and gorgeous! So, I did some research and found out that it’s called ‘tian’. Tian originated in Provance region of France and owes its name to the earthenware shallow dish in which it’s cooked in the oven and then served. It’s also can be describe as a gratin but in the Provencal style. I love such simple and delicious bakes, and I’ve already made various gratins but they are topped with breadcrumbs or cheese, so all its beauty is almost fully covered. I was lucky to buy some yellow zucchini (most of the time its price much higher compare to green ones) and made a beautiful tian! I had such a fun composing it, arranging vegetables slices in layers. 🙂

After making, baking and eating I came to the conclusion that tian is a wonderful and full of flavour dish, which is simple and fun to prepare! And one more note: the more colorful the vegetables – the more attractive the appearance of the tian. 😉

Vegetable Tian

Time: 1hr 30mins
Difficulty: easy
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Potatoes take the most time to cook, so if you want you may parboil potato slices or totally omit it.

Ingredients

yellow or/and green zucchini

eggplants

tomatoes

small potatoes, optional

olive oil

a pinch of dried basil and thyme

sea salt and ground pepper to taste

some grated parmesan or pecorino romano cheese, optional

Wash all the vegetables, clean the skin off the potatoes. Slice finely.
Grease a shallow dish with olive oil, arrange vegetable slices. Sprinkle with herbs, drizzle olive oil, and season generously. Cover loosely with foil.
Cook in preheated 180C oven for 40 minutes. Remove foil, sprinkle some cheese if using and cook uncovered for further 20-35 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.
Serve warm as is or as a side dish to meat.

Enjoy! ❤