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Salad “Tashkent”

 Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan, one of the former USSR countries. According to one version this salad was created in Moscow during USSR times, when Soviet government set the task to popularize the various national cuisines of the Soviet Union. Due to a very limited availability of the ingredients in most parts of the USSR, Soviet cuisine can be characterized as simple. So, the salad also had to be simple, tasty and nourishing. Another version says that the salad was created by chef of the “Tashkent” restaurant in Moscow, where it also was served for the first time.
 Main ingredients are boiled beef and green radish, sounds simple but believe me the salad will be very tasty! Unhealthy side is dressing, because it’s mayonnaise. So, I suggest to make and eat this salad during weekend, or serve it for a special occasion and everyone will certainly be in awe. 😉 You can also substitute mayo with sour cream, but the taste will be slightly different. Another option for dressing is flavorful sunflower oil, that sometimes mixed with a teaspoon of vinegar. Chose the option and enjoy the salad! 
Tashkent Salad
  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients 
400-500g beef fillet
800-900g green radish (I used daikon/Chinese white radish)
4 eggs, hard-boiled
1 large brown onion
2 tbsp sunflower oil for frying
100-150g mayonnaise for dressing (or sour cream/sunflower oil)
fresh chopped coriander or parsely for serving, optional
pomegranate seeds for serving, optional
salt, black pepper to taste
 
Preparation
  1. In a large pan, put the raw meat, cover with cold water, season with salt. Bring to boil, remove the foam, reduce the heat to medium, and simmer for 50-60 minutes. Optionally, you can add few peppercorns, bay leaf, small onion to get aromatic stock which you can use later. Cool the meat, then cut into julienne (thin strips).
  2. Cut eggs into thin strips. Optionally, instead of cutting eggs into strips you can cut them into 4 wedges and garnish the salad.
  3. Cut radish into julienne. Sprinkle radish with salt and let stand for 15 minutes, drain the liquid. If you are using green radish, cover it with cold water and leave for 1 hour to get rid of bitterness; then drain the water.
  4. Thinly slice the onion into half-moon. Heat the oil and fry the onion until golden-brown.
  5. In a large serving bowl, mix radish with onion, add beef, season with salt and pepper. Carefully stir in eggs and dress with mayonnaise. Garnish with coriander/parsley and pomegranate seeds.

Sharing at lovely Fiesta Friday party by Angie, and co-hosts this time Jhuls and Laurie.

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.Sweet potato and raisins Cookies

 And what’s your way of using up leftover puree? 🙂
Sweet Potato Oatmeal Raisins Cookies

Sweet potato&Raisin Cookies

  • Servings: 4
  • 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.

 

Olive Oil and Rosemary Crackers

 I’ve been on a homemade everything kick for a quite long time.. 😀 Homemade crackers is not an exception. I’ve tried lots of crackers recipes and usually crackers turned out like cookies, not very crunchy, tasted like shortbread cookies, or I was unable to roll out dough thinly. Finally, after tasting and comparing different recipes, I created my own recipe of salty crackers. You need only few ingredients to prepare these amazingly tasty, crunchy and aromatic crackers! The dough contains extra virgin olive oil and rosemary, natural bitterness and pepperyness of the oil and piney aroma of the herb give incredible taste and smell to the dough and crackers. You can make sticks, twists or roll out the dough very thinly and cut out any shape you like. I enjoy these crackers as is, it’s a nice midday snack; you can also make a sauce and dip crackers into it.Crackers Twists

This edible bouquet for all beautiful and wonderful ladies, who has brought many tasty dishes to Fiesta Friday party today! A feast for the eyes and the stomach! 😉Rosemary Crackers Bouquet

Olive Oil and Rosemary Crackers

  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients
160g strong/bread flour
130g wholemeal flour + more if needed
3/4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground sea salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black or white pepper
1.5-2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary 
150ml water
90ml extra virgin olive oil
 
  • In a large bowl, mix flours, baking powder, salt, pepper, rozemary. Add water and mix with a spatula or wooden spoon. Add olive oil and mix again. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead with hands. Add a bit more flour if the dough is too sticky.
  • Cut the dough into equal 6-8 pieces. Roll each piece into circle as thinly as you like, cut into squares, diamond shape. You can also cut into strips (1.5-2cm width, 15cm length) and then twist each strip.
  • Place crackers on a baking sheet and bake in preheated 220-230C (450F) oven for 10-11 minutes or until golden color.

I keep crackers in airtight container in the fridge up to 5 days.

 
Enjoy!
#6 Olive oil and rosemary crackers

Moroccan lamb with peas

 Lamb is a very popular type of meat in Morocco and Arabic countries. This stew gets Moroccan flavours from a mixture of aromatic spices such as ginger, turmeric, thyme and cumin. Would be nice if you could find a dried lemon, it adds slightly citrusy aroma, or you can use preserved lemons which are widely-used in Moroccan cuisine. This hearty and tasty stewed lamb with aromatic saffron rice is perfect to share with you family! Moroccan lamb with peas (and saffron rice)

Moroccan lamb with peas and saffron rice.

  • Servings: 3
  • Difficulty: easy
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Adapted from “a little taste of Morocco”
Ingredients
500g lamb, cut into 3-4cm pieces
1+1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion
1 garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
1/3 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 dried lemon
200ml water
1/2 tsp dried thyme
100g fresh or frozen peas
2 tbsp chopped parsley or coriander leaves
2 tsp chopped fresh mint
salt, black pepper to taste
 
  1. Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a large saucepan. Add lamb pieces and brown all over; remove to a dish.
  2. Add more olive oil and onion, fry on a low heat for 5 minutes. Add garlic, spices and lemon and cook for a minute more. Add water, give a good stir, return lamb to the saucepan and season to taste. Bring to boil, reduce the heat to very low, add thyme, cover with a lid and simmer for 50 minutes. 
  3. Add peas, chopped parsley and mint, cover with the lid and simmer for 10 minutes. Open the lid and simmer for 10-15 minutes more to reduce the liquid a bit.
  4. Serve with saffron rice.
Saffron rice
180g long-grain rice
1 tbsp olive oil
300ml water
a pinch of salt
1/3 tsp saffron threads
15g butter
 
  1. In a saucepan, bring water to boil, add saffron, turn the heat off and leave to infuse for 15-20 minutes.
  2. Wash the rice, drain. Heat oil in a pan, add rice and stir well to coat evenly in the oil, stir-fry for a minute.
  3. Add rice and salt to the saffron water, bring to boil and boil for 1 minute. Reduce heat to very low, cover with a lid and cook for 9-10 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave the pan covered for 8-10 minutes. Add butter and fluff with a fork.
Fes {Morocco}

Apple Scones

 Many of you heard about these lovely biscuits, which are called scones. Whenever I see or hear ‘scones’ I immediately imagine the Queen of the United Kingdom, how she’s drinking her 5 o’clock tea, beautiful china teacups are set on a huge royal table, and elegant waitresses serving various treats and of course scones! Did you know that originally scone was round and flat, usually as a medium-sized plate, it was made with oats and baked on a griddle, and only after that cut into triangular sections for serving. Only when baking powder became available and popular, scones began to be the oven-baked. Nowadays, scones are widely liked and popular not only in Britain. Saying honestly, scones aren’t popular in Russia, may be because of large and good variety of cookies and other cakes. Here, in the UAE the same thing, they are not sold in regular bakeries and stores, so I decided to make scones myself and here the result – buttery and tasty triangle scones. 🙂Triangle apple scones

Apple Scones

  • Servings: 6-8
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients
150g plain flour
100-120g wholemeal flour
1/2 tsp salt
1.5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp orange or lemon zest
2 tsp cinnamon
100g sugar
110g butter, very cold
110g sour cream
1 egg
1 apple
1 tsp lemon juice
Glazing
100g powdered sugar
1-2 tbsp lemon juice
  • In a large bowl or food processor, combine flours, salt, baking powder, sugar, zest, cinnamon. Grate the butter or cut into small cubes, add to the flour mixture and mix in. Knead the dough.
  • In a small bowl, add sour cream, egg and whisk to combine until smooth. Pour the mixture over dry and fold until just combined.
  • Peel, core and cut apple into small cubes, sprinkle with lemon juice. Fold apple cubes into dough until just combined.
  • Put the dough on a lightly floured surface, shape into 20-23cm and 2cm thick disk. With a knife slice the disk into 6-8 wedges.
  • Transfer wedges on a lined baking sheet with some space apart. Bake in preheated 180C oven for 15 minutes. Allow scones to cool on a baking sheet for 5 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, prepare the glazing. In a small bowl, sift icing sugar and whisk with lemon juice until smooth. Drizzle scones with the glazing.
Enjoy tea-time!
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