How to make your own breadcrumbs, fresh or dried, with or without a food processor. Recipe for homemade Italian breadcrumbs included. How to make breadcrumbs at home? Did you ever make your own breadcrumbs? I do it all the time, I think I haven't bought any store breadcrumbs in years. Well, except the panko breadcrumbs, they are something else. But when it comes to regular dried or fresh breadcrumbs, I never bother to buy any. Not that they are not good, I would always used to buy them at the baker's, made only from bread and free from preservatives. And not that they are expensive either, breadcrumbs are always very cheap. But we eat a lot of bread and we often have some bits and ends of stale bread lying around. We are not very particular generally, if the bread is a few days old, we toast and eat it and it is perfect. But still, there are times when I either bought too much bread or we ate something else that didn't require bread for dinner or whatever. There are always times when you just have too much bread. So, that's teh time for homemade breadcrumbs, I would never...
A basic recipe for roasted shoulder of lamb. You will only need the lamb shoulder, salt and pepper. Seriously, roasting a lamb shoulder could not get any easier. This is a one ingredient recipe, not counting the salt and pepper, which guarantees perfect results and gives you the freedom of choosing any kind of sides you can think of to go with the slow cooked lamb shoulder. Roasted shoulder of lamb recipe I don't even know what to write about this lamb shoulder recipe... It is so easy, so basic, so straightforward, that there just aren't many words I can think of writing about it. No intricate instructions, no caution words, nothing... Just the shoulder of lamb, some salt and pepper, an oven and about 3 hours cooking time. And the results are just wonderful, if you ask me. Actually, although I have cooked lamb in the oven in countless ways over the years, I keep coming back to this basic recipe. I mean, it is so simple, I don't have to do anything in advance or before getting the shoulder of lamb in the oven, I just put it in and wait for it to be ready. Fall off...
How to make crystallized pineapple or candied pineapple, this recipe makes a nice and inexpensive homemade gift. Christmas is approaching fast and I am still some gifts short. I bought lots of stuff for all the importantpeople in my life, but there are still some extras that I would liketo make. First of all, every member of my family will receive a pair of thick woolen socks (added to the regular gifts), I have started knitting for these Christmas socks months ago. I am still two pairs short, but as they are children socks, I hope I will finish them in time. I must finish them in time! Otherwise, I am making cookies, wrapping them nicely and putting them under the Christmas tree, jams and other preserved things for friends and this homemade pineapple candy. This is actually a recipe I made with Harry Potter in mind, better said Professor Horace Slughorn. The professor is a lover of good things, loves his comforts and surrounds himself with fine furniture, lots of cushions and good food. Just like a fussy old lady. But when needed, he definitely knows what to do with his wand. What is candied pineapple? Pineapple candy or...
This is the best lemon meringue pie recipe ever! Ever!!!! With instructions on how to make shortcrust pastry or pie crust. No kidding! I have never had a better one, this lemon meringue pie is just out of this world. Lemon pie, any kind of lemon pie, with or without the meringue, is my favorite kind of pie. So, you can imagine that, over the years, I have baked and eaten quite a few different versions of a lemon meringue pie. But now, that time of ever trying out new lemon meringue pie recipes is over, I don't think I will want to try another lemon meringue pie recipe ever again! No other recipe can beat this one! Easy Lemon Meringue Pie I baked this lemon meringue pie for the first time more than half a year ago. I had actually baked another lemon meringue pie shortly before and even took some pictures, but although the pie was rather good as well, the pictures were just awful. The pie was flat, the lemon pie filling tasty but rather runny, the crust too crumbly. Good enough to eat, but not as good as something that I like to post on...
Amazing Mexican tostadas with chorizo, kidney beans and cheese. With instructions on how to bake tostada shells. I liked or loved everything I cooked during this series dedicated to food from the countries participating to the FIFA World Cup. A few of my favorites were, for instance, the Okonomiyaki or the Choripan con Chimichurri. But these Tostadas with Chorizo and Beans and the Korean Chicken Wings (recipe coming soon) were my absolute favorites. Tostadas with Chorizo and Beans – Mexican Food What are Tostadas? Well, I didn't really know it myself until not long ago. Mexican food is great, everything I have ever tried was fantastic, but truth is, that I have never really tried many Mexican recipes. The reason is that Mexican food is not particularly known in Germany, maybe more in the big cities, but definitely not here where I live. There is not one Mexican restaurant in a range of 100 or 200 km around here, the only one I have ever entered was one in Frankfurt a couple of years ago. I had a burrito with chicken, I remember that, but I cannot say that I found it particularly good, it was OK but not more...
Summer flavors in a bottle – a recipe for homemade elderflower syrup or elderflower cordial: sweet, lemony and more aromatic than any other syrup I know. I wasn't sure about the right way of spelling sirup. Either sirup or syrup. So I googled it and found this: Syrup is an alternative form of sirup. As nouns the difference between syrup and sirup is that syrup is any thick liquid that is added to or poured over food as a flavoring and has a high sugar content also any viscous liquid, while sirup is (obsolete) a thick and viscid liquid made from the juice of fruits, herbs, etc, boiled with sugar. This elderflower syrup is made from flowers and boiled with sugar so “sirup”, but you can pour it over pancakes or ice cream for instance as a flavoring, so “syrup”. In the end is whatever you prefer. I chose syrup now, because after looking here and there, I feel that most people use the form “syrup”. Homemade Elderflower Syrup or Elderflower Cordial What are elderflowers? Elderflowers are the blossoms of the elder tree, also known as Sambucus nigra, Black Elder, Ellhorn, Pipe tree, Bore tree, Eller and Holler. The elder trees are small hedgerow trees and their blossoms –...
Crispy and utterly delicious homemade pretzel chips. Made with leftover soft pretzel, some olive oil and some spices, this is one of the easiest homemade snacks I know. Not to mention one of the tastiest as well. A very easy, quick, cheap and totally delicious recipe today: homemade pretzel chips made out of leftover soft pretzels. I do love leftover recipes, I hate throwing away food and I am always searching for ideas for using up whatever leftovers I happen to have. I am an expert in using leftover hard-boiled eggs, there are lots and lots of wonderful recipes using leftover hard-boiled eggs on Where Is My Spoon. Have a look at this Creamy Deviled Egg Pasta Salad with Bacon, these Hard Boiled Eggs in Mustard Sauce or this Egg Salad or Egg Sauce with Greek Yogurt and Chives, these are just a sample of my favorite leftover eggs recipes. When it comes to bread, it does happen quite often that we have some leftovers that nobody wants to eat anymore. German bread is excellent, it tastes better than any other bread I have ever had, it is almost always sourdough bread and that helps it keep longer as well, and...
A basic recipe for making baked chicken drumsticks, marinated with paprika or curry powder. From all the easy baked chicken recipes I make on a regular basis, recipes like the Baked Chicken Thighs or the Turmeric Chicken Legs With a Honey Garlic Glaze, this Baked Chicken Drumsticks must be the easiest. This chicken recipe is not only easy and very quick to make, but also versatile, you can change the flavors according to your mood or according to whatever you happen to have in your spice cabinet. I have been making these Baked Chicken Drumsticks for years now and the recipe (if you can call this a recipe) really never disappoints. When it comes to baked chicken it hardly gets any easier. Baked Chicken Drumsticks – Basic Chicken Recipe How to season the chicken drumsticks or chicken legs? As mentioned above there are lots of possibilities when it comes to seasoning the chicken parts. For this blog post I chose my two most common ways of seasoning chicken drumsticks, one version with paprika and one version with curry powder. Most of the times I simply season the chicken with a mixture of salt, pepper and paprika stirred with a...
Simple asparagus soup - the best cream of asparagus soup you could make this spring. And how to make asparagus stock with asparagus woody ends. We love soups! With a passion. All of us, kids included. I know many people, who are not much into soups, especially their children refuse to eat or only eat one or two choice kind of soups. But I've never had this problem with my own kids, well, I think it is hard not to learn to like soup, when you have been served some soup or another at least twice a week since you started on solids... :) I make different kind of soups all the time, like I've said, at least twice a week. From our beloved Romanian Chicken Soup with Semolina Dumplings to creamy soups like this Asparagus Soup – Creamy and Aromatic or the Creamy Mushroom Soup with Cream Cheese to loaded soups like my favorite Turkey Meatball and Vegetable Soup or the Spicy Yellow Split Lentils and Beef Soup with Vegetables. Oh, I have so many soup recipes on my blog, you should not have any difficulty at all in finding one you like! Asparagus Soup – Creamy and Aromatic...
How to roast asparagus in the oven? An easy and quick recipe for oven roasted asparagus with tomatoes, balsamic vinegar and feta cheese. Only 15 minutes in the oven. This is a repost from May 2016. Oven baked asparagus and cherry tomatoes with fennel seeds, topped with feta and dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, it can hardly get any better when it comes to asparagus. Only a few ingredients and very little work, but the resulting dish is worth being served at a dinner party. Or any other time during the short asparagus season, I found this dish to be so good that I keep making it over and over again. Roasted Asparagus Recipe with Tomatoes and Feta This oven roasted asparagus with cherry tomatoes makes an ideal dinner when you want to have something really exquisite, but don't feel like being long in the kitchen. Of course, you will still have to make some sandwiches for the kids - I dare you to name me a kid who would eat asparagus, I've never heard of one until now - but otherwise just mix all the ingredients together on a baking tray and put the tray in the...
Basic recipe for juicy and tender chicken with crispy skin and lemon flavor, perfectly roasted in the oven. Roast chicken: one of the most beloved dishes in the world, probably. Definitely one of my favorite meals. And I can hardly find another dish that makes my kids happier than roast chicken, either a whole roasted chicken or just some chicken thighs or drumsticks. We eat chicken every week in one form or another. A quick meal like these Basic Skillet Chicken Breast or something like these Baked Chicken Legs in Honey Mustard Sauce. Or chicken cooked in some kind of sauce like the Easy Hungarian Chicken Paprikash with Dumplings or the Skillet Chicken in Garlic and Roast Pepper Sauce. And not to forget the many chicken soups I make, from the most common Chicken Stock and Romanian Semolina Dumpling Soup to Asian Chicken Ginger Broth. You should try all these recipes, if you like chicken, you will be happy. Do you wash chicken before cooking? The answer is a clear NO! Do not wash the chicken before you cook it, it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever as only cooking the bird until it reaches an internal temperature of at least...
This is the recipe for the typical Romanian Eggplant / Aubergine Salad or spread, made with roasted eggplants and mayonnaise or oil. Here you have it: an updated post describing in detail each method of grilling eggplants, roasting eggplants on the stove top or baking eggplants in the oven. And using those wonderfully roasted eggplants or aubergines to make the most delicious Romanian Eggplant / Aubergine Salad or spread either dressed with mayonnaise and garlic or with sunflower oil and onions. This is another one of the most cooked and eaten Romanian recipes. It is absolutely great and I've been eating all my life, there is just one thing I cannot really understand. Why is this the only thing Romanians ever cook with eggplants? I mean, it is really delicious, it is cheap and easy to make, but still... eggplants are so great and so versatile... since having learned how to cook I've been eating eggplants cooked in about a hundred ways and a lot of these ways tasted at least just as good as this salad. Or maybe it was just my grandmother who did not know or care to know about another way of cooking eggplants? I think...
This is the easiest, most straightforward way of preserving apricots. Not to mention it is very low-sugar. And not only apricots, I preserve the cherries and the gooseberries growing in my garden the same way. I love this method because it is so simple, it involves the minimum amount of work and time and on top of that it uses just a little sugar. No sugar bombs in a jar, just a hint of sweetness, giving you the freedom of using the preserves in any way you like later on, not worrying if maybe they are already too sweet or anything. The fruit softens slightly but keeps its shape and structure, the fruit remains almost as “al dente” as fresh. So all you have to do actually, is to clean and sterilize your jars, wash and stone the fruit and boil the jars for about 20 minutes. I find this method especially suitable during the time when there are lots and lots of fruits growing in my garden, so many that I barely have the time to do more laborious work. For instance, we have this huge cherry tree, which bestows us with extremely large amounts of cherries almost every...
Soft and delicious rice pudding topped with a tangy and easy to make apricot sauce. Who doesn't like a nice, creamy, luscious rice pudding? I really can't think of one person who would refuse that... And then everything topped with this bright colored, tangy and sweet apricot sauce. Love it! I could have it every week. Well, I don't manage to make it quite every week, there are so many other things I like to cook all the time that even the classics get neglected sometimes, but I could say that we have rice pudding about once a month. Even if I forget about it for a bit longer sometimes, I can be sure that at some point or another one of my kids would ask about it: “Mama, when are you making rice pudding again? This evening? Tomorrow?” And I never say no, I might say no to pizza or a calorie-loaded pasta casserole from time to time, but I never manage to say no to rice pudding. It used to be one of my favorite sweet dishes as a kid as well and I remember asking my grandmother so often to make it again, but most times she...
