Cous-cous Salad

Cous-cous is so easy to prepare! I always have a box of cous-cous in my pantry, and whenever I don't know what to serve as a side dish, I make cous-cous.
Fresh vegetables and herbs are perfect  companions in a salad.

Ingredients:
1 cup of cous-cous (1 cup of boiling water for it, salt, pepper)
salad vegetables (tomatoes, cucumber, capsicums...), diced
2 green onions, sliced
1/2 bunch of parsley leaves, chopped
2-3 tbs olive oil
1-2 tbs lemon juice
1 clove garlic, crushed (optional)
Method:
Pour boiling water over cous-cous, cover and let it stand for 5-10 minutes, then fluff it up with fork, seasoning to your taste.
Dice and slice all vegetables and herbs. Mix it with cous-cous and dress with olive oil and lemon juice.
Perfect with grilled meat.

Kuskus salata

Kuskus je tako zahvalan za imati u kuhinji. Kad god ne znam sta da napravim za prilog, ja posegnem za kuskusom. Brzo i lako, odlicno za iskoristiti povce i zacinsko bilje iz frizidera.

Potrebno:

1 solja kuskusa (prelivena sa 1 soljom kljucajuce vode, so, biber)

salatno povrce (paradajz, krastavci, paprike...)sjeckano na kockice
2 mlada luka, sjeckana
1/2 sveznja persunovog lisca, sjeckana
2-3 K maslinovog ulja
1-2 K soka limuna
1 ceno bijelog luka, protisnuto (po zelji)
Nacin: 
Prelijte kljucalu vodu preko kuskusa; pokrijte i ostavite 5-10 minuta. Viljuskom 'grebite' dok ne odvojite zrnca; zacinite po ukusu.
Isjeskajte sve ostale sastojke, pomijesajte sa kuskusom i prelijte maslinovim uljem i sokom limuna.
Najbolje sluziti sa pecenim (grilovanim) mesom.

Apples in Chocolate Cake

3 years ago I posted my first recipe. Since then I wrote  350 posts, gained 300 followers and more than 230 000 visits.  Great milestone, as I didn't think I would last so long. For that occasion, I made a beautifully moist and gluten free cake. Cheers!

Ingredients:
7-8 small apples, peeled and cored (left whole)
5 eggs
200 g sugar
120 g butter, melted
150 gr walnuts (or other nuts), grounded
40 g cocoa
1 tsp vanilla
Method:
Preheat oven to 170*C. Prepare a 22 cm spring form, line with baking paper.
Beat sugar and eggs, until light and fluffy. Add melted butter, walnuts and cocoa. Fold in.
Place apples  inside of spring form  close to the edge (but not touching them). Pour prepared mixture, making sure that wholes on apples are filled too. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool slightly, then turn over onto serving plate, take the paper off, slice and serve with cream (optional)

 Jabuke u  Čokoladnom kolaču

Na danasnji dan, prije 3 godine je krenuo moj prvi post. Od tada  sam napisala 350 postova, dobila 300 sljedbenika i vise od 230 000 posjetilaca. Nije lose, obzirom da nisam mislila da cu trajati tako dugo. Za tu priliku evo jednog socnog kolaca bez glutena. U zdravlje!

Potrebno:
7-8 manjih jabuka, oguljene i izvadjena sredina (ostavite ih cijele)
5 jaja
200 gr secera
120 gr maslaca, otopljenog
150 gr oraha (ili drugih orasastih plodova), samljevenih
40 gr kakaa
1 k vanile
Nacin:
Ukljucite rernu na 170*C, pripremite obruc za torte i postavite pepir za pecenje na njega.
Miksajte secr sa jajima, dok ne uspjeni. Dodajte maslac, orahe i kakao. Rucno umijesajte.
Postavite jabuke na pleh u krug, ali da ne dodiruju ivice obruca. Uspite pjenasu smjesu, pazeci da i supljine u jabukama ispunite. Pecite oko 45-50 min, ili dok ubodenu cackalicu ne izvucete sasvim suhu. Prohladite, izvrnite naopako na tanjir za serviranje, skinite papir i izrezite. Servirajte sa tucenim vrhnjem (po zelji)

Rose Petals Cordial

Rose petals are edible. In Bosnia (and many other countries) they're used for making cordials and jams. Only non-hybrid roses can be used, as only they have specific smell / aroma. Red roses give beautiful refreshing drink, while white roses are mostly used for jams.

Ingredients: (for 1L of cordial)
6 large red roses (petals only), quickly washed in cold water
1 1/2 tsp citric acid granules (from your supermarket)
a 500 ml jar with lid
water
1 1/4 cup sugar + 1 cup water (for syrup)
Method:
Place rose petals into a jar, sprinkle citric acid on top and pour water to the top. Close the lid, shake jar well until citric acid solved. Place jar into sunny spot for at least 48 hours.
After 2  days, strain water with rose petals into a bottle. Boil sugar with 1 cup water and let it cool slightly. Pour it in bottle with rose water and shake well. Keep refrigerated. Use as cordial.
Note: If you boil strained petals with 1/2 cup sugar (6-8 minutes in microwave), you'll get rose jam!

Sirup od Ružinih Latica

Kao sto znate, ruzine latice se mogu koristiti u prehrani. U nasim krajevima (a i sire) se koriste za pravljenje sirupa i dzema. Samo ne-hibridne ruze mozete koristiti, jer imaju specificnu aromu, za razliku od hibridnih, koje gotovo da nemaju nikakav miris. Crvene ruze se uglavnom koriste za pripremanje sirupa, dok se bijele ruze upotrebljavaju za pravljenje dzemova.

Potrebno: (za 1 L sirupa)

6 velikih crvenih ruza, latice saprane u hladnoj vodi

1,5 k limunske (citricne) kiseline - granule

1/2 L zapremine tegla / galon sa poklopcem

voda

1 1/4 solje secera + 1 solja vode - za sirup

Nacin:

Smjestite latice ruza u teglu, pospite sa limunskom kiselinom i zalijte vodom. Zavrnite poklopac, dobro izmuckajte sadrzinu i ostavite na suncanu poziciju najmanje 48 sati.

Nakon 2 dana, procijedite sadrzaj u flasu od 1 l. Prokuhajte secer sa 1 soljom vode, malo prohladite. Naspite u flasu sa ruzinom vodom i dobro promijesajte. Smjestite u frizider; koristite kao sirup za osvjezavajuci napitak. 

Napomena:  Ako preostale latice ruze prokuhate sa 1/2 solje secera (u mikrovalnoj 6-8 minuta), dobicete dzem od ruza!

Tomatoes

 
Tomatoes are full of vitamin C, which is powerfully anti-viral and crucial for good functioning of the imune system. They're packed with lycopene (type of carotenoid) that helps prevent the cancer, particularly prostate cancer. Beta-carotene in tomatoes is necessary for production of vitamin A, that helps to mantain healthy thymus gland, which plays vital role in immune response. Vitamin E in tomatoes helps to protect body from toxins.
Cooking tomatoes releases the lycopene, making it more available to the body.
Properties:
-Anti-cancer
-Anti-viral
-Antioxidants (Vitamins B3, C, E, betacarotene, lycopene, potassium)

All  tomato recipes

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Paradajzi / rajcica / pomidori su puni vitamina C, koji je mocan protiv virusa i neophodan za dobro funkcionisanje imunog sistema. Bogati su likopenom, (vrsta karotenoida) koji pomaze prevenciju raka, posebno raka prostate. Beta-karoten u paradajzu je neophodan za proizvodnju vitamina A, koji pomaze odrzavanju zdravog timusa (zlijezda iza grudne kosti), koji igra vitalnu ulogu u aktivnom imunom sistemu. Vitamin E u paradajzima pomaze zastititi organizam od otrova.
Kuhanje pradajza oslobadja likopen, koji onda lakse apsorbovan od strane tijela.
Uloge:
-Anti-kancerogene
-Anti- virusne
-Antioksidantne (vitamin i B3, C, E, betakaroten, likopene, kalijum)
Svi moji recepti

Italian Filled Tomatoes

Best, quickest tomato sauce

Tabouli

Tomato Soup ... feel-good-soup

German Liver Dumplings (Leberknoedel)

These dumplings are usually served with soup / broth, or in a thick gravy-like sauce as stew (in that case you'll have to double the recipe and make dumpling larger). Speciality of German countries.
I like them with a lot of parsley leaves and black pepper.

Ingredients:
250 g livers (veal or chicken)
1 tsp butter, melted
1 egg, beaten
1 cup bread crumbs
1-2 tbs flour
1 clove garlic, crushed
(a bit of milk if needed)
1-3 tbs parsley leaves, chopped finally
salt and black pepper, to taste
Method:
Process all ingredients, take spoonfulls of this mixture and roll between your hands.  Place them into a pan with boiling soup of your choice.  Cook until dumplings come to surface; plate and serve with extra parsley leaves on top.

  
Jetrene knedlice 

Ove knedlice su obicno servirane u supi /juhi ili u gustom sosu same po sebi (u tom slucaju morate napraviti duplu smjesu i praviti ih vecim). Specijalni recept Germanskih zemalja.
Ja licno ih volim sa mnogo persunovog lisca i svjeze mljevenim crnim biberom.

Potrebno:
250 gr pilece ili telece dzigerice / jetre
1 K maslaca, rastopljen
1 jaje, umuceno
1 solja suhih mrvica hljeba / krusne mrvice
1-2 K brasna
1 ceno bijelog luka, protisnuto
(malo mlijeka, po potrebi)
1-3 K persunovog lisca, sitno sjeckano
so i crni biber, po ukusu 
Nacin:
Stavite sve sastojke u elektricnu sjeckalicu  dok se sastojci ne usitne i pomijesaju. Uzimajte kasikom i oblikujte kuglice rukama. Spustajte u kljucalu supu po vasem izboru i kuhajte dok se kuglice ne pojave na povrsini. Uspite i sluzite sa  posutim persunovim liscem.

Mushroom strudel

Happy Easter to Orthodox Christians; Happy St. George's day! 
  
Ingredients:
Dough-
2 cups plain flour, sifted
200 ml(+)water
1/2 teas salt   
Mixture of oil and melted butter for spreading the dough
Mushroom filling-
650-700 g mushrooms, sliced
1 tbs olive oil
2 tbs sour cream
1-2 tbs bread crumbs
salt and pepper, to taste
garlic powder (optional)

Method:
Make soft dough; click on highlighted  link for details: How to stretch  the dough 
Mix sliced mushrooms with other ingredients. Sprinkle on half of dough, spoon 1-2 tbs oil over stretched dough, roll pastry into a log shape (tuck side edges in). Brush with oil and bake for 35-40 minutes at 180*C. Divine!

Štrudla sa šampinjonima

Srecan Uskrs (Vaskrs) onima koji danas slave!
Srecan Djurdjevdan / Jurjevo  (kod mene je vec ponedjeljak)! 

Najljepse memorije nosim vezan za ovaj dan koji je slavljen kod svih etnickih grupa u mom kraju. Sacuva se crveno jaje (od bilo kojeg Uskrsa), porani se ujutro rano i otidje u berbu mirisnih trava i sarenih cvjetova proljeca; sve se potopi u izvorsku vodu (jaje i biljke) i tom vodom se djevojke umivaju. Vjerovalo se da ce biti zdrave, jedre, mirisne i rumene kao sastojci u vodi. 

Sastojci:
Tijesto-
2 solje prosijanog brasna
200 ml (+) vode 
1/2 k soli 
Mjesavina topljenog maslaca i ulja za premazivanje tijesta
Fil-
650-700 g sampinjona, rezanih
1 K ulja
2 K pavlake
1-2 K mrvica kruha / hljeba
so i biber prema ukusu
bijeli luk u prahu (po zelji) 
Nacin:
Mozete pogledati na link za detalje: Kako da razvucete tijesto 
Za fil, pomijesajte sve sastojke. Nanesite na 1/2 razvucenog tijesta, pospite sa malo ulja, zatim zarolajte (zavrcuci krajeve). Premazite uljem i pecite 35-40 min na 180*C. 
Divna je!

Flodni / Fluden

After months and months of researching and hesitating, finally I  found a good reason to make this famous  Hungarian-Jewish cake. Traditionally, it's made in a form of slices (rectangle); I decided to bake it in  form of a round (birthday) cake. It does take time, but it's not overly complicated. Result is so worth; 5 layers of pastry, 4 layers of filling...all melting in your mouth.
Happy birthday my dear M!

Ingredients:
-Pastry
500 g flour
250 g butter, diced
100 g icing sugar
2 yolks
1 egg, beaten (reserve 2 tbs for brushing top pastry layer)
120 ml white wine (or apple juice)
-Poppy seed filling
250 g poppy seeds, grounded
120 g sugar
2-3 tbs honey
120 ml white wine (or apple juice)
zest of 1/2 orange (or lemon, or mandarin)
1-2 tbs rum (optional)
-Apple filling
1 kg apples, peeled and grated (7- 8 apples)
100 g sugar
1-2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbs semolina
-Walnut filling
250 g walnuts, grounded
120 g sugar
100 ml white wine (or apple juice)
-Final filling
500 g  (a jar) of thick plum / prune jam
1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)

Method:
Pastry- rub butter pieces with flour (it's ok to use food processor) , add other ingredients and make dough. Divide into 5, cover with a cloth and let it rest.
Poppy seed and walnut fillings- Put all ingredients (separately) in 2 pans; cook for few minutes (I use microwave for this). Let it cool.
Apple filling- Grate apples. Let them rest 5 minutes, then squeeze excess juice. Mix apples with sugar, cinnamon and semolina.
Plum filling- mix plum jam with cinnamon.
Roll out 3 parts of the dough  slightly bigger than tin which you're going to use (25 cm circle in my case); prick with fork and bake each for 5-6 minutes (they will shrink slightly).
Now you have 2 unbaked and 3 baked pastries.
Assembly-
1- Unbaked pastry at the bottom of a cake tin
2- Poppy seed filling
3- Baked pastry
4- Apple filing
5- Baked pastry
6- Walnut filling
7- Baked pastry
8- Jam filling
9- Unbaked pastry
Brush top of the dough with remaining egg, prick with fork and place in oven 180*C for 10 minutes, then lower to 160-170 *C and bake for another 40 minutes. Let it rest overnight before slicing.

Flodni

Nakon mjeseci i mjeseci istrazivanja i neodluke, konacno je stigao dan (i razlog) da pokusam napraviti ovaj poznati Madjarsko-Jervejski kolac.  Tradicionalno se pravi u obliku pravougaonika; Ja sam odlucila da ga napravim  u okruglom obliku (rodjendanske) torte. Treba vremena za njega, ali nije pretjerano komplikovan. Rezultat vrijedi ulozenog truda; 4 sloja razlicitih filovanja, odvojeni sa 5 slojeva tijesta, koji se tope u ustima.
Sretan rodjendan mom  dragom M!


Potrebno:
-Tijesto
500 gr brasna
250 gr maslaca, sjecenog na kockice
100 gr secera u prahu
2 zumanca
1 jaje, umuceno (odvojite 2 K za premazivanje)
120 ml bijelog vina (ili soka jabuka)
-Fil od maka
250 gr maka, mljevenog
120 gr secera
2-3 K meda
120 ml bijelog vina (ili soka jabuka)
ribana korica 1/2 narandze (limun ili mandarina)
1-2 K ruma (po zelji)
-Fill od jabuka
1 kg jabuka, izrendanih (7-8 jabuka)
100 gr secera
1-2 k cimeta
1 K griza

-Fil od oraha
250 gr mljevenih oraha
120 gr secera
100 ml bijelog vina (ili soka jabuka)
- Fil od dzema
500 gr (1 tegla) gustog dzema od sljiva
1/2 k cimeta (po zelji) 
Nacin: 
Umijesite tijesto (utrljajte maslac u brasno i dodajte ostale satojke), podijelite na 5, pokrijte i ostavite odmarati.
Stavite sastojke za filove od maka i oraha u 2 odvojene posude. Prokuhajte par minuta (ja sam to radila u mikrovalnoj). Ostavite prohladiti.
Jabuke izrendajte, ostavite 5-10 minuta, onda istisnite sok. Pomijesajte jabuke sa secerom, cimetom i grizom.
Pomijesajte dzem sa cimetom.
Razvucite 3 kruga ili cetvorougaonika malo veca od vase tepsije. Nabodite tijesto i pecite svaki krug oko 5-6 minuta. 
Slaganje-
1- Nepeceni krug tijesta (na dno tepsije / obruca)
2- Fil od maka
3- Peceni krug tijesta
4- Fil od jabuka
5- Peceni krug tijesta
6- Fil od oraha
7- Peceni krug tijesta
8- Fil od dzema
9- Nepeceni krug tijesta 
Premazite povrsinu sa preostalim umucenim jajetom, nabodite viljuskom i smjestite u rernu na 180*C oko 10 minuta, zatim smanjite na 160-170*C i pecide jos 40 minuta dodatno. Najbolje rezati sljedeci dan!