Gravlax is a Nordic dish consisting of salmon cured in salt, sugar and dill.
This is a very simple variant of curing salmon in salt and sugar, that is being used in our family for the last 15-20 years.
Zucchini Salad
This very simple salad has become one of our favorites at home. It is light, soft and very suitable for hot summer days. Best results are obtained when using hard zucchinis, this way there are less liquids in the vegetable. Also, using green ones adds some attractive color to the resulting salad. Could also be made with mixing green, yellow and white zucchinis, and then the salad will be very colorful. It is better to use small zucchinis, as they have less seeds and keep their structure better under thermal processing.
Ingredients:
600 gr. zucchini
2 eggs
1 medium-sized onion
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1/2 bunches of dill
2 tbsp. mayonnaise
salt, pepper
Pumpkin soup with Coconut Milk, Lemon and Curry
I have to start by saying that this soup has a very unusual taste. (Unusual, but good 
) Also, it is very light and can be served either hot or cold. As you can see from the below picture, the soup was prepared as a part of a multi-course dinner, but, since it is interesting enough on its own, I prefer writing about it separately.
Ingredients:
(Below will yield about 1 liter of soup)
1 carrot
1 onion
30 gr. coconut oil (any other oil having neutral taste can be used instead)
600 gr. pumpkin
200 gr. coconut milk
1.5 glasses chicken stock
1/4 sprigs of parsley
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. yellow curry paste
salt
Home-made Cucumbers in Brine
Many people prepare home-made marinades. Cucumbers in Brine is, probably, one of the simpler and tastier home-made marinades ever invented. Below you can find my version, heavily influenced by my mother, but, as always, modified and adjusted to my own taste.
Ingredients:
Cucumbers (the amount should be chosen accordingly to the jar you have for marinating)
1-2 garlic cloves
1-2 sprigs of dill
Small horseradish root
Salt
Yellow Cherry Tomatoes in Brine
Sometimes its great to repeat things you’ve already done, but with different ingredients.
Since the agriculture has developed lots of variations of Cherry Tomatoes (see, for example, the Tricolor Cherry Tomato salad as a reference on how to combine different types for a greater effect), I did some experiments with the kinds I’ve managed to find at different Farmers Markets.
In this case I have made my Marinated Cherry Tomatoes (see the original recipe for all the details) with yellow cherry tomatoes. The yellow ones are completely different from the red ones, and the result is different: these ones are much more “watery” therefore, when made in brine, they simply “explode” in your mouth…
Try this with the original recipe, the sensation is absolutely different….
Universal Tomato Sauce
Ready for use jars of this sauce practically “live” nowadays in my refrigerator (and freezer – for longer term usage). I have picked up the idea once in a cooking magazine, and I am keeping using it and returning to it ever since. Cooking this sauce is very simple and it can later on be used for either a complete solution for a pasta sauce or a basis for a more complex pasta sauce. It can also be used as a basis for tomato soup or stew, pizza sauce, sauce for kebaps/burgers or even for tomato-based fish dishes. And, of course, it can also be consumed “straight from the jar” with a spoon
Most important secret for making a successful tomato sauce is picking up very ripe and “sweet” tomatos. When such tomatoes aren’t available at the markets, it is better to use Italian canned tomatoes.
Following yields approximately 3 lilters of sauce.
Roast Lamb with Bread Crust and Pesto
I’ve made this dish for the birthday of my elder daughter in March. We’ve hosted the close family (15 people) and my goal was to create a special meat dish. So, my husband was sent to our butcher and was asked to bring home lamb meat.
The recipe was influenced by this idea of Tuscan-style Lamb Bread. The following yields approximately 8 portions…
Ingredients:
1 read lamb leg, approximately 2.5-3 kilograms of weight
Pesto:
1/2 bunch of parsley
1/3 bunch of cilantro
1/3 bunch of mint
2 sprigs of rosemary
5 garlic cloves
3 rosemary sprigs
Salt
Chili (the amount depends on one’s taste)
Juice of 1/3 lemon
1/2 glass olive oil
1/3 glass of pine nuts
Lemon Curd Macarons / Luxemburgerli
I know that there are lots of Macaron (or Luxemburgerli) recipes all around (and, therefore, it is far from being original to make one), but my niece simply informed me that we were baking Macarons together, leaving me with very little choice.
The technique we used was influenced by this blog (and originally developed by Alain Ducasse). Below you can find our variant with full comments. Although this requires a lot of work, the result is very tasty making it all worthwhile…
Ingredients:
For the Macarons:
110 gr. almond flour
225 gr. sugar powder
125 gr. aged egg whites
50 gr. sugar
*3 drops of yellow food colorant
For the Lemon Curd:
4 egg yolks
100 gr. sugar
Zest from 1 lemon
70 ml. lemon juice (roughly, a joice of 1.5 average lemons)
Pinch of salt
70 gr. butter cut into small cubes
3 gr. gelatin (sheet)
Mushrooms Marinated in Balsamic Vingear
The idea for this dish was born when I was looking for a quick garnish for a main meat dish. I had some mushrooms and a bottle of balsamic vinegar. This dish is delicious and very simple to make – 5 minutes of work and 2 hours of “marinating” in the refrigerator.
Ingredients:
500 gr. fresh champignon mushrooms
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
30 ml. mustard oil
1/4 olive oil
1-2 garlic cloves
A pinch of salt
Russian Schweinebraten Baked with Dough Crust
Schweinebraten is a German (or Austrian) pork roast dish. The Russian version is originally called Буженина (Buzhenina) and is somewhat different.
In my family, we made Buzhenina as boiled pork and only recently I started roasting it in foil wrapping or in bag. The idea of baking meat inside a dough wrapping has interested me a lot, and I’ve decided to try it for myself. The result has exceeded all expectations – soft and tender meat, that could be cut to very thing and light pieces. We’ve prepared around 1 kilogram of meat, and my family has consumed it in less than a day.
Ingredients:
1 kilogram of pork neck
1 tbsp (with some extra) of mustart
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 glass olive oil
2 garlic cloves (“squashed” and cut into small cubes)
2 tbsp of grape jam
A couple of drops of spicy oil (*)
Salt, Pepper
