I found this very easy and delightful Greek recipe on Laurie’s wonderful blog, Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska.  I already had the basic ingredients (zucchini, eggs, lemons, onions, feta cheese. and bread) so I made it for dinner.  With this simple recipe, I was happy I didn’t have to exert a lot of energy in the kitchen after a long day’s work.  The only things missing were the olives and a glass of ouzo but my dinner was still delicious.   ;-)   Perhaps I shouldn’t point this out but the zucchini slices are supposed to be nicely browned but as I was preparing it, I was too hungry to wait for it to properly brown.  It still tasted good — brown or not.

Paz

Zucchini and Eggs
Serves 2 as a main course or 4 as part of an appetizer spread
Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska

2 medium zucchini (1 pound)
3 Tbsp. olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup diced yellow onion, 1/4” dice
4 eggs
Lemon wedges

Ilva’s salads are always sure winners for me.  And here’s another one that recently caught my eye  — Tepid Chickpea and Chicken Salad with Zucchini and Sundried Tomatoes.  I loved this one.  I loved that the ingredients are simple and delicious.  Everything went well together — the chicken, chickpeas, sundried tomatoes, parsley and garlic.  Mixed with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper, I had a lip-smacking time eating this salad.  Oh! and it’s preparation time is fast, so that I didn’t have to spend a great deal of time in the kitchen. Grazie, Ilva!

TEPID CHICKPEA AND CHICKEN SALAD WITH ZUCCHINI AND SUNDRIED TOMATOES or INSALATA TIEPIDA DI CECI E POLLO CON ZUCCHINE E POMODORI SECCHI

Lucullian Delights

The Lance Armstrong Foundation provides the practical tools and information that people with cancer need to to live strong. 

May 13, 2008 is LIVESTRONG Day, where different events are held worldwide to raise awareness and funds for the fight against cancer.

Barbara of Winos and Foodies is hosting LIVESTRONG Day event again this year.  It’s a way for food and wine bloggers to show support for those battling cancer.  Last year she organized the event and 149 bloggers participated.  Wow!  Wow!  Wow!  This is what I made last year for the event.  Here is the roundup of 2007 entries.  Check it out when you can, there are a lot of creative and delicious dishes.

Participants are asked to prepare foods in the color yellow.  This year, I put together a corn salad.  I love corn and I love bright food colors.  Needless to say, I like yellow.  For this salad, I mixed corn kernels, red bell peppers, scallions, and cilantro (my favorite! but you can use parsely).  Then I added olive oil, white pepper, Kosher salt and some red pepper flakes (gotta add a little heat!).  Oh, and some fresh lemon juice, I added lemon juice, too.  I love my corn salad — healthy, tasty and colorful yellow.  LIVESTRONG Yellow! 

If you’re interested in participating in this event, it’s not too late.  Please join us.  April 19 is the deadline to submit your entry to Barbara.   Go here for the guidelines.

I have two extra LIVESTRONG wristbands, which I’d be happy to send to anyone who’d like one.  E-mail me if you’re interested.  You can find my addy in the ABOUT section.

Thanks, Barbara, for putting this wonderfully supportive event together.  If you visit Winos and Foodies on May 13, you can see the list of fantastic enteries that Barbara will put together.

Paz

Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once recently made an enticing dish of roasted multi-colored carrots — purple, red, orange, whiteand yellow.  When I go to the grocery store, all I ever see are orange carrots.  I never knew they came in other colors other than orange.  See what I learn from my fellow food bloggers?  <very big grin>  Well, I didn’t have the other colors but I did have a whole bunch of orange carrots in my fridge.  So, I pulled them out to make my own oven roasted carrots.  Guess what?  I liked it!  I really liked it!  If I ever find the other colored carrots (maybe at a farmer’s market), I’ll buy them.  Thanks, Haalo, for the recipe!

Paz

Oven-roasted Carrots

Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once

Bake in a preheated 180°C/350°F until slightly softened - turn them after 20 minutes to make sure they cook evenly. I like to keep a bit of a bite to the carrots but you if you like them softer, just cook them for longer.

You can serve them straight from the oven but I like to add an extra touch - a light drizzle of orange-infused Olive oil just lifts the flavour and adds an appealing citrus note.

I swear!  There was a succulent chicken (a cornish hen) with deliciously cooked onions and portabella mushrooms swimming in the seasoned roasted chicken juices in the pan above.  Really.  Oh, my goodness!  It was too delicious for words. 

Christine of Christine Cooks made  roasted chicken and one look at her chicken had my mouth watering.  I finally had a chance to make it.  So, where is the chicken in the photo, you ask?  Well,  after preparing this easy roasted chicken dish, we were starved.  I didn’t have time to pick up the camera — I didn’t want to pick up the camera.  "Food first, photograph later," my stomach commanded.  When I finally did get the camera, there was nothing to  photograph. 

Oh, and Christine, my dogs have asked me to relay their thanks.  You suggested frying the gibblets and feeding it to the kitties.  Since I have dogs instead of cats, I fed it to my dogs.  Oh, they were so happy. 

Perhaps next time I’ll be able to take a photo of my roasted chicken.  In the meantime, look here to see what Christine’s tasty roasted chicken looked like.  Mmm Mmm good!

Paz

Sunday Night Whole Roasted Chicken
Christine’s original recipe

Ingredients:
1 whole fryer chicken, 3-4 pounds
1 large Meyer lemon
1 heaping tablespoon Italian herb seasoning
1 tablespoon smoked paprika, I used sweet but if you like it spicy, go for it
1/2 pound crimini mushrooms, sliced
1 large sweet onion, sliced
1 head of garlic, separated into cloves, peeled and left whole
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Olive oil

Preparation:
Remove the giblets from the cavity of the chicken. (Reserve the giblets for another use or cook them with the chicken. Or fry ‘em up, chop ‘em and give ‘em to your kitties.)
Wash the chicken thoroughly with cold water then pat dry both inside and out.
Rub olive oil over the entire chicken then rub the Italian herbs and the paprika all over the outside.
Slice the lemon in half and squeeze over the chicken. Put the lemons halves inside the cavity.
Sprinkle the chicken body with kosher salt and black pepper. 

Cupcakes/Fairy Cakes - Nigella Bites

"If you train a man, you train an indiviual but if you train a woman, you train a whole nation."

Kwegha Aggrey, African educator

March 8 is International Women’s Day.  It is an event, which recognizes the achievements of women worldwide.  You can read more about it here and here

Earlier this year, Mari attended the Sundance Film Festival when "Half Life", a movie her cinematographer husband filmed, premiered there.  During that time, she had a chance to see other films, which she shared with her readers.  The story of one documentary, "Puujee", stayed with me for quiet some time.  Japanese photographer Yoshiharu Sekino followed and filmed the lives of a nomadic Mongolian family.  There are three inspiring women in this documentary: Puujee, as Mari describes, a "fiesty and independent-spirited" 7-year old, her "amazing" mother and "sweet" grandmother.  All were accomplished women in their own way despite surviving a series of tradegies.  International Women’s Day reminds me of them.

Zorra (Kochtopf)  and Fiordisale put together an event, where food bloggers were asked to cook/bake something yellow for International Women’s day.  I decided to make these simple cupcakes, which I found on Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once.  The recipe comes from Nigella Bites.

Please excuse me while I go eat another cupcake. 

Later!

Paz

Hot chocolate with whipped cream

I mentioned in an earlier post that Elizabeth (The House in Marrakesh) and I stopped at the Viennese inspired café at Neue Galerie.  It reminded us of Merisi’s Vienna for Beginners.  The café serves authentic Viennese specialities, traditional Austrian dishes, and patisserie like strudel and Linzertorte.  An extremely cold day, we both ordered hot chocolate with whipped cream.  Mmmm!  That certainly hit the spot.   Elizabeth ordered ham on country bread with crispy crusts with mustard spread.  Very delicious. 

We arrived at the café early and it was a good idea because a short time later, it became crowded.  Hours later, a line formed to dine at there.  Next time, I’ll make sure to go there with a big appetite.

Paz 
 

Open ham sandwich on country bread

This Sunday’s New York Times has an article out on dining in Austria, and our friend and fellow blogger, Angelika of The Flying Apple is a major part of the article.  She recently opened her own restaurant, which she has blogged about on her site. 

Quite some time ago, she sent me an Austrian cookbook (recipes from the Austro-Hungarian Royal Kitchen).  I hadn’t been able to try out any of the recipes, although I’d picked up the cookbook to look for something to make after recently watching The Sound of Music (which takes place in Austria).  I never had time to prepare my Austrian meal.

With news of Angelika’s article in theTimes, I had to prepare something Austrian in her honor.  For a Sunday morning, I decided to prepare the Kaiser Pancakes.  The ingredients were readily available to me, except for plum purée.  I bought blueberry preserves to use as a substitution for the plum puree.  However,  by the time I’d finished making my pancakes, I was starved and couldn’t wait to eat my food.  I forgot all about the preserves.  Next time. 

Anywho, my Kaiser Pancakes didn’t turn out badly at all.  In fact, I loved them.  It tasted really good.  As I closed my eyes and savored the taste of my pancakes, I imagined I was part of the royalty enjoying my meal.  My imagination lasted, until I had to get up and wash my own dishes.  

Congratulations, Angelika on a very nice article and all your accomplishments.

Best,

Paz

Kaiser Pancakes (Kaiserschmarren)

Imperial Austrian Cuisine by Renate Wagner-Wittula

Ingredients:

6 eggs

200 g (7oz) cake or pastry flour

50 g (1 1/2 oz) sugar

250 ml (8 fluid oz) milk

pinch of salt

40 g (1 oz) raisins

butter

confectioners’ sugar (powdered)

plum purée

Preparation:

Separate the egg whites from the yolks.  Thouroughly mix the yolks, sugar, milk and flour.  Whisk the egg whites, add a pinch of salt and continue whisking until stiff.  Now, carefully fold into the egg yolk mixture.  Melt butter in a large pan, pour in the mixture and sprinkle in raisins.  Let cook on one side for a few minutes, turn over and tear into pieces with a fork.  Now let finish cooking (ideally in a buttered pan in a preheated oven(.  Be especially careful not to overcook the pancakes, otherwise they will dry out.  Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar and serve with plum purée.

I’m looking good in the kitchen while I pursue my cooking adventures!    <Very Big Grin>  Check out my new spankin’, new apron from Mischief Mari’s Superstuff!

My fellow foodbloggers are so talented!  In addition to coming up with enticing recipes, they show us many of their other talents as well.  I’m talking about bloggers like Mischief Mari, who makes the coolest cookies on the planet.  She really does!  Check out her cookies here.  She’s recently opened a store featuring her design talents with tee shirts, aprons and shopping bags.  I love my reversible apron with the cute pocket in the front.    When I received it in the mail, I couldn’t wait to try it on.  Stop by Mischief Mari’s store here.

Another blogger who also has a store with some wonderful stuff showcasing her photography skills is Meeta of What’s For Lunch Honey?  She’s got cards, calendars, post cards, posters…  Go take a  look here.

Thanks for your work, Ladies!  Lovely stuff.

Paz (wearing her apron as she types this)

Ed. Note:  Look here for a better photo of the apron.  It’s called the ‘Funky Ruffled Apron.’