Info Freaking

Since it is fig season here, I was thinking about sharing this great fig recipe with you guys.

First of all I would like to say that this is the recipe that made me change my mind about figs. Before trying this lunch, I was one of those people who didn’t like figs, but now… Well, to be honest figs are not my favorite fruit, but whenever I have a chance to eat them, I do. And most of all, whenever I have a chance to prepare this recipe for lunch, I do it. Maybe it does not look very tasty on the photo bellow, but trust me (or not) - it is Especially for those who have sweet tooth

 

Ingredients and instructions for Fig Lunch for 2 people:

Pasta
the amount of spaghetti or macaroni or some other pasta (whatever you prefer) for 2 people

Instructions for pasta
Boil water and add pasta (spaghetti, macaroni, or whatever pasta you like…) - you know how to cook pasta, so I won’t go there…

Ingredients for Fig Sauce
2,5 dcl (1 cup) of cream for cooking or (1 small pack)
100 grams of Gorgonzola cheese (or some other blue cheese)
15-20 figs (cut in half)
50 grams of walnuts  

Instructions for sauce
Put cooking cream into sauce pan, add blue cheese. After 5 minutes add figs cut in half and walnuts. Make sure the sauce does not boil when you add figs, because figs will give  sort of bitterly taste if you boil them. Cook on low fire for additional 2 minutes.

Voila! Unusual, but extremely tasty lunch for 2!  

Bon apetit!

I used to be Kosheen fan… well… actually I still like some of their remixes (that other DJ remix), because live they sound like shit. They really do. Go to their concert and you will know what I am talking about…

They came to Banja Luka, Bosnia, July 23rd 2009 … We were all excited because our city is going to host Kosheen on Demo Fest (btw - great festival guys - Respect!) … few days later I was reading in newspapers what were Kosheen’s  demands for coming to Demo Fest. 

They demanded:
- complete English Breakfast (ok, I understand - you want to eat greasy eggs, bacon and beans… enjoy - if that’s possible… ) 
- tortillas (ok, no problem…)
- guacamole (anyway Banja Luka is famous for avocado … sigh… dear Kosheen - even though it is possible to make guacamole, guacamole you will be eating in Banja Luka is shitty because avocado that comes here is .. well… shitty…so, enjoy your guacamole…)
- few other sauces    
- oxtail soup (what can I say about that????? I just hope you got canned version :))))
- pork pie (there are many pies that are actually traditional Bosnian food, they are called “sirnica” (made with young cheese, “burek” (made with minced meat), “zeljanica” (made with cabbage or spinach, or some other versions), “krompirusa” (made with potatoes) etc. - and there are sooo many versions here… they actually wanted traditional British food… WTF? … you could at least try something Bosnian) 
- champaign „veuve clicquot ponsardin” (price varies from $80.00 - $140.00…)
and
- jalapeno (they are chili peppers grown here, but not freaking jalapeno - it’s a f***** Mexican chili pepper)     

I am soooo disappointed of those so-called stars … I mean it’s ok to demand stuff like no meat if you are a vegan or I don’t know what… but wanting jalapeno in Bosnia is like wanting “vlasicki sir” in London or freaking Brussels! 

Well… dear Kosheen - I hoped you have enjoyed all the specialties you wanted…

I was using another recipe and it took about 2 or more hours before pizza was on the table.

Then, I found this one, and pizza is actually ready in about 45 minutes from scratch. So - a recipe for  how to make pizza dough fast.

The ingredients you will need are:
230 ml warm water
1 spoon sugar
1/2 package of yeast (25 grams)
3 spoons olive oil
1 tea spoon salt
310 grams flour

Mix warm water yeast, sugar, olive oil and salt.

Put this mixture into flour and knead for about two minutes or less to get elastic dough. 

Leave dough to rest for about 15 minutes - it will double in its size. Voila - pizza dough ready fast!

After 15 minutes spread it out evenly on and fill with whatever you want to have on pizza (vegetables, cheese, bacon etc.)

Bake in an own for about 15 minutes on 220-240°.

Bon Apetit!

I know muesli (musli) or American oatmeal is healthy… and yes, I knew that all along… it is just.. I couldn’t bring myself to eat them. I tried with milk, then I tried with yogurt, then I added my favorite fruit, strawberries, banana … and nothing .. it was ‘yuk’ - will you finish that bowl, I can’t - I am gonna make myself a sandwich…
I really wanted to eat them … It is just that I hated the taste…

Then I bought myself a blender And many things changed in my life

There I was one morning. Me, oatmeal, banana, yogurt and a blender I thought to myself - let’s try this. I put 5 spoons oatmeal, one banana and a some (less then a cup) yogurt. I mixed it and it was delicious. Delicious? Oatmeal delicious? Yep, oatmeal delicious I’ve also tried with strawberries, but it is not as good as I had expected - I guess strawberries weren’t as sweet as I thought they would be… But with banana - I highly recommend! It is one of the best breakfasts on my menu - healthy, easy for the stomach and digestion - and most of all - it is delicious

So, this is a story how I used to hate muesli, but now I eat oatmeal every morning  
  
   

Today is St. Patrick’s Day, so we’ll show you how to make nice feast for your friends and family, whether you’re Irish or not.

Traditional Irish Lamb Stew

This is main meal on St. Patrick’s Day table. There are a lot of versions of this famous dish, but this one follows the traditional way of preparation with one small delicious trick – instead of oil, we will use bacon.

You’ll need:

680 g of thickly sliced bacon
2,5 kg of boneless lamb shoulder, cut into 2 inch pieces
510 g of diced carrots
3 potatoes
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
1/2 cup of all-purpose flour
3 minced garlic cloves
1 chopped large onion
1/2 cup water
4 to 6 cups of beef or chicken stock
2 teaspoons of white sugar
1 g of dried thyme
2 bay leaves
1 cup of white wine

Preparation:

You’ll need about 20 minutes for preparation and 2 hours and 25 minutes for cooking this meal.

1. First, place bacon slices in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high until slices become evenly brown. Drain them, crumble, and set aside.
2. Put a lamb, salt, pepper and flour in a large mixing bowl. Mix until meat is coated evenly. Cook meat in frying pan with bacon fat until it turns brown.
3. After that, place meat into stock pot, leaving 1/4 cup of fat in frying pan. Add the garlic and onion and sauté till onion is golden. Add 1/2 cup of water into frying pan, then add the garlic-onion mixture to the stock pot with bacon, beef stock, and sugar. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
4. Finally, add vegetables (carrots, onions, potatoes, thyme, bay leaves) and wine to pot. Reduce the heat, and simmer covered for 20 minutes until vegetables become tender.
5. Serve piping hot in bowls garnished with fresh parsley.

Irish Soda Bread

With this tasty stew, you’ll need slices of nice homemade bread. While the stew is cooking, we recommend you to make traditional Irish Soda Bread – brown variation.

You’ll need:

4 cups of whole wheat flour
1 cup of bread flour
1/3 cup of rolled oats
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of salt
2 1/2 cups of buttermilk

Preparation:

You’ll need 10 minutes for mixing ingredients and about 30-45 minutes to bake the bread.

1. Preheat an oven to 220 degrees C (425 degrees F). Grease two baking sheets.
2. Stir together whole wheat flour, white flour, rolled oats, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Mix in the buttermilk gently, until soft dough is formed. Knead the mass very lightly. After that, divide dough into 4 pieces and form them into rounded flat loaves. Mark each loaf with an ‘X’ and place on two prepared baking sheets.
3. Bake in oven until bread gets golden brown color, about 30 to 45 minutes.

Finally, we’ll need a drink so we can make a toast to our friends and family, and what’s better way than involving Irish whiskey in it. Also, since it’s St. Patrick Day, the drink should be green. Since Shamrock is symbol of Ireland and St. Patrick, we’ll show you how to make the drink of the same name.
There are three variations of Shamrock coctail and these are all three of them, depending on your own taste.

Shamrock #1

1 oz. Irish Whisky
1/2 oz. Dry Vermout
Dash of Green Chartreuse
Dash of Crème de Menthe

Combine all the ingredients in a shaker filled with ice, stir a bit and strain into a chilled martini glass.

Shamrock #2

1 1/2 oz. Irish Whisky
1 1/2 oz. Green crème de Menthe
2 oz. Cream
Maraschino Cherry

Combine all the ingredients in a shaker filled with ice, shake well and pour into an old fashioned glass.

Shamrock #3

1 1/2 oz. Irish Whisky
1 1/2 oz. Green crème de menthe
2 oz. Cream
4 oz. Vanilla ice cream

Put all the ingredients into a blender, blend until smooth. Pour into a chilled red wine glass or large goblet.

Finally, you have all set for Lá Fhéile Pádraig. Just don’t forget your green hat.