Baked Baby Zucchinis and Chicken

If you have a farmers market in your town, you should definitely support it by going there. I know things are a lot more expensive than at the supermarket, but small local farms are also much more expensive to run than those mass produced farms that ship veggies across the country when they are still not ripe. If nothing else, it is a pleasant experience seeing all the vendors and their booths.

Last weekend I visited our local farmers market in Sunnyvale, and bought some organic baby squashes and zucchinis.

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts

1 lb of baby squashes and zucchinis

1 pepper

1 carrot

4 small potatoes

fresh rosemary

salt, pepper, paprika, vegeta or other seasoning salt

olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Wash all the veggies, cut up potatoes, carrot and pepper. Leave baby squashes and zucchinis whole. Place all the veggies into a large bowl. Sprinkle the spices to taste and mix.

Cut each chicken breast into two thin slices.

Season them on both sides.

Place the chicken on the bottom of the baking dish. Then add oil to cover the bottom.

Place seasoned veggies over the chicken. Distribute rosemary branches in between the vegetables.

Bake at 400F for 1 hour. Then turn the chicken, and bake for another 30 minutes.

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Caramelized Onion and Mushroom Pizza

This is an interesting pizza that does not have tomato sauce. Try it, it's very good!

Ingredients:

Pizza dough:
1 cup water
1 tbsp olive oil
2 1/2 cups bread flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp active dry yeast

Toppings:

2 yellow onions, sliced thin

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 pack mushrooms, sliced

5 Tbsp goat cheese

1/2 young mozzarella cheese in water

1 Tbsp oregano

1 tbs basil

1 tbs thyme

salt, pepper

oil

I make my pizza dough in my bread maker, but you can also do it by hand. This recipe is quite good, I would not change it. It measures makes dough for two 12" thin crust pizzas. I usually make 2 different pizzas, so the toppings are enough just for one pizza pie.

Grease the pizza pan with oil or margarine. Stretch the pizza dough into the pizza pan (use 1/2 of the dough, if you used my recipe). Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes.

Heat oil in a pan. Add minced garlic and sliced mushrooms. Cook while stirring occasionally. Mushrooms will release water, but continue cooking until all of that water is evaporated (about 15 minutes). They will also reduce in size.

Add salt and pepper to taste and stir. When the mushroom are done, transfer them into a bowl and set aside.

Add more oil in the frying pan and add onions. Sprinkle some salt and stir. Cook for about 20 minutes until all the onions are brown in color.

Spread goat cheese onto the pizza dough first.

Then evenly distribute mozzarella slices.

Do the same with onions and mushrooms.

Sprinkle oregano, basil and thyme over the pizza.

Bake at 500F for 15 minutes, until it is almost done.

Then take the pizza out, sprinkle grated parmesan cheese and place back in the oven for a couple of more minutes.

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Here is my bread maker. I love it. It makes awesome bread, pizza dough and lots of other great stuff.

If you like to make a lot of pizza, you just want to consider getting a pizza stone and a peel.

Leek Bread

Leeks, just like onion and garlic, belong to Allium vegetables.  Hence, leeks have similar nutritional benefits of garlic and onions, but a milder flavor.  They are low in saturated fat and cholesterol, High in Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Folate, Manganese, Dietary Fiber, Vitamin B6, Iron and Magnesium.  Benefits of leeks as Allium vegetables include lowering LDL cholesterol (aka "bad" cholesterol), while raising the HDL or "good" cholesterol.  Leeks also reduce the risk of heart attack or a stoke by lowering high blood pressure.

Leek bread is so easy to make, and everyone likes it.  It makes a great appetizer or just a snack.  I took this to a friend birthday a couple of weeks ago, but everyone was impressed. 

 

Ingredients:

4 eggs
1 cup of milk
1/2 cup of oil
2-3 cups chopped leeks, finely chopped
1 cup feta cheese
2 cups flour
2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp of baking powder




Preheat the oven to 430F.

Mix eggs first.

 

Add flour and milk and continue mixing until its smooth. 

Then add the rest of the ingredients and mix again. Bake in a pre-greased pan at 430F until the top becomes golden brown and the toothpick comes clear.

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To avoid sticking to the baking dish, it is always convenient to use parchment paper:

Orange Chocolate Chip Muffins

I was thinking what to do with all the oranges from my tree.  You will be seeing a lot of recipes with oranges this summer, since I have a lot of oranges to use.  

These chocolate chip orange muffins are just great.  They are very moist and spongy.  Needless to say, I impressed myself again. 

Ingredients:

2 eggs, beaten

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
grated zest of 3 Oranges
200g  dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cups squeezed orange juice
1 tsp vanilla extract

Pan spray or oil

Glaze:

2 tbsp sugar

1/4 cups squeezed orange juice

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Beat the eggs first, then combine and mix all the ingredients together, except chocolate chip. When the dough in uniform add chocolate chips.  Do not over-mix.

Grease the muffin pan with Pan or oil.  Divide the dough evenly to fill the pan.  

Bake the muffins at 400F for about 20 minutes.  Test with the toothpick if they are done.  Then poke some holes in each muffin and add glaze over them.

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Eggs Over EZ with Spinach and Bacon

Start your weekend with a healthy brunch. Everyone knows how to make eggs over EZ, but here is another idea coming just in time for the weekend...


Ingredients:

2 eggs
3 cups baby spinach
3 slices smoked bacon
2 tbsp feta
1 tbsp butter
salt and pepper


Cut up the bacon into small pieces. Fry them in a pan over medium/low heat. When the bacon is crunchy enough for you, transfer it into a plate, leaving the fat in the drying pan.

Wash the spinach and fry it in bacon fat until it shrinks to half of its size. You do not have to try it, it's OK to have some water in the pan.


Remove the spinach into another clean plate. Now add butter to your pan and when it melts, cook eggs in it over medium to low heat. At this point, add salt and pepper to taste. When the bottom side is done, flip the eggs over, one by one. Then sprinkle some cheese over them and cover. Eggs cook fairly quickly, so it should be done in just a few minutes.


Serve with fresh bread. You may sprinkle more cheese over the whole plate.

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Tuna Salad Made From Fresh Tuna Steak

Tuna fish salad is quite popular on sandwiches. But try fresh tuna for a change- it is much more rich in nutritional value than canned tuna. Fresh tuna contains all of the 9 essential fatty acids, which canned tuna does not have. however both canned and fresh tuna are rich in protein. Omega fatty acids found in tuna fish are essential for vital organ function and improve immune system. Tuna is also a good choice when making a low cholesterol meal.

Ingredients:

1 tuna steak
1/4 cup mayo
1/4 cup onion, chopped finely
salt and pepper
oil

Fry your tuna steak on medium high heat in oil. I am using 3 small steaks (the end of the fish), but the amount is equivalent to 1 regular size piece. Make sure the tuna steak is cooked inside as well, and not seared.

Shred the tuna in your food processor. I also use the food processor to chop up the onions. Mix all together in a bowl: shredded tuna, chopped onions, mayo, salt and pepper. You might want to add more or less mayo, depending how you like it.

Goes well on sandwiches or crackers. In my opinion, tuna salad made from fresh tuna fish is much tastier.



An interesting read:

Baked Steaks with Potatoes

Here is another easy dish to make. The preparation time is only about 5-10 minutes.

Ingredients:

4 thin cut marbled steaks
5 potatoes
seasoning mix (Vegeta or any other seasoning salt)
mustard
oil


Preheat the oven to 400F.

Generously apply seasoning to both sides of the meat. Then rub a little bit of mustard also on both sides. Please the steaks in a baking dish next to each other.


Wash and slice potatoes. Season them with same seasoning salt. Sprinkle oil over the whole thing. The amount of the oil will depend on your dish. The dish that I have doesn't stick at all, however I still use about 1/4 cup of oil.



Bake for about 1 hour. Check occasionally, and flip the steaks about half way through baking. Make sure you also stir the potatoes in oil so that they don't dry out.


Serve hot. Its nice to serve some greens on the side of this dish, but I didnt have any at the time I was cookign it. Steamed asparagus would go well.


Variations: 15 minutes before this is done baking, slice up some onions and/or tomatoes and place on top. 15 minutes of cooking will give it a nice flavor, and will not disintegrate it.


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Cream of Mushrooms

Ingredients:

2 packages of mushrooms
1 onion
1/2 cup sour cream
4 tbsp flour
3 tbsp paprika
salt and pepper to taste
oil




Saute onions in oil over medium heat.


Wash the mushrooms and slice them.

When the onions become soft, add mushrooms to the pan and 1/2 cup of water.

They will cook down and release lots of water. Allow them to cook for about 10 minutes, until they are soft. Transfer some of that water into a cup and add flour and paprika. Mix well to form a homogeneous mixture.


Then, add this mix back to the pot and stir.


Allow to cook for another couple of minutes to thicken. Add salt and pepper.


Add sour cream. You can add more sour cream if you like it more creamy.


Transfer the mushrooms with the sauce into an oven safe dish. Bake at 400F for 15 minutes.


This dish goes well with chicken, or can be served as an appetizer.


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Pogačice- Butter Puffs (Serbian=Погачице)

Ingredients:

2 sticks butter (softened)
250 g feta cheese
250g flour
2 tbsp baking powder
salt to taste

glaze:
1 egg yolk
sesame seeds

Combine butter, cheese, flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and using a mixer, make he dough.

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Sprinkle some flour on a clean and dry kitchen counter. Stretch the dough with a rolling pin to about 1cm thickness. Then use cookie cutters to cut circular shapes out.

Roll out the remaining part of the dough and repeat this process until you run out.

Arrange the pastries in a pre greased pan.


Spread the egg yolk over the pastries and sprinkle sesame seeds.


Bake at 400F for about 15 minutes.

You can also see Svetlana's butter puffs here.


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