I Am Delicious

Home-made Chilli Con Carne

Home made chilli con carne can be served in many ways. In pita bread, in tortilla flats or accompanied by rice. Either way is simply delicious and full of nutrition. Excellent option for cold winter days. After having chilli con carne for lunch, it will keep you warm and with full stomach for many hours. 

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 80-90 minutes

Ingredients:                                       

• 500 g lean minced beef
• 2 onions - chopped
• 8 warm tortilla breads to serve or plain boild long grain rice
• fresh lettuce leaves to put into tortilla pockets
• 200 ml sour cream - best is 22% 
• 3 cloves of garlic - chopped
• 5 Tbsp chopped chives
• 2 Tbsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp crashed chilli
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp dried marjoram
• 4 Tbsp tomato puree
• 500g can red kidney beans
• 1/2 red pepper - de-seeded and chopped
• 150 ml red dry wine
• 500 ml beef stock
• 400g tin of cherry tomatoes - chopped
• 7-8 Tbsp olive oil
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• chopped parsley to garnish

Method:

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add garlic and onion. Stir a bit and cook for approx. 5 minutes. Add chopped red pepper.

2. Add oregano, chilli, marjoram, salt and pepper and cook for another 5 minutes.

3. Now add lean minced beef and keep stirring for at least 5 minutes, until all the mince is in uniform and there are no pink bits left. Make sure you keep the heat hot enough for the meat to fry and become brown, rather than just stew. If needed you can add a bit more olive oil.

4. Once the meat turned brown, add red wine and cook for another 5 minutes. Then add beef stock, red kidney beans and chopped cherry tomatoes from the can, together with the souce and tomato puree. Stir well, reduce a bit the heat and leave to simmer for approx. 60-70 minutes until most of the sauce evaporates. You should stir ocassionally to make sure the sauce doesn't catch on the bottom of the pan or isn't drying out. If sauce evaporates too soon, add more beef stock. At the end of cooking, add chopped chives.

5. When chilli con carne is ready, remove the lid, turn off the heat and leave it to stand for 10 minutes before serving, and relax. Leaving your chilli to stand is really important as it allows the flavours to penetrate the meat.

6. Serve hot with tortilla bread or white long boiled rice. Garnish with chopped parsley leaves. If you decide for tortilla, remember to spread 1 Tbsp of sour cream on each tortilla and then put the mean, roll and enjoy delicious flavor.

ENJOY!!!

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Tandoori Chicken in Pita Bread Wraps

Pita bread with tandoori chicken is simply delicious and makes ulimately great lunch or dinner. This recipe will keep all your friends and neighbours coming for more. 

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:                                       

• 3 skinless chicken breasts - approx. 500 g
• 2 onions - sliced
• 6 pita pockets - warm
• fresh lettuce leaves to put into pita pockets
• 3 Tbsp capers
• 3 Tbsp green olives
• 200 g natural yoghurt
• 200 g tandori pasta or a package of tandori spice mix
• 2 tomatoes - sliced
• 5 Tbsp olive oil
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

1. Wash the chicken first and then cut into small chunks. Visible fat trimmed.

2. Put chicken into a separate dish and add marinade made from natural yoghurt, sea salt and pepper and tandoori pasta. Add olive oil. Stir well and leave chicken aside for minimum 2 hours in a refrigerator. You can also marinate it overnight for even a better flavor.

4. Once chicken is ready, place it together with a marinade to a pre-heated with olive oil pan on a medium heat. If you re-use marinade and cook your chicken in it - meat will be more tender and all juicy. Cook chicken for 10-15 minutes.

5. Put pita bread pockets in aluminium foil and leave in a pre-heated oven to 200 C for 5 minutes. That way your bread will be all nice and warm.

7. Stuff each pita with fresh lettuce leaves, add onion, capers, olives and tomato slices. Then place tandoori chicken into pita pockets.

8. Serve hot.

ENJOY!!! 

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Delicious Toasts with Garlic

Another example of quick and delicious starter option. I love garlic and frankly I could eat it almost with everything. Garlic is widely used for cooking and medicinal purposes. Garlic comes from central Asia but now present all over the world. According to the World's Healthiest Foods website, it has been grown for more than 5,000 years. Garlic used to have an important role in the ancient Egypt, where was regarded as a sacred herb with the ability to enhance strength and endurance. Garlic has a strong flavor and contains many minerals, vitamins, anti-oxidants, and phyto-nutrients that have proven health benefits. Garlic may also help improve your iron metabolism. It takes only 10 minutes to prepare; just give it a try and you will love it.       

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:                

• warm slices of toast bread
• 8-10 big garlic cloves - with skin on - do not peel off
• 6-8 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• freshly ground sea salt and pepper (red, white, green and black)

Method:

1. Fry bread slices on a large pre-heated frying pan.

2. You will fry the garlic on a large pre-heated pan with a little of olive oil. Remember to NOT peel off the garlic. We will fry it with its skin because that way you will not loose its aroma and  the taste will be a bit sweet.

3. When garlic is ready, remove it from the pan and set aside to cool.

4. Now remove the skin from the garlic and using a blender mix it well with remaining olive oil, sea salt and pepper until it turns into puree.

5. When a garlic mix is ready, spread it over warm bread slices. Season with salt and pepper.

6. Serve hot. 

ENJOY!!!

 

Fried Eggplant with Tomato and Mozzarella (in Polish: Zapiekany baklazan z pomidorem i mozzarella)

This is a very simple fried eggplant recipe with tomato, mozzarella and oregano. Tomato provides you with a fresh taste while oregano gives you a unique flavor. Perfect as a starter or even main dish. Believe me after tasting it, you won't be hungry for a few hours. Another perfect dish for vegetarians, no meat added and everything prepared from fresh ingredients. Serve warm.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:                                       

• 1 medium size eggplant (aubergine) - cut into 1 cm slices (peeled)
• 2 medium size tomatoes - sliced
• 150 g grated mozzarella cheese
• 40 g grated parmesan cheese
• 2-3 big eggs beaten with salt and pepper
• 1 Tbsp dried oregano
• 1 glass breadcrumbs
• sea salt and freshly ground black, white and red pepper
• 150 ml extra-virgin olive oil
• 5-6 Tbsp fresh finely hashed chives

Method:

1. Peel the eggplant and cut into 1 cm slices. 

2. Mix the breadcrumbs with parmesan cheese.

3. In a separate bowl mix mozzarella cheese with hashed chives, oregano, sea salt and freshly ground pepper. 

4. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl with a bit of salt and pepper.

5. Cover one slice of eggplant with mozzarella cheese and chives, put a slice of tomato, then mozzarella cheese again and second slice of eggplant on the top.

6. Dip eggplant sandwiches in beaten eggs and then in breadcrumbs.

7. In a heavy skillet, heat the olive oil and fry the eggplant sandwiches until they turn gold on both sides. It should take approx. 10 minutes. 

8. Drain on a paper towel on a dish.

9. Serve warm.

ENJOY!!! 

Home Made Grain Bread (in Polish: Domowy chleb z ziarnami)

I love to make a home made bread. It is cheaper and way healthier than buying one in a supermarket where you are not sure what goes in...Additionally home made bread will stay fresh for about a week; well of course if you will not eat it faster.

Prep Time: 75 minutes

Cook Time: 70 minutes

Ingredients:                                       

• 50 g fresh yeast
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 750 ml warm but not hot water 
• 500 g whole wheatmeal flour
• 500 g wholemeal flour
• freshly ground sea salt and pepper (red, white, green and black)
• 4 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling a bread baking dish
• 50 g sunflower seeds
• 50 g pumpkin seeds
• 10 g cumin

Method:

1. Put the two flour types into a bowl and make a deep hole right in the center.

2. Dissolve fresh yeast and sugar in 300 ml warm water. Mix with 1 Tbsp of flour and pour into the hole in the flour. Cover the bowl with a moist cloth and leave to rise in a warm place. Excellent for that is a pre-heated to 40 C oven. Leave it for 20 minutes.

3.  Then add salt, 2 Tbsp of olive oil, 450 ml warm water, cumin, pumpkin and sunflower seeds and stir well. Use an electric mixer. Keep mixing for at least 5 minutes. Leave some seeds for the topping of the bread.

4. Cover bowl with a moist cloth and leave to rise in pre-heated to 40 C oven for 40 minutes.

5. Pre-heat the oven (top and bottom heat) to 225 C. Pour the dough into a bread baking dish filled with baking paper sprayed with 2 Tbsp of olive oil. Top the bread with remaining seeds. Leave to rise for further 10 minutes covered with a moist cloth.

6. Make a cut of 1 cm deep in the middle of the bread alongside.

7. Bake the loaf for 20 minutes in 225 C pre-heated oven.

8. Then decrease the heat to 200 C and bake for additional 50 minutes.

9. Take out of the oven and let to cool. 

ENJOY!!! 

 

Toasts with Mozzarella and Red Pepper (in Polish: Tosty z mozzarella i czerwona papryka)

This recipe takes only 10 minutes to prepare. Toasts with Mozzarella and Red Pepper are simply Delicious. Excellent for Vegetarians as there is no meat. 

Prep Time: 10 minutes                                    

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:                                       

• 8 slices of wholegrain bread
• 50 g butter
• 200 g tomatoe puree
• 1 big red pepper, deseeded and finely diced
• 2 cloves of garlic - finely sliced
• small can of corn
• 100 g shredded mozzarella cheese
• chives - finely chopped
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• oregano

Method: 

1. Spread butter over bread. On the top spread tomatoe puree. Add sea salt, ground black pepper and oregano. 

2. Top the bread with corn, finely diced red pepper, sliced garlic cloves and mozzarella cheese.

3. Leave for 15 minutes in a pre-heated to 200 C oven.

4. Serve hot with finely chopped chives on the top.

5. Cooled white wine goes really well with the toasts. ENJOY!!!