● Ingredients

4 medium pink potatoes

a pinch of sea salt

a dash of pepper

140g TzaTziki from NoMoMoo

● How to bake them?

Grate the potatoes using a regular grater.

Mix in as much sea salt and pepper as you like.

Add the TzaTziki from NoMoMoo and mix using your hand.

Shape the tocinei into semispheres and place them in a baking pan lined with baking parchment. 

Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven at 230°C.

I got 7 large tocinei. We ate them with spring onions, which would probably work for you, too!

● Notes

I got this recipe from a lady cook from Stejărişu in 2020. The original recipe included telemea [a type of Romanian cheese] and Romanian potatoes. Its time had come to be prepared and slightly adapted. Marcel was of real help!

 

While in mythical Byblos at the end of last year, a yellow cake looked very appealing to me at breakfast. It included turmeric, but I loved it! When I returned home, I tried to bake it; it was a success.

This NoMoMoo challenge, which is very dear to me and started last week, made me push the limits of this cake, searching for and finding gluten-free vegan substitute ingredients.

The star? The cashew sour cream from NoMoMoo!

You will need a 20x20 cm baking pan and—

100g cornstarch

a pinch of sea salt

110g brown sugar

100g gluten-free oatmeal

1 teaspoon of turmeric powder

4g baking powder

140g cashew sour cream

orange blossom water

90ml spring water

35ml flaxseed oil

1 tbsp of tahini

9 pistachio beans

I like authenticity, so I choose my ingredients as much as possible from the countries whose recipes I prepare or from nearby countries. I love local producers!

If we talk about basic ingredients, I used Romanian cornstarch. I bought the sea salt from Lebanon in a convent from Anfeh village. I also bought the orange blossom water from Lebanon – and you may add more than just a drop. The tahini is from Turkey; the pistachio is Iranian but processed in Romania. The flaxseed oil is Romanian. The best ingredients can transform a regular meal into a terrific one, especially if we prepare it with love and support!

Returning to the NoMoMoo sour cream, it is special: fluffy, versatile, and great! Panda feels the same way.

To make this cake, which is perfect as such or as a tea cake, mix the cornstarch, the sea salt, the brown sugar, the oatmeal, the turmeric powder, and the baking powder.

Add the wet ingredients: the cashew sour cream, the orange blossom water, the spring water, and the flaxseed oil.

Stir with a wooden spoon until homogenised.

Grease the baking pan with tahini, pour the mixture, and add the pistachio beans in 9 (imagined) centres of slices.

Bake at 180°C in the preheated oven for 25 minutes.

Let it cool and enjoy it!

What flavours do you feel? 😊

Here’s a recipe right before Christmas, if you’ve not already baked everything. My dear Cristina gave it to me – and I thank her!

I only adapted it a bit; I can say that it was successful. I’ll also prepare it for Christmas Eve.

This is what you’ll need J for 28-30 sărăţele (or a large baking pan)—

125g sour cream

75g (melted and cooled) butter

6g salt

4g dry yeast

220g flour

+ 1 egg

+ shredded cheese

+ caraway seeds

How to make them?

Mix the sour cream, the butter, and the salt; then, add the dry yeast and the flour, being careful not to deactivate the yeast by placing it into contact with the salt.

Knead until you get a compact dough. Cover it and let it sit for one hour. It won’t rise much, but it will get more tender.

Split the dough into four equal pieces to make your job easier. Using a cutting roll, cut the sărăţele and place them into a large baking pan, on baking parchment.

After brushing the egg onto the sărăţele, you can leave them as such (plain) or sprinkle shredded cheese and/or caraway seeds onto them.

How to bake them?

Place the baking pan for 10-13 minutes in the preheated oven at 200⁰C, depending on how crunchy you want them to turn out. I like them fluffier.

They won’t last long, but they will bring smiles along!

…a fall dessert, received as an idea from our friend Edin, a very talented pastry chef. It turned out delicious and we thank him!

We used—

30g butter

24 prunes

10-15 walnuts

3 tbsp of brown sugar

1 orange (and some orange zest)

+

150g whipping cream

15g sugar

It was easy to make.

In a 20x20cm baking pan, place 15g of butter and melt in the oven.

Pit the prunes and husk the walnuts.  

Fill the prunes with the walnut halves and place them in the baking pan.

Add small amounts of butter to each prune.

Juice the orange and add some orange zest.

Bake them in the oven for 40 minutes at 160⁰C.

We worked as a team (Marcel and I) and savoured every bite with whipped cream.

This year felt overwhelming. I gave bits of my time in all directions so as not to neglect the beings dear to my heart or the activities that I was engaged in. Even the gogoşari were pickled late in the game.

It was difficult, but I feel that things are going to settle.

Speaking of beings dear to my heart, I have this recipe from Ms Geta, whom I love a lot. She cooks very well and she supported me while preparing the ingredients for the pickled gogoşari, which Marcel ended up preparing.

I share it with you. I hope it will be of use. Of course, you can adapt the amounts based on the quantity of gogoşari used.

For 6 kg of gogoşari (1 of which is lost through seeds and cores, as my father said to me)—

350g honey

750ml wine vinegar

2 tbsps of coarse salt (you can also add sea salt; just don’t use iodised salt – more about it here)

18-24 bay leaves (we had some from our dear Pauli, the daughter of Ms Geta)

6 teaspoons of peppercorns (you can also add mustard seeds, we didn’t have any)

200g horseradish (cleaned and cut into pieces)

+6 x 900g jars

Method:

Wash and clean the gogoşari.

Cut them into pieces in a large bowl.

Add the honey, the vinegar, and the salt.

After 5 hours, mix, then cover the bowl with plastic film.

In the morning, mix again and then cover the bowl again.

Place the gogoşari into jars only after 24 hours, together with the horseradish (which Marcel wanted to add) and the peppercorns. Only this way will the gogoşari leave sufficient juice. They will soften and more will fit into a jar.

Taking Ms Geta’s advice, Marcel left the jar lids slightly open to add more ’juice’ so that the gogoşari are fully covered.

The surprise? In addition to the fact that the gogoşari are terrific, some ’juice’ remained. Marcel pickled some 600g of gogoşari more. J

Today – something as simple as it is delicious: the staple dessert of Santo Antão Island and perhaps the whole of Cape Verde!

You’ll need

50g of (creamy) goat cheese

5 tbsp of papaya preserves.

Lay them on a dessert plate.

Then, savour this fantastic combination! I promise to write down the recipe for the papaya preserves and make it myself (provided I can find some flavourful papayas).