Vanilla Scented Chouquettes

Chouquettes are the humble, no fuss, relatives of the more stylish Profiteroles, (or as they are known in the US, Cream Puffs); as they are made from the very same dough – Pâte à Choux. Éclair pastries are also made from this dough. Unlike both, Chouquettes are not filled with any cream and are meant to be eaten as a simple snack, soon after baking, or at least on the same day.

Flourless Zucchini, Red Onion and Cheeses Bake

After the heavy dinners of this week, it was time for some lighter vegetarian dishes, and, as I often do, I used zucchini as a base for a cheese bake. This bake is one of them: it is hearty and filling, yet not heavy at all, mostly due to the fact it contains no flour or any other starch.

Freezer Butter Cookies: One dough, Three Flavors – Take 2

I posted the original recipe for these tasty cookies  almost three years ago (recipe can be found HERE). Since then, I’ve made various variations of the basic dough, but neglected to photograph these variations.

Rustic Beef, Leeks and Potato Patties

Leeks and potatoes patties are a favorite of mine, and I make them often, when leeks are in season (click HERE for the recipe). So when I’ve found nice leeks at the store, I was planning on making them again.

Sponge Cake with Cranberry Juice and Orange Juice

This tasty cake is yet another variation of my all time favorite sponge cake recipe (posted HERE). In this version, I substituted half of the orange juice with cranberry juice, which gave it another layer of both acidity and sweetens, and pinkish color.

Chicken Legs with Mushrooms and Tarragon

Tarragon is one of my favorite herbs, and I always enjoy finding new ways of using it. This time, the tasty classic combination of chicken with tarragon and white wine cream sauce, came to mind, but at the same time, I wanted a lighter sauce. Another favorite pairing – tarragon with mushrooms – also came to mind, and as I had both, it made sense to use them all in one dish. After sautéing the ingredients in a pot, I let it braise in the oven, which resulted an almost fall-of-the bones tender chicken.

Oats, Semolina, Yogurt and Sesame Seeds Bread Rolls

These tasty rolls started with some yogurt that was close to expiration date. I decided to use it in the form of a yeast dough, which I enriched with oats, semolina and olive oil. To make it even more nutritious and interesting, I decided to roll the dough in sesame seeds. The seeds added another layer of texture and a nice nutty flavor.

Lamb Shanks Stew with Tomatoes, Red wine and Rosemary

The weather is getting cooler, which allows more stews on the menu. At the same time, fresh juicy tomatoes are still available, so before they disappear, I’ve decided to use them in this lamb stew. It was a good decision, as their acidity and slight sweetness balanced the fairly heavy lamb meat beautifully, along with the onion and red wine.

Artichoke Hearts with Shrimp Saffron Salad

Artichoke season is here, and as I’m a big fan of this unique vegetable (actually, an edible flower bud from the thistle family), I always try to find new ways to serve it. This time I’ve decided to use the artichoke hearts as a bed for serving a tasty shrimps salad.

Oatmeal, Coconut and Raisins Cookies

As rolled oats cookies are among my favorites, I make them often, and each time I try to come up with a new flavor. This time I decided on the combination of coconut and golden raisins, which resulted extra tasty cookies, well worth of documenting.

Breakfast Egg Muffins

I often make starch-free breakfast egg muffins, as an easy way to serve eggs for breakfast. My usual go-to recipe is my roasted vegetables version (recipe can be found HERE). However, this time I didn’t have prepared roasted vegetables at hand, so I decided to make do with fresh vegetables. I ended up with the following colorful, flavorful and nutritious breakfast egg-muffins.