Mexican Chipotle Mushrooms is a wonderful recipe that I like a lot and make quite often. It is a very different, refreshing side dish that goes well with any type of meat. If you are a vegetarian or vegan, these mushrooms would go well on pasta or rice. You can also make great tacos. To make the recipe you need only few ingredients. I like to use chipotle in a can but if you don't have that, we will discuss it in…
I was running out of ideas for cooking one day and digging through my pantry I found a bag of German Spaetzle Pasta, an egg pasta that is a traditional staple for many German households. I do not cook a lot with egg pasta, so I had no idea what to do with it. I know Germans combine Spaetzel pasta with caramelized onions and cheese, so I thought that I could try to make a version of baked mac and cheese, but with Spaetzle…
We are finally back home from our vacation in Spain. We stayed in Madrid but traveled a little bit to Sevilla and Granada for few days. Granada is my daughter's favorite city in Spain and she wanted to take us there, where her heart seems to be. I tried to rest as much as possible, but I was also excited to be in Spain, researching Spanish cuisine and learning about the food. I came back with cooking books, recipes and lots of ideas…
Soooo, how do you like your peas? How do you make them? Do you have a love-hate relationship with them? I personally love them. I use peas in many recipes of soups, salads or as a side dish. I have more access to the frozen ones here, where I live, but sometimes, late summer, I find them at the Farmers Market and buy them. So sweet and so delicious! The recipe today is an "easy-peasy" one! Perfect for a quick…
This Easy Creamy Spinach recipe could be a great addition to your collection of side dishes for the holidays and not only. In my house, we eat it all the time even when it is not the holiday season. Even my daughter, when she was abroad, called me and asked me how to make it, because she was craving "that green thing you make that I like and tend not to share with people"! Creamy and delicious, this recipe was one of…
Today I am going to share with you a recipe that uses wild rice, but before I do that, what do you know about this little grain? Did you know that the wild rice in United States is mainly produced in Minnesota and a little bit in California? Wild Rice, which is Minnesota's State Grain, is almost as old as history itself. In Minnesota it is cultivated by Native Americans who consider the grain a sacred component of their culture. It was…
The Traditional Cheesy Potatoes casserole is the most expected item on the table around holidays in my house. We live in Minnesota and there is nothing more comforting during the winter months than potatoes cooked in different ways. Cheesy potatoes bring joy to the Thanksgiving dinner or Christmas. I remember one year when we were trying to loose some weight and I "dared" to announce my family : " This year we are not going to have cheesy potatoes for Thanksgiving.…
Last year, I received a jar of these baked brandied cranberries sauce from my good friend, Audrey. Audrey "adopted" me long time ago, when I arrived to United States. She shared with me, over the years, many of her favorite recipes for the holidays. Some of these recipes also became part of my Thanksgiving collection that we cherish and love so much. This year, I think the sauce will be incorporated into my growing recipe collection for Thanksgiving. It is…
Versions of this easy Mexican rice dish, a relative of Spanish rice, are popular all over South America. It is classified as a sopa seca or dry soup and can be served with my famous recipe on my blog Tinga de Pollo- or Chicken in Chipotle sauce. It makes a great dish to serve with roasted meats, a salad or roasted vegetables. You can also add green peas to it and chopped tomatoes in tomato juice. Enjoy!
I grew up with lots of potatoes back in Romania where food was scarce during the communism. Potatoes were a staple for the long months of winter and never enough. We learned how to cook them in million ways and never got tired of them. I also grew up having a lot of respect for them as they kept us alive for many years. I remember my parents buying around 150 kg(330 pounds of potatoes) in October, every year. The…
