Vegetable Medley- Tocana de legume, a Moldovan Original

 There are times when no spice is allowed to alter or mask the taste of a delectable dish like this. Yes, if  they were grocery store vegetables, then you do need to give them a kick, indeed. Not these veggies from our own Moldovan garden, grown with rain, clean soil and LOVE. A dish called Tocana (tocanita)- a sort of medley, that I made during our fall visit to our home place in Moldova. Little garlic and dill is the only flavour that complement so well this dish made of absolutely fresh vegetables: tomato, egg plant, onion, yellow and red bell pepper. A side of plain rice is the only thing you need for great companion!

Thinking Outside the Lettuce Head- a Winner Salad

A winner- Hooray! Thanks for the 2nd prize with Manjula's Kitchen April Contest!

Ayurveda identifies 6 Tastes by which all foods can be categorized: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent, and astringent. Ideally one should have a mix of all of them, when one is in good health. Lately my husband has seriously been exploring this field and I have taken this as a task: making food to serve as medicine.

It is so easy to get into a salad boredom by mixing the same old lettuce and tomatoes…and that’s where I found myself for a while. The salad I am submitting for the contest is a beautiful balance of the above listed tastes, apart from being nutritious, tasty and pleasing to the eye.

I thought of thinking outside the lettuce head- and here I came up with a different salad that turned out excellent- and oh, so colorful! All of the ingredients are available at the produce section of any large grocery store. Even better, try your luck with local farmer’s markets to assure freshness and quality.

Ingredients:

• Radicchio- half head
• 1 Cup Cauliflower florets
• 1 Cup Sliced carrots
• 1 Cup Sliced yellow bell peppers
• Small bunch arugula or watercress
• Small bunch of chives
• 1 tablespoon Pumpkin seeds

Olive Oil Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• pinch of salt
• pinch of ground black pepper

Method

1. Roughly chop the radicchio head.
2. Blanch the cauliflower florets and the sliced carrots for about 3 minutes. Cool.
3. Mix in the radicchio, cauliflower, carrots, sliced yellow bellpeppers, chopped chives and argula/ or watercress.
4. Season with olive oil sauce
5. Garnish with pumpkin seeds and serve. Season to taste with salt.
6. To make the Olive Oil Sauce, mix in the oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Freshly Made Ricotta- Simple Beauty

And that is what was used to fill the Pasca. Scroll down. Makes such a versatile dish: spread, bread / casserole filling, salad partner, sweet filling. Certainly a better choice compared to the one from the grocery store. But then we all know that.

Here is the recipe link: thank you so much, Kathy!

http://www.showfoodchef.com/2010/07/make-your-own-cheese-and-how-to-use-it.html

Thank you and Bon Appetit. As simple as that.

Easter Pasca-Cristos a Inviat!

How lucky can it get? Western Easter and one week after- Eastern Orthodox Easter. But that happens with Christmas too... Not complaining. This time we had a beautiful party at our place, we called it an Indo-Moldovan Easter, for I had dishes from both cuisines. Even the guests brought their international flair: two were from Germany, one from Taiwan, three from USA, of course, I am from Moldova and hubby from India. God bless everybody, and Happy Easter!

French Breaded Asparagus- a Delightful Snack

...just like that. Just dip it.

Fresh Ricotta and Veggie Pizza

Every year we visit Moldova, my dear mother makes pizza for us. At least once. She gets so excited about that, since it is still a sort of novelty dish in that part....It is a big day for the whole family, especially my little nephews. My only request for her is to use the fresh cheese she makes home, similar to ricotta. Purely because it is so good. And not "cheesy".  With garden fresh tomatoes, yellow and red, bell peppers, mushrooms.....the best of the season, for it was indeed the time when all these goodies taste the best! ...memories.

White Chocolate Ganache Torte- Welcome Spring

Having grown up and lived in a four season climate, I always loved the change...the expectation of the new to come and old to vanish, but not for long. So is the story of seasons. And since Spring officially starts on March 1st in Moldova, it is marked with the Festival of Mărţişor. Here is what Wikipedia has to say about it, and I give it full credit:

"Mărțișor (Romanian pronunciation: [mərtsiʃor]) is an old Romanian celebration at the beginning of spring, on March the 1st. Simbolically, it is correlated to women and to fertility as a means of life and continuity. The tradition is authentic in Romania, Moldova, and all territories inhabited by Romanians and Aromanians. Alike though not identical customs can be found in Bulgaria (see Martenitsa), while similar ones exist in Albania, Greece and Italy.

The name Mărțișor is the diminutive of marț, the old folk name for March[4] (Martie, in modern Romanian), and thus literally means "little March". It is also the folk name for this month.

Mărțișor, marţ and mărțiguș are all names for the red and white string from which a small decoration is tied, and which is offered by people on the 1st day of March. It is also a symbol of the coming spring."

We used to exchange these red and white string decorations amongst friends, family, and most of all- teachers. Teachers would have their tops covered in Mărțișori :).

Red for Love and Passion, White for Purity and Innocence- Welcome Spring with a cake I made for my little family. White marshmallow fondant covered chocolate cake, iced and filled with white chocolate ganache cream- it was such a delight...well, it still is, as I am writing. The sugarpaste  mărțișor  is going to be framed.....i guess. That is, if I get time or my little one does not eat it. Sides of cake: stamped flowers and leaves. The writing: edible pen ink! I mean it: all edible. I am picky though of what I eat on a cake! :))))

and of course, every cake starts with a candle!