Vessy's day » meat

Burgers with caramelized onions and ajvar

Vessy — Mon, 20 Apr 2015 14:55:38 +0000

What is the best burger made of?
I believe the best burger should have delicious fresh buns, delicious sauce, meat and a fresh finish, something green!

This recipe is a great alternative to the classic beef burgers, which take forever to prepare at home.

To prepare these super delicious mini burgers you will need onions – of course caramelized onions, they are perfect for burgers, some kind of salami – pick your favorite, fresh spinach and spicy ajvar, which I used instead of burger sauce and spices. Ajvar is so full of flavors that you will not need any additional seasoning or sauces, only simple ajvar, but pick a spicy one – this is the best for burgers.
If you don’t have ajvar on your hands, or you can’t find it in your area, let me tell you what it is – it is a dip, prepared from roasted red peppers, roasted egg plants, seasoned with sunflower oil and sea salt, and the spicy flavor comes from roasted red fefferoni peppers – yummy!
Don’t hesitate, get cooking, you will love this burgers!

Ingredients:
Burger buns
2 large onions, chopped roughly
Spicy Ajvar Mama’s (ajvar is dip made from roasted red peppers, roasted eggplant, roasted red fefferoni peppers, sunflower oil and seasoned with salt)
Fresh spinach
Salami of your choice
Olive oil
Salt & pepper

Heat a little bit of olive oil on medium temperature in a large skillet.

Add the onions. Cook until golden brown and soft. Make sure to cook the onions on medium-low temperature, so they can cook all the way through without burning.

Add a couple of tea spoons of spicy ajvar and stir.

Transfer the onions in a small bowl.

In the same skillet heat a little bit of olive oil and grill the buns, cut in two.

To assemble the burgers: Spread a little bit of spicy ajvar over both halves of the buns.

Top the bottom half with fresh spinach, salami and the onions. Cover with the second half of the buns and serve immediately.

How to plan the perfect BBQ – ideas and tips

Vessy — Fri, 22 Aug 2014 13:52:32 +0000

Today, I want to share with you guys, my list of food & necessary accessories for your picnic & BBQ day.
I believe this list will make it much more easier to gather all you need for a day on the outside without worrying that you will forget something, as I always do
So I will divide the list in a few main categories – food, accessories, for relax, for play.
Grab this list and go plan your next weekend, summer is too short to miss a day out!

Food:
Bread (freshly baked baguettes, or homemade bread)
All kinds of spreads for bread – butter, cream cheese, hummus, olives paste, sun-dried tomatoes paste, “lutenistsa”, Foie gras, guacamole;
Chips, Nachos, raw and baked nuts
Cheese – yellow, cheese, feta, mozzarella, cream cheese, Camembert, Bri, Gauda, haloumi (perfect for BBQ)
Salami – your favorite types (you know already which is my favorite brand)
Vegetables for a salad – cucumbers, tomatoes, mix green salads (preferably ready cleaned and cut), cherry tomatoes, green onions, avocado, radishes, lemons, mint leaves, basil, parsley, olives
Vegetables for a BBQ – zucchini, purple tomatoes, red & yellow onions, corn, mix green and red peppers, garlic, lemons, potatoes (all vegetables for the BBQ could be washed, cleaned and cut beforehand, just make sure you place them in an airtight containers to keep them fresh until the BBQ)
Salad dressings – could be prepared in advanced, stored in small plastic containers and use them just before you serve the salad
For the BBQ – your favorite spices for seasoning the meat, honey, mustard (for glazing the meat), meatballs, steaks, meat for skewers, sausages and etc. – the meat could be seasoned, glazed and marinated beforehand, so it is ready for the BBQ, all skewers could be also prepared in advanced in order to ease your work on the day)
Drinks – your favorite soda drinks, beer, lemons, limes and mint for a homemade lemonade, water (+ extra for washing hands),
Fruits – all kinds of berries, peaches, apricots, pears, apples, bananas (washed beforehand)
Yogurt – bring individual sizes of yogurt cups and add chopped fresh fruits and honey for a light dessert
Muffins and loafs – bring a basket of home-made mini muffins – it is always better to prepare individual size desserts for such an outdoor party

Accessories:

Plastic forks, spoons, knifes, straws, cups, plates

Knifes and wooden boards

Bowls for salads
Ceramic dish with a lid for keeping the meat warm
Paper napkins, kitchen paper
Wet napkins – you will need a lot of wet napkins for your hands while dealing with food
Plastic and aluminium foil
Garbage bags
BBQ + all necessary equipment for it

Cooler boxes

For relax:

Waterproof picninc blankets

A couple of blankets (at least 2 for laying on top of them on the grass and a few for covering in case it gets cold)

Pillows

For play:
Badminton
Valleyball ball
Cards
Chess
Monopoly

Red onion and bacon quiche

Vessy — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 20:58:05 +0000

Ingredients for 1×10 inch quiche or 4 medium quiches:
Home-made pie pastry (or ready-make) – you could find my recipe for home-made pastry here.
2 red onions
200 grams bacon (cut into small pieces)
2 garlic cloves (cut into small pieces)
2 table spoons olive oil
1tea spoon red chili flakes
3 eggs
1 tea spoon coriander seeds (or powder)
200ml cooking cream
100 ml white wine
1 tea spoon fresh tarragon (chopped in small pieces)
100g goat cheese (if you don’t like goat cheese, you could use other creamy cheese like ricotta, cottage, French feta)
Cherry tomatoes (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180° C.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet and fry the onions and garlic for 3 minutes. Add the bacon to the red onions and cook until golden brown. Add the chili flakes, a little bit of the coriander, salt and pepper. Mix well.
Add half of the white wine to the onions and bacon and cook until it is fully absorbed.
In a large bowl mix the eggs with the cream, the rest white wine, tarragon and coriander. Season the mixture with salt and pepper and set aside.
Grease your tart tins, roll out the pastry and fit it into you tins or tin. Spread the red onion and bacon mixture evenly into the tart tins.
Pour the egg mixture over the onions and bacon. Add small pieces of the goat cheese over the quiche. Now it is the time to put the cherry tomatoes, just cut them in half.
Bake the quiche for about 45 minutes and sprinkle with fresh tarragon before serving.

Pasta with dark beer sauce

Vessy — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 11:00:54 +0000

Dear friends,

A couple of days ago I accidentally came across a contest for the best pasta, organized by Country Woman Magazine.

Since me and my boyfriend have been on a diet for may be 2 months now, and during these months I haven’t touched or even thought of pasta (Some applause please lol), I decided this is the best occasion for breaking my diet and entered the contest with this super delicious recipe for pasta sauce.

Pasta with dark beer sauce

500 grams beef/pork (cut into small pieces)

250 ml. dark beer

4 small tomatoes cut into small pieces (1 can tomato puree)

1 big onion (chopped into small pieces)

4 -5 garlic cloves (minced, or cut into small pieces)

2 spoons or parsley (cut into small pieces)

1 tea spoon coriander

1 tea spoon chili powder (or paste)

30 ml. olive oil/butter

Salt & pepper

Optional: 200 grams dry pasta or white rice, cooked with butter

Prepare the pasta, according to the package instructions. Add a little bit of butter to the cooked pasta. I used gluten free, 100% corn pasta, but you could use whatever you prefer. Plain white rice is also a good option for this meal.

Heat a deep skillet. Add the oil or butter and wait until it’s heated up.

Add the onions and garlic and fry until golden. Add the meat and fry for a couple of minutes, until the meat is lightly browned. Add the chili powder, coriander, salt, pepper and half of the parsley, stir a couple of times. Add the beer and cook until reduced by about 1/4 of the liquid. Add the tomatoes and simmer for another 10 minutes, until the sauce reduces by about 1/3 and thickens.

Serve over a bowl of white rice or pasta.

Enjoy!