I love food. Any kind of food: desserts, main courses and maybe one of my favourite - appetizers. Why is it that appetizers always look so much more tempting than entrees on practically any restaurant menu? Almost every time I go to a restaurant it's a struggle to choose just one starter to eat. Sometimes I secretely wish that I could have a few (or, who am I kidding, a lot) of the small dishes instead of having one entree. I guess this is why people go out to Spanish restaurants for tapas, right? My boyfriend, however, has a very different idea about appetizers. A few weeks ago I listened in disbelief when he mentioned his dislike for tapas. Really? Who doesn't like tapas? Perfect little appetizers they are! One of my favourite things to order as an appetizer is a dip. I rarely get it by myself, but sitting at a pub with a few of my girl friends and sharing a warm gooyey and cheesy dip, drinking martinis or beers and gossiping is a perfect way to spend an evening.

This recipe serves 2-4 people as an appetizer.

It's been quite a long time since my last post here. I haven't been cooking much, but I recently started to get back into the groove. I made a few things and they turned out pretty great. I also got a new camera - Nikon D700, so I am extremely excited and can't wait to start cooking and taking pictures again.

I got this book called "Cakes & Loaves" a few months ago. I fell in love with the pictures of the cakes - so simple, so bright, so inviting and delicious. Later, while browsing through the recipes I was a little bit disappointed - it seemed like there were just a couple of basic recipes and the rest were just multiple variations of the same idea, just different additions and flavourings. I thought about returning the book, but the pictures were too inspirational and I left it on my shelf. That was more than six months ago and I completely forgot about this gem until last week. I picked up the book and rediscovered all the beautiful cakes again. One of them just screamed my name. Blue Cheese, Pear and Walnuts - what a perfect  and classic combination of ingredients. Salty, spicy cheese combined with soft, sweet pear and crunchy, earthy nuts. On top of all that, the cake is very easy to make, all the ingredients just need to be combined and baked - no whipping, melting, resting, separating, etc. needed.

recipe adapted from "Cakes & Loaves" by Ilona Chovancova

• Blue cheese, crumbled (such as Roquefort) - 125 g
• Pear, peeled and chopped into 1x1cm cubes - 1 
• Walnuts, coarsely chopped - 60 g
• Eggs - 3
• Milk - 100 ml
• Walnut oil - 3 tablespoons
• Olive oil - 3 tablespoons
• Flour - 1 1/2 cups
• Baking powder - 1 tablespoon
• Sugar - 2 teaspoons
• Mild Cheddar, grated - 100 g
• Salt, pepper

- Preheat the oven to 180C (350F).
- Butter and flour the cake pan.
- In a big bowl mix together eggs, milk and both oils.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and mix just until it all comes together and no flour is visible. make sure that the filling is evenly distributed through the batter.
- Transfer the batter into the cake pan and bake for 50 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean with no crumbs.
- Cool the cake in the pan.

Comments
- You may omit the sugar, I just like the combination of salty and sweet and I think the batter becomes to plain without it.
- Blue cheese should be strong since there are so many other ingredients in the cake. Milk blue cheese would be lost in it.
- This cake goes amazingly well with Strong Cider.

I think I found a new food addiction. Well, I still have about five avacados on my counter, but my newest addiction is this Yogurt Cheese or as it is called in Middle East - Labneh. I now use a little different method, I wrap the yogurt in a lot of cheese cloth and then hang it over a deep bowl for a couple of hours. Those few hours are enough to drain the yogurt and get a nice, soft, creamy and tangy cheese. This time it's paired with peppery arugula (my other new favourite food), salty prosciutto and roasted and caramelized asparagus. Beautiful combination for a very tasty sandwich.

recipe adapted from carina-forum

• Bread
• Yogurt Cheese (or your favourite cream cheese)
• Arugula
• Prosciutto
• Asparagus (+ olive oil, salt, pepper)
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

- Preheat the oven to 350F (180C).
- Wash asparagus, snap off the woody ends, arrange the spears onto a baking sheet, lightly cover with olive oil, salt, pepper and roast for a few minutes until they are cooked to your liking.
- Toast the bread.
- Spread some cheese onto a bread, lightly salt it.
- Arrange a few arugula leaves on the cheese.
- Wrap prosciutto around cooked and still warm asparagus.
- Place the wrapped asparagus on top of the arugula leaves.
- Ground the pepper on top.
- Enjoy!

I saw this recipe in the latest issue of Everyday Food magazine. Well, it's not even a recipe, just an idea, but what a wonderful and easy idea. One ingredient, a little bit of patience and you get a perfect homemade cream cheese. Mix it with fresh chopped thyme, spread on a soft slice of dark rye bread, sprinkle with lots of flaky fleur de sel, freshly ground coarse black pepper and arrange a few spicy arugula leaves on top - it's a piece of heaven, better than any dessert or chocolate. It's light, tangy and refreshing from the use of yogurt, perfect for easy summer snack. Give it a try, mix it with garlic and fresh herbs, sun dried tomatoes and olive oil, chives and roasted red peppers - the possibilities are endless!!!

recipe from Everyday Food by Martha Stewart (june 2009)

• Greek or Balcan style yogurt - 1 big tub

- Place 2 layers of cheesecloth in a fine-mesh sieve over a large bowl.
- Add the Greek yogurt and loosely cover with plastic wrap.
- Top with a plate that is at least 1 inch smaller than the inside of sieve and weight with a heavy can.
- Refrigirate for 24 hours for Yogurt Spread or 48 hours for Yogurt Cheese.

Comments

- After 48 hours there was still a lot of liquid left in the yogurt, so I let i drain for another 24 hours and then I actually squeezed quite a lot of liquid by hands.
- I think the better way to do it, would be to wrap the yogurt in the cheesecloth and not put it inside the sieve, but actually hang it somewhere. It'll drain from its own weight. That's the way we do cottage cheese in Russia and it only takes a few hours instead of a few days.
- However, no matter which method you choose, the result is absolutely amazing!!!!

There's really no recipe for this. And I have to admit, but I used a store-bought alfredo sauce (I still feel guilty). Just warm the sauce, add your favourite cheese, spices and herbs. Cut some cooked smoked sausages and mix into the sauce. Add macaroni, mix, put into ramekins, sprinkle with some grated cheese and bake until golden brown.

Perfect easy meal for two (or one... I've been guilty of devouring the whole dish by myself), comforting and filling. Cheesy polenta, spicy salty sausage, caramelized onions and sweet peas. This recipe is ideal for experimentation, you can use broccoli or asparagus instead of peas or any other vegetable that you have on hand. Or you can try different kinds of sausages or cheeses. And I am sure that every version will be different and dimagelicious.

recipe adapted from Everyday Food magazine

for 2 portions

• Oil - 1 tablespoon
• Cooked sausages, sliced into bite size pieces - 2
• Onion, sliced - 1
• Frozen peas - 1/2 cup
• Polenta - 1/2 cup
• Cheese (chedder, gouda, goat cheese, even cream cheese would do) - 50 g (or more)
• Salt, pepper to taste

- In a saute pan, heat the oil on medium heat.
- Saute the sausages for a few minutes until they start to get some colour.
- Transfer the sausages to a plate.
- Lower the heat a little and add the onions to the pan.
- Saute the onions until they are soft and caramelized.
- Add the frozen peas to the pan and cook for a few minutes until the peas are heated through.
- Add the sausages withy any juices back to the pan and cook for a minute. Keep warm.
- In a small pot, cook polenta according to the package instructions.
- When polenta starts to thicken, add the cheese and cook a little more until the cheese is melted and the polenta is cooked to a consistency that you'd like.
- Season the cooked polenta to taste.
- To serve, transfer the polenta onto a plate and put the onion-sausage mixture on top.

I am one of those strange people who doesn't like muffins too much. I make them, but I prefer cupcakes. It's the texture that I am not a fan of, but savoury muffins are a different story. I absolutely adore them. Soft, warm, gooey and always different. Ham and Cheese muffins. Salmon and Dill. Bacon and Onion. Or... Cheese and Herbs maybe? Why not?

recipe adapted from Muffins cookbook

14-16 muffins

• Flour - 2 cups
• Baking powder - 2 teaspoons
• Baking soda - 1/2 teaspoon
• Salt, pepper, spices to taste
• Sugar - 1/2 tablespoon
• Cheese (chedder, gouda, etc), grated - 100 g
• Herbs (dill, parsley, cilantro, etc), chopped - 50 g
• Egg, slightly whisked - 1
• Plain yogurt - 1 1/2 cup (+ more if the the batter is too thick)
• Butter, melted - 4 tablespoons

- Preheat the oven to 400F (200C).
- Line the muffin tin with muffin cups and oil them.
- Sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda together in a large bowl.
- Add the cheese, herbs, salt, pepper and sugar. Mix.
- In a separate bowl whisk together yogurt, egg and melted butter.
- Pour the liquid ingredients into the flour mixture and mix just until it comes together. You might need to add a little more yogurt if the dough is too thick.
- Pour the batter into the prepared muffin tin filling 3/4 full.
- Bake for about 20 minutes until the muffins are golden and risen and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.