Wednesday, May 26, 2010

3 shapes mini-cheesecakes:roud,square,fluted

I made these cheesecakes the night before surgery.I think it was past 9 pm when I started making them but I knew that if I went to bed I wouldn't have been able to sleep. I needed something to keep my mind busy and not think about my surgery. At the same time though, looking through the pictures, it seems that my mind wasn't really focused on baking either because the pictures and the mini-cheesecakes and the setting aren't that great! Oh well...
Am copt aceste mini-cheesecakes-uri in noaptea dinaintea operatiei chirurgicale pe care am suferit-o. Era trecut de 9 seara cand m-am apucat de ele.Stiam ca daca ma duc la culcare o sa ma gandesc la operatie asa ca am decis sa coc ceva si sa-mi tin mintea ocupata  in loc sa ma invartesc in pat de pe o parte pe alta. Uitandu-ma prin poze, se vede totusi ca mintea mea nu era chiar concentrata pe ceea ce faceam pentru ca pozele nu sunt chiar asa de grozave. Eram obosita, era foarte tarziu in noapte..poate ultima mea noapte din viata cum parea la ora aceea....

 
 
 
 
 
 










I made 3 types of sauce: raspberry, strawberry and caramel.
Am facut 3 feluri de sos: de zmeura,de capsuni si caramel.

Romanian Dumplings soup/Supa de galuste


I made this soup 1 day before my surgery. I knew I could only eat "light" food after surgery and this soup is perfect: it has proteins, carbs and fat, vitamins and minerals. The Romanian dumplings are different than the American or Chinese dumplings. They are easy to make and very delicious! This is the only soup where I have to use my kitchen scale and a CALCULATOR, or a pen and paper! The farina ( semolina flour) and egg proportions have to be exact: for every 60 grams of egg we need 90 grams of semolina or 80 grams of semolina for softer dumplings. So, I put all the eggs on the scale  and weiged them, then calculated how much semolina I have to put(I usually use 3-4 eggs...it all depends how many dumpligs you want to make...it also depends on how big of a soup pot you have...these dumpligs get big and they need not to be crowded in the pot you're cooking them...they need room to expand).

Ingredients:
For dumplings
  • 4 eggs ( 244 grams total)
  • 330 grams farina or semolina flour..same thing
  • 1 TBS oil
  • pinch salt 
For soup: water,a whole chicken cut up, 1-2 onions, 4-5 carrots, celery, 2-3 bell peppers different colors, salt OR yo can also use homemade or store bought chicken stock or chicke broth if you don't want to go through the whole process of boiling the chicken with all the vegetables.

Step 1 (for people who use already made chicken stock/broth skip this step): clean the chicken and put it in cold water in a 6 or 8 quart pot to boil and add some salt. When the water will begin to boil skim all that unpleasant looking foam that forms. When you get rid of the foam completely add the onions (whole or cut in half, not sliced), the carrots, bell peppers cut in half, the celery. Boil on medium heat until the chicken meat starts to fall off the bone.
Step 2   Fish the chicken pieces and the vegetables from the pot...we don't have any use of them as we wanted them for taste only. Grab another 6 quarts pot (as wide as possible). Using a strainer, strain the liquid from the pot we boiled the meat and vegetables into the new pot and put it back to heat and bring it to a boil.
If using already made chicken stock/broth put 2 quarts of stock or broth in a 6 quart pot and bring it to a boil
Step 3 We are going to make the dumplings. Follow these instructions very close to get the best dumplings:
Separate the yolks from the whites. Weigh the farina ad have it ready. Mix the yolks with a pinch of salt and with the tablespoon of oil. Beat the whites to medium peaks. Carefuly fold in the whites into the egg yolk mixture. We don't want to deflate the whites and loose all that air we incorporated in the egg whites because that is what is going to make our dumplings fluffy. Add all of the semolina flour and again mix only enough to incorporate.
Step 4 Scoop the dumplings with a small ice cream scoop into the simmering broth. You don't want the broth to be boiling like crazy or the dumplings are going to desintegrate when they hit the boiling broth. I always have cold water on had and tame the boiling. You don't want to make the dumplings too big are they are going to expand 2-3 times their size. Cover the pot  lightly (allow the steam to excape)and let it simmer for like 10 minutes.After 10 minutes turn each dumpling, tame the boiling with some cold water if necessary,cover again and simmer for another 5-10 minutes.To know if the dumplings are done, you'll have to try one dumpling..cut it in half and check the middle...if it's not tough and it's completely done and fluffy in the middle they are ready to be eaten!! Traditionally, you only serve the dumplings and the broth, but you can add back some of that chicken meat you boiled and some of the boiled vegetables..it's up to you!

 
 
 


Primul meu premiu!!



I am doing a happy dance now! A very sweet  and talented lady Anca decided to award me! My first award! Anca, you are in angel...you made made my day:) Thank you!

Astazi sunt in culmea fericirii: am primit primul meu premiu!! Anca, iti multumesc ca te-ai gandit la mineEsti o scumpa! Inca o data multumesc!!Acest premiu inseamna mult petru mine:)

I offer these awards to the following people:
Je les offre à :
La randul me doresc sa premiez urmatoarele gospodine si sper ca premiul o sa va aduca atata bucurie cat mi-a adus mie!
Miha
Laura Adamache
kadiavsdutzu
nadjibella

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Surgery/Operatie chirurgicala

On Tuesday I had a surgical procedure done and still don't feel well.I'm on pain pills all the time.As soon as I will be able to post something I will...including my first award  for my blog which came from Anca.

Marti am suferit o operatie chirurgicala si inca ma recuprerez.Iau pastile de durere tot timpul. Indata ce o sa fiu capabila, o sa postez noi retete si primul meu premiu in blogosfera care a venit de la Anca.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Preview

This is just a preview of the two new recipes I'm going to post...sometime in the future...I already prepared the recipes, took the pictures, ate the food :D
The first one is "Pork Tenderloin wrapped in bacon with roasted vegetables" (I know, the name says it all, right?).
Acest post este doar o "avampremiera" a doua retete pe care o sa le postez candva in viitor. Am preparat deja retetele, am facut pozele, am papat mancarea...imi ramane doar se le traduc din Engleza in Romana.
Prima reteta este"Muschiulet de porc infasurat in bacon cu legume la cuptor"

 
Second recipe is "Chicken Fried Steak with garlic mash potatoes and gravy"..enough said!
A doua reteta este ""Chicken Fried Steak cu piure de cartofi si gravy"...o reteta specific Americana. Carnea folosita este in intregime de vita.


More pictures and the recipes to follow!
Mai multe poze si retetele in curand!

Friday, May 14, 2010

Volcano Cupcakes/Cupcakes Vulcan

 

It just crossed my mind to name these cupcakes "Volcano Cupcakes' a few minutes ago when I was looking through the pictures, hours after I baked them and the"cupcake photo shooting" was over. Some of them, with a little imagination, do look like volcanoes! The magma chamber is filled with whipped cream, the lava is the red raspberry sauce...oh, and the cupcakes that don't have raspberry sauce drizzled down their sides...umm, those volcanoes haven't erupted yet :D

Mi-a trecut prin minte sa denumesc aceste cupcakes-uri "Cupcakes Vulcan" acum cateva minute cand m-am uitat prin poze, ore dupa ce le-am copt si am terminat "sedinta foto". Cu putina imaginatie, unele dintre ele seamana cu un vulcan...camera magmatica si craterul umplut cu frisca, lava este sosul de zmeura....cupcakes-urile care nu au sos de zmeura pe margni sunt vulcani care nu au erupt inca :D