mintsaltMASCARA

Last saturday I went to Ljubljana, our capital. It was sunny but not too cold, we had tea at the river Ljubljanica and then we went for lunch. As students we ate lunches for coupons - a great idea but not the best food. Now, many years later, I still feel a bit like a student and there's no need for me to go to fancy or expensive restaurants when in Ljubljana, which is every now and again.

We went to the old city center (Stara Ljubljana) and ate at Güjžina. My pronunciation of the names of dishes on the menu may vary greatly from the correct 'prekmürska' one, but that didn't stop me in my tries to order in fluent prekmürščina (the over-Mura-accent). I got what I ordered and it was yummy. I could taste the ingredients and they, I hope, were natural, without the oh-so-usual Vegeta taste.

Prejšnjo soboto sem bila v Ljubljani. Bilo je sončno in ne prehladno, čaj smo lahko pile na Petkovškovem nabrežju, brez da bi bili oviti v pet odej. Nato smo lačne šle v Staro Ljubljano na kosilo. Malo ozadja, za tiste, ki ne veste - jaz sem moja študentska leta preživela v naši prestolnici in prehranjevanje je po večini bilo na študentske bone. Sicer genialna ideja, predvsem ugodna, a morda ne vedno najboljša hrana. Sedaj, ko sem vsake toliko časa spet v Ljubljani, se še kar počutim kot študentka, tako da nimam nikakršne potrebe po fensišmensi dragih restavracijah.

V starem centru LJ je duša Panonije, Güjžina, simpatična gostilna, ki ima na meniju jedi najprej napisane v avtohtoni prekmürščini. Seveda sem naročala kar s tistim wanna-be prekmürskim naglasom in to, čeprav moja izgovorjava ni bila najbolj prekmürska, sem tudi dobila. Okus je bil zelo dober, ni delovalo, kot da bi hrano posipavali z Vegeto.

I had cauliflower soup, really creamy and a big batch also. I managed to eat the whole bowl but I really shouldn't have, as there were so many more tasty dishes to go.

Juhica je bila cvetačna, fajn kremasta in kar precej velika porcija. Ki sem jo seveda celo maznla! A morda je ne bi rabila, jedi, ki so še prišle so bile zeeeeelooooo dobre.

Then I had homemade gnocci with courgette pesto, or as the over-Mura-people would say: Domači Cujcki s tikvinim pestom. O my word!!! See for yourself, not too salty, I could easily taste the courgettes….

Potem sem imela domače njoke z bučkinim pestom oz. Domače Cujcke s tikvinim pesto. WOW!!! Poglejte, se vam ne cedijo že sedaj sline? 

ENG

I bought new pans in Mercator today - I had some stickers to buy them cheaper. My mom, my friends and myself were shopping for months now in Mercator to collect them. I was eyeing up those cool Tefal Ingenio ones. The wok, the large saucepan and some other bits and bobs from their line are mine now. So naturally I had to try one of them right away. You know, to check if they work and whether or not they're leaky. One can never be too careful!

I made my special, took-me-many-tries-to-get-it-seriously-tasty, Bolognese Sauce and here is the Rp. for you to try. Mouthwatering pics included. 

I'm hoping to get the legendary Rp. from my mom's aunt really soon - that one may be even better than this one. Stay tuned.

Ingredients:

- 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

- 1 large onion, peeled, cut

- 4 cloves of garlic, minced

- 4 carrots, peeled, cut

- rosemary, thyme

- 1 dried chilli (from one's own balcony), cut

- 1 teespoon of balsamic vinegar

- 400 grams of minced beef

- 1 dcL white wine (I prefer red wine, but the bottle of white wine was open!)

- 2-3 teespoons of tomato concentrate

- 425 mL of tomatoe sauce

- 7 cherry tomatoes, cut

- salt, pepper (to taste)

How-to:

I took the 28 cm new large saucepan and put it on high heat. I added the onion, garlic and carrots and turned the heat from high to medium high. I waited for about 5 minutes, then added the balsamic vinegar, rosemary, thyme and chilli and then the minced beef. Whilst turning the meat in the pan with a wooden smiley spoon, so it wouldn't burn, I waited for it to get almost completely brown and then added the wine and continued turning until the wine was gone (like magic!). I then added everything tomatoe related - the concentrate, sauce and cherry tomatoes. I cooked everything for about an hour on low heat. At the end I added pepper, I didn't salt it. But the majority of you probably will.

SLO

Moja mama, mnogi prijatelji in seveda tudi jaz smo kakšna dva meseca kupovali v Mercatorju in zbirali nalepke za Tefal Ingenio posodno akcijo in danes sem jih uporabila. Stopnja veselja je visoko! Vok in 28 centi ponev, odgovarjajoči pokrovki in ročaja so končno moji. Takoj sem eno od njih sprobala. Sej veste, da ugotovim če slučajno pušča.

Naredila sem mojo bolonjeze omako, ki je bila večkrat kuhana na mnogo različnih načinov in z različnimi sestavinami, a sedaj je optimizirana. Morda dajem vtis, kot da sama sebe tepljam po hrbtu, ampak verjamite mi - zeeeellllooooo vam bo všeč! Slike priložene, naj se vam sline začnejo cediti. Močno upam, da dobim Rp. mamine tete, tista omaka je morda najboljša od vseh. Pridite nazaj in prečekirajte ali mi je uspelo!

Kaj potrebujemo?

- 2 žlici ekstra deviškega olivnega olja

- 1 veliko čebulo, olupljeno, razrezano

- 4 stroke česna, stisnjenega

- 4 korenčke, olupljene, razrezane na koščke

- rožmarin, timijan

- 1 posušen čili (z balkona), narezanega

- 1 žlička balzamičnega kisa

- 400 gramov govejega mletega mesa

- 1 dcL belega vina (osebno imam raje rdeče, a sem imela belo odprto!)

- 2-3 žličke paradižnikovega koncentrata

- 425 mL paradižnikove omake

- 7 češnjevih paradižnikov, razrezanih

- sol, poper (po želji)

Kako?

Novo posodo sem dala 'na polno na plin', da se je fajn segrela in nato vanjo vlila olivno olje ter dodala čebulo, česen in korenčke. Plin sem zmanjšala na srednje visoko in čez približno 5 minut dodala balzamični kis, rožmarin, čili in timijan ter nato 'faširano' meso. Fajn sem mešala z leseno smajli kuhlo, da se mi ni prižgalo in počakala toliko časa, da je skoraj vso meso porjavelo ter ga nato zalila z vinom. Mešala sem dalje, da se je vino pokuhalo nakar sem dodala vse kar ima besedo paradižnik v imenu - koncentrat, omako in češnjevce. Na nizki temperaturi sem vse skupaj kuhala kakšno urco. Na koncu sem omakico popoprala, solila je nisem. A vi jo najbrž boste.

ENG

Everyone needs a quick bread recipe for the moment when you realise that you're just too lazy to get out of your PJ's in the morning to buy bread from the local bakery. This one can easily be pimped to cool snack-y little party breads or it can stay just the normal loaf of bread for a sunday breakfast.

Now these may not look like the pretty ones in the bakery but they taste great. And the smell of freshly baked bread… you know what I mean! And they last up to a week. Now that's simply genius in my book.

Ingredients:

- 100 g of whole grain spelt flour

- 300 g of wheat flour type 850

- pinch of salt

- 1 table spoon of extra virgin olive oil

- one cube of yeast

- 250 mL of lukewarm water

The how-to:

Crumble the cube of yeast into a bowl with lukewarm water, whisk it up and wait for 5 to 10 minutes. After that add all other ingredients and mix it into an even consistency. It is easiest using the hook attachment in a stand mixer and doing it for about 5 minutes or doing it with a hand mixer for about 10.

Form into a ball, cover with cling film and wait for about an hour for the dough to rise and almost double in size.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. 

After the hour is passed take the dough and knead once through with your hands and form either a loaf or little buns, rolls… Whichever way you want, perhaps into bite size ball if you're entertaining friends. Let them rest and rise again for 15 minutes. Put them into the oven and bake for about 12 minutes, until brownish.

SLO

Po mojem mnenju potrebuje vsak enostaven in hiter recept za kruh, še posebej, če si bolj lene sorte in v nedeljo zjutraj ne želiš iz spalne srajce in v pekarno ponj. Ta se lahko 'spimpa' v kulski prigrizek za čago ali pa ostane prava štruca za nedeljski zajtrk.

Morda niso najlepše (žemljice) a so zeeelo dobre. In vonj sveže pečenega kruha … sej veste kaj mislim, ne? Zdržijo tudi do enega tedna - perfektno, če se vpraša mene.

Kaj rabimo?

- 100 g polnozrnate pirine moke

- 300 g pšenične bele moke tip 850

- ščep soli

- 1 žlica ekstra deviškega olivnega olja

- kocka kvasa

- 250 mL mlačne vode

Kako ga naredimo?

V posodo z mlačno vodo sem nadrobila kocko kvasa in ga zmešala z metlico, da se je raztopil ter počakala nekje 5 do 10 minut. Potem sem dodala vse ostale sestavine in jih zamešala v gmoto enakomerne konsistence. Delo je bilo enostavno, saj ga je opravljal Arty - s kljukastim nastavkom za kvašeno testo - približno 5 minut. Ko ga še nisem imela je bilo dela malo več, morda 10 minut gnetenja. Testo sem oblikovala v kepo, ga pokrila s prozorno folijo za živila in pustila počivati na toplem za kakšno uro, da se je po količini podvojil.

Prižgala sem pečico na 200 stopinj C.

Ko je ura vzhajanja testa minila, sem ga še enkrat pregnetla (kar z rokami) in oblikovala v žemljice in v kroglice, ravno prav velike, da gredo v usta. Malo sem počakala, da se še napihnejo (približno 15 minut). V pečici sem jih pekla 12 minut, da so postali rjavkaste barve.