Goat cheese & Sundried tomato pesto Phyllo Puffs

This is a recipe i recently came up with after realizing i had nothing to serve my guests as an appetizer 15 minutes before they arrived!

So i just ran across my fridge content,

and found the following ingredients:

1/2 pack of Phyllo dough (+- 20 sheets)

2-3 spoons of thick cooking cream1 small pack of goat cheese (the creamy one)
2-3 spoons of sun dried tomato pesto

A dozen of asparagus
Butter/olive oil
Sliced almonds
Mixed greens

First, take the phyllo dough out of the freezer an hour or so before starting the preparation.

In the meantime, two things need to be done: 1) mix well the goat cheese, cream and pesto in a bowl until you get a thick byt a little creamy mixture, and 2) cook the asparagus (but keep them a little crispy).

Then, time to assemble the whole thing. It's probably the more laborious part of it, but it's so good that it's worth the time investment! Take half of the sheets (=- 10) for each puff, and spread a mix of olive oil and melted butter between each sheet.
Then, spread half of the goat cheese mixture in the middle of the phyllo dough, making sure both ends remain empty, and add half of the asparagus on top of it. Then, roll the dough (tight, but not too much as you don't want it to explode! - i experienced it!), and fold the extremities underneath. Repeat the same operation for the second one with the remaining half of the ingredients, and place both puffs on an oven-safe plate for 15-20 minutes in the oven, which has been pre-heated at 425 (or until it's golden).

Each puff serves 4 (small portions).
Serve on mixed greens, with some sliced almonds on top.
Alternative: The first time i made them, i served them with a classical cream-white wine sauce on top of it, and it was delicious.

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Zucchini Boerek

This is a recipe that some of you already tried! I decided to write one of my all-time favorites. Strangely, I am finding this hard to categorize, it is sort of a quiche, a gratin or a Turkish boerek. But it is simple to make and very delicious.

Ingredients:
1 medium-size zucchini
1 medium-size carrot
125 grams of feta cheese
7-8 sheets of phyllo dough
1 cup of carbonated water
3 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
Fresh dill (chopped)
1 cup cheddar cheese
Butter

Grate the zucchini and the carrot in a big bowl. Break the phyllo dough sheets into small pieces with your hands. The pieces can be uneven, it does not matter. Then add the eggs, the feta cheese, the dill, the milk and the vegetable oil. You could also add some cheddar cheese if you like. Mix well with a spoon, cover with a lid or foil and let it sit in the fridge for an hour.

In the meantime butter the pyrex dish, preferably a large deep one, approximately 8''x12''. Transfer the mixture to the pyrex, and then pour the carbonated water on. When you do that you get a feeling that you ruined everything, no worries :) On top, place little pieces of butter, and then cover with grated cheddar cheese. Bake about 30 minutes, or until the top is golden, at 425F.

Once it is ready, let it cool down a little before you serve. Otherwise, just like lasagna, it loses its form once you transfer to the plates. Bon appetit!

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Limy and Minty Asparagus

I am on one of those looong Boston-Montreal rides but at least I am lucky to have caught a new bus with internet! So I decided to use my time wisely, on our blog ;) Also, after a few days of eating-amazing-but-not-so-healthy food outside, I am craving for some healthy veggies. I wanted to write up a super simple recipe I tried a while ago. This one is from Simply Recipes by Garrett McCord.

Ingredients:
A bunch of asparagus
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 limes or 1 lemon
Fresh mint (chopped) or dried mint
A pinch of salt

There are two ways to cook the asparagus, you could either grill them in the oven or in a pan. Even better if you have a BBQ of course :) For the oven option, you need to place the asparagus on a baking sheet, drizzle some olive oil over, and sprinkle some salt on them. Move the asparagus around a bit to make sure they are coated evenly. Then place the asparagus in the oven at 400F for about 10 minutes. You could also do 'broil', but then you need to turn them a couple of times so that they do not burn. For the pan, simply heat the olive oil and saute the asparagus (with some salt) for 5 minutes over medium-high heat.

Once the asparagus is cooked, place them on the serving plate, pour the lime juice and sprinkle the mint on top. Ready! What I like about this recipe is its simplicity. Plus, it has a very refreshing flavor, which is exactly what I need right now on this bus..

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