Beef Stew

This recipe is one of our favorites. This time I made it for New Year's Eve dinner. Turned out amazing as usual. I don't follow any particular recipe on this one and am not sure if I do something different than anyone else. It is truly delicious and I wanted to share it with you! So, I hope you will enjoy it :) here it is...

Ingredients:
Olive oil
1 1/2 lb of beef
1 Onion
2 Small carrots
10 Small potatoes
2 Cloves of garlic
1 1/2 cup of mushrooms
2 cups of beef stock
1 Tbsp of Worcestershire sauce
1 Teasp of Cajun spice
Bay leaves, Salt, Pepper



Directions:
Set slow cooker on low setting or put deep pot with thick bottom on to slow heat. Chop onions and fry them in frying pan with olive oil until golden brown. Spruce olive oil on the bottom of the slow cooker or pot, add fried onions. Chop carrots and garlic roughly and add to the onions. Season beef with salt and pepper and fry on the pan until all redness is gone about 1 1/2 minutes. Add beef to the slow cooker. Slice mushrooms into big chunks and add to the stew. Add cajun spice, worcestershire sauce and a pinch of salt and pepper. Heat 2 cups of ready beef stock or use 2 beef stock cubes and two cups of hot water to dissolve them; add stock to the beef stew; add bay leaves (2 or 3); leave to cook on high in slow cooker, or low heat in the pot, for about 2 hours. Cut potatoes into halves or quarters, depending on size, making around 2 by 2 inch pieces. Add potatoes to the stew and let it cook for about 3-4 hours on high. After that keep on low setting in the slow cooker and keep warm until serving. When serving garnish with your choice of herb and enjoy!

Blue Cheese and red potato tart

This is a must try recipe! Delicious small red potatoes with blue cheese crumbles on a savory tart. Thanks to Smitten Kitchen for this recipe. I am a big fan of a blue cheese and OMG this recipe is something I'll be making not once :)

For the recipe click here

Crispy Prosciutto Cups with Pear

The holiday season is here! It is time to think about tasty things I want to make. I came across this recipe at Martha Stewart's website; it is easy to make and sounds so tasty. An unusual combination of smoky and salty prosciutto with sweet pear...yum! I really like the idea of crisping prosciutto and making it into a cup. This appetizer recipe is on the top of my list for this season :)

I made this appetizer for New Year's Eve. Instead of the Bartlett pear from the original recipe I used Red pear (very similar in taste); in addition to lemon juice I used some maple syrup and a sprinkle of poppy flower seeds. Even though making the prosciutto cups was challenging, this appetizer turned out really delicious. I would recommend to use more meaty pieces of prosciutto to form the cups. The ones that had fat strings kind of bubbled up and were difficult to fill with diced pear. I also baked it for 10 minutes instead of 15 as they started getting brown very fast and I didn't want them to burn.

Here is the original recipe from Martha Stewart's website; below my version of it. Hope you like it!

Ingredients:

• Prosciutto, thinly sliced
• 1 ripe Red pear, finely diced
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon maple syrup or honey
• Sprinkle of poppy flower seed

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Cut prosciutto into 24 two-inch squares.
Place one square (overlapping any tears) in each cup of a mini cupcake tin.
Bake until fat turnes golden, about 10 to 12 minutes. Using a fork, immediately transfer to a paper towel to drain; cool completely.
In a small bowl, combine diced pear and lemon juice, maple syrup or honey and poppy seeds. Fill each cup with pear mixture just before serving.  

Thanksgiving appetizers

I made little mozzarella/tomato/basil snacks on a toothpick. Here is the recipe I used - Tomato and mozzarella bites. Instead of balsamic vinegar/ olive oil as mentioned in this recipe you can also use any of the Italian dressings. I served these little bites on the platter with blackberries.

I don't have name or any particular recipe for this next appetizer: I took thin crackers (you can use any brand, I used Carr's). In this order I layered: whole slice of boiled egg on the bottom, then half a slice of cucumber and half a slice of radish. Then I squeezed a little bit of mayo by the flat edge of the radish slice so the mayo ended up in the center of the cracker. Then I used some tiny pepperoni slices on the top of the mayonnaise (I was able to fit three slices) and finished up with some fresh parsley.

I made two types of Russian salads and served them in the bite size cracker shells:  

- Winter Salad (Zimniy salat) (on the left) 

- Vinaigrette (Vinegret); made with beets  (on the right)

We also had some fresh peppers and salary
sticks with Sour cream, herbs and raisin dip.

Caviar Bites

For the drinks I made strawberry lemonade with mint leaves for kids and for grown-ups I made orange cranberry sangria with cinnamon sticks. My husband made a wonderful turkey. He used very simple classic recipe that calls for salt, pepper and oil. He also made an amazing gravy that was a big hit :)

Watermelon for Grown-Ups

This is the yummiest way to have watermelon!

Fresh and juicy watermelon cubes mixed with light, creamy yogurt, and sweetened with honey makes it perfect. 

I came across this recipe at Ladies' Home Journal website. It is a truly great and easy recipe.

Mix  together:

6 oz  of plain yogurt, 

2 Tsp of honey, 

1 Tsp of fresh lime juice, 

1/4 tsp of freshly grated ginger.

Spoon over  watermelon cut into cubes and sprinkle with chopped pistachios. 

Enjoy!!!