Hungarian Smarni

Back home I see my grandparents almost every day, but since we live so far away from them now we can only talk on the phone, skype or if they visit us. When I don't see them for a long time I miss them, I miss talking to them, eating all the delicious food my grandmother makes for us, talking to them, watching movies together...

I was so excited when they told me that they are coming to see us. I was counting the days with my sister. They have been here for nearly two weeks now and we have done so many things and one of them was that I made Hungarian "smarni" with my grandmother. Originally, this is an Austrian dish regularly made by Hungarians too, just a little differently. We like to eat this with apricot jam (which is also home-made by my grandmother) and it is heavenly !! 

INGREDIENTS: 

10 dkg semolina (búzadara) 

2,5 dl milk 

3 eggs
pinch of salt
orange zest
lemon zest
4 tbs of oil

optional:

caster sugar

raisins (mazsola) (the amount you prefer)
apricot jam

Start by separating the egg whites from the egg yolks. Mix the semolina, the milk and the egg yolks in the bowl, and let it sit for minimum an hour.  Pour some milk on the raisins in a cup (until it covers them) so they can soften. Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt and add to the batter. Heat up 4 tablespoons of oil in a big pan, and pour in the batter (but make sure to turn it down to medium heat when you start frying the batter). Let one side fry like a thick pancake and then start folding it in half, and cutting it to little pieces with a wooden spatula. Repeat until the batter falls into little crumbles and get golden brown. When ready, grate some lemon and orange zest on it and also add your softened raisins. When it is done put it on a plate and optionally add a little bit of caster sugar on top (this is how I prefer this to be served) and also the apricot jam.

My grandparents are leaving soon and I am sad, because they have to go back to Hungary, so I won't see them for a while, but I am also happy, because it was so nice to see them and spend some time together.

If you decide to try out this Hungarian Smarni then take a picture of it and upload it to instagram or twitter and also don't forget to tag me in the photo.

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A Real Portuguese Pastelaria

Since today was a Sunday and my family and I were a bit tired we decided to have a chill day and spend some time together. So we started the day by sleeping in until noon and then we went to have brunch in a pastelaria in Monte Estoril. A pastelaria is a mixture of a cafe and a bakery shop and here in Portugal people have a routine of going to these pastelarias to have breakfast, lunch or just a snack. So we went to this place called Zenith Pastelaria, Salão De Chá. It is a lovely cafe that we discovered about a month ago and I really like to come here and order my usual and have a nice chat with whoever I am with. This place has my favourite pastries and also it has a modern design, like tables made from mirrors - so it is very hard not to look at yourself all the time! :)

I usually order galão(latte), a sandwich that is made from puff pastry and has butter, ham, cheese, lettuce and tomato inside. 

Russo is my favourite sweet pastry and because you have to finish brunch with something sweet I had to order one. It is made from puff pastry, it has a vanilla and cinnamon flavoured cream inside and it is dusted with icing sugar and cinnamon. It looks so tempting and trust me when I say this - it's the BEST! And of course they had Pastel de Natas which I'm not going to write about now, but you can expect a post on it soon!

After we had a very nice brunch we went on a beautiful and relaxing walk on the beach. The ocean was stunning as always, and today was the fist warm day (it was around 18℃ )and finally it was so nice to be able to wear a jacket instead of my winter coat. 

While we were having brunch I took some photos of the place and the food, so I could show you guys what a real Portuguese pastelaria looks like. 

 

Galão (latte)

Sandwich

Chocolate Salami

My sister eating the Chocolate salami :)

 

Russo

My mom cought me looking at my self in the mirror  :)

The cool desing of the place

I like to write posts where I can give a little insight into my life and show you fun places in Portugal.I hope you enjoyed this post and feel free to write a comment on the blog, facebook, instagram or on twitter. 

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Chocolate swirls

I'm in love with these chocolate swirls so I'm going to show you how to make them. I love white and dark chocolate and when you can combine them... oh my God! I like making these chocolate swirls (these don't really have a name, this is just what I like to call them), because you can make something so simple look so pretty, yummy and fancy.  I find these helpful if I want to serve something with tea, coffee or even after a lovely dinner...

INGREDIENTS:
100g white chocolate
200g dark chocolate

sliced almonds
cinnamon 
sliced caramel

Melt the white and the dark chocolate in two separate metal bowls, put the bowls over two pots of boiling water. I wanted to make a few different chocolate swirls so I took 3 or 4 smaller plates and put some baking paper in them, and spread a layer of dark chocolate on each. Then I poured the white chocolate on top, and with a toothpick I started swirling the two different chocolates together. You can decorate them with almonds, cinnamon, caramel bits, or anything else you fancy, then put them in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
When they chilled and hardened, take the baking paper off and break them into bigger or smaller pieces. 

( My favourite was the caramel one :) )

I love how these turned out, they look so fancy and tasty and I really hope you make them. If you do, take a picture of it and upload it to instagram or twitter. Don't forget to tag me in the photo.

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Salmon and Chicken Wrap

Wraps are among my favourite things to eat, because you can really put anything that you like in them and they taste amazing. I usually eat lunch at home twice a week and that is when I like to make myself something filling but healthy. Most of the time I make  either a chicken or a salmon wrap. They are different but both of them taste really good. I like the chicken one, because I put tomato sauce in it and it tastes great, and I like the salmon one, because I LOVE salmon! :) You can use other ingredients too, but it is very important to put crispy fresh salad with it.

I want to share with you these recipes so you can also make them when you want to have a quick lunch or dinner.

Chicken wrap:

half a breast of a chicken

chicken spice (any kind prefer) 

1 wrap

1-2 tablespoons of tomato sauce

3-4 cherry tomatoes

1 slice of cheese (or just grate some on top)

some salad

some mushrooms

Salmon wrap:

1 slice of salmon

1 wrap

half of an avocado

lemon (juice)

some salad with arugula 

cheese

3 cherry tomatoes

1 tablespoon of cream fresh (tejföl) (this is optional)

Chicken wrap:

First, cut your chicken into little chunks, then fry them in a pan in some oil and spice. Get your wrap and spread the tomato souce and then add the chicken, tomatoes, salad, mushrooms and cheese (you can use any kind of cheese, I used parmesan). Roll it up and my tip for you is if you're not going to eat it right away, then put a toothpick in the center so it holds the wrap togehter and when you are ready to eat just take it out.

Salmon wrap:

Take the wrap and spread some sour cream on it and add the salmon and the avocado and sqeeze some lemon juice on them. Then add the salad, cheese, tomatoes and roll it up and you are done.

You can use any other ingredients that you would like for these wraps. Enjoy!

If you make these wraps then make sure to write a comment or take a picture of it and upload it to instagram or twitter and also don't forget to tag me in the photo.

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Guilt free pancakes

I know what you are thinking " How can guilt free and pancakes be the title of this post at the same time?", well I'm glad to say this is actually possible. These two recipes are perfect if you want to pay attention to your figure or be healthier, but you don't want to miss out on a delicious dessert.

I find myself craving something sweet after a meal or on weekends when I stay up late and I want to snack on something while I'm watching a movie. This is when these pancakes are perfect, because  they are made from fruit and don't have added sugar. 

Apple pancakes:
1 apple (use sweet apple) 
1 egg
2 tablespoon of water
3 tablespoons of flour
cinnamon

Banana pancakes
1 banana
1 egg
cinnamon

decoration :
whipped cream
honey

These recipes both take a little more time, because you need to make them on a low heat so they don't burn, but they are so worth the time! 

1. pancake 

Peel your apple and put it in the blender with the egg,the water,the flour and some cinnamon and blend it well. It has to be thicker than the avarage pancake mixture. Heat up (on a low heat) some oil in your pan and make small circle shaped pancakes out of your batter (if you make them little it will be easier to flip them). You want the pancakes to be golden brown. For the topping I used whipped cream, but this is an optional step.

2. pancake 

Peel your banana and put it in the blender with the egg and some cinnamon. Remember, it has to be quite thick. Heat up (on a low heat) some oil in your pan and make small circle shaped pancakes out of your batter . For the topping I used honey (maple syrup is a great alternative) and some almonds, but again this step is optional.

Of course I cheated a little by putting whipped cream and honey on the pancakes, but you can leave those out, because they are sweet and delicious just as they are!

You guys have to try these pancakes because they are delicious and guilt free, and if you do try, make sure to  write a comment or take a picture of it and upload it to instagram or twitter and also don't forget to tag me in the photo.

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Tomato soup

A few years ago I went to Ireland with my family to visit some friends of ours and of course I loved it. Some people might not like this rainy weather, but I do, I believe that it is part of Ireland's charm. We went to this cafe/bar where we ate soup with baguette sandwiches and I can still remember how good it was. I don't know if it was the fact that I was very cold and the soup was deliciously hot, or that I was extremely hungry, but either way it was a "soup to remember"! I tried recreating this soup and I think I got pretty close to it. So this is what I'm going to share with you now.

INGREDIENTS:
2 cloves of garlic
1l of tomato purée (paradicsompüré)
100-200g cherry tomatoes
0,5l of water
10 dkg of carrot
2 bay leaves
oregano, pepper, slat
100 ml cream (tejszín)
Worcester sauce  (optional)

For the sandwich: 
butter or cream cheese
ham
cheese
baguette (toasted) 

In a big pot heat up some oil and fry your garlic until they are light brown. In a blender, blend the cherry tomatoes, until it becomes a sauce consistency. Pour the tomato purée(I recommend using tomato purée for a better taste but tomato juice also works, just make sure that you don't put water in the soup) and the mixed cherry tomatoes into the pot.

Pour in the water, add the bay leaves, oregano, pepper and salt to your taste (also pour some Worcester sauce in it, but this step is optional). In a separate pot cook the carrots, blend them in a blender as well and then pour the mixture into the soup (the carrot makes it more creamy and gives it an even better taste). The last step is to stir the cream into the soup and you are done.

To make the sandwich start by toasting the baguettes and buttering them, then put some ham and cheese in them. I usually make this sandwich simple, because the soup makes this dish special and also this is the way I had it in Ireland, but you can go ahead and add any other ingredient you'd like.

2012, Ireland
In front of the cafe/bar

Try this soup and sandwich on a rainy day and I promise it will turn your day around. If you do make this recipe then make sure to write a comment or take a picture of it and upload it to instagram or twitter and also don't forget to tag me in the photo.

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