Spicy Jambolaya

Maybe you think “Jambolaya” is the title of a Latin song and maybe you’re right…
Nevertheless, “Jambalaya” is also known as a rice-based Creole dish.

While rice is mainly associated with sushi, risotto or paella, it is also widely used as a major ingredient in Caribbean islands, Indian Ocean islands and Louisiana cuisine.
Traditionally, the base of this dish is made of rice enriched with various additives depending on the region, such as local weights, seafood, or meat enriched with citrus acidity. For my special jambalaya, I usually use tomatoes, peppers, onions, beans, squash, zucchini, vegan sausages, or tofu, some herbs and spices.

Basically, it is a simple one-pot dish and we can prepare it from what we have at our average household disposal.

 

 

Ingredients:
1 cup of rice
3 cups of water or vegetable broth
a couple of tablespoons of oil
1 large zucchini
1 bell pepper
1 onion
3 spring onion
3 cloves of garlic
a handful of colorful tomatoes
a couple of vegan sausages
5 tablespoons of tomato puree
1 teaspoon of sweet pepper
1 teaspoon hot pepper or chopped chili pepper
parsley or cilantro
salt
pepper
1/4 lemon juice

 

Recipe:
Wash the vegetables and cut them into similarly sized cubes.
Separately, chop the onions, garlic, chili and coriander.
Put the chopped onion, chopped chili garlic, and paprika into a large frying pan with oil.
Fry everything for about 2 minutes.
Add the rice and fry for a few minutes until it turns glassy.
Add all chopped vegetables, mix and stew for about 4 minutes. Add tomato puree and water or broth.
Finally, heat up some oil in a separate pan. Add chopped soy sausages and fry until the sausages are golden brown.
Add the sausages to the pot and mix everything
Add fresh cut tomatoes, chopped cilantro, and spring onion.

 

 

As always let me know what you think about this recipe in the comments section below.

What is the most popular way to cook rice in your part of the world?

 

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Summary of blogging year, Juicy Roots 2019

In 2019 a lot has happened, but not all my dreams and efforts have come positive and true. Maybe it wasn’t my best year ever, however, I can definitely find some short episodes for which I am extremely grateful and I think we should all focus on our small victories and with that in mind march forward to face the new challenges of 2020.
 
With that being said I also want you to know that I am extremely happy that I decided to go back to writing my blog. It was definitely a good decision for me because it gives me an opportunity to collect my thoughts, practice my English and… I like to think that I am going to leave something positive and open source for each one of you as I go through my life.
 
It is true that I did not provide you with as many posts as I wanted to, but for each post that you can find on my blog, I try to put my whole heart and soul into the process of writing of it. The ever-increasing number of visits and friendly comments show me that my hard work is appreciated and well… it’s nice to gather all of us around and to see you…nice!
 
So with all that in mind, I promise not to disappoint you and to write even more content with better quality and I encourage all of us to work hard over our mind, body, and soul so that we can become something greater and stronger than we were a year ago.
 
Let’s keep up the good fight.
 
Also for the newcomers, the top 5 most-read posts in 2019 were:
 
1.Birch juice

Birch juice

2. Your guide to golden healthy Brexit

Your guide to golden healthy Brexit

3. Jam for dummies

Jam for Dummies

4. UK survival outfit for millennial budget

UK survival outfit for millennial budget

5. Get minty this summer

Get minty this summer

 
 
Best Wishes & Happy New Year
Eva
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Chambord, forest mushroom soup and Japanese cards.

Chambord raspberry liqueur

I haven’t even noticed how it happened, but November has just ended, and soon the whole year will end too. Time is passing by so fast, the new week has just began and before you know it, it’s already Friday, then the weekend and you are back to Monday again. I feel like I have been recently running on a treadmill in a constant loop – my own Groundhog Day marathon.

I mean at the end we finally get to our long awaited weekend, which really doesn’t make a difference as you are either too tired to do anything or too busy trying to catch up on all the matters you didn’t finish during the week that you barely feel any relief at all.

The promise of the information age, the internet, the machines, the computers, the AI… it was all meant to give us more time…I guess the old saying is still valid…the more things change, the more they stay the same.

I had plans for this autumn, for this year… I wanted to take a walk in the park and see the autumn in its full glory with all its leaves and chestnuts, I wanted to make a pumpkin to show you my magnificent pumpkin recipe, I was also investing in precious metals mainly silver and stockpiling for the worst economic collapse in our millennial generation history but…but I guess I will have to postpone it for the next year suffering the losses now as markets are rigged by central banks of the world and their traders in white gloves and black suits.

Do you ever feel my dear reader like you are in control of your own life? I sure don’t. Like a leaf carried away by an autumn wind, I feel…so lost…powerless and pushed around trying to find my own tree to live on. Brexit didn’t happen although it was meant to happen. Recession was meant to happen although it did not happen yet… China trade deal is so great that in fact it doesn’t even exist…Thomas Cook went bankrupt and countless companies in UK fired thousands of people…and we all we saw the riots in London (due to Brexit and poor economy), Barcelona (separation from state), Chile (wealth inequality), Hong Kong (young Chinese people fighting for freedom and lack of economic opportunities), France (the yellow vests movement). The global wealth inequality (forget the income inequality) is so large our societies are beginning to collapse – clear for anyone to see. With the billions of worthless paper printed by the Fed for the repo markets…we are still suffering in this system to this day ”…like leaves carried away by the wind…and all we are is dust in the wind.”

Every day I find myself dreaming about living a simpler life without a never-ending to-do-list, having enough time to decorate a pumpkin at home and to enjoy little things that I have but as always the constant fear of not having enough money takes over…I guess that’s the main characteristic of my generation…never ever having enough money to do anything meaningful like settling down and buying a house or starting a family.

So as I am waiting for the system to change or the economy to restart I try to enrich my life with a simple treats that I am going to share with you. I recently had the pleasure to try the Raspberry Chambord and I am really positively surprised. It may sound strange but in this bottle I have identified the flavors of my childhood. I remember my grandmother processing whole baskets of raspberries into raspberry syrup. She used for this special strange pot, in this pot it was possible to filter raspberry seeds and reduce juice.

The quantity produced wasn’t as much as I have expected, but it was very thick, sweet and intensely raspberry. My grandmother’s syrup tasted like the 100% pure spiritus essence of raspberry and that was the taste I found in Chambord. I would recommend it to anyone who likes juicy sweet liqueurs especially for the upcoming cold winter nights.

Btw, just to clarify my grandmother’s syrup did not contain alcohol.

 

Chambord raspberry liqueur

 

Dried forest mushrooms, Ikea bag

 

Dried forest mushrooms soup

This month I was able to recreate one more taste from the past. It was the taste of an incredibly aromatic mushroom soup made from dried mushrooms. I also associate this taste with my grandmother, who always had a lot of dried mushrooms. My grandfather always brought mushrooms from the forest, and then it was our responsibility to dry them in the sun and during the winter grandma prepared delicious mushroom soups. Returning to the present, however, I was recently lucky enough to get a huge packet of dried mushrooms from the Polish forest. Thank you Beata, they were delicious. And there is something else that I would like to share with you. It’s hard for me to believe it because travel is not part of my life, but in a few days I am flying for one week holidays to Mexico.

It still sounds like a distant dream to me. For now, the universe is throwing logs at my feet in the form of a double shift flight schedule so I am not sure if I will manage to go on the journey after all 😉

If someone from Mexico reads me, or someone who has already visited the place, could you please let me know what I should take with me, what to buy on site and what to visit? My destination is the  Cancun.

Recently, I also started my adventure with buying Christmas cards and one of them delighted me so much. It was a card with a Japanese theme,
made of traditional Japanese paper by a lovely Japanese woman
Yuri McAlen.
I had the opportunity to exchange a few words with her on the Christmas market in Milton and I have no doubt that making these cards is her great passion.
If you want to support her talent and buy someone a unique card I will put her business card under the text.
I bought my card for a friend who is an enthusiast of Japanese culture, but I think everyone would enjoy it. If you want to support her talent and buy someone a unique card I will put her business card under the text.

 

Japanese Christmas and birthday cards

 

Japanese Christmas and birthday cards

I would like my blog to be more interactive with a two-way communication dialog. Kindly I welcome all of you to a discussion in the comments section below. Here are some helpful questions that I would like to know your opinion about:

 

What do you think about today’s economy and what are you trying to achieve in it?

How is your time going by?

What are your favourite childhood flavors that you would like to share?

What do you recommend to take to Mexico trip?

How do you like Yuri McAlen cards?

 

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Jam for Dummies

Hello my dear readers, if you’ve never been doing jam it would be best if you start with this pro recipe. This jam is very easy to make unlike rhubarb which is not…because you know… it takes time for nature to make its progress. But why am I mentioning rhubarb? Because as you are about to find out, this plant is the secret to our geletation process! That’s right! It will be the key ingredient for our jam. Trust me the whole matter gets significantly more complex as “P-E-C-T-I-N-S” get involved…

But what are pectins, gelation process and why is it good for you?

Pectins are natural plant components contained in water-soluble fiber. These „components” live within the cell wall of the plant and have gelling properties – thus the name gelation process. As you might have guessed the rhubarb plant is one of the easiest plants to extract the pectins from. Without pectins, there will be no jellies, marmalades and fruit jams. It’s like visiting the chocolate factory without cocoa. Pectins also have a health-promoting effect – above all, they support the regulation of cholesterol and carbohydrate metabolism within your body.

To sum up: making a rhubarb jam is the perfect plan and I encourage you to do it! Trust me, try it, true or dare, upload a picture of your cooking feast or it never happened, best friend as a tasting subject may be required; feel free to challenge me in the comments section; comments undermining my authority may be removed 🙂

So let’s get started. You can make classic rhubarb jam or add some extra spices for the spice to flow. Gonna make that jam taste good as sharing is caring. I suggest you add some fresh or dried ginger, orange peel or Madagascar vanilla, or remember to just go wild once in a while with some experimentation. However do note, lone rhubarb tastes great just as well.

Ingredients :

1-kilogram rhubarb

300 gr sugar

Optional, some fresh or dried ginger, orange peel or Madagascar vanilla. Remember you only have to choose one or skip all if you prefer.

Equipment:

Jars, jars and one more time jars! For example 4 x 160 ml or 2 x 330ml. This recipe will give you roughly about 660 ml of jam so you better hope you have some empty jars at home. Moreover, you will need a kitchen with a frying pan, hob, spoon and a blanket.

The jars need to be thoroughly washed and then baked in an oven preheated to 180 degrees for about half an hour. The lids need to be boiled, they cannot be baked because they have a rubber lining.

Preparation:

Put the peeled and chopped rhubarb and sugar into a saucepan with a thick bottom. Wait for about 1h for the sugar and rhubarb to combine. Let the juices come out, rhubarb needs to soften up – its a little shy but the sugar will help. Patience is key.

Next, use small to medium fire and boil it for half an hour and remember to keep stirring from time to time. Throw away the foam created on the top and… that’s it!

Put the ready jam into jars and remember to turn off the fire.

In order for the jam to last long idealy, you want to pasteurize it. There are 2 ways this can be achieved:

Short version: Place the jars upside down and cover with a blanket for 12 hours.

Long version: Cover the bottom of the pot (such a size that the jars fit) with paper towels. Insert the jars and pour hot water to approximately ¾ of the jars. (Hot jars are filled with hot water. The temperature of water and jars must be similar so that they do not break.) Boil 15 minutes undercooking. Take the jars out of the water, place them on a cloth and allow to cool.

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Dandelion honey and bees secret

I like a meadow covered with golden flowers and golden wreaths on my head. I like to blow my dandelions sometimes and  I love when wishes come true. What about locking some of this magic in a jar ?

It’s a bit enigmatic: wishes coming true, the gold and the jar, but I promise that everything will be explained – just keep reading.

I wish I could say that this is a secret recipe for the gummiberry juice, because as you know ”Magic and Mystery,
Are part of their history,
Along with the secret,
Of gummiberry juice. ”

Undoubtedly,  the recipe for gummiberry juice would be something big and I promise you that one day I will share this secret with you -work in progress.

In the meantime, I would like to tell you about another, equally wonderful, secret recipe. It’s the most carefully guarded by the bees recipe for honey from dandelions.

This is a real magic potion with lots of benefits for your health :

  • Lots of vitamins A, C and D, which boost our immunity, help to fight cough and support our bones
  • Vitamins B – necessary for nervous system and supporting the liver in removing toxins from our bodies
  • Potassium, magnesium, iron and silicon – supporting your immunity and digestive system
  • Multiple tannin with their anti-inflamatory antipruritic and  germicidal properties which are particularly useful in fighting throat infections
  • Flavonoids slowing ageing processs and decreasing the risk of cancer and circulatory system illnesses
  • Triterpene – helping to lower cholesterol levels and showing painkilling, antiviral, antimycotic and detoxificating properties
  • Aspargine – supporting our thinking processes
  • Inulin – protecting intestines from infections, lowering sugar levels in your blood, supporting your immune system
  • Silisic acid – accelerating wound healing and improving the look of the skin
  • Polifenol – antiarteriosclerotic agent, improving the metabolism, fighting the fever and rheumatism

No wonder it’s called a liquid gold !

I have to admit, I’ve adjusted this recipe a bit to make it easier. Bees have hundreds of years of tradition and all infrastructure created only for honey production. We are not able to compete with them.

We can make our “honey” of dandelion flowers in an easier way, though.

 

                                        Recipe for dandelion honey

 Ingredients:   

500 gr of flower petals
1 liter of water
Juice of 2 lemons
800 gr of sugar

Recipe:

Making honey this way is really not difficult.
You only need flower petals, water, lemons and sugar.

Remember to leave the petals spread on some paper for a while. This will give the ants and meadow spiders a chance to escape and avoid bathing.
When every living creature is safely out, put flower petals in a pot, add water and cook for 20 minutes.                        Leave it for the night.
Strain the dandelion petals.
Pour into the pot dandelion brew along with sugar and 2 lemon juice
Cook it slowly on a low fire for an hour or until the syrup becomes thick.

To check if the syrup is thick enough, take a little of it on a teaspoon and pour it onto a flat plate. It should get thick in a few minutes.

Enjoy your sweet honey from golden flowers ☺

 

 

 

 

Let me know if in your country you also have a dandelion and blowing them away makes wishes come true.

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Grilled vegetables with coca-cola

I am not an expert on BBQ. In fact, I do not even know how to light a fire under the grill, or more precisely I just did not try. Luckily I know a lot of people who like to play with fire. Meanwhile I hide in the kitchen and prepare something for the grate. Seasonal vegetables and good company is always a great recipe for a summer evening.
Soy sausages and vegeburgers are also okey.

 

 

Ingredients :
1/2 cans of classic Coca-Cola
6 tablespoons ketchup or tomato concentrate
2 teaspoons maple syrup
1-2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon of hot pepper
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon of pepper
3 cloves of garlic
courgette
20 mushrooms
3 peppers
1 onion
And whatever you like
Recipe :
First you have to do marinade. For that, put coca-cola and spices into a large lockable food box.
Chop the vegetables, except mushrooms and put everything in a container with prepared marinade.
Shake the vegetable container and leave everything for 2-3 hours.

 

Bon Appetit and have fun 🙂
Do you like barbecue ?
What is your favorite BBQ dish ?

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Vegetable balls

Today I would like to offer you a very delicious and filling dinner dish.
I do not know whether these balls taste like meatballs, but  is it important if they are so delicious. Bon Appetit 🙂

 

Ingredients :
Vegetable balls:

180 grams of tofu
190 grams of cooked millet (glass)
½ glass bread crumbs
1 tablespoon of yeast flakes
2 teaspoons of crisp mustard
1 teaspoon of smoked paprika
½ teaspoon of hot pepper
1/2 teaspoon of dried rosemary and thyme
salt, pepper
Rapeseed oil for frying

Sauce :

Can of cut tomatoes
onion
pepper
2 garlic cloves
¼ teaspoon oregano
¼ teaspoon thyme
¼ teaspoon of basil
¼ teaspoon of paprika
salt, pepper
Rapeseed oil for frying

Spagetti pack

 

Recipe :
Sauce :

Pour the oil over the pan and add the onion cubes.
Fry for a few minutes, then add chopped diced pepper and fry for a few more minutes.
Add can of tomatoes, spices and squeezed garlic.
Stew all about 20 – 30 minutes.

Vegetables balls :
In a saucepan boil a glass of water, add millet and cook for 15 minutes on low heat, occasionally stir the mash.
Tofu cut into cubes and toss together with the other ingredients into the blender dish. Mix until finely ground, try and season with salt and pepper. From the mass to make small balls.
They should be the size of a walnut.
Fry the balls in the pan and then place it on a paper towel. Cook the spaghetti and add it to the saucepan with the sauce.

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Dandelion flowers in dough

I like to experiment with wild food. Forest, meadow and even yard lawn are full of edible plants. Today I would like to persuade you to try the dandelion.

Ingredients :

dandelion flowers

2 glasses of rapeseed oil

glass of beer

glass of flour

half a teaspoon of salt

teaspoon baking powder

 

Recipe :

1. Mix well flour, powder, salt and beer

2. In a saucepan boil the oil

3. Fry in deep fat for approx a minute

Bon Appetit 🙂


Do you like wild food?

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Brother bear and fish from the creek trout

 From what perspective you see something it depends at which point you currently are. Usually, to understand the different views of another human being you have to travel a long way. That’s what this story is, about a boy which very much wanted to be a man, but before he had to be a bear, and about little teddy bear which also lost something. It’s a very nice tale with a happy ending, actually, there is not even a bad character. I recommend you watch the film and prepare fish from the the creek trout.

       Cake
Ingredients:
2 glasses flour
margarine
pinch of salt
teaspoon baking powder
tablespoon of cream of coconut

Recipe:
Mix the flour, salt and baking powder, then add the margarine with cream and knead dough.

      Stuffing
Ingredients:
2 glasses lentils
2 onions
salt
pepper

Recipe:
Chop and fry onions.
Cook lentils and grind in a Meat Grinder
season with salt and pepper.

Make the shape of a fish with lentils and cover it pastry.

Bon Appetit 🙂

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