Our Breakfast Fruit Salad

..... apple, kiwi, orange, banana etc....

Tuna Avocado Salad

Sautee(3 minutes only) without oil the following: shallots, carrots, green or red capsicum. Let the mixture cool down then add avocado, cherry tomatoes, tuna(preferably in a glass jar... note: I used fresh tuna cooked  then flaked),  chives(optional), olive oil,   apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper.

Banana Bread

                              

                                       

Ingredients:

• 1 cup banana, mashed
• 3/4  cup sugar
• 2  fresh  eggs
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1 tsp  salt
• 1 tsp vanilla essence or 1 sachet  vanilla powder/sugar
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda or baking powder
•  2 tbsp. fresh milk

1. Combine/Mix  all the dry ingredients:  flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda or baking powder.
2. Add the other ingredients (eggs, mashed bananas, melted butter, vanilla essence, fresh milk) then mix well with the dry ingredients until a batter is formed.
3. Grease the loaf pan or muffin pan and pour-in the batter.
4. Preheat oven at 180 degrees celsius then bake the batter for 45 minutes (180 degrees for the first 15 minutes and 160 degrees for the next 30 minutes).

Moroccan Style Roast Lamb with Couscous and Celery root/Carrot Salad

Moroccan Style Roast lamb: combination of cumin, paprika, garlic, coriander seeds, salt and pepper...serve with Couscous and grated celery root/carrot salad..

Avocado and Beetroot Salad

lightly steamed beetroot, avocado, a pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper to taste..dressing:balsamic and olive oil..

Carrot Salad

grated carrots, chopped walnuts, sultanas, a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste..pour the dressing (balsamic vinegar and olive oil) over the carrot mixture and toss well..enjoy!

Rabbit(Lapin) with Madeira in Tomato Sauce

My husband used to call me “Mon Petit Lapin” meaning “My Little Rabbit”.

I learned this recipe from him (originally from his mother) but he let me experiment in our kitchen so here’s my version:

Ingredients:

1 whole rabbit, cut into desired size. 2 to 3 large white onions(chopped) 1 large tomato 1/2 cup each- red pepper/green pepper(capsicum),  1 medium carrot(sliced or diced) ½ cup tomato sauce 1 cup mushrooms of your choice(button, shiitake, maitake etc.) ½ cup green whole olives(preferably not pitted) 3 tbsp. madeira wine 2 bay leaves salt and pepper 2 to 3 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive oil

Directions:

Cut the whole rabbit into pieces(desired size). Wash then rinse and place in a casserole, cover and start boiling with ¼ cup of water. Then after few minutes(5 minutes) take out 90% broth leaving only a few drops of broth and stir fry(without oil) with garlic, onions for 3 minutes then add tomato, continue stir frying for 2 minutes then add mushrooms, carrots, tomato sauce, bay leaves. Let simmer for 30 minutes then add green/red peppers, green olives, madeira, salt & pepper and continue cooking for another 5 minutes. Add and stir extra virgin olive oil after cooking.

Rabbit is like a pet to most of us but the meat of the rabbit is good for our health not too much fat though. A good source of income or food supply for us also if you wish to raise rabbits in your own backyard. Maybe you can seldom find some vendors in the market or groceries selling rabbit in the Philippines. My brother found a seller of rabbits in our area. Anyone who has info. where can we purchase rabbits please let us know..thanks..

Spaghetti Tuna

Spaghetti Tuna with Tomatoes and Garlic

I found a spaghetti tuna from one of my recipe books but my husband did not like the other ingredients so I ended up creating my own version.

Luckily the place where we lived before, there was an abundance of fresh tuna.

Ingredients:

200 grams - Spaghetti
1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes(cut half)
500 grams fresh tuna (canned tuna- drained is fine)
6 to 8 cloves of garlic (thinly diced)
salt and pepper
parmesan cheese(grated) or gruyere or you can have any cheese of your choice.

Directions:

If fresh tuna(fillet), wash then rise, place in a pan, add garlic salt & pepper, pour a spoon of water then cover for about 4 minutes medium heat/fire. Uncover then with the use of two forks try to make the tuna in flakes. Stir fry(without oil) until the tuna flakes become a bit dry and garlic is almost cooked. Then add cherry tomatoes stir fry for 1 minute then turn off the heat, add olive oil and add more salt & pepper to your taste. You can add chili powder if you want or add it later in your plate.

Serve this with grated parmesan cheese or gruyere on top of spaghetti noodles(must be al dente!).

Lamb Steak and Ratatouille

Ratatouille is the first recipe I learned from my mother in law. This is my favorite cos you don’t need to add meat.. it's a vegetables stew. I usually add tomato sauce to get a strong tomato flavor.

Grilling meat is my husband’s job in the kitchen , mine is ratatouille.

One day, I was craving for ratatouile and he was craving for a grilled lamb steak so…here’s the output:

Ratatouille

Ingredients:

2 cloves garlic(chopped)
2 big onions(cut in half/sliced)
3 big tomatoes(cut in half/sliced)
1 medium eggplant(cut in half/ sliced)
1 medium suchini(cut in half/sliced)
½ cup of tomato sauce(optional but you have to add 1 more big tomato if tomato sauce is not available)
1 tbsp. of catsup(optional) or ½ carrot (sliced) – also optional if you want to make it a bit sweet.

1 tsp. Herbes de provence or just 1 tsp. of thyme
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper
2 to 3 tbsp. of olive oil

Directions:

In a pan, stir fry the onions and garlic with 1 tbsp. of water for 3 to 4 minutes then add the remaining vegetables, herbs. bay leaf, salt and pepper then cover and continue cooking over a low heat until all are cooked(but not overcooked). Add olive oil after cooking.

Note: If you have leftover ratatouille, you can poach eggs on top of ratatouille and you can add anchovies or smoked ham and chili powder, salt and pepper and you will have a nice egg pizza over ratatouille. (I will post this soon.)

Tasty Mushrooms

I always prepare this as our side dish specially in times of making our immune system stronger. It's not that easy to find fresh mushrooms though but I hope you could find some, any mushrooms available should be okay but should be the fresh ones not the dried ones.

Stir fried Mushrooms with Parsley and Garlic

Ingredients:

1 cup shiitake mushrooms
1 cup maitake mushrooms
1 cup button mushrooms
(you can mix mushrooms of your choice)

4 cloves of garlic(chopped)
3 tbsp. chopped parsley
½ tsp. butter(optional)
salt and pepper

Directions:

Wash the mushrooms then rinse then stir fry(but do not add water or broth) in a frying pan with garlic, parsley, salt & pepper. The rinsed mushroom will be watery while cooking. Start cooking(medium fire) for 2 minutes then low fire for five minutes until the mushrooms become watery. Takeout the excess soup from time to time until you will hear a sound of like frying a mushroom(save the mushroom soup for other recipe like noodle soup). Stir 1 or 2 times but do not stir too much, let the mushroom be a little bit brownish(about 5 minutes) then turn off the heat/fire. Add extra virgin olive oil after cooking and you can add a little butter if you like. This can be served with rice or add to your pizza as topping.