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Delicious and healthy recipes, cooking tips, international cuisine, and anything related to food and the culinary arts...

Monday, April 15, 2013

Enjoy a Delicious Bowl of Farina Creamy Hot Wheat Cereal

You don't have to be a kid to enjoy a delicious bowl of Farina creamy hot wheat cereal. It is delicious, filling, and comforting too. This is one of my favorite breakfast foods and I never get tired of eating it. Sometimes I even have it for supper.

Making a delicious bowl of Farina creamy hot wheat cereal, to enjoy in the morning or even at supper time, is not difficult whatsoever. All you need is an eight ounce glass of (organic) milk, three tablespoons of Farina creamy hot wheat cereal, a pinch of sea salt, a tablespoon of sugar and some butter. 

Take a bowl and mix the Farina creamy hot wheat cereal with a tablespoon of sugar and a pinch of salt. Then pour the milk into a pot, stir in the Farina creamy hot wheat cereal and place over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Bring the pot to a boil and then lower the heat, letting the mixture thicken. Keep on stirring it occasionally so it doesn't stick to the pot or form into clumps. When done, turn off the heat and remove the contents onto a bowl. Add some butter, whether already melted or from the fridge, and stir. Enjoy!

You can eat Farina creamy hot wheat cereal as is, or you can liven it up, as I do, by adding some roasted sesame seeds and some dried or fresh berries. For an even greater variety, I sometimes add slices of fried Mortadella to it and perhaps even some fried onions. Of course when I do that I leave out the berries. :) It tastes great and I love it every time.

Farina creamy hot wheat cereal with melted butter,
roasted sesame seeds and dried berries -
wild blueberries, strawberries, Zante currants,
montmorency cherries
.






Thursday, April 4, 2013

Making Homemade Pizza

I never thought I'd be making homemade pizza because I thought it was a very complicated process and that it involved making my own pizza dough that I didn't know how to do as I had never done it before. After my uncle told me about the pizza that he made at home, how delicious it was, and how easy it was to make I decided to make one myself using some of my favorite ingredients - Crimini mushrooms, apple smoked bacon, marinated artichokes, mixed olives, and four cheeses (Mozzarella, Monterey Jack, Cheddar, Parmesan). 

Turns out I didn't have to make my own pizza dough. It is actually sold in supermarkets. All I have to do is buy it, defrost it (if frozen), place it onto a large cutting board, and roll it with a rolling pin. Then I have to pop it into the oven for about ten minutes, take it out, add the ingredients, and pop it back into the oven for about fourteen minutes or so. And the pizza is done!

Making my own pizza was certainly an interesting experience. Even though I didn't have to make my own pizza dough I still had to roll it. I had never done it before so this step of the recipe was a bit time consuming. I wanted the dough thin and in a perfect rectangular shape. Getting it to be that way was a challenge because it never came out quite the perfect shape so I gave up on that. The ingredients of the pizza and the taste of it after it's been cooked is more important than having the perfect shape after all.  

It was also a challenge when it came to transferring the pizza dough from the cutting board to the aluminum tray. My uncle had suggested I first roll it onto the rolling pin and then unroll it onto the tray. When doing so I forgot to spread flour on the rolling pin, so the dough got stuck to itself and to the pin and I couldn't unroll it. I had to tear it to pieces just to get it off the rolling pin and then I had to start rolling the dough from scratch to get it thin and as close to a rectangular shape as I could get. When I finished that I decided not to bother with the rolling pin again and just transferred the dough by hand. For me it was much easier to do, and it actually worked without me having to do it all over again.

Working with the dough took a bit of time and was a bit frustrating for me. But this was my first time working with dough so it was definitely a learning experience and I don't regret deciding to make my own pizza because in the end it turned out great. 

The pizza tasted so good that I ate most of it myself. I just couldn't stop. I would have ate the whole thing had I not become full. It was that good. And I have to say it was way better than the slice of pizza I had at a pizza restaurant recently. Goes to show that homemade pizza can actually taste better than pizza bought elsewhere, especially since it is fresh and the ingredients are fresh and "real". Nothing artificial added. No added flavorings. Just "real" ingredients and a lot of love. 


Homemade pizza with tomato paste, mixed olives,
marinated artichokes, Crimini mushrooms,
apple smoked bacon, and four cheeses
(Mozzarella, Monterey Jack,
Cheddar, Parmesan)


















Check out some great tasting homemade pizza recipes, like the one I wrote about here, that you are sure to love.


Happy cooking and happy eating everyone!

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Tomato Carrot Soup with Basmati Rice

Tomato soup is a favorite of mine. I always order it at a restaurant if it is on the menu but I am not always lucky. Often enough it is either not available or not offered at all, which leaves me very disappointed.

I thought about it and decided to make tomato soup myself. It's not complicated and I can enjoy it whenever I want to without having to search for a place that serves it that day. 

There are many varieties of tomato soup. The one I came up with is Tomato Carrot Soup with Basmati Rice. It is hearty and delicious and oh so easy to make. 

The next time you crave for some tomato soup give this recipe a try. You are going to love it and even may find yourself making it again and again. Click on the link below for the complete recipe along with a full list of ingredients, step-by-step instructions and relevant recipe photos. 

Tomato Carrot Soup with Basmati Rice

Tomato Carrot Soup with Basmati Rice