Ingredients:
140 g cooked chickpeas (one can, steamed)
140 g cooked corn (one can, steamed)
2 tablespoons vegan mayonnaise (made with oat milk or store-bought)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon dried wakame seaweed*
2 pickled gherkins, diced
1 teaspoon mustard
Salt
Dill (optional)
Soak the seaweed in a bowl of water, then drain and chop.
Drain the chickpeas and corn, and mash the chickpeas with a fork.
Mix all the ingredients and season to taste.
*In the original English recipe they used nori seaweed I used what I had at home. If you don’t have seaweed, add some chopped celery stalk instead.
Ingredients for 2 flatbreads :
100 g all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt
Dried fenugreek leaves (methi)
Water, as needed
Leeks (cleaned and trimmed into 2 cm pieces) are cooked with olive oil, salt, garlic, and oregano, along with just enough water so it doesn’t fully cover them. Let them simmer on the stove over low–medium heat.
When the leeks are tender, remove the garlic and oregano, then add the lentils mixed with lemon juice, salt, pepper, and tarragon. Stir gently — or even better, shake the pot — and let everything cook together for another 10–15 minutes.
Serve it as a cold salad or as a vegan main dish alongside boiled potatoes (seasoned with za’atar, sumac, and olive oil) or mashed potatoes (with butter, salt, lemon juice, and zest).
Sauté the sliced onion in butter with a pinch of salt. Once it becomes soft, add the sugar and orange juice and let it cook until the onions are caramelized.
Add the beetroot slices and cook for 1 more minute over medium heat.
Turn off the heat, adjust the salt if needed, and—if you like—add some ground cumin, which I find pairs wonderfully with this dish.
Serve as a vegetarian dish, a salad, or as a side to meat.
 |
| Antipasti Vigilia di Natale 2021 |
 |
| Paté vegetale di radicchio |
 |
| Aspic di petto di pollo |
.jpg)
 |
| Zampone con pure di patate e insalate |
 |
| Insalata di radicchio e insalata di barbabietola rossa |
In romana :
Meniul din seara de Ajun a Craciunului 2021
Aperitive :
- tartine cu unt si icre negre
- salata de caracatita : caracatita fiarta si taiata bucati, telina apio, sare, piper, ulei de masline si suc de lamaie
- pateu vegetarian de radicchio : Radicchio spalat si curatat, taiat si inabusit cu putina ceapa in putin unt si apa ( sau supa vegetala) pusa cu lingura doar cat e nevoie, nu trebuie sa fie deloc zemos. Cand e gata, moale si fara lichid il racim si il mixam cu putin unt si o branza cremoasa ( eu am folosit Robiola, merge si philadelphia si ricotta si mascarpone)
- salata de conopida: conopida fiarta la aburi, masline, ulei, sare, gogosari murati si putin otet
- aspic din piept de pui; 6 muschiuleti de pui fierti in apa cu 2 bucati de alge Kombu uscate ( sau cu putina sare daca nu aveti alge uscate). Apoi lasati la racit. Cu 500 ml din apa ( + putina zeama de lamaie ) in care au fiert eu am pregatit aspicul dizolvand un cub de gelatina speciala pentru aspicuri, o gelatina sarata cu gust usor de supa. Daca nu aveti acest produs folositi produsul pe care il cunoasteti iar cantitatea lui sa fie exact cat aveti nevoie pentru 500 ml de lichid ( supa de pui in acest caz ). Puneti pieptul de pui fiert intr-un vas si varsati peste el zeama cu gelatina. Ornati cu patrunjel sau cu feliute de lamaie. Lasati sa se raceasca pana a doua zi in frigider
 |
| Baccala gratinato con insalata |
Appetizers
• Bread canapés with butter and lumpfish roe
• Octopus salad:
Pre-cooked octopus, celery, salt, pepper, olive oil, and lemon juice.
• Vegetarian radicchio pâté:
Thinly slice the radicchio and cook it slowly in a pan with a little finely chopped onion, salt, and butter. Add only a spoonful of water or vegetable broth, just enough to soften it. In the end it should be dry and almost creamy. Let it cool, then blend it with a little soft butter and robiola until you obtain a very smooth spread.
• (Almost) “Insalata di rinforzo”:
Wash and clean the cauliflower, divide it into florets, steam it, let it cool, then mix with pickled vegetables, olives, olive oil, and a little vinegar.
• Chicken breast aspic:
Boil 6 chicken breast fillets in water with two pieces of kombu to avoid using salt. Once cooked, drain and let cool. Filter 500 ml of the cooking liquid, dissolve one packet of Ideal gelatin for savory dishes*, and add a little lemon juice if you like. Place the chicken breasts in a mold and pour the gelatin mixture over them. If you want, you can decorate with parsley leaves, lemon slices, or anything you prefer. Let it cool and set in the refrigerator overnight.
Main Course
• Gratinated salt cod with winter salad
Use well-desalted salt cod and pat it completely dry. Place it skin-side down on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
Prepare a mixture of breadcrumbs, chopped olives, chopped capers, 1/4 teaspoon of tomato paste, chopped parsley, pomegranate seeds, and a little salt (the cod is already quite savory). Add about 1 tablespoon of olive oil—just enough so the mixture resembles wet sand: not too dry, not too moist.
Cover the fish with this mixture and drizzle a little olive oil on top.
Bake at 180°C (355°F) for 10–15 minutes if the pieces are not too thick.
• Winter salad
Radicchio, green lettuce, celery, salt, olive oil, and lemon juice.
Dessert
• Rum-soaked dates filled with mascarpone
Soak the dates in rum for about 30 minutes, then dry them and remove as much of the thin outer skin as possible.
Slice them lengthwise without separating the halves, remove the pit, and fill them with a cream made by mixing mascarpone and powdered sugar.
Finish with a sprinkle of ground walnuts, pistachios, and a little orange zest.
Christmas Lunch Menu
Main Course
Zampone with mashed potatoes
Beet salad, made with cooked beets grated and mixed with pomegranate molasses
Mixed salad with radicchio, green lettuce, spring onion, olive oil, salt, and a splash of vinegar
Panettone with chocolate (store-bought)
Stella di Natale – a savory star-shaped pie made with a yeast-raised bread dough and filled with homemade pesto.
Cenone Capodanno
Insalata di indivia belga con salmone affumicato e mandarino. ( see the recipe down page)
Quando ho iniziato a organizzare il menù, ho ricominciato a sfogliare—chissà per la centesima volta—il libro che amo tanto, Intelectuali la cratiță. Mi sono ricordata di una ricetta molto interessante che ho sempre voluto provare ma che, fino ad ora, non ero mai riuscita a fare. Si chiama “Insalata di indivia di Gheorghiu-Dej”. La ricetta è scritta con grande umorismo da Antoaneta Ralian, che purtroppo è scomparsa un mese fa. Credo non ci sia nessuno che non abbia letto almeno un libro tradotto da lei. In Intelectuali la cratiță, ogni autore porta alcune ricette insieme ai ricordi legati a quei piatti, e la storia di questa insalata è legata a un Capodanno trascorso al ristorante dell’hotel ARO di Brașov, dove la signora Ralian festeggiava con il marito e dove, guarda caso, si trovava anche Dej con la figlia, Lica.
Passiamo alla ricetta, che sembra davvero deliziosa.
600 g di indivie belghe, 250 g di salmone affumicato (o storione affumicato, o luccio affumicato), 200 ml di olio, 2 tuorli, un cucchiaino di succo di limone, un cucchiaino di senape dolce, due cucchiai di panna acida, prezzemolo tritato, un mandarino pelato e tagliato a cubetti, sale e pepe.
Tagliate le indivie a rondelle dopo averle lasciate 30 minuti in acqua fredda per eliminare l’amaro. Aggiungete pezzi generosi di salmone affumicato. Poi preparate una maionese con i tuorli e l’olio, il succo di limone e la senape; quando la maionese è pronta, aggiungete la panna acida. Cospargete con prezzemolo tritato, sale e pepe. L’aggiunta dell’autrice alla ricetta—che dice di aver ricevuto dallo chef dell’ARO—sono alcune fette o pezzetti di mandarino.
Uova ripiene - devil eggs
Arrosto di maiale con patate bollite - Roast pork with boiled potatoes
Lenticchie porta fortuna - Lentils
1 Gennaio a pranzo / January, 1 Lunch Menu
Trotta al forno nel cartoccio - Baked trout in foil
Dolce con formaggio - cheesecake-style dessert
Visinata - sour cherry liqueur
Belgian endive salad with smoked salmon and mandarin.
When I started organizing the menu, I began leafing through again—who knows for the hundredth time—the book I love so much, Intelectuali la cratiță. I was reminded of a very interesting recipe that I always meant to make but never managed to until now. It is called “Gheorghiu-Dej’s endive salad.” The recipe is written with great humor by Antoaneta Ralian, who unfortunately passed away a month ago. I think there is no one who hasn’t read at least one book translated by her. In Intelectuali la cratiță, each author contributes a few recipes together with memories tied to those dishes, and the story of this salad is connected to a New Year’s Eve spent at the ARO Hotel restaurant in Brașov, where Mrs. Ralian was celebrating with her husband, and where, as it happened, Dej ( former comunist president ) was in the same dining room with his daughter, Lica.
Let’s move on to the recipe, which sounds truly wonderful.
600 g Belgian endives, 250 g smoked salmon (or smoked sturgeon or smoked pike), 200 ml oil, 2 egg yolks, one teaspoon lemon juice, one teaspoon sweet mustard, two tablespoons sour cream, chopped parsley, one mandarin peeled and diced, salt and pepper.
Slice the endives into rounds after keeping them in cold water for 30 minutes to remove their bitterness. Add generous pieces of smoked salmon. Then add a mayonnaise sauce made from the egg yolks and oil, lemon juice, and mustard; when the mayonnaise is ready, add the sour cream. Sprinkle with chopped parsley, salt, and pepper. The author’s addition to this recipe—she says she received it from the ARO hotel restaurant chef—is a few slices or pieces of mandarin.
.jpg)
