Banana Oat Bran Muffins with Flax, Sesame Seeds

Line a basket or pretty dish with a gingham napkin and fill with muffins-hot, tender, and a little sweet. Breakfast is a delicious meal and muffins are one of the best things about it.

Roasted Butternut Squash Bisque with Almonds

Roasted Butternut Squash Bisque with Almonds is a fragrant, creamy and delicately flavored soup. I hope you will enjoy this soup as well as we are.

Oat Bran Pancake Cake with Mushroom Caviar

These oat bran pancakes are often served with caviar and sour cream in our house. Here is a vegetarian savory alternative that uses a selection of delicious mushrooms in place of fish roe. The pancakes can be made ahead of time and warmed in the oven before topping. Perfect for lunch with fresh salad.

Russian Monday: "Shuba" - Beet Salad with Herring or "Herring under a fur coat"

Authorship of this wonderful salad is attributed to Anastas Bogomilov - merchant, the owner of network of popular canteens and restaurants in Moscow at the beginning of 20th century. During late 1910’s Russia has been going through a lot of political and social turmoil eventually manifested in two revolutions of 1917. It has been very common for patrons of his restaurants adhering to opposing political views to get drunk and get into argument about fate of the country. Arguments eventually were growing into a fights accompanied by broken plates, glasses and even furniture. Clever businessman and patriot, Anastas came up with the idea of good hearty snack which could represent a notion of national unification.

“Herring under a fur coat” has been served for the first time on New Years Eve of 1919. The main ingredient of this dish was herring – favorite treat of the working poor, or “proletarians”. With addition of onions, potatoes and carrots, covered by layer of grated beets symbolizing red banner of the revolutionaries the salad was a sure hit. In order not to forget the enemies of the Soviets, the salad has been generously seasoned with Western invention – mayo. New dish has been a blast with Bogomilov’s restaurants patrons and in a very short time the fights her become significantly less frequent while number of patrons has increased and profits grew as a result.

Oat Bran Bread with Onions, Mushrooms, Dill and Coriander Seeds

Ingredients:

• 10 Tbsp. oat bran
• 6 Tbsp. wheat bran
• 6 Tbsp. fat free fromage frais or philly, room temp
• 4 eggs, room temp
• 1 packet of fast rise yeast
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 cup mushrooms of your taste, chopped (I used Chanterelles)
• 1 tsp fresh dill
• 1/2 tsp olive oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Meanwhile, in a ovenproof sauté pan over medium-high heat, warm  the olive oil. When the oil is hot, put chopped onion, mushrooms and sprinkle with the fresh dill. Cook until golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes.

In the large bowl mix all the ingredients together with mushroom mixture. Leave it to to rise a little for about 20 minutes.

Pour mixture into a loaf pan (or two slam ones), sprinkle with seeds (sometimes I leave the batter on top of the stove for about half an hour to rise a little in the pan one more time, it makes the bread a little lighter in texture). Bake it for about 25-30 minutes until the bread is brown. Check doneness by inserting a skewer which should come out dry. Take out of the pan straight away and leave to cool on a rack.

Gazpacho with Lemon Thyme and Smoked Paprika

"Soup," declared the French gastronomer, Grimod de la Reyniere, "is to a diner what a portico or a peristyle is to a building… not only the first part of it, but must be made in such a manner as to set the tone of the whole banquet, in the same way as the overture of an opera makes known the subject of the work."



Tomatoes, both row and cooked, play such a tremendous part in our diet that it is hard to believe that they have been in the general category of edible vegetables for only about a hundred years.

Note: If you wish to peel tomatoes, hold them over a gas flame, turning constantly, or blanch them in boiling water for minute. When cool, the skins will slip off without any trouble. Remove the stem ends. If you are planning to use the tomatoes for seasoning a dish, cut in quarters and remove the seeds.This means that you will have the essence of the tomatoes without the additional liquid that results from the cooking of the seeds.

Tomatoes, cucumber and peppers from the basis of the classic, Gazpacho soup. Add a spoonful of lemon thyme and chunky roasted cherry tomatoes for a refreshing summer appetizer. This is quite a substantial soup, so follow with a light main course, such a broiled fish or chicken.



Ingredients:

• 6 ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1 purple onion, finely chopped
• 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, chopped
• 1 sweet red or green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1-2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh chives
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh lemon thyme
• 2 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 2 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
• few drops of Tabasco sauce to taste
• 2 cup tomato juice
• Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender. Blend until mixed but still chunky. Season well. Cover and chill for at least one hour before serving.

Stuffed Peppers in Tomato Basil Sauce

Bell peppers come in a rainbow of colors. They may be used here in any combination, as long as a few red ones are included in the mix. Red bell peppers are simply the mature stage of green bell peppers, having grown considerably sweeter with the extra time spent in the sun. Sweet yellow and orange peppers pass through a green stage as well, while purple peppers are tart like their green cousins.



Ingredients:

For the stuffing:

• 1 pound organic ground beef
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup carrots, chopped
• 1/2 cup celery, chopped 
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 2 Tbsp. oat bran
• 1 tsp dried dill
• salt and ground black pepper
• 4 bell peppers

For the sauce:

• 1 big tomato, diced
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, crushed 
• 1 cup leaf basil
• 8 ounces vegetable broth
• salt and ground black pepper
• yogurt for serving

Directions:

Cut off the top from each pepper. Reserve the tops. (Note: You may use reserved tops to top each stuffed pepper or chop and add to the sauce.) Using a spoon, scoop out and discard the seeds from the center of each pepper. Set the peppers aside.

Put the tomatoes, along with their juice, in a heavy-bottomed pot. Add the onions, basil,vegetable broth and garlic, and season with salt and pepper. Set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 10 minutes.

In a bowl, stir together the ground beef, onion, carrots, celery, garlic, oat bran and dried dill. Season with salt and pepper. Fill each pepper with some of the stuffing mixture, mounding it on the top. Place them in a casserole or baking dish, add the tomato sauce and bake in the hot oven 375F for about 20-30 minutes.

When they are done serve them with yogurt and fresh basil.

Hot and Juicy Shrimp with Spicy Garlic and Ginger Sauce

Possibly one of the most popular seafood dishes in the entire world, shrimp can be found on menus all across North and South America as well as in the markets of West Africa and India. It's been said that no restaurant or market is too far from the sea to offer shrimp to its customers. The name in one of the more practical ones in the world of seafood, since it comes from both the English description of a puny person, shrimpe, and the Swedish skrympa, to shrink.

There are hundreds of varieties of shrimp with a vast assortment of names but all are interchangeable in recipes. Although higher in cholesterol than most other seafood, shrimp are low in fat, very mild, and quite firm in texture. They are, perhaps, the prime example of  seafood that takes very little cooking to make them ready for the table.



The shrimp marinate for two hours in a tangy mixture of cool and hot spices, impairing a full flavor to them. Then they simmer in an onion and lemon sauce.

Note: If you shell shrimp before cooking, don't throw away the shells, for they're filled with flavor. Rinse them under cold water and cook them in boiling water for 10 minutes. Then strain the liquid and use it to cook the shelled shrimp or make a sauce of your choice.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 4 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 1/2 tsp crushed dried mint, or fresh
• 1 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp. sweet paprika
• 2 tsp finely minced ginger
• 1 to 2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
• 1 small red onion, diced
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 green onion scallions, chopped, for serving
• lettuce for serving

Directions:

In a bowl, combine the shrimp with the mint, red pepper flakes, garlic, ginger, sweet paprika, red onion, salt and pepper until well coated, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for two hours, stirring once during this time.

In a large sauté pan over medium heat, warm the olive oil (optional). Add the shrimp with spice mixture, and cook, stirring and turning the shrimp, until they just become opaque, about one minute. Lower the heat to simmer and add the lemon juice. Cook over low heat for about 3 minutes more. Sprinkle with the scallions and serve over lettuce leaves.



I just got summer issue of Sweet Dreams delicious looking magazine from Germany with my photo of Blackberry No-Bake Cheesecake in it. Take a look-))

Eggplant Dip with Rosemary and Roasted Tomatoes - Baba Ghanoush Recipe

You can use a food processor to make eggplant dip, but take care not to make it too smooth; this is supposed to be a rustic, slightly chunky dip. I overdid it a little-)) Also you may add tahini (sesame paste), but I didn't, I am on a diet, so mine is fat free.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium eggplants, about 2 pounds
• 3-4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice of one lemon 
• salt and cayenne pepper to taste
• 1 Tbsp. chopped rosemary

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Grill the eggplants over a gas grill, rotating it around until the skin is completely charred, about 10 minutes. Then bake the eggplants until they are soft inside, about 20 minutes.Cut the eggplant in half lengthwise, drain off the liquid, and scoop the pulp into a food processor. Process the eggplant until smooth and transfer to a medium bowl.Combine the eggplant, minced garlic, cumin, lemon juice, the salt,chopped rosemary, and a pinch of cayenne. Mix well. You want the mixture to be somewhat smooth but still retaining some of the eggplant's texture. Top with a lightly roasted tomatoes. Serve with celery, or cucumber slices.