More seasonal food. Spinach.

Went to the garden and seen this:

It was obvious that I have to make something with it.

So I started with filo pastry and butter.

Once I lined the baking dish with overlapping layers of pastry I made the filling.

I put approx 500 g of spinach, blanched in a blender with 2 cloves of garlic, 500 g of drained cottage cheese, (you can use feta, but I prefer less salt) and an egg, a bit of salt and a lot of ground nutmeg.
Then I put this in the filo wrapping.

Covered it with more pastry, generously brushed with more melted butter. So it was sealed all over.

Then baked it for 45 min in 200 C.

Came out like that.

It was yumm.

been in a mood for baking and it's a season for rhubarb,

so made this

and how did I make it? easy:

shortcrust pastry:
250g of flour
1 tsp of baking soda
220g cold butter
100g light brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp of cinnamon
1 tbs of ginger
                           
mix together, can be in a blender form the ball and chill for at least 30 min.

In a mean time make vanilla creme patissiere
600 ml of milk
100g of vanilla sugar
6 big egg yolks
40 g of plain flour
40 g of starch or corn flour

mix about 100 ml of milk with sugar, flour, starch and egg yolks. Boil the rest of the milk and then add the mixture and boil for half a minute. Make sure there are no lumps. take of the heat and cover with cling film so no skin will form.

Take a half to the dough and line a tray, bake it for approx 20 min until lightly golden in 180C.
When it's in the oven prepare rhubarb, about 600g of it. Cut  in a cm pieces, dust it with starch or corn flour, sugar and cinnamon.

Take the tray form the oven, spread rhubarb and cover it with creme patissiere, then cover it with the rest of the dough (can grate it to make even layer) and bake for further 40 min.

Cut, serve with coffee and enjoy.

Spring menu

When we get just a little bit more sunshine, I tend to move to much lighter foods, lots and lots of salads, less cooked stuff and so on.
Here it is, my supper. Made of mainly veg with some left over jerk chicken.

So avocados, because they're good for you!, tomatoes with basil, bulgur wheat with lots of herbs, cottage cheese (more protein!) with radish and chives and those white bits are slices of daikon.