ZUCCHINI AND WHIPPED FETA TART

     That time of the year is here again. When the weather gets colder and during the weekends all you want to do is stay in bed or cozy up to some hot chocolate and your Netflix subscription. I'm talking about Fall, obviously, and while it's not cold everywhere right now, it sure starts becoming colder here in Zurich. Some people don't like giving up the warmer temperatures of summer for the moody and cloudy mornings of autumn. Personally and as a food photographer, I really like cloudy days for photo sessions and then sunny days when I'm not photoshooting. But also I love all the amazing recipes that we get to do during autumn or winter, like stews, soups, pies and tons of desserts.

     Talking about autumn recipes, today we're going to a pumpkin festival, where more than 150 types of pumpkins will be there for us to choose. I'm so excited about it and can't wait to be surrounded by amazing and fresh pumpkins. Pumpkin is such a versatile vegetable that can be incorporated in both savoury and sweet recipes. My all time favourite dish with pumpkin has to be a pumpkin and coconut milk soup. I could eat it all autumn and winter long with some freshly baked bread.

     Yesterday was a very fun, relaxing and creative day. I managed to do a lot of things and prepare a savoury recipe for the blog. The inspiration came while I was in the grocery store, looking at what vegetables and fruit I could buy for the week. While I was searching for some eggplants to make our traditional dish (mousaka), I saw some zucchini standing next to them and it was at that moment that the idea for a simple and flavourful tart came. I had some feta cheese at home, waiting to be loved and this idea for a recipe was perfect.

     The recipe is very simple, you only need fresh ingredients and some love for your zucchini. I tried to take some photos showing you how I prepared the dough, because I find that photos are sometimes better than words. If you want of course, you can make your own dough. I used a store bought one that I find is not too buttery, because I find if it contains too much butter it's not so good for my digestion later. So, without further chatting (or typing) let's move on to the recipe.

Zucchini and Whipped Feta Tart

ingredients (for 4 to 6 servings)

1 store bought dough (1 sheet)

1 large zucchini

100gr feta cheese

100gr full fat greek yoghurt

1 garlic clove

fresh parsley (chopped)

pepper

sweet paprika (optional)

How do I make it?

1. Take out your dough and lay it on a clean surface. Using a roller, try to roll it out a bit, but not too much as you want it to be thick in order to be able to hold the whipped feta and the zucchini. Turn your oven to 160C and carefully place the dough on a pan with baking paper.

2. Using a knife, try to shape a rectangular on the dough leaving about 5cm of space from the sides. Then, take a fork and start   making fork shapes on the dough with light pressure (pictured below). You do that so when the dough is baked you let the air come through and your dough doesn't puff. Bake the dough for 5 minutes and then let it cool a little bit while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. (I didn't prebake my dough as I forgot about it, but I advise you to bake it on its own before adding the ingredients on top).

3. Cut the zucchini in thin slices. Then, use a food processor to mix together the feta cheese, greek yoghurt and garlic glove. Pulse the processor well until you get a creamy texture, but there are a few pieces of feta cheese inside. Mix inside some pepper and sweet paprika if you want to. Pour the mixture into a bowl and add some freshly chopped parley and stir with a spoon.

4. When your dough is cooled, start adding some of the whipped feta on top, staying inside the rectangular shape you created in step 2. Cover the whole rectangular area and then start placing the zucchini. For lack of words, I provide you a photo on how to place the zucchini (but to be honest, it doesn't matter, we do it like these for appearance reasons).

5. Before putting the tart in the oven for the final baking, try folding the sides of the dough as pictured below. 

Bake the tart for 20 to 25 minutes on 160C until the dough turns golden brown. Take out of the oven and let it cool slightly for 10 minutes. 

WARM PORRIDGE WITH COCONUT MILK AND PUMPKIN

     When everything goes bad and I feel like I'm in a desperate need for a change, I turn into the nature. Just by taking a few moments to look around the beautiful world we are living in, we can see that our problems might be so small. There are so many bad things happening these days to people, animals, nature and every other aspect of this cycle called life. If we only stopped caring for ourselves and only, we would see what's going on around the world and try to care more for our neighbour in need.

     Now, you may think I'm talking nonsense and don't have an example myself to give. Well, I may not donate money or volunteer to build houses in poor areas, but I believe that it starts with the person sitting next to you. Start talking to them. Or better to your family and friends. Another powerful thing to do is to share food. I mean, that's the greater power of it, to connect people around a table. It was, has been and will be the best way to get to know someone. People don't lie when they are eating, they are true. 

     Which brings me to a wonderful recipe I made this Wednesday. If you are a frequent reader you may know my love for porridge. Other people find it plain and boring, I find it...well plain and boring if you're not using lots of toppings. Truth must be said! I was looking for recipes with pumpkin around the blogosphere to get some inspiration and came across Local Milk's own recipe of Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal. She is such an amazing photographer and blogger, only seeing her photos makes you hungry. Her recipe for sure inspired the one I created that morning, especially the cooking part of the oats.

    Even if you don't love oatmeal so much, you should try this one out. I used coconut milk, because I find it gives this creamy texture to your porridge and just to anything to be honest. It's my go-to for carry, pumpkin soup, smoothies and sometimes even cakes. Nothing wrong will happen when you use coconut milk. And then the pumpkin, really gives this porridge a 5 star grading. With every bite you feel the sweet flavour of pumpkin and the spices paired perfectly together.

Warm Porridge with Coconut Milk and Pumpkin

ingredients (for 2 to 3 persons)

1 cup oats

1 cups coconut milk (at least 60% coconut flesh)

3 cups water

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/4 cup honey or maple syrup

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

pinch of salt

toppings: dried fruit (cranberries, saltanas), crunchy granola, nuts, nut butters, coconut milk

How do I make it?

1.Fill a medium pan with the oats, coconut milk and water. Stir for a little bit and then cover the pan, while cooking the oats on low heat for 10 minutes. Every 5 minutes lift the lid of the pan and stir the oats, then cover again.

2. After the 10 minutes have passed, add the pumpkin puree and mix it very well in the oats. This will perhaps be difficult because the oats will have become sticky (not dry though). Cover the pan again and cook for another 8 minutes (again lift the lid and mix a little bit the oats).

3. Uncover the pan and add inside all the spices and honey. You want to do this at the last part to give the porridge a kick. Mix the porridge really well with a big spoon to make sure everything is mixed together.

4. Pour the porridge into desired bowls. I prefer deep and small bowls, because they keep the porridge warm for longer. You can add your favourite toppings on top. I added some dried cranberries and two tablespoons of crunchy granola. But I think you can also eat it plain. Just add some more honey on top and you are ready to go!

GINGERSNAP CAKE WITH BOURBON

     "If it isn't smelling like Fall, I am not eating it!" This could be a representing line of this years favourite season (for some of us). When you are a foodie at heart and a real lover of Autumn's best foods, then you really give your effort to try as many recipes as you can. Like myself, last Sunday when I tried to make for the first time apple cider donuts. However, since I had no donut hole pan, I did the obvious...tried to shape donut doughs. As you can already guess (and laugh at my attempt), this did not go well at all. I ended up with flattened out baked doughs of nothing! How great!

     In other news, I made a delicious pumpkin soup with carrots and potatoes as well and devoured it the whole week. I'm thinking of making a pumpkin pie next week that I haven't eaten for so long. When it comes to pies and pretty much anything I bake, I like to make everything from scratch. That means, even the buttery pie dough. I know that a lot of people use prepackaged ones, but I am a true believer of eating almost zero packaged food. It is an issue that bothers me quite a lot, because sometimes you just want to eat the damn cookie! But most of the times, I am the crazy lady reading the list of the ingredients and don't buy something unless I understand all of the ingredients.

     I always felt like an outsider when it comes to food and exercise. This is the first time I am saying this here, but there used to be a time when I was overweight. I don't like to use the f word, cause really who am I to judge? Especially my own self. Since that time I completely changed my lifestyle, going from eating junk food and lots of sweets, to eating fruit, vegetables and a hell lot amount of oatmeal. Although I am at a great stable weight for years, I feel a bit conscious about my food, where it comes from, how it has been processed. But now, it has more to do with a healthy living and not so much with losing weight.   

  Back a few years I wanted to get into Nutrition studies, after I majored from Nursing Sciences. I keep myself informed with new health trends, superfoods and a lot of health related news, but I adopt very few in my daily living for several reasons, the most important being...very few things work on everyone's body. No matter how healthy we eat, we exercise, we keep up with certain diets, in the end if we experience stress and unhappiness in our lives, then it will backfire everything.

     Few of my friends always ask me "How do you do it? How do you manage to cook, go to University, work and manage a blog, while being healthy?" I feel kind of bad when they ask me that, because I have no answer. I just do it. I don't feel like it's a big accomplishment.  And there are days that I eat Nutella out of the jar (ask my boyfriend). My point here is that trying to eat healthy does take some effort and commitment. But the goal is to be happy and feel great, not over stress ourselves about it.

     Now to the fun part of recipe. There is nothing better than plain old cake with your morning coffee, right? Also, there is nothing more delicious than a Gingersnap cake with a hint of bourbon inside. A simple recipe for all you folks who enjoy eating cake with a lot of ginger and spices. The initial intention was to use butter for this recipe. However, I find that olive oil makes every cake moist and not dry at all, so whenever I can, I incorporate it into recipes. 

Gingersnap cake with Bourbon

ingredients

3 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup olive oil

3/4 cup honey

2 eggs

1 cup water

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

2 tablespoons Bourbon

icing sugar

how do I make it?

1. In a large bowl mix together honey and olive oil for about a minute or until smooth. Then start adding your eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Finally add the Bourbon and mix for a few seconds again.

2. In another bowl, mix together your flour, ginger, cinnamon and ground cloves. Take the bowl in the first step and start pouring its content to this bowl, mixing with a spatula or spoon until you've added all the mixture.

3. Boil the water and place the baking soda in a smaller bowl. Once the water is boiled, pour in into the baking soda, while stirring with a spoon. Then transfer the hot mixture into your previous mixture and mix again with a spatula.

4. Preheat oven to 180 C and place a baking paper into your pan. You will need a medium to large rectangular pan. Pour the batter carefully into the pan and let it sit for a couple of minutes.

5. Bake your cake for 35-40 minutes or until it has a golden surface and a toothpick inserted into it comes out clean.

6. Let it cool completely and then coat it into a lot of icing sugar.

PUMPKIN SPICE BREAKFAST MUFFINS

     Oh the sweet breeze of autumn wind. The hot cup of hazelnut latte you are dying to drink once the first leaves start to fall. It's autumn again and everything starts feeling like it should be. Autumn feels like a new beginning for me, especially around this time. It's one of the best times of the year if you think of it as a passage to Christmas or until the new year comes.

     It's also the year pumpkins come around in all shapes and sizes. In my home country, Greece, we don't incorporate them that much into our dishes, perhaps, maybe into some savoury fyllo pie. But abroad and especially here in Switzerland, I noticed them everywhere I went. There is even a pumpkin farm close to Zurich, where one can go and find...pumpkins of course, among other delicacies made with pumpkins.

    Before I get further into the pumpkin conversation, I wanted to say that we are going on vacation next week to the magical country of Scotland! We are visiting Edinburgh with my boyfriend and we couldn't be more excited about it. I am already picturing in my mind the green hills and mountains, the moody, but beautiful houses and cottages. The food...although it contains a lot of meat and eggs, I feel I have to experience it as well. 

    I have already asked around friends that either have been there or lived there, so I already have my notes on where to go and where to eat. After some really hard and difficult time in September, I am ready to go on vacation and enjoy myself, without thinking about life, work and all that very serious, but stressful things.

    So this new recipe I have created, as you might have guessed from my previous rant, includes pumpkin. I decided to make some muffins, since they are easily eaten and they don't need a lot of preparation. Lately, time is very important to me! Also, I made them a little healthy and breakfast-friendly, since I am trying to cut on added sugar and incorporate mashed banana anywhere. Apart from it having a sweet taste, it gives your mixture a stickiness that is needed, without making it too dense. 

     Here in Switzerland, I haven't yet found canned pumpkin. I think this is only found in America or maybe somewhere else as well. But if you are like me and you need to roast or boil your pumpkin to get a pumpkin puree, then maybe you need to do this a day before, if you don't have so much time in one day.

Pumpin Spice Breakfast Muffins

ingredients (for 12 muffins)

200gr pumpkin puree (canned or homemade)

175gr dinkel flour (or wholewheat)

2 mashed ripe bananas

2 eggs

2 tablespoons agave sirup

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 pinch of salt

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon clove

1/2 teaspoon cardamom

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin spice

100 ml olive oil

20 walnuts

optional topping: dark chocolate 70% 

how do I make it?

1. Whisk the mashed banana with the eggs in a large bowl very well. Then incorporate inside the olive oil, pumpkin puree and agave sirup and whisk well again.

2. In a separate bowl mix together the flour, salt, cinnamon, cardamom, pumpkin spice and baking powder. Pour the mixture in two doses into the wet mixture. Whisk well until everything is combined, but don't overmix your batter. Last add your walnuts after you have slightly chopped them.

3. Preheat your over to 180C. Place muffin paper tins in your muffin tray and start filling them with the batter, filling up to 2/3 and some more. Let the batter sit on the tins for 5 minutes.

4. Place your muffins in the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Test with a toothpick.

5. Once they have cooled down completely you can melt some dark chocolate and sprinkle it on top if you want them a little bit sweeter.