PICKLED MELON CON JAMON

If simply serving melon slices with jamon seems too easy for you, try this recipe. It’s also a lifesaver for a melon that doesn’t taste too good.

If simply serving melon slices with jamón seems too bland to you or just lacks spice, try this recipe. It’s also a lifesaver for a melon that doesn’t taste too good. If the melon is not sweet at all, add twice as much honey. As for the jamon, if possible take jamón serrano.


Pickled Melon and Jamon

Recipe

Pickled Melon and Jamon
Pickled Melon and Jamon
PREP TIME COOK TIME MAKES
2-3 minutes 30-40 minutes 2 servings

INGREDIENTS (serves 2)

  • 300 g (10 oz) melon
  • 1tbsp (20 g) honey
  • 1 tbsp (15 g) rose wine vinegar (white, rose or balsamic)
  • 2 tbsp (30 g) water
  • ¼ tsp chili flakes
  • 1 small sprig of rosemary
  • 1 pinch of salt

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Remove the rind and seeds from the melon. Chop into cubes.
  2. In a small saucepan, combine honey, vinegar, water, chili flakes, rosemary, and salt. Bring to a boil.
  3. Pour the marinade over the melon and stir. 
  4. Stir the melon and marinade from time to time so that all the pieces marinate evenly. The melon is ready when the marinade cools.
  5. Serve the melon cubes separately, because otherwise the melon can make the jamon wet.

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More appetizers for wine

What to Cook This Week?

GRILLED CAMEMBERT

Wonderful oozy brie. A marvelous and simple appetizer with wine.

Wonderful oozy brie. A marvelous and simple appetizer with wine.

How to serve camembert cheese? Put jamon or prosciutto and olives on a plate, grill the brie, make toast, and slice a pear – everything you need for a romantic dinner.

By the way, there are special small molds with a candle under it, like a raclette, to keep the cheese at a constant temperature so you can eat it leisurely.

Try to cook these Baked Figs for your cheese plate.


Grilled Brie or Camembert

Pear and Camembert | Brie grilled cheese

Recipe

Grilled Brie Camembert
Grilled Brie or Camembert
PREP TIME COOK TIME MAKES
—  7-10 minutes 1-2 servings

How to Grill Brie or Camembert?

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Brie or Camembert, which is covered with mold on all sides, is suitable for grilling. Otherwise, the cheese melts all over the pan
  2. You’ll need a griddle pan or a regular non-stick skillet, but then you won’t have nice lines. You can, of course, use an outdoor grill.
  3. Turn the heat down to low and place the cheese on a cold, dry, oil-free skillet.
  4. Watch the cheese and lightly press it with your fingers from time to time. It should become supple. When it does, turn it over right away. Your task is to heat it as evenly as possible. So flip the brie often. It should take 7-10 minutes.
  5. How to eat camembert? Transfer the cheese to a plate. Use a knife or fork to scrape the crust away from the top. Serve immediately with pears, strawberries, or white toast.

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What to Cook This Week?

OLIVIER SALAD

Classic New Year’s Olivier salad

I am Ukrainian. And we have a custom to prepare Olivier salad for New Year’s Eve. It has a direct association with the holiday from our childhood.

How does it taste? This is a potato salad with mayonnaise dressing.

Every family’s Olivier salad is different. But Olivier salad always includes some kind of meat, sausage, or ham; potatoes; fresh and/or pickled cucumbers; fresh and/or canned peas; eggs; often but not always carrots; and sometimes an apple.

Olivier salad recipe
Olivier salad with beef

Ingredients and Substitutions

  • Meat. The salad can be made with chicken, quail, grouse, duck, beef, or beef tongue. Or add several types of meat. Sometimes the salad is made with boiled sausage, or some boiled ham is added.
  • Option other than meat. For festive variations, it is wonderful to add crayfish tails and top with a spoonful of red, black, or pike roe.
  • Cucumbers. The salad can only be made with pickled or marinated cucumbers, and you can add some fresh cucumbers.
  • Peas. It is customary to use canned peas. But you can also add fresh green boiled peas.
  • Carrots. Not everyone uses carrots. Just a little bit is needed.
  • Optional ingredients. I like to add some green onions, a chopped garlic clove, or a little truffle oil to the Olivier.
  • Dressing. Good ready-made or homemade mayonnaise. Some versions have a mixture of mayonnaise and sour cream.

How to cook the meat? If you use beef or chicken, you can bake it in the oven without spices, until cooked through. Use only salt and black pepper. Or boil the meat. Put the meat in boiling water, add 1 tsp each of allspice and black pepper, 2 bay leaves, half an onion, and a carrot. Boil until soft. Take out the carrot early, it should not be too soft. Chill the meat in the broth.

How to cook the vegetables? How You can bake vegetables or boil them in their skins. Baked vegetables are tastier. Simply place them in a baking dish sprinkled with coarse salt, or wrap each vegetable in foil and bake until tender. Or put the potatoes and carrots with skin in cold water and boil until tender.


Olivier Salad

Recipe

Olivier salad recipe
Olivier salad with ham and beef
PREP TIME COOK TIME MAKES
30-50 minutes 20 minutes 4-5 servings

INGREDIENTS (serves 4-5)

200 g (7 oz) boiled or baked beef

150 g (5 oz) boiled ham

4-5 (120 g, 4 oz) pickled cucumbers

1 (120 g, 4 oz) fresh cucumbers

4 (400 g, 14 oz) boiled or baked potatoes

4 hard-boiled eggs

1 (150 g, 5 oz) boiled or baked carrots

1 can of green peas, 15-ounce (250 g, 9 oz canned peas without liquid)

1 clove of garlic

6-7 tbsp mayonnaise

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. See above for how to prepare the vegetables, meat, and eggs.
  2. Peel all the vegetables and eggs. Cut all the ingredients into equal cubes.
  3. Toss the peas in a colander and rinse with water.
  4. Put all the ingredients in a large bowl. Add salt, green onions, pepper, and mayonnaise. Crush the garlic in a garlic press and add to the bowl. Mix.

If you use store-bought mayonnaise: For example, Hellmann’s, which I like very much by the way, it would be too thick. You will have a very hard time mixing the salad or you will have to add too much mayonnaise. Just add 2-3 tbsp of cold water to the salad and stir.


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Other Christmas and New Year’s Eve Recipes

What to Cook This Week?

BAKED EGGPLANT WITH TAHINI

The eggplant is baked in the oven until tender and creamy. You can serve it plain, with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, pesto or salsa verde. Also with hummus or Greek yogurt.

The eggplant is baked in the oven until tender and creamy. You can serve it plain, with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, pesto or salsa verde. Also with hummus or Greek yogurt. A perfect standalone dish or side dish for steak or lamb. Don’t skip the salting step. It brings extra moisture out of the eggplants. The flesh is creamy, not watery, and not at all like a sponge.

The eggplant is baked in the oven until tender and creamy. You can serve it plain, with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, pesto or salsa verde. Also with hummus or Greek yogurt.

If you love baked eggplant and tahini like I do, try this Baba Ganoush Salad recipe.

Baked Eggplant with Tahini

Recipe

PREP TIME COOK TIME MAKES
30 minutes 50-55 minutes 2 servings

INGREDIENTS (serves 2)

  • 2 eggplants
  • 90 g (6 tbsp) tahini
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 2 pinches of ground coriander
  • 1½ tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp olive oil

To serve:

  • ½ chili pepper
  • 1 cup cilantro
  • 2 pinches of ground paprika
  • ½ sweet red onion

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Cut the eggplants lengthwise into halves. With a sharp thin knife, make cuts in the flesh. Don’t cut through the skin.
  2. Slightly open the cuts and add salt. Leave it for 20-30 minutes. This will draw out the excess moisture and the eggplant won’t be mushy. This will draw out the excess moisture and the eggplant will be creamy and won’t be like a sponge.
  3. Preheat the oven to 220°C / 485°F
  4. Turn each eggplant half upside down and squeeze lightly over the sink. Blot with paper towels. Drizzle olive oil on the cut side.
  5. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Place the eggplant halves cut side down and bake for 30-40 minutes until soft. 
Baked eggplant with tahini
  1. In the meantime, prepare the tahini. Mix together the tahini, pressed garlic, 1 tbsp lemon juice, and a pinch of salt. Gradually add cold water. I added 60 ml of water (4 tbsp). It all depends on the concentration of the tahini. Stir until it is the consistency of sour cream.
  2. Take the eggplants out of the oven. Cool slightly for 10-15 minutes. Drizzle with lemon juice (use ⅙ part of a lemon or ½ tbsp lemon juice) and olive oil (1 tbsp).
  3. Pour 2-3 tbsp of the tahini onto a plate. Place the two eggplant halves, sprinkle with paprika. Lay out the onions, chili rings, and cilantro leaves.

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What to Cook This Week?

AROMATIC BAKED FIGS FOR A CHEESE PLATE

You get magical aromatic soft and sweet figs. And what great juice it releases during baking. This recipe really saves the day when your figs are, to put it mildly, so-so.

This recipe really saves the day when your figs are, to put it mildly, so-so. For example, slightly dried out, not sweet, or a little unripe. And you get magical aromatic soft and sweet figs. And what great juice it releases during baking. This fabulous, wonderfully aromatic sauce is also wonderful to dip a piece of cheese in. Brie, Camembert, soft goat cheese, and ricotta go well with baked figs.

Baked figs with honey thyme and cinnamon for a cheese plate

Recipe

Baked figs with honey
PREP TIME COOK TIME MAKES
2 minutes 10-12 minutes 2 servings

INGREDIENTS (serves 2)

  • 10 figs
  • 1 tbsp (20 g) butter
  • 1⅓ tbsp (30 g) honey
  • 1 tbsp (15 g) lemon juice
  • 1 small pinch of cinnamon
  • 1 small pinch of salt
  • A sprig of thyme
  • 1 tbsp almonds for serving

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Preheat the oven to 210°C / 410°F. 
  2. Put butter, honey, and lemon juice in a baking dish. Add salt, cinnamon, and thyme leaves. Place in the oven for 5-7 minutes until the butter is melted. 
  3. Cut the figs into halves and place them in the baking dish with the cut side down. Using a cooking brush, butter the figs on top. Bake for 5 minutes.
  4. Transfer the figs to a deep bowl and pour the rich sauce over top. Roast the almonds in a dry pan, chop with a knife and sprinkle on top. Serve with cheese.

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More appetizers for wine and cheese

What to Cook This Week?

ISRAELI RED CABBAGE SALAD

It’s simple and so delicious. This salad is sold in small containers in Israel, but it’s super easy to make at home. I like to eat it right away while it’s still crispy, but if you want it to be like the store-bought version, leave it in the fridge for at least 1-2 hours. Then […]

It’s simple and so delicious. This salad is sold in small containers in Israel, but it’s super easy to make at home. I like to eat it right away while it’s still crispy, but if you want it to be like the store-bought version, leave it in the fridge for at least 1-2 hours. Then the salad will be soft and creamy. I also like to add a teaspoon of Dijon mustard sometimes. So try it sometime, too. It’s also important to slice the cabbage thinly. 

The classic salad recipe is made with mayonnaise only, but to reduce the calories, you can use half mayonnaise, half Greek yogurt. 

It’s the perfect accompaniment (instead of a side dish) to Duck legs or roast duck or Goose fillets, Baked Chicken, sausages, or a burger.

Israeli Red Cabbage Salad

Recipe

PREP TIME COOK TIME MAKES
5 minutes 5 minutes 2 servings

INGREDIENTS (serves 2)

  • 1 (400 g, 14 oz) small head of cabbage
  • 1 tbsp wine vinegar (or lemon juice)
  • 2 tsp sugar
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 4 tbsp mayonnaise

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Remove the top thin and withered leaves from the cabbage. Cut it into two pieces. Finely chop the cabbage.

If you are not sure of your skills, it is better to use a chopper or a wide vegetable slicer. Cut the cabbage into 2 pieces and simply cut the cabbage with a vegetable slicer from the cut side.

  1. Add sugar, salt, and wine vinegar to the cabbage. Mix and gently squeeze with your hands. 
  2. Add the mayonnaise. Start with 2 tbsp. Mix. If not enough, add more. If you want a soft salad, leave it in the fridge for at least 1-2 hours.

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