snow food

Cauliflower is highly rich on vitamine C and also contains substances which may improve the liver's ability to detoxify carcinogenic substances. So the story of the prince is just pure Disney, our lovely Snow white must have had lots of cauliflower as a child, and that's why no poison could harm her, I'm sure!
Traditional varieties of cauliflower include 'Snowball', 'Hybrid White', 'Super Snowball', 'Snow Crown', 'Mayflower', Candid Charm', 'Mormon', 'Agrahani', 'poushi', 'maghi', 'Snow White', 'Snow Grace'.
You must guess by now for sure, I'll be preparing this evening Cauliflower beignettes, served with nutty Pilav and roasted vegetables. Enjoy!

babel

The story of the Tower of Babel where all the people of the world come together to build a giant tower that would reach the heaven is for me, personally one of the most outlandish and compelling stories that I read in the Bible. God, seeing this tower as a dedication to worship the kingdom of man rather than His own, afraid that united we could reach any goal, confused the languages of the people and scattered them across the planet, thereby creating the multitude of cultures that exist today.
In my opinion the wealth that we shall nourish and cherish, and use as an inspiration, but at the same time should remember what Aesop taught us United we stand, divided we fall.
Our House is serving today small vegetable towers, made up of stacked grilled aubergine, paprika and fennel, with layers of cheese in between them, there will be a fragrant lentils salad with it and some tabbouleh.

happy birthday!

Our House is tonight closed for the public, our dear friend is having a birthday party dinner, so the place is full.
Tomorrow we are back on a normal scheadule.

Basta Pasta? or an Angry Inch

Sometimes you just need to stay still for a second and think what next? Well it is exactlly how i feel today, so we are keeping it simple and clean ;-)
I will be making an italian classis , Penne all'arrabiata, moisty red tomatoes, "slightly" spicey from crushed chilli flakes, fragrant from fresh basil poured over my personal favourite penne rigate, about an inch (hence the title) long cylinder shaped pasta. All' arrabiata in free translation meaning something like angry style, I guess you look angry from the heat of the chilly or something, go figure!
And the movie, it all about how much a man is willing to give up for a love! About a couple of inches? Great movie btw.

fabulous americana

We are feeling a bit american today, and what is more american then a burger. Let me be clear, a burger in a wide sense of word of course :-) I'll be making some kidney beans/mushroom burgers, some super fresh home made aioli, roasted vegetables and i guess something grainy to go with, not sure yet what exactly :-)
Yes and a Feeling Good is a perfect song to start your day, try it!

greek love

Inspired by a lovely dinner we had on tuesday night at Geert&Geert where we spent a greek tinted evening, I thought it's the time at Our House also for a greek classic Spanakopita. Spanakopita is a sort of pie made out of filo pastry, filled with a mix of spinach and feta, they go so well together in any sort of dish. We'll be serving it with a cold potato salad wit red onions, capers and black olives.

back to the roots

We played as kids, as many other kids I guess, cowboys and indians. I never wanted to be a cowboy, I found them a bit too ordinary, indians were much more fun, they always had more special horses, had long black hair and often wore nothing on top, or if they did it was often something with fringes.
My mother was addicted to Karl May as young girl, but she was more of a cowboy's girl, she had bunch of books on Winnetou and Buffalo Bill, they became my favourite read too, so in our cowboy games I was very well informed .
During the sixties, there were made more then dozen films on Winnetou, they were filmed in different parts of Croatia, some of them in the area where my mother comes from, close to Plitvice lakes. So when we were visiting my grandmother's house that was on the river Korana, down in the canyon, me and my cousins had a perfect film setting for our cowboy/indian games.

On those summer days, between the swimm in the river and running around bushes with chicken feathers in my hair, we often ate punjena paprika, meaning Stuffed Peppers , prepared by my grandmother. It was always served with mashed potatoes and tomato sauce.
I'm making today Stuffed Peppers and polenta cakes, remembering all the Indians that I hoped one day to become.

héroes del ring

photo David Gremard Romero

Lucha libre, meaning free wrestling, is a term used in Mexico and other spanish speaking countries. It is characterized by colourful masks that the wrestles are wearing and fast movements. Masks have been used dating back to the beginnings of lucha libre in the early part of the 20th century and have a historical significance to Mexico in general dating to the days of the Aztesc.

Luchadores are traditionally divided into two categories, rudos, which are the bad guys,and técnicos, the good guys.
There is another thing coming from Mexico, hot chili, there are too versions of it, Chili con Carne, and Chili sin Carne. Naturally we'll be serving today the second one, with some rice, nachos, salad and sour cream, to reduce the heat on your faces, because delivery of the masks we ordered for you got stuck in China.

i know where the summer goes

photography Ryan McGinley
www.ryanmcginley.com

if Our House would be on the boat, we could all take it and sail away following the summer. Strongest summer memories, the ones that we were not kids anymore, and just not yet adults. Exploring the freedom, dreaming of future, when everything seemed easy and nothing could scare us.
Barchette di zucchini ripieni is a classis italian dish usualy stuffed with minced meat and cheese, it literally translates small boats stuffed courgettes, hint the resemblence of a halfed courgette to a small boat ;-) I will be stuffing them with tofu, lentils,mushrooms, nuts, peppers and mix of italian cheeses, yes and there will be some rice with it. You could basically stuff it with anything as long as it makes you happy :-)
You should check the site of Ryan McGinley, his work is everything i love about photography, and yes, I stole the title of today's post from a title of his exhibition too.

freshly ironed

image by Mjolk

http://www.mjolkhomme.com/

ricotta, soft italian cheese with its delicate flavour and creamy consistency is a perfect match to any dishes made with spinach , if you add some walnuts you get a classic italian combo. So I'm making today a pasta with fresh ricotta cheese, mushrooms and steamed spinach. Super delicious and highly nutritious!

just flying to say hello

Somehow reports on seen flying saucers always flood in on a cloudy days like this. Nothing remarkable about that, they probably just prefer cloudy weather to the sunny one, right?
Talking about saucers, did you know that Curry is derived from the Tamil word கறி kari, meaning 'sauce, so basically, what I will be making today is a warm vegetarian sauce :-) to warm you up on a rainy day like this. You can choose from rice noodles or a bowl of basmati rice to have it served with.

mushroom head

When using dry shi take mushrooms, after you soaked them in warm water, and they softened up , you should remove the stems, because they usually stay chewy and not that nice to eat. The mushroom heads you should chop as the taste is quite aromatic and could be slightly overwhelming if you have a big chunk in your mouth. I'm marinating tofu in rice wine and dark soy sauce, and then stir frying it together with shi takes and baby okras. The dark, aromatic mix is served over the translucent rice noodles and garnished with basil leaves.

uova di bufala

Bocconcini, or sometimes called ouva di bufala, because of their resemblence to boiled eggs, are small round pieces of semi soft cheese made out of waterbuffalo's milk. Today there is a pasta on the menu, with roasted cherry tomatoes, tapenade and bocconcini, that slowly melt on top.
Please don't forget to make a reservation, by mail, or callin Jos.

what's another layer?

Today on the menu, Vegetarian lasagna, under the each layer you will discover a different vegetable filling! Each one is prepared separately to hit your taste buds one at a time!

rolled up

Good morning!
I would like to apologise for not posting yesterday, but, organisation wise, it had been somehow a hectic day, food was nevertheless delicious :-). I promise to repeat it in the near future for all the ones who missed it. Today I will be preparing some wraps filled with vegetables and kidney beans, finished under the layer of sour cream and baked in the oven. A bit like burittos but then a different spice pallete. As the summer is still strong and kicking, I thought why not suggest a styling tip for this evening ( see the image above). All the ones who come for dinner with rolled up pants get a free mojito!
So guys, roll it up!