Churro profiteroles

   Sometimes you try out new recipes and they turn into something unexpected... yet, very delicious! And that's how you come up with your own recipe!

   Today I tried a churros recipe I saw online but my dough was not as hard as it should have been so the final product looks more like profiteroles (since the recipe is exactly the same). At first I was worried I wasn't getting exactly the same result as I saw in the video, but after I (literally) sugar coated the tiny "profiteroles", I realized they taste even better than regular churros: they're soft and silky and still sweet and cinammon-y!

   So, today's lesson is: don't be disappointed if an original recipe turns out to be your very own shade of it! That way you can be proud you discovered something new!

Ingredients:
- 1 cup water
- 1/3 cup of butter
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
- a pinch of salt
- 1 cup flower
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 eggs

For the coating:
- butter
- cinnamon sugar

Note: If you want to end up with the profiteroles instead of the churros, make the dough a bit runnier, like I did. Also, don't forget the broiling part! And be patient, it will take a while...

Here's the original recipe I used:



Bon appetit!

Thai red curry stir fry

   Stir fries are one of my favorite dishes in the world: they're fresh, crisp, full of flavour and saucy! I love combining all sorts of veggies with different condiments and sauces! Stir fries encourage you to be creative and that's a plus in my eyes!
   Today Oliver and I tried a new stir fry with a thai red curry sauce we found in a supermarket:

   We decided to use the veggies we had in the pantry so here's what we picked:

- 1 medium red onion
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 1 medium carrot
- 1 zucchini
- 200g broccoli
- 1 green pepper
- around 50g of peas
- some cashews
- a whole chicken thigh
- noodles

Wanna know the steps?
1. Dice all the veggies.
2. Put the chicken thigh in a tray with some water and leave it in the oven for 30 min at 180˚ so you can easily take the meat off the bone.
3. After you take the chicken out, cook the veggies for some minutes.
4. Add the chicken in the wok and cook it a bit more then smother everything in the spicy thai red curry sauce.

5. Separately fry some cashews in a pan for a minute or so to give them a nice crunch.
6. Cook the noodles.
7. Plate the dish: noodles, veggies and chicken, cashews on top.

Et voila! Bon appetit!

LIDL's Deluxe Gnocchi with pesto

   Everybody knows how much I love Lidl by now, right? If anybody is still wondering why, here's a short reason: amazing products and great marketing! The fact that they only bring a certain amount of delicious products for special weeks makes you want to GO BUY those products because they sound so good (if you haven't cooked with them before) or because you already know how good they are! 

   I just LOVE Lidl's special weeks! They help us plan our weekly meals and they keep our life more interesting! It was the same this week. It's Deluxe week (I've been eagerly awaiting this one) and while I was browsing through their magazine I saw a new product:

    My eyes widened because I love pesto and I love gnocchi so I knew I just HAD to buy these :) I cooked the gnocchi today and I'm happy to share the recipe with you! Lidl has done it again! Thanks for pimping my dinner one more time, Lidl! 

   If you liked the picture of the dish, you decided you want to try this recipe and you're from Romania, go to Lidl and buy the gnocchi this week because they're going to be out afterwards. But don't forget to also enjoy all the other products from Deluxe week (we especially love the salmon en croute, the potato gratins and the "frutti di mare")! They're absolutely fabulous! (No, Lidl didn't pay me to say all this!) 

   Ok. Now let's prepare dinner! I first cooked the gnocchi according to the instructions on the package (they are enough for 2 people) and then I came up with a white sauce that I thought would complement the gnocchi fairly well. I made it from: 

- a bit of oil

- a small diced white onion

- 3 grated garlic cloves

-150g of diced Pikok Pastrama Taraneasca or Bacon bits from Lidl (since you're there for the gnocchi)

- around 100g of cooking cream 15% (add a bit more if you want)

- 50g of Bluedino Gouda cheese spread from Lidl

   I fried the onion and the garlic for a bit and then I added the pastrama for another minute or so. After that I gave the onion, garlic and pastrama a bath into silky cooking cream and made everything extra rich with the cheese spread and that's all. Easy peasy, huh?
   When you serve the dish make sure you also add some pepper and parm cheese on top. Bon apetit! :)

Jamie Oliver's magic poached eggs

   Ever since I was a teen I loved watching Jamie Oliver's cooking shows. He's just so passionate and he makes everything look so quick and simple through his explanations. When I grew older I started trying out some of his recipes. I just LOVE them all! Lately I'm very passionate about his breakfast ideas, so today I tried a new one: Magic Poached Eggs. They really are magic! Such a burst of flavour and color, the crunchy, delicious whole wheat bread, the cream cheese and then the crisp lettuce (he uses spinach but I couldn't find it yesterday when I did the shopping)... every component is a delight! Really really worth cooking! Easy and utterly delicious! :)

Ingredients I used for 2 people:
- 4 large eggs (if you're as hungry as we are :D)
- a bit of sunflower or olive oil
- 2 young green onions/chives
- half a red chilli pepper
- 20 grams of smoked salmon
- 4 slices of "Painea Padurarului" from Lidl (GO LIDL!) or your favorite whole wheat bread
- some cream cheese
- 1 big leaf of lettuce

Here is how you can make this delicious recipe:

I hope you'll like it as much as we did! 

Bon appetit!