healthy recipe

Sandwich Project: #7 – jamon Serrano and basil pesto sandwich!

~ Fit Prag ~ Leave a comment

The true Italian styled sandwich with

wholegrain ciabatta bread
jamon Serrano
mozzarella
basil pesto
dried tomato

Jamon Serrano is much cheaper than Iberico and it is sold everywhere, so we use it often.

Fresh hams are trimmed and cleaned, then stacked and covered with salt for about two weeks in order to draw off excess moisture and preserve the meat from spoiling. The salt is then washed off and the hams are hung to dry for about six months. Finally, the hams are hung in a cool, dry place for six to eighteen months, depending on the climate, as well as the size and type of ham being cured. The drying sheds (secaderos) are usually built at higher elevations, which is why the ham is called “mountain ham”.

sanwich_with_jamon_serrano_dried_tomato_recipe

And for cheering up Italian spirit on this post I will show you some of the pictures with me and my very tiny daughter seven years ago.

Continue reading →

Sandwich Project: #6 – Lomo meat sandwich with grilled zucchini.

~ Fit Prag ~ Leave a comment

I would say this one is more Italian than Spanish, but as far as we have Spanish meat here I should explain.

“Lomo” is the Spanish word for tenderloin. It can be bought cured or uncured.
Lomo embuchado is an air-dried loin of pork that is considered to be a delicacy. The loin of pork is between 19 and 27 inches in length and has all the fat removed. It is marinated in a variety of fine seasonings. The marinated loin is stuffed into a beef skin and then lightly smoked. Thereafter it is air dried for up to four months to maintain its tenderness. You will often see it served as a tapa.

 And we love grilled zucchini. They are amazing even only with Italian bread and olive oil. You can’t feel Italian spirit until you eat like Italians do. Soak a piece of ciabata in fresh olive oil and eat it with wine and meat.

Ingredients for Lomo meat sandwich

wholegrain bread
grilled zucchini
grilled sweet onion
lomo meat
cheddar
dried tomato salsa
beetroot leaves

zuccini_pork_sweet_onion_sandwich_recipe

Sandwich Project: #4 – Gluten Free Vegetarian Sandwich

~ Fit Prag ~ Leave a comment

This is my sandwich. its not perfect but its mine (c)

I lie. It is just perfect!

This one was actually mine. And it was not inspired by any country but our grill and veggies we had in the fridge. So one morning grill season has begun.

I like gluten free focaccia bread from Schar. I love veggies and cheese and that’s it.

I feel hunger when I see it again and again.
grilled_vegetables_gluten_free_sandwich_recipe

Sandwich Project: #1 – Homemade Tuna Rillette Sandwich

~ Fit Prag ~ Leave a comment

This one is inspired by French rillettes, which are quite common in sandwiches in France. We usually buy them when we are there, but it is not common here in Czech Republic, so we find a way to make our own one.

Rillettes (/riː.ˈɛt/ or /riː.ˈɛts/; French [ʁiˈjɛt]) are a preparation of meat similar to pâté. Commonly made from pork, the meat is cubed or chopped, salted heavily and cooked slowly in fat until it is tender enough to be easily shredded, and then cooled with enough of the fat to form a paste. They are normally used as spread on bread or toast and served at room temperature.

Rillettes are also made with other meats, goose, duck, chicken, game birds, rabbit and sometimes with fish such as anchovies, tuna or salmon.

tuna_rillet_salade_sandwich_recipe

This French dish has its many regional definitions. In Quebec, cretons are similar to rillettes.

So how we make tuna rillette? We take soft creamy cheese, a kind like Philadelphia cheese, but more natural one. To tell the truth I don’t like Philadelphia since I read its ingredients. And we mix soft cheese with Rio canned tuna, maybe be in oil or drained one just with fork. It should contain pieces of fish. Those pieces are what make a difference between pate and rillette. Once you made it, just serve with salad and green onion. Very delicious and one of my favorites! I only make it with gluten free bread.

Fresh and Creative Sandwich Seven Days a Week!

~ Fit Prag ~ Leave a comment

We have been shooting these sandwiches for you during May and the beginning of June. They are not vegetarian and not all of them made gluten free, but btw it is possible to do so.

7dayssandwich

Suddenly, I found I had 21 sorts of cheese in my fridge. Could you imagine that? I was also surprised with this fact.

The story about sandwiches started in France in 2009. We were young parents with a toddler on holidays. You know what? French people are very strict with their food intake. They only have lunch from 12-30 pm till 2-30pm and guess whats next? Dinner at 7 pm.

Our toddler slept between 12 and 2pm, so we could not eat outside. NEVER! The only thing you can get after 14, if you are lucky to find an open bakery is a sandwich. But my hubby always said they were not the right ones. Too little meat, not enough here and there and once I told, why didn’t you make your own one full of all that desirable stuff. Much time had passed since 2009. Now we have another toddler. You could even see “service continue” in many French restaurants. Bakeries work all day in high season last year. I couldn’t believe! But my husband is sandwich expert. The next days I will show you 7 sandwich ideas one by one.

Asparagus cooking and serving ideas

~ Fit Prag ~ Leave a comment

Asparagus is very popular in Czech Republic.

Only seasonally on the menu, asparagus dishes are advertised outside many restaurants, usually from late April to June. For the French style, asparagus is often boiled or steamed and served with hollandaise sauce, melted butter or olive oil, Parmesan cheese or mayonnaise. Tall, narrow asparagus cooking pots allow the shoots to be steamed gently, their tips staying out of the water.

It has many health benefits, so I cook it often, when it is possible.

According to the USDA National Nutrient Database, one cup of raw asparagus contains approximately 27 calories, 0 grams of fat, 5 grams of carbohydrate, 3 grams of sugar, 3 grams of fiber and 3 grams of protein.

That same cup will also provide 70% of your daily vitamin K needs, 20% of vitamin A, 17% of foliate, 16% of iron, 13% of vitamin C and thiamin as well as smaller amounts of vitamin E, niacin, vitamin B6 and potassium.

In Czech Republic we have thicker asparagus, so I advice to peel it before cooking. I cook in just two or three minutes in boiling water with a pinch of salt. Then serve in different ways.

Today I offer you my latest asparagus serving ideas: asparagus with poached eggs and Parmesan_DSC1671-30Apr2015

and grilled vegetables with asparagus, Parmesan and sweet balsamic acid.

_DSC1904-11May2015

The Very Healthy Fancy Poached Eggs

~ Fit Prag ~ Leave a comment

I tried this recipe for lunch yesterday. Immediately I reported to my sister that if she cooks it for someone he will marry her. That wouldn’t work with my husband, because he hates eggs, but in general it is worth a try. HA-HA!

I cooked poached eggs for the first time ever! Guess why? I saw them recently at the Imperial Café in the center of Prague, a very sophisticated restaurant indeed. I had a very boring fish there, when I saw a waiter with a plate of very interesting design with poached eggs, veggies and bread. I wanted that too, but they didn’t have a gluten free option.

Later on, I saw a picture on Pinterest and decided to try. I always want to eat good and healthy breakfasts with eggs, I swear, but in the morning I usually start to load up on different types of sugars: pancakes, peanut butter, waffles, fruit and so on. Then I find myself full of it with no place for a healthy egg.

_DSC1534-21Apr2015

 Firstly, I prepared toasts. I used gluten free whole grain sandwich bread from Marks and Spencer.

Then I made an avocado-parmesan salad. Super easy, just cut an avocado, grated some Parmesan cheese and mixed them together.

The last step before cooking eggs was to put the salad on the toasts. So I was ready to poach…

 I read a few articles on how to poach an egg. It seemed difficult to me. Also it was messy. I heated a deep pan until the water was boiling, broke an egg into a bowl and then poured it from a bowl into boiling water. The white partially fell off, but the egg was still poached. Maybe not very fancy for the first time, but who cares.

 Since then I have been a big fan of poached eggs, but still find it quite difficult to cook them for breakfast, when kids are messing around. I’d better save them for lunch.

Ingredients:

  • 2 eggs
  • 2 pieces of gluten free sandwich bread
  • a half of an avocado
  • One tsp of grated Parmesan
  • Salt and pepper
  • Few cherry tomatoes or cut one big tomato

 

Another Look at Russian Cuisine from an Insider. Can it be healthy for a sportsman?

~ Fit Prag ~ Leave a comment

 I am often asked if I cook Russian food at home. I must admit, no I don’t. Since my early childhood a lot of Russian dishes seemed disgusting to me, especially, all kinds of salads with mayonnaise. I used to ask my mom to leave me all the salad ingredients separately and ate them as is.

I have been living in Europe for nine years now and ever since I moved I almost stopped to cook Russian food at all. Maybe the climate is not appropriate for such greasy food; maybe I found more interesting combinations, which I had never encountered living in Russia.

My mom came to visit me for the first time and started to cook some forgotten dishes from my childhood. They look so weird, but some are delicious. I got a present from my sister, a cup with fairy-tale heroes from one crazy Russian cartoon “The Hedgehog in the Fog” and I was happy as a child to eat food I had last time eaten many years ago in the dishes with very forgotten fairy-tale. Exciting!

_DSC1434-02Apr2015

As I am maintaining a healthy lifestyle and blah blah I want to share one recipe that is very high in proteins, easy and tasty. We ate it a lot with my siblings when we were children. It is called lazy vareniky, because you do not need to make dough or to roll curd cheese inside. It is all in one and it is very healthy.

For those, who are not familiar with curd cheese or tvorog (russian) or tvaroh (czech) or quark I explain.

Quark is a member of the acid-set cheese group. It is made by warming soured milk until the desired degree of coagulation (curdling) of milk proteins is met, and then strained. In Russian families, it is especially recommended for growing babies. It can be simply enjoyed with sour cream, or jam, sugar, sugar condensed milk, as a breakfast food. It is often used as a stuffing in blinchiki offered at many fast-food restaurants

Russian tvorog option is more hard than European. But in Czech Republic we can have almost the same. There are a lot of tvaroh to choose either hard or soft, because it is very common in Czech cuisine as well.

So I took 250g of hard tvaroh and 250 g of the soft one and mixed them together with one egg and a pinch of salt. Normally, we have to put sugar in it (about 2 table spoons), but remember, healthy food and do not put sugar. Then I take flour, in my case it is gluten free flour, and mix it in until it looks like soft dough (maybe about one cup or so). It must be really soft, almost the same as tvaroh or quark was before an egg was added. I feel like gluten free flour makes it much softer than normal one.

_DSC1423-02Apr2015

Then I make small balls or, another option is to cut it, as I did on the picture, then boil it in boiling water until they float (few minutes). Put small piece of butter on the top and a bit of icing sugar, if you want.

Another good recipe is a kompot. It is a traditional Russian drink – a kind of fruit and berry punch, but cooked in boiling water. Sometimes I add sugar, but more often I do not. Apples or pears make it sweet enough. I cook from frozen berries in winter and it tastes great. Can be drank cold or hot.

_DSC1430-02Apr2015