About Albanian Cuisine and Eni Turkeshi

  Some time ago I made an interview with my Albanian friend Eni Turkeshi which was published in Chief magazine (I'm a photo editor of it). Eni is a visual artist and also she runs a food blog Yummania
 Eni gave us several recipes from her blog: Stuffed Peppers, Spinach Rolls and Hasure. I tried to cook hashure and then made several photos of it. And I must admit it was very delicious so many thanks to Eni for the pleasure of eating this dessert. OK, original Eni's ricipe for 4 persons:
  
300 gr special for hashure wheat
100 gr sugar (brown sugar would be ok too)
black dried grape
dried fig
gratered orange peels
hazelnuts,nuts,almonds
cinnamon,cloves
pomegranate.
   Preparation proccess: The wheat is left to boil.After it has boiled the water is changed and the wheat are put to be boiled again.Afterwards sugar,choped dried grapes and figs ,gratered orange peels, hazelnuts, nuts and almonds are added and left to be boiled under low fire.It is left until the wheat is cooked enough, yet crispy when chewed.Pour ashure on bowls and add over the cinnamon, cloves and pomegranates.
Better serve it while cold.It is much better.

Spain Tasted Like

I've been to Spain in May, we rented a car and made a small trip to the South. And, of course, I couldn't help shooting the food there, it was so beautiful and delicious.
So here's Paella in Alacant where we came first:

 We stayed at the house of our friend Elena in Agost for three days. As she's a chef at a restaurant we had to try a lot of yummy things. I don't eat meat so Lena offered me to try a variety of sea stuff and vegetables. Many thanks to her for it.

Chocolate Pancakes

2 eggs
2 tbs sugar
1 ts salt
2 cups milk 
2 cups all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled) 
1 ts baking soda
2 tablespoons vegetable oi
3-4 tbs cacao powder

  Whisk together eggs, sugar and salt. Add 1 cup of milk, whisk well, add 1 cup of flour gradually, mixing well all the time. Repeat the previous step. Add cacao powder, oil and baking soda, mix well. Leave for 5-10 mins.

   Heat a griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Fry pancakes without oil until bubbly, a little dry around the edges, and lightly browned on the bottom; turn and brown the other side (about 20 seconds)
   Serve with sweet condensed milk or any topping you like.

Seafood Pasta

250g pasta (noodles)

250g seafood mix (defrosted if frozen)

1 tsp olive oil

300ml half or single cream

1/3 tsp salt

cayenne pepper to taste

1/2 tsp ground paprika

freshly ground black pepper

20g fresh dill

  Boil a saucepan of water, and cook the pasta to taste. Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan, then fry the seafood over a medium heat for 1 min. Add cream and bring to boil, add salt and spices and cook for 3-4 mins. Remove the pan from the heat, add dill, combine with noodles and mix well.

  Serve immediately while hot.

  Bon appétit!

Baked Pumpkin with Rice and Fruits Stuffing

1 pumpkin (about 1 kg)

1/3 cup half-cooked rice

1/2 chopped quince

50g chopped dried apricots

50g chopped prunes

50g raisins

1 chopped apple

50g chopped walnuts

30g shelled pumpkin seeds

¼ tsp cardamon

¼ tsp cinnamon

 
  Wash the pumpkin, cut the top off and reserve. Scoop out the inside seeds and some of the pumpkin flesh, leaving a 1-inch thick shell.
  Chop the pumpkin flesh, combine it with rice, fruits and spices in a large bowl and mix well. Fill the pumpkin and place on baking sheet. Preheat oven to 180 C. Place top back on pumpkin and bake about 1,5 hours until the pumpkin is soft. You can cover the top with a foil or a wet paper if it's burning.