Proja (Polenta) Muffins

Proja is a very old and popular dish in Balkan countries and lately it's more popular to bake it in muffin cases than in the baking tin and I have to admit that muffins look prettier and are more convinient for parties and picnics. I made few batches recently for my son's friends birthday party  and they were very popular so I decided to share the recipe here.

PROJA MUFFINS

Main Ingredients:

-       2 eggs

-       1 cup milk

-       ½ cup olive oil

-       1 cup sparkling water

-       2 cups polenta (I’m always using “quick” precooked polenta) 

-       1 cup plain flour

-       baking powder

-       salt

Flavours:

1. Spinach & Feta:

-       200 gr grated or crumbled feta cheese

-       200 gr spinach  (Wash spinach well, pour 500 ml boiling water over it and keep in water for 1 minute. Drain it well, squeeze all excess water then chop and add to the main mixture.)

2. Courgette, dill and sundried tomato’s:

-       2 medium courgettes – grated and water from them well squeezed

-       5-6  stalks of dill - chopped

-       100 gr sundried tomatoes rinsed from oil  (processed in food processor or chopped)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 180 C.

Mix all the liquid ingredients  (eggs, milk, water, olive oil) and then add dry ingredinets (polenta, flour, baking powder and salt). Mix until it’s even and incorporated. At the end add flavours of your choice. Mixture should be runny but if it looks  watery after adding flavours you can slowly add some more polenta until it’s thick enough.

Divide the mixture between 10 or 12 muffin casings and place in the oven, middle shelf. Bake until set inside and golden on top. Let them to cool and serve with yogurt or another delicacy from Balkan; ajvar. 

This recipe is perfect for experimenting with different flavours. Grated butternut squash, different types of cheese, olives, dried mint, crushed chilli…  or just plain. Whatever you like. 

Postcards From Lynton And Lynmouth

It's kind a "Throwback Thursday" post... Last year in August  we went on our first English seaside holiday at twin towns Lynton & Lynmouth situated in Exmoor National Park on the North Devon coast. Luckily the weather was beautiful most of the time and we explored this beautiful part of England and fell in love with it.

We stayed at the "Lynton Cottage Hotel" and were very pleased;  it's a child friendly place and the view from our room (C.S Lewis Suite) was breathtaking.  The Victorian Cliff Railway is a touristic attraction but it came very handy  to go down to Lynmouth, especially with buggy. It's a nice walk from the hotel but it's quite steep and therefore very tiring with a baby.

The Valley of Rocks is just beautiful. Wen went hiking there every morning. At some points it's very narrow but it was easy to go with buggy.  It was usually only us and goats in early mornings.

The only thing that made me miss London was food. We had breakfasts at the hotel and then for lunch and dinners we tried different restaurants and unfortunately I have to say that all the places that we've tried were bad. Really bad. I'd expect some great sea food but nothing was near "good". Hope there'll be improvement food wise, because we're definitely planning to go there again!

Rice Pudding - Sutlijas

Quick and healthy, dessert, quick breakfast or without sugar  perfect baby food  and you have all ingredients in your cupboard; traditional Turkish rice pudding is definitely one of my favourite desserts/snack. But finding the right recipe took some time because there's loads of recipes for this simple food out there.

Ingredients:

-  1 cup rice
- 2 cups water
- 1 l  full fat milk (if you use skimmed milk it'll affect consistency of the pudding)
- 2 tbs corn flour
- 1 cup sugar for dessert is the original measure but I prefer it less sugary so I put just 1/2 cup of sugar,  no sugar if you're making a baby food
- 2 tbs vanilla extract
- 1 tbs of raw coconut oil
- Cinnamon/lemon zest/nutmeg/fruits to serve

Preparation:

- Wash and drain the rice then boil it with 2 cups of water until water is absorbed and rice softened.

- Add milk  to the rice and stir frequently until boils.

- Add 3 spoons of cold water to corn flour; mix it well then add few spoons of boiling pudding mixture to this and then add this corn flour mixture to the pot. Stir until it boils and continue cooking for 5 more minutes until it's thicker and creamy.

- Add sugar (if using) and continue cooking for 2-3 minutes.

-  Remove it from the stove, add vanilla extract and coconut oil and stir until well incorported.

- Pour hot pudding into small bowls and leave them at room temperature to completely cool.

- Keep them in the fridge and sprinkle with cinnamon or lemon zest/ nutmeg before serving, or serve with fruit of your choice.

- If desired the pudding can be poured in ovenproof bowls and baked. Put bowls in the baking tin filled with water and bake  until top is golden.

Enjoy!