This wonderful pasta has rich, well balanced and delicate taste that mushroom lovers will definitely appreciate. For the sauce you can buy any exotic mushroom blend, a combination of shiitake, cremini, and oyster mushrooms or other mushrooms, is sold in eight-ounce packages. If it is unavailable, you can use regular cremini mushrooms and the dish will be still fantastic.

Farfalle with Creamy Mushroom Sauce

By voloshyna, September 23, 2014

• Total Time: 35 minutes
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

• farfalle (bow tie) pasta - 1 lb., fresh or dry
• butter - 1 tablespoon
• olive oil - 1 tablespoon
• shallot - 1/2 cup, chopped
• mushroom blend - 12 oz, thinly sliced
• dry white wine - 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon
• whipping cream - 2/3 cup
• kosher salt or porcini salt - to taste
• freshly ground black pepper - 1/4 teaspoon or to taste
• thyme - 1 teaspoon
• freshly grated Parmesan - to taste
• chopped fresh parsley - 2 tablespoons

Instructions:

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and shallot. Cook 5-6 minutes or until soft and transparent, stirring occasionally. Add mushrooms and sauté for 8 more minutes. Meanwhile cook the pasta in a boiling salted water until al dente. Add the wine to the mushrooms and deglaze the pan, then pour the cream and thyme, bring to a boil. Season the sauce with salt and pepper to, cook for another 2 minutes or until liquid evaporates, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Add the cooked pasta, cheese, and 2 tablespoons parsley, tossing gently to coat. Serve immediately.

This absolutely amazing recipe I’ve found in the March issue of Savuer Magazine. OMG this chicken is so good! It has a perfect combination of different flavors which create a very bright and remarkable dish. I’ve made some changes in the ingredients, but you know, I do this with every recipe.

After I’ve tasted my home cooked Cuban-style chicken, I’ve started dreaming about travel to Havana someday, and stay there at least for a week. I definitely know what I would do there, just drink mojito, eat delicious food and learn how to dance rumba. Thats funny, what a nice dream poped up in my mind after just one bowl of hearty chicken stew. So try to cook this dish dear fellows, it definitely worth the efforts!

Cuban-Style Chicken Stew

By voloshyna, April 14, 2014

• Total Time: 02h 35min
• Prep Time: 01h 15min
• Cook time: 01h 20min

Ingredients:

• fresh lime juice - 1/4 cup
• orange juice - 1/4 cup
• garlic - 2-3 cloves, minced
• chicken - 4 lb. quartered (backbone discard)
• salt - to taste
• freshly ground black pepper - to taste
• olive oil - 1/3 cup
• large red bell pepper - 1, roughly chopped
• small jalapeno - 1, roughly chopped
• large shallot - 1, quartered
• dry white wine - q cup
• small potatoes - 1 lb., peeled and quarteed
• kalamata olives - 1/3 cup
• capers - 1/4 cup
• raisins - 1/4 cup
• tomato sauce - 8 oz
• chicken stock - 1/2 cup
• smocked paprika - 1 1/2 teaspoons
• frozen peas - 1 cup, defrosted
• parsley - 1/3 cup, finely chopped

Instructions:

In a big bowl mix lime and orange juices, garlic, and chicken. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate for about 1 hour. Heat an olive oil in a big cast iron sauce-pan. Remove chicken from the marinade; pat dry with a paper towel; reserve the marinade. Cook chicken, flipping once until golden brown. Transfer chicken to a plate. At the same pan cook onion and peppers until soft, about 7 minutes. Add wine and deglaze the pan. Simmer until reduced by half. Reduce chicken to pan and add reserved marinade, olives, capers, potatoes, raisins, tomato sauce, smoked paprika and. Bring to a boil an dredge heat to medium-low. Cook covered, until chicken and potatoes are tender. Season to taste, stir in peas and chopped parsley.

Scallops are one of the my favorite sea creatures, mainly because they are crazy delicious and so easy to cook. I love them for delicate taste and incredible tenderness, and they are always look elegant on the plate.

I could not miss the opportunity to cook them with my favorite black truffles. Fresh black truffle is not a frequent guest on my kitchen, I mainly use oil, salt and butter infused with this wonderful mushroom. But my beloved husband knows how much I love truffles, so he took me to Napa Valley on Truffle Festival where we bought hole bunch of stuff infused with truffles and of course amazingly fragrant fresh black truffle. I barely could wait till the next day to cook something with it, so I used a chance to combine two of my favorite ingredients in one plain, but elegant, dish that I really loved.

Seared Scallops with Truffles over Creamy Leek

By voloshyna, February 20, 2014

• Total Time: 20 minutes
• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• sea scallops - 8
• butter - 3 tablespoons
• kosher salt - to taste
• freshly ground black pepper - to taste
• leek - 2 cups, thinly sliced
• dry white wine - 1/4 cup
• frozen peas - 1/4 cup, defrosted
• heavy cream - 1/3 cup
• black truffles - thinly shaved

Instructions:

Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a skillet on medium high heat. Pat the scallops dry with a paper towel and season with salt and black pepper. Sear the scallops on the first side until golden brown, approximately 2 minutes. Turn on the other side and cook for 1-2 minutes. Until nice and brown. Be careful and not overcook them. When scallops are seared, transfer them to a plate and keep warm. Meanwhile, in a small sauté pan melt the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter, add leek and sauté for a couple minutes. Pour in white wine and cook until leek is tender. Add peas and heavy cream, bring to a boil. Season to taste and remove from the heat. Transfer leek garnish to a platter and top with scallops and shaved truffles.

That’s what I call quick meal. Usually I eat this soup during my fasting day and it works perfectly for me. Only 30 minutes of active time and you can treat yourself with low-calorie, healthy and nevertheless delicious soup. And what is your favorite healthy soup?

Creamy and Spicy Pea Soup with Roasted Fennel

By voloshyna, November 22, 2013

• Total Time: 30 minutes
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• extra virgin olive oil - 3 tablespoons, divided
• fennel - 1
• chopped leek - 1 1/2 cups
• frozen peas - 2 cups, defrosted
• dry white wine - 1/2 cup
• low-sodium vegetable broth - 1 cup
• salt - 1 teaspoon or to taste
• Pollen Ranch Big Devil Spice or ground cayenne pepper - 1/4 teaspoon

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 F. Trim tough stalks and bottom stem from fennel bulb; cut into quarters. Toss fennel with 1 tablespoon oil. Roast fennel on a baking sheet until tender and golden brown, about 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, heat remaining olive oil in a heavy, medium sized pot over medium heat. Add chopped leek, cook stirring occasionally for 3-4 minutes. Add defrosted peas. Pour in wine and bring to a boil. Add vegetable stock and cubed roasted fennel. Season with salt and Big Devil Spice or cayenne pepper. Reduce the heat to medium-low, simmer soup for 8-10 minutes. Turn the heat off, let to cool for a few minutes. Place the fennel mixture in a blender, blend until smooth. Return soup to pot and heat to warm.

Today I want to present you my first mussel dish on DivineCuisine. Before I started to cook this dish, I carefully learned how to clean this little creatures properly. Thankfully I have Julia Childs cookbook, where I found all the necessary information and can share it with you. So, at first before the mussels can be cooked you have to be sure all of them are alive. Discard any mussels that are not firmly closed, or which are mush lighter or much heavier than the rest. Scrub each mussel with a firm brush under running cold water to remove all the dirt and sand. Set the mussels in a big bowl with a fresh cold water for an hour or two. Then wash and drain them again, and they are ready to cook.

The cooking process will be quick and easy, but you have to cook pasta and mussels at the same time.

Pasta with mussels, cherry tomatoes and basil

By voloshyna, June 17, 2013

Ingredients:

• extra virgin olive oil - 6 tablespoons
• garlic - 4 cloves, minced
• mussels - 2 lb, scrubbed and soaked
• cherry tomatoes - 1 lb, cut in halves
• dry white wine - 3/4 cup
• roughly chopped basil leaves - 1 cup
• spaghetti - 1 lb
• salt - to taste
• freshly ground black pepper - to taste

Instructions:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, and cook pasta until al dente; drain pasta. Meanwhile, in a large deep skillet heat 4 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat; add minced garlic and fry for a 20 seconds. Don't let the garlic become brown, because it'll get this nasty bitter taste. Add the mussels, tomatoes and basil; pour in white wine, cover with a tight-fitting lid, and steam until they open, 5 to 6 minutes; discard any that do not open after 6 minutes. Add pasta to mussels and toss over low heat until the pasta is uniformly coated. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to warmed shallow bowls, drizzle with the remaining olive oil and serve immediately.

Hi guys! I’m back. Sorry I’ve been missed a long time, I had a serious problems with my laptop, actually I still have. One of my culinary experiment ended pretty bad and my precious laptop, with all my recipes and food pictures, was filled with kompot. Hope my husband can save him. Anyway I’m glad to be back with new delicious and vivid dishes.

Pea and leek cream soup

By voloshyna, May 29, 2013

• Total Time: 35 minutes
• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• avocado or olive oil - 2 tbsp
• leek - 2 cup, chopped with a light green parts
• scallion - 1 cup, finely chopped
• freshly shelled or frozen peas - 4 cups
• dry white wine - 1/2 cup
• heavy cream or coconut milk - 1 cup
• chicken broth - 3 cups
• salt - to taste
• freshly ground black pepper - to taste
• chili powder - 1 tsp
• pita chips - for serving

Instructions:

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan, add the leek and scallion, cook over medium-low heat for 5 to 7 minutes, until the leek is tender. Add the white wine, increase the heat to high, and bring to a boil. Add the peas and the chicken broth, again bring to a boil and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until the peas are tender. (Frozen peas will take only 3 minutes.) Off the heat, add the chili powder, salt, and pepper. Puree the soup in a blender and pour back in the sauce pan. Add heavy cream or coconut milk, and warm up, do not bring to a boil. Serve hot with pita chips.

Risotto is one of the dishes that require some patience to cook. It will cost you some efforts, but you will not regret. As soon as you will put hot and creamy, perfectly cooked homemade risotto on your plate, you will become an absolutely happy person! A small tip – if you want to add a piquant taste to your risotto, use a little bit of truffle butter or truffle oil at the end of the cooking.

Mushroom risotto

By voloshyna, April 3, 2013

• Total Time: 45 minutes
• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• medium yellow onion - 1, finely chopped
• celery stalk - 2, finely chopped
• extra virgin olive oil - 7 tbsp
• arborio rice - 2 cups
• salt - to taste
• dry white wine - 3/4 cup
• chicken or vegetable stock - 7-8 cups
• butter - 3 tbsp
• truffle butter - 1 tsp (optional)
• freshly grated Parmesan - 1 cup
• mushrooms - 2-3 cups, cliched
• portobello mushrooms or truffle salt - to taste (optional)
• fresh thyme - 2 tbsp
• freshly ground black pepper - to taste

Instructions:

In a small skillet melt 1 tablespoon of butter, saute mushrooms until tender. Add fresh thyme and season to taste, set aside. In a medium saucepan preheat 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add finely chopped onion and celery and cook until soft, about 10 min. Then add the rice. Stir until the rice is well-coated with olive oil and it begins to turn a brighter white (2-3 min). Pour the wine and continue stirring until the wine is mostly absorbed. Then add 1 cup of stock every 1 minute, you have to stir your risotto pretty often. Cook for 15-17 minutes until al dente, add 2 tablespoons of butter and 1 teaspoon of truffle butter (optional). Add grated Parmesan and stir. Remove sauce pan from the heat and cover with a lid. Let to stand for 2-3 min. Combine your risotto and the mushrooms, serve immediately.

This is my very first risotto. Recently I watched one episode of Jamie Oliver show, about his traveling to Venice and I decided that risotto is my next must-try dish! I absolutely happy with this recipe and I recommend you to try it as soon as possible!

So creamy and incredibly delicious!

Creamy risotto with tomatoes and basil

By voloshyna, March 18, 2013

• Total Time: 45 minutes
• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• medium yellow onion - 1, finely chopped
• celery stalks - 2, finely chopped
• extra virgin olive oil - 7 tbsp
• arborio rice - 2 cups
• salt - to taste
• dry white wine - 3/4 cup
• chicken or vegetable stock - 7-8 cups
• butter - 2 tbsp
• grated Parmesan - 1 cup
• chopped garlic - 2 cloves
• cherry tomatoes - 3 cups
• basil leaves - 1 1/2 cups
• freshly ground black pepper - to taste
• salt to taste - to taste

Instructions:

In a medium saucepan preheat 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add finely chopped onion and celery and cook until soft, about 10 min. Then add the rice. Stir until the rice is well-coated with olive oil and it begins to turn a brighter white (2-3 min). Pour the wine and continue stirring until the wine is mostly absorbed. Then add 1 cup of stock every 1 minute, you have to stir your risotto pretty often. Cook for 15-17 minutes until al dente, add butter. Add grated Parmesan and stir. Remove sauce pan from the heat and cover with a lid. Let to stand for 2-3 min. In another sauce pan preheat 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add minced garlic and fry for a 15 seconds. Add tomatoes and basil; cook until tomatoes are very tender, season to taste. Combine tomatoes and risotto in one pot and mix well. Serve hot, topped with the fresh basil leaves, Parmesan and drizzle with the remaining olive oil.