The Sun Stalker

New things to come and short digression about unusual drink

2012-01-25T13:23:00.000-08:00

Long time no see. Winter is not the best time of year for being active, at least for me. I hibernate. Only half aware, constantly cold, only doing necessary things - eat, wash, sleep and go to work, that's it. What do I eat? Mainly soups. Do I make them? No, I buy them. So there is nothing to blog about..? Well, maybe there is. Interior design, decorating, painting, restoring old furniture. That's what keeps me busy all days recently. I still don't know if I should start blogging about it. Not sure if I am ready, if I want to. My lack of self-confidence prevents me from sharing anything with people. Am I good enough? What if not? Not that I am afraid to make a fool of myself, more that I waste time doing something that I am not go at. Will see. For now I want to share with you some winter speciality - kompot prepared from a blend of dried fruits.

Take any dried fruits you want, but stick to European types. Nothing too fancy like papaya, mango or lychee. Just apples, plums, pears. So it is not really 'any' type of fruit. Choice is very limited. Anyway, put the fruits in a big pot. Proportion and quantities are not important, maybe take a handful of each type. But remember that i.e. plums have very strong taste so they my overpower any other ingredients.

Pour water, add cinnamon stick, cloves and some sugar. Not too much as you will be able to check the taste later. Boil everything for few minutes and taste. Add more spices or sugar, depending how sweet you like your drink.

Best served lukewarm. Not everyone likes to eat the fruits so you can chuck them away and just drink it. But it is a waste so I say you should eat these bloody fruits as well!

Upside-down peaches & cream sponge cake

2011-09-02T14:46:00.000-07:00

Summer is almost over..or should I rather say - autumn is almost here. Season of harvest, colour leaves and warm sunshine. Wrapped in a warm blanket, with cup of aromatic tea, I spend weekends reading books in my garden. But tea without cake cannot be! So today my variance of classic Victoria sponge.

Ingredients

200g soft butter

200g self-raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

200g golden caster sugar

4 eggs

2 tbsp milk

3 ripe peaches

85g light brown sugar

230g clotted cream

2 tbsp golden caster sugar

1⁄2 tsp vanilla extract

Heat oven to 180C. Grease 20cm non-stick round baking tin. Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl, then tip in all the other sponge ingredients: butter, sugar, milk and eggs. Using an electric whisk, beat everything together until smooth. Pour half of the mixture into a tin and bake for 20-25 minutes. Take out from the oven and cool.

Halve and stone the peaches, then cut each half into 4. Toss the peaches with the sugar until they are all coated. Then arrange the fruits in a single layer at the bottom of the tin. Tip the rest of the cake mix over the peaches. Bake until cooked and golden - this part may take 5-10 minutes longer than the other. While the cakes are cooling it is time to make the filling.

Whisk the clotted cream with the sugar and vanilla until stiff. Spread this over the plain sponge, then carefully top with the peach sponge.

Margate and shopping

2011-08-27T14:53:00.000-07:00

My favorite seaside town in Kent so far is Margate. I never thought of going there before I came across two vintage shops on the Internet. So the first trip was purely to do some shopping, not sightseeing. But shortly after arrival I fell in love with this tiny town. There are two parts - new and old. The new part is nothing exciting, it looks like any other small English town, with high street filled with shops and one big shopping center. My advice is to stay away and head straight to the Old Town. It is a lovely place filled with tiny streets, vintage shops, boutiques and cosy cafes. During the weekends you can find few food stalls on the small piazza. For lunch go to Greedy Cow and for coffee to the Cupcake Cafe, but more about these places coming soon so shhh for now!

The seaside is great too. Pink umbrellas at pier cafe, colorful flags, fresh seafood stall and wide blue sea. There is also the glorious Turner Contemporary, opened just few months ago. Its modern design contrasts well with shabby chic of the surroundings. The town with it's windy weather and big sky was an inspiration for the great British painter William Turner-the gallery is exploring his influence and connections with modern art and contemporary Margate. I love the building and its interiors, incredibly sleek and modern.

There are of course my favorite vintage furniture shops so far: the R.G. Scott Furniture Mart and Junk Deluxe. An incredible places for pre-loved furniture and any decor stuff you can imagine. From salvage windows and doors, to old books, kitchen accessories and toys. Junk Deluxe stocks in retro furniture and other lovely bits and pieces. Both shops have enormous quantities of stock, friendly service and reasonable prices so if you are hunting for original items for your house, it is a place to go to!

This is Junk Deluxe, three pictures on the right borrowed from their Facebook page. Oh, and the stag head is actually mine now...

Oh, marrow!

2011-08-18T12:35:00.000-07:00

1. Riverford organic veg - I am addicted to their boxes. Every fortnight there is a box full of beautiful, fresh vegetables waiting at my door. Fragrant English apples, herbs, cucumbers...Every time something new. Always very fresh and full of taste. Heaven!
2. Hipstamatic - taking photos everywhere, all the time. I am in love with their vintage old school look.
3. Marrow - yes, finally! Late summer crops are always the best. Apples, cherries, marrows, blackberries. All so ripe, filled with juicy summer sun and smell of wet grass.
Now add these three things together and you have...Stuffed marrow, Riverford inspired.

Ingredients:

1 marrow
olive oil
1 onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves
1 red pepper, sliced
400g can of chopped tomatoes
200g/300g can green lentils
bunch of spinach
fresh basil
100g feta cheese, crumbled
toasted pine nuts

Cut the marrow in half length-ways, drizzle it with olive oil and bake in an oven preheated to 180°C for about 20 minutes, until it is cooked through and starting to brown. Scoop out the seeds and season the marrow with salt and pepper.

Heat the oil in a pan, add the onion and cook until softened. Add the red pepper and garlic and cook for 15 minutes. Add the canned tomatoes and cook for about 10 minutes until the tomatoes have reduced and thickened. Stir in the cooked lentils and the spinach and season to taste.

Spoon the mixture into the marrow and sprinkle with the feta cheese, basil and pine nuts. Return to the oven and bake for about 20 minutes, until golden brown.

Carrot & cream cheese cupcakes

2011-08-14T14:33:00.000-07:00

They look a bit Christmas'y, I know. These bloody stars but I didn't have anything else to decorate these cupcakes with. Also the pictures were taken late in the evening, with artificial light, so it even adds to this winter feeling. I promise that next posts are going to be more in line with current season! Anyway, these cupcakes are amazing so enjoy!

Ingredients:

175g brown muscovado sugar
100g wholemeal self-rising flour
100g self-raising plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp mixed spice
zest 1 orange
2 eggs
150ml sunflower oil
200g carrots , grated

Icing:

100g butter
300g soft cheese
100g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Heat oven to 180C and line 12 hole muffin tin with cases. Mix the sugar, flours, bicarbonate soda, spice and zest. Whisk egg, oil and grated carrot together and stir into dry ingredients. Spread the mixture into cases and bake for approximately 20 minutes. Remember to cool before icing!
To make the icing beat the butter until soft, beat in the soft cheese, icing sugar and vanilla extract. Arrange on top of the cakes and sprinkle with something orange (bloody stars!)

The Milkhouse - quick update

2011-08-07T02:11:00.000-07:00

All works in our house are on hold now but I am hoping to start again soon, definitely before Christmas. For the time being everything is 'usuable' and some bits even look nice... I am especially pleased how the kitchen and garden turned out. There is still few things missing and some other things came up recently - didn't want any tiles in the kitchen but paint stared to peel off behind the sink so I had to reconsider my tile hatred.
I still don't have all the cupboards and shelves in the kitchen, dining room looks very empty, garden improvements are going very slowly due to lack of time, but I am happy with results so far.
Progress is slow also because I am very particular and it takes me a lot of time to find what I exactly want. After long hunt I finally bought two deer antlers (£5 for both, imagine that!), white plastic stag head, vintage wall plate with skull printed on it and vintage plate shelf which I have painted grey, shabby chic style!
All these treasures now wait to be hanged but I have to decide where I want them first so it is probably going to take another few months. However the most important thing is that I can cook, bake, fry and grill as much as I want - kitchen is fully functional! My favourite time to cook is early and late afternoon, when the kitchen is full of sunshine. Bliss..

Seasonal cooking - Beetroot Risotto

2011-08-04T15:04:00.000-07:00

Some time ago I signed up for weekly veg box delivery, well actually I do it fortnight... The box is a bit too big for us two and I never managed to use everything during one week. I love that all products are organic and grown locally. It also requires a bit of creativity from me when planning meals - I have to make sure that everything will be used.
This week the challenge was with beetroot. I usually just cook them, grate and make a Polish style salad but this time decided to try something new. I came across this recipe and decided to give it a go.
So here it comes:

500g fresh beetroot
olive oil
know of butter
2 garlic cloves
250 g risotto rice
150-200ml white wine
700ml vegetable stock
grated hard cheese (I am allergic to Parmesan so always replace it with some other cheese)

Heat the oven to 180C. Wash, peel and quarter beetroot and place them on baking foil. Drizzle with olive oil and season well. Bake until soft, probably around 1hour.
White beetroot seats in the oven heat the oil and butter in a large pan. Add onion and garlic and cook until translucent and soft. Stir in the rice - make sure that it is coated well with the butter! Pour over the wine and bubble it away for few minutes. Pour the stock and cook until rice is soft.
Check on beetroot and if ready remove them from the oven. Take 1/4 of them and whizz in a food processor. Chop the remaining beets. Add everything to the rice and stir in the cheese. Check the seasoning and...nice and healthy dinner ready!

Strawberry sponge cake

2011-06-24T13:59:00.000-07:00

Weather is crap, life is busy but at least now we having season for strawberries. I eat them every day: alone, with cream, with sugar or with both cream and sugar. Just can't have enough! For the weekend I've decided to have strawberries served in a special way so here it comes- insanely tasty strawberry sponge cake.

Ingredients:

220g unsalted butter, softened
4 medium eggs
200g brown sugar
220g self-raising flour, sifted
400g strawberries, hulled and sliced

For the cream:

150ml double cream
1 tbsp icing sugar, plus extra for dusting
150g Greek-style natural yogurt

For the sauce:

150g strawberries, hulled
1½ tbsp icing sugar
2 tbsp fresh orange juice

Recipe adapted from here.
Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease a 20cm spring-form cake tin and line the base with baking parchment.

Beat the butter and sugar with an electric hand whisk until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Gently fold in the flour until just combined.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin and bake for 40 minutes, or until springy to the touch. Allow the cake to stand for 5 minutes, then remove from the tin and cool on a wire rack. Peel off the baking parchment and cut the cake in half horizontally.
To make the strawberry sauce, simply blitz all the ingredients in a blender until smooth.

Whip the cream until it forms soft peaks, then sift in the sugar. Fold in the yogurt and spread the mixture on the bottom cake. Scatter some of the strawberry slices.Press on the top layer of the cake, then dust with icing sugar and top with the remaining strawberry slices. Pour the strawberry sauce over the cake and decorate with mint leaves.

Keep it in the fridge and eat with glass of bubbly while watching Wimbledon!

Hello asparagus!

2011-06-12T13:32:00.000-07:00

New kitchen, new ingredients. I never was a big fan of asparagus but it looked so cute piled up in neat bunches at farmers market that I had to buy it!

And now...what to cook? Pasta and soup sounded to banal so I decided to go for something fancy: asparagus wrapped in turkey breast and bacon with cream and mustard sauce.

1 bunch of asparagus
4 turkey breasts
8 thin rashes of smoked bacon
bunch of fresh rosemary

For the sauce:
1 tbs whole grain mustard
1 tbs honey
6 tbs double cream or creme fraiche
seasoning

Preheat oven to 200C, mix mustard and honey, put aside. Wrap 4-5 asparagus in turkey breast. Add one spring of rosemary and wrap in two bacon rashes. Place into a oven proof dish. Do the same with all four pieces. Put some of the mustard-honey mixture on top of each parcel, season.
Bake for at least 20 minutes. Mix rest of mustard and honey with cream and season. Pour the sauce onto the dish, bake for 5-10 minutes. Serve with new potatoes and glass of white wine.

Kitchen stories

2011-05-22T06:21:00.000-07:00

I miss cooking, I really do... But my kitchen looked like that when we moved in a month ago to our new house:

We ripped everything off and had lots of work done:

Last week all the cupboards finally arrived and today the new kitchen is being fitted, picture taken with my mobile few minutes ago. I am so happy! Already planning what cutlery, plates and pots to buy and of course what to cook!

Minced Beef Wellington with Roasted Carrots and Caramelised Shallots

2011-03-16T14:33:00.000-07:00

Busy, busy bee.. Spring is coming and I am running around like crazy. Lack of time, days are too short and my energy levels seems to be dropping quickly, too quickly. I cook simple and easy things-pastas, salads, one pot stews etc. But during weekends I try to find time for something a little but more fancy, like this 'fake' Wellington'... It was nice, especially with all the trimmings.

Wellington:

500g minced beef
50g tomato ketchup
3 eggs
1 onions , finely chopped
3 garlic cloves , finely chopped
small handful sage , chopped
handful parsley , chopped
25g butter
200g mushrooms , finely chopped
500g pack puff pastry

Roasted Carrots:

pack of small/baby carrot
4 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp honey
2 tbsp red wine or cider vinegar

Caramelised Shallot:

3 tbsp vegetable oil
600g small shallots , peeled but left whole
25g butter
2 bay leaves
thyme sprig
500ml beef or veal stock

Mix the beef with the ketchup, eggs, seasoning and a bit of water. Mix in the onions, half the garlic and herbs.Heat oven to 200C/180C. Press the meat into a sausage shape about 30cm x 10cm on a baking tray. Cook for 20 mins then remove and leave to cool.
Heat the butter in a frying pan over a high heat, add the mushrooms and cook for 3 mins. Add remaining garlic and cook for a further 2 mins, pouring off the excess water from the mushrooms.
Roll pastry into a rectangle large enough to wrap up the beef. Beat remaining egg with a little water and brush over pastry.
Spread the mushroom mix into a meatloaf-size strip along the middle of the pastry. Sit the meat on top then cut pastry either side into strips from the meat outwards. Criss-cross these over the meat to enclose and tuck under ends. Brush with more egg, then place on a tray and cook for 40 mins, covering after 30 mins if going too brown.

To prepare carrots heat oven to 200C/180C. Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Add the carrots, bring back up to the boil and cook for 5 mins. Drain and leave in a colander to steam dry for a few mins, and then toss in a large roasting tin with the oil, honey, vinegar and seasoning. Roast the carrots for 30-40 mins.

When carrots and beef are in the oven heat oil in a large frying pan and cook shallots over a high heat for 5 mins. When they are golden, drain off and throw away the oil. Add the butter, bay and thyme and toss with seasoning. Cook for 5-8 mins, stirring so that the butter doesn't burn. Pour over the stock and cook until the shallots are tender and the sauce is reduced and sticky.

You can also add roasted potatoes but I've decided to serve them mashed with cream and pepper. Yum!

And here are some lovely daffodils..Spring!!

Still in winter mood

2011-03-04T08:15:00.000-08:00

Feeling down and depressed? Can't stand winter anymore? I found a perfect remedy for all winter worries- Gail's. Amazing bread, cakes and more! Let me introduce you to New York cheesecake and perfect apple cake.

I love sitting in my living room, under warm blanket, with a cup of tea and delicious cake. Everything is white and pretty, my orchids in full bloom- I don't need anything else.

Another Jamie's 30 minutes meal

2011-02-10T12:47:00.000-08:00

It probably took me longer than 30 minutes but who cares - it was still easy, quick and delicious!
Also, I must say that this is first proper home made meal in weeks... I am currently busy with other things and don't have time to cook. Well, I still cook almost every day but don't have time to photography it and blog about it. I hope that soon, when days become longer, I will find more time for my cooking/photographing sessions.

So back to business... Jamie's super-fast beef hash, jacket potatoes, goddess salad and lovely butter beans and bacon.

POTATOES
4 large baking potatoes
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
few tsp soured cream

HASH
500g minced beef
2 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 red onion
2 carrots
3 sticks of celery
a few sprigs of fresh rosemary
4 cloves of garlic
6 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
a small bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley
seasoning

BEANS
4 rashers of smoked streaky bacon
2 tomatoes
1 x 400g tin of butter beans
red wine vinegar
seasoning

SALAD
1 soft round lettuce
a handful of washed watercress
1 avocado
1 heaped tablespoon soured cream
1/2 lemon juice

Wash the spuds, stab a few times with a knife, then put into a large microwave-safe bowl and cover.
Put straight into the microwave for around 14 to 16 minutes, or until cooked. Finely chop the rosemary leaves, and add them to the potatoes with a pinch of salt & pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. Gently toss to coat them in the flavours, then transfer the potatoes to the hot baking tray and put under into preheated oven. When ready cut a cross on top and gently squeeze the spuds. Add soured cream on top, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.

Put the mince into the largest frying pan and break it up with a wooden spoon. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and drizzle over some olive oil. Pick in the thyme leaves and cook until golden, stirring often. Peel and halve the red onion. Wash and trim the carrots and celery, then finely slice all vegetables. When the mince is golden, pick the rosemary leaves into the pan. Crush in the 4 cloves of garlic and add 6 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce. Stir well, cook until nicely glazed, then add the sliced veg and stir again. Reduce the heat to medium and remember to toss often. At the end add parsley, taste and correct the seasoning.

And finally salad - wash and dry lettuce leaves then put into a serving bowl with the watercress. Halve and stone the avocado, then use a spoon to scoop slivers from one half into the serving bowl. Whiz the soured cream in a liquidizer with the remaining avocado flesh, the juice of 1 lemon, 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of salt & pepper. If it’s too thick, add a splash or two of water until you have a creamy dressing. It is better to serve it aside so people can use as much as they want...

Drizzle olive oil into the second frying pan on a low heat. Finely slice the bacon and add to the pan. Toss occasionally and move the pan off the heat once the bacon is golden. Now get your pan of bacon on a high heat. Roughly chop the tomatoes and add them to the bacon. Tip in the butter beans and their juices, and simmer gently to cook the liquid down. Add a little extra virgin olive oil and a good splash of vinegar, then season.

Put baked potatoes on a big platter and scatter hash in the middle. It looks great this way!

Snowdonia, part II

2011-01-27T13:53:00.000-08:00

Few more photos from Snowdonia. Enjoy!

Yet Another Post About Very Fashionable Macarons

2011-01-25T15:37:00.000-08:00

Fashion blogs,interior design blogs, cooking blogs - macarons are everywhere! Pink, green, black.With rose filling, chocolate, marzipan. They look like precious jewels in cute Ladurée boxes.
And here I am, the last person on Earth that never ate them! Good excuse for a sweet treat..

It is not easy to make nice macarons. Mine had cracked shells and the chocolate filling was a bit runny. But not too bad for the first time, I think.

Macarons:

110 g ground almonds
200 g powdered sugar
seeds from 1/2 vanilla bean
50 g sugar
about 3 egg whites, aged a day at room temperature

Chocolate ganache filling:

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbs butter
1 cup semisweet or dark chocolate
pinch salt

Preheat your oven to 150C and line two or more baking trays with parchment paper. Combine the powdered sugar and ground almonds and cocoa powder until the mixture is very fine and not lumpy. Beat the egg whites at medium-high speed in the bowl of a standing mixer until they hold soft peaks. Continue whipping as you add in the white sugar. Whisk the mixture for about 2 minutes, or until it is very stiff and glossy.
Gently fold in the almond-chocolate-sugar mixture using a spatula. Mix–gently–until the egg whites are completely incorporated. Transfer the mixture into a pastry bag with a round tip. Pipe small circles of batter onto the baking sheets, spacing the cookies about 2 cm apart. Firmly tap the baking sheet on the counter to flatten the macarons.
Bake for about 15-18 minutes (until they’re puffed and the tops look set) before removing the baking sheet from the oven and cooling completely. Repeat with the second batch. Once cooled, carefully remove the cookies from the baking sheet and place onto a plate.
Prepare the ganache filling: Combine the cream and sugar in a small pot over medium heat. Once the cream just begins to boil, remove it from the heat and add in the chocolate and salt. Let the mixture sit for about a minute before stirring. Add in the butter. Stir to fully combine and cool completely before using.Once the filling and cookies have cooled, assemble your macarons: spread the filling on the flat edge of one cookie, top with a second and set aside.

Sounds easy but it is not...My kitchen was a mess and I was covered with chocolate, not to mention all the swearing! Well, but at the end the macarons were very tasty (a bit to sweet, next time I won't add sugar to the filling!) and didn't last very long.

Snowdonia, part I

2011-01-10T14:02:00.000-08:00

Few pictures from my trip to Snowdonia. This time we went to the south part, near Dolgellau.
These mountains are magical, full of mist, sheeps and tiny villages. You can walk for hours without meeting anyone but at the same time it is impossible to bet lost there. Don't expect to find Starbucks or Nandos in Snowdonia, it is still intact by mainstream touristy stuff.

We stayed in the lovely Idris Cottage with open fire and all other things you need in a quiet hideaway.

Gloomy Days And Cranberries To Cheer Me Up

2011-01-09T13:24:00.000-08:00

Long time no see...I must admit that I am reluctant to go back to the kitchen after Christmas cooking frenzy. Days are so sad now, all the time dark, gloomy and cold. I don't have energy to cook and just would like to sleep, wrapped in my wool blanket. But something I made for Christmas proved to be a big hit and now I would like to share this with you.. I is a cranberry sauce and can be use all year round for meat, bread etc.
I've used fresh cranberries but frozen ones are going to be delicious as well.

The recipe is very simple, as everything what I make. Just need to put washed cranberries into a big pot and pour white wine and cook until almost all berries are broken. Also add a splash or two of fine brandy and sugar if you like it sweet. Mine was without sugar and was perfect so I would recommend to skip the sugar.
I made two jars and they went down in few days and now my second half is harassing me to make more. I'll do it, as soon as I find energy to get up from my cosy bed...

I wish you all...

2010-12-22T15:21:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Cake and Festive Mood...

2010-12-21T13:31:00.000-08:00

My Christmas cake drinks alcohol like crazy...Is now all soaked with brandy. Cannot wait to try it, my first Christmas cake! Now I am debating if decorating it with icing is necessary. It will look pretty but I am not a big fan of icing, it is way to sweet. Well, maybe I find a way to decorate it with something else, will see.

125g butter
150g dark brown soft sugar
250g mix dried fruits (sultanas, raisins, candied orange peel etc.)
200g currants
120g glacé cherries, quartered
Juice and grated zest of 1 large orange
100ml brandy, plus extra for "feeding"
2 eggs, lightly beaten
250g self-raising flour, sifted
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp ground mixed spice
½ tsp ground cinnamon

Grease a deep, 20cm, loose-based cake tin and lay with baking paper. Preheat the oven to 150°C
Put the butter, sugar, dried fruit, cherries, orange zest and juice and 100ml brandy into a pan. Heat gently until the butter melts, then bring to the boil. Simmer gently for 5 minutes. Leave to cool for 30 minutes.
Mix the remaining ingredients with the fruit. Spoon into the tin and smooth out. Bake in the centre of the oven for 2-2½ hours. If the top gets too brown, cover with scrunched up foil. After 2 hours, test with a skewer to see if it is done - it should come out clean. When done, cool in the tin for 30 minutes.
Remove from the tin, peel off the paper. Prick the top of the cake all over with a skewer. Drizzle over 2 tbsp brandy. Leave to cool completely. Wrap in 2 layers of greaseproof paper and a layer of foil. "Feed" with brandy every 2 weeks until Christmas.

These says my kitchen smells of cinnamon, ginger, cranberries and mulled wine. Outside everything is covered with snow and I really think that this year Christmas is going to be just perfect..

Flu, snow and unexpected things in my fridge

2010-12-20T06:27:00.000-08:00

I am stuck at home with flu. Outside snow is glowing in a winter sun and I sneeze, cough and sip hot tea, wrapped in duvet.What should I eat? Nothing exciting in the fridge..well, there is a small piece of goat's cheese, bag of spinach and some sad looking butternut squash. Oh, and gnocchi! Now I can call it a lunch!

450g butternut squash , peeled and cut into small chunks
3 garlic cloves
olive oil
500g pack gnocchi
200g bag spinach
100g goat's cheese

Heat oven to 200C. Tip the squash into a roasting tin with the garlic and oil, salt and pepper and mix well. Roast for 20 minutes, shaking the pan halfway through, until tender and golden.
Meanwhile, boil the gnocchi. With a few secs to go, throw in the spinach, then drain the gnocchi and spinach together. Tip into the roasting tin, then mix everything together well, mashing the softened garlic.Crumble the goat's cheese over and bake for few more minutes.

Another roasted chicken

2010-12-16T15:44:00.000-08:00

And probably the last one..I simply can't cope with such amount of meat. This was was delicious, with juicy peppers and aromatic chorizo but now just vegetables, and Christmas treats of course!
Cosy dinner in front of TV (the movie was crap but at least food was OK).

2 red onions, cut into wedges
3 cloves garlic, sliced
390g chorizo, cut into chunks
1-2 tsp paprika
1 chicken, about 1.8 kg
1tbsp olive oil
15g fresh rosemary
1 or 2 packs classic vine tomatoes, cut into halves or quarters
2 red peppers, deseeded and sliced
2 orange peppers, deseeded and sliced

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Scatter the onions, garlic and chunks of chorizo into a large roasting pan. Stir in the smoked paprika. Place the chicken on the onion mixture, brush with oil and season. Tuck the rosemary in the chicken cavity and amongst the onions and chorizo. Roast for about an hour.
Add the tomatoes and peppers. Cook until the chicken is thoroughly cooked and there is no pink meat and its juices run clear.

I really like the colours - red and orange, served with yellow potatoes. And a glass of lager or course.

Nothing wrong with cheating- mince pies

2010-12-13T10:20:00.000-08:00

Life got hectic with the end of uni term, Christmas preparation, re-designing my look, new job challenges and day-to-day housewife duties. And the, on top off all these, we had guests for few days. No time to bake and cook but I desperately wanted to make something nice to make them feel like at home.. Quick trip to the supermarket and I had an excellent idea ready! Almost-homemade mince pies! Ready made pastry and ready made mince meat. Actually two kinds of mince meat, one traditional, the other cranberry and port flavour. Both delicious.
I made a top part of my mini pies star-shaped and also sprinkled them with icing sugar. They looked very festive and proved to be a big hit as were gone within hours!

Chocolate Cupcakes

2010-12-11T13:19:00.000-08:00

I made it! Perfect chocolate cupcakes! Nothing more to say, just try it.

Cupcakes:

100g plain flour
20g cocoa powder
140g caster sugar
1.5tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
40g unsalted butter at room temperature
120ml whole milk
1 egg
¼tsp of vanilla extract

Creme icing:

Big pack of Mascarpone cheese
Icing sugar
Cocoa
Chicory & Coffee Essence
Coffee beans

Preheat the oven to 170°C. Put flour, cocoa, sugar and baking powder, salt and butter in a bowl. Mix together until you have a sandy consistency.
Whisk milk, egg and vanilla in a jug. Slowly pour half into the mixture, beat to combine. Pour in the remaining mixture. Continue to mix for a couple of minutes. Do not over mix.
Spoon mixture into the 12 cases and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
For the 'icing': mix together mascarpone cheese,icing sugar, butter and cocoa powder and a splash of chicory essence. Beat for approx 3 minutes and mixture is light and fluffy.
Use a piping bag and metal nozzle to pipe onto top of cooled cupcakes. Decorate with coffee beans.

Deliciously moist cupcake with creamy icing. Not too sweet, with a hint of coffee flavour. Add gingerbread latte and you have a perfect winter breakfast. Or with masala chai for the afternoon treat!

Fig and Almond Tart and my New Tea Set

2010-12-05T10:00:00.000-08:00

I've discovered fresh fig this year. Strange, right? But we never had them in Poland when I was a kid and also my cooking frenzy started just few month ago... Now I am obsessed with fresh figs. The best are just baked with aromatic honey and cinnamon- beautiful winter treat. But I've decided to make a fig tart today, something more sophisticated to go with my afternoon tea.

Ingredients:

375g sweet shortcrust pastry
60g ground almonds
50g caster sugar
200g crème fraîche
3 large egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
9-12 small figs

Preheat the oven to 190°Cand place a baking tray on a shelf in the top third of the oven. Line a 24cm loose-bottomed tart tin with the pastry. Put it in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes.
Place it on the hot tray in the oven and cook for 10-15 minutes, until golden. Remove from oven and leave aside to cool down for few minutes
Mix the ground almonds, sugar, crème fraîche and egg yolks in a bowl until you have a smooth mixture. Fill the pastry case. Trim the stems of the figs and halve them, then lay them closely together, cut-side up, on top of the mixture and push them in slightly; they will shrink during cooking. Bake the tart for 40–45 minutes, until the filling has set. Serve warm but cold is also delicious.

Oh, forgot to mention that last weekend I went to flea market and bought gorgeous tea set: two cups and saucers and tea pot. I love shabby chic!

Sunday Roast

2010-11-28T10:11:00.000-08:00

I love English tradition of Sunday roast, especially during winter months. There is nothing better than sitting in a cosy pub, in front of a fireplace, and having pint after a delicious roasted meal. But this Sunday was different as we had our roast 'home made' and not with pint but with lovely Italian wine.

Chicken:
-whole chicken
- one lemon
- fresh rosemary and thyme
- some garlic
- butter
-salt and pepper

Trim any excess of fat. Season chicken inside, and also stick into it's bum few garlic bulbs, one lemon (quartet) and fresh herbs. Blend melted butter with herbs, seasoning and more garlic and pour this mixture all over the chicken. Put it on a big baking tray and cover with silver foil. Bake in 220C oven for at least an 1 h and 20 minutes. After first 30 minutes remove foil so that the skin can get brown and crispy.

Roasted potatoes:
- big baking potatoes, peeled and diced
- sea salt
- goose fat

Place some goose fat in the roasting tin and put into oven to make the fat pipping hot.
Boil potatoes for 2 minutes, drain and shake to make them a bit fluffy. Add a bit of plain flour and shake well.
Transfer the potatoes into the hot fat (be careful!). Bake 15 minutes than turn the potatoes and bake for 15 minutes more, until they are nice and brown.

Greens:
- kale
- butter
- sea salt

Well, what can I say? Just boil kale with salt and a knob of butter until soft. Drain, sprinkle with more salt and serve.

Chicken was very fragrant and soft, but with crispy skin. Goose fat turned potatoes into the best-thing-you-can-imagine, and kale was nice and healthy addition...My first Sunday roast was a big success.

Eco Friendly Dining

2010-11-22T14:14:00.000-08:00

Every week I walk past this very uninteresting generic building in King's Cross area. It doesn't look particularly interesting on Thursday evening, always half empty, with standard looking cook smoking outside the kitchen door. But apparently Acorn House is one of the most interesting restaurants in London: 'first truly environmentally sustainable restaurant' as The Times says.
I've expected rustic looking place with paper cups and wooden forks but to my surprise, it is very modern and clean, almost minimalistic in design. Hard to believe that everything is made from Eco-friendly, reusable materials. Even menus are printed on green paper (literally!) and in not many copies as we was about to find out.

Choice is not great as the lunch menu on Sunday had only few starters and even fewer mains option. Only wine list was impressive.
Hoverer everything sounded delicious. I was tempted by wild mushroom, spinach and truffle tagliatelle. My friends went for various options, from pumpkin risotto to roast beef with goose fat roasted potatoes.
There were maybe two more groups of people in the restaurant but we still waited good 40 minutes or more to get our Eco-dishes. They didn't have any olives or other nibbles to offer to make our waiting more pleasant so my only drank lots of water and entertain ourselves by trying to guess what the chef is doing by the type of smell coming from the kitchen.

I am always scared that when the long waited dish arrives, it will be a size of a walnut with some ridiculous, not eatable decoration and few splashes of gravy around well over sized plate... There is this awkward trend in posh restaurants that you should eat less than you pay. I honestly don't believe that any of these posh clients are happy with their meals, they just pretend that everything is fine but then go home and have pizza or Chinese take-away!
Portions in Acorn House are...normal. After eating my tagliatelle I could still feel emptiness in my stomach but if you get a starter, you should feel content. Must say that everything was delicious, fresh and nicely served. Can't really complaint.
Very nice waitress explained that we can also order coffee and pudding but they only have one menu printed so we had to listen carefully and then quickly decide what we want. Not the best way to choose your pudding, but hey, they are Eco-friendly! My tiny scoop of lemon and ginger sorbet was, well, OK. Couldn't really taste any ginger but it was cold and lemony so fair enough. Chocolate muss was a hit, a bit to rich to my taste but still delicious.
It is not the cheapest place so if you treat yourself with three course lunch and a glass of wine, you bill might surprise you. Was my pasta really worth £14.5? Probably not but I don't mind paying a bit more for the sake of our planet Earth. Any place that produce less rubbish than McDonald is precious these days..
Overall I am pleased and would recommend Acorn House to everyone. Maybe not for dinner or date as it lacks of nice and cosy atmosphere, but it is perfect for lunch with friends.

Photos found online

Lovely Pink Cupcakes

2010-11-20T17:04:00.000-08:00

While you eat it is not only taste that counts but also the way your dish looks on a plate. You can have simple cheese and ham sandwich but make it look stunning and everyone will love it!
This rule is mostly visible while making cupcakes. These are usually very basic, sweet cakes covered with even sweeter icing but because they look cute, people love them. My cupcakes are peach flavoured and with mascarpone topping. vary basic, as you see. But few drops of food colouring, some ready made chocolate decoration and here come my tiny beauties..

Ingredients:

115g unsalted butter, soft
115g caster sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp milk
few drops vanilla extract
115g self-raising flour, plus 2 tsp for the peaches
2 ripe peaches, stoned and chopped

Topping:
60g unsalted butter, soft
150g icing sugar
100g mascarpone
few drops vanilla extract

Make the cake mix. Line a muffin tin with eight muffin cases. Preheat the oven to 180˚C.
Cream the butter and caster sugar together and gradually add the eggs, milk and vanilla extract while still beating. If the mixture looks like it has curdled or ‘split’, add 2 tbsp flour from the 115g and beat well. Add the rest of the flour and combine quickly.
Fill the cases. Spoon the mixture into the paper cases until they are roughly two-thirds full. Sprinkle the chopped peach pieces with 2 tsp flour; this should help them stop sliding to the bottom of the cake during cooking. Push a few peach pieces into the top of each cupcake and transfer the tray to the oven.
Bake for about 20 minutes until golden. Transfer the cakes to a wire rack to cool .
Meanwhile, to make the buttercream, beat together the butter and icing sugar until fluffy. Add the mascarpone, few drops of red food colouring and vanilla extract and mix very quickly, until just combined; the mascarpone can turn into a runny liquid if mixed for too long.
Add the topping but make sure that the cupcakes are not warm and the mascarpone will melt. Use a star piping nozzle to make a professional-looking icing. Top each cake with a chocolate decoration to make them look even prettier.
Amazing,cute girly cupcakes ready. Now juts a cup of tea, good book and my Sunday afternoon is perfect!

Waddesdon, again

2010-11-15T15:16:00.000-08:00

Yes, again. But this time it is Waddesdon Plant Centre. Shop and cafe filled with all sorts of wonders. Pots, plants, garden furniture, cushions and other things that bring beaut to your house.
They also have small farmers market outside, celebrating pumpkin and apple season.

Beef with Yorkies and Roast Potatoes Meal by Jamie Oliver

2010-11-14T11:42:00.000-08:00

Jamie's 30 minutes meal sounds like a good idea for Londoners but does it really take 30 minutes to prepare stunning meal? Well, my boyfriend decided to try.. This time he was a chef, I was only chef's assistant. After debating what we should cook, we finally decided to go with classic English option - beef with Yorkshire puddings, roasted potatoes, glazed carrots, mushroom gravy and simple green salad. Original recipe here.

Potatoes
- 1 lemon
- fresh thyme and rosemary
- 1 bulb of garlic

Yorkies
- 1 mug of plain flour
- 1 mug of milk
- 1 egg

Carrots
- 500 g small carrots
- fresh thyme
- fresh bay leaves
- 1 tbsp caster sugar or honey
- knob of butter

Gravy

- half of red onion

- 12 baby button mushrooms

- 1 tbsp plain flour

- 1 small glass of red wine

- 300ml chicken stock

Beef

- fresh rosemary, sage and thyme

- 700g fillet of beef

Seasoning

- olive oil

- sea salt and black pepper

Salad

- 2 tbs red wine vinegar

- 1 tbsp golden caster sugar

- bag of watercress

To serve

- creamed horseradish sauce

- English mustard

- A bottle of red wine

We stared as Jamie suggested- all ingredients ready, pots ready, oven turned on to 220ºC.

First chop potatoes, leaving the skin on, into big chunks and boil with salt in a large frying pan. Next time I am going to use normal pot as boiling things in a frying pan is not a good idea, unless you have a really big pan!

Chop rosemary, sage and thyme and spread them around chopping board, add slat and pepper. Cut the beef onto medium size pieces and roll until covered in herbs. Fry on medium hear and turn it every few minutes.

Meanwhile prepare the carrots. Tip into the saucepan and cover with water. Add thyme, bay leaves, salt, a splash of olive oil and sugar. Cook until tender.

To make Yorkies put the flour, milk , egg and pinch of salt into the liquidiser - I don't have one so just used my blender to mix everything. Drizzle a little olive oil in each compartment of preheated muffin tin, do the same with the batter until each one is half full. Place in the oven.
If the potatoes are cooked, drain them and return to the same frying pan. Drizzle over olive oil, season, add lemon zest, thyme and rosemary and garlic (just squash it, do not dice etc.). Toss everything together and fry until golden.
To make a gravy slice red onion and mushrooms. Fry until soft then add flour, red wine and turn the heat up. Boil down, then stir chicken stock and simmer until thick.
Mix watercress with dressing. All done. Don't forget to take out the Yorkies from the oven!
Now just arrange everything nicely on plates and bowls. To serve meat smear horseradish and English mustard on the plate and pile sliced beef on top. Decorate with some fresh herbs.

So what do I think? It definitely takes longer than 30 minutes. An hour is more realistic. There was also a lot of washing and cleaning but not than much as The Guardian suggested. But the result was stunning, not only visually! That was the best meal I had this week...

Art, Education and Chocolate Pear Bread

2010-11-09T14:02:00.000-08:00

Days are too short recently. Months are too short. Last time I've check we still had August.. wait, is it really November now?
I am swamp with books, articles and notes. Finally art is becoming not only visual pleasure but also fetish for my brain. Battling with Panofsky is much pleasant with piece of moist cake and spicy chai.

Recipe found here, my version is a little bit different.

1 1/2 cup self rising flour

1/2 cup organic sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp high quality cocoa

1 1/2 cup grated ripe peeled pears
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup olive oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp fresh grated lemon zest
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2/3 cup chopped Brazilian nuts

Mix all dry ingredients in one bowl and wet in the other. Combine both and add nuts. Grease a loaf shaped tin, pour the mixture and stick into the oven preheated to £180C. It shouldn't take longer that 30-40 minutes to bake.
This cake is very moist and it even get moister after a while. Chocolate heaven!

Cooking and baking always make me think of textiles. Probably because tea towels are usually cutevand dinner looks best served on gorgeous table cloth...So to make long things short, it of course must relate somehow to art. Hauser & Writh now hosts Louise Bourgeois textile exhibition. One of my favourite artist, and I must say I did not know that she made all these stunning fabric paintings..

My mum's apple pie

2010-11-06T16:44:00.000-07:00

I think this apple pie tradition was started by my grand-grandmother. Then she taught my grandmother and then, again, the tradition passed onto my mum and her sister. Yes, they all bake apple pie from this one and unique recipe. Maybe it is not very sophisticated or complicated but this cake always reminds me of home, childhood and all good memories.
As I am a bit home-sick recently, here it is...

Ingredients:

150g unsalted butter, soften
2 cups normal flour
4 egg yolks
4 tsp sour cream
4 tsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
apple sauce, I usually use quite a lot...
cinnamon

Mix butter, flour, sugar, baking powder and egg yolks to make nice and hard dough. It needs to stay in a fridge for at least 20 minutes to cool down. In the meantime preheat oven to 180C and mix apple sauce with cinnamon.
When dough is cold, divide into two and set one half aside. Use shallow pie tin, slightly greased with butter and arrange dough to make pie's bottom. Put apple and cinnamon mix on top then use other half of dough to make upper part. Arrange as you like it- stripes, stars, circles, anything you can imagine!
Bake until golden.
Delicious served warm with custard or ice-cream or cold with cup of tea.

Waddesdon Manor

2010-10-31T16:23:00.000-07:00

Pictures from our Saturday trip to Waddesdon Manor. Beautiful Neo-Renaissance château build for Rothschield family. They have vast gardens, cafe with great food and vine shop that sales Rothschield's wine but also many others.

Banana Bread With Nuts

2010-10-29T15:14:00.000-07:00

I have a big problem with photos of my food. Well, not really with photos but with my kitchen- it is very very dark. As I usually cook at late afternoon or evening, all my pictures are dark and gloomy. It certainly doesn't help that now it is getting dark around 5 pm! I can only see two solutions: to find a flat with nice and bright kitchen or invest in flash to my camera. Changing flat is a bit unrealistic at the moment so maybe I should ask Santa for a flash gun?
Today horribly photographed banana bread accompanied by some seasonal pumpkins...

100g unsalted butter, softened
175g New Zealand Forest Honey or any other you like
2 eggs, beaten
2 large ripe bananas, roughly chopped
½ tsp ground cinnamon
225g self-raising flour
50g walnut pieces
50g Brazil nuts, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Lightly grease a 1kg loaf tin and line the base and ends with a long strip of baking paper.
Place the butter, honey, eggs, bananas, cinnamon and flour in a food processor and blend until smooth. Add the Brazil nuts, and mix until combined.
Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the top. Sprinkle with walnuts. Bake for 35-40 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre of the loaf comes out clean, and the bread is golden and well risen.
Delicious served warm or cold, spread with butter or without.

Biscotti

2010-10-24T11:29:00.000-07:00

They stay fresh for a long time and are the best treat you can have with your afternoon tea! Try this Italian biscotti, this time made with pistachio and orange. I am definitely making them again for Christmas...

Makes around 24, depending On Size

100g/150g unsalted pistachios

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

4 teaspoons candied orange, chopped

2 extra large eggs, beaten

zest of 1 orange

2 tablespoons orange juice

Preheat oven to 180C. Mix together the flour, sugar and baking powder. In a separate bowl, mix together the eggs, candied peel, zest, and orange juice. Mix the dry ingredients into the egg mixture until mixed, then add the pistachios. Dump onto a lightly floured surface and using floured hands gently knead for a minute or two and then divide into two or three pieces. Shape each piece into a log and place the logs onto a lightly greased baking sheets. Bake for about 20 minutes until lightly browned.

Cool ten minutes, then slice the logs with a serrated knife into 1/2 inch slices. Lay these slices cut side down and then return to the oven to bake another 5 minutes. Cool, then store in an airtight container to maintain their lovely crunchiness.

Minestrone

2010-10-17T07:59:00.000-07:00

It is getting colder and the craving for hot, substantial food rises.. Away with salads, sandwiches and cold meals! Soups are back. And back in a great style-Italian Minestrone aka 'The Big Soup'.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp olive oil
140g or more cubed pancetta
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 big potato, peeled and diced
2 medium courgettes
400g can chopped tomatoes
1 large sprig basil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
410g can borlotti beans, drained and rinsed
50g small pasta

Put the oil into a large pan over a medium-low heat. Add the pancetta. Once it is beginning to colour, stir in the onion. Fry the onion until very soft, then add the carrots, follow with the garlic, potato and courgette. Cook the courgette for about 2 minutes, then stir in the tomatoes. Fill the tomato tin with water twice, and mix into the soup with the basil, pepper and salt.
Bring to the boil, then lower the heat so the soup gently bubbles. Cook for 1 hours. As it cooks it will thicken. Twenty minutes before the end of cooking, season to taste, and add the beans and pasta. You'll need to add a little extra water. Return to the boil then simmer until the pasta is cooked. Serve with warm baguette, you can add garlic butter...Still feeling cold? Don't think so!

Chocolate and Raspberry Cake

2010-10-13T11:24:00.000-07:00

Chocolate and fruits. Almost any possible fruits. Perfect combination. Add whipped cream, ice cream and you are in heaven. Escape to the county with picnic hamper and blanket. Elderflower drink, Greek salad, french baguette and chocolate cake as a treat. Do you remember these sweet and warm summer days? This will remind you:

350g Plain Chocolate
225g unsalted butter
5 medium eggs
75g golden caster sugar (or more if you like sweet cakes)
75g plain flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
pack of fresh raspberries
Icing sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 160°C. Grease and base line a round 23cm cake tin. Place 250g of the chocolate and the butter in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water, making sure the base of the bowl does not touch the water. Heat, stirring occasionally, until melted. Stir and leave to cool slightly.

Beat together the eggs and sugar for 4-5 minutes until thick and pale, I used electric whisk to save time. Very gently add the melted chocolate mixture into the whisked eggs. Sift the flour and cinnamon and mix. Pour into the prepared tin and sprinkle raspberries evenly over the top.

Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until the cake is risen and firm to the touch. When cool, dust with sifted icing sugar.

Chicken with squash, sage & walnuts

2010-10-10T14:59:00.000-07:00

And butternut squash again.. I love its shape, colour, texture and taste. A bit sweet, can add twist to any dish. My first encounter with it wasn't very successful thou. I made a risotto and it was very blunt. Well, but that did not put me off and now this beautifully orange veggie is a frequent guest on my table.
Today it will be serve with chicken, walnuts and hint of sage.

mixed chicken thigh and drumstick pieces
olive oil
3 red onions, cut into wedges
1 medium butternut squash, cubed
bunch of fresh sage
100 g walnuts, roughly chopped
cherry vinegar

Heat oven to 220C. Tip the chicken pieces into a large roasting tin and toss with the oil, onions and squash. Season with salt and pepper.
Roast in oven for about 25 minutes, remove, toss through sage, walnuts, then drizzle over vinegar. Leave in the oven for another 25-30 minutes until chicken is golden brown and the veg soft and sticky. Serve straight from the tin- it looks great (well, maybe not on my photo...my kitchen is so dark that it is very difficult to take good picture..)! And what a taste!

More autumn recipes

2010-09-26T11:36:00.000-07:00

I love halloumi cheese. 'Squeaky cheese' as my boyfriend says. It is a great addition to roasted veggies. And roasted veggies are this autumn favourites so here we go...

Ingredients:

1 medium butternut squash
2 big peppers, one red other orange
2 courgettes
2 red onions, peeled
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
250g pack Halloumi cheese, cut or torn into chunks
handful of toasted pine nuts
fresh basil leaves to garnish

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Peel the squash, cut in half length ways and remove the seeds. Cut the flesh into cubes. Cut the peppers chunky pieces. Halve the onions, then cut into small wedges. Place all in a large roasting tin and drizzle with the olive oil and coat well. Season with freshly ground black pepper. Roast in the oven for 45 minutes or until slightly charred at the edges.

Remove the vegetables from the oven and sprinkle with the vinegar. Scatter the cheese over the top and cook for a further 25 minutes or until the halloumi is golden.
Scatter the pine nuts and basil leaves over the top and serve piping hot!

As this was served for a Saturday dinner I've also made a first course - onion soup.

4 onions, sliced
25g butter
2 tsp flour
500ml beef stock
100g Gruyere, grated
salt, pepper and a sugar
few slices country bread or French baguette

Cook onions in 25g butter in a non-stick pan until really soft (about 10-15 minutes). Keep the heat low and stir often so they don't stick. When they start to colour, add 2 tsp flour and stir for a minute, then slowly add 500ml beef stock. Season to taste and simmer for 25 minutes.
I don't like having big chunks of onion in my soup so usually I blend it before serving.
When soup is still cooking, scatter grated Gruyere over bread slices and bake in the oven until golden. Serve with the soup or 'on' the soup.

Autumn feast

2010-09-19T13:36:00.000-07:00

Every late summer, early autumn I go crazy with pumpkins, squashes, zucchini and peppers. The one dish that lovely combines almost all of these is Lecsó or rather my variation of it.
I even love looking at the ingredients, so many tasty colours and shapes... This time I've decided to make it with meat but veggie option is delicious as well.

Recipe:

1 marrow
1 small squash
2 zucchini
3 peppers, each different colour
1 onion
400g can chopped tomatoes
minced meat, I usually use beef
cayenne pepper
any spices you fancy

Fry onion until golden, add minced meat and fry until brown.
Dice all veggies into quite big pieces and fry in a big pan or pot. Add tomatoes and meat with onion and season to taste. I like it hot so always use lots of cayenne pepper but you can also add basil, ground papprika, thyme and garlic.
Cover and turn the heat down. Cook until all veggies tender. Serve with rice or fresh bread.

It goes well with glass of wine for a cosy dinner in front of TV. Also, perfect for freezing so make a big pot and save for busy times!

Apricot conserve

2010-08-31T15:24:00.000-07:00

There is many fruits that I cannot eat. Allergy is to blame. Plums, cherries, apricots, peaches, all these are on my 'Don't!' list and the problem is that I really love them all... However I have learned how to fool my evil allergy bugs - I simply don't eat these fruits raw. I add them to cakes, make compote and jams!

This time a delicious apricot conserve:

1,5kg apricot
200ml apple juice
1kg preserving sugar (less if apricots are very sweet)
juice from 1 lemon

Wash apricots, remove stones and chop the flesh. Put apple juice and apricots into a large pan and bring to boil. Cook for 10 minutes and add sugar and lemon juice. Cook until jam is thick; this may take up to 2 hours... it might be easier to cook a little bit one day and then finish on the next day. Remember to remove any foam and scum.

When the jam is ready it is time to prepare jars. Put empty jars upside down on the baking tin and 'bake' for a while in a oven, 200C. Fill hot jars with jam.
If you want to keep it for a long time, you have to 'bottle' it. To do it, put a tea towel in a big pot, place jars upside down and fill pot with water. Boil for at least an hour. This will keep your conserve safe for several months, just keep it in a dark and cool place.

A bit of summer for a long, dark winter days ready!

Whole day in the kitchen - Polish dinner

2010-08-28T06:56:00.000-07:00

Cooking traditional Polish dishes is very time consuming therefore I don't do it often. But recently I feel nostalgic so decided to make all-time classic - tomato soup and polish meatballs with vegetables and potatoes.
When I cook soups, I prefer to make my own stock so it is a bit more complicated. To make a stock you need:

1 parsley root (parsnip is fine as well)
1 big carrot
1/2 medium size celeriac
1 medium leek
4/5 chicken wings
bay leaf
salt and pepper

Simply put all ingredients into a pot, add water and cook slowly until vegetables and chicken are tender. On this base you can make any soup you wish but to make tomato one, guess what.. you have to add tomatoes. I usually use canned; one can is enough. To add flavour, few spoons of tomato puree can be useful. Cook it all together for several minutes then remove parsley, leek, celeriac and chicken. Use blender to make soup smooth, without tomato bits, season well. I add sugar if tomatoes are too sour. Ready!

Then the main course... Meatballs.

1 pack of minced beef
1 egg
bread crumb
salt, pepper and any herbs you fancy, i.e. thyme

Put all in a big bowl and mix using hands . Form several small balls and fry on butter or oil, turning time to time.

Empty can off small carrots into a pot. Add can of petite peas ( can be frozen one as well). Pour a little bit water, add one spoon of flour and sugar to taste. Boils until tender and hot.

Dinner ready!

My last cake (well, not really)

2010-08-23T14:20:00.001-07:00

I have decide to stop baking for a while. It is not that I don't like doing it, rather that someone have to eat these cakes later... We are both on a diet at the moment and any cake hanging around our kitchen is a potential threat to our wellbeing.
My last creation was a spectacular blackberry and apple cake with delicious cinnamon crumble on top. All great things that late summer has to offer plus aromatic hint of spices. Beautifully moist with juicy blackberries. So here we go:

250g self-raising flour
175g butter
175g light muscovado sugar
½ or more tsp cinnamon
2 rounded tbsp dark muscovado sugar
1 small eating apple, not cored or peeled
2 large eggs, beaten
1 small lemon, finely grated zest
1 tsp baking powder
225g blackberries

Preheat the oven to 180C. Butter and line the bottom of a 1.7 litre removable bottom tin .

In a large bowl, rub the flour, butter and muscovado sugar together with your fingers to make fine crumbs. Measure out 5 level tbsp of this mixture into a small bowl for the topping, and mix in to it the cinnamon and demerara sugar. Set aside.

Coarsely grate the apple down to the core and mix in with the eggs and the zest. Stir the baking powder into the rubbed-in mixture in the large bowl, then quickly and lightly stir in the egg mixture until it drops lightly from the spoon. Don't overmix.

Gently fold in three quarters of the berries with a metal spoon, trying not to break them up. Spoon into the tin and level.
Sprinkle over the topping and bake for 1¼ -1 hour 20 minutes. Check after 50 minutes and cover loosely with foil if it is browning too much. When done the cake will feel firm, but test with a skewer.

I am planning to bake something before our trip home but for now only healthy food!

Plum tart in a very short post..

2010-08-20T13:52:00.000-07:00

I wanted to write about plums and tarts and cakes in general but blogging mood slightly evolved into wine/candles/music evening. Old good gothic tunes finally! So quickly, not to spoil the mood, recipe and few pictures..

Ingredients:

250g very cold butter
225g caster sugar
300g ground almonds
140g plain flour , plus 25g
2 eggs
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
approx 6 plums, stoned and cut into sixths
50g flaked almonds

Heat oven to 180C. Butter and line a 20 x 30cm baking tin with baking paper.

Put the butter, sugar and ground almonds into a food processor, then pulse until the mixture resembles very rough breadcrumbs. Spoon out half the mix into a bowl and set aside.

Add 140g flour into the mix in the processor and whizz until it just forms a dough. Tip into the tin and press down with the back of a spoon. Bake for 15-20 mins until golden. Leave to cool for 10 mins.

To make the filling, put the remaining butter and the sugar and almond mix back into the processor, saving a few tbsp for the topping. Add the eggs, the 25g flour, cinnamon and baking powder and whizz to a soft batter. Spread over the base.

Top with the plum pieces and a little extra caster sugar and cinnamon. Bake for 20 mins, then sprinkle with the remaining crumble mix and flaked almonds. Cook for another 20 mins or until golden. Leave to cool in the tin before slicing.

Bon Appétit!

Italian Autumn

2010-08-17T13:53:00.000-07:00

Rain. Brisk, transparent air, smell of smoke,wet earth and dead leaves. I want to eat squash, mushrooms, peppers, pumpkin, apples and warm, romantic food. Hot tea with lemon and sugar, soft blanket and quite evening with an interesting book. Autumn is officially here.
I am obsessed with red onion and artichokes recently. Soft texture and sour taste of artichokes , delicious colour of red onion... This time they are a perfect background for lemon and rosemary chicken.

Ingredients:

100ml dry white wine
8 chicken drumsticks
2 tbsp olive oil
400g new potatoes
2 red onions
10g rosemary sprigs
2 x 175g tubs artichoke hearts, drained and rinsed

Preheat the oven to 200C. Put the chicken in a roasting tin, trickle over the oil, season well and turn to coat.

Quarter the potatoes and cut each onion into eight lengthways. Stir these in with the chicken,
rosemary sprigs and with the halved artichokes.

Trickle over the wine and lightly season. Place in the oven to bake for 40 minutes, turning halfway through.

I love rosemary, smells divine, but I hate having a big pieces of it in my food so I would recommend to remove all springs before eating.
Serve with a of white wine and a piece of bread and you'll have Italy on your table!

Be my blueberry

2010-08-14T08:20:00.000-07:00

I remember picking blueberries while lying on the soft moss, in the middle of forest.. Then returning with a full basket to my grandmother home and watching her making most delicious pierogi with blueberries you can imagine.. We ate them hot, with sour cream and sugar. My hands and mouth were purple but that is one of my favourite memories..
Today I still love blueberries and often add them to my morning muesli or porridge. They are different thou. Bigger. The ones from my childhood were tiny, very sweet and almost black when ripe.
This time the most advanced cake I have ever made: blueberry soured cream cake with cheesecake frosting.

Cake:

175g soft butter
175g golden caster sugar
3 large eggs
225g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla extract
142ml carton soured cream
350 g blueberries

Frosting:

200g tub Philadelphia cheese
100g icing sugar

Preheat the oven to fan160C and butter and line the base of a loose-based 22cm round cake tin with non-stick baking paper

Put the butter, sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder and vanilla in a bowl. Beat until lighter in colour and well mixed. Beat in 4 tbsp soured cream, then stir in half the blueberries.

Tip the mixture into the tin and spread it level. Bake for 50 minutes until it is risen, feels firm to the touch and springs back when lightly pressed. Cool for 10 minutes, then take out of the tin and peel off the paper or lining.

To make the frosting, beat the soft cheese with the icing sugar and the remaining soured cream in a bowl until smooth and creamy.

Spread over the top of the cooled cake - remember that the cake must me cool as the frosting will melt! Scatter with the remaining blueberries.

I guess it should be kept in a fridge but taste better when is room temperature.

It is not very sweet and the frosting even a bit sour but I like it this way. If you have a sweet tooth just add more icing sugar!

Red, Orange, Yellow, Brown, Purple and Green

2010-08-11T01:36:00.000-07:00

Red pepper, orange chorizo, yellow mozzarella cheese, brown wholemeal penne pasta, purple aubergine and green fresh basil

Late summer pasta bake. Late summer colours.

Pasta bakes are easy, quick and you can experiment easily. Next time I am going to add zucchini instead of aubergine and lots of garlic.

olive oil
fresh basil, leaves shredded
400g tin chopped tomatoes
1 red pepper, halved and deseeded
1 aubergine, halved lengthways
350g penne wholemeal pasta
125g mozzarella, torn into pieces
250g Spanish mini cooking chorizo sausages

Preheat the oven to 200ºC. Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a medium pan, add half the shredded basil and cook for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and simmer over a medium heat for 5 minutes, and season.
Brush the pepper and aubergine halves with the remaining oil and fry on a non-stick griddle or in a frying pan for 10 minutes, turning once, until charred and cooked through.

Cook the pasta according to pack instructions, drain and mix with the tomato sauce.

Cut the cooked pepper and aubergine into strips and stir in. Spoon into a ovenproof dish. Scatter over the mozzarella and remaining basil. Tuck the chorizo into the top of the pasta and bake for 15 minutes until the top is golden.

Risotto with Oriental twist

2010-08-07T09:40:00.000-07:00

Today just pictures and recipe. Rain outside and I am indulging myself with rooibos berry tea and doughnuts. Nothing to write about.

Chicken, Shiitake and Corinader risotto

6 chicken thigh fillets
2 tbsp olive oil
150g Shiitake mushrooms, thickly sliced
2 cloves garlic
325g of carnaroli or arborio risotto rice
1.2 litres chicken stock
1 pack fresh coriander

Cut each chicken thigh into cubes. Heat half the oil in a large pan, fry the chicken until golden brown then set aside.
Use the remaining oil in the pan. Add the mushrooms, chopped garlic and rice, and stir over a low heat for 2-3 minutes. Add chicken.

Gradually add the stock, ensuring that each has been fully absorbed by the rice before adding another more. Cook for about 25-30 minutes, stirring regularly until the rice is tender and the chicken is thoroughly cooked with no pink meat.

Stir in chopped coriander and season with black pepper.

Cake but not really..Cherry Clafoutis

2010-08-04T12:45:00.000-07:00

We all know it and all like it so why it is so hard to find good recipe? Each and every one I came across had something disturbing- why add almonds, why add nutmeg?? So I was improvising this time. Everything went perfect apart of too big baking dish for the amount of batter... Well, taste was not effected, only visuals. There you go, my very flat clafoutis:

4 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp double cream
cherries
powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 180C. Place cherries in the baking dish.

Whisk the eggs, sugars, salt, and flour together until smooth.

Add milk, vanilla extract and mix until smooth. Pour into the baking dish, over the cherries.

Bake for 40-50 minutes until lightly browned.

When it cools, dust with powdered sugar.

Best served slightly warm!

Courgette, ham & ricotta tarts

2010-08-03T14:30:00.000-07:00

Courgette is all time favourite. It makes delicious salads, risottos, pastas and bakes. Diced, sliced, always tasty and goes well almost with everything. This time it is mixed with ricotta, ham, cherry tomatoes and baked on top of puff pastry to make a delicious lunch snack. As always, easy to make and full of flavour.

Ingredients:

ready-rolled sheet puff pastry
2 courgettes , diced
2 tsp olive oil
2 crushed garlic cloves
50ml double cream
250g pot ricotta
1 slightly bitten egg
4 slices ham , torn
several cherry tomatoes, halved

Unroll pastry and cut into quite big squares. Place on a baking tray and prick with fork all over. Bake until puffed.

Fry courgettes with garlic until soft and golden. Set aside.

Mix ricotta, cream and eggs and then scatter the mixture over pastry, quite thick layer. Add courgettes, ham and tomatoes on top, season and put into oven for another 15 minutes.

Great with salad or just on it's own, perfect summer snack. Enjoy!

Summer

2010-06-27T14:42:00.000-07:00

Finally summer, very hot summer! Different season, different food. I can only eat salads and very light things recently- it is too hot for anything else.
Today was a quinoa time. And spring onions, and feta cheese, tarragon and green lentils. Everything super healthy. I had quinoa many times before but never actually made it at home. Very tasty and easy to cook.

And nice, English spring onions.

This salad is super easy. Just need to mix all ingredients together and add a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar. Don't season as it is already full of flavour thanks to feta cheese and tarragon.

There is another thing I have boiled today. Well, almost... My pretty flowers. They were left for more than two hours in a car, poor things. But after a nice bath in a cold water they came back to life and I hope they will stay with me for a few days...

Lazy Sunday

2010-06-20T09:15:00.000-07:00

A year ago, or maybe even more, my bf mother gave us a set of pillows and quilts covers but it was too big - we have different pillows in Poland, much bigger and square. The whole set is very cute, grey and pink with white flowers. Like a Japanese cherry blossom.
Finally I had time to take out my sewing kit from the darkest corner of a drawer and alter it!
I love buying bed linen but as I am broke at the moment, making new from old was a perfect solution. Now our bed is all pink. Sweet.

Beef stew (Gulasz) with buckwheat and beetroot

2010-06-14T13:31:00.000-07:00

I rarely cook typical Polish dishes as they tend to be time consuming. But this is my all time favourite so I've decide to make it on Saturday. Gulasz is mainly a beef stew with mushrooms and veggies and you can find many variations of this recipe. This one is mine:

beef (cubed)
mushrooms
carrot
red pepper
onion
flour or potato flour
seasoning
and a bit of chili if you like it spicy

First fry beef until brow on all sides.

Meanwhile dice onion, red pepper and mushrooms and fry all together until golden.

Add some water to the pot with beef, cover and cook for at least 30 minutes. Then add diced carrot and cook for another 20-30 minutes.

Add onion, mushrooms etc. to the pot, season well, cover and cook for several minutes. The last step is to add flour to make gravy a bit thicker. I personally pour some gray to the cup, add flour there and mix well- the mixture will be smooth if you do it this way.
Now the gulasz is ready so you only have to cook buckwheat. I think it is the perfect combination, gulasz and buckwheat, but you can eat it with potatoes, rice or even with bread.
I also always make beetroot salad to go with this dish. I do not dice or slice cooked beets, but grind them and then season with salt, pepper, sugar and a bit of lemon juice.

And now the main part- yummy!

Chocolate and cranberries muffin

2010-06-12T07:13:00.000-07:00

I was quiet for a past few days but it doesn't mean that I haven't been cooking. In fact I made a muffins for a first time in my life! There is lot of 'first times' recently.
They were not exactly how i expected but still good. Next time I must remember to add less chocolate and put more into the forms as they end up to flat.

Ingredients:

250g self-raising flour
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
85g light muscovado sugar
85g dried cranberries
25g dark chocolate , chopped
125g tub low-fat yogurt
125ml skimmed milk
3 tbsp sunflower oil

1 egg , lightly beaten

First mix flour, cocoa, baking powder and ccinnamon. Then add sugar and cranberries. Don't forget to heat/microwave chocolate and leave it to cool down.

Now you need to mix together yogurt, milk, oil and egg. Pour this mixture onto the bow with flour etc. Stir well to make a nice, smooth texture

Add chocolate slowly and mix a bit, not too much!! I made this mistake and over-mixed.. so the muffins had only one colour and were not very pretty.

This is enough to make 12 muffins, but still, it depends how big your form is.

As you see my first ever muffins were a bit flat which was disappointing... Well, they lasted only two days so maybe weren't that bad at the end?

Broccoli lemon & honey chicken with cashews plus some unexpected cheesecake

2010-06-02T14:21:00.000-07:00

Not a happy bunny today. Don't know what it is. Maybe the constant pain, maybe my dull job or some other million small things. The only thing I know, is that I have to keep cooking. To occupy my mind with ingredients, measurements and ideas for tasty meals. This is the only think that keeps me going these days. Yesterday I've bought a tender stem broccoli and were trying to find some nice recipes to utilize them. And suddenly, at 10 pm, EUREKA.
Very simple: diced chicken breast, garlic, chicken stock, honey, lime juice, chili flakes and cashew. Basically all from my cupboard.
First you have to fry chicken breast until golden, add garlic, chili flakes and broccoli. Mix 200ml of boiling water with chicken stock, half tea spoon of honey and squeez a juice from half of lime. Add this mixture to the chicken and broccoli, cover and cook until tender.

It is too late for a dinner tonight but it will be perfect for tomorrow's lunch. Two pretty lunch boxes ready. Both with basmati rice.

My Prince Charming surprised me today big times. He made a cheesecake, a crazy one. He used ricotta cheese, gelatin, muesli and banana- believe me, it is delicious!

Turkey meatball korma and one tiny fox

2010-06-01T13:58:00.000-07:00

Another brilliant idea for a quick dinner. I love cooking but hate when it takes too long. Spending hours in the kitchen is just not my thing so all my recipes are very easy and quick to make. Half an hour and tasty meal ready!
Today's main characters are: turkey mince, korma paste, cherry tomatoes, sugar snap peas and coconut milk. In addition we have our usual favourites as chicken stock, seasoning, onion and coriander.
First chapter - mix korma paste with turkey mince and some seasoning. How lovely yellow your hands going to be!

Second chapter - chop a good handful of sugar snap peas and halve several cherry tomatoes. Prepare chicken stock and coconut milk.

And now the grand finale... fry onion and korma paste but be careful not to burn it! Add chicken stock, coconut milk and meatballs. Oh, forgot to mentioned that you need to fry meatballs first, just a bit, until golden in each side. Cook all this together until turkey ready and add sugar snap peas and tomatoes and coriander and cook a bit more, the sauce should thicken slightly.

It is delicious with basmati rice but it goes well with any Indian type bread. I am afraid there won't be a picture of a final product today as I got distracted... by a tiny fox running around my garden. Oh, he loves bacon :)

My first cupcakes

2010-05-31T15:46:00.001-07:00

This was my first attempt to make cupcakes and must admit, it was a very stressful experience. All kinds of meat, veggies, pastas and even complicated Polish food as bigos or barszcz have never caused me any troubles but baking is still 'here be dragons' land. I try to go there more often recently but the dragons are very cleaver and never succeeded catching one...
Early morning I made a shopping list and then during lunch time went to Waitrose. It was a painful for my debit card (as usual in Waitrose) but I ended up with bag full of shiny and sweet things: icing, green food colorant, silver tiny candies, cupcakes forms, pistachios, organic eggs, unsalted butter and light muscavado sugar. I already had a self-rising flour and milk so after blending pistachios I whipped all ingredients together to get this not-very-tasty looking goo:

And now to the oven.

All came out quite nice but the icing was a nightmare - when warm it was perfect but why it had to cool so quickly? Anyway, maybe my first cupcakes are not pretty but definietly are YUMMY and this is a tremendous success. Hell yeah, even I can be a cupcake lady!

Unexpected colours

2010-05-25T12:14:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday I went to Kew Gardens. Again, you may say. But apart of being one of my favourite places in the world, it also changes a lot so every time you go, there will be something new and interesting. Early spring highlights were fields of crocuses and snowdrops, a bit later a festival of colour in rhododendrons and azaleas section. Now it is mainly green but I found vivid colours as well. Surprisingly in a Rock Garden...

Also found these beauties

Spicy spaghetti and garlic mushrooms

2010-05-25T11:28:00.000-07:00

Perfect quick vegetarian dinner. Fry some chestnut mushrooms with one small green chili, onion and lots and lots of garlic. Remember Julia's words: Don't crowd the mushrooms!

Add chopped tomatoes, I simply use canned ones. At this point all this is a bit bland so use your creativity to make it tasty! I've added lots of parsley, ground paprika a bit of salt (not too much, you know, sodium..) and chili flakes.

In the meantime boil spaghetti - aldente!

And Voilà!