MoKa

Something heavenly is coming

2012-03-08T19:17:00.000+01:00

Just wanted to share with you a glimpse of a chocolate fondat we've made yesterday. We weren't sure if it would be worth the effort so we only took a few pictures at the very end. Oh but now that we've tried it once it became one of our favorite desserts (if not THE favorite - really!). We'll post the recipe soon maybe together with a video.

Kamil

MoKa Cooking - Tuna Pasta

2012-03-07T11:41:00.001+01:00

Another video is up on Vimeo! Enjoy! We're working hard on making another one so maybe you'll be able to see a very chocolatey recipe by the end of the week. Stay tuned to MoKa!
Have a great day!

Kamil

Star Wars Yoga

2012-03-05T10:08:00.000+01:00

I'm so happy there are people like Rob Osborne in the world. People whose passion it is to create awesome art out of the things that are so dear to me. I never thought I'd see Star Wars characters doing yoga but this is just hilarious :)

You can buy Rob Osborne merchendise on Etsy.

Kamil

Happy Birthday to us!

2012-03-02T15:17:00.006+01:00

Dear Friends,

We're surprised ourselves but it's been a year! a whole year since we began this tiny blog of ours, not knowing what it would grow into. We are really happy we managed to keep it going for this long. More readers are joining every day which makes us motivated to post more. The recent feedback we received from you regarding our MoKa Cooking series was just overwhelming and we're really hoping this series will grow beyond the borders of this blog. Thank you all for sticking with us all this time and dropping in from time to time. We do realize that there is a lot of content on the Internet, so drawing your attention for even a few seconds means we're doing a decent job.

Here are a few statistics if anyone's interested:

- Since March 2nd 2011 MoKa has had 49 528 views in total which means we're just a few clicks away from 50000 - we're already thinking of a fun giveaway to celebrate!

- The post with most views was Cannelloni with spinach and baileys muffins with 893!

- January 2012 was the month with most views - 7910

- Our Facebook page has 133 fans

We promise to keep on posting as there are lots of recipes to be shown, videos to be made and lovely things to share with all of you in the coming months! Have a lovely day and remember to visit MoKa from time to time.

Monika & Kamil - MoKa

MoKa Cooking - Lemon tart

2012-02-29T19:13:00.002+01:00

Video number two is up on Vimeo! Enjoy and try making it yourselves - it's really worth it!

Cool design

2012-02-28T15:24:00.001+01:00

It's been quiet over here, we know. We were working on the cooking videos all weekend and now it's time to take care of all the other chores.... Last night, half asleep I found these lovely things. The colours remind me of summer which we all miss so much. I hope you're having a good week. Most probably our new video will be ready by tomorrow so stay tuned!

Please welcome MoKa Cooking!

2012-02-23T19:58:00.005+01:00

So we can finally share with you something that we've been thinking of doing for some time now - videos! We just uploaded our first one to Vimeo and more are on the way. We would really like to make at least one a week. We could easily do more if it wasn't for this stupid 9-5 job of mine ;)

So please enjoy this weeks video of cheesecake puffs in the making and please leave comments with any suggestions on how we can make these videos better.

Kamil

MoKa Cooking from MoKa Studio on Vimeo.

Weekend in pictures

2012-02-20T13:13:00.003+01:00

This weekend we felt like 10 year olds again. We went to a friend's b-day party outside Krakow to celebrate it with a bunch of really cool people. The kids went to bed and all the grown-ups started the evening with a tray of Jelly Bellies. Seriously, we spent hours searching for our favourite flavour and all you could hear was: "Eeew, this one's awful, tastes like socks" or, "Hey, can you get me the cinnamon one, I love them, they're my favourite" or, "Have a try of the butterred popcorn one, really weird". When we started feeling a little sick after eating hundreds of those jelly beans, we dresses up warm and went...sledding. It was so great. Last time I did that was at least 10 years ago. It's so weird, I remember when I was a child I wanted to go as fast as I could and now, I had tears in my eyes just looking down the slope. Eventually, we all flew down the hill laughing and screaming all the way. We spent the rest of the night playing iClue, a word guessing game. It was hilarious.

.......It was a really good weekend!

you ate all my candy???

it had to stop at some point!

Paweł, thank you for letting me use some of your photos :)

I want to be a florist one day

2012-02-16T20:52:00.000+01:00

...that's it. After browsing through the pictures of Amy Merrick, a florist and a blogger from NY I fell in love with the concept of becoming one, too. It makes me wish it was spring even more, i miss a pot of fresh flowers so much.

10 things

2012-02-14T11:09:00.006+01:00

10 things we love about each other

1. He is never cross with me even if i'm a total shrew

2. He never leaves socks around the flat, i'm lucky

3. We do little dances when we hug

4. He never runs out of sweet nicknames for me

5. He makes the best scrumbled eggs ever

6. He calls me at least a few times during the day

7. He always loves my cooking, even when it really sucks

8. He keeps saying he can't make coffee and each time i end up with the best cup ever

9. He is the kindest person i know

10. He says he loves me' nearlyly a hundred times a day

1. She makes the best coffee.

2. She gets annoyed when we can't send a reall kiss over a text.

3. How she wishes me a wonderful day when I leave for work in the morning.

4. She has the most awesome boobs.

5. She doesn't quite get the whole Star Wars saga but she's a great apprentice.

6. Her absolutely wonderful honey-raspberry-lemon tea whenever I have a cold.

7. That our trips, whether it be to a nearby town or 5000 km away from home, turn out to be a great adventure.

8. Standing together under one umbrella.

9. Making the simplest dishes together.

10. I love all her small excuses to postpone everything and the way we try to motivate one another afterwards.

Happy Valentine's Day Everybody!!!

PS: have you listed your 10 things already?

Weekend in pictures, dinner and poker night

2012-02-13T11:31:00.001+01:00

Because of the ridiculously low temperatures I can't say the weekend was great. It's really beautiful outside but we're just fed up with the cold. Kamil has a sore throat and can't seem to get over it no matter what. I don't want to sound boring, talking about weather conditions all the time but really, it's been so terribly cold over here and we've had enough. We're really waiting for that first breeze of warm spring air. Spring, where are you?? The only thing that we never get tired of is cooking and eating of course :) and meeting with friends. On saturday we played poker until 6am and although I was totally out of lack I enjoyed it big time. The next morning, which in our case was around noon, we made english breakfast and enjoyed it with our friends who stayed overnight.

We also made pasta with brussel sprouts to charge our vitamin supplies, went to this huge meadow in the center of Krakow, for a really long, exhausting walk with Ginger. She made friends with about 20 dogs, it was so sweet. And finally, our cutest niece dropped by last night to give her aunt and uncle a couple of hugs and show off with her brand new face expressions which she's so proud of. We love her so much.

Pasta with brussel sprouts

What you need:

0,5kg brussel sprouts

bacon

rosemary

peas

parmesan

linguine pasta

tablespoon of butter

Fry bacon until golden and crispy, add rosemary and brussel sprouts and fry until golden as well. Add peas, leave for 2 mins. Mix with precooked linguine, add a little cooking water and butter to make creamy sauce. Season to taste.

What's for dinner - Madesu Koko

2012-02-09T10:57:00.000+01:00

Once again one of our all time favourite meals - Madesu Koko. Three main ingredients plus some spices make this dish the easiest, believe me. It's african, it's vegetarian, it's healthy and it's super tasty and...in all honesty it's one of those dishes that tastes way better than it looks.

What you need:

red, yellow and green pepper

2 onions

3 cloves of garlic, grated

4cm ginger, grated

kidney beans

coconut milk

1 banana

spices (1tbs)

curcuma

cumin

sweet pepper

curry

s&p

Best served with rice.

Fry the onions, add all the spices and fry for 2 mins until all the smell will make you want to eat the pan.

Now add the peppers, fry for another 3 mins, add coconut milk and kidney beans. At the very end you can add bananas.

If you happen to run out of coconut milk you can make it yourself. Simply blend dried coconut with boiling water and strain as hard as possible.

Weekend in pictures

2012-02-05T20:24:00.004+01:00

This weekend we pretty much stayed at home. It's way too cold outside. Our friends invited us for drinks on saturday so I decided to bake something easy and tasty and because my friend eats only gluten free food I thought I could make some flourless macaroons. Last time I was experimenting with the easier version HERE so, this time I had to do the original almond version. The first batch looked more like almond waffers but the next one was really perfect. Anyway, we spent most of the weekend cooking and baking. We made Jamie's perfect roast potatoes, Madesu Koko (updated recipe and better pics tomorrow), dried apple crisps and peas and gorgonzola muffins. I think we looove food :) We couldn't get out of going for a walk because of Ginger though. So we put on warm hats and scarfs, grabbed each other's hands and...came back 20mins later. It was freeeezing!!!

baked potatoes woth rosemary, garlic and bacon

For the macaroons we used:

160gr almond flour

3 egg whites

200gr powdered sugar

1tbs valinna extract

rose marmalade

Beat the egg whites, add sugar and almonds. Bake for 10 mins in 150degrees.

little thief

What's for dinner - Monika's style chicken with leeks and mushrooms

2012-02-03T15:27:00.001+01:00

...or at least if you call it this way it sounds more fancy :) The truth is I wasn't expecting anything this good. My Friend Kasia was preparing something very similar for her hungry husband the other day and I thought why not give it a try. Bu the end of preparing chicken I've already eaten half the stuffing. It was sooo tasty and yet so simple.

What you need:

0,5kg mushrooms

small leek

chicken breast

cheese

chives

any herbs you like. I used thyme, rosemary and sweet paprika

Start with chopping and frying the mushrooms and then leeks for approx 3 mins only.

Now cut each breast longways so you have at least 4 long slices. Fry for 2 mins on dry pan before baking, this way it will not dry out.

Put as much stuffing as you wish inbetween two breasts, season with herbs, cover with grated cheese and put in the oven for 15mins. Sprinkle with chives. Best served with rice and peas.

Bon apetite!

What's for dinner, supper, breakfast and lunch for Kamil. Red Lentil Falafel

2012-02-01T13:25:00.001+01:00

A long time ago, Kamil spent some time in Kuweit and ever since, he's been a huge fan of arabic cuisine. Basically, anything that has curry or cumin inside will do, which makes it so much easier to cook for him. His number one is definitely our lentil soup but yesterday I decided to go crazy and changed it into falafel. It was worth it. And with half a kilo of lentils we really enjoyed it for dinner, supper and Kamil took some for lunch to work as well.

What you need:

0,5kg red lentils

2 cloves of garlic

1 egg

2 onions

bunch of corriander or parsley

2tbs curry

1.5 tbs cumin

salt

3or4 tbsp cornmeal or bread crumbs

Boil lentils until soft (at this point you can blend it or leave it like this), add chopped, fried onion, combine with the rest of ingredients. Form any shape you like and fry for 2min on both sides.

Et voila!

Chocolate craving

2012-01-31T11:49:00.000+01:00

We feel terribly guilty, we really do. We've just had a weekend full of fat treats and yet last night, after dinner, instead of going to the nearest shop, we decided to make chocolate cookies. That's what a real addiction to sweets looks like :)

What we used:

185gr cup flour

100gr soft butter

150gr brown sugar

1 egg

2 tbs vanilla extract

35gr cocoa powder or a bar of chocolate, melted

1 tbs baking powder

Mix everything and bake for 8-10 mins in 175 degrees.

Winter weekend in pictures

2012-01-30T10:22:00.004+01:00

I must admit I've had enough of this winter. No matter how beautiful it is I miss spring and summer. We had a lovely weekend with our family but if not Ginger we would have stayed in our pjs and under the blanket all weekend. The good thing at least we burned a few calories after eating all these delicacies. We also got to spend sime time with our niece, she's a sweetheart with the cutest devillish laugh which makes all your trouble go away, seriously. We love her!

Hope you all have a great week!

below: making traditional faworki (angel wings in eng. what a beautiful name) and pączki with home meade rose petal marmalade.

brothers

I fancy

2012-01-26T09:42:00.000+01:00

Always good coffee

bird shaped necklace

long plaits

Piano Stairs, Chile

Baked Potatoe Grilled Cheese

Tunnel of trees, California

How things work

Pallet bed

Book of Life by David Kracov

Dandelion pendant

Wallpaper stairs

Hamlet dress

cuteness

source FANCY

What's for dinner - Pasta almost alla Norma

2012-01-23T22:43:00.002+01:00

We got inspired by yet another tv programme, this time it was Rick Stein and his mediterranean escapes and this time he was in Sicily. When you've just had dinner and all you can think of is this bowl of pasta he is cooking on tv means it must be reeeally delicious and you're definitely having this for dinner the next day. We changed the original recipe a tiny bit and instead of aubergine I used paprika, only because there weren't any in the shop. I must tell you...it was sooo goood. Personally, apart from grilled aubergine, I don't particularly like it, I think it's just boring. So, Pasta alla Norma, cuz that's what we were cooking today, is one of the easiest recipies in the world and the story behind its name is also very cool. It was named after Bellini's brilliant and hugely successful opera Norma. Some time later a famous writer, delighted with what he was eating, shouted that's is so perfect!...just like Norma!. So there you go, Pasta alla Norma, simple yet so delicious and it's a sicilian classic.
If you ever cook it, use aubergine but with pepper it was equally good.

What you need

300 gr spaghetti

3/4 tomatoes (or 1 can)

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

bunch of basil

200gr ricotta cheese

olive oil

s&p

Start with frying squashed garlic in 2 tbs olive oil. Take it out after 1 minute. Add chopped onion and 3 mins later peeled, chopped pepper. When using aubergine, chop it and generously salt, put aside for 15 mint to reduce its bitterness, rinse and fry. Now add tomatoes and fry for another 5mins. Turn the heat off, add crumbled ricotta and chopped basil, add previously boiled pasta (al dente!)

That's it! It literally took us 15 mins.

An afternoon stroll

2012-01-21T20:35:00.000+01:00

Today the weather made it impossible to appreciate it for more than an hour and the pictures turned out to be so bleak. It was Ginger and her enthusiasm that made the gloomy atmosphere go away. We're back home now, ate a huge bowl of tomato soup and now getting ready for our friend's b-day party. We might need to take an extra layer of clothes. enjoy the rest of your weekend!

What's for dinner - Soy burgers

2012-01-20T17:38:00.001+01:00

This time we were craving some fast food. To make it at least a little bit healthier we chose soy burgers and lots of veggies. It was heavenly. The whole dinner took about 15 mins (we used ready made soy fix. Sometimes I'm just way too lazy but some of them are really good). I have a new resolution for the upcoming weeks though. I'm going to cook more soups. If I don't ruin them, I will definitely share the recipies with you.

Have a good weekend my friends!!!

What's for dinner - Chicken with ginger

2012-01-19T20:09:00.001+01:00

I love when having almost nothing in the fridge eventually, we end up so full and sooo content with what we managed to cook out of those few ingredients. This time it was a fancy sounding Thai chicken with ginger.
I always say to myself "If this, totally improvised dish works I can call myself a cook". I can proudly say it does happen, until of course I ruin something and promise myself I will never ever cook anything else. Today was one of those lucky days and believe it or not I couldn't stop devouring. We didn't speak to each other while eating, which also proves how good it was :)

What we used:

1 chicken breast

5 tbs soy sauce

Mainly because for us there is never too much ginger we used I would say a 4/5cm piece, grated.

3 cloves garlic

2 tbsp honey

2cm chilli

Leave it for an hour in the fridge to marinate.

Fry for 3 mins, add 1 big onion and a cup of peas or any other vegetable.

In the end, I added 1 egg mixed with 1/4 cup heavy cream but you can skip this and add 1 egg only.

Best served with rice noodles.

Cartoons I love part 2

2012-01-18T19:12:00.000+01:00

Time for part 2 of the "Cartoons I love" series. This time someone even less popular than Foghorn Leghorn from part 1. Beaky Buzzard is... wait for it... a buzzard - to be honest I had no idea what a buzzard is so I had to look it up. Honestly he looks more like a vulture.

In his very first appearance in the episode Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid his mother calls him Killer ;) This apparently brainless creature is always out in search of food but he's not necesarilly eager to do it:

You can watch a full episode of this adorable creature below:

Have a lovely evening!

Kamil

The different faces of Ginger

2012-01-16T13:25:00.003+01:00

Over the last 7 months we have had Ginger, we've taken about a million pictures of her. We love them all although probably half of them are all the same. Every now and again, we love to browse through them and slobber over the fact that it was 5 mins ago when she was a tiny, clumsy puppy with blue eyes and now she is this big, almost grown up dog. But to tell you the truth...the longer we have her the more we love her. Nevertheless, we don't want to be too serious about it so here is a proof that Ginger is not always this sweet pet you can cuddle, in fact, this is only one of her faces.

the 'I love you all' face

the 'I've had too much' coffee face

the 'hungry' face

the 'alien' face

the 'cuddle attack' face

the "I learned how to jump...oh no, I didn't' face

the 'I will destroy the world' face

the "never ending story' face

the 'I hate pictures' face

the 'leave me alone' face

the 'octopus' face

the regular face

the 'scary' face

the 'granny' face

oh, that's her sister

the 'i love snow' face

the 'i saw a ghost' face

the "i'm scared' face

the ' say what?' face

the 'i love those pills' face

So, what do you think?

Spring rolls

2012-01-14T19:59:00.004+01:00

Inspired by a recent TV cooking program, we decided, for the first time ever, to make our own spring rolls. They may not be the prettiest but who cares, they were sooo delicious. We are definitely going to make them more often. Surprisingly, they are really cheap and you can wrap pretty much anything you like. We had a lot of fun making them, too. They are really tasty both "raw" or fried. And what really made them even more tasty was the sauce. It really makes them taste even better. We decided to go with sweet chilli and coconut and peanut sauce. I must say this was one of the easiest lunch/dinner recipies ever, we just have to work on the visual side of the rolls.

We used:
Chicken (boiled in 1/4 cup water, 1/4 cup sweet chilli sauce and 3 tbsp soy sauce. Boil until all liquid vaporizes).
Sprouts
Carrots
Cucumber
Pepper
Onion
Cabbage

Sweet chilli sauce
Coconut and peanuts (blended together)

We fried half of them in olive oil as I'm not a fan of deep frying in regular oil. Before wrapping the veggies burito style, soak each sheet for 2sec in warm water and then put on a dry plate and start wrapping. Enjoy!

Oh! and that's what happens when I'm left alone in the kitchen