Midnight Spoon Recipe

Beetroot - mozzarella salad

admin — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 17:16:07 +0000

A healthy option for Valentine's Day? :-)

Mix the vinaigrette's ingredients and set aside.
Cut the beetroot into wedges. Tear the salad leaves and the mozzarella into smaller pieces. Slice the shallot finely.
Place the ingredients on the plates in the following order: salad leaves, beetroots, mozzarella, shallot. Pour the vinaigrette over salad. Don't mix! Otherwise the mozzarella will take the colour from the beetroot!
Serve with (warm) ciabatta.

Notes:

Oh! It's Valentine's Day tomorrow! I've been so busy this week that I had really no time to think about my Valentine's recipes. This can be a nice quick (and healthy) fix for a Valentine's appetizer.

Spoon's tip: You can by pre-baked beetroots in the bio shops, but you can also make them yourself (the preparation time will be longer in that case of course). Cover small beetroots separately in the aluminum foil and bake in the over preheated to 190°C for one hour or until they're soft. Peel them and use for your salad!

Ingredients:

2 - 3 oven-baked small beetroots
1 mozzarella (125g)
1 shallot
salad mix
basil leaves

For the vinaigrette:
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon liquid honey
3 spoons olive oil
1 small cloth garlic, crushed
salt and pepper to season

Chicken ciabatta sandwich

admin — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 13:15:22 +0000

With an Asian red cabbage slaw

Place the chicken fillet on a cutting board. Cover each piece of chicken loosely with a piece of plastic wrap. Pound the fillets gently but firmly until they form thin cutlets. Season the chicken with salt and sprinkle with olive oil. Grill on each side for 2-3 minutes. Set aside for 5 minutes. Cut it in smaller pieces.
Whisk the vinaigrette ingredients until blended. Season with salt and pepper.
Put the salad ingredients into a bowl and mix well with the vinaigrette.
Cut the ciabattas in half. Sandwich the coleslaw between and top with the grilled chicken pieces.

Notes:

In Poland red cabbage is a popular winter side dish. Slow-cooked with apples and a bit of vinegar is an ideal accompaniment to rich braised meats. I eat it raw very rarely, always feeling a bit like a rabbit :-) It's a pity though, because raw red cabbage is a great source of vitamins in winter - it's especially high in vitamins A and C. I wanted to take the particular taste of red cabbage and transform it into something completely different. I thought of mixing it with my favourite flavours - sweetness from the carrot, hotness from chili and sourness from lemon juice plus a bit of coriander to make it more Asian. I sandwiched it with Italian ciabatta and topped it with grilled chicken. Since the salad is boosting with flavours, the chicken doesn't need any seasoning but salt. The result is fantastic - the combination works great! I recommend the sandwich for everyone who hasn't been appealed by raw cabbage taste so far.

Ingredients:

400g chicken fillet
4 small ciabattas
200g red cabbage, finely shredded
100g fennel, finely shredded
1 large carrot, grated
3 spring onions, thinly sliced
1 green chili, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon coriander, finely chopped
1 tablespoon mint leaves, finely chopped
olive oil to sprinkle the chicken
salt and pepper

Vinaigrette ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon soya sauce
1 teaspoon liquid honey
1 teaspoon freshly ground cumin
1 clove of garlic, crushed

Sole with butter sauce and lemon

admin — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 15:39:48 +0000

Sole Meunière

Wash the fish and dry it with paper towels. Season with salt. Coat the fillets with thin layer of flour.
Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a large pan over medium heat until the butter is foaming.
Fry the fish until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Flip it gently with a spatula, and cook until the second side is browned, about 2 minutes. Drain on absorbent paper. Repeat it with the all the fillets.
Carefully wipe out the pan with paper towels. Add the remaining butter and crushed garlic. Add the lemon slices, and cook stirring gently about 2 minutes. Remove the lemon slices from the pan. Pour in the wine and bring to a boil. Boil until the sauce is reduced by half and slightly thickened about 2 minutes. Add the capers and stir.
Spoon the sauce around the fillets, dividing it evenly and sprinkle with fresh parsley. Serve with lemon wedges.

Notes:

I have a very good fishmonger. When I go there, I usually stare at the counter for w while and simply choose whatever I crave for. I think afterwards about the recipe. This time I bought very cute-looking small soles. When the fish is so fresh, you don't need a lot of effort to make it delicious. I dug to find back already dusted recipe for the French Sole Meunière. I served it only with a small green salad with chopped shallot, sprinkled with olive oil and a bit of lemon juice. We ended up eating 800g fish in two. Shame on us! But it was sooooooo good!!!

Ingredients:

6 small sole fillets (approximately 150g each)
flour for dusting the fish
5 tablespoons butter
lemon wedges to serve

For the sauce:
3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
5 tablespoons butter
one lemon, sliced thinly
3 tablespoons capers, drained and chopped
100ml dry white wine
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Jerusalem artichoke and potato soup

admin — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 11:00:42 +0000

Sprinkled with sunflower seeds

Melt the butter in a medium sized pot. Fry the garlic, onion, artichokes, potatoes and herbs for about 5 minutes.
Add the stock, bring the soup to boil and cook until the artichokes and potatoes are tender.
Take out the herbs and blend the soup adding the milk. You can add a bit more than 200ml of milk if you prefer your soup to be more liquid.
Reheat the soup and season with salt and pepper.
Serve sprinkled with the sunflower seeds and spring onion.

Notes:

Yes, yes, the winter is still here! Although, in Belgium, it looks rather like a particularly bad autumn recently :/ Jerusalem artichokes are one of my favourite winter vegetables, they have sweet, nutty flavour that goes very well with sage and rosemary. You can sprinkle the soup with any seeds you like, I added as well, pumpkin and flax seeds.

Ingredients:

2 knobs butter
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 onion, chopped
500g Jerusalem artichokes, peeled and chopped
300g potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 sage leaves
4 sprigs of rosemary
1l chicken stock
200 milk
salt and pepper
sunflower seeds to serve
chopped spring onion to serve

Sea bream en papillote

admin — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 17:55:16 +0000

or Orata al cartoccio

Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Clean and wash the sea breams outside and inside and dry them with paper towel.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper, inside and outside.
Lay each fish in large sheet of parchment paper and place them on a baking dish.
Fill each bream with a clove of garlic and sprigs of herbs. Sprinkle the fish with the parsley and chopped chili pepper. Add one tablespoon of white wine and one spoon of olive oil to each packet. Fold up the sides of the paper.
Bake in the oven for 50 min.

The fish after being baked

Notes:

Cannot get tastier, fresher and easier than that!!! I love this recipe. I served the fish with a salad of grilled vegetables. I placed a courgette, an aubergine, a yellow bell pepper, a red bell pepper on a baking tray as soon as I started heating up the oven for the sea bream. And baked the vegetables under the tray with fish. I cut them roughly afterwards, cutting out the stems and cleaning the peppers from the seeds. I mixed everything with an easy dressing of lemon juice, olive oil and one clove of garlic, sprinkled with chopped parsley and capers and voilà! A delicious light lunch ready to be served!

Ingredients:

2 medium sea breams, cleaned and washed
2 tablespoons of chopped herbs (thyme, rosemary, sage)
couple sprigs of herbs (as above)
2 cloves of garlic, whole
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 chili pepper, chopped
1 tablespoon of chopped parsley
2 tablespoons white dry wine
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper to season

Cookware:

baking dish
parchment paper

Polish doughnuts with Italian twist

admin — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 20:23:19 +0000

For Polish Fat Thursday

Place the ricotta, lemon rind and sugar in the bowl and mix to combine. Set aside in the refrigerator until needed.
Place the yeast, water, milk and 1 tablespoon of sugar in a bowl and set aside in a warm place for 10 minutes. Add the butter, flour, eggs, remaining sugar and sultanas to the yeast mixture and mix until a sticky dough forms. Knead until smooth.
Place the dough in a bowl, cover with a clean cloth and set aside for 1 hour.
Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for 5 minutes. Divide into two equal portions and roll each piece out to 1cm thick.
Top one piece of dough with spoonfuls of ricotta mixture and cover with the remaining dough. Use a 6cm cutter to cut around the ricotta.
Place the pillows on a baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper and set aside for 30 minutes.
Place the oil and a thermometer in a large deep saucepan over a medium heat until the temperature reaches 170°C. Cook the doughnuts, in batches, for 3-4 minutes or until golden. Drain on absorbent paper.
Allow to cool and slightly dust with icing sugar to serve.

Notes:

I've just had an interesting discussion with a friend about traditional Carnival feasts, and I've discovered that it's only some nations in Europe who celebrate the Fat Thursday while others have their Shrove Tuesday a.k.a. Pancake Day :-) Well, I've prepared a recipe for Fat Thursday for you, but it seems like I'll need another one for a Pancake Day. Let's celebrate them both this year!
Fat Thursday is a traditional Polish feast marking the last Thursday before Lent (a week before the Ash Wednesday). This year it'll be 7 January. We eat a lot of sweets that day that are 'forbidden' during the Lent. We consume huge amounts of doughnuts, mostly with marmalade, but you can find other fillings as well. Another speciality are angel wings - sweet crisp pastry made out of dough, deep-fried and sprinkled with powdered sugar. I've found an interesting recipe in Donna Hay magazine for doughnuts with an Italian twist. They were so delicious that I've change only few things in the recipe (added more sugar etc.).

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons dry yeast
2 tablespoons lukewarm water
3 tablespoons caster (superfine) sugar
50g butter, melted
335g flour
2 eggs
80g sultanas
vegetable oil, for deep-frying
icing sugar for dusting
For the ricotta filling:
300g ricotta
grated lemon rind from one lemon
2 tablespoons caster (superfine) sugar

Banana bread (without a mixer)

admin — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 16:09:23 +0000

Waiting for my piernik :-)

Preheat the oven to 175°C.
Sieve the flour to a bowl. Add salt, baking soda, spices, sugar, dry fruits and walnuts and mix everything together.
Place the beaten eggs, melted butter, Greek yoghurt and honey in another bowl and beat everything together using an eggbeater. Add the smashed bananas and mix together.
Gently combine the flour mixture and the banana mixture stirring with a wooden spoon.
Pour the mixture into a buttered loaf pan (I used 13cm x 23cm). Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack and let it rest for half an hour before slicing.

Notes:

I'm a really impatient person. I cannot wait until my piernik (gingerbread) is finally ready and I need to resist for it at least two weeks! So, I decided to bake this amazing banana bread using honey and the same spices as in piernik to achieve similar flavour and have a small preview of how my gingerbread will taste.
The banana bread is very easy - you don't even need to use a mixer. It's also a good way to use bananas that became too ripe. Loved by kids and adults and super healthy!
Spoon's tip If you cannot find gingerbread/speculos spices mixture in a shop, you can make one yourself. Simply mix: 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, and a pinch of (grounded) cardamon, allspice, ginger, nutmeg and cloves.

Ingredients:

230g flour (you can use mixture of wheat and rye flour)
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons of gingerbread/speculos spices mixture
60g brown sugar
150g dry fruits and nuts, chopped
2 eggs, beaten
3 ripe bananas, smashed
90g butter, melted
60g Greek yoghurt
80g (liquid) honey

Cookware:

a bowl
an eggbeater (but you can also use fork instead)

The best steak tartare

admin — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 17:16:56 +0000

With whole wheat bread and marinated green pepper

With a sharp knife, finely chop the meat. You could also grind it in a food processor, but chopped one is so much nicer! Add the olive oil, the soya sauce, the mustard, the egg yolk and freshly ground black pepper. Mix everything together. Check if it needs more seasoning.
Prepare the parsley bread. Grill the bread slices on both sides. Meanwhile, mix the parsley, the garlic and the olive oil, add a bit of salt. Spread the parsley mixture over the bread.
Divide the meat into two portions and place it on the breads. Decorate plates with onion and marinated green pepper (and with the bell pepper, dry tomatoes and parsley if you like). Serve immediately!

Notes:

Making steak tartare is very easy. There are a few keys to success. The good quality of meat is a must. Buy your beef at the butchers that you trust. It's always good to mention that you're planning to eat it raw. It may encourage them to be honest about the quality and freshness of meat. Beef tenderloin should be pink or red. Paleness is often not a good sign, as well as flabbiness of the meat. It's better not to eat the steak tartare at all then. You may want to try chopping the meat, the texture of the steak tartare will be much better than if you ground it in a food processor.
The ingredient that made the trick for me was the marinated green pepper. It makes such a nice combination with the beef. I tried it in a place called Kuchnia and immediately fell in love with it!

Ingredients:

200g good quality beef tenderloin (chilled beforehand)
1 small yellow onion (finally chopped)
1 small red onion (finally chopped)
1 egg yolk (scald the shell beforehand)
2 tablespoons soya sauce
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon olive oil
freshly ground black pepper and salt to season
for decoration (optional): dry tomatoes, bell pepper, parsley
2 tablespoons marinated green pepper
2 slices of whole wheat bread
2 tablespoons parsley (finely chopped)
1 cloth of garlic (finely chopped)
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt to season

Cookware:

a bowl to mix

Gringo burgers

admin — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 15:26:51 +0000

Inspired by my favourite burgers in Brussels

Put the olive oil in a pan over a low heat. Add the chopped tomatoes and fry for about 5 minutes. Cover and set aside.
Prepare the guacamole: cut the avocados in half. Remove seed and scoop out avocado from the peel. Using a fork, roughly mash the avocado. Add the garlic and the chili pepper. Season with salt and black pepper.
Grill the beef patties: Preheat the grilling pan to a high temperature. Fry 2-3 minutes each side. Cover with aluminum foil and set aside.
Cut the hamburger buns in half and fry on the grilling pan on both sides until warm.
Prepare your delicious burgers. On the bottom side of the burger bun spread some guacamole, put one leaf of lettuce, a beef patty, some tomatoes, red onion, coriander and the top side of the bun. Repeat with all the buns and enjoy!

Notes:

I have to tell you a secret. Although I enjoy eating out, I don't like going to fancy restaurants. I admit, it can be fun once in a while. I can obviously appreciate the art of the cooks and admire their creativity, their knowledge and the beautiful compositions they develop. But on a regular day, when I want to have a simple dinner with my friends I prefer places where I can just enjoy the food not worrying about my manners and if I eat with the right fork or if I use the right glass for my wine or if I talk or laugh too loud. And I have to say, sadly there are not many places like this in Brussels. But, fortunately, there's L'Amour Fou where you can eat well and (relatively) cheap in a warm, cosy environment with a great ambience and amazing background music. I have my favourite burger there, it's called 'Gringo' - spicy and amazing! and the fries...hmmm...to die for!!!
The recipe above is my version of the Gringo burger (with a few modifications though). I made the burger buns on my own, but I understand not many people are crazy enough to spend additional 2 hours in the kitchen just to have a homemade burger bun. Anyway, try the burger either with my recipe or in L'Amour Fou. I guarantee you'll love it!!!

Ingredients:

4 hamburger buns
4 minced beef patties (about 200g each)
1 can peeled tomatoes
2 tablespoons chopped coriander
1 red onion, chopped
4 lettuce leaves
2 ripe avocados
1 cloth garlic, grated
1 chili pepper, finely chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
black pepper and salt to season

Cookware:

a grilling pan
a small pan

Pumpkin risotto

admin — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 13:09:37 +0000

The taste of autumn

Boil the broth and keep simmering it over low heat.
Melt 30g of butter in a heavy-bottomed pan, add the onion and the pumpkin. Cook over low heat until the onion is soft, but not browned (about 5 minutes).
Add the rice, increase the heat to medium and stir until rice is covered with butter.
Pour in the wine and wait until it evaporates.
Gradually, one soup-ladle each time, pour in the broth. When the rice absorbs one spoon of broth, add another. Keep stirring.
Cook until the rice is al dente but also soft. Set aside for 1 minute.
Combine with the grated Parmesan cheese (keep some for decoration) and the rest of butter.
Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Decorate with Parmesan cheese and enjoy!

Notes:

I love autumn... and who knows, maybe I love it even more than summer. It's somehow much calmer and much cosier... Summer it's time of discoveries, new places, new travels, new fragrances, new tastes, it's vibrant and full of movement. Autumn is a season of slowing down, evenings spent under a warm quilt, watching good old movies, sipping hot tea with lemon. For me, it's the time for the ones I love...
When I came back home yesterday, tired after a long day of work and my language classes, cold from the chilly autumn air, I was treated with an amazing risotto. And everything else was also there - the quilt, the tea and the movie :-) A perfect autumn evening...

Ingredients:

400g arborio rice
800g pumpkin, peeled and chopped into 1 cm cubes
200ml white wine
1 onion, finely chopped
1,25l chicken stock
40g butter
40g finely grated parmesan cheese
grated nutmeg to taste
sea salt and black pepper to season

Cookware:

a heavy-bottomed pan

Lamb leg steaks with balsamic vinegar

admin — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 15:20:29 +0000

With delicious courgette garnish

Lamb preparation

Finely chop the garlic and rub it evenly over the steaks. Sprinkle the steaks with salt, rosemary and red pepper. Set aside for 15 minutes to absorb the flavours.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook 3 minutes per side until brown outside and medium-rare inside. Remove the steaks from the skillet.
Add the chopped shallot to the skillet and glaze it. Add the balsamic vinegar and the chicken stock, stir well until the sauce is reduced by half. Pour over the steaks.

Courgette preparation

Preheat the oven to 200°.
Cut the courgette lengthwise and then in slices of about 1 cm.
Fry the courgette in a skillet until slightly brown, grate the lemon zest ant the garlic into the skillet and fry for another minute. Season with alt and pepper.
Put the courgette into a casserole, sprinkle with break crumbs and with the parmesan cheese.
Bake uncovered for about 10 minutes.

Notes:

Last week I found two beautiful lamb leg steaks in my bio box. The meat itself was such a high quality that I wanted to make something uncomplicated, a recipe that would let the steaks shine.
Rosemary is an obvious choice for lamb, they go amazingly well together, and the balsamic reduction just highlights the great taste of this nice piece of meat. Soft, light courgette garnish offers balance to the strong lamb taste...

Ingredients:

Lamb leg steaks

2 lamb leg steaks (about 250g each)
2 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon rosemary
1 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 shallot, finely chopped
40 ml balsamic vinegar
60 ml stock
salt

Courgette garnish

2 courgettes (about 500g)
50g breadcrumbs
50g parmesan cheese
lemon zest from half a lemon
1 clove garlic
handful parsley for decoration (optional)

Cookware:

casserole
skillet

Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

admin — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 11:36:35 +0000

Polish Racuchy

Separate the egg whites and egg yolks. Beat the egg whites stiff.
Mix the yolks with the buttermilk or yogurt in a large bowl.
Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, cinammon and sugar together.
Peel the apples, remove the seeds. Cut the apples into small cubes.
Combine the flower mixture and the egg mixture together. Add the apples and gently add the whipped egg whites mixing with a wooden spoon.
Heat a thin layer of oil in a skillet over medium heat. Drop large spoonful of batter into the pan and flatten it out. Fry both sides until golden.
Dust with powdered sugar or serve with honey.

Notes:

Racuchy are a typical Polish dish. They usually contain apple with a pinch of cinnamon, but you can also find rhubarb or plum varieties. They're super delicious with sprinkled, powdered sugar, honey, cream or jam. Good idea for an autumn Sunday breakfast.

Ingredients:

500g flour
2 big apples
3 eggs
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
360ml buttermilk or (liquid) yogurt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 bag of vanilla sugar
pinch of salt

Cookware:

skillet
food processor

Fried squid

admin — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 12:38:35 +0000

Tiganito Kalamari

If you work with frozen squid, defrost it.
Clean the squid. Grasp the head and pull it gently, the internal body of the squid will come with. Cut out the tentacles (they're edible) and throw the rest of the internal body away. Inside the tube you'll find a piece of cartilage, remove it. If the squid has an outer membrane-type skin, pull it off and throw away. Wash the squid throughly under running water.
Cut the squid into 1 cm rings. Wash them, drain the squid through a colander and shake to remove excess liquid. Sprinkle with lemon juice and season with salt.
Preheat the oil for deep-frying.
Coat the squid with flour. Gently shake off excess flour and fry in the hot oil, not overcrowding the pan. It will take about 1-2 minutes to cook until the squid takes a bit of colour (don't keep it longer, otherwise it will turn hard). Remove the squid from the oil and drain on paper towels.
Serve immediately with wedges of lemon.

Notes:

Another memory from my holidays in Rhodes. It cannot get more Greek than that. The best fried squid I've ever eaten was in a small tavern next to the port. I'll tell you more about it in a blog post...

Ingredients:

1kg of small squid (fresh or frozen)
flour for coating
oil for frying
2 tablespoons lemon juice
lemon wedges
sea salt and pepper

Cookware:

large pan to fry

Fish cakes from Symi Island

admin — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 19:19:41 +0000

Gaelopita

Wash the fish, cut off heads and tails and cut in small pieces. Sprinkle and toss with salt and leave to drain for 15 minutes.
Peel the tomato, onion and garlic. Process them in a blender. Chop the herbs finely.
Mix the flour, baking soda and eggs carefully until well combined. Add all the other ingredients and season the mixture with salt and pepper. Stir well.
Heat the olive oil in a large pan. Using a tablespoon, drop spoonfuls of the mixture into the hot oil. Fry the batter from both sides until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

Notes:

I've tried those after climbing 500 stairs in an incredible heat to reach Ano Symi (the main town of the island of Symi)!!! Oh, they were delicious. My friend and I tried to talk the cook into giving us the recipe, but we were told it's a preciously kept secret. After careful analysis of the look, taste and texture and several attempts of replicating the perfect gaelopita we came up with the above recipe :-) And I'm sure you'll like it!

Spoon's tip
If you cannot find smelt, you can try using any other kind of fish, but don't forget to remove the skin and the bones. You will also need to grill or steam it beforehand (smelt fish is so tiny that it doesn't need any cooking before adding it to the batter).

Ingredients:

500g smelt fish (atherina in greek)
125gr flour
4 eggs
1 tomato
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
4 tablespoons fresh herbs - mint, oregano, parsley
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
grated zest from a lemon
salt and pepper
olive oil for frying

Cookware:

large pan to fry

Chili con carne

admin — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 08:48:08 +0000

Quick, spicy, delicious...

Put the olive oil in a big pan, add onion, garlic and chili pepper and fry until the onion is glazed.
Add the spices: cumin, red pepper powder and oregano and cook for a minute.
Turn up the fire and gradually add the meat, stirring all the time until slightly browned.
Chop the tomatoes and add them into the pan together with the tomato juice from the can. Cover the pan and cook for about 25 minutes stirring from time to time.
Add the bell pepper and cook for another 10 minutes or until softened.
Add the beans and cook for another 3 minutes. Season with salt.
Serve your chili con carne wrapped with tortillas, decorate with sour cream and your favorite herbs (I used coriander, but you may as well use oregano or parsley)

Notes:

Don't you just love this dish? Quick, simple, delicious... You may serve it the next day or even freeze it. I really recommend it! :-)

Ingredients:

450g minced beef
1 can peeled tomatoes
1 can red beans, drained
1 red bell pepper, cut in cubes
1 big onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 small red chili pepper, chopped
1 teaspoon freshly ground cumin
1 teaspoon sweet red pepper powder
1 teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon olive oil

To serve:
* 150ml sour cream
* herbs to decorate
* 8 small tortillas

Cookware:

a big pan

Spotted rhubarb and strawberry cake

admin — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 08:42:11 +0000

Fantastic with all seasonal fruits

Preheat the oven to 180°. Line a cake pan with bakery paper.
Separate whites from yolks. Whisk the egg whites until they form stiff, white peaks (2-3 minutes approximately). Continue to whisk, gradually add the sugar until the mixture is stiff and glossy (5-10 minutes approximately). Add the yolks, one by one, whisking gently until incorporated.
In a separate bowl mix the flour, the baking powder and the vanilla sugar. Gradually add the mixture to the beaten eggs stirring with a wooden spoon. Add the melted butter and stir until incorporated.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Arrange the rhubarb slices on top of the batter.
Bake for 35-40 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
Decorate the cake with icing sugar before serving.

Notes:

I think I've baked it already 5 times this season and I never have enough. The cake is moist even after 3 days and it's so delicious!!! It'll work fantastic with any seasonal fruits: blueberries, peaches, raspberries and all possible combinations. I make it sometimes only with rhubarb, lemon zest and decorated with loads of icing sugar - a perfect balance of sweet and sour.

Ingredients:

4 eggs
200g sugar
200g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla sugar
500g rhubarb, cut in chunks
130g butter, melted
icing sugar (optional)

Cookware:

cake pan 24x36cm or smaller, 25x30cm

'Polish' no-bake cheesecakes

admin — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 13:17:26 +0000

With strawberries and vanilla

Crush the biscuits in a plastic bag to make fine crumbs. Stir the melted butter in the biscuits.
Line 12-cup-muffin-tray with muffin paper cups, divide the mixture between them and press down with your fingers. Place in the fridge for 15 minutes to set.
Place gelatin in a small pot with 2 tablespoons of water. Soak for 10 minutes until softened, then add 100ml of hot water and stir it until melted. Set aside to cool.
Split the vanilla pod in half with a sharp knife and scrape out the seeds. Place the vanilla seeds, mascarpone, yogurt and sugar in a bowl. Mix with a hand mixer until all ingredients are combined. With the machine running, pour on the gelatin in a thin stream until smooth. Pour over the biscuit mix.
Cut the strawberries in four. Decorate each cheesecake with strawberries and place in the fridge for at least 3 hours to set.
You can serve the cheesecakes with strawberry sauce: mix 12 big strawberries in a food processor with 4 tablespoons of sugar. Place the mixture in a pot and heat it until dense. Cool down and serve with the cheesecakes.

Notes:

Today is the first day of the Poland & Ukraine EURO 2012 Championship. And the first match is Poland-Greece starting at 18h00 :-) So these red and white cheesecakes are perfect for the occasion. They look almost like small Polish flags...and they taste incredible as well...

POLSKA BIAŁO-CZERWONI!!!

Ingredients:

100g digestive biscuits
50g butter, melted
2 teaspoons gelatin powder (or 5 sheets leaf gelatin)
12 strawberries, hulled
300g mascarpone
300g Greek yogurt
4 tablespoons caster sugar
1 vanilla pod

Cookware:

12-cup-muffin-tray

Cacio e pepe

admin — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 15:23:11 +0000

Classic Roman dish made with pasta, pecorino romano and freshly ground pepper

Cook spaghetti in salted water until al dente. Drain the pasta reserving 200ml of the cooking water.
Return the drained pasta to the pot and toss through the water mixture until the pasta absorbs almost all of the water.
Quickly stir the cheese and pepper into the pasta. You can add a bit of olive oil if you like. Season with salt, but be careful pecorino romano is quite salty itself.

Notes:

Pasta 'cacio e pepe' is a classic Roman dish. It's made with Pecorino Romano, a tangy aged sheep's-milk cheese, and good amount of freshly ground pepper. It's really easy, but making it only pays off if you use high quality ingredients. Don't try to spare money by using cheap pasta (actually it would be the best to make it yourself :-) ) and pepper that you have been storing for ages in your cupboard. Believe me, it won't make any sense. But prepared properly, this pasta will reward you with a can't-be-better combination of flavours: strong, almost piquant cheese and spicy, slightly floral pepper. Buon Appetito!

Check the blog post about my trip to Rome.

Ingredients:

350g spaghetti
200g pecorino romano, grated
freshly ground pepper (a lot!)
salt to season
olive oil (optional)

Cookware:

a pot to cook pasta

Blueberry and white chocolate muffins

admin — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 10:06:07 +0000

Purple and white treat

Preheat oven to 180ºC. Line 12 cup muffin tray with muffin paper cups.
Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl. Add the sugar and stir to combine.
In a separate bowl, combine the sour cream, eggs, lemon rind and butter and whisk together. Stir carefully through the flour mixture until just combined.
Carefully fold in the raspberries and chocolate and spoon into paper cups. Bake for 50 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer.

Notes:

Since his visit to the U.S. my boyfriend has become a huge fan of Starbucks blueberry muffins. As a result I have been on a quest for a perfect blueberry muffin recipe. After several attempts and having been told that 'that's not it' I've finally found it!
They're the most delicious muffins I've ever tried. Sweet, moist and fresh with juicy blueberries and creamy taste of white chocolate when you bite into. A perfect treat for breakfast or whenever you want to have a nice break.
I've adapted the recipe for Raspberry and white chocolate muffins from the Donna Hay Magazine.

Ingredients:

300g plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
170g superfine sugar
220g sour cream
2 eggs
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon rind
80ml melted butter
225g frozen blueberries
175g chopped white chocolate

Cookware:

12-cup muffin trays

Refreshing Early Spring Slaw

admin — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 15:08:22 +0000

Boost of vitamines

Grate the apple and mix it with the lemon juice in a big bowl.
Add the cabbage, the carrot, the spring onions, the parsley and the garden cress and mix everything together.
Add some salt, pepper and sprinkle with the olive oil before serving.

Notes:

You all know the heavy versions of coleslaw dressed with tons of mayonnaise - a lot of vitamins, but also a lot of calories? Let's thin our salads out. Use only simple seasoning like salt and pepper. Sprinkle your salad with a bit of good extra virgin olive oil and enjoy the great taste of fresh, crispy vegetables.
The salad would be great as a side dish to your early spring BBQs, especially if you have a taste for a grilled fish.

Ingredients:

half small cabbage (about 250g), finely shredded
1 small young carrot (about 60g), grated
1 small apple (about 70g), grated
4 spring onions (about 80g), chopped
2 fistfuls chopped parsley (about 25g)
2 fistfuls chopped garden cress (about 20g)
juice of 1 lemon
salt and freshly ground black pepper
olive oil to taste

Cookware:

bowl to mix

Surprise chocolate cupcakes

admin — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 16:28:18 +0000

With meringue topping and lemon curd

Place the flower, the cocoa powder, the butter and the caster sugar in the bowl of a food processor and process until just combined. Add the egg and the vanilla and process again until it forms crumbs. Take the crumbs out of the food processor and use your hands to form the pastry into a ball. Wrap it in a cling film and put in the fridge for 1/2 hours.
Preheat oven to 180°C. Divide the pastry into 12 pieces. Line each cup with the pastry and trim the excess. Prick the pastry with a fork. Line with non-stick baking paper, fill with baking weights or uncooked rice and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the baking paper and weights and bake for 8-10 minutes more until crisp. Set aside to cool.
Prepare the lemon curd. Place 250ml milk and the sugar in a saucepan over medium heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Place the cornstarch and remaining milk in a small bowl and stir to combine. Pour into the milk and sugar mixture and stir to combine. Increase heat to high, add the butter and whisk until melted and combined. Add the lemon juice, lemon rind and egg yolks, reduce heat to medium and cook, whisking continuously, for 6–7 minutes or until thickened. Pour the lemon curd into the baked cups and set aside to cool.
Prepare the meringue. Place the egg whites in a bowl and whisk until the egg whites form stiff, white peaks (2-3 minutes approximately). Continue to whisk, gradually add the caster sugar, tablespoon at a time, until the mixture is stiff and glossy (5-10 minutes approximately). Spoon the meringue over the (cooled!) lemon curd. Bake for about 15-18 minutes or until nicely browned.

Notes:

I won't lie. This muffins are not a fast treat, they require some work, but the result is absolutely stunning - crispy chocolate pastry and a surprise lemon curd inside, everything topped with first-crispy, then-soft delicious meringue. So even if these surprise chocolate cupcakes take a bit more time than usually, they're worth it and, I have to say, also fairly easy. I baked them for my birthday this year, they had a lot of success!

The lemon curd recipe is from Donna Hay's lemon meringue chocolate cake

Ingredients:

For the chocolate pastry

150g flour
50g cocoa powder
3 tablespoons caster sugar
100g cold butter, chopped
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the lemon curd

375ml milk
220g caster sugar
50g cornstarch
80g cold butter, chopped
160ml lemon juice
2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
4 egg yolks

For the meringue

300g caster sugar
4 egg whites

Cookware:

2 6-cups muffin trays

Smoked salmon and cream cheese pots

admin — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 15:36:59 +0000

Decorated with watercress

Line each cup of the muffin tray with cling film, press it inside until it sticks to the sides of the cup. Line each cup with one slice of salmon, press the salmon inside.
Prepare the cream cheese. Mix the cheese, the lemon juice, the cream, the dill, the chives and the radishes. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Fill the muffin cups with the cream cheese. Fold overhanging salmon and press down lightly to compact the filling. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
Remove the pots from the muffin tray using the edges of the cling film. Place them upside down on a plate. Make a small cut in the middle of each pot and decorate it with the watercress, some ground pepper and olive oil.

Notes:

In fact Polish Easter is really different from Western European traditions. Our main meal during the Easter Sunday is… breakfast during which we enjoy our traditional soup, fish, sausages, eggs and all sorts of other goodies. This year I'll be spending my Easter in Brussels and it will be just us two, so I'd like to make it low profile like a brunch type of thing. This salmon fits in the whole concept perfectly!

Ingredients:

6 thin slices smoked salmon (about 140g)
150g cream cheese
3-4 radishes, grated (about 60g)
1 tablespoon of dill, chopped (about 8g)
1 tablespoon chives, chopped (about 10g)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons cream
watercress for decoration

Cookware:

muffin tray with 6 cups

Cauliflower risotto

admin — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 16:25:24 +0000

With spicy breadcrumbs

Place the bread, anchovies, the oil from the tin and the chillies in a food processor and whizz it until the mixture has consistency of breadcrumbs. Heat the olive oil on a frying pan and fry the breadcrumbs until golden brown.
Boil 900ml of vegetable stock in a pot, reduce the heat, add the florets, cover the pot and let the stock simmer.
To make your risotto, heat the olive oil in a pan, lower the heat and fry the onion until glazed (around 6 minutes). Add the risotto rice and let it absorb all the oil. Add the wine and wait until it evaporates.
Add the first ladle of stock and stir until the rice absorbs all the moisture. Keep adding ladlefuls of stock stirring and allowing each ladleful to be absorbed before adding the next. When the rice is half cooked (after about 8 minutes) add the cauliflower to the rice and keep on adding the stock until the rice is soft, but not overcooked.
Stir in the parsley and the parmesan cheese, taste and season. Sprinkle with the spicy breadcrumbs, put some more Parmesan over the top and serve.

Notes:

I always get some resistance at home when I cook cauliflower. And I also don't want to end up eating the dish all by myself, so I carefully choose my cauliflower recipes. This time the risotto was even complimented.
The recipe is inspired by Jamie Oliver's cauliflower risotto

Ingredients:

For the risotto

1 cauliflower, divided into bite-sized florets
400g risotto rice
900ml vegetable stock
100ml dry white wine
1 onion, chopped
a handful chopped fresh parsley
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
100g parmesan cheese, grated (plus some for decoration)
1 tablespoon olive oil

For the spicy breadcrumbs

2 handfuls stale bread (about 40g), torn into pieces
1 tin anchovies (about 50g), oil from tin reserved
2 small red chillies
1 tablespoon olive oil

Cookware:

food processor
frying pan

Celeriac and parsnip soup

admin — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 13:52:01 +0000

With crispy fried onion

Prepare the vegetables. Peel the celeriac and the parsnips. Cut them in 2-3cm chunks. Slice the leek.
Melt the butter in a pot, add the vegetables and the salt. Cover and stew over a low heat for 10-15 minutes stirring from time to time.
Pour in the stock and the milk, increase the heat and bring the soup to boil. Cover, reduce the heat and simmer the soup for about 25 - 30 minutes until the vegetables are completely soft.
Meanwhile, roughly chop the onion. Coat it with the flour. Heat the oil in a deep saucepan. Drop the onions in hot oil and fry until golden brown. Remove the onions from the saucepan and drain on paper towels. Season lightly with salt.
Blend the soup until very smooth. Serve it sprinkled with the fried onion and/or chives.

Notes:

Hmmm...yummy. Especially the crispy onion. It was the first time I did it myself and I was really happy with the result.
You know that you actually have a chance to try the soup? I'll be cooking it based on the organic ingredients provided by reason2.be during the amazing Sunbeams Tree Planting Event 2012. Participating, you can contribute to a tree planting campaign of the Jane Goodall Institute in Congo (Africa). Check the sunbeams website for more information and join us on Sunday 18 March!

Ingredients:

For the soup

2 tablespoons butter
half a bulb celeriac, peeled (about 300g)
2 parsnips, peeled (about 200g)
1 leek, white part only (about 80g)
3 potatoes, peeled (about 300g)
sea salt (about 1/2 teaspoon)
1l vegetable stock
500ml milk
chives (optional)
salt to season

for the crispy onion

1 onion, peeled
1 tablespoon flour
oil for frying

Colourful beef stir-fry

admin — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 16:12:55 +0000

With green vegetables and egg noodles

Prepare the marinade: trim the lemon grass to 1/3, leaving its thickest part. Chop it finely and mix with the rest of the ingredients.
Cut the meat into lengthwise strips. Put the meat into the marinade, mix well and set aside for about an hour.
Divide the broccoli into small florets, cut the pak choi and the curly kale into lengthwise strips. Steam the broccoli for around 5 minutes until cooked al dente. Steam the pak choi and the curly kale leaves for around 3 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook the egg noodles according to the packet instructions.
Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil on maximum fire in a pan. Fry the meat for around 3 minutes until just cooked.
Stir the meat and the greens into the noodles. Divide the dish into 4 plates. Serve separately bean sprouts, soya sauce, chopped coriander leaves and lime quarters, and let everyone adjust the dish to their own liking!

Notes:

Green, green, green... not usual during winter time, huh? Trust me - this dish will lift you up and fill you with optimism. And all this in only 40 minutes!
It's also a perfect dish for unexpected guests, I tried it myself last Saturday. I needed something quick, tasty and colourful (we were heading to a party afterwards :-). It could be called a whatever-I-have-in-my-fridge dish as you can play with the ingredients. The marinade will go well with chicken and shrimps. You can try this stir-fry with other vegetables too!

Ingredients:

500g beef (I used a rib-eye steak)
half a broccoli (about 200g)
7 leaves curly kale
7 leaves pak choi
400g dried egg noodles
1 tablespoon olive oil

Marinade for the meat

2 sprigs lemon grass
1 chilli, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
zest and juice of half a lime
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 spoonful sugar
freshly ground black pepper

To garnish

bean sprouts
soya sauce
coriander leaves, chopped
lime, quartered

Cookware:

steamer