Lentils salad on the run

A little salad for a rainy Autumn day that needs next to no preparation. Although popular in many cuisines (including India, see my recipes for a lentils curry or masoor dhal), lentils are still rarely used where I come from. They are very filling and a lentil salad could make a very nice packed lunch. I also make a version with boiled carrots instead of sundried tomatoes. 

You'll need:

a can of green lentils

sundried tomatoes

fresh parsley

a few rashers of bacon

red wine vinegar

red pepper

1. Cut the bacon into small pieces and fry on a pan.

2. In the meantime, rinse well the lentils and transfer them into a bowl.

3. Cut the tomatoes and chop  a generous dose of parley and add both to the bowl.

4. Add a splash of red wine vinegar and some freshly grated red pepper.

5. Add the fried bacon, mix everything together, et voila! Serve with fresh buttered bread.

 

 

Buon appetito!

Red onion marmalade

Preparing a red onion marmelade requires some patience. It takes time, you cannot really speed it up, but it's really worth it. It's a perfect element to go on canapés, together with pâté or with duck. Today I propose to serve it in combination with pâté, goat cheese, and fresh thyme. I found inspiration for this little snack during my trip to Strasbourg, the land of foie gras and many other culinary delights.

You'll need:

5 red onions

3 spoons of sugar

4 spoons of balsamic vinegar

a glass of dry red wine

cardamon 

anise (optional)

For the canapés:

fresh bread/baguette

pâté

goat cheese 

fresh thyme (I used lemon thyme)

1. Slice the onions and put over a low heat together with some olive oil for around 10 minutes.

2. Add sugar and continue to simmer over a very low heat for another 10 minutes or so. 

3. Add half of the red wine and balsamic vinegar and reduce over a low heat. It should take around 20 minutes at least.

4. Add spices, the rest of the wine, and reduce again.

5. Assemble the elements on fresh baguette, et voila!  

Bon appétit!

Salmon in a lemon sauce

A visit from a friend made me think of the times back at uni in England and that's how I came up with this recipe. Salmon with spring potatoes would be often served on official occasions back in College. Add to that a creamy lemon sauce, and in my mind forms sth which I deeply associate with England, even if falsely so. It takes only minutes to make, so it's a perfect dinner to make after work when you're too tired to spend hours in the kitchen.

You'll need:
salmon fillet
red pepper
fennel seeds
shallot
juice from 1 lemon
4 spoons of white wine
4 spoons of broth
4 spoons of cream freche
2 spoons of butter
to serve with:
fresh fennel
pomegranate
olive oil
spring potatoes

1. Put the potatoes to the boil, they take the longest to make.

2. To prepare the lemon sauce: chop the shallot and fry it together with a generous dose of butter in a small pot. Add white wine, broth, lemon juice and simmer. Add the cream and simmer a minute more. Allow to reduce and then blend.

3. Sprinkle the salmon fillet with a bit of olive oil, season with salt, red pepper and fennel seeds, and put in the oven, pre-heated to 200 degrees and set to a grill option. It should take around 10 minutes for it to be ready.

4. Finely slice the fennel and serve as a light salad together with pomegranate seeds and a bit of olive oil.

4. Assemble the ingredients together, et voila!

Buon appetito!

Peanut butter chicken with ginger pear and grilled pineapple

The magic of this recipe is in how well the flavours work together. On its own, peanut sauce could be a bit heavy, but ginger pear and grilled pineappe add freshness to the dish. I created this dish for a Vietnamese themed competition.

You'll need:

chicken breast

3 spoons of peanut butter

Lime juice

Dark soya sauce

200ml coconut milk

Powdered cumin

Coriander (seeds)

Smoked sweet paprika

Smoked hot paprika

Pear

3cm fresh ginger

cinammon cane

4-5 cloves

Organge zest

1/3 glass of sugar

Pineapple slices

Cashew nuts

Jasmin rice

Salt & pepper

1. To prepare the peanut sauce, add peanut butter, coconut milk, cumin, coriander, a bit of lime juice, a pinch of hot somked paprika and soy sauce into a pot and mix over a low heat until the sauce gets dense.

2. In a second pot boil around 1/2 litre of water. While the water is warming up, peel the pear (or two, a pear prepared this way goes well with many dishes, so it might be worthwile making a bit more) and cut it into quarters. Add sugar into the boiling water, followed by slices of peeled ginger, cloves, cinammon cane and a bit of orange zest. Put the pear in and simmer over low heat for 15-20 minutes. Liquid should completely cover the pears. Leave the pear in the liquid until it cools down. You can further reduce the liquid and use it as syrup from drinks and cocktails.

3. Boil the rice. In the meantime, warm up a grill pan with a bit of oil. season the chicken breast with salt, pepper and sweet smoked paprika. Grill on a hot pan. 

4. Use the same grillpan to grill the pineapples.

5. Crush the cashew nuts and roast them ona separate (dry) pan.

6. Assemble all the ingredients together, et voila!

Buon appetito!

Cheesy meatballs in a dill sauce

Meatballs in a dill sauce are typical of Polish cuisine. Unfortunately, in my mind they took place of when-you're-sick food that is rather bland in taste, especially with boiled meatballs. Thus, to disenchant them, I experimented a bit with the flavours to make them more distinct, but still delicate. Instead of boiling the meatballs I baked them (no oil used so it's still on the healthy side) and added fennel and blue cheese inside. Also, the dill sauce, which in my house was a poor man's sauce based on water, is done using stock and complemented with a pinch od mustard powder and two types of pepper. The result was very pleasing, I'm definitely making them again soon!

You'll need:
For the meatballs:
350gr mince pork
1 egg
breadcrumbs
blue cheese (or gorgonzola piccante)
fennel seeds
white pepper
black pepper
salt

For the sauce:
1/4 glass vegetable stock
3 spoons of dense sour cream
dill
1 spoon flour
English mustard powder (optional)
White pepper
Black pepper

1. Crumble the cheese and mix the ingredients for the meatballs. Form meatballs and put them in an open oven dish. Put in an oven preheated to 180 degrees for around 20-30 minutes until the meatballs turn golden brown on the outside.

2. To prepare the sauce, warm up the stock in a small pot. Mix the flour with the cream and slowly transfer into simmering broth, stirring all the time so as to avoid lumps forming up. Wait until it denses up and season with pepper and mustard. Add dill, et voila!

 Buon appetito!

Gooseberry meatballs

They might resemble Swedish ikea meatballs, but they are so much more than that. Inspired by a Hairy Bikers recipe, these meatballs differ in their key ingredient - goosberry jam (prepared by my dad with gooseberries straight from our garden).

You'll need:
400gr pork mince
1 tea spoon of sour cream
freshly ground allspice
nutmeg
1 egg
75gr breadcrumbs
2 anchoives (finely chopped or a bit of anchoives paste) (optional)
medium golden onion
one clove of garlic
salt & pepper
40gr butter
two spoons of flour
50ml white wine
150 ml bouillion (I used a ready made wild bouillion, which is worked very well for the intensity of flavour)
3 spoons of gooseberry jam
dill for decoration

1. Start off by finely chopping the onion and frying it on a pan. Towards the end, add finely chopped garlic and fry for another 30 seconds before putting aside to cool down.
2. To prepare the meatballs mix the meat with one egg, adding nutmeg (be careful it's very strong if freshly grated), ground allspice, salt & pepper, breadcrumbs, anchoives and a tea spoon of sour cream. Add fried onion and garlic. Mix everything together and then start forming meatballs, the size roughly of a golf ball.
3. Put the meatballs in an open oven dish and bake for around 20 minutes in an oven pre-heated to 180 degrees. They will be ready when they start to turn beautifully golden brown on the outside.
4. In the meantime prepare the sauce. Start off by melting butter in a pot. Then add the flour, allow it to brown a little, and then add white wine, stirring all the time, not allowing lumps to form. Then proceed to adding the bouillion, still stirring. Finally, add gooseberry jam and stir. If the sauce turns too dense, add more bouillion to loosen it up.
5. Remove the meatballs from the oven, pour over the sauce, decorate the dish with fresh dill, et voila!

 Buon appetito!

Placki ziemniaczane

It is time for latke! This simple potato dish is known in many European cuisines, in many cases thanks to the past presence of the Jewish communities who traditionally serve it during Hanukkah. In Germany they are customarily eaten with apple sauce, in Poland the most common way to serve them is with sour cream. They are also known in Korea (Gamja-jeon) where they are eaten with soy sauce (potatoes where introduced to Korea by a German missionary). In many versions the potatoes are supplemented with onion or garlic, and sometimes also other vegetables are added. Here, I present a classic Polish version of the dish, with the grating proportions that allow for the potato pancake to be crisp on the outside, but still soft on the inside. It's a nice dish to eat in company, but it has to be eaten immediately, while still hot, so most likely while you're still in the kitchen. Also, grating enough potatoes for a crowd might be quite a task.

You'll need:

5 potatoes

1 egg

1 spoonfull of flour

salt

pepper (optional)

oil for frying (sunflower oil might be best)

1. To achieve a perfect crisp to soft proportion, grate 4 potatoes on a big cheese grater and one on a finer grater.

2. Squeeze out the moisture from the potatoes, add the egg and the flour and mix. Season the mixture with a generous dose of salt (and some pepper).

3.Warm up well the oil on the (preferably non-stick) pan, you need to use quite a lot, the pancakes need to almost deep fry.

4. Take a spoonful of the mixture and spread it thinly on the pan. At first it might stick to it, but once it cooks on one side (the edges will turn golden brown), it should be easy to move to the other side.

5. Serve your placki hot with good quality sour cream.

  Buon appetito!

Chicken and cherries salad

A seasonal refreshing idea for a salad that can serve also as a light lunch.

You'll need:
chicken breast, cut into pieces
a handful of cherries
fresh salad mix
fresh mint

grana padano
olive oil
lime juice
cherry syrup
a bit of Belgian cherry beer (kriek)
freshly ground black or red pepper

1. Fry the chicken with a generous sprinkling of freshly ground pepper and a little bit of cherry beer.
2. Prepare the vinaigrettte by mixing olive oil with lime juice and cherry syrup.
3. Deseed the cherries, mix all the ingredients together e voila!

Buon appetito!

Chicken and zucchini stew that started it all

I can't believe this recipe has not yet featured here, since it's possibly the one which set me off on a culinary journey for discovery of new interesting flavours. Many years ago, the unique combination of spices used in this stew woke up my curiosity in food which still continues today. Sadly, this fantastic combination was not my original idea, but a recipe of a French chef, popular in Poland at the time. It set me on a quest to find a spice mix called garam masala, of which hardly anyone heard at the time, that changed my approach to food completely. Now that I think of it, even zucchini were not exactly a popular vegetable back then, so easily available everywhere as it is today. Finally, equipped with the ingredients (which also include fennel seeds, which are not very common in Poland even today) I made this amazingly comforting dish which I continue to make often ever since. 

It is also a perfect dish to make if you're thinking about your lunchbox and so with this recipe I start a new category of recipes that are fit for that purpose.

You'll need:

one chicken breast

one medium size onion

one medium size zucchini (or a few small ones)

green olives

black olives (mostly for the colour)

pepper cayenne

fennel seeds

garam masala (you can make your own blend)

basmati or jasmin rice to serve with

1. Slice the onion and soften it in a pot for around 3 minutes. In the meantime cut the zucchini and add it to the pot with the onion. Add fennel seeds, garam masala and a bit of water. Zucchini is strongly hygroscopic, and so it has a tendency to take in all the oil it can get - to avoid the stew from getting too oily, add some water (I often use the water from the olives to get more flavour in).

2. Put some oil on a pan and add pepper cayenne on it. Once it gets warm enough to give away the aroma, add previously cut chicken breast. Cover it in pepper cayenne and fry for around 3-4 minutes, depending on the size of the pieces. Add the olives, leave for another 30 seconds and then transfer to the pot with the zucchini.

3. Simmer some more, allowing the flavours to mix, et voila!

4. Serve with rice.

Buon appetito!

Melon Italian Salad

Daydreaming about hot summer days in Italy, I propose a simple salad with ingredients which to me are part of the essence of Italy. Simple, but super tasty thanks to the quality of ingredients.

You'll need:
a quarter of a melon cut into cubes (preferably cold)
prosciutto crudo (my favourite is San Daniele)
spicy gorgonzola
croutons prepared with salt & herbs
fresh lettuce leaves
good quality olive oil

1. Once you assemble the ingredients, all you need to do is mix them together, et voila!

Buon  appetito!

French onion soup

After getting soaked in the rain yesterday, I decided to prepare this French classic soup to warm me up, it works magic (and not just because it has white wine in it)!

You'll need:

3 medium size golden onions

100ml white wine

250 ml good quality broth

baguette or other bread to grill

cheddar cheese (or other strong flavoured cheese, classicly Gruyere is used for this recipe)

butter

rosemary

nutmeg

laurel leaf

black pepper seeds

freshly ground pepper

a pinch of sugar

garlic (optional)

1. Start off by chopping the onions into thin slices. Soften them up in a pot with some oil and melted butter (no French recipe can do without butter). TIP: be careful  not to add to much butter or oil, so as not to make the soup oily afterwards. Add some water to avoid burning the onion. Cook it over small heat for some 10 minutes until it softens and then add a pinch of sugar to caramelise it (again be careful not to add too much, to avoid making the soup a dessert, the onion is already naturally sweet). The secret is in slow cooking over low heat.

2. Add the wine and allow to simmer for 2 minutes. 

3. Add the broth, together with rosemary, nutmeg, black pepper and laurel leaf. Cook some more. At this point the smell is simply divine.

4. In the meantime prepare the bread. Cut some small slices, cover them with butter, add some finely chopped garlic (optional) and cheese on top and put in the oven set to a grill option. 

5. Transfer your soup into a bowl, add some freshly ground pepper, and serve with a grilled piece of bread on top.

 Bon appétit!

Chicken and spinach quesadilla

This Mexican cheesy comfort food turned out to be a bit of a challenge and it took me a few tries until I got it right. The difficulty is to make a quesadilla that can be easily cut and held in hand without falling apart. Tortillas must be crispy, rather than soggy and at the same time cannot be burnt. Once you get it right though, it is a wonderfully satisfying dish. If you decide to make your quesadilla spicy, you might want to cool it with some guacamole on the side.

You'll need:

2 wheat tortillas

1 chicken breast

6 mushrooms

grated cheddar cheese

50g fresh spinach leaves

fresh ginger

a clove of garlic

fresh red chili (optional)

Baharat spice mix

Salt & pepper

1. Start off by preparing the ingredients for the filling. Cut the chicken breast into small cubes, season with salt & pepper and baharat and fry on a pan.

2. Put a little bit of oil on another pan (not too much, you don't want spinach to get oily), add finely chopped ginger and garlic (and chili if you want your quesadilla to be spicy), fry until the aroma of the spices is released, add fresh spinach leaves, stir and cover with a lid. Wait until the spinach softens, stirrring occasionally if needed. Remove from the pan and chop a bit for ease of eating.

3. Put the chicken on the side and fry the mushrooms  (cut into smaller pieces or sliced) on the same pan, adding some salt & pepper for taste. 

4. Warm up a grill pan with some oil on it. Put on a tortilla and fry until it gets golden brown, turn to the other side for a moment, and then remove it from the pan. 

5. Turn down the heat under the pan a little bit, make sure there is enough oil on it and put another torilla on. Quickly add grated cheddar and then chicken, mushrooms and spinach on top, making sure that the ingredients do not to overflow and removing any excess liquid from the filling beforehand.

6. Add some more cheese on top, cover everything with the first tortilla and squeeze down. Wait for the cheese to melt, et voila!

7. Transfer carefully from the pan to a plate and enjoy.

Buon appetito!

Vindaloo aloo

Vindaloo is a Goan curry stemming from Portuguese carne de vinha d'alhos (meat with wine and garlic, which is served in Madeira as a Christmas dish). This special occasion curry can be found in most Indian restaurants in the UK where it is usually served as one of the spiciest dishes in the house. Myself, I usually prepare it as a rather mild curry, allowing ginger to dominate a bit more. The traditional version does not contain potatoes, but they are sometimes added, possibly through a mistake deriving from the name that contains the word 'aloo' (potatoes) in it. Since this version also contains potatoes I thought it would be best to call this recipe vindaloo aloo to avoid confusion. It is also most definitely a Europeanised version of the dish, since I use beef, rather than lamb or pork. The key ingredient, however, is the red wine vinegar in which the meat needs to be marinaded beforehand. Vindaloo done this way is a favourite recipe of Cristina, my landlady in Florence.

You'll need:

500g beef

5-6 medium potatoes
red wine vinegar
1 onion

2 spoons of sour cream

broth (optional)

4cm ginger

3 cloves of garlic

English yellow mustard powder

ground cumin

ground coriander

cinnamon

chilli

pepper cayenne
salt & pepper

oil

1. Cut the beef into cubes and marinade it in red wine vinegar, with some salt and pepper and a spoon of oil at least for 3 hours.

2. Chop the onion and fry over medium heat. Add chopped garlic and ginger and follow with the rest of spices, paying attention to not burning them.
3. Brown the meat, preferably in a thick den pot. When it's ready, add spiced onion and previously peeled potatoes cut into cubes.
4. Add water or broth to the mixture, enough to cover the potatoes and cook without a lid until they soften. The mixture will reduce itself quite a bit, so it might require a stir from time to time and possibly some more liquid.
5. Add sour cream, et voila!

Buon appetito!