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!

Cranberry duck with caramelised ginger pear, pumpkin puree, bread sauce and gratin

For my 100th entry on this blog I add here a special occasion dinner recipe that I came up with on the second day of Christmas this year. I put it up as a complete combination of flavours that should work together. I am happy to report that this dinner idea was a great success that went beyond my expectations. If I were to add sth, it would be some pomegranate seeds to act as decoration that fits with and further enriches the flavour palette.

You'll need:

For the duck:
duck breasts
cranberry jam
red wine vinegar
vodka
brown sugar
freshly ground black pepper

For the pears:
2 hard pears (I used nash pears)
2 glasses of water
1/2 glass of sugar
5cm of ginger, peeled and cut into a few smaller pieces
cinnamon stick
orange zest
6 cloves

For the pumpkin puree:
pumpkin
cream
nutmeg
sweet paprika
salt&pepper

For the gratin:
Potatoes
cream
2 garlic cloves
strong flavoured cheese (I used pecorino, other commonly used varieties include cheddar or gruyere)
butter

1. Prepare the marinade for the duck by mixing in a small pot cranberry jam, red wine vinegar, a pinch of brown sugar and a healthy dose of freshly ground black pepper. Warm the ingredients up until they mix.

2. Make cuts in the fat of duck breasts before putting them in the cooled off marinade. They need to stay in the marinade overnight.

3. Season the marinated duck breasts with salt and them on a pan, starting with the fat side. The fat needs to be well fried to achieve the desired effects, so it will require some patience. Wait till it starts to turn golden brown before turning your duck breasts to the other side.

4. Put the breasts in an oven dish with the remaining marinade and put in an oven preheated to 180 degrees for about 20-25 minutes if you want a pink inside. My family prefers a well-cooked version, so I waited for 15 extra minutes. 

5. Use the sauce from the duck to make a bread sauce, simply by mixing it with some bread and warming it up, optionally adding some salt and pepper.

6. For the pumpkin puree, put the pumpkin chunks (with the skin still on, no need to peel it at this point) in the oven set to 180 degrees (no termoventilation) for around 15 minutes or until it gets soft.

7. Remove the punmpkin from the oven, the skin should come off easily now. Cut it into smaller pieces and blend.

8. Add a little bit of cream, a tiny bit of nutmeg and sweet paprika et voila.

9. For the pears, assemble the ingredients in a pot, except of the pears and warm it up until the sugar dissolves. Add peeled pears cut into wedges. Simmer for around 20-25 minutes, or until the pears get soft. You might want to preserve the remaining syrup, for example to make some drinks afterwards.

10. For the gratin, peel enough potatoes to fill in an open oven dish. Cut them into very thin slices before boiling them in salted water just until the moment of boiling, they are not supposed to be fully cooked (this is a shortcut I take to make the cooking time shorter, but it makes it more difficult to makes even layers in the oven dish).

11. Cover the oven dish with butter and then put in the potatoes, putting in some finely chopped garlic and grated cheese in between. Pour over cream and some more grated cheese on top.

12. Put the gratin in the oven for some 30-40 minutes. Start off with an open top, when the cheese on top starts to brown, put some foil or another cover to prevent it from exessive browning.

13. Assemble all the ingredients together on a plate (on Christmas day itself I managed to forget to put the pears on and had to put them on a table separately, thus they are missing from the pictures). Allow the duck breasts to breathe for a few minutes after removing them from the oven before cutting them into slices. The same will be true with cutting the gratin.

Buon appetito!

Chicken and butternut squash stew

I fell in love with butternut squash while preparing potato and squash chicken curry. This is a curcuma-free recipe for a stew that uses this wonderful vegetable that is pefect for cold autumn days. Although the base ingredients (chicken and squash) are similar, the the flavours are completely different.

You'll need:

one chicken breast

around 500g of butternut squash (half a medium squash)

1 medium sized onion

100ml white wine

2 spoons of flour

1 garlic clove

75ml cream

a glass of bouillion

hot smoked paprika (pimenton) 

fresh thyme

salt and pepper 

rice to serve with

1. Start off by cutting the squash longways into quarters. Then put it on a tray and slide into the oven set to 180 degrees for around 15 minutes. This way you can avoid peeling the skin, which in case of a butternut squash is rather hard.

2. In the meantime cut the chicken into small cubes, season with salt and freshly ground pepper and then cover in flour before frying it on a pan. Add a few branches of thyme for the aroma.

3. Transfer the chicken into a casserole dish and use the same pan to fry previously sliced onion.

4. Finely chop the garlic and add it to the onion once it softens. Add smoked paprika, and then white wine. Cook for a few more minutes, until the liquid reduces itself. Transfer the contents of the pan into the casserole dish.

5. Remove the squash from the oven, remove the skin (it should come off easily now) and cut into cubes. Add to the cassserole dish.

6. Add the bouillion to the casserole dish. 

7. Add some more fresh thyme, mix the ingredients and transfer the casserole dish (covered) into the oven. Leave in there for around 15 minutes (or until the squash is completely soft).

8. Towards the end of the cooking add cream, et voila! 

9. Serve with rice (I recommend basmati).

  

Buon appetito!

Quick lentils curry

This mild lentils curry can be ready within 15 minutes and can be eaten as a dish on its own (preferably with naans or chapatis) or it can be served as a side dish. Perfect if you don't have too much time to cook.

You'll need:
a can of green lentils (400g)
1/2 medium onion
1 garlic clove
madras curry
cardamon powder
cumin powdered
1/2 glass of broth
1 spoon of tomato concentrate
3 spoons of sour cream

1. Chop the onion and fry it.

2. Add chopped garlic and the spices and stir.

3. Add the lentils, tomato concentrate and broth. Allow to simmer for around 10 minutes.

4. Add cream, et voila!

Buon appetito!

Lemon chicken with a frittata

Sunny flavours of the summer and the holidays at the beach closed up in a dish that is deemed to bring to mind some very good memories. Each of the elements could be a dish of its own, but the trick is in the combination of the flavours and in how well they go together. Perhaps slightly unusually, the frittata is prepared extra thin to keep it light and to be eaten within one seating.

You'll need (a portion for two):

For the lemon chicken:

one chicken breast

juice from 1/2 lemon

half a glass white wine

30gr butter 

a spoon of flour

salt & pepper 

oil

For the frittata:

one potato, evenly sliced

one onion, sliced

two eggs

30gr butter

one clove of garlic

fennel seeds

chili flakes

salt&pepper

tangy semi-soft cheese (I used Lombardian Bel Paese; Lancanshire or Cheshire cheese should go well too, although they are more crumbly)

oil

1. Warm up some oil on a pan and add the sliced onion. Allow to fry for a few minutes before adding sliced potato, evenly distributing it over the pan. Add some butter and fennel. The potatoes will take some 10 minutes to fry, depending on the thickness of the slices. Turn them to the other side when they start to brown.

2. In the meantime, warm up oil on a second pan, add the chicken breast, cut into smaller, thinner pieces and seasoned with salt and pepper.

3. A minute after turning the chicken to the other side add lemon juice, wine and butter and continue to simmer the chicken over medium heat.

4. Once the potato slices are almost ready, add finely chopped garlic.

5. Beat up the eggs, seasoning them with salt, pepper and chilli flakes.

6. Chop (or grate) the cheese into fine cubes.

7. Pour the egg mixture over the potatoes and onions and turn the heat to minimum.

8. Add the cheese on top and allow to settle. Since this version of the frittata is very thin, it is not necessary to turn it upside down, just cover it with a lid if necessary.

9. Remove the chicken from the pan, add flour to the remaining sauce and stir vigourously making sure that all the flavours from frying of the meat go into the sauce.

10. Once your frittata settles, serve it cut into half together with chicken with the lemon wine sauce poured over the top.

Buon appetito!

Vellutata di ceci

...or chickpeas cream. With this recipe you can enjoy Tuscan flavours within minutes. It really needs a generous dose of fresh rosemary to do the trick, do not replace it with a dried version. Luckily, I can pick up mine straight from the garden.

You'll need:
one can of chickpeas (400g)
one medium onion
one garlic clove (optional)
fresh rosemary
1 spoon of tomato concentrate
300ml broth (or half a stock cube and water for a student version)
grated grana padano (optional)
freshly grated black pepper
bread to make croutons with
herb salt

1. Chop the onion and fry it in a pot.
2. Finely chop the garlic and rosemary and add them to the onion.
3. Add chickpeas and fry everything together for a moment before adding broth.
4. Add tomato concentrate and stir.
5. Allow the soup to simmer while you prepare the croutons. Cut the bread and fry it on hot oil (do not add too much or they will become oily) seasoning it with herb salt.
6. Let the soup cool down a bit before blending it into a velvety cream.
7. Warm it up again before pouring into a bowl.
8. Sprinkle some grated cheese on top, grate some black pepper over it, add the croutons, e voila!

Bon appétit!

Banoffee pie

An English classic, perfect for those not courageous enough to bake, but still willing to show off. This deliciously sweet dessert was apparently Margaret Thatcher's favourite recipe to prepare (according to Marla Brook's The Celebrity Cookbook: Kitchen Secrets of the Rich and Famous). In some countries dulce de leche, which is a key ingredient in this recipe, can be bought ready-made, if not it can be easily prepared from condensed milk, it just takes some time. Banoffee pie is usually topped with whipped cream, but my version is a bit richer with an addition of mascarpone and banana mousse.

You'll need:

1 can of condensed milk

300g biscuits (I used coco and almond biscuits, but ginger cookies would be best)

60g butter

4 bananans

juice from 1/2 lemon

30% cream

sugar

200g mascaropone

2 pieces of dark chocolate, grated

1. Start off by preparing your dulce de leche by boiling the can with condensed milk for 3 hours over low heat. Make sure the can is completely covered by water. Cool off the can before opening it! Otherwise the pressure might cause it to explode and you probably don't want to face the clean up!

2. Crush the biscuits into crumbs by putting them in a cloth/bag and hitting them with a roller or another hard object or by using a blender. 

3. Melt the butter and pour it over the crushed biscuits.

4. Transfer the buttered biscuits into a tin and press firmly to form a base. Put in a fridge for at least 30 minutes.

5. Cover the base with a layer of dulce de leche.

6. Slice 3 bananas and cover them in lemon juice before putting them on top of dulce de leche.

7. Whip the cream in a food processor, being careful not to overwhip it. Add sugar and then carefully fold in the mascarpone cheese. 

8. Break the remaining banana into chunks and blend it. Fold it into the cream mixture.

9. Use a piping bag to decorate the banoffee pie with cream on top.

10. Sprinkle with chocolate, et voila!

Bon appétit!

Quiche alla Edyta

A replica of a quiche that I ate at my godmother's house :) Makes me think of summer and the sunny days eating outside :)

You'll need:
puff pastry
1 single chicken breast
sweet paprika (I used Spanish Pimenton which has a distinct smoky flavour)
tarragon
1 broccoli head
greek feta cheese
3 sundried tomatoes in oil
50g gouda cheese
3-4 eggs
100ml milk
salt&pepper
pinch of sugar

1. Cut the chicken breast into small bite-size cubes and fry on a pan, seasoning it with tarragon, (pimenton) paprika, salt & pepper.

2. Separate individual broccoli florets from the broccoli head and boil in hot salted wated together with a pinch of sugar for around 4 minutes. 

3. Roll out puff pastry to fit the baking dish.

4. Add the chicken and broccoili on top as well as feta cheese and sundried tomatoes, both previously cutted into smaller pieces.

5. Mix the eggs together with milk and pour the mixture over the other ingredients of the quiche.

6. Sprinkle with grated gouda cheese on top.

6. Put in the oven pre-set to 200 degrees for 20 minutes, et voila!

Bon appétit!