Happy New Year

Here are our Wishes for You...

Hours of happy times with friends and family
Abundant time for relaxation
Prosperity
Plenty of love when you need it the most
Youthful excitement at lifes simple pleasures

Nights of restful slumber
Everything you need
Wishing you love and light

Years and years of good health
Enjoyment and mirth
A angels to watch over you
Rembrances of a happy years!

Gosia and Ilona

Christmas reminiscences

A little quiz game: what is that?? Some strange pink coloured coconut?

 A pork skin from a ham!!

Happy New Year and many culinary adventures to everyone!

Ila

Polish Potato Pancakes (Placki ziemniaczane)

In Poland everybody knows how to make potato pancakes. Some like it with sour cream on top or with sauce, some like it with jam or sugar. I like potato pancakes plain.

When I was a child my mum made the top of potato pancakes for me and my friends. In high school we made them in hostels during mountain trips. When we made potato pancakes in college in campus kitchen sometimes it turned into a spontaneous party for everybody. Currently I make them when I miss Poland or I’m in bad mood. I love these small golden rounds. I know they aren’t healthy and have lots of calories but who tries pancakes for the first time they will love them forever.


For 4

1 med. Onions, grated
half kg potatoes, grated
1 egg
3 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp. salt
Ground pepper, to taste
1- 2 tbsp. sunflower oli
2 tbsp butter

Peel and grate potatoes and onion into a large bowl. Add salt, pepper, flour, egg and mix well. (Potatoes turn brown as they stand, which is natural.)
Melt 2 tablespoons of butter with 2 tablespoons of sunflower oil in large heavy skillet. Drop potato mixture by spoonfuls into hot fat, and make 10 cm in diameter pancakes. Potato pancakes fry about 3 minutes or more on each side to become crisp and golden. Serve hot.

Enjoy!

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Mushrooms in cream
Polish basic yeast dough. Old recipe, new exciting buns
Beer soup - a must for a beer lover Home-made hard cheese
From doughnuts to herrings - Polish Shrovetide

Merry Christams

Love, Peace and Joy came down on earth on Christmas day to make you happy and cheerful. May Christmas spread cheer in your lives!

Wishes from Gosia and Ilona

This is the old Polish carol for you.




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Borscht

SpanishTomatoes Salad

This is the first post from the new series – “quick kitchen”, but it doesn’t mean we recommend “fast foods” to you. We will show you recipes which are easy and quick to make and healthy at the same time.
Spanish Tomatoes Salad is a perfect dish for a warm day but not only. It is light, tasty and refreshing. If you need to prepare something at the last minute, this salad is a great idea, since it takes just a few minutes to prepare!




Prep Time: 5 minutes


For 4
2 cucumbers
2 tomatos
1/2 medium red onion (or white)
2-3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
6-7 Tbsp extra virgin Spanish olive oil
salt to taste

Preparation:
Peel cucumber and cut in strips about 5cm long. Cut tomatoes into eight pieces each. Thinly slice onion into half rings.
Place all ingredients into a serving bowl. Sprinkle approximately 1/2 teaspoon of salt over the top. Pour 2-3 tablespoons vinegar over vegetables and 6 tablespoons of olive oil and mix well.
I usually serve this dish with grilled meats.
Enjoy!


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Chinese - style scallops
Tortilla or Spanish omelet

Tortilla or Spanish omelet

One year ago I was on Canaries Islands. It was a very nice trip. Today I organized blog a little and read my post about “My experience with Canarian food” again.
I went back in time and refreshed my memory of what I ate on this trip and I decided to do Tortilla on lunch. It is easy and very tasty dish.

For 2
4 eggs,
1 teaspoon flour
10 ml milk
1 tbsp butter
2 medium size potatoes
1/4 teaspoon salt
A dash of white pepper


1. Peel potatoes and slice on very thinly in squares.

2. Mix with the eggs, milk, flour, salt and pepper (prepare like normal omelet)

3. Mix together eggs and potatoes

4. Melt the butter in a pan and add the mixture.

5. As soon as it begins to stiffen, draw it away from the edges of the pan or gently slide a knife under the center to allow the uncooked egg to reach the hot pan and cook evenly.

6. When the omelet is a rich golden brown, turn over and cook until the second side will be gold and potatoes ready.

Serve with ketchup or Canaries sauces.
Enjoy!!!

Sea bass with ginger and leeks

This is very tasty and elegant dish, easy to make. You can use whole fish or thick
fillets for recipe, which is also excellent made with bream, pomfret and trevally. I made it with filets of sea bass. Serve the fish with fried rice and stir-fried Chinese green vegetables if you like.


For 4

2 sea bas filets
4 spring onions
2tbsp cornflour
4 tbsp teriyaki sauce
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp wine vinegar or rice wine vinegar
1 tsp ground ginger
4tbsp sunflower oil
2 leeks shredder
2,5 cm piece fresh ginger root, piled and grated
7tbsp chicken stock
Salt and ground black pepper

1) Season the fish salt and black pepper. Cut the spring onions on slice. Put half of the spring onions on the fish and reserve the rest for later using.

2) In a shallow dish, mix together the teriyaki sauce, the cornflour, lemon juice, vinegar and ground ginger to make smooth, runny paste. Turn the fish in the marinade to coat it thoroughly, leave it to marinate for 20 minutes, turning it several times.

3) Heat a wok and oil, then the leeks and grated ginger. Fry gently for about 5 minutes, until the leeks are tender. Remove the leeks and ginger and drain on kitchen paper.

4) Lift the fish out of the marinade and lower it carefully into the hot oil. Fry over a medium heat for 4 minutes on each side. Stir the stock into the marinade. Pour the mixture over the fish. Return the leeks to the wok, together with spring onions. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes.

5) Serve with fried rice and stir-fried Chinese green vegetables.

Enjoy!!!

-----------
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Great Australian jelly

Australians love jellies. Theu simply do. Maybe that's the echo of the fight with the climate in the past. All the colours, flavours and shapes are acceptable. And who doesn't like fruits soaked in a fragrant wine? Or a wine with some ripe fruits soaked?? Especially if it's a light fair Australian wine? This jelly is especially good with some ripe melon but you can also try other soft fruits like watermelon or strawberries. Anyone's freezing? It's an Aussie summer right now!

Melon jelly

makes 4 portions

300 g melon flesh, cut into small pieces

400 ml white Australian wine (necessarily!)

80 g sugar

1 Tbsp gelatine

6 dried apricots

1. Soak the cut melon in wine for half an hour. Drain.

2. Bring the wine to the boil, dissolve sugar. Take from heat and dissolve gelatine in wine. Leave until  it starts to set (egg white consistency).

3. Scald apricots with boiling water and drain. Chop into stripes.

4. Combine wine jelly with soaked melon and chopped apricots. Divide into four 150 ml glasses and leave in a fridge for about two hours.

5. Decorate with fresh melon, strawberry sauce or fresh strawberries. 

This dessert is especially nice for a cold evening to heat you up. So simple yet elegant, typically Australian.

Mango muffins!!!

Gorgeous mango pulp was waiting for me since the conference. I really wanted to bake something with it. Muffins were the laziest idea but the result was not so cheap. Here you have deeply orange in colour, not too heavy and full of good stuff muffins. Ones of the best available!

Mango muffins

makes 12

200 g flour

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsps cream of tartar

30 g oat brans

30 g raisins

40 g sugar

1 egg

50 ml vegetable oil

180 ml mango pulp

2 Tbsps condensed milk

an EXTRA mango (a half is enough)

Orange icing

3 Tbsp icing sugar

1,5 Tbsp boiling water

2 drops of orange essence

1. Sift flour and baking powder together, mix in sugar, oat brans and raisins. An EXTRA fresh mango chopped into cubes would make a sensation.

2. Beat the egg slightly, add oil, mango and milk and mix well.

3. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ones and combine well trying not to overmix. Divide quickly into 12 muffin wholes.

4. Bake in preheated oven at 190 degrees for 15 minutes. Check with a skewer if it comes dry.

5. Cool for a minute and take out on a rack.

6. Add orange essence to the icing sugar and mix well with boiling water to make the icing. Make check on cold muffins pouring down the icing from the teaspoon. 

Curried pork with pickled garlic

I bought a jar of pickled garlic in Asian store. It was well worth investing in the jar. Garlic is sweet and delicious. I made a pork curry with it. This is very rich curry best served with rice noodles and light vegetable dish.





For 2

150 gram lean pork steaks
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 pickled garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsp yellow curry paste
130 ml coconut cream
2,5 cm pieces fresh ginger root, finely chopped
2 tbsp Thai fish sauce
Salt, black pepper


Cut pork into cubes pieces. Heat the oil in a wok. Add curry paste and stir it well.
Add the coconut cream and stir until the liquid begins to reduce and thicken.
Stir in the pork with liquid. Cook 5 minutes. Add ginger, fish sauce, salt, black pepper and simmer 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Add garlic and cook for 3 minutes more.

Serve with rice noodles and vegetables.

Enjoy!!!

Do you have any other idea how to use pickled garlic?

Chinese - style scallops

It’s snowing in Dublin. Such weather is very rare in Ireland. Sunday was a lovely day with sun and fresh snow. So I went to walk around Phoenix park and took white coloured pictures. When I went back home I was very hungry. At the same time my friend came to my place. She came to surprise me. She brought me fresh scallops. I had only one good idea how to quickly make a lunch. I made Chinese - style scallops. This is a delicate dish for lunch accompanied by aromatic rice. I served it with white Italy wine. It was a nice and hot lunch for the very cold day.

For 2

1 tbsp sunflower oil
200 g. scallops
2,5 cm piece fresh root ginger, peeled and grated
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 bell of red pepper, cut in thinly sliced
100g. shiitake mushrooms, cut in thinly sliced
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp cornflour
Salt, black pepper

Heat the oil in a wok until very hot. Add the scallops, ginger, garlic and stir- fry for 3 minutes. Season with a little salt and black pepper and then remove from the wok.

Add red pepper and mushrooms to the wok and stir- fry for 3 minutes.
Make a cornflour paste by combining the cornflour and 3 tbsp cold water.
Pour the lemon juice, cornflour paste and soy sauce into wok bring to the boil. Add scallops and cook for 2 minutes.

Serve with rice and white wine.

Enjoy!!!

Pumpkin cookies

Coffee cookies are on top position in my party menu. I love these small sweets. I wanted to try them with pumpkin buttercream. It was a very good choice. Below is my new recipe.


Step 1

Cookies
400 gram of flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
200 gram of butter, softened
200 gram of white sugar
2 egg
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1)In a large bowl, stir together flour, baking powder. Add butter, eggs, sugar and vanilla extract and make the dough. Put the dough to refrigerate for about one hour.
2)After one hour preheat oven to 190 degrees C. Take the dough from the refrigerator and roll out the dough to a thickness of 1 cm on a lightly floured surface. Cut out circles shapes using a lightly floured cookie cutter and transfer cookies to the prepared baking sheet.
3)Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden. Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on racks.

Step 2

Pumpkin buttercream
250 gram of cooked pumpkin
200 gram of butter, softened
3 egg yolk
100 gram of castor sugar
1 teaspoon rum extract

Boil water in pot. Blend pumpkin on creamy consistency. Put metal bowl on pot with boiled water and mix together yolk and sugar on creamy consistency. Remove bowl on table and add soft butter and still mix until mixture will be smooth. Add pumpkin and rum extract and mix well. Mixture must be smooth and shine. If mixture is too soft put it in the fridge for 10 minutes

Step 3

On one cookie put tablespoon of pumpkin buttercream and cover it second cookie. Gently press the cookies until cream to spread abroad, and well glue their. Make the same with rest of cookies. When you finish put cookies on one hour to refrigerate.
If you like, you can serve cookies with chocolate sauce.

Enjoy

--------------
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Australian meat pie

 The Australian meat pie can be a surprisingly quick dish. Undoubtedly it can be delicious when using the right ingredients. And of course it is very very nourishing. It can be even considered to be healthy since it taste the best with tomato sauce rich in potassium…

Australian meat pie

 Makes 8-10

300 g packet of puff pastry

600 pork neck or minced meat

2 onions, chopped

few sprigs of fresh thyme, chopped, or 3 tspns dried thyme

4 Tbsps oil

salt, pepper

2 Tbsps breadcrumbs

2 eggs, slightly beaten

(ok, this is this better version of pies…)

1.      Mince the meat if you bought the solid piece of meat. Heat the oil and fry the onions until golden. Add minced meat, thyme, salt and pepper, according to taste. Cool down.

2    Mix in 1 slightly beaten egg and breadcrumbs.

3.      Cut out 12 cm-diameter pastry circles. You will probably get about 8-10. At four edges of the each circle cut out small triangles reaching their peaks only half way down to the center.  Remember not to smash nor the circles neither the leftovers. Now arrange every fan-looking circle in a muffin tin whole, stick together the edges on the walls of the mould. Fill up with the stuffing. Brush with egg and plaster with the leftover cuts of the pastry sticking together slightly.

4.      With a toothpick make a few wholes in the top of every meat pie, brush with an egg and bake in 200 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

5.      Cool down the pies for a minute, and take out of the mould. You may need to separate the pies from the mould by levering it with a thin knife around the mould. Serve hot or warm and absolutely with a nice tomato sauce!

 Information on the Australia in the Modern World conference is available here.

Australian Granny Smith apples in puff pastry

This week we discover Australian recipes which provide quick, fragrant, tasty and colourful food! Just think about the most Australian of all Australian apples - the Granny Smith kind, dated back to the 19th century. Go quickly to your local shop for a puff pastry packet and treat your family with this little and sweet beauties!

Granny Smith apples in puff pastry 

 makes 24 

300 g packet  of puff pastry

2 Granny Smith Apples 

2 egg whites

4 Tbsp sugar

1. Cut the puff pastry into 4x4 cm squares. Cut apples in two halves and every one of them into another 6 pieces of the quaters' shape.

2. Place the apple pieces on the squares diagonally and stick together the left corners.

3. Beat slightly the egg whites, mixing in 2 tablespoons of sugar. Brush the puff pastry and sprinkle with the remaining sugar.

4. Bake in 200 degrees for 18 minutes. 

 Enjoy!!!
Enter the Australian conference here!

Australia in the Modern World - foretaste of the tasting.

Australia in modern world. Between Asia, America and Europe - the conference organised by Australia, New Zealand and Oceania Research Association is walking fast. It is this Friday, November 26th, in Cracow. Around midday you would try some marvellous Australian wines, as well as the food. I am planning some must-to-do Australian dishes, as Anzac biscuits and little Pavlovas with fruits, but also some really old-fashioned jellies and seafood mousses. Should I encourage you to come and try a crocodile or a roo*? I don't think so. 

Before this, I opened my Australian and New Zealand Complete Book of Cookery and inspired by that prepared this tropical mousse. While making it, the smell was really promising and the taste is equally rewarding. The method is truly Australian - according to the rule keep it simple.

Australian tropical mousse

(makes 2 portions)

125 ml water

110 sugar

a pinch of cream od tartar

10 g gelatine

40 ml fresh orange juice

1 tsp lemon juice and some extra for a banana

1/2 tsp of the lemon and orange rinds grated

60 ml condensed milk

1 banana

1 passionfruit

1. Place water, gelatine, sugar and cream of tartar in a pot and boil over a medium heat for 10 minutes. Allow to cool and thicken.

2. When the mixture gets the consistency of the egg white, add the lemon and orange juices and the rinds. Beat until foamy. 

3. Add milk and continue beating for few minutes.

4. Slice banana, coat with extra lemon juice and drain well. Mix in the mousse and divide into separate cups. 

5. Chill in the fridge until set. Decorate with passionfruit pulp and some extra bananas.

See you on Friday at the Jagiellonian Library, Krakow, before 12 am. You can enter here.

*kangaroo

Thai pumpkin soup

The natural sweetness of the pumpkin is heightened by the addition of a little sugar in this lovely looking soup, but this is balanced by the chillies and shrimp. This is my version of Thai shrimp and coconuts soup. Please you can try, it is so tasty.




For six portion

450 gram peeled pumpkin
2 garlic cloves, crushed
4 shallots, finely chopped
½ tbsp. of shrimp paste
2 fresh green chillies, sliced
600 ml of chicken stock
½ tbsp. of sugar
500 ml coconuts milk
30 ml of Thai fish sauce
150 gram small cooked shrimps
1 tbsp. coconuts oil
Black pepper, salt.




Cut pumpkin into quarters. In pot heat coconuts oil and put garlic, shallots, shrimp paste, green chillies, sugar and salt and fired they 1 minute. Add chicken stock and stir soup. Add pumpkin and simmer about 15 minutes until pumpkin is tender. Add fish sauce and coconuts milk and boil 5 minutes. Add prawns and cooked next 3 minutes. Serve warm soup and garnish black pepper.
Enjoy!

-----------
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Pumpkin soup

Halloween means for me only one thing - pumpkins. Every year I cook a few dishes with this nice vegetable. This year Thai cuisine and new polish dishes are my inspirations.
The first dish is a soup. The recipe combines elements of Polish cuisine and Asian spices. The soup has a rich flavour and beautiful bouquet of smell. When I prepared the dish this nice smell was in whole my apartment. I felt like in oriental country though behind the window it was Irish grey day.

Try this soup. It is good for a cold day.

0,5kg sliced pumpkin in big pieces
5 tbsp of oil
3 tbsp of yellow curry powder
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp ground black pepper
2 cloves chopped garlic
2 tsp fish sauce
4 tsp Soya sauce
500 ml of hot water
250 ml of coconut milk

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Oil, curry powder, salt, pepper and garlic mix together.
The mixture spread on every piece of pumpkin and put on baking tray. Bake for 25 minutes at 200 degrees.

After baking, pieces of pumpkin and water put into blender and mix well.
Transfer pumpkin cream to pot and add coconut milk, Soya sauce and fish sauce and cook soup.



Serve with pumpkin seeds and fresh cream.

Enjoy!!!

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Mocca white chocolate muffins

That was my old dream to make muffins both with coffee and some chocolate. Of course not everything run smoothly this time. For example, take into account that if you melt sugar instead of mixing it with tlour it becomes a liquid ingredient and you have to add some extra flour. Let's say, twice more than originally presumed. Secondly, you can always ask a neighbour for... an egg. And finally, you can drop the bag of sugar while sprinkling it into the milk so anyway you have to double all the other ingredients...

Mocca white chocolate muffins

540 g flour (yeah...)

3 heaped tspns cream of tartar

1,5 heaped tspns baking soda

pinch of salt

375 ml milk

140 g brown sugar

70 g vegetable oil

100 g white chocolate chopped (or more...)

3 tspns of instant chicory coffee

1 slightly beaten egg

1. Lightly heat the milk, dissolving all the sugar and coffee and cool down.

2. Mix the sifted flour, cream of tartar, soda, salt and the chopped chocolate.

3. Add an egg and oil to the milk and combine with the dry ingredients.

4. Bake for 25 minutes at 185 degrees. Makes really large 12 muffins.

Another surprise can be that your yummy chocolate has melted completely (you just forgot that it used to happen before) which however does not affect the general reception.

And how to make a good shot if I am so impatient because of apetite?

Polish basic yeast dough. Old recipe, new exciting buns

I love the yeast dough as everyone in Poland does. It is not that difficult to make and is so versatile! Some are afraid of the rising time, unnecessarily. That is the pleasure to commune with a living organism. And to shape it into real doughnuts or to sink in some  sour rhubarb, sweet strawberries or succulent berries. Or to bake buns for an afternoon treat.

Marzipan apricot yeast buns

650 g flour

250 ml milk

40 g fresh yeasts*

100 g sugar

2 eggs

few drops of almond essence

100 ml vegetable oil

200 g marzipan, divided into 30 pieces

15 dried apricots, chopped into stripes

* Dry yeasts are also working but don't believe that all you have to do is to mix it with the flour!!! Handle them exactly as you would treat the fresh yeasts.

1. Warm the milk till tepid.  Dissolve yeast. In a bowl with sifted flour make a hole and pour in the milk. Mix with some of the flour until the mixture gets the thickness of a thick youghurt. Sprinkle with some flour, cover with a cloth and leave until frothy. 

2. Beat the eggs, sugar and almond essence well.

3. Using the electric beater (that is the cleanest way, traditionally you would use a hand or a wooden spoon) mix in the dough the egg mixture and oil. Take out onto a  pastry board and knead until smooth and flexible and then a few minutes more. Use some extra flour for kneading if necessary. Leave covered with a cloth in an oiled bowl for proofing. It needs to double the size.

4. Punch the dough and take out onto floured pastry board. Divide into four pieces, form logs of them, and divide each one into 7-8 pieces (about 40 g each). Place a piece of marzipan and a bit of apricot in the middle and close the dough over it. You can also roll it for a few seconds for a more regular shape. Place on an oiled parchment paper, facing the joint downwards. Cover with a cloth and leave until doubled the size.

5. Put to the hot oven, 180 degrees, for 20-25 minutes. Buns should be gorgeous brown, if you are not sure, check the bottom. If the bottom is fair, leave buns for some time more. It cannot be burnt, but can be really brown. 

This yeast recipe can be a base for many other cakes and buns, all you have to change is the shape. The dough itself is not too sweet so it balances well the marzipan, but for a fruit cakes you can use some extra sugar. For the doughnuts, add 1 tablespoon of vinegar when mixing the eggs with the leaven, later place a teaspoon of jam (preferably the rosehip jam) in every dough portion, stick well, leave to rise and deep-fry in a vegetable oil. We love the sweetened cottage cheese buns here. The even easier way is to roll out the dough for 1 cm, cut with a glass or a cutter circles of about 5 cm diameter, place a teaspoons of jam, fruits, or other filling on top and leaving these to rise. I also love to roll the dough thinly (about 0,5), spread it with jam, raisins, sugar and cinnamon, or whatever you have, form a Swiss roll, cut it into slices and spread the slices on a baking tray to rise.
 

I won't write anything else, you have to make it yourself, to play with the soft dough, to watch the proofing, to shape the small jewels, and to hold off yourself from the aroma appealing hot buns. I wait for your thoughts how you've made it.

Cenci rombs

Yummy, yummy, yummy! Another recipe from the series 'while we have no oven'. For the Fatty Thursday we have a special Polish version of cenci. We then treat ourselves with doughnuts also. This recipe is a modified version of the traditional cenci. The difference is that I use here less eggs so it is even cheaper but still very very good. This huge portion dissapeared in two days (there is much of them from this amount of ingredients). To good to deny it, hard to resist.

Cenci rombs

600 g flour

1 egg

1/2 tsp baking powder

6 Tbsps icing sugar

200-300 ml milk

1/2 l oil for frying

1.  Sieve the flour, baking powder and icing sugar onto the kneading surface.

2. Add slightly beaten egg and milk (this one gradually) and knead until smooth and  not sticking.

3. Divide into four pieces. Roll out very thinly one after another using some extra flour for dusting. Cut into small rombs.

4. Heat the oil in a heavy pan. Fry until golden on both sides. Drain on the paper towel.

5. Cool down and dust heavily with the icing sugar. The more sugar the better!!!

6. Hide well if you want to have some for later.

 I guess that this dough with less milk and no sugar would result in some quite nice home made chips. 

Celeriac cream soup

Early and cold this year's autumn is a fact. That is why we are going to use the whole splendid celeriac the good mother-in-law we are given by.

 Celeriac cream soup
(two portions for abnormal, according to Septime, people or 4 for the others)



1 medium (about 10 cm in diameter) celeriac with leaves
4 medium size potatoes
2 carrots
1 onion
1 tomato
fresh ginger 3 slices
50 g butter
1,5 l vegetable or chicken stock (can be from cube)
half tsp nutmeg salt and pepper to taste
thick cream and fresh chopped parsley for finishing

1. Peel and cut vegetables into chunks.

2.  Soften the celeriac leaves on butter on medium heat in a pot.

3. Add the vegetables and ginger and cover with stock. Bring to boil.

4. Cook until the vegetables are soft. Blend well and season.

5. Decorate with a dollop of a thick sour cream or plain yoghurt  and some chopped parsley. Serve with yummy bread. I am in.

Mushrooms in cream

Another mushroom must dish are mushrooms in cream. This is the easiest way to go with them (unless we taste them raw). This is a very easy starter that can feed you as well as a main course. This recipe applies to different mushroom kinds. Really elegant and a very ancient one option are chanterelles or saffron milk caps just fried on butter with no cream added and sprinkled with some parsley. Onion is optional in both cases but I prefer it.

Mushrooms in cream

for 2 people

150 g bottom mushrooms, porcini or others

1 small onion

50 g butter

salt to taste

150 ml double cream

1. Melt the butter in the frying pan. Chop the onion and fry until transparent.

2. Cut the mushrooms into slices. Add to the frying pan. Toss while frying. Season. You can experiment with spices here (I've tried recently the fennel  sprig which produced a nice result).

3. When the mushrooms are done add the cream, reduce the cream until thickened a bit, check the seasoning. 

4. Serve hot with bread.

Except the photos nothing is left. It's curtains.

Veggie's must mushroom cutlets

 While my husband was away I held a mushroom festival in my kitchen. Cutlets are rather rare fare among the mushroom dishes. They are worth trying as mushrooms provide the nice moist consistency to the dish. That is way you have to be quick with quite loose mixture to be fried. The carrot gives extra colour to the food and the parsley gives a really pleasant taste to the final product, as the optional ginger. Enjoy!

 

Mushroom cutlets

for 2 people

150 g bottom mushrooms

1 onion

1 carrot

2 Tbsp oil

1 tsp fresh ginger chopped, soy sauce (optionally)

1 egg

5 Tbsp flour

salt, pepper

small bunch of parsley

breadcrumbs

oil for frying

1. Chop the onion and brown in the frying pan. Add the chopped carrot.

2. Wash and cut the mushrooms into smaller pieces, add to the onion, cook until the mushrooms are done. Here add some ginger and soy sauce and fry for 2 minutes. Cool down.

3. Chop half of the parsley. Process the mushrooms (it doesn't have to be a smooth paste), add parsley, flour and slightly beaten egg. Mix well.

4. Take about 2 tablespoons of the mixture and coat carefully in the breadcrumbs. If you find the batter to loose you can add more flour but then the final product won't be so juicy.

5. Heat the oil (a layer of 0,5 cm should be fine) and fry on both sides.

6. Serve with mashed potatoes and cooked vegetables. Decorate with the remaining parsley.

It also goes well between two bread slices:-)

Polish marinated porcini mushrooms

Boletus edulis, more commonly known as porcini (meaning a piglet, did you know that?!) used to be served only in the noble houses in the Old-Polish era. Polish name of this mushroom, borowik, means 'a forest mushroom' and the popular name calls it prawdziwek meaning a true mushroom', both stressing its royal status among Polish mushrooms (by the way, the English name is penny bun or cep and the French cèpe de Bordeaux). They have something aristocratic in their look and their firm flesh makes a great base for many dishes. Mostly it would be boletus in cream or soup of dried mushrooms. One of the favourite ones are the pickles which are said to be perfect to go with Polish vodka. Thus it is unbelievable that boletuses were introduced to New Zealand and the South Africa...

Marinated boletus (marynowane prawdziwki)

For a 200 ml jar

100 g cleaned mushrooms cut into pieces

1 small onion, halved and sliced

300 ml water

1 tsp salt

pinch of sugar

Bring the water with spices to boil. Add mushrooms and onion and cook slowly for half an hour. Drain.

Marinade:

300 ml water

200 ml table vinegar (10%)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

5 allspice grains

5 peppercorns

1-2 bay leaves

Bring the water with spices to the 

boil, simmer for 5 minutes. 

Place mushrooms in a warm sterlized jar and carefully cover with boiling marinade. Quickly screw the lid on and turn over the jar. Leave it upside down until cold. That way it should be sealed well (with the lid concave). However if you are not sure if the jar is airtight, you can pasteurize it by placing the jar in a pot and pouring over the water nearly to the lid, bringing to boil and boiling slowly for 10 minutes or so. Then take the jar out and leave to cool.

Let the mushrooms marinate at least for a month. It keeps really well and makes a good gift when visiting friends from other countries;-)

This recipe applies to many types of mushrooms, among others chanterelle or the bottom mushroom. Enjoy!

Not fancy for a liver?

This was a liver testing week for me. This happens if you buy a kilo of offal that your husband doesn’t eat. Following Peter Gordon’s tips on sautéing livers, I went from rumaki through liver and beans to the liver and plum paté. Imagine that you prepare your own homemade paté, you exactly know what is inside and there is nothing artificial! Not mentioning the whole mistery of making a paté! It is a good thing as a spread for a party canapés or simply to go with some cracers. Or with some toasts for the open-air breakfast...

Liver and plum paté

360 g chicken livers
50 ml red wine
5 Tbsp vegetable oil
130 g red plums
2 Tbsp honey
50 g butter salt

1. Wash the livers, remove the sinews. You can cut them into halves so they cook more quickly. Heat up the oil in the frying pan, place the livers when it’s very hot. Fry for a minute or two on one side, or until you see that the upper side changes the colour into some grey brown. Turn over and keep frying for another two minutes. The livers should be cooked through but still pink. Place on the sieve and let it cool down and drip the oil and some juices.

2. Remove stones from the plums, cut the fruits into small cubes, heat up the honey in the frying pan and cook the plums until they start to soften. Remove from the heat and leave to cool down.

3. Melt the butter. Put the livers, butter and wine in the food processor and blend well. Now’s the funny thing. You have to pass the paté through a sieve, using a spatula or by pounding the paté on the sieve with a ladle. 4. The rest is the easy task. Season well with salt, add plums with all their honey juices and mix well. Place in a container. It will keep at least for a week in a fridge. You should get 300 g of your own homemade paté.

Besides did you know that livers are actually more valuable as a source of vitamins, minerals and proteins than the meat itself? Chicken and duck livers are both tender and versatile in using. Apart from these, the best it is said are those of calf, than lamb’s livers. Beef’s, pork’s or sheep’s livers have stronger flavour. It is important to remove sinews and fibres. You can soak livers in milk for getting a fair colour. You don’t salt the livers until it is cooked, otherwise it will harden – a good exception from that is to marinate livers in the soy sauce. Stewed liver with the onion sauce is a classic Polish dish, equally loved and hated. Liver for a living?

"News from Gosia’s kitchen" part 2 : Puff pastry

First dish which I made in wok was a puff pastry and golden beef.These easy, crispy pillows of pastry filled with spice beef and potatoes are delicious.
I made the pastry because it needs just a few minutes and is ready to eat for lunch or supper especially if you don’t have time or if you are so hungry after seasoning the wok like me.

What do you need to make it?

2 sheets puff pastry
1 tbsp sunflower oil
½ small onion
1 garlic cloves
1 tsp grated fresh root ginger
1 fresh red chili
2 tbsp curry powder
75 g minced beef
115 g mashed potato
4 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
Oil for frying
Salt and black pepper

Chop onion, garlic and chili. Heat the sunflower oil in a wok, add the chopped onion, garlic, chili, and ginger. Stir-fry over a medium heat for 3 minutes. Add the curry and beef and stir-fry over a high hest for 5 minutes, or until the beef is browned.

Transfer the beef mixture to a large bowl and add the mashed potato and coriander. Stir well, then season and set aside.

Lay the pastry on dry surface and cut out 8 rounds. Place a large spoonful of the beef mixture in the center of the pastry round. Fold each round in half to enclose the filling. Press and crimp the edges with the tines of fork to seal.

Fill a wok one-third full of oil and heat. Deep- fry the puffs, in batches, for 2-3 minutes until puffed up and golden brown. Drain on kitchen paper and serve garnished with fresh coriander leaves. Offer a small bowl of tomato ketchup for dipping.

Enjoy!

"News from Gosia’s kitchen" part 1 : Wok- King

Last two months were busy for me.
I changed a flat and I had a few problems in my job, but now I’m back and start new series on my experience with wok, South - East Asian and Mexican cuisines.
I gave it a name "News from Gosia’s kitchen" and it will be not only about my current interests.

Let's start. One month ago I bought new professional wok with bamboo steamers. I was very excited and I wanted to cook immediately I read on the packaging the following instruction.



1) First wash the wok thoroughly in warm water and detergent to remove special Anti- rust coating.

So, it looked easy, but I was scrubbing it the whole hour, uff.

2) Rinse and dry thoroughly over your gas ring or electric hot plate.

3) Put in two tablespoons of cooking oil. When the oil is hot warm rub the interior with a paper towel until the whole surface is lightly coated with oil.


Be careful on fingers. I used silicon gloves, they are very useful.

4) Heat the wok slowly for about 15 min. and wiping occasionally with more oil....


This part was very easy. The wok heated while I was sipping wine from the glass and was reading wok meals recipes.

4a) you will see that it will start to darken in color. This means that your wok is becoming seasoned and with use will get even darker or almost black.

So, it meant my wok was ready to start a new part of my kitchen life. Now I use wok not only to cook Asian food. My wok is ideal to make Italian sauces for pastas and fillings for Polish pierogi. The rest of my pots are still in boxes, because now I use my new versatile pot – Wok-king.

But the king needs a lot of attention and I can't leave it for a long time alone and dirty after cooking because the rust also likes wok.
Wok is easy to clean. Once it’s seasoned the wok should never be washed with detergent.
I simply remove any food and wash it in hot water. Next I dry with paper napkin and rub a little oil into the surface. That’s all.

It is important to never use detergent or scrub during washing. If you do it or when rust appears you must season wok again.



So let’s start cooking... but in next episode, see you.

Muffin rulez!

On the very important day of the presidential elections in Poland, on the 20th June 2010, I celebrate the draw won by Italy in the match with New Zealand. Well, actually I am celebrating New Zealand's success. I only pretended to be nice to the deceitul, simulating azzurri, shame on you!

Caramel Apricot Muffin
(presidential muffins)

1. Caramel:

200 g sugar
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 tablespoons boiling water

Melt the sugar together with the vinegar on a low heat on the frying pan. When it reaches a nice colour, add delicately water, mix, heat up and place a thick layer of the caramel on the bottom of the all oiled holes in your muffin tin.

2. Place halves of the apricots on the caramel bottoms.
(You can alternatively place them later on the top of the dough).

3. Prepare the dough:

3 eggs
100 g flour
80 g sugar
2 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon of the vanilla aroma

Beat the egg whites, than slowly add sugar and beat until all the sugar dissolves. Lower the mixer rotation, add egg yolks, oil and aroma, mix briefly. Add the flour and mix really carefoully, you can use your mixer also. Divide the dough equally between the separate tin holes.

4. Bake at 175 degrees for 25 minutes.

5. Take out of the oven, leave for 2 minutes and remove the muffins from the tin, placing them upside down on the wire rack.
That WAS yummy.