Little fancies

Pizza Toasts

2006-10-10T09:24:00.001+01:00

When I was working in a little Indian shop back in UK, I learnt how quickly you can create a fantastic snack that resembles a pizza. The little pizzas in the shop were not so nice but using once's own imagination, you can come up with something really tasty.
Now, who would ever say 'no' to a pizza? And having it for breakfast on those chilly October mornings is great!
I chose big round slices of white bread (which normally just waits to be dried for breadcrumbs), drizzled a tiny bit of olive oil onto it and fried it nearly dry in a pan. At the same time, the oven was on high. I spread a spoonful of 100 %pure tomato sauce on the bread , sprinkled mixed herbs, laid torn ham, mozzarella, smoked cheese and baked it in the oven for 5 min. In the meantime, I fried one red onion and together with gree olives put it on top of the ready pizza toasts.
Delicious! And a fantastic start to a morning!

Trips in Hungary and Austria

2006-05-29T15:15:00.000+01:00

A walk over the bridge from Slovakian twin town 'Sturovo' to Hungarian town 'Esztergom', with 'mighty Danube' flowing underneath.

Up to the Basilica(cathedral)

Left wing

Basilica

View

Mighty Danube - with boat trips from Budapest all the way to Vienna.

Hop-over - in Vienna(Belvedere)

Feel free to leave comments.

I am 1 today!

2006-02-06T14:56:00.000Z

I have been preparing for this day for a while now and I have nearly missed it!

I have looked back at my first posts, where I see such enthusiasm and excitement that I was coloring the sentences. I am missing it, so I will start it again.

Today is the day when I am going to tell you about how I chose the title for my blog.
Around the same time when I started my blog, one of my friends moved to Prague and I decided to send him a 'welcome to a new home' parcel which included little cakes you can buy here in UK, called - Little Fancies (see the pic). They come in 3 colours and flavours: lemon, strawberry and chocolate, six pieces in a box. You pick a cake according to what flavour you fancy. I thought it was a sweet name for a blog. You can write about your own and other fancy food. I was very proud of it, and so started posting in colour, inspired by these little cakes(and of course, by Clotilde from Chocolate and Zucchini). My writing could be better but we all have different talents. (I try my best)
So I am one today! I hope Little Fancies will interest you and bring you who read it a little sunshine on a rainy day.

Dreska.

Roasted Aubergine soup

2006-02-04T11:58:00.000Z

It is still chilly out there. I am sitting in the car, waiting for my hubby who decided to take a sun-bed, certainly a good idea, but I have a better one - a bookshop!
Just enough time to look for something to warm my heart. Italian, hm, Casa Moro, definitely on my list, ...oh, look, everybody has been talking about the Falling Cloudberries, it looks a treat... Aah, SOUPS. Bingo! This is exactly what I had in mind for this weather. Little book, every recipe with a picture, a world collection of classic favourites and exotic flavours too. I am so happy, lalalala, eagerly holding up the book in front of the cashier. I pay (pure £5.99) - what a bargain, and run back to the car to catch a glimpse before my hubby jumps in. I slide the book under the seat as I promised no more books for a while... But I have only started! Building.. ! A library!

Roasted Aubergine soup
Ingredients:
2 large aubergines (halved, drizzled with olive oil, baked until flesh is soft)
1 onion + 2 garlic cloves - sauteed on a small heat until soft.
Scoop out the aubergine flesh and add to the onion. Sautee a little to get the flavour in.
Add 2 pints of vegetable stock.
Process in a blender.
Decorate with creme fraishe with mint and a little cream and drizzle a swirl on top of the hot soup in a bowl.

I would like to add that this is my favourite at the moment. (with one drop of tabasco)

'Cullen Skink' or Smoked fish chowder

2006-01-31T23:38:00.000Z

About a week ago, after few days of frenzic reading of cookbooks' reviews, I settled on my first choice - twins: Leith's Cookery Bible and Leith's Technique's Bible. ( I always do that! I choose something straight-away that I know I like, but give it few days to settle and see whether I find something better. Then I go back to my first choice. I should know better by now and just buy it right-away!)
I quickly ordered them from Amazon whilst they were still in sale and was waiting for my 2-5 days super saver free delivery. (have I gone mad? did I really go for 2-5 days delivery? never again!) On my surprise, it arrived the next day!! I carefully opened the box and pulled out two brand new, shiny thick books, full of useful information and recipes.
The reason I decided on these 2 'bibles' was that I wanted to look at my ingredients in the fridge and then look them up in the book's index to give me a collection of recipes to choose from.
Well, that is exactly what I did to try the books out! I had a smoked haddock, looked it up and the suggestion was 'Cullen Skink' (must admit, it did not sound appetizing from the title) , a simple thick soup with a potato base.
When following the recipe: poaching the cod in milk with (only?) nutmeg spice - sauteeing 2 cubed potatoes with finely chopped onion - pouring the strained milk from the fish onto the potatoes, still cooking -blitzing the cooked potatoes with the milk - adding bite-size fish pieces (free of any bones) to the blitzed soup - pouring the soup into small earthenware dishes - finishing with fresh chopped tomatoes, parsley and ground pepper. I could not imagine how this simple looking soup could be so special. Then, after trying it, I admitted my defeat over my hesitations to keep the books and was fully convinced that the recipes in these books have been, just as the authors say, over 100x tried, tested and only the most liked recipes kept.
As for the name:
'Cullen Skink' - is a thick soup of Scottish origin with smoked haddock, potatoes and other vegetables.
'Chowder' - is a thick soup with fish and/or vegetables but having usually corn in it too.
Read about 'Cullen': http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/cullen/cullen/

White chocolate truffle dream

2006-01-30T14:47:00.000Z

Over the weekend, I made these lovely truffles.
My new flavour: white chocolate ganache with lemon extract, ginger and a bit of Cointreau came out delicious. All coated in bitter cocoa powder.

Noodle IMBB#22 (Sweet noodles and 4 toppings)

2006-01-29T21:12:00.000Z

This month has struck me with 3 blogging events that I managed to write up within the last week. This one - IMBB#22 is all about noodles, presented to us by Amy at Cooking with Amy.

I am glad that I can introduce you to few popular dishes of Slovak quisine - noodles with sweet poppyseed topping/sweet breadcrumb topping/sweet cabbage topping/ sweet quark topping and all finished with hot oozing jam.

These meals are usually served as a main course but feel free to use them in smaller portions as a dessert.

Sweet poppyseed topping - is used in a variety of cakes (strudel, little roll crescents, yeasty cakes, etc.). It appears in Slovak, Czech, Hungarian and Austrian quisine as a favourite cake filling. Pour about a cupful of poppyseeds with 2-3 tbsp of icing sugar into a whizzer/grinder and whizz until you see the colour change to a nice poppyseed grey. You can adjust the sweetness by adding more sugar to the grinder and whizz again. Heat a lump of butter and either mix into the noodles together with ground sugary poppyseeds or top the noodles with the poppyseed and then pour butter over it. Top up with hot jam.
(You could also add rum and lemon zest into the poppyseed mixture together with melted butter.)

Sweet breadcrumb topping - whizz fresh white or wholemeal bread in a grinder/mixer until you have nice breadcrumbs. Heat a lump of butter in a pan and add fresh breadcrumbs with some icing sugar. Fry until the mixture is heated through and a bit crispy. Again, either mix into the cooked noodles or top the noodles with the mix and finish with hot jam.

Sweet cabbage topping - shred a white cabbage finely and stir-fry in a pan in a little butter, just so that it coats it. Cover with a lid and steam, occasionally stir, so it does not burn. Cook until soft. Mix into the cooked noodles or top the noodles and finish with creme freshe and crushed walnuts.

Quark topping - 1 tub of quark and 1 egg yolk, icing sugar are mixed together. Then add whipped egg white, fold in. Add lemon zest and a squeeze of lemon. Rasins are optional. Leave to stand if you use rasins, so that they can plump up in the quark.

All these dishes are very traditional and we call them 'rezance' [rhey-zun-tsa](slovak).

If anybody tries them, please let me know whether you liked it or not.

Tagged with: IMBB # 22 + Noodle

"Cooking Challenges of 2006" MEME

2006-01-28T01:02:00.000Z

I have been tagged by Ivonne from Cream Puffs in Venice ( I want to say, I love the name and design and recipes in Ivonne's blog!) to write up my cooking challenges for 2006.
I wish I did not find it difficult - I would then own a huge catering business! :)

So, here I go:
1. Very recently, I have gone a little mad and started to read about every possible quisine in the world. I could not decide which one to take on as first, so I ended up with a collection (hungarian, french and morrocan). Thus, my challenge is to have in my cooking repertoire few dishes from every quisine I stumble across. (a bit too challenging, maybe, but it keeps my interest and ispiration up)
2. Spun sugar and caramel - it fascinates me what you can make out of sugar. Caramel is one of the tastes I love and it is so versatile - think of fudge, or banoffee pie, tart tatin, caramel ice-cream, 'pizzelle' - click, etc.) As for spun sugar, it means mastering caramel, for me. It looks impressive with desserts to give them that 'wow' factor. (maybe sad, :) but true!)
3. Croquembouch or a huge celebration cake with sugar piping. The basis for Croquenbouch is 'choux pastry' which fortunately, I am ok with. So, now, it is only to make lots of 'the balls', fill them with pastry cream(3 flavours), build them into a tower/pyramid and drizzle all over with caramel and spun sugar. Hmmmm! I shall be making this next week for my sister-in-law's 40. birthday party.
4. Inventive vegetarian meals - this is something, my hubby and I, are trying to do more. Eat healthily, meaning eat more vegetarian meals. So, my challenge is to be able to cook up huge variety of veggie meals.
5. Once a week dinner for friends and family.
This is something I always wanted to do often. Have done it few times but have still little things to improve like getting everything out hot and pretty quickly. So that's the challenge!
6. Last (and probably not least) is my challenge to produce truffles in larger quantities and sell them to people. I would love to hear the feedback from them as to what flavours they prefer. It would be very interesting!

Phew! That's my challenges for this year written. Now, I only have to keep them up. I'll keep you posted.

I would like to hear about the cooking challenges from following people:
Nicky and Oliver from Delicious Days, Ana from Pumpking Pie Bungalow and Keiko from Nordljus.

SHF#15 - Tangy Clementine Upside Down Cake

2006-01-27T18:35:00.000Z

This time round, Becks and Posh came up with an excellent idea for Sugar High Fridays#15(of which Jennifer is the creator) and asked for a permission to start Sugar Low Fridays.

My contribution is this delicious 'warm comfort pudding for cold winter days' that I adopted from 'Waitrose' supermarket recipe leaflets.

http://www.waitrose.com/wfi/ - is their super monthly magazine if you want to have a peek.

This lovely moist cake has very little fat and has a detailed calorie description:

It serves 6 people and 1 serving has:

199kcal/3.6 g fat/2.4% fat per serving

You could use oranges or grapefruit too as a variation and 'Waitrose' suggests an alternative for orange marmalade to use stem ginger syrup and few chopped pieces of ginger which I know would taste absolutely marvellous as the syrup is sugary!

Recipe:

4 clementines (2 large oranges)

3 tbsp orange marmalade(sugar-free)

2 medium eggs

75 dark brown sugar (I used 2 large tbsp. of honey)

grated zest and juice of 1 clementine

75 g self-raising flower, sifted

250g low-fat fromage frais + 1/2 tsp ground ginger - use as an accompaniment

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
Peel 4 clementines and slice into 5 circles each. Prepare a non-stick cake tin, 20cm in diameter and only 4cm high. Lay the slices, starting in the middle and working your way out, overlapping them slightly.
Warm the marmalade (you can make your own, if you like, using only orange segments, the orange peel and honey) and pour it over the clementine slices in the cake tin.
In a bowl, beat the eggs with honey with an electric mixer. Add the zest and juice of 1 clementine. Add the flour and mix in. Pour the mixture over the clementines and bake for about 20-25 minutes until golden and firm on top.
The marmalade might be bubbling on the side of the cake which is ok.
Once the cake is cooked, take out of the oven, put a large plate upside-down on top of the tin and turn it all upside down. Take the tin off and voila! Beautiful moist cake.

I would like to add, the cake tastes nice. I like them exceptionally georgeous. This one tastes healthy, is suitable if you fancy a hot pud and is done in about half hour. I would prefer to eat it with a delicious ginger ice-cream and a mint leaf on top!!! That would make it that little more exceptional.

Tagged with: SHF # 15 + Low Sugar

'Pate sucree' or 'pate sablee' and the easiest tart filling

2006-01-22T23:17:00.000Z

As I mentioned in my previous post, I decided it is a high time to give my full attention to traditional French art of pattiserie.
For that, I chose to follow The Roux Brothers on Pattiserie book which I found in the local library.

Although, it gives you a complete guide to pastry making, I am now a little sceptical about the 'up-to-date' -ness of the actual desserts. Because I wanted a book that would include classics like 'Lemon tart', 'Orange tart' or 'Apple Clafoutis' and hopefully, many other irresistable desserts to sit on my bookshelf, I went with the first one I found (1986).
I was hugely impressed with the technical side of the recipes. So I persuaded myself to devote my Sunday afternoon to baking. All excited, the decision fell on 'Hazelnut tart' (having 2 packets of hazelnuts in the cupboard).
I started to read the recipe with anticipation and find out what the tart filling was going to be. It only used eggs, cream, honey and 2tbsp of brown sugar. To a silly-billy - me, I could not think what that would give me in a baked form. Or let's just say, being short of time, I was NOT thinking!
Anyway. I started to make this beautiful pastry - 'pate sablee' which was very similar, almost identical to 'pate sucree'. Then, after comparing both in detail, I realized that 'pate sablee'(having ground almonds or hazelnuts) is finer, softer and harder to work with than 'pate sucree' (easier to roll and lay).
'Pate sablee' had a very delicate soft bite to it with a hint of lemon essence.

And now, raise the curtains for the tart filling!
Mix together - 4 eggs, 2 tbsp. of brown sugar, honey and 250ml of cream and pour into the half-baked pastry. After 15 minutes add the hazelnut halves and bake another 5 minutes.
E voila!
Custart tart with hazelnuts on top!

My dissapointment was evident. I don't think it was right as I did want to learn all about the classic tarts and this is one of them. However, I would have preferred something more, I don't know, to our modern tastes - something with a twist. So, maybe, I will just study this book, but purchase a more current one with 'tarts de resistance'.

2006-01-20T23:19:00.000Z

pooch

Croissants and french pattiserie

2006-01-18T23:07:00.000Z

About a week ago, I was browsing through cookery books in the local library and I came across this phenomenal guide on traditional pattiserie by the Roux brothers. The book is slightly old (1986) but has all the techniques on how to make perfect croissants, brioches, tarts, creams and sauces, etc. I was always thinking how nice it would be to wake up at the weekend and bake some home-made croissants. I must be a little mad to get excited over things which involve quite a large amount of work, but my eyes lit up when I started to read 2 full pages of dough preparation, followed by 2 pages of pictures - on the recipe procedure. This is what I call a serious cookbook. It is not short of any hints and tips either, like for example, how to get a durable glaze for puff pastry dessert with icing sugar. I must admit, I have become a fan of the old school, together with their french vocab. It makes the whole process of baking and my status as an amateur chef more serious if you say you are making 'Feulletage minute'(quick puff pastry) or 'Creme Anglaise'(custard cream). It all sounds so elegant! Aaaaah! (sad, I know, but I can't help it).

So, this is how I starting my new adventure - on french quisine.

The 'Sacher torte' - the pride of Austrian coffeehouses

2006-01-15T23:19:00.000Z

This rich and simple Viennese chocolate cake filled with apricot jam is one of the most celebrated and famous cakes in history. It dates back to 1832 when Prince Clemens Lothar Wensel Metternich (1773-1859) of Austria ordered his chefs to create a new dessert for his fancy friends. At the time, the head chef was ill and unavailable, so the kitchen cooks got in a panic not knowing what to do. Suddenly in a haste, a 16-year-old apprentice Franz Sacher came up with this simple and elegant idea for a cake which afterwards ensured him a flourishing career, followed by his son Eduard who opened up a hotel in Vienna in Philharmonikerstra3e. Nowadays, you can enjoy staying in this hotel packed with history also in Salzburg and treat yourself to the original torte and other pastries in 'Cafe Sacher' (Wien, Salzburg, Graz, Innsbruck).

If you want to be one of the 500-800 people ordering this historical cake in a day , you can buy it here in the 'Sacher shop' which makes it available for people all around the world, packaged in nice wooden boxes, just like in the old times. They come in 4 different sizes and you can complement them with other presents from the shop like porcelain, souvenirs - i.e.original old-fashioned news-paper holder( cute!I am a big fan of the old coffehouse style).

I made my own version of this fabulous cake which has surely been tried by many:(original recipe borrowed from 'Chocolate the definitive guide' by Sarah Jayne-Stanes)
-beatifully moist chocolate almond sponge, raspberry jam, chocolate mirror icing

Ingredients:
-125g dark chocolate (melted)
-125g sugar
-125g butter(low-fat margarine)
-125g ground almonds
- 6 eggs(separated)
- pinch of salt
Icing:
200g dark chocolate(melted)
55g butter
100g icing sugar
100ml water

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.

Melt chocolate in a microwave, watching and stirring every 20-30 seconds until smooth.

In a bowl, mix butter and sugar with an el.mixer until smooth. Add egg yolks and mix them in. Add cooled down chocolate and fold in using a spatula. Add ground almonds and mix in until combined.

Ina separate bowl, whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff. Fold in little by little into the chocolate mixture, breaking up the thick mixture slowly.

Bake in a spring-form cake tin for about 20 min. until firm to touch.

Whilst cooling down, make the icing. Put the water and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to boil. Quickly add melted chocolate and whisk it in off the heat until smooth. Put back on the heat and bring to boil and take off quickly. Whisk and leave on the side to cool a little.

Cut the chocolate cake in half horizontally and spread the jam in the middle. Put the top back on and pour the icing on top in the middle. Take a spoon and with a circular movement from the middle, slowly spread the icing over the top to the sides. It will be setting in few minutes as it is already cooled down a little, so it won't run.

Keep a little choc. icing back and with a piping bag, write 'Sacher' on the top of the cake.

Happy New Year

2006-01-01T11:41:00.000Z

I wish everybody very happy new year, so that all the things we plan or wish for come out just right.
Lots of people do new year's resolutions which I have never done myself before until now!
I started my blog last year during which many important things happened and I missed about 2 months of writing and reading.
Therefore, this year comes with my first resolution, to keep up my food blog and to be more adventurous and creative.
It is one of the things I enjoy and find inspiring, so thank you all for writing and sharing your posts. It is always an enjoyment to read them all.

A Menu for Hope

2005-12-14T10:55:00.000Z

'A Menu for Hope' campaign has been set up by one of our famous fellow food bloggers Pim who is running 'A Menu for Hope II' at the moment.
The food bloggers (and everybody really) are welcome to join and donate as little as $5 here at 'Firstgiving' fundraising web site. All the money collected (you can view the total as it rises) goes to Unicef to help victims of the earthquake in Northern India and Pakistan. Each $5 you give is worth a raffle ticket and you can win a fantastic prize out of a huge selection donated by lots of food bloggers which you can read and choose from here at Pim's site. After you give a donation remember to write a prize(s) of your choice in the comment section.

I am offering a prize too - Jill Dupleix's Very Simple Food, a box of hand-made truffles(white, milk and dark - different flavours) and few little kitchen tool must-haves as a small surprise.

Whiskey banana chocolate cake

2005-12-10T00:14:00.000Z

I like reminiscing how I got to like baking cakes, how it all started with my mum being a great cook and a cake maker and with her famous 'little pink book' full of collected recipes. The strange thing was that we never used cookbooks, it was always recipes handed over form a person to person, here and there and we always baked the same ones, that we liked the best. You might think, didn't we get bored with them? And somehow, no, is the answer. I still love them. We made them for special occasions in the year. The very difficult and my mum's pride- 'Honey slices' (sounds so simple, but I never made it without my mum) - warm pastry made with lots of honey, rolled and then baked for a couple of minutes and quickly ran underneath with a knife to prevent sticking(you would never scrape it off if left to cool!), 5 sheets, filled with a light rum infused buttercream, jam on top layer and covered with dark chocolate. Absolute bliss! We would make these for Easter and X-mas, as it would take some time.
Now, as I live far away from my mum and don't have a huge kitchen, I had to look for other options and find a favourite cake (nothing can beat the Honey slices though) which my husband has recently announced as Whiskey banana chocolate cake, from the book he's got for me.
We thought it is just so moorish it has to be a classic. And of course, banana cakes are. But this is just a little further from a banana cake. It has hazelnuts, whiskey and dark chocolate inside to bring you that lovely warming taste out on your palate. Try for yourself and let me know what you think.

Recipe:
Oven - 180 degrees.
85g butter( margarine)
160 g sugar (it says 225g but I tried it with less and it is just super, otherwise it would be like a sticky cake)
Mix in a bowl with an electric mixer. 2 eggs
good splash of whiskey
Mix in the eggs, whiskey(still with electric mix.)
2 large ripe bananas(mashed with a fork)
115g dark chocolate(buttons if poss., I used Callebaut dark, strong)
Hand-mix in the bananas and chocolate.
Sift together:
175g flour
1/2tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1tbsp cocoa
Add to the mixture and combine.
100g hazelnuts, chopped
Add the hazelnuts, fold in.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 30-45 min. until firm to touch.

Ultimate X-mas roulade

2005-11-30T10:13:00.000Z

So Christmas time is nearly here as the surrounding lit streets and shops are telling us and I feel I am a little behind with my preparations.
First thing I always do is that I go mad bying my 3 favourite food magazines.

http://www.waitrose.com/wfi/
http://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk

and Good Food.
Then I can't wait to read them in bed every night and dream of a big festive x-mas trying out all the nice recipes.
I managed to try couple already for my birthday party in November.
Everybody loved the dessert - Chocolate roulade with chestnut cream filling.
Very simple but so effective.

This recipe is from 'Delicious' magazine(December 05)
Ingredients:
175g plain chocolate (buttons if possible)
6 large eggs
175g golden caster sugar
Filling:
200 ml double cream
4 tbsp sweetened chestnut puree
(optional but delicious!-good splash of Cointreau)

Chocolate icing:

100 g dark chocolate

30g butter

100g icing sugar

100ml water

Melt the chocolate and butter together. Dissolve the icing sugar in the water in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Straightaway add melted chocolate and boil again quickly. Take off quickly and whisk until it is beautifully smooth. Set aside to cool a little, so that it sets quicker when we pour it onto the cake. Otherwise, it will just drip down.

Decorate:

icing sugar
10 fresh holly leaves
6 chocolate coated almonds(or caramelized)
Recipe:
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.(fan 160).
Get ready a Swiss roll tin(non-stick preferably, or grease another one) and put a sheet of baking paper and smoooth out to the edges as you are going to fill it with the cake mixture.
Melt chocolate in a pan over a simmering water(bowl should not touch the water). Or melt in a microwave on medium power checking every 20 seconds for 2-3 minutes.
In a large bowl - whisk sugar, egg yolks until pale and creamy. Whisk in the melted chocolate(once cooled down a little).
In a separate bowl, whisk egg whites to soft peaks. Stir a little into the chocolate mixture to loosen it up a little, then fold in the rest. Fold until just combined..
Pour into the lined tin and bake for 20-30 min. until spongy to touch.
Prepare a sheet of baking paper on the work surface and dust heavily with icing sugar. Once you cooled the roulade, turn it out onto the paper. You can now peel off the baking paper from the roulade, cover with a clean sheet and a damp tea-towel. This will help to roll the roulade.

Put aside and whisk the cream in a glass bowl with chestnut puree until smooth and thick.
Once the roulade is cool, take off the tea-towel, turn it upside-down to have the harder side on the outside and spread the cream on the inside. Roll gently, not to break the it anywhere.
And finally, the chocolate icing on top!

Chocolate mad...

2005-11-21T14:22:00.000Z

Hi everyone,
I have recently got this book for my birthday. My hubby noticed me in the bookshop browsing through it. First, I didn't quite think it's for me(I like nice pics, these are all done with a brown tint) but when I got it from my hubby as a present, I thought I will keep it for a while to see whether it has good things to offer. I was still not sure not having pics for every recipe.
But now!!! Oh, my ..It is absolutely fantastic! Every recipe you try is just so indescribably good and you find things from simple florentines to Sacher tortes and truffles, chocolate tempering in detail, etc. Wonderful!
So, it completely got me! Especially for the truffles and tempering. That's my every weekend entertainment.
I must post a delicious choc, whisky and banana cake.

Breakfast coffee pancakes

2005-08-21T17:22:00.000+01:00

American-style pancakes

Ideal Sunday morning with bright sunshine in the kitchen, I thought I need to complemet it with a lovely breakfast.
I found a nice recipe for these pancakes that have strong espresso coffee, and a yoghurt mixture in them, served with maple syrup and fruit compote.
As I like nice coffee so much, I thought, I'd give it a go.

recipe coming..

Gypsy tart (Treacle tart)

2005-08-19T12:44:00.000+01:00

gypsy tart

Do you need a sugar fix? This is one of the best ones on the earth - gypsy tart or some people know it as treacle tart. And if you think, no way, just read on.

First time that I have been offered to try it here in England was completely destroyed by the appearance of the tart. It was thick, chunky and swimming in cream (as cakes are traditonally served by a majority here! sorry :)). I , however, tried it and ......was, unfortunately, not taken by the taste either. So, I abandoned this great of the English favourites until NOW.
This was the time when I WAS nicely surprised.
I saw these beautiful golden little tarts decorated with fresh fruit and mint leaves. When I looked closer, it said - mini treacle tarts! This was definitely a new chance to try them out again as they were so delicious-looking.
They also were much thinner, more delicate and they were not served with cream, but rather lightened up by fresh fruit. The taste was reinvented by a touch of ground almonds as opposed to using just breadcrumbs.

So, here it is ( I made it in one large piece as I didn't have separate little tartlet tins)

whizzmixbake

Recipe:
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees/fan 170 degrees/gas 5.

Ingredients:
150 g golden syrup
50 g fresh breadcrumbs
40 g ground almonds
1 large egg
4 tbsp double cream
vanilla essence
fresh fruit (strawberry, kiwi, mandarin, mint leaves)
Mix the breadcrumbs with ground almonds with your hand. Add the remaining igredients and mix thoroughly with a spatula. Leave on the side until you make the pastry.

Sweet pastry:
75 g butter, softened
3 tbsp icing sugar
1 large egg yolk
115 plain flour
Mix these ingredients with an electric mixer on number 1(slow) to get a nice elastic pastry. Then dust the worktop with some flour and roll the pastry out. If you are making small tartlets, divide the pastry into 6 pieces and roll out into circles. Keep turning the pastry and dusting it, so it does not stick to the surface. Once done, transfer the pastry into the tins, leaving a higher edge (as we will fill the tarlets later). Prick the pastry with a fork all over. Put baking sheet (cut to size, leaving high edges) into the tarlets, on top of the pastry and fill with beans onto paper, spreading the beans right to the edge. This baking is called - 'baking blind'. Bake for 10 min. Then take the paper edges and lift the paper with beans out of the tarlets.
At this point, you can either leave the pastries on the side or put them back into the oven to bake a little more.(only up to 4-5 min.). I found the pastries were too hard, so next time I will leave without additional baking.
Pour your mixture into the tarlets and bake about 15 minutes until golden brown.

Decorate the tarlets or the tart with fresh fruit (strawberries cut in halves, segmented mandarins without skin, kiwis into slices, maybe pineapple into thin slices). Start decorating from the middle of the big tart laying strawberry halves next to each other, alternating with mandarins and 2 kiwi slices which we stand up in between the fruits. Finally, add mint leaves in the middle.

Breakfast muffin

2005-08-16T20:46:00.000+01:00

breakfast muffin

I am on a mission to find a perfect recipe for muffins of all types. It is proving a little tricky as there are so many variations of mixes. So I came to a conclusion that you have to experiment and adjust the recipe until it is as you want it.

I am looking for that authentic 'every-coffee-shop-has-it' muffin that I can create at home. Well, let's see how it evolves with time to come.

The above 'Breakfast muffin' is one of my favourites. I like muffins that surprise me with their taste and hidden bits. Just like the one above. It has carrots, apple, ginger, nutmeg, nuts, raisins, oats .. - every mouthful is different.

But if we take a peek into the culinary history of muffins, we will find that muffins were once upon a time quite small and plain with maybe raisins and nuts. There was a set line of muffins like bran, blueberry, apple, corn, date, oatmeal. It was only in 70-ies and 80-ies that muffins grew 3 or 4 times their normal size, big American muffins as we know them today.

Recipe:
Preheat the oven to 220 degrees.

Ingredients:
3 large eggs (I used 4)
1/4 cup brown sugar (I would use 1/2 cup, otherwise they are only a little sweet)
1/2 cup veg.oil
2 tsp vanilla extract(essence)
Whisk them together with an electric mixer.
Add and mix in with a spatula:
1 medium carrot(peeled and grated)
1 large apple (peeled and grated)
Add and mix in with a spatula:
1/2 cup raisins(golden best)
1/2 cup dessicated coconut
1/2 cup oats
1/4 cup wheat-germ (if you don't have it, just use flour)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup flour
1 tsp soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt

Fill in the muffin tray cups to the top(not over). They will rise nicely.

Kugelhopf

2005-08-07T23:22:00.000+01:00

I am so glad to be back and especially with some nice recipes ahead.

This weekend, I was looking through a 'Homes and Gardens' magazine in the local tea-room and found something that cheered me up right away. A small collection of recipes(Hot Cross Buns, Brioche, Kugelhopf and some savoury ones - Focaccia and Naan bread). The lady owner was very kind and lent me the magazine, so I did not hesitate and ran to the nextdoor village to my favourite cookshop and bought a 'fluted cake tin' (for me - Kugelhopf tin) - to make this delicious poppyseed and almond 'Kugelhopf'. ( I am hoping you can recognize it in the picture above).

Recipe (from 'Homes and Gardens' magazine):
makes 1 medium round cake(23-25cm diameter)

4 large eggs(beaten)
200 g vanilla sugar (or sugar and drop of vanilla essence)
1tsp almond essence
125g ground almonds
175g plain flour (should be sieved but not important)
50g poppy seeds
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (or 1 x 7g sachet easy-bake yeast)
1/4 tsp sea-salt
butter to grease a 'kugel'(babka or ring) tin if it is NOT non-stick
icing sugar for dusting

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.
Heat water in a large wok to a hand-hot temperature. Prepare a large mixing bowl and immerse it into this wok with hand-hot water.
With an electric beater, whisk eggs, sugar and essence for 2-3 min. until smooth and light. Put the beater aside and take a spatula to mix in almonds, flour, poppy seeds, baking powder, soda and salt. Fold and mix through until all combined.
Pour the mixture (which will be quite runny, so don't be alarmed) into a greased tin(or non-stick tin) and baked for 30 min. or so until golden and firm to touch. Check with a skewer whether it comes out clean.
Leave to cool and with a plastic spatula, help to pull the edges off of the side of the tin. Then invert onto a plate and dust with sugar and serve sliced with coffee, lemon tea or a dessert wine.

Sorbets in summer

2005-08-05T10:51:00.000+01:00

Finally, I can enjoy the blogging world and delicious post of my fellow blogger again.

After a big push to finish the house renovations, we have put it up for sale. So now, I will be back in the kitchen making nice treats, feet up eating them and then writing them here.

I have a lot to catch up with, I can see.

As a start off, I decided to enter with sorbets.

I love them in summer as they are so refreshing, full of flavour and colour!

A quick recipe for you:
(from 'Delicious' magazine)

200g caster sugar
300ml water
300 ml strained fruit(lemon, orange, etc.)
3 tbsp vodka

Cookbook MEME

2005-06-17T22:22:00.000+01:00

Cookbook MEME

Have been tagged for the above Cookbook MEME (explained by Lyn at Les Culinaria)by Ana from Pumpkin Pie Bungalow.

I have been reading through few blogs and their owners' cookbook possessions and must say that I envy them. I would LOVE to own THOUSANDS of cookbooks. But unfortunately, the life has given me only a modest allowance - several cookbooks and 2 food magazine subscriptions. Most of my cookbooks I have recieved as presents as people knew how hooked I was (and still am) on cookbooks. I actually bought only about 4.
There are several things I am going to go mad with shopping on when we finish renovating our house and One of those things will be cookbooks. Can't wait!

Anyway, here are my answers:
1. Total number of (cook/food) books I’ve owned:
About 20.
2. Last (cook/food) book(s) I bought:
In fact, I have recieved it free via my 'Delicious' food magazine subscription. It is Jill Dupleix's 'Very simple food'. The one I bought myself before that - 'The Essential Guide to Cake Decorating' ( in my artistic period of rich fruit cakes, marzipan and royal icings ...)
3. Last (cook/food) book I read:
The above Jill Dupleix 'Very simple food'. - several interesting ideas, although I wouldn't say it is for me. I found it a bit, I don't know, possibly more suitable for people with less creativity, needing to spruce up their parties, quick suppers and desserts.
4. Five (cook) books that mean a lot to me:
Ok. Into this category I am adding cookbooks which in fact, represent different stages in my cooking life:
1/ my grandma's very, very old cake book with a bookcover covered with a sort of beige material and a nice old-fashioned cake picture print on top of it. I used to watch my grandma make cakes and read out the recipes for ther whilst she was making them. (when I was about 7-8)
2/a fantastic big picture cookbook with an alphabetical food terms encyclopedia on its page margins which I recieved as a present from my first au-pair family here in England. (I was 19)
3/ Chinese cooking - another book I have recieved as a presie from their neighbours. I was extremely surprised, shocked and excited about it. It was my first summer when I tried Indian and Chinese quisine and of course, loved it. Getting a book which told me how to make these delicious meals and to make them back in my country was great! (I was 19)
4/Breads; Muffins; Biscuits - by the Australian Women's Weekly Cookbooks editor.(when I was 22)
5/Jamie Oliver's book - speeded up my cooking and traditional style. Moved my food preparation and ideas into more of an improvisation then following recipes.
Now, recipes are there more or less for inspiration. The rest is pure jazz.
5. Which 5 people would you most like to see fill this out in their blog?
Ok, this is going to be harder as there are many of you tagged already, but here we go:(if you are not tagged already too)
Aude at Epice et Compagnie
Rowena at Rubber Slippers in Italy
Marco at Superfuji

Peach 'Danish' (pastry)

2005-06-14T18:03:00.000+01:00

Peach danish

This has to be my ever-favourite quickie dessert. I got the idea from Nicky and Oliver's recipe over at Delicious Days and I can't stop making them.
It is super fast and the pastry is soooo hmmm.

I have put canned peaches on top and the pastry beautifully rises around. I also added few pecan nuts (love them roasted).

out of the oven
Sprinkled with icing sugar and cocoa powder. (maybe a bit weird but I like it that way)

English summer BBQ

2005-06-12T19:25:00.000+01:00

BBQ

I absolutely fell in love with BBQ since I have first tried it here in England. It feels like a special treat. Friends are invited, drinks are poured, music in the background and sun is shining- ideal Sunday afternoon. (in slovakia, we cook soups over an open fire in a hanging metal bowl or sausages, bread, onions on sticks - very simple).
Now, I will pause a little with that sun. The sun is a required pre-requisite to any British BBQ. As soon as it is out, we push our BBQ trollies out, baste the meat in a quick marinade, cut and prick the sausages and of course, light the brickets. Then, we enjoy the smoke and smell of the bbq and wait for the feast to be ready to eat.
But how about having 'a barbie' when it is just going to rain and finding a cozy spot under cover where we can sneak in and enjoy it no matter what the weather is like. Now that's what I call, BBQ fan. I must admit it is even more exciting, it's like you are doing something you are not supposed to do and it feels great!
As far as the ready products in the shops are concerned, I again and again like to make my own and from the scratch if possible.
So, the marinades(all made with olive oil)
- red wine, onion, honey and mint - with beef sirloin
- lime, thyme, honey, mustard - with chicken
- orange, thyme, brown sugar - with salmon

Unmissable BBQ food - Beef burgers(beef, egg, onion, herbs, salt, pepper, little flour for binding)
- sausages - bought
- potato salad Nicoise with 'creme fresh' (new potatoes, black olives, green beans, hard-boiled eggs, spring onions)
- chicken kebabs (with bell peppers, onions)
- garlic pitta breads (lighter version of garlic bread)
- chutneys and relishes
I am sure the list could go on, but these are my essentials for a quick outdoor lunch.

and me

Croissant for soda bread

2005-06-09T22:05:00.000+01:00

Croissant for raisin soda bread

It doesn't quite have that sophisticated sound as 'croissant', however, soda bread is my new healthier breakfast option. It has no yeast and is low-fat and tastes beautiful when toasted. Especially soda bread jewelled with rasins and with apricot jam on the side.
It comes from Ireland where it is usually eaten freshly baked for breakfast or tea. It is also called 'quick bread' as it goes off quickly and therefore is baked fresh every day. Originally, it is baked in a pot (round shape) over a fire and it uses bicarbonate of soda and buttermilk(sour milk) as a raising agent.
Here is a lovely web site featuring nice pics of different soda breads, although not purely Irish. Americans like to flavour their soda bread and offer a good selection, nearly like their muffins.
http://www.bostonsodabreads.com/

Raisin Soda Bread recipe:
1lb/ 1/2kg/ 4 cups plain flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sugar (optional)
1pt/ 1/2 lr/ 2 cups buttermilk or sour milk
1/2 cup of sultanas

Sieve the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Scoop up handfuls and allow to drop back into the bowl to aerate the mixture. Add enough buttermilk to make a soft dough. Now work quickly as the buttermilk and soda are already reacting. Knead the dough lightly - too much handling will toughen it, while too little means it won't rise properly.
Form a round loaf about as thick as your fist. Place it on a lightly-floured baking sheet and cut a cross in the top with a floured knife. Put at once to bake near the top of a pre-heated oven, gas mark 8, 450°F, 230°C, for 30-45 minutes. When baked, the loaf will sound hollow when rapped on the bottom with your knuckles. Wrap immediately in a clean tea-towel to stop the crust hardening too much.

This recipe is from http://www.irelandseye.com/aarticles/culture/recipes/cooking/soda.shtm.

Heavenly coffee

2005-06-06T15:19:00.000+01:00

Heavenly coffee

Even though June for many people is a start of the hot summer season calling for ice-creams, ice-drinks, chilled gateaus and panna cottas, to me, good strong espresso brings that chilling summer feeling of lazy days, holidays and enjoying the sun.
Withing the last few years(coming on to 30!), I developed an icredible taste for coffee. I am lucky to share this with my hubbie too. We will try coffees from different regions and compare the tastes. It is incredible how they can differ - from smooth to lemony or very strong roast tastes.
Every Friday, we go for a soya cappuccino to Starbucks and they always have free samples on offer. So, we don't feel ashamed and take one.
After all, we did find our favourite and found several good excuses to buy few packs (one for us, another two as birthday presents which travelled back to Europe).

to be continued..

Bell peppers

2005-06-06T11:19:00.000+01:00

bell peppers

So, I am finally back and with full steam too. I have been working like mad for a month in a bakery/supermarket next to my own business and have been missing the food blog world. I finished the bakery episode and am bringing this lovely recipe which I wanted to try for sooo long for a refreshing start.

The filling:
cooked rice
sauteed minced pork, mushrooms, red onion and
chopped peppers
fresh lemon thyme, parsley
salt, pepper

Cut the top of the peppers off evenly as you will need them to cover the filled peppers when baking.
Discard the seeds and fill the peppers with the pork and rice filling, put the cut pepper cover back on and bake in the oven until the peppers are completely soft.

Mozzarella, basil and tomato

2005-05-15T21:46:00.000+01:00

mozzarella

Whether you like it just on its own, on a piece of brushetta, in a salad or melted over your pasta, you will enjoy one of the most classic tastes of the italian kitchen.
I prefer it torn apart with hands, drizzled with virgin olive oil, scattered with roughly chopped fresh basil leaves and some cherry tomatoes (in fact, I think I prefer deep red tomatoes on the vine, but if you are too hungry, cherry tom. are quicker). Not to forget - salt and freshly ground black pepper on top.
I love it as a quick starter when I come back from long food shopping, taking bites in between unloading of the goodie bags.

Linguine, creamy garlic fish sauce and cashews

2005-05-14T12:42:00.000+01:00

linguine

Hello, hello.
Continuing on my 'Made in Italy' theme with this truly superb pasta dish! (I don't mean to promote my cooking here, but this came out really fantastically. Oops! I did it again.)

Linguine has been my favourite pasta for quite a while. I first tried it in an italian chain reastaurant 'Cafe Uno'. It's smooth and just feels nice compared to classic spaghetti. As it is usually served quite plainly in restaurants, I had to make my own version and not with the usual seafood either. This time, a vegetarian linguine full of texture, colour and tastes.

naked linguine

To achieve full contrasting tastes, I grilled all the vegetables (red, orange and green bell peppers, papardelle-cut zucchini, asparagus) and sauteed the mushrooms with garlic on butter for a minute, added parsley at the end and put to side.
Grill the peppers until the skin is completely black all over, then it is very easy to peel.
When you grill zucchini and asparagus, drizzle them with virgin olive oil and ground some black pepper on them.

Ingredients:
linguine (cooked in a large pan with water and little olive oil )
6-7 large bell peppers(grilled and cut into strips)
2-3 zucchini (sliced as papardelle and grilled)
bunch of asparagus (grilled)
piece of butter
1-2 tbsp of fresh parsley (chopped)
musrooms (lots, depends how much you like them, :))
cashew nuts (scattered on top of the pasta whole)
Creamy fish garlic sauce:
250 ml cream (I use soya)
piece of butter
2 garlic cloves (processed with knife edge)
splash of fish sauce (nam pla)

whole caboodle

Kiwi jam (home-made)

2005-05-11T17:35:00.000+01:00

kiwi jam

Over at Chocolate and Zucchini, Clotilde wrote a sweet article about making a pear jam with cocoa nibs which sounds very curious!

It must be something in the air as I made a kiwi jam just last weekend. As I mentioned in my previous post, I always get stuck with lots of kiwis and they overripe and I can't eat them anymore. I used to bin them which I hated doing and I am now wondering why I didn't think to make jam back then.
Well, I just must have got a brainwave out of this food-blogging and there it is - easy peasy kiwi jam.

Strudel

2005-05-10T23:43:00.000+01:00

strudel

One of my most favourite hot desserts!

Again, as always, quite a quickie - apart from fruit prep.
So here you have it:
-apple with mandarines and raisins
-poppyseed with nuts and raisins

I will write more on this tomorrow. If you want to read something about it , take a look at my February post, scroll right down once you are in February.

apple, poppyseed, filo pastry

home-made kiwi jam

Are you like me, bying kiwis for Vitamin C (still hard) and then not noticing when they go too soft and not so nice to eat?
Make a jam! Peel them, put them in a pan with few spoons of sugar and cook over a low heat until absorbed and sticky but still a bit runny.

kiwi jam

Fresh strawberries

2005-05-08T13:23:00.000+01:00

strawberries

Oh, I nearly forgot! A dessert!
-fresh strawberries
-light brown muscovado sugar
-cream(soya or other)

Polenta fishcakes

2005-05-08T12:33:00.000+01:00

fishcakes

When I go shopping for food, I just love stopping at the fresh fish counter and buying all kinds of fish. For me (middle Europian), living near the sea is quite an experience.
So I usually spend quite a lot of money as I want to try different types of fish.

This time, I decided to make some fishcakes out of smoked haddock, white haddock and salmon.
I don't know where the fishcakes in fact originate. But I thought I would give it a slightly italian feel with the polenta covering. It is also known as cornmeal or ground maize. It is yellow and slightly gritty. (see pic below)

fishcakes covered in polenta

Polenta is used as a alternative to pasta, potatoes or rice and is usually cooked as a meal in the form of firm wedges, which can be also grilled.(see the link) Those are then served with meat or grilled veg.
I also like using it instead of breadcrumbs as it makes a very fine and light covering.

Fishcakes ingredients:
1 white haddock - poached with the skin up together with smoked haddock
1 smoked haddock - poached, skin up (milk to cover the fish and the rest of the veg - 2 sliced carrots, 1 sliced leek, 1 tbsp peppecorns, 2 bay leaves, fresh parsley, splash of white wine or white wine vinegar)
2 pieces of salmon (grilled plain, no oil!)
2 tbsp fresh coriander
splash of tabasco sauce
splash of fish sauce(nam pla)
roughly mashed potatoes (5 large potatoes cooked)
black pepper
2 eggs (1 for salmon, 1 for haddock mixture)
1-2 tbsp of flour (1 for salmon - smaller mixture, 1-2 for haddock)
polenta (1/2 bag in a plate)

Prepare 2 bowls as we are making 2 types of fishcakes. Salmon fishcakes and smoked haddock fishcakes. And then, basically, you just mix in all the ingredients.
You can leave it to stand for 1/2 hour covered with a cling film or just form cakes straigh away (if you are too hunugry as I was!)
Pat them between your hands and put them into the polenta and cover both sides and the edges.
Heat virgin olive oil in a large frying pan(preferebaly non-stick) and add the fishcakes. Fry from both sides until golden brown (about 3-5 minutes).

Serve with freshly cut salad and some cheese (haloumi- salty or mozarella- salted, peppered and olive oiled and freshly chopped-basiled, :) ).

Glowing tuna

2005-05-03T22:42:00.000+01:00

tuna

Ok, I know this is not Italian but I wanted to try this thai recipe of Delicious Days for some time. A bit of a diversion from my 'May theme'.
Even though it doesn't look so beautiful as the original creator's of DD(deliciousdays), it tastes fabulous and it is really easy to make - marinade 5 minutes, heat the grill 5 minutes and grilling itself about 7 minutes.
I had to change few ingredients but only very slightly.

Ingredients:
First of all, I used a very good quality fresh tuna steaks (2 pieces).
Instead of tamarind sauce - I used fish sauce(nam pla) 1-2 tbsp.
Instead of coriander seeds - I used dry coriander leaves.
Also, I used 2 tsp of Bombay mix(includes coriander, cumin, etc.) and when you grill it under the grill (very hot) - add 1 sliced banana.
Please, refer to the DeliciousDays food blog for the recipe.

glowing tuna

It has quite a spicy flavour but is sweet at the same time. Very nice!!!

And by the way, all the food bloggers out there - we are still on for the Italian theme!!! So, you are all welcome to join, please, refer to the post 'Made in Italy' for the details.
Looking forward to read your inventions.

Spinach ravioli, pancetta and lemon butter

2005-05-01T20:54:00.000+01:00

ravioli

After a long sunny but windy day on the beach, I decided to have even longer but very rewarding end of the day.
After all, I did sign up to spend May the italian way, so I had the best motivation ever.
As I mentioned in my previous post, I decided to try out home-made pasta with a flavour.
I got inspired by Waitrose Food Illustrated magazine and went for the spinach pasta. I altered the filling a little as it was a bit too simple and today I fancied a rich filling full of flavours.

I must say, pasta making is a 10 minute job. What takes a lot of time is the filling!

So, here's the spinach pasta making and ingredients:
100 g fine flour (00 is the best - you will unfortunately find it only in specialist italian shops in England, but you can use ordinary plain as well. I used strong bread gluten-free flour).
1 egg
2 tbsp of olive oil
1 tsp salt
ground black pepper (optional)
150 g wilted spinach (steamed or cooked and squeezed and chopped)

On every 100 g of flour, add 1 egg. From 100 g, you'll get serving for 2 people.
Mix all the ingredients (by hand or whizz in a mixer and finish by hand) in a bowl to start with. Once it holds together - transfer it onto a lightly floured surface( clean worktop) and work well through with the palm of your hand until you get a nice ball.
Wrap in a cling film and put in the fridge whilst you are making the filling.

Filling:
1/2 red onion
fresh garlic - processed with a tip of the knife
100% ham - chopped small
Saute these ingredients in a little olive oil for 2 minutes and leave to cool, ready for the filling.

1 piece of yellow, orange and 4 pieces of green bell peppers - grilled and skin peeled, chopped
italian hams (you can use a selecion of the smoked ones) - use a handful and chop it
fresh herbs (marjoram, lemon thyme) - chopped
haloumi cheese - grated
1/2 feta cheese - crumbled

In a bowl, mix together all the ingredients and use your fingers to bind them all together.

Before you go onto rolling the pasta, heat water in a big saucepan.

Pasta rolling: On a lightly floured surface, start rolling the pasta with a roller pin. Start in the middle, then turn it around and do the same to flatten the thick parts of the dough on the edge. Keep turning the dough around and upside down carefully and flouring the surface underneath, so that the dough does not get a chance to stick to the surface. Roll it to about 1mm thickness and then start cutting out the circles. ( I had to use the plastic top for the nutella).

Once you have the circles, start laying the filling in the middle of each( about 1 tsp). Then wet the edges of pasta around the filling and stick another circle on top - starting from 1 side, sticking it down and when coming to the other side, you'll have to overlap a tiny bit as we have quite a bit of filling dollop in the middle. Then, place them carefully in the boiling water and wait about 10 minutes for them to cook. They will create air bubble where the filling is if you didn't squash the top circle around the filling tightly as me! (but I was working with a fine dough of gluten-free flour, so it was easy to tear. You should be ok.)

finale

I decorated the pasta with toasted mixed nuts(sunflower, sesame and something else), melted butter with lemon rind ( in a microwave), leftover spinach and filling.

Serve with a glass of chilled Australian Chardonnay.

Made in Italy!

2005-04-29T18:37:00.000+01:00

made in italy

Today, I came across this magazine(published for a Waitrose supermarket in England) and was quite impressed. It didn't only include all the offers but also had very good articles, recipes and reviews.
So I found this spot in the sun (can you see the shadows? -pointing out with excitement and happiness that it was sunny!) and sat down to read,

with few nibbles on the side.

So, I got so inspired that I decided to spend the month of May 'a la Italiano'. And what's more, I found a very nice Italian blog - where you can read genuine recipes by another food enthusiast.

Going back to the magazine, I studied upon the 'Flavours of the month' - being Cromer crab (see www.waitrose.com for a cooking method), lemons for enlightening taste to food in summer, wild rocket with its peppery bite, asparagus which is beatiful blanched or roasted, fresh butter melting on warm vegetables or used as a base for hollandaise sauce and finally pink radishes - so moorish when sliced and sprinkled with salt.

My first taste on the journey of the italian food will be homemade pasta! Not that I have never made it, in fact, I have been making pasta all my life, but not the italian way. I am sure I can learn a lot of new tricks and adding more flavour to pasta than what I was used to.

I am calling out for all the food bloggers who are interested, know some good italian recipes and could join in. Everybody is more than welcome! It would be fantastic to read all the contributions. Please, just post your recipes on your blogs anytime and drop me a line with your blog address.
Thanks! (looking forward to read your posts)

IMBB # 14 - Honey, ginger, apricot chicken

2005-04-24T22:38:00.000+01:00

Chicken with honey,ginger and apricots

Ooph! This was done for the last minute and posted to Foodgoat who is hosting this month's theme of Is My Blog Burning?(IMBB). They have chosen an interesting one this time (reminding me of a mobile phone advert, hehe) - orange.

There were lots of suggestions as to the ingredients that could be used like sweet potatoes, peppers, sweet paprika (which is soo much used in my roots' quisine - hungarian and slovak), butternut squashes, etc.
But no mention of fruit!

To me, orange coloured fruit was a definitive choice of an ingredient to be used for my final entry. I was thinking of orange jelly that I have eaten in a superb hotel in Canterbury for my birthday.
But as it was a bit late today, I was forced to come up with a hearty meal which will be enjoyed as a nice lunch by my hubby tomorrow.

Simply, I always keep some fresh chicken and ginger in the fridge, cupboboard is stocked up with tinned fruit and other everyday necessities like honey. Herbs are now nicely growing on my window sill, so I can tear off few sprigs as I need them.

Here we go then - it is sweet(honey), bit spicy(ginger, thai spice) and aromatic (herbs).

ready for oven

well done (nearly burnt it!)

delicious final entry

Ingredients:
6 chicken thighs
fresh root ginger (peeled and grated)
1 can of apricots (drained)
honey
soy sauce
4 garlic cloves (peeled and sliced)
Thai 7 spice
sesame seed oil
freshly chopped herbs (lemon thyme and marjoram)

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
Lay out the washed chicken thighs in an oven-proof dish. Spread the freshly grated ginger in top of them. Place the tinned apricot halves around the chicken thighs. Add the garlic slices.
Sprinkle with thai spice and drizzle honey and soy sayce all over(about 2-3 tbsp each)and SESAME seed oil (very important for the flavour!!!)Add some herbs and leave some for the final decoration once the chicken is cooked.

SHF # 7 - Fruit&nut squares

2005-04-24T20:19:00.000+01:00

Making of them

Although I have missed SHF # 7, I am posting my contribution above.

I was a bit indifferent to 'molasses' until today when I remembered that I had a red tin labelled 'Black Treacle' in my cupboard.

First of all, I didn't really know what to use it for.
I have heard about it but did not pay too much attention to it.
But as I was walking past my food calendar in the kitchen, I noticed these beautiful looking nut squares and thought that I'll make them.
It required 'Black Treacle' and then it struck me as a lighting from heaven that it must be the one, so much talked about - molasses.I was very pleased that finally I was going to try it out and it was again a quickie.

pretty nut square

Ingredients:
200 g rolled oats
100 g dessicated coconut
70 g melted butter(margarine)
40 g light muscovado sugar
2 big tablespoons of black treacle(molasses)
70g chopped dried fruit of your choice (cranberries, raisins, apricots, dates..)
50 g chopped mixed nuts (cashew, pistachio, almonds..)

milk chocolate (topping)
dash of milk

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
Melt the butter over a low heat, add the sugar and treacle. Once melted, add this to the oats mixed with coconut.
Then add the rest of the ingredients, spread into a cake tin (I used an oven dish) and bake in the oven until golden brown.

Flowing with flavour

2005-04-21T21:17:00.000+01:00

baconsarni

First of all, I should say I love food blogs and blogging. Secondly, I have just got a part-time job(next to my other job) working in a bakery/convenience store, so I have even less time to write and post.
I keep looking at, reading, admiring, etc. other food blogs and getting frustrated over how much I would like to develop my site too. I just feel I am missing something! Is it the time, writing, a theme?
Oh, well, whatever it is, I'll keep posting and it might appear.
For the moment being, it is satisfying my creative 'flair' (hehe, ;)) from several sides (cooking, painting, chatting..) which is a good enough reason for me to continue.

So if you look above, you'll see my dinner. Flowing with flavour, it is my favourite - toasted garlic pitta bread, filled with bacon, basil leaves, apricot stilton cheese and BBQ sauce.
Ok, maybe it doesn't look quite like a sarni(short for 'sandwich') but painting can be like cooking. You add few new flavours/colours here and there and see the outcome.

Bite or not bite?

2005-04-18T22:02:00.000+01:00

puff , huff and it's gone

I couldn't decide which pickie to post (now I have a digi camera, see post below, I can't get enough of it).
Could you comment whether it is suitable to have 'pics with a bite' taken?

Mandarine meat in puff pastry

2005-04-18T21:37:00.000+01:00

Puff pastry turnover

So, finally! I have a digi camera! Not expensive, just fine for everyday usage and all the necessities connected with blogging (like the macro feature).

At the moment, I am hooked a little on puff pastry. For those of you who are in favour of proper definitions I've found that puff pastry is ' a delicate French pastry with hundreds of layers of dough and butter. The French call it "pâte feuilletée." When baked, the butter creates steam which creates the "puff." It is used to create croissants, Napoleons, and allumettes. It's versatile, filling and it tastes fantastic. Don't we just love it? Well, of course - with so much butter!

Somewhere I learnt to make these pretty turnovers with puff pastry (I can't remember where or who taught me this trick). They are incredibly easy to make!!! 5 minutes - if you have a ready to roll puff pastry. Filling can be of your choice - usually minced meat, or other meat in a sauce. So, here we go: Roll the 500g puff pastry dough into a rectangular about 3 mm thick, so that you can cut 6 square shapes out of it. Cut it first lengthwise once in the middle and then the two strips into 3 squares. Then take each square and make 2 right angle cuts in 2 opposite corners of the square about 1 cm away from the edge. Make sure you have cut 2 right angle cuts and not cut out a whole square in the middle. The 2 cuts must not reach each other. Once you have that, lift one corner(where you have cut the right angle) and fold it over to the other side (stick it down to the dough with some water). Then take the other right angle and fold over the top of the first one and stick it down. You will get 2 flipper over corners. I really hope it can be understood, although I have doubts. It would need some pictures. I can send them via e-mail if anybody needs them.

Filling: minced turkey jiuce of 2 mandarines segments of 2 mandarines(or can of mandarines) garam masala spice hot red chilli spice (or fresh chillies) 1 carrot (grated) 1 big potatoe (grated) 1 slice of each red, yellow and green pepper 1 red onion 3 garlic cloves olive oil (or sunflower) Fry the onions, peppers, potatoes, carrot in a little oil. When a little softened, add garlic and garam masala spice and chilli. Add the minced turkey. Cover with a lid and cook until done. At the end add a juice of 2 fresh mandarines or 1 mandora and the segments. Take each puff pastry shell and scoop out the middle (leaving the bottom crust) and fill.

Hot chocolate

2005-04-15T15:16:00.000+01:00

hot choc

Continuing on hot drinks or hot desserts (this time - one of those you don't know which group to list under).
I got inspired to write about this drink/dessert by my fellow blogger Ana has commented how she likes chocolate based drinks and that hasn't seen 'something like that ' in Canada.
So, here is another one!
About this one I know that they do a similar thing in Spain, called 'churros' where they dip these fried small sweet dough strips into this hot chocolate.
It is nearly like rich chocolate blamonge when it is just cooked and not set. It is thick and it beaufully slowly folds into a glass cup.
Then you can add few dark kirsch cherries ( in a liquor) on top (some will sink a little) and finish with a cream (from a spray can) .

To make this delicious hot choc, you can either buy chocolate blamonge (they usually come in 4 flavours in a packet in supermarkets) and follow the instructions and enjoy whilst hot. If you leave it to cool completely , it sets and then it becomes a delicious dessert.

If you can't get this, here is a home-made recipe:
Ingredients:
milk
sugar
cocoa powder
corn flour

Let's take about a pint of milk. In a separate cup, pour a little milk out of this pint and add 1 tbsp of cornflour, 3-4 tbsp of cocoa powder and 2 tbsp of sugar. Mix well until smooth.
Heat the pint of milk in a saucepan and add the cocoa mixture into it. Cook over a low heat until it starts to thicken ( at a boiling point). If it is getting too thick, add a more milk.
Pour into thick glass cups (you can warm them with pouring a little hot water into each and then getting rid of it before filling up with our hot choc.
Finish with some cherries and cream.

Cappuggiro coffee break

2005-04-09T13:48:00.000+01:00

cappuggiro

So, I am back from my holidays (Slovakia) which I already miss for many reasons - beautiful weather, friends, my family, fantastic coffee shops and pattisseries (cukraren = sugar shops = cake shops)...
I even came back to England with a little sun tan on my face!

And as every holiday goes, I was seeing lots of people, sitting in the sunshine in the main square whilst kiddies were circling the statue of Saint Trinity, popping for a cake(or two) into sweet shops and finally sitting down for a delicious coffee in a trendy Lavazza coffee house.

Oh, and the choice of coffees was fantastic!
Amongst my favourite ones is 'Cappuggiro' and 'Moccachino'.
Cappuggiro has a thick dark chocolate syrup at the bottom of the tall glass, over which they pour hot milk and top it with an ice-cold thick sweet coffee-milk foam(beige colour).
Moccachino was served in these tiny hexagonal glass cups (tall as a finger) - chocolate syrupat the bottom, topped with shot of hot espresso and finished with beautifully folded sweet cream.(like an ice-cream in a cone).

Other coffees served were Irish coffee (with an Irish cream), Viennese coffee (long espresso with cream on top), Paspuccino (with caramel poured over the cream), etc.

Easter basket cupcakes

2005-03-23T23:48:00.000Z

Easter basket cupcake

Featuring in the competition:
24.March
IMBB#13: My little Cupcake - hosted by Makiko Itoh from I was just really very hungry.
Previous events:
21.March
Comfort Me - hosted by Moira at Who wants seconds?
18.March
SHF(Sugar High Friday): Stuck on You - hosted by Debbie at Words to Eat By

There could not be a better time for me to present 'My little Cupcake' than now - round Easter.

As all other festive times of the year, Easter awakens lots of traditions and women in Slovakia(as well as in many other countries) start preparing for it weeks ahead.

First - doing the house spring cleaning (viewed as very old-fashioned nowadays, but it is such a great feeling when you relax over Easter holidays in a fresh, like-new house).

Second - shopping for all the Easter must-see-on-the-table foods such as smoked ham in the hammock (which you then cook at home), hard-boiled eggs (which we dye in primary colours), sweet&sour horseraddish preserve or fresh out of the garden(so strong that your eyes would be popping out! - I eat it with my dad early in the morning just to keep the tradition and then making an annual scene which is a mixture of laughter through tears and foot stamping about how strong it is!), mustard (proper Slovak one, same taste as German mustard), cold potato salad (with onions, gherkins, tinned peas, carrots and home-made egg mayonnaise).

And last - about 3 types of home-made cakes (1. honey pastry layers filled with rum butter filling topped with jam and dark chocolate, 2. cupcakes with egg creamy filling, 3. yellow sponge squares soaked in chocolate and rolled in dessicated coconut)

Now, this is where 'My little Cupcake' features. I inherited this recipe from my mum and she has inherited the recipe and the little shells from her mum (about 40 of them). So every year - before Easter, I would be sitting in the kitchen and pushing the walnut dough into the shells for about 2 hours (as we had so many of them). But I must say, I chose this cake every year since I simply could not resist it. And I am not just saying that! I knew all the 'perrils' of making them which would equal solid resistance to them - 2 hours or more sitting on the chair, hands aching, neck, shoulder aching and constant concentration (the dough had to be filled in the tin shells very thinly as it would swell up when baked) and finally, scrubbing 40 shells after baking.

However, I found it was love. The thought of biting through the soft dark chocolate into the yellow creamy surprise underneath, ending with a beautifully crumbling walnut pastry finale was just too much temptation. I gave in!

So, for me, these little innocent looking devils represent my 'cupcake par excellence'.

Recipe:

Walnut dough ingredients:

100g walnuts (ground) - 125g plain flour - 125g corn flour - 150g margarine - 70g icing sugar - 1tbsp cocoa powder - 1 egg - 1 and 1/2 tsp baking powder (omit if you are using self-rasing flour).

Mix the ingredients to make a dough (nearly like a biscuit dough). First - cream together the margarine with icing sugar, add 1 egg. In a separate bowl - mix together dry ingredients(walnuts, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder). Then add it to the margarine mixture and work it in properly. You'll get a brown coloured dough - ready to be filled in the baking shells. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Filling the baking shells: take a small amount out of the dough and roll a little ball in your hands - 2cm in diameter. Put it in the bottom of the shell and start pushing it down and out to the sides very thinly until you reach the top of the shell sides. If you don't have enough dough - add a tiny bit in the bottom again and start pushing - it will raise the sides higher. Once you have about 20 shells filled with dough, you can put them in the oven on a baking tray and bake in the middle of the oven until brown (not burnt brown). Cool down thouroughly and then turn each shell upside down and bang the side on the table a little - holding your hand underneath on one side for the walnut basket to fall out. They are quite delicate - so handle with care.

Egg cream filling (absolutely marvelous taste!):

4 eggs - 8 tbsp fine caster sugar - 1tsp vanilla essence

In a bain-marie type of saucepan, with double sides- whisk the ingredients together and cook over a low to medium heat constantly whisking until it thickens (about 10 min.). Be careful with the heat , so that at the bottom you don't start forming lumps. Once thick, take off the heat and cool thouroughly. (to speed the cooling - go outside and keep stirring). Once cold - you can cream in 150g unsalted butter (or margarine).

Fill the walnut baskets with this creamy mixture to the top and spread chocolate icing starting from the middle. Finish with 1 hazelnut on top.

Chocolate icing:

dark chocolate - melt in saucepan with a dash of milk and piece of butter or you can opt for chocolate ganache.

I am confident to say that you'll be licking yourself behind your ears when you try these.

Comfort food - eggy bread

2005-03-22T00:56:00.000Z

Spinach soup, frankfurter and eggybready

I have been reading Zarah's site when I found out that there is a comfort food competition taking place and finishing tonight!!!
As I am a complete food-a-blog-a-holic, I am going to enter even though it's nearly midnight GMT(London) and even though I have written one post this morning already.
But how could I not?

So, here it is.
It is a very well known recipe throughout the whole world (Hungarians call it after a dog with a big coat - 'Bundas' ) -EGGY BREAD(eggs represent that coat)- a fantastic tummy filler.
It is also known as french toast.

When I was a kid, I used to love it together with my brother when we were chasing down the stairs as we smelled the frying up in our rooms. We sat down behind the table and waited whilst my mum would put them onto our plates still really hot. Yum!

It is ready in minutes, inexpensive, hot and gives you a nice satisfying feeling - few things that a comfort food stands for.
It is delicious with cheese of your own choice(melted or not over the top), fresh tomatoes and maybe chives.
It belongs to one of my first 'culinary skills' experiences.

Eggy bread ingredients:
2 - 3 rustic thick bread slices (brown or white)
3 eggs(beaten) + dash of milk
sunflower oil
cheese of your choice (English cheddar, french brie or mozarella)
fresh tomatoes cut into circles
salt, pepper, paprika
chives

Break the eggs into a medium bowl and beat with a fork. Add salt and pepper. Dip the slices of bread (one at a time) into the eggs and leave to soak each side by pushing it down with a fork. Leave to rest on the side of the bowl and do the same with another piece.
Heat the oil in a pan over a high heat until sizzling.
Carefully take the bread out of the eggs and put into the frying pan. Then do the same with the other slice.
Fry for a minute or two until golden brown, then turn. Add the cheese of your choice on top of the bread slices and finish frying. It should melt in the heat.
Take out carefully with a flat spatula and put on a serving plate. Lay the cut tomatoe slices on top and decorate with some chives.
Oh, and sprinkle some salt and pepper and paprika spice on top too.
Serve whilst hot! Delicious!

And here is what we (Slovaks and Hungarians) eat it with as a meal.
It concludes of a thick spinach soup with garlic taste, fried chunky frankfurter and eggy bread(french toast).

Spinach soup ingredients:
500g frozen spinach (or fresh equivalent- steamed and blender-processed)
1 litre milk
2-3 tbsp sunflower oil
1-2 tbsp plain flour
5 cloves garlic (crushed)

Heat oil in a saucepan, add flour, garlic and stir until it starts to bubble and fry for few seconds. Take off the heat and whilst constantly whisking with a whisker, pour cold milk into the saucepan, stirring vigorously to avoid forming lumps of flour. Then add frozen spinach or steamed. Keep stirring until it thickens.
If you wish for a very thick soup - whisk some flour in a little milk until a paste is formed and add it through a sieve into the cooking soup, stirring underneath the sieve.Bring to a slight boil and turn off.

Fried frankfurter:
This is very traditional to slice open on one side of the frankfurter and bake over an open fire stuck on a long wooden stick. It beautifully opens up in those cuts and the sausage sort of nicely curves. It gains colour and crispens the skin.If you can't do it above an open fire, fry it in a pan with hot oil. Careful as it is going to spit hot oil.

So, there it is.
One of my origins' favourite traditional dishes.

Lemon yellows and violets

2005-03-21T09:33:00.000Z

Lemons and violets

I am radiant with happiness that spring is really here!(England!)
I am waking up to a bright sunshine this morning and feel the spring breeze coming through the window. And the birds are singing! It makes me jump out of bed and do stuff. (I think there should be an alarm clock with that sound! hehe).
The weekend was sunny too and of course, as usual, all the English were heading south - to the beach, to catch as much sunlight as possible.
I go to the beach every weekend, whatever the weather, with my greyhound(best loving breed ever) who is going at this time of the year (as it is warm outside) absolutely bonkers!
And as we were driving through the countryside, in one of the villages, people were already celebrating spring with a pre-Easter ceremony - 'Morris' dancing (I found out), dressed up in colourful clothes. This pagan spring fall tradition(out of the few that are left) is supposed to bring fertility and good crop.
Over on continent, people seemed to have kept their traditions very well and can be seen in most local villages and towns.
I came across a beautiful one - from France (in a 'Delicious' magazine) - 'La fete des violettes' - a festival devoted to violets. It all happens in a small village Tourrettes sur Loup(south of France), overlooking the Mediterranean - 'La Cite des Violettes' (the city of voilets). Their main industry is violet cultivation and this festival celebrates its season.
Over the 2 days of festivities, you can try all kinds of treats like 'sables a la violette'(biscuits with violet extract), 'confit de violette'(jam) - 7,600 flowers are used to make 1kg of jam, violet liqueur (used in desserts), violet syrup, tea, bonbons, lollipops and crystallised violets (top of cakes, like mine above).
I could go on and on but I will mention few from the magazine:
-voilet food colouring (Jane Asher's Grape Violet Paste Food Colouring - tel:020 7584 6177)
-violet syrup (London's La Fromagerie - tel: 020 7935 0341), to make fantastic cocktails - 'Amie de la Violette' (using equal parts of gin, violet liquor and grapefruit juice). You can also add a drop to a champagne.

So, I have mentioned the violets but not a lot about yellows.
So, here is a recipe to amend that - from the City of Violets (Tourrettes sur Loup):

Le gateau de la fete des violettes
Beautiful moist almond and lemon cake bursting with lemon juice.
(gluten-free)

Cake ingredients:
6 large eggs
175 g caster sugar
2 large lemons (fine zest of 2, juice of 1)
200 g ground almonds

Egg icing ingredients:
2 large eggs
40 g butter
1 lemon (fine zest)
75 g caster sugar
crystallized violets

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees.
Separate the eggs in 2 bowls.
Add sugar into the egg yolks and whisk until pale and smooth. Add the zest and the juice. Mix in well. Add the ground almonds.
In the other bowl(make sure it's free of grease) - whisk the egg whites with a little juice and 1coffee spoon of sugar until stiff.
Add the egg whites in 2 parts to the egg yolk mixture and fold in carefully.

Prepare a non-stick cake tin and fold in the cake mixture, spread evenly and bake in the midle of the oven (30 - 45 minutes). It took me 30 min. only in a fan-assisted oven.

To make the egg icing, whisk the eggs and strain them through a sieve into a heavy-based saucepan( I would use the bain-marie style saucepan). Add the butter, sugar and lemon zest. Whisk constantly over a very low heat until it thickens. It should take about 10 minutes. (hope you are fit! my arm nearly falls off when I do this). It must not boil.
Once ready , leave to cool. Keep stirring to avoid any skin forming. (yuck-a-duck!)

Take the cake out of the oven and leave to cool thoroughly.
Then, with a soft plastic spatula, separate the sides of the cake from the cake tin. Transfer the cake onto a serving plate and start spreading the egg icing from the middle to the edges (1cm from the edge). Leave to set.
Decorate with crystallised violets.

Crystallised violets:
Dip them into a frothy egg white, shake off the excess carefully and dip in white caster sugar. Put on a baking tray with baking paper and put in the low oven for 1 hour (110degrees, fan-90degrees) until dry. Cool and decorate.

Sugar High Friday!

2005-03-18T01:21:00.000Z

Caramel Queen slices

And it's Friday - sugar high! (SHF). This is my first entry and I hope you'll love it too!
This recipe is known in quite a few countries (as I found out) but under different names - Millionaire's Shortcake(shortcake base) or just simply Chocolate Caramel Cake.

I think it deserves the name it has on my blog as it is the best caramel I have ever tasted.
Smooth soft caramel lusciously spread over the oat base (not too soft/not too hard) with a bitter dark chocolate crown on top.
It is beautifully complemented in the texture as well as giving nice contrasts of the sweetness in the base, caramel and dark chocolate.

Oat base ingredients:
100-120 g margarine
50 g dark muscovado sugar
120 g plain flour (glute-free can be used as well)
40 g rolled oats
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
Mix all the ingredients together (margarine and sugar first, then add the oats and finally the flour).
Prepare a square(20x20cm) cake tin (I use a baking dish). Butter the tin(dish) and line it with a baking paper. It should stick nicely. Then with your fingertips, press the mixture into the tin evenly and bake about 20 min. until golden brown. Once bakes, cool.

Soft Caramel ingredients:
2 large tbsp butter
2 large tbsp dark muscovado sugar
1 can condensed milk (you can use a low-fat one too)

Melt the butter in a saucepan over a low heat, add sugar and stir until the sugar lumps are gone.
Then add the condensed milk, increase the heat and constantly stir until in few minutes the mixture start to thicken and darken. It thicken very quickly, so be ready to take it off the heat quickly.
Spread the caramel over the oat base and put aside.

Chocolate topping ingredients:
2 tbsp butter
splash of milk
200 g dark chocolate (Lindt or other good quality)

Melt the ingredients above a low heat, if too runny, add cocoa powder and a little sugar and a little butter.
Use a spoon to drizzle and splash the chocolate with vigorous movement onto the cake(different directions, like Jackson Pollock's 'action painting) - see the picture above.

Leave to cool and then you can lift the cake out by the baking paper, peel it off, cut in squares and it's ready to be served.

Hope you'll enjoy it as much as my family!

Spring everywhere!

2005-03-17T10:14:00.000Z

'ICE' cake

Spring has arrived from France to England just 1 day later (16.March) -(www.chocolateandzucchini.com) .
The weather feels fresh, yellow daffodils are proudly standing with their families, the breeze is a bit warmer and my dog shows it best by running in huge circles.
Always at spring, I am taken by a feeling of melancholy, thinking, how my mum used to buy me a new pair of shoes every spring and a new spring coat(if I needed one). It was like a little celebration for me of the new season arrival. It felt like that. Shedding the old winter coats and dressing fresh - in new. Just like the nature, hehe.
Then, another thing that I am taken by in spring is my manic activity. I feel full of energy, tidy up the house every week regularly (inside and outside) and my head seems to get more organized too!? (isn't that useful?)

Anyway, with all this season celebrating, I am presenting this 'ICE' cake recipe for 2 reasons:
1. it contains 'yellow'(spring, Easter colour)
2. it is served chilled (very refreshing)

It is really nice - it has a chocolate sponge bottom layer, then blamongy yellow cool middle section and egg whity(cooked above steam) top covered with dark choc.

'ICE' cake

Chocolate sponge ingredients:
6 egg yolks
6 egg whites(beaten)
150 g icing sugar
70 g flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp white wine
30 g cocoa powder

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
Mix the egg yolks with sugar until pale yellow and smooth. Mix in the white wine. Add the flour(mixed with baking powder and cocoa powder) in 3 parts alternating with the egg whites in 2 parts. Fold the egg whites in lightly.
Prepare a rectangular baking tray, brush with oil(or butter), sprinkle with flour (for non-sticking unless you are using a non-stick tray). Spread the mix evenly and bake in the oven until firm to touch. (30-40min.)
Once baked, take out and cool down.

Yellow middle ingredients:
6 egg yolks
3 dcl milk
1 tbsp of fine sugar
1 tsp of vanilla essence
2 tbsp of corn flour
First, mix in the corn flour with a little milk until smooth. Then pour the rest of the milk, vanilla essence, egg yolks and sugar in a bowl sitting in a larger bowl with water.(bain marie kind). It is a kind of cooking above steam.
Start mixing everything with a wooden spatula and keep mixing until it start to thicken. Then mix vigorously, so that you don't get lumps out of not mixing the bottom of the saucepan properly.
Final result is blamonge (like creme caramel freshly cooked and before cooled and set).
Leave it to cool down completely.

Then add in:
150 icing sugar+250 g butter mixture

White layer ingredients:
6 egg whites
200 g(or less, can be 100g) sugar
juice of 1/2 lemon

Beat the egg whites with sugar and lemon juice with a hand egg beater above the steam (again bain marie kind of cooking) until stiff.
Once cooked - leave to cool down properly.

Cake composing:
Make sure the chocolate sponge and 2 mixtures are completely cool.
Then, spread the yellow blamonge mixture evenly over the cake.
Then, spread the cooked egg white mixture over the yellow blamonge mixture.
Then, melt some chocolate and drizzle here and there over the top of the egg white mixture.

Finally, put the cake in the fridge and leave it to get nice and ice-cool.

A La Mexicana

2005-03-14T21:07:00.000Z

enchiladas

Over the last few days, I was getting quite a bit of the mexican feel.
First, it was with salsa dancing all Friday night and then on Sunday, me and my hubbie were invited to a lovely mexican restaurant in Canterbury (Cafe des Ami) by our friends from London.

Last time, I was in Canterbury, it was a fine dining experience in the County hotel, which was all very 'top class', but dining with your friends just cannot be beaten by anything.
Loud spanish music, small wooden tables (all very compact), laughing, talking, in one word - relaxed.

The food was superb! Three of us have chosen the same meal - Enchiladas filled with spinach, green beans, mushrooms, topped with freshly cooked tomatoe sauce and grilled haloumi cheese.
My hubby had some saffron risotto with king prawns (I must go there again since I didn't very much concentrate on the menu, having not seen our friends for such a long time).

For afters, we had this soooo simple and so refreshing (and quite healthy) fruit with a chocolate dip ('fondue' would sound much better but I believe it has to be cooking in front us in that fondue 'kit').

It went all tooo quickly (one of these flying visits) but it left me with a new inspiration for vegetarian meals.

So here is my version of these Veggie enchiladas:

Main ingredients:
corn tortillas
freshly cooked tomatoe sauce
sauteed musrooms with garlic
grilled haloumi cheese
steamed green beans
steamed spinach

Tomatoe sauce:
2 tins of chopped tomatoes
1 onion(finely chopped)
5 garlic cloves (crushed)
mixed herbs
olive oil
ground pepper

Heat olive oil in a pan until hot, add onion and fry for 1-2 minute. Add herbs, garlic and stir. Add tomatoes right away, so that garlic doesn't burn.

Sauteed mushrooms:
2 hanfuls of slices mushrooms
5-6 garlic cloves (crushed)
mixed herbs, chilli, ground pepper, salt
olive oil

Again, heat oil until hot add mushrooms and salt. When the mushrooms start sweating, add garlic, herbs, chilli, pepper. Cook until soft.

Green beans, spinach:
Steam the beans over a saucepan with boiling water until firm, but cooked. Take out and then add the spinach for a minute.
Chop the spinach and mix it with mushrooms.

Grilled haloumi cheese:
Cut haloumi in 1cm thick slices, brush with olive oil, salt and grill under hot grill until golden brown.

Now, prepare corn tortillas, lay them on the surface and start filling. Spread some spinach mix over the middle of the tortilla, lay green beans in bunches, again spinach and wrap.
Put 3 of these wraps on the plate and pour the hot tomatoe sauce over it. Top with grilled cheese.

For a dessert, it is simply fruit nicely prepared with a hot chocolate sauce in the middle to dip in.
But if you fancy something more filling, here is one recipe I have found:
http://dessert.allrecipes.com/az/BnnsFstrChimichngs.asp
Bananas Foster Chimichangas - with rum, brown sugar, wrapped and fried.

Chocolate cake and literature

2005-03-10T23:25:00.000Z

chockie cake

Oh, yes, they have a lot in common, indeed. Eating whilst reading.
So, before you retire to read your favourite book, don't forget to quickly mix this even quicker recipe and pop it in the oven on 180 degrees.

You might think - aah, not another chocolate cake, how boring!
But is it really, I thought, when I looked at a new recipe(found in 'Good Food' magazine) of this dark, mouthwatering cake which says - afternoon tea, sofa, only me and that cake and a nice book, food magazine to read...The dark colour itself seduces you slowly.
It is irresistible warm or cold, with tinned strawberries and maybe an ice-cream...

I have changed it a little and added my own ingredients to it:
150 g butter
250 milk
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
100 g cocoa powder
200 g self-raising flour
100 g ground almonds
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
220 g of golden caster sugar or and demerara sugar
2 eggs (lightly beaten)
Mix everything together for 2 minutes and put into a non-stick cake tin, into the preheated oven on 180 degrees and leave about 45 minutes to bake.

icing sugar (top of the cake)
strawberry jam (middle of the cake)
ice-cream (next to the cake)
tinned strawberries (over the cake)

Ok, here's a quick quizz that I recieved few days ago from a fellow blogger (http://epicesetcompagnie.blogspot.com/).

How many books do you read in a year ? 2-3
What was the last book you bought ? Funny Valentine, Amy Jenkins is the writer(about this newswriter girl who does not believe in love.Love? What is it for? she says. I have a man in my bed...) and another book that I am just expecting to get free with my 'Delicious' magazine subscription (Jill Dupleix - Very Simple Food)

http://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/
Take a definite look at this site - loads 'a' recipes.

What was the last book you read ? Sadly, another 2 girlie books. (easy bed-time reading)
Write down 5 books that mean a lot to you or that you really enjoyed
I like Jewish literature, so anything on that theme and similar (reminding me of my uni years)
Jose Pijoan - The History of Fine Art (10 books) - beautiful books with the whole history of fine arts, pictures. My mum was recieving them yearly for 10 years when I was little and finally, I studied Fine Arts, so they became core to my studies. I loved them as a child and was proud to study from them as an adult.
The Bible - the one, I mean to read. It is fascinating and I think everybody should read it.
Cookery books - of course. When I get more money, I'll surround myself with the ones that I want so much. (e.g. Domestic Goddess - by Nigella Lawson)

Who are you going to pass this to (3 persons) and why ?
My brother as he likes reading.
Couple of friends in salsa class - we like discussions, so it will be a nice topic on our journey to another one of salsa outings.

How does it go? 'Tell me what you read and I'll tell you who you are.' Hm..

Hot Plum balls in a potatoe winter coat

2005-03-04T14:15:00.000Z

Plum balls(Slivkove gule, gombolce)

Believe it or not, England has got more snow than the North Pole.
Well, not quite, but you know what I mean. The schools are closed, the traffic has downsized, people are wearing three scarves and 'yetti' boots...
Otherwise, it is absolutely lovely outside and I love it! I dress up my greyhound in his fleeced Blizzard coat (http://www.greyhoundandwhippetshop.co.uk/coats.htm) , pull my Russian-style winter hat on and walk out into the crunchy snow, towards the village supermarket.
As it is sooo cold outside, I am still in the mood for winter warmers. Today, I thought of a fantastic Slovak-Hungarian (see my post Music in the kitchen - comments for a brief national history) classic - Hot plum balls in a potatoe winter coat.

Dough:
600 g potatoes
200 g plain flour
1 egg
salt
2 bread rolls
milk
Topping:
fried breadcrumbs with icing sugar
OR poppyseeds processed with sugar
OR quark mixed with sugar
100 g butter
Dough preparation:
Cook the potatoes in their skin and cool.
Warm the milk slightly and add the bread rolls cut into pieces. Leave to soak.
When the potatoes have cooled down, peel them and press them through a chunky sieve
Then add the salt, flour, egg and the bread rolls (taken out and got rid of the excess milk).
Mix everything thouroughly until a firm dough is formed.
Prepare a floured work surface and roll the dough to 3-4 mm thickness. Then cut it into squares (according to the size of the plums) into which we will wrap the plums(washed and stoned). Roll each plum wrapped in dough between your palms until you get nice balls.
Prepare a large saucepan with water and bring it to the boil. Drop the plum balls into it and cook for about 5-7 minutes until they come to the surface.
Take them out, rinse in cold water (to aovid further cooking of the dough) and put in a serving bowl.
Topping preparation:
To make the sweet breadcrumb topping - add a dollop of butter to the heated pan. Once the butter is melted, add the breadcrumbs, icing sugar(to your taste) and fry until golden in colour.
To make the poppyseed topping - process the poppyseeds with icing sugar (in a food blitzer).
To make the quark topping - mix the quark with icing sugar and lemon rind.

Once you have the topping of your choice, spoon it on top of the balls, pour hot melted butter over it (apart from the quark topping) and finish with a spoonful of hot jam(plum is nice).

Have a lovely meal!

Frosted Winter Carrot cake

2005-03-02T15:43:00.000Z

Orange & carrot cake(gluten-free)

Winter in Kent, England is raging today - it has been snowing all day. It makes me feel much more like at home in Slovakia. The countryside is laid with soft white carpets and you can see only the top of the roofs peeking out of the snow.
It is like in a fairy tale. Big white fluffs are falling down and creating hats on top of the chimneys and street lamps. The life seems to run slower as it is so dreamy outside. I always think of Dickens when it snows in England.

The best thing to do, I thought to myself, on a day like this is definitely to make a cake and eat it next to a roaring fire with a hot cup of tea.
My choice is a moist carrot cake made with fresh oranges, spices and nuts finished with a nice white frosting.
Perfect winter cake!

Orange & carrot cake(gluten-free)
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees.
350 gluten free flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 - 1&1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp cinammon
1tsp mixed spice
1 tsp ground cloves

Mix these ingredients and sift into a bowl. Put aside.

3 eggs(beaten)
50 g dark muscovado sugar
160 ml sunflower oil
3 oranges(peeled and processed in a mixer)

Combine these wet ingredients in another bowl leaving the processed oranges to be added with flour at the end.

3 large carrots(peeled and grated)
50g nuts (walnuts or pecan nuts)

Add them into the wet ingredients.

Then start adding the flour in 3-4 parts, alternating with oranges. Once combined - pour into a non-stick cake tin and pop in the oven to bake for about 1/2 hour until the top is firm and not sinking under your finger.

Frosting
1 tub of quark(which is fat -free)
3-4 tbsp of icing sugar (or more , as is your preference)
Combine and spread on top of the cool cake. Add few nuts to decorate on top of the frosting.

Sushi

2005-02-26T13:48:00.000Z

Rolled sushi

First time I ever tried this 'japanese snack' was as an au-pair here in England.
I always thought that sushi was very expensive and mostly enjoyed by supermodels, actors or well-off people. However, it didn't stop me to try some myself. In fact, it could have prompted me to buy it and feel kind of sophisticated.
So, on my weekends off, I used to go to town with my friends. We had wonderful time shopping, then sitting in Starbucks or Costa sipping coffee and eating muffins. Then one day, it was very hot and sunny, we felt we didn't fancy a hot brunch but rather something refreshing and filling and nutritious at the same time. What else could it be than SUSHI?
We rushed to the shop, picked up two trays with all the little condiments laying inside in the separate compartments next to these beautiful, colourful rolls of rice, fish and veg. Outside in the street, we were just looking at it for a while and thinking loud that it's like an art piece. The contrast of the white rice and black nori sheet around it, with the colourful display of pink and orange fish and green cucumber in the middle made the whole tray look like a set of sea jewels. One of us might have said that it was a shame to eat it. Whilst we were deciding what to do with the condiments, the taste buds were calling for attention. So we squeezed few drops of soy sauce onto the rolls, spread a tiny dot of green wasabi paste on top and finished them with the pickled pink ginger. It makes you feel you are preparing your own meal, so it seems even fresher.
We really enjoyed it and decided on sushi being our weekend town summer lunch.

But it was only 2 days ago that I decided to make my own sushi at home. I have been passing the 'Starter kit sushi box' for quite some time in the local supermarket until now. I pulled it down from the shelf together with additional jar of pickled ginger, wasabi paste, nori sheets and sushi rice. I felt like on a quest. I moved to the fresh fish counter and bought enough mixed sea-food (the good fishmonger behind the counter decided to give me the left-over for free, so I had more than I could use) and smoked salmon trimmings.
Satisfied and proud of my choice, I went home to prepare it.
To my surprise, it was very easy and fast to make. Only the rice took 15-20 minutes to boil.
The rest was laying the bamboo mat with:
- one nori sheet
- dollop of cooled-down-rice in the middle, spreading nicely across the whole sheet(leaving 1cm from the rolling edges)
-seafood in the middle in a row
-thinly cut cucumber chips
- smoked salmon trimmings
I took one side of the bamboo mat and started rolling the sheet until it was complete. The nori sheet got nice and soft under warm rice and ready to be cut in slices.

I also found out that there are different types of sushi like rolled sushi, scattered sushi, pressed sushi, etc.
For those of you who would like to know more about it, take a look at:
http://www.sushilinks.com/
http://www.eatsushi.com/

Mornings with a freshly baked bread

2005-02-24T20:41:00.000Z

My sexi breadmaker.

It's Sunday morning. You are slowly waking up tickled by the bright winter sun and Tony Bennet singing in the backround on a jazz radio station. You can smell the aroma of a strong espresso making its way up to your room and hear the beep of the breadmaker announcing -it's time to come downstairs (in your PJs) and enjoy a long morning with a freshly baked bread and a table laid with a nice tablecloth on top of which you can find boiled eggs, salami, ham, chorizo(klobaska), various cheeses, tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, duck(or goose) fat and condiments.

At these moments, I have that childish feeling of carelesness when you don't have to worry about the world, your work or daily duties.

It takes me back to my childhood when my dad was the first to wake up and go to the shops early. He was also very proud of being in the shops amongst the first people, just after the shop opened. It all had to do with the socialistic era in Slovakia. People going to the shops late were thought of getting up late and therefore being lazy.
So, I used to wake up with a table laid with the food aforementioned and of course, fresh and still warm 2kg loaf of bread with a nice golden brown crispy crust.

As kids, we used to love thick slices of this soft but filling bread, spread with a duck fat, dipped in finely chopped onion and sprinkled with salt and red paprika spice. It was considered a peasant food. (it was so cheap! bread and onions)
Nowadays, I like to think of it as a fine delicacy.

When I found out about breadmakers and heard the heavenly choruses singing their praises, I decided to buy one. Another reason was that the bread resembling the one in Slovakia costs over £1.50 for a tiny little loaf(if you can call it a loaf at all!) here in England. It comes under a 'speciality(gourmet) bread' category.

It is not very chef-like of me to make the bread in a bread machine, but then, I will allow myself the excuse: 'Making hand-made bread is like going to a restaurant.' You do it occassionaly so that you don't loose that special time and enjoyment it brings you.

Here is a basic recipe from Anthony Worrall Thompson booklet(breadmaker booklet) - little bit amended with added flavourings by me:

Dark Chilli bread with herbs(gluten-free) - 1kg
490 ml of water(room temperature)
3 eggs
1&1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 cups strong white flour(gluten-free)
1 cup buckweat flour(makes the bread dark)
1 cup cornflour
2 tbsp of mixed&ground chilli seeds, flakes, flesh, pepper & mixed herbs
2 tsp dried yeast

Put in a breadmaker(must have a gluten-free option) in the order described above. Spread the flour, herbs and yeast evenly.
And choose the gluten-free option on your breadmaker. Remember to set it to dark crust colour, increase the mixing stage to 30 min.

The result is a wonderfully moist bread after baking with a nice warming chilli bite.

Dobru chut! (Bon Apetite!)

Music in the kitchen

2005-02-22T01:39:00.000Z

Feeling popular!

Yes!
- It was my 2 weeks blog anniversary on Sunday.
- I was asked to complete this bloggers' questionnaire about music on Monday by Aude http://epicesetcompagnie.blogspot.com/ (nice friend I met via www.chocolateandzucchini.com )
- My hubbie's bro approved of my blog (a gardener, loves food though).

So, yes, if somebody wants to know how I am, my answer is - 'Popular'(just like Pierce Brosnan in Thomas Crown Affair, hehe. Love his style!). Hope this feeling last...

So, here are my answers on 'Music in the kitchen' if anybody's interested:
What is the total number of music files on your computer?
-None at the moment. I have just rebuilt it and so listen to cd's.
What is the last CD you bought?
- Ellis Marsalis - Twelve's it (jazz piano)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000007QD3/qid=1109038193/sr=8-3/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i3_xgl15/102-2489246-4090538?v=glance&s=music&n=507846
What is the last song you last listened to before reading this message?
J.S.Bach - The Complete Partitas
Write down 5 songs you often listen to or that mean a lot to you.
1.I often listen to classical and jazz piano as I love piano(and teach piano).
2. Steve Vai - electric guitar god, http://www.vai.com/(his song 'You're here' with a beauiful solo at the beginning) and my first video experience of his music - I fell in love with him (hm, the charm of the Italians!), his music, his sense of humour.
3. Lionel Richie - all his songs(slow or up-beat), good drive-time music.
4.
5.
Who are you going to pass this stick to (3 persons) and why?
Lee Loreya - a girl that has a way with words and I admire that. I would be interested to hear from her on this subject.
Phil - my chef-friend, another obsessed person, who influenced me in the way of cooking.

Beauty in the kitchen?

2005-02-21T19:00:00.000Z

Beauty in the kitchen

As you already guessed from the picture title, today I would like to intrigue you with the subject of finding beauty in the kitchen.
I know that all of you, passionate cooks, could talk about this subject for hours - how and where 'You' see the beauty in the kitchen. But I am afraid, today, it's not going to be beauty under that metaphor veil. Today, we are going to get our hands 'real' dirty with getting 'real' beauty - live, you know!
Well, nobody said, it was easy getting beautiful, so roll your sleeves up and get cracking.
Stop! By cracking I didn't mean scrubbing the kitchen floor...!
I meant evaluating current affairs of your kitchen stock. Fruit, vegetables, seeds and nuts, yoghurt pots, etc.
And just before you might start thinking I am loosing the plot, here's the revelation:
We are about to venture into the secrets of beauty facial masks. Aaaaah, doesn't it sound so.......elegant, so posh.
Well, maybe not quite when your face is covered in mashed bananas with yoghurt and two cucumber circles on your eyes. But don't give in, don't give up! The beauty is just - few mixed ingredients, 5 minute dream and your partners' 'you-scared-the-hell-out-me' - away.

And that's not the only use the all-kitchen-favourites (think chocolate, honey, cream,..) can get....I am sure you get the picture, hehe.

It is fantastic and logical at the same time how the 'healthy' food - fruits, vegetables, pulses, oats, herbs, nuts, honey, etc. - that does miracles for your inner health, can do the same with your outer beauty too (e.g. face).
And in fact, they are very much connected - eating too much chocolate won't benefit your body circumference nor your complexion.

But since this is a food blog and not a weekly beauty guide, let's take a look at the actual recipes' whipping-up:
For all the beauty benefits of the mask ingredients - see http://www.angelfire.com/realm2/amethystbt/herbscosmeticapothecary.html
http://www.ballymoon.biz/articles/facialsteams.htm
and many more under 'facial masks' in Google search.

Quick guide
Tomato: astringent and a good blackhead remover. Pulp it up and mix with oatmeal, or slice and lay on the face on its own.
Apple: grate an apple and mix with honey to make a mask that soothes and heals acne, and makes your skin look great.
Strawberry: a good oily skin mask. Pulp it up, smear it on the face, wash off. Makes the skin look soft and fine. A good use for over-ripe or bruised berries.
Avocado: Moisturising. I find it's too oily for my skin, but I've heard good reports from others. Banana: Also a moisturiser.
Carrot: Grate a carrot, add honey, use as a facial for oily skin. Or you can mash up a cooked one. Peach: A nice, good-smelling mask for dry or normal skin.
Cucumber: On its own, is cleansing, astringent and cooling during hot weather. Juice a cucumber and wipe the juice over the face. It will reduce shine and the appearance of wrinkles.
Peppermint: Fantastic for acne, especially the itchy underground type. In fact, it soothes itchy skin in general.
Chamomile: Soothing and healing.
Lime Flower (linden): Soothing and softening, refines skin texture. Also supposed to remove wrinkles.

Papaya Mask (helps to remove dead skin)
¼-cup mashed (ripe) papaya
1-teaspoon plain yogurt
½-teaspoon of honey
Mix all ingredients until paste like. Put on face, leave on for 15 minutes and rinse with warm water.
Note: if you have oily skin – do not allow your mask to over dry. Your brain will register the loss of water in the over-drying process and produce more oil.
This oil will not show up on the skin until about 48 hours after the treatment.

Honey Mask
Honey is a lovely mask. Massage it into your skin, and keep adding more and patting it on till your face is very tacky. Rinse it off, and your skin will look fresh and glowing. Honey is antiseptic, hydrating and cleanses the pores. However, if you're prone to odd pimples, don't use this before a big night as it has the ability to bring impurities out of the skin.
Oatmeal and Honey Mask Mix oatmeal, either cooked or raw, with enough honey to make it sticky. Apply, leave for twenty minutes or so, and rinse off with plenty of water. It will tone oily skin, refine the texture of the pores, and gently lift a face that's in general poor condition, especially after illness or depression.

You can find much more recipes on the above web sites, for all kind of things like moisturizers, hand creams, conditioners; for all skin types.

So be a kitchen goddess in every sense!

Hello Moravia!

2005-02-15T19:51:00.000Z

Moravian buns

Have you heard of 'quark' before?
If not, it is a kind of soft cheese made of soured(curdled) milk by cooking and forming into cheese lumps, which after straining the liquid, comes into a soft ball. It has a soury taste, but is usually mixed with sugar and used in cakes, strudels, etc. as a filling.

In England, you can easily get it in larger supermarkets in dairy section in small tubs. They come in a very soft, smooth, creamy texture and they are virtually fat free too!

The reason why I so busily keep forcing this 'quark' on you is - it is an ancient ingredient newly discovered(so you'll be chic), it is virtually fat free (so you'll keep stream-lined), it is cheap and available in every supermarket (at least in England, so you won't break the bank) and it tastes fantastic (so that speaks for itself).

My mum and before my mum, my grandma had the most wonderful recipe to make this not so tasteful 'quark' into the most luscious, creamy, mascarpone-like filling with even better and refreshing taste.
Take a look at this:

Filling:
1 tub of quark
1 egg yolks
1 egg white (whipped with dash of fresh lemon juice and 1tbsp of sugar)
handful of raisins
lemon rind
1/2 a cup of brown sugar

In a small mixing bowl, combine quark, egg yolk, rasins, lemon rind and sugar. Mix well and set aside.
In a small glass bowl, whip the egg white as described above until it is firm.
Add the beaten egg white into the quark mixture and mix in lightly, making sure you mix gently right from the bottom up.
For extra taste, you can add chopped dried apricots.

Dough:
This type of dough is quite light.
It can be hand-made or put in a bread-maker(you must add the ingredients into your breadmaker in the following order):

3 dcl warm milk
1 egg
2 tbsp sunflower oil(or vegetable, or margarine)
1/2 tsp salt
2-3 tbsp sugar
500 g plain flour
1 1/2 tsp dried yeast (or 20g of fresh yeast)

If you decided for sticky fingers, here is the order for hand-made dough:

1. prepare the yeast
Place the yeast into a jug with warm milk, sugar and salt, mix in slightly and leave to rest in a
warm place until it bubbles and grows. It should look bubbly and fluffy when it is ready.
Give it about 20 min.
2. In a large bowl, sift in the flour, make a well in the middle and add the whole egg and yeast.
Start mixing the dough. After a while, it is easier to use your hands. Add the oil and work it
into the dough. It will be sticky for a while but keep working until it's smooth. If it is still very
sticky, sprinkle the dough with a little flour and repeat if necessary.
Once you have the dough ready and smooth, cover the bowl with a warm moist tea-towel and
leave to rest for nearly 45 min. in a warm place.
It should have grown in size. Take it out on a well floured surface and sprinkle the dough
with flour again before rolling.

Roll the dough to a 1 cm thickness, then cut into big squares(definitely bigger
then your palm if you have small hands, and no bigger than your palm if you have large
manly hands).
Spoon the quark filling into the middle and fold int two opposite corners of the square and join
on the top and do the same with the other two corners and join them all together. Then stick
together the sides, so that the filling does not come out when baking. Once done, turn the
ready cake up-side down onto an oily baking tray. Push it lightly in the middle to make a well
for a spoonful of jam.

Once you have done all the cakes, put jam in the middle and brush the cakes with a beaten
egg. Leave them to rest for 15 minutes whilst you are heating up the oven to 180 degrees.
After that, put in the oven and bake until golden brown.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2005-02-14T21:11:00.000Z

Valentine roses by Dreska(in mspaint!)

I know it's all too commercial nowadays, but I still LOVE it!(sad as some people might think it is, I take every opportunity to make my life as colourful as possible! Whether it is cooking colourful meals, buying colourful flowers or writing coloured text.) :) And that's not everything!
Strap yourself to your chairs now!
I even buy my own 'Valentine flowers'! And why not?!
Here are few good reasons in defence:
1. I love flowers
2. I love choosing the colours
3. My hubby can never say: Sorry darling, I forgot!

And since I have become a blog publisher, I have even read upon the Saint Valentine's history. I found it a little predictable, but nevertheless educating. http://www.historychannel.com/exhibits/valentine/

Something about Rome, fertility celebrations, marriages after 1 year's courting and much more...
Talking about which, if you fancy a celebration breakfast, light lunch or dinner, here's a recipe:

Breakfast, Light lunch:
Smoked Salmon, egg & oyster mushroom toast
thick toasted brown bread
smoked salmon (trimmings or slices)
6 (or 1 packet)oyster mushrooms(hliva ustricova)
3 eggs (beaten)
3 tbsp milk (or cream for a richer taste)
salt, pepper, red chilli (fresh if possible)
8 cherry tomatoes (halved)
1/4 of big red onion (sliced) - (or 2 shallots)
olive oil
fresh chives

Heat grill to a high temperature.
Heat olive oil in a pan, add onion and oyster mushrooms, salt, pepper and chilli. Fry a 2-3 minutes until the mushrooms let out some juice and slightly brown. Add cheery tomatoes. Meanwhile, beat the eggs with the milk. Add to the pan, stir 2-3 times and set aside uncooked.
Put the toasts onto a grill tray and spoon the uncooked egg mixture onto the toasts.(don't worry about the spills to the side of the bread, it will cook).
Put under grill and cook. Once cooked, spoon the cooked spills onto the bread too. Put the toasts on the plates and top with salmon trimmings(or salmon slices cut into strips). Finish off the topping with chives( cut the length in 1/2).

Dinner:
Green Thai King (prawn curry)

I must admit this was my hubbie's choice when I asked him what he would fancy as a special treat. (he even came to Tesco to choose the fresh prawns specially with me!)
Although, it is a fact that thai food is the every-celebration must these days.
It is considered as No.1 on the list of oriental cuisines and oriental cuisines equal romance, so what are you waiting for? Get cooking!

150 g King Prawns (ready to eat ) - £3.00
Green thai curry paste
100 g creamed coconut block
400 ml hot water
red chilli
(sliced and chopped - to give the meal a bit of a kick or your loved one too if you feel like it).
It looks good too - red & green.
white boiled rice

Put the coconut block in a small jug(500ml or 1 pint) and boil hot water in the kettle. Pour water over the block in the jug and stir until dissolved and formed into a milk of a sort.
Heat a non-stick pan and add 4 tbsp of green thai curry paste (careful as it starts sizzling and spitting, pardon me!), stir for 3 seconds and add the coconut milk (1/2 to start with). Stir and blend it in with the paste. I should start to thicken after few seconds. (if not, your hob is not turned on!)
Add as much milk as much sauce you want to have. The more milk you add, the thinner the sauce will get. (if you want it really thick, melt more of of the coconut block in hot water)
Once you are happy with your sauce, add the prawns and cook for 5-7 seconds and serve on the bed of white boiled rice.
Maybe few cherry tomatoes cut in halves to decorate around the plate.

Dessert:
Bannoffeelicious
For many people Valentine's dessert is represented by strawberries and champagne. But my favourite dessert (especially in winter) is banana with hot toffee & vanilla ice-cream on top of digestive biscuits.
So simple, soooo ..... ..............simple,............. so..............................simple?

2 bananas
1/2 can of condensed milk
2-3 tbsp of dark brown(molasses) sugar
vanilla ice-cream (or your favourite, not fruity though)
6 digestive biscuits

Chop the bananas into circles and lay in 2 dessert glasses. Crumble the biscuits on top of the bananas. Cook and constantly stir the condensed milk in a saucepan with the sugar until it thickens. Pour on top of bananas. Add ice-cream and enjoy!

Winter warmers

2005-02-11T22:53:00.000Z

Today, as every other winter day in England, is a bit gloomy and grey.
It's morning and my darling dog(rescued ex-racer greyhound Blaze) is covered tail to snout with a thick, soft blanket. That means the weather is not good even for a dog(Slovak saying).
I look out and see my neighbour through a fine, misty rain shower pulling his collar up higher than it can go and think to myself: "Today, I definitely need something to warm my heart and body up." And I am not talking about a chunky Norwegian jumper and knitted socks either. I am talking about those traditional English 'winter warmer suppers' that are served steaming hot and stay hot whilst you eat them. Think of 'Sausage and mash', 'Chicken casserole', 'Sheperd's pie' or 'Lancashire hot pot'. Now, that's what I call few hearty meals that will make your body glow in seconds.
But before I start with 'be a good a girl and make hubby a lunch' magic, I will treat myself to a good old English strong breakfast tea with hot milk. That's how the English supposedly come to life.(do they? maybe with a few shots of rum in it, as we, Slovak people like it!)

Poached cod and spinach mash

500 ml milk (I use soy milk, it has a nice sweetness)
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp salt
1 medium carrot (sliced into circles)
1 bay leaf
350 g cod fish(or other white fish, or smoked fish if you like)

Put all ingredients into a saucepan and simmer over a very low heat until the carrots are soft. Fish will then be definetely ready and it will be easy to pull apart from the skin.

6 potatoes (peeled and cut into 1 cm thick circles)
salt
fresh spinach leaves (2 big handfuls)
1/2 onion (fried in butter)

Prepare the potatoes in a saucepan with salted water and spinach in a steamer above it. Cook over a medium heat until the potatoes are very soft.
(now you can prepare and cook the fish)
Once the potatoes and spinach are cooked, put the spinach in a steamer aside.
Drain the potatoes and mash with a wooden round spatula. Add 1 tbsp of butter, 1 tsp of salt, pepper, fried onions and mix well.
Add some of the fish milk stock and mix in. Add the spinach and mix in vigorously to get an even mixture of spinach and potatoes. It will look good too!

Presentation:
Put 2 dollops of the mash in the middle of a plate, take few small pieces of poached fish and stack on top of the mash. Take few carrot circles and stick them under the fish from both sides like cards(overlapping one another).
Vinaigrette:
Combine olive oil with balsamic vinegar = shake well(or just whisk in a bowl) and drizzle around the mash.

Beatiful hot mash with steaming hot poached fish and a bit of vinaigrette to complement the sweet taste.

Chinese New Year of the Rooster

2005-02-10T15:12:00.000Z

What can I say?
As a new blogger, trying to keep up with all the food traditions and celebrations, I missed one yesterday (9. February 2005 - Chinese New Year of the Rooster).
But never you mind. You can take a peek on www.visitliverpool.com and follow the Chinese New Year link to see how they celebrated Chinese New Year in Liverpool(one of the biggest known celebrations featuring dragons, lion dancing, fireworks and of course tasting chinese food delicacies).

For all of us who wished to attend, we can do so on the 13.February 2005 in London.
www.chinatownchinese.com

And once in the festive mood, don't forget the very special next day - Valentines' Day.

Pancake day

2005-02-09T10:25:00.000Z

Yesterday was a pancake day (Shrove Tuesday). This is one of the days I love in England. Shops always get prepared and have lots of gooddies like delicious Canadian Maple Syrup.
I was reading how they make it in Canada. They drill holes in the tree trunks, insert a tube and the siphoned syrup trickles out to a bucket underneath. It comes up from the tree roots up to the bark in spring when it gets warm. Collected syrup is then taken to be heated above fire to 104 degrees and out of 40 litres - 1 litre of syrup is made. So it is a lengthy procedure.
I also got a fantastic recipe from our fellow foodie writer(www.chocolateandzucchini.com ) for real french crepes. They add mineral water to make them really light and thin and also flavourings like vanilla and rum(I tried whisky which worked beatifully).

French Crepes
www.chocolateandzucchini.com
Look for February 8, 2005.

Pancakes (Dolky)

This type of pancake is in the form of a smaller(the size of the palm of your hand), round, soft and fluffy shape.
200 self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg
300 ml milk
lump of butter

Mix the above ingredients with a handy mixer(if you have one, if not, use a whisker). Once nice and smooth, add:
raisins
Then heat 1 tsp of butter in a pan(preferably non-stick, otherwise use more butter). Once hot, pour one small ladle-size amount of the pancake batter on one side of the pan, leaving space for few more. When the first one is slightly set, pour another amount next to it, and so on.
Don't forget to check the first ones and turn them around.
Once you have finished, stack these small cute pancakes on top of each other on serving plates, pour maple syrup over them and serve.

Puy Lentils with caramelized veg & apricots

2005-02-07T20:31:00.000Z

I keep reading these fantastic food blogs on the web and am thinking whether there is need for another one (i.e. my one!).
Most of them are excellent writers who combined two passions in their life (writing and cooking), so where do I stand?(I am thinking to myself)
I love cooking, but can't say that I am an excellent writer or that writing is my passion.
I'd rather call it - urge to let other people know about my little inventions and share theirs.
Hope that this will be enough to keep this food blog going.Even if it should only become my online 'Favourite recipes' index.

So here's one of my little fancies of today:

Puy Lentils with caramelized veg & apricots
(served on top of slimline turkey burgers)

4 tbsp puy lentils
2 bay leaves
2 cardamom pods(optional)
2 carrots(cut into circles)
2 garlic cloves(whole)
1 tsp thyme
salt
1 pint of water
Boil these ingredients in the pint of water until soft. Drain, take out cardamom pods, garlic and bay leaves.

Rinse the saucepan, heat and caramelize:
a lump of butter
2 tbsp of chopped onion
2 tbsp of honey
6 dried apricots(soften in advance in boiling water)

Add the puy lentils + 1 tbsp of white wine vinegar(or balsamic vinegar for more rich taste).

Turkey burgers:
250 g of minced turkey breasts
2 eggs
salt, pepper, mixed herbs
splash of worcester sauce
splash of red tabasco sauce

Mix all the ingredients, add 2tbsp of flour to bind the mixture.
Heat a nonstick pan, pat round burger shapes out of the mixture and fry from both sides.
The burgers will nicely fry in its own juice.

Strudel (with juicy apple&poppyseed&cherry filling)

2005-02-06T20:42:00.000Z

Attention those who like a challenge!
This is one of those grandma recipes that are nowadays nearly forgotten. A strudel dough that needs pulling out to a paper-thin layer, then filled with your favourite filling(only half way), rolled and baked.

Dough:
500 g flour(plain) + sweet warm milk = thin dough mixture.
Add 20 g of butter, 1 egg, pinch of salt.
Work the dough on a worktop so long until it stretches well but does not tear.
Make a loaf out of it and wrap it in a teatowel(sprinkled inside generously with flour, so that the dough doesn't stick). Put this parcel under a duvet cover in bed and leave to rest there for an hour.
Put a table cloth on the table and sprinkle generously with flour.
Unwrap the dough and put it in the middle of the table cloth on the table.
Flour the roller pin and roll the dough as thin as possible.
Then, flour your hands and very carefully start pulling the dough with your hands, fingers and elbows into a nearly transparent thin layer.

Once it is streched over the whole table, cut off the thicker corners.

Heat more butter and brush over the whole dough layer.
Sprinkle with breadcrumbs(fresh or dry).
Spread the filling over one half of the layer. Then, take two corners of the tablecloth from the side where the filling is, and start rolling the dough carefully off the table cloth(or with the help of the table cloth). If the strudel is too long , you can shape it into your tray, or cut it to few pieces. Brush with some butter and bake in the oven slowly.

Poppyseed & cherry filling:
100 g sugar(white or brown)
200 g poppyseeds
Mix these 2 ingredients in a food processor with a blade.
In a mixing bowl: poppyseed mixture + 100 ml very warm milk + 1 tbsp honey + 2-3 crushed cloves.
Add: drained black cheery compote(preserve)
OR
Add: grated apple mixture filling

Grated apple filling :
grated apples(same amount or less as the poppyseed mixture)
cinnamon + sugar
raisins
Cook(sweat) these ingredients in a saucepan with a small lump of butter until they are juicy. Add little water if necessary. Drain and use as a filling.

Quark (Tvaroh,Turo) filling:
egg whites
sugar (to your taste)
zest of 1 lemon
raisins
Mix all ingredients and leave to stand for 1/2 hour for rasins to soften. Then it is ready to use as a filling.

Little Fancies

2005-02-06T02:40:00.000Z

Welcome to Little Fancies!
I created this blog for all who enjoy fantastic recipes and want to share their passion for food...
I hope your time here will be as colourful as this paragraph and that you will find recipes that will tantalize your taste buds.

And as every chef(want-to-be), food writer or other 'I-am-feeling-popular' person, I cannot leave out how I came across the love of my life(next to few others...) - cooking:
It all started with that first trip to England(as an au-pair) with the best intentions to broaden my knowledge of the English nation, culture and lifestyle.
Being an au-pair, I already possessed qualities like being able to prepare food and cook. And since my landlady was trained as a chef, I was sorrounded by cookery books of all kinds. To avoid the temptations of different quisines, you would have to be on a strict macrobiotic diet which I wasn't, so I bunjee-jumped into the world of cooking and haven't stopped ever since.

Just on the margin:
I've had one of the most memorable and influencing experiences of my life here in England, working alogside a highly experienced chef-friend (who promised to contribute with some recipes and maybe even an interview).