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Kasia

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Posts posted by Kasia

  1. Strawberry dessert with chia seeds

     

    Ingredients (for 4 people)
    300g of strawberries
    300ml of milk (it may be coconut milk or whatever you prefer)
    honey or maple syrup
    4 tablespoons of chia seeds
    fruit and peppermint leaves for decoration


    Clean the strawberries and remove the shanks. Add the milk and one tablespoon of honey or maple syrup. Blend it thoroughly. Try it and if necessary add a bit more honey. Add the chia seeds, mix them in and leave in the fridge for 4-5 hours. Stir once again. Put the dessert into a small bowl and decorate with the fruit and peppermint leaves.

     

    The inspiration for this dessert comes from "Smaki życia" ("Flavour of Life") by Agnieszka Maciąg

     

     

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  2. Cold cucumber soup

     

    Until now I have made cold beet soup with chard as the base ingredient. My husband and my dad both like this kind of cold soup. Today I tried a new version of cold soup. Cold cucumber soup with natural yoghurt with dill and peppermint leaves was excellent. You may serve it with hard boiled eggs or new potatoes.


    The recipes comes from from "Smaki życia" ("Flavour of Life") by Agnieszka Maciąg.


    Ingredients (for 4 people)
    800g of natural yoghurt
    4 fresh new cucumbers
    2 tablespoons of minced peppermint leaves
    4 tablespoons of minced dill
    2 cloves of garlic
    4 eggs
    salt and pepper

     

    Clean the cucumbers, cut the ends and grate them (with the skin on). Crush the garlic, add to the cucumbers, spice it up with salt and pepper and mix it in. Add the yoghurt, peppermint and dill. Stir the soup. Serve chilled with a hard-boiled egg.

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    • Like 9
  3. the strawberry time is back (at least in Poland :)) so last weekend I have prepared one of my favorite cakes - Light strawberry small cake. 

     

    Ingredients:

    1 kg of strawberries

    130g of butter

    3 tablespoons of cocoa

    100g of rolled oats

    6 tablespoons of sugar

    4 tablespoons of water

    3 teaspoons of gelatin

    200g of natural yoghurt

    250g of mascarpone

    4 tablespoons of caster sugar

    200g of longitudinal sponge biscuits

    50g of dark chocolate

     

    Put the margarine, sugar, water and cocoa into a pot, and boil to combine the ingredients. Add the rolled oats and mix them in. Cool the mixture down slightly. Cover the bottom of a cake tin with the oat-chocolate mass. Cover the sides of the cake tin with the sponge biscuits, slightly pressing them into the mass. Put the cake tin into the fridge. Melt the gelatine in 100 ml of hot water. Blend thoroughly 2/3s of the strawberries. Add the gelatine to them. Whisk the mascarpone, natural yoghurt and caster sugar to make a fluffy mass. Gradually add the blended strawberries and mix them in slightly. Put the strawberry mass on the chocolate base. Leave it in the fridge to congeal. Slice the rest of the strawberries and put them on the cake. You can decorate the cake with ready-made chocolate elements or sprinkle with grated chocolate.

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    • Like 8
  4. Rhubarb muffins with crumble topping and lemon icing

     

    My children love muffins. This year to give them joy on Children's Day I prepared fluffy, moist muffins with rhubarb, a crunchy crumble topping and lemon icing. They were excellent and everybody, not only the children, liked them.

     

    Ingredients (12 muffins)
    dough
    250g of flour
    1 teaspoon of baking powder
    half a teaspoon of baking soda
    150g of brown sugar
    1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
    250ml of milk
    60ml of oil
    1 egg
    a pinch of salt
    crumble topping
    40g of butter
    80g of flour
    40g of caster sugar
    other ingredients:
    3 long sticks of rhubarb
    2 tablespoons of brown sugar
    icing
    6 tablespoons of caster sugar
    juice from one lemon


    Heat the oven up to 190C. Put some paper muffin moulds into the "dimples" of a baking pan for muffins.
    Make the crumble topping: mix all the ingredients and knead them until you have the consistence of wet sand.
    Clean the rhubarb, peel it and cut it into 1 cm pieces. Sprinkle with sugar and leave for half an hour.
    Mix together the dry ingredients of the muffins: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix together the oil, milk and egg in a separate bowl. Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and mix them in.
    Put the dough into some paper muffin moulds up to 2/3 of their height, and put the pieces of rhubarb on the top. Sprinkle with the crumble topping. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
    Make the icing: mix the lemon juice with the caster sugar.
    When the muffins are cold, decorate them with the lemon icing.

     

     

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    • Like 9
  5. Light lunch – salad with asparagus and fruit

     

    Today I mixed fresh spinach leaves and green asparagus spears with fruit: juicy pomegranate and sweet blueberries. Add poached egg or pieces of hard-boiled egg if you want to make a more filling dish. This salad is an excellent proposal for a light dinner on a hot summer day.


    Ingredients (for 2 people)
    2 fistfuls of spinach
    a bunch of green asparagus spears (about 12 pieces)
    half a pomegranate
    two fistfuls of blueberries
    4 eggs
    salt and pepper


    dip:
    2 tablespoons of olive oil
    2 tablespoons of lemon juice
    1 teaspoon of honey
    1 tablespoon of water


    Clean the asparagus spears, remove the lignified parts and boil for 5-7 minutes in lightly salted water. Drain them and leave for a while. Clean the spinach and remove the thick stems. Arrange the spinach and asparagus spears on a plate. Mix the ingredients of the dip and sprinkle the spinach and asparagus spears with it. Add the pomegranate segments and blueberries.
    Put the raw egg into a small bowl. Boil some water with two tablespoons of vinegar. Make a whirlpool in the water by stirring vigorously and put the egg in the middle of it. Boil on a low heat until the egg white is congealed (about 2-3 minutes). Take the egg out of the water and add it to the salads. Spice it up with salt and pepper. Serve at once.

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    • Like 11
  6. Asparagus once again – pizza with asparagus spears and salami.

     

    Recently, asparagus spears have become a permanent product in my kitchen, so I decided that they would be the main ingredient of my pizza. I added to them some salami, two kinds of cheese and black olives. At first sight it is an unconventional combination, but it was surprisingly tasty. It was so yummy that my impressed daughter forgot to cover everything with ketchup.


    Ingredients:
    ready pizza base
    1 tin of tomatoes (cubed)
    half an onion
    3 cloves of garlic
    2 tablespoons of oil
    1 tablespoon of butter
    1 teaspoon of dried oregano
    150g of sliced salami
    bunch of green asparagus spears (about 12 pieces)
    150g of grated mozzarella cheese
    50g of grated emmenthal
    salt and pepper


    Melt the butter in a frying pan. Fry the diced onion and garlic. Add the tomato and oregano, spice it up with salt and pepper and stew for 15 minutes. The sauce should be quite thick. You can blend it if you don't want any tomato pieces in the sauce. Clean the asparagus spears, remove the lignified parts and blanch for 3-5 minutes in lightly salted water. Drain them and leave for a while.
    Heat the oven up to 200C. Cover a baking sheet with baking paper.
    Put the pizza base onto the baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes. Spread the partly-baked base with the tomato sauce and put the slices of salami on top. Sprinkle with half of the mozzarella cheese and all of the emmenthal cheese. Arrange the asparagus spears and sprinkle with the rest of the mozzarella cheese. Bake for 15 minutes.

     

     

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    • Like 15
  7. "Dessert for tropical heat" :)

     

    Today I would like to share with you a recipe for fruit mousse with a hint of coconut. You should serve it strongly chilled. It is perfectly refreshing and supplements the micro-elements which we lose when it is hot. The sweetness of the dessert hinges on the degree of ripeness of the fruit. If you don't have perfectly ripe, juicy fruit, you may add a bit of honey or maple syrup.


    Ingredients (for 4 people):
    1 big mango
    1 pineapple
    400g of coconut milk
    2 tablespoons of lemon juice
    honey or maple syrup
    fruit for decoration


    Clean and peel the fruit. Blend the pineapple and mango with the coconut milk and lemon juice. Add honey or maple syrup if necessary. Cool it down in the fridge for at least an hour. Decorate with the fruit before serving.

     

     

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    • Like 10
  8. 44 minutes ago, shain said:

    Beet gnocchi - roasted beet, ricotta, anise, thyme, pepper, parm, egg yolk, flour. Ricotta smear, medium-sharp gorgonzola, basil, toasted walnuts.

     

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    Not that it was bad, but the pureed beets with the cheeses and spices were so tasty, that I couldn't help but be disappointed by the flavor dilution due to the flour and eggs.

    Expect to see beet puree with anise and ricotta on my plate sometime soon.

     

    @shain it looks like "innovations in the kitchen" - never seen something similar :)

    • Like 2
  9. Today I would like to share with you the recipe for small pies. I wanted to make the stuffing without meat, so I chose chickpeas. They are a rich source of protein, they reduce blood pressure and cholesterol level. They also have a low glycaemic level and the fibre steadies the sugar level in the blood. You should remember its assets and add it to your daily diet.

     

    Serve the pies with your favourite dip and vegetables. They taste the best hot, but we discovered that they are great cold and you may also reheat them.


    Ingredients (12 pieces)
    1 pack of chilled French pastry
    200g of chickpeas
    half a red pepper
    2 cloves of garlic
    half an onion
    4 dried tomatoes from olive oil
    3 tablespoons of olive oil from the tomatoes
    6-8 black olives
    1 tablespoon of butter
    2 tablespoons of milk


    Heat the oven up to 185C. Cover a baking sheet with some baking paper.
    Dice the onion, garlic and olives and fry them in butter. Don't let them go brown. Drain the dried tomatoes and dice them. Mash the chickpeas with a fork. Add the vegetables from the pan, the tomatoes, the olive oil from the tomatoes and mix them in. Cut 7 cm circles from the French pastry. Put a teaspoon of the filling on each circle and stick them together. Don't press too hard, in order to allow the French pastry to open. Smooth the pies with the milk. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

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    • Like 12
  10. This dessert, because of the shot of coffee, is better for adult gourmands. For children I recommend using Inka coffee (chicory coffee) or instant cocoa. If you add dry granular coffee to the cheese, you will find small colorful dots in the cheesecake. If you would like to make a smooth cake, dissolve the coffee in a spot of water.


    The recipe for this cake comes from www.aniagotuje.pl.

     

    Ingredients:
    1kg of grated curd cheese
    200g of butter
    150g of brown sugar
    2 tablespoons of potato flour
    4 tablespoons of granular coffee
     

    icing

    150g of dark chocolate
    150ml of 30% sweet cream
    4 tablespoons of desiccated coconuts
    fruit for decoration


    Heat the oven up to 160C.
    Put the granular coffee, sugar and butter into a pot. Heat until the butter is melted. Boil for 2-3 minutes and turn off the heat. Leave to cool down. Add the cheese, potato flour and the coffee mixture and mix it in thoroughly. Put the dough into a baking pan. Put a bowl with hot water at the bottom of the oven, so as not to break the cheesecake during baking. Bake the cheesecake for 90 minutes.
    Prepare the icing: heat up the sweet cream, add the chocolate and stir until it has melted.
    Decorate the cheesecake with chocolate icing, desiccated coconuts and fruit. Leave the cake in the fridge for 4-5 hours.

     

     

     

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    • Like 10
  11. On 5/20/2017 at 7:03 AM, rarerollingobject said:

    Macaron experiments are stressful, huh?

     

    One wrong move and you have flat puddles, lumpen sadsacks, over-risen abominations, or, as I had here, cracked tops from an attempt to make them marbled in appearance and not treating the grey dye correctly.

     

    So I turned my cracked failures into gold leaf-rivuleted beauties, via the Japanese method of kintsukuroi - repairing broken things with gold - brushing gold leaf into the cracks themselves.

     

    Sandwiched together with white chocolate ganache, flavoured with Mariage Freres yuzu and indigo flower Earl Grey tea, with a center of yuzu jam and a roll in dried fleurs de Provence. Kintsugi macarons.

     

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    @rarerollingobject  -  inspiring, amazing, unique :) 

    • Like 3
  12. Today I would like to share with you a recipe for a weekend breakfast/dinner, with yummy green asparagus spears, which is both energizing and light. Serve it with slices of granary toast or without, and eat it slowly and lazily in nice company. I think that in spring the nicest thing is to enjoy the small pleasures.


    The inspiration for this dish comes from "Smaki życia" ("Flavour of Life") by Agnieszka Maciąg.


    Ingredients (for 2 people)
    4 eggs
    10 green asparagus spears
    1 teaspoon of fresh minced rosemary
    2 tablespoons of minced chives
    4 tablespoons of grated mozzarella cheese
    10 cherry tomatoes
    2 tablespoons of butter
    salt and pepper


    Heat the oven up to 180C.
    Clean the asparagus spears, remove the lignified parts and blanch for 2-3 minutes in lightly salted water. Drain them and leave for a while. Smooth some small casserole dishes with the butter. Put the asparagus spears and halved cherry tomatoes into them. Sprinkle with the grated mozzarella cheese, rosemary and the rest of the butter. Put two eggs into each dish and spice them up with salt and pepper.
    Put the dishes in a bain-marie. Bake without the lid for 15-20 minutes, depending on how well done you like your eggs. Before serving, sprinkle with minced chives.

     

     

     

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    • Like 14
  13. Raspberry Hedgehogs. This is the dessert which I prepare rather often and maybe even more often than the others. Fresh and sun-smelling raspberries arranged on a sweet chocolate mousse looked like colourful hedgehogs. I don't know if this dish will remind everyone of hedgehogs, but the dessert will for sure be tasty for everybody.


    Ingredients (for 5 people)
    1 pack of chilled French pastry
    200g of raspberries
    200ml of 30% sweet cream
    200g of mascarpone cheese
    100g of dark chocolate
    2 tablespoons of milk
    peppermint leaves


    Heat the oven up to 190C.
    Smooth some baking pans for the small tarts with butter. Cut the French pastry into squares which fit into the baking pans and put them carefully into them. Smooth the top of the pastry with the milk and bake for 15-17 minutes. Leave to cool down.
    Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie, then let it cool down a bit. Whip the cool sweet cream to make a fluffy mass. Mix it in gently with the mascarpone cheese and chocolate. Put the chocolate mousse onto the French pastry to form small hillocks. Arrange the raspberries on top of this and decorate with the peppermint leaves.

     

     

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    • Like 9
  14. Today something with fruit. I used rhubarb to make a tart with a crunchy almond crumble topping. It was yummy, moist, refreshing and excellent for a summer tea party.


    Ingredients:


    dough:
    250g of flour
    4 tablespoons of caster sugar
    1 tablespoon of vanilla sugar
    1 egg
    1 egg yolk

    120g of butter


    crumble topping:
    50g of butter
    3-4 tablespoons of flour
    3 tablespoons of brown sugar
    8g of vanilla sugar
    1 egg yolk


    filling:
    500g of pie plant
    4 tablespoons of brown sugar


    Mix together the dry ingredients for the dough: flour, sugar and vanilla sugar. Chop the butter. Add the butter, egg and egg yolk to the dry ingredients. Quickly knead into a smooth dough. Cover with a plastic wrap and leave in the fridge for half an hour.
    Heat the oven up to 180C. Cover a baking pan with the dough, leaving the edges slightly raised around the sides.
    Clean the rhubarb, peel it and cut into 1 cm pieces. Sprinkle with sugar and leave for half an hour.
    Make the crumble topping. Melt the butter, cool it a bit, then add the flour, sugar, vanilla sugar and egg yolk. Mix it with a fork until it is lumpy.
    Drain the rhubarb and arrange it on the dough; sprinkle with the crumble topping and bake for 45 minutes.

     

     

     

     

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    • Like 8
  15. 17 hours ago, Smithy said:

    There are so many good inspirations on this topic!  I want to comment on them all, but I'll spare the reader.

    @Kasia, your shrimp dish gives me an idea for my next shrimp-and-pasta dish.  I generally go heavy on things like lemon and garlic, but a bit of a chile kick sounds like a great idea.

    @mm84321, that spinach looks like a smaller version of the cultivated spinach I see, but I've never seen wild spinach. Is it essentially the same cultivar, or is it a relative - say, the difference between cultivated asparagus and wild asparagus?

    @mgaretz, how did you keep that bright green color in your Brussels sprouts? 

     

    @Smithy I hope you will enjoy it - it will for sure give such noodles more spicy character

    • Like 1
  16. I think it is because of the price that spaghetti with shrimps is a special dish in my home. This time, to make a more extraordinary meal, I cooked black pasta stained with squid ink. It is an excellent base for shrimps, fresh green parsley and chili-garlic sauce.


    Ingredients (for 4 people)
    500g of cooked shrimps
    4 cloves of garlic
    1 chili pepper
    100g of butter
    150ml of dry white wine
    a bunch of parsley
    400g of spaghetti
    50g of Parmesan
    lemon
    salt and pepper


    If you have frozen shrimps, take them out of the freezer and defrost them. Boil the pasta so it is al dente. Slice the garlic and dice the chili pepper. Melt the butter in a pan, add the garlic, chili pepper and fry it for a while. Pour the wine in and boil at a low heat for 5 minutes. Add the shrimps and boil for 3-4 minutes. Spice it up with salt and pepper, turn off the heat and add the minced parsley. Mix the shrimps in with the pasta. If you like, sprinkle the dish with lemon juice and parmesan and decorate with parsley leaves.

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    • Like 12
  17. Asparaguses in French pastry. This time I prepared green asparaguses (they are back at least in Poland :)) with smoked salmon, mozzarella cheese and fresh spinach. I wrapped it in French pastry and created a light dinner dish which was completed with cherry tomatoes.


    Ingredients (for 2 people)
    1 pack of chilled French pastry
    1 bunch of asparagus
    2 fistfuls of fresh spinach
    150g of smoked salmon
    150g of mozzarella cheese
    2 tablespoons of sesame seeds
    2 tablespoons of nigella
    2 tablespoons of milk
    2 cloves of garlic
    salt and pepper


    Heat the oven up to 180C. Cover a baking sheet with baking paper.
    Cut across the French pastry to make two rectangles. Slice the garlic. Clean the asparaguses and remove the lignified pieces. Slice the mozzarella cheese.
    Place the spinach, garlic, asparaguses, salmon and mozzarella cheese down the center of the pastry from top to bottom, at a width of 1/3 of the pastry. Spice it up with salt and pepper. Cut notches into the French pastry on either side of the stuffing to make 1.5 cm-long strips. Braid the pastry by crossing the strips, alternating from right to left to make a plait. Don't stick the strips together. Smooth the dough with milk and sprinkle with the sesame seeds and nigella. Wrap the tops of the asparaguses in aluminium foil to avoid burning them. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 3-4 minutes. Serve at once.

     

     

     

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    • Like 17
  18.  

    Mango and white chocolate in French pastry

    Recently, after cooking I had some French pastry left over and a piece of juicy mango. I added walnuts, white chocolate, a few sesame seeds and made some simple snacks.


    Ingredients:
    1 pack of chilled French pastry
    1 mango
    walnuts
    white chocolate
    2 tablespoons of sesame seeds
    2 tablespoons of milk


    Heat the oven up to 180C. Cover a baking sheet with some baking paper.
    Cut the French pastry into triangles. Put a piece of the mango, a block of the white chocolate and a walnut on every piece. Fold and join the scones starting from the wider edges. Smooth the top of the scones with milk and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Arrange the scones on the baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes.

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    • Like 6
  19. My latest soup - Cream of cauliflower-cheese soup. The variation with next vegetable.

     

    Ingredients:
    1 cauliflower
    1 small onion
    1 clove of garlic
    1 tablespoon of butter
    vegetable stock
    100g of processed cheese
    salt and pepper


    Dice the onion and garlic and fry them in butter. Clean the cauliflower and break it up into florets. Put the cauliflower, onion and garlic into a pot. Pour the vegetable stock to cover the vegetables and boil until the cauliflower is soft. Add the processed cheese. When it has melted blend the soup thoroughly. Spice it up with salt and pepper. If necessary, add vegetable stock to make the right consistency.

     

     

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    • Like 17
  20. My last stakes:


    Ingredients: 
    4 fillet steaks 
    3 tablespoons of olive oil pepper 
    pepper 

    Heat the oven up to 180C. Cover a baking sheet with some baking paper. 
    Smooth the fillet steaks with the olive oil and spice them up with pepper. Heat a pan and fry the steaks well on both sides (about two minutes on each side). Put them on the baking sheet and bake for 2-3 minutes to make rare steaks, for 5 minutes for medium and 10 minutes for well-done steaks. I baked mine for 7 minutes and they were excellent. Take the meat out from the oven and let the steaks "rest" for 2-3 minutes. Serve with your favorite side dishes. 

     

     

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    • Like 12
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