Smoked Salmon and Ricotta Croustades

These little beauties are great for 3 reasons;
1. They look great
2. They taste even better
3. So quick to make

If you're going to a dinner party, have a busy day beforehand, Croustades are your godsend!
You can fill them with any tasty combination you'd like. Let your imagination run wild

Sauerkraut Soup

This is a traditional Slovak soup which is served commonly with Christmas dinner. But of course can be eaten any time really, especially nice on a cold winter night.
This soup can be served as a starter or as main in a larger portion. Either way It's always a big hit!
This year was Marek's first Christmas with my (British) family in Canada. My Mum doesn't like Sauerkraut but she liked this soup! That sort of outcome feels great.

(Feeds 4-6 people)
1 large bottle sauerkraut (approx 700g)
5 cloves garlic (sliced)
1 medium onion (sliced)
2 mushrooms (sliced)
Smoked ham (500g)
2-6 smoked sausages (Eastern European SMOKED sausages, such as Slovak or Hungarian etc. If you can't find these types Spanish chorizo also works really well)
3/4 tsp caraway seeds
10-15 peppercorns
1 tsp paprika
3/4 tsp marjoram
salt to taste
6 cups water (approximated) - add more if necessary, as long as the soup has flavour and isn't too thick

Cooking instructons:
- Cut ham into thinck steak-like sliced
- poke holes in sausages with a fork (this is to allow the flavour from the sausages leak out into the soup - yum yum!)
- Put all ingredients together in a large pot, but adding water bit by bit through the cooking process (do not let the pot get dry at all!).
- Cook on low-medium heat for 2.5-3 hrs
Stir soup occasionally while cooking

You can serve the sausages and ham in the soup or on the side. Look at these beauties!

Serve soup hot on a cold winter night, mmmmmm!!

Hors D'oeuvres Party

We had my parents and some family friends over for hors d'oeuvre and wine the other night. It turned out really well, obviously including some panic within the last hour before guests arriving (I think I just put my hair dryer down as they pulled up to the front of our place). What party is complete without a little last minute rush and panic eh?

Now on to the food.....

I don't mean to boast but these are the best Chicken Goujons (is that a posh name for chicken strips, chicken nugets or chicken fingers? hhhhmmm?) I have ever eaten! They came out so crunchy and flavourful. I didn't want them to be at all greasy so I baked them.

I made these, served with very good quality mayonnaise to dip (I meant to make a curry mango dip but totally forgot to buy the curry ingredients). The mayo we have is so nice it was just fine served plain as a dip (I just looked for the mayo on the shelf that didn't have anything in it that I didn't recognise, no funny stuff, no chemical mumbo jumbo). Scrumptious! Although I should try to make my own mayo next time. It's suppose to be super easy right?

Chicken Goujons recipe
(recipe adapted from All Recipes)
450g skinless, boneless chicken (I used thighs instead of breasts because I find them to be more tender)
1 egg
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp milk
couple pinches of salt and pepper
150g fine bread crumbs
2 tsp dried thyme
1. Set oven to 240 C / 475 F / gas 9
2. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or foil
3. Cut chicken into strips
4. In a bowl mix together, egg, milk, olive oil and salt & pepper. Add the chicken strips, stir and coat them well with egg mixture
5. In a separate flat dish mix breadcrumbs and thyme
6. One at a time, place chicken strips into the breadcrumbs, turning them to coat evenly. Place chicken goujon onto the baking sheets
7. Bake chicken goujons in the oven for 15min or until golden (Mine stayed in closer to 20min)

I also made my vegetarian spring rolls. But this time I added egg to the filling. Yummy!

A couple weeks ago I instructed Marek how to make salsa. He's got it down pact now and I think his tastes better than when I make it! I made it for the first time a couple months ago and from then on we decided never to get store bought salsa again. It's so easy to make and tastes so much better fresh!

Salsa recipe

2 large tomatoes, chopped fine (make sure they're just ripe and firm)
1/2 a jalapeno pepper, chopped fine (less or more depending on how hot you like your salsa. Also the seeds are what make salsa hot, so keeping them or not is, again, personal preference)
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 shallots, chopped fine
handful of fresh coriander, chopped
2 tbsp olive
squirt of a wedge of lemon
1 tsp each of salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients together well and serve!
You could even use the salsa for chicken goujons dipping!

I couldn't forget to tell you about the prosciutto and pear bites that Marek put together. So savoury and fresh. these lovelies gave a good balance to all the hors d'oeuvres we served

Pear, Prosciutto and Gorgonzola Bites recipe
1 french baguette, sliced
1 pear, sliced into bite size pieces
12 slices of prosciutto, cut in halves
25g cream cheese
50g blue cheese
handful of crushed walnuts





1. Warm the baguette slices in the oven a bit
2. Blend together the cream cheese and blue cheese
3. Layer ingredients on top of the baguette slices in this order; cheese mixture, a few walnut bits, a piece or two of pear, a piece of prosciutto
Serve! Yum!

Last but by far not least are the Rich Chocolate Pots.
I posted a week ago about Chocolate and Love organic chocolate and said I would be making something with the chocolate. Well, here it is! Be warned though, this dessert is not for the faint hearted, IT IS RICH !

Rich Chocolate Pots recipe
(Direct from my favourite cookbook - Good Housekeeping Cookery Book)
300g good quality plain dark chocolate, in pieces (I'd say no more than 70% otherwise the dessert could be too bitter)
284ml double cream
250g mascarpone (I used half mascarpone, half cream cheese)
3 tbsp cognac
1 tbsp vanilla extract (I probably put double that amount because I LOVE Vanilla)

To decorate: Marek came up with the coconut topping, and I had some little chocolate coins to put in the middle. Another idea would be a dollop of whipped cream on top, sprinkled with crushed walnuts

1. Put chocolate into a heat proof bowl over a pot of gently simmering water. Leave until all chocolate is melted and smooth. Lower hear to it absolute lowest
2. Add cream and mascarpone, cognac and vanilla. Mixx well. (if you use cream cheese as I did it may take a bit longer to melt into the chocolate than the mascarpone)
3. Once all blended well and mascarpone (and cream cheese) have melted fully, divide mixture into glasses and chill in the refrigerator for atleast 20 min. Then you can top with you decoration of choice

The recipe in my book said this serves 6, but I have to say it was so rich I would say it serves 12. Next time I make these I will divide them into shot glasses. They are seriously rich, but irresistibly delicious! Dare I say it? they are orgasmically delicious!

It was a wonderful party and everyone was impressed with the food. Yay!!
One comment I won't forget, "When we were your age we weren't putting together something this nice". That comment pleased me to no end.

I love dinner parties!

Oven baked Zucchini Sticks

This is such a treat! Especially for Canadians (we like to call them "Zoo Sticks").

I'm having one of those nostalgic days, craving food from home....and while, unfortunately, I can't just hop on over to my closest "White Spot" (Canadian family restaurant chain), I have no choice but to attempt at making them myself, which I, of course, am totally up for! New challenge :)

So off I went to the store to get my necessities and (also after reading a few ideas on line) came up with the following (approximately measured) recipe:

2 zucchinis

2 eggs

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

3 tbsp flour

1 cup dried bread crumbs (I chose the natural style breadcrumbs instead of the extra fine golden as I am using the baking method rather than frying - a healthier choice)

smoked sea salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

- Preheat your oven to 400F (gas mark 6)

- Cut zucchini into strips (about 3-4 inches long and 1 inch thick) then season with salt and pepper.

- Mix the bread crumbs, parmesan, flour and bit more salt in a bowl
- Dip the zucchini in the egg and then the bread crumb mixture to coat well
- Place the zucchini sticks, skin side down, on a foil lined then slightly greased baking sheet in a single layer
- Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes or until golden brown

This should make about 2 dozen zucchini sticks

Serve them hot with a ranch style dip - combine 1 part sour cream to 1 part ranch dressing

Yum yum yum!! Ahhh,the taste of home :)

Sauteed Parmesan Prawns

I served this delicious prawn dish along with traditional bruschetta which I posted just before this. It was a wonderful tasty and satisfying light meal.

I made this prawn dish up as I went along...the same way several of my meals are made....isn't cooking great!!

The prawns turned out to be a smash hit even though my main aim for the meal was the bruschetta. My boyfriend devoured it all with equal appreciation. He is so glad I have my inspiration back! And so am I!

This Prawn dish can be served as a starter or even as a main served with noodles such as fettuccine. Oh the versatility!!

To make the prawns:
- Score each raw prawn along the back, chopped some basil and crush some garlic.
- Cook prawns in a pan with garlic, butter, fresh basil and olive oil, turning over once until each prawn has just turned pink. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Remove from pan and set aside.
- Keeping the same pan warn pour in some white wine to deglaze the pan. Wait a couple minutes for the wine to reduce then add a few sprinkles of parmesan cheese. Turn the heat right down and toss the prawns back in the pan. Heat through for just a moment.

Bruschetta

I know what you may be thinking.....Summer has come to an end (well, in London anyways) so what is this light summery dish doing popping up on my blog? Well, as I mentioned in my previous post, I had lost inspiration to cook....which for some could mean losing the will to live....I hope you know I'm kidding.

Also you may notice from my posts that season doesn't seem to affect what I feel like cooking. If I feel like making stew or dumplings in the middle of summer I must let it be. And if I feel like making bruschetta [pronounced - bru'sketta] come fall or winter, same rules (or not rules, really) apply! It's extremely difficult for me to ignore my cravings.

I'll get on with it now and tell you how I made this bruschetta.....well I wanted it to be simple and traditional with no modern flares, especially since I'd never made bruschetta before. I found a great recipe from a fellow food blogger Elise at Simply Recipes. Her recipe was just what I was looking for, sweet and simple and full of traditional flavour.

I made a couple changes however. We love garlic so I put a 1 small clove extra, and my boyfriend is not a huge fan of anything too vinegary so I put a tad less balsamic.

I prefer my bruschetta a bit chunky so I did the same as Elise and chopped my tomatoes by hand instead of using a food processor.

I will add a little suggestion that if you find the chopped tomatoes are too watery (even after you have removed all the juicy bits from the tomatoes), you can put them into a sieve for a minute.

This is a gorgeous snack. Or you can make it a meal like I have and serve it up with other bits and pieces. I made a side of sauteed parmesan prawns to go with it and it was a brilliant combination!

Olive Focaccia

My first attempt at making bread and I have to say I am quite pleased.
I took some to my work office to share and get some more feedback. It was a hit!

I used a recipe from my Good Housekeeping Cookery book but somehow measured something wrong and it started off with way too much liquid for the amount of flour so I kept adding flour to balance it out and it turned out pretty darn good considering. So here is my recipe

1 sachet (7oz) of dried yeast

550g (20oz) strong plain white bread flour

325ml tepid warm water

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tsp salt

100g black olives - sliced or roughly chopped

Instructions:

1/ Pour 150ml of the warm water into a jug and sprinkle dried yeast on top. Leave for 10 minutes until foamy

2/ Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl and make a well in the middle. Add the yeast liquid, olive oil and remaining warm water. Mix all together into a soft and smooth dough (add more flour if necessary)

3/ Knead the dough for about 10 minutes until dough becomes smoother and elasticated, then place dough ball into a lightly oiled bowl, cover and leave to rise for about 1 1/2 hrs or until dough has doubled in size

4/ Lightly oil 2 shallow baking tins. Knock back the dough and knead on a lightly floured surface for 1 minute. Add the olives and knead again until evenly combined

5/ Divide th dough in half and shape each half into the oiled shallow baking tins. Coven with a damp towel and let rise for 30min-1hr, or until dough is puffy

6/ Using your fingertips, make dimples all over both dough surfaces. Drizzle with some olive oil and sprinkle generously with coarse sea salt. Bake in the oven at 200 C (gas mark 6) for 25-30 minutes or until golden (but not too browned or it will harden)

7/ Transfer focaccia to a wire rack and sprinkle with a bit more olive oil. Leave to cool, with a cloth covering it if you prefer a softer crust

TIP: To make bread extra soft place an oven proof bowl full of water at the bottom of the oven while the bread is baking

Serve with some olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Enjoy!

Vietnamese fresh spring rolls

I've tried the fried spring rolls, now it's time for the healthier fresh ones! The fun thing about these is you don't necessarily have any cooking to do!

This is a great vegetarian dish or with seafood or chicken.


If you want vegetarian you could use tofu or just a your favourite vegetables.

I've made with prawns and chicken, but in this photo I've used only chicken.

It's a great dish for leftover chicken. I happen to have some cooked chicken from the deli which worked great for a speedy light meal before we went to the cinema. We had 2 each and it actually filled us up quite well. Traditionally, however, this would be a starter.

I didn't measure my ingredients, I judged by eye, so the following measurements are just a guideline.

(Serves 2-4 people)

4 rice wrappers (about 8.5 inch diameter)

75-100g fresh rice vermicelli noodles

100g cooked chicken (torn strips)

12 cooked prawns (peeled, no tails) - I didn't include in the ones in the photo as I didn't have any left on hand

1/2 carrot (thinly sliced strips - I used a peeler)

2 spring onions (chopped)

1/2 a red chili (chopped - seeds removed if you don't want too hot)

2 handfuls of fresh bean sprouts

Half handful of fresh cilantro

Half handful mix of fresh basil and mint

1 large lettuce leaf (chopped in large pieces)

Instructions:

- Have large diameter pie dish of warm-hot water ready for your rice wrappers

- Soak a rice wrapper in the warm-hot water for about 10-15 seconds, until it softens enough to work with, but do not over soften or it will rip too easily

- On a dry clean surface very gently place the softened rice wrapper flat in front of you

- Place bits of each ingredients an inch away from the edge (closest to you) of the wrapper. Leave about 2 inches of space from each side of the wrapper

(For nice looking wrap place filling ingredients in this order : lay lettuce first, then herbs, carrot, chili, spring onion, bean sprouts and rice noodles in a neat row over top of the lettuce, running lengthwise across the wrapper; place chicken on top or just in front of the vegetables; on the bottom 1/3 of the wrapper place 3 prawns in a horizontal row

- Start rolling from the side closest to you. Try to keep the rolling as tight as possible without tearing the wrapper. After rolling once pull in the 2 sides and continue rolling straight over the prawns. When finished you should be able to see the prawns nicely displayed through the wrapper

Cut each roll in half at an angle. Serve with peanut dipping sauce (I used satay sauce mixed with a bit of sesame oil and lime juice to loosen it up)

Enjoy the taste of health!

Pierogi

I AM IN LOVE WITH PIEROGI!! ALWAYS HAVE BEEN, ALWAYS WILL BE!!.


Where are they from? Many places. They could be Ukrainian, Russian, Slovakian, Polish...there's a variation in most Eastern European countries, and I love them all! Well, I haven't tried them from all the countries where they've developed, but, I can be certain I would love each and every single 'yummy in my tummy' one of them.

I ate them so much growing up. My parents would buy the frozen ones from Safeway...mmmmm, yuummm. Good times! But now since living in London, they're not so easy to find, store bought. There is a polish deli not far from my house which sells them but I'm not always travelling in that direction and as I love cooking so much I've tried out a few different recipes to make them myself. And I have found the perfect dough recipe from fellow blogger Mark at Eating Cleveland. Check it out here

For the filling I made two kinds, one potato and onion and one potato and sauerkraut.

3 large potatoes
3 tbsp butter
2 tbsp sour cream
1 cup sauerkraut
1 medium onion
salt and pepper to taste

- Boil the potatoes
- Mash the potatoes with 1 tbsp butter and 2 tbsp sour cream
- Chop and fry the onion with 1 tbsp butter until soft and browned
- Mix half the mashed potato in a bowl with the onion. Season with salt and pepper
- Fry the sauerkraut with 1 tbsp butter for a couple minutes.
- Mix sauerkraut in a separate bowl with the remaining mashed potato. Season with salt and pepper

Of course you can make all the filling just potato and onion or all just potato and sauerkraut, just double up the onion or the sauerkraut.


My favourite way to serve pierogi is fried (boil them first of course) with onions and bacon bits, and a side dipping of sour cream....oh yeah!!

Vegetable Spring Rolls

I can't believe I've waited this long to try making spring rolls. It's so easy! :)
I had a little bbq last weekend but wanted to avoid the typical snacks such as crisps , breads and dips. At the same time I was craving an attempt at making an Asian dish I'd never made before. Not really a bbq type food but who doesn't love spring rolls?! There's no rules eh?! ;)


I live just a few minutes walk from an asian grocery store so why I don't cook asian cuisine more often, I don't know!
For the bbq I also made fresh vietnamese spring rolls. Unfortunately I forgot to take photos so I'll have to make them again soon to show you.
The chinese spring rolls were very popular. One friend even told me they tasted professional and so much better than ones from chinese take-away restaurants! Music to my ears!!


Here is what you'll need:

½ onion (sliced very thin)
½ cup sauerkraut
1 carrot (peeled strips)
3 cups fresh bean sprouts
½ tbsp crushed ginger (or ½ tsp ginger powder)
2 cloves crushed garlic (or ½ tsp garlic powder)
3 tbsp soy sauce
½ tsp sugar
½ tsp celery salt
2 tbsp sesame oil
Small size spring roll wrappers
1 tbsp flower + 2 tbsp water mixed for a sealing paste

Instrictions:
FILLING
- Heat sesame oil in a wok. Fry onions for just under a minute. The wok will be quite hot so onions will start cooking quite fast. Throw in garlic and ginger (if using powdered add later), sauerkraut. Cook for another minute or so then add carrot and bean sprouts. (Add more sesame oil if necessary at this point)
- Pour in the soy sauce and stir. Add celery salt and sugar. (at this point you will also add powdered ginger and garlic)
- Cook all ingredients through until at the softness of your preference (some people prefer softer inside the roll, and some prefer a bit crunchy. Who says there’s a right or wrong eh?)
- Once cooked through transfer filling to a bowl and allow to cool down
- Wipe the wok clean as you will use it to cook the spring rolls (that’s if you don’t have a dep fryer)

ROLLING
- You will need a flat dry surface to roll your spring rolls
- Place a sheet on the dry surface with a corner towards you (so looking down the sheet is a diamond). Place a tbsp amount of the filling at the corner of the sheet towards you. Wrap the corner of the sheet overtop of the filling and start rolling it quite tight. Once you’ve rolled about halfway pull in both side corners and continue rolling. Seal the closing corner with your paste
- Continue rolling until you’ve used up all your filling. As you’re rolling Make sure to keep your pile of spring roll pastry sheets covered with a slightly damp cloth to stop them from drying out
COOKING
- As I don’t have a deep fryer I used my wok. Heat about 1 inch deep of vegetable oil in the wok. Make sure it gets very hot so that the rolls fry immediately as it hits the pan
- You’ll probably be able to cook about 8 rolls at a time as you don’t want them overcrowding in the wok.
- Keep a close eye on them, they will only need frying for about a minute or two on each side. Since they are on direct contact with the wok they can burn quickly so make sure to turn them at the right time and remove as soon as they are done.
- As you remove them from the wok place them on a paper towelled plate

These really did turn out wonderful! So crispy and tasty. Quite proud of myself really :))

Serve with a sweet chilli sauce for dipping

Lebanese Lamb Pies with Meze

I love foods from Arabic countries. The freshness and rustic tastes. I was recently watching a Travel Food Show taking place in Lebanon and had the strongest craving for those flavours. So I put together a Meze, the focus dish being Lebanese lamb pies.


I'd never worked with phyllo pastry and it became obvious to me why many people are afraid to...it really does take practice. The pastry didn't end up being super flaky and fluffy once cooked because I missed a step and tried to fold them differently (whoops!) but the pies still tasted delicious! I will try the phyllo pastry again sometime because I do like the challenge of trying to get it right but next time I will try using the simpler puff pastry to compare.

If you are going to use phyllo pastry pay close attention, don't miss any instructions like I did, and probably best not to experiment if not experienced already ;)

(Makes 12 small pies)
250g ground lamb
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup pine nuts (pan roasted with a little olive oil)
1/2 onion (chopped)
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp mixed spice
ground pepper to taste
fine zest from a whole lemon
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp warm water
1 tbsp flour ( I used bisto)

12 sheets ready made phyllo (filo) pastry
1 egg (beaten)
1/4 cup salted butter, melted
6 tbsp vegetable oil

Instructions:
Pie Filling:
- Cook lamb in a pan with olive, then add onion and all other ingredients (except for pine nuts). Cook further until onions turn transparent. Add water and flour (or bisto), stir and allow to thicken a little (about 1 minute)
- Stir in pine nuts and remove mix from the heat

- Preheat oven to gas mark 6 (400 F)
- Mix the butter and oil and keep to one side.
- Make sure to keep pastry sheets which you are not working with covered at all times with a slightly damp towel (phyllo dries very quickly)
- Lay out a sheet of filo pastry on a clean work surface and cut into three-inch strips lengthwise.
- Using a large soup spoon, place a dollop of the lamb mixture at the top right-hand corner of the filo strip. Take the top right-hand corner and fold over the pumpkin mixture to the left. The strip should now have the beginnings of a triangle, with the peak at the upper left-hand corner. Continue folding the strip in the shape of a triangle, brushing the filo pastry with butter+oil mixture before each fold. Once you've reached the end of the strip, place on the baking sheet and brush with beaten egg.
- Continue until all the pumpkin mixture has been used, making about 15 triangles.
- Bake for approximately 30 mins, or until the filo is crispy and a dark golden brown.

I served this with some naan bread (I had some in the freezer so thought it would work as a replacement for flatbread), olives, humus, yoghurt and cucumber dip, and salad. Delish Meze!