wojtekvanportek

Sweet tooth Sunday

Published on March 11, 2018March 11, 2018 by wojtekvanportekLeave a comment

Dutch Baby, so fashionable these days, is nothing else but the pastry my Mum used to make for my siblings and I when we were in need for some dessert fix. Now that I’m older it doesn’t surprise me why that was her fix of choice. It’s surprisingly easy to make it, takes minutes to bake it and above all it looks rather spectacular whether you’re an adult or child in need of sugar rush.

So, baking this kind of pancake- Yorkshire pudding- pastry was not only fun but also a nostalgic carefree flashback of a sweet times with my sweet Mama.

To make this 26cm size pastry you need:
3 whole eggs
100g plain flour
1 tbsp of caster sugar
pinch of sea salt
1 vanilla pod
150ml whole milk
large tbsp of butter of any kind

Preheat the cast iron pan in oven at 220C.
Place the eggs and sugar in a blender, mix them well.
Add milk, vanilla beans from the pod, salt and the flour to achieve a smooth batter.
Take the hot pan out of oven and melt the scoop of butter.
As soon as butter has melted, pour the batter into the pan and place it in the oven for approx. 20 mins.

Once golden brown and high in size, take it off carefully out oven and garnish with seasonal fruits and icing sugar if you like it.

One pasta, two options, three flavours

Published on January 14, 2018 by wojtekvanportekLeave a comment

There are two groups of people, apparently – the ones who love their pasta mixed with the sauce, and the others who prefer to have it just on top.
It doesn’t bother me which option I have as long as the meal is well, tasty.
Bearing in mind my friend’s preferences, I made this simple dish the way she likes it – separated. And what’s your favourite?

To make this tree flavour pasta you’ll need:
a tin of cherry tomatoes
250ml of tomato passata
100g of dried tomato pesto
1tbsp of freshly grated ginger
1tbsp of freshly grated garlic
1 tsp of sambal oelek paste
2 medium red peppers
2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar glaze
a spoonful of good quality green pesto
parsley leaves and parmigiano reggiano to garnish

1. Using a glug of live oil, roast thinly sliced peppers in non-stick pan.
Stir them occasionally so they’ll caramelise nicely on both sides.
Once they soften, mix them with balsamic vinegar glaze and keep on a low heat for 3-5mins. Take off the heat and sed aside to cool.

2. In a heavy bottomed pan, fry garlic and ginger, and pour over tomato passata.
Follow with cherry tomatoes and simmer on a low heat. At this moment add the dried tomato pesto and sambal oelek ( or just chili as a substitute ) and stir occasionally until the sauce is thickened to a creamy consistence. Season up to your taste with salt, pepper and Worcester sauce – it’s a genius flavour enhancer!

Serve with your favourite type of pasta ( hint: it goes really well with penne!).
And here’s the trick; you can either add pepper into sauce and mix it all together, or serve the sauce on top of your penne with roasted peppers to taste the difference between the sauce, peppers and green pesto – used as a garnish.
The three flavours in one!

Happy Cooking ! 👨🏻‍🍳

Winter warmer anyone?

Published on January 7, 2018January 8, 2018 by wojtekvanportekLeave a comment

Festive season is behind us, and so is its food. But unlike Christmas, winter will stay with us for a while. I find winter warmers – like this Spiced Carrot&Sweet potato cream, I’m sharing here with you, are a perfect solution to the cold months. As usual I’ve made sure that the recipe is hassle free and the outcome filling, yet delicious.

To make this easy meal you’ll need:
3 medium potatoes
3 medium carrots
1 brown onion
some fresh thyme, ginger and a few garlic cloves – quantity to your own taste
smoked salt roasted almonds to garnish
a small chunk of freshly grated ginger
1 litre of vegetable stock

With a glug of olive oil, roast the onions in a large saucepan.
Once they soften, add grated garlic, following by the vegetable stock.
Boil the mixture for a few minutes then add chopped carrots and sweet potato and cook on a low heat for 10-15 mins until the carrots are al dente. Add the grated ginger.
The secret to the warming taste of this meal is to add the ginger at this moment (you could ad some chilli as well) so the gentle spiciness wont evaporate from the soup.
Once all the ingredients are cooked through, blend them gently to achieve a delicious cream.

Serve garnished with smoked almonds thyme and pepper if you like.
A sprinkle of finely chopped chives is also a good option for this meal.

not so rocket science, rocket salad

Published on December 31, 2017December 31, 2017 by wojtekvanportekLeave a comment

It’s one of these super easy meals, which despite minimum effort they still manage to look, well, super appetising.

You’ll need:

a bag of freshly rinsed rocket,
3 smoked mackerel fillets
2 medium ripened pears
about 100/150 g of stilton/gorgonzola cheese
1 small green onion
smoked almond flakes
olive oil, balsamic glaze

Place rocket in the serving bowl and follow with the rest of ingredients; thickly sliced pears, shredded smoked mackerel, chunks of cheese and thinly sliced onion.
Sprinkle generously with smoked almonds and finish with olive oil and balsamic glaze.

Enjoy!

Razor clams…Flavour sharp!

Published on November 2, 2017November 2, 2017 by wojtekvanportekLeave a comment

One of good things about the weekend is that local fishmongers are very freshly stocked with their “catch of the day”. I love that feeling when standing in front of iced shelves fully covered by sea food and you just simply don’t know what to buy?
Every time when I think I’ve had enough time to make a decision whilst queueing, and I hear “what can I get you, Sir?”, my fishmonger can read from my eyes – I DON’T KNOW! Are you after some fish? Had it last time, I reply back. Scallops? He continues. Not this time. Why don’t you have a bunch of Razor clams? Why don’t I! I reply enthusiastically. Never mind the inpatient clients behind me, waiting to be served. I just got I didn’t know I wanted! Which makes my weekend a bit more exciting.

Razor clams are this type of seafood which doesn’t require a lot of preparation; good old salt and pepper plus, shaved shallots, butter and ginger…and they’re ready to go in the oven!
Roast them at 200C for about 10min on greaseproof paper, turning the tray around to ensure that clams cook evenly. Once they open, sprinkle generously freshly grated gruyere cheese and roast for another 5mins until cooked through.
Once they’re ready, serve on a piece of bread or baguette, garnished generously with chopped parsley or chives.

PS. Just make sure the clams are rinsed throughly of sand before seasoning them.

ENJOY !

Mmm…ushroom!

Published on October 26, 2017 by wojtekvanportekLeave a comment

I have a vivid memories of my grandparents taking my brother and I for the weekend trips into the woods. I remember the Autumn ones especially because of the mushrooms about which most of my family was mad about. Well, let me tell you picking up a mushroom has nothing to do with picking up a wild berries or herbs. It takes a skill which to this day I seem to lack. So whilst my grandparents, supported by my helpful brother, were busy adding one mushroom after another into their baskets, I was just wondering what we’ll make out of them. Chanterelles in particular. Their characteristic, slightly spicy aftertaste, reminds me of autumn and of precious moments spent with family. As I couldn’t compete with my granddad’s mushroom creamy soup and my grans marinated fungi, I created this dish out of what was available in their garden: shallot onions, kale, garlic and pasta. Who would have thought that just a few ingredients could create such tasty meal?

To serve two, you’ll need;

a handful of chanterelle mushrooms
1 medium shallot onion
a bunch of kale
2-3 garlic cloves
one fresh chilli
2 tbsp of butter
cheese to finish

it goes like this:

Rinse mushrooms out of sand and grass and dry them gently on paper towel.
In a non stick pan melt a table spoon of butter and add the mushroom, sprinkle with salt and pepper and cover by lid. Sweat on a low heat for about 10 mins, stirring occasionally. This will keep them moist rather than fried which wouldn’t be ideal for this particular meal. Meanwhile in another pan, fry shallots with a chunk of butter. Once they soften, add sliced garlic and kale. Stir gently until soft and slightly caramelised. Mix the veggies into the mushroom and add finely chopped chilli. The spiciness of the chilli will warm up the flavours perfectly.

In a large pan boil your favourite pasta ( I chose fusilli which is just perfect for that meal) Once the pasta is ready, mix all together. If, like myself, you’re a butter addict , at this stage you can add another bit of butter before serving.

Grate some parmigiano or gruyere cheese and enjoy your meal!

Ole, ole Vongole !

Published on September 24, 2017 by wojtekvanportekLeave a comment

My takeover of this Italian classic has a twist, obviously.
Firstly, I’m using a linguine pasta instead of usual spaghetti.
Secondly I’m shredding quite a bit of a fresh ginger into the sauce when the clams are just about to open and using a garlic puree instead of cloves.
The slightly spicy, yet warming flavour of this super easy dish seem to be the perfect solution for an early autumn dinner with friends or in your own company with a glass of good white pinot.

Here’s how it goes – serves 2 hungry humans:

3 medium sized ripened tomatoes
1 shallot onion
500 g of fresh clams
1tbsp of garlic puree
a generous chunk of fresh ginger root
salt, pepper, parsley to garnish
300g of good quality linguine
250ml of tomato pasta if you prefer the sauce than broth.

Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add finely chopped onions and fry until they begin to soften, then add the garlic puree. When onions are about to colour, follow with adding the chopped tomatoes, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 5mins. Meanwhile in another pan, prepare the linguine pasta. When the sauce is consistent, add chopped parsley and clean clams and simmer for additional 10mins which allows a perfectly ready clam when the pasta is cooked.
This also allows you to discard one or two of the ones which haven’t opened during cooking.
Mix the sauce into the cooked linguine and stir gently with freshly and finely grated ginger.

Serve in a bowl with a sprinkle of chopped parsley which perfectly compliments this
oh-so-delicious meal!

Italians do it better

Published on August 19, 2017August 18, 2017 by wojtekvanportekLeave a comment

It was summer 2006 and it was love from the first taste. We were holidaying in Tuscany and it was there that I discovered this easy, quick to prepare and cooling dish for hot summer days.
This somehow retro salad is usually made of tomato, mozzarella and basil; however as you might already notice, I love, love, love improving traditional meals with some iterations, which in this case is addition of avocado. It makes this salad a bit more substantial and succulent, perhaps. Garnished with pesto and balsamic vinegar… you don’t need anything else to enjoy a ‘molto delicioso’ meal!

To serve two you’ll need:

2 ripe tomatoes ( buffalo is ideal!)
2 mozzarella bowls
1 avocado, halved
2 tablespoons of good pesto
salt, pepper, olive oil, balsamic vinegar
sourdough bread on the side

3 simple steps to a healthy breakfast

Published on August 13, 2017August 13, 2017 by wojtekvanportekLeave a comment

It is as simple as this: soak 20 grams of chia seeds in a 300ml oat milk and leave in the fridge overnight. The following morning serve with berries/banana/cocoa nibs or anything you like most. It is so surprising how such quick and easy meal can be so filling and keep you going until lunch time without any craving for a sweet snack! Well, one thing is clear – scrambled eggs are going to be on hold for quite some time now.

PS. You can obviously use any other milk as an alternative, however oat milk is way more neutral by flavour than lets say coconut milk.

Sunday roast en cool

Published on July 2, 2017July 2, 2017 by wojtekvanportekLeave a comment

I do love an idea of Sunday roast. I also love this hot, summer weather. However eating hot meals during the heatwaves doesn’t seem to be a bright idea, right?
Here comes the solution; duck confit roasted with apricots, apples and almonds.
Served chilled! Additionally I mashed the potatoes and grilled an extra apricots, sprinkled with lemon juice, almond flakes and vanilla. As apricots are a bit tart, its a perfect solution to keep this meal succulent yet not too sweet. Sophisticated yet not exaggerated, this meal is a perfect solution if you like to cook for someone special 🙂

All you need is:
2 good quality duck legs
2 apples
10 medium soft apricots
1 lime
small cup of almond flakes
small cup of whole almonds
marjoram, coarse pepper and sea salt to season the duck
4 Mary Pipes potatoes to make purée
generous spoon of butter to mash the potatoes

To grill apricots:

Place halved fruits on the baking tray, sprinkle generously with lemon juice, lemon zest, almost flakes and finish with vanilla pods. If you like it sweet, additionally you could add cane sugar top so they’ll caramelise nicely. Grill for about 10-15 mins.

In a cast iron pan, place duck legs seasoned with salt, pepper and thyme.
Add halved fruits, almonds and shallot onions. Cook in preheated oven at 180C for about 90 mins, checking occasionally if everything is roasting well. Fruits will add an extra moisture to the meat so there is no worry about duck being dry.

Just about 10 to 15 minutes before the end of the roasting process, remove the lid so all fruit will caramelise nicely.

Serve hot or cooled, just up to your taste!

TIP: This meal goer really well with classic potato purée and served with honey mustard.

Yum!