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Sausage and gluten free pasta.

Published on May 21, 2016February 19, 2021 by wojtekvanportekLeave a comment

If, like me, you are a fan of good pasta and cumberland sausages then this will be a welcome addition to your dining table. The original recipe came from Jamie Oliver but I’ve updated it to my own taste. You can use any kind of shape and size of pasta. Have fun’!

You will need:

One small grated apple. Tart are best.
300-500g of gluten free fusilli pasta
6 good quality cumberland sausages (I’m using skinless from Heck), broken into small pieces before cooking
a handful of oregano (fresh or dried)
2 spoons of pickled chili pepper / chopped chili peppers
1 tbsp of wholegrain mustard
2 garlic cloves
250-300 ml of white wine
zest and juice from 1 unwaxed lemon
shaved parmigiano cheese to sprinkle

This dish can be prepared in 3 simple steps:

Mix freshly chopped oregano, chili peppers and garlic with the sausage meat and fry with a dash of olive oil in a heavy bottomed dish. When the meat is about to caramelise and turn golden brown add mustard, pour in the wine and add the lemon juice and zest finishing with apple.
Lower the heat and cover the pan with a lid.

In the meantime cook the pasta following the instructions on the packaging.
The best way to prepare the pasta is al dente which matches the texture of the meat perfectly.

When pasta is drained add it into the pan with the meat and mix it all together.
This is the moment you decide how much pasta to add to the meat, depending on how you like your meal. I’ve balanced mine as I am not a huge fan of having more pasta than meat and vice versa.

TIP: wholegrain mustard isn’t necessary, however it enhances beautifully flavour of this meal.

Serve immediately with sprinkled parmigiano on top. Enjoy!

Courgette&Quorn&Miso

Published on May 13, 2016May 13, 2016 by wojtekvanportekLeave a comment

The idea was born the moment the Spiralizer was delivered to my doorstep. Initially I wasn’t really sure about this funny plastic machine, but I soon enjoyed the benefits of substituting classic carb noodles for pasta made entirely from fresh vegetables using the Spiralizer. After perfecting the technique of homemade courgette pasta, I combined my japanese friend Mariko love of Miso, with my partner’s love of quorn. Voila! It is a super solution for a late spring/early summer menu and you can play with the ingredients to make this meal more bespoke (e.g. chicken instead of quorn and shrimp replaced with radish). Although it sounds exotic, this one of the easiest meals to prepare. Go on, start winding this courgette!

1 courgette
2 garlic cloves
2 tbsp of good soy sauce
2 tbsp of miso paste (red is the best)
1 small shallot onion, diced
about 350-400 ml of boiling water (depending on how intense flavour you’d like to achieve)
a 300g bag of “chicken” quorn (frozen is absolutely fine)
a few tiger prawns for a garnish

Shred the courgette on the noodles blade of the spiralizer. Heat a glug of olive oil in a non-stick pan and sauté onion, garlic, and quorn pieces until softened. In the meantime mix the miso paste with soya sauce in boiling water and pour into pan. Stir gently and add courgette noodles.
Cook for about 5 mins. Ready, simple and yummy!

Fig&Rhubarb&Almond tart

Published on May 7, 2016 by wojtekvanportekLeave a comment

Whats not to like about desserts made from seasonal fruits? This dish is a great appetiser to keep you going between lunch time and dinner and a perfect companion for the tea time ritual! Most importantly, a fruit tart is easy-to-make and you can pride in creating your own pastry masterpiece!

My fig and rhubarb tart with almond flakes is suitable for even the most inexperienced of beginners;

Firstly, prepare the filling with:
about 10 ripened figs (sliced)
2 medium rhubarb sticks sliced into sections of about 2 cm
a handful of flaked almonds
a couple of tbs of cane sugar
juice of 1/2 lemon

Place the rinsed, trimmed and sliced figs with rhubarb into the bowl, add almond flakes along with sugar. Mix gently. Sprinkle with lemon juice and leave in the fridge.

To make the dough you’ll need:
3 cups of the plain flour
1 tbsp of baking powder
1/2 cup of caster sugar for the dough
2 tbsp of caster sugar to bind the white eggs
4 chilled eggs
250g butter, preferably unsalted (not margarine)
seeds from 1/2 of vanilla pod or a few drops of vanilla extract

Mix flour with baking powder and add vanilla seeds and butter. Chop them with knife on the worktop surface or mix very slowly in a food mixer. Separate and add 3 egg yolks and 1 whole egg (keep the remaining egg whites for later!)
Mix all together and divide for 2 parts. Proportions I am using are: 3/4 of the mixture for the bottom of the cake and 1/4 of the dough to shred on top of the tart. Wrap both parts in some cling film and leave in the fridge to rest for about 30 mins.
TIP: to make this easier, roll the larger part of the dough to the size of the baking tray you’ll use and then put into the fridge.

In the meantime set up oven for 180C , bind the remaining egg whites with the caster sugar and when thick, stir gently into the fruit mixture. Place all into the cake form with dough at the base. When filled, shred remaining 1/4 of the dough on top of the tart (the largest wholes in a cheese grater are best for this). Bake for about an 1 hour. If the top is baking too quickly, you can cover it by the baking paper or aluminium sheet to avoiding any burning.

It tastes best with vanilla ice cream and covered by dash of icing sugar on top.

Enjoy!

Talented Mr Liberman

Published on April 16, 2016April 16, 2016 by wojtekvanportekLeave a comment

Talented, tireless and elegant. Mr Liberman certainly matches these 3 words, and his qualities permeate this extraordinary album. Often called the Art Director of the 20th century, Liberman was also prolific in painting and sculpture. It was his creative talent that produced the famous cover of Vogue in 1941 using a photograph by Horst P. Horst, turning the red beach ball held aloft by a model into the ‘O’ of the magazine’s logo. He was also responsible for turning the face of her generation Twiggy into a piece of Pop art, in floral fur and make up, on the July cover in 1967, shot by Richard Avedon. This Russian émigrée educated in Europe, became a truly dominant tastemaker with such a modern taste for that time. Mr Liberman had an eye not only for extraordinary images but also for people – Marlene Dietrich and Coco Chanel were good friends of his. He saw the enormous potential in Diana’s Vreeland editorship, and convinced her to leave Harper’s Bazaar in favour of Vogue (where she continued as editor-in-chief between 1962-1971); and also spotted Anna Wintour – an extraordinary talent with an understanding of the “new reality” in fashion and a keen sense of the rise in celebrity culture, keeping pages of this American title irresistible since 1988.

Processed with VSCO with a6 preset — Left page: Alexander Liberman and his friend Christian Dior. Right page: Thanks to fierce support of Monsieur Vogel, Liberman had an enormous opportunity meeting and as a result, working with Mr Condé Nast himself.

Left page: Iconic cover designed by Lieberman in 1941, photographed by Horst P Horst. Right page: Family portrait. Liberman with french editors in front of Vogue office in Paris.

It’s remarkable how Liberman controlled editorial aspect of each Condé Nast publication during challenging and uncertain periods of the 20th Century and still managed to express his artistic vision. Whereas now, a few decades later and with digital taking over print, his creative processes seems to belong to a bygone age; however I think we can all still learn a lot from his legacy.

Art&Craft. Tina Brown, former editor of Vanity Fair highlighted once, “Liberman’s ability to run high and low is an amazing gift…able to do the ‘Self‘ in the morning and a sculpture in the afternoon.”

“The very bizarre thing is that Alex was not interested in fashion. At All!
He was interested in the image, which is a different thing. He knew the dress in the space, like an object d’art seen in a certain context, but not the fashion.” Beatrice Monti.

Propaganda meets Pop Art. Promotional cover of Vanity Fair featuring Baryshnikov in 1983, designed to resemble an early avant-garde Russian poster.

“Alex Liberman connected many worlds: Old and New, art and commerce, Europe and postwar America, high society, and the general public. He was driven to create and communicate, which he did tirelessly, and his work was always evolving, proving that (what’s) modern, never stops – pointed Charles Churchward, former designer, art director and design director at Condé Nast and author of this album. Published by Rizzoli.

Charming Mr Chard

Published on April 9, 2016April 9, 2016 by wojtekvanportekLeave a comment

Easter. Rabbit. Casserole.

Published on March 26, 2016March 26, 2016 by wojtekvanportekLeave a comment

Whilst clearing out the freezer I found a portion of rabbit given to me by a friend from countryside; which inspired me to create a seasonal dish for the Easter weekend!
Although I am a huge fan of traditional meals enjoyed with family during this period, I think that preparing something slightly different is always a bonus. Rabbit has been popular with my family since I can remember. My granddad had his own farm with muscovy ducks, guinea fowls, and rabbits. There was nothing better than a kitchen full of steam emanating from cast iron dishes mixed with the aromas of fresh herbs and braising rabbit. So my goal was to recover from memory a particular favourite dish prepared by the lady who looked after the kitchen at my grandparents household. However, as usual, thats only the starting point, and the end result is something quite personal.

I have roasted the ingredients gradually and then braised all together in a heat resistant dish, to keep the meat and veg soft and tender.
A perfect solution for a family Easter lunch!

And this is how it goes:
4-5 of rabbit fillets ( you can also use chicken if you like)
2-3 medium carrots
1 medium parsnip
2 medium red onions
3-4 garlic cloves
fresh herbs (thyme and oregano are best)
handful of dried tomatoes ( I used the sun-dried variety preserved in sunflower oil)
a bag of kale
a few tsp of a good quality fig chutney
a handful of onions marinated in balsamic vinegar

Marinate rabbit in olive oil, sliced garlic, coarse pepper, salt flakes and herbs, for a couple of hours. In the large non-stick frying pan, roast chopped vegetables with a generous splash of olive oil. While the vegetables are sautéing, place the marinated meat on another pan, and fry gently but do not cook throughly. Place them into a heat resistant glass dish (e.g. Pyrex). At this stage add kale, sliced tomatoes and marinated onions on top of the veggies and rabbit. Cover by lid and sweat for another 10 mins or so on low heat, in the meantime add the fig chutney until all soft and moist from the juices and the meat is cooked through.

As I am a barley lover I found the barley groats as a great compliment for this casserole. Rice seemed a bit too plain. And above all, this is the original meal we’re cooking, right?

One more thing, this dish goes so well with a glass of grenache red wine!

Dior, Avedon, Fashion.

Published on March 23, 2016March 23, 2016 by wojtekvanportekLeave a comment

By all means, I am delighted that this book exists. The design, paper quality, and sheer size of this album compliments perfectly what the author, Justine Picardie, has captured in its contents. A real créme de la créme for every fashion aficionado. To be precise, this multi-talented magazine Editor has compiled a rather extraordinary history of fashion. An evolution, chronologically represented by 3 influential designers from the house of Dior, and lensed through decades by the definitive Richard Avedon.

Picardie first guides us through Dior’s postwar launch of the ‘New Look’ (and what revolution it caused on the streets of Paris). Then she explores Saint Laurent’s couture designs worn by Jacqueline de Ribes and Audrey Hepburn, and finally Marc Bohan’s designs created over 15 years, modelled on Veruschka and Lauren Hutton to name a few. All this accomplished by encyclopedic yet fascinating descriptions of collaboration between the designers and the photographer, whom owed all credits of trust and support to the legendary Editrix of Harper’s Bazaar Carmel Snow. It was Snow who encouraged Avedon to shot the Couture collection for her magazine spreads. The rest is history.

A new chapter in fashion history. Corolle line by Christian Dior, Paris 1947.

Dovima wearing gown designed by YSL for Dior. Legendary photo captured by Avedon in 1955 published in Harper’s Bazaar.

Processed with VSCOcam with s2 preset — Barbra Streisand gracing pages of Vogue in 1966, in Bohan’s couture dress for Dior.

Anjelica Huston wearing Dior’s makeup and accessories. Beauty pages of Vogue US, 1973

Dior by Avedon published by Rizzoli

Justine Picardie is the author of this album. She is also the Editor of Harper’s Bazaar UK and Town and Country magazine.

Japanese Curry!

Published on March 12, 2016October 3, 2019 by wojtekvanportek1 Comment

Usually, when you think of curry, one conjures up images of India, not necessarily Japan. I had the same connotations until I joined Monocle Café and started working with the Japanese team who introduced me to this creamy and vibrant meal. Although it’s been a long time since I said my farewells to this wonderful Team, I still recreate this meal to my own taste and proportions…and let me tell you – my fine tuning has resulted in a dish more spectacular than I could hope for! So, my first action (or second, as I ate this as soon as it was ready!) was to share with you on my blog. Again, this is easy to prepare food (20-25mins), excellent for dinner or as a supper day after.

Ingredients:
2 medium chicken breast, sliced
a couple of medium carrots
up to 3 shallot onions
2 garlic cloves
a few bay leaves
1/2 of chili pepper
a handful of green peppercorns
3 large spoons of butter
about 300ml of greek yoghurt – depends how creamy you want to make this dish
1 tbsp of madras curry (powder/paste)
1 tbsp of curry roux (or garam masala)
2 tsp of konsome stock

In cast iron pot, melt the butter with bay leaves (I figured out that this is a great solution to extract most of the aroma from the leaves). After a couple of minutes add peppercorns, chili with vegetables and braise together until al dente. Do not overcook them as they’ll soften more with the chicken added a bit later. If you’re not sure about the order, follow the photos with description, and I believe your cooking will be more enjoyable!

When vegetables are al dente, add seasoned chicken and braise until meat is tender.

Prepare curry mix: 200ml boiling water, tbsp of curry powder, tbsp of curry roux and tsp of konsome stock. Mix all together.

Pour the curry mix into pan and stir for 5 mins. Don’t worry if at this stage if it tastes rather salty. The yoghurt you’ll add after the curry is mixed with chicken, will balance all the flavours perfectly!

ready to eat. Is it only me who thinks that this image speaks for itself? #mouthwatering

Processed with VSCOcam with f1 preset — brown rice complements the perfectly rich flavour of this delicious meal. #yum

Bon appétit aka Meshiagare!

Braised pollock

Published on February 28, 2016 by wojtekvanportekLeave a comment

I am a big fan of fish, pollock in particular. Mostly because this type of fish was often served by my Mum when my hungry brother, sister and I got home from school. She always kept extra pieces frozen for emergencies, but most of all she knew that thanks to its white, chunky yet delicate flesh, Pollock was a lighter and healthier alternative to meat. To cut a long story short; Mamunia (our affectionate petname for our Mum) is a master in one particular fish-based meal; Greek style fish. Although the origins of this meal has nothing to do with Greece, its named that way in my home country and usually served for celebratory occasions. Not in our house. It was the ideal meal when she had limited time and wanted to make something easy for the whole family. My version is slightly updated with ingredients such as capers and lemon zest. As a result you’ll get a traditional meal with modern twist. I served it to Mamunia once with mixed feelings whether she’ll like it…or not. And let me tell you, there’s no bigger pleasure when your Mum is asking for an extra portion of what you’ve cooked!

Ingredients:
3 peeled carrots
1 medium peeled parsnip,
1 medium leek
1 large onion (Spanish is best)
1 unwaxed lemon, few bay leaves
2 tbsp of marinated capers, 4 allspice corns
bunch of lemon thyme, salt, pepper
1 bottle (700ml) of tomato passata

Pollock fillet seasoned with capers, thyme, lemon zest and pepper.

Season the fillets and place them on a baking tray. Add capers, thyme and lemon zest.
Bake in the oven for 10-15 mins at 180C

In the meantime chop onion and leek and stir in a lightly oiled heavy bottomed pan with allspice and bay leaves over a low heat. Then add grated carrot, grated parsnip and sweat until veggies are tender. When it’s time, pour the passata into vegetables and cook thoroughly. Place everything in an oven proof dish with baked fish and leave in the warm oven for another 10 mins.

Processed with VSCOcam with s3 preset — Version with poached egg and chopped parsley-my favourite!

Cavolo Nero!

Published on February 20, 2016 by wojtekvanportekLeave a comment

Not cabbage nor lettuce. Actually Cavolo Nero is a cousin of kale.
It has an interesting, slightly earthy and peppery flavour and is a great alternative if you are tired of the greens that regularly appear on your plate.
Until recently, I didn’t have a clue what Cavolo Nero was and what I could make with it.
I bought it from my local grocer attracted by its beautiful colour and interesting structure (AKA Dinosaur skin!) He said I’d like it and he wasn’t wrong. These unusual leaves were in my fridge for two days before I decided to cook it, and it was still fresh and firm.
I created this new meal out of what I had left in the fridge and cupboard, a bit of a stir fry idea with an Italian twist. And the result was rather flavoursome.

It consists of:

2 bunches of cavolo nero
2 tbsp of grated ginger
1/2 of unwaxed lemon
1 large spanish onion
4 garlic cloves
1 chilli pepper
a pinch of crunchy salt and coarse pepper

Heat up a glug of olive oil in a heavy bottomed pan, add chopped onion and stir until soft. Add sliced garlic, chilli, rosemary (optional) and grated ginger. Cover with lid and sweat for a few minutes. Add the cavolo nero, stir with vegetables on very low heat until wilted. Season with crunchy salt and pepper. Mix with freshy cooked linguine pasta and serve immediately sprinkled with lemon juice.
I didn’t have any parmigiano in the fridge last night but I think it would be a perfect ingredient to grate on top of this meal before serving.

#yum!