Category: Dine with me

Red is the colour

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Red borsch. Traditional, tasty  and warming beetroot soup.
Mostly served during the Festive period; however in my house, Mum was making this wonderful soup during cold spells. As she had the tendency to cook far too much broth for other dishes on Sunday, the borsch was usually a post weekend lunch prepared with leftover boullion. Well, that’s one of the only reasons why I loved Mondays. They were just so flavoursome!

To cook red borsch you need:
for 2 litres of broth:
3 chicken thighs
2 carrots cut lengthwise
1 parsnip cut lengthwise
a quarter of celeriac
1 shallot onion, halved
half of the garlic bulb
bouquet garni
3 medium beetroots ( thickly sliced )
1 small apple cut into 2 halves
3 bay leaves, 4 whole spice berries, few cloves

Note: if you’re a vegetarian, instead of chicken add a portion of Herb Infusion Pot by Knorr. A tasteful alternative.

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When chicken is ready after about 20mins, remove it and the bouquet garni then add;
a generous handful of marjoram, a pinch of nutmeg to your own taste
a bunch of fresh lemon thyme img_9480
Simmer on the lower heat until all vegetables are al dente (there’s nothing worse than overcooked veggies, right?) and the mouth-watering smell of spices is filling the kitchen.
Serve with mini dumplings, aka mini ears.

  Voilà! x

Sunday sausages.

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Comfort food with a twist – Chicken sausages seasoned with fresh herbs then braised in a tomato and vegetable sauce. Sounds good? Tastes even better! (ask my friends if in doubt.) The preparation is obviously easy and you can enjoy this meal straight from the pan, or day after. #yum!

To prepare sausages you’ll need:

a pack of good chicken sausages, ideally from organic meat ( yes, you are what you eat, my dear!)
bunch of lemon thyme, pickled chilli peppers (great taste), lemon,
4 garlic cloves, table spoon of grated ginger, salt flakes, pepper,
and a small bowl of chopped kale

Pre-heat the oven to 180C and dress the sausages with herbs and spices. Put them on a tray in the oven with the kale for 7-10mins. This is to heat the meat but not to cook it thoroughly.

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Sausages slightly roasted with chilli, ginger and kale


For the rich sauce:
2 medium carrots
1 large parsnip
5-6 similar size baby potatoes
1 large onion, 2 garlic cloves, a half of lemon
salt, pepper, pinch of herbs
a bottle of passata (one from Mutti is my favourite)

Chop the veggies into chunky pieces, and braise in a oven-proof dish with a glug of olive oil in the oven at 180C. When the vegetables start to get soft, pour in the tomato passata. Add the sausages and kale into the dish and leave covered in oven for about 15-20mins until all ingredients are perfectly cooked.

When ready, serve over boiled barley.
It’s a great alternative to white rice.

Straight from the oven – mouth watering!
Barley is a great alternative to white rice.

Stuffed + Peppers = Yum.

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Like most of the food ideas presented here on my blog, this one is super easy and simple to prepare. And tastes oh-so-good!
It takes 20 mins to make this meal happen; perfect timing for a quick after-work dinner. Another bonus- it’s healthy as hell!

And this is how it goes…

3-4 long sweet red peppers
2 unwaxed lemons
1 bag of white buckwheat
1 red onion
1 can of tuna (an option for pescatarians)

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Place the buckwheat into boiling water for 15 mins. In the meantime:
set the oven to 200C
Sauté chopped onion in olive oil on a low/medium heat until soft and season with salt,
coarse pepper and juice from 1 lemon and zest.
Add the cooked buckwheat to the pan with the softened onion mixture and stir on low heat for a couple of minutes.
If like myself, you eat fish, add tuna at this moment.
It will give a perfect flavour.

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Stuff the peppers with the cooked mixture and tie them with thread. Sprinkle with lemon juice and place on tray with a glug of olive oil.
Bake for 15-17mins. Voilà!
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Pa-Pa-Pa-paya!

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Juicy, tasteful and very easy to make.
Roasted papaya is a super healthy snack and a great alternative to winter heavy meals = festive season in particular. Honestly, I frequently fall back on this recipe when having “no idea what to eat” syndrome.
Other benefits? It is also loved by the little ones!

You need:

2 medium ripe papayas
2 limes
2 spoons of soft cane sugar

Cut the fruits into halves, remove the stones.
Sprinkle each half of the papaya with squeezed lime juice and then with cane sugar.
Shave the lime skin on the parmigiano cheese shaver (the best tool ever!)
Place under the grill for 10mins.
On still-hot fruit, squeeze the remaining limes and grate the lime skin.

You’ll love it.

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Mr Potato&Co.

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First time I tried this cream soup was at one of my favourite restaurants in Warsaw, Poland.
Qchnia Artystyczna always has on the menu rather simple yet sophisticated meals to offer.
I don’t live in Warsaw anymore, hence my need to prepare this soup every so often. Every time I’m making it, I’m getting a bit nostalgic about great times I’ve spent with my friends in that place and cannot wait to pay visit again, when in Poland.
To meet friends and… get more inspiration!

Creamy Potato Soup is super easy to prepare.

You need:
2 white onions
8 medium potatoes
1 litre of vegetable boullion
2 table spoons of salted butter
2 bay leaves
200 ml of milk
pinch of coarse pepper
few slices of organic smoked salmon

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Glaze the chopped onions with melted butter in a deep pan. Add the bay leaf. That’s the best way to give the flavour.
When the onion is softened, add chopped potatoes, stir with onions and pour the boullion into the pan.
Simmer on low heat covered by the lid until potatoes are very soft.
Add milk, and stir for a couple of minutes.

Blend the mixture to a creamy consistency and add the pepper. Add more milk when necessary.
Pour the creamy soup into bowls, decorate generously with salmon and freshly grounded pepper.

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Bon appetit!

 

Not your usual sandwich…

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Once upon a time there was a guy working with  Japanese people.
He enjoyed their company as well as the taste of their unusual cuisine.
Shrimp katsu sandwich was one of his favourites; he could eat this delicacy day after day and could not have enough.
Might sound silly but trust me, he was a katsu-addict for quite some time.
To satisfy his cravings, he learned how to prepare this mouth watering sandwich. It’s pretty easy; it really is!
The secret, as usual, lies in the quality of the ingredients.

You need:
a few large shrimps (uncooked)
one egg beaten with a tablespoon of flour
pack of tempura breadcrumbs
brioche type bread cut into thick slices
a few leaves of crisp iceberg lettuce
tartar sauce, bulldog sauce, hot sauce
crisps (vinegar flavour ideally)
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Form seasoned shrimps into the small cutlets, bathe in the beaten egg and then coat with tempura style bread crumbs.
Deep fry for a couple of minutes in sunflower oil, dry them from excess oil on a paper towel and place on toasted bread, prepared and seasoned with tartar and Bulldog sauce and iceberg lettuce. Cover with another slice of bread and lettuce, trim off the crusts and cut sandwich into two. Meshiagare!

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The end.