Recent Posts

Polish Traditional Gingerbread

Courgette Fritters

Homemade Cream Cheese

Homemade Raspberry Vinegar

Homemade Vanilla Extract

Classic Basil Pesto

Waffles with Whipped Cream and Summer Berries

Bilberry Muffins with Lemon Icing

Spanish Tortilla with Chorizo

Bread and Butter Pickles

Vegetable Quesadillas

Steak Bavette and Sweet Potatoes with Hummus and Herb Salsa

Homemade Beef Burgers

Tartare Sauce

BBQ Sauce

Pork Meatballs and Mashed Potatoes with Apple and Beetroot Salad

Architects Bake with Polly Eats London: Sourdough Bread

Tex-Mex Chilli con Carne

Celebrating the Lunar New Year: Money Bags Dumplings

Homemade Dumpling Wrappers

Red Onion Marmelade

Orzo Pasta with Courgette, Mushrooms and Green Peas

Pigs in Blankets

Ancho Crema Dip

Guacamole: a Classic Mexican Dip

Pico de Gallo Mexican Salsa

Mexican Black Beans with Tomatoes and Totopos

Homemade Flour Tortillas

Fishcakes with Rémoulade

Rémoulade - French Cold Sauce

Avocado Dip

Mexican Spicy Mini Chicken Wings

Danish Crisp Bread

Smoked Trout Pate

Gougeres

Polly Eats London at the Great British Bake-Off: An Extra Slice

Polish Plum Cake

Polly Eats London at Liberté Chérie

Courgette Fritters

Simple courgette fritters are perfect for a quick lunch or light supper, and they are very seasonal. I know the courgettes are available all year round in the grocery shops, but they now have a lot of flavour, and this is the time for many beautiful dishes with this humble vegetable. Although the word fritters conjures up deep frying and greasy dishes, the patties are light, and the cooking uses little oil. The courgette fritters can be eaten straight out of the pan or warm with a dollop of crème fresh. Find the recipe here…

BBQ Sauce

I’ve never eaten such superb and tasty tomato sauce as this BBQ wonder. Smoky and a little hot, can be used for bbq chicken, pulled pork, tacos, and burritos; it also goes great with pizza and burgers. You can adjust the flavours to your liking – it can be more tangy or sweet, smoky or hot. You can have it thinner or thicker- just keep it simmered longer on the hob. Homemade BBQ sauce tastes better than a store bought product, and its ingredients are known to you. Fine the recipe here…

Orzo Pasta with Courgette, Mushrooms and Green Peas

This is an easy vegetarian dish, very soothing and comforting. You can whip it up in 20 minutes, so it’s great for a quick dinner or lunch. All you need is a small courgette, a few mushrooms, green peas small onion, chicken or vegetable stock and the orzo. Orzo is small pasta shaped like a large grain of rice, usually made with semolina. It’s available in most supermarkets and very handy when you are out of ideas for a homemade meal. Top the orzo pasta with parmesan, fresh parsley, and serve warm.  Find the recipe here..

Pico de Gallo Mexican Salsa

This is a type of relish-like salsa commonly used in Mexican cuisine. A simple combination of fresh tomatoes and onion, serrano or jalapeno chilli peppers, lime juice and coriander, generously seasoned with salt, is also called salsa fresca, salsa Mexicana or salsa cruda. You can enjoy Pico de Gallo with tortilla crisps, Totopos, tacos or quesadilla. Make it a few hours in advance to let all-natural juices combine and marinate together, providing the salsa with more flavour.  For those who can’t stand fresh coriander - use parsley instead. Find the recipe here...

Golden Gazpacho with Melon

The secret of excellent gazpacho is fresh, natural vegetables at their season’s peak: yellow tomatoes, melon, bell pepper and cucumber. You can keep the gazpacho wholly vegetarian, and vegan using only olives and diced vegetables as a garnish or serve it with chorizo, cured ham and shrimps. The chunky soup is easy to make; it comes together quickly in the food processor. Refreshing chilled Golden Gazpacho is perfect for lunch on hot summer days. Find the recipe here…

Baked Aubergines stuffed with Mushrooms

Baked Aubergines stuffed with Mushrooms is a beautiful and delicious summer dish, a must when this humble vegetable is in season. The excellent dish can be served with roast, grilled chicken, baked fish or as a separate vegetable course. The preparation takes some time; however, it’s not complicated, and you may have it ready hours ahead. The aubergine skins are soft and hold the creamy and delicious filling perfectly. Find the recipe here...

Avocado Dip

This smooth and creamy dip of vivid green colour pairs well with a variety of dippers such as tortilla crisps, crackers or crudités. It’s not at all like the chunky guacamole most people love. It’s excellent as a salad dressing for fresh lettuce, spread for sandwiches and toast, or dolloping onto nachos, burritos, quesadillas and tacos. The avocado dip is simple to make, with just a few ingredients and the aid of a food processor; it only requires very ripe avocados. You can spice the dip up by adding, e.g. cayenne pepper, chilli pepper or chipotle paste, finely chopped spring onion or coriander. Find the recipe here...

Sunny Ratatouille

Ratatouille is a traditional Provençal vegetable stew, fragrant with garlic and thyme. It is excellent to have it on hand for a quick lunch or as a side dish for dinner. You can serve it warm or cold, on rice, with roast meat or a baguette. Aubergine, courgette, onion and pepper must be cooked separately in olive oil before being combined with diced tomatoes, tomato paste, chopped garlic, and herbs and stewed until all vegetables are tender. Use the vegetable at the peak of the season; then, you will get the perfect flavourful Ratatouille. Find the recipe here

Roast Vegetables Tarte Tatin

You can vary the vegetables according to your taste or what’s in season and make this Tarte Tatin a great starter or accompaniment to any meat meal. I’ve used new root vegetables, onion, and chicory, a few pieces of chilli pepper, thyme leaves – as simple as that – and homemade rough puff pastry. Serve Roast Vegetables Tarte Tatin warm, with a glass of cold white wine. Find the recipe here...

Vegetable Salad (Salatka Jarzynowa)

Vegetable Salad is a staple dish of Polish cuisine, served on many occasions and holidays. It's a delicious medley of root vegetables, complemented by sweet garden peas, crunchy apples, eggs, sour brine cucumbers, pungent leek, all blended with homemade mayonnaise. The salad is quite simple to make, but the whole process involves a lot of fine dicing: the finer dice, the better taste. Vegetable Salad is served cold, usually with sliced meat and bread for breakfast or lunch. Find the recipe here…

Pickled Radishes

Pickling the radishes completely changes their flavour. They lose bitterness and become sweet, salty and sour. You can use them almost everywhere as they land a lovely bite, they don’t overpower other flavours, add great texture and beautiful pink colour to a dish. Pickled radishes can be a delicious addition to a salad, tacos, burgers, Asian food, toasts, open sandwiches and many many more. They will last in the fridge for a few weeks, but are the best after 24 hours because they still have their crispiness and nice texture. Find the recipe here…

Winter Root Vegetables Slaw

The trick to this salad is to julienne vegetables thinly – the thinner stalks, the better taste - and homemade whole-egg mayonnaise sauce, free from unhealthy ingredients. Winter Root Vegetable Slaw is crunchy, flavourful and its sweetness comes from rich in minerals carrot, parsnip, celeriac and beetroot, so there is no need to add extra sugar. It’s delicious to serve with meat, burgers and sandwiches. For a vegan version of the salad, use vegan mayonnaise. Who says you can only make a coleslaw with a cabbage? Find the recipe here…

Gratin of Courgettes Rice Garden Peas and Cheese

There're many ways in which courgettes can be prepared and used. I like them baked, stuffed, fried, in pasta, casseroles and salads with other summer vegetables such as peas, broad beans, tomatoes and herbs. So versatile and so delicious. Courgettes are available in supermarkets all year round but are at their best from June until September. This Gratin of Courgettes Rice Garden Peas and Cheese is a dish itself, however, pairs beautifully with many meaty mains. It’s creamy, flavourful and hearty, great for lunch or party. It can also be the star of a vegetarian meal. Find the recipe here…

Pearl Barley Risotto with Yellow Courgettes Peas and Broad Beans

This summer risotto uses pearl barley in the place of rice for a nutty flavour and interesting texture. It’s light, creamy and stuffed with seasonal vegetables such as yellow courgette, sweet garden peas and broad beans, finished with unsalted butter and Parmesan cheese. The pearl barley is a healthier substitute for Arborio rice used in traditional risotto. Rich in fibre, protein and nutrients, is substantial enough to be the main course for light summer lunch. Find the recipe here

Red Pickled Onions

They are the wonderfully vibrant condiment that goes with pretty much anything savoury – burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches, salads, slow-cooked meats and fish. They add piquancy and a sharp finish to Mexican tacos, tostadas or quesadillas but their flavour doesn’t overpower the dishes. Tangy- sweet Red Pickled Onions are super easy to make and ready to eat in 4 hours. Keep them cold in the fridge up to a week. Use only red onions because they have a more mild flavour. Find the recipe here…

Asparagus and Red Peppers Quiche

Asparagus is a wonderful spring vegetable and considered to be one of the delicacies of the vegetable world. It’s good grilled and roasted, fried with exotic spices, with pasta and lasagne, in omelettes and soups. Fresh, crispy green shoots look exceptional in this elegant French quiche and their nutty flavour comes perfectly with the sweetness of roasted pepper semi-confit and savoury custard-based filling.  It is a perfect springtime appetizer, makes delicious light lunch. Find the recipe here…

Roasted Peppers Semi-Confit

Pepper semi-confit is exceptionally versatile in the kitchen. It can be used as a topping for toast and as crostini spread, in sandwiches, omelettes, pasta sauces, tarts and quiche. It’s great over grilled fish and with roasted meat or potatoes. Pepper semi-confit is sweet and very aromatic because the olive oil used for this condiment is infused with thyme and garlic. Confit should be refrigerated before serving and can be kept in the frige for 2 weeks. Find the recipe here….

Potato and Leek Soup (Potage Parmentier)

This is the perfect soup for this time of year, a comforting hearty dish which warms up from top to toe. The creamy smooth potato and leek soup is one of the simplest and takes about 1 hour to make. In autumn or winter is served hot but it can be chilled for vichyssoise – ideal for hot summer days. The recipe doesn’t call for broth but water which makes it even less complicated and more accessible for those who are not used to cook and eat soups. Serve Potage Parmentier for lunch or supper with croutons, crusty bread, the buttermilk rolls or the onion buns. For vegan version - swap the double cream for the coconut milk. Find the recipe here...

Homemade Onion Buns

The Onion Buns originate from Jewish Cuisine and were baked by the Jews who lived in Lublin Old Town, in eastern Poland. At that time the buns looked like pancakes - were flat, very crispy and made with cake flour. They became very popular in the 19th century and were produced by many bakeries in the Lublin region. The original recipe was passed down the generations and... had been changed for years. Today the Onion Buns look like the rolls however their flavour is beautiful and widely valued. My Onion Buns are a bit French because the onion is cooked in unsalted butter. The recipe calls for bread flour and homemade buttermilk which make the buns exceptional. Find the recipe here...

Homemade Tomato Passata

We can’t imagine wintertime without homemade tomato passata. It forms the base of many delicious recipes, can be turned into comforting soups or pasta sauces. Tomatoes are in season now – sweet and fragrant, so this is the best time to capture them and close in bottles. The best passata is made from San Marzano tomatoes (obviously!) which come from the Campania region in Italy but they are quite expensive and difficult to spot. Ripe red Plum and Roma tomatoes are good as well as Polish tomatoes which are low in water content and rich in flavour. Making tomato passata at home takes a lot of effort and time but it’s definitely worth because its flavour can’t be compared to any store-bought puree. Find the recipe here…

Courgette and Cheddar Quiche

Courgettes or zucchinis are wonderful summer vegetables. They are now in season in the UK and this season will last fortunately quite a long time - until September. Dark green courgettes are the most popular variety but white and yellow kinds can be also spotted on markets. There are many ways to cook the courgettes, the most popular is barbecuing, frying and stir-frying. But zucchinis are also wonderful as the main ingredient of tarts and quiches because they go hand-in-hand with cheese. They make delicious combination with feta, Parmesan, ricotta and many more. In this recipe, the best friend of the courgettes is cheddar cheese. Find the recipe here...

Cream of Fresh Green Asparagus Soup

Green asparagus is a wonderful vegetable – crisp, sweet, delicate and versatile. This is the most common kind of asparagus and available year-round in supermarkets. But now we are at the peak of the season, therefore, should choose and eat only local British asparagus which by the way is considered to be the best and most delicious. Fresh green asparagus can be cooked, roasted, grilled, sautéed, steamed and served with butter or Hollandaise sauce. When you can’t bear to eat it whole, make this delicious silky amazingly green French soup Crème d’Asperges Vertes. Find the recipe here...

Vegetable Broth

Carrots, celeriac and parsley root are ideal for a basic, simple stock. These root vegetables are very aromatic but neutral in flavours, therefore, the vegetable broth can be easily used for risotto, sauces, soups, casseroles and stews. I always have a few bags of the stock in the freezer and use it very often to baste the meat during roasting. Bathing the beef or pork in the vegetable liquid makes it juicy and tender. The fresh stock can be kept in the fridge for 5 days but in the freezer for up to 3 months. This vegetable stock is prepared especially for the beetroot soup with kvass served at Christmas Eve. Find the recipe here...