This is my last culinary discovery and a favourite among other sauces. I’ve actually known Tartare Sauce for ages, but never eaten a homemade version so delicious like this. The sauce is great for fish – fried or steamed, fish and chips, amazing with sandwiches, cold cuts and perfect for homemade beef burgers. It’s not the condiment for people on a diet or those, who don’t like rich dips. It’s only for those who love full flavours. The Tartare Sauce consists of finely chopped hard-boiled eggs, cornishons, flavourful shallot, with a pinch of black pepper and homemade mayonnaise. It’s very easy and quick to stir up. Find the recipe here
Pork Meatballs and Mashed Potatoes with Apple and Beetroot Salad
The meatballs hold together better if you choose quite fatty pork such as pork shoulder. Cook the whole batch even though you don’t intend to eat them all at once – they reheat nicely and also freeze very well. Fry the meatballs over medium heat until golden brown, served over creamy mashed potatoes, with easy apple and beetroot salad. This dish can make a perfectly satisfying dinner after a busy weekday, it's tasty, warming and very comforting. Find the recipe here.
Pigs in Blankets
This is a classic dish served in the United Kingdom and Ireland as an accompaniment to roast turkey for a Christmas dinner or as a side dish. Pigs in Blankets, also called kilted soldiers are small chipolatas wrapped in bacon, and baked in the oven until crisp. I used the chipolatas of the usual size and divided each sausage into half to get ‘pigs’ that can be served as finger food or a one-bite size dish. And honey drizzle made this staple of the festive season super sticky and shiny. 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
Pita Bread
This round flatbread with a pocket inside originated within communities west of the Mediterranean Sea and is considered the oldest type of bread in the world. Pita Bread is made from yeast-leavened wheat dough and baked at high temperatures in the oven or on a cast-iron skillet. It goes well with meat, cheese, and grilled and raw vegetables. The pita also makes an excellent starter when served with sauces and dips such as hummus, baba ghanush, and tzatziki. My homemade Pita Bread puffs up beautifully and forms the signature interior pocket you can fill with anything you like. Find the recipe here…
Soft Flatbread
I love this recipe and this flatbread because it is delicious and relatively easy to make. It only requires 4 ingredients, a bit of kneading, and some resting time to get fluffy rounds. No yeast, no baking powder, no elaborate method and no long waiting time. The flatbread is soft and pliable. It can be used as a wrap stuffed with baked or fresh vegetables, meat, and beans and topped with a sauce – whatever comes to your mind and whatever you fancy. Soft homemade flatbread is better than store-bought ones. Find the recipe here...
White Soft Bread
This soft and slightly sweet bread is perfect for sandwiches and toast. The dough enriched with milk and butter can also make many different types of rolls, such as hamburger or hot dog buns. You can refrigerate the dough overnight, just after kneading and bake it the next day. It's called slow rise and helps develop the dough's flavour. However, it can be risen and baked the same day - both methods work and make delicious bread. Find the recipe here…
Sauerkraut with Forest Mushrooms (Kapusta z grzybami)
A traditional polish delight is served usually on Christmas Eve. This meatless dish can be eaten on its own with a slice of bread or fill other traditional Christmas Eve meals – pierogi z grzybami (dumplings with sauerkraut and forest mushrooms). Sauerkraut is always prepared at least one week in advance as all flavours need time to combine and develop. We use porcini - the most delicious and aromatic wild mushrooms, a few dried prunes to balance the sour taste of fermented cabbage and a large glass of red wine that deepen the flavour of the dish. Find the recipe here…
Celebrating the Lunar New Year: Beef and Spring Onion Jiaozi
Chinese are famous for their dumplings called jiaozi. Steamed, cooked or fried, they come in various flavours, filled with vegetables, meat, fish and tofu. Jiaozi play a major role in Chinese New Year Celebrations - it is a classic lucky food for New Year that signifies family reunion, represent prosperity and wealth. Chinese New Year is upon us (falls on February, the 12th), which means we’re preparing to celebrate it with plenty appetizers such as Beef and Spring Onion Jiaozi – melting in the mouth extremely fragrant Chinese dumplings, served with spicy dipping sauce. Find the recipe here...
Chinese Dumpling Dough
This is the classic Chinese Dumpling dough, generally for boiled dumplings (shui jia) and potstickers (guo tie) but I also use it - only thinly rolled - for wontons. This recipe calls for the equal amount of flour and water, and a generous pinch of salt which make the tougher dough that needs to rest at least 1 hour; however, the longer the dough is set aside and kept covered with a kitchen towel, the smoother and more springy will be. Freshly made dumpling wrappers needs to be used immediately as they become dry and difficult to shape. Find the recipe here…
Double Rye Sourdough Bread with Honey
If you are a rye fan, for a real treat try this double rye sourdough bread. It contains dark and light rye flour as well as bread flour to give light texture. Double rye requires overnight sponge made of light rye flour starter and some amount of dark rye flour, but on a baking day, it needs only 3 hours to be ready to pop in the hot oven. The bread is delicious, moist, sweet and tastes great next day if kept in the container. Great served with herring tartare or pickled herring. Find the recipe here…
Polly-style Hot Dogs
People have loved hot dogs for ages as they were easy to eat, inexpensive and convenient. Steamed sausages served in the slit buns with condiments have fed the crowds at big events, parties and on the streets of big cities. For my happy crowd, I prepare Polly-style Hot Dogs and serve them with delicious home-made pickled cucumbers, crunchy pickled salad, fried onions and delicious sauces. Wieners and frankfurters – traditional hot dog sausages go extremely well with buttery fluffy brioche dough and they taste divine! Reinvent your hot dogs! Take them to the next level and wow your guests! Find the recipe here...