✮Christmas recipes✮

♫♪♫ It's the most wonderful time of the year! ♫♪♫  Christmas time!  Yet this year I don't really feel the holiday spirit yet...  I just came back from New Zealand where summer is just starting and people celebrate Christmas by having a BBQ in their garden or hitting the beach.  Sounds pretty cool... but also pretty strange to a European.  Despite the abundance of Christmas decorations on the streets and Christmas songs on the radio, I was not really in the mood to sing along "let it snow" or "baby it's cold outside" while wearing sandals and shorts.  

Coming back to Europe has not helped much with getting into the holiday spirit, as with the mild winter it feels more like October than December.  BUT - as I'm one of these "Christmas spirit junkies", I decided to push myself into the right mood.  I spend the last days baking cookies while listening to Christmas songs.  I know - so cliché, but it worked!  All I need now is to be "♪ driving home for Christmas ♪" (there a song again :D) to see my lovely family - holidays are nothing without the family spirit!

Here are some reminders of great holiday recipes - I hope they help you get into Christmas spirit too!

Christmas cookies 

(click for recipe)

The epitome of holiday spirit!  They taste delicious and the cute traditional shapes look great on a Christmas tree.  You can't have Christmas without them :)

Cranberry cheesecake

(click for recipe)

Simple and very elegant.  This cheesecake is a great option for Christmas, because of the added cranberries - and cranberries are the holiday fruit.  It is also very festive and will do well for such a special occasion.  Added bonus: it's easy to make, which is great when you are so busy in the kitchen with other things.

  

Poppy seed and almond cake

(click for recipe)

A family tradition and one of the best cakes I've ever had.  It may sound exotic to some, but in Poland poppy seed cakes are a must for Christmas.  I highly recommend to try it out, if you feel adventurous.  A word of warning though: it requires quite some work and preparation time (but it's totally worth it).

  

Chewy cranberry chocolate cookies
(click for recipe)

Chewy, tangy and chocolaty cookies.  Highly recommended if you are looking for a quick fix.  Also: baking them is a lot of fun - just put on some Christmas songs and go ahead!

Chocolate gingerbread cake

(click for recipe)

This chocolate gingerbread cake is rich and full of spices.  It's so much better than any other gingerbread cake I've ever had, because it's soooo moist and chocolaty!  Really divine -- and simple to make.

Beetroot salad

Inspiration...  A funny little feeling that sometimes creeps up on you out of nowhere, and sometimes just can't make its way to you.  It lives by Murphy's law and is rarely around when you really need it.  Writers, painters and musicians have a love & hate relationship with it, and their livelihood depends on its caprice.  And just like those great artists, hobby chefs like me need inspiration to do the thing they do ;-)

There are tons of ways to find inspiration for new recipes.  This one came to me when I was having lunch with a colleague.  I went for the salad bar and one of the options there was a delicious beetroot salad.  I worked off of the flavors and textures I got back then, adding my personal tweaks in accordance with what I thought would go very well with beetroot.  And voila - this fresh, delicious salad was born. 

This simple and super healthy beetroot salad will give a great vitamin boost to your winter meals.  Beetroot is very good for you, as it is believed to reduce blood pressure, cholesterol and the risk of heart attacks and strokes.  It also helps treat anemia and fatigue It is packed with iron, potassium, magnesium and various vitamins.  Throw in the celery stalks, apple and lemon and you have a "super meal".

The salad is also very delicious.  I love contrasts in textures and flavors, and this is exactly what you will get from this dish.  You have the soft, sweet beetroot, against the fresh and tangy apple, crispy celery stalks, crunchy nuts and rich Greek yoghurt.  Just the combination I was going for.  I hope this will make you start your own experiments with ingredients -- let this be your own inspiration ;-)

METHOD

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 beetroots, boiled and peeled
• 4 long or 5 short celery stalks
• 1 granny smith apple
• handful of pecans, roasted (walnuts of pine nuts would be great as well)
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 2-3 tbsp thick Greek yoghurt
• salt & pepper, freshly ground

DIRECTIONS:

• Dice the beetroots, apples and celery stalks.  Sprinkle the apples with lemon juice.  Put everything in a large bowl.
• Roughly chop the roasted pecans, add to the bowl.
• Add the Greek yoghurt, stir thoroughly and season with freshly ground salt & pepper, and lemon juice if necessary.  

Bon appetit!

Pierogi & cooking with Grandma

Whenever I'm in my hometown, Warsaw, I visit my Grandma.  We laugh and chat (usually about latest fashion trends, travels and family gossip) and sip Grandma's homemade chokeberries liqueur ("aroniówka") - deep and smooth in flavor.  We also cook together, just as we did in the old days when I was a little girl and my head barely reached above the kitchen counter.  Grandma is one of the best cooks I know.  Dinners at her place always follow the traditional Polish way of dining: first you get soup, then the main course (accompanied by kompot - a light fruit juice), and then cake for dessert (all homemade of course).   

Grandma is a real fairy when it comes to cooking.  She makes complex traditional dishes in the blink of an eye (as if she'd just waved her magic wand), and everything she prepares is truly delicious.  I think her secret is that she puts a lot of heart into her dishes - she loves cooking and it's the love you taste.  

Stages of pierogi-making

Pierogi are a kind of dumpling - bigger than ravioli, and bursting with delicious stuffing.  You can have sweet versions (e.g. with blueberries or fresh cheese, all served with sweet cream and sugar) or savory ones (e.g. with minced meat, mushrooms & sauerkraut or with potatoes & curd cheese (so called "pierogi ruskie") - featured here).  The secret of good pierogi lies in the dough - it shouldn't be rubbery or tough, but at the same time it should be firm enough to hold the stuffing when the pierogi are boiling.  Grandma's dough strikes a perfect balance - and now that you have the recipe, you can master this art too :)

My absolute favorites among the pierogi family, are the ones with potato and curd cheese, with onion and lean bacon added to the stuffing for that smoky, defined flavor.  Think "goat's cheese and parma ham" and you'll know what flavor combination I mean.  These pierogi are an absolute hit among both Polish and non-Polish people.  I hope you like them as much as I do :)

METHOD

15-20 pierogi - Serves 2 

INGREDIENTS:

Stuffing:

• 1 medium potato, cooked
• a piece (150 - 200 g) of curd cheese (you can use soft goat cheese too)
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 80 g lean smoked bacon, finely diced
• dried marjoram
• salt (freshly ground)
• pepper (freshly ground)

Dough:

• 300 g flour
• 2 heaped tbsp sour cream
• 1 egg yolk
• some warm, boiled water

DIRECTIONS:

• Stuffing: fry the bacon with the onion until golden brown.  Mince the cheese, cooked potato, and fried onion and bacon.  Mix well with a spoon.  Season with freshly ground salt & pepper, and dried marjoram (about 1,5 tsp).  After boiling the pierogi, the stuffing will be less salty/more bland than at this stage, so make sure it's seasoned well (don't over-season though).
• Make the dough by kneading the flour, sour cream and yolk, adding a bit of warm water to get a firm, but smooth dough.  Knead thoroughly, to allow as much air as possible into the dough.
• Sprinkle some flour on your working surface and rolling pin.  Roll out the dough to approx. 1-2 mm thin.  Cut out circles using a glass.  (Repeat the process with the dough left over after cutting out the circles).   
• Stuff each circle with a heaped teaspoon of stuffing, fold the dough over forming a half-moon.  Press together with your fingers, making small curled folds along the edge (you can also use a fork, pressing it to seal the pierogi).
• Cook in boiling, lightly salted water until the pierogi resurface.  Serve with fried onion or lardons.  

Smacznego!

Grandma's pierogi ruskie with fresh apple kompot

Pecan pie & small pleasures in life

What I liked the most in the movie "Amélie" (or "Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain") was the admiration for small pleasures in life.  I have a list of quite a few of such small pleasures, that make a grey day just a bit more colorful.  The silky milk foam on a expresso-enforced latte, sprinkled with cinnamon or nutmeg.  A long bath, with aromatic bath salts, relaxing music, candles and a glass of wine.  The smell of fresh hay.  Curling up near a heater with a good book, watching it rain cats and dogs outside.  Melting chocolate au-bain-marie and making swirls with the spoon in the glossy mixture.   A cup of hot lemon & honey tea when you have a cold.  Waking through fresh, virgin-white snow.  The radio playing your favorite song and you singing as loud as you can with it.  Kicking off your shoes on this first warm spring day and feeling the grass under your bare feet.  The smell of freshly roasted nuts...   

Speaking of freshly roasted nuts -- the unquestionable stars of this pie are the dashing pecans.  And pecans are your typical top-knotch stars: expensive, luxurious and a tad mysterious (is the pronunciation "pee-kahns", "pi-kahns" or "pee-cans"?!).  I didn't grow up with pecans -- we always had walnuts instead.  The nuts are very similar in appearance and taste, yet still different.  Pecans are much softer in flavor and physical characteristics, more buttery, a tad sweeter.  They are the more sophisticated brother of walnuts -- the star of the family.

This pecan pie is unique in flavor, thanks to the golden syrup -- there is nothing like it!  It's quite sweet, but absolutely divine, so you can't stop eating it (you have been warned).  The rich taste of crunchy roasted pecans is elevated by the honey-like, rich filling, and perfectly completed by the shortbread crust.  Serving the pie with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream is a must for me - as it balances the sweetness with a fresh, milky touch.  Nothing left to say but: enjoy this divine pie!

INGREDIENTS

Base:

• 185 g flour
• 50 g fine sugar
• 125 g cold butter, roughly chopped
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tbsp ice water

Filling:

• 300 g pecans (or walnuts)
• 6 egg yolks
• 175 g golden syrup (I tried honey & molasses mixed half-half: works very well too)
• 100 g dark brown sugar
• 90 g butter (melted)
• 80 ml cream

DIRECTIONS:

• Mix all the ingredients of the base in a mixer (or knead by hand) until the dough forms a ball.  Butter a tart form (preferably with removable bottom) and distribute the dough evenly, also on the sides of the form.  Refrigerate for approx. 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
• Remove the base from the fridge and punch little whole in the bottom with a fork.  Cover with parchment paper and put ceramic balls on top (you could also use beans or rice) - this will prevent the base from rising.  Bake for around 15 minutes, remove the paper and bake for another 5 minutes.
• Roast the pecans in a dry pan, until fragrant (watch out not to burn them).  Put the nuts on the pre-baked base.
• Mix all the ingredients of the filling until they form a smooth mixture.  Pour over the nuts.
• Bake for approx. 30 minutes (same temperature).  Let cool and serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

The recipe comes from the Polish blog Moje Wypieki.

Bon appetit!

Mini stuffed pork roulades

Today: a real treat for the palate and a truly sophisticated dish!  Mini pork roulades stuffed with tarragon-marinated prunes and camembert, wrapped in prosciutto ham and served with a spicy wine sauce.  The pork is really soft and tender and goes very well with the moist and sweet prunes, rich camembert and salty cured ham.  Each bite just melts in your mouth!  The thick wine sauce is essential - it adds the spice, and also gives the dish a festive touch.

BE WARNED - there is quite a lot of work involved in making 20-30 petite rolls!!!  First, you have to slice your pork tenderloin, and tenderize each slice with a meat hammer, until really thin - almost transparent.  Watch out not to make any holes!  Second, you have to marinate the prunes, slice the prosciutto in thin strips and dice your camembert. Third, stuff and roll your roulades -- that's where the fun starts, but it takes some time.  Fourth, you wrap each roll in the ham and secure with a toothpick, if necessary.  Finally - pan-fry the rolls, until the ham is crisp and the meat nice and tender.  

And let's not forget you need to make the sauce too.  And a salad.  And baked potatoes.  So if you want a quick fix dinner - forget this and just bake some fish.  

Stages of preparation:

The roulades are just packed with flavors and spices.  Prunes and camembert are sometimes paired with meat, but the surprise ingredient here is gingerbread spice.  It is added not only to the sauce, but also to the prune stuffing.  Nonetheless, if you don't know it's in there, you would not guess it; all it does is elevate the taste of the meat -- it does not give it a gingerbread-cookie kind of flavor.  Gingerbread spice works very well with the other seasoning added - tarragon and tangerine zest.  These three spices complement each other, but also balance the overall flavors.

The dish is best served with a fresh salad and baked potatoes.  It goes very well with a rich, smokey red wine.

Making these mini roulades is a great idea for the coming holidays -- Thanksgiving or Christmas.  It's very elegant and festive, which makes it well-suited for special occasions.  Also the particular spice combination strikes a very festive note.  When preparing the sauce, your house is filled with the most welcoming and delicious aroma.  Every single person in your home will be drawn into the kitchen: intrigued and instantly very hungry and impatient to try some of the sauce (which is great on its own too).

I made this dish for the first time when preparing for the Flemish TV show "Come dine with me" ("Komen Eten").  I have made it several times since then for family and friends.  As it has always been received with the highest praise from my guests, I plan to add to my top recipes list, and make it on special occasions.  Highly recommended!

  

METHOD

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

Roulades:

• Pork tenderloin of about 500-600 g
• 150 g prunes, pitted
• approx. 80 g camembert
• approx. 200 g dry-cured ham in thin slices (prosciutto, jamón serrano etc.)
• 1 big tbsp butter, very soft or melted
• 2 tsp dried tarragon
• 1 heaped tsp gingerbread spice
• 2 tbsp of non-sweetened plum marmalade or spread (typically Polish "powidla" can be bought in any Polish store)
• zest of 1/2 tangerine
• freshly ground pepper

• additional oil and butter for frying

Sauce:

• 2 glasses (400 ml) of dry red wine (I recommend the Carménère variety)
• 8 tbsp of non-sweetened plum marmalade or spread (typically Polish "powidla" can be bought in any Polish store)
• 4 tsp gingerbread spice
• zest of 1 tangerine
• freshly ground pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Roulades:

• Trim the excess fat off the pork tenderloin.  Cut it in 1,5 cm pieces, and tenderize with a meat hammer (best to cover the meat with cling film first).  You need thin, almost transparent pieces, but make sure not to make holes.  Season each slice with pepper.
• Cut the prunes in half, and place in a bowl.  Add the butter, tarragon, gingerbread spice, plum marmalade and tangerine zest.  Stir thoroughly.
• Dice the camembert in small pieces.
• Cut the ham in thin, long strips.
• Put 2-3 pieces of prune and a piece of camembert on the pork and roll into a roulade.  
• Wrap the roulade in the cured ham.  You can secure the rolls with a tooth pick, but usually it's not necessary.
• Heat oil in a large frying pan, once hot place the roulades in the pan.  Add some butter. Fry around 4 minutes on each side, then gently remove the toothpicks and fry the sides until nice and brown.  It's good to start with a high heat, and then lower it, when frying each side.
• Serve with the sauce.

Sauce:

• Mix all the ingredients and let simmer on a small heat for about 1h - 1h30, stirring occasionally.
• Serve hot with the roulades.

The recipe comes from the Polish website Kwestia Smaku.

Bon appetit!

Quinoa & mung bean patties

Lately I have been in a real "cleaning and organizing mood".  My inner Monica Geller (remember "FRIENDS"?) woke up and and told me to arrange my drawers, segregate the paperwork, and throw out clothes I haven't worn for a while.  Of course the first step to every proper cleaning up is making a total mess.  You take all the stuff out your closets and introduce major chaos to your environment.  It is highly advisable to do this when no one is around -- after all you don't want your boyfriend to make remarks along the lines of "do you really need so many pairs of shoes?" or "how can so many clothes fit into one closet?".  

Despite the overarching chaos I find that organizing your stuff can be really therapeutical and cleansing - you feel like things in your life regain their purpose and fall back into their place, and most importantly: you get rid of all the clutter.  I don't know about you guys, but I just loooove throwing useless things away - it's so liberating! 

Mung beans: after and before soaking

Whilst in my "Monica Geller mood", I also got to cleaning and organizing my kitchen cabinets and pantry.  There, I discovered I have quite a decent stash of mung beans.  I have actually never had mung beans before in my life.  I just heard they were really healthy and good for you, so I bought them a few months ago without a clear idea of what I would do with them.  And now - BINGO!  Time to put them to good use :-)

I have always been a big fan of veggie burgers and patties, so my first idea was to make some with the mung beans.  To be honest with you -- the rest of the ingredients were also part of my "clearing the pantry plan".  But hey - they go so well together, and I wouldn't change a thing even if my pantry was stuffed with every ingredient there is.  

I decided to go for the quinoa to add some more texture to the patties -- the plan was to mash the beans, but leave the quinoa sprouts intact and with a bit of bite to them.  Not to mention that quinoa is super healthy too -- thus boosting the "good-for-you-value" of the patty.  For additional flavor, I spiked the burgers with some red onion, garlic, lime, and coriander -- you need that to give some character to the bean/cereal background.  And the finishing touch: creamy tahini, which really is essential to the dish.  It brings an incredible sesame nuttiness, which really enhances the flavor.  Plus you need the fat - after all it's the only fat going in the patties, and it helps keeping the burgers from falling apart.

These patties are very versatile.  You can experiment with the ingredients and spices -- and add things you like (or you need to get rid of when you have your own "Monica Geller cleaning mood").  Try them with chickpeas or lentils, add some curry or ginger - maybe peanut butter instead of tahini?

The burgers go very well with a fresh salad.  I made a beetroot-apple salad, for a delicious and very healthy meal - the recipe is coming soon!

METHOD:

Makes 6 patties

Ingredients:

• 1 cup / 200 g of dry mung beans (you could also use other beans, lentils etc. - just cook them according to their package)
• 1 cup / 180 g of quinoa
• 1 red onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2-3 tablespoons of tahini
• juice & zest of 1 lime
• ground coriander
• fresh coriander
• salt
• pepper

Directions:

• Soak the mung beans overnight and cook the next day according to the package instructions until completely soft (mine were done after about 20 minutes).  Mash the beans roughly in a big bowl.
• Cook the quinoa according to package instructions (mine took 8 minutes).  Let cool a bit and add to the mung beans.
• Dice the red onion and garlic very finely, add to the beans.
• Add tahini, lime juice and zest, and season well with ground coriander, salt and pepper.  Taste the mixture and season some more if needed.
• Line a baking tray with parchment paper.  Form six flat patties with your hands and bake the patties in a preheated oven (180°C) for about 30 minutes until golden brown (no need to turn, as the tray will be hot and the bottom will brown too).
• Serve warm, sprinkled with fresh coriander, with a light and crispy salad - e.g. the beetroot/apple salad.

Bon appetit!