Another hot morning gave me the energy to make my own bread. This time I used spelt flour, admittedly healthier than plain flour, though the bread is rather on a heavy side and doesn't rise a lot. It came out lovely - really crispy crust, and very interesting taste. I'm still astounded by how easy it is to make your own bread - and all the stuff about bread makers is rubbish. You need flour, yeast and water, plus an ordinary oven to bake it in, that's really it! The ingredients I used for this bread: 0.5 kilo spelt flour 1 teaspoon of dried yeast a pinch of salt a pinch of sugar a few table spoons of lukewarm milk water Everything starts with the yeast - pour it into milk (important - milk cannot be either hot or cold, or the yeast won't work). Stir the yeast until it dilutes, add sugar and leave in a warm place to activate. The mixture is ready to use when it gets frothy. Pour it into a large bowl with flour and knead, adding water as needed. The dough n...

It's been a good while since I last posted here. I've got quite a bit on my plate at the moment, and we're looking for a new place to live, so the 24 hours in a day often does not feel enough! Anyway, the May break (over a week off!!!) proved to be a good moment to slow down and indulge myself in cooking again. The weather has been truly fabulous in the last few days - bright, sunny and the temperatures reaching nearly 30C, you may get the impression the summer has come! Not quite, but not far off either.  Today, I got up and had a real craving for nice, crusty bread. As May 3rd is a bank holiday in Poland the shops will mostly be closed, and even if they're open, getting nice, fresh bread might be nothing more than wishful thinking today. I resorted to making bread myself - I tried a recipe for an olive bread, which disappeared from our plates in a matter of minutes, so I consider it a success! ;-) For the bread you need: 0.5 kilo of plain all purpose flou...

 I often find visiting restaurants inspirational and later try to make the same meals at home. Usually it takes a few attempts, this time with a stroke of luck I got it right at first go. Funny thing about this meal is that I had it at the restaurant serving Polish cuisine, yet the dish was called "Swiss Style Cutlet"... I'm not entirely sure about the connection to Swiss cuisine, but it tastes great, plus it's easy and relatively quick to make, so does the origin really matter? To make the cutlet you need: A doubke chicken breast A few slices of tinend pineapple A few slices of cheese Salt, pepper, oregano, a pinch of chili powder to season A bit of cranberry sauce Wash the chicken breast and dry it with kitchen roll. Cut off any spare bits and beat it gently with a mullet. Season with spices, put pineapple slices on top and put into the oven pre-heated to about 160C (I amke it in a fan oven) for about 40 minutes. Then place cheese on top and put back int...

The meal we had today is an attempt to copy a dish I first tried in one of the Italian restaurants in our district. I am extremely picky as far as food is concerned, and pretty merciless when evaluating Italian restaurants. I've heard a few times that Italian food is 'the blandest' ever, sadly it was the opinion of people who know the "Italian" food merely from Italian restaurants. And those, if located outside Italy rarely can do the food justice. Luckily, we live in a 'posh" area (haha), people like to pose and splash money around, which usually is either quite entertaining, or simply sad, but on the positive side there are a few places serving decent food, including two (!) Italian restaurants.  The first time I tried the dish in question I actually just tried somebody else's meal and ended up devouring half of their food! As it sometimes happens, the meal that looks nothing-special in the menu turns out to be a masterpiece combination of sce...

Gosh, it's been a while since I last posted something here, I got snowed under work :( Meanwhile the real snow has melted, and this weekend we're enjoying really springy weather - sunny and nearly 20C outside! I've made my beloved dew cheesecake, as it's too early for fresh fruit dessert, and this one tastes like ice-cream so I decided it will do as the first spring dessert! I could say that making it this time round was a bit of an adventure, as electricity decided it was time to start turning itself on and of, just as I was in the middle of baking and whisking egg whites! All in all, though the cake turned out great and tasted delicious as usual, so there's only a small bit left for dessert tomorrow. Guess that's good? ;-) To make a big cheese cake you need: For the base: 2 large cups of flour 0.5 large cup of sugar 2 egg yokes 1 whole egg 2 teaspoons of baking powder 0.5 tub of margarine (125 g) Mix all ingredients and knead until smooth. Then...

I really like making cakes. Although I have a really sweet tooth, I could venture to say that it is the making of the cake that I enjoy the most, eating it is just an extra :) Carrot cake is one of my favourites, and really easy to make, I guess it could be labelled "fool proof". Initially I used to make it without the icing - I would simply sprinkle icing sugar on top. Yet, I must admit that the icing definitely gives the cake the finishing touch, and fantastically complements the flavour. For the cake you need: 3-4 large, sweet carrots (the quality of carrots is crucial here - they can really spoil the cake if they aren't sweet enough) 1 apple 2 large cups of flour (250 millilitres) 1 large cup of sugar 1 large cup of oil 4 eggs 2 teaspoons of baking powder 1 heaped teaspoon of cinnamon Peel and finely grate the carrots. Mix flour, sugar and baking powder and cinnamon in a large bowl, add the eggs and oil, stir in grated carrots. Mix all the ingredients we...

I am an absolutely untreatable chocoholic. I always crave chocolate - any time night or day. Recently, pampering myself with choccy has gone beyond the edible chocolate, thanks to a cosmetic line discovered in a local shop Natura (I know that Body Shop has recently released similar line, a bit more pricey, yet not quite what I like - can't put my finger on it, but to me it lacks something). I think the first time I bought the chocolate cosmetics as retail therapy when it was getting all grey, wet and horrible outside. As I remember it worked miracles :) The entire line is based on chocolate with a slight note of orange scent. Divine! And it is just as addictive as eating chocolate is :) I would have my morning bath religiously every weekend - is there anything better than a room filled with chocolate scent, with a bubble bath? On a cold, winter morning - certainly not! The first item I bought was a bath essence, and fell for it immediately. A small amount of it fills the bath ...