I first tried this meal back in Italy, and fell in love with it instantly. It is a great example of how to get the maximum of flavour with minimum of ingredients. Usually, we either have a small portion of it as a starter, followed up by the main course (most often involtini di pollo), or a large portion of smoked cheese is the main course, after a pasta dish first (pomodoro e basilico is my natural choice here). Today, however, as the temperature has hit over 30C, we decided to go for a small meal. You need: a large piece of smoked cheese a handful of fresh sage leaves 5-6 slices of parma ham a dash of olive oil salt and pepper Cut the cheese into slices of about 2cm thick. Place a sage leave on each slice of cheese, and wrap a slice of ham around it and season. Put the slices into a bake dish, or a small baking tray, sprinkle them with a dash of olive. Grill it for about 15-20 minutes.

I came across this meal in one of my mags, and it looked cool enough to give it a go. Worked so well that it has become one of our staple dishes since. Though the original recipe had Gorgonzola cheese in it, we've tried it with a variety of other blue cheeses and it worked equally well. Also, the first time I made it I used rose, instead of white wine, and must say that it probably worked even better. You need: about 0.5 of boneless pork chops 3 cloves of garlic salt pepper some dry basil and thyme a handful of fresh parsley leaves 3 tbsp of oil 5-6 slices of Gorgonzola 200 ml of wine (white or rose) Slice the meat and season it, sprinkle the herbs on top. Pre-heat the oil on  a frying pan, seal the chops on both sides (fry about 1 minute on each side, or until it turns golden brown), then move into a bake dish. Peel and finely chop garlic and parsley, place them on frying pan and fry them on a small heat in the remainder of the oil from dealing the meat. Pour in ...

 Although it is the simplest soup of all (I don't count the instant Chinese noodle soups or canned ready-made ones here), it's been my favourite since I can remember. Back when I was a child, it was an absolute must for a Sunday lunch. When I was old enough to try to make my own one, I was so sure of myself that I nearly forgot to add half of the ingredients :-) Luckily, I sussed out something was wrong early enough to salvage the soup! It still astounds me how could one cock up such a simple thing, but as they as "impossible is nothing " ;-) To make the soup you need: chicken meat (it may be 1 whole chicken, or parts - I usually use 4 legs and 3-4 wings) 4-5 carrots 3 parsnips half a small celeriac a bit of parsley 1 garlic clove 3 bay leaves 3-4 allspice grains 3-4 black pepper grains 1 chicken stock cube salt and ground pepper a pinch of dried lovage (optional) 1 tbsp dried veg mix  Preparation: There are two ways of cooking the soup, depending...

Today's recipe is inspired by my favourite meal at a Chinese restaurant we frequent. Actually, less and less often, as the service is going downhill there. Anyway, that served as motivation to try to replicate the meal I enjoy so much - sweet and sour chicken with soy noodles. I also decided to "lean" it a bit - the restaurant version of the dish has deep fried batter chicken, mine wasn't deep fried, nor did it have batter, but it was very enjoyable nonetheless! ;-) For the sauce I used: 1 large can of pineapple 1 cup honey 3 tbsps dark soy sauce 3 tsps ginger powder half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon 1-2 tbsps of tomato puree 2 tsps of lemon juice 1 tsp tamarind paste salt and pepper 1 tsp corn flour Preparation: Put the pineapple into a pan, pour in the syrup from the can, add honey, soy sauce, ginger powder, ground cinnamon, tomato puree, tamarind paste and lemon juice. Stir all ingredients and simmer until they blend. Season the sauce with salt ...

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...