Baklava Twist Cookies

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I found Levant's sweets unique and really delicious. Lovely mix of pistachio and rose guarantee explosion of endorphins. Baklava twist cookies are not as sweet as baklava but tastes really similar. 

Summer fruits cheesecake with fatless sponge cake

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This cake was made by my Mother. Photos were taken by my Brother :). 

I share baking passion with my Mum and Brother. We love to spend time together in kitchen but we can do this just few times a year as I moved out 2000 km away from my family house, to United Kingdom. Thanks to Skype we can substitute our meetings but I must say that I really miss taste and smell of my Mum's cakes and Belgium waffles. Maybe one day it will be possible to share not just picture or sounds but also smells? 

Creamy chicken & vegetable pie (with step-by-step photos)

 

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British cuisine makes you warm and happy. One of my best comfort food are pies, especially with chicken and mushrooms. My chicken pie is creamy and really tasty. I hope you will like it :). It is perfect dish for rainy Summer days. 

 





 

Linguine aglio, olio e peperoncino

Pasta aglio, olio e pepperoncino is one of the easiest Italian dishes. It is packed of flavours. Serve it with white wine.

Aglio olio is traditional dish of Abruzzo (region in central Italy).  

Abruzzo (photo from http://www.insidersabroad.com)



Recipe for basic home-made pasta

 

 

To make pasta you need to remember one thing: every 100 grams of 00 type flour you need to combine with one large egg. Some recipes also advice to use pinch of salt and little bit of olive oil.

If pasta dough is to hard you can use little bit of warm water.

 

Pasta made from around 300-400 grams of flour will feed family of 4.

 

 

1. Place flour on a surface.

2. Make a well in the centre and crack the eggs into it. At this stage you can add some olive oil and salt.

3. Using a fork mix flour with eggs until everything is combine. 

4. Knead dough for few minutes.  

5. Place dough in a plastic bag and let it rest for about one hour.

 

 

6. Roll your pasta using pasta machine or rolling pin. I found pasta machine really helpful and less time consuming. 

 

 

7. Cut pasta into your favourite shape or make ravioli/lasagne.

8. Boil pasta in lightly salted water.



 

Smacznego :). 

 

 

Strawberry & Orange Kissel (with step-by-step photos)

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I love home-made kissel! This is one of tastes of my childhood. When I was a child my mother did for us kissel two ways: thick one as a dessert and liquid one as a drink. Usually it was made from apples but I found strawberry one the best. 

In Poland kissel is also commonly served as a light meal while food poisoning (of course with smaller amount of sugar and without whipped cream). 

Mojito

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Mojito is refreshing and very tasty drink which was invented in Cuba. It is worldwide famous at the moment and very easy to do at home.  

Ingredients for one drink:

• around 6 mint leaves + few more for decoration 
• crushed ice
• 50 ml light rum
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar
• sparkling water
• 25 ml lime juice (optional)
• lime slices/wedges (I have also added lemon)

Method:

1. Place sugar, fruits, mint into highball glass and crush ingredients with a mortar. 

2. Add ice, lime juice, rum, then fill up the glass with a sparkling water. 

3. Decorate with mint. 

Smacznego :)

Caipiroska with lime and kiwi

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This is one of my favourite drinks. It is sweet, sour and refreshing :). Hope you will also like it. 

Souvlaki with chicken leftovers, feta and grilled tomatoes

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Souvlaki is an excellent idea on what to do with chicken leftovers (you can also use turkey). I must admit this is one of my favourites lunch recipes and I tent to do it really often. 

Ingredients for 2 large souvlaki:

• 2 pita breads
• meat from baked 2 chicken legs
• red onion, sliced
• bell red pepper, sliced
• feta cheese, crushed
• cherry tomatoes, grilled
• lettuce

Method:

1. Cut pita into pockets. 

2. Fill each pocket with all the ingredients.  

3. You can serve souvlaki with tzatziki sauce but in my opinion it is not necessary. I like it just with grilled tomatoes (thanks to them dish is enough juicy).   

Home-made Pita Bread

I try to eat just home-made food. It is healthier plus gives me satisfaction. Pita bread is perfect for lunch or simple supper. 

And remember that you can freeze baked bread. 

Use pita bread to make delicious Souvlaki. 

Ingredients:

• pinch of sugar
• 1 smaller teaspoon salt
• around 1.5 cup plain flour
• 0.5 cup warm water
• heaped teaspoon dried yeast

Method:

1. Dissolve yeasts and sugar in warm water. Set aside for couple of minutes.

2. Add rest of ingredients and knead dough until elastic and velvety. You can add more flour if dough is too sticky. 

3. Form dough in a ball, then place into bowl and cover it with a kitchen towel. Let rest dough for about 40 minutes or until double in size. 

4. Divide dough into around 7 pieces (depends how big your breads should be) and flatten each one with a rolling pin.

5. Bake pita in pre-heated to 210C (410F) oven. Ready bread will be puffed and golden brown. 

Smacznego :)) 

"Sunny Summer" cheesecake

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I truly love to make no bake cheesecakes. They are so easy to make and delicious. 

I hope you will like my "Sunny Summer" Cake :). 

Ingredients for cookie base:

• around 10 ginger cookies
• around 3 heaped tablespoons unsalted butter

Method:

1. Grind the cookies in a food processor. 

2. Add the melted butter and process until moist crumbs form. 

3. Press the mixture into 20cm spring form.

4. Bake in a pre-heated oven to 180 C (350 F) for around 10 minutes. 

5. Let it cool.

Ingredients for orange jelly:

• half a litre orange juice
• 5 leaves gelatine
• around 20 fresh raspberries
• sugar (to taste), I didn't use it

Method: 

1. Soak the gelatine in a cold water for about 5 minutes or until soften.

2. Heat up the juice (don't boil it). 

3. Line the bottom and sides of the 20 cm cake pan with cling film. 

4. Put raspberries into cake form. 

5. Squeeze out the excess of water from the gelatine. Melt the gelatine with warm juice.

6. Pour the juice into cake pan. 

7. Place cake pan into fridge until set.  

Ingredients for mascarpone mixture:

• 1 vanilla pod
• 500 grams mascarpone
• 300 ml double cream, cold
• 8 gelatine leaves
• 8 tablespoons icing sugar
• lemon zest from 2 lemons

Method:

1. Start to make mascarpone cheesecake when orange jelly is completely set. 

2. Soak the gelatine in a cold water for about 5 minutes or until soften.

3. Warm up half a cup of water.  

4. Squeeze out the excess of water from the gelatine. Melt the gelatine with warm water.

5. Mix the mascarpone with the icing sugar, vanilla seeds, and lemon zest. 

6. Whip up double cream with 3 tablespoons icing sugar. 

7. Combine the gelatine (should be in room temperature but not set yet) with two tablespoons whipped cream. 

8. Mix the gelatine with mascarpone and then mix mascarpone mixture with whipped cream. 

9. Pour half of mascarpone mixture over ginger cookies crust.

10. Then place orange jelly. 

11. Pour rest of mascarpone mixture over orange jelly. 

12. Place cake into fridge and keep it there for a few hours. 

13. Decorate cake with fresh fruits and crushed meringues. 

Smacznego :)

Blueberry & Raspberry (no bake) cheesecake

I found no bake cheesecakes the best for Summer heat. They are not only tasty desserts but also cool body slightly :). 

What is the weather like in your hometown? 

Honeycomb cake with 10 layers! (step-by-step photos)

I think that this cake is the prettiest that I ever made. I love it look and taste!

In my opinion there is no enough pastry cream for this cake (most of it was soaked by the cake) so next time I will make it from double portion...and off course I never complain about more pastry cream in any dessert :)

Cake is time-consuming but easy.



Traditional "Russian Pierogi" with cheese and potatoes

 

"Russian Pierogi" are the most famous type of pierogi in Poland. This dish is simple yet delicious! You can experiment with other pierogi filling, for example filling with your country favourite flavours.

Other popular types of pierogi are with: blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, mushrooms and sauerkraut, meat, sweet farmers cottage cheese.

 

Jagodzianki: Polish Sweet Buns with Blueberries

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Jagodzianki* are traditional Polish sweet buns. Usually they are baked during Summer. You can buy them in every cake shop/bakery in Poland. 

*"Jagoda" means blueberry in Polish :)

Home-made Coffee Liqueur

Another of my home-made liqueurs (I have made it for last Easter). If you like coffee this one will be perfect for you. 

Ingredients:

• 300 ml Whiskey
• 530 grams condensed milk
• 4 tablespoons instant coffee 
• 90 ml boiling hot water
• 150 ml single cream

Method:

1. Melt the coffee in boiling water. 

2. Mix all the ingredients together and pour mixture to a glass bottle. 

3. Place bottle into fridge and after one day you can consume your home-made liqueur. Just remember to shake bottle from time to time. 

4. You need to consume this liqueur within 1-2 weeks. 

Smacznego :)