Summer dinner & please keep your fingers crossed!

Summer dinners can be so light and easy to make especially if you are lucky to live in a place where temperatures are more likely to remain you summer rather than late autumn. Summer dinner for me are vegetables and sometimes something extra such as egg. 

 This is my last recipe before taking a short break. I am going to take this break because I want to focus on something else for a little while. I want to focus more on myself. I was selected from many girls and invited to a casting for new project of the British company offering underwear and clothes for woman who have large breast and curves. I am not even dreaming about getting this job but I would love to do my best at the bra-fitting, interview and photoshoot on 19 June so please, please keep your fingers crossed. This does not mean that I am going to go on the diet and try to loose some weight. No way! I am just trying to eat well for my skin, I want my eyes to be sparkling and my mind to be calm and focused therefore I need some time just for myself, not for searching new recipes, spending time cooking and photographing. I hope you will understand and wish me luck. I will be back with new ideas and new energy - I love challenges and getting new experience so I am sure no matter what the result will be I will get more positive energy. 

And now please enjoy one of my favourite summer dinners. Peas with mint, asparagus, pancetta and poached egg.

Serves 2

about 500g garden peas (fresh or frozen, if frozen defrost it in the colander)
10 green asparagus spears, wooden parts removed, each spear halved 

10-12 thin pancetta rashers

1 tbsp olive oil  

2 eggs

salt

freshly ground black pepper 

handful of fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped

Fry the pancetta rashers in dry pan and set aside. Using the same pan fry the asparagus in the olive oil for about 4 minutes then add the peas and fry for about 2-3 minutes until just warm but still bright green and firm. Next add fresh mint, mix well and divide between two warm plates.

In the meantime crack the eggs into two small separate bowls, boil some water in a small pan and add some salt. Remove from the heat, add the eggs and place back on the heat. Boil for about 90 seconds. Drain the egg gently, using a slotted spoon.

Arrange fried pancetta on the plates with vegetables and top with the poached eggs. Serve immediately.

Homemade mayonnaises. Two. Well.. Four.

 

Shop bought mayonnaise has been getting worst for quite some time. It made me wonder why I don't make my own more often. It is easy to make and the only problem with it is that it has to be consumed within 5-7 days. I suppose it can be a down side of making my own every time I fancy some mayo, but on the other hand I don't buy ready cakes made with dried eggs so why should I compromise on the mayonnaise?

The secret of good mayonnaise are fresh eggs and using ingredients in a room temperature. You have to be also careful with adding the oil - just a drop by drop at the beginning and then little bit more, but still steady!

I remember when I was making my first mayonnaise using a hand balloon whisker. It was this moment when Mike Robinson, BBC chef walked into the kitchen. He was around shooting some program about game in British cuisine and came for a lunch to the pub and restaurant that I use to work in. He liked it so much, that he decided to come back for a dinner the same night. And here he was - standing in a front of my while I was mixing my first mayonnaise. He came to say hello to those who were cooking for him that night. I often wonder if I would die of a heart attack if it was one of Roux brothers (or their sons) walking into that kitchen. They are without a shadow of a doubt the masters of eggs. 

The basic recipe I am going to show you today come from "Eggs" by Roux and what I found very interesting there was also a recipe for a mayonnaise using whites instead of yolks. It is lower in fat but this is not what convinced me to make this version of mayonnaise but the fact that I wasn't leaving any white behind while making classic one. No leftovers - how nice, I thought and I made both. The one made with whites was not as stiff as the classic one, I would say it was fluffier. What a great base to make some flavoured variation! Here they are: two plain and my two flavoured mayonnaises.

 

Classic mayonnaise 

about 300ml 

2 egg yolks

1 tbsp of Dijon mustard

250ml sunflower oil (or other neutral such as grape seed oil)

2 tbsp white wine vinegar or lemon juice (or less/more up to your taste)

salt

freshly ground black pepper

Place egg yolks in a large bowl and add the mustard and some salt and pepper. Using electric hand or stand mixer or just a balloon whisk mix the yolks with the mustard until well mixed. Next add a drop of oil and mix all the time. Add next drop of oil only when the previous one is incorporated into the eggs. Whenthe mixture starts to thicken you may add little bit more oil at time, mixing all the time. When all oil in mixed into the eggs beat vigorously for about 30 seconds until the mayonnaise is shiny. Next add the lemon juice or vinegar and adjust the seasoning.

Refrigerate in a sealed jar and consume within 5-7 days.

Mayonnaise made with whites

about 300ml 

2 egg whites

1 tbsp of Dijon mustard

250ml sunflower oil (or other neutral such as grape seed oil)

2 tbsp white wine vinegar or lemon juice (or less/more up to your taste)

salt

freshly ground black pepper

Place egg whites in a large bowl and add the mustard and some salt and pepper. Using electric hand or stand mixer or just a balloon whisk mix the whites with the mustard until well mixed and starts to thicken little bit. Next add a drop of oil and mix all the time. Add next drop of oil only when the previous one is incorporated into the eggs. When the mixture starts to thicken you may add little bit more oil at time, mixing all the time. When all oil in mixed into the whites beat vigorously for about 30 seconds until the mayonnaise is shiny. Next add the lemon juice or vinegar and adjust the seasoning.

Refrigerate in a sealed jar and consume within 5-7 days.

 

Tarragon mayonnaise

about 150ml

half of the classic mayonnaise made with the recipe above

1 tbsp fresh tarragon, finely chopped

Mix the tarragon into the mayonnaise and store in a fridge in a jar.

Light mayonnaise with capers and dill

about 150ml

half of the mayonnaise made with whites (recipe above)

1 tsp salted capers, rinsed

2 tbsp fresh dill, finely chopped

Mix all the above and store in a fridge in a jar.

Both versions will go very well with eggs, meat and fish dishes. The one made with whites is almost like a light cold sauce. 

While I am writing about the eggs. I buy eggs marked 0 or 1 only. Have a look at the photograph below showing you what quality of life had hens. Let them enjoy life while we enjoy their eggs.

Beet pickled stuffed eggs (and how to boil hard boiled egg)

 

I am a huge fan of eggs and egg based meals. What I do not like and run away screaming when I see it is this disgusting grey ring around the yolk. “Can you cook hard boiled eggs?” seems like a silly question to ask yourself, even worst to ask somebody else.  However I found out that you can boil hard boiled egg for too long or too rapidly and it turns out not nice at all. I read Roux brothers and you have to admit the eggs have no secrets for them; I also read some blogs and realised that there are probably two best ways to cook hard boiled egg. 

First. Suitable for those cooking on the hobs. 

Put the eggs in a pan and cover with cold water. Add some salt and place on the hob. Bring to the boil and then immediately turn the heat off. Leave on the hob for 10 minutes. As soon 10 minutes go off, place the eggs under cold running water, cover with cold water and let them cool down. 

Second way. 

Place the egg into boiling, salted water and when it starts to boil again, set the timer for 6 minutes. Again, after this time, remove from a hot water, cool down in cold water. 

I prefer first way (longer, but less energy is used). 

So when you have your perfect hard boiled egg you can dress it pink. I love this colour, and idea of pickling eggs seems to be quite popular in UK and USA, however this beet pickled eggs are so much prettier! And they taste nicer. You can obviously make your own brine by cooking some fresh beets in vinegar with spices and sugar, or alternatively you can take a shortcut and use ready brine from shop – bough pickled beets. 

I took shortcut. These eggs are fantastic! They would look gorgeous on Easter table and should be very good as a finger food.

3 hard boiled eggs, peeled  

about 2  cups of brine from pickled beetroots

about 1/3 cup of red wine vinegar

about ¼ cup of soft brown sugar

tsp of whole black peppercorns

Mix the brine, vinegar, sugar and peppercorn in a large jar. Lower the eggs into it, seal and keep in the fridge. The longer you will keep them the more intense the colours and pickled flavour will be. You can keep them up to 3 days, I kept mine 14 hours. 

Carefully remove the eggs from a brine and set on a paper kitchen towel. Then cut them in half and scoop out the yolks.

Prepare the filling.

yolks from pickled eggs

1 tbsp of mayonnaise

½ tsp English mustard

1 tsp white wine vinegar

1 tbsp olive oil (I used EV)

2 pinches of chilli powder

1 pinch of turmeric

salt

freshly ground black pepper

Mix all the above and working with a fork mash them very finely, until smooth. Place in a piping bag and fill the pickled egg halves.

Sprinkle with some chives before serving.

Chorizo & peas tortilla

Spain vs. Italy or tortilla vs. frittata. I used to wonder what the difference between those two is. I think I have figured that out – tortilla is always made with potatoes, and frittata can contain various ingredients and/or potatoes. Also tortilla seems to be thicker than frittata and made using olive oil, whether the frittata can be made with butter. I am pretty sure that some well skilled chefs would point out much more differences however there is one thing common for those two: that contain eggs and are kind of omelets. I love them both, because they are easy and quick to make, nice hot or cold, so are suitable for the picnics and you can use any leftovers to make them. 

Serves 2-4

4 eggs, lightly beaten

6-8 new potatoes, cooked in skins, peeled and sliced, or any leftover potatoes, sliced or diced

red onion, peeled and sliced

few slices of chorizo sausage

about 200ml of fresh peas, or frozen one, slowly defrosted

3 tbsp olive oil

salt

freshly ground black pepper

some rocket to garnish (optionally)

Heat the oven to 200C (fan)

Use the frying pan that you can place in the hot oven (no plastic elements, I used 25cm) and heat on the hob. Add olive oil and onion and fry until onion is softened. Next add one layer of potatoes, place the chorizo onto the potatoes, then sprinkle with peas and cover with the remaining potatoes.

Season the eggs with salt and pepper and pour over the potatoes. Fry for about 3 minutes and place in the hot oven. Bake until the top is golden and firm. Remove from the oven, cover with chopping board and turn upside down. The tortilla should easily come out of the pan.

Divide into portions, serve hot or cold garnished with some fresh herbs or rocket. It goes well with some light salad on the side.

Warm salad of asparagus, bacon, duck egg & hazelnuts

I know what risk and living on the edge is - I ate duck eggs (should I add juicy: bitch!). Obviously I am kidding, but I have to say after I read all those stories on the internet about poisoning with duck eggs, people dying etc I had a second thought on a recipe that I have found in "Good Food", May issue. I wondered if I should swap duck eggs for hens or quail eggs, I wasn't even sure if I will be able to buy duck eggs locally. I was very tempted because I did not have duck eggs before.

I saw fresh, local, free range duck eggs in local posh delicatessen and I decided to go for it. I have changed the original recipe slightly and I waited about three weeks to publish this post to make sure nothing happened to me. What I imagined after reading all those nasty information about duck eggs was at least diarrhea but I also had a picture of my family and friends mourning at my coffin. So lets be clear: I am alive, and I found duck eggs very, very tasty. As much as this combination of flavours.


Serves 2

2 duck eggs
12-16 green asparagus spears, wooden bottoms removed
4-6 rashers of smoked streaky bacon
handful of hazelnuts
little olive oil
salt
freshly ground black pepper

For the dressing:

4 tbsp mild olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp Dijon mustard
salt
freshly ground black pepper



Heat the oven to 180 C.

Cut the bacon into bite size pieces and place onto baking sheet.

On another sheet place asparagus, drizzle with little olive oil, season with salt and pepper and place in the oven, together with bacon. Roast until bacon is crispy and asparagus al - dente (about 15 minutes), preferably turning half way.

In the meantime dry roast hazelnuts in a frying pan, until crispy, place in the mortar and crush slightly.

Prepare dressing by mixing all of the ingredients until smooth.

Boil the duck eggs - hard boiled need some more time than hens eggs as they are slightly bigger, about 8-10 minutes. You can cook them little bit shorter for some soft centre. Remove from a pan, leave under cold running water, dry, peel and cut in half.

Arrange asparagus and eggs on the plate, add bacon crisps, hazelnuts and drizzle with dressing. Serve immediately.

Kaiserschmarrn - Emperor's omlette

Makes 2

5 eggs
5 level tbsp plain flour
2 tsp sugar
2 big handfuls sultanas
dark rum – enough to cover the sultanas
4 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp icing sugar
pinch of salt

Soak the sultanas in the rum overnight.

Using a hand mixer beat the whites until not too stiff. In a separate bowl beat the egg yolks with sugar until pale, add flour and mix well. Add the sultanas together with rum (if there is any remaining) to the egg yolks and mix gently.

Next gently fold the egg whites into a mixture and make sure you not overwork it, because it should be light and fluffy.

Melt the butter in a pan then pour the egg mixture into the pan and fry it like an omelette over a low heat. After few minutes check with a spatula if the bottom is golden; if so, turn it upside down and fry on the other side for another minute.

Using a spatula tear the omelette into a pieces and fry until any remaining raw egg is gone.

Serve on the plate sprinkled with some icing sugar.

It also tastes good with fresh seasonal fruits or any fruit preserve.

Asparagus in puff pastry & poached egg yolk

Serves 2

bundle of asparagus (allow 5-6 per person)
10-12 strips of puff pastry, about 1 cm wide
2 fresh egg yolks
tbsp grated parmesan (optional)
sea salt

Preheat the oven to 200 C and meanwhile prepare the asparagus, by removing wooden ends. Pre-boil trimmed asparagus in a pan with salted water for about 2 minutes. Remove from the pan, rinse for about minute under a cold water and let it dry. Keep the water hot all the time.

Sprinkle each puff pastry strip with parmesan if using and wrap each asparagus in pastry. You can also brush the pastry with egg white and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake in the oven until crispy and golden.

I like to dip them in a runny egg yolk, so I separate egg yolks from the whites and place each yolk in the small bowls. Gently pour them into boiling water (the same that you used for boiling the asparagus) and poach for about 30 seconds. Drain with slotted spoon and serve immediately.

Grilled ciabatta with peas & poached egg

Serves 1

6-8 tbsp garden peas (fresh or frozen)
1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme
1 tbsp chopped fresh mint, plus extra leaves to garnish
juice of half lemon
2 tbsp olive oil
salt
freshly ground black pepper
half of small, stale ciabatta bread or large slice of other, good quality bread
fresh egg
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
garlic clove (optional)
pecorino cheese (optional)

Defrost peas if using frozen one. Heat one tbsp of olive oil in a pan, add peas, thyme and mint and cook until just warmed through. Season with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Mash it roughly with potato masher.

Rub the remaining olive oil over the bread, place under a hot grill or on hot cast iron grill pan for a couple of minutes, until just lightly crisp.

Crack the egg into a small bowl. Boil some water in a pan, add white wine vinegar and then gently add cracked egg into a pan of simmering water and cook until the egg white has mostly solidified, but the yolk remains soft. It takes about 2 minutes. Drain the egg with a slotted spoon and place on a paper kitchen towel, to remove any excess of water.

You can rub some garlic over the grilled bread. Next place warm peas onto grilled bread, and top with poached egg. Finish with some freshly ground black pepper, salt, fresh mint and you can also sprinkle with some finely grated pecorino cheese.

Sour oats soup

This is so Polish! It is rustic, it is traditional and making your own sour starter is actually a fun. Traditionally I make rye sour starter, but I have tried this one and I feel like this is more delicate, the flavour is not too strong. Perhaps it is better for somebody who wants to start an adventure with Polish cusine.

For sour starter

6-7 tbsp oats
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and slightly crushed
bay leaf
2-3 whole allspice
2-3 whole black peppercorns
approx. 800ml warm water
clean jar or bottle

Put oats in a food processor or mini chopper and process until you have a coarse flour. You can use a pestle and mortar if you do not have a food processor.

Mix oat flour with water, until smooth - make sure you do not have any lumps. Add garlic, bay leaf, allspice, pepper and mix well. Pour into a jar or bottle, cover with clean cloth and place in warm place. The best temperature for fermentation process is around 22 C.

Make sure you shake or stir you starter every day. Fermantation should take around 5 days. Starter is ready when it smells sour, bit yeasty, perhaps little bit like sour apple.

There are two ways of using sour starter. Some people, i.e. me use the whole lot together with flour - the soup is more thick and floury. Some use the sour water only, making sure, that all flour remains on the bottom of the jar. To do it, do not shake the starter for last 12 hours - all flour should be on the bottom of the jar by the time you have to use the starter.


Sour oats soup (vegetarian, vegan and sausage version)

makes 6

whole sour starter
handfull of dried porcini mushrooms
piece of good quality Polish sausage (such as śląska) - skip for veggie version
3-4 potatoes, peleed and cubed
onion, peleed and diced
1 tbsp sunflower oil
800ml vegetable stock
2 tbsp marjoram (optional)
salt
freshly ground black pepper

In a big pan boil whole sausage and porcini mushrooms in the stock. For veggie version skip the sausage. After about 15 minutes remove the sausage and add potatoes. Simmer until soft. Make sure the potatoes are properly cooked before adding the sour sarter, bacause potatoes will not cook in the sour environment.

Meanwhile slice the sausage and fry the onion in sunflower oil until soft and lightly browned. Add the sour starter to the pan. For a thick soup add the whole lot, if you prefer more watery soups add just the sour water form a starter.

Stir, add sausage, marjoram, and season with salt and pepper. Let it simmer for few more minutes.

You can serve vegetarian version with quartered hard boiled egg, but you can also add the egg to sausage version. For vegan soup skip the egg and the sausage. You can also add some horseradish to the bowl when serving this soup.

Poached eggs on onion tartlets

From "Eggs" by Michael Roux.

Serves 4

2 large onions, about 500g, peeled and sliced
100g butter
150ml double cream
350g ready-made rolled puff pastry (you can make your own if you wish, see Roux's "Pastry", if you have a block of pastry you have to roll it to about 3mm thickness)
4 small eggs
few thyme leaves and 4 sprigs to garnish
salt
freshly ground black pepper


Melt the butter in a heavy pan over low heat. Add the onions and cook gently for 30 minutes, stirring every few minutes. Pour in the cream and let simmer for few minutes. Season with salt and pepper, add the thyme leaves, and set aside to cool down little bit.

Cut 4 puff pastry disks and place them on a baking sheet. Prick each pastry disk few times with a fork. Spread the onions evenly on top of the disks, then bake in preheated oven (170 C) for 25 to 30 minutes until gloden and crisp.

Serve with poached egg* and thyme spring.

* To poach an egg, boil the water in the pan, about 10-20 cm deep together with a tablespoon of white wine vinegar. Break the egg into a small bowl, ramekin or coffee cup and slip the egg gently into the pan when the water is bubbling. Poach for 2 minutes and drain using a slotted spoon. Dry on the paper kitchen towel and serve immidiately. It is better to poach eggs that are very fresh - try use those, that have not exceeded 14 days before use by date.