Rhubarb, orange peel & ginger jam

Makes 6x 200ml jars

1.3kg rhubarb
750g sugar (granulated or preserving)
2 oranges
about 2.5cm piece of fresh ginger

Wash the rhubarb, dry and cut into about 1 inch pieces and place in the heavy bottom pan.

Peel the ginger, slice finely, cut into thin strips. Place in the pan together with the rhubarb.

Peel the oranges and cut the peel to thin strips, next place them in the pan. Squeeze the juice from both oranges into the pan, add the sugar and simmer over a low heat for about 60 minutes stirring gently. Most of the rhubarb pieces will disintegrate. This jam is quite runny.

Place hot jam into 6 x 200ml sterilised warmed jars, then place them upside down in an ovenproof dish and keep in the preheated oven (100C) for about 15 minutes.

Leave it to cool down in the open oven overnight and store in the dry, cool place.

It tastes good with homemade challah (chałka, plecionka in Polish), which I am going to show soon.

Beef & green vegetables stew (served with buckwheat)

Buckwheat

Buckwheat certainly deserves attention, because is very tasty and healthy. It is widely used in Poland, Russia and Ukraine. In my home it always is a great company for stews, either with meat or vegetarian ones.

I served this stew with buckwheat that I dry roasted before boiling. You do not have to roast it before boiling – I did it because in Poland the most popular is buckwheat which was already roasted. It has a nice brown colour and it taste better.

It is good to fry the buckwheat in little vegetable oil (lard or goose fat should be fine to) and add stock or water, bring to the boil and turn the heat down to a minimum level just to keep it warm until the liquid is absorbed. Allow 2 parts of liquid to one part of buckwheat.

I hope you like it, if not you can always serve this stew with any other wheat or potatoes.

Beef stew

Quite often I do not use any fat to fry the meat before adding to stew, but place beef into a boiling stock. It saves some calories and time. You can obviously fry the meet if you wish and then add the stock.

Serves 3-4

400g stewing beef
2 onions, peeled and roughly sliced
garlic clove, peeled and roughly sliced
handful of dried wild mushrooms (porcini)
3 cups of vegetable stock
1 cup of ale or stout (if you do not want to use alcohol at all use an extra cup of stock)
12 asparagus spears, wooden ends removed, each spear cut into half
cup of green beans (I used frozen cut beans)
half cup of peas (again I used frozen one)
tbsp corn flour (corn starch)
salt
freshly ground black pepper


In a big pan boil the stock and add meat, onions and garlic. Cover and boil for few minutes. Next add beer, porcini mushrooms, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for about 60 minutes or until the meat is tender.

For the last 10 minutes add bottom parts of asparagus, for last 5 minutes asparagus tops, peas and beans. Cover and simmer.

Meanwhile mix the corn starch with 3 tbsp of water and add to the pan, boil for further minute – it will thicken the sauce little bit.

Check if the frozen vegetables are cooked and serve.

Asparagus & cheese muffins

Inspired by "Dales Life" magazine, May-July issue.

Makes 12 muffins
(I have made 6 muffins and 4 mini bread loafs)

12 spears of asparagus, wooden ends removed, each spear cut into 3 pieces
400g self raising flour
200g mature Cheddar cheese, cut into small cubes (Gruyere or feta cheese should be fine too)
125g butter, melted
Small bunch of fresh chives, snipped into pieces
150ml milk
100ml plain yoghurt
1 tsp Dijon mustard (or English one)
2 eggs
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Blanch the asparagus in the boiling water for a minute, then drain and leave it under running cold water for a minute or two. Drain again and dry thoroughly.

In one bowl mix the flour, cheese cubes and asparagus, saving some tips for later.

In another mix the wet ingredients: butter, eggs, milk, yoghurt, chives, mustard with some salt and pepper.

Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ones and stir. Be careful not to over mix, stop when the all flour is gone – it means the mixture is combined.

Spoon the mixture evenly into a muffin form and push asparagus tip into a middle of each muffin.

Bake in the oven for about 25-30 minutes. Best eaten warm with some butter, but they also taste great cold, possibly with some smooth soup.

Torta/Tarta de Santiago (Light lemon & almond tart)

Makes 25cm round loose bottom tart dish (you can use round 25cm spring form)

250g ground almonds
180-200g caster sugar
4 eggs
zest of one lemon
pinch of salt
icing sugar to dust
little unsalted butter to brush the dish

Preheat the oven to 180 C.

Separate egg yolks from whites and using a hand mixer beat the whites with a pinch of salt – they should not be too stiff.

In a separate bowl beat the egg yolks together with a sugar and lemon zest until pale.

Gently add the whites to beaten yolks and mix them using a spatula. Try not to overwork this, because it should stay fluffy. You want as little air to be released from the whites as possible.

Next gently mix the ground almonds into the eggs and pour into a buttered dish. Bake for 25-30 minutes. If the top is getting darker, cover with a piece of tin foil.

Let it cool down for about 15 minutes and dust with some icing sugar.

This cake does not rise at all, so do not worry if it is little bit flat.

Asparagus & goats cheese pizza

And this is what I call "the only right pizza in May". Asparagus seson! Woo-hoo!

Makes 4 small pizzas



Dough

450g strong whole wheat flour (you can use a white one)
level tsp dried yeast
level tsp salt
half tsp sugar
2-3 tbsp olive oil
250-300ml lukewarm water

I use bread machine to make the dough. I have placed all the ingredients in the machine and used “pizza” program (“dough” in those without extra “pizza” program). If not using the bread machine place all the ingredients in a big bowl and make the dough using your hands. Next leave the dough in a bowl, covered in draft free, warm place until it doubles in size.


Sauce

4tbsp crème fraîche
2 garlic cloves
freshly ground black pepper
pinch of freshly ground nutmeg


Topping

12 asparagus spears, wooden ends removed
camembert style goats cheese (I used 100g of this one )
4 tbsp grated parmesan

Preheat the oven to 250C together with a pizza stone. If you do not have a pizza stone, use a baking tray. I always preheat the stone for at least 30 minutes before baking.

Place the dough onto a floured surface, punch it to release the air and divide into 4 balls. Shape each one into a flatbread like shape. Leave it to rest for a while.

Meanwhile boil the asparagus for about 3 minutes, drain and leave it under cold running water for few minutes. Drain and dry.

Mix the crème fraîche with finely chopped garlic, pepper and nutmeg and spread over each pizza base, then sprinkle with a half of the parmesan.

Place 3 asparagus spears on the top of each one together with sliced goat cheese and sprinkle with remaining parmesan.

Bake until base is crispy and cheese on the top is golden.

It tastes good cold too, so you can take it for picnic or to work for lunch next day.