Puff Pastry With Chicken

Well this recipe was born out of my curiosity and a need of trying something new with puff pastry that... may not appear to be edible ;) Surprisingly, it appeared to be very tasty :) What is it? My mum said it looks like a chicken mummy ;) Seriously speaking, this is stiffed with vegs and spicy chicken crunchy puff pastry :) worth trying!

Ingredients:

• Puff pastry*
• 500g of chicken breasts
• 500g of mushrooms
• 1 onion
• 1,5-2 peppers (not necessary red one)
• mascarpone/philadelphia (cream) cheese
• a couple of cheese slices (2-3 per one)
• spices: salt, pepper, cayenne, oregano, basil
• 1 egg, beaten

Optional ingredients:

• green/black olives
• tomatoes (preferably dried)
• zucchini
• courgette
• carrot
• instead of an onion - a leek

* depending on a number of people eating there might be 2 packagings of puff pastry needed

Preparation:

1. Wash, peel (if necessary) and chop all the vegetables into cubes (zucchini, courgette and carrot might be cut into slices, though it doesn't matter that much).
2. Wash and cut chicken breasts into thin slices, season both sides with all the spices.
3. Take a frying pan, grease, put mushrooms and onion/leek, zucchini, courgette and carrot on it. Start frying, till bright gold (3-5 minutes). Turn off the heat, put aside till it cools down.
4. Prepare puff pastry, as the picture shows. (These pieces can be shorter, then, instead of 2-3 big ones, it is possible to get 4-6 smaller ones). It is good to leave the puff pastry on its paper (it's easier to move it later on the baking tray).
5. Start preheating the oven to 180C.
6. Add peppers to the frying pan and other additionals if desired.
7. Take the first piece of puff pastry. Distribute cream cheese on the bottom, put cheese on it, add chicken and 'sprinkle' with all the vegs. Cover with another pieces of cheese. Do up, like shoelaces. Repeat with all the pieces of puff pastry.
8. Take the beaten egg, put some on every top of prepared puff pastry chicken. 
9. Put in the oven for 25-30 minutes. If the top starts burning, cover the top with foil.
10. Bon Appetit!

Barley Soup (Krupnik)

Well-known Polish soup, boiled on vegetable/chicken stock with barley :) So easy, standard, tasty and filling, great for children :) 

Recipe from my Mum :)

Ingredients:

• 3 litres of water
• 500g of chicken breasts
• 3-4 big carrots
• 5 potatoes
• 1-2 parsleys
• 1/2 or 1/4 of a celery
• 1/2 onion or 1 green part of a leek
• 3-4 bay leaves
• 3-4 allspice pieces
• 150-200g of barley
• 4 tablespoons of ghee
• 1-3 teaspoons of black, ground pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• vegeta
• chopped parsley(green part, leaves) or dill (optional, though worth adding)

Preparation:

1. Take a big pot. Put water inside.
2. Wash chicken breasts, cut into cubes, add to the pot, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Start boiling (around 10-15 minutes on an average heat).
3. Using a spoon take out the 'foam' from the top of the soup and throw it away.
4. Wash all the vegetables. Peel and throw away the skins.
5. Cut carrots, parsley and onion/leek into slices, potatoes and celery into cubes.
6. When the water in the pot boils, add onion/leek to the pot, chopped celery and parsley. Boil for 15 minutes on an average or low heat.
7. Add carrots and potatoes and continue boiling.
8. Add 3-4 tablespoons of ghee, bay leaves, allspice and barley. Stir and keep boiling. Stir all the time for 5 minutes so that the barley doesn't burn.
9. Boil for 30 minutes and - if needed - season with vegeta and pepper.
10. Add chopped parsley or dill. It is also possible to sprinkle a particular plate with parsley or dill, it's not necessary to add it to the entire pot with the soup.
11. Bon Appetit! :)

Spicy pasta with chicken

This is my old idea of making a delicious dinner out of simple ingredients! And, what is more important, with that dish, everyone will find something suitable for themselves, for example: 

For children - there is pasta, which, if they are faddy - might be served only with chicken or with butter+sugar. 

For vegetarians: just take away the chicken.

For those on a diet - no mushroom sauce and no cheese.

Perfect!

The recipe is mostly mine, I took the recipe for the sauce from this website.

Ingredients:

• 500g of chicken breasts, chopped
• 1 packaging of wholemeal Fusilli pasta
• 100-200 g of cheese, grated (or some slices to put on the top)
• 1 onion, chopped
• pepper, salt, cayenne pepper (be careful with cayenne, it is spicy)
• parsley - leaves, to sprinkle the top

Mushroom sauce:

• around 1/2 kg of mushrooms (penny buns)
• 1 small onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 50 g of butter
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 125 ml of 30-36% cream 
• pepper, salt
• 2-3 tablespoons of fresh, chopped parsley

Optional sauce ingredients:

• 5 tablespoons of beer or white wine

Preparation:

Pasta:

1. Take a bigger, clean pot, pour water and a pinch of salt inside. Put on a stove, boil on a middle heat. When it reaches 100C, add pasta, stir, change the heat into low. Boil  for 7-12 minutes. Stir from time to time*.
2. When it's done, put the pasta on a colander and pour cold water on the pasta.**

*It is important, because pasta tends to stick to the bottom of the pot and burn as well as it tends to boil over.

** This is a good way to avoid sticky pasta.

Meat:

1. Chop into pieces, season with salt and pepper and cayenne.
2. Take a very big frying pan, grease it a little bit with oil. Turn the heat on.
3. Put the chopped chicken on the frying pan and fry for 10-15 minutes.

Mushroom sauce:

1. Clean the penny buns very precisely using a knife or a brush. If necessary - clean them quickly under cold water. Dry on a paper towel. Chop.
2. Chop the onion and garlic.
3. Take a frying pan, put 30g of butter and 1 tablespoon of oil on it. Add chopped onion and fry for 5 minutes on a middle heat. Add garlic and fry for another 1-2 minutes on a low heat. It needs to be gold, not burnt.
4. Add optional ingredients. Boil till water evaporates and a thick substance appears.
5. Add the rest of the buter and the oil. When it starts frying, add penny buns and fry on a high heat for around 6 minutes, stiring from time to time. 
6. Take the cream, add 2-3 tablespoons of sauce from the frying pan, stir. Pour everything on the frying pan and boil on midle heat. Season with salt (1-2 pinch(es)). Stir. Boil for around 2 minutes so that the sauce has a chance to get thicker. At the end, add parsley and season with pepper. Stir, turn the heat off.

1. Take the sauce and pour it on the frying pan with meat. Add pasta, boil for few minutes, stiring. Turn the heat off.
2. Bon Appetit! :)

Meatballs with rice

Might be considered as a dietary meal. Healthy, tasty, without oil. Of course it is possible to fry those meatballs instead of boiling. I do recommend!

Ingredients:

• 500g of turkey/pork mince
• 1-2 handfuls of chopped parsley or dill
• 1 chopped onion
• 1 bigger grated carrot
• 1 small chopped leek
• 1 egg
• 1/3-1/2 glass of breadcrumbs
• spices: basil, oregano, black pepper, salt, cayenne pepper, poultry/pork spice mix
• oil

Optional ingredients:

• rice
• potatoes
• vegs - broccoli, carrot, parsley, beans, sweetcorn
• light/dark meat sauce

Preparation:

1. Take a big bowl, put all the ingredients inside, mix.
2. Sprinkle with  all the spices, mix.
3. Take 2 pots, put some water on them, boil till it reaches 100C
4. Put the rice to the first pot with boiling water. Sprinkle it with salt.
5. Form small balls out of meat, put inside the second pot with boiling water and boil for around 15 minutes* on a middle heat.
6. Bon Appetit!

* It might take a little bit more or less time, depending on meat, stove, etc. Check if the meat is ready just by cutting it into 2 halves.

Courgette pancake

That's an easy, healthy and delicious meal. Good idea for dinner, lunch or supper. Tzatziki matches it very much. Recipe taken from my uncle, greetings and thanks for him!

Ingredients (for around 15 pancakes):

• 1 courgette
• 1/2 of marrow
• spices: salt, pepper, chilli, cayenne pepper
• 1 egg
• 1-1,5 glasses of milk
• 2-2,5 glasses of flour

Optional ingredients:

• onion

Preparation:

1. Wash the courgette and the marrow. 
2. Peel (optional).
3. Grate both vegs on a grater, put in a big bowl. 
4. Sprinkle with salt. Leave for a few minutes so that water comes out.
5. Pour the water away by squeezing vegs or using a sieve. It has to be done precisely.
6. Sprinkle the vegs with spices.
7. Add chopped onion (optional)
8. Add milk, stir. Add flour - one glass after another, stiring all the time. The consistency of the dough needs to be very thick.
9. Take a frying pan* grease it, start preheating. Put 1-3 tablespoons of the dough on the frying pan and distribute on the entire surface, so that the pancake is thin.
10. Fry for 2-3 minutes on a low heat (each side).
11. Other vegs, Tzatziki, etc. matches that pancakes, so feel free to take your favourite ones.
12. Bon Appetit! :)

* I've got a frying pan that doesn't require any greasing before frying. It does have its price, but believe me, it is a real miracle. Nothing burns, your meal will be fried in a colour you let it be, not burnt brown. I do recommend it. If you are willing to buy it - one, middle size, will be enough and you'll probably stop using the rest of your frying pans :).

Hungarian Sausages

The air smells of holidays, at last the barbecue season is officially open, because the weather is so pleasant and warm during late afternoons and evening. But after many BBQs there are always some leftovers and there is a doubt - what to do with them? Well, if you don't enjoy reheating them, this is a mouth-watering solution.

Obviously, this is not only an idea for BBQ's leftovers. ;)

Recipe comes from my friend's mum. Enormous thanks for her for the recipe!

Ingredients:

• 2-3 tablespoons of oil
• 1/2-1 chopped onion
• 2 cloves of garlic cut info slices
• sausages cut into slices
• tomato puree
• (sweet&)spicy sauce
• ketchup
• 1 pepper - cut into stripes or small parts

Optional ingredients:

• courgette - cut into slices
• sweetcorn
• red (kidney) beans
• tomato wedges

Preparation:

1. Put the oil on the frying pan. Put garlic, onion and sausages, fry (on an average heat) till their colour get light gold. Turn the heat off.
2. Take a tumbler. Put 5 tablespoons of tomato puree inside. Add 2 tablespoons of water. Stir. Pour it on the frying pan. 
3. Starting from 3 tablespoons of each - add the sauce and ketchup. Stir. Turn on the heat, on the lowest power.
4. Add optional ingredients and the pepper. Stir.
5. Taste it and decide which flavour of the 3 ingredients (tomato puree, ketchup, sauce) you want to predominate. Of course it might be one of them, two or all of them. Add one tablespoon after another, trying it by taking a clean spoon every time you try it. While adding more tomato puree - it is essential to stir it with some water first.
6. This meal might be eaten on its own or, for instance, with bread.
7. Bon Appetit!

The old formula for a young cabbage

An old recipe, coming from my Grandmother, for a very delicius addition on your dinner plate. Worth trying :)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cabbage
• 1 bunch of dill
• 1 smaller onion
• 2 litres of salted water
• pepper
• salt
• 2-3 teaspoons of vinegar
• 2 tablespoons of flour
• water

Preparation:

1. Chop lettuce, put in a big pot with salted water. Put it on the heat and start boiling. (It will take something around 30 minutes, till it gets soft. Do not overboil it.)
2. Chop the dill, into small parts (try to seperate stems and throw them away, so that you get only the soft part)
3. Chop the onion.
4. Put the onion on a plate/in a bowl, sprinkle it with pepper and salt and vinegar. Stir.
5. If it is the right time, drain the cabbage.
6. Add dill and onion from the plate to the cabbage. Stir. 
7. Take a glass with water, put the flour inside and stir till smooth (there can't be any lumps)
8. Put the cabbage-mix on the heat and add the glass with water-flour, stir all the time till it links and starts boiling. 
9. Boil for 3-5 minutes. 
10. Try it - if you wish - add more salt or pepper.
11. Bon Appetit!

Scrambled Eggs with Tofu

 

A perfect idea for a breakfast for those who don't have much in their fridge or who bought tofu and don't know what to do with that or for example, for those, who have stale bread ;)
Recipe, partially from http://www.kwestiasmaku.com/dania_dla_dwojga/sniadania/jajecznica_z_tofu/przepis.html

Ingredients:

• Tofu
• Oil/butter
• Eggs
• Pepper
• Salt
• Bread

Optional ingredients:

• red/yellow/green chopped pepper
• 1/2 chopped onion
• chopped chive

Preparation:

1. If you didn't open your tofu yet - open it, dry on a paper towel. Chop into smaller or bigger pieces - as you wish. Sprinkle pepper and salt on them.
2. Take a frying pan, put some oil or butter on it, heat.
3. Put the tofu on pre-heated frying pan (be careful it will splash a little).
4. Fry for 1-2 minutes (they get softer, but the longer you fry, the harder they become)
5. Add optional ingredients if you want to.
6. Move to one side of the frying pan, add eggs, add some pepper and stir (exactly like preparing basic scrambled eggs.). You can also add other condiments that you like.
7. Put the slices of your bread in a toaster, and prepare some toast. You can put some butter on them.
8. Bon Appetit :)