All posts by Ola

I love eating. Even more than I love cooking. My Mum got this thing into me, being a working woman with two kids and still managing to put a two course dinner on the table for us every day. My meals are a lot simpler, I cook for two, with Florian being my most devoted fan and audience. There is nothing more rewarding than a nicely turned out meal. There is nothing more enjoyable that a great plate of food in a decent restaurant with a glass of great red in a nice company. Hence this blog, to share ideas and joy of good food. Bon Appetit.
Good Food, Uncategorized

Spaghetti al pomodoro.

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55.3 kg, this is my current body weight, in spite of treating the diet rather as a guidance rather than following actual recipes. One thing works for sure- eating a lot less that I used to. I’ve been doing that, but still have not opened my packet of wholewheat pasta or brown rice. Normal pasta, but less, white rice, not the messy brown one.

Dinner suggestion for this evening was wholewheat pasta with tomato sauce. Great, I have no problem at all with a good tomato sauce provided it is actually A GOOD tomato sauce. I’ve been to Polish deli this morning, popped next door to the oriental store to get some gyoza wrappers( making those next week!!), some mooli and I’ve also bought a nice vine of big, red, good looking tomatoes. Started my sauce this evening by slowly frying a finely chopped shallot on olive oil, after about 2 minutes I added 2 minced garlic cloves and a small tsp of chili flakes. Onto that 3 of those big tomatoes, skinned and roughly chopped, plus a few cherry ones. A small carton of Italian passata, for the colour and texture. A small knob of butter. Diet or not, butter makes everything taste better. Seasoning. The sauce reduced slowly for about 40 minutes, finished with a handful of chopped basil. Served with spaghetti and freshly grated parmesan. Simple and satisfying. Pretty sure I had more than 70 g of pasta!

In 64 days we will be back in food heaven, in Tuscany, all is booked. We’re going back to Castelnuovo di Garfagnana, to the same villa we rented last summer. I’m pretty sure the tomatoes in Italy at the end of July will be like candy, I can’t wait to be making this again. There. With local produce.

Random Thoughts

I’m on diet.

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It’s official. Black clouds started gathering after I stepped on the scales at Mum’s and saw 57 kg. Nah, I thought, it’s wrong, plus I really am  eating all the time, when in Poland. Nothing to worry about.On return home however I stepped on our scales, slightly alarmed that the jeans I’ve bought in September, having worked on my waistline with Choda for 3 months… are getting tight. And there  was some lard hanging above  the belt. 🙁

I quickly came to the conclusion that I needed help of a dietician, as I have no will power whatsoever, I love eating, love baking and if I do nothing about the current state of affairs, I will soon see 60 kg on the scales and go up a size or 2 again. And have those big thighs I always dreaded. And a tyre around my waist, that’s already back and far too visible when I do Izzie’s hair sitting in front of the mirror on the landing.

I looked up bebio.pl, back to Choda, this time not for exercise, but to one of her dieticians. I’ve spent 20 minutes filling up different requirements- my lifestyle, likes and dislikes in the food department, set up a goal at 52 kg within 2 months and paid the fee of 99 zlotych    ( 21 pounds).

On Monday morning I received an email with the first installment of a diet designed for me. I dreaded it, but at a first look it’s not that bad. It does contain things that I already detest, after 2 days- natural yoghurt ( yuk), which tastes like a punishment for all those yummy lunches I’ve been having. Bran- the texture of a cardboard, I will be chucking it out of my list, it’s simply not edible. I can just about tolerate some of it as a part of muesli, disguised among some nuts and dried fruit, but will never buy it on its own.  Lunch suggestions, like bran fritters “fried” on dry pan will not fly, they will be replaced with Ryvita and avocado, or something that will not make me want to cry!

I am now that person that weighs her bread in the morning before toasting it, checking how calorific avocado is, honey- how much damage do I do to my diet if I sweeten this shitty natural yoghurt with it. I snack on almonds and toasted walnuts, not ideal, but lots better than crisps and munchies ( only Izzie’s Pom Bears are left in the munchies cabinet, so I’m not tempted).

Also, with all the respect to Paulina, the dietician, I will be improving the cooking methods she suggests, food is still my passion, but after a few kgs are gone, I will need to keep an eye on myself, yo yo effect does indeed suck.

So, I started yesterday at 56,8 kg and a disgusting 85 cm around my waist ( HOW did I manage that??????). The training mat is out again, Choda will be back in the front room at least twice a week. Keeping fingers crossed.

Ps. Just added the photo of my rather sad dinner. There are grains on the bottom, topped with chargrilled vegetables, cup mushrooms and torn mozzarella. The veg were to be steamed with some oil, but I grilled them and then topped with a bit of antipasti peppers from the jar; the grains were dry and awful, at least some flavoured oil helped a bit.

Then I had a lick of Izzie’s hazelnut and chocolate ice cream. Yum. My only bit of sugar in 2 days. 🙂

Eaten out

Roka. A whiff of a big city. :-)

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Last December when Steve and Christina came over and we wined and dined, we had a plan to fly to Edinburgh and eat at The Kitchin, Tom Kitchin’s place that’s on my bucket list( the special appendix of the bucket list, the places to eat at before I die). Once we did the maths we sadly reached the conclusion that flying there, staying at a decent hotel and having a set menu in The Kitchin would be sickly expensive, so Steve suggested we stay at his  and Christin’s shabby old place in Surrey instead and eat somewhere in London, so many great places to choose from. So we decided on Roka, booked it 2 months ago and went last weekend.

I had sky high expectations.

We arrived a bit too early and had a drink downstairs in their Shochu lounge. A bit like a nightclub, Christina said, music far too loud to even attempt a conversation, great decor though. Once moved to our table upstairs we quickly opted for a set menu plus wagyu beef. First plate of yellowtail sashimi, super thin, with citrusy dressing and a hint of truffle oil stopped us talking, it was that good.

More sashimi followed with some delicious scallop tartar, then a deep fried sushi roll(!!!) stuffed with minced wagyu, fried in tempura and topped with caviar, served still warm. Divine. My favourite plate of the evening.

Their chargrilled scallops topped with a tiny bit of wasabi mayo I loved, shame we only got one scallop each, they were phenomenal.

There was also some gyoza, black cod, some lamb chops in Korean spicy sauce, then some chargrilled wagyu, which for me was a bit disappointing- I agree with Wagyu House, it can’t be served rare, the fat needs to have time to render down, here they didn’t give it a chance to do that.

The dessert was a massive plate of ice cream, sorbet, some chocolate fondant, poncy looking fruit and what not. Did not blow me away.

For the great company, that yellowtail, scallops and tempura roll it was definitely worth a visit.

Made in Poland

Łazanki

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At Mum’s, in Stronie. In her dramatically tiny kitchen, stuffed with things she refuses to get rid of.  So many of them that some need to be moved in order to get access to a cupboard. With stunning orchids in the big, very clean window.

From this kitchen we’ve been eating some stunning food. On my request this afternoon there were łazanki, a simple, cheap pasta dish, that I’d have no problem stuffing down all by myself, the whole bowl, if I were not concerned about the size of my butt. I am concerned, so I only had seconds. Regretfully.

Mum made fresh pasta, cooked some sauerkraut for 30-40 mins just in water, also some porcini mushrooms, for half that time.  On a bit of słonina (back fat) she fried some onions, then added that sauerkraut, chopped and mushrooms, seasoned simply with salt and pepper and tossed with pasta. I love it.  And will be making it soon, after a visit to Polish deli when we get back home.

Eaten out

Pasta Ripiena.

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When looking for a place in Bristol to dine for Florek’s birthday I came across this little place. Most people on tripadvisor gave it 5 stars, one even said – go and camp outside if you can’t get in, it’s that good! Initially I couldn’t get a table ( 3 weeks in advance), but I persevered and when called a week later checking for cancellations, I got lucky!

Tiny little place, Dinings kinda tiny. Rough on edges, on the same level with the small, open kitchen, we could see all the food prep, all of the action.

There was a sweet touch for Florek in terms of the menu-

We had focaccia to start, some prawns and arrancini to follow, then a plate of fantastic pasta for mains. Mine was stuffed with braised beef shin, had some smoked, thin cured meat lovingly wrapped around it.

It was super al dente, almost undercooked, but simple and fantastic.

The star of the evening for me was the pannacotta with pistachios and …olive oil. Phenomenal. So good I seriously considered a second one!

Miss Banks enjoyed some lemon and mint sorbet, really tart, but she finished it quite enthusiastically.

I can’t wait to go there again, when we fly from Bristol next time.

Good Food

Scottish wagyu burger.

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A few months ago in “Saturday Kitchen” Tom Kitchin was cooking a wagyu steak that did not come from Japan or Australia, it came from Scottish Highlands, where they know breed wagyu cattle.  Their website’s here :

https://www.wagyuhouse.co.uk/

I was initially put off by the prices, but having slept on it a few times I decided I’d love to order some burgers from them, as a birthday present for Florek.  I considered some steaks too, but at £15 per 100g of sirloin, ribeye or fillet, I only ordered the burgers.  They’ve arrived yesterday, 4 in a pack, 2 went to the freezer and 2 were devoured last night- with clear conscience, as on Florek’s actual birthday on Tuesday we’ll be dining in Pasta Ripiena in Bristol.

Easily the best burger I’ve ever cooked. Even while in the pan the smell was intense and promising great flavour. I tried to keep it simple, so that the burger was the star on the plate, so all we had on it was cheese, iceberg lettuce, some shallots and a slice of tomato. I held off any sauces, just toasted the brioche buns and made fresh fries from the oil.

Florek was very happy and agreed we’ll be ordering from Wagyu House again. 🙂

For the science

Pork cheeks.

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They seem like a trend  now, Masterchef contestants are cooking them,  Jason Atherton in Saturday Kitchen did too,  so it was time for me to make my way to the butcher’s and place the order.  I’m a big fan of ox cheeks, even managed to convince Florek to them, but my last night’s effort with pork cheeks was not a triumph, I must say.  They didn’t look the part  when I was preparing them, I’ve removed quite a lot of fat and sinew and them proceeded to braise them they way I would do ox cheeks, but for less than 2 hours, as the size was considerably smaller. While they were braising, I’ve made a side of roasted, grated beetroot and some dauphinoise and then when I tasted them shortly before serving- I quickly panfried 2 eggs for Florek, I knew he would not be enjoying pork cheeks. There were 2 or 3 pieces of beautifully tender meat that I ate and rather liked, but mostly I ended up with lots of fatty pork, the texture of which did not appeal to me at all. The sauce was lovely and rich and I saved it, but the pork went to the bin, sorry to say.

I’m glad I tried, for the science, but will not be running back to Toby’s for some more.

Baking

Blueberry macaroons.

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I bought some particularly delicious blueberries this morning in M&S. They taste a little like the wild blueberries available in Poland in late summer. I’ve baked a spontaneous batch of macaroons and they turned out perfect, not a single one cracked, stuck, had a boob, nothing, 3 trays of great macaroons. I filled them with a simple combination of whipped cream with blueberry puree, good splash of lemon juice really brought it together. Each macaroon has a blueberry in the middle, sitting in the nest of whipped cream. I’m really chuffed with these, so chuffed I sent a photo to Dorota from mojewypieki.com and I’m also giving 6 of them to the lovely people who deliver fresh farm eggs to us for the last couple of weeks. Brawo ja! 🙂

Good Food

Duck. From A to Stock.

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Ocado delivers my shopping on Tuesday mornings. I already had 2 duck legs on order, then watched Masterchef, where a dude cooked a duck breast, the look of which made me grab my laptop immediately and edit my order.  2 duck breasts cost £9, 2 legs £4.50. The whole duck, just under 1,5 kg was on offer at £6.70. I hesitated for a few minutes, as I’ve never taken apart a bird and I’d hate to make a mess of it. But there’s youtube.com, so I watched 2 videos of how to do that and ordered the bird.

I have to say that butchering the duck was not as difficult as I thought it would be and it made me feel like I’ve just learned a new skill, saved some money and ended up with both breasts, legs and extras as well. My mum often makes soups on turkey/chicken wings, so I saved mine and froze them for that purpose, then decided to use the carcass to make some duck stock. Another 2 minute video helped with that- never done my own stock before. I whacked the carcass in the hot oven for 25 minutes till browned.

When cooled a little,  it went in  the pot together with a shallot, some green celery, carrots, bay leaves, peppercorns, a few porcini mushrooms and cooked nice and slowly for over 3 hours.

Strained, it now cools in the fridge and will be used for sauces, especially to accompany duck legs.

I then went on to reward my good housekeeping by dining on a pan fried duck breast with fabulous daphinoise potatoes and green beans, washed down with a large glass of Argentinian malbec.  Yum.

Baking

Lime and mango drizzle.

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Shelina Permalloo’s recipe from Good Food mag.  Beautiful on the picture, even though I had no dried mango to pile up on top. I had 2 relatively ripe mangos on the windowsill and enough limes, so I baked it last night. Florek reckons it’s better the next day, I rather liked it warm after dinner last night too.

Easy. 150 g of caster sugar creamed with 150 g unsalted butter till fluffy and pale. Zest of 2 limes in.  3 whole eggs, one by one. 150 g of self raising flour. About 200 g of fresh mango, chopped in small pieces. All this into a baking tin and into a 180 degrees hot oven for about 45-50 minutes.  While it baked, a juice of 2 limes previously zested was made into a drizzling syrup, alongside 75 g of sugar, gently heated up until sugar dissolved. Right after the cake came out, I punctured it with a skewer all over and poured the syrup on top with a little help of a pastry brush.  Finally a touch of icing sugar.

I do like the limey flavour, but I was thinking a bit of custard, last night, while it was eaten slightly warm would make it a very lovely dessert. Will keep in mind for 2 loads of guests due to come over later this month.