Due to Florek’s weight , which is a touch too high these days I’m opting for smaller portions,  dramatically cut down the bread and sugar in our diet and I also bake once a week, not 3. Sacrifices have to be made.  Last night I’ve made ravioli with truffles, which were good, but to be sensational a light mushroom sauce should have been made. I’ve baked an Irish soda bread, which I will make again some time, as this one had a lot of potential, but was slightly underbaked.

Our supper this evening I liked so much that it deserves to be here. Butternut squash, sliced and roasted under olive oil, seasoned and sprinkled with chili flakes.  Served with parma ham, pesto, grated parmesan and fresh rocket. The recipe called for some soft mozarella too, I had none, but will do next time. This plate of simple goodness reminded me of a melon and parma we had in Lucca.  So simple, yet amazing.

We’re in Italy for a week, much needed break after a tough time in Poland. Wandering the cute streets of Lucca I came across a truffle heaven. A shop with truffles in every form. I spent 45 euros and left it very, very happy. Can’t wait to put some of this stuff to work! 🙂

Photo taken on the table on the terrace, this is the view we have every day.

Polish spelling, I’m not even sure where the name came from, but when I think about this hearty courgette stew, I think of my parents’ allotment and all the good stuff it produced over the years. Like courgettes, which Lisa shares with me this summer- produce from her garden.  They were fabulous just chargrilled as a side of the steaks, they make great courgette fritters, which Izzie and Bess devoured on Wednesday and today I thought- let’s go back down the memory lane. I had a decent idea what it should look and taste like, I thought about calling Mum, but she was on hospital run today, so I got cracking using my experience and all I remembered from years ago.

Some pork shoulder, cubed, seasoned and sprinkled with flour quickly browned, 2 chopped shallots, a big fat clove of garlic in. 2 small sweet peppers, a good pinch of chili flakes. Cherry tomatoes, some green beans. All stewing rather quickly, it’s essential that the pork is lovely and soft, tough meat would ruin the whole dish. Finally, towards the end, cubed courgette. It’s to be cooked, but keep its shape and have a bit of a crunch still. A little of coriander to finish with.

I served with freshly baked ciabatta( no, not totally fresh, Waitrose!). It soaked all the lovely juices up nicely. And also I decided next year I’ll be growing courgettes, there will be a greenhouse too, for the tomatoes and cucumbers. Exciting!

Giorgio Locatelli’s.  I’ve made 2 things by that very ragazzo Italiano today, I’ve baked his baci di dama, little cocoa biscuits which I’ve managed to overbake and will most likely chuck them by the end of the day. I mean my teeth are not amazing and attempting to enjoy those particular baci might result in injuries. 🙂

The puffs however are a completely different story. When I tasted the first one I thought- fabulous party food. Not cheap, with all that parmesan in it, but tasty and moreish. The original recipe calls for Grana Padano,  but I happened to have lots of parmesan, so that’s what I used.  First 200 g of potatoes, boiled and squeezed through the ricer, same amount of plain flour. 75 g of grated parmesan- a lot! 9g of fresh yeast, same amount of salt, but not together, as salt kills yeast. 300 ml of water. All this made quite a runny batter, which then gets spooned into the hot oil, I find 2 teaspoons useful in this operation, no need for fancy gadgets. They fry quite quickly, until golden, a final sprinkling of parmesan and onto the table, where some delicious parma ham awaited, a great salad and a bottle of Viognier.

Puffs are rather filling, which is not surprising, as they’re deep fried. I would imagine them as a real treat somewhere on a terrace with a good view, Tuscany maybe. That’s where we will be in 5 weeks. 🙂

I used to pick these in the woods of Poland when I was a teenager and never valued them as much as now.  I was thinking about it when we walked in Forest of Dean last weekend and I happened to find a few common mushrooms, remembering how we used to pick them with mum and dad. I would wish dad will be strong enough again to go mushroom picking, for now I ordered my pack of girolles from Ocado and made a pasta dish this evening, that surprised us both, Florek and me, with how good it was. First of all, girolles and lots of black pepper = taste buds go wild. I chopped them alongside 2 shallots and panfried them quickly, adding a generous handful of cooked and peeled broad beans,  some chicken stock and cooked it down a notch. Fusili in, I think next time maybe orecchiette, lots of parmesan and a drizzle of truffle oil.  A few rocket leaves.  I have to say the broad beans, as much as I love them as a snack- just cooked in a salty water- did not bring anything to the dish, apart from a bit of colour. I’m now thinking about a ravioli filling that would include these yellow beauties.  Yum.

One of Florek’s most beloved pasta dishes. Ask him what he wants to eat next week, while making Ocado shopping list, there is 90% chance he’ll say -carbonara.

I am, of course, aware of the controversies around making carbonara in Britain, using or not using cream ( I always have done), parmesan or pecorino? Garlic? Mushrooms, God forbid? This morning on telly Rick Stein was making his version, inspired by his stay in Sardinia. His plate of carbonara looked so beautiful, I convinced Florek that eating out last night was not what we’d do. We’d go to Whole Foods, get a chunk of smoked pancetta ( Michele told me later I need to try it with Guanciale, I certainly will have my eyes open when in Tuscany in October), a chunk of pecorino romano and we’d stay at home. We already had a bowl of fresh farm eggs and a good bottle of wine in the fridge.

So today I’ve made my carbonara without cream for the first time, I did, sadly, scramble the eggs- I feel it’s more difficult when a splash of cream is added. That pancetta, fried till crispy, was fantastic. It had the flavour of good pork, smoked and scrumptious. 2 cloves of garlic, crushed, cooked spaghetti in. Lots of fresh parsley. Grated pecorino ( unmistakable sheepy flavour, yum!), beaten eggs. We’ve finished the whole lot. When in Italy it will be a must to have a plate of carbonara prepared by some Italiano vero.  🙂

A brief strike of genius… 🙂 I defrosted that remaining pork pibil from last time and wrapped it up in all butter puff pastry,  added a bit of cheese inside and  served pork pibil empanadas with guacamole this evening. We ate the lot and enjoyed it a lot.  🙂

Much happier with it than with the scallops the other day.  I’ve made it and destroyed the whole lot, but I haven’t had the real thing as of yet, so can’t really say how authentic it was.

I used Hairy Bikers’ recipe for the sauce and only for the sauce, as they roasted the whole duck, I only pan fried the breast. Also, hasselback potatoes seemed like a nice idea to me, cooked in duck fat, they were a treat!

So the sauce; a shallot, thinly sliced, sauteed on duck fat, after a few minutes 2 tbsps of cointreau added and a good splash of white wine. Freshly squeezed orange juice, maybe half a glass. All this reduced a little.  Some orange bits to add texture to the sauce. 2 tsps of orange marmalade- that was a genius move, I loved the slight bitterness it brought in. And then finished with some cornflour to thicken it all up. Really nice. Duck breast made the usual way, all served with French beans, some broccoli and the mentioned hasselbacks. Eaten to the last bit. 🙂

Wow, my French! 🙂

I had some frozen scallops from Whole Foods, looked through GF website for some inspiration and found this, all the ingredients apart from fish stock were in the pantry, bottle of Chardonnay in the fridge, so I made it. Only for myself, as Florek is in America.  It is a nice dish, but I think I’d have enjoyed it more if it wasn’t for the current heatwave, I could feel the sweat on my back as I was munching through it.  Might try it again in autumn some time.

Goemon Ishikawa, former sushi chef in Dinings once gave me some scallop shells, so I could serve them properly today. It does make a difference, I must say.

So first, a good, buttery mash, seasoned well and spiked with a touch of nutmeg, delicious, waiting for its turn in a piping bag.  I sliced all my scallops horizontally and poached them for 2 minutes in a mixture of fish stock and chardonnay, equal quantities. Removed the scallops and reduced the stock/wine while pan frying a shallot and 2 chestnut mushrooms in some butter, a tbsp of flour added to make  a loose roux, then the stock. Finished with a splash of double cream and seasoned. I piped the mash around the scallop shells, arranged the sauce in the middle and put the scallop pieces in it( I later realized I was supposed to mix them in with the sauce and then spoon it out), some breadcrumbs on top and into the oven for about 12 minutes, 190 degrees.

Nice, creamy, rich dish. But it couldn’t even dream of topping the scallops that are served in Dinings.

Sunday, therefore fresh pasta.  Yesterday in Saturday Kitchen puttanesca was somebody’s food heaven, accompanied by fresh focaccia, so I looked it up. I looked at Nigella’s and read a nice little article comparing what Gennaro, Jamie and Angela Hartnett had to say on “whore’s pasta”.  We gave up on focaccia this evening, we decided we’re not hungry enough for both, but it might still get done mid week. While Florek The Husband was getting on with fresh spaghetti, I made the sauce. Simple, delicious, flavoursome and moreish. 4 anchovies chopped and fried on olive oil, 2 crushed garlic cloves in. Half a tsp of chili flakes in( could have taken more), a handful of chopped capers. Kalamata olives, pitted, chopped, about twice as much as the capers. And then tomatoes; I used half a can of Italian tomatoes, a tsp of tomato puree and about 15 cherry tomatoes, blanched and skinned- all blitzed together into a flavoursome passata. Nigella just recommends tinned tomatoes, I didn’t see why not use the lovely, sweet cherry tomatoes. It all reduced for a few minutes, lightly seasoned with salt and pepper, some basil and that’s it.  We loved it and would have pigged more if there was more.  Fab!