Month: August 2020

Pelmeni: Dumplings with Beef and Pork !

Patsuk opened his mouth, stared at the vareniki, and opened his mouth wider still. At that moment, a varenik jumped out of the bowl, splashed into the cream, flipped over and leapt straight up into his mouth. Patsuk opened his mouth again, and another varenik went through the same performance. The only trouble he took was to munch it up and swallow it.

Nikolai Gogol, Christmas Eve
Pelmeni

Dough ingredients (~70 Pelmeni = 4-6 portions):
– 3 cups (1 cup = 250ml) wheat flour
– 170ml warm water
– 1 tablespoon 9% vinegar
– 2 and 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
– 1/2 teaspoon salt

Filling ingredients (~70 Pelmeni = 4-6 portions):
– 250g minced beef
– 250g minced pork
– 1 teaspoon salt
– 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
– 1 onion or 1 bunch of chopped chives

Serving ingredients (for 2 portions):
– 200g sour cream
– 2 teaspoons butter
– 1/2 bunch dill or 1/2 bunch parsley

Method:
1 Knead a dough from dough ingredients and transfer it to the fridge in a covered bowl for 30 minutes
2 Combine minced meat (no extra water!) + salt + black pepper + finely chopped onion or chives: mix everything well with a fork
3 Separate dough into 6 equal pieces: form a 1.5cm diameter sausage from each piece
4 Cut each sausage into 1cm width pieces and roll out each piece into a 5cm diameter round 🙂
5 Put 1 teaspoon filling into each round, fold the round into a half-moon and pinch all the edges together strongly with fingers, do it two times. Then pull together two corners and pinch strongly with fingers again. 🙂
6 Boil Pelmeni for 5 minutes in boiling water (at least 3 minutes after Pelmeni are floating on the top) and serve with sour cream, butter and fresh chopped parsley or dill
7 Enjoy !

Potato Dumplings “Kopytka” with Ham and Onion !

But I think happiness springs from another source, a far deeper one that doesn’t depend on will because it comes from love.

Henryk Sienkiewicz, Quo Vadis
Polish Dumplings Kopytka

Dumplings ingredients (4 portions):
– 2 cups (1 cup=250ml) boiled mashed potatoes
– 1 cup wheat flour
– 1 egg
– 1 teaspoon salt
– 1-2 tablespoons olive oil for frying

Serving ingredients (4 portions):
– 2 small onions
– 100g ham
– 2 garlic cloves
– 1 bunch chives

Method:
1 Combine boiled (no extra water!) mashed potatoes+egg+flour+salt and mix well to a dough
2 Separate dough into 6 equal piece: form a 1.5cm diameter sausage from each piece
3 Cut the sausages into 1cm width dumplings taking a ~60 degrees angle with respect to the sausage 🙂
4 Boil dumplings for 4 minutes in salted water, then transfer them to a plate
5 Chop ham, onion and garlic
6 Pre-heat a non-sticking skillet: fry the dumplings & onion at medium heat until golden
7 Add ham and chopped garlic to the dumplings: fry for 2 minutes at medium heat
8 Serve the dumplings hot with chopped chives and … enjoy!!

Notes: Kopytka means “little hooves” in Polish and refer to the appearance of these potato dumplings, which are formed in the shape of hooves:-)

Delicious Garlic Toasts with Goat Cheese, Hazelnuts and Grapes !

The reason for the unreason with which you treat my reason, so weakens my reason that with reason I complain of your beauty.

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

Ingredients (for 6 toasts):
– 6 slices rye bread or baguette
– 100g creamy goat cheese
– 2 garlic 🧄 cloves
– 24 red grapes 🍇
– 12 hazelnuts
– 50g corn salad for serving
– 6-7 sprigs green onions for serving
– 1-2 tbsp olive oil for toasts

Directions:
1 Toast rye bread slices with or without olive oil
2 Rub upper part of toasts with garlic
3 Butter goat cheese on the toasts on the garlic side
4 Sprinkle the toasts with sliced hazelnuts, halved grapes and chopped green onions
5 Serve with corn salad and enjoy !

Spanish Soup Salmorejo: perfect for hot days !

With a few flowers in my garden, half a dozen pictures and some books, I live without envy.

Lope de Vega
Spanish Soup Salmorejo

Salmorejo ingredients (2 servings):
– 🍅🍅🍅 500g fresh tomatoes 🍅🍅🍅
– 50g-100g ciabatta or baguette crumb (soft part)
– 2 garlic cloves
– 1 tsp salt
– 1/2 tablespoon white wine vinegar
– 50ml olive oil Extra Virgin

Serving ingredients:
– 100g chopped ham
– a few basil leaves

Directions:
1 Wash tomatoes and remove the green middle part
2 Combine in a bowl tomatoes + ciabatta crumb (add 100g crumb for a thick soup and 50g for a light one) + garlic cloves + salt + vinegar + olive oil: mash everything with a food processor or blender until smooth
3 Serve the soup with chopped ham and fresh basil leaves ! Enjoy !

Notes:
1 This soup will not leave you indifferent 😉
2 Tomatoes, olive oil & garlic quality are essential for the taste!
3 Put the soup in the fridge for 1 hour before serving if you prefer to have it cold 🙂

Chicken in Hungarian Style with Potato Pancakes !

Úgy szép az élet, ha zajlik.

Hungarian proverb
Chicken in Hungarian Style

Chicken with vegetables ingredients (4 servings):
– 300g chicken breast
– 500g tomatoes 🍅
– 1 red bell pepper
– 1 green bell pepper
– 1 onion
– 2 teaspoons paprika
– 1 teaspoon salt
– 3 garlic 🧄 cloves
– olive oil for frying

Potato pancakes ingredients (2 servings):
– 9 medium potatoes
– 1 tablespoon potato starch
– 1 teaspoon salt
– 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
– olive oil for frying

Directions:
1 Start cooking chicken stew (2) and potato pancakes (3) simultaneously to serve them hot 🙂
2 Chicken stew:
2.1 Cut chicken breasts into 1cm cubes, combine with salt and put aside in a bowl
2.2 Cut bell peppers, onion and tomatoes 🍅 into 1cm pieces
2.3 Fry chicken cubes for 10 minutes with olive oil until golden at medium heat
2.4 Add cut vegetables and 2 teaspoons paprika to chicken: stew for another 15 minutes
2.5 Add grated garlic and mix well: done!
3 Potato pancakes:
3.1 Wash and peel potatoes
3.2 Grate one half of potatoes and mash in a blender another half
3.3 Combine grated and mashed potatoes: drain extra liquid through a strainer or cloth
3.4 Combine potatoes with salt, pepper and starch
3.5 Preheat a non-sticking frying pan with some olive oil
3.6 Put 1 tablespoon of potato batter on the frying pan for each pancake-to-be: make it flat and round with a tablespoon
3.7 Fry pancakes at a medium heat until golden approximately 3-4 minutes each side
3.8 Transfer the pancakes on paper towels to absorb extra oil for a couple of minutes
4 Serve potato pancakes & chicken hot. Decorate with chopped fresh green onions!

Beef with Green Beans: perfect lunch or dinner !

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Lao Tzu
Beef with Green Beans

Side dish ingredients (all ingredients for 2 servings):
– 120g rice
– 1 teaspoon salt
– 400g green beans

Beef & marinade ingredients:
– 350g beef
– 1 onion
– 3 garlic cloves
– 1 teaspoon salt
– 1-2 tablespoons vinegar
– 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
– olive oil for frying

Serving ingredients:
– 1/2 bunch parsley
– 1/2 bunch green onions

Directions:
1 Marinated beef:
1.1 Wash beef, remove extra water with paper towels
1.2 Slice beef into 2-4mm width pieces: the thinner the better!
1.3 Mix in a large bowl beef slices, vinegar, salt, black pepper, sliced onion
1.4 Put the bowl in the fridge for 2 hours, then get rid of onion 🙂
2 Cook rice in salted water, keep it warm 🙂
3 Green beans:
3.1 Trim ends of washed green beans
3.2 Boil green beans in salted water for 5 minutes. Then drain extra water.
4 Cooking beef slices:
4.1 Pre-heat frying pan, add some olive oil
4.2 Fry beef slices for 10 minutes at medium heat, stirring occasionally
4.3 Add green beans and cook for another 5 minutes
4.4 Add grated garlic 🧄🧄🧄 and cook for another minute continuously stirring
5 Serve hot with rice and chopped parsley and green onions !

Notes: inspired by Restaurant Style Beef and Broccoli Recipe