Month: August 2020

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
Garlic Toasts with Goat Cheese, Hazelnuts and Grapes

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

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