Uszka (Polish dumplings filled with mushrooms)

I hope that you have all spent a lovely christmas with your families, or if you don't celebrate christmas or celebrate something else, I hope that you have had a lovely week either way :) Fortunately, I got to spend christmas with my mum and my sister, we were supposed to drive to Poland to see my granddad but unfortunately our car broke down. This meant that I had the wonderful task of cooking 12 courses at home (it's a tradition that you have to have at least as many dishes as the number of apostles), and in my family, Barszcz (a beetroot soup, very well known in Central and Eastern Europe that I bought this year (I had nearly no time to prepare!) with "Uszka" are always the first dish. Uszka are small dumplings filled with mushrooms, kind of like Pierogi but smaller and in a different shape. They are incredibly tasty nevertheless :) I'm not sure how much more from the christmas recipes I will post on here since many of them are quite particular and I think ingredients could be quite hard to buy at some places but I'll definitely post Christmas Pierogi and 2 desserts from our meal.

 

Vanillekipferl

There are tons of different recipes for vanillekipferl, either using just a shortbread cookie dough and then covering the little moon shaped cookies in vanilla sugar once they've come out of the oven, or ones that also mix in some nuts, like this one :)

Coconut Macaroons

These lovely little treats are really easy to whip up and take no time at all in the oven, and best of all: they're really delicious :) Cover them in chocolate if you like or have them as they are, either way I am sure you'll enjoy them!

Shortbread Cookies

Sorry for the delay in uploading these, the past weeks have been pretty hectic and I also travelled back home for christmas :) Nevertheless, I hope you will still have some time to try these easy shortbread cookies out (or Butterplätzchen as Germans call them) :)
The ratio is always 3:2:1:1, flour, butter, sugar, eggs so just calculate the amount that you will need :) The batch that I did was enough for about 4 baking trays full of cookies.

Apple Pie

This is a lovely apple pie that is quite easy to make :) Unfortunately, when I did mine, I couldn't use the stove to soften up the apples for the filling but I can assure you it works both ways :) If you don't cook the apples it won't be as level, but who cares about presentation when it tastes amazing? :D Also, my tin was 20cm in diameter, the bigger your tin the lower the pie :)

Pesto Bread

Last Friday, Mika and Liz decided to host a little pre-Christmas party to get us all in the festive spirit :) (we have exams next week, or at least some of us, so this was an incredibly welcome break!) I decided that there wasn't going to be a better opportunity to cook and bake again, so I decided to contribute a pesto bread and a few other goodies to the meal. With the help of my amazing assistant Lucia, we managed to get everything done almost in time :)

As a side, I opted for a pesto bread that I found here. It looks pretty cool I find, and I can assure you it tastes great!

Nut-Banana-Chocolate Cake

... or in other words: Christina's birthday cake :) Please excuse the quality of the pictures, we celebrated in a small Irish pub and lighting wasn't exactly great and we had no plates either :) But hey, all that matters was the taste, and it seem to be the overwhelming opinion that it was indeed very tasty :) I found the recipe here :)

Placki Jablkowe (Apple pancakes)

I first ate these apple pancakes at my Polish grandma's :) I absolutely loved them and decided to make some for a dessert last week, when we had that Slavic evening :) This recipe was my orientation.

Polish Traditional Salad (Salatka jarzynowa)

I am very sorry for the lack of posts recently, either I have been very busy with university or our kitchen in the residence was closed.. but last weekend we migrated to a different kitchen and held a Slavic evening, cooking lots of fine foods and inviting people over to taste them :) My contribution was this Polish traditional salad, incredibly easy to make and quickly consumed :)

Kartoffelpuffer (Potato "pancakes")

Last week, Christina and I organised a German evening at our residence and cooked German food for this occasion :) Below you'll find a recipe that has several names, I call it Kartoffelpuffer, and is usually eaten with apple purée or apple sauce :)

Brownies

First of all, I am sorry I haven't posted in a while. I have moved to France for my year abroad and turns out that I don't have an oven in the shared kitchen in my accommodation so unfortunately no baking for me this year (unless I perfect microwave baking :D) so I'm not sure how much I'll be able to post in the future..

As for this recipe, that belonged to the section quite long ago when I had my goodbye party and baked quite a lot. It is a really indulgent brownie recipe and quite easy to do :)

Zebra Cake

This is a very delicious vanilla and chocolate cheese cake that I served at my birthday party :) The zebra pattern is actually not too difficult to achieve but may take a bit of time. Recipe found here (a very great cooking channel on youtube if you speak German :) )

Best Chocolate Cookies Ever!

Another one of those titles, I know, but again I promise you won't be disappointed with these cookies! The centre melts in your mouth and they just have the perfect texture and they're one of the most delicious cookies I have ever made :) Recipe found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvIG7R8DOqU

Spaghetti Bolognese

First of all, sorry for the lack of posts recently! I have been really busy and am scared and excited at the same time to move to France soon!

Back to this dish: a classic all of us know, this version is the fast studenty version I'd say (if I make fancy spag bol it would take between 2-3 hours, this one about 30 minutes) and I hope you'll like it :)

Japanese cuisine

I came back from my adventure this summer very recently (which is why I haven't posted in a while) and would like to share some more of my culinary experiences whilst in Asia. This time, from Japan :) Once again, I have not documented every single dish that I ate, and with these ones the names are a bit difficult as well so I might have to add them later, once I know the exact Japanese one :)

Oreo Chocolate Cheesecake Muffins

Since I am still away on holiday (in Japan at the moment), Hendrik agreed to cook/bake a little more and he generously lets me post the recipes on here :) Thanks a lot! Here's the first one: Oreo Chocolate Cheesecake Muffins!

Thai cuisine

I have recently been on a 2 week holiday in Thailand, in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Koh Phangan to be precise, and wanted to share some of the cuisine I had the opportunity to experience :)

Pancakes with Strawberries

A nice and reasonably light summer dish - pancakes with strawberries :) I haven't found a fail-proof recipe for pancakes yet, but this one is pretty good :) Disclaimer: this is not an American style pancake, rather closer to a French crêpe, however, not thin enough to be called a crêpe in my opinion, so there you go :D

Vanilla Macarons

These vanilla macarons are a little piece of heaven – very light, great tasting little treats! They’re not too complicated to make either, if you follow this recipe step-by-step :) Thank you Ed for this recipe :)

The Absolute Best Chocolate Cake Ever!

You may think that I may be pushing it with this title, but I cannot write anything else than in the highest tones of this cake! It is from Nigella Lawson's "Nigella Bites" and originally called a Chocolate Fudge Cake I believe, but this is seriously underestimated! I have been baking this cake for years now and it never, even once, failed or failed to impress! This particular one I made for my best friend's birthday, Happy Birthday Jonas by the way :) I hope you enjoy!

Red Onion and Tomato Tartelettes

These red onion and tomato tartelettes are a lovely starter - I stole the idea from my friend Berni, hope she doesn't mind :) But I simply had to recreate them at home after I have tried them at hers! They're absolutely delicious and quite variable I would say :)

Aioli

Aioli is a very garlicy dip, goes very well with baguettes or anything that needs a touch of garlic really :) I served it at the barbecue :) I followed this recipe.

will reupload once I make it again and it looks more presentable ;)

Chicken Thighs with Mediterranean Vegetables

Another "shove it in the oven and don't worry about it" recipe - chicken thighs with mediterranean vegetables :) Quite easy to do I would say, can be made into an impressive dish, and very tasty :) Also, when you buy a whole chicken it's sometimes cheaper than buying just the chicken thighs (and you will have the chicken breasts too!) so that might be worth checking out at your local supermarket / butchers :)

Potato Salad

This potato salad is really easy to make and great for a barbecue - what more can you ask for? :)

Burgers

Making your own burgers for a barbecue is great - you know exactly what went into them and you can vary the taste :) so here is a simple recipe for you :)

No pictures of them afterwards, they were gone too quickly, sorry!

Chicken in Honey and Mustard Marinade

For the barbecue for Iza's birthday, I also marinated some chicken in honey and mustard and made chicken skewers with them that seemed to be enjoyed, so here is the recipe :)

Chocolate Sponge Cake with Strawberries and Cream

This is a very delicious chocolate sponge cake filled with strawberries and cream, that I made for my friend Iza's birthday barbecue :)

Asparagus and Strawberry Salad

Asparagus and strawberries are a great combination, and seeing as they're in season at the minute, why not try this super quick and super easy summer salad - great for the hot days!

Mini Pizzas

I made these mini pizzas for my goodbye party and they went down like a treat :) Alternatively, just roll the dough out larger and you will get a perfect base for a normal size pizza :) As always, the filling is very variable. The recipe for the base was from here. They were gone so quickly I couldn't even take a picture, I'm very sorry for this and will upload one as soon as I make them again!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

These chocolate chip cookies are absolutely amazing and gone within moments once you take them out of the oven :) They’re very adaptable too, you could put some cranberries and nuts on top if you preferred that to chocolate for example :)

Puff Pastry Rolls

These puff pastry rolls are a perfect little party snack, enjoyed by literally everyone, as you can vary the fillings a lot. Also, they're the easiest things to make :) I have done them with ham and cheese, and two different pesto fillings, have a look below:

 

Strawberry Tarte 2

This strawberry tarte is so easy to make and so delicious it would be very unfair of me to not share the recipe ;)

Triple Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting

Last week I threw a goodbye party since I am going to be studying in Strasbourg for the next 2 semesters, so I baked some goodies and will post them during the course of the next weeks. Let's start off with these delicious triple chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting!

Quesadillas

These lovely quesadillas are great for a picnic or a snack throughout the day, they're easily made and take nearly no time at all to prepare :) Also, they can be adjusted to whatever flavours you prefer - the only "stable" ingredients are the tortillas and the cheese ;)

Cauliflower Cheese

This is quite a simple recipe for a nice side dish and an English classic - cauliflower cheese. Hope you enjoy! The quantities of the cheese sauce you make depend on the size of your cauliflower and the sauce to cauliflower ratio you like, so please only see this as a guideline :)

Turkish delicacies

I have recently spent a wonderful holiday in Ankara, Turkey, and wanted to share some of the delicious food I had there with you. I was at first reluctant to post anything about Turkey considering what is going on and has been going on for a while, but this is just about the delicious food I enjoyed.

Yummy Rhubarb Crumble

You can use this crumble recipe for most other fruits, such as apples and change it according to your taste preferences :) My housemates enjoyed this joint effort by Tish and me a lot and I would definitely recommend you try this easy recipe :)

Pasta with Spinach, Tomatoes and Bacon

I think this dish is one of Tish’s favourite ones if I am not mistaken, and I promised I would post the recipe so that she could recreate it when I’m gone. The guys like it too, mainly because it contains bacon ;) This literally takes 10 minutes, start boiling your pasta and when it’s ready, your sauce will be too!
 

Tiramisù

I received this lovely recipe from my Italian friend Irene (thanks a lot once again!) and had to try it out immediately – safe to say it tasted amazing, so I kindly asked for permission to share it with you and here you go! (Unfortunately the pictures didn’t do it justice, I was in a rush :/ as soon as I make it again I will reupload better pictures!)

(please excuse my uneven coating of cocoa)

Vegetable Soup

Do you ever buy those frozen vegetable bags, use a bit up and then don’t know what to do with the rest? Well here’s a recipe that uses up all of those forgotten vegetables in your freezer by transforming them into a delicious soup :) Works with literally all kinds of vegetables, depending on your taste of course!

Courgette “Röstis”

Unfortunately, I have no other way of describing these delicious little “Röstis”, they are sort of pancakey shaped, but taste a lot different! It’s quite well known in Germany, though most people do Röstis using potatoes – I decided to give it a different twist with these courgette Röstis :)
 

Mince, Leek and Cheese Soup

You may think that this combination of flavours won't work (my housemates looked sceptical at first too), but trust me, they do! This is quite a traditional German soup, and due to the special cheese normally used for this recipe (Schmelzkäse which is a mixture between spreadable soft cheese and cheese that can easily be melted), I resorted to a combination of soft cheese, crème fraîche and cheddar.

Prawn Avocado Wraps

Avocado and prawns are a very delicious combination if you ask me, so why not try it out in wrap form? These wraps are very easy to make, quick and incredibly yummy!

World's easiest and best muffins!

I kid you not, these are the easiest and yet best and tastiest muffins EVER! Another great point - if you use soy milk, they're vegan too, so what more can you ask for? You can vary this recipe according to your taste, from adding other fruit to vanilla or chocolate flavours or caramel and so on :) I have since discovering this one (thanks Aysa!) not made a different recipe (I will try out others too but for now I am definitely sticking with this one and it will be my go-to recipe forever :D)

The version below was with blueberries:

Delicious Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

What can I say – a very meaty recipe ;) Works very well with the tomato sauce and was enjoyed by my housemates as far as I could tell by looking at the empty plates :)
 

Refreshing Peach and Yogurt Cake

One word – heaven :) Exactly what you need for those hot spring/summer days outside (or whenever the sun feels like showing up ;) )

Veggie Stuffed Peppers

These veggie stuffed peppers are another variation of stuffed peppers or aubergines (more will follow, I am sure). I had some cottage cheese that needed to be used, so in it went :) They turned out to be very nice and not soaking wet, but just the right kind of texture :)

Great Banoffee Pie

Banoffee Pie is one of my favourite cakes that require no baking - very easy to make, very delicious and the combination of toffee, banana and chocolate is heavenly!

Baked Salmon with a Pesto Crust

This salmon tasted absolutely delicious, the green pesto was good company - definitely worth trying out! Plus it's one of the dishes that you can just put in the oven and forget about, which saves a lot of time and hassle in the kitchen :) Did I mention it is an easy recipe as well?

Chickpea, Spinach and Tomato Curry

This is a great curry consisting of chickpeas, spinach and tomatoes. The combination worked really well and topped off with some coriander, this is a perfect easy lunch! (plus it is ready in no time at all!)

Indulgent Chocolate Cupcakes with Raspberry Frosting

In the time it took my friend to attempt to restore my natural hair colour, I decided to whip up some cupcakes, seeing as I had guests coming over in the evening anyway   :) I went for a chocolate base and a raspberry frosting, but I am certain that other combinations would work as well – such as vanilla and raspberry or either of those with strawberry or any other type of berry.

Summer Strawberry Tarte

This is a very delicious summery strawberry tarte with a puff pastry base and a crème pâtissière as a filling, a recipe once again presented by my friend Hendrik :)

Delicious Veggie Stuffed Aubergines

Stuffed aubergines are a great thing to cook when you want something to shove in the oven and not worry about it. Plus they’re great, because you can vary the fillings so much! From mince stuffed aubergines that I usually combine with rice, to veggie ones of all different kinds, you can literally do whatever floats your boat :) You could also stuff peppers instead of aubergines!

Tasty Cake Pops

Cake pops are ideal if you have a bit of sponge cake left over, or if you want to serve small portions of dessert. You can make them in a lot of different flavours by adding different jams, if that’s the method you are going to pursue. I will explore two different methods below.