Wednesday wishes

This week I:

Can't wait to try these:

Lemon souffle pancakes (I see a theme developing :)

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 Garlic prawns with asian puy lentils (I <3 puy lentils!)

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Coconut macaroons

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And this amazeballs braided lemon bread from Smitten Kitchen

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Would love to have these in my kitchen:

This scrap trap

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Spoon holder. Genius. And how cute is that pig?

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Blackboard wall

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And, finally, this cute owl plate:

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What are you lusting after this week?

Seafood tagliatelle

Seafood used to scare me. I couldn't even tell why; perhaps it was the overcooked, rubbery octopus I once had in a paella that put me off it for many years. I decided to be brave and venture out of my comfort zone. And you know what? Seafood is delicious (if cooked properly). It's not only tasty, but quick to cook and low in fat. This seafood tagliatelle takes about 15 minutes to make so it's perfect for a mid week dinner. Perfect for days when you come home tired after a long commute, hungry and craving something light, yet satisfying. Now, put that take away menu where it belongs (in the bin). Done? Thank you. Gather your ingredients and whip up this amazing seafood pasta.

To make enough for two people you'll need:

1 pack of frozen seafood mix (mine had mussels, prawns, calamari in it) - in an ideal world you'd go to your local fishmonger's and pick up fresh seafood, but let's face it - this is not always an option.

100 g streaky bacon (or about 5 rashers) chopped into smallish bits

splash of olive oil

1/2 bunch of flat leaf parsley, chopped

100 g soya/edameme beans (or broadbeans, cooked and peeled)

2 handfuls of rocket leaves

half a lemon

tagliatelle pasta (fresh or dry) - enough for 2 people

salt and pepper

Before you start, take your seafood out of the freezer and leave in a bowl for about 30 mins to defrost. Put a big pot of water on the stove to boil. Add a tsp of salt. Heat a bit of oil in a pan and add bacon.

Fry until it starts getting golden and crisp (about 5 minutes), then add soya/broadbeans and cook until slightly softened (about 5-7 minutes). 

Check if the water for the pasta is boiling and tip your pasta in the pot. Once the soya beans/broadbeans are soft, tip in seafood mix and cook for 2 minutes gently turning it over so it cooks evenly. Season with salt and pepper, add half of the chopped parsley, give it a final stir and turn the gas off. 

If there's a bit of liquid in the pan - great - it will coat the pasta nicely.

Check if your pasta is ready and drain. Divide between the bowls, spoon over the seafood mix and juice, scatter remaining parsley on top, squeeze a bit of lemon juice and mix in rocket leaves.Tuck in! Light a candle, open a bottle of wine and you've got yourself a bit of Italy in your flat (unless of course you already happen to live in Italy, in which case, lucky you! ;)

Instagrub (and other pics)

Instagram is taking the (blogging) world by a storm. I'm not gonna fight it. The majority of pictures I take are of food (duh) so every Sunday I'll be sharing them here. I present to you: Instagrub (see what I did there? hehe).
Every now and then I'll throw some other pictures in the mix (much as I love food there are so many other things to photograph!) If you fancy following me my username is marushka82

Melon for breakfast

Yours truly

Grand Union in Camden

Watermelon cocktail -delicious!

Best yoghurt in the world

Puffed wheat, banana +PB, melon

Brazilian creme caramel

Spring

Birdies on a placemat

Sunday lunch

Greek yoghurt+lemon curd | Greek yoghurt+honey

I hope you had a good weekend!

Guilt-free ice cream

Now waaait a minute. Guilt free ice cream? Surely such thing does not exist?

Well, good news is, it does. And it's really easy to make! 

I found the recipe on a website peculiarly named Userealbutter. Don't panic though. This ice cream never even stood next to butter. Or cream. Or sugar. Crazy, I know. You only need three (yes, three) ingredients to make yourself a delicious low fat dessert. The key ingredient are bananas and since I had some knocking about (no surprises here - I always stock up on bananas and eat them every day with some peanut butter) I promptly rolled up my sleeves and got working. 

To make a small bowl of this beautiful thing you need:

3 small bananas (they can be a bit overripe - not black though!)

1 tbsp peanut or almond butter (or Nutella if you're a bit naughty)

2 tbsps milk

Peel bananas and slice them thinly, then pop into a freezer bag and into the freezer overnight. If you do this before going to bed you'll be able to whip up some ice cream for breakfast (yes, I know. You can thank me later). Do NOT, I repeat do not freeze unpeeled whole bananas. Unless of course you are in possession of special equipment (think chainsaw and industrial strength blender).

Once the bananas are frozen pop them into a food processor and start blending. I have to admit I nearly had a heart attack when I started and was convinced that my processor won't manage. But it did. Phew.

After about a minute or so your bananas will resemble breadcrumbs. Scrape the sides of the processor, add peanut butter/almond butter/Nutella and continue blending. Scrape the sides some more (yes, a lot of scraping, but don't give up!). Finally, add a splash of milk (about 2 tbsps) and blend for about a minute or two. You should be left with amazingly creamy smooth 'ice cream'. Spoon it into a bowl, sprinkle with some cocoa, cinnamon or whatever topping you fancy. Toasted flaked almonds. Raisins. Chocolate chips. The possibilities are endless (admittedly, bacon won't work, but you get the drift. Sweet toppings). 

If you don't use all of the mix straight away you can pop it into a plastic container and freeze.

I'm already thinking of other uses: a spoon over your hot porridge, over Sunday morning pancakes, mixed into some greek yoghurt, over waffles, over digestive biscuits... someone stop me please! Now excuse me while I run to the shop and stock up on bananas.

EDIT: Ben&Jerry - eat your heart out! ;)

Roast butternut squash, chorizo and goat's cheese salad

Ode to a butternut squash: Butternut squash - you are awesome. Tasty and sweet. I think I love you. Despite the fact you're a bitch to peel. The end.

As you can probably tell, butternut squash is another vegetable which I'm a bit crazy about. Well, it *is* awesome. Goes with so many things and roasts really well. 

The cast

Match it up with chorizo and goat's cheese and you've got yourself a winning combination.I mean it. This combo is on the menu in our house every week and we're still not sick of it. 

The beauty of this recipe is that it can be modified in so many ways.Vegetarian? Skip the chorizo. Pumpkin seeds not up your street? Pine nuts to the rescue. Hate broccoli? Replace with green beans. Not a goat lover? Try feta cheese and thank the cows. Hate cheese? Eeerrrm... Blasphemy.

Anyway, let's get started.

To make enough for 2 people you'll need:

1 medium butternut squash (if you can't find it, pumpkin will do just fine)

2 peppers

1 courgette

120 g chorizo sausage (feel free to use more if you luuuurve meat :)

small pack of goat's cheese

1 broccoli

3/4 cup frozen edameme beans (not essential)

handful of pumpkin seeds

2 large handfuls of rocket 

2tbsp olive oil

salt, pepper

chilli powder/paprika/cajun spice

Pre-heat the oven to 190-200 C. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper. Peel butternut squash, get rid of the seeds and cut into thumb-sized pieces. Cut courgette into sticks (finger sized - heheh, how awesome are my measurements?). Remove seeds from the peppers and cut into strips.

Arrange all veggies on the baking tray and brush with olive oil. Season with salt, pepper and cajun spice/chilli or paprika - depending on how much heat you can take). Pop into the oven to roast for 30-40 minutes.

While the veggies are roasting thinly slice chorizo and boil a small pot of water for broccoli and edameme. 

Fry chorizo on low heat in a shallow frying pan (no need to add oil - the chorizo is quite fatty) until slightly browned and crispy on the edges - this should take about 5 minutes. Set aside. 

Place pumpkin seeds in a separate dry pan and toast for 2-3 minutes. Shake the pan a bit so that the seeds get evenly toasted. Don't even think of leaving the kitchen. Watch the seeds like a hawk as they can burn really quickly. Set them aside. By now the water in the pot should be boiling and you can add broccoli and edameme. Cook for 5-7 minutes and drain.

Sip some tea and check the veggies in the oven. They should be nice and soft.

Now you're ready to assemble the salad. 

 

Toss a handful of rocket on the plate, add your roasted veggies, broccoli and edameme. Scatter some chorizo and pumpkin seeds on top and finish with little blobs of goat's cheese. Drizzle with olive oil and eat!

Easy dinner: bacon wrapped chicken with sweet potato fries

Carbs. Where do I start? Suffice it to say I can't live without them. The love of starch must be part of my DNA - growing up in Poland meant indulging in potatoes, pierogi (small dumplings stuffed with meat or potatoes - no need to add which are my favourite?) or kopytka (literally translating as 'little hooves', they are basically a Polish version of gnocchi). Enter my recent obsession: sweet potatoes - versatile enough to be fried, boiled and mashed, or roasted. Cut into chips they featured in last night's dinner along with bacon wrapped chicken, roasted butternut squash and broccoli.

Please promise me you'll give this dish a try: it's simple, healthy and once you do all the chopping it pretty much cooks itself (giving you time to rest. Or search for more carb recipes, in my case). 

To make enough for 2 you'll need:

2 skinless chicken breasts

4-5 medium sweet potatoes

1/2 butternut squash (not essential, but adds a bit of variety)

a handful of basil leaves

4 rashers of streaky bacon (can be substituted with parma ham)

2-3 tbsp of olive oil

salt, pepper

cajun spice or smoked paprika

Preheat the oven to 190-200 C. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper (don't be like me and don't use kitchen foil - unless you enjoy prying your chips off it). Cut chicken breasts in half and season with salt, pepper and cajun spice. 

 
Place a few basil leaves on each chicken piece and wrap bacon around it. Step back and admire 4 chicken mummies you just created. Now set them aside and prepare potatoes and butternut squash.

Peel potatoes and butternut squash and cut into chips (use a sharp knife and feel your biceps work - who needs the gym, right?)

Arrange your chips neatly on the baking tray and brush with a little olive oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and a bit of cajun spice or smoked paprika.

Now you're almost ready. You've done all the hard work. Nestle your chicken parcels in the middle of the tray and pop it in the oven for about 40 minutes. The timing depends on your oven and thickness of the chips, so it's a good idea to check everything after about 25 minutes. You want your chicken to be cooked through and the chips nice and soft inside (go on! poke them with a fork!) and crispy outside.When done, pop everything on a plate, drizzle with some olive oil and and serve with a dollop of mayonnaise and some greens: steamed broccoli, spinach or green beans. And you're done! 

Moist, juicy chicken coated with crispy bacon, sweet soft potatoes - heaven on a plate. Enjoy!

PS. Some of my chips came out a bit charred. Please don't judge. I totally blame my ancient oven which probably remembers the time when dinosaurs roamed the earth when Elton John performed sans wig. Anyway, a bit of char is good for you (or so I've been telling myself).

Wednesday wishes

I recently discovered Pinterest and I need help. I'm addicted. A bit. A lot. Anything pretty, tasty looking, inspiring, you name it, I pin it. Well, ok, I'm not that bad.
I thought I'd use these posts to share recipes that make it onto the 'I'm-salivating-must-make-this-asap' list as well as anything I'd like to get my paws on (and you bet a Kitchen Aid mixer is going to make that list!) or find inspiring.
So here we go!

 Recipes to try:

This amazing zucchini salad from Proud Italian cook

This bakewell tart from bbcgoodfood.com

And these (they had me at 'honey cloud') from Thingswemake

Want! (no surprises here!)

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So that's my list for the week - what's on yours?