It’s hard to believe but it’s been more than two months since I’ve blogged last time. The reason of my long absence was moving from Poland to the place, from where my husband comes from, Quebec. I arrived to Canada at the beginning of June; however it’s taken us some time to settle in the new place. There are still many things we miss here, however the necessary kitchen appliances are already there, so I can happily start cooking, baking and blogging again. :)
Today’s recipe is a quick and easy salad made with juicy strawberries, crunchy lettuce and walnuts drizzled with delicious strawberry dressing. Even though made with strawberries and honey, the dressing isn’t sweet. The salad is light and refreshing, perfect for warm summer days. I sprinkled my salad with chopped walnuts, but you can also use hazelnuts (either chopped or whole), sunflower seeds, or pumpkin seeds if you like.
Strawberry Salad
Serves 4
head of lettuce (preferably lollo rose, frisée or oak leaf )
250 g strawberries
2 tbsp walnuts
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp honey
salt
pepper
Wash and dry the lettuce, if the leaves are big, tear them into pieces. Slice half of the strawberries. Toss in the lettuce leaves. Divide the salad into 4 plates. Sprinkle each portion with chopped nuts.
To make the dressing, combine the remaining strawberries with the white wine vinegar, olive oil, honey, salt and pepper in a blender or food processor. Process until smooth. Pour the dressing over the salad.
Recipe in Polish:
Sałata z truskawkami
I’ve decided to call this recipe Autumn Muffins for two reasons. First, the combination of pears, nuts, and spices makes them very fragrant and indeed perfect for autumn (especially if you I serve them warm with a drizzle of maple syrup on a cold day). Second, I couldn’t really use the original name of Pear and Pecan Muffins as I didn’t add any Pecans to them. Pecans are usually expensive and hard to find here and since I’ve had lots of walnuts at home, I thought they would make a nice substitute. And, honestly, I don’t like Pecans much anyway.
The original recipe for these tasty muffins comes from a book titled Muffins, which is one of the cookbooks from Le cordon Bleu series published by Könemann. I have already tried several recipes from it, and they all turned out great, so I really recommend it.
A few notes to the recipe:
1. I used freshly grated nutmeg instead of powdered one - it made the muffins even more fragrant and thus more delicious!!!
2. I didn’t have vanilla extract (I think it’s impossible to obtain in Poland), so I added a packet of vanilla sugar to the dry ingredients.
And, one more thing, it’s important you roast the nuts before adding them to the batter. They'll become very very crunchy and will contrast well to the soft, delicate, and moist pears later.
Autumn Muffins
(adapted from Le Cordon Bleu: Muffins)
450 g all-purpose flour
2 ½ teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
115 g brown sugar
1 packet vanilla sugar (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
400 g pears, peeled and chopped
100 g walnuts (or pecans), roasted and chopped*
2 eggs
375 ml milk
125 g butter, melted
Preheat oven to 210°C (410F)
Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg; Add brown sugar, vanilla sugar (if you use vanilla extract add it later to the liquid ingredients), pears and nuts.
Whisk the milk and eggs together. Add them to the dry ingredients. Add the butter and stir until just combined. Do not over mix the batter;
Fill prepared muffin pan ¾ full. Bake 30 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Leave the muffins in cups for 5 minutes. Then let them cool on a wire rack.
* roast the nuts for 5-7 minutes in the oven preheated to 180°C(350F)
Przepis po polsku:
Jesienne mufinki
