Taste & Create

I’ve discovered this delicious salad recipe thanks to Nicole from For the Love of Food blog. Nicole has been hosting a food blog event Taste and Create, in which participants are paired together to try out a recipe from each other's blogs. Nicole has paired me with Johnny from Le Petit Kitchen blog. The blog was created only a month ago, so there weren't many recipes to choose. What’s made the choice even harder is that in most of the recipes there are no exact quantities of ingredients given. I’ve opted for salad as this is the kind of recipe in which you don’t really need exact quantities. Besides, making more salads was one of my New Year’s resolutions this year. Since I haven’t posted even one salad recipe on my blog yet, I thought this food blog event is just a perfect opportunity to start making some. The salad came out really delicious, light and very refreshing. I was actually surprised how well all the different flavors blended together. I’ll definitely make it again :)

Notes to the recipe: The original recipe (which can be found here) asked for blood oranges, but I used mandarin oranges instead; I also omitted the dill and used less lemon juice for the vinaigrette.

Californian Salad with Fruit and Goat Cheese

lettuce
pear
mandarin orange
goat cheese
pistachios, roughly chopped

balsamic vinegar

FOR THE VINAIGRETTE*
lemon juice
olive oil
dill (optional)

1. Heat the balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan over low heat until thick . Remove from the heat and let cool.
2. Tear the lettuce into small pieces. Cut the pears and oranges, crumble the goat cheese.
3. To make the vinaigrette mix olive oil with lemon juice and dill.
4. Place the pears, oranges, crumbled goat cheese, and lettuce in a big bowl and toss gently.
5. Transfer the salad to plates, drizzle with some of the vinaigrette and balsamic vinegar.
6. Garnish with pistachios. Serve.

* I made vinaigreette using 1 part of oil to 4 parts of lemon.

Przepis po polsku:
Sałatka kalifornijska z owocami i kozim serem

Corn Soup

I had never been a fan of corn. So, when my friend, M. had given me a recipe for corn soup, I put it away with no intention of using it. A few years later, at a fair in Quebec city, it happen to me to order a spinach tart with which I was served cream corn soup. The soup really surprised me. It had beautiful pale yellow color and tasted much much better than any other corn dish I’ve ever tried. In fact it was one of the best cream soups, I’ve ever eaten. Back in Poland I looked for the recipe my friend had given to me, and decided to make corn soup myself. The soup came out mild and creamy, very similar to the one I had eaten in Quebec. The only difference is that the soup I had in Canada was served plain, while my friend’s soup is served with leeks and carrots, which makes it even more delicious :)

When I found out that Zorra from 1 x umrühren bitte blog has asked food bloggers for cooking yellow dishes for International Women's Day, I thought right away about making the corn soup. Zorra has chosen yellow as it’s the color of Mimosa, a flower which is given to women on their day in some countries. Also in Poland women receive flowers, chocolates and other gifts on their day (the flowers don’t really have to be yellow though). I’ve already received 4 boxes of chocolate today, a bottle of wine and, even thought there’s no tradition of giving yellow flowers in Poland, I've got a beautiful yellow tulip from my husband:)

Corn Soup

1 can (400 g ) corn
1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, sliced
½ cup heavy cream
½ l vegetable stock
1 tbsp butter
½ leek, sliced
salt
white pepper
paprika

1. Boil sliced carrots in lightly salted water until desired tenderness. Drain and set aside.
2. Heat the butter in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté for 3 minutes, just until the onion starts to soften.
3. Add corn and vegetable stock and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the corn is tender.
4. Remove from the heat and puree using a hand blender until smooth.
5. Return the soup to the pan; add cream, leek and carrots. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 5 minutes or until the leek is tender.
6. Season with salt, white pepper, and paprika.

Przepis po polsku:
Zupa kukurydziana

Onion Day

As there was Zibelemärit (onion market) in Berne, Switzerland yesterday, Zorra from 1 x umrühren bitte blog has declared 26th November as an Onion Day. She invited food bloggers from all over the world to join the celebration by preparing a dish with onions on 26th November and blogging about it today. Even though I’m not a big fan of onions, there’s one onion recipe I absolutely love! The dish is Red Onion, Feta and Olives Tart and it’s definitely the best savory tart I’ve ever had!!!

The first time I tried this recipe though, it wasn’t that good at all. The mistake I made was omitting balsamic vinegar. I didn’t have balsamic vinegar at home and thought it would taste fine without it too. Well, it didn’t. It turned out that the vinegar was really an essential ingredient in the tart, as without it, the onions came out too sweet. This time, however, I followed the recipe and the result was amazing. The vinegar balanced the sweetness of the onion and sugar mixture and the tart came out delicious. The combination of flavors of sweet (but not too sweet this time) onions and savory feta and olives is absolutely genius.

The recipe comes from the Polish edition of Good Food: 101 Veggie Dishes cookbook and asks for ready puff pastry. I made the pastry myself using Nigella Lawson’s Processor Puff-Pastry recipe from How to Be a Domestic Goddess, I altered the recipe slightly by omitting the lemon juice though. The pastry came out great: buttery, flaky and tender.


Red Onion, Feta and Olives Tart
( adapted from the Polish edition of Good Food:101 Veggie Dishes)

Serves 4

25 g butter
2 large red onions, finely sliced
2 tbsp light brown sugar (e.g. Demerara or Light Muscovado)
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
450 g puff pastry (see the recipe below)
100 g feta cheese, crumbled
175 g black olives, sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
basil, chopped

Preheat the oven to 200°C (400F)

Melt the butter in a large pan. Add the onions and season to taste with salt. Fry for 10 minutes until golden and soft stirring occasionally. Add sugar and balsamic vinegar, and cook for a further 5 minutes until the juices are reduced and syrupy. Leave to cool.

Roll out the pastry on lightly floured surface. Lightly grease 25 cm (10 inch) tart pan, then line with the pastry. Cover with the onion mix. Scatter the feta and olives over. Drizzle the olive oil over the topping.

Bake for 15 minutes or until the pastry is risen and golden and the base is crisp. Top with the basil. Serve with green salad.

Processor Puff-Pastry*
( adapted from How to Be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson)

250g strong white flour
pinch of salt
250g cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 cm slices
5-6 tablespoons iced water

Pulse the flour and salt together in the processor, then add the butter and pulse 3-4 times, the pieces of butter should still be visible. Add the iced water, and pulse till the pastry begins to form a ball, then form a ball with your hands. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for half an hour.
Dust a surface with flour, roll the pastry out into a long rectangle, and fold it in three like a business letter.Now turn the folded pastry so that if it was a book the spine would be on your left. Repeat twice more, turning every time.
Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for another half an hour before using it.

* This makes enough for 2 tarts, so you may need to scale the recipe.

Handmade Gifts

"I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog."

I read this message on Anne's Food today and really really wanted to join the exchange. Sadly, Anne already had three comments, but Nikka, who had posted the same message on her blog earlier, still had two gifts to give. So, I left a comment on her blog and I’m very happy to say that now it’s my turn to give you some gifts. The only condition is that you will post the same message on your blog and make gifts for the first three people who will comment on your blog. Hope you'll join!!!