All posts filed under: favourite

Sweet Crêpes with Creamed Cottage Cheese Filling

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Name and pronunciation: naleśniki z serem [nah-lesh-nicky z sir-em]Description: crêpes with cottage cheeseType of cuisine: Eastern European —  This humble meal was always the most delicious treat for us as children. Now, they may not look like much, but they are absolutely delicious! Even though they are sweet, they are not seen as dessert, but as quick lunch or supper. — 8-10 servings (depending of the size of your pan) • Preparation time: about 30 minutes (up to 60 minutes with the resting time) — Tips: 01To make your crêpes even more special, you can add raisins and cinnamon to the cheese filling. 02The cheese filling is delicious as it is, but since it contains egg, you need to fry the crêpes before serving them. 03If you want to make them in advance, feel free. You can even freeze them! Simply prepare your crêpes, fold them with the cheese filling and refrigerate or freeze them. Take out ready to fry! 04Serve with Polish for local sour cream. If you cannot get it, you can replace it …

Heavenly Delicate Challah Topped with Sweet Crumble

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Name and pronunciation: chałka [how-kah]Description: challahType of cuisine: Eastern European Jewish —  This is one of the most important types of bread of my childhood, so it took me ages to this recipe perfectly right. My prefect challah is delicate, but not too puffy, never ever dry and with shiny, dark gold crust. — 2 challahs • Preparation time: about 35 minutes • Resting time: 1 hours plus 30 minutes • Baking time: about 20 minutes — Tips: 01Challah can be made sweeter if you want it as a dessert or a sweet snack, or less sweet if you would like to use it for an open, savoury sandwich. Adjust sugar accordingly – use 5 or even 6 tablespoons of sugar, if you like your bread a little sweeter, and reduce it down to 2 tablespoons, if you prefer your bread less sweet. 02If you decide to make your challah less sweet, you can also top is with poppyseeds or sesame seeds, instead the sweet crumble. — Ingredients: Challah:✽ 550 g all-purpose flour✽ ½ cup warm milk✽ ½ cup warm water✽ 30 g …

The Best Doughnuts with Lemon Glaze with Strawberry and Rose Filling

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Name and pronunciation: pączki z różą [punch-key z roo-Jean; “Jean” prononuced in a French way] Description: doughnuts with rose filling —  I love Polish doughnuts! They are absolutely delicious, not too sweet and much less dense than many other types of doughnuts. Also, they are always in a shape of balls and most often with lovely filling inside. They resemble berliners, but are more delicate inside. The most traditional type of Polish doughnuts is one with a rose jam filling and topped with thick glaze and candied orange peel. — 10 doughnuts • Preparation time: about 45 minutes • Resting time: 1 hours plus 30 minutes • Frying time: about a minute for each doughnut — Tips: 01Make sure you use enough flour for dusting your doughnuts before proofing. They will be very delicate and you do not want them to stick. 02When placing your risen doughnut in the oil, handle them very gently. They need to stay perfectly round and fluffy. 03While I absolutely love my doughnuts with a filling, my family prefer plain doughnuts, only glazed. It is perfectly …

Our Eastern Kitchen - Most Delicate Chocolate Cupcakes with Lemon Glaze, Rose Petals and Walnuts - Recipe - Food Photography

Most Delicate Chocolate Cupcakes with Lemon Glaze, Rose Petals and Walnuts

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I am very adamant about cakes that are too dry or too hard, so I absolute adore this recipe. The cupcakes are feather light, delicate and very moist inside. They also come out with flat tops, which makes them perfect for decorating. As it happens, no one in my family likes buttercream, so I always glaze them, or dust them and I love such neat, elegant finish. — Approximately 12 servings • Preparation time: about 30 minutes • Baking time: 20 minutes — Tips: 01The better you cream your ingredients, the more delicate the result. Butter and eggs need to beaten as well as possible, so take your time until they are smooth, visibly fluffy and almost white in colour. 02Be very careful when you glaze your cupcakes. Sugar gets extremely hot and sticks to your fingers, so any encounter with skin is highly unpleasant. 03Do not worry that if cupcakes change their height quite a lot during baking. It is perfectly normal. They will rise significantly at first, but then reduce to flat tops at the …

Our Eastern Kitchen - Delicious Apple Pie with Banana and Cardamom - Recipe - Food Photography

Delicious Apple Pie with Banana and Cardamom

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Name and pronunciation: szarlotka [shar-lot-kah] Description: apple pie Type of cuisine: Eastern European — It is a delicious twist on my Traditional Polish Apple Pie. Adding bananas instead of upping the sugar is a great solution when your apples are not very sweet. Cardamom is amazing and flavourful, especially combined with cinnamon. Together, so good and easy to make! — 10 servings • Preparation time: about 2 hours • Baking time: 50-60 minutes — Tips: 01If your over tends to underperform at the bottom (like mine), pre-bake the bottom crust for about 10-15 minutes. 02When you start, make sure butter is cold and very hard. 03Used what you have in your kitchen to create an original look for your pie. Here, I used a pizza cutter to cut pastry strips and my son’s playdough star cutter, since my cookie cutters were too big. 04Serve it with our thick, creamy caramel sauce. Amazing! — Ingredients: Pastry:✽ 300 g all-purpose flour✽ 250 g butter✽ 1 medium to large egg✽ 3 tablespoons sugar✽ 2 tablespoons vanilla sugar✽ 1½ teaspoons baking …

Our Eastern Kitchen - Pierogi with Green Lentils - Recipe - Food Photography

Pierogi with Green Lentils and Coriander

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Name and pronunciation: pierogi [pee-yeh-ro-ghi] – there is no need for the “s” at the end so often used in English. “Pierogi” is already a plural form. Description: dumplings Type of cuisine: Polish — I absolutely love pierogi with green lentils. They are flavourful and have a great texture, actually resembling meat, so even the most dedicated carnivores are guaranteed to enjoy them. I add fresh coriander, so it is not strictly traditional Polish filling, but it is a real staple in our house and we eat tonnes of them! — Approximately 40 servings • Preparation time: about 60 minutes • Resting time: 30 minutes (optional) • Cooking time: 1-2 minutes — Tips: 01With fresh pierogi, you have a choice between serving them just cooked, or frying them. After cooling or freezing, you should fry them. 02Both fresh and fried pierogi are perfect when served with fried onions or sour cream. 03Because you need to add two layers of dough to each bite, make sure that the filling is slightly saltier and a little bit spicer than you need it. This way …

Our Eastern Kitchen - Classic Marble Babka - Recipe - Food Photography

Classic Marble Babka

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Name and pronunciation: babka [bah-b-kah]Description: marble cakeType of cuisine: Eastern European — In Poland, we usually bake babka for Easter, but it is so quick, easy to prepare and everyone loves it, so it is great for any party or just as a weekend’s treat. There are many different recipes for babka, but I really like this one, since the cake is nice and moist inside, and stays fresh for good few days. — Depending on your form, about 12-16 servings • Preparation time: about 90 minutes • Baking time: about 60 minutes — Ingredients: ✽ 250 g all-purpose flour✽ 220 g sugar✽ 150 g unsalted butter✽ 5 eggs✽ 5 tablespoons oil (choose one with the least flavour, such as canola oil)✽ 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa✽ 1 tablespoon potato flour✽ 1½ teaspoon baking powder✽ 1 teaspoon vanilla powder — Method: 01Melt the butter in a saucepan. 02Sift both flours together with the baking powder to make sure they are thoroughly mixed. 03In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until they are shiny, silky smooth, and almost white. 04Once the eggs …

Our Eastern Kitchen - Vegetarian Iraqi Biryani - Recipe - Food Photography

Iraqi Biryani

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Name and pronunciation: البرياني [biryani]Description: our favourite vegetarian version of Iraqi biryaniType of cuisine: Arabic — Iraqi biryani is the first dish my husband cooked for me and it is sill one of my favourite tastes. It differs from the original, Indian version. It has much more rich and complex flavours and textures. There are many different ways to make biryani and we make it vegetarian, but you can opt to add some meat as well. — Approximately 4-6 people • Cooking time: about 60 minutes — Tips: 01All ingredients are quick and easy, but need to be prepared separately, so it is better to be organised and have everything ready in advance 02Feel free to use the same oil to fry all the ingredients. You will need a little more oil than usually. It is not exactly deep-frying, but you need about ½ good quality olive oil. Use a draining spoon to remove one type of ingredient, before adding another one. — Ingredients: ✽ medium potato✽ 1-2 medium carrots✽ 1 medium onion✽ ½ cauliflower✽ 2 cups rice (best to use …

Our Eastern Kitchen - Rich Chocolate Cake - Recipe - Food Photography

Rich Chocolate Cake

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This is by far my son’s favourite cake. He asks me to make it for him for his birthday every single year, without a fail. It has a rich chocolatey taste, but it is not too sweet and has a very soft, brownie-like consistency and texture. It is also so easy to make! — Preparation time: about 30 minutes • Baking time: 35-40 minutes — Ingredients: Cake: ✽ 1 cup flour ✽ ¾ cup sugar ✽ ½ cup milk ✽ 100 g baking chocolate ✽ 80 g butter ✽ 2 eggs ✽ 1 baking powder ✽ pinch of salt ✽ topping of fresh fruit and/or orange, lemon or lime zest (optional) Ganache: ✽ 100 g dark chocolate ✽ 100 g butter (could be a little less) Lime whipped cream: ✽ 250 g mascarpone ✽ 250 ml crème fraîche ✽ 1 lime — Method: 01In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Be careful not to burn it, so as soon as it has melted take it off heat and add the chocolate. Keep stirring and hot butter will melt the chocolate safely and turn it …

Our Eastern Kitchen - Delicious Pierogi with Cottage Cheese - Recipe - Food Photography

Delicious Pierogi with Cottage Cheese

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Name and pronunciation: pierogi z serem [pee-yeh-ro-ghi z seh-rem] – there is no need for the “s” at the end so often used in English. “Pierogi” is already a plural form. Description: dumplings with dry cottage cheese Type of cuisine: Polish — This is a true taste of my childhood. My late maternal grandmother made the best pierogi with cheese. This recipe is based on how she made them. — Approximately 40 pieces • Preparation time: about 60 minutes • Resting time: 30 minutes (optional) • Cooking time: 1-2 minutes — Tips: 01With fresh pierogi, you have a choice between serving them just cooked, or frying them. After cooling or freezing, you should fry them. 02Both fresh and fried pierogi with cottage cheese are perfect when served with fried onions or sour cream. — Ingredients: Dough: ✽ one portion of pierogi dough Cottage cheese filling: ✽ 250 g Polish dry cottage cheese  ✽ 250 g potatoes ✽ 1 large onion ✽ 1 teaspoon salt (to taste) ✽ 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (to taste) ✽ 2 teaspoons black seed (Nigella Sativa, to taste) — Method: 01Make a portion of dough and …