Cook Your Dream

Weekend in The West Country

2012-02-01T22:55:00.001Z

A weekend spent with friends, breathing fresh air and enjoying the beauty of West Country was all I needed to recharge my inner batteries. It was my first time visiting this part of the UK and I fell in love instantly. Located between the Bristol Channel and English Channel, you don't have to travel more than half an hour to reach one of the coasts. Sounds like a perfect place to me.

Waking up in a beautiful sunlit room made me incredibly happy and reminded me how much I need sunshine in my life. I hadn't felt so inspired since last summer. London winter is too long!

Local baked eggs for breakfast supplied us with enough energy for most of the day.

We had shortly stopped for a few shots in Exmoor National Park before heading to the coast. Exmoor Ponies are probably the cutest horses I've ever seen. They looked so beautiful and elegant in the afternoon light.

When we finally arrived to Lynmouth, I was in awe. This small coastal village won my heart immediately. I would love to spend at least a week here.

We stopped in Glastonbury on the way home to see ruins of Glastonbury Abbey and the burial place of King Arthur.

What a weekend! I can't wait to get back and explore some more of this charming part of the UK.

Homemade Butter

2012-01-26T11:07:00.000Z

I think it's time to finally say hi and break my radio silence. Also, I would like to wish you all a very late happy New Year. I hope your new year has started out fantastic!

I can't believe January is almost over!

I've been struggling with lack of inspiration and motivation, and that's the reason why I haven't been updating my blog lately. I have to say, though, that I've been missing you and my little blog.
Luckily, my very dear friend Giulia came in London on a working holiday. I always enjoy the time we spend together working on new ideas, brainstorming, cooking and laughing. Isn't that exactly all you need when you are looking for inspiration everywhere, but can't seem to find any?

New motivation didn't come easy to me though. I must admit that Juls and P. basically blackmailed me into working on a new projects and posts. I want to thank them for that!

Back to basics!

Complicated projects are not ideal for times when you get stuck. Just get back to basics. Start adding more, little by little. I'm not an expert on "getting stuck situations", but this worked for me.

I decided to get back to basics. I've been planning on making homemade butter for sooooo long.

What ingredients do you always have in your fridge? I usually have eggs, cheese, fresh vegetables and butter in my fridge. As Julia Child said, "Butter makes everything taste better".

Homemade butter is, however, completely different experience. It's so creamy and silky with a hint of Maldon sea salt. Add freshly baked bread and I'm sold! If that's not enough for you, head over to Juls' blog to add just one more ingredient to create an easy sandwich bursting with flavours.

You can very easily prepare butter using your food processor or blender. Using a shaking technique is much more fun and it's a perfect arms workout. After making my butter, the next day I felt like I had spent an hour in the gym. Somebody could say it's a bit too much of a hassle for butter, but believe me, it is well worth it.

Butter
yields about 90g butter

250ml double cream
Maldon sea salt to taste

Pour the double cream into a jar. The jar should be at least one third larger than the amount of double cream. Put a lid on, and start shaking the jar. After 2-3 minutes, the cream should be quite thick and nicely whipped. Continue shaking, until the cream starts to pull away from the sides of the glass. At this point it's quite hard to shake the jar, so it's easier and more effective to tap the jar firmly on a table covered with a thick layer of tea towels. Be careful not to brake the jar. Continue to tap the jar, turning it upside down and back as you go, until the buttermilk starts separating from the butter. Pour the buttermilk into another container (you can use the buttermilk later) and shake the jar a few more times to separate as much of buttermilk as possible.
Pour cold water into the jar to wash the butter. Pour off the water. Use a spoon or spatula to squeeze out as much buttermilk out of the butter as possible. Wash again until the water is clear. When the butter is clean, mix in salt to taste and refrigerate.
You can also add herbs or garlic if you like.

A Late Summer Trip to Budapest

2011-11-28T15:58:00.001Z

Back in October, P. and I traveled to Budapest. I had heard so much about this city so I was very happy that we finally decided to make the trip. It was our only late summer holiday this year and we were so lucky that the weather cooperated. A sudden heat wave hit Europe during the first week of October, the week we were soaking up the beauty and indulging in culinary delicacies of Hungary's capital city.

I planned to post some photos from our trip and share foodie places with you, but the last two months went by so quickly I almost gave up any chance of writing this post. It took me two months, but I finally managed to edit and sort out hundreds of photos. I hope you are ready for a photo heavy post.

We spent the first three days in a small hotel in the centre, ideally located for exploring the city. St. Stephen's Basilica was literally ten minutes walk away from our hotel. Standing under its magnificent dome decorated with mosaics I felt so small. Then we climbed up to a viewing platform above the cupola to admire the view of both sides of the river Danube - hilly Buda and flat Pest.

Budapest is a city rich in historical sights, and it's even more charming at night when the entire city is beautifully lit.

The shoes on the bank of the Danube river are a sad memorial to Jews who were shot into the river during World War II.

Food was obviously very important part of our trip and we were not disappointed. We had our first Hungarian meal at Pesti Disznó, choosing a traditional lecsó and chicken paprika. My mum used to make a czech version of lecsó when I was a kid, but I must say this was the best lecsó I've ever had.

There's probably no better place to sample on local delicacies than the Central Market Hall. This gorgeous three-storey building is packed with stalls selling local produce and the top floor offers hot food ready to devour. The presence of locals crowded around the stalls and eating food indicates this place is more than just a tourist attraction. We alway want to taste local food so we ordered stuffed paprika and spicy sausage served with white bread and mustard.

Zizi was our lovely host for the rest of our trip. She took us to her favourite organic farmers market on Saturday morning. I finally understand why she wakes up early every Saturday to stock up on all the wonderful fruits and vegetables. I wish we had this market in London.

After the early morning start coffee was in order. Another Zizi's favourite place, Villa Bagatelle was luckily just a short walk from the market. A three-storey villa converted to a charming cafe with their own bakery and a small home decor shop looked like my dream house.

Sunday trip to Visegrad started with fresh hot langos. A deep fried flat bread served traditionally with garlic, grated cheese or sour cream brought back so many memories of my summer holidays spent at my aunt's summer house in the Slovak Republic.

Freshly made Kürtőskalács was the perfect touch to our trip. We have a similar pastry baked over an open fire in the Czech Republic, but the original Hungarian version is the best.

We spent the last two days enjoying Budapest's numerous little cafes and wine bars. The beautiful sunny weather was perfect for sitting outside with a cup of coffee and homemade ginger lemonade from Sarki Fuszeres. This place is a very cute little cafe and deli with an outdoor seating area.

Perfectly located in front of the St. Stephen's Basilica was our favourite gelato shop Gelarto Rosa selling their gelato formed into the shape of a rose. I went back for my pumpkin and pistachio rose more than once!

This trip had everything we could have asked for - great food, friends and fun! I can't complain. My big thanks go to Zizi for being the best host, sharing her favourite places to eat and making our trip so pleasant and memorable.

I close this massive photo post with a self portrait picture taken at our favourite Divino wine bar.

Oven Dried Cherry Tomatoes and A New Portfolio Website

2011-11-09T13:37:00.001Z

If you like tomatoes as much as I do, then you will like today's recipe. We picked the last of our cherry tomatoes about a mont ago, and I wanted to preserve the sweet red taste of summer for longer. I've been wanting to make my own sun dried tomatoes for quite a while. Sadly, London weather can't be considered sun-dried tomatoes friendly. I could succesfully make rain soaked tomatoes. However, drying tomatoes in the oven is an easy alternative. I had already made one batch in the summer, but we ate them all in a few days. Just imagine fresh wholemeal bread with slices of cheddar topped with these red gems, or scrambled eggs, enriched with a few dried tomatoes. The combinations are endless.

Making oven dried cherry tomatoes is very easy and doesn't actually need a recipe. Because cherry tomatoes are really small, you don't even have to remove the seeds. Just cut them in half, place on a baking tray, pour over olive oil mixed with your favourite spices and herbs, and dry them in the oven until they reach the desired level of dryness. Let them cool down and enjoy!

In the meantime, before I let you dream about how delicious and sweet these oven dried tomatoes are, I have some news I'd like to share with you. I have finally finished my new photography portfolio website. It still needs some finishing touches, but it's up and running already. My huge thanks go to P. who not only built the website (designed by yours truly) but also spent a particularly long time to make sure the website works fast. I think he succeeded.

Oven dried cherry tomatoes
for one 40x30cm baking tray

50-60 cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup olive oil
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
enough olive oil to fill your jar

Preheat oven to 75°C.
In a small bowl, combine olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper and oregano. Adjust seasoning to your liking. Place the tomatoes cut side up on a baking tray. Spoon the olive oil mixture over the tomatoes and bake for 4-5 hours, until they reach the desired level of dryness . Let them cool completely, then transfer to a clean jar. Fill the jar with olive oil, making sure the tomatoes are completely submerged.
Keep the jar refrigerated and the tomatoes will last for at least a month.

Halloween Pumpkins - Pick Your Own

2011-10-28T17:06:00.000+01:00

It seems like summer ended recently and it's already Halloween weekend coming up! I really like this time of year. The colourful leaves, fresh air, morning breeze, apples, pears, autumn vegetables and pumpkins, they all remind me, it's autumn. Pumpkins and Halloween however, are quite new to me. I had obviously seen and eaten pumpkins before, but we don't celebrate Halloween in the Czech Republic. I'd never carved a pumpkin until we moved to the UK, but I quickly embraced this tradition.

Last weekend P. and I took our first trip to the pumpkin patch. We usually buy pumpkins at a supermarket or garden centre. However, since I read a few blog posts about pumpkin picking, I've wanted to pick my own Halloween pumpkin. Luckily, I stumbled upon Beluncle Farm. Weather was beautiful and sunny last weekend so going to the pumpkin patch sounded like a great idea for a Sunday trip.

We arrived at the farm in the afternoon and on our arrival we were welcomed by a lovely lady who showed us the way to a large field full of gorgeous orange pumpkins of all sizes and shapes. All kids at the farm were having lots of fun picking pumpkins. I felt happy like a kid wandering through rows of pumpkins, trying to find all members of our “pumpkin family“.
We had the pleasure to chat with Mark Batchelor, who runs Beluncle Farm together with his wife Verity. He let me take some photos of his artichoke farm, but more on that some other time. The lovely lady turned out to be Mark's mother and she shared her favourite way to roast squash - with a little bit of honey. I can't wait to give it a try.

What made this trip even more special was the fact, that all proceeds from the PYO event went to Colitis and Crohn's UK. Mark and Verity's son Luke who is only 10, suffers from Crohn's disease and his parents organised the PYO weekend as a fundraising event. Is there a better thing than spending a great afternoon and helping a good cause?

I think this was an amazing event. I hope to come back next year for more pumpkin picking!

Now it's time to carve our pumpkin family! Have a happy and spooky Halloween weekend! :)

*******
Beluncle Farm, Stoke Road, Hoo, UK

Smoked Salmon and Potato Salad with Dill

2011-10-06T16:42:00.008+01:00

On Tuesday I arrived back home from a short holiday to Budapest. We had such a wonderful time enjoying delicious Hungarian food, the charming city of Budapest and gorgeous Indian Summer sunshine. I couldn't have wished for more. Once I finish editing 500+ photos, I will post about our trip. There will be many foodie places tips, so stay tuned. To make the waiting easier, here's a quick recipe for my favourite smoked salmon salad. I made this recipe a few times already, and it's always a hit.

I usually use soured cream for the dressing. This time I didn't have any soured cream, so I replaced that with greek yogurt. It's a bit lighter but still very tasty.

Smoked salmon and potato salad with dill

Serves 2

400g baby potatoes

125ml (1/2 cup) greek yogurt (soured cream)

1 small garlic clove, crushed

1tsp lemon juice

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 handful fresh dill, chopped

1 spring onion, chopped

170g smoked salmon, torn into small pieces

Wash the potatoes, put them in a small pot and cover with water. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat, and simmer until the potatoes are soft, about 10 minutes or so. Meanwhile, prepare the yogurt dressing. In a small bowl, combine the yogurt, garlic, lemon juice and season with salt a pepper. Stir in about half of the dill.

Strain the potatoes and let them sit for a while to cool down. Arrange potatoes and salmon on plates, sprinkle with the remaining dill and spring onion. Finally, spoon over the yogurt dressing and serve.

End of Summer and Beachy Head

2011-09-20T16:44:00.022+01:00

I know it's been a while since I last updated this place. I just can't believe how fast summer went by! I hope your summer was sunny, filled with lots of fun, love and joy.

I'm just in the middle of packing and getting ready for our holiday to Hungary tomorrow. It is our only holiday this year, and since P. and I both turned 30 last week, it's also our little birthday present. I hope things will slow down a bit after our holiday and I will be able to get back to regular blogging. Until then, here's a quick update on my sumer.

I was a very busy girl this summer but I absolutely enjoyed it. Co-organising FBC11, meeting friends and bloggers and shooting for interesting clients filled my summer days, and I loved every bit of it. Meeting Béa from La Tartine Gourmande in person was indeed on of the highlights of my summer. She was teaching food photography and styling at the Food Blogger Connect 2011. Having lots of fun and cooking together with Juls and Zizi who stayed at mine during the conference was like having a relaxing treatment and helped me to get some energy before a Prague's photo shoot. To make my bloggers-meeting summer complete, I was hosting Alessio last week, and together we finally got to meet Asha who had shortly stopped in London during her holiday in the UK.

Uhh, time is running fast and my suitcase is still not packed yet! So I leave you here with a few pictures from a trip to Beachy Head on the south coast of England. We took the trip with P's parents and his sister who came to stay with us for a week near the end of the summer. I absolutely adore this place. I hope you will enjoy the pictures. See you soon!

Mixed Green, Tomato and Feta Salad

2011-08-05T18:26:00.010+01:00

Today I made myself the most simple basic salad for late lunch. Um, very late lunch to be honest. At least I think eating at 3.50pm is quite late to call it lunch. But I don't really care about time when I eat. I just eat when I'm hungry. I'm currently home alone, so simple fast dishes are on my menu again. As I've probably mentioned many times before, I'm too lazy to cook just for myself. Luckily it's still summer, even thought it doesn't look like that for most of the time it London, and many vegetables are in season. It's therefore easy to make a quick salad full of nutritions and vitamins.

Also our cherry tomatoes are finally ripe and red. They, however have very little chance to make it into a salad as they are most often eaten immediately after being picked. They are so sweet and juicy that I just can't resist. Although P. prefers his tomatoes less ripe with a hint of sourness and chilled from the fridge. So I always keep some tomatoes in the fridge for a quick snack.

Today's salad doesn't even need any recipe. It's seriously no-fuss salad you can throw together in a couple of minutes. Simply combine your favourite greens with one chopped tomato in a bowl, toss together with some cubed feta and your favourite dressing. Enjoy as it is, or serve with grilled meat.

Mixed green tomato and feta salad

Serves 1

50-70g mixed greens (lettuce, baby spinach, watercress, cilantro)

1 beef tomato, chopped

50g feta cheese, cubed

2tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1tsp balsamic vinegar

salt and freshly ground pepper

In a medium bowl, combine the greens, tomato and feta. To make the dressing mix together the olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Pour over vegetables and lightly toss.

Our Kitchen Garden Update

2011-07-22T16:48:00.011+01:00

I just found an old blog post that I wrote about a month ago but never actually posted it. It was my garden update and I couldn't believe how much our garden has changed since I wrote it. It's almost like kids, plants grow so fast. Looking at the old pictures of our kitchen garden, I felt happy and proud. I saw result of our everyday care and love we try to give to our plants. Result of the constant battle with whiteflies, leafhoppers, aphides, slugs, snails and other pests. We try to protect our plants, nurture them and they give us what they can for our care. I love our small kitchen garden. It's a hobby, pleasure and fun. I often think of my grandparents who used to have a big garden with all kinds of fruit and vegetables and some fruit trees. I would need their knowledge and experience now. They knew how to fight pests and how to give the best to every possible plant to get the best fruit and vegetable in return. I try to remember everything I can from my childhood when I used to help my grandparent in their garden, because unfortunately I can not ask them for advice. Instead, we learn. We learn every day, and we may not be the best gardeners, but we do our best and appreciate every new fruit our garden gives us.

Greek Basil

Last strawberries of the season

Mint

Although we love our garden, it's not always an easy job. Especially when weather doesn't cooperate. A typical British summer with frequent showers and lack of sunshine doesn't help our tomatoes to ripen. I'm so impatient! Large leafhoppers population nearly destroyed oregano and sage plant. It's a labour of love, but it's extremely satisfying and it's fun. For example, we grow "his" and "her" plants. P. insisted he wanted to grow chilli peppers and I had to have my rhubarb.

"Her" Rhubarb

"His" Chilli Peppers

Red Lettuce

Broad Beans

Marjoram in Bloom

Purple Sprouting Broccoli

Not all of our gardening attempts are successful. The purple sprouting broccoli plant doesn't do very well and I doubt it will ever produce any sprouts. Most of the tomatoes are still green, which is not our fault, but luckily there are already a few red ones too. We also planted new seeds of Swiss Chard, because the first plants were destroyed by black flies. Gardening is a never ending job but so rewarding.

Cherry Tomatoes

Swiss Chard

Flat Leaf Parsley

New baby spinach / Watercress

Do you remember my spring onions? They've done quite a good job growing from this:

to this:

Spring Onions

I wish you all a wonderful sunny weekend!

Gooseberry sorbet

2011-07-15T15:24:00.008+01:00

I can't believe how quickly time flies. I had been waiting for summer what seemed like forever, and suddenly it's the middle of July. We have quite mild summer this year, at least for my taste. I'm a summer kind of girl and I love hot summer months with temperatures around 30C. But it's just not a case of British summer. Unfortunately, we even don't plan any summer holiday this year which means I have to be happy with British summer.

Absence of super hot summer days of course doesn't stop me from enjoying typical summer tastes and treats like ice creams and sweet juicy fruits. My favourite pick your own farm supplies me with summer fruit and vegetable that we don't grow in our small kitchen garden. I really enjoy picking seasonal fruit and veg and turning them into delicious meals.

A typical summer fruit which is difficult to find in local supermarkets is gooseberry. It's quite underestimated fruit but it's so delicious and packed with vitamin C. Many people don't like gooseberries for their typical tart taste, but I can eat kilos of them. As I've already said in my last blog post, gooseberries were one of my favourite fruit when I was a kid and they bring so many memories from my childhood. I would always pick and eat gooseberries straight off the bush in my grandparent's garden.

P. and I always try to spend as much time in nature as possible during weekends. Quite often our weekend trips lead us to the nearest pick your own farm. We picked so many gooseberries last time that I decided to make a gooseberry sorbet. I've never tried to make gooseberry sorbet before and I was really surprised how delicious it was. It's very refreshing not overly sweet sorbet and same as all sorbets it's very easy to make.

Gooseberry sorbet

800g fresh gooseberries, topped and tailed

300g golden caster sugar

300ml water

Put sugar and water in a medium sauce pan, heat over medium heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add gooseberries, bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Let it cool down slightly before pureeing in a blender or food processor. Press the mixture through a sieve into a bowl, squeezing out as much juices as possible. Leave the puree to cool completely, then pour into a freezer safe container and place in a freezer. When the sorbet starts to freeze around the edges, take it out of the freezer and stir with a fork to break up any frozen sections. Return to the freezer and repeat the process until the sorbet is completely frozen.

If you are using ice cream maker, churn according to the machine instruction.

Naked Beet Green Quiche

2011-06-27T22:43:00.019+01:00

It's almost unbelievable, but summer has finally arrived in the UK! I can't describe how happy and thankful I am. After a couple of weeks of constant rain even P. had started to feel depressed. Our kitchen garden and lawn have been watered deeply and heavily, however I could see they were longing for the sunshine same we were.

When I saw the weather forecast for the past weekend, I knew instantly we wouldn't be staying at home for a moment longer than necessary. On Saturday we decided to take a photo walk to test my new zoom lens. So far I've been exclusively using prime lenses for food shots, however I started to feel the need for a zoom lens for taking pictures outside. I haven't yet fully explored the possibilities of the new lens, but I can already say I like it.

On Sunday, we went to a pick your own farm to get some fruits and vegetables which we don't grown in our mini kitchen garden. We picked lots of beets, some spring onions, baby courgettes, baby broccoli and gooseberries. I'm actually eating the gooseberries as I sit here and write this post. They are so sweet and delicious, and bring back so many memories of my childhood.

There was a reason for the huge amount of beets we picked. I'm planning to make beet chutney. I love beets in any form, but I've never tried to make beet chutney yet. If I like it, I will definitely share the recipe here. I also started using beet greens recently. I used to just discard them without realising how delicious they are! To be honest, I didn't know they are edible! Beet greens are very similar to chard leaves or fresh spinach leaves, and can be substituted for each other in many recipes. P. goes crazy for beet greens sauteed with garlic and chilli, seasoned with salt and freshly ground pepper. He doesn't really care too much for spinach though. Beet greens are particularly flavourful and rich in vitamins and minerals. They are wonderful in salads and soups, but they also make a great base for savoury tarts. We love savoury tarts in this house. However, I decided to make a crustless version to save time as we were too hungry. But you can use the recipe together with your favourite tart crust.

Before I leave you with the recipe, there's someone who wants to say hi! :) Have a wonderful week.

Naked (crustless) beet green quiche

2tbsp mild olive oil

4 shallots, finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 red chili pepper, seeded and finely chopped

500g beet greens, stems removed, coarsely chopped

3 slices smoked bacon, cut into small pieces

6 spring onions, finely sliced

4 eggs

150ml sour cream

150ml milk

65g cheddar, grated

pinch of grated nutmeg

salt and freshly ground pepper

grated parmesan

Lightly butter a tart pan and preheat oven to 175°C.

Heat oil in a frying pan, add the shallots and sauté until soft, but not brown, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and chili pepper and cook for another minute. Stir in beet greens and cook until they are wilted and soft, for about 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat, transfer to a bowl and let cool slightly. Squeeze out any excess liquid. In the same pan, fry the bacon over medium heat until slightly crispy. Add the bacon and spring onions to beet greens and toss well.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream, milk, cheddar and nut meg. Add the beet green mixture and stir to blend. Transfer to prepared pan. Sprinkle with grated parmesan and bake until eggs are set, for about 30-40 minutes.

From My Garden - Turnip Gratin

2011-06-15T19:12:00.011+01:00

I recently realised that so far I have only posted one recipe which contained some produce from my kitchen garden. I was planning to show you our strawberries, but I always picked and ate them straight off the plant when I saw a new one is beautifully red and ripe. They were so sweet and juicy I couldn't help but eat them all. P. was lucky when he got one or two.

We make salads basically every day as we get a constant supply of lettuce, rocket and herbs, but that's nothing so interesting to blog about. This actually reminds me, I still owe you a garden update! It has grown so much since my first post that you would not recognise it. We will have first tomatoes soon. I spotted some tiny green ones last week. I can't wait!

Anyway, today's post is about turnips. I discovered turnips last year. I've never eaten them before, but they are apparently commonly eaten in the UK same as swede. I actually took a liking for this vegetable, and when we were choosing seeds for our garden, I wanted to grow my own turnips. There was a funny story of our turnips. When P. was telling his parents about our garden, they were quite surprised that we grow and eat turnips, because they are known as only eaten by animals in the Czech Republic. Well, different countries have different customs for eating food. :) I'm glad I stumbled upon this vegetable and I really like it.

Their taste reminds me of radishes or more like kohlrabi, and they are delicious baked with cream or creme fraiche, pancetta, garlic and thyme. Turnip gratin became one of P's favourites. The gratin would make a great side dish for grilled meat, but we usually eat it on its own with a salad. Do you eat turnips and what's your favourite way to use them? I'd love to know.

Turnip gratin
serves 2

6 baby turnips, peeled and thinly sliced
250ml double cream
2 garlic clove, crashed
2 spring fresh thyme, leaves chopped
pinch of ground nutmeg
7 slices pancetta ham, cut into 2-3cm pieces
salt and freshly ground pepper

1tbsp grated parmesan

Heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. In a small saucepan, whisk together the cream, garlic, thyme. Bring the mixture to the boil and simmer for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Prepare a small gratin dish and arrange the turnip slices and pancetta slices in overlapping layers. Always put one pancetta slice between two turnip slices. Pour over the cream mixture and sprinkle with parmesan over top. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the turnips are tender.

Rocket Pesto Penne with Chickpeas

2011-05-29T20:33:00.005+01:00

I should start by saying that I originally planned to post a raspberry cheesecake recipe which I made last week for our friends. I started writing the post on Friday and I wanted to finish it tonight. But before I could do so, I made this amazing penne with rocket pesto for my lunch and I immediately wanted to share the recipe with you.

I promise I will post the cheesecake recipe soon!

This is exactly the type of food I make for myself when I'm home alone. I opened the fridge today, checking it for ingredients I could use to make my lunch. I didn't have many options. I must admit I usually can't be bother to do the big grocery shopping when I'm home alone. I often use all leftover ingredients instead. It's a wonderful opportunity to improvise and it makes me think outside the box. Even if my experiments don't work, I don't have to worry that two people would be hungry. :)

This rocket - chickpeas - goat cheese experiment worked great though. I just used leftover chickpeas and goat cheese from yesterday's salad and combined it with some fresh rocket from my garden. Easy, fast, fresh, perfect!

My yesterday's lunch was similarly fast and easy. I picked some fresh radishes and cress from our garden and put them on rye bread with hummus for a light lunch. It's so wonderful having your own garden. I can't wait to pick fresh strawberries for tomorrow's breakfast.

Penne with rocket pesto, chickpeas and goat cheese
Serves 1

90g penne
100g canned chickpeas
50g fresh goat cheese

Rocket pesto
20g fresh rocket
10g pine nuts

1 small garlic clove
10g parmesan, cut into small pieces
pinch of salt
olive oil

Cook pasta according to package instruction.

Meanwhile, prepare the pesto. Put all the ingredients except the olive oil into a food processor and quickly process until ingredients are finely chopped. Be careful not to over-process. The texture should be a little chunky. You may need to stop the processor and scrape down the sides a few times to make sure all ingredients are well chopped and mixed. Add a couple tablespoons of olive oil and pulse a few more times. Add in more olive oil, as needed, until you reach your desired consistency. Check the seasoning and add more salt if necessary.

When pasta is ready, drain and return to the pan. Add the pesto and chickpeas and toss gently until the pasta is well coated with pesto. Transfer pasta on a plate, crumble goat cheese on top and serve.

A Weekend Trip to Wales

2011-05-26T12:05:00.014+01:00

I love spring! Warm but not hot sunshine, fresh air and gentle wind, reasonably long days and just occasional showers make spring the perfect season for trips. Particularly the kind of trips which involve climbing up mountains. At least, I prefer covering myself with a windbreaker jacket to sweating up a mountain.

I took a few days off last week to enjoy the company of our friends who came to visit us, and together we decided to take a tree day trip to Wales and climb up Pen y Fan (886 m) which is the highest peak in Brecon Beacons national park. As I've probably already mentioned many times here, I love British countryside and nature, but Wales is definitely one of my most favourite parts in the UK.

We were very lucky with the weather as the heavy rain that had been forecast didn't arrive and the only shower caught us while we were in the car. Cloudy sky gave us perfect lighting for landscape photography, so the only complaint about the weather was quite strong and cold wind on the top of Pen y Fan. The wind blew our friend's tripod with the camera over, but luckily the only thing that broke was the polarising filter. This once again confirmed that lens filter is a good investment.

Beautiful landscape with grass covered peaks and breathtaking views are just part of natural beauty which Becon Breacons national park offers. Coed Y Rhaeadr which means Waterfall Country is renowned waterfalls and caves area promising spectacular scenery. Sgwd y Eira is the most famous waterfall on the river Hepste. The name in English means "waterfall of snow". There's a natural path behind the waterfall so you can enjoy the unusual view of the curtain of water.

I should mention that we visited all these places in one day which felt like self destruction at the end of the day, and we slept like babies that night. Anyway, I totally enjoyed our weekend away and felt very relaxed, yet so physically tired. :)

Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Goat Cheese Spaghetti

2011-05-10T16:13:00.012+01:00

I'm quite positive that proper spring is here. Outdoor temperatures stay around pleasant 18 degrees and sunshine do it's work on my garden. I will update you on garden news soon as the little patch of green that makes me so happy has grown rapidly during the last two weeks. I still have to wait to harvest my own tomatoes, however I have sufficient supply of fresh herbs and baby lettuce and spinach leaves that we treat ourselves to regularly. Warm and sunny weather also means that I tend to cook and eat lighter food with enough fresh fruit and vegetables. Pasta is, however, something constant on our menu throughout the year. I've already told you many times I'm a pasta maniac, haven't I?

This pasta dish is very quick and easy to make. It's exactly the type of food I like to cook especially during hot months, when you don't want to spent long hours near a hot stove. You can easily use any leftover pasta which you just heat up and toss with the rest of ingredients. The combo of roasted cherry tomatoes and goat cheese is fantastic on it's own. I can imagine making roasted tomato and goat cheese bruschetta, or adding both in a salad. Options are endless here, you can never go wrong with tomatoes and cheese.

It's time to think about Saturday lunch. Have a wonderful weekend!

Roasted cherry tomatoes and goat cheese spaghetti
Serves 2

13-14 cherry tomatoes
190g spaghetti
4tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tbsp pine nuts
salt and freshly ground black pepper
125g soft goat cheese, crumbled
2 tbsp grated parmesan
handful fresh basil leaves

Preheat oven to 180°C. Place the tomatoes rubbed in olive oil on a baking tray, sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook spaghetti according to package directions. When the pasta is ready, drain and return to the pan. In a small bowl, mix the olive oil, garlic, pine nuts, salt and pepper. Add to the pasta with half of the goat cheese and parmesan and toss to combine. Divide pasta between two plates and place cherry tomatoes on top. Sprinkle the rest of goat cheese and basil on top, and serve.

Caramelised Onion, Broccoli and Mushroom Quinoa

2011-05-05T20:19:00.015+01:00

I wanted to post another soup recipe when I remembered I promised the next recipe would be something else than soup. I still have many soup recipes I would like to share here. Not today, though.

I have something else for you. Soups are my favourite food because you can make them ahead and just heat them up for a quick lunch. Same as soups, salads are easy and quick to make, therefore, ideal for a quick lunch. Do you like quinoa? I have become addicted to quinoa since our new year's detox. I have already tried many recipes, however combination of caramelised onion, fried mushrooms, broccoli and balsamic vinegar instantly made the top of my favourite quinoa recipe list. It's so easy and tasty that I had to share the recipe with you. This salad is very good even when it's cold, so if you have any leftovers, just keep them in an airtight container in your fridge for a quick lunch the next day.

What a shame I didn't have any quinoa left for our weekend trip to the English countryside. That would be perfect picnic food. It looks like spring has finally come back after two long cold weeks. More trips and picnics will be planned and I can't wait! I love when nature wakes up and everything around you is green and full of fresh energy. The feel of sunshine on my skip makes me very happy.

I truly love weekends spent in the countryside. The peaceful quite interrupted only by birds chirping is so relaxing and it gives me so much energy. I wish you all a great week!

Caramelised onion, mushroom and broccoli quinoa

Serves 2-3

160g quinoa

400ml vegetable stock

3tbsp olive oil

2 medium onions, peeled, halved and sliced

1/2 tsp golden cane sugar

2tsp balsamic vinegar

1/4 tsp salt

180g mushrooms, sliced

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 head broccoli, broken into small florets

Rinse the quinoa in plenty of cold water and drain. Place it in a medium saucepan, add hot vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Simmer over low heat for 15 minutes, until it's tender and all the liquid is absorbed.

Meanwhile, heat 2tbsp oil in a frying pan, add the onions and cook slowly for 15 minutes, until soft and caramelised, but not browned. Add the sugar, 1 tsp of balsamic vinegar, salt and cook for another two minutes. Stir into the cooked quinoa and set aside.

In the same pan add 1 tbsp oil and add mushrooms. Cook on medium heat, until softened, about 7 minutes. Meanwhile, put the broccoli into a large pan or Pyrex bowl and cover with boiling water. Let them sit in the water for two minutes, then drain. When mushrooms are soft, add garlic and cook for one minute. Lastly, add the drained broccoli, remaining balsamic vinegar and toss everything together. Mix the vegetables with the quinoa and onions, toss well, and serve.

I have a garden!

2011-04-19T10:47:00.017+01:00

Basil, Thyme and Chive

Finally I have a garden! And I grow my own herbs and vegetables there! Oh, I can't forget strawberries! So I also grow my own fruit! :)

Last year, P. and I moved to a new house. Just the two of us, no more housemates and sharing. That was definitely one of many advantages and benefits of our new home. We love the place! Having my own space for a studio and a huge kitchen were beyond my dreams and, on top of that, we finally have a garden. It's not a big garden but it's still a garden, and most importantly I can finally grow my own herbs and vegetables. I can't be happier.

Watching my herbs and vegetables grow from a tiny seed to the first small green leaves brings me so much pleasure. There's something very rewarding about growing your own veg. I would like to share this pleasure with you, so now I invite you to take a virtual tour of my garden.

Sage

Marjoram

Oregano

Rosemary

Curry Plant

I believe that everyone can grow their own vegetables and herbs because it's surprisingly quite easy! I didn't grow the herbs above from seeds but bought potted herbs in a garden centre and replanted them. I tried the same with supermarket herbs but they usually died after a few weeks.

I grow all my herbs in big flower pots as I find it easier to protect them from snails and slugs. So far the best protection from slugs we have found is beer. Just pour some beer into a shallow container and place in your garden. The slugs will crawl in and drawn. Have you tried any other form of protection from slugs that works?

I grew all the following plants from seeds, except strawberries. It's so exciting how fast they grow!

Bright Lights Radishes

Lettuce

Tomatoes Maskotka

First "soon to be" strawberries!

There will be more of them!

Hot Orange Wonder Pepper and Cayenne Pepper

However I'm not entirely sure what's in this box on left, I think it could be rocket. I'll let you know in a few days when the tiny leaves start to resemble something. The parsley definitely need to be thinned and replanted as it looks like parsley wildwood right now!

Left: ?, Right: Parsley

Mixed Red Leaves Lettuce

Spinach

Headed Mixed Lettuce

I really wonder if these poor things will grow into spring onions one day!

Spring White Lisbon Winter Hardy Onion

I will update you on the progress my garden makes. I can't wait to show you some pics of my first fruits!

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup and Friends

2011-04-11T23:25:00.007+01:00

Another soup? It seems like we have only been eating soups in this house. The last recipe I shared was soup, too. But there's nothing wrong about soups, right? I love them. They are tasty and quick, and I can never get enough of them. Also a slightly colder weather we've got today just called for a warm comfort soup. Well, the morning was nice and sunny, but it got cloudy and chilly in the afternoon. I had got used to the beautiful warm and sunny weather quickly because I love eating outside in the garden! I had actually enjoyed this butternut squash soup in the garden too, just before I covered myself in a blanket to raise my body temperature! :)

It's been a week since a wonderful weekend full of laughter and good food with Juls and Tiina, and I still smile thinking about our breakfasts in the garden, food markets we visited, food we cooked together and our mini photography/styling workshop. There's nothing like great friends and food bloggers under one roof for a couple of days. Sadly, we were missing Beth and Chris to make the gang complete!

Why is it that time flies so fast when you are having a great time? Anyway, the weekend was short but it filled me with energy for weeks. Oh, I love food blogging!

I promise to share other recipe than soup next time!

Roasted butternut squash soup

Serves 4

1 small butternut squash (about 1kg), quartered lengthwise

3 sprigs fresh thyme

4 garlic cloves, unpeeled

3 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped

2 celery stalks, finely sliced

1 carrot, finely sliced

2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped

6 fresh sage leaves, chopped

500ml vegetable stock

500ml water

salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 200°C. Place the butternut squash on a baking tray, brush all over with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake for 25 minutes. Add the garlic and thyme, and continue baking for another 15 minutes or until soft. Let the squash cool slightly, and then scoop out the flesh and discard the skin.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large pan. Add the onion, celery, carrot, garlic and sage and cook on low heat for 10 minutes until soft, but not brown. Pour in the stock, and bring to a boil. Simmer vegetable for 5-10 minutes, until soft. Add the butternut squash and continue cooking for another 5 minutes. Take the soup off the heat. Blend the soup with a hand blender or in a food processor. Check for seasoning and serve.

Red Lentil Soup and Palladium Magazine

2011-03-29T13:34:00.029+01:00

What do you usually eat for lunch? Having been born and raised in the Czech Republic, I've always had hot lunches. Soup, main dish and dessert were compulsory every day for lunch when I used to spend summer holidays at my grandparent's summer house. In the Czech Republic we always eat a hot lunch. Dumplings, pork meat and creamy sauce or gravy are the most common items on lunch menus. No sandwiches or salads for us. This is certainly one thing I don't miss about my homeland. Just imagine getting back to the office after such lunch washed down with a half pint of beer! I used to have hard time keeping my eyes open. :)

I still like having a hot lunch, but I keep my lunches light and healthy. A nice comfort soup is my ideal lunch. Soups are also very easy and quick to prepare, so I don't have to spend long hours in the kitchen during the day when I need to get work done. And what's your ideal lunch?

Before I share the recipe for red lentil soup which I made yesterday for lunch, I want to show you some pictures from my recent photo shoot for the Palladium magazine.

I was obviously delighted to be working with the magazine for the third time, but this time it was different. I was asked to shoot products on top of the regular food shots. I couldn't say no even though product photography was a step out of my comfort zone. Although I like challenges, it doesn't mean I'm not scared. But I think that if we want to success and reach our goals we have to learn new things, gain more experience and work hard. If we only keep doing things we already do well, we can't get any better and it's difficult to make our dreams come true. For that we have to take risk and step out of our comfort zone from time to time. So here we go, my product photography debut.

27 magazine pages filled with my photos filled my heart with joy. Here are some of my favourite pages. The entire magazine is available online.

Red lentil soup

Serves 4

2tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 celery sticks, finely chopped

4 sprigs fresh thyme

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

500ml chicken stock

1000ml water

1 cup red lentils

2 carrots, sliced

1 1/2 tsp red paprika

salt and freshly ground pepper

fresh parsley to serve

Heat the oil in a medium sauce pan, add the onion, celery and thyme. Cook on medium heat, stirring often for 5 minutes, to soften the vegetable without browning. Add the garlic and continue to cook for 1 minute. Pour in the stock and water and bring to a boil. Add the lentils, carrots and paprika. Simmer for 10 minutes or until the lentils are soft. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with fresh parsley.

Broiled Camembert

2011-03-25T14:33:00.010Z

Imagine hot, soft, creamy, smelly, sticky, gooey, cheesy... Yes, I'm talking about broiled Camembert! That's pure indulgence, I can tell you. I tasted this cheesy yumminess a few weeks ago in our local pub, and I have already made it at home a couple of times since.

This basically doesn't need any recipe because it's so easy and quick to prepare. And even better, there are no dishes to do! You just need one Camembert in a wooden box, some fresh thyme, one garlic clove, olive oil and bread or baguettes for dipping. So easy and it's ready in 20 minutes! If you are having friends over, try serving the cheese as an appetizer. It's great for sharing and it goes well with beer!

Broiled Camembert

Serves 2

1 Camembert cheese in a wooden box

1 tbsp olive oil

1 garlic clove, mashed

2 sprigs fresh thyme

Turn the broiler on and keep the oven door open a crack. Unwrap the cheese, discard the wrapping paper but keep the wooden box. In a small bowl, mix the olive oil and garlic. Brush the oil all over the cheese and put the cheese back in the wooden box. Pierce the top of the cheese with the thyme sprigs. Place on the middle rack of the oven for 20 minutes.

Serve with toasted bread or baguettes for dipping.

Isle of Wight weekend getaway

2011-03-16T19:14:00.032Z

Following our recent seafood obsession, a trip to Isle of Wight fulfilled our ideas of a relaxing weekend trip in all ways. A beautiful small island with gorgeous nature and fantastic seafood offered in many restaurants throughout the island is the right place for a long weekend getaway.

We took a ferry from Portsmouth when it was already dark and enjoyed a beautiful view of Portsmouth Harbour and the impressive Spinnaker Tower at night. Saturday morning offered another pleasing view over the famous golden sandy beach in Sandown which was still deserted as the season hasn't started yet.

Friday's weather was nice and sunny with very little wind, a perfect day for a coastal walk.

After a nice walk along the Bambridge coast we had to compensate for lost energy at The Crab & Lobster Inn which is located ideally almost on the beach. We delighted our taste buds with a fabulous cold crab and lobster platter for two.

Our Saturday trip started in a wonderful farm shop in Arreton Old Village. Artisan sourdough bread, local tomatoes and cow cheese didn't last longer than lunchtime. Smoked garlic was actually the only item that made it all the way back home. Feeling we should experience a bit of culture we headed to medieval Carisbrooke Castle where King Charles I was imprisoned, followed by St. Cathrine's Oratory, a medieval lighthouse on St. Cathrine's Hill.

After a day of cultural indulgence and stunning views, we let our growling stomachs lead us and found another wonderful restaurant on the island. The New Inn pub is a charming old stoned pub with a country-style interior and fantastic food offer.

Sunday morning was time to say goodbye to Isle of Wight and get back to "mainland". A male part of our gang decided to explore hidden secrets of HMS Warrior and HMS Victory while I strode around the Portsmouth harbour with my camera. What a fantastic weekend it was!

On a less happy note, my thoughts go out to those in Japan, effected by the recent earthquake and tsunami. The situation there is truly heartbreaking.

A fellow blogger and photographer Skye Hohmann, who used to live in Japan, decided to donate a number of her Japan images to the cause. All proceedings from print sale will go directly to the Red Cross relief efforts.

Every little help counts!

Tsukiji Fish Market

2011-03-08T20:04:00.015Z

I'm finally back in London after an amazing week in Prague and try to catch up on many things. I'm really excited about today's post. Busy few days gave me an ideal opportunity to introduce a first guest blogger on my blog. I already did a guest blog post but I've never had a guest blogger here on Cook Your Dream yet. So, without other ado, let me introduce Melina Hammer. Melina is a wonderful photographer, who specialises in food and still life photography. I got to know her through Flickr where I admired her gorgeous food photos. She recently started her own blog Licking the Plate. I'm honoured to share her photos from one of countries which is high on my list of places I want to visit soon. So now, join me on a visual journey through Tsukiji Market.

I took a trip to Japan a few years ago and experienced a whirlwind of amazing sights and flavors. The famed Tsukiji Market was high on my list, and my initial adventure exploring its aisles made a lasting impression. I returned last month from another voyage to Japan, and wanted to share with you Tsukiji again. It will always be an enigma with its bustling foot trucks, noisy banter, and the viscera of fish and sea creatures everywhere. I am humbled, meandering the wet lanes lined with infinite stalls. These photographs are meant to share my wonder and my bewiderment, documenting the routine activities of these men and the unusual, beautiful fish who give their lives to them.

Thank you Melina, for sharing your amazing photos from Tsukiji Market.

Roasted Vegetable Galette

2011-03-02T15:57:00.009Z

I just wanted to say hello and share another recipe from my root vegetable theme, that I developed for a G2Kitchen magazine, before I leave for Prague again. It's pure leisure time this time and I should be able to enjoy Prague as a tourist. No 14 hours photoshoot every day! I can't wait for that! The main reason for my trip to Prague though is to celebrate my beloved grandmother's 80th birthday. I look forward to seeing my whole family and spending some precious time with them.

I think spring is finally coming to London as I saw first blooming flowers and enjoyed some nice warm sunshine while walking just in my t-shirt in Windsor last weekend. I hope we get more such warm days when I get back. This savoury galette is a wonderful lunch or snack for those who still wait for warm days. It's full of flavours and vitamins that we so much need after long cold winter.

Roasted Vegetable Galette
Serves 4-6

Crust:
250g wholemeal flour
¼ tsp salt
115 g chilled unsalted butter, diced
¼ cup crème fraiche
2 tsp lemon juice
¼ cup cold water
1 spring of fresh thyme, leaves chopped

Vegetable filling:
5 small carrots (or 3 medium), peeled and diced
2 parsnips, peeled and diced
350g butternut squash, peeled and diced
2 medium red onion, peeled and quartered
1 sprig fresh rosemary, leaves chopped
1 sprig fresh thyme, leaves chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
1 head of garlic, outer layers peeled
salt and freshly ground pepper
creamy goat cheese, crumbled

To make the crust, combine the flour and salt in a medium bowl. Add the butter and using your hands rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse meal. In a small bowl, whisk together the crème fraiche, lemon juice and cold water. Add the mixture to the flour mixture and blend everything together with a fork. Stir in chopped thyme. Do not knead the dough. Gather the clumps into a ball. Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and flatten a bit. Refrigerate for at least an hour.

Put all the vegetable into a roasting tray. Sprinkle with herbs and drizzle over 2 tablespoons olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and toss everything together until all the vegetables are evenly coated. Cut off the top of the garlic head, exposing the cloves. Drizzle some olive oil on top and wrap in foil. Place the garlic on the roasting tray with the vegetables. Roast the vegetables about 20-30 minutes stirring once or twice until tender. Squeeze the garlic into a large bowl and mash with a fork. Add the roasted vegetables, half of the cheese and toss gently.

Unwrap the dough and press the edges so that there are no cracks. Dust a sheet of parchment paper with flour and roll out the dough into a 30cm circle about 0.5cm thick. Transfer the dough on the parchment paper to a baking sheet. Arrange the vegetables on the dough, leaving a 5cm border. Scatter over the remaining goat cheese and fold the edges over the filling. Bake on the lower half of the oven for about 35-40 minutes until the crust is golden brown. Let it cool for 10 minutes, then cut into wedges and serve.

Parsnip and potato mash

2011-02-23T20:54:00.006Z

It seems like this year is going to be very busy, and I'm grateful for that. However, I could use some kind of efficiency and work organisation course for sure. I'm once again behind with many things and need to catch up on my favourite blogs, twitter etc.

I told you about new issue of G2Kichen magazine in my last post. I'm very proud that my parsnip photo made the front cover of this issue! I'm so excited. I shared some root vegetables recipes in the winter issue, because most of root vegetables are in season now and they can be turned into perfect comfort food for cold winter months. Unfortunately, for the time being the magazine will be published only in Italian. I will publish my recipes in english here on Cook Your Dream though, so you can still read my recipe in english. I fell in love with parsnip recently and parsnip mash is one of my favourite recipes. What are your favourite parsnip recipes?

Oh and I can't forget to share an important news! Food Blogger Conference 2011 registration has opened this week so don't hesitate to book your place now for great deals!

Parsnip and potato mash
serves 2

2 large potatoes, peeled and diced
2 parsnips, peeled and diced

¼ cup milk, heated
3 tbsp crème fraiche
1 tsp olive oil
pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
1 spring onion, green part thinly sliced
salt and freshly ground pepper

Place the potatoes and parsnip in a medium sauce pan and cover with cold water. Add a pinch of salt, bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes or until tender. Drain the vegetables in a colander and return to the pan. Mash with a fork or a potato masher. Stir in milk, crème fraiche, olive oil, nutmeg, onion greens, and salt and pepper to taste.

Fresh spinach and ricotta ravioli

2011-02-07T18:45:00.015Z

What happened to January? I still remember celebrating New Year's eve and now it's already February! I keep myself quite busy which only helps to make time fly by. Some great things happened in my life since the New Year has started, and it makes me very happy. I just finished working on a new G2Kitchen issue which should be out very soon. We are also finishing last bits and pieces before the Food Blogger Connect 2011 registration opens (keep checking back because it should be very soon!). We will have a fantastic lineup of speakers and talks for FBC11, so make sure you don't miss it! If you are not London based and look for a cheap accommodation during the conference, check my Couch surfing post!

Two weeks back I was honoured to assist a fantastic photographer Marie-Louise Avery. It was such a great experience for me and I have definitely learned a lot. To keep my already lifted spirit up, I'm going to Prague next week for a photoshoot. Taking 100 product photos in 3 days will surely be a challenge on top of shooting new food pictures for a spring/summer issue of Palladium magazine, but I'm very much looking forward to it. I hope I will have time to visit my friends and family and enjoy czech food and beer. If so, I will need to do another detox after I return to London. :)

We have been eating quite good food since we finished our detox and I can't get enough of fruit and vegetables. It must be the weather! I can't wait for spring and longer days to come.

Have I already told you about my new pasta machine which I got from my sweetheart for Christmas? I couldn't wait to finish the detox and finally put it to use. We had tasted fresh pasta in Italy a few months ago, and since then we have been hooked. This week I made my favourite pasta - spinach and ricotta ravioli. I didn't have a fresh sage so I poured over thyme butter and the result was amazing. Finished with a freshly grated parmesan, I couldn't have imagined a better lunch!

Fresh spinach and ricotta ravioli

Serves 2-3

100g pasta flour

100g semolina flour

pinch of salt

2 eggs

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

1-2 tbsp cold water

1 tbsp olive oil

2 garlic cloves, chopped

260g fresh spinach

250g ricotta

zest 1/2 lemon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 cup grated parmesan

salt and freshly ground pepper

3tbsp butter

10 sprigs of fresh thyme

freshly grated pepper

grated parmesan, to serve

Sift together the pasta flour and semolina flour, add pinch of salt. Pile the flour mixture on a flat surface. Make a well in the middle, add the eggs and olive oil and start mixing with a fork to incorporate the eggs and flour mixture. When the dough begins to come together, start kneading the dough with both hands, pouring in a little bit of water until soft and smooth. It takes about 10 minutes. The dough should be elastic and not sticky. Wrap it in plastic wrap and let rest for about 30 minutes.

In the meantime, prepare the filling. Heat oil in a pan, add the garlic and saute for a minute. Add the spinach and cook for 2-3 minutes just until wilted. Transfer it to a colander and let cool slightly, then squeeze out any excess liquid. Roughly chop the spinach. In a medium bowl, mix the ricotta, lemon zest, nutmeg, cheese and spinach, add salt and pepper to taste.

Cut the dough in half and start rolling it with your pasta machine. Each time you run the dough through, fold it and run it through again on the same thickness setting. Roll it until it's paper thin. Place the pasta sheet on a floured surface and spoon the spinach mixture on top, making sure there is at least a 3cm space around each spoonful. Lightly wet the dough around the filling. Place the second sheet of pasta over the filling, press the dough down gently with your fingers to seal the dough around the filling. Cut out the individual ravioli pieces with a pasta wheel and place on a floured surface. Repeat with the remaining pasta sheets and filling.

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Add a tablespoon of oil, reduce the heat and gently cook the ravioli in batches for 4-5 minutes. Remove from the water, drain and keep warm.

For the thyme butter, melt the butter in a pan, add the thyme and fry for less than one minute. Remove from the heat and add some freshly grated pepper.

Serve the ravioli on a warmed plate, pour over some thyme butter and sprinkle with the parmesan.

New Year's Detox in Photos

2011-01-20T00:18:00.012Z

We did it! Yesterday was the last day of our ten days new year's detox and I'm proud to say that we made it through the whole 10 days menu. I lost 2kg as a bonus which makes me very happy. Definitely a nice start to the new year. We should now feel “rejuvenated and fit as a fiddle”. Well, I can say I feel great!

It wasn't always easy though. I didn't have cravings, but because of overeating during Christmas, my stomach was expanded, and small portions often made my tummy rumbling. Surprisingly enough, P. seemed to get used to the detox food better than me. He even took a liking to quinoa (it is a very welcome change because I really like quiona)! Overall, it's been a positive experience.

On the other hand, our detox gave me no chance to share some recipe here. Some of the dishes were not very appetising (usually lacking any herbs or seasoning), and abundant presence of vegetable quinoa and carrot in a daily menu didn't seem interesting either. You can imagine how much I look forward to trying new recipes and sharing them with you! I took a few pictures of dishes that looked quite appetising.

If you are curious which detox plan I followed, I was googling for a while and found this detox online on woman&home website. I also stumbled upon Gwyneth Paltrow's detox on her GOOP website but that one seemed too drastic to me. Honestly I was willing to clean my body but I wasn't prepared to starve and kill myself. :) The woman&home detox was pretty much bearable.

Happy New Year and Winter Holiday

2011-01-09T00:19:00.016Z

Three weeks went far too quickly and I am back in London from an amazing holiday spent with my family and friends. I hope you all had a good start to the new year.

We spent New Year's eve in the mountains and I could finally enjoy the proper winter weather with lots of snow. Even though I am more of a summer person, I truly love the winter weather when everything is frosty and covered in beautiful clean white snow. A winter wonderland!

Photo courtesy of Pavel Kunc

I couldn't take many pictures of winter beauty because I tried cross country skiing after many years again. I was worried I could break my camera as I'm still a beginner and fall over a lot. I never thought I would like cross country skiing after several mishaps and failed attempt in the past, but this sport has eventually got a place in my heart. I must say, I'm quite proud of myself. :)

So here are a few shots I managed to take during a stop in a pub and “catching my breath” breaks; I'm not proud of this part (I desperately need to increase my physical power).

I wish you all the best of health, happiness, joy and love for 2011!

Sweet Christmas Bread

2010-12-20T19:40:00.012Z

I can't believe how fast time flies. Is Christmas really coming in less than a week? London is currently covered in fresh snow that causes more traffic problems but makes this city look so beautiful. I hope we will get to Prague for Christmas. Last year we spent 8 hours waiting at the airport for a 1.5 hour flight (the story was a bit more complicated but I won't bore you with details). I can't wait to see my family and friends, eat christmas cookies, watch my favourite TV fairytales and relax. Sweet Christmas bread is same as Christmas cookies an essential part of Czech Christmas. My mum makes the best sweet Christmas bread ever. I shared my sweet Christmas bread recipe in the special Christmas issue of G2Kitchen magazine. This issue is filled with festive recipes from all over the world.

Christmas Bread
Serves 10-12

8g active dry yeast

120g butter

80g sugar

3 egg yolks

pinch of salt

grated zest of ½ lemon

1 tsp vanilla

500g plain flour

250ml milk

70g raisins, soaked in 2tbsp of rum

60g whole peeled almonds, roughly chopped

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

1 egg, for glazing

about 20 almonds for decoration

In a small bowl, combine the yeast, 1 tablespoon of sugar and half of the warm milk and whisk thoroughly. Leave in a warm place until the surface is covered with approx. 2cm of froth (10-15 minutes).

In a mixing bowl beat butter until soft and smooth. Add the sugar, egg yolks, salt, lemon zest and vanilla and beat until well combined and thick (about 10minutes). Sift flour into a large bowl, make well in center and pour in the yeast mixture. Add rest of the milk and the butter mixture and mix until a dough forms.

Transfer to work surface and start kneading the dough. Dough will be slightly sticky but the more you knead it will become uniform. If it's too sticky add a little flour and knead until smooth and elastic. Finally stir in the raisins, almonds and grated nutmeg. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with a towel and let it rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size.

When the dough has fully risen, transfer it to work surface and divide into 9 parts. Roll each part into an evenly thick rope. To braid, line up the 4 ropes, pinch their tops together and start braiding. Take the left rope and lay it over the one to the right, then under the next one, and over the rightmost one. Repeat with the rope that is now the leftmost one. Repeat until you are at the end. Pinch the end together and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Take the next three ropes, pinch their ends together and braid. Pinch the bottom ends together and place the braid on top of the four-strand braid. Tuck the both ends under the bottom braid. Make a two-strand braid of the last two ropes and place on top of the other two braids, tucking the ends under. Secure the braids in place by a few tooth sticks. Cover with a towel and let rise for about 20 minutes.

Brush the surface with beaten egg and dot with almonds. Let the egg wash dry, and brush again. Bake in preheated oven to 190C for about 10 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 170-180C and bake until the surface is golden-brown for about more 30-40 minutes. If the surface is getting too dark during baking but the center isn't done yet, cover the bread with aluminium foil. Let it cool slightly, then remove the tooth sticks.

Winter Buckwheat Berry Crumble

2010-12-12T21:08:00.025Z

Christmas is coming fast and it's really cold outside. I didn't feel christmassy though. Finally last week, London received some snow which was exactly what I needed to get into the mood. For me, it's not winter without snow and I wish for a white Christmas every year. The snow has melted already and what left got frozen and covered pavements with a very slippery layer. It was quite challenging to catch a train without breaking your legs when running late. It seemed safer to stay at home with a cup of hot tea and a nice dessert.

I always miss summer fruit in winter. When I was a kid, my mum and grandma used to preserve cherries, strawberries, raspberries and apricots so we could enjoy them throughout the winter. I don't have enough space to store many jars with fruit in our London apartment so preserving fruit is not feasible for me. Instead i froze some late summer blackberries and raspberries and I was very happy to find them last week in the freezer. I decided to turn them into a winter berry crumble. It made a really lovely dessert which was gone within minutes.

It's time to announce the winner of my latest giveaway. I used random.org to pick the winner and the lucky number is 17.

Congratulatins to Skye!

Buckwheat Berry Crumble

serves 4

85g buckwheat flour

50g rolled oats

30g milled flaxseed & goji berries

80g natural cane sugar

1/4 tsp salt

80g unsalted butter, chilled

190g blackberries, fresh or frozen

110g raspberries, fresh or frozen

1 tbsp (10g) cornstarch

1/2 lemon, juice and zest

1 tsp vanilla

25g natural cane sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 180C and butter 4 ramekins.

2. In a bowl mix the flour, oats, flaxseed & goji berries, sugar and salt. Add the butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

3. Combine the fruit, cornstarch, lemon juice, zest, sugar and vanilla in a bowl, and toss until evenly coated.

4. Place the fruit mixture in the prepared ramekins and top with the crumble.

5. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the crumble mixture is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling.

6. Let it cool down for 10 minutes before serving.

Note: the recipe makes more crumble mixture than you need for 4 ramekins. Freeze any leftover mixture for use later.

Broiled Grapefruit with Cinnamon Sugar

2010-12-02T11:38:00.016Z

It's been a while since I posted a recipe here. The truth is, I haven't cooked as much recently as we travelled a lot, and when we were home I mostly relied on some of my staple recipes and quick dishes. Also I had the pleasure of hosting a Food Blogger Connect Potluck at my house last weekend and my lovely fellow bloggers cooked and brought some amazing dishes (I still have a lot of food in the freezer). Hence I haven't really had a chance to try any new and exciting recipes for my blog to share with you.

However I stumbled upon a very interesting recipe for broiled grapefruit at The Kitchn last week and I had to give it a try. I was always the only one in my family who ate grapefruit. I love this bitter fruit and don't hesitate to experiment with it in different recipes. Broiling was a totally new concept which I have never tried before. It really changes the taste of the fruit and the cinnamon sugar add an interesting kick. It's a perfect breakfast full of vitamins on cold winter mornings.

Broiled grapefruit with cinnamon sugar

Serves 1

1 red grapefruit

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp light brown sugar

1. Turn on the broiler. You should keep the oven door open a crack during broiling. Halve the grapefruit then run a sharp knife around the inside edge to loosen the flesh from the skin. Place the halves in an oven proof dish.

2. Mix the cinnamon with the sugar in a small bowl. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar over each grapefruit half and broil for 15-20 minutes until the sugar caramelised and the edges are brown (mine got burned a bit). Let it cool slightly and serve. Sprinkle some more sugar over the top if you want.

A Traditional Czech Pig Slaughtering and a Giveaway

2010-11-26T01:39:00.016Z

Done! I know this took me a while, but it was really difficult to choose the right pictures as I didn't want to scare you, however I wanted to show the pig slaughtering as authentic as possible. A traditional pig slaughtering feast usually takes place in winter when the temperature is below zero, and what's really interesting is that nothing from the pig gets wasted.

I can imagine some people would be disgusted by this post, because the only form of meat they've ever seen is a nice clean piece of meat they got from a supermarket. But let's face it, there's always an animal at the beginning, and I think that everyone who eat meat should know the process of what happens before the meat get on the plate. Also getting your meat from a farm is the best thing you can do for you and for the animals as well, because the conditions in which the pigs are raised in commercial production are often horrifying and the meat is much less healthy.

The meat we got was the best pork meat I've ever eaten. The slaughter took place at a small family farm in a village near Prague. The farmer was a very nice man who truly likes his animals. He only raises about 20 pigs a year and makes sure they are all very well fed and have great living conditions. Also the way the pig is killed is very different from the commercial process. I can honestly say I wasn't brave enough to watch that part because I heard stories about squealing animals etc. However as the butcher explained to me later and P. who participated in the killing confirmed that, there was no squealing and horror stories. The kill is very humane and the pig is not stressed before it's slaughtered as it doesn't know it's going to die. This fact is also very important because stress affects meat quality.

I would like to express my huge thanks to the butcher who was very nice and funny the whole day while a bunch of curious city people with their cameras were standing in the way and taking pictures instead of helping him. :)

I also have something for you today. I put together a small selection of my favourite childhood sweet treats that I give away. There are instructions at the end of this blog post how to enter the giveaway.

I arrived when the killed and bled out (the blood is collected to make sausages and a soup) pig was already placed in a large wooden washtub. I was quite shocked by the pig's size that weighted 160 kg.

The butcher sprinkles powdered rosin all over the pig.

Then he pours over the boiling water to scald the hair.

These "bells" and chains are used to remove the bristles.

Guys helping to scrape off the hair.

Scraped pig is lifted using a pulley and hung upside down from a metal tripod.

The butcher slits the belly to eviscerate the animal.

This must have been the most photographed pig (and the butcher) in the world! The butcher removing the internal organs.

Eviscerated pig is washed out before the butcher starts to cut off the belly fat and front legs that will be used to prepare first dishes.

The farmer makes a fire in an old stove where all the meat is cooked and baked.

Baking meat for a goulash.

The pig head, both front legs and the entrails are basic ingredients for the pig-slaughtering specialities.

A special homemade bread which is baked a day or two ahead and then dried is now being soaked to be used for the sausages.

Dicing fat for pork cracklings.

Traditional cookies with jam, quark, poppy seed and apple compote are welcomed accompaniment of all the meat.

Guts will be used for sausage casings and must be properly cleaned.

Guys are washing the guts that got quite tangled...

...and the ubiquitous paparazzi who are not helping :)

The pig skin is a necessary ingredient for making a headcheese.

The butcher skins the pig and all that left will be divided into primal meat cuts. Yeah, that's a lot of meat!

Cleaning of the washtub.

The youngest participant :)

Ingredients for sausages, headcheese and a soup: cooked meat and fat being cut and minced for sausages and headcheese, boiled peeled barley for the soup and diced bread for the sausages

The butcher making a headcheese

Headcheese ready to be cooked.

The butcher posing with a headcheese made traditional way in a casing make of stomach.

Headcheese being boiled.

The process of making sausages.

Sausages are now ready to be cooked.

Cooked and cooled sausages can be eaten straight away.

Slivovitz is a necessary part of the pig slaughtering feast :)

This axe was so heavy that I couldn't even hold it one hand.

A table full of pork meat.

Final products: white and dark sausages and headcheese.

It started raining right after we finished, we were very lucky.

The feast wouldn't be complete without a lot of beer!

A traditional Czech Sunday lunch "knedlo vepro zelo" - dumplings with sauerkraut and roasted pork to finish the weekend.

The pig slaughtering feast was truly an amazing experience for my taste buds, however after eating so much meat I was desperately craving something sweet. As I was in the Czech Republic I got myself some of my favourite childhood treats. I also put together a small selection of these treats to give away today.

So what are these treats that could be yours?

Sojove rezy - a sweet soy bar

Studentska pecet - a dark chocolate with peanuts, raisins and jelly pieces

Kolonada - a traditional spa waffle biscuits with a hazelnut cream

Tatranky - a crunchy biscuit with a hazelnut filling

Mila - waffle biscuits dipped in a coffee icing with a cream filling

Horicke Trubicky - waffle tubes filled with a chocolate cream

Kofila - a chocolate bar with a coffee filling

To enter, just leave a comment on this post before next Friday December 3rd at 1pm (GMT). I will randomly select one winner and contact them by email. Please make sure your comment links back to a site where I can contact you or leave your email address in your comment so I can contact you if you win. This giveaway is open internationally. Good luck!

Artificial Light Food Photography and Fruit Splash

2010-11-21T00:54:00.012Z

I've been wanting to share the story and pictures from a traditional pig-slaugtering feast that I mentioned in my last post for a while. I thought I would post it today. However, I was doing something else again. Actually this week, I've been learning how to use artificial light for food photography as short and gloomy London days have arrived, and I will have to wait yet another couple of months before this will change. So tonight I was playing around with an external flash to try some new lighting techniques. Here is the result. But don't worry the pig-slaughtering post is coming soon! And I promise no blood and gore!

View it large on black, it looks much better!

If you are wondering how did I do that, here's the setup. And yes, I had to mop the floor after I finished! :)

Strobist info: SB-800 on right side at 1/32 power, F5.6-9, 1/2s, ISO 200

Autumn News

2010-10-28T21:20:00.029+01:00

As I wrote in my last post, I'm still quite behind with many things. So before I leave for a wonderful weekend in Tuscany I would love to announce a couple of news. In September I introduced an exciting new project, an online magazine G2Kitchen. I'm truly honoured to be part of this project as a contributor. The first issue of the magazine was released last week and it's full of fantastic seasonal recipes and beautiful photos from the team of lovely international bloggers. Take a look at my apple recipes and other seasonal delicacies in the fall issue.

And here comes the second news. In March I was working on my first commercial photos for a Prague Palladium magazine. I can't express how happy I am that I was asked again to create some food photos for the new fall/winter issue. I can't wait to get my hands on the printed version that was christened last Saturday in Prague.

I have one question for you. I spent the last two weeks in Czech Republic where I visited my friends and family and had a truly great time. The main reason for the visit, however, was a traditional Czech pig-slaughtering feast that we organised for our Finnish friends who have never experienced the atmosphere of this event. This was also the first time when I had the opportunity to see a traditional pig-slaughtering and I captured the whole event on my camera. And here's the question. Would you be interested in reading a blog post about a traditional pig-slaugtering feast and seeing some photos? I ask, because I think some of the photos are not for the faint-hearted and vegetarians. So let me know what you think.

I wish you all a wonderful Halloween weekend!

A trip to Amsterdam

2010-10-25T18:43:00.065+01:00

I'm back after the long radio silence. I missed my blog and the whole blogosphere a lot! I have so much I want to share with you...

I had quite a busy month travelling, moving..., but you already know that. I do love travelling! Though travelling, moving and working do not work well together, which means I haven't done much in the previous month and have so much to catch up on!

Two weeks ago P. and I went for a short trip to Amsterdam. The original aim of the trip was to visit an art exhibition of glass of P.'s sister in Tubbergen and spend the rest of the weekend in Amsterdam with P.'s parents. As it was the first time for us in Amsterdam, we decided to stay for a couple more days and explore the city. I apologies for so many pictures but I fell in love with the city and I couldn't stop taking more a more pictures. Sorting the pictures was another story.

We were extremely lucky and despite the guide info which says this time of the year the weather in Amsterdam is mostly rainy, we enjoyed a couple of beautiful sunny days.

Some unexpected changes in our accommodation resulted in spending the first night in Red Light District area. After an initial shock caused by the character of the area, lack of sleep (3 hours) and ubiquitous marijuana smoke, I started to appreciate the convenient location of the area which is within walking distance from most popular touristic attractions.

First night in Amsterdam we discovered a really nice small pub. Old fashioned pub decor, dim ambient lighting, chandeliers covered in dust, jazz music and a very friendly bartender create a fantastic atmosphere of the bar where you can sit down with a beer to relax. Studying chapter "Drinks" from our new travel guide, P. ordered kopstoot ('knock on the head') which is a shot of gin (Dutch jevener) with a beer chaser.

Taking a walk after dinner in a steakhouse we stumbled upon a great local student bar located on a narrow old alley called Gravenstraat. We originally stopped for one beer but then we started chatting with a few students and stayed until last call.

If you want to enjoy a great vibe and buzz of Amsterdam have a lunch in one of many restaurants with a seating area outside alongside the canal in the Jordaan area. I had the best salad with grilled goat cheese and roasted nuts in a bar called 't Smalle.

A Saturday trip in Tubbergen brought a new culinary experience. After a short chat with locals, following their recommendation, the whole family attacked a local fish street stall. To everybody's amusement we hesitantly ordered one raw herring served with raw onion enthusiastically followed by another 3 pieces. I would like to express my sincere thanks to the guy in the fish stall for his genuine customer-friendly attitude and his patience to answer all curious questions of crazy tourists, not to mention explaining us the Dutch way of eating raw herring. We left happily with another Dutch treat, a smoked eel.

One thing though I didn't quite take a liking to is Kroketten - Dutch croquettes. It's a kind of deep fried meat ragout coated in breadcrumbs. It's a very popular snack in Holland, but I found the taste and consistency a bit off-putting.

There's one thing I would recommend to everybody visiting Amsterdam. Taking a canal boat cruise is a fantastic relaxing experience and the best way to view the city.

However if you suffer from sea sickness or just simply prefer solid ground under your feet, there is another way to explore the city. It's so much fun to join the locals and travel around the city the Dutch way. At least it looked like a much safer option to join the crowd as it seemed to me that cyclists have an absolute right of way on the road. Yeah, it's like when you arrive to the UK you need to get used the fact that you have to look right first when you cross the road.

Bloemenmarkt is the only floating flower market in the world and offers all kind of flowers, seeds and bulbs. We couldn't leave without buying some bulbs of famous Dutch tulips.

We also tasted and bought a lot of my favourite old Gouda cheese.

And yeah, we ate chips "drowned in that shit...", eh mayonnaise! :)

Just a Quick Hi

2010-10-08T19:34:00.011+01:00

Ugh! I've had a lot on my plate recently. The past two weeks were complete mayhem moving house, shooting for a couple of clients at the same time, taking a trip to Amsterdam, and all of that with no internet connection! But luckily miracles do happen! After a morning call from O2, informing us that our internet connection will not be back in less than a week, our broadband just started working this afternoon. What a relief! My life instantly became 100% easier.

I know I've been silent for a while, but I was cooking and shooting a lot during the last two weeks. I also had the pleasure of having someone cooking for me! Alessio from Recipe Taster stayed with us in our new house for a couple of days and was so kind to cook for us while I was busy shooting for a customer. He's a fantastic chef and we loved everything he cooked. These delicious fried whitebait with orange and tomato was just one of many fantastic dishes Alessio cooked for us. Check his amazing recipes on his blog!

I'm going to Prague to visit our friends and family, but I will soon share some pictures from our trip to Amsterdam! See you soon here!

Birthday Blueberry Pancakes

2010-09-16T20:05:00.023+01:00

I'm not usually very imaginative and creative when talking about breakfast. Our usual breakfast contains homemade yogurt, muesli and any seasonal fruit, plus tea. I can't be bothered to cook or bake in the morning as I am not really an early riser, and my stomach is not ready for any complicated food in the morning. Weekend is the only exception. We get up quite late and our breakfast often merges into lunch, lunch merges into supper... Yeah, weekend is an exception! :)

Today, I made blueberry pancakes! It's not a weekend, but it's my birthday today! Yay! I love my birthday, however I don't usually celebrate it. But I like to make something special for my birthday. Something special usually means food, and pancakes are special for me. Why? Because I make pancakes very rarely.

Weekend is just ahead, so it's a perfect time for pancakes for breakfast! Make yourself and your family these blueberry pancakes and celebrate with me! Anyway, everyday is a celebration day, right? :) Have a nice weekend everyone!

Blueberry Pancakes

115g plain flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

2 large eggs, separated

125ml milk

1/4 tsp salt

2 punnets fresh blueberries

oil for frying

Sieve the flour into a medium bowl and combine with baking powder. Make a well in the middle, add the egg yolks and milk and whisk to create a smooth batter, the consistency of double cream. Add more milk if the batter is too thick.

Whisk the egg whites in a separate clean bowl with the salt, until they form stiff peaks. Fold the egg whites into the batter. Add one punnet of blueberries and mix them gently into the batter.

Lightly oil and heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Pour two tablespoons of the batter into the pan and cook for about 2 minutes until bubbles start to form on the surface. Flip the pancake over and cook for further 1 minute, or until golden brown. Remove pancake from the pan and serve with a maple or golden syrup and some fresh blueberries.

Courgette Fritters with Feta

2010-09-15T12:15:00.012+01:00

Have I ever told you how much I love potato fritters? No? Oh, I do love them so much! Ever since I was a kid, I have always loved potato fritters. It's not the healthiest food, I know. Recently I added a new fav to my favourite food collection - courgette fritters. I call it a healthier variation of potato fritters. They must be healthier, because courgette is very healthy vegetable, right? Well, maybe they are not a bit more healthier that potato fritters, however they are definitely equally delicious! And they are so easy to make!

Courgette Fritters with Feta

500g courgettes, grated

1/2 tsp salt

1 shallot, thinly sliced

1 garlic clove, minced

2 eggs

1tbsp chopped fresh mint

150g feta, crumbled

5 tbsp plain flour

freshly grated black pepper

salt

olive oil for frying

Put the grated courgette in a colander, sprinkle with salt, mix and let stand for 20-30 minutes. Squeeze out any excess liquid. In a medium bowl, combine the courgette, shallot, garlic, eggs, mint, feta and flour. Season with salt and pepper.

Heat the oil in a pan over a medium heat. Ladle spoonful of the batter into the pan for each fritter and cook in batches for 3-4 minutes on each side. Transfer cooked fritters on a paper towel to drain excess oil from them.

Happy Friday!

2010-09-10T19:02:00.005+01:00

I hope you are all having a happy Friday! My stomach feels a bit weird today, so I made myself a large mug of hot mint tea and I'm going to watch a movie.

I wish you all a great weekend!

PS: Have you already seen the new food magazine G2Kitchen I cooperate on?

Introducing G2Kitchen magazine

2010-09-09T14:22:00.013+01:00

I have some very exciting news to share with you today! I'm very happy and honoured to be part of a fantastic project.

Let me introduce G2Kitchen, a new international online food magazine!

G2Kitchen is an example of what happens when like-minded people with a passion for good food, cooking, baking and photography get together and decide to create a masterpiece based on their shared passion. G2Kitchen is, however, not only a product of such passion, it also is a result of friendship and cooperation.

I can not tell you more at the moment, so head over to www.g2kitchen.com and taste a little bit of what we prepared and learn who we are. The first issue will be launched next month! So stay tuned for a full portion of delicious autumn recipes, presentations and mouthwatering photos.

Simply Scandinavian and Rye Canneloni

2010-09-03T17:01:00.034+01:00

Photo: Raikas kustannus

I tend to gravitate towards anything that is at least a bit Scandinavian related. I have a special relationship with many Scandinavian countries. Norway is my mum's birth place, Sweden became my grandparents home for five years, and our very dear friends are Finnish. It comes as no surprise, then, that I was very excited when I got my hands on a Finnish cookbook a couple of weeks ago.

A cookbook review is something completely new for me and for my blog, but I could not resist to introduce you Simply Scandinavian, Travelling in Time With Finnish Cuisine and Nature. It has everything a good cookbook should have - delicious recipes and gorgeous food photos, plus a bonus - breathtaking photos of Finnish nature in different seasons. Four main parts of the book corresponding to four seasons will guide you through spring, summer, autumn and winter in Finland. Each chapter introduces traditional appetiser, main course and dessert recipes using seasonal ingredients. The importance of using local and seasonal ingredients is definitely one of many things I love about Finland.

As I was leafing through the book, lovely memories from our visits to Finland were coming back, and I was contemplating what recipe I should try first. I noticed some of the ingredients like black bread from Åland, bark flour, reindeer or moose meat may be difficult to find here, however I marked many recipes I'm definitely going to try.

I finally made my choice and picked rye canneloni recipe, because it resembles my favourite Karelian pies. I followed the recipe instructions exactly and it was easy to make recipe for me however, beginners might find the instructions incomplete as it doesn't specify some details like how long should you cook the eggs or fry the meat. Also the list of ingredients doesn't contain milk and butter for brushing the canneloni after baking. As the recipe suggested, I replaced the bark flour with rye flour, and I didn't serve the canneloni with consomme but enjoyed them on their own instead, and the result was great.

As a passionate food photographer I should point out that some of the food pictures in the book would benefit from a wider setting as close ups with shallow depth of field are not always the best way to show the food from its best side. However, my overall impression is that this visually beautiful cookbook is a perfect guide to Finnish food and nature.

Rye Canneloni, Consommé

(Tero Kallio, Kimmo Saira. Simply Scandinavian. Raikas publishing Ltd. 2. edition, 20009)

Filling:

300 ml (1 1/4 cups) pudding rice

600 ml (20 fl oz) water

500 g (18 oz/1.1 lb) steak mince

3 eggs

100 ml (2/5 cup) chopped parsley

1 onion

1 teaspoon butter

50 ml (1.7 fl oz) cream

1/2 teaspoon ground paprika

salt

black pepper corns

Dough:

200 ml (6.8 fl oz) water

350 ml (1 1/2 cups) rye flour

100 ml (2/5 cup) plain wheat flour

50 ml (3 tablespoons) bark flour

salt

Pour the water into a saucepan and boil the rice for approximately 20 minutes. Drain the water from the rice. Chop the onion and fry it lightly in butter in a frying pan for approximately 5 minutes. Fry the steak mince. Hard-boil two eggs. Chop the eggs and mix all ingredients. Add one raw egg and the spices. Mix well. Taste for flavour.

Stir the different kinds of flour and salt into the lukewarm water. Knead the dough for a few minutes. Leave to rest for a while. Roll out the dough into a 2-3 mm (0.1 inch) thick layer and cut into about 12 x 20 cm (5 x 8 inch) pieces. Place two heaped tablespoonfuls of filling along the longer side of the piece of dough. Wet the edges of the dough and roll the cannelloni into a cylinder shape. Brush the surface with melted butter. Bake in the oven in 250C (480F) for 10-15 minutes. Brush the surface again with a mixture of butter and milk as soon as you take the cannelloni out of the oven to prevent them from going dry.

Serve with consomme seasoned with parsley.

Tip: bark flour is not necessary for making these delicious cannelloni. If not available, use rye flour instead.

Second Year and New Blog Changes

2010-08-26T00:09:00.026+01:00

Starting the second year of my blog I decided to make more changes here. After nearly one year of discovering the world of photography I found myself enjoying more than just taking pictures of food. I learned to see things differently and realised there is so much beauty around us. I really love to shoot just about everything - my beloved ones, favourite dishes, beautiful nature or favourite places and moments.

So far I have only been posting pictures of food accompanied by recipes. I want to keep sharing my favourite recipes, however I'm not always able to shoot recipes for my blog on a regular basis. And to be completely honest I don't feel like writing a recipe for my blog every week. I enjoy taking pictures so much more than writing. As I have been photographing everything around me lately, I have many pictures I would love to share with you which are not always food related.

I have been thinking about making a few changes to the style of this blog for a while, but I wasn't sure if you, my readers would like it. Then I thought, if I don't enjoy what I do, poor quality of my work will follow and in the end, neither me nor you will be happy. So I finally made a decision. After all Cook Your Dream is my "food and photography passion". Hence from now on, I will include more photo posts where writing or recipe will not necessarily be a part of the post. I hope you will join me on the new journey and will enjoy more photos and new different posts.

To start a new era of this blog, I will invite you to my favourite coffee and cake shop Le Chandelier in East Dulwich. They make a delicious cream tea and it's a perfect place to relax and enjoy your cup of tea.

Now, let me introduce the winner of my first giveaway. There were 31 entries and the number that was randomly selected using Random.org was:

11. Juls @ Juls' Kitchen

Congrats Juls, your prize - one bag of Linwoods Milled Flaxseeds, Cocoa & Berries will be with you shortly!

Strawberry Sponge Cake and My Summer

2010-08-20T14:27:00.003+01:00

I had been thinking of doing a guest post for a while, so I didn't hesitate for a second when Juls from Juls Kitchen asked me to do a guest blog post on her lovely blog. I'm sharing a recipe for my favourite summer strawberry sponge cake and some pictures from our summer trips around British countryside and nature.

I had the pleasure of meeting Juls personally this year when we both attended Food Blogger Connect conference in London and words can't express how happy I'm that we became friends. She's the most sweetest and kindest person I've ever met and her laughter is truly contagious. She will fill you with a positive energy the second you meet.

So head on over and take a look at her lovely blog and check my strawberry sponge cake recipe!

One Year Blog Anniversary and a Giveaway

2010-08-17T16:53:00.022+01:00

It has been exactly one year and three days since I wrote my first blog post and shared the first recipe with you. I can hardly believe that my beloved blog is now one year old! Since then, my life has changed so much. This blog has introduced me to a whole new world of cooking and photography. I had no idea how many wonderful friends I would meet and how much I would learn. I could have never imagined how fantastic the food blogosphere is. I still feel like Alice in Wonderland!

It may sounds unbelievable, but I had never been interested in either photography or cooking before I started my blog. Yeah, that is true. I'm not that kind of photographer who first picked up a camera at some very young age. And I think that doesn't make my photography passion less serious. Cook Your Dream was born shortly after I discovered I actually enjoyed cooking. I didn't used to cook because I didn't have to, as P. is a fantastic cook and he always liked cooking a lot. Things have changed when we moved to London two years ago. Many exotic ingredients available almost on our doorstep brought a whole new dimension to cooking for me. I have suddenly started enjoying experimenting with new flavours and dishes. The more I cooked and baked, the more I wanted to share my new passion.

One day when I baked my first apple crumble I decided I had to share the recipe. I was thinking my mom and friends would love it (sharing my recipes with them was the original purpose of my blog, and I was absolutely thrilled when I got my first comment after two months). The crumble was so delicious and beautiful in my eyes that I asked P. to take a picture of it (I didn't give him credit for the photo as I had no idea I should do so at that time, although all the photos in the first three posts were taken by him). Well, I had the recipe and photos, but I had no blog to share them. Once again I asked P. for help, and a couple of days later my first blog ever was born. I was so excited! I cooked and baked and P. took pictures of my creations. What a great team I thought. It worked perfectly, not for long though.

After a month, P. refused to take more food photos and said I should try it myself. I wasn't very happy but I had no other option as I needed photos for my blog. I had to ask him to explain the basics of his dSLR to me. I'm very impatient student, but I really tried to soak up everything he was saying. It has opened up a whole new world for me. I always loved cookbooks and food magazines with beautiful photos but I never thought I would enjoy taking food photos myself. However, after a couple of days of studying, reading and trying, I completely fell in love with food photography and styling. I knew I found my real passion in life.

It's been nearly one year since I took my first food photo and I can't stop learning, taking more photos and loving everything about food photography and food styling. I launched my food photography portfolio website two months ago, and last week I got my first photography job in London! Words can't describe how happy and excited I am. If someone had told me one year ago that I would get my own dSLR camera and would love photography so much, I would have just laughed (I got my own point and shoot camera for Christmas in the same year I started this blog, because I didn't want to use P.'s dSLR camera).

As it was the crumble that actually made me start this blog I thought I would share yet another crumble recipe in my anniversary blog post. I have experimented with various fruit fillings and crumble toppings during the year and my last favourite version is peach crumble with buckwheat topping. I added some flaxseed from Linwoods in this recipe to create even healthier and tastier version.

One of the most important and fantastic things this past year has brought me are all my blog friends and readers. I had a chance to meet some of them personally and they became my real friends, and for that I'm very happy and grateful. I want to take this opportunity to thank all of my readers and I decided to give something away.

I won a Linwoods Cocoa Delight Recipe Development competition recently with my Buckwheat and Flaxseed Berry Crepes recipe and photos and I would like to give one reader a bag of Linwoods Milled Flaxseeds, Cocoa & Berries so you can make my crepes recipe or develop your own new recipe.

This giveaway is open internationally. Entering to win is very easy. Just leave a comment on this post before noon (12:00) on next Thursday the 26^th August (GMT).

I will randomly select one winner on Thursday and contact them by email. Please make sure your comment links back to a site where I can contact you or leave your email address in your comment so I can contact you if you win.

I have made slight changes in my blog design to celebrate the anniversary. I've created new navigation menu placed under my logo and most importantly, I have finally added an About page! I also created a Facebook fan page for Cook Your Dream recently. Head over there now and become a fan if you don't want to miss another giveaway which is coming soon!

Peach and buckwheat crumble

Makes 4

50g buckwheat flour

40g flaxseed

35g light brown sugar

1/4 tsp salt

45g unsalted butter, chilled

500g peaches, stoned and diced

25g light brown sugar

10g cornstarch

1 lemon, juice and zest

1tsp vanilla

2 tbsp sliced almonds

1. Preheat the oven to 180C and butter 4 ramekins.

2. In a medium bowl mix the flour, flaxseed, sugar and salt. Add the butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Gather the mixture into a ball and place in the freezer for about 10 minutes.

3. Mix together sugar, lime juice, zest, vanilla and cornstarch in a large bowl, add the peaches, and toss until evenly coated.

4. Place the fruit mixture in the prepared ramekins and sprinkle the crumble filling over the top. Top with sliced almonds.

5. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the crumble mixture is golden brown and the fruit filling is bubbling.

6. Let it cool down for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Soba Noodles Salad with Roasted Eggplant

2010-07-23T19:33:00.013+01:00

What are your favourite eggplant recipes? I really like eggplants, however I've realised recently, I don't cook with them very often. I assume the reason is that majority of recipes using eggplant are very similar. The most common eggplant recipes are either ratatouille or stuffed and baked eggplant. I'm not saying those are not tasty, but I like experimenting with new recipes and exploring new possibilities of using my favourite ingredients.

Since I had recently bought many eggplants at a local market, I thought it would be a good opportunity to try a fresh new recipe. I was googling for a while and found several tempting recipes. I'm a pasta maniac, and so my first thought led me to a pasta with eggplant. But it looked too boring at that moment.

Then I suddenly got an idea! Eggplant is widely used in Asian cuisines. I love Asian cuisines! Especially Thai cuisine is on top of my favourite cuisine list at the moment. However, I have recently fell in love with soba noodles. Soba noodles and eggplant sounded like a harmonic and perfect combo.

I started new search for soba noodle and eggplant recipes. I found only a few recipes, but it was enough for me. I rarely follow a recipe exactly. I prefer to read several recipes and combine them into my own one. That's exactly what I did this time. I loved the result.

Soba noodles salad with roasted eggplant

Serves 1

1 medium eggplant, diced

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp toasted sesame oil

1 bundle of soba noodles

2 tsp sesame seeds

1 tsp peanut oil

1 garlic clove, crushed

pinch of sea salt

1 tsp minced fresh ginger

2 tsp soya sauce

1 tsp dark brown sugar

1 tsp clear rice wine

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

1. Place the diced eggplant in a bowl, toss with salt and leave to stand for 15-20 minutes to leach out water and bitterness before roasting. Rinse shortly under cold water, drain and pat dry with paper towel.

2. Preheat the oven to 170C. Put the eggplant on a baking sheet and toss with some sesame oil. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Take the baking sheet out of the oven after 15 minutes and push around the eggplant so that they bake evenly.

3. While the eggplant is baking, heat the sesame seeds in a wide frying pan over medium heat, shaking the pan occasionally. Remove them when they darken and become fragrant, about 2-3 minutes, and let them cool.

4. Cook the soba noodles according to the package directions. Once the noodles are cooked, rinse them under cold water and drain well. Transfer to a medium bowl and toss with 1 tsp of oil to prevent noodles from sticking.

5. With a knife, mash the garlic and salt into a paste. In a small bowl, combine the garlic paste, ginger, soya sauce, sugar and rice wine and whisk until blended.

6. Add the roasted eggplant to the bowl with noodles, combine with the dressing and toasted sesame seeds. Toss well and garnish with chopped cilantro.

Apricot Galette

2010-07-16T16:32:00.008+01:00

What is it about apricots what makes them real summer fruit for me? It might be their gorgeous yellow-orange colour making them shine like the summer sun, or their sweet smell that brings many lovely memories of hot summer days from my childhood, or all of that together. Maybe the fact that they are not easily available all year round, same as strawberries, raspberries and other summer fruit, makes them so special.

Anyway, when I see or smell apricots, my mind shouts - summer!

I remember that when I was a kid, my older brother and I used to go picking apricots every summer. They were the best and sweetest apricots, and our mum always made the best apricot dumplings served with quark, sugar and melted butter. Sight! I can almost taste it on my tongue when thinking about it. Or she would make a delicious apricot cake with crumble topping. All of those were, however possible only if we didn't eat all the apricots straight away! Yes, that happened quite often. :)

So when I finally got my hands on first apricots last week, I had to try hard not to eat them all. I was contemplating what should I cook or bake with them. First, I wanted to make apricot dumplings that my mum used to make, but then I changed my mind (honestly, it would make too much work) and chose galette. I only made galette once during this winter, filled with strawberries and apples, and I was planning to make it again. It's quite quick and easy to make and the taste is fantastic!

I love the combination of apricots and quark and I wanted to use that for my galette, but I was too lazy to go shopping. Well, next time! :)

Apricot galette

250 g plain flour

2 tbsp golden cane sugar

1/4 tsp salt

115 g cold unsalted butter, diced

3 tbsp cold milk

about 20 fresh apricots, halved and pitted

2 tbsp sliced almonds

30g golden cane sugar

1 egg for egg wash

3 tbsp apricot jam

1. Combine flour, sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Add butter and using your hands rub the butter in to the flour until you have pea sized crumbles. Add the cold milk and blend everything together with a fork. Do not knead the dough. Gather the clumps into a ball.

2. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and flatten it a bit. Refrigerate for at least an hour.

3. Preheat oven to 200C. Unwrap the dough and press the edges so that there are no cracks. Dust a sheet of parchment paper with flour and roll out the dough into a 25cm circle about 0,3-0.5cm thick. Transfer the dough on the parchment paper to a baking sheet.

4. Arrange the apricots on dough, leaving a 5cm border. Sprinkle with almonds and most of the sugar, reserving 1 tbsp of sugar to sprinkle over the edges. Fold the edges over the apricots. Brush the edges with egg wash and sprinkle with the remaining sugar.

5. Bake on the lower half of the oven for about 35-40 minutes until the crust is golden brown. Let it cool for 10 minutes and then brush the tart with melted apricot jam.

Buckwheat and Linwoods Flaxseed Berry Crepes

2010-07-01T13:59:00.006+01:00

Summer is undoubtedly here, and I'm very happy! I enjoy our boiling hot summer. Yes, I love hot weather and long days. But, what I love most about this season of the year, is summer fruit. I know strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and all kind of berries are available all year round, but let's be honest, the flavour of freshly picked local strawberries is incomparable. And just imagine a smooth and flavoursome apricot or peach, that's the true taste of summer!

So when I got my package of Linwoods' Milled flaxseed, cocoa & berries, I knew instantly what I was going to make. I wanted to create a recipe that would complement a nice strong flavour of cocoa & berries in this Lindwoods' mix. We got some of Linwoods' products last year in our Food Blogger Connect 2009 goodie bags, and I mostly enjoyed them in my morning yogurt or fruit crumbles.

Crepes with fresh fruit sounded fairly good to me. I paired Milled flaxseed, cocoa & berries with buckwheat flour, which has a nice nutty flavour, to create very flavoursome and gluten-free crepes. Served with sour cream and fresh berries, these crepes make a wonderful summer treat!

Buckwheat and flaxseed berry crepes

Makes about 6 crepes

1/2 cup (65g) buckwheat flour

1/4 cup (30g) Linwoods flaxseed cocoa&berries

1/4 cup (45g) cane sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/4 cup (315ml) milk

2 eggs

2 tbsp (25g) melted butter

vegetable oil for frying

2 cups fresh strawberries

1 cup fresh blueberries

1 cup (250ml) sour cream

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the buckwheat flour, Linwoods flaxseed, sugar and salt. Whisk in milk and add the eggs. Add the melted butter and whisk until fully incorporated.

2. Heat a lightly greased frying pan over a medium heat. Ladle or pour a little batter (depending on your frying pan size, just enough so it will thinly coat your pan) into the pan and tilt and rotate the pan until the batter coats the bottom evenly. Cook over medium-high heat until the edges start to brown. Flip the crepe and cook the second side for a few more seconds.

3. Remove the cooked crepe from the pan and place it on a plate. Fold each crepe into quarters and fill with sour cream and fresh berries.

New Blog's Name and Cherry Frozen Yogurt

2010-06-28T21:17:00.049+01:00

In my last post I wrote about some changes I plan for this blog. Today, I am going to introduce the first and most important one. My blog has moved and changed its name.

Welcome to Cook Your Dream!

The new address is: http://cookyourdream.com

I have been thinking about changing my blog's name for quite a while, because I noticed there is often a confusion between my Twitter name and my blog's name. I didn't want to change the blog's name though, as I have moved to a custom domain recently and I thought another change might be even more confusing for my readers. After some "brainstorming sessions" with Pam, Juls and Tiina during FBC10 I decided to make the change, while the blog is still young.

If you have subscribed to my blog via email or RSS, you will need to update the subscription. All subscription links in the right sidebar are already updated.

I must confess I really like the new name Cook Your Dream and I hope that you will like it too! Thank you Tiina, Juls and Pam for convincing me! :)

Summer has finally arrived in London and the high day temperatures break all records. A small table fan runs all day to keep us cool. I like this hot weather during a day but I really don't like it when I want to sleep. Anyway I don't complain, because sunshine is a welcomed change in London.

I try to avoid hot cooked meals on such hot days and prefer light, fresh meals like fruit or vegetable salads, yogurt with fresh fruit, and of course - ice cream! I eat ice cream a lot during summer! And the best ice cream is home made ice cream! Frozen yogurt is very easy and quick to make and you can add any fruit you like. I bought lovely sweet cherries at the market which were a perfect choice for the ice cream.

I so much enjoyed the lovely summer weekend with long days and hot evenings that are perfect for a picnic or barbecue. P. and I met some friends in the Victoria park for a Saturday evening picnic. While enjoying beautiful evening light and warm air, we munched on sweet cherry tomatoes, olives, hummus with pita bread and cold rose.

On Sunday we decided to finally go to Blackheath farmers market where we got loads of great local food. I wanted to buy everything there! I couldn't wait to get home to taste Hoxton rye bread and fresh buffalo cheese with garlic and herbs. I was pretty happy with such lunch but P. needed to satisfy his meat craving. Grilled beef steak flavoured with Juls' "Tuscany in a jar" did the job perfectly. I served it with fresh potato salad and grilled halloumi to satisfy my summer cravings! And there was still the cherry frozen yogurt in the freezer for a dessert! :)

Cherry frozen yogurt

2 cups pitted cherries

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 cup sugar

60ml whole milk

500ml Greek yogurt

1. Put the cherries, sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan, stir and bring to a boil. When it starts to boil, turn down the heat to a simmer, stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved. Use a potato masher to squeeze out some juice from the cherries while heating. When all the sugar has dissolved, remove from heat and let cool.

2. Place the cherries mixture in a blender and blend until almost smooth. I like small pieces of the fruit in my ice cream. In a large bowl, mix together the cherry purée, milk and yogurt.

3. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to a manufacturer's directions. If you don't have an ice cream maker, pour the ice cream mixture into a freezer safe container and place in the freezer. As the ice cream starts to freeze around the edges (about 30-40 minutes), take it from the freezer and stir up with a fork. Return it to the freezer. Repeat the stirring process every 30-40 minutes until the ice cream is completely frozen.

Food Blogger Connect 2010

2010-06-17T16:46:00.096+01:00

Better late than never! I was telling this myself, when I was contemplating whether I should write a blog post about Food Blogger Connect 2010 which was held in London two weeks ago. Is it too late already? Will anybody be interested in reading about a two-week old event? The main wave of emotions after that amazing weekend has already melted away and most of us have returned to our normal life. But here I am, with my heart still full of memories and my hard drive full of photos of my old and new friends. I want to share those with you.

Jeanne, Kerrin and Jamie

My blog had been only 3 months old when I attended Food Blogger Connect 2009 last year. I felt like Alice in Wonderland as the blogosphere was absolutely new and unexplored area for me, and I met so many wonderful like-minded people there. This year was going to be different. My blog is 10 months old (still pretty young) and I feel like a member of the fabulous food blogosphere. I was excited to see my old friends I got to know last year again and finally meet authors of some new blogs I discovered during the year.

Dissect your camera by Hilda

Jeanne, Jamie and Kerrin, Writing Style & Voice

One thing was completely new this year. I decided to donate my couch to three out-of-town bloggers. I know that London is not the cheapest city in Europe, and as a food blogger and passionate food photographer collecting props all the time, I can imagine thousands things that I would love to spend my money on rather than an expensive hotel. It felt a bit weird though. I met Pam of The Cooking Ninja last year, although we didn't have a chance to chat properly, but I have never met Tiina of Sparkling Ink and Juls of Juls' Kitchen before. "How will we all get along with each other?", was the first question that came to my mind.

Boy, we had a blast getting to know each other, having brainstorming sessions, exploring London together and shopping for props (I love Anthropologie)! Sight! I wish this weekend was not over yet! Luckily Pam stayed for a few more days with us and was so generous to cook for P. and me some of her delicious recipes. I particularly loved her Curry coconut prawns and Assam fish.

Even food bloggers eat chips! :)

So what else has this conference brought to me? A lot. A bit of everything. New friendships and blogs, good laugh, good food, lack of sleep, excitement and disappointment and my head full of new ideas and projects. Stay tuned to see some of upcoming changes to this blog!

Jamie, Julia, Kerrin, Cecila and Katharine

Brilliant cameraman Chris

Mowie and Mayssam

I don't know if it's just me but I often get disappointed when I'm really looking forward to something too much. A few last minute changes in the conference programme reduced a bubble of excitement growing inside me every day closer to the event. I was particularly very sad that Béatrice of La Tartine Gourmande was unable to speak at the event. Her photography and food styling have been an inspiration to me since I started my blog, and I was super excited at the though of learning from her.

This year's program also promised photography hands-on session. I couldn't wait for my first photography workshop as I'm all self-taught photographer. Sadly, there was no photography workshop. Having photography as a major interest, these changes made the conference less interesting for me.

Juls with her beloved cake

Italian sun in London - Jasmine and Manuel

Matina, Sharon and Suzannah

Tiina and Juls

Nando entertaining ladies

Chilling Hilda and Beth

But look at all those smiling faces. That's what made this conference so special and unforgettable. There were many speakers sharing their knowledge and information. Jaden from Steamy Kitchen kicked off the conference on Friday with a live video session talking about "Monetizing your blog". Her enthusiasm is highly contagious.

The Saturday program started with the talk about copyright and effective recipe writing by Jeanne of Cook Sister! followed by Hilda of Saffron and Blueberry with the talk "Dissect my camera, please!". Jamie of Life's a feast, Kerrin of My kugelhopf and Jeanne talked about writing style and how to find your voice. Saturday talks were finished by Mowie of Mowielicious and Meeta of What's for lunch, Honey? who shared their secrets for shooting food porn.

Juls shooting food porn

Sarah shooting food porn

Mowie and The Spice Girls

Juls and Pam

My fab weekend flatmates & me

Beth enjoying delicious chocolate from Julia

Lovely Julia with her amazing chocolate!

Aren't they cute? Mowie & Beth

Mowie & Kerrin

Absolutely best for me were the Sunday talks. Luisa Weiss of The Wednesday Chef had a car accident and couldn't attend the conference, but Kerrin and Julia of A Slice of Cherry Pie mastered their talk "How to get published & and get feature work". I couldn't take my eyes off amazingly energetic Kerrin sharing passionately her experience with approaching editors and giving advice on getting published in a magazine. Kerrin had all the qualities a good speaker should possess, she was friendly, open, funny, entertaining and passionate. Julia was as well as Kerrin very open, friendly and generous in sharing advice on publishing a cookbook.

Niall Harbison of Simply Zesty talking about marketing and social media was the cherry on top of the cake. Create personality behind your blog, treat your blog seriously and find your niche, were some of his advice.

Fab Sunday speakers Kerrin and Julia

Adorable Julia

It was difficult to choose! :) Prop swap & Ann.

We had a blast

Always smiling Ann

Nando being interviewed by Chris

As I said earlier here, this conference gave me a bit of everything, good and bad. But most importantly it gave me new friends and new motivation to follow my passion and my dream!

I want to thank to Beth of Dirty Kitchen Secrets for organizing the second year of the Food Blogger Connect conference! If you want to see who was there this year, check the list at the end of this post for all the attendees and their blogs. (Thank you Juls for putting this list together!)

Sunday dinner with my girls

More than generous presents from my lovely guests Pam, Tiina and Juls! Thank you girls!

Nando	http://www.cucabrazuca.com
Andrew	http://winit-theblog.com
Julie	http://alkalinesisters.com
Katharine	http://www.agirlinmadrid.com
Leen	http://zibdeh.wordpress.com
Carla	http://domesticventures.squarespace.com
Rachel	http://www.cookyourlife.com/
Kelly	http://www.tastour.co.uk
Adrienne	http://www.gastroanthropology.com
Tiina	http://www.sparklingink.com
Pascale	http://www.extra-relish.blogspot.com/
Cecilia	http://onevanillabean.wordpress.com/
Keith	www.lookwhatwefound.co.uk
Matina	http://www.fetaarepa.com
Charlie	http://eggsontheroof.com
Ludger	http://www.none.de
Karin	http://yumandmore.com
Julia	http://www.alwaysleaveroomfordessert.com
Catherine	http://www.thecattylife.com
Leila	http://www.delishvillesemgluten.com
Katie	http://katielousbites.wordpress.com/
Valentina	http://www.cupcakestrembom.com
Tracey	http://www.international-foodie.blogspot.com/
Michele	http://www.5amfoodie.co.uk
Gemma	http://dressingfordinner.blogspot.com
Heather	http://www.eggscreamandhoney.com
Giulia	http://www.julskitchen.com
Arthi	http://debugcooking.blogspot.com/
Anne	http://www.anneskitchen.co.uk
Pamela	http://www.cookingninja.com
Bron	http://practicallydaily.blogspot.com
Stacey	http://peanutjealous.blogspot.com
Natashka	http://peanutjealous.blogspot.com
Reena	http://coconutraita.blogspot.com/
Aoife	http://www.thedailyspud.com
Elisa	http://www.aussiefoodie.blogspot.com/
Eunice	http://heavenwildfleur.blogspot.com
Suzannah	http://www.officelunches.blogspot.com/
Mayssam	http://www.deliriouskitchen.com
Sarka	http://cookingyourdream.com
Sharon	http://www.seasontotaste.co.uk
Jasmine	http://www.labna.it
Manuel	http://www.labna.it
Giulia	http://www.julskitchen.com
Jeanne	http://www.cooksister.com
Meeta	http://www.whatsforlunchhoney.net
Mowie	http://www.mowielicious.com
Jamie	http://lifesafeast.blogspot.com
Kerrin	http://mykugelhopf.ch/
Hilda	http://www.saffronandblueberry.com
Julia	http://www.asliceofcherrypie.com
Sarah	http://blog.maisoncupcake.com
Chris	http://www.soulmekanik.com
Bethany	http://www.dirtykitchensecrets.com

Cherry and Strawberry Yogurt Smoothie

2010-06-02T11:49:00.017+01:00

Good news today. I think I'm back in game and I feel much more inspired again. I took a few days off and kept telling myself that I don't have to produce anything beautiful and great every single day! It helped. I have to learn to accept that, but it's working. I want to say a BIG thank you to all of you for your supportive comments on my last post! They mean the world to me and help me keep going! Thank you my foodie friends!

Another good news is, that it is a Food Blogger Connect time this weekend, and I am going to spend wonderful three days with fellow food bloggers and friends, and eat a lot! I am looking forward to seeing everyone there! I think there are still a few tickets left for Saturday, so if you are the "last minutes decision" kind of person, there is still a chance to join us. I'm sure we are all going to have a blast.

I hope you will like my today's recipe, because I didn't cook much this week as I'm home alone gain. I finally got first cherries at the market last week. They were surprisingly very sweet, so I enjoyed them raw, added some in morning yogurt, and the rest I mixed with strawberries, honey, apple juice and homemade yogurt into a smoothie. If you like ice smoothie, put your fruit in the freezer for 2-3 hours before blending. It makes a wonderful refreshing smoothie.

Cherry and strawberry yogurt smoothie

Serve 1 glass

1 cup fresh, pitted cherries

1/2 cup fresh strawberries

1/2 cup apple juice (I used Copella)

1/2 cup home made plain yogurt

1 tsp honey

1. For ice smoothie, freeze strawberries and cherries for 2-3 hours.

2. Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor, and process until smooth. Pour into prepared glass and garnish with a fresh strawberry.

Pistachio Ice Cream and Photography Creativity

2010-05-21T19:34:00.038+01:00

I made pistachio ice cream quite a while ago and waited too long to post the recipe. It has been in the freezer for a month or so and I wasn't able to take a decent photo to show you how delicious it is. I only have one photo. Yes, only ONE! I can't believe it myself. What is wrong with me? I have been lacking inspiration and creativity. I haven't made a nice photograph in a while. I can't! It's very frustrating! I love photography and I do love food photography. But I'm stuck, and it doesn't help to just hit the shutter button and wait for a miracle.

It takes a lot more to be a photographer and create beautiful photos.

"You don't take a photograph, you make it." - Ansel Adams

I'm not a photographer, or at least I can't call myself a professional photographer. I'm just a passionate amateur. Taking photographs makes me happy and that's what is important. However, I have to take a break from food photography. I need to recharge my inner photography battery, and then I will come back and make beautiful photos again. Well, I hope I will.

So please bear with me. Today I won't share my favourite photos with you, I don't have any favourites except this one, my first macro photo. I like its colours.

At least I can share this yummy pistachio ice cream recipe. Pistachio has been my favourite ice cream flavour since I was a kid. There's one really good thing about ice cream, it makes me happy whenever I eat it! :)

Pistachio ice cream

250g pistachios

280g demerara sugar

1l milk

500g creme fraiche

1. Pour the milk into a saucepan and add the sugar. Bring to a boil over a medium heat. Remove from the heat and let cool completely.

2. Meanwhile, ground the pistachios in a food processor or blender. Whisk together the pistachios, creme fraiche and milk until well combined.

3. Freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. If you don't have an ice cream maker follow these instructions. Pour your ice cream mixture into a freezer safe container and place it in the freezer. As the mixture starts to freeze around the edges, remove it from the freezer and stir well. Try to break up any frozen sections. Return to freezer. Repeat the process until the mixture is smooth and frozen. I often use a hand blender to break up all frozen crystals.

Rhubarb and Apple Crumble

2010-05-14T19:58:00.036+01:00

I couldn't wait to share this recipe with you. I know, you may think it's just another rhubarb crumble recipe. If you look around the food blogosphere, you will probably find hundreds of rhubarb recipes at the moment, rhubarb crumble recipes in particular. It seems that rhubarb is in season all around the world. However, I think there are never enough rhubarb recipes! So I hope you won't mind when I add one more.

I have always loved rhubarb, but not as much as my older brother. I think my mum's rhubarb crumb cake was his most favourite dessert ever. Luckily for him, our grandparents used to grow rhubarb in their garden and supplied us with lots of rhubarb most of the summer. It seemed to me that rhubarb was more like a weed, it was harder to kill than grow. So my grandparents had lots and lots of it! What would I give for their rhubarb now! Sigh!

I prefer desserts with more fruit and less pastry or dough, and so does P. Then it comes as no surprise that our favourite dessert is crumble. I might actually say that crumble was partially responsible for the birth of this blog, which creates a special relationship between crumble and me. Just check my first blog post, where I posted a recipe for apple crumble, followed by a strawberry crumble recipe less than a week later. Three crumble recipes aren't too many for one blog, are they? But believe me, this one was the best crumble I have made so far, or at least I thought so while I munched on still warm, freshly baked crunchy crumble.

Rhubarb and apple crumble

fruit filling:

8-9 stalks rhubarb, cut into 2cm pieces

2 apples, cored and diced

3cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated

2 tbsp rum

1 tbsp cornstarch

65g light brown sugar

crumble:

85g wholemeal plain flour

65g light brown sugar

50g rolled oats

75g unsalted butter, softened

l/2 tsp salt

pinch freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup flaked almods

1. Preheat the oven to 180C and butter a gratin dish.

2. In a medium bowl mix the flour, oats, sugar, salt, black pepper and almonds. Add the butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Gather the mixture into a ball and place in the freezer for about 10 minutes.

3. Mix together sugar and cornstarch in a large bowl, add the apples, rhubarb and ginger, and toss until evenly coated. Pour in the rum and toss again.

4. Place the fruit mixture in the prepared gratin dish and sprinkle the crumble filling over the top.

5. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the crumble mixture is golden brown and the fruit filling is bubbling.

6. Let it cool down for at least 15 minutes before serving.