GRANOLA BARS

I don't know how about you, but I feel very tired in spring time. And I find it very frustrating, because there are many things I want to be doing and I cannot find the strength. So I thought I will try some snack that can boost my energy levels. Not sure if it actually works or its just a placebo effect, but these bars taste so nice they can be easily a treat. and guilt free as there is no sugar. 

CELERY SOUP WITH POACHED EGG

As promised we are working on new posts for the new year more often. I hope you are still feeling motivated to keep healthy. I am not sure why we decide to start eating healthier in January since the fresh produce is so limited. But there are some vegetables that are full of vitamins and are available. For example celery. There is not much we cook with celery, its mostly used as garnish or crudités, but I recently found this soup recipe and gave it a go. It is fairly inexpensive vegetable and the whole soup will not cost you much and the quantities will feed at least 6 people. Or you can have it for lunch the next day, possibly freeze for another day.

Chocolate caramel walnuts

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE. I hope you all had lovely Christmas and New Year celebrations with your loved ones. We have been busy baking and preparing meals, which left us with no time to prepare a post for you. But we have some ideas already for the new year that we want to share with you. 

Firstly I'd like to show you a recipe for an excellent snack. I found it in one of my favourite magazines called KINFOLK. Amazing lifestyle magazine, do check it out if you can get hold of it or visit their website kinfolk.com.
This appealed to me instantly as I am a big fan of walnuts. Paired with caramel and chocolate it seemed like the perfect combination. And it did work. My sister enjoyed this snack very much as she loves dark chocolate!

BEEF SHIN RAGU

Autumn is in full swing and even though we had such lovely weather so far, the days are getting colder and the nights are longer. This calls for comfort cooking. The kind of cooking that takes long, but its worth the wait. I'm talking stews, casseroles and hearty soups.
My flatmate overheard me that I wished for a pressure cooker. She kindly bought me one for my birthday last year. It has been sitting on the shelf ever since as I was too scared to use it. I don't have much experience with it, only the horror stories how it explodes! Also I remember that my mum used it a lot and produced most delicious meals in it.  I gave it a go and cooked this amazingly tasty beef ragu. It was supposed to be from beef shin but since i didn't find this cut last minute, I used braising steak which worked well too.

Informal summer dinner

This year we were lucky and got to enjoy warm summer full of sunshine. Even though I still had to go to work, evenings seemed longer and I just didn't want to waste them. Often I invited friends for dinner, just impromptu, no fuss, no hassle. Many times we enjoyed it on the balcony, or when it was few more of us, we sat around the table. This was one of those evenings. The wine was flowing and everyone was happy. The dinner I prepared was fairly simple, light and fresh, mostly inspired by Italian flavours. 

CUSTARD TART

I would like to share a recipe for another tart. You must all think that all I bake is tarts. Which is true, but i do cook other things too. This one is just a quick post, I guess to end the summer on a high. There is a bit of work involved, but the results are worth it. The recipe is from Aran Goyoaga, the creator of Cannelle et Vanille blog. I recently ordered her book and I'm enjoying it immensely. All Arans recipes are gluten free, including this tart, but the one I made was with classic sweet crust pastry. I guess I was cooking for a different crowd...

TOMATO TART

Summer is in the full swing and we have been enjoying all the wonderful produce available. This is the time of the year I wish I had a garden. Or allotment, somewhere close enough. To grow my own peas and radish and blackcurrants. But most of all, the seasonal tomatoes which are more flavoursome, sweet and tangy. All different kinds are available from the markets at the moments. Like a colourful painting you can smell and eat.
My mother came to spend some time with me an my sister. I wanted to cook something nice for her. She is a big fan of healthy food, so something fresh and light came to my mind.

I found this recipe on another blog. I was a bit worried that the tomatoes might be a bit too sweet. But it was wonderful. The crust is from wholewheat flour mixed with butter and cheese. The filling has a touch of honey and spring onions. My mum asked for fish so I bought some cod and quickly panfried it. It was flaky and soft. I also made a salad from everything I found in the fridge. Fennel, carrots, radishes and some rocket. We both enjoyed our dinner on the balcony. The warm weather is very unstable in London, I'm trying to enjoy every moment. It was lovely to have her around. In the morning, to say thank you I guess, she cleaned the kitchen before I even woke up.

Chorizo, Potato, French Bean

Recently I didn't have much inspiration to cook. I spent most of my time baking macarons and then Im too tired to spend any more time in the kitchen. Hence the posts were a bit sparse.
In summer I always want to eat light. Make the most of the fresh vegetables. Most of the times I just chop everything in a big bowl. Everything I find. My mother was quite surprised with some combinations during my recent trip to slovakia. But she did enjoy it and so did I.

But today I want to talk about Chorizo. I think its my favourite spanish food. Along with Padron peppers which are so hard to find in London.

I buy the cooking chorizo. It releases all the spices and juice when cooked adding incredible flavour to the dish. It comes in a small pack of 9 mini sausages. But if you are not able to find this, use what you can.
This dish is simple, quick and very tasty. And there are leftovers too, sometimes.
All you need is a pack of new potatoes, pack of french green beans and a pack of cooking chorizo.

Boil, fry and eat.

HOMEMADE GRANOLA

Breakfast are very important to me. I am not able to do anything else before I eat. And most of the time I eat cereals for breakfast, I particularly like granola. I have been planning to make my own for a while but I guess I was a little lazy. Recently I found a great recipe that allows me to experiment a little. Add a nut or leave out the fruit. So I can make exactly what I love and I know exactly whats in it. I add more of things that I should be eating but don't particularly enjoy on it's own, such as pumpkin seeds. They are full of zinc and great for healthy nails and hair...or so my mum always used to say.

The preparation is fairly quick and the baking time is 40-50 minutes. I have managed to make one before I went to work. I don't think I will be buying granola ever again. It really does taste amazing, fresh, crunchy and not too sweet.
I normally eat it with yoghurt and fresh fruit such as blueberries, sliced apples, or other berries in season and recently I've been enjoying sessional rhubarb which I stew with a bit of honey. Just delicious. It is equally as nice with almond milk. Not to mention that its gluten free and full of goodness.

If you're a fan of healthy morning cereals like me, I urge you to give it a go. I bet you will be hooked.
Just follow this easy recipe.

MAKING MACARONS

Macarons a true French classic, so well know around the world, a little luxury we can enjoy ever so often. The first time i tried them i was hooked. Of course there are flavours I prefer to others, for example pistachio and Salted caramel. I would never choose Rose or Licorice, but they are all incredibly popular. Laduree are the market leaders, Pierre Herme is more experimental, but many bakeries are making macarons. I always wanted to be able to bake my own. The first time I tried it was a catastrophy. They looked like a colourful flat biscuits that stuck to the baking sheet. I was very disappointed and demotivated and it took another few years before I tried again.

Practice makes perfect, as the saying goes and after few times I had some positive results. My colleague was organising a Hen night at the beginning of march and she mentioned to me she wanted to get some macarons from Laduree. I offered to make some for her. It was an exciting challenge. And I had to make them all Lactose free, which isn't easy as the non dairy product don't have the same rich taste. In the trial I made Lemon and raspberry, but eventually we decided to make pistachio and salted macarons. I enjoy the process of making them. It takes time and I am always improving my skills.

Fernandez and Wells

If your travels ever take you to Somerset house, do visit Fernandez and Wells restaurant at its premises. The setting is beautiful, especially on a sunny day when you can sit out in the courtyard. 

They offer a simple selection of Spanish an Italian produce but very good quality. 

I particularly LOVE the padron peppers. Small Spanish peppers fried in olive oil and sprinkled with rock sea salt. They are eaten whole, the seeds and all. Some, very few though, can be spicy, it's like a Russian roulette. 

The selection of charcuterie and cheese is also excellent. 

Cakes on offer are homely and tasty. 

There are few branches in Soho, but they are very small. They recently opened at Exhibition road too which I have not visited yet.

Yotam way

I have always been aware of  Yotam Ottolenghi, the chef and food writer, as I often seen his recipes in guardian and have tried some over the years. But I have never visited one of his restaurants until last week. We went in for a cake but the salad bar was so tempting, we couldn't resist. You get a choice of three and I loved the chickpea with mashed squash and feta cheese. The rice salad and puréed beetroot was also delicious. All the ingredients are fresh and wholesome with addition of traditional Israeli seasonings. The cakes are particularly delicious, unusual take on baked cheesecake in a pastry case with raspberry jam or the financier with mascarpone and fresh fruits. The selection is changed daily and take out is available as there is only one small communal table in the Belgravia restaurant. 

You can also check out the website where you can find recipes, ingredients information and other useful bits. 

ottolenghi.co.uk