Minta Eats

One thing I really hate about Autumn is this breakthrough of warm and chilly weather. One day you have nice sun and mild temperatures allowing you to parade in sweater and the second day temperatures go down and down and down, rain is falling down as mad and all colors are gone from the world. For such days – first days of cold Autumn – you need some special measures to cheer yourself up and help your mood. Special measures should include: something chocolate, something orange, something sweet and something creamy. My suggestion: orange flavoured cheese cream brownies. This recipe was inspired by the cheesecake brownies found on the David Lebovitz site. My addition was the Seville orange marmalade put between the chocolate and cheese layer. Enjoy

Ingredients:
Brownie:
200 g good dark chocolate (I’ve used 70% Lindt Chocolate)
200 g butter
200 g sugar (I’ve used brown)
1 cup (125 g) flour
3 eggs
pinch of salt
pinch of cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Orange Marmalade

Cheesecake
350 g cream cheese
100 g sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
30 g flour or vanilla custard powder

Grease rectangular pan (I’ve used 25 x 25 cm one) and line with some baking paper. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius.
In a small pot boil some water. Break chocolate bars on smaller pieces, put into bowl and add butter. Place the bowl on the pot with boiling water. Keep on small fire till the chocolate melts. Put the bowl aside for chocolate to cool a bit.
Beat eggs with sugar till pale and fluffy, add cooled chocolate and mix well. Sift in flour with spices and mix well.
In separate bowl beat cream cheese with sugar and flour, ad eggs (one after one) and beat well.
Pour the chocolate batter into the pan, cover with some orange marmalade and top with cheesecake mixture. (you can make some swirls with knife if you want).
Bake for 35 minutes or till set.

Ornage Cheesecake Brownie

Generalnie nie mam problemów z jesienią. Ale jednego w tej porze roku nie lubię – nagłch załamań pogody. Jednego dnia świeci piękne słonce, a późnoletnie temperatury pozwalają na paradowanie po dworze w samym swetrze. A na następny dzień – sruuu! temperatura spada jak szalona, z ciemnych chmur kapią hektolitry wody i wszystko nagle traci swoje kolory, jakby ktoś je ukradł. Na takie meteorologiczno-klimatyczne katastrofy niezbędne są specjalne środki: czekoladowe, pomarańczowe, kremowe i słodkie. Mój typ – sernikobrownie z marmoaldą z sewilskich pomarańczy. Mój przepis na sernikobrownie to luźna interpretacja przepisu z bloga Davida Lebovitza. W ramach udziwnień, między warstwę czekoladową, a sernikową włożyłam marmoladę z gorzkawych pomarańczy z kawałkami kandyzowanych skorek cytrusów. Efekt oceńcie sami.

Składniki
Brownie:
200 g dobrej, ciemnej czekolady (ja użyłam 70% Lindta)
200 g masła
200 g cukru (ja użyłam brązowego)
125 g mąki
3 jajka
szczypta soli
szczypta cynamonu
łyżeczka esencji waniliowej

marmolada z pomarańczy

Sernik
350 g kremowego serka, zmielonego
100 g cukru
1 łyżeczka esencji waniliowej
2 jajka
30 g mąki lub budyniu waniliowego

Natłuść prostokątną foremkę (ja używałam takiej 25 x 25 cm) i wyłóż pergaminem lub papierem do pieczenia. piekarnik nagrzej do 175 stopni C.
Połam czekoladę i wraz z pokrojonym na kawałki masłem wrzuć do żaroodpornej miseczki. Miskę ustaw na rondelku z gotującą się wodą. Podgrzewaj mieszając czas od czasu, aż czzekoalda i masło się rozpuszczą. W międzyczasie ubij jajka z cukrem na jasną, puszytsą masę.
Odstaw miskę z roztopioną czerkoladą do przestudzenia. Przestudzoną czekoladę dodaj do masy jajecznej, ciągle mieszając. Dodaj przesianą mąkę z przyprawami.
W osobnej misce utrzy serek z cukrem oraz mąką, dodaj jajka, cały czas ucierając masę.
Do foremki wlej masę czekoladową. Na wierzchu rozsmaruj marmoladę i przykryj masą sernikową (wierzch masy serkowej można “porysować” ostrzem noża, robiąc zawijasy). Piecz 35 minut, aż masa serkowa się zetnie.

Ornage Cheesecake Brownie

Gdynia Sailing Days 2009

Last few days I have spent by the Polish sea, shouting, dancing, jumping and screaming on the Open’er 2009 Festival. Beside the main msic attraction the other great thing to remember was visiting Gdynia’s Marina during the Gdynia Sailing Days. It was awesome – so many beautiful ships in one place.One of them came from Barbados island, some were 100 years old and other was soooo huge, You couldn’t see the end of it.

Suddenly, during the walk from one boat to another some familiar, yet totally unexpected in Gdynia aroma came to my nose – the smell of French sausages. After the brief  sensory shock (what the hell is doing Parisian smell in the Middle of Polish Yach Port????) I have realised that just before my eyes there are two gorgeous tents full of French delicacies: cheeses (with real heart-shape Neufchatel Coeur, monsetrous-size gruyere, Valencay, pinkish Reblochon and teany-tiny Crottin De Chavignol… whole palette of sausages (with figs, black currants, from prok, beef, donkey..), olives, onions and garlic …The second tent was a boulangerie – with baguettes, pain au chocolate, all kinds of tarts savour and sweet.. I don’t know whose idea it was, but it was great – so fresh, tasty and genious comparing with “good ol’” grills and “chleb ze smalcem”, so typical and so hellish boring on such mass events. With the memoir taste on Frenche chevre on my mind, I enclose some pictures from the french tents.

I think this will be my new best pasta , sitting just by the classic yet not boring gorgonzola and spinach variaton.
This great recipe has been introduced to my by my dearest friend, R. R. is this kind of person that will immediately comfort your soul, heart and mind whrn You feel really low. Talk with You about nothing, something or the most important things in the middle of the night. She is a great friend, artist, scrabble-maniac, gardener and cook. Must come from some fairy tale, IMHO.
So here is the pasta we ate lately – tagliatelle with almonds and ricotta.
As I’ve arrived to R. and P.’s house a bit to early, she decided to make something quick and comforting, espeially that despite June we have had a typically october-ish weather .
And the best option here is pasta. This pasta.

Tagliatelle with ricotta and almonds

Ingredients:
0,5 kg tagliatelle pasta (linguine or buccatini will do just fine)
1 x 250 g pot of fresh ricotta cheese (I use Galbani’s)
1/2 of pot (=125 g) sour single cream
150 g almonds, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons pine nuts
1 cup vegetable stock
pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg
salt and fresh white pepper to taste
extra virgin olive oil

Heat dry, heavy pan and put pine nuts onto it. Grill them till golden brown, than take off the pan and put nuts into some bowl.
In a big pot boil some water with 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. When the water will boil, add pasta and stir well to avoid lumping of the noodles.
Put ricotta on hot pan, add sour cream and mix well. Add almonds, spices and than spon by spoon, some vegetable stock to losen the thick souce.
When the pasta will be ready and al dente, drain it and transefer into a warmed bowl. Pour the souce onto the pasta, sprinkle with pine nuts and some olive oil. Serve. Eat. Enjoy.

Yesterday we have celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Liberation of Poland .  Though I am really not the anniversary-celebration type of peron and I really don’t like all those pompous, fussy and very very official gatherings and ceremonies, this time was different. All because of few Polish NGO’s and people, who really wanted to celebrate with smile adn happy toast instead of boring and sad speaches. With no politicians, with with friends and a glass of wine in hand.

I was really lucky, because before 8 P.M. when we were to make the toast , I took part in the French Aperitif - an annual event to promote French food (mainle cheeses), wine and cuisine. The venet is taking place in Le Jardin Foksal – restaurant placed in old palace just by the Nowy Swiat with huge old garden. In the atmosphere on lazy picnic I tried my favourite goat cheeses and freshly baked baquette and listened to Mr. Marek Bieńczyk talking about wine. Here are some pics frim the event (pictures from the disastrous rain which interupted us not inculded)

Frog legs in sesame seeds on chevre cheese

French food and French wine

(Late) breakfast on the grass - chevre, Le Brin and bread

Crostata with camembert and fresh tomatos

Selection of French cheeses - brie, roulade with cranberries and herbs and chabichou

Don’t be afraid – this cake isn’t too sweet at all. Lightly moist, chewy, spicy banana cake slices are hiding totally sugar free light mascarpone and fromage frais mousse. Excellent for summer, when served chilled.

For the banana bread:
- 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cup uncooked old fashioned oats
- 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 cup plain yogurth
- 4 large bananas, ripe
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon

For the Chocolate and Mascarpone Mousse
100 dark chocolate (70 %)
250 g mascarpone cheese
250 g fromage frais or ricotta (IMHO first option mentioned is better)

For the form: 1 tbsp butter,  4 tbsp oats mousse

Heat the oven to 175 C. Butter up round springform and sprinkle with oats.

Mash bananas, add all liquid ingridients.

Mix the flour, oats and other dry ingridients, ddd to the banana mixture, whisk with spoon (rather roughly). Put the batter into the form, bake for 1-1,5 hour. When the cake will be brown on the top, take out from the oven, put on the rack to cool down a bit.

In the meantime break the chocolate, put into an heat-proof bowl and put into tourned off, but still warm oven. Cut the cake into two slices. If the cake is to moist, put into for few minutes into the still warm oven, so it would toast a bit. When the choclate will be ready, take it out and lefty aside to cool. When it will be at body temperature, add mascarpone and fromage (start with 1-2 dollops, mix well and than add another portion, so it will mix well and smoothly).

Spread the mousse on the lower slice of the cake, cover with the second slice. Put again into the springform or on the plate, cover with foil and chill for 3-4 hours before serving.

Spring is here! Really! And I think that this simple pasta is one of the most Spring-ish dish You could make. Light, hearthy and health, perfect for May dinner or lunch.

Spinach Tagliatelle with Asparagus and Gorgonzola
(Serves 4)

500 g spinach tagliatelle
500 g white or green asparagus
250 g ricotta cheese
150 g Gorgonzola
2 tsp black truffle paste
olive oil
freshly picked parsley

Cut off down 2 cm of asparagus sticks, peel hard skin if it’s necessary. Put into a tall or steam cooking pot. Meanwhile boil water with salt and few drops of olive oil, add pasta. On smal pan heat truffle paste, add crumbled grigonzola and ricotta, mix and heat slowly.

When asparagus will be al dente, drain them and cut in 5 cm pieces. Drain pasta, put into warmed bowl, pour with cheese souce and scatter asparagus over the top. Eat, drink white wine an go for a walk (dishes will wait).