#176 Strawberry chutney

Strawberry chutney - how I got to enjoy the strawberry taste in cold winter months.
Truskawkowy czatnej.
Recipe found here/polski przepis stąd: http://klapsaczykonferencja.pl/2010/06/truskawki-troche-inaczej/
You'll need:
2/3 small pasteurized jars,
1 kilo of strawberries,
1/3 cup of sugar (preferably brown),

4 tbsp of Balsamic vinegar,
2 tbsp of aromatic olive oil, (ie. white truffle)
a pinch of salt and 3 tea spoons of pepper (for the next batch I used cayenne pepper),
Steam the strawberries in a large pan on high heat so the fluids reduce quickly.
Add sugar and pepper. When the juice evaporates add salt and Balsamic vinegar.
Steam until it thickens enough. Take off heat and add olive oil. Fill the jars. Store in a dark place.
Use it as a sauce with cheese, fruits, nuts, greens, cold and hot and enjoy the wonderful aroma of fresh strawberries anytime you want.

#175 Blog resurrection

Potatoes, fried egg and gzik.
Hello again, after a long, long break. It's been a while so I need to explain myself. I haven't started eating meat, stopped cooking, taking pictures or anything like that. My posts just had been so late, breaks got longer and longer, days got shorter and this blog lost the essence of my everyday meals - seasonality. I mean what's the point of writing about strawberries when it's Christmas time? Not to mention having two jobs makes one realize why there's so many stay at home moms and retired folks in the blogosphere. So I decided to give myself a break in posting but continue to document, cook and collect recipes and pick up right where I stopped, when it's in season again. So here we go again (hopefully) with my remaining meals of 2010.
Another change - the blog's going bilingual (though not word for word). It turned out I have more readers here and they'd rather read it in Polish.
po polsku:
Witam po dłuuuugiej przerwie. Nie zaprzestałam pichcić i dokumentować ale na opisywanie nie starczało mi już czasu (a raczej sił) ale wszystkie pozostałe posiłki 2010 zostały udokumentowane, notatki zrobione więc jedziemy dalej z blogiem, dokładnie tam gdzie przerwałam, ale za to w sezonie (bo któż chciałby czytać o truskawkach grudniu). Dodatkowo, specjalnie dla Was, wracam w wersji dwujęzycznej, zawsze część będzie po polsku, a przynajmniej link do polskiego przepisu więc zaglądajcie i przewijajcie do wersji pl.
Do zobaczenia!

#174 Zucchini quiche

Zucchini Quiche
Quiche is vegetarian's best friend. Whenever you have a single veggie and no ideas for a meal you can easily turn it into a fine dish.
First chop and fry onion and cut the zucchini in thick slices, then in quarters.

Add the zucchini bits to the frying pan an spread a pinch of salt over it. Fry until golden.
Beat an egg or two. (I used one and got a very thin quiche)

Add two large tbsp of creamy goat cheese and combine the mixture.

If you're using frozen puff pastry allow it to defrost slightly before you form it in a tin tray. Place the fried veggies inside and pour the egg mixture over it. Spread some cheese on top and curve the sides inside in.

Bake in a preheated up to 200 degrees oven.

The cheese top is not a usual quiche ingredient but why not. It may resemble more a puff pastry pizza but it still tastes divine.

#173 Strawberries cherries

Fresh new strawberries and cherries.
Some summer days I go vegan, raw even. I'm a seasonal eater and you can only get that real, straight from the field taste of local fruits in June/July. To cherish those moments some days that's all I have cause that perfectly looking stuff you can get in the supermarket all year round is just not it.

#172 Veggie loaf

Vegetarian 'meat'loaf with marinate peppers stuffed with Feta and a side of sliced cucumber.
I felt inspired to experiment with a veggie loaf and it turned out quite nicely so I'm sharing the recipe. (As usual not too precise;)
You'll need:
bread crumbs, shallots, powder ginger, garlic, nutmeg, turmeric, caraway, pepper and diced carrots & peas, vegetable broth, butter, egg (optional).

Boil a packet of carrots and peas with vegetable broth. I had a bit of leftover mixed veggies frozen packet so I added that too.

When they're soft place them in a bowl and press with a potato masher.

Chop the shallots and fry them until golden brown.

Combine the mashed veggies with your desired amount of the forementioned spices, shallots and bread crumbs (as much as the mixture needs for structure but not so much that it will stop sticking). You may add an egg if it doesn't stick.

Place the mixture in a loaf tin and spread some butter on top to keep it moist and bake in a preheated up to 190 degrees oven.

Et voila!
You may cut it in thick slices and eat it while it's hot or leave some to serve as a bread spread.

#171 Election pizza

Tivoli's pizza with asparagus, olives and broccoli.

I was working at the District Board of Elections when Poland chose it's next president. And leading the committee meant only a couple of hours to eat, bath, sleep (how about that for a movie title), walk the dog. And that meant: dial a pizza.

#170 Veggie shih kebab

Zucchini, onion, bell pepper shih kebab, potato wedges and home-made garlic sauce.
The veggie shih kebab I got from my family so I fried some frozen potato veggies and not to be too lazy fixed some garlic sauce myself.