#30 Stay warm

It's autumn and winter is coming. The cold seasons ask for something warm to eat... a soup, maybe. But what about a slightly spicy and creamy soup?

Today I am going to follow an experienced cook blogger recipee, but I should thank my friend Rebecca for her advice (see instagram picture). 

Recipee from "Jessica in the kitchen" (I have done some screenshoots) 

Ready? 

 This was my first experience cooking with coconut milk. I must say I am always souspicious about "new" ingredient and its cooking time, but following instructions you can't be wrong! 
The soup should simmer 15 minutes after you add coconut milk.

Don't forget some bread slices to serve (I have also plenty of basil at home so I use it everywhere!)

Love lesson?

Stay warm each other.

#29 Learn from another culture

This lovely warm and pretty breakfast has been offered to me by my friend Virginia, a talented cake maker. She is an Italian living in London for some years, she has an English boyfriend and she is learning a lot of  British cookery.

On that Sunday morning Virginia has prepared some scones served with clotted cream and strawberry jam.

Recipee taken from this link:

Ingredients:

500g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

15g baking powder

100g caster sugar

100g salted butter, diced

250ml milk

1 medium free-range egg, lightly beaten

227g pot of clotted cream

200g good-quality strawberry jam

Method:
Sift the flour, baking powder and sugar into a bowl. Using just your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour until it is no longer visible. Add the milk and mix well. Once it starts to come together, turn out on to a lightly floured surface and knead gently until it forms a smooth, soft dough.

Preheat the oven to 200C/fan180C/gas 6. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to 2.5 cm thick and cut into rounds with a 5cm cutter. Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Brush the tops of the scones twice with the beaten egg.

Bake in the oven for approximately 15 minutes. Do not over-bake them or they will be dry. Serve warm with the Rodda’s Cornish clotted cream and strawberry jam.

Enjoy!

The love lesson is....Learn from other cultures. There are so many ways to see the world, do not be stuck on your own only. Learn and share, be open minded and you'll enjoy more life!

#28 Favourite!

This is my favourite chocolate cake! it contains hazelnut, a touch of coffee and pears!

Sorry! Recipee writing in progress

#27 Try and compare

Today I'd like to share not a recipee but a comparison I have made recently.

I have been told by my colleagues of this American breakfast called Peanut butter and jelly 

It is made of one or more layers of peanut butter and one or more layers of either jelly or jam on bread. Sometimes the sandwich is eaten open-faced or with one slice of bread folded over (effectively a "half sandwich". Because I often have a buttered toast with jam on the top for brekfast, I decided to try aso this american version and compare them in one day.

I choosed as bread a bagel made in NewYork, but actually bagel (Yiddish: בײגל‎ beygl; Polish: bajgiel), is a bread product originating in the Jewish communities of Poland!

Anyway I've spread peanut butter in half bagel (left) and butter in the other half (right).

I  swirled blackcurrant jam in both, and tried to see the difference.

I loved both :-) Regular butter is much lighter in taste, while the Whole Earth smooth peanut butter gives a salty touch to a sweet brekfast, which I don't dislike at all! Because I need to make a comparison, I'd say peanut butter gives me the impression i am eating too fat, so I would prefer the light flavour of normal butter. Sometimes is good to be naughty though!

Love lesson. try, compare, choose only in base your own taste.

#26 Think for tomorrow

I want to share this recipee which is very useful for a vegetarian dinner, and why not, also the day after's lunch! 

In Italy we call this "torta salata" which is "salty cake", or pie.

Ingredients:

olive oil

12 oz  mushrooms

4 cloves garlic (minced)

4 cups baby spinach

some cherry tomatoes

½ tsp salt

½ tsp black pepper

1 cup mozzarella or cheddar cheese (shredded)

1 puff pastry sheet

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425°/220 C°/ Gas Mark 7

Heat a large skillet over medium heat, then add some olive oil with the garlic. Add the mushrooms, sauté 7 minutes, then add the spinach and sprinkle the salt and pepper over the top.

Saute for an additional 3-4 minutes, then turn the heat off and set the skillet aside.

Roll the puff pastry sheet out on to a large baking tray. 

Place first the cheese on the pastry, then the cherry tomatoes halves, and place the sauteed mushrooms and spinach all over on the top. 

Add some other cheese if you fancy it. If you have some pastry which has not been used (in the case the pastry is larger than the baking tray) you can do as I did (see the pictures), i.e. using patry to make some diagonals on the top. I've created also a rose with a leaf in the middle! :-)

Place into the oven to bake for 25-30 minutes.

This recipee is very tasty and simple in my opinion. Plus, it's very good for when you have someone coming for dinner, in fact a pie is always a dish easy to share in slices. As a single I appreciate the fact that, once prepared, I have got also food left for the day after, which is easy to carry to work too.

Basically using a puff pastry, you can change the filling ingredients, and you'll have other tasty dishes!

Enjoy in creating your own "torta salata"!

The love lesson today is: 

Love is like a salty cake: the base is the important thing which should not miss, and the ingredients you add that make it special to your taste. 

So please choose well and think for tomorrow, because such a big dish is going to last!