Eggs Benedict with Smoked Salmon

For me eggs benedict is not simply a classic brunch dish (although I seriously can’t understand how people can continue to explore a brunch buffet after having such a rich and nourishing toast) – it’s definitely an ultimate indulgent breakfast. I know that it’s far from being a healthy option but I’m even ready to run another mile in the gym for having an extra spoon of hollandaise sauce!

            Strange as it may seem, but I’ve never had this world famous dish in its authentic form – with an English muffin and ham. Instead, I use plain toasted bread and smoked salmon for my version of it. And, to say true, I never felt like trying traditional “eggs benedict” as I’m more than happy with the subtle taste of mine.

Initially, my husband thought that I take too much trouble preparing such a breakfast on a busy mid-week morning (for him seeing a double boiler on the stove at 7 o’clock in the morning was way too much!), but the thing is, after you cook this dish a number of times, you don’t need to focus on every step of the process anymore: you start to do all the things automatically and all of a sudden you discover an ability to stir your hollandaise sauce with one hand and make a whirl in a boiling water for poaching eggs with another hand (astonishing as it is, but your eyes can still remain half-shut after a short night’s sleep – every move in the kitchen is in your muscle memory!).  So, believe me, it’s a deceivingly difficult dish – once you master it, it won’t take you longer to prepare it than to make some pancakes! And it’s always good to have such a stunning dish in your repertoire – either for dear friends who pay you a visit on a Sunday morning or for beloved yourself, right in the middle of the working week!

Italian Fiesta

            It’s always good to have a recipe of a dish and to keep it in front of your eyes while you cook. Sometimes, however, it’s better to enter a kitchen door with empty hands: no printed lists of ingredients, no cookbooks or culinary magazines – thus no restrictions whatsoever, just an awesome feeling of liberty and a great opportunity to bring some novel ideas into life.

            Once as I was heading towards my kitchen (the lunchtime was approaching and I had to prepare at least anything for my husband) I didn’t have an exact notion of what I was going to cook that day. I looked at a piece of fish, fresh vegetables and button mushrooms – and instantly decided that I wanted to go Italian: baked fish with mushroom sauce and gremolata, mashed potatoes with red pesto and – pasta! – some home-made egg yolk ravioli on a bed of rocket leaves. The final dish was bursting with flavours and looked stunning on a plate (it perfectly corresponded to the image I had in my mind when I started to cook). Believe me, you don’t need a recipe to bring a real fiesta to your dining table on an ordinary weekday: just follow your culinary intuition and a call of your gourmet heart and you will produce a meal that goes beyond any expectations!

Margarita Ice-Cream

        In Russia we have a saying: “One can’t spoil porridge with butter”. For me it’s an arguable statement but I’m absolutely convinced that “one can’t spoil a dessert with liquor”.

            One of the spirits that I extensively use in my kitchen is Cointreau. I find it to be very versatile and I like the way its tangy flavour adds a zing to any sweet dish, so I never mind putting a splash of this orange liquor into a batter for my cupcakes, my chocolate mousse or a sauce that goes with a warm pie.

When it comes to desserts, I’m a real fanatic of ice-cream (and all sorts of frozen goodies in general), so when I once saw Nigella Lawson in her TV show “Forever Summer” putting Cointreau in home-made Margarita ice-cream (yes, an ice-cream which tastes like the world famous cocktail!), I instantly realized that it was a perfect recipe for me (should I mention that Margarita is one of my favourite cocktails, together with Cosmopolitan which (no surprise) has the orange liquor in it as well?). Bonus: it’s a no-churn ice-cream, so you can rustle it up in a jiffy and the following day you’ll be able to scoop it in a martini glass and serve it to your friends (a dessert that, no doubt, will be a showstopper of the dinner party) or to enjoy it yourself – simply by eating it with a big spoon, straight from a container. Yes, that’s how I usually indulge in my Margarita ice-cream - and I’m absolutely unapologetic about it (actually Nigella confesses that she does the same)! Try to make your batch at home and you will understand why it’s so hard to stay generous enough to share such a yummy treat with anyone else!

Chicken Meatballs in Tomato Coconut Sauce

        

           It was actually supposed to be chicken korma but I didn’t have a special paste. I know that for the one who lives in India it would be a lame excuse to say that I couldn’t find it; I should better be honest from the beginning: I didn’t even bother to try. The thing is, one day as I was wondering what I should do with the chicken mince that I had in the fridge (and I definitely wanted to try something new) I remembered that I saw a recipe on one website. As I noticed the korma paste in the list of ingredients, I got a bit confused but then decided to try to make a dish without it. And it actually turned out to be so delicious and jampacked with flavours that from then on I kept cooking it without any korma paste whatsoever.  I have a strong suspicion that if I get the paste and try to make the dish according to the original recipe my husband would no more be happy to have it for his dinner as in general he’s not a big fan of the Indian cuisine, to put it mildly. And I for one, most probably, would also prefer a simpler, not so spicy sauce. There’s no denying that my dish cannot by any means be called “chicken korma” any more, so it’s just “chicken meatballs in tomato coconut sauce” – a comforting stew with a touch of the Asian flavours.

Zucchini and Ricotta Frittata

            My father always could (and as far as I know still can) cook only one dish (let’s make a remark here: by cooking I understand something that goes beyond topping a piece of bread with a slice of cheese and involves, at least, heating oil in a pan) – that is fried eggs. And, I should give him the credit, he took the process of cooking his dish quite seriously (it was so cute to watch him breaking the eggs into a pan and then keeping an eye on them so that they wouldn’t burn) and even managed to diversify his dish from time to time: he used to chop some additional ingredients and throw them in the pan together with the eggs. He loved to add some bacon or salami to his final dish, and what he got on his plate eventually even resembled a substantial meal.

            Only later on I learnt that my father was not a pioneer of the smart idea of adding yummy things to fries eggs – almost in every cuisine you will find a version of this dish. To my mind, Italian frittata is the most outstanding example of it. I love the fact that it’s a dish that leaves a lot of space for creativity: basically, you don’t need a strict recipe for making it; you can treat it as an opportunity to use leftover food to create a new meal. Thus, you can put chicken, vegetables or even pasta in it. And although I prefer to treat it the same way, I cannot but confess that there are a few combinations of flavours that make the best frittata for me. One of it is ricotta and zucchini. Soft and juicy in the middle, with a nice parmesan crust on top, it is one of my favourite breakfasts. It’s healthy and delicious, irresistibly tantalizing and ultimately easy to make!

Fruit Tart

       “If you write the word “stressed” backwards, you’ll get “desserts”. Coincidence? I don’t think so” – this quote of an anonymous smart man got my attention in a newspaper. Indeed, what is a better comfort food than the one that gives you a sweet pleasure of forgetting all the bad things in the world? And, as the winter begins, the best way to fight a melancholic or sombre mood is to indulge in a dessert that tastes fresh and looks sunny and bright – like a fruit tart that instantly reminds you of warm days and brings back the memories of a recent vocation. Luckily, all sorts of exotic fruits are now readily available throughout the whole year. So, why not to gift yourself with a piece of summer on a plate and to boost the spirits with a fruity and creamy treat?

            To say true, I had a baked tart case in my freezer (the one that was left after the final assembly of the Gingerbread house that I made for a Halloween party). So, I figured out that the best and the easiest way to use the tart would be simply to fill it with cream and to decorate with fresh fruits. And it turned out to be just the perfect treat for the beginning of a cold season!

Buckwheat Pancakes with Pear and Blue Cheese

            Recently I fell into conversation about barbeque with some of our friends (yes, people in India talk about barbeque in winter – when, as it gets colder outside, the season starts) and they recollected the summer days in the USA when they used to have barbeque parties and to grill all sorts of meats, vegetables and even fruits – pears, served with the blue cheese sauce, was a favourite. My husband was a bit confused by the “gourmet” twist that the conversation took and I realized that I should actually introduce him to this combination of flavours – just in order to broaden his gastronomic outlook.

            The other day, when I was almost ready to go to bed and was thinking about the following day’s breakfast, I remembered about the conversation and decided to make some buckwheat pancakes with pears and blue cheese. I turned to Larousse Gastronomic for the recipe of buckwheat blinis (I had the idea of making them of a big size – more of a breakfast rather than hors d’oeuvre type) and oops! – I discovered that the recipe required the use of yeast! The perspective of getting up one hour earlier in the morning (just to wait for the dough to rise) was not so appealing. On the other hand, I didn’t feel like having anything else for my breakfast! So, I checked a trust-worthy website and got a “cheat’s” yeast-free recipe for the buckwheat blinis and, promising myself that the next time I will definitely go for the original type of dough, I printed down the list of ingredients. To say true, the pancakes that I made the following day turned out to be so good that I started to think of a decent excuse not to use yeast next time as well – in the long run, if I’m happy with the recipe, what’s the point of making life more complicated?! And my husband…well, he also loved the pancakes. However, since he has definitely got a less adventurous palate than me, he didn’t enjoy the blue cheese and asked for some sour cream and honey instead. Well, I didn’t mind to get extra cheese on my plate, though!