Chocolatey Banana Bites - Times Three

Bananas may not be the summeriest of all fruit, but dipped in chocolate, rolled in crunchy bits, and frozen, they beat any icy treat on a hot summer afternoon.

A brief 40 minutes of slicing, melting, and rolling, a bit of freeze time, and a sweet kid-friendly treat awaits. I like it thawed out a bit, so the banana is soft, but others seem to prefer that cool banana center straight from the freezer.
 


 In the past, I've whipped these up even faster by leaving the banana whole, dunking it in the chocolate, a quick roll through nuts, and to the freezy bin. Yet when sharing, the bites are soooo much easier to pass around.

A great summer sweet-n-salty treat, and a very tasty way to reap some of those seed benefits: Vitimin E is abundant in sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds are little green packets of minerals - and great for men's health. It's no wonder banana bites have been dominating the blogosphere this year!

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A Simple Salmon Laksa

A storm was making it's way through the southern villages of Czech Republic last Tuesday night. Luckily, we had soup. Not just any soup, but Laksa: a softly spicy, fragrant, Malaysian noodle soup. I hadn't thought of this soup since I was last in New Zealand, where it's made with some frequency, and most kiwis will tell you it's Indonesia's most appreciated contribution to their islands. Sources cite Malaysia as the country of origin, but also Indonesia and Singapore. Whatever the case, the influences are clear on the palate - a bit South-East Asian, a bit Chinese, and appreciated by all.

It reminds me of an incredibly tasty soup made last year, with shrimp and zucchini, but was much more involved due to the long infusion the spices had in the broth. This version, adapted from an 'express' cookbook makes a very tasty broth with less time by NOT chopping the lemongrass and straining it out, but simply giving it a few good whacks to bruise the stalks, and letting them steep whole. The flavour still gets into the broth, but with less time and effort. 
 
Baby bok choy is used, mainly because it just looks so cute while waiting on the counter-top, but the full sized variety would do just fine. We took heed from the Italians here as well, as the garlic is left whole, and scooped out at the end, as to not overpower.

This is a soup of soft, well-blended flavours, and only spicy if you want to add in the chili peppers at the end. It's a work-night favourite of my good friend who made it, as I saw the note 'Awesome!' scribbled in the corner of the recipe. And so it was.

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Fish Cake or Low-Carb Fish Burger?

What better way to power ourselves through the weeks than with a nice fish dinner? Unfortunately, most wallets do not support a steady supply of freshly caught whatever-the-trendy-restaurant-fish-is-at-the-moment. This does not, however, lead one to succumb to fish fingers. Even though I am sure there is a time and a place for reliving such frozen nostalgic goodness, I am even more certain that if you have 30 minutes of kitchen time, the tastiest and tangiest of all fish cakes can be on your plate in less time than a run to the supermarket's frozen aisle.

Fish cakes are what I dined on in university while caring for a well-off Jewish retiree, and they have always held this image for me. Food for discerning women.

I welcome a new age of fish cakes. In fact, I will start calling them fish burgers. I think more men will eat them this way. Burgers are manly. Burgers are burly. And since so many men I meet in Italy admit openly to being on a diet, they will also appreciate the bun-less low-carb aspect. It's a win-win. So while we know these are by definition fish cakes, just tell your family fish burgers are on the menu.

These are tangy. They've got zing from all angles. Horseradish, pickles, capers, and spicy peppers. Eaten with a fresh salad and a crisp, cold, mineraly glass of white wine, they go down with much more taste than any fish finger ever resembled. Fast, keeps the summer kitchen cool, budget-friendly, and most importantly, a fresh and bright taste with a crispy texture. Welcome, my new summer low-carb burgers. 

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Drink Your Peaches - With Bourbon Please.

Peaches are a hit on the menu right now. Peach and goat cheese salad. Peach salsa on fish tacos. Peach and Brie quesadillas. It simply goes on. So why not drink your peaches?

Hailing from the most excellent American state of Wisconsin, I've learned that the Old Fashioned classic can be slightly toyed with by replacing the whiskey with it's grape-based cousin, brandy. This week, having some bourbon in cupboard after the maple-bourbon muffin glaze experiment, I decided to use this, and to introduce another variation - peaches.


An Old Fashioned traditionally consists of whiskey, sugar, bitters, and lemon. More or less depending on your maraschino cherry predilection.

Here, the sugar is replaced by honey and smashed peaches, and the lemon with lime. Some mint is added in, so it takes on a Mojito-Old Fashioned vibe. Whatever the drink tradition may be, it hits the spot on Friday afternoon.

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Tapenade-Tuna Sandie

Looking to liven up sandwich time? In an effort to stretch the mid-week dollar, tuna is ending up back on my plate. This is not at all as depressing as it might sound. In fact, I look forward to tuna sandwiches as a simple and quick lunch that offers me those omegas and other fishy goodies, all in a can with a pop-top.

The saving grace, tapenade: a Provençal black olive spread. I simply cannot get enough of this tangy condiment. For years, a new jar would no sooner hit the shelf of my fridge before it was headed for the recycling bin...empty, and thoroughly enjoyed.

Here, tapenade livens up whatever best-quality tuna one can procure, married with a bit of capers and mustard, topped with vine-ripened tomatoes and crisp arugula, all stuffed in a fresh slice of focaccia bread. Heaven. For lunch. On a plate.

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Plum - Chili Salsa

A nontraditional salsa in a traditional way.

Fruit salsa reigns supreme in summer on either chicken or fish. Or even just with chips and blended drinks.

Whatever fruit is laying around, mix it up with a bit of jalapenos/chili peppers, lime, red onion, cilantro and/or mint. Add a tomato or some corn if you fear straying too far away from the salsa tradition. Let flavors mesh for a few hours. Devour.

In a salsa, anything goes. Yet concerning the temperature of it, I am a bit more of a purist. I prefer the cool freshness of a salsa atop my meat. Others may enjoy it heated with the meat for the final few minutes.

Either way, bring on the fruity spiciness that is mid-summer.

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Banana Nut Muffins with a Maple-Bourbon Glaze

Some might splash in a little Baileys in their morning coffee. Jokes all around of tapping into ones Irishness. Living as an American abroad, I sometimes find myself tending to downplay such Euro familial connections, and instead, head straight for what America stands for. This morning, that happened to be maple syrup and bourbon. 

Yes, banana nut muffins livened up with some mapley-bourbon goodness. 

The muffins are fairly straightforward, with only a hint of maple and bourbon. But the glaze that transpired a few hours later, well, that makes them worthy of bringing to work.

For the first time, I used a bit of gelatin in a glaze. I think it helped the structure a bit. If you've got the extra ten minutes to wait around for it to 'bloom' in the water, I say give it a go. Otherwise, skip it, and the glaze should be a bit thinner, but still work out if the muffins aren't traveling far.

The deep maple-bourbon flavor marriage is grounded with a bit of whole-wheat flour and oats. Absolutely toothsome, and not overly sweet. Out. of. this. world.

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Keep the Meat, Not the Heat.

It's seems to be hot in nearly every time zone. Conversations with friends afar keep drifting to 'Its just so hot in my country X.'

After weeks of wailing about the weather and devouring salads for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (and yes, I do mean breakfast), I craved meat. 

I recently hit upon what I consider to be summer-meat-ingeniousness: thin slices of beef, veal, or pork, wrapped around some veg, cooked for a mere ten minutes in a sauce of tomatoes plus broth, with a handful of fresh gnocchi cooking along in the same pan.
 
Complete dinner, twenty minutes tops, no oven, and one pan.

I am in roulade love.

For last week's version (with much prettier pictures), check out Veal Roulade with Herbed Eggplant & Peppers.

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Weekend Chill {Watermelon}

The week finishes. The weekend arrives. Sometimes as early as Thursday. When we are lucky. Sometimes not.

This week finished with an abundance of watermelon in the kitchen.

One glance at the stacks of deep red triangles on the plate and I heard the sound of ice clinking in glass.

Watermelon-basil mojitos were made.

There was still more melon. What better to do while sipping our drinks than make watermelon sorbet? The blender was already out, just a bit more blitzing, mix with strawberry yogurt and the same simple syrup that was used in the bevvies, and homemade sorbet was in the works. No ice cream maker, no problem. Freeze in a shallow metal pan for five hours, then blend again with a bit of milk, and creamy sorbet was gracing my spoon by midnight.



I hope to post more weekend chill ideas using a single seasonal fruit for both cocktail and frozen treat. One moment of post-work blitzing, two very lovely ways to keep cool over the weekend.

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Veal Roulade {with Herbed Eggplant & Peppers}

Some days lead one looking for a filling plate of meat.

These days do not come as a surprise. They predictably stop by on the very same days where a 15K run was had under an eighty-degree morning Roman sun. Everything fueling that grueling wake-up had been burned off, and I was ready for lunch by 10am. And I wanted a proper lunch. Salads be damned.

People always joke about the vast quantities of food slim girls are able to put away. It's been like this for as long as I can remember. You know those skinny girls in middle school who rivaled their older teenage brothers at the dinner table? I do. Something about genetics, something about lifestyle, but it gives skinny girls the go-ahead to chow down for years. Then they grow up. They learn to fit in with the other girls by joining fitness classes, or cycling groups. They also learn to keep their mouth shut in the locker room when others are griping about the insurmountability of those last few pounds. But those skinny ones who were never really that good at keeping their mouths shout received enough eye-rolls and nasty fusions of back-handed compliments combined with jealous taunting. Some of them abandon the group fitness charade. But some of them love, love, love to eat. So they run. Eventually, they love this as well.

I've been looking for the perfect summer flavours toss on some nice veal the butcher had on offer this week. This recipe hits that. Roulades are formed with minced eggplant (peeled, to increase its softness), sweet red pepper, and a veritable fireworks display of herbs. Five of them to be precise. Some dried, some fresh. Simmered on the stove in tomatoes and white wine for a mere 20 minutes thankfully does little to heat up the kitchen. Along with some fresh bread rolls, this is exactly what today's post-run appetite needed. Next time, I think I'll purée the remaining vegetable filling with the tomato sauce, for a bit more refinement, but today, a simple and hearty summer lunch.

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On Lakes and Salads

The shoreline is filled with bodies of all shapes and sizes. A clang rings out as a metal folding table is unfolded and an electric hotplate is ritually placed atop. A mum and a granny start a big pot of water boiling for the coming pasta. A couple of toddlers proudly bear their birthday suits and rush into the water. The lake is much different than the beach. Families load up the car with enough equipment to spend all week at the shoreline. Yet they are here just for the day.



Lake Bracciano is just north of Rome. At first glance, it seems a bit rougher, almost like you can feel the cramped flats on the outskirts of the city from where the families left early that morning. Teenage girls sport undergarments in place of swimming suits. Boys shout from open doors of a camper van, while at their feet a dog lies panting. There are more bald spots here than at the beach. More bad tattoos. More bellies. The shore is covered in black pebbles that are much too hot to lie comfortably on. There is no gentle aroma of fried fish, or the view of perky bronzed cheeks.

Of course, the games people play are the same. The coquettish ball tosses in the water. The shrieking, the yelling, and finally a mum scolding. The leisurely way one's stomach finally decides it is hungry. This is what I know. Lake food. Upon deciding to head to the lake last weekend, my hands went into action. Slicing any available fruit, tossing in some basil, and letting sit in the freezer until departure.

Hours later, after a swim (in water that was quite clear for a lake), when the stomach started to plead, the fruit salad was revealed. An Italian friend: "You have salad? With basil? On fruit?" Oh no. Another sanctum Italian food custom has been breached. This happens all too often.

 

Basil or no basil (mmm...or sometimes mint), fruit salad at the lake is comforting. I feel like in Wisconsin again. Almost.

For another freeze-friendly picnic salad, see last week's Green Bean and Hazelnut Salad.

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Green Bean & Hazelnut Salad - Summer Style

 
Hazelnuts and green beans adorning the Thanksgiving table is a given. But in summer? Not usually the first thought. There are three excellent reasons why this makes a fantastic summer dish:

1) It's picnic perfect.

• Stick in the freezer for a few hours and it can withstand an afternoon at the beach. By the time your stomach is ready, it will have reached a perfect temperature. And no creamy dressing or bacon makes it sun-safe and won't frighten your bikini-clad companions.

2) Hazelnuts rock.

•  Summer is witness to an abundance of almond-focused dishes. Any why not? They are great with fruit, grilled fishes, and so on. Yet health wise, hazelnuts pack in just as much good stuff as their almondy counterparts. While there are many dangers of the summer, what with sharks and UV rays, finding oneself in an almond-rut should also be warned against. The prevention: from time to time, reach for hazelnuts.

3) Less carbs and time to cook than pasta.

• Self-explanatory. Yes, both produce the kitchen heat required for a boiling pot of water, but these babies only take 3 minutes to boil. Compared to an 8-11 minute spaghetti al dente time, the choice is clear. And, um, these guys are vegetables!

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..and this is the beef

{Steak with a Cilantro Dressing & a Bresaola Potato Salad}

Some days must be witness to a little beefy indulgence. Make no mistake, this is not whatever the newest mcmassive hamburger is being promoted in the adverts. Rather, what a better accompaniment to a nice beef steak than a little bit more beef?

First came the bresaola-wrapped potato salad. The following day, some gorgeous Chianina steaks were waiting to be topped with a spicy-cilantro dressing. Hmmmm...no time to do up a side, how about that potato salad with the thin slices of cured beef? Yes please, said the stomach.

The potato salad is based out of Cook with Jamie. It's a slight twist on the classic - with lemon, horseradish, and celery. I find it brilliantly refreshing in the summer. Boiling the potatoes is done in the cool of night, of course. Replacing the crème fraiche with plain yogurt keeps it light, and I would even say that it is begging to be taken out for a picnic.

Alongside a choice cut of meat with a spicy topping, the coolness of the salad complements perfectly, while the lemon-horseradish acts as a palette cleanser. A surprisingly fantastic beefy combination.

And moo said the cow.

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Zucchini & Black Bean Tostadas {with Homemade "Cheats" Salsa}

End of Summer. It can be hot. Need I say more?

Let's say someone feels I do need to. To elaborate, in Brno it's been icky-sticky hot all week. I'm starting to get a bit saladed-out, and looking for something a bit more toothsome.

This is where tostadas come in. You can throw on all kinds of veg you got rolling around in the fridge...even the ones that may be past their salad prime. Whip up a fresh batch of salsa, turn on the oven broiler for a wee five minutes (and maybe the stovetop for a few too if you're doing zucchini) and bam - there you go. A satisfying dinner that fills a gal up but doesn't weigh her down. Corn tortillas always leave me feeling a bit springier than wheat ones...and since they are tostadas, you're not wrapping everything in a big massive wheat blanket like a burrito. Moc zdravý.

The only caveat found here is that I was stuck-in-bed sick for a few days this week, so I used only what I had in the kitchen - which inclued only one tomato. The salsa compensates by using a can of peeled diced tomatoes, which, when properly doctored up, makes a very nice salsa-like consistency without the boiling/peeling/puréeing tomatoes business.

I know it's so wrong on so many levels, what with it being tomato season, but it was just so easy! I promise, I'm going to the market right now to support my local tomato-growers!

When I made these, I threw the salsa on before heating up the tostadas on only half of them. The other half I added the salsa just before eating...I preferred this latter approach, as the salsa seemed more flavourful when cold (the cilantro flavour dies down a bit when heated) and the tortilla bottoms stayed a bit crispier.

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Dreamy Creamy Almond Pudding

Last week I discovered the fabulous Halal butcher/foodstuffs shop in my neighbourhood moved away. For other Brnáks reading this - they are now on Vídeňská street...number 37 I think. Corner of Vojtova.

While it was definitely great having them nearby (for that Easter leg of lamb, especially) the new location is fairly central, so I stopped by last week. The dry goods are more prominently displayed here, so not even in my usual rushing-to-class mode could I possibly miss the bottle of rosewater.

It had to come with me.

Just a smidge of rosewater to any honey or almond based dessert is absolute heaven. I even remember a restaurant where the drinking water was flavoured with just a hint of the stuff.

Don't be scared off, thinking 'well, I'm certainly not the flowery-food type.' There is nothing more summery than a gentle barely-there hint of rose in your dessert.

Seeing that I had some milk about to go off, pudding was in order. I admit that I made the mistake of not wanting to run to the store, so I just threw some almonds in the food processor to get the 'ground almond' effect. Next time I'll definitely get the right stuff. Powder-fine ground almonds would make the pudding extra smooth. But if you dig texture, the DIY approach would do you just fine.

The result is a not-overly-sweet pudding that is full of protein. I suggest any decadent meal end with this almond pudding for a tasty finish devoid of any guilt that a dessert can tend to instill.

And if you are in Brno, get yourself to the fabulous Halal Maso!

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Minty Lentil Lunch Salad - To Go!

Monday mornings. Ugh. I don't know about the rest you, but mine always start out a bit haphazardly. Monday is like a dress rehearsal, and the real week actually starts on Tuesday for me.

Not last week though. You see, I am finally so bored with business park lunch restaurants to motivate myself to plan and prepare a lunch to-go. Ah, my American readers might think me a bit lazy, and there is some truth to that, I'm sure. But it's also a cultural thing. In the Czech Republic, worker bees tend not to take lunch with them. Restaurants serve hot, cheap meals daily, which are (mostly) palatable. And what's more, they can be ordered and digested within a 30 minute time frame. Brekkie and snacks might be toted to work, but lunch - why bother?

Even in large international companies with modern kitchen facilities, few people eat in them. People pop in and out for bevvies and to grab their snacks to be eaten deskside. But I rarely see people sitting at a table with some microwaved leftovers, or a sandwich. Baguettes from the petrol station, maybe while standing by the espresso machine, but a slapped-together turkey and swiss...never. Sure, I understand sandwich-making is an art perfected on the other side of the Atlantic, but even the classic Czech řízek (schnitzel) on rye sandwich cannot be found in the lunch fridge. Only yogurt. Rows and rows of tub after sad tub of yogurt.

So last Monday, I got up 15 minutes earlier to throw together my first of (hopefully) many more lunch boxes. It was brilliant. So healthy. And cheap. Why didn't I discover this lentil salad ages ago? It stays crisp until lunch, with just a light dressing. It's best eaten closer to room temperature than fridge freezing cold...so take it out a bit before you eat, and you'll be glad you did.

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Chicken Fajita Spice Mix

Love fajitas for their versatility.
Love fajitas for their one-pan clean up.
Love fajitas for their non-carb-heavy satisfaction.
Love fajitas for their speed from fridge to mouth.
Love fajitas for their quick-in-the-pan and don't-heat-up-the-kitchen in summer.
Love fajitas period.

Fajitas have been my go-to meal after a long day for ages. It's been so long that I'm thinking of (finally) changing it up a bit. Before that happens, I'd just like to share the homemade spice mix, which saves a few pennies and ensures that you can always make fajitas on a whim, rather than crossing your fingers that whatever little grocery shop on the way home will have a packet in stock.

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Puff Pastry Strawberry Napoleons

I swear I eat more fruit than just strawberries.

In fact, there's a heap of freshly picked apricots on the table since morning. Yet somehow this will be the third strawberry post up this summer. First there was the elegant strawberry glasses with ricotta cream, then the splitting-at-the-seams strawberry pavlova with mint syrup.

Now up to bat is the classic brunch - Strawberry Napoleons - made easier with puff pastry.

I snapped a scant few pictures before gobbling them up, but I figure one picture is enough to toss up a quick recipe post. Really, though, I just wanted to share the fantastic ricotta cream one more time, because it is seriously that good. Same flavours as before, but much heartier, what with three layers of flaky dough. Think of this as the sturdy-legged cousin to that waify strawberry-purée-in-a-glass dish. Both are immensely satisfying, but in a night vs day kinda way.

And I promise, something besides strawberries will be coming soon!

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I Met Him in a Cherry Tree...Part 2 (& Strawberry Pavlova Recipe)

Continued from Part I

...I gasped. He was cuuuute!  

 I wanted nothing more than to fold him up and stick him in my pocket. Unfortunately, some fruit needed picking, so it was back to work for the moment. 

Ensuing days found me constantly in his path - quite literally. I did everything in my power to end up picking cherries in the same row, so that one day I could 'casually' wander over (carrying my 6-plus-foot ladder under my arm, mind you) and holler up to him - 

'So do you want to hang out some time?' 

(Embarrassingly unclever, I do realize, but in my silly-girl-nervousness state, that's all I could muster up, despite days of planning this very moment.)

He says: Uhhh, what does it mean, 'hang out?' 


Fuck. Phrasal verbs. Really? He doesn't know 'hang out'? What did they teach in English class in the Czech Republic? Well, certainly not phrasal verbs, I thought.

Once we got that all sorted out, and he vigorously agreed to 'hang out' with me that evening (his head-bobbing nearly threw him off his ladder), I 'casually' walked away. After a few steps: 'Josie!'

My heart briefly considered skipping a beat, but no use, as it was not my beloved - rather the voice of the orchard boss. 'Josie - this way!' he yelled.

I had 'casually' walked the wrong way down the cherry row. This did not exactly go unnoticed by the above-mentioned beloved, especially while turning around, what with that six-plus-foot ladder pinched under my arm.

Returning to my camp site, I furiously prepped for that 'nonchalant american cool' I so eagerly wanted to convey. He still jokes about the orange clown shoes (his words),which were actually authentic Berber loafers picked up in Morocco (my words), in which I arrived.

The impromptu date involved a dictionary, pen and paper, and wildly gregarious hand-gestures. We were in a small town with little else to do but to draw maps of our hometowns and teach one another the dearest and the nastiest of all phrases in our language. 

Within the year, we left New Zealand, and I moved to his county ('My Republic' he called it), and I have been teaching boat-loads of phrasal verbs ever since.




New Zealand = Aotearoa = land of the long white cloud = pavlova = damn fine dessert.

Pavlova.

What a funny name for a dessert. My Czech friends were a bit suspicious...hmmm, sounds Russian, they said. Well, I had to dig into the lore a bit, since when I was in New Zealand it was drummed into my head that the Pavlova is as New Zealand as can be. Then I start seeing it pop up on all sorts of Australian blogs as a -what?- classic Aussie invented dessert?! The internet tells me that it was named after a Russian ballerina, but by a Aussie or a Kiwi chef in the early 1900s is the big debate. 

I really didn't want this dessert to be too sweet, so my recipe here uses limited sugar for the strawberries and cream. Basically, it's just enough to do the job extracting the strawberry juice and flavouring the whipping  cream. But the sweetness should really be understated to let those fluffy meringue layers shine. 

The meringue itself has the added kick of a bit of allspice. It really marries well with the basil syrup. For a more traditional pairing, the basil could easily be replaced with mint, and the allspice with a some lemon zest. But I like the offbeat allspice/basil zing. It provides a little earthiness to an otherwise sugar-spun and  fairy-light mouthfeel.

It was my first meringue attempt, and I spent the morning pouring over two of my fave cookbooks (in terms of explanations and techniques) - Cook with Jamie and French Lessons. 

Both these books are excellent sources on dessert techniques, among other things. I'm not sure the confidence would have been flowing as much as it was without them. I must say, making meringues was really fun in a science-experimenty kind of way! 

Note that this cake does not keep well for the next day. Share generously and that won't be a problem anyways! It's great made the morning of some get together, keep the meringues on the counter and the berries, syrup, and cream in the fridge. Assemble just before people arrive.

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