Strawberry panzanella – with some negative criticism

So, I have again disappeared! But don’t worry; now I won’t start giving you a hint about some big things in progress I cannot tell you a word about. I still prepare recipes and photos for the Stahl Magazine (a Hungarian magazine). And this recipe was not accepted for the next issue of the magazine. Well, perhaps I am just a fool, but I like it very much, though! By the way, have I already mentioned that the first comment of real negative criticism appeared on my Hungarian blog some weeks ago? I missed it anyway!

But trust this recipe. Last year at the Gourmet Festival (one of Hungary’s largest festivals dedicated to gastronomy) our croissant with strawberry, prosciutto, dried tomato and basil prepared together with the Budai Bakery was one of the favourites. The boys at the bakery always tell me that everybody still wants this croissant. And this panzanella is almost the same!

Strawberry panzanella

-  4 slices of brioche (not too sweet), cut in cubes, toasted

- 400 g strawberry, cut in halves

- 60 g paprika salami, torn in pieces

- 1 bunch basil, finely chopped

- 80 g mold-ripened goat’s milk cheese (e.g. Chabichou), crumbled

- 80 g dried tomato, chopped

- balsamic cream

For the sauce:

- 100 g butter, browned

Preparation:

1. Mix the ingredients of the salad.

2. Serve it with browned butter.

But do not expect losing weight if you eat this salad.

White asparagus with Béchamel sauce, salted cashew nuts and bread with fried onion – the power of white

Again a plate from the Vintage Bazaar, this time with white asparagus, white sauce and white cheese.

White asparagus with Béchamel sauce, salted cashew nuts and bread with fried onion

- 500 g white asparagus

- salted, roasted cashew nuts

- mold-ripened goat’s milk cheese (e.g. Picodon)

For the Béchamel sauce (based on The Cook’s Book):

- 1 small onion (cut into halves)

- 4 cloves

- 600 ml milk

- 1 bay-leaf

- 45 g butter

- 45 g flour

- nutmeg (freshly ground)

For the bread with fried onion (based on the blog “Nem vagyok mesterszakács” – I am no professional chef – of course her version is the authentic one):

- 500 g bread flour

- half-a-day old “sourdough” (2 tbsp. fresh yoghurt, 4 tbsp. flour, 3 ½ tbsp. cold water – leave at room temperature for half a day)

- 10 g yeast

- 350 ml lukewarm water

- 1 onion (cut into rings and separated)

- oil (for frying)

Preparation:

1. Grill the asparagus spears for a few minutes in a ribbed bottom grill pan.

2. Boil the milk with the cloves, bay-leaf and onion halves for 5 minutes for the Béchamel sauce.

3. Melt the butter, add the flour and toast it to a golden brown colour stirring continuously. Pour the strained milk to the mixture and whisk it vigorously with a balloon whisk until the sauce thickens.

4. Fry the onion rings to a golden brown colour in the oil. Add the other ingredients of the bread, knead the dough, let it rise, form, sprinkle with flour, twist, let rise again, and then bake the bread in the hot oven to a golden brown colour.

5. Serve the asparagus with the sauce, with roughly chopped cashew nuts, crumbled goat’s milk cheese and bread.

Wild garlic tagliatelle with roasted garlic cream and spring onions

The dish was inspired by the pasta topped with various types of cheese. First I wanted to add both garlics and the onion to the sauce, but then I thought that it might be more interesting if we can taste them in various roles and textures: spicy in the pasta, creamy in the sauce and crunchy on the top.

Wild garlic tagliatelle with roasted garlic cream and spring onions

Ingredients:

For the wild garlic tagliatelle:

- 250 g flour for pasta

- 1 egg

- 50 g wild garlic (puréed with 80 ml water)

- salt

For the roasted garlic cream:

- 3 bulbs garlic (baked in the skin)

- 30 ml heavy cream

- 15 ml dry white wine

- salt, pepper

Topping:

- 8 spring onions (chopped)

- freshly ground pepper

Preparation:

1. Knead the dough for the pasta. Using a pasta maker, form and cut the tagliatelle. Cook the pasta in salted water for a few minutes (cc. 2 minutes).
2. Boil the white wine until the alcohol evaporates (cc. 2 minutes). Then purée the ingredients of the roasted garlic sauce with an immersion blender until smooth and creamy.
3. Mix the pasta with the sauce, and sprinkle it with lots of pepper and spring onion on the top.

Spinach fatayer with beer and sour cream dip – or I haven’t disappeared

First I didn’t want to publish this recipe on the blog, because I just altered one of Gordon’s recipes – but in the end I changed it so much, and the beer matches this dish so nicely, and so many of you wrote to me asking why no recipes had been published and why I had disappeared and even telling me that you cannot live without my… well, I have just transgressed all logical boundaries… so in the end I grabbed my camera and from then onwards you know the story.

So I haven’t disappeared, and I will come with recipes, but I needed to do some clean-up in the springtime. But we haven’t died of hunger. But I was really happy to get so many questions! Thank you all! And those who didn’t do so can now be ashamed.

This plate made of concrete is a dream come true for me, I am very grateful to the Vintage Bazaar for that! They are the nicest and most talented group in the world!

Spinach fatayer with beer and sour cream dip

For the dough:

- 250 g flour

- 1 tsp. salt

- 2 tbsp. olive oil

- 100 ml beer

- 20 ml water

For the spinach filling:

- 2 tbsp. olive oil

- 450 g spinach (washed)

- 5 shallots

- 60 g pine nuts (roasted)

- 90 g cottage cheese

- 1 tbsp. creamy goat’s-milk cheese

- zest of ½ lime

- salt, pepper

- nutmeg

For the sour cream dip:

- sour cream

- garlic (mashed)

- salt, pepper

Preparation:

1. Knead the ingredients of the dough. Shape the dough into a ball, wrap it in foil and put it in the fridge.

2. Cook the spinach on 1 tbsp. olive oil until it is wilted completely. Squeeze the spinach, and then chop it in a food processor. Fry the shallots lightly on the remaining olive oil. Mix the ingredients of the filling. Put it in the fridge while working with the dough.

3. Spread the dough as thin as possible and cut squares with 6-8 cm long sides. Put a spoonful of filling in the middle of each square. Moisten the sides of the squares with water, and then fold them into triangles. Put the triangles on an oiled baking sheet and bake them in the oven preheated to 180°C until they turn golden brown.

4. Mix the ingredients of the sour cream dip.