Haloumi, the most ordinary haloumi, is for me one of the most extraordinary things in the kitchen. It doesn't need anything apart from temperature to be something delicious. It always surprises, even though I've eaten it a hundred times.

I particularly enjoy haloumi with a hint of sweetness, specifically honey, mixed with soy sauce to make it even more interesting.

And that's all - the haloumi marinates in this for a few hours, then goes into the pan or the oven (both options will work), and then onto the plate.

In one version, it was baked with rosemary, in the other it was plain, with a basil pesto as an accompaniment.

Which version is better, you decide for yourselves 🙂

Haloumi with Rosemary, or with Pesto

Butter chicken is the best dish of Indian cuisine. Well, for me, as a butter lover, definitely. We used to go to the now non-existent Bombay restaurant, where the food was really good. But when I once ordered butter chicken, after a few, or even several subsequent visits, my family was greatly surprised that I didn't even open the menu to choose carp in coconut milk, but immediately went for 'butter chicken'.

I like to try new things, but I don't like to miss out, so I preferred not to miss the taste of butter chicken, rather than trying those various dishes. Butter chicken is very simple, a bit harder to make yourself, easier with a ready-made paste (in the oriental section in supermarkets), which is mixed with butter. In my case, always with a larger amount of butter and cream than in many recipes. Do I make it as good as in Bombay? Sometimes yes 😉

Butter Chicken - Obviously, Once a Month

A celebration of tomatoes, 3 varieties, two cheap, one absurdly expensive (the darkest ones), but pretty and good. There are two layers of these tomatoes in the tart, and underneath them, well what could be underneath them - cheese! And even 4 cheeses, not because that was the plan, but remnants of four cheeses were found in the house.

I mixed the cheeses with cream, a 30% one, which made the taste strongly creamy, cheesy, in places cheddar-like, and in places ricotta-like. But let's get back to the tomatoes - see that only perfect slices went into the tart, without cutting out the green, without any holes. Tomatoes are not basically like that, so you have to buy nice ones, and have a plan B for all the rest that remains from the tomato. The tart was delicious, the tomato juice mixed with the cheeses, and the two layers made the tomato really dominate.

3 Tomato and 4 Cheese Tart

Usually when I prepare a meat dish, I also make a vegetarian version of it. Firstly, I have two vegetarians at home (and it's nice when they can eat the same thing). Secondly, apart from the meat, the rest of the dishes are often the same, so it's also a practical solution - tofu in one pot, meat in the other - and off we go. Getting to the heart of the matter - it wasn't so easy here 😂 Boeuf bourguignon is a dish so saturated with the basic taste of meat that a simple substitution with tofu is not enough, as we lose about 90% of the aromas.

But when you're determined, you can make it work. Broth, spices, and smoked aromas make this dish quite good. It tastes different, but still has umami. Soy sauce, smoked plum (and smoked paprika - but be careful) and caraway helped me come out of this battle with a shield.

Tofu Bourguignon, because who says it has to be beef?

I'm not discovering America with this recipe, because everyone makes tomato sauce from time to time and everyone succeeds. This one deserves attention, though, because it's homemade, from tomatoes, without passata or concentrates. It's not unique, but still worth a post 🙂

In recipes, you'll often be told to buy meaty, special tomatoes, which have little water, marzano and so on.

But be smart when you go to the store, and one says 'tomatoes', and the other says 'vine tomatoes'. You buy what's available, more or less meaty 🙂 Dispelling doubts - the sauce will turn out anyway, and it will be good, unless you come across some real monstrosities. We crush the garlic, add olive oil, and put it in the pan, and after a moment we add a large amount of peeled (this is important) tomatoes.

Soaking the tomatoes in boiling water will help you peel them easily. Some people like peeling tomatoes, others don't, but it's worth it because you get the feeling of doing something authentic. And you look like, well, in an Italian kitchen for example 👨‍🍳

You have to cook the tomatoes for quite a long time, this is not passata, which we add and it's ready.

We adjust the thickness of the sauce, in our own way, with a lid 🙂 If it's too thin, we take off the lid so the water evaporates. And if it's too thick then...

(hello, what do you mean - too thick... ).

Spaghetti, with Homemade Tomato Sauce, and Bacon

This dish was supposed to be something else, but something fantastic was created instead. Tofu and zucchini skewers are a very simple matter.

Cubed tofu, marinade (soy sauce, oil, herbs, salt). The zucchini is similar, except not cubed, because I treated the zucchini with a mandoline and threaded these thin strips onto skewers 😏 Everything goes into the oven, and we take it out when it's good and ready. The accidental hit turned out to be the sauce.

I've written here a few times that I really like smoked cottage cheese and it is this, blended with natural yogurt, that forms the base of the sauce. And it's such a base that you basically don't need to add anything to it. But I added something 🙂 I added natural pomegranate juice, tart, sour and slightly sweet.

You can buy it in supermarkets, it's important that it's not sweetened. The sauce turned out to be a bit Middle Eastern, a bit ayran, a bit pomegranate. I poured the sauce with juice, I didn't mix it, it looks better when it's white with red streaks than immediately smeared pink.

Fantastic Skewers with Tofu, in Salty Yogurt, Cottage Cheese and Pomegranate Juice

There have been posts here praising the superiority of homemade ragu over store-bought. I've written more than once (and confirm every time) that it's 5x better 🙂 and today it turned out that it can be 10 times better when served in the form of a soup. Bolognese mince, with a small addition of tomatoes, which make it a bit sweeter and sour.

Homemade pappardelle, which melts when and where it needs to. Good broth, which warms up at the beginning of autumn. And a practical tip - it's a great thing when 3 days earlier we accidentally made 3kg too much bolognese and we can't look at it anymore. After all, soup is a completely different thing 🙂

Meat Soup, a bit like Bolognese

Safflower on top, a saffron imitation for no apparent reason. Good, and a nice plate, the dog ate it because he jumped on the table :) 

Paccheri is a pasta, of which just a few pieces can constitute a substantial portion. It's large, thick, some people have to cut it into pieces. Additionally, it's very filling when served with mascarpone and lemon.

Mascarpone, unlike ricotta, loses much of its thickness, it becomes thinner, just right for mixing. It's delicate on its own, but here I added lemon, pepper, and a bit of salt to it. What you see on top is safflower - a spice often confused with saffron, because at first (but only first) glance it looks similar, but it has nothing in common with it 🙂 In my case, it was more for decoration than taste - it significantly lacks the intensity of its yellow, aromatic colleague. An interesting fact about this dish is that right after taking the photo and the first bite, taking advantage of me leaving the room, the dish attracted the attention of my dog Karmel, who climbed onto the table and ate everything.

Paccheri, with Lemon Mascarpone, and Safflower!

As you've probably noticed, tofu is a frequent guest in my kitchen. Probably because, unlike, say, peas, it's universally liked 🙂 Tofu has a mild flavor and most often ends up in a sauce.

This time, I managed without, and the key to that was a store-bought teriyaki marinade, from a packet (like curry paste, not a bottled sauce). The tofu marinated in it for 2 hours, and then went into the frying pan. The marinade is fatty and you can add a bit of it to the frying process.

I'm not sure if scoring the tofu had any effect on the flavor, or just the visual appeal, but it looked great either way. All in all, with such accompaniments, this was a complete dish.

A salad with yogurt sauce, pomegranate, and a roasted potato. Dry where it needs to be dry, moist where it needs to be moist. The photo is an attempt at arranging things on the plate, more or less successful 😏

Tofu, with Pomegranate, Roasted Potato, on a Salad and Yogurt Sauce

I'm not sure if there's anything that needs to be described here - the ingredients are such that the dish will always turn out fantastic. These ingredients are chanterelles, thyme, parmesan, rice, wine, and broth. Simple, delicious, not the cheapest, but worth the effort, because the layers of flavor are excellent, especially don't skimp on the wine, which enhances all the flavors, and tastes great on its own.

Risotto with Chanterelles, Parmesan, and Fresh Thyme