Czech Foods Recipes

Sooo sick of cardboard frozen pizzas with tomato paste sauce, yet can't afford Pizza Hut!  Time to make my own pizza... This was made for Valentines dinner, it just took me THAT long to post. Awesome dedication to my blog, I know. You will need: 1 packet quick rise-dry yeast 1 cup water 2 Tbsp oil 1/2 Tbsp sugar 1 tsp salt 2 1/2 cups flour 4 slices thick-cut bacon 2 cups grated mozzarella cheese 1 package large pepperoni 1. Combine dry ingredients: salt, sugar, flour, and yeast in a medium bowl. 2. Heat water to 130 F, immediately add water (once heated) and oil.  Stir until thick. 3. Turn dough onto floured surface, kneading for 5 minutes. 4. Return dough to bowl and cover with kitchen towel, let sit for 5 minutes. 5. Roll out dough, keeping in mind it will rise to nearly twice its height (I prefer thick-crust). 7. Grease pan and place pizza crust in center. 8. Use fork to poke holes in dough. 9. Cover with kitchen towel and let rest for 15 minutes.  Preheat oven to 400 ...

Eating out, exploring new restaurants, is not only such a pleasure in itself, but can often inspire dishes to be recreated at home. A few weeks ago I shared a few bites of a starter salad of delicate ribbons of zucchini atop some punchy arugula. Lovely chunks of Parmesan were stuffed between the curls and some deeply flavoured olive oil was drizzled over all. Perfetto . Since then, there have been few waking moments where that salad hasn't been on my mind. So this week, I've been doing the same, with the addition of fresh lemon juice, Maldon sea salt, and with some warmed Italian flatbread called Piadina . Fresh and simple, it works beautifully as a light lunch, a starter, or even as a late night meal for those working evening hours and facing that dreaded 11pm I-need-a-quick-and-light-meal-and-don't-want-to-dive-into-the-bag-of-tortilla-chips-again moment. Although I must warn, try this salad once, and you'll be dreaming of zucchini ribbons for weeks to come! Continue...

    Photo by Ladybug Carnage flickr I love sauces.  I have a small collection that takes up far too much space in our fridge. Now when I say 'collection' I am not actually kidding.  List of sauces currently in my flat: Ketchup American-Style Mustard Sweet n Sour Sauce Soy Sauce Marinara Sauce Sweet Thai Chili Sauce Honey-Chili Sauce Honey BBQ Sauce Bourbon BBQ Sauce Mayonnaise Piri Piri Mayonnaise Worcestershire Sauce Sweet Chili and Ginger Relish Salsa Nacho cheese French Dressing (American style) Lemon Juice Lime Juice and various gravys can be whipped up at a moment's notice Sometimes when you're a picky eater like myself, you end up eating the same thing over and over and over again in order to avoid aversive tastes.  Especially if you are unable to spend time cooking a grand dinner. Sometimes it IS better to just stick with what you know, especially if you have one food you like that is actually healthy for you.  Sauces are one of the best ways of chan...

Another wee blog absence has gone by...the last few weeks have been filled to the brim with 'important things to do' and weekends that disappear in a flash. One such weekend was spent back in Brno eating platefuls of dumplings and meat with my favourite 'granat' pivo to wash it all down. I hadn't noticed how much I'd missed Czech food (despite years of moderately good-natured kvetching) until I arrived, and my hosts asked if I was hungry. I replied, nope, I had řízek (schnitzel) for lunch before the flight. In Italy? Up went the eyebrows...Ummm, yes, I confess, I made řízek for lunch in Italy. At least I didn't smash it between bread slices and bring it on the plane with me  à la traditional-Czech-travel-snack . And what should happen when I'm back in Rome, in my kitchen, staring at some choice pieces of beef stew meat I'd just picked up? Yes, goulash. Yet this is not just any goulash. This is a trans-national goulash. Using a smoked Spanish...

  These biscuits are soft and savory.  I found them to taste great with butter (and maybe sprinkled with a bit of sugar!) or with honey.  They are also ideal for sneaking sweet potato into your diet! You will need: 1 large sweet potato 2 cups flour 5 tsp sugar 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp baking soda 1 1/4 Tbsp baking powder 1/2 cup butter 2/4 cup milk 1. Wash and cook sweet potato (either bake or microwave for 6-7 minutes, poke with fork to vent) 2. Allow potato to cool and scoop out and mash insides.  Measure out about 3/4 cup. 3. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar in a bowl. 4. Using a pastry blender (or two knives/forks), cut butter into dry mixture. 5. Mix in sweet potato and milk, careful not to overmix. 6. Roll dough out to about 1 inch height and cut out shapes using cookie cutters.  The tops of glasses work well for this if you don't have any cookie cutters! 7. Bake at 400°F/200°C on a non-stick surface, greasing if necessary for around ...

If ( insert colour of choice here ) is the new black, then surely the Gaeta olive is the new Kalamata. Once a sought-after niche item, jars of plump Kalamatas now grace the shelves of even the smallest American supermarkets. After those dark Greek orbs were widespread enough for the foodies to snub the slightest mention of Kalamata, in marched the Niçoise. It was French, and had a crazy letter C, which made the pronunciation intimidating enough to make the average American home-cook shy away from them. It was perfect. The foodies were happy with their Niçoise, that is, until the cooking magazines published enough retro Niçoise salad recipes, coaxing middle America to roll out that ni swaaaaahhhz while ordering in chain restaurants and chatting with friends at book club. The foodies had to move on. The Italian Gaeta is smaller than the Kalamata, and not as difficult to pronounce as the Niçoise, but nevertheless hasn't had a salad named after it, so is still somewhat under the radar...