Czech Foods Recipes

A lot of the new dishes that are tried out in kitchens are the result of a lack of imagination by the cook. Not a lack of culinary imagination, no, not that. Rather, the inability to imagine a flavour combination that is described in a new recipe. This is the case for me, and some friends as well. When I hear a new recipe, and simply cannot imagine how the various flavors work together, but I know I adore all the dish's components (although, there are few tastes that I don't adore), it must be made. Late one night, watching an Italian cooking show (my preferred method of learning the language) there was a segment on Linguine con ceci e calamaretti. The title seemed reasonable, but then I saw rosemary on the chef's counter. Really? Rosemary and calamari? Hmmmm...intrigue was set. A friend made it for me later that week, and I was amazed. The chickpeas are blended together with lemon juice to create a creamy base in which to coat the linguine, and no cream! And the rosemary d...

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 le...

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 ...

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. Continue to Recipe... Recipe: Tapenade-Tuna Sandwich Serves 1 - 2 Time 10 mins Adapted from Bon Appétit July 2008 1 large can (or 3 small) tuna 1 Tb red onion , minced 1 Tb capers i...

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. Continue to Recipe... Recipe: Spicy Plum Salsa Serves 4  Time 20 minutes Eat with Muller-Thurgau 10-15 small plums, sliced and diced, 1 1/2 cups 1/2 small red onion large handful cilantro a few leaves of mint 3 jalapenos, (seeds removed in half) juice of half lime Finely chop everything and mix. Refrigerate at leas...

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. Continue to Recipe... Recipe: Beef - Green Bean Roulade with Gnocchi Serves 2 Eat with Chianti Classico  Time 20 mins 9 oz (260g) thinly sliced beef/veal a few big handfuls of green beans , ends trimmed 1 can stewed tomatoes 1 cup beef broth 1 tsp dr...

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...

  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...

Strawberry pasta salad with cucumbers, fresh mozzarella, and basil turned out to be a refreshing spring lunch. I can imagine this as a sort of picnic fare, as it is best at room temperature and would travel well. With a sweet balsamic glaze and a pinch of salt it was still a dish with a soft flavour. I am toying with the idea of switching out the mozzarella for some tangy chucks of feta cheese next time. Continue to Recipe... Recipe: Strawberry Pasta Salad Serves 4 Time 30 mins 1/2 lb. (250g) short pasta shape (e.g. ziti) half a cucumber , sliced into half-moons 1 cup (5oz / 150g) strawberries , sliced 1 - 2 Tb olive oil 1 Tb balsamic glaze OR 1/2 Tb balsamic vinegar pinch salt 2 fresh buffalo mozzarella balls (3.5 oz / 100g each) handful fresh basil leaves handful toasted chopped almonds 1) Cook pasta in boiling water 8 - 10 mins, drain and rinse in cold water.  2) In a large bowl, toss pasta with cucumber and strawberry slices. Gently mix in the olive oil, balsamic, and salt....

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...

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...

Insalata di Patate e Calamari was a dish discovered years ago. A light potato salad with baby squid and a black olive tapenade spread mixed into the dressing. The flavours were out of this world. It wasn't very pleasing to the eye, however, as the tapenade tinged the potatoes grey. Enter the purple potato. These babies do loose a bit of vibrancy when boiled, but when spritzed with the lemon afterwards, bounce right back to a startling violet hue. Perfect for salads. I remember reading Rome-blogger Apron and Sneaker 's post about her hunt for violet potatoes, and so when I stumbled upon them at a local market, I quickly nabbed a few packages. I new they were prime for salads. The memories of the calamari salad I'd made years ago had left quite the impression. It's the heavy dose of tapenade in the dressing that makes it stand out among potato salads. Zingy lemon and a bright black olive spread tie the potatoes and seafood together just so well. I've used strictly ca...

Second in line in the Valentine's week of heart-healthy meals is a quick and easy dinner of pan-fried fish with a citrus salsa. It all went from pan to plate within 30 minutes. Because that's how eating healthy should be - manageable. I am of the persuasion that most standard fish varieties taste great with a citrus salsa. Most recipes in this vein call for mahi-mahi. And while its sweetness certainly makes a good match, in my kitchen, this salsa has even graced the top of some cod. Snapper or bass I imagine would fit well, and even tuna would round out the flavours plus give all those tuna-y health benefits. Whichever fish you chose, this is great in the winter using blood oranges if you luck out on finding a good avocado. Happy avocado hunting! The heart-loving menu : Brekkie : Muesli-Pancakes with Honeyed Berries Lunch : Black Bean Chili with Swiss Chard   Dinner : Pan-fried Fish with Blood Orange and Avocado Salsa Dessert : Vanilla-Poached Fig, Cherry & Pistachio Parfai...

  Quick bites during this busy time have become my mode du jour . Here is one that kind of rocked my socks off, created from assorted leftover bits. It started with an avocado and green pea spread lightened with lime juice. The kicker is the topper - a pangrattato of toasted pumpkin seeds, Parmesan, and thyme. It adds the perfect savoury crunch atop the rich and creamy spread. Easy, healthy, and tasty. With some fresh fruit or snacking veggies, it's a great light lunch! Continue to Recipe... Avocado Toasts with Pumpkin Seed Pangrattato Serves 2 It's a fusion of two different treats inspired from Nigella Lawson and Jamie Oliver (Cook with Jamie pg.349). olive oil 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds 1/8 cup breadcrumbs 1 dried chili a pinch dried thyme 1/4 cup grated Parmesan salt / pepper 1 avocado 225g frozen (or tinned) peas (drained and room temp) juice of half lime half a small clove garlic 1/4 tsp salt whole-grain bread 1) In a pan over med-low, heat the olive oil gently and add in t...

Oh this big 'ol basil plant of mine, what more can I do with you? Pesto, caprese, pasta - oh so passé. This summer has seen a number of novel uses of basil pop up in my kitchen. I'm working on a dessert post featuring a basil syrup, but until I manage to finish that, here we have a quick post-work snack. Or brekkie when I've got 15 minutes to spare. Basil. Peaches. Brie Cheese. Tortilla. Delish. What's more, is it's just one more justification for that electric grill machine hanging out on the counter. And for quesadillas you don't even need to coat the grill with oil. Which means if you were strategic enough in your cheese placement and it doesn't ooze out, no cleaning the thing afterwords! And since this month's Monthly Mingle theme is stone fruit, I'll send this post over to Sips and Spoonfuls . Looking forward to checking out all those fruity recipes soon! Continue to Recipe... Recipe: Peach and Brie Quesadillas Adapted from Cooking Light Jun...