Spicy red lentils with coriander by Marketa

Lentils are believed to bring along money. Sadly, I am still waiting for the cash, but one thing is sure: lentils bring along many benefits on the healthy nutrition side. Compared to other types of dried beans, they are relatively quick and easy to prepare. Lentils readily absorb a variety of wonderful flavors from other foods and seasonings, are high in nutritional value and are available throughout the year. My friend Marketa Tomkova, a young talented woman, mother of two, who is a great cook and has been extremely helpful and a great source of inspiration while this blog was shaping up, came over one day and made this amazing soup. There is a deep richness given by the matching of lentils and coconut milk, there are nuances of distant countries given by the spices and there's the final kick of chilly peppers and cilantro. I have been hunting Marketa for some time to get the recipe and finally is here. You will be reading more about her on this blog. For the moment enjoy this simple yet full of flavors recipe

Ingredients 

250 g red lentils 

2 carrots, chopped or grated 

1 red onion, finely chopped 

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped 

1 small piece fresh ginger, grated 

2 handfuls of fresh coriander pokrájeného 

250 g fresh or canned chopped tomatoes 

1.2 liters vegetable stock 

2 dl coconut milk 

1 tablespoon lemon juice 

2 tablespoons coconut or olive oil 

1.5 tsp turmeric 

1 teaspoon cumin 

1 chilli pepper 

salt

Procedure

1) In a pot, heat the oil. Add the cumin, turmeric and chilli. On low heat, stirring constantly fry for half a minute, and then into the pot, add the onion, carrot, ginger and tomatoes.

2) After a minute, add the rinsed lentils and vegetable broth. Slightly salt and cook for 25 minutes. If the liquid evaporates, add a little water.

3) Add the coconut milk and lemon juice over low heat and cook for 5-10 minutes.

4) Stir in the fresh coriander to taste Dosolo and season with lemon juice. Serve hot.

Perfect burger as a melting pot experience

One of the things i like the most about making your own burger is that you can play with it and you have virtually endless options: from the seasoning of the meat to the consistence of the bun, from the type of sauce to the garnishing of the burger. Prague has seen quite few quality burger joints opening in the last couple of years, and some butchers are offering excellent burger patties ready to be grilled. 

From time to time i am going to have fun with combinations and alternatives to the classic burger, exploiting my passion for quality street food. 

This one was a combination which has been highly appreciated ( i did not make the burger patty, i bought it from a great butchery) and i like to think of it as a melting pot of ingredients:

Ground beef from Czech raised animals, handpicked by an English gentleman

Perfect buns made in Czech by a passionate "home baker"

Guanciale ( pork cheek), a very typical Italian preparation made by a Czech girl with passion for quality meat and Italy

Red onions from Tropea, south of Italy

Goat cheese from Sardinia

Macedonian Lutenica...

Vica Kerekes: Pörkölt, erős paprika and the importance of passion in life.

Few things can bring together people the same way food, and especially "food talk", does. I have been living abroad for about 15 years now and still, whenever i mention my Sardinian and Italian origins, people talk to me about how amazing the food they had in my homeland was, how much they miss good mozzarella or fresh seafood, how great it was to eat dinner in a small Osteria where the local "grandma" was still making handmade pasta.
Food it's a great tool to rely to each other, to understand foreign cultures, to break ice and create new friendships.
My friendship with Vica Kerekes started and grew thanks to our common passion for food. She is a friend of my fiancee and i first met her when, after a photo shoot, they came to the restaurant i previously owned. Vica is Slovak and Hungarian and i lived in Budapest for two years in the past, and there i learned to love Hungarian food. So the talk went soon to the gastronomical subject: of course Italian food, then Hungarian spicy paprika, and then we went on to discuss the quintessential importance of enjoying life and to have passion for what you do, wether is cooking, acting or simply spending time with your friends. 
When this blog started to take shape i threw around the idea of cooking something together and that idea began reality:  Vica came over to meet Elias (my newly born son), have a glass of wine while chatting with my fiancee and, last but not least, cooking one of my favorite Hungarian traditional dishes: a pork and beef Pörkölt with, as she specified when i asked for the ingredients, erős paprika (spicy)!
When i had the Pörkölt in Hungary, it came with a side of Tarhonya, a type of pasta which reminded me of something we have in Sardinia, called Fregula. So we made a sort of Hungarian-Sardinian fusion and while Vica cooked the Pörkölt i made the Fregula with tomatoes and oregano.
The recipe of the Fregula will soon be on. 
The recipe of the amazingly spicy Pörkölt cooked by Vica, a real triumph of the red color, from the many shades of the ingredients to the hair of the gracious guest chef, is written further in this post.

Jò étvàgyat!

Ingredients:

• 40g Mangalica lard
• 1 large red onion, thinly sliced
  
  
  2/3 cloves of garlic, unpeeled
• 2–3 tbsp ground hot paprika
• 1.8kg pork steak, diced
  
  
  200 g beef, diced
• 1 tsp tomato paste
• 3 paprika peppers, thinly sliced
• 3 medium tomatoes, sliced
  
  
  8/10 cherry tomatoes
  
  
  2/3 glasses red wine
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp cornflour

Method:

1. Heat the lard in a lidded frying pan, add the onion and the garlic and fry for five minutes, or until softened. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the paprika, adding more or less to taste. Add the pork and the beef and a splash of red wine. Simmer over a low heat for about 5 minutes.
2. Add enough boiled water to cover the meat, bring back to the boil and add the tomato purée, paprika peppers and tomatoes. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cover with a lid and simmer for 1 and a half hour or until the meat is tender.
3. To thicken the sauce, mix the cornflour and two tablespoons of cold water to form a paste, then stir into the stew. Bring to the boil again to thicken. Check the seasoning, and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Lamb "coratella"

Spring brings lot of fruits to our tables, and lot of amazing dishes are bang in season. During Easter on Sardinian tables lamb is the king. And the perks that come with the lamb are the innards, the so called "quinto quarto" (fifth quarter): liver, lungs, heart, kidneys, sweetbreads. To me, beside the fact that offals are delicious, it just seems fair to use the whole animal when it gets butchered. I share the same philosophy of my friends Michaela and Paul of TRMS.cz: in their butchery they use the whole animal, which comes from selected farmers and lived happily in a free range farm, treated with respect and fairness.

Offals got to be very fresh and the key to a successful preparation consists in taking the right time to work each part of the innards in the right manner. 

There are many recipes in Italy (very popular is the "coratella with artichokes" roman style).

I like the coratella to have lot of richness to it and a spicy hint in the end.

Ingredients:

1,5 kg lamb’s offals

a medium red onion

one spring onion

a clove of garlic

 15 gr capers

15 gr sun dried tomatoes

 10 gr olives taggiasche

chilly pepper

fresh mint

fresh oregano

fresh thyme

bay leaves

extra virgin olive oil

4/5 tablespoonfuls of white vinegar

4/5 tablespoonfuls of milk

2 tablespoonfuls of EV olive oil

 2/3 glasses of red wine cannonau

salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. In a large bowl place the offals with water, bay leaves and vinegar for about 20 minutes. Take the offal (separating the liver which you are only using at the very end) and chop it finely (pieces no bigger than 1/2cm). Discard any overly stringy bits, but don’t remove too much fat – it gives the dish flavor.

2. Lightly brown the finely chopped onion in the oil in a non-stick pan until soft, along with the pinch of chilli.

3. Add the coratella pieces to the pan, on a low flame, and brown slightly.

4. When the meat is lightly browned, add the olives, capers, sun dried tomatoes, bay leaves and herbs, two tablespoons of vinegar and season well with salt and pepper.

5. Leave to simmer for around an hour, on a low flame and with the pan lid on. Add the liver about 5 min before finishing it. The most important thing about this recipe is not to let the Coratella dry out – so you can add a little extra water or oil if necessary, but keep the pan lid on so the offal stays nice and juicy.

6. Taste the Coratella and if you think it is cooked, remove the lid of the pan and add the wine. Continue to simmer until all the wine has evaporated.

In Italy, Coratella prepared in this way is often eaten as part of the antipasti course of a meal, but is also served as a main course, where it is very good with small roast potatoes and green vegetables like spinach or chard.