Despite the name ("kapuśniaczek" in Polish it can mean small drops of rain as well) and the situation outside the window, today's entry isn't about the weather.

I received this recipe for yeasty buns stuffed with sauerkraut from the good ghost of our house. Miss Ania – called grandma by our children – has brought us a lot of dainties like Russian dumplings, cakes and small buns with sauerkraut. You can prepare a vegetarian version with sauerkraut and onion as the filling, or a meat version with sausages or bacon. They are tasty hot with borscht, but I like them cold. you may sprinkle the top of the buns with your favourite seasoning: poppy seeds, sesame seeds or caraway seeds.

Ingredients:
stuffing:
0.5 kg of sauerkraut
1 big onion
2 tablespoons of butter
1 bay leaf
2 allspices
2 pepper seeds
1 teaspoon of caraway seeds
200g of sausages or bacon

Hummus has been a staple ingredient of Middle East food for thousands of years. It is a kind of starter, a paste prepared from chickpeas, tahini, olive oil, garlic and lemon juice. You may use it as a spread for pita bread or as a side dish for meat or vegetable dishes.

I make two types of "hummus". One with just the basic ingredients and another with dried tomatoes. You may add some parsley or dill so that your spread will be a nice green color. In my son's kindergarten the teachers have been trying to introduce hummus to the kids' diet. Unfortunately, so far this has been unsuccessful, which is too bad because it is an excellent source of magnesium, phosphorus and iron.

When preparing this spread you may start by making tahini. You need to dry-roast some sesame seeds (put a lid on the frying pan so that they don't go brown and make the spread bitter) and then blend them with oil. I take a short cut by blending the dry-roasted sesame seeds together with the chickpeas.

Version 1
Ingredients:
1 tin of chickpeas
3 tablespoons of sesame seeds
2 tablespoons of oil
1 clove of garlic
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
salt and pepper

Today I would like to share with you my version of a Norwegian dessert called Tilslørte Bondepiker. Literally translated, its name means "rural girls in veils". In Sweden it is known as Änglamat.

Tilslørte Bondepiker is a layered dainty prepared with braised apples (you may also use plums), a layer of whipped cream, a crunchy layer of fried breadcrumbs, another layer of whipped cream and a thin layer of crumbs on the top.

In my version I used oat-nut cookies instead of breadcrumbs. On the top of the dessert I put a bit of ice-cream instead of whipped cream.

Traditionally this dessert is served in transparent glass bowls, cups or big glasses to make it possible to appreciate its grand look.

You should remember to prepare Tilslørte Bondepiker just before serving, so the layer of cookies stays crunchy.

Ingredients (4 portions):
4 apples
2 tablespoons of sugar
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
250ml of 30% sweet cream
2 tablespoons of caster sugar
200g of cookies
4 ice cream balls

There are a lot of homemade dishes which, even though they are great, have simply palled and don't taste like they did in the past. The devil is in the detail and it is the same in the kitchen. Today I would like to show you a way to change dull salmon into an excellent dish. The secret is salsa.

This Mexican dish prepared with ground or finely diced fruit and vegetables with seasoning has been known in Poland since year one. The first written mention in the Polish-Latin dictionary comes from the year 1564. In the "Old Polish pictorial encyclopaedia", written in 1900, the historian, archaeologist and ethnographer Zygmunt Gloger described it as "an acidulous seasoning for dishes, usually a sauce prepared with vinegar". So it isn't a new invention but a crunchy sweet-and-sour dish with a slightly piquant taste, which can change ordinary fish into an interesting meal. I discovered it thanks to my sister and due to the Lidl cookery book.

Ingredients:
4 pieces of salmon
4 gherkins
6 dried tomatoes from olive oil
chili pepper
1 clove of garlic
2 tablespoons of minced coriander
1 teaspoon of grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon of honey
2 tablespoons of olive oil
lime peel from a half of lime

There are dishes which taste just as great hot as they do served cool. Do you like roast chicken? It is fantastic hot and flavoursome for dinner but tastes excellent cold in a salad. Pork chops with potatoes –the most famous Polish dinner bar none – is liked by everyone. Now imagine it in a crusty "Kaiser" roll with fresh tomato during a picnic. It sounds fantastic, doesn't it?

Another dish you may serve and eat hot or cold is Greek-style fish. Despite its name, it isn't known by the Greeks, but in my opinion they should try it.

Ingredients (for two people):
300g of white fish filets
2 carrots
2 parsley roots
half a celery
2 onions
2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of tomato concentrate
2 bay leaves
3 allspices
salt and pepper