I haven't made risotto in a long time. In a long time means about a month  I added the truffle oil which my husband brought back from a business trip on impulse when preparing this dish. The truffle olive oil comes from Tuscany in Italy. The best white and black truffles are picked in this region. I recommend this oil as the last finishing touch to classical dishes. We like it with fresh bread and a pinch of salt. It is excellent with a glass of your favourite wine. This time I used truffle oil for my mushroom risotto. I recommend it!

Ingredients (for 4 people):
200 g of rice arborio
1.5l of vegetarian bouillon
2 shallots
2 cloves of garlic
200ml of dry white wine
500g of small mushrooms
3-4 dried ceps
4 tablespoons of butter
3 tablespoons of parmesan
parsley
truffle oil

Winter this year isn't frosty and snowy for sure, but it bites for those who don't like changes in the weather. Warm days followed by cold days, strong wind and lack of sun don't affect people positively. But we can comfort ourselves with delicious and nutritious food. Hot garlic soup definitely fits the bill. If we add some meat or legumes, it will be a balanced and delicious meal. I decided to add chickpeas. Some spinach or kale would be a nice, colourful accent on the plate. If you don't have or don't like these things, you can just add parsley.

Ingredients (for 4 people)
4 cloves of garlic
1 shallot
a piece of leek
2 carrots
1 parsley root
4 potatoes
200g of boiled chickpeas
2 fistful of spinach of kale
1 tin of coconut milk
1.5 l of vegetable bouillon
1 tablespoon of butter
salt and pepper

Before I prepare any dish with new ingredients I look for information on it. I'm interested in what kind of seasoning I should use, what ingredients I should use, and finding the best way to prepare the dish. I treat this information as tips from the masters, who know better and have tried out a lot of possibilities. Sometimes I like to take a chance and try something new. I think that a lot of traditional dishes were created in this way. Somebody had to experiment or make a mistake for the first time and that's how they made new dishes.

It was in such a way that I made my lamb stew with carrot, ginger and brandy. I took a risk in the choice of ingredients and I made a meal fit for a king. It is worth taking a risk ... sometimes . I recommend it.

Ingredients (for 4 people)
500g of lamb stew meat
2 carrots
2 parsley roots
a piece of leek
3 cloves of garlic
chili pepper
1 onion
a piece of ginger
2-3 tablespoons of coconut milk
100ml of brandy
500ml of bouillon
2 tablespoons of oil
1 teaspoon of butter
1-2 tablespoons of flour
half a teaspoon of cumin
half of teaspoon of ground coriander seeds
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
salt and pepper

In my family home, as well as traditional pasta, groats and rice, my mum sometimes prepared dumplings made with a spoon. She served them often with stew or beef cutlet. Recently, I remembered these dumplings when I was looking for inspiration for a quick lunch. I didn't have time to prepare meat, but I served them with onion and fried bacon. My daughter said that it was delicious and asked for another helping. Fortunately, this dish is really quick and it looks and tastes really wonderful.

Ingredients (for two people)
180g of flour
1 egg
a pinch of salt
100ml of water
150g of smoked bacon
half an onion
2 cloves of garlic
chili pepper
a couple of cherry tomatoes
a couple of capers
1 tablespoon of chopped parsley
pepper

In Poland I don't have a trusted place where I can buy fresh fish and seafood. Sometimes I buy some, but it is always a crapshoot. In Spain, close to our house there was a market with a big fish sector. I was delighted. This market doesn't resemble the bazars which we know from a few years ago in Poland. It was an interesting structure and clean and nice with a family atmosphere inside. During our second visit the salesmen recognised us and said "hola!" You could get vertigo from the wealth of products, and we didn't know what we should buy first. The best thing was the fact that whatever you chose it was fresh and yummy and tomorrow you could come back and buy something new. It was sweet that the salesman always cleaned the fish which we chose. We needed only to fry or bake them. For the first dinner we prepared seafood in the Spanish style. For the next one we chose sole – one of my favourite fish. The salesman advised us not to overcomplicate things with the ingredients, and to fry them only with some butter, parsley and lemon.

I took the advice and served the fish fried with fresh salad, artichokes and a baguette. You can make it in the same way or prepare your own dish. The devil is in only one detail – you need to have really fresh fish.

Ingredients:
2 fillets of sole
2 tablespoons of clarified butter
half a lemon
2 tablespoons of chopped parsley
salt and pepper