I am not especially fond of mushrooms. Usually I cook traditional Christmas Eve mushroom soup. Sometimes I use champignons but some people think that they aren't real mushrooms. I make an exception for oyster mushrooms and chanterelles. Chanterelles tempt me with their colour and forest smell.

Today I would like to share with you my recipe for chanterelle cream soup.

Ingredients:

250g of chanterelles

1 carrot

1 parsley root

3 potatoes

1 piece of leek

1/4 celery

1 onion

100g of butter

1 stock cube

Beetroots were known already in the ancient world. This vegetable was mentioned for the first time in a Babylonian document from 722 B.C. Three hundred years later they were grown in Greece. The first references to beetroots in Poland come from the XIV century, but mass cultivation started at the end of the XV century. Nowadays our country is the leading producer of these vegetables in Europe.

Beetroots are a real treasure trove of mineral ingredients (i.e. magnesium, phosphorus, iron, manganese, copper, potassium, and zinc), vitamins (folic acid, vitamins C, B2 and B6), dietary fiber, vegetable phytosterol  and antioxidants. These ingredients lower blood pressure, help prevent cancer, aid hematopoiesis, strengthen the body's immunity and lower the level of so-called bad cholesterol in our blood.

Above all, they taste great and have a beautiful intense color. Today I would like to propose cream of roasted beetroot soup. It is very simple and almost ascetic in the number of ingredients it has. It is served with blotches of cream and minced green chives. It is a real feast for the senses.

Meatloaf, aka Roman roast, is a less toilsome and healthier version of Salisbury steak. It is baked in the oven without coating and added fat. My children like it very much.

Usually I use French pastry to make "small headsets". This is what my children named palmiery-cookies with white chocolate. Today I would like to share with you a recipe for dumplings from French pastry. I prepare the stuffing for them with buckwheat groats, red pepper, onion and Balkan salty cheese. They taste best with a yoghurt-garlic dip.

Beer has been known in Poland since year one. At the beginning it was significantly weaker than today and I think it tasted different. Beer was a popular drink and it was less harmful than water. Beer isn't only a popular refreshing tipple. It could be an ingredient of a few dishes. Today I would like to share with you a recipe for beer batter which serves as a fish coating.