Polish Shortbread Mini Croissants with Plum Marmalade

It's one of the old recipes from my mum's notebook which she got from her colleague at work. I came across quite a dilema while translating the name of the dough the croissants are made of. It says in the notebook that it's "half-puff pastry" but I think it's much closer in the texture to shortbread and that's why I've decided to stick to it. If somebody knows about the exact name for this pastry in English please let me know in your comments!

Irrespective of the name, the croissants were extremely popular during our last family gathering. They are really delicious and literally melt in your mouth. If you add you home made plum marmalade (which I don't have this year, unfortunately)- they will disappear from the table very fast :)   

Red lentil soup

This soup is really easy and quick to prepare, and on top of that it consists almost only of fresh vegetables. I've recently found out that it's better to use fresh tomatoes instead of buying canned tomato paste in order to prepare soups and sauces. You can just buy fresh tomatoes, chop them, cook and blend. There's a big difference in the taste of fresh tomatos and tamato paste. If just like me, you did not have so much time in the summer to prepare you own tomato preserve in jars you can still get a similar result by using the fresh ones! I do not peel tomatoes and press them through the sieve on purpose. I believe that the most valuable vitamins are right under the skin, so why to get rid of them?! Besides the soup tastes better with some chunks to bite :)

Hot Ginger Lemonade

Hippocrates used to say that the food should be our medicine and that's why it is worth including ginger in our everyday diet- not olny due to its delicious taste but also because of its incredible medical properties. Since it's the season for cold and flue, it should be mentioned in the first place that ginger helps to recover from cold and flue and helps to prevent from getting sick. Ginger also helps to improve the blood circulation, concentration, fights migranes, travel sickness and joint problems.    

Ginger is widely known as a spice for cooking and baking but it can also be used for making hot infusions. Today I am sharing with you my favourite recipe for the delicious ginger lemonade.

Cocoa dough cheesecake

This is an old cult recipe in my family. I found it a few years ago on a website of a Polish-German family, on which you can find a lot of other interesting recipes. The link to the original one is here. The cheesecake can be made in a round form (of approx. 26 cm), square or rectangular- I did it this time, but the cheesecake will be slightly lower. It all depends on your preferences, I thoroughly recommend :)

Vietnamese Pho Soup

In the autumn last year my friend said he would take me to the best soup in the city. I did not take it seriously at all but I eagrely walked to the restaurant since I am very passionate about discovering new tastes and places. That place was not different from many other Asian restaurants in Copenhagen that I had visited before. It was Monday and Mondays are usually slow days. It was very quiet and cozy then. We knew what we came for on the spot- for that biggest promise which was the soup- Pho soup, but I didn't know the name at that time. After a few minutes the waiter brought us a few spring rolls with sweet chilli sauce- they were good, very good I'd say, but we were still waiting for the soup. After a moment he came back- now with a plate of herbs to my surprise. We did not order something like that, I thought, but I asked my friend what that was. Completly unmoved, he replied this was garnish for the Pho soup. Finally, it arrived- the main attraction of the evening- steamy and aromatic, looking like an ordinary chicken soup, maybe sligthy darker. My friend told me that I should place the fresh herbs, lime, chilli pepper and bean sprouts on top of the soup. So, I finally tried it. That was amazing! The taste was so good that I will never forget that! It was a prefect match of the beef boulion with anise, cinnamon, fennel seeds, ginger...stunning! And on top of that crunchy bean sprouts and tender beef... 

My culinary skills cannot compare to the skills of the master who made the best soup I had ever eaten. However, since last week I felt so much like eating the soup again and I decided to cook it on the basisis of a few Internet recipes that I found. The result- not that great like the prevous time but definitely delicious and satisfying.
There's a lot to say and write about Pho soup, as it can be made in many different ways, but today I am presenting the easiest of all.