Mouth watering Pike Farci

Holiday, holiday, holiday.... Long time ago have promised to my aunt (I would like to add also many times in that period:) to visit her and that was the moment I could no refuse any further. Jumped in the car with my family, took my parents and there we are. Once we came in I thought there will some kind of wedding or posh dinner for.... lets say.... 20 persons? :) The table was braking down from the ballast of the food and all dishes looked so delicious! There was something on the table I think loads of people haven't seen anything before- Pike Farci or in other words stuffed pike. Its looked like still live with the eyes (ok, red grapes was perfect eye replacement) looking at me and telling: "Eat me!".

After 5 hours of eating and drinking (ladies had Champagne and boys had vodka) catching the equilibrium on legs and the recipe in my hand I been heading to the bed. We had a nice time. And I was excited to make something like this myself. And I made it! Here we go.

Ingredients:

Pike, whole with the head on
Onions, 2

Cooked carrots, 2
Butter, slightly
White bread, 3 slices
Sour Cream, 100g
Egg, 1 unit

Dill, fine chopped

Parsley, fine chopped

Salt, to taste
Black ground pepper

Cooking:

Clean the pike without damaging skin and cut out all the flesh leaving only skin with the head on. Cut out the eyes. Separate flesh from the bones. Fine chop onions and fry on the pan until gold and leave to cool. Ground de-boned flesh of the fish with the grinder along with fried onions and cooked carrots. Cut the skins of the white bread slices and soak for 20 min in sour cream. Add to the mince slices of white bread soaked in sour cream, whisked eggs, fine chopped dills and parsley, season with ground pepper and salt and mix well everything. Additionally if desired you can mix in some green petite garden peas. The longer you mix the more fluffy mince you will have. Stuff pike with made mince and close belly. Place on the baking tray with some oil and bake in preheated to 160 degrees oven for 50-60 min.

Once serving, instead of eyes you can place the red grapes or anything what is in your imagination;) Just be creative! Otherwise the pike will bite your finger off :)

Delicious homebaked bacon stuffed buns

Last week I been on holiday and visiting my parents. My mum loves cooking and tries to pamper me with home made food from my childhood. This time she made some fresh baked buns with bacon fillings. I remember when I was a child they been flying of the kitchen table. This time wasn't exceptions:)

As we decided after couple of days to visit the Paradise Island called Neringa and its town Nida I thought it would be nice to have some buns on the way. As all the last ones was gone I asked my mum for recipe and made a fresh ones. To be honest they lasted only for the trip and nothing left once we arrived:) We had a very nice and exciting time in Nida. I even made some track called "One night in Nida" and dedicated to the town. If you would like to have a perfect mixture of relax and some action this place would be the irreplaceable.

Ok, back to the topic to the delicious bacon cube buns:)

For dough:

Wheat flour 500 grams

Milk 250 ml

Eggs, 1 unit

Sugar 1 tablespoon

Salt 1 tsp

Oil 5 tbsp

Yeast 20 g

Stuffing:

1 onion

200g smoked pork bacon cubes

ground pepper

Mix yeast dough from the ingredients and leave for 2 hours to rise. Mix bacon cubes with fine chopped onion and season with ground pepper. (Additionally you can add some cumin seeds)

Take the piece of dough and roll it to the flat round scones in diameter of approx. 6 inches. Place full table spoon of the filling right in the middle and close all forming dumplings. Place on the backing tray and leave for another 10-15 min to rise the dough. Brush the buns with the whipped egg yolk mixed with a dash of water and bake in preheated oven (170-180 degrees) for about 20-25 minutes.