Poezja...

I'm sorry to have to disappoint but sadly couldn't think of a more creative title for this post...

Firstly, I'd like to thank Jasmina (again) for recommending me this restaurant :) And hello to the rest of her family, if they are reading this :) That was a bit creepy... moving on, I'd also like to say hi to Milena, Chan, Iiris, Rachel, Sabrina and awesomely enough- to a few Princetonians! Now that my creepy and lame moment has passed,  let's go on to the food.

Oh wait! One last thing! I once mentioned seeing an 8-year-old play tennis better than me (cringe), well guess what- last Sunday, me and my brother were the only people at the court under the age of eight...ty five. And yes, they all played better than I did. I should have another blog "Ifailattennis.blogspot.com"  But they were good. I'm not joking,  they kicked behind (my mum forbid me from swearing on the internet, or anywhere for that matter). Like ninja grandpas. But what made me feel better was constantly tricking my brother into missing a ball by pointing upwards and saying things like "LOOK! A DISTRACTION!" and my personal favourite "Ohmygod, WHY IS THAT ELEPHANT WEARING A TUTU"
That got him to turn away and get hit by the ball. Twice.

Okay I'm done... Wait... One last last thing, just a note on the side I just re-read some of my posts, and they're all incredibly cheesy. (Hahahahahahaha :D Get it? It's a food blog, and it's CHEESY. Thank you to Chan, for pointing that out and providing us with this super cool joke. Almost as good as my jokes :P) Especially my Zen Jazz Bistro one. I'll try to tone it down a bit... Also, another thing I noticed, the quality of my pictures are slowly getting worse and worse, and from now on I'm going to try and take more pictures during the day, when the lighting is better... or get a new camera (subtle hint directed at my mum, who reads my blog because I'm cool)

Finally! We get to the actual restaurant bit.

Arriving at the restaurant was a moment of success for my family and I. We hadn't got lost!  The glowing "Poezja" sign welcomed us in, as well as the promise of an unforgettable dinner.

The whole interior design made me feel like I was in an authentic Italian restaurant. Slightly rustic, and very cozy, not one of those overrated "hotspot" type of places. Just a place where you can enjoy some good food and time out with your family and friends.

A surprise guest:

Meet...

Mr. Mozzarella and Tomato Tower... Man

 He's very short, as you can see (but don't mention it, he's very sensitive about his height) and likes to keep up with the latest trends- check his awemazing (Definition: Mindblowingly awesome. A portmanteau of awesome and amazing. Coined by Phan Vu Hong Linh.) basil hat... Nah, I joke, I joke, it's not a man.
It's my granny.

 Okay, seriously, this was brought to us while we were waiting for our dishes. At first we thought they were trying to trick us into buying it. Well I thought they were trying to trick us into buying it. I'm still not so sure...
Back to the subject, my whole family loved this. Especially my parents, who think cheese is the source of all good in the world. It was light, fresh, and made me wish summer was here. Summer...

This was accompanied by:

Bread basket 

(Try to ignore my brother, by the way. He refused to move while I was the taking the picture.)
A bread basket soon arrived, following the "amuse-bouche" . All the breads cozily nestled inside were freshly baked (I think). Again, my family was thrilled, even more so when we discovered how well the breads tasted with the olive oil provided on the table. My dad in particular liked this ( he ate like half of it, plus all the crusts me and my brother had left)

Pappardelle with Duck in Rosemary Sauce

I made the picture X-Large, to emphasize how amazing this was. The picture isn't so great, I have to admit, but the actual dish was really was fantastic. This was sadly my mom's dish (though that didn't stop me from eating more than half of it)
 The pieces of duck were incredibly soft and completely soaked in the rosemary sauce, which I loved. I never tried rosemary before (double cringe)  but if that's how it really tastes like, I'll start eating it by itself.
Maybe not, I would probably get indigestion or something. I also have to add that this dish made me fall in love with pappardelle- the noodles. They're kind of like "pho" noodles, but European. I got my mum to buy a packet the next day.

I didn't actually take this picture, I got it off Google...

 Mmmm. Pappardelle...

Next came my dish...

Ink Tagliolini with Salmon and fresh Pesto

 This blew me away. And best of all, it was mine. Since my last foodventure at Jazz Bistro, I have taken a liking to ink tagliolini. That plus pesto and salmon, made the dish seem even more irresistible. In the end I caved in and ordered it. All I can tell you is that it definitely wasn't a mistake. The fish was left to stand on its own, on the side, lightly seasoned, grilled, and thankfully not overcooked, yet still managing not to be sashimi. The pasta was ink black, as its name suggests, and as good as I remembered it being, with a hidden stash of pesto at the bottom. Pesto... I can honestly say this is one of my favourite foods ever. Red or green it doesn't matter. I adore it. Eat it with everything - bread, fries, meat, fish, by itself...  (@Mileena You said I have to eat something with garlic in it, here you go :) Pestohh!) Also, sitting at the bottom, waiting to be devoured by yours truly, were bright red cherry tomatoes.

Spaghetti with fresh Tomatoes, Parma Ham and Arugula

This was my brother's. Very simple, a culinary equivalent of a minimalistic, yet effective painting. And oh so very deceiving. At first, I was slightly disappointed at my brother's rather dull choice, but I changed my mind as soon as I tasted it. It was great----> Am running out of adjectives. The juice from the tomatoes and the melting cheese created a sort of sauce at the bottom. The parma ham added more sharpness to the "sauce" and also texture. Yum... Hats of to the chef for making something this simple, this good.

Saddle of Lamb in Pistachios

My dad's. The minute he saw lamb, his eyes lit up. This was a slight let down after last month's gorgeous lamb chops, but then again, there are very few things that can compare to the lamb chops. Still, it was good, extremely game-y  and juicy. For some reason, the pistachios were not there. Maybe they were under the vegetables... Too bad I didn't find it. It's a sad day when you have to play hide and seek with your food.


DESSERT. DESSERT. DESSERT. DESSERT.

 First time I ate chocolate souffle. So good... and fluffy. As this arrived, the whole table hushed. That's how orsome (Sadly, this word is not mine- Mr. Potter owns this one. Damn it) it was. Chocolate oozed out from the center, letting out a drool-inducing chocolate-y smell. It was like a bite of chocolate heaven, though I have to confess, I couldn't eat anymore, being a bit of a chocolate wuss. My brother on the other hand, shoveled it into his mouth. He finished it in around 5 seconds flat. Was I upset that he took it all for himself? Not really, I was too occupied with my BASIL ice cream.
This was the best. You'd think it would taste very strange, but it didn't. It was too good for words. Literally. I can't describe it. Though that might be because it's quarter past 1 and my brain is shutting down.

And if you're still there (which you're probably not), Yellow Milena, Conner, Chideraa, Omar ( I'm sorry if that's not your name. I hadn't heard properly and felt too embarrassed to ask Milena to repeat it...), Maddy and Brigitte!



             Restaurant Poezja
          
              Ul. Książęca 6
              Tel: 022 622 67 62
              e-mail: rezerwacje@poezja.waw.pl
             Opening hours: Monday - Friday: 12 - 23
                                     Saturday - Sunday: 14 - 22
             Website:http://www.poezja.waw.pl/



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I'm so very sleepy.

Je suis la mère de gougères!

Yes, I am the proud mother of gougeres, as of yesterday. This will be a sort of filler post, hopefully I will have something longer by the end of this week. Am thinking of cooking dinner for family. Maybe.

First, before I start describing the tedious process of making the gougeres, I have to say: PIERRE IS A LIAR. These were definitely NOT as easy as he said they were. His exact words: "Even I can make them". LIAR LIAR PANTS ON FIRE. HUNG ON A TELEPHONE WIRE.

That aside, I personally think they were almost worth all the trouble. And ingredients.

The Original "Recette"

Gougères

1/4 water, 100 gr butter. Salt, pepper, 150gr flour, 4 eggs, 100 gr Swiss cheese, 50 gr Comté cheese,

Blend water + salt + butter and boil in a saucepan. Mix and add flour at once very fast then move out of fire. Add eggs and cheese very slowly.

With a teaspoon make small balls and put in the oven preheated at 200 degrees and cook for 10 mn.

I did just that. Ish.

1. I blended the water, salt and butter. So far so good.

2. Added the flour, and tried to mix at a very high speed. Fail.

 3. After what seemed like 3 hours of mixing, the mixture started resembling mashed potatoes. It didn't taste like mashed potatoes though. Not that I tried eating it or anything...

4. I looked at the fake mashed potatoes, and decided there was no way the cheese would just melt in. Other measures had to be taken.

5. Realized I didn't have the right cheese. Shit.

6. Decided that I will just use the cheese we have at home.

7. I got a brilliant idea! 

8. Got out a tiny pan, which my sister had once fried bacon on for an experiment (long story), and put the  cheese in it. 

9. That didn't work quite so well, so I added butter.

10. That failed too. The cheese started burning, and sticking to the pan. Another bolt of genius hit me. I then added water, which actually worked. Yum. Cheese, water and butter.

11. Added more cheese. Then more butter. Then more water. Until it turned into this:

12. Put it into the mashed potato mixture.

13. Oh god. Yet another 3 hours wasted on mixing everything.

14. Finally, I had finished.  Then following my sigh of relief, I realized I forgot to add the egg.

15. Added the egg and thought "How the hell am I going to mix THIS"

16. Tried mixing. Not fun. 

17. While mixing, some of the goo started dripping out. I tried saving it, Superman style. Result: Goo on fingers.

18. I finally finished. I poked the mixture and thought, Hmm, maybe it needs a bit more flour. This was probably because it had started looking like yellow mucus by then. 

19. Added flour.

20. Added more flour.

21. Added even more flour.

22. Added some butter, to even things out, because I added too much flour.

23. Decided to have a test bake. Put a tiny blob onto a pan. 

Photos of the Pioneer Gougere Journey:

 24. After it finished baking, I tried to get it off the pan. Unsuccessfully.

22. Baked the rest of them.

I don't think this was how it was meant to look like... Oh well. It kind of tasted like a mini cheese bread. Eh, close enough...

Now and Zen (Jazz Bistro)

Too cheesy?
Last Saturday, my family and I went to Zen Jazz Bistro. This is probably a good moment to give a shout out to one of my two followers, Jasmina. She's the one that recommended the restaurant, and I'm glad she did (THANK YOU AGAIN, IF YOU'RE READING THIS) Also a shout out to Chan, who was my very first follower :)

Anyways, after an hour of circling the same spot over and over again, we finally reached Zen Jazz Bistro.

We had almost left, thinking it was closed. You see, it was really dark inside and none of us have very much experience in fine dining, so we didn't know if they would be taking the day off or not. Thank God for my brother, who started jumping up and down, pointing at the windows and telling us he saw somebody inside. We walked in, hoping that it wasn't my brother just seeing things. Relieved, we sat ourselves down on a table for four (well, we asked for a table for five at first, forgetting that Milena wasn't there... so sad).
The interior was very chic, not too big but not tiny either. The only problem was that  it was really dark, so I'm sorry about the bad quality photos. Also, my camera is older than me, so that might be a part of the problem...

You see that waiter? He's in two pictures ( though it's kind of hard to see him in the middle one, because he was moving- he's that blur, by the way) He noticed me taking the pictures, and probably thought I was a stalker or something...
He brought us the menus almost immediately, and I got that little thrill. In my opinion, the two most fun events (?) during an outing to a restaurant is the picking of the dishes, and obviously: the eating.

First, we got drinks. I got the Zen Lemonade. I actually originally wanted to get a normal lemonade, but because of a misunderstanding ended up getting something else.
There are two types of misunderstandings, the awkward, embarrassing type, which I seem to get surprisingly (not really) a lot, and the type that tickles you pink (this is the synonym for glad that thesaurus.com gave me, what is the world coming to?).

Zen Lemonade

This was absolutely gorgeous. Like a tart, refreshing, liquefied version of the amazing baked apple with cinnamon and sugar my sister used to make for me. It's a mixture of tonic, apple juice, cinnamon syrup and lime. Genius.
Even the presentation was appealing. Bright yellow juice, a neon green lime on the side and a black straw and cinnamon on top, to even things out. I will be trying to recreate this at home. What I'm wondering is: where do you get cinnamon syrup?

No food...

deep- fried duck and vegetables rolls with chilli & plum sauce 

The spring rolls arrived around half an hour after we ordered, which is pretty good, for such a restaurant. This dish would be described as a starter, but to me, it was so much more. Despite its small size, these spring rolls blew my mind. Really light and flaky on the outside, and flavorful on the inside, my brother actually asked if he could order it again. In addition, the sweet plum sauce contrasted against the quite salty duck meat.

Uramaki- Baked eel, cucumber, salad and mayo

My mom's dish. It wasn't so great, plus I had eaten this a lot of times before, so it didn't come much as a surprise. Maybe if I had never eaten it before, it might have been better though. It was also kind of cold. I personally think sushi is only good in actual sushi restaurants.

grilled lamb chops with soya & garlic sauce served with sweet potatoes puree

Yum. Yum. Yum. Yum. This was easily the best dish of the night. Not because the other dishes were bad, but because this was simply fantastic. Too good for words. The meat was ridiculously soft and juicy, not to mention, well seasoned. It went perfectly with the forest berry sauce, which was not too sweet, but not too sour. The puree, even though it was a side dish, was what won me over. It. Was. The. Best. Mash. I. Ever. Ate. I felt like I was eating a sweet potato cloud. Creamy and "finger lickin' good" (I hope KFC won't sue me).  Stuck artfully in the puree, were two tempura'd (don't know if that's a word)  peppers. They kind of reminded me of that famous hotel in Dubai. You know? The ones they always show on postcards. Unfortunately, I didn't get to try any because my dad ate them both before I could ask him for one (it was his dish). That could serve as a testament to its goodness. Still, I wonder how it tastes... The tomato was also eaten by my dad. It probably just tasted like a tomato, so I'm not too beat up about that.

black tagliolini with roasted Pekin style duck, green asparagus and fresh coriander 

This was really good. The vegetables cleansed me of guilty feelings and made me feel like I was healthy. For once. It was slightly saltier than expected, but the tomatoes helped. I especially liked the taglioni, which gave the dish an interesting look and tasted great too. Mmm.

Wonton soup

 To me this was just wonton soup. I had this so many times, it's scary. Highlights, and slight changes include: More veggies and the wonton meat was incredibly soft and flavorsome. The wontons were the winners in this dish.

walnut crusted and deep-fried goat’s cheese served with lettuce leaves, lemon & truffle sorbet and raspberry sauce 

This was definitely new to me. More of an experience than good eating, though it did taste quite good. An interesting take on breaded Camembert and cranberry sauce. This dish had me intrigued from the beginning, and only after we had finished everything else, had I gotten the courage to order it. I had never eaten goat's cheese before (cringe) so this was a first. It was... different. Slightly pungent, and in the middle it was oozing out. The crust was delicious and even though the actual cheese tasted strange, the lemon and TRUFFLE sorbet helped. I couldn't actually taste the truffles though. Or maybe I did, but I just don't know how it tastes like. Lame. The raspberry sauce was really sour, so what I did was I dipped the cheese in it then I dipped it in the sorbet. So weird, but good at the same time. A great finale to a great evening :)


Zen Jazz Bistro

Ul. Jasna 24, (00-054)

Tel. 022 447 25 00, fax. 022 447 25 01

zen@jazzbistro.pl 

Opening hours:

                        Monday - Friday: 11:00 - 24:00

                        Saturday - Sunday: 12:00 - 24:00

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Oh, and here's the cheesecake: