Monday, July 22, 2013

DUTCH OVEN MIXED SEEDS BREAD


Smell of freshly baked bread.
Why we love it so much?

Ingredients:
20g fresh yeast
300g water
500g plain flour
9g salt
pinch of sugar
handful of different seeds
oil

Mix yeast with water. Add salt, sugar and flour. 
Knead with hands or food processor.
Cover and let rise 1 hour.
Knead the dough 1 -2 minutes and put it into oiled dutch oven. Let rise second time.
Preheat oven at 230C/450F.
Garnish the bread with seeds and rub some oil over the surface of the dough.
Bake the bread 30 minutes in the middle of the oven with lid on.
After 30 minutes remove the lid and bake another 10 minutes.



Friday, July 19, 2013

MUSTIKKAPIIRAKKA - FINNISH BLUEBERRY BREAD

I am berryholic.
Grrrr


Ingredients:

Bread:
125ml milk
10g fresh yeast
30g sugar
1 egg
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp cinnamon
250g plain flour
35g butter in smaller cubes

Berry mix:
300g blueberries
50g quark/ricotta
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 lemon juice

First make the sweet bread.
Combine yeast with milk and sugar. Beat the egg and put 1/2 in a fridge. Add rest of the egg, salt, cinnamon and flour to the milk and pulse on low speed for 3-5 minutes.
On the low speed add butter cubes one after other and pulse another 5 minutes.

Cover the dough and let rise 1 hour in a warm place.

Knead 2-3 minutes and let rise another hour.

Roll the dough in to a round base for the pie and carefully place the dough into pie plate. Spread quark over the middle of the pie. Put blueberries over the quark and add lemon juice and sugar. Brush the dough edges with rest of the beaten egg.

Bake first 15 minutes at 200C, turn the heat down to 180C and cook further 15 minutes.



Thursday, July 18, 2013

SOUTH NEW-ZEALAND CHEESE ROLLS

Couple of weeks ago we had visitors from New-Zealand. One evening they prepared dinner for us - cheese rolls from the South Island. 
The original rolls are made with onion soup that is not available here so I decided to make them with caramelized onions and pesto.

4 rolls
Ingredients:
4 big toast bread
50g (or more if you like)grated cheese
2 onions / chopped
2 cloves garlic /chopped
50g pine nuts 
50g basil
pinch of sugar and salt
pepper
olive oil
cherry vinegar (optional)

Toast the pine nuts until colored.
Combine pine nuts, olive oil  and basil in a food processor and pulse until smooth.
Add salt.

Saute onions with garlic. Add pinch of salt, pepper and sugar(and cherry vinegar).

Roll the bread flat with a rolling pin. Spread pesto over the bread, then cheese, onions and roll up. 

Bake in oven at 180C for 10 minutes.





Monday, July 15, 2013

GOOEY BURRATA APPETIZER WITH PESTO

Discovered this luscious italian cheese called Burrata. It tastes AMAZINGLY gooey and soft.
Try it with some olive oil, pesto and tomatoes.
Mmmmmm.

Serves 2 
Ingredients:

1 Burrata cheese / halved
1 big tomato / peeled/seeded/ chopped
olive oil
black pepper
fresh basil
kosher / sea salt
1 tbsp green pesto

Put half of the burrata on a plate. Add half of the tomato chunks seasoned with salt and pepper. Put some green pesto and fresh basil on the top.
Drizzle with olive oil.
Do the same with the second plate.

Inspired by Lamparts, Hägendorf

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

RAW ZUCCHINI SALAD

What do you think of this picture?
Would you like to eat this food?
Why or why not?


Ingredients:
2 zucchini / cut into slices
2 tsp Kosher/sea salt
1 garlic clove / minced
1 tbs lemon juice
2 tbs olive oil
Black Pepper
1/4 cup / 40g walnuts
1/4 cup/ 30g fresh herbs / chopped

Put the Zucchini in a colander and sprinkle evenly with 1 tsp salt. Toss and sprinkle evenly with another 1 tsp salt. Let stand for 10 minutes .
In a small bowl combine the garlic and lemon juice.
Shake the moisture off the vegetables. Taste them. If too much salt remains, rinse briefly under cold water and pat dry. 
In a medium bowl, toss the zucchini with the olive oil. Spoon the lemon mix over and toss some more.
Season with pepper and more salt and lemon if needed.
Garnish with walnuts and herbs.

Original recipe: Michael Ruhlman

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

FOODIE PEN PALS NR 3 ALL THE WAY FROM SUNNY GREECE


This time my Foodie Pen pal parcel came all the way from sunny Greece :).
Look at those amazing food products from Greece. 

Olives from south Greece - Kalamata
Chamomile tea 
Sesam snack
My favorite - Fig confiture with seeds. Yum Yum Yum
And  something I have never ever tasted - Gum Mastiha. 
It is sap from lentisk trees and was the original chewing gum.