Danish Cinnamon Snails

Yields about 18

Dough

• 2 tsp dry yeast • 200ml finger warm full cream milk • 50g sugar • 1 tsp salt • 2 eggs • 520-550 g plain flour • 100g soft salted butter

Filling

• 200g soft salted butter • 200g dark brown sugar • 2 tbsp cinnamon

Brushing dough

• 1 lightly whisked egg

Dough

1) Warm up milk, add butter and eggs and mix together 2) Put flour (start with 520g, then add more when bringing dough together if needed), dry yeast, sugar and salt in a large bowl and mix well.

3) Add the wet ingredients to flour mix and bring dough together. Knead dough for 5 min until it’s smooth and supple. Put in bowl and cover with damp cloth and let proof for 1 hrs.

Filling

While the dough is proofing, mix together the filling ingredients with a fork.

Assembly

1) When the dough is finished proofing, put a little flour on table to roll out dough into a flat rectangle about 1 cm in thickness (not too much flower as this will make the cakes dry). 2) Ladle on the filling and spread out over entire rectangle. 3) Roll the dough on the long edge enclosing the filling, try to roll as tight as possible. 4) Cut 2-3 cm pieces from the roll and place them in a baking tray on baking paper. You need to face the side up so you can see the filling in between the layers of dough. 5) Place the snails about 1cm apart in the baking tray, if tray is not big enough use 2 trays. 6) Let the snails proof again for 30-40 min under a damp cloth. 7) Turn oven on 200 degrees (not fan forced) 8) Baste the snails with whisked egg 9) Bake in middle of the oven for 15-20 min, keep an eye on them – they should be golden (and ovens warm differently)

Let them cool down for 10 min and enjoy (they might get stuck a bit together when baking, just use a knife to gently pry them apart. You can also freeze them and reheat when wanting a snack.

Spanish Rockling (Ling) One Pot with Crusty Bread

Sometimes you get inspired by other recipes, and this recipe is one of those... It was sooo good, we had it for dinner last night, and I just had to write it up and save it here on the blog so I can refer back to it...

Original recipe uses cod (Danish: torsk), but because we can only get smoked cod here in Australia, I decided to use the Rockling or Pink Ling fish instead, as it is also a firm-fleshed white fish.

The image below is borrowed from the original recipe, as I forgot to take any photos of the finished result, but it was pretty much what's in the image below. Super delicious!!

Spanish Rockling One Pot

Here is the recipe (for 2 people):

INGREDIENTS 

• 2 chunky rockling fillets, approx. 200g per person
• 100g diced chorizo
• 1 pinch saffron threads
• 1 large glass white wine (I used sauvignon blanc)
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 can chick peas, drained and rinsed
• 1 large red onion, finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 250ml chicken stock (or 250ml water with 1 chicken stock cube)
• Juice of 2 juicy lemons
• 2 tsp sugar
• Fresh flat leaf parsley
• Olive oil for cooking
• Extra virgin olive oil for finishing
• Sea salt and black pepper
• Buttered green beans and crusty bread to serve.

METHOD

Use a wok or pan with a lid to fry the chorizo in a little olive oil until it starts to char at the edges, then remove it with a slotted spoon and put it in a bowl until later. 

Add the onion to the oil in the pan and cook on a medium heat for about 5 minutes until softened, then add the smoked paprika, garlic and cook for a couple more minutes.

Next add the wine and let it evaporate slightly, then add saffron, chicken stock, diced tomato, sugar and salt and pepper, bring to a simmer gently with the lid on and taste after about 10 minutes, adding salt and pepper as needed.

Next, add the chick peas and lemon juice, cooking for around 5 minutes with the lid off, and place the rockling fillets in to the pan with the chorizo, nudging the chick peas out of the way so the rockling is partly under the sauce. Put the lid on and simmer gently for around 8 to 10 minutes, spooning the sauce over it a couple of times as it cooks.

When done, remove the lid and scatter with the fresh parsley and drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil.

Serve at the table in the cooking pot. Doing this will mean the rockling continues to cook in the residual pan heat, so you don’t need to overdo it on the hob. 

Serve with green beans that’s cooked in boiling water for 4 minutes and been dressed in a little butter, and crusty bread.

Enjoy!! It is really yummy :-)

Ris a la Mande (Rice Pudding) with Cherry Sauce - Aussie style

What do you do when the husband cannot tolerate cream in his food, and one of the main ingredients in your dessert is whipped cream?! I researched what I could possibly use as a substitute (low fat), and if I could find this substitute ingredient in Australia.

Well, I was lucky enough to find a recipe for a low fat substitute version of this Danish dessert - usually eaten during the Christmas period. However, the substitute ingredient for cream was something called "fromage frais" which I cannot get in Australia.

So what to do, what to do? Well, I've heard about numerous desserts using mascarpone cheese, which is a creamy Italian cheese, so I thought, I'll try that as a tester with a small portion, and if it doesn't work I'll have to make it with cream, and hubby will have something else for dessert.

Luckily for me, the test version worked a treat, so here is the recipe for my Aussie version of Ris a la Mande with cherry sauce.  

Ris a la Mande
250 ml water
250 g arborio rice
1.4 l of full fat milk
1 tsp salt
2 tbs sugar
200 g blanched almonds (without skin)
1 vanilla pod
500 g mascarpone cheese

1) Bring the water, arborio rice and salt to the boil, and let it simmer until the water is absorbed.
2) Add the milk and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low and let simmer until milk is absorbed and it has the consistency of risotto, approx. 20-30 min. Keep stirring the pot to avoid the milk burning in the pan. 
3) Take the rice pudding off the heat, add sugar and let the pudding cool off.
4) Roughly chop the almonds
5) Slice open the vanilla pod, scrape out the vanilla beans and mix them in the rice pudding.
6) Mix half the mascarpone into the rice pudding until it has a creamy consistency, then add the chopped almonds and the rest of the mascarpone and stir until combined. 
7) Transfer the Ris a la Mande to a serving bowl, cover with cling film, and refrigerate until serving. 


Cherry Sauce - to serve over the Ris a la Mande
500 g frozen cherries (or fresh pitted)
150 g sugar
1 vanilla pod
300 ml water
2 tbs corn flour

1) Pour the cherries into a pot with the sugar, water and vanilla pod.
2) Bring to the boil, turn down the heat to low and let simmer for 15 minutes
3) Stir the corn flour with a splash of water and add to the warm cherry sauce while stirring, and wait for the sauce to thicken slightly.
4) Cool down to warm temperature (around 50 degrees) and serve over the cold Ris a la Mande

You can make the Cherry Sauce in advance and cool in the fridge, and then warm it up slightly before serving.

Enjoy!

Eggplant and Lentil Stacks

This is a very tasty and easy healthy dinner option, served with either lamb, beef or chicken!

Served here with BBQ eye fillet steak :-p

Ingredients

• 2 large eggplants, cut crossways into 1.5cm slices
• olive oil spray
• 2 cans brown lentils, rinsed, drained
• 4 spring onions, ends trimmed, thinly sliced
• 110g (1/2 cup) semi-dried tomatoes, coarsely chopped
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar (or balsamic vinegar)
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup chopped flat leave parsley
• 60g baby rocket or baby spinach
• 120g feta cheese, chopped into small dice. 

Preparation

1. Heat a large frying pan (or your BBQ hotplate) over medium-high heat. Spray the eggplant with olive oil spray, add to the pan and cook for 4-5 min each side or until tender and golden. 
2. Place the lentils, spring onions, tomatoes and parsley in a bowl. Drizzle over vinegar and olive oil and season with salt & pepper. Toss to combine
3. Place rocket or spinach leaves on the plate. Top with 2-3 eggplant slices, hereafter lentil mixture. Repeat layers. Top with feta cheese and enjoy!

Bamya with Chicken

This recipe is an old family recipe handed down from my grandmother to my mum and from my mum to me. It is one of my favourite Cypriot / Mediterranean dishes and for me it is comfort food of the highest caliber.

It uses an ingredient, okra, which is not seen very often in western style food, but it is a widely used vegetable in Middle Eastern/African and Asian (and Cajun style) cooking.

Okra, these ones came out of the freezer - frozen from fresh. The top have been trimmed off these ones.

Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
1 brown onion, coarsely chopped
6 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
4 Chicken thigh fillets (skin off), cut into 3 x 3 cm pieces (large chunks)
500 - 750 g okra (fresh or frozen)
1 can diced tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 - 1 1/2 cups of chicken stock (you can use a stock cube)
1 tsp ground cumin
juice of 1 lemon
1 1/2 cup basmati rice (400 ml)
salt & pepper

Preparation
(for the rice)

1. Add 3 cups of water (800 ml) to a pot and bring to boil.
2. Season with salt
3. When water is boiling, pour in rice and stir once. Put lid firmly on, reduce heat to lowest possible and cook for 12 min. Leave the lid on during entire cook, no peaking.
4. When the 12 minutes is up, check if there is still any water in the pot, if yes cook for a further 2 min, if dry, turn off heat and leave rice to steam under the lid until served.

Preparation for Bamya

1. chop onions, garlic and chicken thigh fillets
2. trim top of okra to remove the stem-like part of the vegetable
3. heat olive oil in a wok or big pot
4. add onions & garlic with a little salt and fry for 2-3 minutes
5. add chicken pieces and brown on all sides
6. add cumin, diced tomato, tomato paste and stock, stir and bring to the boil
7. once boiling, add okra, juice of lemon and salt & pepper to taste
8. simmer for 25-30 min
9. taste and season to taste again if needed
10. serve steaming hot on top of rice

Enjoy!

Okra has just been added to the pot.

Bamya has been stewing for 25-30 minutes and is ready. Notice how the sauce has thickened up as well.

Serve with basmati or parboiled rice - YUM!

Best Ever Coleslaw Dressing

Last week we tried a different type of coleslaw - as you do when you have leftover cabbage originally used for a Minestrone Soup to use for something else... This coleslaw is called a green coleslaw and is made with savoy cabbage. However, it is really the dressing which is amazing, and I'm sure I'll use this fantastic dressing in the future for all types of coleslaw!

The recipe is for 4 people

1/4 savoy cabbage, finely shredded
3 celery stalks, leaves reserved, stalks finely chopped
1 Lebanese cucumber (or 1/2 a cucumber), halved lengthwise, thinly sliced

Dressing
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 lemons, juiced
1 tablespoon sugar (white)
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tbsp whole egg mayonnaise

Put all dressing ingredients in a container with lid, close tightly and shake all ingredients together. Pour over coleslaw ingredients and mix through.

Sorry, forgot to take a picture :-(

Molehiya - Turkish Family recipe

Molehiya with chicken

Growing up, there were a few family favourites that we did not get very often (maybe that's why they were extra special), mostly because it was difficult to get the main ingredient - the molehiya leaves - in Denmark. This meant that we would only get this dish if my grandmother had sent the dried leaves to us from Cyprus. However, it was definitely worth the wait, and to this day it remains one of my favourite Turkish dishes to cook and eat.

Luckily, these days I have better access to the molehiya leaves, as they are sold in many Lebanese / ethnic veggie shops around Australia, so I now cook this family favourite a bit more often. I would probably cook it even more often if Kasper liked it as well... however he thinks it smells of hay when I cook it and is not a fan!

I mostly cook the molehiya with chicken, however lamb or beef can be used as well. Serve with steamed parboiled or basmati rice.

Here's the recipe: 

Chicken Molehiya - 4 people
* About 6 handfuls of dried molehiya (fresh leaves can also be used, however I've never seen these)
* 1 glass of lemon juice (if using freshly squeezed lemon, you can get away with a bit over half a glas, which is the juice of about 3-4 lemons)
* 3 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 onion
* 12 cloves of garlic
* 1 can diced tomatoes
* 500 g chicken thigh fillets (no bones)
* 4 glasses of water (enough to cover all the ingredients)
* 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
* 1 teaspoon of hot chilli paste or chilli sauce
* 1 chicken stock cube
* salt to taste

Preparation
1) Place the dried molehiya leaves in a bowl of cold water and leave to stand for 6-8 hrs (if you do this in the morning, the leaves will be ready for when you cook dinner). The leaves tend to float, so use a flat plate on top to keep the leaves under water.
2) Use a strainer to drain the water out of the leaves, and squeeze as much water out of them as possible. The leaves will be a bit sticky, but this is normal.
3) Chop the chicken thigh fillets into 3-4 cm cubes, and fry in a deep pot or wok in the olive oil until browned.
4) Cut onion into chunky boat slices and garlic cloves into 6-8 pieces and add to the pot, and fry for 3-4 min. 
5) Add the diced tomatoes, stir
6) Add the drained molehiya leaves, lemon juice, tomato paste, chilli paste and stock cube.
7) Top up with water to cover all the ingredients and season with salt to taste.
8) Pop on a lid that closes firmly and simmer over low heat for 30-40 minutes.
9) Cook the rice while the molehiya is cooking.
10) Serve rice topped with chicken molehiya in a bowl and ENJOY!

Blueberry Muffins

As I am writing this post, I have actually just pulled out a fresh batch of blueberry muffins out of the oven, and it smells DIVINE in here!!!

So, the original title of this post was "Choc Chip and Walnut Muffins", however as I now have yummy smelling blueberry muffins sitting on the kitchen bench cooling, I'd thought I'd change the title, as this muffin recipe is actually a basic muffin recipe where you can easily vary the type of filling!

The basic muffin recipe makes really fluffy muffins because of the buttermilk.


Basic Muffin Recipe
2 2/1 cups (375 g) self-raising flour
90 g butter, chopped (unsalted preferably)
1 cup (220 g) caster sugar
1 1/4 cup (310 ml) buttermilk
1 egg, lightly beaten

Variations of filling (choose one)
1) 200 g of berries, fresh or frozen (could be blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, etc.)

2) Date & orange: 1 1/2 cups (240 g) seeded chopped dates
                            3 teaspoons grated orange rind

3) Choc Chip & Walnuts:  3/4 cups (140 g) choc bits
                                      1 cup (120 g) chopped walnuts

4) Banana & Choc Chip:  3/4 cups (140 g) choc bits
                                     1 soft banana mashed up with lightly beaten egg and added with egg to mixture

5) Raspberries & White Choc Chip:  3/4 cups (140 g) white choc bits
                                                     100 g of raspberries (fresh or frozen)

6) use your imagination for further filling combinations ;-) 

Steps:
1) Grease a 12 hole (1/3 cup / 80 ml capacity) muffin pan
2) Sift flour into a large bowl, and rub in the chopped butter until it has a crumbly consistency
3) Stir in sugar, buttermilk and egg. Do not over-mix. Mixture should be lumpy.
4) Add chosen filling
5) Spoon mixture into prepared pan, bake in moderately hot oven 15-20 minutes (200 - 210 C), fan-forced oven 180 - 190 C (I usually do about 18 minutes)

Let the muffins cool down a bit after taking them out of the oven and then enjoy!

Blueberry Muffins