Stories from Emona

Chocolate tiramisu

Maya — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:17:24 +0000

Let’s start this week with something sweet, shall we? With something “chocolaty”, to be precise. I don’t exactly make chocolate desserts very often, however I do enjoy eating them – if prepared with chocolate of at least 60% cocoa.

I’ve never tried chocolate tiramisu before and ever since spotting the recipe over at What’s for lunch, honey? I’ve been wanting to give it a try. Only by reading it, I could imagine the delicious taste of this tiramisu!

I tweaked the recipe slightly and replaced quark (which I also love) with fresh ricotta, I didn’t use any fruit (Meeta used raspberries) because certain eater in our household dislikes certain fruits in desserts (and that wouldn’t be me!) and also, I dipped the biscuits in a mixture of cereal coffee (which I prefer over real coffee) and home made walnut liqueur. We both enjoyed eating this tiramisu and agreed that the 2nd day it tasted even better. What a treat!

CHOCOLATE TIRAMISU

Ingredients for a rectangular dish (20×26cm):
200g heavy cream
120g chocolate, chopped (I used the one with 60% cocoa solids)
250g Mascarpone
250g fresh ricotta
3 Tbsp blond cane sugar
200g ladyfingers
1 cup freshly made cereal coffee (as an alternative to coffee)
a generous splash of walnut liqueur
1 Tbsp good quality cocoa powder
1 Tbsp chocolate sprinkles

1. Heat the heavy cream in a skillet, but do not bring to boil. Remove from heat and mix in the chopped chocolate Stir for it to melt and set aside.
2. In a bowl, combine the Mascarpone and ricotta. Add the melted chocolate cream to this mixture and whisk until smooth.
3. Separately, mix the cereal coffee and walnut liqueur in a small bowl. Dip each ladyfinger into this liquid, placing half of them onto the bottom of the rectangular dish. Spread half of the choco-Mascarpone cream over the ladyfingers, then layer the rest of coffee-dipped ladyfingers and spread the rest of the cream onto them.
4. Cover the dish with a cling film and transfer to the fridge. Let it set overnight. The next day, i.e. before serving, sprinkle the tiramisu with cocoa powder and chocolate sprinkles. Enjoy!

Winter dishes (IX)

Maya — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:14:33 +0000

Yes… we’re going to fold the cabbage leaves again!

Hope you don’t mind… yet another cabbage recipe. I know! I’ve been tiring you a lot with cabbage lately, but I can’t help myself because I like it so much! This recipe is, by all means, another keeper. Imagine cannelloni, stuffed with tasty filling and baked with some Béchamel sauce and cheese on top. Now imagine you replace cannelloni with blanched cabbage leaves – I did so last week when I was making cannelloni. I might never go back to eating pasta cannelloni again, that’s all I’ll say.

CABBAGE “CANNELLONI”

You need:
cabbage leaves, quickly blanched in boiling salted water
rice flour Béchamel (butter or coconut fat, rice flour, milk, nutmeg and salt)
grated goat cheese (or other)

For the filling:
chicken breast, cubed
minced garlic
rosemary
nutmeg
salt
ground sweet paprika
ground black pepper
mustard
frozen green peas
ground almonds, unpeeled
olive oil

1. Heat some olive oil in a skillet, add garlic and chicken. Season with rosemary, nutmeg, sweet paprika, mustard and salt. Add a splash of white wine, reduce and mix in the green peas. Cook for half a minute, then remove from the stove. Stir in the ground almonds.
2. Place about a tablespoon of filling in the middle of each cabbage leaf, fold it and place one by one on the bottom of a buttered oven-proof dish. Cover with Béchamel sauce and sprinkle with grated cheese – and off to the oven. Bake at 180ºC until golden (15′ or so).
3. Serve with some salad on a side and with a glass of white wine, if you wish.

A delicious alternative to classic cannelloni…

Winter dishes (VIII)

Maya — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 16:31:36 +0000

This past week I’ve eaten more cabbage than before in the whole month – let’s say I rediscovered this vegetable that I’ve been enjoying before mostly in its raw state (i.e., in delicious salads). The better half of our household does, unfortunately, not share the same affection for cabbage and other veggie members of the Brassicaceae family, therefore I’m making such meals for myself only. But hey, I don’t see that as a problem – more for me!

Today’s winter meal is all about fermented cabbage or sauerkraut, eaten very commonly throughout the Central Europe, all winter long. So I had about 200g of sauerkraut in the fridge and just before I was about to turn all of it into salad (which, by the way, is the healthiest way of eating it), I changed my mind. I turned half of it into a hearty soup and the other half I ate as salad. I loved the colors of both dishes – so vivid and uplifting! A definitely satisfying lunch.

SAUERKRAUT SOUP

sauerkraut
water or vegetable broth
a bit of tomato puree
root vegetables (I used parsley and celery root and carrot)
cooked (brown) beans
bay leaf
grated nutmeg
salt
smoked paprika powder for decoration

1. The preparation is simple: place the cleaned/peeled and chopped vegetables in water or broth, bring to boil, season and simmer for 15′ or so, add the beans and sauerkraut and cook for 5 or 10 minutes more.
2. Remove from the stove and let sit for 5 more minutes, then serve, sprinkled with smoked paprika.

SAUERKRAUT SALAD

sauerkraut
walnut kernels
pink grapefruit slices
black sesame seeds
olive oil
apple vinegar

1. Combine the sauerkraut, walnuts, grapefruit and sesame seeds in a salad bowl, season with vinaigrette and enjoy right away!

Millet porridge

Maya — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:06:56 +0000

Porridge is eaten for breakfast in many countries nowadays. It makes a nutritious meal, perfect for a good start of the day. I must confess, I’m not such a porridge-type of person – I just love my morning slice of bread too much! As by rule, my breakfast tends to be on the salty side. I know people whose morning meal is nothing but coffee, and some of them would accompany their coffee with something sweet (e.g. slice of cake, sweet bread, cookies etc.)
Somehow I don’t see myself eating cake in the morning, so I prefer to indulge into things like egg omelette (even with veggies), some yogurt-based spread on bread, sometimes with a slice of prosciutto crudo or cheese.

The other day I had a late breakfast – and I cooked some millet porridge. Just for a change. Oh, and I was out of bread, too. And you know what, I liked it. So much that I’d like to share it here!

MILLET PORRIDGE WITH CRUNCHY ADDITION

You need:
hulled millet
almond “milk” or horchata de almendra
maple syrup to taste
coarsely chopped whole almonds
black sesame seeds
sultanas

1. Wash the millet under running water, drain and cover with enough almond milk (or use other kind of milk of your choice) – 3 parts milk : 1 part millet. Bring to boil and then simmer till “al dente”. Remove from the stove.
2. Sweeten with maple syrup and stir in the almonds, black sesame seeds and sultanas.

Snowy landscape

Maya — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:49:25 +0000

Here are some photos I took recently on my walk in the countryside (where I pick medicinal plants in summertime). Beautiful wintry scene in central Slovenia.

Winter dishes (VII)

Maya — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 18:55:32 +0000

We’re having some wonderful winter weather and looots of snow! I adore snow (as I’ve told you before), I guess I couldn’t live without it in winter!

With so much snow and cold, one can’t help himself but get hungry all the time! I’ve posted about my winter dishes before already, and here I have another one for you. I was alone for lunch yesterday and made myself these awesome and oh-so-yummy cabbage parcels (of a sort). They tasted so great that I made some for lunch today, too. Quite addictive, I might say.

CABBAGE PARCELS WITH TWO FILLINGS

You need:
cabbage leaves
a big pot of water
salt
olive oil

Sausage filling:
dried chorizo sausage (or other spicy sausage)
fennel bulb and leaves, chopped
grated cheese (I used cured goat cheese)
freshly ground pepper

Lentil filling:
cooked (brown) lentils
grated carrot
grated cheese
freshly ground pepper
a pinch of salt

1. Blanch the cabbage leaves in boiling salted water for 5′. Drain the leaves on a paper towel.
2. Mix the filling and place a tablespoon or two in the middle of each cabbage leaf, then fold the leaves and place them on a baking tray, covered with aluminum foil.
3. Drizzle each parcel with a little olive oil and transfer into the oven (preheated at 180ºC). Cook for 15′ or so (be careful that the cabbage doesn’t brown too much). Serve immediately. 5 of these parcels made my lunch. Delicious!

Bacalao (salt cod) a la Riojana

Maya — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 20:55:34 +0000

Upon my first visit to La Rioja, I ate this splendid salt cod dish that I try to re-create here today with genuine Spanish products we acquired a while ago. This bacalao-affair is all about red pepper-y color and aroma, a must-try for every gourmet’s palate.

Ingredients:
salt cod
olive oil
natural tomato sauce
onions, lots of
garlic cloves
roasted red pepper
flesh of pepper (so-called pimiento choricero), it comes in a jar as a sort of paste
sweet paprika powder (pimentón dulce)
cayenne pepper
dried or fresh rosemary
salt to taste
a good splash of dried red wine (Riojan would be perfect for this dish)

1. Desalt the cod in lots of water for 2 days prior to cooking, changing water 3 or 4 times per day.
2. Dice the onions and chop the garlic (or simply smash it) and sauté in abundant amount of olive oil. Add the flesh of pimiento choricero, rosemary, sweet paprika and cayenne pepper (if using).
3. Now it’s time to add the slices of cod and roasted red pepper. Season with salt and pour in some wine, reduce a bit and finally, add tomato sauce.
4. Let the whole thing cook on middle heat for 15′ or so (depends on how thick your cod is). Serve with peeled, boiled potatoes. Enjoy with a glass of red wine!

Proso millet dessert

Maya — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 21:34:05 +0000

Lately, I’ve been cooking a lot with proso millet (also called proso, common millet or white millet). Maybe better known to wheat-intolerant population, millet is a type of grain with super-food properties that should appear more often on our tables.

I use it in stir-fries, as a side dish to vegetable or meat plates and in desserts. I tend to cook large quantity of proso at once, which I then store in the fridge for quite some days. This way I have it ready whenever I need it.

If you’re new to this grain, I have a delicious and healthy dessert recipe for you, which could make an appropriate initiation into the millet world. Using seasonal produce (orange and pomegranate as my winter-choice) and one of the healthiest sweeteners you can find out there (maple syrup), this dessert can be enjoyed practically by everyone. Want to give it a try?

PROSO MILLET DESSERT WITH RICOTTA, ORANGE AND POMEGRANATE

Ingredients:
proso millet
water
grated peel of an orange
orange juice (if needed)
fresh ricotta
pomegranate, deseeded
maple syrup

1. Cook the millet: wash the grains well under running water, then cover with water (3 parts water per 1 part millet) and bring to boil. It will take 20-30′ to cook. You can add the grated orange peel while cooking or when already cooked – your choice. When you cook the millet for dessert, feel free to add a cinnamon stick, or cardamom or other spice to it in order to enhance its aroma.
2. Let the cooked millet cool, then mix in the grated orange peel (if you haven’t done it before), pomegranate seeds and fresh ricotta. Sweeten with maple syrup and if the mixture appears too dry, you can still add a tablespoon of orange juice to it.
3. Divide the millet mixture between serving glasses and cool in the fridge for a while, then serve. This recipe is very flexible and works well with any other fruit.

El día de Reyes

Maya — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:55:38 +0000

No related posts.

Orange flan

Maya — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 14:14:58 +0000

Let us start this New year 2010 in the sweetest of ways: with a dessert. And not just with any dessert, but with a Spanish flan, egg-and-milk goodness, cooked in a water bath in oven. Here I propose a recipe using orange as the main flavor. Sugar is replaced with sweet condensed milk which makes this flan specially delicious. Who says that the best desserts have to be complicated to prepare…

ORANGE FLAN
- 2 servings -

3 large eggs
juice (85ml, more or less) and grated peel of one orange
120ml sweet condensed milk
120ml milk, preferably full-fat
oil for the ramekins
a bit of maple syrup
2 orange slices, for decoration (optional)

1. Preheat the oven at 140ºC. Beat together the eggs, orange juice and peel, milk and condensed milk.
2. Oil 2 ramekins (or 4, if very small) and pour in some maple syrup, then the egg-milk mixture.
3. Fill a baking dish with hot water and place the ramekins inside. Transfer to the oven and cook the flan for about 1 hour (make the toothpick check). Cover with aluminum foil if needed.
4. Let the flan cool completely before unmolding onto serving plate, decorate with orange slice and then … enjoy!

May it be happy…

Maya — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 18:50:49 +0000

This New Year's Eve, we substituted our 12 grapes with 12 strawberry tree fruits (that made a long trip all the way from Spain) or madroños, as they are called in Spanish - the fruit smells just like anise, however it bears no resemblance to this aroma once you bite into it - but it's tasty anyway! Happy New Year to everyone!

Chorizo bread rolls (Panecillos de chorizo)

Maya — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 19:07:38 +0000

We nibbled on these chorizo bread rolls before dinner on Christmas Eve and they were awesome! Freshly baked, they filled the air with spicy chorizo aroma and made Juanpi SO happy! He said they reminded him of bollu preñau, which are Asturian and Cantabrian bread rolls stuffed with whole (cider-braised) chorizo, and you can find them in bars or pubs (specially of Asturian origin) served as a tapa. We ate them with some French salad on a side – simply delectable!

CHORIZO BREAD ROLLS
-for 20 bread rolls-

500g (white) spelt flour – type 630 (can be substituted by all-purpose flour)
200g wholewheat spelt flour
30g fresh baker’s yeast
a good pinch of sea salt
1 Tbsp honey (or cane sugar)
1 Tbsp dried oregano
1 tsp sweet paprika
approx. 475ml lukewarm water
100ml good quality olive oil
1 cured chorizo, sliced

1. Prepare the bread dough in a bowl or let the breadmaker do the job for you: mix both flours, add salt, oregano, sweet paprika, olive oil and make a “well” in the middle: crumble the yeast in it, cover with a tablespoon of honey (sugar) and pour 200ml of lukewarm water over it. Cover the bowl/breadmaker and place somewhere warm/away from draught. Let the yeast ferment for 30′.
2. Using a wooden spoon stir the flour while adding the rest of lukewarm water (slowly), until the dough starts detaching from the bowl. Then use your hands to work the dough. If using a breadmaker, just set it on a “dough” program. Let the dough rise (covered) for 1 hour.
3. Mix the chorizo slices in the dough, take small portions of it and form balls. Place one by one on a baking sheet, lined with parchment paper, brush with little water (or milk), cover and let rise for 20′. In the meantime preheat the oven to 200ºC.
4. Bake the bread rolls until nicely brown, then transfer to the wire rack and let cool at least a bit before biting into them! We ate them, as mentioned above, with some tasty French salad.

Christmas Eve

Maya — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 09:52:14 +0000

Our Christmas tree: decoration made of straw and dried orange slices

Tonight is the Christmas Eve and the Dinner preparations are already in progress. I’ve been fully busy in the kitchen since early morning, preparing the star dish of the menu: the traditional lamb dish, caldereta. The meat has been marinating for almost 24 hours in rooibos infusion (read more about rooibos here), which is a good meat-tenderizer. I had marinated meat in rooibos once before already, and with excellent results, I must say. Here I added also some crushed spices, sweet paprika, whole-grain mustard and a squeeze of lemon juice to the marinade.

Leg of lamb marinating in rooibos infusion, lemon juice, whole grain mustard, crushed spices (rosemary, marjoram, oregano, sage) and sweet Spanish paprika

However, I think the “theme” of this year’s Christmas will be the queen of winter fruit – orange. I’ve dried several trays of orange slices to use them as Christmas tree ornaments and as a part of table decoration. I’m also considering an orange-flavored dessert to finish our dinner with… but I won’t reveal more yet because I still haven’t made up my mind about it completely.

Christmas table decoration

I’d like to wish to all of you a peaceful Christmas celebration, with some tasty, hearty food on the table, prepared with love and enjoyed with your dearest ones – MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Trusted cookie recipes (III)

Maya — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 18:35:10 +0000

And here’s another cookie recipe I’ve made recently, using maple syrup. We both love this Canadian delicacy, we eat it mostly with pancakes and with yogurt and nuts. Lovely, rich flavor! So when stumbling upon this recipe for maple cookies, I set myself to work immediately.

I never follow recipes completely, so I’ve made a few changes here as well. Not only I reduced very much the quantity of sugar and replaced a part of it with ground walnuts, I’ve also added a little ground cardamom to the cookie dough, and I really liked the result. I only feel sorry for not adding more chopped walnuts to the dough so this is something I have to fix next time I make them.
And now off to the recipe:

MAPLE COOKIES
- makes 30-35 cookies -

115g butter, at room temperature
110g cane sugar
60g ground walnuts
1 large egg
125ml maple syrup (use Grade B if possible – I couldn’t find it, so I used Grade A)
280g all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 green cardamoms, ground
a handful of chopped walnuts (or more)

1. Using a hand mixer, or wooden spoon, cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy, incorporate the egg and then the maple syrup.
2. Sift together the flour, baking soda, ground cardamom and salt. Add the flour mixture to the creamy butter and mix well. Fold in the walnuts, cover with cling film and refrigerate for half an hour (or more – I let it chill for 1h).
3. Using a small spoon, take some dough and shape it into little balls and place them on a baking sheet, lined with parchment paper. You can flatten them a bit with the back of a spoon – and have in mind that cookies will expand while baking.
4. Bake at 170ºC for 10-12′ and then let cool on a rack (hot cookies are very soft – careful!). These cookies get better each day. Store them in an air-tight container.

Trusted cookie recipes (II)

Maya — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:28:52 +0000

The next one in this recipe series is a cookie with oat and rye flakes, and with a hint of grated coconut. It uses less butter than other cookies because there’s also some yogurt added to the batter. It sounds like a healthier type of cookie, doesn’t it?
I’ve found the recipe over at Gastronomía y cía and I tweaked it just a little bit. Next time I make this cookie, I might as well add some raisins (maybe soaked in some rum?) to the batter, or some drops of pure coconut essence, in order to boost the coconut taste. These cookies taste best with a cup of tea (or coffee). And here’s the recipe:

OAT, RYE FLAKES AND COCONUT COOKIES
- makes about 20 cookies -

110g all-purpose flour (or emmer flour type 630, which I always use instead of wheat flour)
6g baking powder
100g blond cane sugar
150g flakes, half oat, half rye
25g grated coconut
a pinch of salt
80g butter, at room temperature
50g full-fat plain yogurt
1 egg, lightly beaten

1. Mix together the flour, baking powder, sugar, flakes, coconut and salt in a bowl. Add the softened butter, yogurt and beaten egg, and mix well to combine all the ingredients.
2. The obtained batter will be sticky and thick. Cover the bowl, transfer to the fridge and let sit for at least an hour.
3. Preheat the oven at 170ºC. Using 2 teaspoons, take some batter and form balls, placing them on a baking tray, lined with parchment paper, and leaving about 2cm space between them as they will expand slightly.
4. Press the balls a bit with the back of the spoon, then place the tray in the oven and bake the cookies for cca. 12 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer them on a rack and let cool. Store them, as any other cookie, in an air-tight container and in a dry, cool place.