Dr. Filomena

Male tortice (glej cupcakes vs muffins) iz kakavovega testa, polnjene s polnomastno skuto in koščki čokolade, ki jih Američani poznajo kot Black Bottom Cupcakes, smo pekoljubke na twitterju poimenovale črnozadnjične grižljajčice. Njihova priprava je hitra in preprosta. Za 24 grižljajčic boste potrebovali

za nadev:

• 200g polnomastne skute (“cream cheese”, Philadelphia)
• 1 jajce
• 50g sladkorja
• ščepec soli
• 175g koščkov jedilne čokolade

za testo:

• 200g moke
• 200g sladkorja
• 20 g kakava v prahu
• žličko sode bikarbone
• pol žličke soli
• 230 ml vode
• 80 ml olja
• 15 ml jabolčnega kisa
• vanilijev ekstrakt

Pečico ogrejte na 175°C. V modelčke za mafine vstavite papirnate skodelice.

Pripravite nadev: v srednje veliki posodi zmešajte skuto, jajce, sladkor in sol, da nastane rahla, gladka masa.

Nasvet: ne mešajte premočno. Če se bo jajce spenilo, bo nadev preveč tekoč. Vmešajte majhne koščke jedilne čokolade. Meni je najbolj všeč zelo temna, ki jo nasekljam kar sama.

Pripravite testo: v večji posodi zmešajte moko, sladkor, kavo, sodo bikarbono in sol. Dobro premešajte, da se soda bikarbona enakomerno razporedi. Dodajte vodo, kis in vanilijev ekstrakt. (Tokrat ga nisem imela pri roki in sem vmešala kar vrečko vanilijevega sladkorja.) Dobro premešajte.

Modelčke za mafine napolnite z maso za testo do 1/3 višine. Na sredino nežno položite po eno žlico skutno čokoladnega nadeva. Pecite 25 do 30 minut na 175°C.

et voilà

Ko so črnozadnjične grižljajčice pečene (izvlečenega zobotrebca se ne drži testo), pride na vrsto najpomembnejši del kulinarike. Hitro jih stresite iz modelčkov in jih malo ohladite na rešetki, da se ne skuhajo, potem pa jih čim prej delite s prijatelji.

Če to lahko storite v praznično okrašeni Ljubljani, toliko lepše.

Srečno!

Na pobudo matere Prof. Alje in mojih dragih FB prijateljev sem dokumentirala pripravo današnjega kosilca, ki sem si ga sredi tedna lahko skuhala kar doma (hvala). Pravzaprav sem ‘čistila hladilnik’, kradla ideje po netu in čarala. Uporabila sem posodo, ki mi jo je podarila gostja hišoogrevalnega žura. Takole je šlo:

Pristavimo vodo za riž, da bo ta kuhan, ko bo omaka nared.

Sesekljano čebulo in česen damo v glineno posodo, začinimo po okusu. Jaz sem dala malo čilija, baje je dobro z origanom in janežem. Pokrijemo in postavimo v pečico (180°C). Ne, res ni olja.

Ko čebula v pečici postekleni, ji dodamo paradižnik. Načeloma pelate, jaz pa sem nasekljala hipotetično svež paradižnik, ki je bil ‘tik pred rokom’. Posodo vrnemo v pečico. Narežemo šparglje.

Ko mešanica čebule in paradižnika zavre, dodamo šparglje. Na tej točki ne bi škodile narezane črne olive, ampak jih ni bilo v hladilniku (priznam, zadnjih nekaj sem – ups – vrgla stran, ampak so bile res že bivše). Malo premešamo in posolimo – itak, da z grobo soljo iz piranskih solin – nato spet pokrijemo in vrnemo v pečico. Aha, dodala sem malenkost belega vina.

Šparglje postrežemo na rižu. Preprosto kot razširjena fižolova jed!

Dober tek!

You know how we sometimes tend to overdo food shopping before holidays? Well I’ve done it again. And since I’m trying not to throw any more food away, I made some more vegetable cheese rolls. These are a quick and easy way to use the extra about-to-expire fridge contents.

Dough:

• 1.5 cup  flour
• 2 oz butter
• hot water
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• salt

Heat up some water, add butter, mix well, pour the liquid on flour, mix and add salt and vinegar. Knead well and add warm water as needed, until the dough is soft, smooth and even. Split it in two parts.

Filling:

• 1 lb mixed vegetables
• 2 cups sour cream
• 1 or 2 eggs
• 1.5 cups shredded cheese (more or less is fine)
• salt & seasoning

I used frozen soup vegetables and veggies from cans I had opened (peas, corn, beans). For an even better taste you may want to stir fry them quickly with onions.

Roll out each of the two balls of dough and place on a kitchen towel.

Distribute the veggies across surface, then cover with a mixture of sour cream and egg (set aside a few spoons). Season whichever way you like. I used salt, pepper, thyme and basil. Follow with shredded cheese (in one of these I used mozzarella that would have gone bad and it worked well). This will bind everything nicely.

Roll up with the help of the towel underneath.

Transfer on baking paper. Cover with the remaining sour cream/egg mixture. (Actually, I used cream cheese – yes, that would have gone bad – in the place of sour cream and it worked well.)

Bake at 180°C for 30 minutes, raise temp to 230°C and bake for a few more minutes for a nice crust. That’s it.

I cut the roll into pieces and put them in the freezer for quick lunches.

This was our New Year’s eve dinner. Let me use this opportunity to invite all our friends to the house warming party here in Luxembourg on 17 January 😉

Pumpkin soup: cook pumpkin and a potato, both cut up into cubes in small amount of water until cooked, drain a bit, mash, season, add some cream and cook some more.

Blanched asparagus with yoghurt sauce: drop asparagus in boiling water for a minute or so, drain, soak briefly in ice cold water. Mix yoghurt with fresh squeezed lemon juice, salt, pepper, extra virgin olive oil; pour over the asparagus.

Mangold cheese pie in buckwheat crust: make buckwheat dough, roll out, place in baking pan. Cook mangold and a sliced carrot for about 15 minutes. Drain, cut mangold in slices. Mix mangold and carrots with cheese (we use skuta, but could use ricotta or perhaps cottage cheese) and season to taste. Add a couple of whisked eggs if you like (I did not this time). Fill the crust, bake at high temp for about 45 minutes.

Pita sirnica (cheese burek): I assume everyone knows how to make burek 🙂 Just layer phyllo dough and a mix of fresh cheese (skuta), sour cream, salt and egg, greasing each layeras you go. Finish with two layers of the dough and bake at medium temperature. The trick is to pour a cup of hot salty water on top when baked, cover and let it sit for a while.

Šunka v testu (ham in bread): this beauty deserves a separate entry as far as recipes go. Basically, cook ham, make dough, wrap and bake. I only helped a little, but the bulk of the work was done by the man of the house. Hat’s off!

Apple skuta cheese cake (see recipe here) with a twist: this time I used wholemeal flour and brown sugar. Came out even more declicious!

We had a wonderful evening and our guests seemed happy enough 🙂 Thanks for the great company, guys! We’ll be eating leftovers for a while, but not complaining about it one bit!

It was so good to see Slovenian friends after a long time. The picture includes some of the highlights of the evening: salmon baked in honey mustard sauce with a walnut breadcrumb topping, double chocolate walnut brownies, mulled wine and of course a certain DJ’s music wish of the day, pineapple cake.

Thanks to all for the great company! 😀

If I do eat bread, I want it to have some taste. I miss the spelt bread from Ljubljana and have not yet found anything as yummy over here, so decided to try some baking. Here comes my first attempt at buckwheat bread.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 cups buckwheat flour

• 1 cube fresh yeast
• salt
• cool water

I came across tips on making yeast solution in place of the usual mixture of yeast, warm water and sugar. It works like a charm.  So to start this bread, mix a cup of cold water with a cube of yeast and a teaspoon of salt and let it sit in a cool place (room temp is fine, e.g. on a window shelf) for 5 to 24 hours. Overnight works well. Takes some planning ahead, but the results are worth it.

Most recommend cooking buckwheat flour prior to using it, but I tried using is straight from the sack and it worked, so why make things harder on you. Just mix the two types of flour,  add the yeast solution and mix well. Let the dough sit until it rises twofold.

Knead the dough again, form a loaf (I made a small loaf and several mini ones) and let it rise again. For a nicer crust, you can whisk an egg and coat the top of the loaf before baking, but in any case, make several cuts across the top to prevent the loaf from breaking open at the side.

Bake at about 180°C for about 35 minutes, depending on the size of your loaf/loaves. Once baked, wrap in kitchen towels and let cool before cutting.

Came out pretty good. Finally, bread with actual taste to it again. I sliced my loaves, put them in the freezer and have a couple of slices for breakfast.

Dober tek!

A week ago I noticed green tomatoes in the grocery store. I honestly don’t remember ever having seen them before, but this time I felt a strong urge to try making fried green tomatoes. Who hasn’t seen the film, right? Anyway, off into the shopping basket they went. A note: no idea if this is true of them in general, but these stayed nice and firm in for a week. A good thing as I tend to overshop my veggies. After some web research for a recipe I wasn’t sure which one to use, but since I don’t like fried foods in general, I was thrilled to have found this site: SimplyRecipes not because of the originally posted recipe, but one of the comments.

Claude wrote:

“Sorry, those aren’t real fried green mators! I was raised on real ones since I was 3 years old. The recipe is simply this (pasted down from grandparents living in the 1800’s)…

Slice em no more than 1/4 inch thick
Dip in milk
Dip in flour mixure (salt & pepper only)
Fry (on med heat) until dark brown (in lard, corn or veggie oil)

Simple huh? That was the way it was and that’s how they were made.

ps we used lard but veggie oil is better for you; I now use corn oil.

No eggs, no cornmeal or olive oil…if ya want’a zest em up, use seasoned salt instead of regular salt. I still eat them at least once a week and at 89 years old I’m still doing fine!”

So Claude’s way it was. I did exactly as described above.

Slice and dip in milk

Dip in flour mixure (salt & pepper only)

Fry (on medium heat) until dark brown (in lard, corn or veggie oil)

Thanks, Claude! I had no idea these things were so good! And without even trying to make them with batter using eggs, olive oil and fancy spices, which I do normally enjoy, I knowI prefer them this way.

Such a nice combination of fresh and sour with the warmth of the frying pan. Delicious.  Will be made again around here.

As one my wonderful new friends here in Luxembourg was throwing a house-warming party, I decided to take my chances and test the oven at the apart hotel I’m staying at. Apparently, the oven was only used once. That was by another guest four years ago and it was a disaster in more was than one, so it has been off-limits ever since. However, the owner was kind enough to let me talk him into allowing me to attempt to use it. With utmost care of course. I must say that the oven and myself got along quite well and as it was cooperative, here comes the result.

What sets these muffins apart is the grated zucchini (courgette), which makes them nicely moist and allows them to keep fresh longer. Not that this particular batch had to wait too long, but good to know. They also freeze well.

Ingredients for 12 muffins:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup shredded zucchini (courgette)
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips or chopped up dark chocolate
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.

Combine the egg, oil, milk, lemon juice and vanilla; mix well.

Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in zucchini, chocolate chips and walnuts.

Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 20-25 minutes.

The  entire batch (save the one I left at home for the owner of the apart hotel as agreed) held its own against other foods at the party. They were gone soon enough and received several rather favourable reviews, so I do believe I will be making more of them shortly. I may decide to make them in the miniature muffin models the next time, however, as they’re obviously too large as snacks and we ended up cutting them into pieces.

With thanks to Janet for the original, only slightly adapted recipe.

Not really sure if this is due to it being October, a slight case of nostalgia for a certain very hot pumpkin soup I recently had, being sick and my body crying out for extra vitamins or just the fact that my heart skipped a beat when I saw an irresistibly orange slice sitting invitingly all alone in the front row of our store’s vegetable stand, but I decided on pumpkin soup for dinner.

Having done some web research I found that there must be as many ways of preparing this dish as there are cooks in the world. Subtract those who stick to the best recipe devised by one of their maternal-line ancestors. At least, everyone seems to agree that the end result is delicious and healthy. Apparently, pumpkin is a good source of vitamins and minerals, particularly beta-carotene, vitamin C, and potassium and helps prevent arterosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, which can lead to strokes and/or heart attacks.

I don’t know about any of that, I just know that Lisa still owes me her own best recipe and that I wanted pumpkin soup. 

I simply cut it up into small pieces, added a small amount of water (an unorthodox move, I’ll get smashed for not having used soup) and let it simmer for some 20 minutes, stirring and mashing in between with a fork. Remembered that I rather like onions and garlic so chopped a shallot and two cloves of garlic and added into the pot. Simmered for a while longer, mashing the pumpkin bits more and more with that fork. Added pepper, salt and basil. Turned off the heat and added some vinegar (don’t ask… I like vinegar!) Turned out yummy! To me, at least. Then again, I was not cooking for Her Majesty. Incidentally, I do like her new horse.

Please note: this is not, I repeat, not the best pumpkin soup ever. It may not even be very good. I suppose most would like to add a potato and/or a carrot as well as sour cream or at least some milk. It did the trick for me, though. Vinegar and all. Although I must confess to having taken a sip of the walnut brandy procured at the Vianden nut festival and to having been exposed to my rediscovered grandson’s palaverous take on the Queen’s visit to Slovenia and the implications of the widely-discussed dinner reception. 

Aaaaaaahhhh the good old times… are back!

The Foyer. One of my top three favourite places in Luxembourg.

My absolute favourite bartender in Lux 🙂

And the drink he introduced me to. Lo and behold, a real kir royal again!

As luck would have it, the Foyer is in danger of being closed down. The powers that be will be making their decisions by the end of next week. FINGERS CROSSED!!!

See you there tonight? 😉