Around the World - in favorite recipes: December 2012

23 December 2012

Stuffed Leg of Lamb

Ask your butcher to 'butterfly' a leg of lamb for you, as it takes only a minute for them. I did it myself and it took me around 10 minutes. Butterflying means taking bones out, leaving only 'flat' meat behind. You can grill that large portion of meat, or stuff it, roll it and cook in oven (or hooded bbq).

Ingredients:

1 leg of lamb, butterflied

salt and pepper

1 cup bread crumbs

1 egg

2 tbs milk

2-3 garlic cloves, crushed

2-3 rosemary springs, chopped

roasted capsicums, strips (optional)

kitchen string

Method:

'Open' the leg, season it. mix all other ingredients (except paprika). Form a sausage and place it onto meat. Top it with strips of paprika. Roll the meat and tie it with string. Season and garnish with a few rosemary springs. Oil the top (spray is fine) and place into hot oven 200*C for 10 minutes, then lower teperature to 180*C and cook for another 2 hours (or 1 hour per kg). Take out, let it rest. Remove strings and slice. You can heat the roasting juices and thicken it with 1 tbs flour mixed with 1/2 glass of wine (strain before serving).

Filovani Jagnjeci But

Zamolite mesara da vam izvadi kosti iz buta, ali da pri tome meso ostane u komadu. Meni je trebalo 10 minuta za taj cin. Takav komad mesa mozete peci na rostilju ili ga filovati i peci u rerni (ili pokrivenom rostilju).

Potrebno:

1 jagnjeci but

so i biber

1 solja mrvica

1 jaje

2 K mlijeka

2-3 cena bijelog luka, protisnutog

2-3 izdanka ruzmarina, sjeckana

pecena paprika, trake (po zelji)

kuhinjski kanap

Nacin:
'Otvorite' meso, zacinite ga . Pomijesajte sve druge sastojke (osim paprike), formirajte 'kobasicu' pa je smjestite na meso. Postavite trake paprike preko. Zarolajte meso i zavezite ga kanapom. Zacinite, ukrasite sa par vrhova ruzmarina i nauljite. Ukljucite rernu na 200*C, pecite oko 10 min, zatim smanjite temperaturu na 180*C i pecite jos 2 sata (ili 1 sat po kilogramu). Peceno izvadite i ostavite ga da se odmori. Zatim odstranite kanap i izrezite meso. Sokove koje je meso otpustilo prilikom pecenja mozete zagrijati i zgusnuti sa 1 K brasna koju ste umijesali u 1/2 solje vina. Prije sluzenja procijedite.

21 December 2012

Kiflice ( Kiflitseh) - Classic of eastern Europe

Every country in eastern Europe has some kind of kiflice. These are coming from countries of former Yugoslavia.

Ingredients:

500 g flour

1/2 cup milk, warm

1 (7 g) packet of instant yeast

2 tbs sugar

200 g butter, softened (or 175 g lard)

100 ml sour cream

1 tsp lemon zest (optional)

jam for filling

icing sugar for dusting / rolling in

Method:

Mix yeast, 1 tbs flour and 1 tsp sugar with milk. Let it activate.

Mix all dry ingredients, add butter, activated yeast and sour cream. Make a soft dough, kneading for at least 5 minutes. Divide into 4 balls and let it (covered) double in a warm spot. After an hour or so, roll out each ball into a (large dinner plate size) circle. Cut wedges (8 or 12) with pizza cuter. Place 1/2 tsp of jam on each end of dough, fold corners then roll towards sharp corner (picture bellow). Place kiflice on a baking sheet, cover with clean cloth and let it rest for 30 min. Preheat oven to 170*C, bake for 12-15 minutes. Cool slightly, then roll each into icing sugar. Lasts for a week, stored in a cool, dry spot.

Kiflice

Mnoge ih zemlje imaju, ali su nase najbolje!

Potrebno:

1/2 kg brasna

1/2 solje mlakog mlijeka

1 pakovanje (7 gr) instant kvasca

2 K secera

200 gr maslaca, omeksalog (ili 175 gr masti)

1 dl kajmaka / vrhnja

1 k ribane limunove korice (ako zelite)

dzem za filovanje

secer u prahu za uvaljati

Nacin:

Pomijesajte 1 K brasna i 1 k secera sa kvascem i mlijekom, ostavite da se aktivira.

Pomijesajte sve ostale suhe sastojke, ubacite kvasac, maslac i vrhnje. Mijeste tijesto bar 5 minuta; podijelite na 4 lopte pokrijte i ostavite nadolaziti. Nakon 1 sata (otprilike) razvaljajte svaku loptu na velicinu velikog tanjira. Rezite kao picu na 8 ili 12 dijelova. Na kraj svakog dijela stavite 1/2 k dzema, pritisnite uglove pa zarolajte prema kraju. Postavite na pleh, pokrijte i ostavite 30 minuta na toplom.

Ukljucite rernu na 170*C, pecite 12-15 minuta. Malo prohladite pa jos tople uvaljajte u secer u prahu. Mogu trajati 1 sedmicu na hladnom i suhom mjestu.

18 December 2012

Beef Wellington

Recipe is from one of my favourite cooking programs - 'The cook and the chef'

Here is the link:

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/cookandchef/txt/s2030146.htm

Ingredients:

1 beef fillet
1 packet puff pastry
Butter
1 onion, finely chopped
500g mushrooms, finely chopped
1 bay leaf
Thyme
Parsley
50 ml white wine
Pepper
Salt
1 egg
Crepes- (or use your own recipes
125g flour
15g sugar
Pinch salt
1 egg
250ml milk
30g melted butter (nut brown)
Oil and butter for frying

Method:

Season the beef fillet with salt and pepper. Seal in a roasting pan or on a flat top grill until all sides are browned. Set aside.
Melt a little butter in a pan and saute the onions until soft but with no colour. Add the mushrooms, bay leaf, wine and a little fresh thyme. Season with salt and pepper and cook down until cooked and there is no moisture. Remove the bay leaf and add fresh parsley.
Make crepe mixture-
Sift the flour into a bowl, add sugar and salt. Beat together the eggs and milk. Mix flour and egg mixtures together and add the butter. Set aside to thicken for about 15 to 30 minutes.
Brush a crepe pan with the oil and butter and heat the pan. Ladle a little crepe mix into the pan and quickly swish around to cover the base. Cook briefly on both sides but without getting any colour on the crepe. Set aside. Keep going until you have at least 6 crepes (or 4 large). You may also add a sprinkle of chopped parsley to the crepe batter if you like.
To assemble the Beef Wellington-
Lay out a piece of puff pastry long and wide enough to enclose the beef fillet. Cover with crepes (this soaks up the beef juice and stops the pastry from going soggy on the bottom). Place a layer of mushroom mix in the centre, then place the beef fillet on top. Roll over the crepes and pastry and neatly seal with eggwash. Place on a baking sheet. Decorate the pastry with shapes if desired. Eggwash the top and refrigerate for 10 minutes to recool the pastry then bake 220C for 15 minutes. You will need to increase the time for an extra 15 minutes if you are cooking a full Beef Wellington.
You should have a nice medium pink beef fillet. If you have a thermometer cook to about 65-67C in the centre of the beef. Serve with a nice rich beef glaze or red wine glaze.

'Velington' govedina

Recept je sa jedne od meni nadrazih kulinarskih emisija 'The cook and the chef'.

Evo linka:

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/cookandchef/txt/s2030146.htm

Sastojci:
1 govedji file
1 pakovanje lisnatog tijesta
maslac
1 crveni luk, sitno sjeckan
500 gr sampinjona, sjeckanih
1 lovorov list
timijan (majcina dusica)
persun
50 ml bijelog vina
so i biber
1 jaje
Palacinke- (ili napravite prema sopstvenom receptu)

125 gr brasna
15 gr secera
prstohvat soli
1 jaje
250 ml mlijeka
30 gr istopljenog maslaca
ulje i maslac za przenje
(trebate imati 4 vece ili 6 manjih palacinki)

Method:

Posolite i pobiberite govedinu, proprzite je na tavi sa svih strana, dok ne porumeni. Ostavite po strani.
Istopite malo maslaca, propirjajte luk, dodajte gljive, vino, lovor i timijan. Zacinite i pirjajte dok tekucina ne ispari. Izvadite lovor dodajte persun.
Napravite palacinke.
Slaganje-
Postavite lisnato tijesto dovoljno veliko da moze omotati cijeli komad govedine . Pokrijte sa palacinkama.
Postavite sloj sampinjona preko, zatim govedinu. Zamotajte sa slojeve palacinki i lisnatog tijesta, 'zalijepite' ih sa umucenim jajetom. Postavite u posudu za pecenje, premazite jajetom i ostavite u frizider na 10 min. U medjuvremenu ukljucite rernu na 220*C. Pecite oko 30 min (za cijeli veliki komad). Meso treba da ostane ruzicasto, tj termometar uboden u centar mesa treba da pokaze 65-67*C. Servira se sa nekim vinskim umakom (po zelji).

13 December 2012

Bread sticks - grissini

They are freezable, which is great for this time of year. Make them now, freeze them and take out when needed. Great with dukkah, drinks or as 'emergency' bread. They look fabulous if served in a vase / tall glass.

Ingredients:

-dough

3 cups bakers flour

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp yeast

3 tbs olive oil

1 cup water

optional : oregano, pepper, garlic (to mix-in)

- for salty topping

1 tsp salt and 1 1/2 tbs flour mixed with 1/4 cup water

Method:

Make a dough as you would for any bread (by hand or using bread machine / mixer...). Let it double (covered) in a warm spot, 1 -2 hours. Dust clean work surface with flour, place proven dough over it and roll out to thickness of 1 cm. Cut dough into long and thin (1-1,5 cm) shapes. Pizza cutter is great for this.

Replace each stick onto lined tin, leaving some space between them. Cover with a clean cloth and let it rest for 30 min.

Meanwhile, switch oven to 180*C; prepare salty topping. Spoon topping onto sticks, making thin and irregular patterns. Bake for 10-12 min, or until slightly golden. Cool on wire rack. Enjoy warm, or freeze for later.

Note - you can use seeds and nuts for topping, also dough can be cut into different shapes.

Slani prutići - grisini

Odlicni iz zamrzivaca, sto je prakticno za predstojece praznike. Napravite ih sada, zamrznite i kasnije vadite po potrebi. Savrseni sa dukkah, picem, ili kao 'hitni' kruh / hljeb. Divno izgledaju ako ih servirate u vazu ili visoku casu.

Potrebno:

-tijesto

3 solje brasna

1 k soli

1 k kvasca

3 K maslinovog ulja

1 solja vode

ako zelite: origano, biber, bijeli luk za umijesati u tijesto

- za slani 'preljev'

1 k soli i 1 1/2 K brasna umijesana u 1/4 solje vode

Nacin:

Umijesite tijesto kao za kruh / hljeb, uz pomoc vasih kuhinjskih sprava ili rucno. Ostavite da nadodje, zatim pretresite na pobrasnjenu povrsinu i razvucite oko 1 cm debelo. Izrezite dugacke prutice (1-1,5 cm siroki); pica tockic je odlican za ovo. Prebacite prutice na tepsiju koju ste oblozili ili nauljili. Ostavite prostora izmedju. Pokrijte cisto krpom i ostavite 30 min na toplom.

Ukljucite rernu na 180*C; pripremite preljev. Kasicicom nanesite preljev u tankom mlazu. Pecite 10-12 minuta, ili dok blago ne porumene. Prohladite na zici za hladjenje, zatim servirajte ili zamrznite.

Napomena - tijesto mozete rezati u razne oblike; takodje sjemenke mozete posuti umjesto slanog preljeva.

10 December 2012

Easy Bites

Here is an idea for quickly prepared finger food.

Ingredients:
Cucumbers (Lebanese), peeled and sliced into 5-7 mm discs
Cream cheese (mixed with a bit of sour cream - optional)
Smoked salmon, small pieces
Herbs for garnishing (parsley, chives...your choice)
Method:
Place slices of cucumber onto serving plate. Mix cheese and sour cream, spoon a bit onto each cucumber slice. Roll pieces of salmon into 'roses', place them on cream cheese and garnish with herbs.
Serve immediately, or keep refrigerated for up to 2 hours.

Lagani zalogaji

Evo ideje za brzu pripremu koktel hrane / zalogaja.

Potrebno:
Krastavci (oni sa malim sjemenkama - 'Lebaneski'), oguljeni i isjeceni na 5-7 mm
Kremasti sir (pomijesan sa malo kiselog vrhnja / pavlake - po zelji)
Dimljeni losos, mali komadi
Zacinsko bilje za ukras (persun, vlasac...po zelji)
Nacin:
Postavite kolutice krastavca na posudu za sluzenje. Pomijesajte sir sa vrhnjem; malo kasikom nanesite na svaki kolut krastavca. Smotajte komadice lososa u 'ruzice', postavite ih na krem sir i ukrasite izabranim biljem. Sluzite odmah ili drzite u frizideru navise 2 sata prije sluzenja.

02 December 2012

Most beautiful Biscuits for upcoming Festive Seasons

Did you start planning what to make for Holidays? Biscuits can be baked a few weeks in advance; some of them are even better after 'resting time'. Here are links for all my recipes for biscuits, slices and other festive cakes. Enjoy!

Jeste li otpočeli planirati šta da servirate za predstojeće praznike? Keksici se mogu pripremiti nekoliko sedmica prije praznika; neki od njih su cak bolji nakon 'odlezanog vremena'. Evo linkova za sve moje recepte keksića i rezanih kolačića. Uživajte!