Lemon Curd Filled Biscuits

It's raining today in my town. I love peaceful Fridays, when everyone is home, gathered around kitchen talking about highlights of the week and deciding on what to bake for weekend. Rhythmical patting of the rain adds it's charming part to this atmosphere. Idea came from my older son (17), who remembered these shortbreads I made once 10 years ago. (Edvin is diagnosed with mild autism; he has incredible memory. If I want to mark someones birthday, I tell him the date instead of writing into a calendar. Every now and then, when is someones birthday, we have an announcement "Today's .... (name) birthday.") The list in his memory is always expanding, and never disapoint.

Ingredients:
2 cups plain flour
1/3 cup icing sugar
1/4 cup rice flour
200 g soft butter
1 egg
a bit of lemon zest
Lemon Curd for filling
Method:
Preheat oven to 160-170*C. Prepare baking sheet; cover with silicon paper.
Make a smooth dough out of all the ingredients (use food processor or knead by hand).
Take 1/2 tbs of dough and make small balls (or 1 tbs if you like larger biscuits).
Place them onto baking sheet, then press each ball with any suitable device to form a hole (chopstick, wooden pencil...in my case skewer for Kebab).
Bake for 15 min, or until very lightly golden.
Let it cool, then place some lemon curd into a plastic bag, cut small corner and squeeze into the holes. Dust with icing sugar (optional).
NEXT POST how to make LEMON CURD





Prhki keksici filovani 'Zgusnutim' Limunom (Lemon Curd)

Danas pada kisa u mome gradicu i svojim romorom doprinosi atmosferi petka popodne.
Volim ta popodneva kada se svi okupimo u kuhinji, pricamo o dogadjajima protekle sedmice i predlazemo sta da pravimo za vikend. Ideja je dosla od mog starijeg sina
(17), koji se sjetio ovih kolacica koje sam pravila prije nekih 10 godina. Edvinu je dijagnosticiran blagi autizam; ima nevjerovatnu memoriju. Kada zelim da zapamtim neciji rodjendan, samo njemu kazem ime i datum, umjesto da zapisujem u kalendar. Svako malo, on izjavi "Danas je .... (ime) rodjendan". I tako svake godine, sa listom imena u njegovoj memoriji koja se uvijek siri i nikad ne zakaze.

Potrebno:
2 solje brasna
1/3 solje secera u prahu
1/4 solje rizinog brasna
200 gr putera, omekshalog
1 jaje
malo ribane korice limuna
'Zgusnuti' Limun za punjenje
Nacin:
Ukljucite rernu na 170-180*C, pripremite pleh za pecenje i oblozite ga papirom.
Umijesite tijesto od svih sastojaka, bilo rucno ili uz pomoc sjeckalice.
Uzimajte po 1/2 K od tijesta, oblikujte kuglice i stavljajte na pleh. (ukoliko volite vece kekse pravite kuglice od 1 K tijesta)
Svaku kuglicu nabodite sa necim prikladanim (drvena olovka, ili slicno)i stavite peci 15-ak minuta. Kada izvadite iz rerne, prohladite ih i onda punite zgusnutim limunom (koji stavite u manju kesu sa odsjecenim vrhom). Pozelji kekse mozete posuti secerom u prahu.
SLJEDECI POST kako napraviti ZGUSNUTI LIMUN (LEMON CURD)

German 'Kugelhopf' with Dried Fruit and Walnuts

Ingredients:
Dough-
1 package dry yeast
3/4 cup warm milk
3 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teas pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup citrus peel, candied
1/4 cup dried cranberries
2 tbs Kirschwasser or Rum
Orange Glaze-
1 cup confectioner's (powdered) sugar
1 teas grated orange zest
1/4 teas pure orange extract
5 teaspoons freshly squeezed orange juice
Method:
Dough-
In a small mixing bowl, combine dry fruit and brandy. Set aside to let the fruit soak.
In another bowl, combine yeast and warm milk; stir and let rest until yeast is dissolved, about 10 minutes.
Combine the flour, salt, and cardamom; whisk together to mix. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, add the butter and orange zest; with an electric mixer on medium speed beat the butter and orange zest about 1 minute until it is smooth and light in color. Add the sugar, eggs, and vanilla; mix thoroughly. Add the yeast mixture and mix thoroughly.
With the mixer on low speed, add about one half of the flour mixture, mix until the flour is completely blended. Scrape the bowl down with a rubber spatula, and add the rest of the flour; mix until completely blended. The dough will be very soft.
Place dough in a well greased bowl. Cover bowl with a small kitchen towel and let dough rise in a warm place, until doubled in size; about 2 hours.
Stir the dough down, cover, and let rise again until doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours. This second rise improves the texture and takes less time, however this rise is optional.
Prepare one Kugelhopf tin; generously grease with butter.
Stir the dough down. Stir the fruit and soaking brandy or liqueur, and broken walnuts into the dough. Spoon the dough into the prepared pan. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 170-180*C. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove tin from oven, and cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes then remove Kugelhopf from the tin and finish cooling on a wire cooling rack.
Orange Glaze-
In a small bowl, combine confectioner's sugar and orange zest. Add orange extract and orange juice and stir until smooth. Add additional teaspoon of orange juice if needed to make a good drizzling consistency. The glaze should be like a soft icing, but thin enough that it will run down over the sides of the cake.
Drizzle glaze over the cake, allowing the glaze to drip down the sides. Let the glaze set before serving.



Njemacki vocni kuglof sa orasima

Potrebno:
Tijesto-
1 suhi kvasac
3/4 solje toplog mlijeka
3 solje brasna
1/2 solje secera
3 jaja
1/2 k soli
1/2 solje maslaca, rastopljenog
1 K ribane korice narandze
1/2 k kardamoma u prahu
1/2 k vanila ekstrakta
3/4 solje oraha, krupnije rezanih
1/2 solje grozdjica
1/2 solje kandirane korice citrusa
1/4 solje brusnica, suhih
2 K ruma ili rakije od tresanja
Glazura sa narandzom-
1 solja secsera u prahu
1 k ribane korice narandze
1/4 k ekstrakta narandze (po zelji)
5 k iscjedjenog soka narandze
Nacin:
Tijesto-
Pomijesajte alkohol sa susenim vocem, ostavite po strani.
U drugoj posudi pomijesajte kvasac sa toplim mlijekom, neka se odmori 10 minuta.
Secer, jaja, vanilu i narandzinu koricu miksajte; dodajte mlijeko sa kvascem, te brasno sa ostalim sastojcima. Tijesto ce biti mekano. Pokrijte posudu sa tijestom i ostavite na toplom da nadodje. Promijesajte tijesto i ponovo ostavite odmarati. Ovo ce poboljsati krajnji rezultat kuglofa, mada nije neophodno.
Pripremite kalup za kuglof, namazite maslacem.
Istresite tijesto na radnu povrsinu, umijesajte voce i orahe. Prebacite tijesto u kalup, pokrijte i ostavite 1-2 sata da naraste.
Ukljucite rernu (170-180*C) i pecite 35-40 minuta, ili dok ne porumeni. Prebacite peceni kuglof na zicu i ostavite 10 min hladiti, zatim ga izvadite iz kalupa i ostavite na zici.
Glazura sa narandzinim sokom-
Pomijesajte sve sastojke dobro, prelijte kuglof. Neka se dobro ohladi i glazura malo stisne prije nego pocnete rezati.

Homemade Sauerkraut / Preserving Cruciferous

Any vegetable from cruciferous family (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower...) can be preserved in following way. You can even add some pieces of other vegetables (carrot, capsicum, onion, chillies...) to it, as long as cruciferous make more than 60% of total weight of vegetables.

Ingredients:
Vegetable
Water
salt, 40-60 g per L (2-3 tbs)
Glass containers, very clean
(large wooden or plastic containers for Sauerkraut)
Spices like coriander or cumin seeds, peppercorns (your choice)
a few wooden sticks
Method:
Wash vegetables and divide into small florets. Cabbage can be shredded or left whole - in that case hollow out the stem end of the cabbage.
Bring enough water to boil; add 40-60g salt per liter and mix until salt dissolved. Take off the heat.
Put vegetables into prepared containers, pressing slightly, add spices. Place wooden sticks on top of vegetables (cross them), securing well. Pour salty water over, making sure all vegetables and wooden sticks are underneath. (Sauerkraut should be emerged under salty water all the time; large river stone placed over clean wooden sticks will ensure this - see photo). Close lids, and place containers in a cool dark spot. In a few days liquid will become cloudy; that means that cruciferous are working (releasing lactic acid). It will also produce specific smell, that is not pleasant to many. That's why you should have all containers away from living room/ kitchen. Best place would be garage or laundry.
After 2-4 weeks your vegetable should be ready, (Large cabbage heads need more time; 4-5 weeks), but you can keep them as long as winter last.

Kiseli Kupus / I ostalo povrce iz porodice kupusara

Potrebno:
voda
so, 40-60 gr po litri vode
tegle / galoni za sitnije povrce
(drveno ili plasticno bure za cijele glavice kupusa)
drveni prutici / dascice
zacini kao sto su biber, kim, korijander (sjeme) - vas izbor
Nacin:
Operite povrce i tegle. (Kupus ocistite od losih listova, izdubite mu korijen)
Prokljucajte vodu, dodajte so i promijesajte. Smaknite sa vatre.
Stavite isjeceno povrce u tegle (kupus u bure), pritiskajuci blago; ubacite odabrane zacine. Na povrsinu ukrstite par drvenih prutica (jace dascice za kupus, koje treba da su pritisnute opranim rijecnim kamenom). Nalijte slanu vodu, pazeci da povrce i prutici budu pod vodom. Zatvorite i ostavite na hladno i mracno mjesto.
Sitnije povce ce biti gotovo brze (2-4 sedmice); kupusu treba 4-5 sedmice najmanje (u ovisnosti o temperaturi). Tecnost u teglama ce se zamagliti, a i osjeticete poznati miris.

Sarma - Sauerkraut Rolls

Sour Cabbage (Sauerkraut) is very popular food in many European countries. Preserving of whole heads (or shredded) cabbages is simple, doesn't use chemicals and is natural way to lock-in goodness of vegetables. (Watch next post for this process.)
Sarma (cabbage rolls) is made with leaves of Sauerkraut, and is most desirable winter food in Balkan countries.
Be very careful about salting your food that contains Sauerkraut; many ready bought cabbages contain a lot of salt, and need to be rinsed before using in a recipe.

Ingredients:
750 g mince (half beef, half pork gives best results)
2 tbs oil
2 med onions, chopped
2 tbs paprika, smoked preferably
1/2 tbs black pepper, grinded
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbs Vegeta
1 small bunch parsley leaves, chopped
1 cup short grain rice
1 head of sauerkraut ('sour' cabbage)
bits and pieces of smoked meat ( hooks / speck / meat),optional
for finishing- 2 tbs oil, 1,5-2 tbs flour, 1 tbs paprika
Salt if needed
Method:
Prepare cabbage leaves; pull each leaf apart, cut large leaves into 2. Make sure to cut and discard hard and thick central cores - see photo down.
Place all other ingredients (except 'for finishing')into a large bowl. Mix well. Take a handful of this mixture, place on a (halved) leave and roll. Push the other end of roll to secure filling - see pictures.
Place finished rolls into a large pot. If you don't have non-stick pot, placing some cabbage offcuts will prevent burning and sticking sarma to the bottom. In between rolls put some smoked products (optional), as this will give smoky flavor to Sarma.
When all finished, cover sarma with an upside -down plate (should fit into the pot) and fill with water (just above the plate). Cover with lid and bring slowly to boil. Simmer for 1,5-2 hours.
Sarma will rise; add more hot water if necessary. Check if salt needed.
Finishing- Heat oil in a small pot, add flour and cook until slightly golden. Take away from heat, put paprika and then pour some water from large pot with sarma. It's best to prepare 1 cup of cooking water before you start cooking flour, as you need to pour water into finishing sauce at once, and stir vigorously. Pour this sauce back into large pot with sarma and let it boil once more.
Sarma is best 2-3 days later after cooking.

Preparing large leaves


Rolling


Finishing other side


Placing SARMA into cooking dish


SARMA

Vjerujem da svi mi imamo neke svoje recepte za Sarmu, koje cemo da prenesemo na sljedecu generaciju. Ovako je ja pravim-

Potrebno:
750 gr mljevenog mesa (najbolje pola govedine, pola svinjetine)
2 srednja crvena luka, sjeckana
2 K ulja
2 K paprike, dimljene ako imate
1/2 K crnog bibera, mljevenog
2 cena bijelog luka, sitno sjeckanog
1 K Vegete, ili slicno
1 manja vezica persunovog lisca, sjeckana
1 solja rize sa kracim zrnom
1 glavica kiselog kupusa
malo dimljenih proizvoda (po zelji)
za 'zaprsku'-2 K ulja, 1,5-2 K brasna, 1 K paprike

Nacin:
Pripremite listove kupusa; Odrezite zile iz sredine, velike listove prepolovite.
Pazite da vam kupus nije preslan - isperite ako je tako.
Umijesajte sve sastojke (osim za zaprsku). Stavite saku mjesavine na svaki list i zarolajte; zatim gurnite visak lista sa druge strane (slike).
Stavite sarmu na red ruznih / neupotrebljivih listova kupusa. Izmedju redova sarme stavite malo dimljenih proizvoda; ovo ce dati specifican miris sarmi. Kada zavrsite sa filovanjem, pokrijte sarmu preokrenitim tanjirem, pa nalijte vodom (samo da ogrezne). Poklopite serpu / lonac. Stavite na ringlu i dovedite do kljucanja. Krckajte 1,5-2 sata. Dolijte jos vrele vode ako je neophodno.
Zaprska- zagrijte ulje, proprzite brasno. Smaknite sa ringle, dodajte papriku i zalijte sa vodom iz sarme; promijesajte dobro i vratite u serpu sa sarmom. Prokljucajte jos jednom.
Sarma je bolja drugi ili treci dan od kuhanja.

Parisian Pastry

Evoking my memories from Paris...

Ingredients:
1 sheet of puff pastry (25X25cm)
8 teas jam
1 teas corn flour
icing sugar for sprinkling
(or Nutella, thick custard...for filling)
Method:
Take the dough out of freezer, and let it defrost.
Mix jam and cornflour well, heat in microwave oven until start bubbling. Let it cool.
Divide puff pastry into 8 equal pieces. Cut surface of 4 of them, so it represents a 'mesh' (2 rows of 2 cm cuts with a space of 1 cm; In between those cuts, from middle to middle make another row of cuts). Use pastry cutter for 'mesh' effect if you got it.
On whole pieces of dough put some of thickened jam: place 'meshed' part, press the edges with your fingers.
Bake 10 min, on 200*C; dust with icing sugar and enjoy!




Pariška peciva

...evociranje sjecanja na 3 dana u Parizu

Potrebno:
1 list lisnatog tijesta (25X25cm)
8 kasicica dzema po zelji
1 kasicica gustina
malo secera u prahu
(ili Nutela, gusci puding...za punjenje)
Priprema:
Izvadite tijesto iz zamrzivaca, ukoliko takvo koristite.
Pripremite nadjev za peciva: dzem i gustin pomijesajte, pa ga ‘zgusnite’ . Dovoljno je da kratko prokljuca (mikrovalna ili na ‘vatri’). Ostavite hladiti! U medjuvremenu podijelite lisnato tijesto na 8 jednakih dijelova. Jednu polovinu svakoga dijela narezite na ‘mrezu’ – napravite proreze 2 cm dugacke, sa razmakom od 1cm. Treba da dobijete 2 reda proreza. Izmedju tih proreza (od srede do srede), narezite druge – tako kada tijesto blago rasirite dobijete efekat mreze. Pri tome pazite da ivice tijesta ne prorezete!
Na citavi dio tijesta nanesite po malo gustog dzema, pa preklopite sa narezanom polovicom. Krajeve pritisnite prstima.
Pecite na 200*c 10-ak minuta.
Pospite secerom u prahu i uzivajte!
Posluživanje
Ovakva brzinska peciva mozete puniti guscim pudingom, Nutelom…
Najbolje ih je konzumirati dok su jos topli.