Around the World - in favorite recipes

16 April 2013

Mushroom Risotto (Venetian Style)

Mondays are meat free in my household. Last night we had this wonderful risotto; craving for meat didn't occur after this meal - very satisfying!

Ingredients:

4 tbs oilve oil

1 onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, crushed

200 g fresh mushrooms, diced (or 30 g dried porcini, soaked in water)

2 cups Arborio (short grain) rice

4 tbs grated Parmesan cheese

5 cups chicken stock, hot

1/2 cup white wine

salt and pepper

Parmesan, parsley and shallots for sprinkling - optional

Method:

Heat oil and saute onion; add garlic and mushrooms, saute a couple of minutes more. Mix well then add rice and a ladle of stock. Stir rice until all stock absorbed; continue this process until all stock used and rice cooked. At end add wine, parmesan and seasonig. Mix well; rice should be creamy. Plate and sprinkle with chosen ingredients. Enjoy!

Venecijski rizoto sa gljivama

Ponedjeljkom nastojim izostaviti meso iz jelovnika mojih ukucana. Prosle noci smo imali ovaj divni rizoto za veceru. Nismo osjetili nedostatak mesa - veoma zadovoljavajuci obrok!

Potrebno:

4 K maslinovog ulja

1 crveni luk

2 cena bijelog luka, protisnuta

200 gr gljiva, sjeckanih (ili 30 gr suhih Porcini, namocenih u vodi)

2 solje Arborio rize (krace zrno)

4 K Parmesan sira, rendanog

5 solja pileceg bujona / supe, vrele

1/2 solje bijelog vina

so i biber

Parmezan, persunovo lisce i mladi luk za posuti - po zelji

Nacin:

Zagrijte ulje, proprzite luk. Ubacite bijeli luk i sampinjone, pirjajte par minuta. Dodajte rizu i 1 solju supe. Mijesajte dok se supa ne apsorbira. Nastavite sa ovim postupkom dok svu supu ne potrosite, a riza ne bude potpuno kuhana. Na kraju dodajte vino, parmezan i zacine. Izmijesajte dobro, postavite na tanjir i pospite izabranim sastojcima. Uzivajte!

12 April 2013

Cheese and Sesame Biscuits

It's Friday!!! ... and for Friday something that goes well with (Fridays') drinks. Cheers!

These wonderful savoury biscuits are from an old Australian cook book "Women's Weekly".

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
pinch cayenne pepper (optional)
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp sugar
60 g grated cheese (tasty)
1/3 cup sesame seeds
1 egg yolk
1 tbs water
Method:
Mix all ingredients, form a log. Wrap in cellophane or baking paper; refrigerate. When firm, take out and slice into 2-3 mm discs. Place onto lined biscuit pan and bake for 10-12 minutes at 180*C.
Enjoy them with drinks!

Tip: If you want perfectly rounded biscuits,

place dough log into a tissue / aluminium foil

cardboard core before refrigerating it.

Savjet: Ukoliko zelite perfekto okrugle keksice,

smjestite valjak tijesta u kartonsku osnovu od

al-folije ili papirnih maramica, prije rashladjivanja.

Slani keksi sa sirom i sezamom

Konacno petak!!!...a za petak nesto sto odlicno ide sa picem . U zdravlje!

Recept je iz Australijske knjige recepata 'Women's Weekly'.

Sastojci:
1 solja brasna
1/2 k soli
prstohvat 'cayene' bibera (po zelji)
1/2 k senfa (prah)
1/2 k secera
60 gr tvrdog rendanog sira
1/3 solje sezama
1 zumance
1 K vode
Nacin:
Pomijesajte sve sastojke i umijesite tijesto. Formirajte valjak, zamotajte ga u plasticnu foliju i stavite u frizider. Kada se stegne, izvadite i rezite na 2-3 mm kolutove . Smjestite ih na papirom prekriveni pleh i pecite 10-12 minuta na 180*C. Uzivajte u njima uz vase omiljeno pice.

07 April 2013

Quick Portuguese Custard Tarts

For a long time now, I wanted to try these famous Portuguese tarts. I opted for quick version with puff pastry. Everyone was delighted with the taste; only non-satisfying fact was that they were not crispy the next day. Next time, I'll make them with short-crust pastry instead, so they can stay good for a couple of days at least.
I got 24 small and 12 (muffin size) large tarts.

Ingredients:
4 sheets puff pastry (cinnamon and icing sugar for sprinkling them)
1 ¾ cups whole milk
¼ cup cream
1 whole egg
3 egg yolks
4-5 Tbsp white sugar
Pinch of salt
2 tbs Plain flour
2 strips lemon peel
½ tsp vanilla extract
-icing sugar, for dusting
Method:
Take the puff pastry out of freezer; cover with a cloth and let it defrost.
Mix egg, yolks, sugar, flour and a little milk into a smooth paste. Add the rest of milk, vanilla and lemon peel and cook, stirring until thick (take out the lemon peel later). (I microwaved it for 4 minutes, stirring it every 30-40 seconds). Let it cool slightly. Preheat oven to 180*C, fan forced.
Put 2 sheets of dough next to each other; Sprinkle them with cinnamon and icing sugar. Roll them together into a 'sausage'. (I cut this dough into 24) . Repeat with other 2 ( this time I cut the dough into 12 pieces).
Press each 'dough disc' into the muffin hole. Fill dough bases with prepared custard; small with 1 full teaspoon, large with 1 tablespoon (or more) of filling. Place in oven, bake for 5 minutes, then lower temperature to 160*C and bake another 10-15 minutes. Take out, cool on a wire rack and sprinkle with icing sugar. Enjoy!

Portugalski Brzi Puding Tartići

Vec dugo vremena zelim da isprobam ovaj poznati Portugalski desert. Odlucila sam se za brzu metodu sa lisnatim tijestom. Svi su bili odusevljeni ukusom; jedina nezadovoljavajuca komponenta je bila ta da sljedeci dan nisu bili tako hrskavi. Sljedeci put cu ih sigurno praviti sa prhkim tijestom, tako da se u njima moze uzivati i sljedecih nekoliko dana.

Od ovog recepta, dobila sam 24 mini i 12 mafin-velicine tartica.

Potrebno:

4 lista lisnatog tijesta (25 X 25 cm) + cimet i secer u prahu za posuti

1 3/4 solje mlijeka

1/4 solje slatke pavlake (35% masnoce)

1 jaje

3 zumanca

4-5 K secera

prstohvat soli

2 K brasna

2 komada korice limuna

1/2 k vanila ekstrakta

- secer u prahu za posipati po povrsini

Nacin:

Izvadite lisnato tijesto iz zamrzivaca, pokrijte cistom krpom i ostavite da se odmrzne.
Pomijesajte jaje, zumanca, secer i brasno sa malo mlijeka. Dodajte preostatak mlijeka, vanilu i korice limuna (koje cete kasnije izvaditi) i skuhajte puding, mijesajuci dok se ne zgusne. (Ja sam smjesu stavila u mikrovalnu pecnicu na 4 minute, vadeci svakih 30-40 sekundi i mijesajuci). Ostavite da se prohladi.
Zagrijte rernu na 180*C (sa fenom).
Sastavite po 2 lista tijesta (znaci 25 cm X 50 cm, ako rezete vece tijesto), pospite sa cimetom i secerom u prahu. Zarolajte u rolnu po duzini, tj 'rolna' treba da je 25 cm duga. Izrezala sam ovo tijesto na 24 diska (za mini- mafin kalupe). Ponovite sa ostala 2 lista - ove sam izrezala na 12 (za normalnu velicinu mafin kalupa).
Pritisnite tijesto u kalupe, zatim ih filujte; Male sa po 1 kasicicom / zlicicom pudinga, velike sa 1 kasikom / zlicom ili vise. Stavite u rernu i pecite 5 minuta, zatim smanjite temperaturu na 160*C i pecite jos 10-15 minuta. Izvadite tartice, prohladite i pospite sa secerom u prahu. Uzivajte!

My hens checking out what I do with their eggs!
Moje koke provjeravaju sta ja to radim sa njihovim jajima!

04 April 2013

Decorative Bread / 'Sunflower Bread'

This is a simple way of making everyday bread look special. Along with braiding, it's most common way of decorating bread in central and Eastern Europe (usually during Easter and Christmas). You can use any recipe for basic white bread, that calls for 5-6 cups of flour. Pan for baking is a pizza size pan, only much deeper (5 cm).

Ingredients:
1 cup water
1 cup milk
2 tbs olive oil
1 tbs sugar
1,5 teas salt
2 teas yeast
5,5 cups flour
- extra oil (or melted butter), for brushing each layer
Beaten egg white for brushing the top + seeds for sprinkling
Coloured boiled egg for centre (optional)
Method:
Put all ingredients in a bread maker, and program it for dough only (or make a dough by hand, and let it rise on a warm spot for 1 hour). When ready take out, and divide into 4. Roll out each into a circle, brush with oil or butter. Stack them onto one pile; Don't brush the top layer. Cut the dough as you would slice pizza, only leave the edges non-cut through. Now, make cuts in the middle of each 'slice'. Turn the corner of dough through that cut and place onto same spot. Repeat with other 7. (You can place an boiled egg in the middle) Cover with a clean tea towel and let it rise on a warm spot.
Preheat oven to 180*C. Brush risen dough with beaten egg white, decorate with seeds and bake for 45-50 minutes.

Dekorativni Hljeb /Kruh ('Suncokret pogača')

Jednostavan nacin za uciniti svakodnevni hljeb / kruh specijalnim. Uz 'pletenje', ovo je jedan od najuobicajenijih nacina dekorisanja u centralnoj i istocnoj Evropi (obicno za vrijeme Uskrs i Bozica). Mozete koristiti bilo koji recept za bijeli hljeb / kruh, koji koristi 5,5 -6 solja brasna (oko 850 gr). Pleh je velicine pice, samo nesto dublji (oko 5 cm).

Potrebno:
1 solja (250ml) vode
1 solja mlijeka
2 K maslinovog ulja
1 K secera
1,5 k soli
2 k instant kvasca
5,5 solja brasna za hljeb/kruh
- ulje (ili otopljen maslac) za premazivanje svakog sloja
bjelance umuceno za premazivanje povrsine + sjemenke za posuti
Obojeno jaje za centar (ako zelite)
Nacin:
Stavite sve sastojke u masinu za mijesenje i programirajte na tijesto; ili umijesite rucno i ostavite na toplom 1 sat. Kada je spremno, podijelite na 4 dijela. Razvaljajte svaki na krug i premazite maslacem ili uljem svaki osim posljednjeg. Slozite ih jedan na drugi. Izrezite tijesto kao sto biste picu, tj na 8 dijelova, s tim sto krajeve ostavite ne prorezane. Sada svaki komad prorezite po sredini. Kroz taj prorez zavrnite tijesto i vratite ga na mjesto. Ponovite isto sa ostalih 7 dijelova. Pokrijte tijesto i ostavite na toplome.
Ukljucite rernu na 180*C. Premazite kruh sa umucenim bjelance i ukrasite sa sjemenkama. Pecite oko 45-50 minuta.

02 April 2013

Easter - Food ideas for a large group

Photo credit: naftels / Foter.com / CC BY-NC

Most important thing in organising a party for a big group is planing. At least 7 days before the date, put everything on paper; number of people ( and kids), what you want to serve, then what are you going to cook on what day. Make a list of groceries that you need to buy and get them in advance.

First make food that you can freeze; bread, cakes and other. Couple of days in advance make food that you can store in fridge, and for last day plan making food that needs to be fresh (example green salad, roasts...).

Serve all food as a buffet, so everyone can help themselves easily.

Here is the list and order of food that I made for my Easter party.

Sorry for mess in this post; I tried to fix it, but I couldn't!

Planiranje je najvaznija stvar u organizovanju zabave za veliki broj ljudi. Najmanje 7 dana prije datuma, stavite sve na papir; broj ljudi (i djece) koji ce vam doci, sta zelite servirati, i sta cete kuhati koji dan. Napravite listu namirnica koje trebate za proslavu i kupite ih.

Najprije napravite hranu koju mozete zamrznuti; hljeb, kolace i ostalo. Par dana prije zabave, skuhajte hranu koja moze stajati u frizideru, i za posljednji dan ostavite pripremu hrane koja mora biti svjeze napravljena - salata, pecenje...

Servirajte svu hranu na jednom mjestu (Svedski sto / samoposluzivanje) tako da je pristupacno i lako za rukovanje.

Evo liste i redoslijeda hrane koju sam pravila za moju posljednju zabavu.
Zao mi je zbog loseg posta; pokusala sam ispraviti, ali ne ide!

Coloured/ hard boiled eggs can be prepared up to 5 days in advance.

Bojena jaja mozete pripremiti do 5 dana u naprijed.