Poppy Seed Roll - Makowiec

A recipe taken/tried from https://polishhousewife.com/makowiec-polish-poppy-seed-roll/

What you need

Total

• 3 eggs
• 70g butter (unsalted)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 120g sugar
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• almond extract
• 50g raisins or dried fruit mix
• 250g poppy seeds
• 500g plain white flour
• flaked almonds
• water
• 300g whole milk
• 14g yeast

For the Dough

• 500g plain white flour
• 2 egg yolks
• 250g milk
• 14g yeast
• 50g butter (unsalted)
• 15g sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the filling

• 250g poppy seeds
• 50g raisins
• 2 egg whites
• almond extract
• almond flakes
• 20g butter
• 100g sugar

For the glazing

• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 250g icing sugar
• 60g milk

Equipment

• dough mixer
• blender
• sauce pan (small)
• oven
• bowls and cups
• a clean kitchen towel
• grease proof paper
• rolling pin
• brush

How you do it

Prepare poppy seeds overnight

• pour the poppy seeds into a bowl. Bring enough water to the boil to cover all of the poppy seeds
• cover the bowl and let it rest over night

Prepare the dough

• in a sauce pan heat the milk until it is warm (do not boil)
• in the kitchen mixer bowl pour in the milk. Add the yeast, sugar (15g) and egg yolks and whisk by hand to mix it well. Let it rest for 5 min.
• then add the rest of the dough ingredients, i.e. 500g flour, 50g butter, 1 tsp vanilla extract and 1 tsp salt
• put the kitchen mixer on lowest setting for a minute or two, then increase to second lowest setting for another 3-4 min
• remove the bowl from the mixer, cover it and let it rest for ca 2 hours

Prepare the filling

• wet a clean kitchen towel and place it into another empty bowl, so that it covers all of the bowl
• pour the poppy seeds/water from the overnight bowl into the bowl covered with the towel
• lift the towel with the content out of the bowl and wring it. A brownish liquid should drip out
• wring it a few times until almost no liquid comes out any more
• clean the 'overnight' bowl so that it's dry and empty
• pour the 'dried' poppy seeds from the towel into the 'overnight' bowl

Now to mixing in the ingredients

• add the 2 egg whites, the almond essence, butter, honey and sugar
• with a handheld kitchen blender turn it carefully into a paste
• put in the raisins and almond flakes and mix with a large spoon so that it's evenly distributed in the filling

Prepare the glazing 

• in a cup put in the egg and oil and whisk until well mixed

Getting it ready for baking

• preheat the oven to 170-180 C (350F)
• spread out some greaseproof/baking paper (that fits in the oven)
• split the dough into 2
• for each dough:
• roll each dough out to a rectangle
• spread the filling onto each dough rectangle evenly
• starting on one of the long sides of the dough with the filling, roll it gently to form a log
• place the grease proof paper with the 2 dough logs on a tray and cover both with a clean towel. Let it rest for ca 40min
• remove the towel and brush the logs with the egg/oil mix. The put into the oven for ca 35min

Icing

• remove the rolls from the oven and let them cool down for a bit
• mix the 250g icing sugar with some preheated 60g milk (warm, not hot) and mix well. it should turn into a smooth paste with no lumps
• gently pour/brush the icing over the logs

French Apple Tart

Taken from https://www.theguardian.com/food/2018/sep/19/how-to-cook-the-perfect-french-apple-tart-recipe

Although in principle quite simple, this is a 4 step process, consisting of

1. preparing the dough
2. preparing the frangipane
3. preparing some kind of apple mousse
4. glazing it with jam (apricot or quince)

What you need

• 10 medium sized apples, 4 for the apple mousse and 5-6 for the topping
• 60g icing sugar
• 2 table spoons caster sugar
• pinch of salt (or salted butter)
• 250g butter
• 2 eggs
• 3 table spoons apricot or quince jam
• 250g plain flour
• almond essence
• 115g ground almonds
• 3 table spoons brandy or rum
• vanilla extract
• 1 table spoon cornflour
• 1-2 table spoons cold water

Equipment

• round baking form. I have a quiche form which works fine for this
• mixer using a flat beater and a bowl to mix it in
• blender
• sauce pan
• small pot to beat eggs in
• small pot to store the dough
• small pot to store frangipane in
• greaseproof paper
• fork
• rolling pin
• brush

How you do it

1 Dough

Start with the dough

• Ingredients are
• flour 250g
• 1 egg
• 2 table spoons caster sugar
• 1-2 table spoons cold water
• 125g butter (half the butter)
• put the flour, butter and sugar in the bowl. The butter should be soft and cut into little chunks
• start the mixer with flat beater on lower speed to mix all ingredients well (KitchenAid speed 2)
• beat the egg and add to the mix
• add 1 tbsp of water - 1 more if really needed.
• mixing is finished when the dough is smooth and the flat beater has picked up all ingredients in the bowl
• put the dough in a small pot and store in the fridge for ca 30 min

Clean the steel bowl and flat beater - you'll need them for the frangipane later.

2 Apple Mousse

• Ingredients
• 60g butter
• 75g water
• 4 apples peeled and core removed
• vanilla extract
• peel the apples, remove the core and cut into little chunks
• heat a sauce pan with the butter and water - add apples and vanilla extract to it
• cook until the apples become soft
• take off the cooker and let it cool down a bit.
• then take a blender and blend it into a smooth paste.
• let it cool down

3 Frangipane 

• Ingredients
• 65 g butter (the rest)
• 60 icing sugar
• 1 egg
• 115g almond flour
• 2 drops of almond essence
• 1 tbsp cornflour
• 2-3 tbsp of rum/brandy
• put the butter and icing sugar in the bowl and the almond essence. Start mixed on slow speed until all is well mixed
• add the egg and keep it running until well mixed
• then add all other ingredients
• keep the mixer running until you got a smooth paste
• remove from the bowl/beater and store away in a small pot

4 Back to the dough

• take the dough out of the fridge
• prepare some grease proof paper, sprinkle a bit of flour on it and roll out the dough so that it fits  into the baking form. There should be enough dough so that the dough covers the bottom and the edge of the form
• grease the form. I usually sprinkle a bit of semolina onto it to ease with getting slices out
• put the dough in - covering all the form including edges
• take a fork and gently pierce the dough bottom
• put the form with the dough back into the fridge for 30min

5 All of it together

• remove the core from the remaining apples. I usually keep the skin
• preheat the oven to 200C or gas 6
• take the dough form out of the fridge
• with a flat ladle/spoon gently spread the frangipane over the bottom of the form
• then on top of the frangipane spread the apple mousse
• cut the apples (no core) into little slices and - starting from the edge of the form - lay them in a spiral manner so that all of the form/filling is covered
• put the form into the oven and bake for 30 min. It should be golden brown by the end
• remove the tart from the oven

6 The Glazing

• in a sauce pan (yep - another one) heat up the jam until liquid
• with a brush spread the liquid jam over the tart. I find this quite a delicate process as you don't want to brush too vigorously (it may dislodge the apple slices)
• let it cool down

Et voila 

Home Made Gnudi

Taken from https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/jun/27/how-to-make-the-perfect-gnudi-recipe

What you need

• 500g ricotta cheese
• 1 egg
• yolk from 1 egg
• 50/75g parmesan freshly grated
• pinch of salt
• ground nutmeg, fresh
• semolina - lots (for covering)

Equipment

• sieve
• mixing bowl
• bowl for semolina
• grease free sheets for cover
• dish for the gnudi's
• pot for cooking the gnudi's

How you do it

• put the ricotta cheese into a sieve and let it drain for 30-45min
• put the ricotta in a mixing bowl. Add the grated parmesan, egg, egg-yolk, nutmeg and salt
• mix thoroughly
• put a generous amount of semolina in the other bowl and cover the bottom of the dish with it
• one by one do the following
• scoop out a small amount of the cheese mix and roll in your hand. should be roughly the size of a walnut
• dip and roll the ricotta ball in the semolina bowl until all sides are covered
• place in the dish
• when the bottom of the dish is full, cover it with grease free paper and add the semolina covered ricotta balls onto that. And when I say add semolina - i mean 'carpet-bomb' the lot with it. The more it is covered, the better - so it draws moisture out.
• when done, cover the dish and put in the fridge for 3 days

Cooking 

• fill a pot of water and bring to the boil. Add a generous amount of salt
• when boiling add the gnudi's one by one into the hot water, shaking off any excess semolina first
• keep the heat on a low simmer
• the dumplings will float to the top when ready

Berry Streusel (Crumble)

A variation on a recipe from the New York Times

What you need

Berries

• a pack of raspberries, blueberries (or boisen berries) strawberries (I would also try apples mixed in)
• dried fruit 1/2 cup
• 2-3 tablespoon of sugar
• juice from 1 lemon
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Crumble (Streusel)

• 208g all purpose flour
• 140g white granulated sugar - or 1/2 brown 1/2 white granulated sugar
• 40g ground almonds 
• 110-120g soft or melted butter
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground coriander (alternatively 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice)
• you may also add 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

Equipment

• mixing bowl
• baking form/square

How you do it

First the berries

• wash and clean the berries. Strawberries should be cut in half or quarters for larger ones. Add to bowl
• add the dry fruit mix, sugar and cinnamon
• add the lemon juice
• gently mix so that fruits get well covered with the added sugar/juice/fruits and cinnamon
• cover and leave in fridge for a few hours

Then the crumble

• put all the ingredients in a mixing bowl.
• if an electric food mixer, set on low speed and mix for a few minutes. The crumble should just about stick together
• cover the bowl and put in fridge for at least 2-3 hours

Then the baking

• preheat the oven to ca 180C (or 170C if fan driven)
• take the fruit mix and put in a baking/oven safe form
• take the crumble dough out of the fridge and sprinkle the crumbles over the fruit mix
• put in oven and let it bake for 55min

Goes well with

• vanilla ice cream
• swedish cream
• egg nog 

Shakshuka with Feta

A recipe I saw recently on the New York Times - and on the same day - on Spiegel.de.
Here's how I did it

What you need

• a large red pepper/bell pepper
• 4 tomatoes
• 1 onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 carrot
• feta cheese
• 4 eggs
• cumin seeds and paprika powder
• pepper/salt
• 3 table spoons olive oil

Equipment

• oven - preheated to ca 180C
• frying pan/skillet - heat resistent - as it will go into the oven

How you do it

• preheat oven to 180C
• peel & chop onion, carrot & garlic
• cut the pepper, get rid of the seeds and cut into thin slices
• wash and quarter the tomatoes
• heat up skillet/pan and add the oil
• when hot add chopped onion, carrot and pepper - but not yet garlic
• stir until pepper is getting soft and carrot/onion getting a bit darker
• add chopped garlic and spice with paprika and cumin seeds
• add salt/pepper
• stir for ca 1-2 minutes
• add the quartered tomatoes and stir
• continue to cook until the tomatoes start to get soft and liquid. You may want to add just a little water to it to keep the sauce from burning. This may take ca 10 min
• in the meantime slice/cut the feta cheese into little cubes
• take the pan/skillet off the heat and mix the feta cheese cubes into it
• break each egg and add on top of the sauce
• put into the pre-heated oven and bake for ca 15min

Home made Granola

Tried a previous version of granola where the oats are baked in the oven.
However, I find it more practical to do it in a sauce/frying pan

What you need

• jumbo oats ca 1 kg
• 6 tablespoons butter or vegetable oil
• 6 tablespoons honey or maple sirup or a juice of some kind (e.g. apple)

Further ingredients

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• mixed nuts and seeds, e.g. pumpkin, sesame, hazelnuts, almonds 
• grated/desiccated coconut
• mixed dry fruit
• a touch of rose water

Equipment

• deep frying pan
• large bowl

How you do it

• heat up the frying pan. No butter/oil at this stage!
• when hot add ca 50% of the oats to it.
• Continuously stir/mix for ca 5 min
• then form a well in the centre of the pan and add butter/oil and honey/sirup/juice to it
• stir/mix for another 5 min 
• the oats/mix should take on a golden brown tone/colour
• take off the heat and pour the content into the bowl
• let the pan cool down a bit. Wipe it clean and do the next batch of oats as described above

When you processed all oats and put them into the large mixing bowl it's time to add all the other ingredients you want for a nice home made granola/muesli 

Labskaus

Labskaus is a traditional Northern German dish, particularly in places such as Hamburg or Bremen. The dish was an easy to make dish with few ingredients but very nutritious at the same time.
During my time in Hamburg I had the dish on numerous occasions.

Finally, I got around trying the dish myself.
It's based on a recipe from (in German) https://www.springlane.de/magazin/rezeptideen/labskaus-hamburg-original/

What you need

• 2 whole beet roots. You can get them ready for consumption in most supermarkets. However, it's more fun to buy the actual roots and prepare it yourself. For this dish I am using 2 roots.
• 4 potatoes
• 1 large onion
• 200-250g corned beef
• salt, pepper
• gherkins and a tablespoon of the juice
• 30ml of stock
• 2-3 eggs
• mackerel or better still - rollmops - to go with Labskaus. But you may well eat it on its own

Equipment

• blender
• kitchen mixer and mixing bowl
• casserole or medium sized pot. 2 of those if you want to cook potatoes and beet roots at the same time
• frying pan

How you do it

Cooking the beet root

• fill a pot with water and bring it to a boil
• when boiling put the whole beet roots into the water and keep cooking at high temperature for 1 hour.  
• put the beet roots on the side and let cool down
• peel the roots and put in blender - or a handheld blender. Alternatively, you can squash them with a fork

Putting it all together

• bring a pot of water to the boil. add a bit of salt
• peel and quarter the potatoes and add to the boiling water
• let it cook until soft - usually 20min
• drain the potatoes when done and add to a mixing bowl
• chop onion and add to the bowl
• add the mashed beet root
• open a can of corned beef, cut it up a bit and add to the bowl
• season with pepper and salt
• add a bit of stock and juice from pickled gherkins (1 tablespoon)
• Finally, mix it all up. In a kitchen mixer use a lower setting and let it mix for a few minutes
• put the mix into an oven ready form. preheat the oven to ca 70 C to keep the Labskaus warm
• heat up a frying pan with butter or oil and break a couple of eggs into the hot pan

Once the frying eggs are ready you can pull the warm Labskaus out of the oven. Server the Labskaus on a plate and top it with the frying eggs.

Best served with a gherkin on the side. 

A mackerel or rollmops go well with it

Naan Bread

Based on a recipe from the BBC https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/naan-bread

What you need

• 300g strong white flour
• 7g dried yeast
• 125g water
• 150g natural yogurt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• a pinch of salt
• 25g butter/ghee
• 2 teaspoons of caster sugar

For spices:

• 1 teaspoon nigella seeds
• a few fresh coriander leaves
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds

Might be worthwhile experimenting with other ingredients such as garlic, cumin etc.

Equipment

• mixing bowl
• kitchen towels
• frying pan (non-stick)
• a jar/glass
• oven - heated to ca 60-70C

How you do it

Yeast Dough

• in a jar/glass pour 7g yeast, 1 teaspoon of caster sugar and fill with 125g water. Mix well and let rest for 15 min
• in a bowl, add the flour, ghee, yogurt, 1 teaspoon of caster sugar, pinch of salt and spices except the coriander. Form a well in the bowl
• pour the yeast/water/sugar mix into the well.
• knead the dough in the bowl until it forms into a soft, slightly sticky ball. Dust the bowl a bit so it doesn't stick
• cover the bowl and let the dough rest for at least 1,1 1/2 hours.

After one hour 

• chop the coriander leaves and knead into the dough. Let it rest for another 30min
• stretch the dough and split it into 6 balls. Might be helpful to dust your hands with flour when doing it
• Take each ball and stretch it a bit so it forms a flat teardrop. Put the flattened dough pieces on a grease free paper and cover with a kitchen towel

Frying the Naan

• Get your non-stick frying pan and put on cooker. Get it hot. No oil!
• When the pan is hot put the first naan dough in. If enough space is available put 2 in.
• After ca 1-2 min turn the naan around.
• The naan is ready when the surface turns brown in places
• put the naans on an oven tray
• heat the oven to 60-70C and put the ready naan in there to keep warm

Chicken Curry

A variation from a similar post on New York Times Cooking. I felt it missed some oomph

What you need

• garlic cloves (2)
• large onion
• 4 tomatoes
• 1 carrot
• 2cm ginger peeled
• chicken breast, sliced
• 1 red chilli
• curry powder mild
• a bit of turmeric
• coriander
• 400ml coconut milk
• 200ml stock
• salt, pepper
• 3 table spoons vegetable oil

Equipment

Large saucepan, skillet

How you do it

• chop onions, chilli and carrots 
• heat the skillet/pan with the oil in it
• when hot add the onions and carrots first and cook for ca 5 min. then add the sliced chicken pieces and cook for another 5 min. season with salt and black pepper
• then add the chilli, crushed garlic and grated ginger to it
• add 2 tablespoon curry powder and a bit of turmeric
• cook and stir for up to 5 min more
• add the stock and bring to a boil
• cut the tomatoes into quarters and add to the broth
• cook for 20 min
• add coconut milk and cook for another 10 min. By now the sauce should thicken
• finally, add the chopped coriander leaves and cook for another 5 min or so

Serve with rice

Mulligatawny Soup

Taken from the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/mar/09/thomasina-miers-recipe-for-beef-and-noodle-mulligatawny-soup

What you need

• vegetable oil 3 tablespoons 
• 1 onion
• 2 celery sticks
• 1 carrot
• 5 tomatoes or canned tomatoes (1 can)
• 1 chilli
• salt, black pepper
• 1 clove of garlic (instead of the recommended 3 - I mean, come on)
• ca 2cm long ginger
• 1 teaspoon of coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon of fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon or a cinnamon stick
• 2 teaspoons of basmati rice
• 250g beef
• 1 can of coconut milk (400ml)
• juice of 2 limes
• coriander 
• 750ml stock (e.g. beef)

Equipment

• casserole
• small saucepan
• pestle and mortar

How you do it

• put the coriander, fennel seeds and rice into the saucepan and heat for up to 3 min until it starts getting fragrant. take off heat and let cool down
• get the 750ml stock ready. I usually use ready made one by heating up water in a kettle and then add 3 tablespoons of e.g. Swiss Vegetable Bouillon. 
• chop the onions, carrots, celery and beef
• heat up a casserole with the oil. 
• put the onions, carrots, and celery into the hot casserole and cook for 5 min. then add the sliced beef and cook for another 5 min.
• slice the garlic and ginger. Add it to the casserole and cook for another 5 min. Don't forget to stir or it will all burn
• grind the seeds and rice from above and add to the casserole. Add freshly ground pepper to it.
• add the 750ml stock 
• bring to the boil. in the meantime, cut the tomatoes into quarters and add to the casserole. 
• let it all cook for ca 25min
• squeeze the juice out of 2 limes. Get a can of coconut milk ready. Add the lime juice and coconut milk to the casserole
• season with salt and pepper. Shouldn't take too much salt depending on how seasoned the stock is. I'd say 1 teaspoon should be enough
• cut a few fresh coriander leaves and add to the soup and cook for another 3-4 min.
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