Bread out of the blue!

It’s been a long time since my last post and this is because I have actually nothing to say. I thought about closing it but I had some protests from my sister who insists that I should continue writing.

I came back from the holidays and studied hard for my exams. I got grades in general and I’m quite happy I must say. I don’t think that the exams are a good excuse as for why I don’t write anymore. I think the reason is that even though I cook a lot at school, back home I don’t! I actually live in a student residence which I find quite sad consider that I’m 25 and “have been there, done that”.  But not everything is so bad of course. I met some interesting people and, to make a long story short, I have a good time.

So, it’s Sunday evening, and outside the thermometer shows -15. I hallucinated when I saw the numbers and I thought that God, or however is up there, is making a joke. This cold weather calls for a tasty soup and fresh bread with some hot tea. I had the first one and the last one. I didn’t have the bread. I gave it a try and made some Indian – style flat bread. Naan bread is made out of flour, yeast, yogurt and any seasoning you want (parsley, garlic, poppy seeds, coriander..) and cooked in a tandoor oven,  mostly found in West, Central and South Asia.

I told myself that I would improvise. No recipes, no measurements, just feeling! I took a bowl, I put flour, baking powder (I didn’t have yeast) milk, salt and poppy seeds that I bought on Saturday.  I worked the dough until well incorporated and melt some butter. I rolled round breads and fried them! When cooked I spread some cream cheese with herbs and garlic along with my soup. I had some dough left so I just put it in the refrigerator for another breadless Sunday night.

I must say I was really proud of what I thought of making and I insist that you try the same thing. It’s just flour and milk. If you are a student and don’t have milk just use water and olive oil..whatever! You can also use it for kebabs or sandwich. Be creative and make your life easier.

Have a good night!

P.S. Since is a recipe made out of the blue I don’t have measurements or anything so I don’t think is interesting to write a recipe. Use the ingredients I mentioned above along with some herbs of your interest and make your flatbread!

“Never look back..it’s all ahead”

Everything changed these last two months and I can proudly say that everything is going much, much better. Maybe that is why I’m left without inspiration and not knowing what to write in my blog. I could start by saying what I’m doing in my life and blah, blah, blah but honestly if I do this I’m afraid that in the end of the post you would be saying “Who cares woman?”.

But seriously now.. I left my home around the end of August and stayed in Paris for about a month which was actually a very relaxing and calm time for me. I walked in sunny Paris, I ate some good food to cheap restaurants and this proves that good food doesn’t need to cost a fortune, I cooked pasta for friends, I watched “Drive” and loved it, I laid on the park on a lazy sunny afternoon just reading a book and so many things!

All these happened before my entry to one of the best culinary schools in the world (seriously, is number one since last Christmas) and start my way to something new. I don’t want to get into a lot of details about what we do coz we are learning the basics at the moment. What I can say is that everything is going great, we are learning and I’m sure that soon I’ll see a significant progress in the way I cook and appreciate food. The one thing is sure here: a feel the heart attack coming every time I see all the butter and cream entering almost every dish we prepare, everything except salad. But I swear the day we add cream and butter in a salad I’ll reserve a bed in a hospital.

I will leave you for the moment with a recipe I made with my sister: lemon cupcakes.

Lemon Cupcakes

What you need:

For the cupcakes

• 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2/3 cup (130 grams) granulated white sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Zest of 1 large lemon(outer yellow skin)
• 1 1/2 cups (195 grams) all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) milk

For the lemon curd filling

• 3 large eggs
• 1/3 cup (80 ml) fresh lemon juice(2-3 lemons)
• 1 tablespoon (4 grams) finely shredded lemon zest
• 3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar
• 4 tablespoons (56 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into small pieces

For the whipped cream topping

• 1 cup (240 ml) heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon (15 grams) granulated white sugar

How to:

For the Vanilla Cupcakes

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.
• In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
• Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
• Beat in the vanilla extract and lemon zest.
• In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
• With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
• Fill the muffin cups with batter.
• Bake for about 18 -20 minutes or until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean.
• Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.
• Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, cut a deep hole in the center of each cupcake, using a melon baller or the end of a large pastry tip.
• Fill each hole with a heaping teaspoon of lemon curd.

For the lemon curd

• In a stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and lemon juice until blended.
• Cook, stirring constantly (to prevent it from curdling), until the mixture becomes thick (like sour cream or a hollandaise sauce) (160 degrees F or 71 degrees C). This will take approximately 10 minutes.
• Remove from heat and immediately pour through a fine strainer to remove any lumps.
• Cut the butter into small pieces and whisk into the mixture until the butter has melted.
• Add the lemon zest and let cool. The lemon curd will continue to thicken as it cools.
• Cover immediately (so a skin doesn’t form) and refrigerate until cold.
• The lemon curd can be made several days (up to a week) in advance.

For the frosting:

• In a large mixing bowl place the whipping cream, vanilla extract, and sugar and stir to combine.
• Cover and chill the bowl and wire whisk in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
• When chilled, beat the mixture until stiff peaks form.
• Spread frosting on each cupcake with a knife or spatula.
• If not serving the cupcakes immediately, cover and place in the refrigerator until serving time.

Makes 12 cupcakes

    

A last bit of summer

Once again… it’s been a while since I posted something, and the truth is I have a lot of things to say but I just can’t concentrate.  Summer is gone, I’m gone and my mind is travelling somewhere else.

So today that is cold outside, I made a cup of hot coffee and decided to write about the final summer days which are long gone by now. Before leaving my house to chase THE dream, I spent a lot of time with my sister, who you most probably remember from this post. She loves cooking as much as I do.

It was one of those hot summer noons when you are half asleep because of the heat and half hungry because.. well.. it’s noon. My sister and I wanted to cook something special for lunch, since it was the end of summer. Not long ago, I have made tart dough with rosemary which I froze for later use. It was the perfect time to defrost and bake it! We decided we would make mini tarts stuffed with tomatoes, goat cheese and homemade pesto sauce and a fresh salad.

My sister sliced the tomatoes in small cubes, mashed the goat cheese and I prepared the tart shells and made the pesto sauce. While doing it, we had the brilliant idea to make mini quiche as well using the same shells and stuffing. The difference? We added an egg and some fresh cream in half of the stuffing.

We sliced, baked, rolled out the dough, stuffed and ate! The only problem was that our mini tarts/quiche were too mini .. by the end we were happy but still hungry! Oh well! It was summer…

  

Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart/Quiche

Savory Rosemary Tart Crust

What you need:

• 1 1/4 cups of all purpose flour
• 1 stick of butter (very, very cold and cubed)
• 1/4 tsp palm sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
• 1-3 tbsp ice cold water

How to

• In a bowl, combine flour, salt, sugar and rosemary.
• Add the butter cubes and pulse until your mixture has the size of a pea.
• Add water a tablespoon at a time and mix together only until mixture just comes together.
• Test by squeezing a pinch of dough. If it sticks together it’s done.
• Place your dough on a lightly floured surface. Form into a disk shapes, flour all sides, and wrap well with plastic. (If making small tarts, separate dough into thirds and wrap each individually.)
•  Refrigerate for at least 1 hour up to 24 hours.
• When you are ready to roll out, make sure to let dough come to room temperature for about 10-15 minutes before rolling out.

Rosemary Tomato Filling

What you need:

• 3 -4 tomatoes
• 1 tbsp fresh origano
• goat cheese

For the quiche

• An egg
• 2 tbsp  fresh cream

 For the homemade pesto sauce 

• 2 Tbs. pine nuts
• 1garlic cloves
• 2 cups fresh basil leaves
• 1⁄2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as
  needed
• Salt, pepper

How to:

      For the filling:

• Peel out the skin of the tomatoes and cut them to small cubes.
• Mashed the goat cheese.
• Add pepper and oregano.

For the pesto:

• Combine all the ingredients in a food processor adding olive oil if need.
• Place in a glass jar for up to 2 weeks.

For the tart:

• Roll out half of your dough into rounds and place each round into a tart shell or a pan like the photo.
•  Carefully press dough into shell and cut off excess to use for another tart if necessary.
• Poke holes in the bottom of shells. Place baking paper and on top dry beans.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes depending on your oven. Let cool for 10 minutes.
• Using half of the filling, fill the baked tart shells.
• Using a spoon, pour on top some of the pesto sauce.

For the quiche

• Using the remaining half of dough, roll it out into rounds and place each round into your pan.
• Using the remaining half of your filling add the egg and the fresh cream and mix well. Fill your tart shells.
• Bake  for about 20 minutes or until your quiche is golden on top.

Feel free of course to make either a big tart or a big quiche! This is just some ideas!

Enjoy!

  

Last minute post

I had to write this post now before everything slips my mind. I just came back from a very formal and important, I must say, event: we celebrated – me, my friend and 300 other people in formal suits and dresses – the 20 years of Uzbekistan’s independence. Yeap, it’s true. It has been twenty whole years since Uzbekistan became a free country and was detached from the Soviet Union. My friend got invited because last year made a photo exposition with the Uzbek Embassy (He is a photographer). He asked me to go with him, as I have visited the country, and this is how I ended up there – η λεγόμενη “ππάτσια”.

I went to Uzbekistan two summers ago and I must say it was a totally different world from anything I have seen in Europe. I visited Tashkent, the capital city, Bukhara and Samarkand. The monuments are big, beautiful buildings, mausoleums mostly for their kings, queens etc. Now all you see is poor people, sometimes rich people and the remains of the Soviet Union who tried hard to give the western world an image of a rich and imposing empire. You can find the photos of my friend here and I suggest you take a look, they are truly very good.

But anyway, my subject is not the Uzbek history but the event and more precisely the catering, since this is a food blog. I was in heaven. Tables full with small bites of food. Heavenly mousses of tuna, salmon, avocado served with caviar, fish, blinis with taramas and sardines, olive paste, fois gras served with fig and fresh bread, fresh shrimps with an exotic mango sauce, big and salty oysters, crepes, brochettes of meat, small fluffy savory tarts and, of course, plov, a traditional uzbek rice made with meat, vegetables and spices. A table filed with cheeses and bread. After that, there was the dessert…. Tarts with raspberries, kiwis, white and dark chocolate mousse, chocolate tarts, mangos, strawberries, melons, éclairs, puffy pastries with creamy filling, macaroons with dark chocolate and a big chocolate fondue fountain.

We ate until we were full coz let’s face it….I personally didn’t go there to celebrate; we drank Champaign and red wine. Happy and full we left the event!

I couldn’t take any photos,it’s quite obvious why, but I hope I gave you a mental image of what I saw and did tonight.

Have a very good night!

Brunch!

Brunch is the combination of the word Breakfast and the word lunch. It’s actually something between these two habits. Where I live it’s not very common to organize this “event”, in fact no one knows what brunch is. When I explained it to my friend N., he had the great idea of hosting one. He would offer his house and I would cook. Our other friends C., C. and I. also agreed with great excitement. Two and a half months later we managed to book a day! Apparently, we are not the most organized people on this planet.

But anyway! We managed to agree on a Sunday morning for this important event. I have never hosted a brunch in my life so I searched for information of what is served during this meal and everything else that is related. I found this and this link very helpful.

I’ll try to give you some tips of how to organize the menu using some of the information I found. You’ll need:

• Something “eggy”
• Something bready
• Something  fresh and fruity
• Something greasy
• And finally something cool and fresh to drink

    Using the above tips we put together our menu which had the following plates:

• poached eggs (if you find it difficult to make just fry them!)
• thick pancakes with red cranberry sauce.
• aromatic cheese pies with crispy cheese on top and a fluffy base (recipe here).
• Cherry tomatoes flavored with virgin olive oil and fresh oregano.
• Crispy fried bacon.
• Red velvet cupcakes with creamy frosting and fresh melon for dessert
• And finally a cool fruit juice, well actually a combination of exotic and regular juices.

    

I think it’s best not to make very complicated things. I had a lot of ideas of what to cook which of course was not possible to make. Use simply and common recipes and believe everyone will enjoy it!

We started cooking late in the morning which was a mistake because we ended up having afternoon tea instead of brunch – we finished the whole preparation around 3:00 p.m.

      

But it worth the wait. We played games, we ate until we were full of food, we laughed… It was one of those times when you realize that it is the small things in life that matter. Good friends, good food and a laugh.

Everything is changing

Today is a special day. Today is the day I’m celebrating the end of a boring routine and the start of what I hope will be an amazing future!

A year has gone by since the day I moved back home, leaving behind people I love and care about, with an opportunity of studying cooking in France still close but at the same time so far away. I found an ordinary office job trying to put away some money for my tuition fees. Not an easy thing, I  can tell you that. The truth is I had a chance to think and make some self-critique. I had the chance to meet some new people, good people to be honest, and I discarded some relationships that were going nowhere; rather they were going backwards.

I don’t want to write about spiritual guidance (chase your dreams, life is too short, etc) but I do believe that everything we want is possible.

To celebrate this big event I cooked. I baked actually. A simple chocolate cake with white frosting to share with friends, along with a pizza on a summer night.

I hope you have something too celebrate too and make a cake like this!

The recipe follows.

Chocolate cake with white frosting

What you need:

For the cake

• 110 gr unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon baking powder

For the frosting

• 1 ½ cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon milk

How to:

For the cake

• Preheat the oven to 180 celcium.
• Butter and lightly flour a 9×5×3-inch loaf pan, or spray it with a butter-flour spray.
• In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth.
• Add sugar and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes.
• Add the egg and beat well, then the buttermilk and vanilla.
• Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt together right into your wet ingredients.
• Stir together with a spoon until well-blended but do not overmix.
• Scrape down the batter in the bowl, making sure the ingredients are well blended.
• Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.
• Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
• Cool in pan on a rack for about 10 to 15 minutes.
• Cover with frosting.

For the frosting.

• Mix together sugar and butter until they are blended and creamy.
• Add salt, and milk and continue to beat for another minute.

Enjoy!

Oups!

Ok..I have to admit that sometimes I, too, make mistakes in the kitchen and yes, sometimes I can make the same mistake over and over.

The story goes something like that: I wanted to make this cake because as you can see, it looks delicious. With its velvet chocolate frosting and spongy cake layers in between, you can feel it in your mouth.

To make the cake layers you need 10 eggs, sugar, flour and a lot of baking pans since you’ll bake each thin layer separately and construct the whole thing later on. I gathered my ingredients and I started baking, mixing, beating eggs etc etc. But not everything went as planned. The layers weren’t as they were supposed to be. Liquid inside, burned on the outside. I was really mad because I was trying for about an hour to make something and I ended up with nothing. Just a bunch of mixing bowls and spatulas to clean.

The next day I took a firm decision: I was not going to lose over a few eggs and some flour. I decided I would make the damn dessert with the exact frosting but I thought I’ll try another recipe for the sponge cake.  I was correct! My sponge cake recipe came out great, fluffy and soft. Time for the frosting. Still smiling from my sponge cake success  I started melting the chocolate, smiling, separating the eggs, smiling, mixing all the ingredients together, still smiling and when it was time to spread the frosting all over my perfect cake I realized my mistake: instead of powder sugar I used the normal one. I said “what the hell, maybe no one will notice the difference”.

Well…It was good, but crunchy! Of course we ate it all because who will say no to a chocolate cake right? And my confession: I did the same mistake with the cupcakes and their frosting. Oups!

Simple cake with chocolate frosting

What you need:

For the cake

• 6 large eggs separated
• 8-10 drops of lemon juice
• 340 grams sugar (the normal one)
• 260grams 1 tablespoon self – rising flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¾ glass cold water or maybe less.

For the frosting/filling (from here)

• 227 grams semi- or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 226 grams unsalted butter, cut into chunks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 large egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar (the other one, the powder)

How to:

 For the cake:

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• In a bowl mix together the flour and baking powder.
• In a bowl beat using the mixer the egg whites with the lemon juice until you get a stiff meringue.
• In another bowl (that’s three so far) beat the egg yolks until pale and lemon – colored.
• Gradually add the sugar and beat until creamy.
• When you are done with the sugar, gradually add the flour mixture and the water.
• Stop the mixture and using a wooden spoon add the meringue and gently mix everything together.
• Prepare your cake pan by choosing your pan size, add some oil, sprinkle some flour and then your cooking paper.
• Add your batter.
• Place in the oven for about 30-45 minutes or until you insert a knife in the center and comes out clean.
• When done, let your cake to cool.
• Using a large knife separate the cake in half (horizontally of course) and add 1/3 of your frosting.
• When done, reconstruct it and then add the rest of the frosting.
• Let it cool in the fridge before serve.

For the frosting

• Melt chocolate until smooth.
• Set aside to cool to room temperature, but of course not so cool that it hardens again. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter until soft and smooth, scraping frequently. Add vanilla and 3 egg yolks.
• Add sugar and cooled chocolate, beating until thoroughly mixed and scraping as needed.

Enjoy!