This is what I had at 100 грама сладки where benbeni took me. Seldom does one eat a cake that tastes of fresh fruit and I’m glad that my mind saves such tastes for a long, long time.
Bits & Pieces
Старият тиган. В някакъв момент сме го прокудили в мазето, сигурно защото не е бил достатъчно тефлонен. Открих го докато чистех и така предполагам съм била единствения пътник в самолета с тиган в багажа. Тиган колкото половината багаж. Но какви палачинки прави..!
Unexpected oriental dinner
I bought mince meat for Bolognese. Then sometime in the course of the day, I recalled that it must be forever since I last ate Köfftes (Herr Chaos just now informed me that in German the plural would be also Köffte) and ended up before the frying pan.
Meatballs are a remnant from the Turkish that has become almost standard in Bulgarian cuisine. Maybe because they are fairly easy to make.
I used half a kg of mixed mince meat that I placed in a bowl. Added a finely sliced onion, about a third of tea spoon of salt, pepper, savory, sweet red pepper powder, an egg, and because I had no white bread, I added 2-3 spoons of breadcrumbs. Usually, instead of that, a slice of white bread is soaked in water and then added to the mix after the water has been squeezed out of it.
All the ingredients are well mixed by hand and then one takes a hand-full of mix, forms flat patties, rolls lightly in wheat flour, and fries in oil till visibly ready. Visibly ready will be that dark meaty colour you know from grilling.
That’s basically it. You can eat them with potatoes, salad, anything. I stuck them in Arabic bread with a bit of Ajvar and had a simple green salad.
Oh, and before I forget - ye olde oatcakes. There is not one definite recipe online. Not one! I bet the Scottish are doing it on purpose. So, I patched that one from several and ended up with sub-optimal results. I shall be writing ingredients when I finally get them right.
Experiments with puff pastry, part two.
No high arts. Only some old apples, a can of peaches and a roll of puff pastry. Slice the fruit thin and order on top. Bake at 200°C for half an hour. Let cool down before eating.
This can be made with just about anything on top and the bottom is surprisingly thin and crisp.
And I really wanted to use the word “tart”, so, taaart!
There’s this little shop at Liesegangstrasse in Düsseldorf that used to sell fantastic gigantic croissants. They were the size of about three regular croissants and so wonderful in taste that one would think twice before ordering a filling of some sort. I haven’t been there for ages, so I don’t know if they are still as good, but I got a pack of ready dough from the shop (with the intention to bake a cake but those were pre-formed) and that’s to give myself a reward after a somewhat unpleasant day.
I filled most with pieces of apple, but one went with dark chocolate and one with lingonberries. Very unprofessional and not gigantic at all.
Cocoa with peppermint
Many years ago, me and Goonie discovered the magic of peppermint cocoa through a surprise package of small presents from the US. Needless to say the whole mint in hot chocolate thing sounded dubious at first, but ever since that experience, I have been on the search for a similar product here in Europe (Krüger had it for a year or so but discontinued) and subsequently attempting to emulate it.
My previous attempts involved bagged peppermint tea which is a waste of time really. But, a week ago when Herr Chaos told me about dry mint leaves, I bought a bag and am blissfully happy with the results.
The way I prepare my mint cocoa is by heating milk in the amount sufficient for a cup but not letting it boil. I put a tea filter with two teaspoons of dry peppermint leaves in it and keep it in hot milk for good five minutes or more. I’d keep it on the stove but have it turned off. While waiting, I add one teaspoon of cocoa powder and a teaspoon of brown sugar in a cup, add a few drops of milk or water and stir to a creamy paste. Finally, I strain the bag with a spoon and remove it from the milk, and pour the hot minty milk into my cup while stirring.
It’s a good thing that.
Yesterday, Herr Chaos discovered this Zucchini fritters recipe and today I gave it a go. With some variation. All I can say is that two zucchini is not enough — I finished off half of those in one go. Oh, and use proper yoghurt!
The other day, while using Arabic flat bread in the sandwich maker to make sammiches for Herr Chaos and myself, I mentioned puff pastry as a possible alternative and today, while in the shop I got a roll to try it out.
The idea was to make it thin, for one reason or another, but practice showed that rolling it out may not be the best, as the dough does not raise as fluffy and dry as it is meant to. Another thing is not overfilling it with watery or melting stuff if you need the thing to stay crispy. Other than those two technical specifics, it works quite well. Baking time is about 5-7 minutes and I did not pre-heat. Pre-heating might be a good idea. Also, smear butter on the baking surface to avoid sticky situations.
Afterwards I had a look online and found a couple of mentions on that same approach, so I did discover hot water after all, but I guess it is only a matter of time before one tries to stick all possible kinds of dough in a sandwich maker.
