Lamingtons a.k.a. Čupavci

“Coincidences are spiritual puns.” 

Australian icon 'Lamingtons' are known as 'Čupavci' here in Bosnia. The Bosnian version looks the same, however, the recipe requires additional sugar, milk and butter or oil for the cake. Similarly, the chocolate coating requires unsweetened chocolate, sugar, milk and lots of butter. So, the dessert becomes much richer and that's why a small square of it would be more than enough as an accompaniment to the afternoon tea or coffee. However, for the original Australian Lamingtons, you make a simple and light sponge cake and coat the squares with a much lighter icing which basically uses cocoa powder and icing sugar. These little differences make the Australian version much lighter and softer as a result. And the recipe below is for traditional Australian Lamingtons. 

Ingredients

For the Sponge Cake

1/3 cup cornstarch

1/3 cup plain flour

1/3 cup self-raising flour

4 x 60 g eggs

2/3 cup caster sugar

For Coating

2 cups icing sugar

1 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup softened butter

1 tbls hot water (add extra if needed)

2 cups desiccated or shredded coconut to roll in

Directions

for the sponge cake

1. Sift the flour in a medium bowl. Repeat the process three times. 

2. In a separate bowl, crack the eggs and add in the sugar. Mix on high for 6 minutes. The mixture will triple in volume and become smooth and creamy. 

3.  Gradually add the sifted flour into the egg-sugar mixture. Use a spatula and gently fold it through the egg-sugar mixture. Once it's folded through, put in the extra flour and keep repeating the same process until all the flour is gone.

4. Pour the mixture into a rectangular or square baking pan lined with baking paper. 

5. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 25-30 minutes. 

6. Once cooked, leave the cake to cool completely. 

for the chocolate icing

1. In a bowl, add the icing sugar, softened butter, cocoa powder and boiling water.

2. Mix until glossy and smooth using an electric mixer.

for coating

1. Cut up the sponge cake into cubes.

2.Dip the cubes into the chocolate icing.

3. Roll the coated cubes in desiccated or shredded coconut. 

Revani: Turkish Semolina Cake Soaked in Syrup

“Philosophy [nature] is written in that great book which ever is before our eyes -- I mean the universe -- but we cannot understand it if we do not first learn the language and grasp the symbols in which it is written. The book is written in mathematical language, and the symbols are triangles, circles and other geometrical figures, without whose help it is impossible to comprehend a single word of it; without which one wanders in vain through a dark labyrinth.” 

Different versions of 'revani' exist in many cuisines  under several names throughout the eastern Mediterranean, including Greece, Turkey, Egypt and Jordan to name a few. The recipe below is an easy one that anybody can make at home. Feel free to add any flavour other than vanilla - lemon or orange zest, coconut, etc. 

Ingredients

For the cake
3 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 pinch of salt
115 ml milk 
115 ml vegetable oil
1 cup fine semolina
1 cup flour
1 pouch of baking powder (14 g)
1 tsp vanilla extract
butter to grease the baking pan
shredded coconut to garnish

For the syrup
3 cups sugar
3.5 cups water
juice of 1/2 lemon

Method

1. Prepare the syrup first.

• Add in a saucepan the sugar, water and lemon juice.
• Boil for about 5-10 minutes over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved and the syrup has slightly thickened. 
• Remove the pan from the stove and set aside to cool down to the room temperature. 

2.  Make the cake.

• Preheat the oven to 185 degrees.
• Grease a preferably square or rectangular baking pan with butter and dust it with a little flour all around.   
• In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs and sugar first with a pinch of salt to a  fluffy and foamy light yellow cream. Use a hand blender and mix well for 5-6 minutes. 
• Add in the milk , oil and the vanilla extract and mix for another 1 minute. 
• Mix the flour, semolina and baking powder together in a medium bowl.
• Stir in the flour mixture and mix until you get a smooth batter. Do not over-mix. 
• Pour the batter into the baking pan and bake for about 25 minutes at 180-185 degrees until the top gets golden brown or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 

3. Soak the cake in the syrup.

• Once you remove the pan from the oven, drizzle the cool syrup all over the cake slowly using a large spoon slowly and let it soak in.
• When you've used up all the syrup, cover the cake with foil and let it cool down to the room temperature. 
• Garnish with shredded coconut, ground pistachio, walnuts, or almonds before serving.

Bosnian Doughnuts a.k.a. Krofne

“I can resist anything except temptation.”

It all started when I noticed a new brand of fine-textured flour in the local grocery shop. The label read 'krofne'. I knew what they were but I didn't know that labels could tempt me so easily. I bought it right away, came back home, watched the video recipe below and made 'krofne'. Excellent! Later on, I learnt - after a few clicks - that the word krofne' comes from German 'Krapfen', and it is a variation of the Central European pastry, known as 'Berliner'. Well, the name and the recipe have slightly varied in the Balkans. Take a look at the names: 'krofne' in Bosnian and Serbian, 'krafne' or 'pokladnice' in Croatian and 'krof' in Slovenian. The video has no subtitles in English, but I translated almost everything in the ingredients and directions. 

Ingredients

2 cups milk

50 ml vegetable oil

40 g fresh active yeast

3 whole eggs

1 tablespoon sugar

1 pinch of salt

5 cups flour

100 g powdered sugar for topping

10 g vanilla sugar for topping 

Oil for frying 

plum jam (or the filling of your choice)

Directions

1. In a large bowl, crumble the yeast and add in the warm milk, sugar, salt, eggs and oil respectively.

2. Whisk well until the yeast is completely dissolved and all ingredients are mixed.

3. Add in the flour and mix with a spoon until you get a soft and sticky dough.

4. Cover the bowl and set aside to rise in a preferably warm place for at least 30 minutes. The dough should double in size.

5. Transfer the dough onto a floured surface and sprinkle some more flour over the dough.

6. Knead for a minute to get a soft ball. Sprinkle the surface and the dough with flour again.

7. Roll the dough out until it’s approximately 1 cm thick, a bit thinner.

8. Take a cup and use it to cut out the doughnuts. Once you’ve cut them out, leave them to rise further for 15-20 minutes. Remember to cover them.

9.  Fill a saucepan with enough oil for the doughnuts to float and be flipped.

10. Over medium heat, place a few doughnuts in the hot oil but do not crowd them.

11. When the doughnuts get golden brown on the bottom, flip them using a fork or spoon.

12. When both sides are done, (with a light ring running through the centre), transfer them into a container. You can also place them on paper towel to absorb any excess oil.

At this point, you are free to continue in several ways. The two most common ones are:
1. Mix the powdered sugar and vanilla sugar in a plate. Roll the warm doughnuts in the mixture. 
2. Using a piping bag, fill the doughnuts with jam, vanilla cream or any other filling you desire. Then, mix the powdered sugar and vanilla sugar and sprinkle the doughnuts with this mixture. 

Penne Pasta with Pesto Sauce, Turkey Ham Cubes and Fried Eggplant Strips

My father never used to eat the same dish twice. It's a habit you can't easily change, I know. Nobody can claim that it causes waste either. On the contrary, with such a person in the house, you learn to cook for the exact number of people in your family which in return saves time and money. My mother has been obviously doing such an excellent job for years in the kitchen. 

I've also got into a similar habit of cooking for the exact number of people at home. I don't like seeing leftovers in storage boxes in different sizes whenever I open the fridge. Mine is mostly because of the desire to cook something new, I guess. I cook, we eat up and then I cook something new the next day, all fresh. I feel that's how it should be in every kitchen. 

However, whenever Jamie Oliver posts a recipe which uses leftovers, for example, I regret that I don't have any leftovers in the fridge. Then, a couple of days ago, I had the perfect chance to create my own leftover recipe. I had slices of deep-fried eggplant, some turkey ham and half a jar of organic pesto sauce. It took a minute or so to decide how to combine them in a perfect dish for dinner: Penne Pasta with pesto sauce, sautéed turkey ham and fried eggplant. 

Ingredients

500 grams penne pasta

water, salt, olive oil to cook the pasta

5 tablespoons pesto sauce

turkey ham

butter, oregano, rosemary and ground red pepper

1 eggplant

salt, pepper, garlic powder, flour, 1 large egg, vegetable oil to fry

Directions for the pasta

1. In a large saucepan cook pasta according to package directions in lightly salted boiling water. Drain pasta and transfer to a very large bowl.

2. Add in the pesto sauce and mix until the pasta turn green in colour. 

Directions for the turkey ham cubes

1. Cut 4 or 5 thick slices off the ham. Cube the ham slices. 

2. Put a small frying pan on a low heat and let it get it hot. Add a small knob of butter. when the butter has melted and is bubbling, add your ham cubes and saute them until they get light brown. 

3. Sprinkle over oregano, rosemary and ground red pepper. Stir for a few minutes more until the ham cubes are covered in spices. Remove from heat. 

Directions for fried eggplant slices

1. Peel away its tough outer skin. Cut it into lengthwise slices. 

2. Salt the slices generously and lay them flat over a few layers of paper towels.* 

3. Let the salted eggplant sit for at least 1/2 hour or up to 1 1/2 hours. Rinse the eggplant under cold water to remove the excess salt. Then press the eggplant between clean kitchen towels or paper towels to extract as much liquid as possible. 

4. Whisk the egg in one container and place flour in another. Add in salt, pepper and garlic powder to the flour. Coat the eggplant slices in flour, then coat with egg. 

    5. Heat oil in a frying pan. Cook the coated eggplant slices until golden brown on both sides. Transfer to a plate with paper towels to cool. When cool enough to handle, cut 1 cm strips.

Assembling the dish

Transfer the pasta into a big serving dish. Add in the ham cubes and top with strips of eggplant. 

      

* Salt will help to draw the bitter liquid out from the eggplant while simultaneously seasoning the eggplant from the inside out. It also helps the eggplant pieces stay more shapely and become tender during cooking instead of becoming water-logged and soggy.

Lamb's Lettuce & Dried Cranberries Salad

... One day, the woman stood at the window and looked down into the witch's garden. She saw a bed filled with the most beautiful rapunzel, and it looked so fresh and green that she craved it; she had the most burning desire to eat of it. Her desire increased every day, but since she knew that she could not have any, she grew pale and ill.

This greatly alarmed her husband, who asked her 'what ails you, dear wife?'

'Oh', she replied, 'if I cannot eat some of the rapunzel from that garden, I must surely die.'...

- from Rapunzel, collected in the Grimm's Fairy Tales

When I came across the information that the word 'rapunzel' is used for the plant 'lamb's lettuce' and the passage from this version of the tale, I started to smile around happily. I was happy because I came to realise that all those years, I'd been reading, telling and listening to this fairy tale without knowing what the name 'Rapunzel' actually means or why the name is picked for the main character. I had simply skipped this version of the fairy tale.

This unexpected realisation is the main source of my happiness today and it naturally made me search for the lamb's lettuce on the Net and soon I ended up with a fact file about the plant. You'll find it quite helpful if you haven't heard of this wonderful vegetable before.

• It's a member of the valerian family.
• 'Rapunzel' is one of the German terms for this plant.
• Known also as corn salad, fetticus, feldsalat, nut lettuce and mâche in French.
• It has smooth, spoon-shaped, dark green leaves arranged in rosettes. 
• It has a tangy and nutty flavour.
• It only grows once a year and then dies off. 
• It could be found growing wild among the crops or in meadows.
• It is prized as one of few fresh vegetables available in the winter and early spring.
• It is very low in calories.
• It has three times as much vitamin C as lettuce, plenty of vitamins E, B6 and B9 (folic acid), potassium, beta carotene, and more iron than any other leafy green vegetable except parsley.
• It is hard to find outside Europe.
• It is rather pricey because it has to be hand-picked.
• It is easy to grow and window boxes are enough to grow it.
• The plant is delicate and should be eaten as soon as possible.
• It can be very sandy. Wash it carefully.
• It is used like spinach in omelettes and soups, or added to sandwiches, lamb's lettuce really comes into its own as a salad.
• Two handfuls of it makes an adult portion. 

Lamb's Lettuce & Dried Cranberries Salad

Ingredients

lamb's lettuce (two handfuls of it per adult)

yogurt

salt

olive oil 

chopped garlic

dried cranberries

Directions
1. Rinse and pick over the lamb's lettuce, separating the leaves. Leave them to drain or use a salad spinner.
2. In a small bowl mix the yogurt, oil, salt and garlic beating them together.
3. Place the lamb's lettuce in a big bowl and add in the cranberries.
4. Season the lamb's lettuce with the yogurt sauce.
5. Sprinkle with more cranberries before you serve.

Baked Fish with Lemon and Fresh Wild Mint Leaves

I am the only fish lover in the family which makes things even more complicated in the kitchen. I feel the need to eat fish from time to time, but nobody else does. What is more, with such a background like mine, it is not possible to cook fish for only one. The reason is quite simple. I've been taught that food is for sharing and so when you cook, you cook for at least two. If there is no one else around to eat the fish you cook, then you assume that it's not worth it and you soon quit the idea. This is at least how it goes with me. 

Right at this level, I used a little common sense and chose to cook fish in a variety of ways to please the others too. Some worked, some didn't and the definite favourite by everyone has proved to be the fried fish. By the way, here is the last one I tried using the on-hand ingredients: baked trouts with lemon and fresh wild mint leaves.

Well... I came to believe that there is no way and need to try to persuade somebody else to eat something they do not feel like! Fish is the one in our kitchen history and I think it's high time that I let it go! It seems that even common sense and its creative practice won't work in this case especially after Finding Nemo has become a recent favourite movie by the family. 

Ingredients
trouts
breadcrumbs
cornmeal
salt
pepper
garlic powder
olive oil
lemons
fresh mint leaves

 

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. 
2. Rinse fish well, pat dry with paper towels. 
3. In a bowl, mix breadcrumbs, cornmeal, salt, pepper and garlic powder. 
4. Line a baking pan with parchment and oil it.  
5. Season the cavity of each fish with garlic powder and salt. 
6. Season the fish with olive oil on both sides and then coat each fish with enough breadcrumbs-cornmeal-spices mixture, pressing firmly to adhere. 
6. Arrange fish on the pan and lay slices of lemon and fresh mint leaves on top. Drizzle oil lightly over fish.
7. Bake for about 30 minutes until fish is golden on top. 

Flour Halwa with Dried Cranberries

The Islamic calender is based on a lunar cycle having 12 lunar months in a year of about 354 days. Islamic holy days usually shift 11 days earlier each successive solar year, such as a year of the Gregorian calendar even though these holy days are celebrated on fixed dates in their own calendar. 

Well, if you are not familiar to the Islamic calendar at all, this piece of information may sound a bit complicated. Even if you were born into a Muslim family and grew up in a neighbourhood where religious holidays were celebrated in a festive atmosphere for days and nights, the astronomical considerations concerning when to start the celebrations are always confusing and accordingly a big issue to talk about.

I remember, years and years ago, my mother saying once "I was a young girl, 18 or 19 I think, and it was the holy month of Ramadan and everybody was fasting. It must have been mid-summer because it was boiling outside and we would avoid stepping out of the house. It was scorching. Well, I'll be fasting again in mid-summer in my early 50s." Back then, my mother's words, which were totally based on the fact that that holy days on the Islamic calendar shift 11 days earlier each successive solar year, sounded like a prophesy, a glimpse into the distant future. I was simply enchanted. Actually, it kept be busy quite some years wondering how my mother was able to tell exactly when she would be fasting in the same season once again in a few seconds. I also started to imagine and so look forward to those prophesied days to arrive because by then I would have known that my mother's prediction came true, she was in her mid 50s and I was now a young woman! Later on, I was taught how to deal with such calculations when it comes to the Islamic months and I came to realise how my mother did the magic. 

However, I've been under the effect of my mother's magic for years still. It's been kind of a purest hope placed under a pillow deep down in my subconsciousness. It's laid under the very pillow I sleep on every night. I've been waiting for years to pass by to witness that my mother's prophesy has come true and yes it has come true. My mother is 52 years old and we are going to fast this summer in Ramadan starting in late June and ending in late July. Magical, isn't it?

Ingredients
250 grams butter
2 cups flour
2.5 milk
1.5 cups granulated sugar
100 grams dried cranberries
cinnamon, optional 
vanilla extract

Directions
1. Take a pan and heat it over medium heat for 1 minute.
2. Add the butter and melt it. 
3. Sieve the flour into the pan and stir constantly over low heat until it turns golden brown. It takes more than half an hour. Keep calm and carry on!
4. Meanwhile, pour in milk into another pan. Add in vanilla extract and sugar. Stir until it comes to a boil. Remove from heat.
5. Pour the milk-sugar mixture onto the roasted flour very slowly and continue stirring constantly over medium heat.
6. When the mixture boils and then gets thicker in consistency, remove the pan from heat.
7. Stir in the cranberries. Let it cool with the lid on for 10 minutes.
8. Shape the halwa using a wet tablespoon or an ice-cream scoop.
9. Sprinkle with cinnamon before you serve (optional.)

"Never Give Up" Cookies

"You never give up, sis!" was the best confession & compliment I've received lately. When my sister, on Skype, said it so unexpectedly, I got puzzled for a split second to associate the statement to any recent event or accomplishment I'd been involved in. Well, there was none apparently.

When she saw the expression of confusion on my face, she explained it immediately. She'd happened to call me right after the first tray of thumbprint jam cookies (please read the previous post) came out of the oven and seen how the strawberry jam oozed from the cookies. Anyway, this video call was right after the second time I baked thumbprint jam cookies and this time with my own additions to decorate them. When she saw the cookies all perfect in shape she just wanted to show her appreciation: "You never give up, sis!"

My sister had a point actually. I felt a strong need to bake thumbprint cookies once again to see if there was anything I could add/do to make them better. Accordingly, all I did was to chop some walnuts and after shaping the dough into balls and denting each ball as told in the recipe, to roll the cookies in the chopped walnuts. I think that's how I proved to be a determined cooking enthusiast. I think I am so. Yes, I am a cooking enthusiast, a determined one.

For the full recipe, please see the previous post.

Thumbprint Jam Cookies

Whenever I go through a recipe, I find it quite easy to visualise how the dish would look in the end knowing the type of sugar required or at what degree it should bake etc. That's why, I never use a recipe if I feel it's going to fail which naturally saves me time and precious ingredients. If the recipe is convincing enough, I give it a try right away.

This goes for the last recipe for jam thumprint cookies I found on Martha Stewart's website. Martha Stewart's recipe tells you to heat jam until liquefied in microwave or on stove, spoon the jam into each indentation and then bake. But the moment I noticed that the jam is spooned into the cookies before baking, I doubted whether the jam would ooze from the cookies while in the oven. However, I'd tried several recipes by Martha Stewart and found them very reliable. So, I decided to give it a go, though, with a presentiment of failure. 

I was totally right. The cookies spread as they baked and the strawberry jam I used started to bubble and flew out slowly. The cookies were still super delicious though. 

Well, I'd been cautious enough to bake the second tray of cookies without jam just in case and filled each indentation with the jam after the cookies cooled completely. Those ones turned gorgeous with the jam glowing in them like rubies. By the way, I'd also added some confectioner's sugar, vanilla extract and a pinch of salt to Martha Stewart's recipe.

Ingredients

24 tablespoons (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar + 1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
1 large egg
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup jam (any type)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 175 C degrees. 
2. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar combination until smooth. 
3. Add egg and salt and beat until completely combined. 
4. With mixer on low, add flour and vanilla and mix just until incorporated.
5. Shape dough into 2 cm balls. 
6. Place on baking sheets, at least 6 cm apart.
7. Moisten thumb with water, and gently press the center of each ball, making an indentation about 1/2 inch wide and inch deep.
8. Bake until cookies are golden brown around edges, 18 to 20 minutes.
9. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely. 
10. Spoon jam into each thumbprint and serve.

P.S. I, later on, happened to read another recipe telling to bake the thumbprint cookies for 10 minutes and then remove them from the oven, put the jam in each thumbprint and then continue baking for another 8-10 minutes. It  also sounds fine.