Wild Garlic

Wild garlic, srijemus or srijemas as it is called in Bosnia, appears in shady woodlands near streams during spring in Europe. This is what I've learnt on the Internet after my mother-in-law handed me a bunch of them one morning and so I became aware of its existence. 

To some this plant with its matt green leaves might simply stink because of its garlicky smell, but to others its distinctive flavour is a delicious addition to meat dishes. Another blogger suggested wrapping larger leaves of the plant around roasted fish which sounds great or leaving a few smaller ones in a bottle of olive oil to steep and give it a fantastic aroma and taste. I think there is no end to the list of the dishes you can use wild garlic in. If the dish you're preparing calls for garlic, go for wild garlic but remember to add it at the end of cooking to preserve the freshness.

You can keep the leaves and the stalks wrapped in the fridge for one week. The strange thing about wild garlic is that, for all its powerful aroma, the taste is gentler than conventional garlic cloves. In this sense, wild garlic is one of those blessings of nature you shouldn't turn your nose up at. Enjoy it while you can in spring. 
 

 

Rosemary Cornbread

In the last bakery shop I worked, they would make only one or two tins of cornbread late in the morning when the black oven got comparatively less busy. There were always a few customers who used to drop by and ask for that bread. When I handed the bread to them, I remember very clearly, they would smell it first to see if the chef used any Swiss chard leaves in particular. At first I couldn't get why they insisted on that detail. Later, one of those few customers, a middle-aged man who moved to Istanbul from a smaller city in the Black Sea Region, told me that his grandmother in his hometown used to bake cornbread with a few Swiss chard leaves placed into the baking pan which gave the bread its fabulous smell and flavour. So, the chef who would bake cornbread in the shop always placed a few leaves of collard greens into the pans on demand and the taste was always exceptional and the customers were always happy.

Well, we bought some cornmeal some time ago from a farmer and when I saw it all those memories revived in a split second. I wanted to make my own cornbread right away but I didn't have any greens at home. Since I wanted to flavour the bread anyhow, I decided to use rosemary leaves instead. It worked so well that I ate it up with yogurt alone. When I told a friend of mine how I made the bread, it iinspired her to make rosemary cornbread as well. Here comes the recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 whole egg
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 2 tablespoons shortening
• 1/4 cup fresh rosemary leaves

Preparation Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 200 C degrees.
2. Combine cornmeal, flour, salt, and baking powder in a bowl. Stir together.
3. Measure the buttermilk and milk in a measuring cup and add the egg. Stir together with a fork. Add the baking soda and stir.
4. Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients. Stir with a fork until combined.
5. In a small bowl, melt 1/4 shortening. Slowly add melted shortening to the batter, stirring until just combined. 
6. In an iron skillet, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons shortening over medium heat. Grease 20cmX12.5cm loaf tin with it. 
7. Pour the batter into the tin. Spread to even out the surface. 
8. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. 
9. Allow to cool slightly before cutting.

You can vary the recipe by adding other ingredients. Try it with cheese and you won't regret!

 

  

Flour Halwa

Turkish people make and eat halwa on severeal occasions. Births, deaths, starting school, the first day at work, moving to another country, going on a pilgrimage, returning from a pilgrimage, starting and finishing the military service, circumcision, and weddings are some of those occasions which shows that Turkish people consider halwa as an irreplaceable component of their lives. Today, funerals are the most common ceremonies that are accompanied with halwa, though.

Well, it's not written in any books, however, it's one of the first things we remember to make and share with friends, relatives and neighbours on special days and nights. When we feel happy or sad, we feel the need to make halwa and share it with others. It's more like a custom in Turkey which could be listed as part of our intangible cultural heritage. 

In this respect, I find it extremely important to preserve this knowledge of how to share sorrows and joys in life. Halwa is  one of those few factors that we constantly create in response to our environment, our interaction with nature and our history. So, halwa could be called a treat which provides us with a sense of identity and continuity, thus promoting respect for cultural diversity and human creativity. When you take a closer look at the use of the word 'halwa', it becomes more and more meaningful to you. It originated from the Arabic words 'hulwiyyat' or 'halawiyyat' and in current Arabic halwa means 'cute, pretty or lovely'. 

Ingredients
250 g butter
2 cups flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup milk
1 cup water
50 grams nuts
cinnamon, optional

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.
4. Meanwhile, pour in water and milk into another pan. Add in sugar and stir until it comes to a boil. Remove from heat.
5. Pour the water-milk-sugar mixture onto the roasted flour very slowly and continue stirring.
6. When the mixture boils and then gets thicker in consistency, remove the pan from heat.
7. Let it cool with the lid on for 10 minutes.
8. Shape the halwa using a wet tablespoon and garnish with pistachios, pine nuts or any other nuts you like.

Breast Cancer Awareness Posters #1

"The brain adds information to the raw visual impressions, which gives a richness of meaning far beyond the simple stimuli it receives." 

 

Roberto Solso, Cognition and the Visual Arts

Marble Cake

I need a new baking pan. 

This one in the photos just burns any cake inside mercilessly. I wanted to try Martha Stewart's marble cake recipe and ended up with this wonderful cake. However, the edges got burned because of the pan I used. 

Well, I do not want to bore you with the details but if you burn the cakes which taste great but get burned on the edges for the third or fourth time in a row, believe me, it's not you. It's the pan. Get rid of that pan and get a new one. 

How to fix a burned cake:

Using a nutmeg grater cut off the edges or the base (it depends on which part of the cake is burned) and cover it with frosting or icing. Alternatively, find a fine metal strainer to rub against the burned surface. This will remove all the charred bits without having to cut or break the cake.

And here comes the marble cake recipe:

 Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
• 1 3/4 cups cake flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup buttermilk, room temperature
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon cocoa powder

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter a baking pan and set aside. 
2. Whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Mix in vanilla. Add flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the buttermilk and beginning and ending with the flour. Set aside 1/3 of the batter.
4. In a bowl, mix cocoa and 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons boiling water with a rubber spatula until smooth. Add the cocoa mixture to the reserved cake batter; stir until well combined.
5. Transfer the vanilla batter into the pan and then spoon in the chocolate batter in different part of the batter. To create marbling, run a table knife (or wooden skewer) through the batters in a swirling motion.
6. Bake, rotating the pan halfway through, until a cake tester comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes. Transfer pan to a rack to cool 10 minutes. Turn out cake from pan and cool completely on the rack. Cake can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.

Wheat Flour Halwa without Water

 

When I read the title of this recipe and the directions, I thought it would be really easy to prepare it. No water added, no complicated techniques required, a piece of cake, I thought. Who wouldn't? 

 

I was wrong. 

 

Although the ingredients are quite easy to find and the directions super-easy to follow, there are two main difficulties you might have along the way. First, it might take really long for the flour to get the golden colour and you might get really tired stirring it and even give up at all. Secondly, even after you stir in the butter and sugar, the mixture might not be sticky enough which means it will be almost inpossible to shape the halwa. In this case, you should use the right brain and be creative, for example, add some warm milk until the halwa gets the right texture. I did. I managed to get the halwa shaped properly with addition of milk. 

 

However, please do not feel discouraged. I haven't complained about the taste, have I? The halwa was simply delicious! 

 

Ingredients

500 grams flour

500 grams powdered sugar

250 grams butter, in room temperature

pistachios to garnish

Directions

1. In a medium pan, stir the flour constantly over low heat until golden and remove from the heat. 

2. Stir in the margarine in chunks. Let it melt and get mixed with the flour.

3. Add the powdered sugar into the flour margarine mixture. Mix until all the ingredients are thoroughly blended together. 

4. Transfer into a deep plate. Let it cool down. 

Decoration:

Pinch off a little bit of the dough and roll them between the palms of your hands into little balls. Sprinkle with ground pistachios and extra powdered sugar.

or

Cut into desired pieces or shapes using cookie cutters.

or

Using two tablespoons give halva some sort of spoon-shape and serve with pistachio sprinkle.

or

Place halwa into individual bowls. Sprinkle pistachios over each bowl.

The Flea Market in Sarajevo

Good news! We finally made it to the only flea market in Sarajevo. Here are a few things I noticed about the market which has a lot in common with other flea markets around the world. 

It is an outdoor market place located next to the field that is used for the used for car sales.

The flea market is open only on Sunday until 2 or 3 pm depending on the weather that day. 

The vendors range from Roma families that rent a place to sell unwanted household items they collected from the trash all around Sarajevo to individuals who want to sell either used goods or high quality items at low prices. 

All the shopping was done through bargaining. 

It was freezing cold outside, but it was pretty crowded at times. I was really happy to see that the flea market itself was functioning like a living organism which makes it possible for the city and its dwellers to recycle things. Because almost all the items on sale were the things you would throw away at spring cleaning or wouldn't dare to give to a second person just because they might be offended when offered such used clothes, toys, cosmetics, tools, gadgets,etc. Take a look at the photos below and you will understand what I mean. 

By the way, I find flea markets literally charming both because I have always been interested in objects with their own (hi)story and because they resist consumerism culture with all their might on their own.  

Shopping Tip: 

If you ever come across something you have been desperately looking for or something you fall in love at first sight, play it cool and hide your feelings. Calm down and approach the vendor/seller then. When they notice how happy you get over things, they start bargaining at a far higher price than you would.

The Secret World of Arriety and the Raspberry Cake

Arrietty is one of our favourite characters. If you like animated fantasy films, particularly by Hayao Miyazaki, this film might be just for you. Arrietty which is classified under the titles The Borrower Arrietty in Japan and The Secret World of Arrietty in North America is based on The Borrowers by Mary Norton, an English author of children's books. It's about a family of tiny people who live secretly in the walls and floors of a typical household, borrowing items from humans to survive. 

Well, we've been watching it for the last week and every time I watched it the main character Arrietty inspired me to bake something colourful with a special flavour and I ended up with this raspberry cake. Blow-minding!

Ingredients
250 g flour, add more if the batter is too runny
2 medium eggs 
140 cup caster sugar
140 cup vegetable oil
140 cup milk
1 bag of baking powder (13g)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon rum aroma  
200 g fresh or frozen raspberries
powdered sugar, to serve
 

Directions
1. Heat oven to 180-190C and grease a 22 cm cake tin. 
2. Using an electric mixer, mix eggs and oil until creamy and then add milk, flour, baking powder, rum aroma, lemon juice until well combined.
3. Spread the mix over the cake tin and smooth over the top. Scatter the raspberries over. 
4. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden. 
5. Cool on a wire rack until completely cold. Remove from the tin and and dust with powdered sugar to serve. 

   

Crescent Cookies with Apple-Cinnamon Filling

 

Here comes the second recipe for the same type of crescent cookies in my previous post. This time I made apple-cinnamon filling which definitely gave them far better taste. Delicious!

For the Dough 

Ingredients

500g plain flour 200g butter, softened
200 ml sour cream 3 tablespoons caster sugar

2 small eggs
7g baking powder
lemon zest
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
powdered sugar and ground cinnamon to garnish
Apple-cinnamon filling

Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 180°C.  
2. Combine the butter, sugar, vanilla, zest and sour cream using an electric mixer.  
3. Add the flour and baking powder. Mix until it is well combined.
4. Divide the dough into five balls, cover with cling wrap or baking paper and put into the fridge to chill for 20 minutes.
5. Roll each ball into a thin (2mm) circle. Cut out smaller circles using a glass or cup.
6. Dot a small amount of filling at the bottom of each circle.
7. Cut stripes on the other side of the circles using a knife.
8. Roll each into a mini croissant shape.
9. Place onto a baking paper lined tray and into the oven for 15-20 minutes, until lightly golden. 
10. Cool on a wire rack and sprinkle with cinnamon and powdered sugar.

For the filling

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted margarine, softened
1 1/2 cups grated apples

3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Heat margarine in a large sauté pan over medium heat.
2.When bubbling, add the fruit and sauté 4 to 6 minutes until softened.
3. Stir in all remaining ingredients and put set aside to cool on the counter or in the refrigerator.
4. When cool, fill crescents with desired amount.

 

Crescent Cookies with Plum Jam

 

It is quite satisfying to find ways of producing things which have a feeling of both your own cuisine and the cuisine where you chose to live. One of the main reasons is that it makes you realise how successfully you have become part of that place and also how cleverly you managed to integrate your cultural elements with the new ones. Sometimes you end up having to divert from the original recipe just because you have run out of one the ingredients - necessity is the mother of invention! At other times, you feel there is something missing in the recipe - usually the spices people use in Turkey. Thinking so, or realising that I've been doing so since I first came to Sarajevo, I found four 'kiflice' recipes which are slightly different from each other. They were all tested by one of my colleague's mother. Kiflice, by the way, is a traditional treat in the Balkans. If you google it, you may come across several recipes under different names such Serbian rolls, Croatian rolls, Serbian crescents or Croatian crescent cookies. Whatever the name is, it's almost the same thing. Well, I chose two recipes and made those fantastic treats immediately. They came out just perfect! Here you will find the first recipe I tried which uses milk. So now, you might wonder what is it now that I added to this recipe. It's the way I shaped them. When the dough is ready to roll, the recipe tells you to divide the discs into triangles, just as pizza slices and then roll them over. That's it. It lacks the elegance that their mind-blowing taste would make you associate with. That was what I thought, at least, and so I cut a few stripes on one side of each disc which gives each crescent a finer look. Graceful and delicious!

Ingredients:
500g plain flour
250g butter, softened
200 ml milk 
2 tablespoons caster sugar
14g baking powder
lemon zest
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
powdered sugar and ground cinnamon to garnish
Plum jam for filling

Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 180°C.

2. Combine the butter, sugar, vanilla, zest and milk using an electric mixer.
3. Add the flour and baking powder. Mix until it is well combined.

4. Divide the dough into four disks, cover with cling wrap or baking paper and put into the fridge to chill for 20 minutes.
5. Roll each disc into a thin (2mm) circle. Cut out smaller circles using a glass or cup.
6. Dot a small amount of jam at the bottom of each circle.
7. Cut stripes on the other side of the circles using a knife. 
 
 
























8. Roll each into a mini croissant shape.
9. Place onto a baking paper lined tray and into the oven for 15-20 minutes, until lightly golden. 
10. Cool on a wire rack and sprinkle with cinnamon and powdered sugar.