A place to find my attempts to cook Slovenian and Uruguayan foods, the way grandma used to make, with a dash of my North American faves to fill in the gaps.
Yes it may be a little early for Christmas wishes but that's okay! As you may have noticed it has been quite a while since my last post - perhaps Christmas has taken it's toll and I simply haven't had much time at home to do any cooking or baking!
That is soon to change though, as I have been hard at work baking some goodies, unfortunately not specifically of the Slovenian or Uruguayan sort, but more traditional North American goodies. Hopefully I can post these updates before Christmas day arrives. In the meantime thanks for checking back and hopefully very soon you'll have something tasty to look at.
Pohan Piščanec or what we might know as simple 'fried chicken' is what's on today's menu!
This recipe is really the basic of the basic. Back in Slovenia this would be something you might have on a lazy Sunday for lunch or a quick and easy dinner! This is a favorite for my husband and I just because of how easy and quick it is to make. Here's what you will need..
Ingredients:
8 pieces of chicken (thigh, breast, etc)
salt
fresh or dried thyme (chopped)
Breading:
Flour
2 eggs
1 tablespoon oil
breadcrumbs
fat or oil for frying
Method:
Prepare the chicken by rinsing it under water. Dry it and cut if needed. Lightly salt.
Next you will need to set up the breading. Whisk your eggs thoroughly and add a spoonful of oil so the breading sticks better. Add the thyme to the egg mixture and stir.
Take your chicken pieces and roll them first into your egg mixture, let the excess drain off.
Now dust the chicken with the flour.
Re-dip chicken into the egg mixture and once the excess has dripped off, roll it into the breadcrumbs.
Repeat this with the rest of the chicken.
Once all the pieces have been breaded you can cook it in one of two ways. Either in fat or in the oven. I prefer to cook the chicken in the oven personally but it's up to you. If you are frying, heat up your oil in a pan and cook it for 8-15 minutes on each side depending on the cut. Once its cooked, place it on a paper towel to remove excess oil. If you are baking, place the chicken in a lightly greased pan at 350 degrees until the breading is lightly browned and juice from the chicken comes out clear.
And your done! You can add any side you like and serve!
I hope you enjoyed this recipe, see you next time!
Spinach Buñuelos or Fritters. These were something that my grandmother used to make for us when we were growing up. Unfortunately I never learned how to make them from her before she passed away. Recently I was able to find a recipe for them on the internet that I figured I should try and see if perhaps, they would turn out like hers. Well, they didn't quite turn out the way she would have made them but it was worth trying none the less. I am sure there are several different ways of making these. If you have a good one, don't forget to forward it along!
Buñuelos can generally be made with just about any type of filling, from spinach to fruit, to figs or marmalade. The possibilities are endless really. But for now, lets get to the recipe for these!
Ingredients:
2 bunches of fresh spinach (you can use frozen as well)
1/2 cup of flour
2 eggs, separated
2 tablespoons shredded cheese of your choice
salt
pepper
milk
oil for frying
Method:
If you are using fresh spinach, make sure to wash it thoroughly before using it. Now you can put it into a medium sized pot filled with enough water to almost cover the spinach. Set the water to boil. Once the spinach is cooked remove it from the water to strain. Cut it into small pieces as much as you can (it will be somewhat mushy so do what you can). Set aside.
In a small bowl, add the flour, egg yolks and enough milk to make a paste. Next add your shredded cheese, salt and pepper to taste. In another small container, beat the left over egg whites until they are frothy and add them to your mixture. Once everything is incorporated, add the spinach and stir in well.
Now you are ready to fry them. Carefully heat up your oil in a frying pan and once it is hot, add about 2 tablespoons of mixture for each Buñuelo. Brown both sides and place onto a paper towel to soak up any excess oil.
For some reason these turned into something that resembles more of a pancake then my granny's Buñuelos. I am not sure if perhaps this recipe didn't have enough flour or what, but they still turned out ok, if not exactly what I expected.
Let me know what you guys think of these, I am curious to see if in fact these are how many people make them or not.
Helloo! Yes, it may sound cocky - but these cupcakes are the best. I adapted them from another recipe I found that was for chocolate cake so it's truly twice the fun! This is the second part of my little post on the halloween cupcakes.
Heres the recipe!
Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 2 cups sugar (I used about half this amount) 2 eggs
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup strongly brewed coffee 1 cup buttermilk 1/2 cup vegetable oil (again, I used about 1/4 this amount without problem) 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Method:
Preheat your oven to 350F. Line your cupcake tins. In large a bowl mix together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Make a hole in the center and add the eggs, coffee, buttermilk, oil and vanilla. With an electric mixer, beat for 2 minutes on medium speed. Don't be alarmed if the batter is thin, it is supposed to be. Now fill your cupcake tins about 3/4's of the way full.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center of the cupcake comes out clean. Be very careful not to burn these or over cook them. Otherwise they will come out dry. Once they are done, make sure to cool these before you add any icing. Fill and/or frost as desired.
I wasn't as pleased with the chocolate icing I used for these as much as I would have liked, so for that reason I won't include it here. In case you do have a good one, please pass it along and I will post it!!
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this recipe as much as I do and as usual, your comments are welcome!!!
I was asked by a couple of people to post the recipe I used for my Halloween Carrot Cupcakes and Chocolate Cupcakes. So here it is!! I am going to divide them into two posts so it's easier to read. Hopefully you aren't 'cupcaked out' by now! haha Also I am in the process of gathering some Uruguayan recipes to post. I have been having a very hard time with this, as I have mentioned before, mostly because I don't have a cookbook specifically from there. But I think that I've got some good ones to tied us over for a little while.
On to the carrot cupcakes!
They are pretty much just like any other carrot cake recipe you've probably seen around - only thing I changed was the amount of sugar I used in them. Not sure about you guys, but I don't like it when carrot cake is too sweet, especially when the icing itself can be overly sweet.
Here is the recipe:
Ingredients:
1 pound of carrots, grated
3 eggs
1/3 cup buttermilk
1-2 cups of sugar (I used around 1 1/2 cups I think)
1 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 vanilla extract
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
raisins optional
Method:
Preheat your oven to 325F. Insert your muffin liners into an ungreased muffin tin. In a bowl, mix together the carrots, eggs, buttermilk, sugar, oil vanilla and raisins, if your using them. Once everything is well mixed, slowly add your flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices to the mixture, making sure everything is integrated.
Now you can fill up your cupcake liners! General rule of thumb is that you only fill them up about 3/4 of the way so they don't spill over during baking.
Bake these 22-28 minutes, depending on your oven's strength. I only needed to put them in for about 24 minutes. You will know when they are done by sticking a toothpick or knife in the center of one and it should come out clean.
Before you add any icing, you should let them cool on a rack for at least 10 minutes so the icing doesn't melt when you apply it.
Now the icing is your 'generic' cream cheese icing. For my cupcakes, again, I tried to add less sugar than the recipe called for, about half. The only problem with this is that it makes the icing more watery, and thus harder to work with - I haven't figured out at this point what I can substitute the sugar with to make it less watery. But here is the recipe and instructions either way and you can adjust it as you feel nessissary!
Cream Cheese Icing ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter (soft)
12 ounces cream cheese (also at room temperature)
2 - 4 cups icing sugar (I used around 2)
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
gel food coloring if desired
Method:
Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese for a couple of minutes until it becomes light and fluffy. Now you can add your vanilla and then sugar a little at a time until it's fully mixed. This would also be a good time to add food coloring if you are using any.
Now you are ready to ice your cupcakes which ever way you like, either with a piping bag or spread with a spatula.
Hopefully you guys like this recipe and if you have any suggestions please do leave a comment!! Enjoy!
I hope all of you are getting ready for Halloween, I know I am! Last night I made some cupcakes to bring to work - here is a little taste. It was hard to decide what exactly to bake since there are so many things out there (many of which require meticulous planning) but I went with the old fave instead. If you baked something cool, please feel free to forward your pictures and recipes, I would love to see them.
Anyway, I hope you all have a very spooky Halloween!!! =)
I just wanted to let you know that I am in the process of fixing my step by step pictures for the site. By fixing I mean, color correcting, cropping, etc so that they are a little easier on the eyes.
I have only gotten half way but am trucking along, so please bare with me as I update this. Unfortunately this means no new recipes probably for this week.
Thats right, Apple Strudel! Another hit from the Slovenian dessert world. I made this one a couple months ago but somehow forgot about it until now. This one is pretty similar to the Jabocna Potica (Apple Potica) but with a very different dough. My dough didn't turn out as flaky as it probably should have. I believe that this is due to using my power mixer instead of hand kneading. Basically I think I over did it with the mixer and the dough came out hard, rather than soft and flaky. That's just a note for any of you who (like me) are lazy about kneading dough. =)
On to the recipe!
Dough:
350g dough (pre-made or homemade)
For homemade dough:
*NOTE: I haven't tried this dough recipe yet, I can't seem to find the recipe I DID use either - so if this one turns out well for you, please do let me know!
300g sifted flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon butter
20 ml hot water
2 eggs
salt to taste
Apple Filling:
1 to 1.5 kg of apples (the more sour the better, I used Granny Smith apples)
lemon rind
1 tablespoon of rum
80g sugar
20 ml sour cream
120g butter
50g bread crumbs
100g raisins (optional)
Method:
Sift the flour, sugar and salt into a bowl. Dissolve butter using the hot water. Beat in your eggs. Add this to the flour and mix. Place on a floured surface and knead well for 10 minutes or until dough is pliable. Set aside and let rest for one hour.
Take a table cloth or clean sheet (I did not do this, but it will help you to roll up your strudel once it's filled). Make sure the cloth is long enough to hang over the sides. Now dust it with flour and place the dough in the center. With a floured rolling pin, roll out the dough to make a circle. Slide your hand below the circle of dough and let the dough rest on the back of your hands with your palms down. Now pull the center gently toward you. Stretch and pull the dough as you walk around the table. The dough should be as thin as tissue paper or as thin as you can get it.
Now for your filling. Wash, peel and de-core your apples. Grate your apples and place them in a bowl. Add the lemon zest, rum, sugar, sour cream and if desired, raisins. Set this mixture aside. Take your butter and fry the breadcrumbs lightly and then add this mixture in with the apples.
Now you can add the mixture onto your spread dough making sure it is even. Roll up the strudel by gently lifting the cloth from both sides (you may need help) and place your strudel in a well greased baking pan. Bake it in the oven at 350F for about one hour, or until the dough is lightly browned.
Everyone seems to have a different method of cooking strudel. I am not sure which is the best, but this is one way. As I always seem to say, if you find a better recipe please pass it along and I will try it out on the site.
In case you were wondering, I put some left over lemon rinds on top of the dough before baking - not exactly artistic but I didn't want to throw it away haha.
I am back with some more tasty treats for the holidays! If you read the last post about the Raspberry Cupcakes, I mentioned my new Martha Stewart cupcake book. This Red Velvet recipe also comes directly from there. I first tried this cupcake at Starbucks earlier this year when they had them as part of their Valentine's day specialties. It was AWESOME! I had many a sugar rush at work from these little guys, much to the dismay of my poor co-workers. This recipe is very much like the ones there, although not exactly. Either way well worth trying!
Ingredients:
Cake: 2 1/2 cups cake flour (Not self rising type), sifted 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder 1 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 cups sugar 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil 2 large eggs, room temperature 1/2 teaspoon red gel-paste food coloring 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1 cup buttermilk 1 1/3 teaspoons baking soda 2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar
Frosting: 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature 12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature 1 pound (4 cups) confectioners sugar, sifted 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Method:
Preheat your oven to 350F. Line your standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together the cake flour, cocoa, salt and set aside.
With an electric mixer set to medium-high speed, whisk together the sugar and oil until they are combined. Add eggs, one at a time making sure each one is mixed in before adding the next. Now, mix in your food coloring and vanilla.
Reduce your mixer speed to low and start to add your flour. Add it in three batches, and in between each batch add half a cup of butter milk until its all integrated. In another small bowl or container, mix together the baking soda and vinegar (it will foam). Add this mixture into the batter and mix it on medium for 10 seconds.
Your cake batter is now ready to be added to the cupcake pan. Make sure you add the same amount to each cupcake - 3/4 full. You can now place the tins in the oven to bake, make sure you rotate the tins half way through baking to ensure even cooking. After about 20 minutes they should be done, test with a toothpick to make sure.
Now before you do anything else, get these guys onto a rack or somewhere where they can cool while you make the icing. You don't want to be putting icing onto hot cupcakes.
Icing:
With your electric mixer on medium-high, beat butter and cream cheese until its fluffy (a couple of minutes). Reduce the speed to low and add sugar a 1/2 cup at a time, followed by the vanilla. And your done!
This icing can be refrigerated for up to 3 days (according to Martha). After your done you can ice these guys which ever way you like. I also put some red sprinkles on after I iced them, but that's up to you.
Not many pics of the process on this guy unfortunately, I was in a bit of a hurry, but here are a few anyway featuring my special helper Sebastian. Enjoy!
What a mouthful! But a good one at that ;) This little recipe I took from a new cookbook I got (thanks to a recommendation from Louise!) by Martha Stewart. The book is called 'Cupcakes'. If you are at all interested in making all different kinds of cupcakes you should definitely pick up this book. I will be posting a couple different recipes from it in the next week.
Here's the recipe,
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups finely ground graham crackers 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted 1 1/2 cups plus 5 tablespoons sugar 1 container (6 oz) fresh raspberries 2 pounds (4 cups) cream cheese, room temperature pinch salt 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 4 large eggs, room temperature cupcake papers
Method:
Preheat your oven to 325F. Line your muffin tin with cupcake papers and set aside. Take your graham crackers, butter and 3 tablespoons of sugar and mix them together. With a spoon or whatever utensil you want, press 1 tablespoon of the crust mixture firmly into the bottom of each lined muffin paper. Once your finished, put the tins in the oven and bake for about 5 minutes. Set aside.
Process raspberries in a food processor until smooth (about 30 seconds). Pass the puree through a sieve into a small bowl, and get as much liquid out as possible. You can throw out the solids. Whisk in 2 tablespoons of sugar.
With the electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the cream cheese until it's fluffy.
Now set your mixer to low speed and add the remaining 1 1/2 cups of sugar in a steady stream. Add your salt and vanilla and mix until everything is well combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each one.
Your filling is now ready for your muffin tins! Spoon in about 3 tablespoons of filling over your crust in each cup. Drizzle 1/2 teaspoon of raspberry puree on each cake. Now comes the fun part! With a toothpick or other such device, swirl the raspberry sauce through the filling in whatever design you like!
Place each tin in a roasting pan filled with enough hot water to come 3/4's of the way up sides of the cups. You may have to do this in several batches (I did). Half way through baking, rotate the pan so you ensure even cooking. Bake for about 22 minutes or until filling looks set.
Once they are done, just put them on a wire rack to cool. Once they are fully cooled down, make sure you put these in the fridge for at least 4 hours so they finish setting.
And that is it! Hopefully you enjoy these guys, they are pretty easy and look nice too!
Hello all! Hope you all had an awesome Thanksgiving (in Canada)! We didn't gorge ourselves too badly but were definitely satisfied with our turkey festivities. In light of the holidays up here, I have decided to dedicate the next 3-4 recipe posts on more 'Canadian' or North American style desserts. I made a couple this holiday weekend but also some others from the last couple of months I thought I could share with you all. Hopefully you guys enjoy these as much as I did!
Jabocna Potica or the best English translation I can come up with, 'Apple Roll' is a Slovenian treat that is sweet, but not over powering and can be eaten just about anytime! Some people eat it as a dessert, others as an afternoon snack, etc. Potica is usually made with walnuts. When we went to Slovenia I never saw the apple version until I saw it in a recipe book that Sebastian's grandmother gave me and it looked super good!!! This recipe is really relatively easy, the only area I seemed to have trouble in was when it came to baking. That was only because I used the wrong temperature(DOH!). Don't ask how that happened haha. Either way, it still turned out awesome and I will definitely be making this one again!
Ingredients:
Dough: 500g / 2.2 cups flour 100g / 0.45 cups butter 4.2 tbsp sugar 1 cup milk 2.5 tbsp yeast 3 egg yolks 1 flat tsp salt 1 tbsp rum lemon or orange peel
Filling: 1 kg shredded apple 150g / 0.65 cup sugar 6 tbsp cream 2 eggs breadcrumbs cinnamon lemon peel
Method:
Place your sieved flour somewhere warm in order to heat it. I used the vent on my oven and turned it on low. Put yeast into a small bowl, add 2-3 tbsp of warm flour, 1 tbsp of sugar and 1 tbsp lukewarm milk. You may need a little extra milk or enough to be able to stir everything together. Put this mixture somewhere warm (same place as your flour probably) and let it rise.
In the meantime, beat together the rest of the milk, egg yolks, sugar, salt, lemon/orange peel. Then heat up the mixture. Add melted butter and rum. Gradually pour into heated flour. Then add yeast mixture. Make into a dough and knead until dough is no longer sticky.
Cover dough with a towel and keep warm so it will rise. After it rises, roll out the dough. Brush on mixture of cream and 2 egg whites beaten until they are a thicker consistency. Afterwards, pour on a mixture of breadcrumbs, apples, sugar, cinnamon and grated lemon peel. Spread it out evenly leaving room on the edges.
Carefully roll the dough into a cylinder. You might need a hand with this.
Take your pan and make sure it is greased and dusted lightly with breadcrumbs and place your potica inside. Let it rise again in the pan. Put it in the oven to bake for 1 hour at 335f.
That's basically all!! Once it is done, you can flip the pan around and cut it into small slices.
This little 'cake' tastes great and I hope you guys enjoy it also!
A funny girl who likes making sweets and eating them too! This is my blog to share Uruguayan foods from my childhood and Slovenian foods I love thanks to my husband!
