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.
Hello! I am back as promised with another one of the recipes I made for Christmas. This particular one gave me MANY problems. I suppose some things take several tries to get perfect, but in the end it worked out pretty well. My main issue was getting the consistency right. For some reason, it was always too soft to roll, so I kept having to add more and more chocolate. Having said that, I was probably tired and stressed out at the time, so I may very well have fudged up some measurements without realizing. Either way, I hope you try this out and perhaps you can give me your thoughts or comments on how it went for you. Here goes!
Ingredients:
1/2 cup heavy cream
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp Champagne
1 tbsp Cognac or Brandy
cocoa or whatever you fancy for rolling
Method:
In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a boil. As soon as the cream boils, place it over the chopped chocolate in a medium bowl. Stir until the chocolate has fully dissolved into the cream.
Stir in the Champagne and Cognac or Brandy.
Chill for about 2 hours or until thick and pliable. It should be somewhat the consistency of a heavy dough. If you can't picture yourself rolling it into a ball, it's either not thick enough or not chilled enough. Using a melon baller or ice cream scooper, form little balls and place them on wax paper and chill for 15 minutes.
Place cocoa (or whatever you've decided to roll your truffles in) into a shallow bowl. Now you can roll each ball into the cocoa until they are fully coated. If they start to melt too much, you can put them back in the fridge for a couple minutes to harden up again.
Once your done, you can return them to your wax paper and chill them for another 30 minutes or until they are firm. And your done!
I keep mine in the freezer so they last longer as, they are quite rich so you won't be able to get through them fast. Let me know how these work for you! If you find that you have the same problem as me and they come out to watery, try adding more chocolate until you get the right thickness. See you next time!
Hi all! Well as I am sure you've noticed, my idea of posting all my holiday baked goodies didn't work out as planned. Life took over and I had no time to do anything with the blog. BUT, now there seems to be a bit of a lull in my day where I can escape and get some of these recipes posted, yay!
What better to start off with then the Cranberry Jelly Roll! This one came from a magazine I got at the local supermarket which again happened to be Martha Stewart. I never go looking for her books or magazines, but I always seem to end up buying them. Anyway, this recipe is nice because it's relatively easy but will make you look like a pro! Here's what you'll need :
Ingredients:
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp sifted cake flour (non rising)
3 tbsp finely ground almonds (may be toasted)
1/8 tsp salt
3 large eggs and 2 yolks
1 cup sugar
4 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup confectioners sugar
8 ounces fresh or frozen cranberries
1 pound cream cheese, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
cooking spray
Method:
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Lightly coat a 12x17inch, rimmed pan, with cooking spray. Next place parchment paper to line the pan and spray on top of it.
Dust the parchment paper with flour and tap out any excess. In a bowl mix together the flour, ground almonds and salt. In a heat-proof bowl combine the eggs, yolks and 1/2 cup of sugar. Put the bowl into or above simmering water and stir until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is warm. Remove it from heat and using an electric mixer set to medium, whisk for 2 minutes. Raise the speed to high and continue whisking for another 4 minutes.
Now add your flour mixture into your egg mixture making sure you don't make clumps. When the two are almost incorporated, add the butter down the side of the bowl and fold in. Your batter is done and is ready to bake. Gently spread the batter into the prepared pan flattening it out with a spatula. Tap the pan on the counter to get rid of any air bubbles.
Bake 7-8 minutes or until golden brown and springy to the touch. Let cool for 5 minutes. Run a sharp knife around the sides of the cake to free it from the parchment paper. Take another pan or a kitchen towel dusted with confectioners sugar and invert the cake onto it. Starting with the shorter (or thinner) side, roll the cake into a log (incorperating the towel) and let cool further, with the seam facing down.
In the meantime, you can start making the jam. Cook your cranberries and remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly until the sugar dissolves.
Continue to cook until the cranberries have broken down and the liquid has begun to evaporate, somewhere between 5-7 minutes. Let this cool and then puree in a food processer until it's smooth. Let cool completely.
With an electric mixer on medium, beat the cream cheese and confectioners sugar until it is light and fluffy. Add vanilla and continue beating for another 30 seconds.
Unroll the log, spead with jam making sure to leave 1/2inch border on all sides. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the jam.
You can reroll the cake now (excluding the towel of course ;) and cover with a towel. Chill for 30 minutes or up to 3 hours. Once cool you can trim the ends off. Before serving, you may dust with confectioners sugar.
There you are! I hope this one turns out good for you! It may seem a little complicated at first but once you do it once, it's quite simple. My one critique with this is that the cream cheese seemed a little to strong for my tastes. I wonder if theres some way of mixing cream cheese with perhaps whipped cream or some other type of cream all together. For some reason Martha Stewart seems to love her cream cheese a little too much. haha
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!
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!
