It’s been forever since I last cooked something for the Cooking Italy group which is all about the wonderful book “The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking” by Marcella Hazan. You know how things like that go; in between cooking for the Daring Cooks, the Daring Bakers and various other cooking groups and challenges… [...]]]>

Tomato bruschetta

It’s been forever since I last cooked something for the Cooking Italy group which is all about the wonderful book “The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking” by Marcella Hazan. You know how things like that go; in between cooking for the Daring Cooks, the Daring Bakers and various other cooking groups and challenges… it almost seems impossible to keep things up!

The problem is that I like them all, but reality is that I simply cannot do them all. Not all the time anyways… On top of that I had decided to lose weight (whatever happened to that…lol) and figured I could do without rich and creamy pasta sauces for a while. Well, I can tell you that it sure helps to not eat rich and creamy but it doesn’t help if you then end up baking chocolate cakes or other sweet and wonderful goodies! O well, as long as we’re healthy right?

I bumped (yes, bumped… It’s a very large book….lol) into Marcella’s book last week and then figured it was about time I got back into cooking with the group. I totally love her recipes and the two I will share with you today are two prime examples how simple cooking can be soooo rewarding.

The first one is a delicious tomato bruschetta which is just simple and gorgeous all on it’s own. Works perfect as an appetizer, a snack or a light lunch. We had this together with the pasta as there is not a lot of greens in the pasta and I figured that instead of doing a salad I make a nice bruschetta. The bruschetta was on the Cooking Italy schedule even before I started with the group, but I hadn’t made it and I love all bruschetta’s.. so a natural choice!

It amazes me every single time how much flavor you get by simply rubbing a clove of garlic over a toasted piece of bread! The recipe said to spread the garlic over the bread but I tend to find that a bit too overpowering so I rubbed half a clove of garlic over the fresly toasted bread, sprinkled it with olive oil and put the tomatoes on top. Key in this recipe is to use good tomatoes. You do not want the watery type. That will just kill the taste of the bruschetta. So nice tomatoes, whatever variety you have in your area and remove the seeds for the most part and chop them in small pieces, mix with fresh basil and put on top of your warm toasted bread. Add some salt and pepper and you’re done!

And delicious it is!

By the time we got to the pasta it was dark, so not the best light to shoot a pasta dish. The pasta was incredible; there is hardly any ingredients in there and it is still very good and very tasty! You should give it a try!

SAUSAGE AND CREAM SAUCE (serves 4)

225 gr sweet sausage

1,5 tbsp chopped onion

25 gr of butter

1 tbsp of vegetable oil

freshly ground black pepper, salt and freshly grated parmezan for the table

150 ml whipping cream

450 gr of pasta (this sauce benefits from using a pasta shape that traps the sauce well, such as conchiglie or fusili

1. Skin the sausage and crumble it as fine as possible

2. Put the chopped onion, butter and vegetable oil in a small saucepan. Turn the heat to medium and cook until the onion becomes colored a pale gold, Add the crumbled sausage and cook for 10 minutes. Add a few grindings of pepper, all the cream, turn the heat to medium high and cook until the cream has thickened, stirring once or twice. Taste and correct for salt.

3. Toss the sauce with cooked, drained pasta and serve at once with grated parmesan on the side.

Pasta with cream and sausage

Remember when we did the cooking course in Amsterdam at the Kookstudio in March of last year? That was the so called beginners course and we followed the advance course after that but when it was finished we kind of felt we wanted to do some more. The problem is that you [...]]]>

Rob making mayonaisse

Remember when we did the cooking course in Amsterdam at the Kookstudio in March of last year? That was the so called beginners course and we followed the advance course after that but when it was finished we kind of felt we wanted to do some more. The problem is that you can find loads of cooking workshops in the Netherlands but not a lot that actually teach you about product and techniques rather then simply following a recipe in a class.

I am not interested in someone showing me a recipe and telling me that I can follow the recipe. I know I can do that by myself at home if I so desire. I am interested in finding out how to treat the various products, how to recognize good from bad and how to cook from scratch really. So…. after some discussion between Tom and myself we decided to do the same course we did last year again… Is that silly? Our reasoning is that we got so much information that it’s hard to remember it all plus we do look differently at things compaired to last year. But anyway we signed up again and last saturday was our first lesson.

And I have to say it’s actually very usefull doing this for the second time. When you are trying to learn something new at school it’s the power of repetition that works there too right? It’s the same in cooking class. The first lesson is all about cutting, making mayonaisse and roux and transforming that into croquettes and cutting fresh fries from potatoes. So ok, probably not the most exciting lesson to do for the second time, but still I found it useful. I remember from the first time that all that information was quite overwhelming. The second time around I was more like; ‘Oooo, now I get it!’

As far as cutting goes; I know how it should be done in theory and I have becoming much much better in cutting but it is still work in progress. I guess that is really a case of practice makes perfect (and using good knifes)

What I did do this time around that I had not done before is that I made a basic salpicon (base for a croquette) in the Taurus Cook. It’s supposedly a machine that does most of the work for you. It cooks, blends, mixes etc and it – or so I have been told – perfect for making a roux or for making soup and sauces. To be honest; when I saw the thing I was a bit overwhelmed. I mean; making a roux is fairly straightforward when you do it on the stove so why would you even spend all that money on a machine that makes the whole process look more complicated then it really is?

But it was new and I did want to see if it would do the job better in the machine then if you would do the same thing by hand. The machine has a couple of buttons but what you basically have to do for each step of the process is to set the right temperature, the mixing speed and the time required for each ingredient. Unfortunately you still have to do the chopping yourself.. I would have thought a machine like that should do that as well. If you’re gonna be making life easier then why not add that functionality as well. But it doesn’t so chopping the ingredients is still required but that is really the only work you need to do.

You add the onions, cook for about a minute, then add the next ingredient and so forth and after a couple of minutes out comes a salpicon. In terms of speed and ease of use it gets good points from me. Once you’re over the initial hurdle of getting familiair with the various buttons it’s really quite simple. The biggest disadvantage is the fact that it’s really hard to taste in between the various steps, so adding salt and pepper or other seasonings during the process is not easy and becomes a bit of a hit and run kind of thing. We could have used a bit more seasoning as the taste was very bland.

But before we could transform the salpicon into little croquettes it had to be chilled in the fridge. As soon as it came out it became apparent that the “perfect” process in the taurus does not make a “perfect” salpicon. The structure was just wrong; very plastic and rubbery almost. We did roll them into balls and fried those, but apart from the taste that wasn’t as it should be, the texture of the thing was just not good. You know when you make it the traditional method on the stove I think it is almost the imperfections in the process that make it perfect…. Does that make sense?

In this case everything was cooked at the right temperature for exactly the right time but probably the gluten in the flour therefore got activated more bringing it all together much more then if you put it on the stove. I don’t know… I am getting way to technical here…lol  Bottomline is; easy to use, but the results were very disappointing. It would be interesting to see what the machine would do to a soup, but quite franky I fear it will do the same. Plus…. the biggest drawback is the fact that I miss the action!! What is the fun in cooking if a machine does it all for you?(I know for a fact that there are many people out there that would buy it for that reason alone.. But not if you love to cook!!)

I love my tools such as the Magimix and the KitchenAid but they do not do all the work for you. They merely make it a little bit easier. This machine is different in that it does it all. I certainly would not bother spending money on a machine such as that. But that’s just my opinion ofcourse.

Machine at work

I did find it interesting to be able to try out a machine like that and it does look impressive with all the steam coming out don’t you think?

Next week is going to be the chicken and poultry lesson. One of my favorites!!

Tom likes to burn stuff...

Today I had a revelation; I have loved poffertjes all my life but as of today it is official; the Dutch have been defeated in the making of these treats by the Danish… It’s sad but true. Well, ok in the defense of the Dutch nation; it is not really [...]]]>

Bigger and better...

Today I had a revelation; I have loved poffertjes all my life but as of today it is official; the Dutch have been defeated in the making of these treats by the Danish… It’s sad but true. Well, ok in the defense of the Dutch nation; it is not really the same recipe and there are some noticeable differences between the two, so maybe I shouldn’t even be compairing them. You know what? Let’s not.. I might offend half the Dutch population in the process of proclaiming the Danish ones better so let’s not go there…lol… But seriously… these little darlings are sooooo good and I didn’t expect them to be so it was a delightful surprise when I was making them this afternoon. Being all alone in the house I could not share them with anyone unfortunately so I had to send Tom and text message saying that he missed something really really good and a promise that I will make them for him tomorrow. Yes, they are that good!

Look at that banana filling

How did we get to making these little gems? As you might remember if you read this blog more often Nurit of FamilyFriendlyFood and I had a ‘virtual cooking together’ session last month in which we made our national treat of Dutch poffertjes. You can read all about it here and here. We liked it so much that we have decided to try out more variations of the pancake/poffertje theme trying out various recipes around the world. This month we are going to be joined by Trissa from Trissalicious so I cannot wait to see what they have come up with! We initially had planned to make these earlier but due to all sorts of reason it got pushed out a bit further but here we are; I have made them!

So what does make these so much better then the Dutch ones? For one; they are somewhat bigger, so that gives you the opportunity to fill them with lots of good things. That also gives them a unique quality in my eyes above the regular poffertjes as I do think that the filling makes a big big difference. That plus the fluffy and airy texture of them. I think it is the beaten eggwhites that go into the batter that gives the Aebleskiver there airiness and the slight crunch of the outside. Combine that with fruity or chocolaty insides and you have real winner. I made only two batches since I was on my own. The first batch I baked with banana slices inside and the second one with a teaspoon of apple compote inside, but really you could fill it with just about anything you like; cherries, pineapple, jam, chocolate and fact I would not be surprised if they go really well with cheese inside of them too… Ooo, now that I am writing that down; I am sooo gonna try that next! Blue melty cheese on the inside… How good can it get?

I have to confess that I ate both of the portions and felt that I should still eat more of them. Which would not have been a good decision at this point. Good thing I didn’t plan on having anything special for dinner as I am kind of full after eating these, so I think I will just settle for some leftover macaroni from yesterday if I end up feeling like eating again…

And now; the moment you have all been waiting for; the recipe…. I got the recipe from Nurit actually. This was the recipe that was attached to the pan when she bought it. You have to know that in order to make these you need a special pan, which I took a photo of a little further down below. It typically has 7 large dents in it to put the batter in and is made of castiron. At least mine is. Keep in mind also that mine is weird in the sense that you cannot use it on the stove without putting something underneath. Not sure why that is really but I used a baking tray rack to put on top of the stove so I could put the pan on it. It did mean that it got heated slightly uneven so I had to keep that in mind while baking them but other then that; it all went fine. I could even get them out of the pan quite easily. Just make sure you use enough butter here… Not a low calorie treat for sure!

Aebleskiver pan with batter inside; see the rack I placed it on?

Aebleskiver (makes about 20 pancakes)

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 tablespoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 eggs, separated

250 ml milk (1 cup)

2 tablespoons of butter, melted, plus more for cooking

For filling use; jam, bananas, chocolate, apple, apple sauce, pineapple, blueberries, raspberries… o well, anything…

Maple syrup and/or powdered sugar for serving

In a big bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.

In a small bowl, lightly whisk the egg yolks, then add the milk and the melted butter.

Whisk the yolk mixture into the flour mixture until the batter is well combined. In a third bowl, using an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites on high speed until stiff but not dry peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the whites into the batter in 2-3 additions.

Put 1/4 teaspoon butter in each well of the pancake pan. Place over medium heat and heat until the butter begins to sizzle. Using a pastry/silicon brush, coat surface of wells entirely with the butter. Pour 1 tbsp batter into each well, then add some of the filling in the center of each pancake and top with another 1 tablespoon of batter. Cook until the bottoms are golden brown, crispy, and slightly pulls away around the edge, 3 to 5 minutes. Using 2 wooden skwers, flip the pancakes over and cook until golden and crispy on the other side, about 3 minutes more. Transfer to a plate.

Check out Nurit’s post here and Trissa’s post here

It’s been almost one and a half year ago that I last made this dish… Where did time go?? I cannot believe it is that long but here we are in 2010 and I made this before in 2008… The recipe comes originally from the book “Rond de wereld in 80 recepten” (around [...]]]>

Creamy pasta

It’s been almost one and a half year ago that I last made this dish… Where did time go?? I cannot believe it is that long but here we are in 2010 and I made this before in 2008… The recipe comes originally from the book “Rond de wereld in 80 recepten” (around the world in 80 recipes) from Madelon Schoemaker and I loved it right from the beginning. It’s not something that Tom would like as it is way too creamy for him, but I totally love it. I did make some alterations from the first time I made it from the one I made for lunch today, but overall; very good recipe… Now….. I also attempted to take a photo of the dish that first time and… ok.. this is quite embarrassing so promise you will not laugh…. I think I can safely say that it is officially the WORST foodphoto I (or anyone else for that matter) have ever made. Seriously…. if you look at that photo you would not ever want to go and make that dish now would you??

The same creation two years ago....

I get red cheeks even looking at that blob on the left… I do remember being totally frustrated with it (I wonder why??) and then even attempting to remake the dish with all the wrong ingredients and well, quite frankly it only proofs that I didn’t know a thing about foodstyling back then. And I only took the picture on the left and below to prove a point really. Not because I thought it was worth sharing!! (well, the recipe is, but the photo… let’s not talk about it anymore…) The second attempt with the green tagliatelle (what was I thinking???) is possibly worse then the first even. Well no, that is just the ultimate wrongness… haha..

Ofcourse two years ago I only started out in blogging and taking foodphotos and it was all pretty new to me. If I had known a little more I would have realized from the start that the sauce is not the most photogenic so following the recipe and taking the photo as it was; is simply not gonna work for this dish. And while the photo that I took today is not entirely perfect either.. it’s a hell of a lot better then that first one; wouldn’t you agree?

And the sorry second attempt...

I remember posting it on Flickr, quite desperately and asking people how they would possibly improve on this dish… I removed the photo later on as you don’t want that to be seen by anyone quite frankly. But on the other hand; it’s the reality, right? And I am sure I am not the only one who has been faced with total disaster when it comes to styling (or cooking) your food. Some dishes are just more photogenic than others and this is a good example of a rather difficult dish to style. For starters the sauce is white as you can see and quite thick so it does not flow around the pasta like – for instance – a carbonara would do so it’s a blob of sauce to start with. When you add all ingredients to the sauce and then put the sauce on top of the pasta you get the results on the left.

So what did I decide to do differently knowing where it would go wrong. I chose a different shape of pasta and certainly not the whole wheat variety which is just plain terrible to look at. I mixed the onions and the chicken that I used with the mascarpone and that was then my sauce but the rest of the ingredients I decided to add to the pasta later and not mix all together in the sauce. After cooking the pasta I added a drop of olive oil to it, so it shines nicely (and doesn’t stick together obviously) which also helps with the overall look.

I changed some of the ingredients to suit my taste better. The original recipe has shrimps in it and I am not a huge fan of shrimps. I like them, just not everywhere so I substituted with smoked chicken. Below is the recipe for 2 people with my alterations included.

CREAMY PASTA

150 gr pasta

1 spring onion, chopped

200 gr cherry tomatoes

150 gr smoked chicken, chopped

100 gr mascarpone

fresh parsley, cut

peper, salt, italian herbs

pinenuts, toasted

50 gr chive, cut

parmezan, grated

Boil pasta according to instructions. Cut the tomatoes in two. For the sauce lightly fry the onions and add the smoked chicken. Once done, add the onions and chicken to the mascarpone and stir until smooth. Add peper, salt and italian herbs to taste.

Add the chives to the pasta and divide over your plates. Put the sauce on top and add the tomatoes, pinenuts and parsley. Sprinkle with some parmezan to your liking…

Now go on…. have a good laugh!

I was quite excited when I read what the Daring Bakers challenge for this month was gonna be… Tiramisu…  And it would be hosted by two of my favorite blogs! Tiramisu is an old time favorite in this household and in fact something I make almost every year for New Years when we [...]]]>

Amaretto tiramisu

I was quite excited when I read what the Daring Bakers challenge for this month was gonna be… Tiramisu…  And it would be hosted by two of my favorite blogs! Tiramisu is an old time favorite in this household and in fact something I make almost every year for New Years when we go and visit friends. It’s become one of those things where people are really disappointed when you do not bring a bowl full of the creamy goodness. My recipe for tiramisu is quick and simple and I might share it some other time, but for now let’s focus on the DB tiramisu!

The February 2010 Daring Bakers? challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking. They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession.

For this challenge the mandatory things to do where to make our own ladyfingers and… to make our own mascarpone! It’s one of those where you seriously have no idea how things are made. Ok I realize that mascarpone is dairy but that doesn’t mean anything. Little did I know that it would be straightforward to make (I did not think it was that straightforward while making it but trust me things turned out to be different then expected!) I started making all the various parts of the challenge on the sunday so I would have enough time for the tiramisu to be assembled and then photographed as well. I started by making the pastry cream and the zabaglione, which were both very easy to make. Next was the ladyfinger batter which was also not difficult to do except for the fact that I felt that they became soft rather quickly even though I kept them in an airtight container only for one night. It didn’t really matter ofcourse since they were gonna be soggy anyway but still. It did suprise me and on second thought I might have had to keep them in the oven a tiny bit longer to get rid of that issue. But then who knows? I also didn’t make enough of the cookies. I didn’t count them and figured I would have enough for what I wanted to do so I didn’t finish all the batter. Mistake…!

Ladyfingers

Not a major disaster and I managed with what I had but just barely and would I have had more cookies it would have been easier to divide.

When the cookies where in the oven I started on the mascarpone making, which is essentially cream that needs to be cooked till 190 degrees F. I used a double boiler as per the recipe but the warming up took for-ev-er and once bubbles tried to break through the surface I added the lemon juice as per the instructions and that is where the cream should have started to curdle. Now…. that is one of those words that I think I know what it means but it might actually be something else; in which case I was waiting for something that would never happen…lol… In any case it was supposed to get thicker and that it did not do. No matter how long I waited and no matter that I turned the heat up a bit, adding more lemon juice.. All to no avail. After what felt like a century but what was in fact something like 45 minutes I gave up and figured I just dump the stuff into the sieve and see what would happen the next day. I didn’t have cheesecloth so I used a cotton teatowel instead. I read on the DB forum that I was not the only one having issues with the mascarpone, so I dreaded the moment the next day where I would find only a little bit of cheesy goodness left and a major amount of fluid under the sieve.

So guess my total surprise when I peeked into the fridge the next morning to find a perfect batch of creamy and delicious mascarpone! Magic… pure magic… It had the right consistency and if anything, was even slightly firmer then the storebought varieties and the taste was good too.! I had honestly already agreed with myself that I would use storebought if it was a total drab, but this was ofcourse even better!!

So with the mascarpone successfully behind my back there was really nothing holding me back from assembling the tiramisu. O I have to tell you that I do not like rum or marsala so whereever the recipe called for something alcoholic I used amaretto instead. Ever since I started making tiramisu I have used amaretto instead of the regular rum. And believe me when I say it is irresistable. Really, really good. It gives it a slight almond flavor too. But then I love amaretto so you might not like it so much if you don’t like amaretto.

Perfect mascarpone

I wish I actually had a before and after picture of the mascarpone but I didn’t feel like taking a photo of the cream as it really did not look any different from when I started, but as you can see on the ‘after’ photo; it is looking good!!

For the dipping of the ladyfingers I used again amaretto and not so much sugar as the recipe said either. I am used to not using any sugar at all for the dip, so I just added a tiny bit in and diluted the coffee with about a tablespoon of amaretto.

I could really not dip both sides of the tiramisu since that was just too much liquid, plus I don’t like those soggy tiramisu’ that you buy in the supermarket… Yuck…! I wanted to try a variety of forms, but I actually like the glasses the best. Not only because it stays together but I love to peak through the glass and see the ladyfingers there; hiding. I did the glasses, one round form and one square… The ring of the round one should have been a little wider as you will see in the picture somewhere below; because the ladyfingers got wet so quickly they also got quite limp so it was difficult to keep them up as I wanted to have a ring of ladyfingers around the outer edge on the round form. Right now it looks kind of weird and wobbly (but hey, definitely homemade!)

Square form

And then for the most important part; the taste… O the taste… I can’t find much wrong with the taste. In fact I absolutely love it. It has a very slight lemon flavor which I love and overall this is a really really good tiramisu. Truth be told; I will probably stick to my regular tried and tested recipe as it is a zillion times quicker and tastes just as good. I did love making my own mascarpone and after that fear of failure it turned out to be pretty straightforward as I promised you!

Now for all who want to try this; here is the recipe(s)!

TIRAMISU

(Recipe source: Carminantonio’s Tiramisu from The Washington Post, July 11 2007 )
This recipe makes 6 servings

Ingredients:
For the zabaglione:
2 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons sugar/50gms
1/4 cup/60ml Marsala wine (or port or coffee)
1/4 teaspoon/ 1.25ml vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

For the vanilla pastry cream:
1/4 cup/55gms sugar
1 tablespoon/8gms all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon/ 2.5ml vanilla extract
1 large egg yolk
3/4 cup/175ml whole milk

For the whipped cream:
1 cup/235ml chilled heavy cream (we used 25%)
1/4 cup/55gms sugar
1/2 teaspoon/ 2.5ml vanilla extract

To assemble the tiramisu:
2 cups/470ml brewed espresso, warmed
1 teaspoon/5ml rum extract (optional)
1/2 cup/110gms sugar
1/3 cup/75gms mascarpone cheese
36 savoiardi/ ladyfinger biscuits (you may use less)
2 tablespoons/30gms unsweetened cocoa powder

Method:
For the zabaglione:
Heat water in a double boiler. If you don?t have a double boiler, place a pot with about an inch of water in it on the stove. Place a heat-proof bowl in the pot making sure the bottom does not touch the water.
In a large mixing bowl (or stainless steel mixing bowl), mix together the egg yolks, sugar, the Marsala (or espresso/ coffee), vanilla extract and lemon zest. Whisk together until the yolks are fully blended and the mixture looks smooth.
Transfer the mixture to the top of a double boiler or place your bowl over the pan/ pot with simmering water. Cook the egg mixture over low heat, stirring constantly, for about 8 minutes or until it resembles thick custard. It may bubble a bit as it reaches that consistency.
Let cool to room temperature and transfer the zabaglione to a bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, until thoroughly chilled.

For the pastry cream:
Mix together the sugar, flour, lemon zest and vanilla extract in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. To this add the egg yolk and half the milk. Whisk until smooth.
Now place the saucepan over low heat and cook, stirring constantly to prevent the mixture from curdling.
Add the remaining milk a little at a time, still stirring constantly. After about 12 minutes the mixture will be thick, free of lumps and beginning to bubble. (If you have a few lumps, don?t worry. You can push the cream through a fine-mesh strainer.)
Transfer the pastry cream to a bowl and cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic film and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, until thoroughly chilled.

For the whipped cream:
Combine the cream, sugar and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl. Beat with an electric hand mixer or immersion blender until the mixture holds stiff peaks. Set aside.

The somewhat crooked round version

To assemble the tiramisu:
Have ready a rectangular serving dish (about 8″ by 8″ should do) or one of your choice.
Mix together the warm espresso, rum extract and sugar in a shallow dish, whisking to mix well. Set aside to cool.
In a large bowl, beat the mascarpone cheese with a spoon to break down the lumps and make it smooth. This will make it easier to fold. Add the prepared and chilled zabaglione and pastry cream, blending until just combined. Gently fold in the whipped cream. Set this cream mixture aside.

Now to start assembling the tiramisu.
Workings quickly, dip 12 of the ladyfingers in the sweetened espresso, about 1 second per side. They should be moist but not soggy. Immediately transfer each ladyfinger to the platter, placing them side by side in a single row. You may break a lady finger into two, if necessary, to ensure the base of your dish is completely covered.
Spoon one-third of the cream mixture on top of the ladyfingers, then use a rubber spatula or spreading knife to cover the top evenly, all the way to the edges.
Repeat to create 2 more layers, using 12 ladyfingers and the cream mixture for each layer. Clean any spilled cream mixture; cover carefully with plastic wrap and refrigerate the tiramisu overnight.
To serve, carefully remove the plastic wrap and sprinkle the tiramisu with cocoa powder using a fine-mesh strainer or decorate as you please. Cut into individual portions and serve.

MASCARPONE CHEESE

(Source: Vera?s Recipe for Homemade Mascarpone Cheese)
This recipe makes 12oz/ 340gm of mascarpone cheese

Ingredients:
474ml (approx. 500ml)/ 2 cups whipping (36 %) pasteurized (not ultra-pasteurized), preferably organic cream (between 25% to 36% cream will do)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Method:

Bring 1 inch of water to a boil in a wide skillet. Reduce the heat to medium-low so the water is barely simmering. Pour the cream into a medium heat-resistant bowl, then place the bowl into the skillet. Heat the cream, stirring often, to 190 F. If you do not have a thermometer, wait until small bubbles keep trying to push up to the surface.
It will take about 15 minutes of delicate heating. Add the lemon juice and continue heating the mixture, stirring gently, until the cream curdles. Do not expect the same action as you see during ricotta cheese making. All that the whipping cream will do is become thicker, like a well-done crème anglaise. It will cover a back of your wooden spoon thickly. You will see just a few clear whey streaks when you stir. Remove the bowl from the water and let cool for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, line a sieve with four layers of dampened cheesecloth and set it over a bowl. Transfer the mixture into the lined sieve. Do not squeeze the cheese in the cheesecloth or press on its surface (be patient, it will firm up after refrigeration time). Once cooled completely, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate (in the sieve) overnight or up to 24 hours.
Vera?s notes: The first time I made mascarpone I had all doubts if it?d been cooked enough, because of its custard-like texture. Have no fear, it will firm up beautifully in the fridge, and will yet remain lusciously creamy.
Keep refrigerated and use within 3 to 4 days.

LADYFINGERS/ SAVOIARDI BISCUITS
(Source: Recipe from Cordon Bleu At Home)
This recipe makes approximately 24 big ladyfingers or 45 small (2 1/2″ to 3″ long) ladyfingers.

Ingredients:
3 eggs, separated
6 tablespoons /75gms granulated sugar
3/4 cup/95gms cake flour, sifted (or 3/4 cup all purpose flour + 2 tbsp corn starch)
6 tablespoons /50gms confectioner’s sugar,

Method:

Preheat your oven to 350 F (175 C) degrees, then lightly brush 2 baking sheets with oil or softened butter and line with parchment paper.
Beat the egg whites using a hand held electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Gradually add granulate sugar and continue beating until the egg whites become stiff again, glossy and smooth.
In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks lightly with a fork and fold them into the meringue, using a wooden spoon. Sift the flour over this mixture and fold gently until just mixed. It is important to fold very gently and not overdo the folding. Otherwise the batter would deflate and lose volume resulting in ladyfingers which are flat and not spongy.
Fit a pastry bag with a plain tip (or just snip the end off; you could also use a Ziploc bag) and fill with the batter. Pipe the batter into 5″ long and 3/4″ wide strips leaving about 1″ space in between the strips.
Sprinkle half the confectioner’s sugar over the ladyfingers and wait for 5 minutes. The sugar will pearl or look wet and glisten. Now sprinkle the remaining sugar. This helps to give the ladyfingers their characteristic crispness.
Hold the parchment paper in place with your thumb and lift one side of the baking sheet and gently tap it on the work surface to remove excess sprinkled sugar.
Bake the ladyfingers for 10 minutes, then rotate the sheets and bake for another 5 minutes or so until the puff up, turn lightly golden brown and are still soft.
Allow them to cool slightly on the sheets for about 5 minutes and then remove the ladyfingers from the baking sheet with a metal spatula while still hot, and cool on a rack.
Store them in an airtight container till required. They should keep for 2 to 3 weeks.

What I sometimes like to do and I am sure I have told this before, but o well, I am getting old so then it is allowed to repeat onces self (within reason ofcourse..lol) When I need to work in the studio I sometimes decide I want to prepare a nice [...]]]>

Delicious pasta

What I sometimes like to do and I am sure I have told this before, but o well, I am getting old so then it is allowed to repeat onces self (within reason ofcourse..lol) When I need to work in the studio I sometimes decide I want to prepare a nice lunch; first to eat it ofcourse, but also so I can take photos and try some settings while I am at it. And I always love a good pasta for lunch. The “lunch culture” in Holland is very much of the boring sandwiches kind of lunch, although obviously you can spice any sandwich up to looks something like this or this... Just let your imagination run wild. But having pasta for lunch; I don’t know… it makes me feel good and I just loooooove pasta to bits. So I was browsing the internet this morning for ideas on what to make for lunch that would taste good, have mascarpone in it and look good (yes, yes, I know it’s rather pathetic to pick dishes out because they have a potential to look good..) and I stumbled upon this gorgeous dish on the Good Food website. I have changed it slightly as the original called for angel hair pasta and I just do not like angel hair pasta. It’s too…. angel like..

It also reminded me of one of the first pasta dishes I did that completely looked like the worst pasta dish ever!! In fact it was so bad that I deleted the photos… and I never delete photos that are technically correct. And on top of that I switched blogs and the original photos in the original post that I wrote about this disaster were also gone… So I can’t really show you how far I have come since then. Anyway… just believe me when I say that this looks much much better…! I did learn some stuff about foodstyling in the process… But I just decided I will cook that recipe again soon… I just have to do better! (update; I just found the photos again which had been misplaced. I reuploaded them in the post from last year but you will be able to see a before and after if I redo this dish!)

So, here I am, in the studio frying some bacon in the pan and it’s a good thing I do not have a smoke alarm there or it would have gone completely crazy! I don’t have a proper stove in the studio so I cook on those little portable burners which work fine most of the time but I also don’t have a ventilationsystem so I have to rely on the open window, which did not work very well… Man, there was some serious smoke forming! It’s a good thing my customer came hours later or they would have called the fire department upon entering the building! (well, ok I do like to exaggerate a little from time to time)

Thankfully the open window did help in getting rid of most of the smoke soon, so no harm done… As for the pasta; it’s another one of those great recipes which you can adjust to your liking. I loved it and I got to use some of my leftover mascarpone (which you will find out all about on saturday!) I only forgot to bring my parmezan cheese so I had it without, which was also good, but definitely would be even better with some nicely grated parmesan on top! Btw; did you also notice a lot of peas in my meals lately? I just notice it myself all of a sudden…

Tagliatelle with saffron, bacon and peas (serves 2, ready in 15 minutes)

few slices of bacon

1 pinch of saffron

olive oil

1 garlic clove

200 ml of white wine

2 tbsp of mascarpone

1 lemon, zested

150 gr frozen peas, defrosted

100 gr tagliatelle

basil, chopped to serve

freshly grated parmesan

In a non stick frying pan (preferably a deep one) heat the olive oil and cook the garlic and the bacon until golden. Crush the saffron in a small bowl and add 1 tbsp of boiling water. Allow to sit for 1 minute and then add to the pan. Pour in the wine and season well.

Reduce by half and then add the mascarpone, lemon and peas and heat through. Cook the pasta according to package instructions. Drain well and add to the pan with the sauce. Serve with basil and grate some fresh parmesan on top.

And did you notice how incredibly quick this is?? The taste was surprisingly good. Better then I even had imagined it to be…

I am sending this dish in for Presto Pasta Nights #152 (which is my first time, can you believe it??) which is hosted by Michelle of Italian Mama Chef this week!

I have been working on the Daring Baker challenge for the last two days and all that time Tom has been anxiously watching the process and suggesting I finish it all for tuesday so he can take it to work and share with his coworkers… Unfortunately for him that is not [...]]]>

Coconut pineapple bundt cake

I have been working on the Daring Baker challenge for the last two days and all that time Tom has been anxiously watching the process and suggesting I finish it all for tuesday so he can take it to work and share with his coworkers… Unfortunately for him that is not gonna happen! It needs to be chilled for at least overnight (no, no I will not share the secret!! Check back on the 27th!!) so that means it will be ready tomorrowmorning. But obviously I still need to take pictures of it plus it is not really enough to feed 9 hungry mouths. So… instead I figure I would make him and his team happy by baking something else.

I had never made a Bundt cake up until today. I don’t know why; it’s one of those things that my grandma used to make and funny enough so does Tom’s grandma. Is it a grandma thing? I had asked Santa for a bundt caketin which I got so it was time to put it to good use. Only two days earlier I received a package from Amazon with a couple new cookbooks… (I have a serious cookbook addiction, as I know many of you have too) and among them was a small book with 100 lovely cake recipe.Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman. It had an entire chapter on Bundt cakes although some I did not think would be suitable for trying out on poor non-suspecting colleagues of Tom as it included pepper and other spices, which I thought sounded intriguing but ok, for my first bundt cake I wanted to play it a little safer and I picked the coconut/pineapple cake. Well, ok… Tom did..

Adding the icing

He was sitting next to me in bed when we were discussing all of the above and was watching over my shoulder when I was going through the book and he thought that this particular cake would be good. And what can I say? It is really good. We did ofcourse have to pretaste the cake before it is going to it’s final destination and let’s face it; this cake is too much even for 9 people, so they won’t mind if two small pieces are missing right?

PINEAPPLE AND TOASTED COCONUT CAKE (from Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman)

1,5 cups sweetened flaked coconut

2 large eggs

1 cup sour cream

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1,5 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup or 113 gr of butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 can (500 gr) pineapple chunks in juice, drained well and patted dry

For the glaze; 1/2 cup of confectioners sugar, 1 tbsp of fresh lime juice

Preheat the oven to 350F (or 200C). Grease a 12-cup Bundtpan and dust with flour. Spread the coconut on a baking sheet and toast until just golden, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes. Take care not to burn the coconut. Set aside to cool completely.

Combine the eggs, sour cream and vanilla in a large measuring cup and lightly beat. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.

Combine the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl and cream with an electric mixer on medium high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice if necessary.

With the mixer on medium-low speed, pour 1/3 of the egg mixture into the bowl in a slow stream. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture. Add another 1/3 of the egg mixture  and another 1/3 of the flour mixture. Add the remaining egg mixture and then the remaining flour mixture. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Stir in the toasted coconut and the pineapple chunks.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 1 hour to 10 hour and 10 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Make the glaze; Whisk together the confectioners sugar and lime juice in a medium bowl. Place the cake on a wire rack set over a baking sheet. Drizzle the glaze over the cake, allowing it to run down the sides of the cake. Let the glaze set for 30 minutes before slicing and serving

Notes: I found the given time in the oven quite long so I checked at 45 minutes and found that the cake was already done at that point so I took it out of the oven. And it was perfectly done, so make sure to check from time to time to prevent overcooking the cake. It’s lovely and if you make sure you pat the pineapple dry well enough it will not be too moist (something I was afraid of at first) The taste of coconut was subtle but overal the cake is rather sweet but delicious!

It’s been an unsettling week the last week, where you sort of start to wonder if you all of a sudden found yourself in a really bad movie… The week started with the funeral of my brother’s father in law who passed away the week before. I then got a phonecall a day [...]]]>

Healthy lunch

It’s been an unsettling week the last week, where you sort of start to wonder if you all of a sudden found yourself in a really bad movie… The week started with the funeral of my brother’s father in law who passed away the week before. I then got a phonecall a day later from my sister that her husband’s brother had died at the age of 57. Then Tom received a phonecall that the father of a close friend died and to top it off, another father of another friend died in that same week as well. If things weren’t already bad enough, on top of that my MIL was admitted to the hospital on thursday. I mean…. seriously; what is going on?? Even though we did not know all the people that died intimately it is always hard to see the people you love suffer due to these things.

We all know that life can be hard at times and we all know that it has an ending at some point, but some of the people above were really not that old and are really not that old. Ofcourse, I know that things can get worse and I will be the first person to rationalize things and to realize that these things just happen. The week before when I was at the gym, I heard that one of the little kids who comes there every week died at the age of three due to a virus that attacks the brain (I honestly don’t know all the english terms for things like this..) Three years old… now that is just unbelievable and make my skin crawl when I think about it. So yes, dying at 57 is certainly not fair and far too young, but dying at 3…. I can only imagine the pain the parents must go through! My heart goes out to them..

So if I am a little absent from your blogs lately and don’t post as often as usual… now you know why… It does make you more aware of your own lifestyle and the things that can be improved in that area. There has been little to no cooking the last week, a week that was emotionally hard, especially for Tom and maybe we consumed a bit more wine than we normally do. So yesterday, I felt that we should snap out of it and at least take care of ourselves through times like these especially. If we don’t take care of our bodies then how can our minds cope with the challenges ahead, right?

So today I figured would be a perfect day for a lovely healthy lunch. The weather – believe it or not – is back to snow again and while doing the grocery shopping I got into some sort of snowblizzard! It’s not staying at the temperature is slightly above zero, but still… weird weather for sure! I browsed a little on the Donna Hay website, always a great source of inspiration and I found this lovely salad. I had to work in the morning so I was a bit late with the shopping, so by the time the salad was finished we were both quite anxious to tug into the plate! See that magazine being turned in the photo on the left? That is Tom patiently going through a magazine while I take a photo. Arguably not the best foodstyling for this styling, but I couldn’t be bothered to make it look prettier as I was a bit hungry too!

The salad is lovely and very quick to put together. If it wasn’t for the bacon that needs to be grilled it would literally be tossed together in a heartbeat!The original recipe is from Donna Hay magazine, issue 37.

crispy honey mustard bacon salad

• 4 rashers (220g) bacon, rind removed
• 250g cherry tomatoes, halved
• 400 g cans white (cannellini) beans, drained
• ¼ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves
• 80g baby rocket (arugula) leaves

honey mustard dressing

• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon water

To make the honey mustard dressing, place the mustard, honey and water in a bowl and stir to combine. Set aside.
Place bacon on a baking tray and cook under a pre-heated hot grill for 5?8 minutes or until golden and crispy. Drain on absorbent paper and break into pieces. Place bacon, tomatoes, beans, parsley, rocket and half the honey mustard dressing in a bowl and toss to combine. Divide between plates and serve with the remaining dressing on the side. Serves 2.

I loved the little crumbly bits of bacon that go through the salad, which gives it that nice crunch and that little bit of saltiness that it needs. Try it out, you’ll be pleasantly surprised. I can see this go really well with some feta tossed it to make it vegetarian or smoked chicken, to make it more meaty… It’s lovely!

Patiently waiting untill the photos are taken

There’s is something so utterly satisfying about good chocolate that I immediately said a wholeheartedly YES when Kate from Serendipity asked me if I would like to participate in a valentine chocolate cooking. Kate was kind enough to supply the chocolate for this and it was within days that I had a [...]]]>

Chocolate apple cake

There’s is something so utterly satisfying about good chocolate that I immediately said a wholeheartedly YES when Kate from Serendipity asked me if I would like to participate in a valentine chocolate cooking. Kate was kind enough to supply the chocolate for this and it was within days that I had a package of really fabulous chocolate from Christof…. (effe checken). It contained 1 large dark chocolate bar, two cooking chocolate bars and one bar which Kate mentioned would be fabulous for making chocolate milk. We couldn’t resist the chocolate so we ate the large bar just as it was with a good cup of coffee and it was absolutely wonderful. Not too sweet and great chocolate flavor.

But then I had to think about what to do with the rest of the chocolate. I mean; let’s face it, the possibilities are almost endless. Would I make an old time favorite; the Italian chocolate mousse or would I go for something new? When going through a Donna Hay book the decision was easily made. It featured a delicious chocolate cake and having never made one (i know, I know..) before I figured that would be perfect. The idea was to bake this in a heartshape but when you put baking paper in the heart it… eh… becomes a little bit strangely shaped heart, but who cares..? Take it from me that the shape IS a heart (of sorts) to keep with the Valentine theme. The original recipe called for making this with raspberries, but the raspberries that we have here right now are really not the best in terms of flavor plus I was having some apples that really needed to be eaten so I substituted the raspberries of the original with apple and I think that was a great choice. I actually think the apple worked better then the raspberries would have as it also gives it a little bit of crunch of sorts and the taste together is just lovely. I have to confess that the reason I used this recipe is also partially because I did not want to leave the house.

The temperatures are roughly between -13 and -4 C (8 to 20 Fahrenheit) at the moment and I didn’t feel like going outdoors at all, as I was having a lazy day at home. As luck would have it I had all the ingredients for this gorgeous chocolate cake so it was also the perfect excuse to get rid of some leftover flours. If you’re like me; you have multiple packs of flour around the house. I always think I have run out so I buy a new pack only to discover that I have some leftover in the cupboard. I finished most of the half-packs today! The recipe is very simple with wonderful results so try it out! You won’t regret it… And ofcourse perfect to share for Valentine. Thanks Kate for sending the chocolate!! Check out Kate’s blog for more of the Valentine cooking!!

CHOCOLATE APPLE CAKE

185 gr butter

185 gr dark chocolate, broken in pieces

3 eggs

1 vanillabean

1,5 cup sugar

1 cup flour

2/3 cup selfraising flour

1/2 cup almondflour

2 apples, cut into small chunks

In a double boiler heat the chocolate and the butter on low heat and slowly let them melt together. Once melted let them cool slightly.

Stir eggs, vanillaseeds and sugar in a large bowl to a light, creamy mass. Add flour, almondflour, selfraising flour and the apple and mix well.

Depending a bit on which forms you use line them with baking paper and put the batter in. I used a larger heart, a smaller heart and one small cake tin. I lined them all with baking paper (parchment paper) which made it incredibly easy to remove from the tins but also kind of gives them funny shapes… Fill them for roughtly 3/4th. It will rise some but because it’s heavy batter it will not rise extremely high.  Bake them in a preheated oven at around 180 C for about 35 minutes or until the top of the cake feels firm. You can check with a wooden pin but keep in mind that it has to be moist still on the inside. Otherwise it will be too dry.

Leave the cake to cool before you cut it and serve with whipped cream, extra apple or – if you can’t get enough of the chocolate – chocolate milk…!

Chocolate cake

I almost didn’t have time to make this lovely challenge for the february Daring Cooks, but thanks to the lousy weather I had to stay at home today instead of going to Belgium… So I guess that was a lucky coincidence to otherwise nasty weather…

The 2010 February Daring COOKs challenge [...]]]>

Mezze table

I almost didn’t have time to make this lovely challenge for the february Daring Cooks, but thanks to the lousy weather I had to stay at home today instead of going to Belgium… So I guess that was a lucky coincidence to otherwise nasty weather…

The 2010 February Daring COOKs challenge was hosted by Michele of Veggie Num Nums. Michele chose to challenge everyone to make mezze based on various recipes from Claudia Roden, Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Dugid.

Michele had already done the groundwork and provided us with the two challenge recipes, which were homemade pitabread and hummus, as well as a few other recipes that I all chose to make, with the exception of the preserved lemons. I love lemons; I truly do but somehow preserving them seems… wrong… Maybe I should just give it a try at some point, I might be surprised but for this challenge I chose to skip those but made the rest. I wanted to make an eggplant dip as well, but guess what, my supermarket was all out of eggplant and I didn’t feel like chasing half the city in search of eggplant so I decided to skip it altogether. In total I made 4 recipes; the pita, the hummus, the cucumber raita and the falafel.

Since the pita would take the biggest amount of time due to the necessary rising etcetera I started there and well, was everyone’s dough so incredibly sticky?? The bread turned out beautifully so nothing wrong there, but it was sooooo sticky I could barely lift my hands out of the dough! Try to knead something that doesn’t want to leave your hands!! I managed somehow but I was sort of covered in sticky dough up to my elbows… Not to mention the flourbag and various other tools…lol.. O well, it got less sticky once it had risen. I then transferred the first four to the oven and while the recipe said 2-3 minutes (really??) that was surely not even enough to make them go from raw to the next stage, so I left them in. I didn’t actually time it but it must have been a good 15 minutes that they had to bake before puffing up and getting a nice light tan. Not sure if I did something wrong, but whatever the time in the oven; the final result was delicious!!

Making the hummus was pretty straightforward although I couldn’t find any tahin. I previously had a jar but since that was finished I hadn’t bought a new jar and it is not something they have in the stores here, so I chose to go with peanut butter instead. And that works fine; it’s a slightly different taste but still quite delicious. I did not add the full qty for the lemonjuice as I thought that was really too much.

Next were the falafels; again very easy to make although I was afraid that they would be too salty. I tasted the mixture after having added the salt and thought it was very very salty, but once fried it was actually quite good and delicious so maybe the frying takes away some of the salty flavor. I don’t know and as long as it tastes good, who cares?

Last but not least was the cucumber raita; instead of dicing the cucumber I grated them very coarsely and left to leak in a colander for a while. I made this all in the afternoon so when Tom got home the first thing he did was stuff one of the pitabreads with falafel and then put the raita and hummus on top. He totally loved it and he is more of a falafel expert then I am. I have only eaten falafel once and it wasn’t the best but I still thought at the time that a good falafel would be worth it. And well it is!

Love the recipes, so thanks Michele for this wonderful challenge! If you want to make the recipes, here they are!

Pita Bread ? Recipe adapted from Flatbreads & Flavors by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid
Prep time: 20 minutes to make, 90 minutes to rise and about 45 minutes to cook

2 teaspoons regular dry yeast (.43 ounces/12.1 grams)
2.5 cups lukewarm water (21 ounces/591 grams)
5-6 cups all-purpose flour (may use a combination of 50% whole wheat and 50% all-purpose, or a combination of alternative flours for gluten free pita) (17.5 -21 ounces/497-596 grams)
1 tablespoon table salt (.50 ounces/15 grams)
2 tablespoons olive oil (.95 ounces/29 ml)

Directions:
1. In a large bread bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water. Stir to dissolve. Stir in 3 cups flour, a cup at a time, and then stir 100 times, about 1 minute, in the same direction to activate the gluten. Let this sponge rest for at least 10 minutes, or as long as 2 hours.
2. Sprinkle the salt over the sponge and stir in the olive oil. Mix well. Add more flour, a cup at a time, until the dough is too stiff to stir. Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 8 to 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Rinse out the bowl, dry, and lightly oil. Return the dough to the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until at least doubled in size, approximately 1 1/2 hours.
3. Place a pizza stone, or two small baking sheets, on the bottom rack of your oven, leaving a 1-inch gap all around between the stone or sheets and the oven walls to allow heat to circulate. Preheat the oven to 450F (230C).
4. Gently punch down the dough. Divide the dough in half, and then set half aside, covered, while you work with the rest. Divide the other half into 8 equal pieces and flatten each piece with lightly floured hands. Roll out each piece to a circle 8 to 9 inches in diameter and less than 1/4 inch thick. Keep the rolled-out breads covered until ready to bake, but do not stack.
5. Place 2 breads, or more if your oven is large enough, on the stone or baking sheets, and bake for 2 to 3 minutes, (as stated mine needed roughly 15 minutes to bake) or until each bread has gone into a full balloon. If for some reason your bread doesn’t puff up, don’t worry it should still taste delicious. Wrap the baked breads together in a large kitchen towel to keep them warm and soft while you bake the remaining rolled-out breads. Then repeat with the rest of the dough.

Hummus

Hummus ? Recipe adapted from The New Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden
Prep Time: Hummus can be made in about 15 minutes once the beans are cooked. If you?re using dried beans you need to soak them overnight and then cook them the next day which takes about 90 minutes.

1.5 cups dried chickpeas, soaked in cold water overnight (or substitute well drained canned chickpeas and omit the cooking) (10 ounces/301 grams)
2-2.5 lemons, juiced (3 ounces/89ml)
2-3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
a big pinch of salt
4 tablespoons tahini (sesame paste) OR use peanut butter or any other nut butter?feel free to experiment) (1.5 ounces/45 grams)
additional flavorings (optional) I would use about 1/3 cup or a few ounces to start, and add more to taste

I added some soy sauce (just a little splash) and some sundried tomatoes in there. Even though I did not add the entire 89 ml of lemonjuice, I still thought it was a bit too lemony, so the soysauce and the sundried tomatoes were meant to balance that out a bit. And it worked…

Directions:
1. Drain and boil the soaked chickpeas in fresh water for about 1 ½ hours, or until tender. Drain, but reserve the cooking liquid.
2. Puree the beans in a food processor (or you can use a potato masher) adding the cooking water as needed until you have a smooth paste.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Adjust the seasonings to taste.

Optional Recipe: Cucumber Raita ? Recipe adapted from The Indian Grocery Store Demystified by Linda Bladholm

Cucumber raita

Prep time: Approximately 15 minutes

1 medium cucumber, peeled and most of the seeds removed
1 teaspoon cumin seeds (.1 ounce/3 grams) OR use a small pinch of dried cumin?to taste
2 cups plain whole milk or Greek yogurt (17 ounces/473ml)
1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
fresh coriander or mint, chopped, a couple pinches or more to taste
cayenne pepper or paprika, just a pinch to use as a garnish (optional)

Directions:
1. Peel cucumber, de-seed, and dice. Blot off moisture with paper towels.
2. Toast cumin seeds for a few seconds in a small, heavy frying pan over high heat.
3. In a bowl, stir yogurt until it is smooth.
4. Mix it with the cumin, garlic and coriander or mint leaves (I used some grated radish instead).
5. Stir in the cucumber and sprinkle with cayenne or paprika, and chill before serving.

*Optional Recipe: Falafels – Recipe from Joan Nathan and Epicurious.com
Prep Time: Overnight for dry beans and 1 hour to make Falafels

1 cup dried chickpeas, soaked in cold water overnight OR use well canned drained chickpeas (7 ounces/100 grams)
1/2 large onion (roughly chopped, about 1 cup)
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped OR use a couple pinches of dried parsley (.2 ounces/5 grams)
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped OR use a couple pinches of dried cilantro (.2 ounces/5 grams)
1 teaspoon table salt (.1 ounce/5 grams)
1 teaspoon dried hot red peppers (cayenne) (.1 ounce/2 grams)
4 whole garlic cloves, peeled
1 teaspoon cumin (.1 ounce/2 grams)
1 teaspoon baking powder (.13 ounces/4 grams)
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour (1 ounce/24 grams) (you may need a bit extra)
tasteless oil for frying (vegetable, canola, peanut, soybean, etc.), you will need enough so that the oil is three inches deep in whatever pan you are using for frying

Directions:
1. Put the chickpeas in a large bowl and add enough cold water to cover them by at least 2 inches. Let soak overnight, and then drain. Or use canned chickpeas, drained.
2. Place the drained, uncooked chickpeas and the onions in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the parsley, cilantro, salt, hot pepper, garlic, and cumin. Process until blended but not pureed. If you don?t have a food processor, then feel free to mash this up as smooth as possible by hand.
3. Sprinkle in the baking powder and 4 tablespoons of the flour, and pulse. You want to add enough bulgur or flour so that the dough forms a small ball and no longer sticks to your hands. Turn into a bowl and refrigerate, covered, for several hours.
4. Form the chickpea mixture into balls about the size of walnuts.
5. Heat 3 inches of oil to 375 degrees (190C) in a deep pot or wok and fry 1 ball to test. If it falls apart, add a little flour. Then fry about 6 balls at once for a few minutes on each side, or until golden brown.
6. Drain on paper towels.