Multikulturalna čorba-Kako kuvati na stranom jeziku

Ponovo sam tu. U Engleskoj čiju klimu ne volim, posebno kišu koja pada na hiljadu načina-horizontalno, na primer ili  sitnoprskajuće, tako da imate utisak da stojite pored fontane na Trgu Nikole Pašića. Ipak, volim to što u njoj mogu da doživim prijatne stvari tokom činjenja onih neprijatnih. Pre dva dana sam stajala u redu na Heathrowu, onom koji sleduje svim non EU žiteljima. Red je bio dug i zmijolik i dok sam se približavala njegovom začelju, izazvao je kod mene automatsko prevrtanje očima. Sve dok se nisam osvrnula oko sebe. Pored činjenice da se u njemu, i pored ogromnog broja ljudi, nije dugo čekalo, izgledao je kao motiv sa Unicefove razglednice. Sve rase, razni stilovi oblačenja, ko zna koliko stranih jezika...

U to ime, sledi

MULTIKULTURALNA ČORBA

Za nju će vam trebati:

• Oko 100g sveže zelene boranije, u mom slučaju one odgajane u Keniji
• 1 ljubičanstveni :) luk holandskog porekla
• 2 šake smrznutog engleskog graška
• 1 veća šargarepa
• dve kašike italijanske pancete, seckane na sitne kocke
• 250g mlevene govedine, baš sa ove očajne slike:

• 2-3 kašike kineskog tamnog soja sosa
• prstohvat demerara šećera
• 1 kašika malt sirćeta
• 1 šaka ječma, recimo srpskog ;)
• četvrt šolje paradjz sosa ut dodatak belog luka, zemlje porekla po želji vašoj
• kašika ulja
• 1,2l vode, opet koje vam drago

Na malo ulja propržite luk, šargarepu, boraniju i grašak, pa posle par minuta dodajte slaninicu, ječampa potom i meso. Kada je meso promenilo boju, dodati paradajz sos i mešati još koji minut.

Naliti mlaku vodu, posoliti i kuvati oko 45 minuta. Pred kraj kuvanja dodati soja sos i sirće.

The Daring Cooks February 2011 Challenge: Cold Soba Salad & Tempura

The February 2011 Daring Cooks’ challenge was hosted by Lisa of Blueberry Girl. She challenged Daring Cooks to make Hiyashi Soba and Tempura. She has various sources for her challenge including japanesefood.about.com, pinkbites.com, and itsybitsyfoodies.com


Let`s see what Lisa has to say about these pearls of Japanese cuisine:
 

Soba is a type of thin Japanese noodle made from buckwheat flour. It is served either chilled with a dipping sauce, or in hot broth as a noodle soup. It takes three months for buckwheat to be ready for harvest, so it can be harvested four times a year, mainly in spring, summer, and autumn.


Hiyashi Soba is a popular dish in summer. It's like a noodle salad. Restaurants in Japan serve Hiyashi Soba only in summer. Even if you don't have much appetite because of the heat, Hiyashi Soba can be appetizing. Common Hiyashi Soba toppings are omelet strips, ham, cucumber and grated Daikon. You can also have the noodles just with the dipping sauce.


Tempura is a Japanese dish of seafood or vegetables that have been battered and deep fried. A light batter is made of cold water (sometimes sparkling water is used to keep the batter light and soft wheat flour (cake, pastry or all-purpose flour). Eggs, baking soda or baking powder, starch, oil, and/or spices may also be added

I decided to make my own version of soba noodles for two reasons-first, I like homemade noodles and second-soba noodles are very expensive in Serbia. I did a bit of research and found lots of interesting sites about soba making (try this one). Finally, I found my own version of, let`s say, buckwheat rather than soba noodles, in preparing of which I used pasta machine.

Here`s what you need:

• 400g buckwheat flour
• 100g all-purpose flour
• 240ml of very cold water

The important thing is that the buckwheat-all purpose flour ratio is 80:20.

Mix the flours in a bowl and add water. Knead for at least 10 minutes, until you get very soft dough. Use pasta machine to form long noodles:

Cooking the noodles (slightly adapted Lisa`s directions):



Heat water to a boil in a large pot over high heat. Add the noodles a small bundle at a time, stirring gently to separate. When the water returns to a full boil, add 1 cup of cold water. Repeat this twice. You want to cook noodles until they are firm-tender. Do not overcook them.


Drain the noodles and rinse well under cold running water until the noodles are cool.  Once the noodles are cool, drain them and cover them with a damp kitchen towel and set them aside allowing them to cool completely.


Cold buckwheat noodle salad

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
You need:

• egg
• leek
• spring onions
• tamari sauce

Beat an egg in a bowl and fry it. After it`s fried, cut it into stripes.
Cut the leek and fry it for 5 minutes.
While waiting for egg and leek to cold, cut spring onions.
Mix vegetables and egg with prepared noodles and sprinkle with tamari sauce.
 

Tempura
 
Since this was my first time to make tempura, I chose to trust Lisa and see what`s going to happen.
 

Ingredients



1 egg yolk from a large egg

1 cup iced water

½ cup  plain (all purpose) flour, plus extra for dredging

½ cup cornflour (also called cornstarch)

½ teaspoon  baking powder

oil, for deep frying preferably vegetable

ice water bath, for the tempura batter (a larger bowl than what will be used for the tempura should be used. Fill the large bowl with ice and some water, set aside

Directions:


Place the iced water into a mixing bowl. Lightly beat the egg yolk and gradually pour into the iced water, stirring (preferably with chopsticks) and blending well. Add flours and baking powder all at once, stroke a few times with chopsticks until the ingredients are loosely combined. The batter should be runny and lumpy. Place the bowl of batter in an ice water bath to keep it cold while you are frying the tempura. The batter as well as the vegetables and seafood have to be very cold. The temperature shock between the hot oil and the cold veggies help create a crispy tempura.

Now, for the record-I used only one kind of vegetables-onions. Yes, I made onion ring tempura!
Let` continue with directions:

Heat the oil in a large pan or a wok. For vegetables, the oil should be 160°C; . It is more difficult to maintain a steady temperature and produce consistent tempura if you don’t have a thermometer, but it can be done. You can test the oil by dropping a piece of batter into the hot oil. If it sinks a little bit and then immediately rises to the top, the oil is ready.

Dip the onions in a shallow bowl of flour to lightly coat them and then dip them into the batter. Slide them into the hot oil, deep frying only a couple of pieces at a time so that the temperature of the oil does not drop.

Place finished tempura pieces on a wire rack so that excess oil can drip off. Continue frying the other items, frequently scooping out any bits of batter to keep the oil clean and prevent the oil (and the remaining tempura) from getting a burned flavor.

Serve immediately for the best flavor! And so I did! Yummy!

Ćufte prepeličjeg srca

Misliću o tome sutra.

Na putu do posla svratim do Kalenića, uđem u prodavnicu i ugledam u vitrini minijaturna jaja japanske prepelice. I ne kupim ih odmah. Ali počnem da razmišljam. O jajima. I tome kako moram da ih imam. I ne prođe mnogo i kupim ih. Ali, šta sad sa njima? Kako šta? Vratite se na prvu rečenicu teksta.

Kada je došlo i to sutra, evo šta se desilo:

Da bih nahranila dvoje, kupim 500g mlevene junetine, ali upotrebim samo pola :), a onda tom mesu dodam sledeće:

• sredinu jednog parčeta hleba, potopljenu u
• 1 dl mleka
• 1 jaje
• so
• na vrh noža čilija
• pola kašičice cimeta
• kašičicu belog luka u granulama
• 1 jaje
• 1 glavicu crnog luka, prethodno isečenu i proprženu (!)

Ako se od ovoga ne dobije smesa dovoljno nelepljiva da bi se od nje formirale ćuftice, dodati prezle. Ostaviti da odstoji oko pola sata.

Obarila sam prepeličja jaja-njih 6, i oko svakog jaja sam obmotala mesnatu smesu, dok nisam dobila kuglice. Od ostatka mesa sam napravila znatno manje,obične, prazne ćufte. Blago sam ih uvaljala u prezle i ostavila da odstoje na tacni. Za to vreme:

• 1 beli deo praziluka sam iseckala vrlo sitno, kao i
• 1 čen belog luka

Propržila sam ih dva do tri minuta na malo ulja, a onda im pridodala 1 dl pasate, so, pa nakon još dva minuta mešavinu pola-pola kokosovog (iz konzerve) i kravljeg mleka, ukupno oko 2-2,5dl. Kada je sve to prokuvalo, pažljivo sam ubacila ćufte, stišala vatru, poklopila (ali ne potpuno) i kuvala oko 25 minuta.

Gotove ćufte u sosu sam poslužila uz basmati pirinač.

Omega "Pizza"

                                                    (Please scroll down for the recipe in English)

Pored legendarnih dilema oko uspostavljanja starosne hijerarhije između koke i jajeta, postojanja Svetog grala ili inteligentnog (?) života van naše planetice, postoje i ove...šta je to prava pizza, da li ju je neko nekada video i probao, gde se, kod koga i zašto skriva, kod koga je original, a kod koga kopija, koliko se novca nudi za njenu "glavu" i kakva kazna očekuje jatake koji joj već tako dugo i uspešno prikrivaju tragove...?

Nemam odgovore na večna pitanja. Znam samo da gotovo svako razvučeno testo na koje se nanose sastojci svih boja i vrsta, po inerciji zovem pizza.

Volim tanko testo i sinoć sam ga pripremila koristeći se receptom za moju iskrivljenu verziju soparnika:

• 2/3 šolje (od 240ml) glatkog pšeničnog brašna
• 1/3 šolje speltinog/pirovog brašna
• 2 kašike maslinovog ulja
• 1 kašičica kalijumove soli
• vode, tek toliko da se zamesi tvrđe testo

Sve sastojke sjediniti i mesiti 5 minuta na pobrašnjenoj površini. Testo ne treba da stoji, već se odmah razvlači, na što je moguće tanje. Ja testo razvijam na okrugloj drvenoj daski:

Dijametar testa koje se dobije od ove količine brašna je oko 22 cm.

Onda sledi fil.

Prvo sam pripremila nešto što podseća na karamelisani luk:

• 2-3 ljubičasta luka, isečena na tanke polumesece
• 2 kašike maslinovog ulja
• 1 kašika jabukovog sirćeta
• kašičica smeđeg šećera
• so (kalijumova, u mom slučaju)

Ulje zagrejati, pa mu dodati isečeni luk. Na blažoj (6/16) vatri termički obraditi luk sve dok ne omekša, otprilike oko 15 minuta, potom mu dodati šećer i sirće, pa nastaviti sa dinstanjem još minimum 5 minuta, odnosno sve dok luk ne postane jako mekan i gotovo ne počne da se topi. Posoliti na kraju.

To je prvi deo fila. Na pripremljeno testo sada možete staviti tanki sloj kečapa, origano, pa karamelisani luk:

Ovde dolazimo do "Omega" dela iz naslova, koje se odnosi na  omega 3 masne kiseline, zaštitnice zdravlja krvnih sudova i srca. U to ime,upotrebila sam haringu iz konzerve. Iskidala sam je na sitnije komadiće i složila preko luka.

Picu sam prekrila aluminijumskom folijom i smestila u rernu zagrejanu na 200 stepeni. Pekla se oko 20 minuta.

Kada sam je izvadila iz rerne, bogato sam je posula rukolom i tek malo mladog luka. Bilo mi je interesantno da potražim na internetu sadržaje koji govore o korisnim svojstvima rukole. Izgleda da je ova biljka afrodizijak, ali što je još važnije antioksidans, bogata, između ostalog, kalijumom, koji u organizmu ušestvuje u održavanju normalnog srčanog ritma. Sinoć je, dakle, pred nama bila jedna ukusna srcečuvarka :)

Omega pizza

Dough:

• 2/3 cup wheat flour
• 1/3 cup spelt flour
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• water

Combine all ingredients and knead for about 5 minutes, until the dough is firm.
Turn dough out onto a well floured surface. Form dough into a round and roll out into a very thin pizza crust shape 22 cm in diametar.

Filling:

• ketchap
• oregano
• red onion confit (find recipe here)
• canned herring
• rocket salad/arugula
• a little bit of spring onion

Cover the dough with thin layer of ketchap, sprinkle with oregano, then cover with onion confit and herring. Heat the oven to 200C, cover pizza with alufoil and bake for 20 minutes. When baked, sprinkle with rocket salad and spring onion.

Daring Cooks January 2011 Challenge: Hearty Winter Stew

Our January 2011 Challenge comes from Jenni of The Gingered Whisk and Lisa from Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. They have challenged the Daring Cooks to learn how to make a confit and use it within the traditional French dish of Cassoulet. They have chosen a traditional recipe from Anthony Bourdain and Michael Ruhlman.


First of all, I have to say that this is the very first Daring Kitchen Challenge I`m taking part in, and I`m extremely glad that the topic was so dear to my freezing heart :). I`m not particularly fond of winter, but the thought of warm stew in my cozy kitchen, when the snow is falling outside...makes me feel... hmmmm...safe, absolutely protected.
 
Although being complete and utter omnivore, I decided to prepare vegeterian cassoulet in delicious company of red onion confit. Reason for my non-sausage-eating decision lies in the fact that I`m fed up with meat and too much fat in these "post-festive" days.
 
So, here`s the result:
 
 

A plate of 100% pure comfort food!

Now...let`s start from the beginning!

First, I prepared red onion confit:

• 2 red onions
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp cider vinegar
• salt to taste

Cut the onions as shown in picture above. Heat the olive oil in the heavy pot over medium heat and add the onions. Cook the onions until soft, about 15 minutes, then add sugar and vinegar and continue cooking until onions almost start melting. Add salt. That`s it! :)

(My way) Vegeterian Cassoulet (for 2)

• 2 leeks (white and pale green parts only), halved lengthwise, and then chopped into very small pieces
• 2 medium sized carrots, chopped
• 1 celery rib
• red onion confit
• 2 garlic cloves
• pinch of ground cloves
• 1 bay leaf
• oregano and thyme
• 1 can of beans
• 1/3 cup tomato paste
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup lukewarm water

(I have to say that I generally avoid using canned food (well, there are some exceptions-fish, for example), and always soak beans. This time, I realized that cooking canned beans would be a real challenge and big change for me. )

Preparation:

Cook leeks, carrots, celery, and garlic in oil with tomato paste, bay leaf, dried herbs, cloves, and 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper in a large heavy pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened and golden, about 15 minutes. Stir in red onion confit, beans, then water, and simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally, until carrots are tender but not falling apart, about 30 minutes.

And....Let the happiness overwhelm you!!! :)))))

Varvari dolaze (Varvarski tart od pasulja i varvarčići)

Varvari dolaze...i jedu sve pred sobom.

Pre najezde:

Tokom pohoda:

Verujem da je već dovoljno varvarski što post pišem s posla, ali nestrpljiva sam da podelim svoj sinoćni varvarluk.

Varvarski tart od pasulja

Za fil:  

•  200g mešavine crvenog i azuki pasulja
• 2 glavice ljubičastog luka
• manji praziluk
• beli luk u granulama
• 2-3 kašike pavlake
• 50ml jogurta
• 1 jaje
• so i ulje

Namočiti mešavinu pasulja na par sati. Posle toga je skuvati, a potom pretvoriti u pire u multipraktiku:

Luk iseći na tanke listiće, pa ga dinstati na malo maslinovog ulja, uz povremeno dodavanje vode. Posle par minuta, dodati mu beli deo praziluka, i tek na kraju, posle dvadesetak minuta vrednog dinstanja, dodati i zeleni deo praziluka. Posoliti, posuti belim lukom u granulama i ostaviti na tihoj vatri još par minuta.
U pripremljeni luk dodati pola smese pirea od pasulja, pavlaku, jogurt, jaje. Probajte i posolite po potrebi.

Testo:

Možete se, naravno, poslužiti bilo kojim receptom za podlogu. Ja sam se poslužila ovim:

• 100g ovsenog brašna
• 100g speltinog/pirovog brašna
• puna kašika suncokretovih semenki
• 1/3 kašičice praška za pecivo
• oko 100 ml mlake vode

Od ovih sastojaka sam zamesila testo, koje sam razvukla po kalupu i na više mesta izbola viljuškom.
Podlogu nisam zasebno pekla, već sam je odmah prelila filom i stavila da se peče 25 minuta u rerni zagrejanoj na 180 stepeni.

Slika sa ispraćaja (u rernu):

 













Ali....ostalo je još pasulja, te su nastali

Varvarčići

Za 8 kolačića:

• preostala smesa pirea od crvenog i azuki pasulja
• 50g maslaca
• 1 čep rakije medovače (zamenite varvarskim alkoholom po želji)
• 5 kašika fruktoze
• 3/4 šolje jogurta
• vanilin šećer
• 1 jaje
• 1 kašičica mešavine kardamoma, cimeta i karanfilića
• 100g speltinog brašna
• 1 kašičica praška za pecivo 

Na blagoj vatri rastopiti maslac i fruktozu, dodati pasulj i sve ostale sastojke. Na kraju dodati brašno sa praškom za pecivo, izmešati do sjedinjenja i dobijenu žitku smesu preručiti u kalupe. Peći oko pola sata na 170 stepeni. Drvenim štapićem proveriti da li je dobro pečeno.