Baked tortellini

I was never very big fan of tortellini, but that had changed when I used to work in a certain hotel. You see, they were paying us peanuts, but they were feeding us. Unless someone was on a special diet and had to bring their own lunch (which nobody did), the food was actually not bad. On a very good day (when the chef was in a good mood), the food was almost very good.

So, after asking the cook (not the chef, he was really snotty son of a *beep*) what goes in 'those little porcelain dishes', he kindly listed the ingredients:

To feed 4 people you will need:

300 grams tortellini
250 ml bechamel sauce
400 ml tomato sauce (plain or your favorite flavor)
1 small cup grated Cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
pinch of oregano


Method:


Cook the tortellini according to packet instructions and drain. In a suitable baking dish pour half of the bechamel sauce and put the tortellini over. Pour the rest of the bechamel sauce and gently stir, so the tortellini are covered. Pour over the tomato sauce and bake in preheated oven (200 degrees celsius) until bubbly. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the Cheddar cheese, then the Parmesan and pinch of oregano. Bake for another 10 minutes or until the cheeses are golden in color.
Enjoy!
 

Moussaka (Musaka)

OK, I get it. I haven't posted since Easter and it is kinda long time, however with a good reason. I have been having series of little misfortunes (health-wise) which have made it very difficult for me to function on my 'normal' levels, but let's forget about that. I missed cooking too and let's face it, sandwiches are not food.
Ever since I was little girl, I was sort of 'stuck' in the kitchen observing, asking endless questions and sometimes I was even allowed to put seasoning on the food, which was a big seal for me, it made me feel grown up and important. One of the important foods in my life has always been moussaka, but not the version that one associates with Greece. It is my mom's moussaka that made me feel better when I was sick or sad.
So, I would like to share it and wish everyone to eat it in good health :)

To feed 4 people, you will need:

700 grams of peeled and thinly sliced potatoes
300 grams ground beef (you can exchange it with soya mince or lentils if you dislike meat)
1 finely chopped onion
3 eggs
200-250 ml milk
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
generous pinch of oregano
tiny pinch of ground cayenne pepper
1-2 teaspoons mild red paprika
1-2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil

Method:


Heat the oil in a frying pan and add the onion. Fry the onion until soft, but take care not to change color. Add the ground beef (or lentils/soya mince) and let it brown, breaking it into very small pieces with the back of a wooden spoon. Season with salt, black pepper, oregano, cayenne pepper aand paprika and remove from the heat.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
In a baking dish layer some of the thinly sliced potatoes, and then add some of the meat. Repeat until everything has finished and the last layer is made up of potatoes.
Bake for about 8-10 minutes and then remove from the oven, whisk the eggs and milk together and pour over the moussaka. If the potatoes are not covered, add little bit more milk.
Bake about 1 to 1 1/2 hour (depending on the oven) or until golden on the top. Let it rest for 10 minutes and serve with green or cucumber salad with vinaigrette dressing.
Bon Apetit!

Happy Easter!

I wish to say Happy Easter to all who stop by! This year I didn't go overboard with my eggs decoration. First and foremost, there's no 'egg culture' in this little rock I call home. People associate Easter with eggs made of chocolate.
So, it is quiet affair with few traditional red eggs, nothing out of the ordinary and some chocolate ones.
Happy Easter once again!

Katmer pie (Katmer pita)

Hmm...I haven't been around lately, my newfound freedom kept me busy playing online games which is good in my books.
Now for the news. Well, I actually did great on my exams, there are some A's, some B+'s and B's and I get to graduate with merit, which was one of the most important things on my bucket list :) Got me a B on my graduation work which is fair and square...if I was grading it myself, I would have given myself a D probably, for work ethics. The material was good, the million books I was reading were good, so all is good when it ends good :)
Oh, the pie..yep... I saw it on my friend's blog and it stuck in my head, so I had made it some time ago, but now it's seeing daylight here.
You see, me and her go way back (my friend and I, not the pie), when we were tiny tots and in the second grade of elementary school she was talking to me about Tolstoy..or Anna Karenina to be precise! Little did we know back then that except for the love of books we will have the same love for baked goodies.
But I digress. Well, here's all you need to make this delicious piece. Remember: You measure ALL cup stuff with the SAME cup. Size matters in this case.

Dough:

2 cups (x 200 ml) lukewarm water
6 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried instant yeast
50-70 grams lard (I used clarified butter)

Filling:

Whatever you prefer. Leeks, spinach, cheese, meat, combination of two or more..I used crumbled feta cheese.

Method:

Combine all the ingredients (except the lard or butter) in a bowl and make nice, soft, pliable dough. Let it prove for about an hour or until doubled in size. When the dough has risen, divide it in 2 balls. Roll out sheet of dough with 5mm thickness, spread half of the lard or butter and dust with little flour. At the centre press with your fingers to make little circle. With a sharp knife make 8 cuts from the marked circle till the end of the dough. (See pictures).
Do the same with the other ball.
Now it is time to take the first ball which has been resting after folding and make big circle (about 5mm thickness) and put some of the desired filling. Start rolling from both ends and cut where the two rolls are meeting. (See pictures).
In lightly greased baking dish start making snail shape with one of the rolls, taking care that the cut part is facing upwards. Continue arranging the rest of the rolls around the initial one and you'll end up with snail looking dough.
Bake in preheated oven (200 degrees Celsius) for about 30-45 minutes or until golden brown.
Enjoy and help yourself to another slice, it is THAT good!

Chapati (roti), Mushroom biryani and Chicken pasanda

I just love ethnic food. I can't get enough of them. Unfortunately for me, I cannot eat hot foods due to very sensitive and complicated digestive system, but the beauty of ethnic foods is that you can substitute spices and make them suit different tastes. While my husband is fond of Chinese cuisine, I love me some Indian. I don't mind Chinese, don't take me wrong, but if I ever had to choose between the two, my vote goes to Indian cuisine.
So, after (not) sitting pretty for some time, I decided to do little Indian feast from scratch. There was not the option of buying ready made sauces or vacuum packed bread. Million pots, pans and bowls were (ab)used, but the end was worthwile. The result: empty plates and very little leftovers.
Here we go with the ingredients and the methods:

Chapati (roti)

Ingredients for 4 pieces:

1 cup of flour
1/2 cup of lukewarm water
pinch of salt
pinch of baking powder
4-5 spoons melted clarified butter (ghee)

Method:

Mix the dry ingredients and add the water. Make the dough and if it's sticky add some more flour. Put few drops of oil on your hands and knead the dough until smooth. Let it rest for 5-10 minutes. Divide the dough into 4 balls. Heat up a skillet or heavy bottomed non stick pan. Dust the work surface with flour and with rolling pin make circle about 6-7 inches in diameter and put it on the hot skillet. When brown spots appear on the bottom, flip the chapati on the other side and it should start puffing up. As soon as brown spots appear on the other side, flip again for few seconds and remove it. Place on a dish lined with paper 2-3 napkins. Pour some clarified butter on top of each chapati and stack them like pancakes until you have used up all dough.


Mushroom biryani

Ingredients (for 2 servings):

1 cup basmati rice
1 small chopped onion
7-8 quartered mushrooms
2 medium tomatoes finely diced
green chilli finely diced (optional)
1 inch piece ginger finely sliced
2 cloves of garlic crushed
1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
2-3 cardamom pods
1 small cinnamon stick
1 tablespoon cloves
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1/2 cup garden peas (optional)
salt to taste

Method:

Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed cooking pot and add the cardamom, cloves, cumin seeds and cinnamon. Stir for few seconds and then add the onion. Stir well until the onion gets glassy and then add the garlic, ginger, ground coriander, chili flakes (and fresh chili if you're using). Stir well for some minutes and then add the mushrooms and tomatoes (and peas if using). Cook until the liquid has evaporated. Add the rice and stir until the rice looks like glass. Add 2 1/2 or 3 cups of water (the same cup used for measuring rice), reduce the flame, partially cover the pot and cook until the rice is done.

Chicken pasanda

Ingredients for 2 portions:

2 tablespoons cooking oil

1 medium onion, grated

small stick of cinnamon

2 cardamom pods

1/2 inch of ginger, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds

1/4 teaspoon chilli powder

2 tablespoons of butter

1 heaped tablespoon of sugar

1 tablespoon tomato puree

about 100 ml water

1 tablespoons flaked almonds

Fresh coriander, chopped

250 grams of chicken breast trimmed and cubed into 3 centimetre squares

1 tablespoons sultanas

1 tablespoons of coconut flakes

100ml fresh cream

Salt – to add to taste as you go along

First heat some oil in a frying pan and add the chicken. Cook until has become white, but do not let it brown. Set aside.

Heat the oil to start making the sauce. Add the onion and fry on a medium heat until the consistency is on the dry side. Add the cinnamon and the cardamom seeds. Cook on a low heat for ten minutes.

Add the ginger and garlic and cook them for another ten minutes on the same low heat. Add the salt.

Then add the chilli, turmeric and coriander seeds. Cook for one minute.

Add some freshly boiled water [this is really important as it stops the onions from separating and floating] until you have an amalgamated sauce.

Add a tablespoon of butter and when this dries out, add the next one. Continue to mix in butter until the consistency is dried. Add the sugar.

Add the tomato puree and some salt.

You should now have a very thick sauce to which you add the water. Amalgamate well.

Add the cubed chicken. Cook on extremely low heat.

In a separate pan, toast, on a low heat, the flaked almonds and coconut flakes until they are brown. Cool them and crush them in your hands into smaller pieces. Add some fresh coriander.

To bring it all together:

Add the almonds and chopped coriander, the sultanas and coconut flakes. Add fresh cream until you have a thick, pale sauce.

This recipe for chicken pasanda has been modified from its original version to suit my personal taste.

Lebanese fatayer bil-sbanegh (Small savoury spinach pies)

I really like Lebanese food. Although I'm not very keen on meat, sometimes I eat even meat from the Lebanese restaurant nearby. All the spices and seasoning are just so wonderful.
On the other hand, I really enjoy the vegetarian part of the cuisine. So, after figuring out that 1 Euro is too much to pay for a teeny tiny (minuscule) pie, I decided to make my own. I found the original recipe somewhere on the net, but I 'improved' to suit my taste :)
So, for 20 of these delicious mini pies you will need:

Dough:

250 grams all purpose flour, sifted
160 ml lukewarm water
1/2 teaspoon dry yeast
1 level teaspoon salt
Olive oil for brushing

Filling:

500 grams fresh spinach leaves
1 small ripe tomato, finely diced
1 medium onion, very finely diced
1/2 teaspoon salt
pinch of grated nutmeg
pinch of ground black pepper
juice of half lemon
1 tablespoon sumac* (*see note)

Method:

In a bowl, combine the flour, yeast and salt and gradually add the water. Stir and mix well to make the dough. On a floured surface knead the dough adding more flour if it's sticky. Knead for 5 minutes. Lightly oil a bowl with some olive oil and place the dough. Cover with cling film and let it prove for about 1 and a half to 2 hours.
In meantime, shred the spinach into very thin ribbons, sprinkle with the salt and squeeze as much moisture as you can with your hands. (The spinach has to look dry). Discard the liquid. Put the spinach into a bowl with the diced onion and tomato and add the sumac, pepper, nutmeg and lemon juice. Stir well to combine.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius and line baking sheet with baking parchment. Divide the dough in 20 small balls and cover them with tea towel to prevent drying out. Roll each bowl on lightly floured surface with floured rolling pin into circle about 8 centimetres in diameter. Brush the edges with little water and place tablespoon of the filling into the centre of the circle. Fold the dough from 3 sides and pinch the edges to form triangular shapes. Arrange on baking tray and brush lightly with olive oil on all 3 sides. Bake for 25-30 minutes (depending on the oven) or until lightly golden. Take out from the oven and brush again lightly with olive oil. Let them cool and serve at room temperature with some strained yogurt sprinkled with sumac.

* Note: Sumac is Middle Eastern sour spice with peppery hint. If you can't find sumac, you can use zest from half lemon mixed with pinch of salt.
I'm so glad that nearby there's ethnic shop that sells all kind of spices, but my sumac was bought from the Lebanese restaurant nearby :) The chef/owner was happy to sell me the desired amount for very little money :)

No knead bread

Yeah, I know...I haven't discovered a new continent or re-invented the wheel, however, I did manage to make the famous No knead bread :) Yay for me! Thing is, my husband liked it so much that now he's always asking when I'll have the time to make it again.
It was not hard to make it, pretty much I saw the video on Youtube and that was it. I will just type out the ingredients and for the method it is best to watch the video.

Ingredients:

420 grams strong flour
350 ml tepid water
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 1/4 teaspoon salt

For the method, watch this video: