Monday, January 17, 2011

Grandma's sweet white bread


Oh, those old recipe books...They are the best and they bring the most memories.
When I came to Canada, many many years ago, I brought a few things with me. Among love letter, old diaries and pictures, I brought as many books as I could. I still have them all 'till this day. Yesterday, I took one of my cookbooks from the shelf right by the kitchen and started flipping through pages. It was first published in 1980, in Lithuania, and was called "Grandmother's feast" (Mociutes vaises). I found an appealing recipe, that called for simple ingredients and seemed easy to make. The result was divine! The aroma was floating in the house and everybody was anxious to see what will come out of the oven. Even I was impressed.
With this recipe, the loaf will come out medium size. The ingredients can be easily doubled, which I will do next time. It is my favorite sweet bread recipe at the time. I made many different, but similar breads, yet this one is the softest, the fluffy(est) one ever. The recipe called for poppy seeds, I put raisins. I should of just put both. Next time.

You will need:
About two cups of sifted flour
2 tsp of dry east
2 egg yolks
1/4 of a cup of sugar
100 gr of butter, unsalted
3/4 of a cup of raisins
1/4 cup poppy seed (optional)
1 cup of warm milk
1 tsp salt

First step. Take a big mixing bowl, add half of the sugar, east and warm milk. Mix well until east is dissolved. Then add half of the flour. Mix, cover with plastic and let stand for 2 hours in a warm place.
Step two. Your dough will have risen quite a lot. Mix it well with a wooden spoon. Beat egg yolks with the mixer with remaining sugar, to get almost white substance. Melt butter (make sure is not hot, just barely warm). Add both, the eggs and the butter, into the dough. Mix. Add the raisins (poppy seed if using). Then add the remaining flour and salt. Add the flower slowly, you may not need the whole cup. Kneed well on the counter with your hands.
Take a bowl, lightly oil it, and put your dough into it. Let stand and rise for another hour or so, until it will rise nicely. Transfer on the baking sheet with parchment paper. If you don't have the parchment paper, just put some oil on the baking sheet. Make a round loaf. Brush it with the egg yolk. Let rise for 20-30 minutes. If needed, brush it with the egg again. You may even sprinkle it with some pearl sugar or poppy seeds.
Step three. Heat the oven to 350 F (200 C) and place your risen bread on the middle rack. I started to bake everything on the upper middle rack, so it would not burn the bottom. If you bake once in a while, you probably know your oven. Mine has 4 racks. I now started baking everything on a second rack from the top. I call it the upper middle rack. Bake it for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Do not open the oven door for the first 2o minutes, otherwise, your bread may collapse. Check with the toothpick to make sure it comes out 'clean'. That means it's done. Let rest for 10-15 minutes. Enjoy! Serve with milk, hot coco or (herbal) tea.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Neighbors apple cake

Cake with cream cheese and raspberry jam
I call it a Neighbors cake, because many years ago, when I was only 13, back in Lithuania, we used to live together with another family, sharing the kitchen. The lady taught me this wonderful easy to make, very tasty cake. To me it's no fail cake, because it's easy to make and always comes out very good. It brings a lot of good memories, when my biggest care in the world was homework and cake making...I used to love to cook and bake even then. My dear mother wasn't a very good cook. It was not tasty whatever she made. So I came up with the idea, to try to make something myself. And it worked. Anything I made, I always did it with my heart. That rule works until today, whenever I put a piece of my heart into my dish, it comes out great! I believe, with everything in life that you do, when you put your heart into it, the result is amazing. What comes from the heart goes to the heart. 




You will need:
4-5 eggs
1 cup of sugar plus another 1/3 of cup for the apples (may be used brown sugar)
vanilla sugar or extract (1 package or 1 tsp.)
4 tbsp mayo
2 tbsp sour cream (if you use one but not the other, just add 6 tbsp of whatever you have)
1 tsp baking powder (mix it with mayo or sour cream before putting into the batter, so there will be no aftertaste)
1 package margarine (450 gr)
about 4 cups of flour, sifted (anytime I use flour, I sift it)
8 apples
1 lemon juice
cinnamon to taste (optional)
raisins (optional)

In the picture, the filling is one of my substitutions, that I wrote about at the end of the post.

Separate the eggs. Take the yolks, put into the deep medium size dish, add sugar, vanilla and mix it until you get very light yellow batter that has almost tripled in size. The best to do this is with the electric  hand mixer. I still use mine that I bought on sale for 10$, works well. Small investment but very useful gadget for everyday cooking.
Once you achieved the desired consistency, add sour cream and/or mayo with baking powder.Mix some more. Then add by cutting straight from the package with the knife margarine. This simple technique is the easiest and leaves the least mess. Beat with the mixer for another few seconds, just until you get margarine divided into smaller pieces. Do not completely incorporate margarine into the eggs, the little pieces, that's  what makes this cake melt in your mouth.
Start adding flour, first mix with wooden spoon, then use your hands. They won't become messy. That is another reason why I love this recipe, you don't have to get your hands 'dirty'. Put flour that the dough wouldn't be sticky, but still soft. I usually need about 4 cups, however, don't put all flour at once. You may need less, depending on how much sour cream/mayo you put. I like to put generous amounts, because it only makes it taste better.
Separate the dough into two even pieces, one put in the fridge for about an hour, or less.
The other half of the dough roll with the rolling pin on the piece of plastic wrap on the counter, for easy transfer. In the original recipe, back home, when we had not even heard of plastic wrap, I would just nicely even out the dough on the baking dish, not forgetting the sides, with my hands. It takes a little longer, but it is all about the creation, using your most valued tool-your hands. The baking dish I use, is about 12 inches by 10 inches that usually come with your stove (that probably is applicable for the older version of stoves). It has to have small sides, at least 2-3 fingers thick. You can use 9 by 13 inches with sides, the most common one. I try not to make this cake too thick, I like when the pieces are about 1 and a half inches tall. But whatever you make, it will still taste good. These are just some references for you to keep in mind.
Put that aside. Wash the apples and grate them with the grater, medium size, meaning grate that it still would have some texture, not the mush. Usually, the grater has two main sides. Very fine that makes 'a mush' and the medium one, that leaves some texture.
Once you are done grating, add sugar to taste, depending on how sour or sweet your apples are. Add some lemon juice (not all, you will need the rest for the egg white topping). Add raisins, if using, cinnamon or whatever you like your apples with. Mix it.
Now, take the apple mixture and pour on top of the dough in your baking dish. Even it out.
Take another piece of dough from the fridge. Wash the grater you used to grate apples. Use again the same side, for medium grating. Take a small piece of dough and 'grate' it through the grater. You will see little crumbs coming out. Continue until you finish the whole dough. Try to put evenly on the whole cake.
Heat the oven 375 F, if you are not sure about your oven, start with 350 F. On the medium rack. Bake the cake until golder brown for an hour. When it's almost done, take the egg whites and beat them with the mixer. Make them nice and fluffy, almost white, but not quite. Don't beat to the point it will be 'standing', that is too much. Add lemon.
Take the cake out of the oven, nicely with the spatula, put the egg whites evenly on crumbled top. Bake for another 10 minutes. Watch it, as the egg whites tend to burn very fast! Bake until the top becomes slightly brown. Take it out and cut into desired size squares. You have to do that now, while hot, because the egg whites once cooled will become harder, making extremely difficult to cut.
This cake has to be refrigerated after two days! Can be easily frozen.
Since I like to come up with different fillings, I came up with one for this cake, too. For New Years, I made it with the new filling, the result was great. Instead of apples, mix 1-2 blocks (packages of 250 gr) of cream cheese ( light version is good) with half a cup of sugar. On top of cream cheese, layer any jam you like or have at the time. Proceed with crumbs. everything else is the same.
Come up with your own favorite filling and share.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Chocolate chip cookies



Chocolate chip Heart cookies
I used chocolate chips that I bought at the bulk food strore 

I am not the biggest fan of these kind of cookies, but I have a very good reason to make them - my 4.5 year old son asked me to. Looked at some of my cook books, found the recipe that appealed to me. My son, as soon as he came from school today, he asked me to make these cookies. And since cooking is passion, I am determined to make them well. The least I can do, is please people I love with my cooking!

You will need:
Half a  pound soft, room temperature butter ( about 230 grams)
1/2 cup of regular sugar
1/2 cup of brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. of vanilla extract
1 cup of chocolate chips (I used the bar of chocolate that my neighbor gave me with almonds and chopped them in the little chopper)
1/2 tsp. of baking soda
1/2 tsp of salt (if using unsalted butter)
about 2 cups of flour, sifted ( you may need less)
Tip. If you want these cooking to be healthy, add some chopped nuts and/or pumpkin seeds. It gives a nicer taste and your kids ended up eating healthy nuts that otherwise they wouldn't eat.

Mix with the electric hand mixer butter and both sugars until creamy and fluffy, for about 10-15 minutes. Scrape the sides few times with the spatula. Once it's nice and creamy, add eggs and vanilla. Then add your nuts and seeds, if using. Mix some more.
In a separate bowl, combine sifted flour, salt and baking soda. Mix well. Add most of the flour mixture into the butter batter, leaving some, just in case, if it's not enough.
Your mixture should be soft, but not too soft. By hand, make walnut size balls, I made bigger-no patience-pat them to make pancake like shape and put it on the parchment paper on the baking sheet. Bake at 350-375 F. I like to be cautious...for about 15 minutes, until the sides become lightly brown. Take it and cool it.
My son in the winter likes to cool his cookies in the balcony. We did just that now, he tried it and his first reaction was:'Mmmmhmmm, so crunchy, so good, thank you, mom!'
I think they really did come out very good, they definitely look much better than the ones last time. I hope your kids will enjoy it, too. My son was helping me through the process, he was holding the chopping button on the chopper, he was breaking the eggs and pouring sugar. What a great little helper. Ask you kids to help you, they love to participate and be helpful.
My cookies look somewhat different than the regular chocolate chip, because I didn't have the chips, I chopped the bar of dark chocolate with almonds. There were a lot of tiny pieces among the few bigger ones..It tastes great!

Braided bread




This is for you, Kristina! By a popular demand, here is the very first desert, a must have with tea of coffee when your friends or family come over.
At first glance difficult to make, this sweet bread-cake is quite easy to make.
It has a filling. I created several different fillings over time. Some of my favorites are cream cheese-raisin-raspberry jam filling, apple pie filling, cottage cheese-jam filling. The possibilities are endless, fill it with whatever you like. That is what I did. And it keeps on changing depending on the event. For example, for Christmas, I did poppy seed-raisin filling, as it's custom in Lithuania to bake with poppy seed for this time of year.


This dough recipe is made in steps.
You will need:
Flour
sugar
instant east
warm water
sour cream
butter
2 large eggs
vanilla extract
cream cheese
raisins
jam (I like raspberry)
Pearl sugar for sprinkling (optional)
This is what you need to buy or to have in order to make this cake.

Sponge
6 tbsp. warm water
1 tsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp instant east
1/4 cup unbleached flour (just regular flour you use for baking)
To make a sponge. In a small bowl combine the sponge ingredients, stir well, loosely cover with plastic cover (let it breath), and set aside to proof for 15-20 minutes, depending on how warm your kitchen is. After some time, you will notice, the sponge has risen, is light and fluffy.

Dough
sponge
6 tbsp sour cream
1/4 cup (about 4 tbsp) softened unsalted butter
3 large eggs (1 for the dough, 1 for the cream cheese filling, 1 beaten with 1 tbsp of water for brushing at the end)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour (don't put all at once, this is just a guide, but depending on your products, you may need more or less)
pearl sugar, if you have any, optional
To make dough. Whisk together sour cream, butter, egg, sugar, salt, vanilla in a large bowl. Stir in sponge. Add the flour and mix with wooden spoon. Finish with hands. Kneed on the counter, for about 5-10 minutes. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl (I just wash the one my dough was at the beginning), cover with plastic loosely and allow to rise 60-90 minutes, until it is quite puffy and nearly doubled in size.

Filling: Take one brick of cream cheese, add one egg and 1/3 of cup of sugar and beat it with the mixer. Add raisins (also optional)

To prepare the bread
Gently deflate the dough and roll out on a parchment paper on the counter.This is very important, otherwise you won't be able to transfer your finished product to the baking pan! Make a rectangle that the width you could easily divide in three, like 12 inches, 15 inches. No need to make any bigger. The length orientate on how long your baking dish is. I do it about 18-20 inches. So my rectangle is 12 by 18 inches. Divide your rectangle in three horizontally, or the 12 inches side. Cut in at the top, then proceed barely making a mark 'till the end. The outer sides, not touching the middle part, cut into stripes. About finger or so thick. Refer to the picture, as it may seem confusing at first. Cut into stripes both sides, making sure you have an even number. You will have to fold them later, like a braid.
Once you have your bread ready, on the parchment paper, add the filling in the middle part of it. Add jam, if using. Now, fold the middle part and start braiding one by one your strips. Before you finish with the last one, fold the middle little piece and then put the last strips on top. It will look nicer. Brush with egg and sprinkle with pearl sugar.
Once the strips are ready and braided, carefully transfer with parchment paper to the baking sheet. Let rise for 50-60 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375 F. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for 15-20 minutes.
To freeze. When the braid is braided, with the parchment paper, wrap well and freeze for up to a week. It also can be refrigerated (for a day). If freezing, put in the fridge before letting it rise for the last time. When ready to bake, take it out and let it rise then. This recipe can be easily doubled.

White salad 'Olivje'



The traditional salad, no festive table is complete without this one. It's similar to Potato salad, but this one is far better.

You will need:
2-3 medium size potatoes
2-3 carrots
3-4 eggs
5-6 pickled cucumbers in brine
a can of sweet peas
dill (optional)
mayo (to taste)
salt and pepper ( I omit salt, because there is salt in mayo, plus pickles are salty, too)

Take a big pot with water and cook potatoes and carrots (not peeled, as is). In another smaller pot, cook eggs. The best to cook eggs so they wouldn't brake is in a cold water, with some salt added. It won't affect the taste (the salt), but supposedly helps eggs from cracking. Once the eggs are hard boiled, takes about 5 minutes, run them under cold water and leave there until you are ready to peel them. If you will leave boiled eggs without water, it will be very hard to peel them.

Cool everything. Then peel and cut into pieces, as small as possible, about 0.5 cm in size.
Cut eggs and pickled cucumber as well. Add drained peas into it. I use a big bowl or pot for that.
Add fresh, cut dill, if you are using it.
Then add mayo to taste, salt and pepper.
I usually make a big bowl of this salad and use it throughout the week or so. I add mayo only to the part of the salad. The rest keep it in the fridge for the next time. That way it keeps longer.
If you like onions, you can put some finely chopped onion into this salad as well.

Beet salad



Very easy and even more tasty way to eat beets.

You will need:
few medium size beets
1-2 big onions
salt and pepper to taste
dried mushrooms (optional)

Boil beets in water, until soft, cool. Once cooled, peel them and grate them with a grater (medium sized, not mushy).
Cut onions and cook in a frying pan with some oil until golden brown. Add beets and cook some more, about good 15 minutes, 'till incorporated. You will see the onions and beets almost becoming as one....If using dried mushrooms, now you can add them. If you don't have dried mushrooms, the bullion cube of mushrooms will do. Will add the taste and salt at the same time.
Add fresh grated pepper and salt. If you use the bullion cube, be careful with salt. Always taste and try not to put too much. This dish has a nice distinguished taste. Good as a garnish or on a piece of bread.

Beet salad for the rest of us


I call this one 'for the rest of us', because I don't like beets. But there are two ways I will eat it. Considering how healthy the beets are, this is worth trying.

Beet salad with mayo and garlic

You will need:
2-3 bigger size beets
mayo
garlic
salt and pepper to taste

Boil beets in water. Once cooled, peel them and grate them medium size grater, that looks like little droplets ( do not make a mush).
Add mayo to taste, few cloves of garlic (minced) and pepper. I omit salt because there is salt in mayonnaise. You can add crushed walnuts, if you like.

Holidays


The holidays have passed. Lots of new recipes were born and tried. I had a lot of fun during these holidays of 2010-2011. For my family the biggest holiday of the Year is Christmas, especially Christmas Eve (we are Catholic), followed by the New Years. I know New Years is not much celebrated in North America, but in my culture it has stayed one of the most celebrated events. It's going back to Soviet times, when Lithuania was occupied by Russians. We were prohibited to celebrate Christmas, so all we had left were New Years. My family always celebrated Christmas, despite the Soviet ruling, and my grandma always took me to church. I want to instill the same values into my son, I want him to appreciate our traditions and to have a rich background. We are going to church on regular basis and now, since my son is going to Catholic school, that is especially important.
On Christmas Eve, we have 12 vegetarian dishes. 12, because there were 12 apostles at the Last Supper. Some regions of Lithuania, base 12 dishes because there are 12 months in a year.
The main dish is herring and cold sweet soup made from poppy seed. I won't bore you on how to make the soup or the poppy seed cookies that are eaten with the soup. I would like to give you few nice and easy recipes that are made with vegetables and herring. Especially, since the herring is the highlight of the Christmas Eve table.
Don't be afraid of herring, it's very healthy and easy to do. In regular stores you can get marinated herring. I am not the fan of that. There is a lot of vinegar and salt. Not very healthy. I buy my herring from Russian stores. Herring can be easily obtained from Polish or Ukrainian stores as well. I dissect my hearing my self, because I buy it whole. That may sound challenging at first. If you are not familiar with herring (or dissecting the preserved fish), just buy fillets that are in oil. They are very good, too. They key being is that the herring fillets must be in oil. That means, they are not marinated and have as few unpronounceable ingredients as possible.
So there it goes.



Herring under carrots

You will need:
Few herring fillets
4-5 regular size ( like the bigger ones) carrots
2 big onions
ketchup
1 portobello mushrooms (optional)
salt, pepper to taste
oil for frying

Take whole carrots and boil in water 'till soft. With skin!
Meanwhile, cut herring into very small pieces.
Cut the mushrooms into pieces as well, about half an inch by half an inch in size. Take the frying pan and cook them in a bit of oil, 'till all the juices are evaporated. About 15 minutes.
Put aside. Once your carrots are cooked, cool them, peel them and cut into pieces. I cut them lengthwise few times and then cut horizontally.
Cut the onion. Take the frying pan with oil, put onions and cook them until golden. You can add a touch of salt, so the juices of onions will evaporate faster. Once the onions are done, add cut carrots and sautee some more. Then add the portobello mushrooms you have cooked earlier into the pan with onions and carrots. If you are not using mushrooms, skip the step and proceed to the next one. Add ketchup, about 5 tablespoons or to you liking. Now you can taste it and add salt and ground pepper to you taste. I do not add salt, since there is enough salt in a ketchup and herring. Cool the mixture.
Now, take a nice plate, put a layer of cut herring and top it with a layer of cooled carrots mixture.