Bánh Xèo (Hoi An Pancakes)

Huh. It has been way to long. Don't even know where that time has gone. The photos from Vietnam aren't even uploaded yet but it has been already more than two weeks since I left... Ah well. Better late than never! So in a (bad, but well-intentioned) attempt at keeping up my promise, here come some more recipes from my last travel destination: Vietnam.

Since I have already posted a recipe of the famous Pho Bo a while ago (see here), I thought I would introduce a new favourite of mine that I met for the first time on a food tour in Hanoi (yes, a tour where you just eat - fabulous idea if you ask me!). Originally, Bánh Xèo, or pancakes-turned-spring-rolls, are from Hoi An. But you could have guessed that from the title too! So let's get started!

Ingredients (serves about 4):
For the pancake batter:
120g dried rice flour
350 ml cold water
1/2 tsp turmeric powder (or any other yellow spice such as curry or saffron)
Pinch of salt

For the filling:
150g fresh shrimps (or other seafood - you can also add pork, chicken, etc.)
1 spring onion
250g fresh bean sprouts
Vegetable oil for frying

For the topping:
Fresh mint
Fresh coriander
Thai (or Vietnamese) basil
Lettuce
Mango
Banana flower
Cucumber
More beansprouts and spring onions

For the peanut sauce:
1 tsp garlic
2 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp brown sugar or honey
Pinch of chilli powder
60 ml water or coconut milk

You will also need rice paper to transform the pancakes into spring rolls. To soften the rice papers, wrap them in banana leave or a wet towel for a couple of hours.

Preparation:
First, prepare the batter by mixing all the ingredients and letting the mix rest at room temperature for 1 hour. In the meantinme, finely cut the shrimp (if not already done, shell and deveine them first) and spring onions. Heat a little oil in a frying pan and lightly fry the shrimp and any other meat you have chosen to add. Mix the meat together with the pancake batter.
Next, prepare the sauce: crush the garlic and then mix all the ingredients in a saucepan and heat for 10 seconds.
Spread about 2 tbsp of vegetable oil in a frying pan (create a thin layer). Add some spring onions and bean sprouts, then remove the pan from the heat and add the pancake batter. Fry over medium to high heat until the bottom of the pancake is crisp and golden. Pour out the oil into a bowl and flip the pancake over. Once ready, fold the pancake in half and put it on a plate (which you can cover in paper towel to absorb the oil). Repeat with the rest of the batter.
To serve, place the folded pancake on a rice paper and top with some or all the above toppings. Then roll the rice paper and dip the roll into the peanut dipping sauce. 

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Jeow Mak Keua (Aubergine Dip)

Sabaidee!

As it is my last day in Laos, I thought it would be appropriate to catch up on my blog writing and dedicate today's posts to its dishes. After all, that was the initial promise I made for this trip ;-).

So this first dish, Jeow Mak Keua, is a little bit like a Baba Ganoush or Moutabbal, just with an Asian touch of course. The same dish can also be prepared with tomato and then it resembles a lot what you would put on a bruschetta or serve with Mexican tacos... Maybe I am drawing too many parallels here, but I have come across weird similarities in food preparation in these various regions I have visited. Maybe I am just looking for the familiar. Or maybe people across the globe have just had similar light bulbs when it comes to combining ingredients... Well, going off topic here. So let's start with this first, very easy dish, an aubergine (or tomato) dip. It is typically eaten with sticky rice (hence why you'll find the recipe for that one below too), but you can also dip steamed veggies in it!

Ingredients (to serve as an appetizer for 4):

For the sticky rice:

500g sticky rice (not the same as Basmati or jasmine rice!)

Water

For the dip:

4 small (Lebanese or Japanese) aubergines or 1-2 European aubergines

2-3 chillies (Laotians put up to 15 so suit yourself!)

1-2 small shallots

1 tsp salt

4 garlic cloves

1 bundle of fresh coriander (about a cup full)

Dash of fish sauce

Green part of 1 big (or 2-3 small) spring onion

Optional: you can add mushrooms (champignons de Paris) or a green capsicum

If you are preparing the tomato-based dip, use 12 cherry tomatoes, 2 garlic cloves only and add a squeeze of lime juice.

Preparation:

Sticky rice:

First, prepare the sticky rice as the preparation time is quite long. Wash the rice 3-4 times under running water until it runs clear. Then cover the rice with water and allow it to soak for at least 1 hour, better for 3-4. The rice is ready when you can cut it easily with your finger nail. If you can break it with your fingertip only, you have soaked it too long! 

Drain the water from the rice and rinse it several times. Rinse a bamboo steamer (can be a dumpling basket), add the rice and place it over boiling water. Steam the rice for about 30 minutes. Turn the rice over in the steamer and return it to the heat for a few minutes more. Taste to check that the rice is soft and sticky, but not mushy.

Important: in order for sticky rice to become sticky, you have to prepare a minimum of 500g!

Aubergine dip:

Put the aubergine, onion, garlic and chilli (and/or the mushroom/capsicum/tomatoes if using them) on wood skewers and grill them over open flame or in the oven. If you are using big aubergines and capsicums, you can also just prick them with a fork and place them on the coal directly. Grill the veggies until they are blackened. Allow them to cool and then peel the aubergines/tomatoes/capsicum, onion and garlic. Pound the garlic, onion, chilli and salt in a mortar. Once you have obtained a smooth paste, add the aubergine/tomatoes/capsicum and/or mushrooms and continue pounding until all ingredients have mixed well and the dip is more or less smooth. Chop the fresh coriander and add it to the mix, then season the dip with fish sauce and add the coarsely chopped spring onion. You can add lime juice to the tomato dip, but in the aubergine version, the lime might cover the smokey taste of the former.

To eat the dip, form little sticky rice balls with your fingers and then dip them in the sauce. Bon appétit!

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Laotian Laap

Laap (or larp) is considered the Laotian national dish and as such it is served in pretty much every restaurant you go to. It is refreshing in the heat and adds a zing to your day with the mix of spices and herbs it contains. I have also seen it in Thai cookbooks, but then I guess the cuisines here overlap quite often... 

Laap can be prepared with beef, buffalo (as in the photo above - might be a bit more tricky to find in Europe), chicken, pork or fish and vegetarians may substitute the meet with tofu, mushroom and/or potato. 

As with most dishes in Laos, sticky rice is never very far and you can find the recipe for the latter in the next post!

Ingredients (serves  3-4):

300g ground beef 

1 tsb salt

2 tsb fish sauce

2 garlic cloves

1 small onion

2 lemongrass stalks

1 tsp chicken stock

2 tsp dried chilli powder

2-3 bird's eye chillies (depends on your spice tolerance)

2 tbsp fresh coriander (about 4 stems)

2 tbsp fresh galangal

4 small (or 2 big) spring onions

3 tbsp fresh mint (small bunch)

1 bunch of Thai saw coriander (cilantro)

2 kaffir lime leaves

1 lime

2 snake beans or a handful of French beans

1 fresh banana flower (might be impossible to get at home so just leave it out)

Handful of bean sprouts

2 tbsp sticky rice powder (see below for instructions)

Lettuce leaves and/or watercress for serving

Preparation:

First, prepare the sticky rice powder: roast dry sticky rice (unwashed!) in a pan until it turns brown. Then pulverise it in a mortar.

Lightly sauté the beef in a pan with the salt and 1 tsb of fish sauce. Remove it from the heat, add a squeeze of lime juice and set it aside.

Finely chop the garlic, onions, lemongrass (only the white core), chillies, galangal and kaffir lime leaves. Roughly chop the mint, coriander (both), beans and spring onions. If you have succeeded in procuring a banana flower, peel the outer layers (the pink ones) of the flower and thinly slice the white section into a bowl of cold water. Careful, the sap stains and is impossible to get out of clothes (I speak from experience)! Mix all ingredients together and add the fish sauce and sticky rice powder. Squeeze in some lemon juice if you like and then serve the laap with the lettuce leaves and sticky rice. 

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Amok with Shrimp

Ah, well, it has been a while... This traveling business takes up too much of my time somehow and I have to actually take some time "off" and sit down to type up some more recipes.

Thailand seems a long way away now and hence I decided to skip most of the recipes from there (the best ones will come later, promise) and catch up with a recipe from Cambodia. Undoubtedly the most famous dish from that country is Amok: a paste that can be used for different kinds of meat. Here, I post the version with shrimp, but you can substitute that with fish, tofu, beef or chicken

Ingredients (serves 4):

For the Amok paste:

4 lemongrass stems

4 fresh turmeric roots (you can substitute a root with 1 tbsp of turmeric powder)

2 finger roots (lesser ginger) - use ginger instead if you can't find finger roots, but reduce the amount as ginger is a lot stronger in  taste

2 small shallots

4 garlic cloves

4 Ngor or broccoli leaves

200g white mushrooms

1 onion

300g fresh shrimp

200ml coconut milk

2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp chicken stock

Steamed rice

Preparation:

First, finely chop the ingredients for the Amok paste then pound them in a mortar until you obtain a smooth paste. Heat half of the coconut milk in a pan and add the amok paste, sugar, salt and fish sauce. Cook the sauce and add the shrimp, mushroom, onion and ngor leave. Add the rest of the coconut milk and season with chicken stock. Let the sauce thicken a bit and then place it, if available, in a banana leave and serve with steamed rice.

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Phad Thai

This might well be the most famous Thai dish of them all... In Bangkok, you can hardly walk a street without encountering a small stand where it is freshly prepared in front of you. Having tasted "the real deal" plenty of times there I did not think it was possible to recreate it yourself. Yet with the recipe below (again from the Blue Elephant), you actually stand a chance of bringing Bangkok into your home!

For the vegetarians among you, just leave out the dried shrimp, fish sauce and fresh shrimp and add more tofu and salt (the fish sauce is however what makes part of the taste...).

Ingredients (serves 4):

10 tiger prawns (raw)

4 eggs

320g dried rice noodles

8 tbsp vegetable oil

4 garlic cloves

4 small (or 1 big) shallots

4 tbsp fresh tofu

4 tbsp ground roasted peanuts

4 tbsp sweet turnips (pickled - skip if not available)

2 tbsp dried shrimp powder (or entire dried shrimp)

8 stems of thin spring onion

120g fresh beansprouts

4 tbsp white sugar

4 tbsp fish sauce

2 tbsp rice vinegar

4 tbsp tamarind juice

1 tsp chilli powder

2 limes

Fresh coriander

Preparation:

First, soak the rice noodles in cold water for 20 minutes.Meanwhile, start preparing the ingredients: quarter the prawns (not mandatory), cut the tofu into small cubes and the spring onion into 4-cm long pieces. Thinly chop the garlic and shallots.

In a wok, heat the oil on low heat and stir fry the garlic and shallots until an aroma develops (careful not to burn them). Then add the prawns and fry them until they start to turn pink. Push the mix to the side and crack open the eggs into the wok. Wait until the egg white starts to cook (i.e. turn white) and then scramble it. Once the egg is all scrambled, mix in the prawns and add the tofu and sweet turnip. When they are well mixed, add in the noodles (without the water!) and turn up the heat while stir frying the mix. Lower the heat again and add the seasoning: fish sauce, vinegar, tamarind sauce and half of the sugar (keep the rest for garnish). Continue to stir gently until all ingredients are well mixed. Add the dry shrimp powder and half of the chilli powder and ground peanuts. Finally, throw in the beansprouts and spring onion and mix with the rest. 

Transfer to a serving dish and add the lime, chilli powder, sugar and peanuts on the side. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves. 

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Red Curry with Chicken

Today's recipe comes to you more or less directly from the kitchen of the Blue Elephant Cooking 

School in Bangkok... It's what I prepared for lunch today!

Another classic staple in the Thai kitchen, this red curry with chicken is prepared with homemade red curry paste. Once you have tried the fresh version, I promise you'll never want to use the pre-made one again!! The ingredients are relatively easy to obtain and you can store the paste easily in the fridge (see below). So let's get started!

Ingredients for the red curry paste:

1 coriander root

5 garlic cloves

4 very small shallots (or 2 bigger ones)

1/2 tbsp galangal

1 1/2 tbsp lemongrass (= 1-2 stems)

5 dried big red chillies (Serrano chilli)

1/2 tbsp kaffir lime zest (you can use kaffir lime leaves instead, if you can't find the fruit)

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp ground roasted cumin seeds

1/2 tsp ground roasted coriander seeds

1/2 tsp white pepper powder

1/2 tsp shrimp paste

Preparation:

Soak the dried chilli in water for 15 minutes, then squeeze out the water and chop. 

Peel and crush the garlic cloves and shallots and put them in a mortar. Chop the coriander root and add to the mortar. Start pounding. Slice the galangal and lemongrass finely and cut off the zest of the kaffir lime (the white of the lime is bitter, so don't use it!). Add to the mix together with the chilli and pound. Then add the salt, cumin, coriander and pepper powder and the shrimp paste. Pound until you obtain a smooth paste. You can also use a blender to do this, but the aroma are not the same (and you need to add some water to blend better). You can "refresh" a pre-made curry paste by adding pounded garlic cloves, coriander root and white pepper powder. 

Storage:

The paste can be kept in an airtight container (or plastic bag) in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks or one month in the freezer. For longer periods, add more salt.

Ingredients for the chicken curry (serves 4):

8 tbsp red curry paste

8 tbsp vegetable oil (don't use olive oil for Thai cooking)

350g chicken breast

300g (fresh) bamboo shots

600 ml coconut milk

200 ml water

8 kaffir lime leaves (fresh if possible, otherwise soak dry ones in water)

1 bundle of Thai basil

6 big red chillies (Serrano chillies) - cut out the seeds to make it less spicy

2 tbsp palm sugar

4 tbsp fish sauce

Jasmine rice

Preparation:

Cut the chicken breast into thin pieces and the bamboo shots (if fresh) into slices. Tear the kaffir lime leaves into small pieces (first remove the stem by folding them in half). Slice the Serrano chilli (use only 4 and keep the rest for decoration).

Heat the oil in a saucepan on medium heat. Add the curry paste and stir fry until an aroma develops. Laddle in a spoonful of coconut milk. Stir continuously until the oil separates from the liquid. Add another laddle and repeat. Add a third laddle and once the coconut milk is boiling, add the sliced chicken and simmer until it is half cooked. Add the bamboo shots and then the seasoning (palm sugar and fish sauce) and kaffir lime leaves. Stir until the palm sugar is dissolved. Pour in the rest of the coconut milk and later the water. Add the chilli and sweet basil leaves. Continue cooking for about a mnute, then pour the curry into a serving bowl. Decorate with basil leaves and thinly chopped chilli and serve with rice.

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Tom Kha Kai

The first of a series of recipes directly imported from their country of origin has to be a good one.

So this is it - the soup of all soups ;-). Tom Kha Kai or the coconut soup with chicken. At least for me, a definite favourite (until I met its cousin, the Tom Yum Kung... more about that later). Hence it was obvious that I would pick a cooking class where this creamy coconut soup featured in the menu. And I haven't stopped tasting it everywhere I go here in Thailand. The good news is that it's easy to make at home - the bad news: the ingredients might be a bit tricky to get (at least where the wind blows me...). But I will just start an import business for galangal then. And seaweed on the side. Never forget about sushi ;-).

So here comes the recipe. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Ingredients (for 1):

100ml coconut milk

80ml chicken stock (best made yourself by boiling chicken bones)

60g chicken breast

20g young coconut meat (see my point about the ingredients?) - or alternatively any kind of mushroom

1 coriander root (or 3-4 coriander stems) - save the leaves for decoration

2 small shallots

5 bird's eye chillies

1 lemongrass stem

3 cm galangal (5 slices)

3 kaffir lime leaves

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 tsp white sugar

1/2 tbsp tamarind juice

1/2 tsp lime juice

Chilli oil ("nam prik phaow")

Preparation:

First, prepare the ingredients: slice the chicken breast thinly, crush the coriander root, onion, chillies, lemongrass and galangal and tear the kaffir lime leave (fold it in half to remove the stem, then tear it into smaller pieces). Then bring the chicken stock to the boil (at medium heat) in a saucepan. Add the herbs (coriander root, kaffir lime leaves, galangal and onion) and continue boiling until an aroma develops. Add the coconut milk and bring the soup to the boil, but don't boil it for too long as it will separate. Add the chicken breast and, once the chicken is half cooked, the coconut meat. Simmer for a few minutes until the chicken is cooked. Add the fish sauce, sugar and tamarind juice (not all at once as you might find it too sweet/sour). Mix well and season to your taste. Turn off the heat and add the lime juice and crushed chilli. If you wish, remove the herbs before serving the soup. Pour the soup into a serving bowl and add some chilli oil and coriander leaves for decoration. Serve hot. Voilà - that's the secret. 

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The Asia adventure...

... aka "a foodie's trip to paradise".

Finally. I am here. I have arrived on the continent of my (foodie) dreams. Following my heart and giving this obsession with Asian food a reality check, I have decided to embark on a 3 months long trip to the food heavens in the far east. Stops are foreseen in Thailand (from where I currently write), Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, South Korea and last, but certainly not least, Japan.

I think it's needless to say that I have not been disillusioned with the food here. Quite on the contrary - as you may have guessed (or already know from personal experience). If Thailand is not a foodie paradise, then I really don't know. The millions of food stands that just pop up wherever you go, the freshest and exotic ingredients, the Thai traditional tea... I could go on and fill pages with the impressions. But rather than do that, I will follow up on the promise that I have made to plenty of people: share my experience with you through recipes that I am gatherirng here - be it through cooking classes or just sitting next to the cook and watching. I hope that it will bring some fresh spices to your kitchen and encourage some of you to replace that take away order with the real deal...!

Enjoy!

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Green Tea Cupcakes

For some odd reason, I went from not being a cupcake-eater at all to ultimate obsession - in particular with diverse flavours (I don't think I've ever even made plain vanilla cupcakes). So today, let's feel green. The recipe is dedicated to Martina who absolutely adored these cupcakes.

If you do not have matcha green tea powder (I myself have only recently come into possession of it), just use some other Japanese green tea (Sencha, Gyokuro) and try to pulverise it as much as possible. The colour will not be quite as bilious, but the taste is just as good.

Ingredients (makes 24):
For the dough:

240g flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

340g caster sugar

170g butter

2 large eggs

10ml milk

2 tbsp matcha green tea powder (or crushed sencha or gyokuro tea leaves)

For the topping:

200g butter

200g Philadelphia (or any other cream cheese)

600g icing sugar

1 tbsp matcha green tea powder

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 175ºC. Mix together the dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder and matcha powder). Place the butter into a separate bowl and beat until soft (do not melt it!) and then add the caster sugar. Mix the two until you obtain a pale and fluffy mass. Add the eggs and sift in the dry mix. Add the milk. Fill the cupcakes forms until 2/3 full and bake for 15-20 minutes until the tops are soft to the touch and a toothpick comes out clean. 

While baking the cupcakes, put the Philadelphia in a bowl and beat until creamy. Place the butter and 1/3 of the icing sugar into a separate bowl and mix until fluffy. Sift in the rest of the sugar and matcha powder and at the end, add the cream cheese. Chill until ready to pipe, then decorate the cupcakes!

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Homemade Müesli (Granola)

This post has been sitting in my drafts for a very long time and it just didn't want to be published... But then, what better way to start a weekend than with a homemade muesli? Hence why this draft now finally makes it onto my blog... And I have to admit, it brings back lovely memories of the colourful and tasty Iraqi pomegranates (I would bet that they are amongst the best in the world, if not the best).

Ingredients:

1 cup of rolled oats (I just used Quaker oats)

1 cup of rolled buckwheat groats

2 cups puffed oats (the ones that look like "Smacks")

5 tbsp. honey (the liquid kind)

3 tbsp. coconut oil (liquid)

1 vanilla pod (scratched out seeds)

1 tsp. cinnamon

Pinch of salt

Handful of crushed almonds

Handful of crushed walnuts

Handful of dried apricots 

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 150°C and line a baking tray with baking paper. Do not overheat your oven as you are guaranteed to burn your granola (yes, speaking from experience)! Combine dry ingredients (oats, salt and cinnamon) in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the oil with the honey and vanilla seeds. Then combine the two - best done with your hands and massaging the honey into the oats until they are evenly mixed. Spread out the mixture onto the baking tray, using a spatula to ensure that it is spread evenly. Put the tray into the oven and bake the mixture for 30 minutes, stirring it every 10 minutes so that it doesn't burn (again, trust me, it happens). After 30 minutes add the chopped apricots and nuts and put the tray back into the oven for another 10-15 minutes. Do not add dried fruit or nuts earlier as they will burn (I feel like I am repeating myself here…)! Once the granola looks golden and crunchy, take the tray out and let the mix cool down so it can clump. Finally, put the Müesli in airtight containers (like glass jars for example) for storage.

I always add fresh fruit to my granola just to make it a little less dry. These days, it's mostly pomegranate as the season has really started here. The best pomegranates in Northern Iraq come from Halabja, allegedly. I think I will abstain from speculating why that would be…

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Mini Mulled Wine Cupcakes

And because the wintery season has even arrived in Suly, here the recipe for some seasonal cupcakes - mulled wine!

Ingredients (makes 24):
For the dough:
120g butter
120g caster sugar
1 pinch of salt
Zest of 2 clementines
120g flour
1 1/2 baking powder
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. groun nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
2 medium eggs
8 tbsp. red wine
6 tbsp. clementine juice
30g sugar
1/2 cinnamon stick
3 cloves
1 star anise

For the frosting:
100g cream cheese
100g butter
250g icing sugar
Zest of 1/2 clementine

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 175°C. Mix the (soft) butter, sugar, salt and zest in a bowl and mix until pale and fluffy. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and spices. In a third bowl, lightly beat the eggs, then add them to the butter mix while beating quickly. Then add the flour and lastly 2 tbsp. wine. Fill the mini cupcake forms with batter (2/3 full) and bake for 15-18 minutes (until the tops spring back to the touch and a toothpick comes out clean). 

In a small saucepan, mix together 6 tbsp. of wine and clementine juice and add the 30g sugar and spices. Bring to the boil, stir until the sugar has dissolved, then set aside to infuse. Brush the still warm cupcakes with the syrup and keep the rest for the frosting.

Meanwhile, prepare the frosting by placing the cream cheese in a bowl and beating it until smooth and creamy. In a separate bowl, mix the (soft) butter with 1/3 of icing sugar and cream until pale and fluffy. Continue adding the rest of the sugar, then add the cream cheese. At the end, mix in the zest and remaining syrup. Decorate the (cooled) cupcakes with the topping.

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Pumpkin & Goat's Cheese Ravioli

I found this very yummy-looking recipe of pumpkin-goat's cheese ravioli online and since pumpkin season is in full swing even in Northern Iraq, I spontaneously decided to try it out. The original recipe is with canned pumpkin, but since that doesn't exist here, I just used fresh pumpkin - probably better anyway! And to be honest, the result completely surprised me since I really did not expect to produce yummy pasta the first time I ever tried it. So the recipe is fool proof.

So let's get started!

Ingredients (for roughly 2 portions):
For the dough:
200g all purpose flour
1 egg
3 tbsp olive oil
60ml water
1/4 tsp salt

For the filling:
100g fresh pumpkin
75g goat's cheese
2 cloves of garlic
3 tsp white wine
Rosemary or sage (depending on your taste)
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Water

For the sauce:
20g butter (yes!)
1 tsp lemon juice
Rosemary

Preparation:
Firstly, prepare the dough as it will need time to rest. Beat the egg in a bowl and add the water, oil and salt. Then add the flour while continuously combining the ingredients. Knead the dough until you obtain a soft mass. Place the dough back in the bowl and cover it with cling film. Let it chill for 1-2 hours.
In the meantime, cut up the pumpkin in cubes and press or chop the garlic. Heat some olive oil in a frying pan and add the garlic and pumpkin. Sauté the two until the garlic starts to brown, then deglaze with the white wine. Season with salt, pepper and rosemary (or sage). When the white wine is absorbed, place the pumpkin in a pyrex, drizzle with olive oil and bake it in the oven until it is soft, approximately 20 minutes at 200°C. Once the pumpkin is soft, put it in a bowl and add the goat's cheese. Purée with a food processor and season (if needed) with salt, peper and more rosemary. Then take the dough out of the fridge and roll it out. I have a pasta machine to help me make the dough evenly thin. If you do not, just roll it out (on a floured surface) until it is about 2-3mm thin. Avoid to make all the dough at once at it easily dries out. The cut the pasta in lengths, place 1tsp.-sized filling in regular intervals (estimate the size of your ravioli) onto the strips, moisten the edges and place a second strip on top. Then press around the filling heaps with your fingers, cut the parcels into ravioli and go around the edges with a fork to seal the pasta strips together. The pasta is ready to be cooked immediately. Otherwise, you can place it in plastic bags in the freezer (separated from each other so they don't stick). To cook them, bring water to the boil in a pan, add salt and cook the ravioli until they float on the surface. In a frying pan, heat the butter until it starts to brown. Add the rosemary and lemon juice and pour it over the fresh ravioli. Buon appetito!

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Homemade Torsade Bread

When living abroad, finding "good" bread is often one of the biggest challenges. Now, as good, I, Swiss and European, would define bread that is crunchy, but not necessarily a baguette. Sourdough is yummy. Not so much the toast bread other nations' people seem to prefer. In Kurdistan you can get the toast bread, the baguette, the flatbread and a bread which they call "samoun"- diamond shaped breads. I even found an article on them online.

I like samoun, but they're not the kind of bread I feel like eating all the time, hence the quest to find an easy recipe for a homemade version. And I might just have come across the easiest recipe on the planet: the no-knead bread as presented by the New York Times.

The first time I made it, my oven (I am in Iraq, remember) gave up on me and the hot temperatures. So I had to shuffle my bread between my own kitchen and the one in the office. And between an electric and not-so-well-functioning-gas oven. Result: the bread was ok, but not great. So since them, I am putting the temperature not at maximum, but just at 220°C (as is suggested in the article). And the result looks pretty neat:

I have slightly changed the measurements, also converting them into the metric system. This conversion business also reminds me to get cracking on my own conversion table. Not just for myself, but also for you people. Maybe you appreciate not having to google everything ;-).

Now, let's get started on the bread.

Ingredients (for two small loafs, roughly 20cm long):
350g all purpose (i.e. white) flour - you can change that according to your preference, or in my case, availability
1 tsp salt
1/3 tsp yeast (dry)
350ml water (room temperature)

Preparation:
Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Then add the water. Mix well, but stop when the water is absorbed. Do not knead (that's the whole purpose!). Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let the dough rest for at least 12 hours, but preferably more.

Once the dough is ready, pre-heat the oven to 220°C and place a pyrex (with cover) in it. Cut the dough into tow and put the first half on a surface covered with flour (the dough will be very sticky). Roll is, softly, in the flour and then twist it. Place it in the pyrex and put the cover back on. Bake for 30 minutes, then remove the lid and bake for an additional 20 minutes, until the crust is brown and crunchy. Et voilà! It really couldn't be easier.

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Figues Confites (Kurdish Fig Jam)

In an attempt to collect as many Kurdish recipes as possible before leaving Iraq (that is, I am doing a pre-selection for your here… I don't think there is much appetite for sheep-head stew…), I am now prompting my office staff to come up with the recipes for yummy home-made dishes. So here is another one: fig jam - or as I call it figues confites. Perfect for the season and really easy to make!

Ingredients:
1kg fresh figs
1kg sugar
2L water
Cinnamon sticks (to your liking)
Cardamom pods (whole) (also to your liking)
Lime juice

Preparation:
Fill a cooking pot with the water and add the sugar, cinnamon sticks and cardamom seeds and bring it to the boil. Once the water is boiling, add the figs and cook them for about 2 hours until the syrup starts to thicken. Add lime juice (approximately 1 tsp) and then let it cool down before storing it in jars or pots. Voilà! Best with some cured cheese and some crunchy bread. 

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Dolma (Vine Leaves) - Kurdish Version

I could live off vine leaves. In fact I once did just that for an entire weekend when my kitchen was being re-done. So my cook (sounds fancy, but it's just part of the deal here at work) made me a pot of dolma which I devoured. I don't know what it is about the combination of rice and some green leave (get the hint?) that makes me so addicted. But I have definitely developped a new crush here. And so I shall share the recipe with you - homemade vine leaves.
I will not dwell here on who "invented" the vine leaves or dolma or dolmades or whatever they are called in all these different places. I like the Lebanese version (with pickled leaves outside and tomatoes inside). But I love the Kurdish version with yoghurt and fresh leaves.
I will try to also put up the recipe of another kind of dolma: the ones prepared with different vegetables (courgette, peppers, onion and even potatoes) and Swiss chard. But for now: the vine leave version:

Ingredients (for 3-4 hungry persons):
250g rice (short grain)
125g vine leaves (preferably fresh)
A bunch of (thin) spring onions (roughly 20 pieces)
A good bunch of dill
250g yoghurt
3 tbsp. sunflower oil
1/2 L water
1 tbsp. salt

Preparation:
Wash the fresh ingredients as well as the rice in cold water. Chop the spring onions and dill finely and mix it with the yoghurt, rice and sunflower oil. Place the vine leave (with the lighter side up) on your palm and place about 1 tsp of the mixture in the middle (the amount depends on the size of the vine leaves - small ones are better as they are much softer). Then fold the leaves four ways: left, up, right and down until you have a little, almost square parcel. Put these parcels seam-side down into a pan and pile them tightly. Once all the rice is used up, pour the rest of the liquid over the piled parcels. Then cover them with the water and place a plate on top so that the dolma don't start floating (and thus opening) during the cooking process. Place a lid on the pan so that the air can escape (i.e. don't cover the pan entirely). Cook the vine leaves on mid-flame until the water has evaporated (you can check this by tilting the pan slightly). Then reduce the heat, cover the pan completely and simmer for 10-15 additional minutes. When the time is up, turn the pan upside down onto a plate and serve hot. You can serve some herbs (mint, parsley, etc.) on the side - it lightens the taste!

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Oven-roasted Vegetables with Halloumi

Hm, after an almost 6-months silence on this blog, I don't think a lengthy explanation of why there hasn't been any post is particularly helpful. Let's just keep it short: I moved to Iraq in the meantime and have been busy with other things. This has however not kept me in the least from continuing to cook and discovering new cuisines (to be frank, there is not much to discover here). Hence it was just the action of transcribing my activities into posts that was missing.

Many people here have actually encouraged me to continue the efforts and thus I start with renewed motivation (and resolution).

This first recipe came along rather on its own. I was surfing through recipes on the internet and came across the idea to roast carrots in the oven. Somehow, I had never even thought of doing that. And since that discovery, I have been subjecting all kinds of vegetables to the oven-tanning treatment. Today it's zucchini and cauliflower. Two days ago it was capsicum and tomatoes. You can pretty much use any vegetable you like. In this recipe, I have added polenta and halloumi cheese in order to give the dish more substance. For those of you who do not know about polenta and/or halloumi, let me explain.

As Wikipedia describes it, polenta is "cornmeal boiled into porridge". Depending on the type , polenta can have a creamy texture (a bit like mashed potato) or be rather grainy (called "bramata" and looks like bulgur). Personally, I prefer the grainy, rougher texture. Polenta is frequently eaten in the Italian part of Switzerland (I actually assumed that this was its geographical origin but have discovered that it is also part of the Italian cuisine). Polenta can either be eaten right after preparing it (when it is still creamy) or it is baked, fried or grilled after a night in the fridge. Again, personally, I prefer to eat it fried crunchy in a deep layer of butter. 

Halloumi (or Halloum) is, as my grandmother calls it, "the cheese that doesn't melt". Originally from Cyprus (I would claim it is Lebanese, but don't shoot me), halloumi is a very salty (because brined), unripened cheese made of a mixture of goat, sheep and cow milk. Because of its high melting point, it can be fried or grilled without losing its form. 

So, after this introduction to the ingredients, let's start with the recipe!

Ingredients (for 2 hungry persons; if you have polenta leftovers, use them the next day):
125g polenta bramata
60cl water
1 beef-cube (can be chicken or vegetarian of course)
200-250g Halloumi
Vegetables of your choice (2 zucchini or 8 small carrots or 1 capsicum or 2 tomatoes or a handful of cherry tomatoes or half a cauliflower...)
2 cloves of garlic
Olive oil, salt, pepper and herbs (such as basil, oregane or rosemary; include mint, if you prepare zucchini)

Preparation:

Bring the water to the boil and add the polenta and the beef-cube. Let it simmer (with the lid on, but stirring regularly) for about 40 minutes. The polenta should still be slightly grainy, but no longer "al dente".
While the polenta is cooking, cut the vegetables into thin slices (cut the carrots in half lengthwise for example). Then place them in a pyrex tray (try not to "crowd" them) and season with olive oil (be generous), garlic (cut thinly) and the herbs. Then put the tray in the oven (pre-heated at 200°C) and roast the vegetables for about 20-30 minutes (check regularly). When the vegetables are already quite tanned, cut the halloumi in slices roughly 7mm thick and place them in a non-sticky frying pan. The cheese will start sweating at first, then will turn brown. Flip it to grill both sides. If the cheese is too salty, soak it in water for a couple of hours before using it.
Serve the polenta with the vegetables and halloumi. If you have decided to wait another day to fry the polenta (this is best done by storing the polenta in a tupperware so that it is formed into a block), cut the polenta in slices of about 1cm thickness. Place a significant amount of butter (20g) in a frying pan and fry the polenta for at least 10 minutes on each side (careful, the hot butter will make the corn grains jump so cover with a lid) until golden brown and crunchy.
Sahtein!

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Pumpkin soup

Hmpf. Yes. It has been a while. More than a little while. But well, I am back now. With renewed good intentions and the firm resolution to revive this blog adventure. I think I got discouraged by the dwindling visiting numbers. And then I just stopped visiting altogether myself. Maybe some creative pause is healthy... Let's see!

But in the spirit of the season, here comes a very autumnal dish: fresh pumpkin soup!

Ingredients (for about 4 plates) :
2 tbsp. butter
2 shallots
1 clove of garlic
500g fresh pumpkin
200 ml fresh cream
500 ml water
1 tsp. salt
Pepper
Some leaves of sage

Preparation:
Chop the shallots and press the garlic. Heat both in 1 tbsp. of butter in a pan. Cut the pumpkin into cubes and add it to the onions and garlic, fry for about 5 minutes. Add the water, season with salt and pepper and then let the mix simmer at reduced heat (and with the lid on) for 20 minutes. When the pumpkin is soft, purée it and add 100 ml of cream. Keep the soup warm.
In a frying pan, heat the second tbsp. of butter and add the sage leaves. Fry them until crunchy. In the meantime, whip the cream until it's stiff.
Serve the soup with the whipped cream and sage leaves!

Note: if you want the soup to be more hearty, add 2-3 carrots and 2-3 potatoes.

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Goat's cheese pancakes with mango salad

I don’t have much to say to “explain” this recipe – other than to say that the pancakes are very yummy (with a nice twist because of the goat's cheese)

and the fruit salad makes this dish very refreshing and healthy. If you don’t like mangoes, you can substitute it for peaches and/or nectarines and strawberries.

Ingredients (for 4 pancakes):

100 g goat’s (or sheep’s) cheese

1 lemon

1 ripe mango

A handful of fresh mint leaves

1 small egg

70 g flour

1 tsp. baking powder

125 ml milk

20 g butter

Liquid honey

Salt

Preparation:

Mix the egg, flour, baking powder and milk in a bowl and whisk until the dough is smooth. Add a pinch of salt and the goat’s cheese (in little crumbs) to the dough. Grate the lemon’s skin and add to the mix, then stir well. Cut the mango into pieces and drizzle some lemon juice over the fruit. Cut the mint into small stripes and add to the mango salad. Bake the pancakes in butter for about 2-3 minutes (until golden brown) and serve with the mango salad. 

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Summer rolls

It seems I have a blog-writing block. This could be related to the fact that I am currently in Italy, enjoying my holidays and not spending loads of time indoors. But let’s overcome this lethargy and be a more active member of the blogging community. And let’s do it with an Asian recipe – that always helps ;-).

So today, I propose a recipe for summer rolls, i.e. non-fried spring rolls.

Ingredients:

Spring rolls sheets (available in bigger supermarkets either frozen or dry)

50 g glass noodles

60 g bean sprouts

½ cucumber

1 carrot

1 spring onion

Cooked shrimp (as many as you have spring roll sheets)

Surimi sticks (1 per sheet as well)

Fresh coriander and mint leaves and chives

2 tbsp. dark soy sauce

Preparation:

Soak the spring roll sheet, one by one, in warm water, until soft. Similarly, “cook” the glass noodles by soaking them in hot water. Cut the cucumber and carrot into long stripes (not too thick) and prepare the filling for the rolls.

Place one spring roll sheet at a time on a damp kitchen paper towel and place the filling of the roll onto it (the mint and coriander leaves first so that they shine through the pastry). Fold in the sides of the roll (so that it looks like a Döner Kebap or an envelope) and roll the sheet.

For the sauces, you can either just use plain soy sauce or sweet chilli sauce or you follow the recipes posted when writing about the dumplings.  

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Raspberry cupcakes

Recently, I was invited to a birthday party and tasted some of the most delicious cupcakes I’ve ever had! I’m normally a) not a big fan of desserts (except if they’re Asian of course ;-) ) and b) don’t like cupcakes that much because they’re just so heavy. But somehow, the version prepared that evening was very convincing and so I am sharing the recipe (which I adapted ever so slightly) with you. I hope I can convince some of you cupcake-doubters too and for those of you who are cupcake-lovers anyway, I hope this one is an addition to your favourites!

Ingredients (for a batch of about 20 big cupcakes or 25-30 smaller ones):

For the dough:

200 g sugar

125 g butter

2 eggs

1 vanilla pod

150 ml sour cream

180 g flour

1 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

1 basket of raspberries

For the topping:

200 g Philadelphia cream cheese

125 g butter

500 g icing sugar

1 vanilla pod

Preparation:

Mix the (melted) butter, sugar and eggs in a bowl. Cut the vanilla pod in half and scratch out the seeds with a knife; add to the paste. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt and sieve into the butter mix. Add the sour cream in between portions of flour. Put 2-3 raspberries in each cupcake form and add the mix with a spoon. Bake at 180°C for 20 minutes. In the meantime, mix the butter (at room temperature), Philadelphia and the vanilla seeds (scratched out of the pod) in another bowl. Sieve in the icing sugar and stir until it is creamy. Add a handful of raspberries and mix well.

Once the cupcakes are done and cooled, decorate with the topping. 

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