Cinnamon rolls

Out of necessity, because the supermarket that gets delicious bread from the real baker is now closed on Sundays, I had to become a 'baker' myself. I only make this for guests because not all ingredients are always available.

After watching a lot of videos how to make the best, the 1st batches were too small and the the stuffing had run out.  You can also make them from puff pastry, but they are less tasty than from 'croissant dough'. Yes it can be that simple.

Shopping list:

1 can of croissant dough (usually in the refrigerator of the supermarket with the puff pastry). You get 7 buns out of them.

Cinnamon (needs about 1.5 tsp; matter of taste)

Caster sugar (light or dark brown) about 2 tb

Butter (10 grams needed)

Milk (to give the buns a nicer colour)

Muffin cases (paper)

muffin tray

Optional: raisins, syrup, apple, sprinkle with icing sugar (if you really have a sweet tooth).

How to prepare them:

Pre-heat oven on 190 degr. C

Roll out the dough and cut in half exactly, because these will put on each other later.

Pinch the holes in the dough.

Melt the butter and spread it on 1 slice of dough.

Mix the sugar and cinnamon in a bowl and then sprinkle over the buttered dough.

If you want to add raisins/apple (size of the raisin), you have to do it now.

Now take the long side of the dough and roll it up as tightly as possible.

Place this on the other sheet of dough (these holes must also be closed) and roll it up.

Cut 7 equal pieces with a knife.

Put the pieces in their muffin paper case and then in the muffin tray.

If you want to add a drop of syrup, now is the time.

Then brush the dough with milk.

Your cinnamon rolls will be ready in about 13 minutes.

I let them cool on a tray and then replace the muffing cases because they are sticky, but you have to know that yourself.

Good-luck and I look forward to see your result.

Meatballs from Morocco

While I was looking to buy a Masala Dabba (that is a tray where you can put your Indian spices, traditionally every Indian family kept there its own mixes) I came across an on-line shop with all kind of spices, called 'Mes Epices'. I bought Ras-el-Hanout spices with is a Moroccan spice. I will give you the recipe of the meatballs and the gravy.

 (Masala Dabba)

 (If you look properly you can see my name)

Shopping list:

For the meat balls you need: 

350 gr mince meat (gives you 6 balls)
2 ts (generous) of Ras-el-Hanout
1 ts garlic powder
1 ts chilly(sambal)
1 egg
breadcrumbs

For the gravy you need:

1 (red) onion finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1 ts chilly (sambal)
1 (generous) ts of Ras-el-Hanout
1 vegetable cube
ca. 250 ml water

How to prepare the dish?

Mix the mince meat with all above ingredients, make balls and let them rest for 30 minutes.

Then fry them a few minutes in butter with olive oil until light brown and take them out of the pan.

Fry the onions and garlic in the same pan until soft, then add the rest of the ingredients to make the gravy. Can you smell it already?
Put the balls back in the pan, and let them cook for 30 minutes on a low heat, turn them from time to time.
If the gravy is too thin (take the balls out), add some flour, just the way you like it and stirr it, and put the balls in again.

We ate this with a pearl couscous salad. Pearl couscous has to be cooked like a pasta and is so much nicer than ordinary couscous.

                                            Bismillah

Dutch rolls

If you have lived in the French countryside for 14 years, you will quickly tire of the breads they have here. Now that I have not long ago given the food processor a place of honour on the counter, I also use it! So this time it became sandwiches and it's so easy. The recipe is from 'Marielle in the kitchen' with a small adjustment here and there.

Success, it will certainly work.

Shopping list:

500 gr flour for bread (I also made a batch with 'normal' flour, but the dough rises less and the inside is firmer, less fluffy. So I go for the bread mix) 

10 gr of salt

10 gr white normal sugar

10 gr dry baker's yeast 

25 gr butter

25 gr margarine

1 egg

230 gr (cold) water

How to bake it:

Put all ingredients in the bowl of the food processor and knead a nice dough. I used my food processor for this and let it knead for 7 minutes. Or knead by hand in about 20 minutes.

Divide the dough into 12 pieces of about 70 gr each and round the pieces of dough. (See instruction video here how to 'round' them and take the air out of the dough) 

Let the balls come loose under a plastic (sandwich) bag in 10 minutes.

Flatten the balls a little. Place them evenly spaced on a a baking paper tray.

Fill a roasting tin with boiling water and place it under the baking tray.

Let the dough rise for an hour until the baking tray has risen nicely full.

Preheat the oven to 230 degrees.

Place a roasting tin with (new) boiling water in the bottom of the oven and slide the buns into the oven. Bake the buns for 9 minutes until the buns are nicely brown and done.

After baking, brush the buns lightly with some melted butter and let the buns cool on a wire rack.

And that's all there is to it. 

Keep them fresh, wrapped in a plastic bag in the freezer.

Panna Cotta

 A recipe that seems to be made by lots of people who have restaurants, but honestly I've never tried it before, but I will prepare it again. It's so simple.

For 2 persons!

Shopping list:

25 cl cream
little bit of vanilla essence (or vanilla pod)
20 gr normal white sugar
2 gelatin sheets
seasonal fruit (berries, all kinds of), to make coulis and decorate with some fresh ones.

Furthermore you need 2 ramakins 

How to make it:

Pour the whipped cream into a saucepan and heat to just below boiling point. Meanwhile, cut the vanilla pod open lengthwise with a sharp knife. Scrape out the marrow and add to the cream together with the sugar. Heat on low heat for 10 minutes while stirring.

Meanwhile, soak the gelatin in cold water for 10 minutes, squeeze and add to the cream. Stir until the gelatin has dissolved. Divide the vanilla cream over the ramakins. Place covered in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

Make a coulis from the seasonal fruit (or buy it), I have used a frozen mix of berries and mashed them, and put some fresh berries as garnish.

Take out of the refrigerator and keep the bottom of the timbales rotating for 15 sec. under the hot tap. Or use the old fashioned knife!  Place each panna cotta on a plate. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Lemon Curd

I had made meringues and then I was left with some egg yolks. Of course you can make an omelette with that, but I didn't feel like it. You can also use it for spaghetti carbonara, but we wouldn't eat that that night.

In the end it became a lemon curd. I had never made this before and miraculously I had all the ingredients at home and it turned out very tasty. Below the simple recipe.

Shopping list:

3 egg yolks
100 ml lemon juice
120 gr sugar
40 gr real butter, in cubes

How to prepare it:

In a saucepan, stir the 3 egg yolks with the sugar. Add the other ingredients bit by bit and stir well.

Place the pan on medium heat and stir with a whisk. During heating, the butter and sugar will melt, a nice, even yellow solution will form and after a few minutes the curd will set. Then lower the heat and let the curd heat up and bind for a while. Do keep stirring. Don't let it boil! Keep an eye on the curd and keep stirring with a whisk.

If you think that the curd has a nice thickness, then remove the pan from the heat, let it cool slightly while stirring and then pour into a jam jar. Once the curd has cooled, it is best to keep it in the refrigerator. The curd will stiffen even further during cooling.

But then what do you do with it?

1. It tastes very nice with meringues, if your meringues are not the sexiest looking ones (like mine) make an Eton Mess.
2. You can spread a layer on a cake.
3. Stir it through the yoghurt.
4. Use it as a topping on your cupcakes.
5. Eat it with vanilla ice-cream.

Apple cake

This is a sad period for the entire world and if I see that flour is hardly available in the shops, the whole of France is Baking! We still had some flour suitable for an apple cake and although I won't make it to the 'Great British Bake-off', it tasted good.
You know me, so I have changed the recipe a little, because I didn't have everything and then you have to be creative. I have used a sort of flattish baking tray.
So here it is and I hope you'll enjoy it.

Shopping list :

250 gr real butter

250 gr sugar

250 gr self-raising flour

4 eggs  (it's sounds a lot but you need them)

2 tbsp custard or 2 tbsp cornflour + vanilla extract*

pinch of cinnamon

2-3 apples (I had Pink Ladies and used 2 apples, so don't peel them all at once)

Ginger syrup or apricot jam to taste (I had apricot jam which need to be mixed with water)

* I used cornflour and a splash of caramel sauce and some lemon syrup (didn't have lemons) and it did the job as well.

How to prepare it: 

Preheat the oven to 170C

Grease a flat baking dish with butter and dust with flour or put a piece of baking paper in it.

Mix the butter with the sugar until creamy

Add the eggs one at a time, only add the next egg when the previous one has been completely absorbed.

Sieve the self-rising flour with the custard above the batter and mix it carefully.
Peel the apples, remove the cores and slice them.

Put the batter in the mold.

Place the apple slices in the cake batter and sprinkle with some cinnamon

Bake the apple cake for about 50 minutes and golden brown

As soon as it comes out of the oven, brush the apple cake with some ginger syrup or some apricot jam mixed in a bowl with a little water.

It had daughter's approval which is great, because she's the one who likes baking.

Fried Fresh Ravioli

Yes, fried ravioli.....I know it sounds weird but I have made it today and it's very nice and something different.  We had it as a meal, but to be honest it's better to have it as either a starter or when hosting an apero or on a buffet it would catch your eye.

To be honest....I didn't make it up.....fried fresh ravioli??? No way. But since a while I've been following Michael from the US on Inspired by Charm  and I must admit his blog is very inspiring; not only with recipes but also with interior design and he has a very good sense of style; well my style that it.

Well enough of this....So I cooked his recipe of the Fresh Fried Ravioli with home made sauces that are yummy too!

I will link you to his recipe here Fried Ravioli and I have made his suggested sauces too which are in the link as well.

Some 'remarks'  ..... just because we're not American ;-)

- In the fresh ravioli packet (we had the beef one) were 23 ravioli (yes I counted them)
- In the recipe I have used half of the ingredients (you might get away with 2 eggs)
- When you see 'half and half' in the recipe....it's meant to add milk and cream to the eggs, but I did just some milk.
-Don't worry about the different types of flour/breadcrumbs ..... I used the ones I had in the cupboard.

A must!

- Make your own pesto sauce/tapenade
- The ranche sauce is really nice; and I didn't have sour cream but I used creme fraiche in stead.

Let me know when you have made it!

In the meantime follow Michael on Inspired by Charm (link on top)

And finally....yes, we're there.... some of my photos!

Pesto sauce/tapenade