Welcome to my recipe collection.

These recipes offer a delicious mix of new and old world flavors. From the kitchens of my mother and grandmother in Transylvania to the new fusion mixes from my home kitchen in Canada. I have been inspired by the fickle tastes of my children ( vegetarian, pescatarian or whichever way the wind may blow) and my desire to become healthier without compromising taste. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I have enjoyed writing it. Leave me comments and your favorite recipes!

Thursday, November 24, 2011

EPERDZSEM

2-3 kg eper
1 kg cukor.
Agyumolcsoket megmossuk, ha nem darabosan szeretjuk, lemixerelhetjuk, majd egy labasban felfozzuk. Hozzaadjuk a cukrot, es forraspont utan meg 5-6 percig fozzuk. Tetszes szerint dzsemfixet is adhatunk hozza. Kiforrazott uvegekbe toltjuk, es bebugyolalva hagyjuk lassan kihulni.

MASCARPONES EPRES PISKOTA

Ketfele valtozat letezik, egy konnyebb, gyorsabb es egy finomabb... A konnyebb tipusu bolti babapiskotabol keszul, mig az idoigenyesebbhez hazilag kell megsutni a babapiskotat. 

Hozavalok:
30 dkg eper negyedekre vagva
25 dkg mascarpone sajt
2 csomag vanilias cukor
1 csomag babapiskota/ hazilag sutott piskota

A hazi piskota hozzavaloi: 5 tojas, 5 evokanal liszt, 5 evokanal cukor, 1 csomag sutopor es egy csipet so.
A tojasokat ketfele valasztjuk, felverjuk a habot es lazan hozzakeverjuk a lisztet, sargajat, sutoport, sot. Kivajazott tepsibe toltjuk, elomelegitett sutoben 30-40 perc alatt megsutjuk. Ha kihul osszerakjuk a tortat. A piskotara rakenjuk a cukorral elkevert mascarponet, es ratesszuk a negyedbe vagott epreket.

Ha babapiskotaval keszul: egy uvegtal aljara lefektetjuk a piskotakat, es ugyanigy rapakoljuk a tobbi hozzavalot.

VOROSBOROS EPERSALATA

Nagyon konnyu es finom.

80 dkg eper
2 dl vorosbor
5 dkg mandulaforgacs
porcukor
tejszinhab

Az epret megtisztitva uvegtalba tesszuk. A cukorral megszorjuk, a borral meglocsoljuk es hutob helyezzuk. Tejszinhabbal es piritott mandulaforgaccsal talaljuk.

STUFFED EGGPLANTS


This is a very tasty dish and it is very easy to make too. My Austrian friend made it.  We used both common and Chinese eggplants, and liked the Chinese better.


 
Cut eggplants as seen, put salt between the slices. Cut onions, garlic, basil, parsley and put some olive oil over it. Fill eggplants alternative with tomato slices and mozzarella cheese slices. Put the herb mixture above or between, give some parmesan cheese on top and bake it at 400/450 for about 50 minutes.

BREAD

My friend from Austria visited us last week. While here she baked this healthy bread. 
 It was tasty and also you can make every time different by adding different ingredient.
Have fun with it. 

½ kg wholegrain flower or 12-grain flower
about ½ l warm water
yeast for ½ kg flower
1 tsp salt
mix everything by hand.
You can take nuts, pumpkinseeds, sunflowerseeds, sesam, flaxseeds, bran of wheat
You can take spices you like (fennel.....)
Give dough into buttered form, leave it until it about double size, then put it into oven for about 45 – 50 minutes at 350.

POPPYSEED CAKE

Last week we had our friend visiting from Austria. We chat, went shopping (not to much), we baked cooked, trying new recipes. She made this wonderful cake which tasted great. Also she wrote down the recipe so I can do it myself :-(  :-( . It was much easier to just watch and eat. :-)  :-) 

100 g butter or margarine
30 g icing sugar
1 pckage of vanillesugar
1 tsp cinnamon
a little bit of salt (if poppy is unsalted)
4 eggs
90 g sugar
150 g crunched poppy
70 g crunched hazelnuts

Beat the 4 eggwhites with 90 g sugar, put away; mix the poppy and the hazelnuts with a tsp of baking powder, put away;
Beat the butter with the yellow of eggs(?) and the vanillasugar and cinnamon and salt, put inside the poppy-nut-mixture, then the beaten eggwhite.
Put into the form and bake it about 45 – 50 minutes.
Cool it.
For cream take 500ml no fat yoghurt, 250 g of no or low fat cream cheese, 2 tblesp of lemonjuice, some vanillaextract, mix it. Solve 6 leaves of gelatine and mix it to the cream. Give it on the cake, put it into the fridge for about 2 hours.
Crunch (?) 500 g of berries, give a bit of stevia or sweetener to it, solve 5 leaves of gelatins and put it to the berries, give it onto the cream and let it cool in the fridge for about another hour.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

NO KNEAD ROSEMARY GARLIC BREAD

Makes 1 loaf.
3 cups flour
1/4 tsp yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup water
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 spring rosemary, chopped

Combine the flour, yeast, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in the water. Get all the ingredients well combined. The dough will be shaggy and not at all smooth. Top with rosemary and garlic. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 18-24 hours. 
After all those hours have passed the dough should be dotted with bubbles. lightly flour the counter top and your hands. Turn out the dough and fold over two or three times, incorporating the rosemary and garlic.
Flour a clean kitchen towel (not terry cloth). Form dough into a round and let rest on the floured cloth. Sprinkle some more flour  on top, cover and set aside in a draft-free warm area for 1-2 hours. Dough will double in size. 
About a half hour before you want to bake your bread preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Put in a heavy lidded baking dish, like a ceramic or enamel dutch oven or covered Pyrex casserole as you preheate.
When the oven is hot, hot remove the dish. Literally drop in your bread dough from the kitchen towel in the hot dish-carefully. It might not look pretty but this is artisan bread, that's okay.
Bake 30 minutes, covered. Remove lid, bake another 15-30 minutes until loaf is nicely browned. Cool on wire rack before slathering with butter, dripping in olive oil, or serving alongside soup or pasta.

MAPLE LEAF GRILL & LOUNGE SIGNATURE HOT CHOCOLATE SOUFFLE

I did not have time to try this yet, but it sound so good I had to write it down.

455 gr high quality dark chocolate
340 gr unsalted butter
6 tbsp cornstarch
570 gr granulated sugar
400 gr whole eggs
160 gr egg yolks
1tbsp Grand Marnier

Melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler over low heat.
Whisk together cornstarch and sugar.
Stir the chocolate mixture into the cornstarch and sugar (do NOT whip)
Add eggs, yolks and Grand Marnier and stir until smooth (about 2 minutes).
Refrigerate overnight.
When ready to serve, place in a 6 oz soufle mix into 6 oz ramekin.
Place ramekin into a preheated 420 F oven for 15 minutes.
Indulge.

Saturday, November 05, 2011

ALMOND-APRICOT BISCOTTI

This is my first attempt of baking biscotti. I was convinced I do not know how to make it. However, when I saw this recipe in the LCBO's  Food & Drink Autumn 2011 magazine, I had to make it. It was a success. Now I am planing to make it again.



1 3/4 cup (425 ml) all-purpose flour
1 cup (250 ml) ground almonds
1 tsp (5 ml) baking powder
1 lemon
1/2 cup (125 ml) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla
1/2 cup (125 ml) dried apricots, finely chopped
1/4 cup (60 ml) whole skin-on almonds, finely chopped
Granulated sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350 F (180C).

In a large bowl, stir flour with ground almonds and baking powderwith a fork or whisk. Finely grate 1 tsp (5ml) zest from lemon. Stir into flour mixture.

Place butter and sugar in a large bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat until smooth. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time. Add vanilla and beat until evenly mixed. Add flour mixture. Beat until evenly mixed. Add flour mixture. Beat until almost incorporated and dough comes together. Stir in finely chopped apricots and almonds until evenly distributed.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place dough on sheet and form into a log about 12 in (30cm) long, 3 in (8cm) wide and 1 in (2.5cm) tall. The dough will be sticky, so you may need to wet your hands while forming the log. Sprinkle with granulated sugar, if desired.

Bake in centre of preheated oven for about 25 to 30 minutes, until lightly golden on top. Remove from oven and allow log to to cool completely, at least 30 minutes. Meanwhile reduce oven temperature to 300F (150C). When log is cool, gently remove to a cutting board. Using a serrated knife, carefully slice 1/2 inch thick (1cm) pieces. Place slices on a rack set on the baking sheet.

Bake again for 20 to 30minutes, until lightly golden and dry. Cool completely before serving. The  biscotti will keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. Or freez up to 1 month.

Makes 24 to 26 biscotti.

Thursday, November 03, 2011

PUMPKIN CREME BRULEE



Ingredients
  • 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 pinches nutmeg
  • 1 pinch ginger
  • 1 pinch ground cloves
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
  • 1/3 cup coarse sugar or raw sugar
Directions
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
In a medium saucepan, heat the cream, milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves over medium heat, stirring occasionally, just until it comes to a boil. Immediately turn off the heat and set aside to infuse at least 15 minutes. In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the granulated sugar. Whisking constantly, gradually pour in the hot cream mixture. Whisk in the pumpkin puree. Pour the mixture into 4 ovenproof ramekins and arrange in a hot water bath. Bake in the center of the oven until almost set but still a bit soft in the center, 30 to 40 minutes. The custard should "shimmy" a bit when you shake the pan; it will firm up more as it cools. Remove from the water bath and let cool 15 minutes. Tightly cover each ramekin with plastic wrap, making sure the plastic does not touch the surface of the custard. Refrigerate at least 2 hours, and up to 24 hours.
When ready to serve, preheat a broiler to very hot (or fire up your kitchen torch). Uncover the chilled custards. Pour as much coarse sugar as will fit onto the top of 1 of the custards. Pour off the remaining sugar onto the next custard. Repeat until all the custards are coated. Discard any remaining sugar. Place the ramekins on a baking sheet or in a roasting pan and broil until the sugar is melted and well browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Let cool 1 minute before serving.