Oat Surprise, Muesli Loaf

Wouldn't it be great to be an inventor? To invent something that people can use and really love? I'm thinking of food here. Not pancakes in an aerosol can (yes, it does exist) but perhaps a terrific new recipe for some variation on the standard pancake. Or what about a new and innovative pasta salad? I've been thinking about this idea a lot today: while I adapt and modify the majority of the recipes I use, I'm still wholly dependent on others for ideas. Once in awhile I will come up with something of my own, like Green Pasta, but it's not exactly the most original dish on the planet.

I understand that many of the food bloggers I follow are in the same boat, so I think the key is in how you tweak the recipe, reinvent it, and make it your own. This is where fun and originality come into play. But I applaud loudly for those individuals with extraordinary culinary skills who continually create new and exciting foodstuffs from which people like me get ideas.

In this spirit, I'll talk about one of my favorite snacks that I created (my very own self!) and also about a wonderful loaf of bread that is the brain child of the great Nigella Lawson. If you've read more than a couple of my posts you will know that I rely heavily on her for inspiration. I enjoy the way she speaks and writes, admire her creativity and originality, and love her approach to food. And while she has written numerous cook books, even Nigella Lawson borrows recipes and ideas from others from time to time!

This oat surprise snack is my version of a morning or afternoon pick-me-up. It uses quick-cooking dry oats as the base and there are plenty of ways to modify it and incorporate flavors you like. All you do is add the following ingredients to some dry oats: peanut butter, unsweetened coconut, and a drizzle of maple syrup. In place of the peanut butter, you can use almond butter, soy nut butter, or any other kind of nut butter. Raisins are a good addition and if you don't have or like maple syrup, use some honey. And of course, if you don't desire any sweetness, skip it altogether. Apart from the delicious mix of sweet and salty flavors, somehow the coconut really makes this for me.

Oat Surprise

1/4 quick-cooking oats

1.5T peanut butter (crunchy or creamy - I use the all-natural variety with some salt added)

1T unsweetened coconut flakes

1.5t maple syrup (or to taste)

1. Mix all ingredients together until you have a round blob looking thing and the oats are incorporated into the pb. You can leave it as it and eat it with a spoon, which is what I do, or roll into a ball with wetted palms. The more peanut butter you use the more of a solid ball you're likely to have.

Feeds one and is delightful with a cup of milky black tea. I'll include a photo the next time I make it.

The bread about which I spoke earlier is called Lazy Loaf. It's an absolute breeze to make and healthy to boot. It contains unsweetened muesli, something of which we have A LOT in Denmark. I've bought it in the States, but it's not as prevalent there. Sometimes the best kind is found in the bulk bins, if your American supermarket has those. This bread is heaven with apricot jam and makes a great snack to take on a hike or a bike ride.

LazyLoaf from Nigella Express by Nigella Lawson

2 3/4c wholewheat bread flour

2c unsugared muesli (do not use granola)

2.5t (1 package) rapid-rise or instant yeast

2t kosher salt or 1t table salt

1c 2% milk

1c water

1. Mix the flour, muesli, yeast, and salt in a bowl, then pour in the milk and water and stir to mix. It will be a thick porridge.

2. Transfer to a greased or silicon 2lb loaf pan. Place in a cold oven, turning it immediately on to 225F, and leave at this temperature for 45 minutes.

3. When the 45 minutes are up, turn the oven temp. up to 350F and leave for 1 hour [see my notes], by which time the bread should be golden and cooked through. Slip it out of the pan and although dense, it should feel slightly hollow when you knock it underneath.

4. Remove to a rack and let cool.

My notes: What a fantastic recipe: stir everything in a bowl, bake, and voila, you have a beautiful whole grain bread studded with raisins, big curls of dried coconut, hazelnuts, and whatever else your preferred brand of muesli contains. But here's the deal on the cooking time. After the 45 minutes were up, I checked the loaf and found it nicely brown and looking quite done. But I followed the instructions, increased the temperature, and set my timer for an hour. After 30 minutes, I checked it again and found the bread even darker and pulled away from the sides of the loaf pan. Moreover, when I removed it from the oven and took it out of the pan, it made that special hollow sound when I knocked on it. So I trusted my instincts and kept the bread out of the oven. I don't regret doing so, although I don't think it would have harmed the bread to cook it longer. Another fabulous thing about this bread is the crunchy crust. Love it.

Chocolate Pudding, Roasted Tomatoes

The weather in Denmark has been unbelievably nice for seven consecutive days. It's most welcome but surprising because things here change so rapidly, and it's not at all uncommon to experience only one nice day sandwiched between five or six crappy ones. So when we had friends over for lunch on Saturday I was thrilled not only to have their company but to see sunny skies and warm temperatures, too.

I regret not photographing lunch. It was a beautiful vegetable couscous salad and marinated, grilled chicken breasts. I did, however, remember to take a shot of dessert. Maybe it's because I constantly have sweets on the brain. I found the couscous and chicken recipe on Dinner with Julie (who either got it from Epicurious.com or Bon Apetit). It's an excellent summer lunch and because you can prepare the salad the night before, it makes the day-of prep a breeze. All that's required is removing it from the fridge to get it close to room temperature before serving and tossing with toasted, slivered almonds and cilantro. Well in my case, just the almonds.

Because I can never find cilantro in my local markets, I thought Danes never used it, but our guests Soren and Mette said you can usually find it Fotex (not in Hobro's...at least not when I've looked) or Bilka, which is sort of a Danish version of Costco. The chicken is a snap. It gets marinated in olive oil, lemon juice, and seasonings for either 30 minutes at room temp. or a few hours in the fridge. Throw it on the grill for a 3-4 minutes on each side and it's ready to join the couscous. For those of you who want to try it, click on the links above.

When I perused my copy of Nigella Express for dessert ideas, I was drawn to a recipe for Budino Di Cioccolato (chocolate pudding) because, once again, I could prepare it ahead of time. Moreover, it's a cold dessert (not served straight from the fridge but still cold-ish) which is perfectly suitable for summer. My two words to describe it? Absolute heaven. So very creamy, smooth, and delicious. I sprinkled each dessert cup with a few colorful chocolate buttons and stuck a cookie stick inside (I can't remember the fancy name for them).

Budino Di Cioccolato from Nigella Express by Nigella Lawson

1c whole milk

1/2c heavy cream

1/3c sugar

1T cornstarch

1/3c cocoa

2T boiling water

2 egg yolks

1t vanilla extract

2 oz. dark chocolate, finely chopped

1. "Put the kettle on to boil water, and warm the milk and cream together either in a saucepan r the microwave.

2. Put the sugar and cornstarch into another saucepan and sift in the cocoa. Add the 2T boiling water and whisk to a paste.

3. Then whisk in the egg yolks, 1 at a time, followed by the warmed milk and cream, and then the vanilla extract.

4. Scrape down the sides of your pan and put it on the heat, cooking and whisking for about 3-4 minutes until the mixture thickens--if it helps, think of a consistency like mayonnaise.

5. Take off the heat and whisk in the finely chopped chocolate before pouring into 4 small cups or glasses each with a yield of about 2/3 of a cup.

6. Cover the tops of the cups with plastic wrap, laying it directly on top of the pudding to stop a skin from forming, and then refrigerate once they are cooler. Make sure they are not still fridge-cold when you serve them. You can add a blog of cream on top if you like."

My notes: I doubled the recipe and ended up with 7 ramekins of pudding. Also, I didn't bother with the plastic wrap step and it was just fine, not much of a skin at all.

Now, on to the tomatoes...

Lately, nearly every food blog I follow has posted something about roasted tomatoes. I've been salivating each time I see the photos and read the authors' comments about their deliciousness. So, Nigella came through for me once again with her recipe for what she calls "Moonblush Tomatoes." I love this recipe because not only is it ridiculously easy but it's like getting a wonderful surprise when they're finally ready. I put mine in the oven last night before bed and when I woke up this morning couldn't wait to remove them and eat some. Here's the thing, you turn the oven on and get it nice and hot and then once you place the tomatoes inside you immediately turn it off. This means you can either do like I did or if you'd rather, you can stick them in before you leave for work in the morning and come home to these beautiful, fragrant gems that are fabulous in salads, alongside fish, chicken, or steak, or simply eaten with some cheese and bread.

This morning I ate mine for breakfast with cottage cheese and a slice of toasted rugbrod (Danish rye bread). What a treat!

Moonblush Tomatoes from Nigella Express by Nigella Lawson

1lb, about 24, on-the-vine cherry or other baby tomatoes

2T olive oil

2t kosher salt

1t dried thyme

1/4t sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 450F.

2. Cut the tomatoes in half and sit them cut side up in an ovenproof dish. Sprinkle over the olive oil and seasonings.

3. Put them in the oven and immediately turn it off. Leave the tomatoes in the oven overnight or for a day without opening it.

My notes: I used less than a pound of tomatoes because I simply took what I had sitting on my counter. Some were on the vine and a few of them were larger (sandwich-type) tomatoes. Also, I used sea salt and lined my pan with aluminum foil to make clean-up easy.

I can't wait for lunch to get here.

Thank you Soren, Mette, Frederik, and Agnete for coming to visit us!

Vegetarian Risotto, I mean Chili

I'm hesitant to write about this risotto, oops, I mean chili because it looks NOTHING like the version from 101 Cookbooks that inspired me to make it in the first place. My chili was so thick you could stand a fork in it, and I probably should have added a lot more water than the 10 cups the recipe calls for. Because barley figures prominently, I'd almost call my version chili risotto. Having said that, it was just plain wonderful, so I'm going to write about it anyway.

I'll give you the link to Heidi Swanson's recipe right up front. My changes are as follows: I omitted the hot peppers and chickpeas (the chili powder made it spicy enough for my family, and I was out of chick peas). Then, after I had sauteed the onion, shallots, and spices, I realized that I did not have a single can or carton of diced tomatoes. That left me with only one solution: improvise like hell. I used a quarter jar of almost-too-old-to-use spaghetti sauce, a half-cup of leftover diced tomatoes, a quarter cup ketchup, and 6 finely diced tomatoes. It might sound like an odd combo, and Heidi Swanson would probably be aghast, but it actually worked in the end. In addition to this mixture, I added dry lentils, barley, and bulgar wheat.

Heidi has all kinds of ideas regarding great toppers for her chili. I left mine alone and loved it that way but added some fresh dill and cubes of feta for my blog photo. To my mind, it's not really chili season, but I'm so glad I have a pot of leftovers to last me a few days. If you're a fan of barley and bulgar, I suggest you try it. Instead of chili risotto, you'll probably end up with something far closer to the original recipe.

Phyllo...Revisited

I don't give up easily. When we visited Kira and Kevin last weekend I spent some time flipping through Kira's cookbook on Greek cuisine. I landed on a recipe for Spanakopita and saw that it included instructions for making phyllo dough from scratch. I loved this of course because of the sheer impossibility of buying phyllo in my town. arrgh. I love you, Jamie Oliver, but No, filo (as he calls it) is NOT available in all supermarkets nowadays (a maxim from Jamie at Home). At least not in Hobro, Denmark.

So the recipe intrigued me and I felt compulsed to tackle the challenge of making my own phyllo. It was not an east feat, trust me, but I managed to roll 8 individual layers that would end up enveloping the spinach filling. The sweat literally poured off me as I rolled each piece of dough as thin as paper. In a warm house, in summer. However, I wiped my brow before any dripped on to the dough, I promise.

I was pleased with the finished product even before I slipped it into the oven. Fully baked, I was even happier. While my phyllo was not nearly as light and flaky as the commercial variety, it was far better than I imagined it would be. I will definitely make this recipe again and each successive time I'll endeavor to roll the phyllo lighter and thinner. In the case of homemade phyllo, the adage practice makes perfect couldn't be more fitting.

Dough issues aside, what I love most about this pie is its filling. It's very simple and yet so darn delicious. I modified the recipe by adding cottage cheese and an egg to the spinach mix because, well, I like it this way. I think the combination of the white cheese and greens is both lovely and tasty.

Spanakopita

Adapted from The Best Traditional Recipes of Greek Cooking by Dimitri Haitalis

Filling

1/2 kilo (1lb, 2oz) fresh spinach

6 spring onions, finely chopped

1/2 teacup fresh dill, finely chopped

1.5 teacups olive oil

1.5c cottage cheese (optional)

1 large egg (optional)

salt and pepper

Dough

1/2 kilo (1lb 2oz) flour

2 eggs

1/2 teacup melted butter

1 teacup warm water

salt

1. Clean and wash the spinach meticulously, then drain well. Saute the onions in olive oil on medium heat until transparent but not brown. Shred spinach in large pieces and add to onions. Season to taste. Cook for 15 minutes until all the liquid is gone. Remove from heat and stir in dill.

3. Optional - in a bowl mix 1.5 cups cottage cheese with 1 large egg. Add a tiny bit of the warm spinach mix to the cold cheese mix and stir well. Then, in small amounts, keep adding spinach mix until it is all incorporated. Set aside and get on with preparing the phyllo dough.

4. Place flour in a bowl, add eggs, melted butter, salt and as much warm water as in necessary for a dough that is pliable. Knead well and roll out in thin pastry sheets with a rolling pin.

5. Line an oiled pan with a pastry sheet, brush with olive oil, then lay 2 or 3 pastry sheets on top brushing each one with olive oil. Spread filling evenly over the pastry sheets and cover with 3-4 more layers of pastry, oiled in the same way as previously.

6. Bake in a 180C or 350F oven for 45 minutes. Serve hot or cold.

My notes: Feel free to make the original version without cheese; I've included instructions if you want to add it though. Greek cooking uses teacup measurements. One teacup is equal to 3/4c. I really just eyeballed my measurements and probably used less olive oil than called for.

Vikings

We are lucky to live close to one of only four sacred Viking treasures in Denmark. Close enough that we rode our bikes there for a visit. What an experience. The highlight for me was an old, old, old Viking oven in which bread and other goodies are baked to share with visitors. One of the "Viking women", dressed in authentic Viking costume, presented me with a bread roll hot from the oven. I'm not exactly sure if the Vikings ate this particular kind of bread--it was a dense little loaf with many different grains that I'm not so sure they had access to in Viking times--but I loved the chewy, nutty, and rich flavors and texture. We finished our tour just as the center was closing for the day or I would have asked for more details and the recipe.

Part of the Viking village has been reconstructed, but other parts are original. There is also a terrific museum where you can try on one of those battle shirts made of silver chains (heavy!), a war helmet and, if you fancy, brandish a sword. And what museum isn't complete without a creepy--real-looking but--fake person? Here there's a Viking man made entirely of carved wood. Impressive.

Perhaps most impressive is that every July families move into the village to live as Vikings. Visitors can see these families involved in their daily routines and facing the joys and challenges of life during the Viking period.

Cake and Braai

Last Friday afternoon Alan arrived home with two empty Tupperware boxes in which my cakes had been placed that morning. His colleagues ate every last bite of the lemon syrup loaf cake and the black and white cake.

My photograph of the lemon syrup cake is terrible. But please don't let that deter you from making a pan of this light, soury-sweet dessert. It's simple to make and extremely satisfying. I lifted the recipe from Nigella Lawson, and here it is, if you'd like to try it.


Lemon-Syrup Loaf Cake
From How to be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson

Cake:
1/2c unsalted butter
1/2c plus 1T sugar
2 large eggs
zest of 1 lemon
1c plus 1T self-rising cake flour
pinch of salt
4T milk

Syrup:
juice of 1.5 lemons (or 4T juice)
1/2c powdered sugar

9x5 inch loaf pan (or 8" round or square) buttered and lined with parchment or wax paper

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Cream together the butter and sugar, and add eggs and lemon zest, beating them in well. Add the flour and salt, folding in gently but thoroughly, and then the milk.

2. Spoon into the prepared pan and put in the oven. While the cake is baking, make the syrup. Put the lemon juice and sugar into a small saucepan and heat gently so that the sugar dissolves. Set aside.

3. Bake the cake for 45 minutes or until golden brown and risen in the middle (it will sink a little on cooling). As soon as the cake is out of the oven, puncture the top all over with a cake tester, toothpick, or other suitable implement.

4. Pour over the syrup, trying to let the middle absorb it as well as the sides, then leave it to soak up the rest. Don't remove from pan until completely cold, as it will be sodden with syrup and might crumble.

My notes: It is not possible to buy self-rising cake flour in Denmark. Therefore, I mixed 7/8c of regular flour with 2T cornstarch and added a scant teaspoon of baking powder. I sifted it all together to make it light. Also, you might find that 45 minutes is too long for baking. Make sure to check it at 30 minutes.

My mother-in-law gave me a fabulous French cookbook called gâteau roulés in which there are lots and lots of tantalizing recipes for different kinds of jelly roll and other filled roll cakes. This was my first attempt at making one and, apart from a mistake with the cream filling, it turned out perfectly.

I like this dessert because it looks beautiful and it's quite easy to make. First you make the cake (La genoise) and then, while the cake is baking, the cream filling (La creme). One warning: there is A LOT of butter in the cream filling: over 1 cup! That's of course why I made it for my husband's colleagues. It's summer and I do not need the extra calories, thank you very much. My error in making the cream was inadvertently using granulated sugar when I knew very well that it called for powdered sugar. I simply reached for the granulated sugar without thinking about it. Oops. I believe it did have a slightly negative effect on the finished cream. My guess is that the powdered sugar would have essentially melted with the butter where the granulated sugar is a little tougher and not as "melt-worthy." Unless you cook it in a liquid first.

But anyway, after the cake is finished and cooled, the cream is applied, and the cake is rolled up, it gets wrapped in plastic and stored in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Here, my attempt to translate the recipe...

Noir et Blanc
From gâteau roulés by Ilona Chovancova

Serves 6-8

Cake:
5 eggs
1/2c granulated sugar
1/2c flour
1t salt
3T cocoa powder

Cream:
2 eggs
scant 1/2c powdered sugar
1c butter, soft
1 whole vanilla bean, seeds removed
1t salt

1. Preheat oven to 350F. For the cake, separate the yolks from the egg whites. Mix the yolks with the sugar until well blended and almost mousse-like in texture. Progressively add the flour and the cocoa until incorporated.

2. In another bowl, mix the salt with the egg whites and, with a hand mixer, beat until firm. Slowly incorporate the other mixture and fold together until blended.

3. Cover a cookie or jelly roll sheet (in Europe these pans are part of the oven) with parchment. Pour the cake batter onto the parchment, spread evenly with a spatula into a rectangle (leaving a half inch or so around the border) and bake 12 to 15 minutes.

4. When the cake is finished, remove from the oven, and place a clean, damp towel on top. Roll into a jelly roll and let cool.

5. Prepare the cream. In a bowl combine the eggs and slowly incorporate the powdered sugar. Over another bowl of hot water, mix the eggs and sugar for a couple of minutes until it thickens. Remove and continue to mix until thick-ish and well blended. (Mine didn't get that thick.)

6. In another bowl, beat the butter with a hand mixer. The instructions say to beat it until it becomes nearly white, 5 to 10 minutes. Mine didn't really turn white, but I beat it for 5-6 minutes to make sure it was nice a fluffy. Add the vanilla seeds (I suppose you can add 1t extract if you don't have a vanilla pod) and blend.

7. Incorporate the egg and sugar mix and stir with a wooden spoon.

8. When the cake is cool, unroll (some of the cake will stick to the towel, but don't worry, the cake will be covered with the filling anyway), remove the towel and parchment. Cover with the filling, roll again, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 2-3 hours.


On Saturday we were delighted to visit our friends Kira and Kevin in Nykobing for a braai, which is Afrikaans for BBQ. Kira is Danish and Kevin is South African and they met years ago on a kibbutz in Israel. They are wonderful people and we are so lucky to count them as our friends. We were also joined by their friend Anita and her two darling children, Isabella and Nanna. Kevin and Kira's kids Freya and Anton were great about sharing their toys, paints, playhouse, and trampoline with Anatole and the girls. Anatole was in heaven. He played hard from the moment we arrived to the moment we left, nearly 5 hours later.

The food was terrific and by food I mean meat! In addition to potato salad that Anita brought and a marinated broccoli salad that I made (as well as some cut up cucumber and corn kernels), this dinner was all about two very fine meat dishes. Kira prepared spiced burger kebabs and the most fantastic pork loin, both cooked to perfection on the grill, thanks to Kevin's apt grilling skills.

Here is what made this particular pork loin so special: bananas and bacon. Yes, bananas. First, Kira seasoned the meat with salt and pepper. Then she covered it with Dijon mustard. After that she spread it with mashed banana, wrapped it in bacon, and secured it with toothpicks. I thought it was one of the better meat dishes I've had in a long time. The pork combined with the banana and mustard flavors was truly unique and delicious. I encourage you to serve this dish at your next BBQ. You won't be disappointed. But please make sure to not overcook the pork loin. Kevin grilled this one perfectly juicy.

More Green Soup

A couple of months ago I couldn't stop making bread, but my new fixation is soup. It's light, healthy, and really satisfying at the end of a long day.  I happened to see a recipe for squash soup on 101 Cookbooks and was drawn to the beauty of the soup in the photo.  Other than reducing the amount of garlic and red pepper, I followed the recipe word for word and was absolutely delighted with the results.

Once again, I have to comment on my photo, specifically the difference between the soup photographed by Heather Swanson and my version.  That's because, once again, I employed my trusty food mill to puree the cooked squash, potatoes, and seasonings.  Heather used a blender to arrive at her beautiful bright green, silky-smooth-looking soup.  While some might call mine homely, I prefer rustic. And anyway, the taste is pure heaven so who cares.  The flavor of rosemary with the zucchini and potatoes is a perfect blend, and the feta on top adds an interesting touch.

This is an easy soup to make, so if you are a fan of squash or maybe have an excess supply in your garden (green or yellow works fine), I urge you to try this recipe.  I have a feeling tomorrow's leftovers are going to be even better.

Sorry, I don't feel like retyping the recipe, but please click here for it and you can see the gorgeous photo!

Now I'm going to get back to making cakes for my husband's office.   Yesterday he told me that he wanted to do something special for his team on Friday and was planning to buy some treats. I piped up and said Let me do it!  Now it's late Thursday night.  I've made two cakes, a tart dough is waiting in the fridge, I've done countless dishes, and everyone is in bed except me. What did I get myself into?  Truth be told, I love every second of it (except the dishes!).  Baking is relaxing to me, and it makes me happy to create something sweet to share with others.  

In my next post, I'll discuss the joys and challenges of making a lemon syrup loaf, noir et blanc gateaux roule, and free form strawberry tart.