Red lentil soup

Lentils likely originated in India and Pakistan, and have been part of the human diet since the aceramic (pottery non-producing) Neolithic times, being one of the first crops domesticated in the Near East. Archaeological evidence shows they were eaten 13,000 to 9,500 years ago. 
Lentil colors range from yellow to red-orange to green, brown and black. 
With about 30% of their calories from protein, lentils, like other legumes, have the third-highest level of protein, by weight, of any plant-based food, after soybeans and hemp. 
Lentils also contain dietary fiber, folate, vitamin B₁, and minerals. Red (or pink) lentils contain a lower concentration of fiber than green lentils (11% rather than 31%). Health magazine has selected lentils as one of the five healthiest foods. 

Lentil soup is recognized as a highly nutritious, particularly good source of protein, dietary fiber, iron and potassium. It is also very convenient as it is dry so you can store it for long periods of time in your pantry, and inexpensive too. My favorite is red lentil soup, and here is how I make it:


Ingredients for 2 portions:
1/2 cup of washed and drained red lentils (it is preferably to soak them in water over night, but a good wash before would also do)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 onion chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste
Salt and pepper 
2 1/2 cups hot boiled water 
1 teaspoon dried mint
croutons (cut half inch cubes or slices of bread, season with salt and pepper, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and place in a backing tray in the oven or broiler for 5-7 minutes)
2 tablespoons butter


Method:
Put a kettle of water to boil. 
Place the olive oil into a medium Dutch oven (or any pot with a thick bottom) and set over medium heat. Once hot, add the onion and salt and sweat until the onions are translucent, approximately 5 minutes, stirring from time to time. Add the tomato paste and stir for another minute. Add the lentils and let them cook for 2-3 minutes, keeping an eye on them , not to stick or burn, stirring from time to time. Meanwhile season with fresh ground peppercorns.

 Add the boiling hot water, stir, cover and bring to a boil, then turning the heat on low, let simmer for 20 minutes. You can make the soup using meat broth instead of water, but it will be very flavorful only with water as well. This is a great vegetarian dish.
Using a blender puree to your preferred consistency.

 I personally like to keep the lentils whole, as they have a nice texture. Season with the dried mint. 

In a butter warmer heat the butter. 
Serve the soup hot, with a drizzle of hot melted butter on top, and garnish with croutons. 

Creme caramel

Crème caramel is a custard dessert with a layer of soft caramel on top, or bottom, as opposed to crème brûlée, which is custard with a hard caramel top. And is one of my favorite deserts!
It may seem difficult to make, but is just the opposite... so simple and easy, you will make this over and over again. 

Ingredients:


For the creme ( all must be at room temperature )
8 large eggs
2/3 cups sugar
1/2 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 quart milk ( 1 liter )
few drops Rum essence 


For the caramel
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 tablespoons water


This recipe will make 4 larger individual portions, or 6-8 smaller ones. You can divide or multiply the recipe to suit your needs. 


Method:


Preheat the oven at 350 degrees F ( 180 C )


Make the caramel:
In a sauce pan put the sugar and water over medium low heat, and cook until it gets glossy and turns a golden/amber color. 




The deeper the color of the caramel, it will taste more bitter, so you must be very careful at this point. It is very easy to over heat it, and it will be too bitter to eat. You must take it off the heat just a tad before it gets to the color desired, as it will continue to darken even after. Also please be careful, as this is very hot, so handle with much care, using protective mittens and a deeper pan.

This is the color I usually go for, but I like the caramel to be just a little bitter, so if you don't like that, take it off the heat sooner, while it is lighter. Place it when ready in an ice bath for few seconds to stop the cooking.

You want to move fast now, as the caramel hardens quite fast, so have the dish in which you will bake the creme caramel close at hand. Carefully pour the caramel in the dish, and cover the sides too. You can use any dish to bake this desert in: a regular deep pan, several ramekins for individual servings, a cake mold, a deep Pyrex dish, anything that can go in the oven will work.

You must let it cool and harden. If you want to speed up the process put them in the freezer for few minutes. You will know they are ready and cool when the caramel will start cracking. Love that sound!

While the caramel cools, it is time to prepare the custard.
In the bowl of your mixer fitted with the paddle attachment  beat the 8 eggs on medium low just until combined, add the sugar and vanilla extract and beat on medium-low ( I use 3 on my KitchenAid ) for about 3-4 minutes. Slowly add the milk and beat until well combined and the sugar dissolves, another 5-7 minutes. The reason it needs to be beaten on lower speed is that you don't want to incorporate air in it. If it gets airy and foamy just let it mix for longer on the lowest speed, in order to take out all the bubbles. 


Now pour the mixture in the caramel covered dishes. You can fill them as it will not inflate while baking.

Place them in the oven in a pan filled with water, just like you do with a cheesecake, and bake for one hour if you use one big dish, or 40 minutes if you used ramekins. The smaller the dish the shorter the baking time. When a golden crust forms on top, it is done. Careful not to over bake, as the caramel on bottom will start boiling, making the custard on top spongy, and we don't want that to happen. You want the custard to be smooth and creamy. 


Take them out of the oven and sprinkle the top with few rum essence drops, then let them cool on a wire rack. Chill in the fridge for several hours, to set. They are best served cold. 
But I cannot count the times I didn't have patience and just ate it warm... it is still delicious!


These are cooling right now, and I can't wait to have some!

You can also use really small ramekins, and make a bunch of them for a party, as they will look very cute.


You can carefully loosen the edges and turn them on a plate, having the caramel on top, especially if you used a cake mold, and have a very pretty presentation, or just serve them in the dishes they baked in, it will taste and look as great either way.


Enjoy and thanks for reading!
A

Simple vanilla pound cake

After not feeling well for a couple of weeks, and staying out of the kitchen, I wanted to take it easy and bake a very simple pound cake. 

Pound cakes are wonderful for their simplicity and versatility. If you are a novice baker this would be the recipe to begin with. You cannot fail, that's how simple this is to make. And you don't need to be super precise either. The cake is not using any baking powder or any other rising agents, so is not supposed to be airy and fluffy, it will be dense and heavy almost. The butter will make it crumble beautifully and just melt in your mouth. 

I love how this cake turned out looking like our traditional Tatar yurts :) 

There are so many variations to them, you can really experiment, with the recipe itself as well as with the way you serve them. 


Bake a simple vanilla pound cake and serve a slice with a dollop of whipped cream, sour cream, or even greek yogurt, with fresh fruit, or a little jam, maple syrup, or honey. Melt some chocolate and pour over, or even make some ganache. Or frost it whole. The possibilities are endless. I just sprinkled confectioners sugar on the one I made last night. I wanted something simple.


You can also add a lot of different ingredients in the batter. My mom makes a great one, putting in one cup each of: pieces of walnuts, turkish delight cut in very small cubes, and raisins. You mix this 3 ingredients with 1 tablespoon of flour to coat them, then just mix them with the batter, and bake as usual. The choice of fruits and  nuts can vary to suit your taste. Could also add chocolate chips. The result is a rich dense cake, perfect to serve with tea, hot glass of milk, hot chocolate or coffee. 


This cake is great also because you can keep it for longer than a normal cake, even if it dries out it will still be yummy and delicious, almost like a biscotto. 


Another thing you can do with a pound cake recipe is to flavor it with orange or lemon juice, just by adding 1/2 cups in the batter, with the liquid ingredients, before adding the dry ones. You will just have to increase a little the flour quantity, I think 1/3 cups more would be enough.

This is the base recipe for the simple vanilla pound cake


Ingredients: all must be at room temperature
2 sticks of butter
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
pinch of salt
2 cups flour


Method:
Preheat oven at 350 degrees F ( 180 C ) and butter a 8 inch pan, or a loaf pan.
In the bowl of the electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat on medium ( 4 on my KitchenAid stand mixer ) the butter and sugar for 8-10 minutes, until light and fluffy. This step is very important, please don't cut down the beating time. 
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each just until incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
Add the vanilla extract and salt. Mix.
Reduce speed on low, and add slowly the flour , mixing just until incorporated. You don't want to over beat it now.
Just pour the batter in the pan and bake for 50-55 minutes, depending on your oven. Test it with a toothpick after 45 minutes and see if it comes out clean.
Let it cool in the pan on a wire rack, then place on a serving platter and let cool completely. 
You can decorate it, or frost it as you like. 


This cake is like a white canvas for the artist in you, have fun with it and enjoy! 

Sorry for the bad photos, the lighting is not very good in my kitchen and took them late last night :) 

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The perfect vanilla cake

For me at least :)

I love vanilla, and this cake is so soft and fluffy, it makes my tummy tickle. Pair it with an amazing cream cheese frosting, and it can't get any better! Oh wait! It does get better! It is pink, and lavender... a wonderful delicate yumminess. Perfection.

I wanted to bake a  gradient colored cake for a long time, and I am so happy I finally did. Can't wait to try a rainbow one too!

The original recipe for this cake was with butter cream frosting, but I don't really like butter cream. Why would you use butter mixed with sugar for frosting? Yes, it looks good and is easy to use and frost with it, but I really don't like the texture or taste of it. It is just greasy. And I tried them all, simple butter cream, meringue butter cream, but none works for me. 

Cream cheese frosting has a lovely texture, is super creamy but not greasy, it has a tang to it, that I love, that really compliments the rich vanilla cake. It goes beautiful with chocolate too. You can as well color it anyway you want using food coloring.

You can also use a custard base cream for this cake. 

And I am planning to make one covered in fondant as well. So many thinks to try and do!

The white frosting works very well with a layered and colorful cake like this, because it just makes it a wonderful surprise when you cut a simple white cake and discover such a pretty inside. 

Ingredients:

For the cake

5 ounces egg whites ( 5 large egg whites or 150 grams ) I just put 2/3 cup

3/4 cup whole milk ( 180 ml )

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract ( 15 ml )

2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour ( 10 ounces or 285 grams )

1 3/4 cups sugar ( 12 ounces or 350 grams )

1 tablespoon baking powder

pinch of salt

12 tablespoons butter ( 6 ounces or 170 grams ) cut in cubes

pink and lavender food colorings

Cake recipe adapted from Sweetapolita

Cream cheese frosting

16 oz cream cheese ( 450 grams) I use Philadelphia regular 

1 cup heavy whipping cream ( 8 ounces or 240 ml ) 

2 cups confectioners sugar ( 200 grams ) You can put 3 cups if you want it sweeter 

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

When you bake any cake it is very important to accurately measure the ingredients and for all the ingredients to have room temperature.

Method:

Preheat oven at 350 degrees F ( 180 C ).

Butter and line with parchment paper 2, or 4 if you have, 8 inch cake pans. I have 2, so I baked the cake in 2 rounds.

Mix in a bowl the egg whites, 1/4 cup milk and the vanilla. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electrical mixer fitted with the paddle attachment combine the dry ingredients : flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. 

Add the butter and remaining milk ( 1/2 cup ) and mix on low speed until combined, then on medium ( 4 ) for 1-2 minutes.

Add the egg white mixture, in 3 separate batches, beating for 20 seconds after every batch, scraping the sides of the bowl. Your batter should look smooth like this. If it curdles means you had too much liquid in the batter. I don't know if it will work adding just  a little more flour, like 1-2 tablespoons, because it never happened to me, but you can give it a try if you have a curdled batter.

Divide the batter equally in 4 separate bowls. You can do that using a kitchen scale. I don't have one yet, so I just divided it using a large ice cream scoop like this one, that you can use to divide batter for cupcakes too. It is important to have equal amounts of batter to make sure your layers will be equal in thickness when baked. 

Put one drop of pink food coloring in the first bowl, one pink plus one purple in the second, 2 purple drops in the third, and 3 drops of purple in the fourth. Mix well each, with different spoons/forks/spatulas.

You can do this using whatever colors and combination you want. This is a fun cake to make!

Bake the 4 different colored batches of batter. I put two pans at once in the oven, on the same rack, int he middle. Bake for 16 minutes. Baking time depends on your oven as well, so make sure to check them around minute 14, and see if  when you insert a toothpick in center comes out clean. It can be 15, 16 or 17 minutes. Is important not to over bake, and this is easy because the layers are quite thin, so keep a watchful eye on them.

After baking the first two layers, let them cool, then delicately take them out of the pans. The layers are thin and very delicate. The colder they are the easiest will be to take them out. Parchment paper helps you a lot in this step. so it is important to use it.

Put them on a wire rack to cool completely. 

Wash, dry, butter and line with parchment the pans again quickly, and bake the other two layers.

Let them cool too, and here you have 4 beautiful different colored cake layers.

Prepare the frosting:
Whip the heavy whipping cream using and electric mixer, using the wire whip attachment, until it gets stiff whipped cream. Put it aside in a bowl.
In the same bowl of the electrical mixer beat the cream cheese using the paddle attachment, on medium speed, until fluffy. Add the confectioners sugar gradually, and the vanilla, and beat on medium ( 4 on my KitchenAid ) for 7-10 minutes, until light and fluffy. Fold in the whipped cream and mix well. 

I love cream cheese frosting, but I wanted it to be a little more light and airy, so I thought of combining it with whipped cream, and this is now my favorite cake frosting! It will work great on cupcakes as well, I can't wait to try!

Place the darkest lavender colored layer ( the one with 3 drops of coloring ) on the cake stand, or serving platter you will use for the cake. Using the same ice cream scoop place two dollops of the frosting in the middle of the layer, and spread evenly using a spatula.

Place the layer with two purple coloring drops on, spread with another 2 dollops of frosting, then the one with pink and purple coloring, spread with frosting, and finally the last pink layer on top. 

Frost the whole cake with a thin layer of cream cheese frosting, to crumble coat it. This will ensure that no cake crumbs will get into your final layer of frosting, and have a perfect result. Place in fridge for 30 minutes to set. You can then finish frosting it with the remaining cream.

Hope you will enjoy making this cake as much as I did. It is like playing in kindergarten! And there are so many variations you can try, just let your imagination go wild. I am planning on making a double batch of this batter, in order to make more layers to this cake! A six or seven layer cake would be so cool! 

Thanks for reading!

A

Turkey

The turkey turned out delicious. 

All I did is to take it out of the brine, pat dry with paper towels, let stand for 1 hour at room temperature, rub it with softened butter inside-out, sprinkle with some fresh ground pepper and cover it with a cheese cloth soaked in butter melted with rosemary in a sauce pan. 

Place the turkey on a grill on top of a roasting pan filled with dry white wine and some water and roast at 400 degrees F for one hour. Baste it every 30 minutes with some left over melted butter. After one hour, take out the cheese cloth and roast for one and a half hours at 350 degrees F. Our turkey was 10 pounds, so if your turkey is larger, you need to keep it longer in the oven, 3 1/2- 4 hours for a 20 pounds bird. Also ours was not stuffed, as we don't like stuffing, but if you do stuff it you also need to add extra time in the oven. The turkey is ready when the temperature in the thickest part of the thigh, reaches 170 degrees F. You need to be careful not to dry it too. 


We served it with roasted vegetables: carrots, green beans and tomatoes, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, and put them in the oven with the turkey, for the last 45 minutes of the roasting time. 


Also made mashed potatoes: cut the potatoes in cubes, boil them in salty water, drain the water, add cold butter ( 1 tablespoon per large potato you boiled ) and mash together. Taste for salt, and if you want more you can add. Then heat 1/8 cup of milk per potato, and pour it over the mashed potatoes, mixing well, and you will have the most fluffy and delicious mashed potatoes. It is important not to use a blender/mixer for mashing them, because they will have the texture of glue! In order to have a fluffy consistency you need to mash them by hand with a potato masher, or even a fork will work for smaller quantities. 


The gravy I made by just placing the roasting pan containing the drippings from the turkey on medium heat on the stove, and let it simmer, adding 1 tablespoon of flour, to make it thicker, stirring constantly, until you reach the desired consistency. Strain and that's it!


Some green salad on the side, some pickles, and we had a very yummy Thanksgiving dinner. Followed by cake of course :) I will have a post about the cake soon.

Hope you all had a great time on Thanksgiving! And did you go shopping on Black Friday?
Thank you for reading,
A

Preparing for our first Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!


So excited to prepare our first turkey, for our first Thanksgiving, in our new home... happy! I just made the brine. It is kind of an experiment really. Looked for inspiration on marthastewart.com , but ended up adding a bunch of random things in it. So curious, can't wait to see how it will taste. Getting hungry just thinking about that turkey now!

We went earlier and bought a small 10 pounds turkey. Brining is supposed to ensure your roast will be very moist and flavorful and means actually soaking the whole turkey in a solution of salt and water. Adding aromatics to it will only make the meat more flavorful. I read that you must brine it for an hour per pound of meat, so ours would be ready in 10 hours, but it would be just fine to keep it even longer. Some recommend 24 hours. Some keep it for 2-3 days even. Ours will stay around 12 hours, that should be enough I think.

This is how I made it:

Put in a pan 4 cups of water, 1 cup salt, 1 tablespoon whole peppercorns, 1 tablespoon mustard seeds, 2 thyme stems, 4 bay leafs, 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, 1/2 cup maple syrup, and bring to a simmer. Let aside to cool. 

Line a large pot/container, ( larger than your turkey ) with a large brining or oven roasting bag. Place the room temperature turkey in, and pour over the mixture. Add a bottle of dry white wine, 1 large finely chopped onion, 4 crushed garlic cloves , 1 sliced orange, and 1 sliced lemon, 1 sliced carrot and some parsnip. 

 

Complete with cold water until the whole turkey is covered. Make sure everything is well mixed and the turkey submerged in brine, filling the inside as well. Close tightly the bag, taking the air out as much as possible and secure with twine. Place in fridge overnight. 

The next day take the turkey out, discard the brine. Pat dry the turkey and place on a roasting pan, breast side up. 

I still didn't decide what to do next... will see tomorrow, it is 2 am so I am off to sleep :) and I have to roast this bird tomorrow, and bake a cake!

Zacusca

The word zacusca / zakuska is of Slavic origin, and simply means "appetizer" or "snack", and the root of the word indicates "tasty", "to bite" or "to snack". And believe me, this is way beyond tasty, is one of my favorites,  I can eat a whole jar by myself, that's how delicious this is.

Zacusca is a vegetable spread or relish, very popular in the Balkans, eaten typically on bread. Traditionally a family will prepare a large quantity of it after the fall harvest, and preserve it in sterilized jars to enjoy over the winter. 
It can be made of red peppers, eggplants, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes and even beans, but my personal favorite is my Mom's recipe, made only with red Kapia peppers. Only this particular peppers give the distinctive taste I love so much, that takes me back to wonderful childhood memories.

Once you manage to find the peppers, you passed the hard part of the recipe. It was quite an adventure for me. I was lucky and found some (just 4 pounds) at our local Whole Foods, after a nice employee there offered to look for them in the back, only by my description, as apparently nobody around here ever heard of Kapia peppers. And they didn't even have a pricing on them. But in the end it all worked out. 

Ingredients for 6 half pint jars:
4 pounds Kapia peppers ( sweet red peppers, not spicy ones )
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons mustard
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
6 bay leafs

You will also need a larger jam pot and 6 half pint wide mouth Mason jars with lids, or any other preserve jars.

Wash thoroughly and roast the peppers by arranging them on a baking sheet and place it in the oven at 500 degrees F (or use the broiler).  Keep a watchful eye on them. When dark spots begin to appear on the peppers, remove the baking sheet from the oven. The peppers will be very hot. Using tongs, carefully turn each pepper over and return the sheet to the oven. When they are roasted on all sides take them out and cover with aluminium foil or plastic wrap, in order to make them sweat, as it will make peeling the skins much easier. Once the peppers are cool enough to handle (probably about 15 minutes) hold by the stem down on a flat surface and gently peel the skin off of each. The skin should slide off fairly easily. 

With the backside of the knife, slit open the side of each pepper and spread them out (ribbed side up). Using the dull side of your knife, scrape off any of the ribs or membrane that remains in the pepper, and the stems. Let them drain in a colander. Place the peppers in a food processor and chop, to small pieces, but not a paste.

In a pot ( I like to use a copper jam pot ) over medium heat mix 1 cup extra virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons mustard, 2 tablespoons honey, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns, 6 bay leafs, and bring to a boil. Add the chopped peppers, and stirring continuous with a wooden spoon for it not to stick, let it boil for 7 minutes. Turn the stove off. 

Now you will fill the jars.
For a more detailed canning guide you can go here.

I just wash all the jars and lids in the dishwasher, right before I start making the spread, so that they will be done drying at the same time I am done cooking, leaving the jars in the closed dishwasher, to keep them hot until I am ready to fill them. 
After filling the jars with the hot zacusca, making sure there are no air bubbles left, by pressing the spread with a non metal spatula on the walls of the jars, and cleaning the rims, put the lids on, twisting just until "fingertip tight".

Place the jars in a deep roasting pan filled with boiling water in the oven, at 450 degrees F, for 30-40 minutes. Let them cool a little before taking out of the water, and then let them cool completely on a wire rack or towel on the counter. Do not re-tighten the lids, because you will interfere with the sealing process. 

You can keep the jars for few months, in a dry, dark and cool place. I like to use small half pint jars just because I want to open a fresh one every time we want to eat some. After opening the jar you can only keep it for few days in the fridge, and there is just two of us. But if you have a larger family feel free to use bigger jars, and just multiply the recipe, to make more delicious zacusca. This will go fast, so you will want to have made more. I wish I did. Our 6 jars vanished in a week :)