Mogwai Soup

I love Alton Brown - and as much as I enjoy watching him, I love to try out his recipes.
Alton reminds me of my brother very much. A little bit of charming, A little bit of geeky, combined with lots of humor - makes the perfect recipe....uhmm, what are we cooking here?
Oh yeah, meatballs!

See, I've been known to go on a diet every now and then, and in such times of sadness, buy a Lean Cuisine or two...for times when I really don't feel like cooking anything healthy from scratch. One out of two kinds that I get is the Swedish meatballs. Other is tortilla crusted fish if anyone wanted to know that. :o)
Wrap it and call it whatever way you want to though, it's still a frozen meal and I am not really into IKEA ones that they offer in their restaurants. I knew they could get better than that, so I went to see what Alton Brown had to say about that.






Swedish Meatballs
for recipe go to: Alton Brown

I decided to let my Kitchen Aid do the dirty work here, it made this whole process so much easier (and cleaner). I just had to scoop out the meat and shape it into little balls. I used my mini ice-cream scoop for this.






Like the instructions say, I put all of the done meatballs into the oven on 200, while I did my second batch. Well all accept one, that one jumped into my mouth by mistake, but she was so tender and delicious that I decided to just let it go and not get upset. :o)






Now I had a bunch of meatballs that were very inpatient to start swimming in something delicious, so I had to work quick. I was pretty happy with the sauce after just two cans of broth, so I kept it at that. If you want to use all three that the recipe calls for, just go ahead, I am certain it will be just as delish.

Before I started making theese meatballs, I couldn't quite make up my mind what to serve them with, I am glad I went with these egg noodles. I even LOVED them with lingonberry preserves (back home we don't usually mix sweet and savory). I want to make that on my own next time...but I never saw lingonberry here in Utah. I still remember picking them and eating them straight from the bushes at my great grandmas house in Croatia...those were the times!!!


All in all, I like these more than classic American meatballs. I am just not the biggest fan of tomato sauces, so this works better for me.

It's been a crazy three weeks here. My friends from Croatia are gone and I'm so lonely now. I keep telling myself that now I will have time for the blog again, which is really cool because I love this blog. But I have to admit. It was so much more fun cooking for my friends than just for myself and hubby. See, my husband is not into sweets. At all. Unless it is a cheesecake, and one can't make cheesecakes all the time. Which takes me to that miss-fortunate tempt a few days ago to make a raspberry swirl cheesecake. I thought I would make a perfect cheesecake even better by adding water in the oven underneath it...I will do this cheesecake again, soon. No water though. Lesson learn, a perfect recipe is perfect because you can't do anything else to make it even better, so DON'T try!

And speaking of perfect, I did make a perfect vanilla ice-cream (recipe and pictures in the previous post) and was in a mood for making something really luscious to go underneath it. A chocolate tart. Yes.

I never used to love chocolate like I do now. I would listen to other people craving for it and didn't understand it. I would always take something caramel over chocolate. Or white chocolate over regular one. Boy has that one changed in the past few years. When I get one of those 'I need something chocolate' moments...well, let's just say that if you are not chocolate, get away from me.
I've been wanting to try this recipe out for a while. It is a recipe from Master Chef Australia. Please go here for a whole recipe and instructions.




I was worried about this dough. It was really moist and I had no idea how it would roll out, I am no pro and still kind of new to all of this, but I am happy to say that as long as you put enough flour underneath and on top of the dough while rolling, it will come out just fine.





See?
Next came the filling:







I was getting pretty excited at this point. It just needed to cool down a bit for the glaze.







I am more than proud of this beauty! It looked so pretty and you could see your reflection in it just like in a mirror. Well almost like a mirror! :o)





For me the best part of this tart is how wonderfully creamy the texture the chocolate filling is. I've had some mean chocolate cakes...but this one has a special texture, it's made from dark chocolate and because od that it isn't too sweet. That is why it is going into my recipe book. Zaher cake is the queen of chocolate cakes, but everyone needs a little variety sometimes.
And just look at this picture, you can SEE the creaminess!

Oh yeah! This was the fifth time in the past two months that I made an ice cream or gelato, and it was the simplest and tastiest. I think I'm rediscovering the beauty of minimalism all over again!
It is also the second Tuesdays with Dorie recipe I made. I will try to make one every week, we will see how that will go...
This recipe was chosen by Lynne from Cafe Lynnlu. Please go there for complete recipe and instructions!







This was the first time I used a vanilla bean instead of an extract. I am just amazed what a difference it makes. I was little worried once I took the bean in my hands and it was time to cut it, but I followed the simple technique to plump it and it was so easy. Now if I only had my vanilla bean tree! :o)
I also have to say that once the ice cream was churned, it almost broke my heart when I had to stop eating it directly from the ice cream maker and put it in freezer...it was THAT good. I wish I could store ice cream like camels can store water! (hmm...maybe that's what's going on with my behind, LOL)







Can I tell you I also made a fawesome chocolate tart the same day? Can I tell you I had this amazing fudge sauce left over from the tart's glaze? Do you know where that sauce went? Well, you know where. I don't need to tell you...






Hint, hint. :o)

The ONLY thing that would make this jam better are Croatian plums, but these here that I got will do just fine. I made this jam last August also, just two jars though, and we ran out of it way too soon. This time I made six huge jars. We will have plum EVERYTHING in the next months, starting with breakfast today, jam and toast. Ah, the simple life.. :o)





Recipe could not be more simpler. Here it goes:

Plum Jam
by: me :)

10 lbs of plums
2 lbs of sugar
juice of a lemon
tbsp of vanilla
tbsp of spiced rum (gives such a great hint of flavor to the jam)






Half the plums and pit them. Cut in smaller pieces. In a big pot start assembling a layer of plums then a layer of sugar. When you are done, go relax. Yeah, just put the lid on it and let it do its thing for couple of hours. Make your self a cup of coffee and go and daydream about all those great crapes you will eat with this jam. Whatever, scrape that one. Just daydream how you will soon be eating this jarred miracle with a spoon!
After couple of hours start cooking the jam. Medium heat, until it's the consistency you like. I like mine to have chunks in it so I don't let it fall apart completely. Ten minutes before it's done, add vanilla and spiced rum in. That simple!
While the jam is cooking, prepare your lids and jars. Wash them thoroughly and then put them in the oven on the lowest setting to dry out like that. Handle them carefully once they are done. Hot, hot, hot!
These make such an awesome gift for friends, I need to get some cute smaller jars and make another batch of this. Can't wait to decorate little labels and put pretty little bows on them. They will sure put smiles on some faces!

Two of my friends have been visiting for the past ten days and one of them is really big on lemons and limes. Since I will take any chance I have to cook, we found this fawesome recipes for lime cupcakes. Well, for lime curd and meringue to be exact, cupcake was also vanilla but I didn't use the recipe from the blog where I found the curd and meringue one. I love discovering new blogs in this food virtual world, it is one of my favorite things about cooking and blogging! These cupcakes I found at Whisk Kid. Go and check it out for a recipe. Awesome photos too!

This is without a doubt my husbands all time favorite dish. I got this recipe from his sister, and made just a few tiny adjustments to it. It is a very mild Mexican dish, and pretty much fail proof. I don't make it often enough though, specially if you ask my hubby. He would like to have it at least once a week. Problem is, he eats one pan full on his own, most often in one sitting, and that is just not good for him, other people in the house or the budget! :o)





Enchilada Lasagna

Ingridients:

2 tbsp of vegetable oil
1 lbs chicken breast, chopped to bite pieces
5 cups of mexican blend cheese
1 can of cream of celery
1 can of cream of chicken
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1/4 cup canned and chopped green chillies (drained)
small corn tortillas
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper





Brown chicken in a pan on 2 tbsp of oil. Season with salt and pepper.
In a bowl combine cream of celery, cream of chicken, sour cream and green chillies.





Prepare the dish you will assemble the lasagna in. Put 1/2 cup of cream mix on the bottom of the baking dish and spread. Layer a row of tortillas followed with cream mix, chicken and cheese. You should be able to make 3 layers like this. Last layer doesn't need chicken, just a ton of cheese. :o)That is the best part!





Count on getting at least seconds, it really is that good!





Quick update...and thanks to J + P for reminding me!
It seems that I forgot to put instructions down for actually baking this amazing dish. Yaaay me!
I preheat the oven to 425 degrees and let it bake for about 20 minutes or until cheese is nice and melted and golden brown on top...


Thank you Andrea!

I am not a part (booey) of Tuesdays with Dorie yet. I don't know how to even begin, and frankly, I don't even dare right now. But they make soooo many fawesome recipes. When I saw this, I knew I would have to make it, even without my uncontrollable fear of yeast dough!
Anyway, this recipe has been chosen by Denise from Chez Us. If someone wants to try it out, go there for complete recipe and instructions!

I only wish I had plums from home. They are smaller and so much tastier, I don't know how you call them in US, but I've seen them a while ago when lady from work brought some from her tree. I used these:





As far as the dough goes, I followed the recipe word for word and I did manage to be patient and let it in the fridge overnight. The thought of wonderful warm brioche tart for breakfast gave strength! :o)





In the morning I pushed the dough in my quiche pan and then spread some jam on it and put the sliced plums on it and sugar mixed with pecans. I love pecans and had them home so I went with that instead of walnuts. I also didn't have any plum jam (which I actually made with my mom recently, but it was so good that we ate it with a spoon and it was soon gone). I used lemon-lime marmalade that we also made. Delish!






So, what did I manage to mess up this time? I did not have any aluminum foil home, so I had to take the tart out of the oven before the sugar got completely caramelized or the whole thing would be burned. We lived though, it was still very very tasty.







There is one thing that I think it would make this even better. At least for my tummy :o)...
I would add some grated orange and lemon zest to the dough. Definitely orange if just one. Maybe I would even try putting a teaspoon or two of maraschino in it. Anyway, I will make it again for sure. It's a keeper.

Did I make myself a treat a few days ago! Strukle (it is not spelled this way, but with a Croatian letter that makes the sound sh, which I don't have on this keyboard, you read it sh-t-ru-k-lee) are a Northern Croatian specialty. I have only eaten them made from scratch and fresh a couple of times in my life myself. That is because you can find a perfectly wonderful package of frozen ones in every store on every corner in Croatia, and it is so much easier to just throw a few of them into a boiling water than to go through the trouble of making the dough and STRETCHING it yourself!!! Eeeeeeeeeeeek.
Well, I am not afraid to do the dough myself! Being a few thousands miles from home and first store that carries something that you are craving insanely will do that to you. It was actually very easy to make it, once I was determined and had the necessary patience with stretching the dough (which you can use btw for making strudels and such, just omit the amount of salt).





Croatian Strukle

For the Dough:

9 oz all purpose flour
1 egg
2 tbsp vegetable oil
pinch of salt
luke warm water

First of all, put a large pot into the oven or if you can't boil some water(not too much) in a large pot on the stove top to make the pot hot. You will cover your dough with it once kneaded for half an hour.
You will need to add water as you go, the goal is to get the dough to pizza like consistency. Stretchy and soft, but not sticky anymore. I sift the flour on my island and with fingers make a little hole in the flour "hill". Inside I put the egg and some oil (this time I used 1tbsp of melted and cooled butter and 1 tbsp) and start incorporating flour into it, slowly add water until all the flour is mixed and the dough is not sticky anymore. You want to put some air in it so knead it until you see or hear some bubbles. Once done shape it into a ball and brush it with some oil. Cover with the hot pot for 30 minutes. While waiting, prepare the filling.

For the filling:

20 oz of cottage cheese
2 tbsp of sour cream
2 tsp salt
4 eggs





Mix all the ingredients together and strain 3/4 of the mixture. What you will now have is cottage cheese mix that you will put back with the 1/4 of the beginning mixture, that you use as a filling. The other drained part is what you will put on the top of strukle before baking them in the oven.
Now a picture tutorial of stretching the dough :o)





Roll the dough out as much as you can before you start stretching it with your hands. Make sure that your working surface and hands are well floured. Gently lift the dough with your palms, make fists and make start stretching it in circular movements. Once you think it's thin enough, specially around the middle, return it to your working surface and start stretching it out there. You should be able to get at least a 3'x4' piece of stretched dough. It is normal that it will brake at some pieces, but that shouldn't worry you, just stitch it up. When you have sort of transparent like filo looking dough, you are done.





Spread the filling evenly over the entire dough except the first and last 2 inches of it from where you are starting to roll. Once rolled you will have a big doughy snake. Cut it with a little plate, it will help seal little pockets that you are making, even though it is likely they will reopen while cooking. This is why you will cook them in steamy but not fully boiling water, so you lose as little filling as possible.
At this point you could just cook them, take them on the plate and serve with a dollop of sour cream and couple of tablespoons of heated bread crumbs with little bit of oil (yummy). Or you could go all the way and be authentic and do the next:





Arange strukle in a baking dish and pour the rest of your filling, the liquidy stuff, over the top. Put in the oven on 425 F for 20 min or until deep golden brown.





Taaaa-daaaaa. I am so proud of me. I will be so proud of anyone else who makes it! I did my very own home-made strukle. I must be going insane with this cooking thing!






Strukle are very mild in flavor, but they are truly a comfort food. If you ever had a cheese bourek or savory cheese strudel, that is the closest to what I would compare it to. Except this one is not the crispy and flaky dough. There is NOTHING wrong with crispy and flaky, hey I prefer it. But sometimes you just need strukle, warm and cheesy,soft and comforting little pockets of goodness!