Day 12: Stay at Home or In the Garden: Soft Sourdough Pretzels

These days we stay more at home and we make all meals with ingredients from scratch.

A few days ago, I began to think about pretzels, I really wanted some and I had a pretzels recipe which worked for me. My old recipe is now 5 year old and in the meantime, I switched for commercial yeast and to sourdough.

It was time to revise my recipe and to adapt it to my currently needs.

I changed also the glaze bath to baking soda to ash soda; I also decided to change the shape from 24 mini pretzels to 12 medium-small pretzels.

Proofing time had to be changed. I started with my work in the afternoon and as I realized that these would never be ready for dinner, we placed the dough overnight in the fridge and continued the next morning in order to have the pretzels for lunch.

The result was awesome; I will make these again soon!

For this recipe, we used soda ash (sodium carbonate) but with baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) it will work as well. The important this is respecting the boiling time!

Soft Sourdogh Pretzels

• Servings: 12 small pieces
• Time: active time=30 min;  resting time=several hours; baking time=15 min
• Difficulty: medium
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Ingredients

Dough

• 1/2 cup active starter
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 cup water
• 2 3/4 cups flour
• 2 tablespoons softened butter or margarine
• 1 teaspoon salt

Glaze

• 1/2 cup soda ash
• 5 cups water

Topping

• Coarse salt or better fleur de sell

Procedure

1. Put starter, sugar, water and 1 cup of flour in bowl and stir well. Let sit covered for about 2 hours to proof.
2. Add rest of flour as well as all the other ingredients and knead dough until smooth and not sticky.
3. Place dough back in bowl, cover and let rise until doubled. Note: you can relent this process and place the bowl in the fridge overnight. Next day remove form the fridge and let finish to rise.
4. When dough has risen, punch down.
5. Divide dough into 12 portions and form rolls of about 60 cm or the size you like. Take care that the center of the roll should be thicker. Shape the logs into pretzels and place them on greased tray or over parchment foil.
6. Allow pretzels to rest for about 30 minutes.
7. In the meantime, prepare the glaze: boil water with soda ash. Reduce heat. Also, preheat the oven to 250°C/ 475°F.
8. Remove pretzels gently from the trays (2 trays with each 6 pieces), place them one by one into the boiling baking soda solution (I could place max 2 of them in the solution at once). Boil for about 30 seconds on one side, then flip them over and boil 30 second on the other side. Remove them using a large slotted spoon and place on a baking sheet with parchment paper or simply greased.
9. Score the thicker part of the pretzels and sprinkle with the salt.
10. Let rest and rise for about 30 minutes.
11. Bake at 250°C/ 475°F for about 15 minutes or until they are a medium to dark golden brown. Note: bake in two batches if your oven does not allow two trays simultaneously.

Autor: https://artandkitchen.wordpress.com/

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Day 11: Stay at Home or In the Garden: Spinach and Feta Muffins

As most muffin recipes, they are easy and quick to be prepared; for this reason they can be served for a week dinner as well, we served these instead of bread together with meat balls.

You can adapt the recipe and for example add grated carrots instead of fried spinach.

If you are using an acid ingredient, as in this case the feta, baking soda will be enough, if not, please use a mixture of baking soda and baking powder.

These muffins can be prepared in advance and reheat for about 3 minutes before serving.

Spinach and Feta Muffins

• Servings: 12 pieces (6 cm wide)
• Time: active time=25 min cooking=25 min
• Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 mall onion, chopped
• 200 g spinach, washed and chopped or only young leaves
• 200 g flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 150 ml milk
• 1 egg
• 100 g feta, crumbled
• 50 g walnuts, chopped (optional)
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg powder, to taste
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Sesame seeds for topping, to taste and optional

Preparation

1. Heat oil and fry the onion until translucent. Add spinach and sauté until just soft ad water adsorbed. Remove from the heat.
2. Preheat the oven to 180°C
3. In a bowl, sift together flour and baking soda.
4. Add milk and egg. Stir until just combined.
5. Fold in feta, walnuts and sautéed spinach.
6. Season with nutmeg, pepper and salt to taste.
7. Scoop the mixture in muffin molds (I used 6 cm wide silicon molds).
8. Sprinkle with sesame seed or more walnuts.
9. Bake at 180°C for about 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and done.
10. Best serve them lukewarm.

Autor: https://artandkitchen.wordpress.com/

Day 10: Stay at Home or In the Garden; Fasolada – Greek Beans Soup

Yesterday evening we enjoyed this warm and hearty Greek soup for dinner as the sun went down and cold wind blew over Switzerland. In fact, this is a typical winter dish.

Once again, we decided to prepare it over the open fire also in order to warm the room a little bit and to give a special touch to the soup. Nevertheless, this is not strictly necessary and you can prepare this on you stovetop, in a low cooker, a pressure cooker or a simple pot.

Today we had some more for lunch and thanks the sunlight I could take the pic I have missed yesterday: we were too hungry and I did not have time to prepare some more light for a decent pic.

Fasolada (Φασολάδα) - Greek Beans Soup

• Servings: about 6-8
• Time: active time=30 min cooking=120-480 min
• Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

• 500 g white beans (I used spitted ones without skin, any kind of beans would work as well)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 onion, peeled and diced
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped pancetta or bacon (optional)
• 2 tablespoons tomatoes concentrate (optional)
• 3000 ml water
• 1-2 cup carrots, peeled and diced
• 1 cup celery stalks, diced or 1/2 cup celery green chopped
• 1 tin (about 400 g) chopped pelati (tomatoes)
• More herbs (I used 2 small rosemary spring and 5 winter savoury springs)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Crumbled feta and/or rustic bread, optional

Procedure

1. Soak beans in cold water overnight or at least a few hours in warm water. Rinse well until the water comes out clear-
2. Fry onion with the oil until translucent. Add garlic and tomatoes paste and fry for 3 more minutes.
3. Add water, the soaked beans and the other ingredients. Season to taste.
4. Let simmer for 1½ hours or until beans are tender. During this time, check occasionally if the liquid is enough and if necessary add some more water.
5. Serve with rustic bread and if you like with crumbled feta. Καλή όρεξη! Enjoy it!

Autor: https://artandkitchen.wordpress.com/

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Day 9: Stay at Home or In the Garden: Apple Flower

Apple tree (Malus domestica) 

The rose family is arguably one of the six most economically important crop plant families, and includes apples, pears, quinces, medlars, loquats, almonds, peaches, apricots, plums, cherries, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, sloes, and roses among the crop plants belonging to the family.

Looking at this photos , we can see how roses apples are in the same family

 

Day 8: Stay at Home or In the Garden: Spring flowers in the Garden

nly two day’s ago we enjoyed wonderful warm weather, we had lunch outside and we began to prepare the garden for the new season.

Last week end the summer temperatures gave the perfect conditions for outdoors activities as sitting in parks with friends, grill parties and and and…

Yesterday we got a humid and cold weather, but perfect to stay at home and finally observe the recommendation and keep social distance from other people.

This afternoon we got some a fresh breeze and the sun came back again. Today parks are empty, nobody on the riverside and no grill party; that is just OK for a few steps in the garden and check what’s going on.

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Day 7: Stay at Home: Filo Twisted Spinach Pie from Scratch

I made this Greek spinach pie in about 30 minutes working time, thanks my kneading machine. I did not measure the exactly amount of the ingredients for the filo. While the kneading machine was working/kneading, I had the time to prepare the filling. At the end, it was a very simplified version of my post  Spanakotiropita with Homemade Filo Dough.  I could have used more ingredients, but at these times, I preferred to skip some and for example save the feta and eggs for other recipes. No shopping excursions now! I will simply list the ingrediens and the procedure. We miss Crete so much!

Filo Twisted Spinach Pie from Scratch

• Servings: 2-4
• Time: 60 min
• Difficulty: medium
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Ingredients:

Filo

• 1 1/2 cups four
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespona ouzo
• about 1/3 cups water water

Filling

• olive oil
• 300 g spinach, whashed
• 1 big onion, sliced
• mint, chopped
• dill, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

Topping

• 2 tablespoon water
• 2 tablesppons olive oil
• 1/2 tablespoon flour
• salt to taste
• sesame and nigella seeds

Procedure

1. For the filo combine flour, oil, salt and ouzo in the kneading bowl. While kneading add water until you see the dough forms, turns smooth and elastic. Let kneed while you prepare the filling.
2. Fry the onion in about 2 tablespoons olive oil until translucent. Add the other ingredients and let cook until spinach turn soft and the liquid is adsorbed.
3. Roll out half of the dough to a rectangle of about 20 to 40 cm. Stretch with the back of our hand until about 30 to 60 long.  Brush with oil. Spoon the filling (on the shorter side of the rectangle) but do not go all the way to the edges so that the pastry sheet margins could be folded in slightly. Roll or pack lengthwise. Place the roll in spiral in your round baking tray ( 28 cm diameter). Repeat with the second portion.
4. Combine the water, oil, salt and flour for the topping. Brush the spiral with this and top with seeds.
5. Bake in a preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes at 190°C until golden and crispy.
6. Enjoy warm, lukewarm or cold.

Autor: https://artandkitchen.wordpress.com/

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Day 6: Stay at Home or In the Garden: Bowl of Spring

The weather feels really like spring or almost summer.  The garden is already rich of edible flowers and if you have the opportunity, then put spring into your salad with flowers you can eat.

The thought of eating flowers didn’t seem to be fair (they are to beautiful), but many of these little cute flowers have its own unique taste and they make your salad more attractive.

This greens salad had been enrichted with: leaf celery (Apium graveolens var. secalinum), primrose flowers (primula vulgaris), rosemary flowers (Rosmarinus officinalis) and cuckooflower (cardamine pratensis).

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Day 5: Stay at Home or In the Garden: Sunset before Spring

We had a wonderful sunset today, tomorrow on March 20th spring will begin in the Northern Hemisphere.

It will be a hard spring begin and we all hope that at the end of the spring everything will be better and our family, friends… healthy!

Please stay at home as much as possible during this spring, so that in summer you will enjoy the sun again.

 

Day 4: Stay at Home or In the Garden; Poached Pears with Saffron and Chocolate Sauce

It’s very quite around us, not so much noise as usual. The sun is warm and  we are lucky we have a garden where we can sit outide and enjoy the day with homemade preserved products.

Pears are an excellent canning fruit because they keep their shape (let simmer only gently) and if places in nice jar, they make wonderful presents.

For this process, it’s necessary to use firm maybe lithely unripe pears. Peel them using a potatoes peeler taking care, not to remove the stem.

I used small pears from the Turkish shop (the same pears I am used to fin on Crete in October), but if you have big pears, suggest to peel them and cut them into big slices.

I prepared this jars in December just before Christmas and today we decided to enjoy them in the garden because we got another warm early spring (or better late winter) day.

Poached Pears with Saffron and Chocolate Sauce

• Servings: 6
• Time: 90 min
• Difficulty: medium
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Ingredients

Poached pears

• 12 small or 6 medium firm pears, whole and peeled
• 200 ml water
• 200 ml white wine
• 200 g sugar
• 1 big pinch (about ½ tsp) saffron stems
• 6 green cardamom pods, lightly crushed
• 1 pinch cinnamon

Chocolate sauce ( for 2-4 persons)

• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 2-4 tablespoons brandy
• 50 g bittersweet chocolate, diced

Procedure

1. Mix water, wine, sugar, and spices into a saucepot and bring to simmer for 15 minutes.
2. Add pears and poach covered. For this procedure do not bring to boil. Cook, partially covered, turning occasionally, for20 to 30 minutes or until pears are just tender.
3. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the pears and arrange the, upright into jars. Try to place them quite tightly.
4. Cover the pears with the hot syrup leaving 1/2-inch headspace in each jar. Secure canning lids.​
5. Process in a boiling water bath (80-85°C), 20 minutes for 500 ml jars or 25 minutes for 1000 ml jars. Store them in a chilly place.
6. For the chocolate sauce: heat heavy cream with brandy in the microwave (about 30 seconds) until hot but not boiling. Add chocolate and stir to dissolve. If necessary place a few more seconds in the microwave.
7. Place pears into single serving plates, add some syrup (optional), top with warm chocolate sauce and serve immediately.

Autor: https://artandkitchen.wordpress.com/

Day 3: Stay at Home or In the Garden; the Smoorbetto

Start your day in a delicious way with a lot of vitamins and a Smoorbetto! In alternative have a break and make yourself a nice present! That’s exactly what our body and our soul need! If possible, add a few edible flowers for a better presentation!

What is a Smoorbetto it’s smoothie prepared with frozen fruit, the result is very similar to a sorbetto but it is lightly frozen.

For this recipe, we used fruits form the past year, which I still have in our freezer. It’s almost spring now, but we still have a lot of them and now, as we will stay mostly at home this is best opportunity to reduce the overflow and make something good for yourself and the family.

Smoorbetto

• Servings: 2
• Time: 10 min
• Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

• 2 cups of chopped or diced frozen fruits of your choice (I used apricot and Indian blood peach)
• 1 cup of water
• 2 tablespoons honey, or to taste

Procedure

1. Place all the ingredients in the bowl of a strong mixer and pulse until smooth.
2. Note: if the fruits are too hard (frozen), wait a few minutes and pulse again.
3. If you like top with fresh edible fruits or other suitable decorative goods.
4. Serve immediately!

Autor: https://artandkitchen.wordpress.com/