German Stollen

There cannot be Christmas holidays without the beautiful flavors of home made cookies and cakes! One of my favorites is the German Christmas Stollen: 

Ingredients:
For the dough:
1,2 kg all purpose flour
120 gr. yeast
200 gr. sugar
1 pinch salt
3/8 l milk
3 eggs
1 pack vanilla powder
300 gr. butter
For the filling:
200 gr. whole almonds, blanched, peeled and chopped
500 γρ. raisins blonde
200 γρ. raisins black
100 γρ. candied orange peel
100 γρ. candied lemon peel
Zest & juice of a lemon
1/4 tsp cardamon, nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon
100 ml rum
1 bitter almond extract
For the frosting:
250 gr. melted butter
250 gr. icing sugar

Preparation:
The night before baking, mix in a large bow; all the ingredients for the filling and let soak. 

Dough: In a large bowl, sift 1 kg of the flour and make a pothole in the center. Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk and a pinch of salt and 1 tbs sugar. Add the yeast to the center of the bowl. Carefully take some flour and mix with the yeast, until you have a liquid porridge.

Spread some sugar and flour over the porridge and cover the bowl and leave it in a warm place, until the yeast has doubled in size. 

Knead well. Mix eggs with sugar and vanilla and add to the dough. Knead again and leave the dough covered to rest in a warm place, until it has doubled in size.

Add the rest of the flour and the sugar and knead again.

 Add the filling to the dough and knead again. From 2 oval shapes and fold each oval piece in half. Carefully lift the dough onto the baking sheet and leave to rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until nearly doubled in size. Preheat the oven to 180ºC/gas 4. Bake the stollen for 60 minutes, or until golden.Cover with foil if it begins to brown too much. Brush warm loaf with butter and dust thickly with powdered sugar. Cool on ​rack.Wrap tightly in foil.

Amaretto cakes

For the first post of the year, I chose a recipe for sweet, to have a sweet year  ;)

I was invited by a relative to lunch on New Year day and I thought I should bring something homemade as a present. I searched my recipes and found an easy and quick recipe for small cakes!

Ingredients

For the dough:
3 eggs
6 tablespoons milk
40 gr. flour
80 gr. sugar
1 tsp baking powder
20 gr. cocoa
20 gr. bitter chocolate
100 gr. savoiardi biscuits (ladyfinger biscuits)
1 / 2 cup fresh orange juice
1 / 2 cup amaretto liqueur

For the glaze:
1 chocolate
75 gr.heavy cream
1 pinch of salt

 

Execution

1) Butter and sprinkle with flour 8 ramekins or a muffin pan.

2) Beat the egg whites to meringue in a bowl, and in another the egg yolks with the sugar.

3) Mix the flour with the baking powder and cocoa and add to the the yolks mixture . Add the meringue also.

4) Grate the chocolate and add to mixture.

5) Cut the biscuits in cubes , then wet them with milk and add to mixture, stirring gently.

6)Fill the ramekins halfway and bake for 25 minutes at 200 degrees in the middle position of oven.

7) Mix the orange juice with amaretto and dip into the baked cakes.

8) Heat the cream with the chocolate and salt in a pan, stirring until the chokolates melts.

9) Once the cakes have cooled, decorate with the glaze. Garnish optional with coloured sugar sprinkles.

I wish everyone a happy sweet year!!!!

Salmon with Tomato-Basil Relish

A very light and easy dish, perfect for these hot days of August! And it's also very low in calories  ;)
Ingredients :

2 large plum tomatoes

seeded and diced

2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil leaves

2 tablespoons finely chopped shallot

2 teaspoons minced garlic

2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Dash of cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup loosely packed spinach leaves

2 6-ounce wild salmon fillets skinned

Execution:
Preheat oven to 375ºF

Mix the first 8 ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside

Place half of the spinach leaves in center of the foil. Lay one piece of salmon on top of the spinach.

Spoon half of tomato mixture over fish. Fold foil over and seal edges securely. Repeat. Bake packets for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the fish is opaque in the center.

Easy tart with ananas and bananas

I'm on diet and can not eat sweets, but I tried out a tart recipe some time ago, which is very easy to make and very tasty!

Ingredients:

1 roll tart dough
2 bananas
6 slices pineapple (fresh or canned)
Juice of one lime or lemon
100 gr. Sugar
100 gr. Grated coconut
120 gr. Soft butter
1 tsp corn flour
1 egg
150 ml cream
2 tbsp rum

 

Execution:

Butter a baking pan for tarts with 20 gr. from the butter. Preheat oven to 180 degrees and spread the dough in pan.

In a bowl mix the coconut, 70 gr. of the butter, corn flour and half of the sugar. Stir with a spatula and add the cream, eggs and rum. Continue mixing until you obtain a homogeneous cream.

Spread the mixture on the tart dough and bake for about 30-40 minutes until the cream is cooked. 

Peel bananas, cut into slices and sprinkle them with lime or lemon. Cut pineapple slices into small pieces. Heat 30 gr. butter in a pan, add the fruits, sprinkle with remaining sugar and caramelize.

Allow to cool in pan. Remove the tart from the oven and let it cool before you remove it from the pan. Sprinkle the dough with the caramelized fruits.

Mardi Grass in Greece

Mardi Grass or Shrove Monday means the end of Carnival and the beginning of Lent. Traditionally it symbolizes the manifestation of our love for nature, thus taking the flying of kites, and the starting point of mental and physical preparation for the Week of the Passion and Resurrection, with fasting and contemplation. It is said that Mardi Grass celebration has roots in antiquity and celebrations of God Dionysos, and was later named "shrove" because in the morning of that day, housewives used to clean the dishes from the cooking of the carnival and conjured the meat scraps.

The "menu" of the day contains only "koulouma", a word derived from the Latin colum, which means "pure." The koulouma must be simple and fasting, and they usually include white bean soup and Lagana (unleavened bread),Tarama salad and olives.

In various parts of Greece there are carnival parades and various curios and revive traditions maintained for centuries.

 

This year I wanted to follow the tradition and made a lagana bread and tarama salad:

Lagana bread recipe

(from mikrikouzinablogspot.com)

There's some old folklore that warns that you should tear pieces off the bread instead of cutting it with a knife in order to ward off evil spirits. I'm not sure where that superstition came from, but it couldn't hurt to follow along.

Ingredients

500 gr. flour

1 tsp fresh yeast

1 ½ cup water and some warm water (1 cup in dough and knead for about ½)

1 ½ tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp olive oil

1-2 tbsp sesame seeds for sprinkling

In a large work bowl, dissolve the yeast in one cup of lukewarm water.Add 1 cup (150 gr.) flour and stir to make a porridge.Cover the bowl with a blanket and leave in a warm place for 30-40 minutes or until the mixture starts to foam and bubble.

After 30-40 minutes, add flour, sugar, salt and combine. The dough does not stick any more. Cover again the bowl with the blanket and leave in warm environment for half-hour.

Then knead briefly to remove air and deflate.

Grease a baking pan with olive oil and while you still have some oil on your hands, spread the dough and give it an oval form. The dough should be thin and oval. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and using your index finger, poke holes across the surface of the bread (about every 2 inches).

Leave for 15-30 minutes the dough to proof (rise) again.

Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until a deep golden colour.

Tarama salad (appetizer)

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of day old white bread, crusts removed
• 140 gr tarama (carp roe caviar)
• 1 finely minced onion
• 2 cups olive oil
• juice of 1 fresh lemon

Remove crusts from bread and soak briefly in a bowl of water. Squeeze out excess water and set aside.

Add tarama and bread to food processor or blender and mix for approximately a minute or until well blended.

Add the onions and mix until combined. With machine running, slowly drizzle the olive oil into the mixture forming a paste. Add the lemon juice a bit at a time and blend until smooth and creamy. If you prefer it tangier, you can add more lemon juice.

Christmas cookies recipes

This year I decided to follow the German tradition and bake Christmas cookies, to fill our home with Christmas smells! When we were young, we used to bake cookies with my mom and we had great fun! Later, I continued the tradition and was baking cookies with my son when he was little, or a friend!

The tradition of course wants the cookies to be baked one month before Christmas, but I only had time to do that last minute!And my son helped me too, by decorating them.

Biscuits with pistachios
Ingredients: (for 60 pcs. approx.)
175 gr. butter softened
100 gr. castor sugar
1 pinch salt
4 tbsp lemon squash
1 tbsp water
25 gr. candied lemon
50 gr. chopped peanuts
Zest of one lemon
300 gr. flour
Glaze: 50 gr. castor sugar
1 tbsp lemon squash
Chopped peanuts
Beat butter. Add sugar, salt, lemon juice and water and beat well for 10 minutes, until you have a smooth dough.
Finely chop the candied lemon and pistachios and add to the mixture. Stir in the flour and lemon zest and beat until just combined.
Cover the dough with foil and refrigerate for an hour.
Roll out the dough with about 0,5 cm thick and cut out with star shape cutter and place on the baking sheet
Bake in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes at 200 degrees in the middle position of oven.
Allow to cool. Make the glaze by mixing the powdered sugar with lemon juice and brush each cookie with the glaze. Garnish with chopped pistachios.
 

Cookies with colorful sprinkles
Ingredients (50 pcs. approx.):
250 gr. butter softened
150 gr. sugar
1 pinch salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 egg yolk
350 gr. flour
100 gr. castor sugar
1-3 tbsp rum
100 gr. colorful sprinkles
Beat butter. Add sugar, salt, cinnamon, yolk and beat well for 10 minutes, until you have smooth dough.
Stir in the flour and beat until just combined.
Cover the dough with foil and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Roll out the dough with about 0,5 cm thick and cut out with star shape cutter and place on the baking sheet
Bake in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes at 200 degrees in the middle position of oven.
Make the glaze by mixing the powdered sugar with the rum and brush each cookie with the glaze when it is still warm. Garnish with colorful sprinkles.
 

Cookies with couverture icing
Ingredients (70 pcs. approx.):
350 gr. flour
100 gr. sugar
250 gr. butter
65 gr. Ground hazelnuts
65 gr. cocoa
1 egg
½ tsp cinnamon
100 gr.couverture
Beat butter. Add sugar, cinnamon, egg, hazelnuts, cocoa and beat well  until you have smooth dough.
Stir in the flour and beat until just combined.
Divide the dough in two portions and form two rolls 4cm wide. Cover with foil and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Cut out the dough in 1cm slices and place on the baking sheet
Bake in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes at 180 degrees in the middle position of oven.
Place 100 gr of the finely chopped couverture in a heatproof bowl and place it over a saucepan of simmering water. Once the chocolate has melted, remove it from the heat. Stir with a wooden spoon until it has completely melted and is smooth and glossy. Taking one cookie at a time, dip one end of each cookie in the melted chocolate and place it on a wire rack to finish cooling.

Cookies with candied fruit decoration
Ingredients (80 pcs. approx.):
300 gr. Butter
150-200 gr. Castor sugar
1 pinch salt
500 gr. Flour
For the glaze:
150 gr. Castor sugar
2-3 tbsp water or lemon juice
Candied pineapple or orange
Beat butter. Add sugar and salt and beat well  until you have smooth dough.
Stir in the flour and beat until just combined.
Divide the dough in two portions and form two rolls 4cm wide. Cover with foil and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Cut out the dough in 1cm slices and place on the baking sheet
Bake in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes at 200 degrees in the middle position of oven.
Make the glaze by mixing the powdered sugar with the water or lemon juice and brush each cookie with the glaze when it is still warm. Garnish with candied pineapple or orange
 

Cookies with red icing and colorful sprinkles
Ingredients (60 pcs. approx.):
100 gr. butter
75 gr. sugar
1 vanilla
1 egg yolk
200 gr. flour
250 gr. castor sugar
3-4 tbsp water
1-2 drops red food coloring
100 gr. colorful sprinkles
Beat butter. Add sugar, vanillia, yolk and beat well for 10 minutes, until you have smooth dough.
Stir in the flour and beat until just combined.
Cover the dough with foil and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Roll out the dough with about 0,5 cm thick and cut out with star shape cutter and place on the baking sheet
Bake in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes at 180 degrees in the middle position of oven.
Make the glaze by mixing the powdered sugar with the water and the food coloring  and brush each cookie with the glaze when it is still warm. Garnish with colorful sprinkles.
 

Biscuits with coffee and walnuts
Ingredients (60 pcs. approx.):
350 gr. walnuts
350 gr. powdered sugar
4 tbsp nescafe
3 tbsp hot water
Powdered sugar for rolling out the dough
Glaze:
150 gr. powdered sugar
1-2 tbsp nescafe
1-2 tbsp hot water
Walnut halves for decoration
Grind the walnuts with the sugar in a food processor and pour into a bowl.
Dissolve coffee in hot water and add the walnuts.
Work with your hands quickly in a mixture.
Cover the mixture with foil and refrigerate one hour to cool.
Spread powdered sugar on the working bench and roll the dough to a thickness of 1cm.
Cut out with round shape cookie cutter and spread on a baking sheet. Leave them overnight to dry.
The next day in a bowl, dissolve coffee in hot water and add the sugar. Ointment cookies with icing and decorate with the walnut halves. 

Μy new bags and a recipe

I don't know how, but this year I can't accomplish not even half of the things I want every day!And I have neglegted my blog terribly!
But I managed to finish some halfdone things and to make to new bags!
Bags have always been my favorites and I believe that a woman can never have enough bags!!!

For almost any woman, the handbag is the ultimate accessory - as it says in the introduction of the book "Bags Two" from Vogue Knitting- . It combines fashion and function and suggests couture in a beautifully useful package. A fabulous bag has a unique way of grabbing people's attention! 
You can find patterns for my bags in my shop and on Raverly :)

Last week my son had his birthday and I thought I would cook something special for dinner! I tried out a new recipe I found on "Marieclaire cuisine", sarlot of stuffed cabbage and chocolate soufle!

Here is the recipe for the stuffed cabbage:

Incredients (for 6 portions):

1 nappa caggabe (chinese)

400 gr. sausage

150 γρ. rice for risotto (arborio)

1 large onion

1 egg

60 gr. grated parmegiano

50 gr. butter

1 tbs oil

chopped parsley

salt-peper

Slice the head of Napa lengthwise in half and remove the core. Cook the cabbage leaves in salted water for 20 minutes and drain.

Boil the rice al dente in salted water, drain, and mix with half of the butter. Chop the onion and heat it in a pan with oil. Remove the casing of the sausage and the flesh of the sausage to the onions. Add salt and pepper and let it cook for 5 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180 grade and butter a baking pan. Cover the base and sides of the pan with the large leaves og the cabbage.Roughly chop the rest of the cabbage.  Mix in a bawl the sausage, the rice, teh egg, the parsley and the parmegiano. 
Fil the pan with a layer of the mixture, then a layer of chopped cabbage in turns, until the pan is filled.Top with leaves. Cover the pan with a baking paper, buttered and bake for 30 minutes. Leave to rest for 5 minutes before serving. serve hot.

The soufle was very yummie also:

Βack from the holidays with a recipe

Holidays are over and I'm trying to get to the mood of everyday life again! The weather is cooler, but I'm still lazy! So I'm welcoming fall with a recipe, a moroccan dish, inspired by my previous posts about the European Etsy Team challenge!

Moroccan Chicken With Olives

Ingredients:
4 Pounds Chicken
2 1/2 Tablespoons Oil
2 Onions — sliced
Salt And Pepper — to taste
1/4 Teaspoon Ginger
1 Teaspoon Paprika
1 Onion — finely chopped
1/2 Pound Green Olives
1 Lemon Juice

Preparation:

Heat the oil in large sauce pan. Add 3/4 cup water gradually. Add onion slices, sprinkle with spices. Lay chicken on top. Cook over low heat, covered, one hour. Add finely chopped onion. Cook for another 1/2 hour. Place pitted olives in pan of cold water, bring to boil for 1 minute. Drain water. Add olives to pan. Cook for 5 minutes. Just before serving squeeze on lemon.Serve with rice or couscous.

Μy new bags, and a recipy

I finally finished the bags I showed you some time ago and the grey bag is now traveling to Belgium to participate to the photoshoot for the new issue of Vivalamoda!

And I knitted a new bag in fuchsia for the weekly challenge of EST!

And Although I'm not a big fan of sweets, I saw one day a recipy on the TV and found it very intriguing and tried it! It's very tasty!

Blackberries-mascarpone dessert

Incredients


4 eggs, separated
Blackberries marmalade
10 tablespoons white sugar
1 pound mascarpone cheese
1 glass limoncello
1 Packet ladyfinger cookies
2-3 packets fresh blackberries
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3-4 amaretto cookies

Spread some marmalade to half of the ladyfinger cookies and cover them with the rest. Arrange them in a big bowl. Spoon a cup of limoncello above the cookies to soak.



In large mixing bowl, beat egg yolks and 4 tablespoons sugar with electric mixer until light yellow. Beat in mascarpone, 1-2 tablespoons limoncello until smooth. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff, but not dry. Fold egg whites into mascarpone mixture.

In a bowl, combine some marmalade, the rest of the sugar and lemon juice. Bring to boil; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Cool completely and the fresh berries.

Add the berries to the bowl with the biscuits. Top with the mascarpone-eggs cream. Crash the amaretti cookies in the blender and spread the crumbs on the cream. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving. Bon apetit!