cottage pie in my interpretation

All time favourite this pie is for my husband. Normally, you would eat this in wintertime. Well, normally...but a couple of times it has been asked by him in the middle of July, when the thermometer is around +35°C outside! So, I would not categorically say that this is a winter food per se.
No doubt though that it is comforting, heavy and classy for those who is looking for some warmth in the long, cold winter evenings.

not a pretty dish

Easier done than said (just to revers the saying). Even for a beginner will find it easy to prepare! The long list of the ingredients should be no reason to stop you to make it tonight.



Ingredients:
for the ragout:
1 spring onion
1 clove of garlic
1 carrot
1 parsley root
 300-500g minced beef
cca. 350-400g tomatoe passata
1,5 dl dry red wine
1 beef stock cube (or 1 dl beef stock)
1 tsp of salt, and freshly grated pepper
a pinch of cayenne pepper
1 tsp of dried sage
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp dry basil
1 tsp dried thyme
1 pinch of cinnamon
0,5 tsp honey
200-300 g button mushroom (quartered or halved if too big)

for the mash
800-1000g potatoe
cca. 1 dl milk and same amount of cooking cream
cca. 50-70 g butter
pinch of grated nutmeg
salt, pepper
grated cheese of your choice (cheddar rulez!)

Start with the ragout and while it's cooking prepare the mash as well.
For the ragout, heat some olive oil (plain) in a sandwich base pan and add the onion and the garlic. Turn the heat down, otherwise the garlic will burn and that might ruin your dish. Add the peeled sliced carrot and parsley and the mince meat. Cook for 4-5 minutes, until the beef browns and the vegetables soften. Add the red wine and cook for an other 3 minutes without the lid on. Add the stock (cube or not cube, that's up to you) and the tomatoe passata.  - Before you start the seasoning, taste the base bec. the stock might be salty enough and you don't need to add much salt.
Season with the selected spices (of course it's up to your taste what spices/herbs you use - my list is our favourite and it's only an idea for you to select from). Cook for 20 minutes with the lid on and in the meantime preheat your oven (180°C will do) and prepare the mash.
For the mash, I usually cook the potatoe for 15 minutes from boiling point. Sieve, add the butter then mash and then add the heated cream/milk, season, stir and add the grated cheese (cca. 50g) and ready.
When the ragout is getting close to be ready, take the lid off, let the excess juice evaporate and add the mushroom. Cook for 5 more minutes and take off the heat.
Assembly: butter a heatproof dish and sprinkle with some breadcrumbs. This will help to thicken the ragout and stop it from burning down at the bottom of the dish.
Pour the ragout in the dish (you can save some and eat it with some spaghetti and you can name it as a spaghetti bolognese:D )then mash potatoe on the top and grate cheese for the sake of it...
Cook in the oven till turns into golden brown and serve it piping hot!

cottage pie

sticky toffee Christmas Cake

I was making efforts to do the Christmas menu list in advance because I know that I will not have time before the vacation to do that so. Simply, because I am working up till Christmas Eve.
So, I was going through my files and found this old recipe that I downloaded in August (!) 2010 (it's never early enough to start thinking of your Xmas menu, is it?!). The recipe seemed quick and easy and in my household that gives thumbs-up to a cake! The cake requires no steaming, chopping, feeding, watering whatsoever so as an experiment I made it tonight and if gets the approval (hm, hm...) from Phil then it is going to be part of our Christmas Menu this year!

fluffy and heavenly

Ingerdients:

for the cake
200g dates (pitted)
100g desiccated coconut (or chopped walnut, almond you name it)
1 carrot (grated)
1 juice of a big orange (or 4 tbs brandy)
2 tbs honey
1,5 tsp allspice
100g butter
140g sugar
2eggs
170g flour
1 tsp bicarb

for the toffee sauce
175g caster sugar
100g butter
6 tbs double cream
25g almond flakes

For the cake, chop the dates, grate the carrot and squeeze the orange juice. For the dry ingredients, measure out the flour,the coconut, the bicarb and the allspice and set aside. For the wet ingredients add the honey to the orange juice, dissolve. Then beat the eggs with the sugar, add the melted butter and emulsify (woo, it sounds very scientific!). Add the dry ingredients, the honey, the dates and the carrots to the mixture and stir carefully.
Pour the cake mixture into a buttered and papered 18cm cake tin, and bake on 160°C preheated oven for 80-90 minutes. When ready, check with a toothpick whether it's baked.
For the toffee, make caramel out of the sugar (no need to stir it, just leave it to caramelize in the pan) and add the almond flakes. When covered in caramel then fish it out and set aside and let it dry. Into the pan add the butter and the double cream to the left-over caramel. Cook till gets saucy and serve with the cake, along with the almond flakes.

csokoládés karamellás "emeletes" torta (aka. Phil második! születésnapi tortája)

Igen, ez az emeletes torta a javából (legalább is mi így hívtuk gyerekkorunkban). Még sohasem csináltam ilyet, de már nagyon régóta szemeztem a recepttel és most eljött az ideje, hogy megcsináljam.  Meg volt hozzá minden hozzávaló itthon, sőt...volt még jó hangulat, napsütés, szombat stb. Így belevágtam és sütöttem sorba a lapokat, kentem a karamellt, olvasztottam a csokit, hogy aztán délután háromra kész is legyek a tortával.
Aki kérdezi, hogy miért, annak elárulom, hogy sajnos Phil első születésnapi tortája (másmint az idén, nem az első első...) nem lett valami jó. Pedig a recept címe az volt, hogy a világ legjobb csokoládés meggyes tortája, de nekem még sem lett az. Ami elromolhatott rajta, az el is romlott. A csokikrém kifolyt belőle, a zselatinban dobókocka nagyságú csomók voltak, szóval nem volt az igazi. Habár így is elfogyott (nem akarok ujjal mutogatni, hogy ki ette meg egyedül a saját szülinapi tortáját:)) de azért akartam csinálni neki valamí hűha, de szép és de finomat is. Így az áprilisi good food-ot előhalásztam, és hát íme ez lett ez eredmény:

nem spóroltam a csokival

Kérem kedves olvasóimat, hogy ne hüledezzenek! Nagyon egyszerű receptről van szó és igen gyorsan lehet vele haladni, így kész van a torta "rövid" idő alatt. 
Elméletileg 12 szeletet lehet kihozni belőle, háááát meglátjuk! A lap alján majd megírom azért az adagonkénti kalóriatartalmat, de kérem, hogy csak erős idegzetű olvasóim nézzék csak meg :)

For English recipe please click here: chocolate-and-caramel-layer-cake




hozzávalók a vaníliás és csokoládés piskótához: 
225 g vaj
225 g cukor
175 g liszt (2 csipet sütőport és ugyan ennyi szódabikarbónát keverjünk bele)
85 g darált mandula (nagyon finomra darálva, de szerintem lehet ez dió vagy mogyoró is)
3 egész tojás
150 ml natúr joghurt
1 tk. vanília kivonat
3,5 ek. cukrozatlan kakaópor

hozzávalók a karamellás, és karamellás csokis piskótához:
225 g vaj
175 g világos nádcukor
50g sötét muscovado cukor (nem kell messzire menni érte, ha nincs, akkor megteszi a melasz is, de abból kevesebb kell)
175 g liszt (sütőpor, szódabikarbóna 2-2 csipet)
85g darált mandula
3 tojás
150 ml natúr joghurt
1 tk vaníliakivonat
1 ek cukrozatlan kakaópor

krém: 
1 konzerv dulce de leche (vagyis karamel krém, amit nagyon egyszerűen elő lehet otthon is állítani sürített tejből. Itt van egy jó recept: chili-és-vaníliától)

bevonat:
300g étcsoki és tejcsoki keveréke (tetszóleges arányban)
300 ml tejszín

Tényleg pofon egyszerű elkészíteni ezt a tortát...Szóval sütőt bekapcsoljuk 180°C-ra és kikenünk és kipapírozunk egy 18 vagy 20cm-es tortaformát (vagy ha van kettőt) . Ha csak egy formánk van, akkor fontos a papírozás, mert akkor gyakorlatilag gyorsan tudjuk be-, és kipakolni a tortát a sütőből. Ha nincs papírunk, akkor sajnos meg kell várni míg kihül a lap, majd elmosni a formát és mindent előről kezdeni.
A piskótához megolvasztjuk a vajat, majd hozzákeverjük a cukrot, tojást, vaníliát, és joghurtot és kézi habverővel (nem kell mixert használni egyáltalán) jól elkeverjük. Beleszitáljuk a lisztet, mandulát és óvatosan beleforgatjuk. Majd a keverék fele mehet is az első formába. A másik feléhez hozzászitáljuk a kakaóport és ez is mehet a másik formába. 20-25 percig kell sütni,- tűpróbáig sütjük. Majd sütőrácson hűtjük.
A másik két lapot is ugyan így készítjük el, csak kevesebb kakó kell a második adagba. Így lesz igazából 4 színü tortánk (vanília, karamell, csokoládés karamell és csokoládés). Lehet esetleg kísérletezni kávéval vagy fahéjjal a barnás szín eléréséhez. Nekem ez így működött tökéletesen.
A bevonóhoz felolvasztjuk a csokoládét vízfürdő felett, majd belekeverjük a tejszínt és addig hűtjük, amíg nem lesz kenhető állagú.
Ezek után összeállítjük a tortát. Én úgy csináltam, hogy mindegyik tortalapot egyenesre szabtam és fordított sorrendben kezdtem visszarakni őket a tortaformába, ráadásul fejjel lefelé. Így biztos, hogy egyenes lesz a torta teteje is és allja is. Vagyis, csokis először, rá karemell réteg, majd csokis-karamellás lap, arra a világosabb karamellás, majd a vaníliás. Így kifordítás után szép sorrendben lesznek a lapok, világostól a sötét felé. Fő a precízitás!
Aki bátor, az a torta betöltése után rakhat egy kis nehezéket is rá, hogy még szebben illeszkedjenek a lapok egymásra. Ilyenkor figyelni kell arra, hogy nehogy túl sok töltelék kerüljön a lapok közé, és hogy a széleknél legalább 0,5-1 cm hely legyen, hogy a nyomás hatására, nehogy kipréselődjön a töltelékünk. Én a legtetejére egy vágódeszkát raktam és arra pakoltam szakácskönyveket, meg a Larousse Gastonomique-ot (ugye, ugye, hogy egyszer legalább hasznát vettem....) Kb. másfél, két órát volt a torta a súly alatt. Addig néha átkevertem a bevonót, nehogy megszilárduljon, majd a tortát kifordítottam a formából és mindenütt bevontam a csokoládéval.
Hűvös helyen állítólag 3 napot is eláll. Állítólag...

emeletes torta, nem-e?

 ui.: akit érdekel a kalória tartalma, az írjon egy e-mailt. Csak annyit erről, hogy egy borsodi falucska egynapi kalóriaigényét simán fedezné egy emberesebb szelet!

már hiányzik egy szelet. Nem én voltam!

flapjack apple crumble

autumn sunshine in November

You know what? I think it is a brilliant recipe. Not because I am putting it on my blog....oh, no. But because it is an answer for my all time question: "why does not apple crumble  have some kind of bottom?"...and  Jamie Oliver came and gave me the answer!
So, just take his new cookery book, add some apples and actually this is the food that you will end up with on your day off. I think, you are not going to regret it.
 Late autumnal comfort food blah blah, which is pretty easy to make (I always say this), quite healthy and perfect after a good plate of hot soup. On the top of this home made custard is (shall I say?) just the perfect icing of the cake,ehm ehm, crumble.
The list of ingredient indeed long but making/baking this crumble is quicker than reading through this list, I promise.

For the flapjack:
50 g nuts (of your choice) - I used shelled, toasted walnuts (thanks to Kiki!)

1 ball of stem ginger (or a thumb size of fresh or 1 tsp of grated)

125g butter
3 tbs honey/golden syrup
175g rolled out (I used wholegrain)
75 g raisins (you can use dried apricot, sour cherries, blueberries, cranberries instead)

For the apple filling:
5 medium apples (cored and sliced into 8)
100 g demerara sugar
ground cinnamon
whole nutmeg for grating
pinch of allspice (mézeskalács fűszerkeverék in Hungarian)

a glug of brandy or rum
300g pitted fresh (or frozen) sour cherries (or blackberries, red currants etc etc etc)

for the crumble:
75g butter
75g (+ 25 g if necessary) flour
50g walnuts
100g demerara sugar


for the custard:
500 ml milk
2 eggs
2 tbs cornflour
2 tbs demerara sugar
fresh vanilla (of one pod) or a sachet of vanilla sugar

Preheat the oven to 180°C and put the toasted nuts into the pestle and mortar and bash them into crumble. Grate or chop the ginger and add to the nuts with the raisins and the oat. Melt the butter and the golden syrup (or honey) and pour on the oats. Stir as long as the whole mixture is coated in butter and all is shiny.
Use a 24 cm long 6 cm high tin and spread the mixture on the bottom of the tin and use your hands (or a spatula) to press it down, and into the corners. It should be around 0,5-1 cm thick. Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes, until golden brown.

In the meantime, core the apples and cut into 8. Place them into a large pan, with the cinnamon, freshly grated nutmeg, allspice and sugar. Cook for 5 minutes with the lid on, and shakes sometimes so that the sugar does not burn on the bottom (don't stir, since you might break the apples and all you would end of is apple mash). If you use fresh berries, then add to the apples and cook for 5 more minutes but without the lid then take off the heat. If frozen berries are used, then cook with the lid on. Let it cool. Meanwhile, you can make the crumble.


Using your hands rub the cold butter into the flour, sugar and nuts until you have fine crumbs, like beach
sand. - Or to speed things up, you can use a food processor for the same but try not to overwork the crumble.

Spread the apples/berries on the top of the flapjack but save the liquid and put that back on the stove and cook it until it reaches a syrupy consistency (you can add some brandy or rum if you like) Pour the syrup over the apples. This way you can avoid the soaking of the flapjack and you are not going to end up with mushy bottom.


Sprinkle the crumble topping on the apple, then put into the oven for 40 minutes, or until the fruit is bubbling and the top is golden and has the consistency of biscuits.


Last but not least, for the custard heat up 400 ml milk with the demerara sugar and the vanilla. (don't let is boil, just steam) and with the remaining milk beat the eggs and the cornflour. Pour the warm milk over the egg(y) mixture and sieve back into the dish, put on the stove and cook over gentle heat (while stirring all the time) until the custard starts thickening. Take off the heat and while still stirring let it thicken and then cool. (this recipe is from the Candy's blog, thanks!:)


Serve the crumble with a generous pouring of your custard and collect the compliments from your family/friends for this heartwarming food. Be proud, you even made your custard out of scratch in the 21st century...:)!

no, this is not an Alien. Just a close up of the crumble.

chocolate cake with youghurt

- Is it very chocolatey? 

- Yes, sort of.

- Is it healthy because the yoghurt?

- No, it isn't but good for your soul at least...

So it is what it is. I would call it a placebo chocky cake. Since, people automatically believe that something with yoghurt is good for them, making them healthier and stuff like that. It is definitely true most of the time, and of course it is true for this cake as well (I am nodding!).

But if you read through the ingredients of this cake, then you will see that no matter how much yoghurt you put in the icing sugar, the chocolate and the butter is still going to be there, making your jeans (hm...) shrink in size even by looking at it if you know what I mean. Still, this dessert is recommended for rainy days, sunny days, weekdays and every day- immediately after you ran a half-marathon at least ;)

The recipe is from here 

chockyoghurt

 

for the Cake: 

100g (min.70% cocoa cont.) chocolate

200g butter

200g demerara sugar

1 tbs. vanilla extract

3 eggs

1,5 dl yoghurt (Greek)

300g flour*

8g baking powder

for the Filling:

100g chocolate (same as above)

50g butter

350 g (!) icing sugar

1dl yoghurt 

Turn on the over for 200°C. Beat the melted butter with the sugar. Mix in the vanilla and the eggs one-by-one then the yoghurt. Carefully corporate in the melted chocolate and the sieve in the flour with the baking powder and stir in thoroughly. Pour the mixture in a cake tin of your choice (I used 24cm cake tin). Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes but make sure that after the first 10 minutes you turn the oven down to 150°C. 

When ready, use a toothpick to see if baked through. Leave it on a rack to cool and make the filling in the meantime. 

For that: you need to melt the chocolate and the butter together. Sieve in the icing sugar then add the yoghurt. Put the cream in the fridge for 10-15 minutes to set. 

Cut the cake in half and sandwich it with half of the cream. Then use the other half of the cream for frosting/decorating your dessert. 

Enjoy. I warned you!

*the original recipe says 150g flour and by accident I put on twice as much (don't ask me why or how. It happened, OK?) If you try the cake with this much, then please let me know how it worked! Thx.)

if nobody sees it, then it is not fattening

Híres lettem :)

Kedves olvasók!

Itt vagyok: vendég post tőlem a Dokikának.

Olvassátok szeretettel.

Üdv: Mrs Moore

Melinda's Hen Party Cupcake

 There is nothing special about these fairy cakes. I mean the reason I made them is to soak up alcohol at my friend's party and by fulfilling that they ended their lives' in the stomach of tipsy ladies, preventing next day's hangover (or I hope so). The sponge is quite heavy. I would make it with less butter if it was for me:)

 All is to be added, that it is very easy to make and quick too. So hope that this recipe is going to end among your bookmarks for any time occasions. 

from http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/

 

For the sponge: 

225g butter

225g sugar

225g flour (or self-raising flour is better) 

1/2 pack of baking powder*

4 eggs

pinch of salt

for the frosting 

110g butter

30g cocoa powder

25g coconut milk powder (or desiccated coconut)

150g icing sugar 

1-2 tbs milk

1. Turn on the over to 180°C and lin a 12-hole muffin cake tine (or if you have then fairy cake tin, which is smaller than the muffin one).  

2. Beat the eggs with the sugar, if you like add some vanilla too and a pinch of salt. Add the butter, which has been warmed but not melted in the microwave previously. Fold in the flour and distribute the mixture in the tin. 

3. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until golden on the top, then let them cool down before frosting

4. For the frosting beat the butter, which is on room temperature. Sieve in half of the icing sugar and beat carefully. Add the rest of the icing sugar, then the cocoa and the coconut. If too dry add a splash of milk. Put the frosting in the fridge for 10-15 minutes before using it. 

5. Spread the frosting on the cakes and decorate with chocolate hearts, or marshmallow according to your taste. 

*if you use self-raising flour then no need for baking powder. You can make your own self-raising flour by mixing 250g flour with 1/2 tbs baking powder.