Long time

I know, I haven't done anything ina  long time. The reason: it was summer. I can't imagine anything worst then standing near by a hot owen on a hot summer day, when you can go trekking or just take a long walk in the city. It was untl September. Then authumn kicked in with all those colors and the warm days. It was just too beautifull to stay in and cook. So I have to admit, I was lazy.
But in the last few weeks those authumn weeks had started, when it's just cold and grey and freezing. The only thing what I like to do in this weather is to go to the market, and buy some nice vegetables (broccolis, eggplants, squashes, etc.) and cook. So the cooking season has begun.

Just quickly

So, here i am, programming, but i need a minute to breath. I can't think of anything else right now, just that how unbelievably surreal it is, that i'm eating duck with orange sauce for lunch. At the firm.
The whole day I'm sitting in my chair, trying to avoid stupid things, making a small program to check some stuff. And then, i realize, that the weekend's memories coming back, when i was making that world famous duck. For myself only.
Well... it's hard to admit, but it took really long time to make it. I had to put the duck back to the oven 3-4 times, while i could say, it's done. I made in this time my potatoes (new recipe, new fav), and my little tarts. They were all wonderful (and now, all the cream which i had in my fridge is disappeared, what delights me), i made 2 with kiwi and strawberries, and one with pear. The are really tasty. :) I'm pretty confident with the dough, so nothing can go wrong now. :) Almost. I haven't made the apple-apricot right now.
But back to the duck. I read in the Book, that it takes 1.5 hours to cook a 2 kg duck without stuffing. Of course i forgot to look at the clock when i started to cook it. I cried for help!!
The next thing was in the Book, that if i pick the drumstick of the duck and the juices are pale yellow, then the duck is done. Well.... i picked it. It was yellow. But the duck was really underdone.
And it went on and on. 2 more times. But the Book also warns not to overcook the duck, because then it will be unpleasant and dry. I definitely did not want that!
OK, so i was struggling with the bird. The sauce wasn't easier. For first attempt i'd misunderstood the Book, and wanted to boil down the Port WITH the DUCK FAT. OMG... how stupid can be? I was lucky, that i read 2 more times the book before i went on, and then i realized that i should boil down only the Port, because there were no duck juices. I just left out the Cointreau, because in my opinion the sauce already had enough orange flavor.
But at the end everything came together. :) And I'm OK.

Pastry shells

I made today exactly ZERO shell. And it took more then 3 hours. Hmmm... what the hell did i wrong?

I'll tell you: i tried to measure the integritents with cups. It doesn't work. Too much fat, not enough flour. It's no wonder that it won't set in the oven. Is it?

The endive story

Well... The Book doesn't lie! Endives are great! Except that not in the way as The Book says. Cooked endives... let's be honest: i hated it. It was awful, never again-type of experience.
But endive, blue cheese, walnut, apple salad is great! I have to keep it. :)

It was tough

I find it kind of creepy, that i spent only 2 weeks in the US, and when i finally came home, i had to go to shopping, and buy food for 54€. OK, to tell the truth i also bought a casserole, what i managed to crack at once. Nicely done. :s
So i poach some filet of Shallow-water Cape hake , and made some fish sauce. I haven't found sole or flounder, and that was my best shot. Actually it was Filets de poisson Bercy aux champignon, that's fish filets poached in white wine with mushrooms. For that i should have slice mushrooms, sauté them in butter, lay an onion bed for the fish, put the filets on it, put on the mushroom and then more onions, dots of butter and add some fishstock with white wine, and then bring the whole thing to simmer and in the oven cook it for 8 to 12 minutes. Then take the whole thing out, simmer the poaching liquide until it reduces to 1 cup, add it to some pasta made from butter and flour, boil it, pour it on the fish and sprinke it with cheese. Then in a few minutes broil the whole stuff and it's done. That was the recipe.
To tell the truth i didn't made the fish stock with wine. I bought it. I know, shame on me, but i hate the smell of any kind of fish. So i just went on the easier way.
And that's why the result of this poaching kind of hit me. In a good way, i mean. It's OK. But why was it tough to do it? Hehhh.... It was just me. I haven't read the recipe carefully. At my first attempt i broke the new casserole, what makes me really sad. At the second time, it hit me, that i'm poaching the fish, BUT i forgot the mushrooms. OMG. I had to sauté the mushrooms before, which i totally forgot to do in the first place.... So quickly i tried to fix the whole thing. Of course, The Book says: "do not overcook; the fish should not be dry and flaky". No chance. This time it's definitely WILL be overdone. Sorry.
So I took the whole thing out from the form, one half goes back with the filets, then the mushrooms, the other half, and i brought to the simmer the whole thing. But finally i managed to do it. I ate. Real food. It tasted reallly good.
I bought some strawberries too, to i'll try to bake some tarte. But before i attempt, I have to buy some jelly.

Issues

I know, i've got issues. Why? Because who the hell cooks artichoke bottoms filled with mushroom and cheese cream right after Easter?? Which normal person does that??

Mission accompished

I made this weekend clafoutis with eggplants and chorizo for breakfast, and for lunch: garlic soup, potatoes with parsley, beef and onions braised in beer (Carbonnades à la flamande) and a mini cake with orange filling.

Clafoutis came into the picture last September. When i was in France. I bought a book called: Flans, fars et clafoutis by Isabel Brancq-Lepage. The most admirable about this book (just as well as Julia Child's book), that you can buy the ingredients anywhere. You don't have to search for anything special.
I have to tell you, that i'm in love with France. I think that french people know how to live. I love the little Patisserie-s, the preparation at the restaurants before noon, the crêpe, and the tolerance of the different lifestyles. They just don't care. I love it. (But i have to admit that the love of my life always will be Switzerland. It's a love story that started almost 10 years ago, and i doubt that it's ever gonna end.) But back to cooking.
So i already wrote the recipe of the clafoutis. Let's just start the lunch. It takes at least 3 hours to make whole thing from start to finish.
I started with the beef as it takes 2.5 hours or more to cook. The Book says for 6 people you should have 3 lb. lean beef (chuck roast), i used nearly 0.5 kg, and it will serve me in the next 3 days. :D
I had to preheat the oven to 165 °C, while i cut the meat in to medium size cubes. I heated pork fat until it almost smoked. And here i saw i forgot something. Last time i should have to learn that pork fat or any kind of fat when that hot is, it splutters. I should buy something to prevent it, or not to forget to use the 20 cm high casserole. I browned the beef slices, a few at a time, and set aside. Then i browned sliced onions in the fat (it takes about 10 minutes), then removed from heat, seasoned with salt and pepper, and stirred in mashed garlic.
I arranged half the browned beef in a casserole, seasoned it with salt and pepper, then spread half the onions over it. I made 2 layers of each. I heated beef stock in the browning skillet to have all the juices, then poured over the meat. I added enough beer (Pilsner type) to barely cover the meet. One thing what Germans know is how to make beer. You have more types than you can imagine, and costs less then water. :D I added a large herb bouquet (parsley strings, bay leaf, thyme tied in cheesecloth), then stirred in a Tb brown sugar, then brought to simmer. I covered my casserole, placed it in the lower third of the oven, and left it there for 2 and a half hour.
When the meat is fork-tender, it's done. Remove the herb bouquet, poured out the liquid out. (Fat would have come off, if there was too much.) I mixed cornstarch and wine vinegar and added to the liquid. Cooked for a few minutes and poured back over the meat. It's done. I can preheat it any time. :)
Garlic soup and mini cake recipes come later as i'm too tired. Sorry!

Clafoutis aux aubergines et chorizo

I like to make some clafoutis on Saturday or Sunday. It just feels good, that i don't have to eat the same sandwich as every day when i go to work. Instead i have an hour to prepare my breakfast. Actually i hope that i (hoops, déja vue) could make it also for someone else. Maybe later... Back to the clafoutis. If somebody like eggplant just as much as i do, then this will quickly become one of the favorites.



For 4 persons here's the recipe:

• 4 eggs
• 75 g flour
• 50 g whipping cream
• 100g grated Parmesan
• 20 slices of chorizo (Spanish sausage made of pork meat and paprika)
  
• 1 small eggplant
• 3 Tb olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 180 °C (thermostat 6). Beat the eggs to omelet. While you continuously whipping add the flour, then the whipping cream. Whip the mixture until it becomes homogeneous dough. Add the Parmesan. Mix it, add salt and pepper to taste.
Wash the eggplant and cut it in cubes. Toss the cubes on the olive oil for 15 minutes (of until they start to brown). Add the chorizo slices and sautée them together for 5 more minutes. Pour out the fat, then add the rest to the dough. Butter the molds generously and pour in the dough.
Bake it for 25 minutes. Let it cool before you serve.

Lencsefőzelék

Today i present you a typical Hungarian dish. It's made of lentils. Very easy to prepare, and i think it's delicious. Normally it comes with meetballs, and containes more water then the one on the picture, but i like it more this way.

To make it, you need lentils, water, bay-leaves, salt, pepper, butter, sourcream, oignon and flour.

You have to put the lentils in cold water (you should use 3 times more water then lenils) and wait until they become tender. This just shortens the cooking time. Then pour out the water, put the lentils in a casserole and add fresh water. Season it with salt and pepper to taste and 1 bigger bay-leaf per 250 g lentil. Cook it slowly (it takes 20-30 minutes, but you should check it after 15 min). It's done, when the lentils are totally tender. If it absorbed the whole water, you must add a few boiling water to it. (If you want to make a soup, then a more.)
While the lentils are cooking you can make the liaison. ( i hope it's the right word for it.) To make it you must place the butter in a saucepan and set over moderately high heat. When it's hot enough, you put the miced oignon in and cook it until it starts to brown lightly. Then stir in just enough flour to absorb the whole fat. Reduce the heat to moderate, and stir continously. After a minute or too (when the flour lost it's uncooked flavour), it's done. You have to pay attention not to brown your liaison, while in this case we need a white liaison. When it's done, you stir in the sourcream.
You should add some Tb juice from the lentils. When the sauce is a bit thiner, you can slowly add it to the lentils, while you're stirring. In this way your dish won't become lumpy. Bring the thing to the simmer. Boil it for a few minutes, and it's done. The bay-leaves are not necessary once the lentils are done, but i like to leave them in the dish, because i think they give out more flavour.
You can eat it warm or cold (i prefer it cold) . Serv it with meatballs or meatloaf.

Dessert from Le Pétrin 2.

The slim dough and the refrigerating (min. 8 hours)/freezing are crucial! Don't mess with it. It makes the whole dessert! Even if you crush your cake. :D
Yes, i think i'll give it another try. But not today. :D I've learned my lesson!

Dessert from Le Pétrin

i have to tell you: i tried. I remembered that i when finished the dessert, i have to put it in the fridge for half an hour. But not. I should have put it it the freezer. I know, i'm a genius! Last time it wasn't a problem, because i left it in the fridge overnight. That's what happens when i don't read again the recipe, because i think i already know it so well. And as i cracked my second cake, you won't see how it looks in the inside (you must go to Le Pétrin and see it there). The reason why i won't attempt to do it again (although i have the dough) is: i can't eat this much whipped cream. I'm gonna be sick.

I'd love to tell you, that this dough is a bit tricky... i don't understand why, but it's getting smaller as i bake it. Yesterday there was no problem with it. Today it was the same dough, the same ring, the same method, the same oven and the same temperature. Why is it shrinking? Someone? Anyone?

Happy Birthday!

My niece had yesterday her 1st birthday! Happy Birthday, Little Girl!


And for the Birthday Girl i made 2 different types of mini cakes. :) I always loved mini cakes, so i'm really happy that i actually can make them. The only problem with this is, that neighter she, nor her parents don't know any of this. Because i'm in Erlangen, and they are at Budapest. But anyway, it made me feel good to bake theese in the middle of the night.

The first "cake" is really easy one. The carrot cake. I didn't fill it, because i think it's very delicious just the way it is. At this point i have to admit, that i never tried to fill it, but maybe someday. Suprisingly the German cuisine knows also this cake. It's traditionally made around Easter. (I wonder why... :D ) So at this time of the year i have to think a bit forward and collect the marzipancarrots right in time. :)



So the recepie is:

• 300 g flour (i used Type 405)


• 1 small ts backing powder


• 1 small ts cinnamon


• 150 g sugar


• 2 packages of vanilline sugar(10g pro package)


• a pinch of salt


• a little oil


• 2 eggs


• 250 g grated carrot


• 1 Tb lemon juice


• 50 g powdered nut of any type (i usually use hazelnuts or peanuts)

Preheat your oven to 180 °C, then start the dough. First you have to mix the flour and the backing powder. Then add the rest of the ingredients and mix them well. Add a little oil to it, just until your mixture is coming together, and it doesn't contains too much liquid. It will be always sticky, but you should avoid to add too much oil. Don't forget, that the nuts also containing oil, and you don't want your cake to be too greasy.
If you're finished the dough, then put the mixture in buttered mold, but you can use parchment paper instead of butter if you wish. Put it in the oven and bake it ca. 50 minutes.
When it's done, leave it in the mold for about 10 minutes, then you can take it out easily.
If you wich you can make som topping from icing sugar and lemon juice, but as you can see i left it out this time. I baked my "cakes" in muffin form, then cutted the tops off. On the picture you can see my little cake upside down, decorated with miced pistachio and marzipancarrot.

The second one was from Le Pétrin. I just recreated it. Yes, i know, every recepie i make, is a recreation, because i'm not a cook, and i'm still learning, but i don't want to write about something, that i can acually show you easily.

I admitt: i had fear when i started it. I used dessert rings the first time in my life, and with that much cream i thought it will be a desaster. Plus, i have to tell you, that normally i can't taste anything i cook or bake. At the and i'm so full of smells, that i feel sick when i think about tasting or eating. So normally i'm totally "blind".
But in this case, there weren't any smells, so i could taste the cream. It wasn't that good as i imagined. I started to think that mybe it's the not homemade caramell sauce (i couldn't find glucose syrup, just some sugarpaste, what was already like caramell) . The chocolate cream was too sweet for me, and the caramell cream wasn't delicious. So i couldn't imagne what will come out of this. But i left everything in the frige, and went to sleep.
I can take pictures only in the morning (because of the light), so i have to prepare everything the night before. You can imagine, how excited i was this morning. I left my first mini cake in the frige, in it's nice dessert ring, and now i must take it out. Will it fall apart? How can i cover it with cocoa powder?
But it was almost frozen, so everyting went very well. No problems at all. Until i didn't want to cut it. I haven't made the dough slim enough, and when i tried to cut it, the whole cake cracked. Or it would loce to crack, but i was a bit smarter. But the problem is still a problem... i have my fingerprints on the whole cake, and it doesn't look good.
But i have some dough in the frige and some chocolate cream. I have to beat some cream and i can make the caramell cream also. Tonight. With a slimmer dough.

Wish me luck!

Hi there

I just want to start a blog about how i develop cooking.

As a matter of fact, i haven't cooked too much before this year. I always liked it, but Mum always cooked soooo well, i never had to do it. I cooked only (acually baked, because Mum don't have time and patience) for Easter and Christmas. She is a "let me see, what we have" kind of Mum, and that's how she cooks. It doesn't always look good, but it's delicious.

Then i saw this film, about Julie Powell and Julia Child... it was entertaining as hell, and i loved so much how Amy Adams cooked, and ate that chocolate cake... so i bought the referred cookbook. I can tell you: i haven't regretted it.

Since last March i live in Germany, but originally i'm from Hungary. I discovered really fast, that the German cuisine is uneatable. And it's almost true. Here, in Bavaria, mostly you can eat some kind of sausage with potato salad or something called Kloß. That's a big ball made of potato and some some bread. I think that they developed the only thing what can not absorb any sauce. But whatever.

So i decided, in the new year i will cook all of meals at home. I started it, and i can happily tell you, that until now, it's a success. As my other blog is slowly becoming a food blog, i start this new one, just to separate my foodie life form the other.