A date cake in a cool pi mold

I made this date cake for christmas table. I made it in a pi model we bought from New York last summer. So here's the recipe:

A date cake

• 250g Dates
• 3 dl Water
• 1.5 dl Sugar
• 200g Margarin or butter
• 2 Eggs
• 2 tspns Baking powder
• 2 tspns Vanilla sugar
• 3.5 dl Wheat flour

Chop the dates and boil in a pan with water and sugar until pureed. Add water to the warm mixture and let it melt. Chill and add the eggs one by one while whisking. Compound baking powder and vanilla sugar with flours. Add to the date mixture.Mix as little as possible. Pour into an oiled mold and cook in 175°C for about an hour.

Simple, but still amazing-tasting gingerbread house

I made this cool house at our independence day (6.12, I'm a Finn). I used some ready-made gingerbread dough and printed the patterns from the net. Then I cut them and rolled the gingerbread. I cut the shapes of each peaces. I baked them in an oven in 200°C for about ten minutes. Then I let them cool and glued the pieces together with a mixture of water and powdered sugar. Then I decorated it with powdered sugar.

My week at work

            

I had a TET-week. It means that I spend a day at work and I don't have to go to school. The abbreviation comes from Finnish words TyöElämään Tutustuminen. It means something like getting to know to worklife.
     So I went to an Italian-Greek restaurant called Etrusco. It was fun. I prepped stuff, cleaned places and washed dishes. All amounts were illustrative purpose only because the recipes in restaurant were inaccurate. Here's a recipe I learnt there:




Chicken pasta

• Some cream
• Some blue cheese
• Some pasta
• Sun-dried tomato pesto
• Parmesan

Warm the cream in a pan and add the blue cheese. Let it melt. Add pasta. Put on a plate and add a tablespoonful of pesto on it. Add parmesan.

Epic crêpes suzette

We made some crêpes suzette a week ago. Its basically just crepes and caramelised orange segments. The brown spots in the plate are just reflections. So, here's the recipe.

For batter:

1kg flour

2kg milk

6     eggs

       Orange zest

For sauce:

       Some orange segments and juice

       Sugar

       Butter

       Some cointreau for flambéing

Mix the batter ingredients in a bowl. Put about two tablespoons of sugar on a pan an let it melt. Add butter and let it melt. Then add cointreau and flambé it. Add orange juice and segments. Serve.

Delicious pasta with tomato sauce

When we had this etiquette dinner, I couldn't resist myself from picking some self-made pasta to the menu. It's simple, delicious and even the most pickiest people will eat this. Perfect choice for a dinner. If you have freezed some dough ahead of time it will be very quick, too. And there's one more thing. You can shape it into anything you like.

     There happened on little mistake with the sauce: We forgot to add any seasonig into the crushed tomatoes. But it didn't even matter. It tasted great anyway.

Here's the recipe from one of my older posts: http://myfoodblogi.blogspot.fi/2013/09/some-ravioli-and-tagliatella.html.

Simple goat cheese salad with walnut and apple vinaigrette

If you didn't know, I'm a scout. So, yesterday we had a meeting where we had an etiquette dinner. We made some goat cheese salad as an appertizer. It was a bit stressing to make these, main courses and desserts for 15 people. But luckily we succeeded. Here's the recipe for the appertizer:

For four:

4 Individual soft goat's cheese with rind
50 g Walnut halves
3 Sprigs of thyme
Some salad

Toast bread

For the vinaigrette:

½ Lemon juice only
6 tbsp Olive oil
½ Apple

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Place the goat's cheese on a baking tray with a walnut half on each. Drizzle some olive oil and scatter on the thyme leaves and season with black pepper. Bake in the oven until the cheese has melted from the inside. 
2. Crush the rest of the walnuts. Shred the salad before adding to a bowl. Add the crushed walnuts. 
3.In a separate bowl mix the lemon juice with oil. Grate in the apple and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle a little vinaigrette over the salad and toss together. 
4.Use a chef's ring to cut the toast into 4 round croutons. 
5.To serve, arrange the dressed walnut salad onto serving plates. Place the crouton on the salad and top with the goat's cheese. Spoon over the remaining vinaigrette and serve.

The best teas

I like drinking tea. My mother says I drink too much. Well, it's very unlikely true because I drink only a few times per month. But when I do I definitely do. I have a one liter teapot and I always drink the whole pot.(Well not always but almost)
     I like especially green and white teas. This morning I drank Chinese kekecha tea. It's yellow tea.(I know, I didn't know about it either before going to the shop)
     I like also four season oolong tea pearls. They are tea leaves wrapped in a pearl shape. When I add the water they open and look great.
     So, found your favourite tea? Drink it, if you like, but remember. You always have to explore something new.

Super easy apple swan

I made an apple swan today. I saw a video in facebook and I had too much time. One thing led to another and I made this and one another swan.

Here's the video in youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLXEiMIiF5E

Roasted pumpkin seeds

We made a pumpkin lantern today and instead of throwing the seeds away I separated them from the flesh and roasted on a small pan with a drop of vegetable oil. After frying I salted them. I can use them on salads.

Pancakes

I made some pancakes today. It was quite simple. I ate it with raspberry jam, maple syrup and ice cream.

  Pancake batter:

1l         Flour
2l         Milk
6          Eggs

Mix and let it swell.

Fry using high heat with margarine. Serve with anything you like.

   

Pizza

Hello, I made some pizza today with my sister. I made the base and my sister made the filling. If you want the dough to be great remember to knead well. These amounts are for two pizzas. Here's the recipe.

Pizza base:

2dl         Warm water
1            Piece of yeast
2tbsps    Oil
              A touch of salt
5dl         Flour

 Mix the ingredients and knead until
doesn't stick to the hands and the table.
Roll on a greaseproof paper.

You can add whatever you like but we put this.

 Pizza Filling:

1500g            Minced meat
7.5dl             Flora ruokakerma   (I don't know it in English)
               


           Cornflour to thicken
           Pepper
           Ketchup
           Pepper 
           Paprika powder

Sautee the minced meat and add 
the other ingredients.


We put also some sun-dried tomato, olives and some cheese on it.

Cook in a lower level of an oven in 250C degrees for 12 minutes. 

Butterscotch cake

I made some butterscotch cake yesterday. It tasted excellent but didn't look as good... I made it with a basic cake base and filled it with raspberry jam and covered with whipped cream and butterscotch. I made a few mistakes: First I shouldn't have used the top layer of the cake base as the top layer of the cake. It was rough and made it look like stupid. Second I should have put the butterscotch before the whipped cream. The cream lost it's texture and drained to the table. It's better next next time. Here's the recipe.

Cake Base:

4             Eggs
1½dl       Sugar
2dl          Flour
1tspns     Baking powder

Whip eggs and sugar. Add flour and baking powder. Put into a tin and cook in 175Cº for 20 to 30 minutes.



                                                                                     
                                                                                      Butterscotch:
               
                                               2 dl        Cream
   2dl         Sugar                     1tspn      Butter                     1tspn      Vanilla sugar                                                                                                                          Mix cream and sugar in a pan and heat. Boil until thickens. Add butter and vanilla sugar.

Preserving chili

Dried chili

I put some chilis to a string to hang. I'll let them dry and I can grind them later.

Pickled chili

600g       Medium sized chili
15           Black peppers
5             Bay leafs
2 tbsps    Coriander seeds
5 tspns    Salt
6 tbsps    Sugar
1 l           White wine vinegar

Warm the ingredients in a kettle and bottle.

Harvesting chili

We moved our chili bushes from our greenhouse inside. We also picked chilis from one bush to make it stay balanced.Next I am going to dry them by hanging them. To make it dry completely you should make a scratch to the skin of the chili. Otherwise it might mildew from the inside. I'll put some chili recipes here later.

American pumpkin pie

I made this a few days ago and it was a success. It tasted a bit weird because it
was the first time I was eating a pumpkin pie. Here's the recipe.

Ingredients

a pie pumpkin
1 cup sugar
1.5 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
3 cups pumpkin glop
1.5 cans milk

For pie crust

1.5 cups flour (about 6 ounces by weight) - plain flour, not self-rising.
2 tablespoons sugar
100g cold butter
1/4 cup cold water

Step 1 -  Prepare the pumpkin

Wash the exterior of the pumpkin 

in cool or warm water, without soap.

Cut the pumpkin in half and scrape
the stuff inside the pumpkin away.  
You want to get out
that stuff that coats the inside
surface. Remove the stem, 
and put the pumpkin into a 
microwaveable bowl. 

Put a couple of inches of water in 

the bowl, cover it, and put in the 

microwave.  I cooked it on high
until it is soft.  That may take 20
minutes or more, 

so like anything else, try 15 minutes,
see how much it is softened, then
do 5 minute increments until it is soft.

Cook the pumpkin until it is soft .   

By blending it, you give the pie a
smooth, satiny texture.

The pumpkin is now cooked and
ready for the pie. 

Step 2 - Make the pie crust

Preheat the oven in 425 F (210 C)
 degrees.

Mix  the flour, butter and sugar
in a food processor. Add water and mix.

Step 3 - Mix the pie contents and pour into the pie crust

Step 4 - Bake the pie

Bake at 425 F (210 C ) for the first 15 minutes, then turn the 

temperature down to 350 F  ( 175 C ) and bake another 45 to 60 minutes, 

until a clean knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Step 5 - Cool the pie and eat it

Taken from here: http://pickyourown.org/pumpkinpie.php

Drying apple

Hello, I'm drying some apple. I made some cubes for tea and some slices  just for eating. They are now in oven.

Fidget pie

Hello, I made a week ago a fidget pie. It tasted a bit weird to me, but it wasnt bad. Here's the recipe:

For the shortcrust pastry:

300g plain flour

200g butter

2 eggs

Beaten egg, to glaze

For the filling:

650g sliced potatoes

Salt

25g butter

1 onion

2 tbsp plain flour

200ml perry or cider

1 tbsp grainy mustard

2 tbsps chopped tarragon

3 tbsps double cream

3 ripe pears

300g thickly sliced ham

1. First the pastry. Put the flour in a bowl. Add the butter and stir it into the flour. Add the egg yolks and 100ml cold water, and mix them in with a round-bladed knife, pushing the mixture together into a firm ball of dough with your hands. Add a little more water, if the dough is too dry and crumbly. Wrap in clingfilm and chill for at least 30 minutes. 

2. Preheat oven to 180 C degrees. Reserve 200g of the pastry. Roll out the remainder on a floured surface and use to line the base and right up the sides of a 20cm springform tin. Let the edges overhang the top of the tin and mould the pastry to fit the sides.

3. Line the pastry case wirh greaseproof paper and baking beans, or beans reserved for baking blind, and bake for 20 minutes. Leave to stand for a few minute before removing the paper and beans.

4. For the filling, put the potatoes into a pan of boiling salted water, return them to the boil and cook for 3 minutes. Drain.

5. Melt the butter in a saucepan and fry the onion for 3 minutes. Blend in the flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and blend in the perry or cider, mustard, tarragon and cream. Return the mixture to the heat and cook, stirring until thickened and bubbling.

6. Quarter, core and slice the pears. Layer a third of the potatoes, ham and pears in the pastry case and spoon over a third of the sauce. Repeat twice more, making three layers.

7. Brush the pastry edge with beaten egg. Roll out the remainder pastry and position it to form the lid, pressing it firmly around the sides. Press the tines of a fork around the rim. Carefully trim the excess pastry and use to make leaves to decorate, then cut a cross in the top. Brush with beaten egg and bake for 1 to 1 and a quarter hours, or until deep golden, re-glazing the top halfway through cooking. Leave to cool in the tin for 15 minutes before serving the pie.

This recipe was taken from Country Homes and Interiors September 2013 issue.

Gordon Ramsay at the London -restaurant

I visited in New York last summer and I visited in Gordon Ramsay at the London -restaurant. It had 2 Michelin stars and it was quite nice. I took some pictures and here they are.

Some ravioli and tagliatella

Hello, I made a week ago
 this ravioli and I used the rest of the pasta dough to do some tagliatelle.
Here is the recipe and the pictures are below.

6 to 6-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

6 eggs

3/4 cup water

2 tablespoons olive oil

SAUCE:

1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes

1-1/2 cups tomato puree

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/3 cup water

1/3 cup tomato paste

3 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons minced fresh basil

1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley

1 tablespoon minced fresh oregano

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

FILLING:

1 carton (15 ounces) ricotta cheese

2 cups (8 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 teaspoons minced fresh basil

1 teaspoon minced fresh parsley

1 teaspoon minced fresh oregano

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

Directions

• Place 6 cups flour in a large bowl. Make a well in the center. Beat the eggs, water and oil; pour into well. Stir together, forming a ball. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 8-10 minutes, adding remaining flour if necessary to keep dough from sticking. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, combine the sauce ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
• In a large bowl, combine the filling ingredients. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
• Divide pasta dough into fourths; roll one portion to 1/16-in. thickness. (Keep pasta covered until ready to use.) Working quickly, place rounded teaspoonfuls of filling 1 in. apart over half of pasta sheet. Brush around filling with water to moisten. Fold sheet over; press down to seal. Cut into squares with a pastry wheel. Repeat with remaining dough and filling.
• Bring a soup kettle of salted water to a boil. Add ravioli. Reduce heat to a gentle simmer; cook for 1-2 minutes or until ravioli float to the top and are tender. Drain. Spoon sauce over ravioli. Yield: 6 serving

This recipe is from tasteofhome.com.

Lamb stew

Hi, I made today this lovely lamb stew. It took some time, but it was definitely worth it. Meat was tender and vegetables tasted awesome. You should try. Recipe is from here: http://www.jamieshomecookingskills.com/recipe.php?title=lamb-stew

Old-fashioned American apple pie

Hello, I made today this good old-fashioned American apple pie. It tasted good, but I will put more apples next time. And some sort of sauce (vanilla,...). This recipe was taken from here: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Old-Fashioned-All-American-Apple-Pie-104114

Greetings

Hello, this is my first upload here. I'm going to put here links to sites, where I took the recipe, and pictures, how I did them. So, I have already made two recipes, and I will upload pictures here.