Moros y Cristianos, Crumpets, Knekkebrød, and more International recipes

Moros y Cristianos
This dramatic photo is my version of the classic Cuban rice & beans dish Moros y Cristianos -- Moors & Christians.   This presentation lets you can mix the rice and beans in any proportion you choose as you serve yourself.   Guess who's who!

I use a teaspoon of Badia's Sazon Tropicaletm spice blend to make my yellow "Spanish" rice, and cook the black beans with plenty of thyme and cumin.

Crumpets

Five years ago was the last time I made crumpets.  Five.  Years!  That was the First Anniversary of this blog.  Wow, time flies when you're having fun (and fruit flies like bananas, as Groucho Marx famously said!).

Crumpets are what English Muffins would like to be, but aren't.  Crumpets are a batter, like a very special kind of pancake; English Muffins are a dough -- a kind of skillet bread.  The only similarities  are that both are round and fairly thin, and a product of the UK.  Crumpets are never (properly) split;  English Muffins invariable are split before consuming.

This recipe, which I tweaked from King Arthur Flour (added just a bit of sugar to feed the yeast),  is MUCH better, easier, and tastier than the recipe I used back then...

1-1/2 cups warm Water

1 cup warm Whole Milk
2 Tbsp melted Butter
3-1/2 cup AP Flour

2-1/1 tsp Rapid Rise Yeast (1 packet)

1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt (never leave the salt out)
2 tsp Sugar

Whisk together all the ingredients.  Beat together with a hand or stand mixer for two minutes until you get a smooth batter.  Cover and let rise for an hour in a warm place until nice and bubbly.  I use a warmed kitchen towel to cover, and put my bowl in the microwave because it's draft-free.

Heat your electric skillet or griddle to 325F; grease 4 "egg rings" (crumpet rings are hard to find on this side of the Atlantic) and let them warm up a minute.   Egg rings are easily found online.

Ladle the rings mostly full of batter (it will rise a bit as it cooks), and cook for 5 minutes on the first side.  Your crumpets will get lots of holes like a pancake; that's a good thing!   Remove the rings, flip the crumpets and cook the second side for 3 minutes. 

Cool on a wire rack just a minute before serving, slathered with butter, marmalade/honey and/or clotted cream.  Crumpets can be refrigerated and heated in the toaster the next day for breakfast; or even frozen/thawed and reheated.  

Knekkebrød – Norwegian Crispbread

Bread or cracker? Cracker or bread?   Either way you look at it this is a tasty snack.  This recipe makes about 40 crackers.

1 cup Rye Flour

1-1/2 cups Quick Cooking Oats – not “old fashioned” or steel cut

1/2 cup Wheat Bran *

1/2 cup Sesame Seeds *

1/2 cup Pumpkin Seeds *

1/2 cup Sunflower Seeds *

1/4 cup) Linseed/Flax seeds *

1 Tbsp Honey

Salt to taste

2-1/2 cups Water

* Any combination of 2 cups of seeds or whole grains of your choice.  Sunflower, pumpkin, flax, chia, millet, quinoa, caraway, sesame...  whatever you have on hand or like in combination.

Preheat the oven to 350F. Cover two sheet pans with parchment paper.  Chop pumpkin seeds roughly, if using, they'll crunch better...

In a large measuring cup, mix the honey with a little bit of warm water until diluted. Add more water until the mixture is 2-1/2 cups total.

In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, oats, wheat bran, seeds and a pinch of salt.   Slowly add the honey water, stirring, until a wet paste forms. You may need to wait a minute or five until the flours and grains soak up more of the water and you get the right consistency.  You want this "gloppy" but not runny.

Pour half of the mixture over one of the sheet pans and spread evenly and thinly, to the very edges -- 1/8" thick or less or they won't be crispy. Use the back of a spatula to get an even thickness across the sheet pan. 

Repeat with the remaining mixture and sheet pan.

Place both pans in the oven. After 10 minutes, take them out and cut gently into rectangles with a pizza cutter or knife. This will make it easier to separate them when they are fully baked.

Return the pans to the oven and bake for another 60 minutes, alternating the top pan with the bottom one at the 30 minute mark. Occasionally open the oven door to release steam. Check the knekkebrød in the last 15 minutes of cooking -- look for them being dry and brittle with light browning on the edges -- but not burnt.

When finished, break the breads apart gently and let them cool completely on a wire rack. 

Store in a tight plastic or tin container and they should last for several weeks, even in Florida's humidity!.

Curry Stuffed Acorn Squash

How simple is this?  Make a thick, not watery, curry.  Halve and seed an Acorn Squash.  Nuke the squash until tender, then stuff with the curry.  Yumm,

Curry is a technique, not a recipe!

My curry here was chunky cut potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, onion and celery;  Garam Masala spice blend to taste, and a splash of water to simmer the veggies in after a quick browning in the skillet.

Easter Supper & Dessert, Bolognese, Multi-grain Burgers, Rustic Galette

Apple & Blackberry Tart ---  but first...


Salmon Florentine

This is one of those dishes that Sally will order when we're out to eat somewhere, that for some reason I've never made.  And since we're not going out, I thought this would be a Good Thing to make her for Easter Supper.    I made enough so she could take a meal to her Mum who is really "distancing", plus a serving for Sally's lunch on Monday

4 Salmon Filets

1 bag fresh Baby Spinach

1/2 cup or so Vegetable Broth

1 cup Half & Half
3/4 cup Icelandic Yoghurt

1 Tbsp Healthy Solutionstm Salmon Seasoning with Dill, divided

Season the salmon.  Fry in a splash of EVOO for 6-8 minutes.  remove from the skillet and reserve.

Add the spinach to the skillet, and the broth, put the lid on and wilt the spinach for 3-5 minutes.

Add the half & half and yogurt and stir to mix with the spinach.  Return the salmon to the skillet and cook another 5-7 minutes until the salmon is forkable.  

For a side veg I made Steamed Green Beans With Slivered Almonds.    Just what it sounds like -- fresh green beans, topped and tailed, steamed until tender with pieces of lemon in the steam liquid.  About half way through steaming you add as many slivered almonds as you want.  

English Apple & Blackberry Tart with Custard
Our Produce boxes last week included some small green, quite tart apples.  Not Granny Smith's, but similar.

When life gives you tart apples, cook them!  I sliced up 5 apples, simmered them in a bit of water and the juice of a lemon.  When soft, I tossed in about 8 ounces of Blackberries and half a cup of sugar and let them cool together.

I already had a pre-formed deep-dish crust on hand, so I thawed it and pre-baked it, because nobody likes a soggy bottom!  Filled the crust with the fruit mixture and baked it at 400F for 30 minutes.

The Brits love creamy custard with fruit dishes like this tart, and we always have a container of Bird's Custard Powdertm on hand (find it in the International/Ethnic section of your megamart.  Mix the powder with milk and bring it to a boil and stir a minute or three.  Sally made a batch so we each had about half a cup or so to spoon onto our tart.

Pasta Bolognese
My version of Bolognese is vegetarian -- with chickpeas and mushrooms substituting for animal protein.  So much better than that stuff in a jar!  This makes enough for four servings.

4 Beefsteak Tomatoes, chopped
1 can Garbanzos
1 medium Carrot, diced 1/4"
1/2 small Red Onion, diced
3/4 cup sliced Mushrooms, chopped
3 cloves Garlic, minced
1-2 Tbsp Oregano
1 Tbsp Mushroom Powder
Pasta of Choice:  I used Ziti

Add the tomatoes, carrot and onion to a sauce pan and simmer for about an hour.   After a few minutes add the garlic, oregano and mushroom powder.  Mash the tomatoes during cooking to help break them up, but don't puree. 

You want a long slow cook here to bring out all the flavors.  In the last fifteen minutes of cooking add the garbanzos, with their liquid, and the mushrooms.

Serve over pasta.  

If you want an extra kick of flavor, you can add a dollop of home-made Catalonian Romesco sauce which I showed you how to make back in January:

https://foodingaround-kiltedcook.blogspot.com/search?q=romesco+sauce


Rustic Strawberry Banana Galette
So I had half a box of strawberries and a couple of bananas that were getting over-ripe.  Oh.  And a "leftover" pie crust from the tart I made earlier.  Slice the fruit and toss it in a bowl. 

Fold in a couple tablespoons of brown sugar and cornstarch.  Spread across the bottom of the thawed crust and gently fold over the sides.  Bake at 400F for about 30 minutes, cool a bit, and serve.

Multi-grain Veggie Burgers
This Forks Over Knives version of the veggie burger features not just the usual smashed beans, but several "grains" as well -- quinoa, brown rice, wild rice, and oatmeal.  Makes about 6 large patties.

1/4 cup uncooked Wild Rice
1/3 cup uncooked Brown Rice
1/3 cup uncooked Quinoa (I used Red Quinoa)
1/2 cup uncooked Oatmeal (not Steel Cut)
1 small Onion, diced
1 cup Mushrooms, diced
3-4 cloves Garlic, minced
3 Tbsp Soy Sauce
3 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Coriander
1 tsp Cayenne
3 cups cooked Black Beans

In a sauce pan or your rice cooker, cook together the wild rice, brown rice, and quinoa.  Reserve.
Cook the beans, drain and rinse; or open cans, drain and rinse.  Reserve.  These can all be made well in advance.

Combine the cooked grains with the herbs, spices, and fine chopped veggies.  In a large bowl, smash the black beans.  Add the grain mixture, th,e oatmeal and mash together well (I used my Pampered Cheftm Star Masher but any potato masher works too).

Taste, and adjust seasonings as desired.  Form patties about 1/2" thick.  If the mix is too wet and the patties don't stick well, you can add a bit more oatmeal.  If too dry, add a beaten egg.

There's always something wrong with a Forks over Knives recipe!!   They have interesting ideas but poor execution -- or at least poor presentation -- they leave out ingredients, use far too little spice, etc.  This time the issue is texture.

To the original FoK recipe, I added 1/3 cup more oatmeal and a beaten egg and it still wouldn't form patties.  So I took most of the mixture for a short spin in my food processor.  Perfection!  Moldable but still with plenty of texture.   Do Not Skip This Step!

About 3/4 cup of mixture made 6 large rissoles -- 4" diameter x 3/4" thick, plus a 'baby burger about 3" in diameter.  Dinner for six with a side veg!

Fry until brown and crunchy outside -- 6-8 minutes per side on medium-high.  Serve as a rissole with a slice of tomato, or on a bun or roll of your choice with condiments.  

REALLY GOOD!  Our new favorite veggie burger.  Reminiscent of the taste and texture of a commercial burger.

These rissoles, once fried up, store really well in the freezer (a month or more).  I freeze them for an hour or so, bare, on a baking sheet; then wrap individually in waxed paper and store in a zip-top freezer bag.

Potato Souffle, Cauli-Cheddar Soup, Honey Cake, Burger

Italian Potato Souffle

This Souffle Inna Mug recipe comes from my old friend Luciano Furia, the Italian food photographer, currently hunkered down safe in his hometown of Naples, Italy. Luke made this from a recipe in an Italian cookbook by a Mrs. Zampino. I've translated the measures for Americans...

This was my first soufflé, and not nearly as difficult as I'd been led to believe.  Maybe it's because of the potatoes.  Maybe falling souffles are an urban kitchen myth.  I don't know; but I do know this is FABULOUS!  Rich, unctuous, creamy, earthy....   That mug in the picture is a 2 cup size; that's basically a meal-sized soufflé. 

1 lb Potatoes (I used 2 reds)

4 Eggs, separated

1/4 cup Half & Half

½ cup shredded, smoked Provolone

½ cup Parmesan, shredded or grated

½ cup shredded Mozzarella plus a bit for topping

¼ cup Butter

Salt & Pepper to taste

* can't find Smoked Provolone in these trying times? "Cheat" with regular Provolone and a couple drops of liquid smoke.

Peel and halve the potatoes. Cook. Mash into a bowl.

Whip the egg whites into stiff peaks.

Stir the cheeses, one at a time, into the mashed potatoes.  Depending on the starchiness of your potatoes you may want to add up to 1/4 cup of milk or half & half to get a smooth 'mash'.  Now add the butter at room temp and the egg yolks. Last, fold in the egg whites to make a creamy consistency.

Grease individual containers (large ramekins or mugs). Fill each about 2/3 full (the filling will puff up), and top with a healthy pinch of Mozzarella. Bake for 20 minutes at 400F. until golden on top.  Serve hot.

Cauliflower Cheddar Soup

That head of cauliflower we got in our produce box was calling to me, saying “soup....soup...” (actually, it was Sally).   So I checked a bunch of recipes to get some ideas and here's what I made for our Sunday Supper.

I head Cauliflower, disassembled and chopped 'pretty small'
1 White Onion, diced

2 small/medium White Potatoes (any kind, actually)

2 cups Veggie or Chicken Broth

½ tsp grated Nutmeg

¼ – ½ tsp each Gram Masala, Cayenne, White Pepper

2 cups Half & Half or whole milk

2 cups shredded White Cheddar

Par-cook, peel and chop or smash the potatoes; you want them to act as a thickener, not chunks of spud. I used the microwave for about 5 minutes. Some people like to heat the house by boiling potatoes or baking them.

Saute the onion in a splash of EVOO, until translucent. Add the cauliflower, potatoes, broth and spices. Add two cups of water. Simmer for 20-30 minutes.

Add the dairy and simmer for 10 more minutes. Adjust the seasonings as needed. Add the cheddar, stirring so it doesn't stick as it melts. 

Remove from the heat and serve with a nice crusty bread – like the Kalamata Olive Bread in last week's Fooding Around blog post or my Fast Bread.  

Manuka Honey Cake
Can you have too much honey?  Sally has bought an unfortunately large jar of Australian Manuka Honey, which is supposed to be soooo healthy.  Trouble is, it is soooo bitter, almost like dark molasses, that we don't care for the taste.  So I was tasked to find a way to use it up and stop wasting cupboard space.

So here's a Honey Cake -- classic Jewish Rosh Hashonna recipe, more or less, but with interesting tweaks in the spice department, including half a cup of strong coffee or tea.  The recipe comes from a blogger called Shiran at prettysimplesweet.com.

 I opted for a strong cuppa Ginger tea; and left out 1/2 cup of white sugar in favor of an extra 1/4 cup of honey {Why would you add sugar to a honey cake recipe?}.

1-1/4 cup AP Flour

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp Salt

1 tsp Cinnamon

1/4 t Cloves

1/4 tsp Cardamon

2 Eggs

3/4 cup Honey of choice

1/3 cup Vegetable Oil

1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

1/2 cup strong Coffee of Tea -- I used a strong Ginger tea

1/4 cup slivered Almonds for topping

Preheat oven to 350F

Combine flour, baking soda and powder, salt and spices.  

In a larger bowl beat together the eggs and honey until lighter in color.  add the oil and extract and beat another couple minutes.  Then, while beating add the flour mix and coffee/tea in alternating does, beginning and ending with flour.  Beat another couple minutes until smooth.

Pour mixture into a greased pan or pans.  I used two 6" pans rather than a 9" round or a loaf pan.  Top with slivered almonds.  Bake 35-45 minutes or until you get a clean toothpick.  Rest for 10 minutes before removing from pan and final cooling.

This is supposed to be better the next day, but neither of us could wait that long!  Oh yummmm!  Great news was that the distinctive Manuka flavor did not come through the spices!  And -- the cake is not as cloyingly sweet as you might think from the name and all that honey.  Just the right level of sweetness. Sorta like gingerbread but not gingery.  Great texture and crumb. 

I can see making this cake with berries in the batter, or chopped dried fruit like cherries or apricots.  Nuts in the batter would be good too.  Lots of potential here.

Hamburger
I can't tell you how long it's been since I fried a hamburger!   At least a dozen years.   But I got a real craving the other day... and I'd rather make my own, in isolation, than buy one from even the best burger joint, especially now.

So the other day, when I went on a short foraging expedition to Aldi for cheap wine and a couple other 'no name' but good products, I grabbed a pound of 95% fat free beef.  Brought it home and subdivided it into quarters and froze three of them.  This is what I did with the fourth quarter>

I used an Arnoldtm Sandwich Thin, a good schmear of mayonnaise,  Provolone cheese and a slice of locally grown beefsteak tomato from our Co-op.   Of course I tarted things up a bit by using Icelandic Black Lava Salt and Madagascar Garlic Pepper in the burger itself!

OMG!  Why did I wait all these years?  I won't be making a real habit of these -- but there are the other three quarters...

K.I.S.S. Food -- veggies, bread, beefy bites & stew

Keep It Simple, Stupid!

Even though we may have time right now to do all those fancy long drawn-out recipes, we may not have the resources available to make them.  So here are some simple recipes to help you and yours through these trying times.

Simple Vegetables
I went to Publix this morning (Wednesday) for the Senior Early Hour, to try and pick up a couple minor things we need and see how things have changed.  As vegetarian fish eaters, I sure am glad we get the majority of out produce from the SW Florida Produce Co-op!  The Publix veg was pretty sad.

So I came back home, made some Kalamata Olive Bread (see below) and thought about simple vegetable dishes for you.

Roasted
It can hardly get any simpler! peel the veg, if necessary.  Slice/chop things as desired.  They them out on a baking sheet or rack.  Add a spritz of oil.  Dust with spices you like.  Roast at 400-425F for 20-30 minutes.  Here I used Potato, Apple, Sweet Potato, Onion and carrot.  

This tray full fed two hungry vegetarians well.  

Steamed & Sauteed
This is what we had for dinner on Tuesday -- Green Beans and Summer Squash.  

I steamed the green beans with about a quarter of a lemon sliced and squeezed into the steam water.  I also sautéed the thin coins of summer squash with a thin sliced shallot and a peeled, shaved finger of fresh ginger, and spiced them with a shake of each of my go-to spice blends: Cavender's, Everglades, and Italian blend.

Baked & Steamed 
Wednesday I decided to make my "signature" Marmalade Squash, with a side of steamed Broccoli.

I usually nuke the Acorn squash for 5-8 minutes depending on size, after halving and seeding it out.

This is Florida and it's hot and we don't need the oven on for something like this!   We usually think of Acorn squash as savory and put pats of butter in there with salt and pepper.  My version counters the savory of the squash with the slightly tart sweet of marmalade.  In the photo below, I used Blood Orange marmalade.

Fast Olive Bread
Bread is Simple!  Flour, salt, liquid, and yeast or other raising agent.  Bread just doesn't seem simple when you start to read all those steps in most recipes!  This recipe is simpler than most.

The thing here is the addition of chopped Kalamata olives.

2 cups warm Water
1 tsp Sugar
2-1/2 cups each of AP and Whole Wheat Flour, plus more for bench flour
1 tsp salt (you get extra salt from the cured olives)
1 packet of Rapid Rise Yeast
12 oz jar or larger pitted Kalamata Olives, chopped
2-3 Tbsp soft Butter to brush the loaves with

Dissolve together the water, sugar and yeast, and let it set 5 minutes or more to start working.

Add the salt to half of the flour and combine.  Now add the yeasty water and then stir in the rest of the flour.  Start to bring the dough together and add the olives.  Add a bit more water if needed.

Dump the dough on your floured work top, then start kneading.  You may need a bit more flour here.  Knead about 10-15 minutes until you get the proverbial "smooth as a baby's bottom" dough ball that shows light through the stretched dough 'pane'.  That way you know that you've got good gluten development.

Divide the dough in half, and place each piece in a greased loaf pan.  Cover and set in a breeze-free warmish place for 1 hour to let the dough double in size.

Near the end of the rise time, pre-heat the oven to 425F.  Brush the loaf tops with softened butter and bake them for about 20 minutes, to a nice brown crust and an internal temp of 190-220F.  

Rest at least 15 minutes before de-panning the loaves and slicing.

Quick Beefy Bites
While at Publix the other day, I picked up a good deal -- a pound of "cubed for stew" veal, not old beef!   This made me several nice meaty lunches (I still do some meat, Sally eats only veg and seafood).

Pasta Peas & Veal
My first lunch was this simple pasta, peas and veal dish;  a literal handful of pasta plus about a quarter-cup of frozen green peas.  Yummm.

Saifun Beef & Peppers
Next I made this dish with Saifun, a.k.a. Glass Noodles -- classic rice flour noodles you can find in any Asian market and most megamarts.  Added my beef, a couple of mushroom slices, and some strips of red bell pepper to the water boiling to make the noodles.

Carne Street Tacos
Here I sliced the veal cubes even smaller and served them with homemade Salsa Verde and locally made Queso Fresca which I got from a nearby Carniceria and Mercado.

My Salsa Verde recipe is here:
https://foodingaround-kiltedcook.blogspot.com/2020/01/hungarian-casserole-garbanzo-bread.html

Curried Tomato-Lentil Stew
This one's not quite as simple as the rest of this week's fare, but still pretty easy.  It's a Forks Over Knives, recipe, so I've doubled the original amount of curry spice and ginger so you can actually taste them.  Makes 4-5 servings.

1 can (2 cups) diced tomatoes with liquid.  I used real tomatoes, not canned.
1 cup dry Lentils, rinsed
1 cup diced Onion
3 cloves Garlic, sliced
1cup large diced Carrot
1 thumb minced Ginger
2 tsp to 1 Tbsp Curry Powder of your choice...
Salt & Pepper to taste
Cooked Rice to serve

Cook the lentils al dente (I used my rice cooker) and cool a little.  Puree half the cooked lentil and reserve along with the non-pureed lentils.

In a large skillet, sauté the onion, garlic, and ginger.  Stir in the tomatoes, carrot and curry powder and simmer for about 10 minutes to marry the flavors and get the carrots tender.  Add the reserved lentils and 3 cups of water or broth, season with salt and pepper, and continue cooking another 10-15 minutes.  

Serve over cooked rice.