ETL: 30-minutes Corn Bread

I can't wait to share this recipe with you. It was so good, I could've eaten the whole pan by myself. It is again this time of year, when I crave hot stews and warm breads. The fresh, (cold) salads are not on my mind anymore. I know, I know, it means packing a few pounds, but if that is the price, let be it. I won't fight it :)

Ingredients: 
16 squares
Adapted from Basil and Wine. Krystina knows good food. So far I cooked two of her recipes and they came out great.

• 1 1/2 cups old fashioned cornmeal or polenta
• 1/2 cup spelt flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp raw sugar
• 1 cup almond milk
• 3 tbsp canola oil. Per Marulka's suggestion, I'm reducing the oil next time, by replacing 2 tbsp oil with 2 tbsp apple sauce.
• 1 flax egg ( 1 tbsp flax seed + 2 tbsp water )
• 1 tbsp vinegar ( I used rice vinegar )

I used polenta bought from Whole Foods. As you see from the picture below, it is quite coarse, not that fine like corn meal. Next time I'll try using polenta from Golden Pheasant. It is even more granular.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375.

Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and the wet ingredients (aside from flax egg) in another bowl. Add wet to dry then add flax egg and mix until the batter comes together.

Allow mixture to sit for about 5 minutes. This is the key to ultimate cornbread moistness.

Pour batter into a greased 8x8 pan. Shake and tap the pan to smooth out the batter if needed. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes clean out of the center.

  

 Serve with hot stew. I made chili, and the corn bread was just a perfect compilment. 

ETL: Thai Curry for Beginners

If you like Thai food like me, you should try this recipe. The taste is 100% good and as close as it could be to the authentic version. I used all the vegetables, I found in my fridge, and a stick of rice noodles. Steamed white or brown rice works as well. Surprisingly, the dish holds well when reheated. I was concerned the rice noodles would get mushy, but they were just fine.

Ingredients:
Serves 6
Adapted from Basil and Wine

• 1 block firm tofu.  My tofu was already cubed, I just squeezed the cubes to take out the water.
• 2 large bell peppers, yellow and red for colors, cut in strips
• 3 carrots, cut
• 2 zucchini, cubed
• 2 potatoes, cubed
• 2 cups mushrooms, sliced
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2-3 clove garlic, chopped or minced
• 1 tbsp ginger, grated
• 1 Thai chili, minced, I used jalapeno
• 4-5 basil leaves, preferably Thai
• 2 cans coconut milk
• 4 tbsp red curry paste
• 2 tsp coconut oil
• 2 tbsp soy sauce or tamari
• Zest and juice of 2 lime
• 4oz rice noodles 

First chop the onions, the garlic and the chili, Grate the ginger and the lime zest. Juice the limes.

Prepare your vegetables, washing and cutting them in equal sizes. 

Wash the rice noodles with cold water, or act according to package directions, and set them aside.

Dry fry the tofu in a non-stick skillet on medium/medium-high heat until golden brown on both sides. Set aside. 
For omnivores, you can use chicken instead of tofu. Just cube a chicken breast and saute the chicken in a tea spoon of coconut oil.

Add coconut oil to a large pan  on medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, chili and ginger and cook until translucent. Add the vegetables to the pan, starting with the vegetables that require the most time to cook, in this case, the carrots and potatoes, then the mushrooms, and the peppers and the zucchini at the end.

While vegetables cook, heat coconut milk in sauce pan. Stir the red curry paste into the coconut milk until dissolved, and the coconut milk is boiled. Add mixture to vegetables and stir to combine.

Add lime zest and juice, soy sauce, basil and tofu. Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until vegetables are soft. During the last few minutes of cooking, add rice noodles. Stir to break them apart and coat them in the curry sauce. Plate with a garnish of lime and cilantro and enjoy!

 

Holiday Sunflower Bread

This bread is named "Sunflower bread" because it looks like a sunflower. It is a traditional Bulgarian bread made for special occasions, like engagement parties, weddings, baby showers, or Christmas.

 I got the recipe from my mother in law and I've been making the bread for years.

INGREDIENTS:

Sponge:

• 2.5 tsp dry yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 2-3 tbsp flour
• 1 tbsp sugar

Dough:

• 5 eggs
• 500 g yogurt
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• 1 kg + flour. I used whole wheat organic flour from Costco.

Bread preparation:

• 125 g soft butter
• 1/2 cup sesame seeds
• 1 yolk

In a small bowl mix the ingredients for the sponge. Cover with plastic wrap and place it in a warm place for 15 minutes, till the yeast rises.
In a big bowl, mix the eggs with the yogurt, salt, oil, vinegar, and pour the yeast mix to it. Start adding flour to the mix till you form the dough. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured counter and knead the dough to form a smooth, round ball. You may need more than 1kg of flour, depending on the amount of the used liquids. The dough should be easy to knead, not very soft, but not very hard either. Place the dough in the bowl again, cover with plastic wrap and let it rest in a warm place for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile soften the butter in a microwave.  Grease a 13" pan with butter. 

  

 

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter.You'll need a rolling pin to make the bread.

Cut some dough into a size of a tennis ball and set it aside. Divide the rest of the dough into three equal pieces and form three balls.

 With the rolling pin roll the 3 balls into 10-inch circles.

 

Spread  one third of the soften butter onto the first circle and place the second circle on top of it. Spread the other third of the butter on the second circle. Place the third circle on top of the second. 

Roll the three circles into a big 1/4 of inch thick circle.

Spread the rest of the butter over it. Using a knife or a pizza cutter, cut the circle into 16 equal wedges.

Roll each wedge up, starting from the wide end and following one of the edges, as shown on the images below. 

Lay the rolls into the pan with the pointed tip to the center, spaced equally from each other.

Lightly press the small ball, you put aside at the beginning, into a small circle. Place the circle on the middle of the pan. The small  circle represents the sunflower head and the rolls are the leaves.

Beat the egg yolk with 1/3 tsp olive oil and lightly brush the bread with the mixture. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until nearly doubled in size and dough barely springs back when poked with a knuckle, 45 to 75 minutes.

Adjust the oven rack in the middle position and heat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake until golden, 30 to 40 minutes. Cover the pan with foil for the last 5-10 minutes, if needed,  to prevent the bread from burning and make sure it is well baked.

Cover the bread with a towel and let it cool in the pan for 1/2 hour before serving.

Stinging Nettle Soup, aka "Supa ot Kopriva" or "Супа от Коприва"

Words cannot describe how much I like nettle soup and how excited I was today when I saw fresh nettle leaves at the farmers market... I went CRAZY!!! I ran to the ATM to get some cash and got myself a bag of fresh stinging nettle leaves and as soon as I got home I started cooking. Last time I had nettle soup was in 2006 when I went back to Bulgaria and my grandma made it for me. I have been craving it ever since and today I finally had some of this amazingly delicious soup. The flavor is very unique and nutty and it just tastes so so good.

 
INGREDIENTS:

• 1lb fresh nettle leaves, stems removed, washed well and chopped
• 3 - 4 small carrots, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 - 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup white rice
• 1/3 cup walnuts, chopped
• some feta cheese to garnish
• salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper and paprika to taste

In a large boiling pot sauté the onions and garlic in some olive oil until soft and translucent. Then add the carrots and cook for 5 min until soft.

Then add the chopped nettle leaves and cook about 5 min, or until all the water is released (nettle leaves behave like spinach and will pretty much evaporate upon cooking so do not get alarmed if the 1 lb of leaves seems too much) and season with salt, black pepper, red pepper and some cayenne pepper.

Then add water (add little by little until you reach a desired consistency), the rice and the walnuts and bring to a boil and cook for ~ 15 minutes, or until the rice is ready.

Serve as is or with crumbled feta and a spoon of plain yogurt and ENJOY!

Spinach and Sorrel soup, aka "Supa ot Spanak i Kiselec"

 
Another one of my all time favorites and a great soup for all you vegetarians and vegans! Alternatively, it can be made with spinach only, but I really like the taste of sorrel - it adds slight sour-flavor that is surprisingly refreshing and delicious. As always, feel free to scale up or down, depending on how many hungry throats you will be feeding :) ... And I have to give Plodova Salata credit for this soup, since she made it for me first and kindly provided sorrel from her garden!

INGREDIENTS:
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 carrots, sliced
2 bell peppers, chopped
1 lb fresh baby spinach, washed (or 2 lbs if you are not adding any sorrel)
1 lb sorrel (this is "киселец"... I only had frozen kiselec), washed and coarsely chopped
1 cup rice
Spices: salt, black and red pepper, cayene pepper, cumin, savory

In a large pot, saute the onions and garlic with some olive oil over medium heat. Then add the carrots, celery, bell peppers and all the seasonings / spices and continue cooking until all the vegetables are soft (5 min). Then add the washed spinach and sorrel and cook for additional 5 minutes or until all the leaves have released water. Add water (~ 1.5 - 2 Liters) and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and add the rice and simmer for 20 min. (TIP: If you are in a hurry, you can reduce the cooking time by adding pre-heated water to the spinach.)

Serve and ENJOY!

Also for the non-vegans, this soup goes incredibly well with a spoon of plain yogurt and some feta cheese! Double Enjoy!

ETL:Bulgarian Vegetable Stew - "Gyuvetch"

There are many healthy and tasty vegetarian dishes in the Bulgarian cuisine. One of them is the famous gyuvetch. Many people cook gyuvetch with meat, beef, lamb or pork. Traditionally it is cooked with seasonal vegetables, baked in  in a clay pot. Since not many spices are added to this dish, the key is to find the perfect selection and proportion of vegetables and cook them the right amount of time to get the best blend of flavors and texture. For me the gyuvetch is one of the most difficult dishes to cook, and extremely rewarding when I get it right.

Here is my humble version of gyuvetch:

Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic

2-3 small or 1 big eggplant, cubed

2 zucchini, cubed

1 celery stalk, chopped

3-4 carrots, chopped

1/2 lb green beans, chopped

2-3 bell or other kind sweet peppers

1/2 okra cleaned and cut at 2 " pieces

1 can diced tomatoes (optional )

2-3 Yukon gold potatoes

few sprigs mint and savory

2 tbsp olive oil

salt to taste and 1 tbsp paprika

1 cup Veggie broth

First clean and chop all the vegetables. Try to cut into similar size pieces to get the veggies cook simultaneously. Also the dish looks better when you get a mix of good shaped and bright colored vegetables. You must be careful to not overcook the vegetables to keep their colors fresh.

Saute the onions and garlic. I added salt, a little bit dry mint, and savory (chubritza).

Meanwhile boil water and pour it over the okra. You must soak the okra in hot water for 10-15 minutes and rinse it to get rid of the slime.

Add  first the carrots, then the celery, and then the eggplant to the pot and saute them for 2 minutes before adding the next veggie.

 Add the peppers and the green beans and sate them for 2 minutes.  

Then add the paprika and pour the broth. Cook for about an 30 minutes, before adding the okra, and the zucchini. After 30 more minutes add the potatoes. Cook them for about 20 minutes and then add the tomatoes. Always add the tomatoes at the end, otherwise the acids from the tomatoes would prevent the vegetables from cooking.

Cook till the potatoes get soft. Add parsley, and serve with MM's brown rice on a side or dip the Marulka's crusty ciabatta in the delicious sauce.

How to make perfect Brown Rice

This recipe has been conceived and perfected by the mind and hands of none other than renowned chef, author and food critic Muhlio Muhlev.

It is a straightforward and reliable way to cook brown rice at home, without a rice cooker, using a pot, tin (aluminum) foil, and your ability to follow simple instructions. The water to rice ratio has been optimized for absolute perfection. This recipe represents the preferred method of cooking brown rice in the rarefied strata of the culinary elite.


Before you start, determine how much brown rice you want. A cup of uncooked (raw) brown rice contains around 650-700 calories. If you are cooking dinner, it would not be unreasonable to have about 1/2 to 3/4 cups of raw rice per person.  Adjust as needed if you are pigging out,  dieting, or want to have rice left over.

The whole process will take slightly less than an hour.

Things you need:

• a boiling pot.
• aluminum foil
• brown rice
• olive oil
• salt

Steps:

1. Add olive oil to  pot (1-2 tablespoons per cup of rice, or whatever you want.)
2. Add raw rice to the pot once the oil is hot.
3. Add salt (1/2 teaspoon per cup)
4. Stir the rice over the hot olive oil, so that it doesn't burn, but gets cooked slightly for 1-2 minutes.
5. Add 1.5 cups of water per cup of brown rice.
6. Once the water is boiling (this should happen very quickly since the rice and oil are hot),  reduce the stove top heat to low/medium. (settings 4 out of 9)
7. Cover the boiling pot with a square piece of aluminum foil (big enough to cover it completely and stick out) , and place the pot lid on top of the foil.
8. Wait 45 minutes.  There is no need to disturb the rice while it is cooking.
9. Remove the lid and foil, and leave uncovered, so that the moisture/vapor can escape completely.
10. Fluff with a fork.

That's it. If you wish, you can skip the olive oil, but you would sacrifice a lot of flavor in a misunderstood quest to reduce calories.

If you found this recipe useful,  use the comments area to pass your praise and adulation to Muhlio.

ETL: Easy Breezy Tortilla Soup

If you feel under the weather with stuffy nose and scratchy throat like me the only thing you'd need to get better is a hot and spicy soup. I hesitated between a Pho take-out from a near by vegan restaurant and a home made tortilla soup. The tortilla soup won. It took me 15 minutes to cook it and the result was superb. I used a Vitamix blender to cook, but I am sure it can be done with any blender, using some additional prep work and small adjustments.

This is what you need:

• 2 cups vegetable broth, hot
• 1 large Roma tomato or two small, halved
• 3 small carrots
• 1/2 stalk celery
• 1 thin slice red onion
• 1 garlic clove, peeled
• 1/2 yellow bell pepper
• 1/2 jalapeno pepper
• 1/2 cup frozen corn
• 1 can beens, rinsed. It's best to use home cooked, but since I did not plan to cook this soup, I used a can of black beens.
• 1 tsp tortilla soup or taco seasoning. With the taco seasoning you may need to add a dash of cumin and black pepper.
• 1/4 of avocado

Process:
Boil two cups of hot water to speed up the process.

Place the tomatoes, carrots, peppers, onions, garlic, and celery in the blander.

Pour the hot broth and blend quickly to Variable 10 and then High for 3-4 minutes if you are using Vitamix.

When the mix is steaming, add the avocado, beans, frozen corn, the cilantro and spices. Blend to 10-20 sec on very low speed (2 for Vitamix). The goal is to keep the beans and corn almost intact for texture.

Optionally you can add cooked chicken breast, pitted olives and serve with tortilla chips.
Delicious! :)