Three different recipes

[jana]

Three different recipes that lead to very delicious results if you ask me. Maybe you'll like them too... The recipes behind the cuts are described in text only, if you prefer step-by-step descriptions with lots of images, follow the x-posted link at the bottom of each recipe. Enjoy!

Ingredients for breakfast buns

Makes about 12 small buns or 6 larger buns. 8-10 hours prep, 25-35 minutes in the oven. Egg- and dairy-free.

• 3g yeast
• 3 dl (300 ml) (non-clorinated) cold water
• 3 dl (300 ml) flour of your choice (I used part wheat and part spelt flour)
• 2 dl (200 ml) unbleached, wholegrain rye flour
• 1 dl (100 ml) sunflower seeds
• 2 sp flaxseed
• 0.5 dl (50ml) pumpkin seeds
• 1 tsp salt

The recipe is from the book "Enklare bröd" (Eng. More simple breads) by Martin Johansson, with minor modifications.

• The night before: Dissolve yeast in water, then add to the flour/seed mix. Mix with spoon or dough scraper until well blended.
• The dough is quite sticky and runny.
• Cover with lock, then put in draft-free place and wait 8-10 hours (or untill next morning).

• Next morning:The yeast has been quite busy over night and developed the necessary air bubbles to push the dough up.
• Set your oven to 275 degrees celsius and put a sheet pan/baking tray on the lower rack.
• Fill the dough into muffin forms and place them on a(nother) sheet pan/baking tray. Lightly butter the muffin forms first, if you don't use silicon forms. Make sure your muffin forms can tolerate heat above 250 degrees celsius.
• Sprinkle some rye flour on top and let the dough sit for another 15-30 minutes.
• Put dough into oven and pour some water on the sheet pan/baking tray on the lower rack; the water steam makes the crust very crunchy and crispy.
• Lower the temperature to 250 degrees and bake for 20-25 minutes. When/if the buns are starting to get burnt around the top edges you can place a sheet of baking paper on top of them; that way you can minimise the risk of your buns turning into charcoal...
• Sometimes you need to let them in oven for another 10-15 minutes, depending on your oven. Test your buns with food thermometer or knife by inserting into middle of your buns; the thermometer or knife should come out clean with no visible sticky and moist dough.
• Take buns out of oven and transfer them to a rack to cool. I removed them from their muffin forms so that they would cool off faster.
• Enjoy with a bit of butter and some honey or jam, or whatever you can find to treat your taste buds!

x-posted here.

Ingredients for Spaghetti Carbonara - made in the what-I-had-in-the-fridge way

Serves 2-4 people, depending on how hungry they are ^^. 15 min prep, 15 min cook

• Pasta
• 5-10 slices smoked bacon
• 3 organic egg yolks
• 100ml cream
• 200ml full-fat milk
• 1-2 garlic cloves
• 2 handfuls of freshly grated cheese (parmesan, or any other hard cheese of your choice)
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Olive oil

Inspired by this recipe.

• Cut bacon in small squares and fry until crispy and set aside
• Boil pasta in a large pot of salted water until al dente, or according to the directions on the package.
• In the meantime, pour the cream, milk, egg yolks, the crushed garlic cloves and one handful of grated cheese into a larger bowl, then whisk them together until the mixture is well blended.
• Season with salt and freshly ground black peppar.
• Drain pasta through colander, but do not put cold water on it after boiling it; you want the pasta as warm as possible so it can absorbe your pasta sauce.
• Pour the drained pasta back into the pot, add the fried bacon, and mix all of it with the cream/milk/garlic/cheese sauce. Put the pot back on the switched off stove and make use of its rest heat.
• Mix pasta and sauce well until the pasta has absorbed most of the liquid.
• Pour pasta mixture into serving bowl and add the rest of the grated cheese, or to your liking. Sprinkle some freshly grounded black peppar and a few drops of olive oil on top. You can skip the olive oil if you want -- the meal is rich enough as it is.
• Enjoy your meal!

x-posted here.

Ingredients for spring-y nettle soup

Serves 2. 15 min prep, 10 min cook

• 2 l freshly picked stinging nettles
• 1 l water
• 1 sp butter
• 3 sp flour (like wheat)
• 2 bouillon/stock cube (vegetable or chicken)
• 1 dl (100 ml) + 2 tsp crème fraiche
• 2 sp (chopped) chives
• 2 cooked eggs
• Salt and freshly ground pepper

If you can't find any nettles nearby, use spinach instead; spinach soup is delicous as well :)

Inspired by this recipe

• Pick a bunch of young spring nettles, the tender young shoots. Avoid areas with heavy traffic nearby and paths where people are taking their dogs for walks...
• Rinse nettles thoroughly. You might need to repeat this step a number of times, depending on how many little critters and the like tagged along ;)
• Bring them to a boil in ca. 500 ml water and let them simmer for about 5 minutes.
• Pour through colander into a bowl to retain the liquid.
• Chop nettles finely.
• Melt butter into pot. I suggest you take a heavy pot, not a lighter one like I did, as it's really difficult to stir and whisk fast enough in the next steps without the pot tipping over...
• Add flour and stir constantly for about 1-2 minutes. It looks a bit lumpy but that's not a problem.
• With a whisk, stir in nettle water you put aside earlier and bring to a boil. It's easier to avoid lumps if you add some of the nettle water first and stir until it thickens to a gravy consistency. Then add the rest of the nettle water and the other 400-500 ml water, and keep whisking all the time.
• Add chopped nettles and bouillon/stock cube and let simmer for about 5 minutes.
• Add 1d (100 ml) crème fraiche to soup and stir.
• Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
• Ladle soup into serving bowls and add two cooked egg halves and 1 tsp crème fraiche. Just before serving sprinkle with finely chopped chives. Serve soup with bread and cheese or bread rolls.
• Enjoy!

x-posted here.

Comments

[onceupon]

I think we might have to try that carbonara recipe tonight. Thanks for posting it.

[jana]

You're welcome, hope you'll like it!

[kikimora]

These look awesome. I need to buy some yeast to try the first one. The third one - i've never actually tried nettles...

[jana]

Most people probably associate nettles with weeds, not with something we can actually eat... The important thing is that you use the emerging young nettles, not the bigger leaves.