Balela

If you are like me and love tabbouleh or any refreshing salad suitable for hot days then you willl fall in love with this one. It resembles tabbouleh very much but I have never been able to find any reference to its origin. It could have been created by somebody simply dumping a can of garbanzo bean in a bowl of tabbouleh by mistake for what I know. I have done things like that in the past and some of the unintended concoctions actually tasted great! My view is: who cares! Balela is nicely refreshing and also filling. So, of if you have nothing else to eat but some bread, possibly pita or similar, you are in great company! Enjoy this wonderful balela.

Balela

• 1 (15 oz or 420 g) cans organic black beans, rinsed well, drained and blotted
• 1 (15 oz or 420 g) cans organic garbanzo beans, rinsed well, drained and blotted
• 1 cup chopped green onion or 1/2 chopped red onion
• 1 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes
• 1 cup finely chopped fresh parsley

Dressing Ingredients

• freshly squeezed juice of 2 lemons 
• 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• fresh ground black pepper

1.  Remove husks from chick peas by rinsing them very vigorously in a colander to loosen     the husks by gently squeezing them between two fingers.

Morello Cherry Tarts

Morello Cherry Tarts

• 200g butter, softened                                  
• 200 g (1 C) powder sugar
• 40 g (1/4) potato or corn starch
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract or 1 T. vanilla sugar
• 4 eggs (separated)
• Zest from 1 lemon
• 200 g (2 C) flour
• 1 tsp. double acting baking powder
• pinch salt
• 1 1/2 lb. pitted morello cherries, frozen are OK

• bread crumbs

Crumble
150 g (1-1/2  C) flour
120 g (1 stick US) unsalted cold butter
80 g (1/3 C) powder desugar

"Drowned" Yeast Crescents with Rose Petal Jam

This recipe brings back memories from my childhood when my mom performed some magic in her kitchen. When she put the pastry in a bucket of cold water, I thought that this would completly dissolve the pastry! Far from being wrong, pastry is not like soap!

When I was about 12, I made my own first batch without my mom's help. They were perhaps not as pretty and perfect as hers, but boy, they were delicious. As I moved across the globe, the recipe got lost and I decided to look it up on the web. And guess what? Here it is but slightly modified by me

“Drowned” yeast crescents with rose petal jam

• 200 g or 2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 500 gor 3 C all-purpose flour,
• 2 eggs
• 100 g or ½ C sugar ,
• 125 g or ½ C milk, warm
• 5o g fresh yeast or 2 TBSP active dry yeast, or 4-1/2 tsp instant yeast

German Apricot Slice with Crumble AKA Marillenkuchen

German/Austrian Apricot Slice with crumble (Marillenkuchen)

• 200g butter, softened

•180 g (3/4 C) sugar

•40 g (1/4 C) potato or corn starch

•1 tsp. vanilla extract or 1 T. vanilla sugar

•4 eggs (separated)

•Zest from 1 lemon

•200 g (2 C) flour

•1 tsp. double acting baking powder

•pinch salt

•1 1/2 lb. apricots, cut in half, about 14

Crumble

150 g (1-1/2  C) flour

100 g (1 stick US) unsalted cold butter

60 g (1/3 C) sugar

Nanterre Lavender Brioche

This is a wonderful, aromatic brioche based on a recipe given to me by a wonderful friend who lives in France. I happened to have some dried organic lavender in my pantry, so I decided to make this aromatic bread/cake. My family talked me into adding raisins though which I wasn't particularly happy about but what the heck; they wanted it with both, so here it is:

Nanterre Lavender Brioche 

1/2 C (120ml) of warm whole milk

25g fresh baker's yeast or 2 tsp dried active yeast

500g all purpose flour or type 55

4 eggs at room temp 

90g (1/3 C) sugar

 1 envelope  vanilla sugar or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

 200g butter at room temp

 pinch  salt

2 TBSP edible lavender flours

1/2C raisins (optional)

1 egg, lightly beaten with some milk for coating

In the warmed milk add the yeast, then the flour, eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla mixing it until smooth and elastic, approx, 10-15 minutes.

July bakery: bagels (slow version)

Bagels (slow version)

(The morning or midday before baking)
Starter

150 g flour bread ( I used AP flour)

150 g water
pinch dry yeast
Mix the ingredients in a bowl, cover and let ferment at least 8 h.

In the evening:
600 g flour
350 g water
2 TBSP honey
1 TBSP salt
6.5 g dry yeast (1.5 tsp)

1 egg, beaten for brushing
poppy seeds, sesame seeds and/or other spice/seed combination

1. Combine the starter and the remaining ingredients in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer until smooth. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel, and let rise in a warm place  for 1 h.
2. Punch the dough down, stretch and fold and place it back in the bowl, cover and refrigerate for at least 8 h (overnight is fine)
3. On a lightly floured work surface, divide the dough into 14-16 pieces (or more, for smaller bagels). Roll each piece of dough into a flat circle 2-3" diameteer (5-8 cm), pounch a hole in the middle of each circle with your finger and spin the dough around as in hoola-hoop. Repeat with the remaining dough, and let the bagels rest for 40 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange small plates with poppy seeds, sesame seeds, and onion flakes next to the baking sheet.
5. Bring 4 quarts water and honey to a boil in a large pot. Boil the bagels, three at a time, until they rise to the surface of the pot, about 1 minute per side. Remove the bagels with a slotted spoon and place them on the parchment-lined baking sheet.
   6.Dip the tops of the wet bagels into the beaten egg and toppings and arrange them, seeds up, on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with coarse salt, if desired. Bake in the preheated oven until the bagels begin to brown, 20 to 25 minutes.

Lipcowa piekarnia czyli bajgle w wersji slow. 
W czerwcowej piekarni zabraklo mnie z prostej przyczyny: wyjechalam na wspaniala czerwcowa wyprawe na drugi kontynent, do Europy. Trudno bylo wracac. Do dzis sercem i dusza jestem tam, choc cialo moje znajduje sie tu w domu.
Ale juz jest lipiec i ponownie zabralam sie do pieczenia ze spora grupa piekarek i piekarzy. Jak zwykle, Amber dowodzila cala akcja a przepis pochodzi stad. Amber, serdecznie dziekuje ci za ciezka prace.
Do tej pory nie pieklam bajgli z prostej przyczyny: nie chcialo mi sie bawic w gotowanie itp. I choc lubimy bajgle to nie do tego stopnia, zeby je samej piec. Ale jak jest akcja, to oczywiscie pieke. Podano nam 2 wersje, jedna na szybko bez zakwasu, a druga "slow" na zakwasie. Wybralam druga, wolniejsza wersje.