Makes 1 giant loaf (or as many smaller shapes as you’d like) Pulla is the ultimate Finnish bread dough. Feeling sad? Shape it into a teardrop. Feeling confused? Twist the heck out of it. Feeling like Pippi Longstocking? Braid it! Feeling creative? Shape it into men, women and children. Feeling pregnant? Just make little buns, baby! There’s also plenty of choice in regard to flavorings. Pulla always tastes of glorious cardamom. After that? You can leave it plain or fill it. Sweeten life up with a bit of brown sugar, butter, and spices (that’s what we opted for in this recipe), or get things movin’ with some prune filling. You can even fill it after baking with a bit of jam and whipped cream. Usually this is assembled “hamburger style” with a bun sliced in half and whipped cream gilding the outer edges of a jam-burger. What to expect: No matter how you handle it, pulla should not be anywhere as sweet as a cinnamon roll. The soft, rich dough is quite a bit more …
Read More
Makes one 8″ round loaf My sister and I whipped up this Eritrean-inspired sweet bread and proceeded to stuff our faces with it all day long, until even the crumbs were gone. The cumin flavor is unusual, but goes perfectly with the sweet raisins. While most Hembesha are made thin and extremely ornately, my sister and I decided to make this thick, quick and dirty version so we could spend more time playing with Ava on a balmy 70F degree day in February. And so we could have more surface area to slather the hembesha with butter. Purist or not, I hope you can understand the lure of springtime in the winter. Ingredients: 4 – 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour 2 tsp instant dry yeast 1/4 tsp ground cardamom 1 tsp cumin 1/2 cup (1 stick) softened butter, plus extra for brushing 2/3 cup raisins 1 tsp salt 1/3 cup sugar 2 eggs 1 cup lukewarm milk Method: Grease an 8 inch springform pan. In the bowl of a standing mixer, add the flour, …
Read More
Do you dream of cleaning out your cluttered silverware drawer? Are you totally tired of your dishes? Try a happy bite of Injera, the gorgeous Teff flatbread adored in Eritrea, Ethopia, and other East African countries. Sour and funky… Injera is almost as thin as a crepe, but spongy like a pancake … and is traditionally used both as a platter for spicy stews and to replace silverware. Three tips for foolproof Injera making: 1. Consistency Make sure the batter is almost the consistency of crêpe batter (between crêpes and pancakes) . Any thinner and the bubbles won’t form. Much thicker and it won’t look like traditional Injera. Practice makes perfect. 2. The Pan If you don’t have the traditional mitad (I didn’t), you can use a large, short sided pan. You’ll have the best luck with a nonstick pan or a really well seasoned crêpe pan. Cover loosely with aluminum foil if it doesn’t have a lid. 3. Play it cool Absolutely cool the Injera before stacking or attempting to move it around much. They are …
Read More
Makes 6-10 pupusa Take a big bite of El Salvador with cheesy pupusas. Many locals eat pupusa several times a week – some are filled with beans, others meat. But, no matter how you fill it, there’s an art to shaping the mighty pupusa. Here’s Martha Stewart’s demonstration: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kShxKY1mrPM Here are four things I wish I knew when I got started: Make your dough fairly moist. Play with the consistency. You don’t want a lot of cracking on the edges. The one Keith is holding is perfect. My others (pictured in the recipe) were a little dry and as a result, not so great. Rub vegetable oil on the pupusa before you put it on the griddle. This will keep it from – ahem – drying out. It will also give it a pretty, golden color. The one Keith is holding is nice and golden. The others are pale because I forgot this step. Make the pupusa thinner for a cheesier effect. Use salt. It really pulls the flavors together. By making sure I did …
Read More
Borrow your mother, grandmother, brother, sister, father, grandfather. All of them! This recipe is best made with a gaggle of family, all chitter chattering and covered in flour. Perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon. You can use this soft, pliable dough for any empanada (or pie, for the matter) – sweet or savory. We like it with our beef and apple fillings. Makes 2 dozen 3 1/2 inch empanadas Ingredients: 2 cups flour 1 Tbsp sugar 1 tsp salt 8 Tbsp cold butter 2/3- 3/4 cup ice water Method: If you do make this recipe with family, have everyone take turns telling stories from their childhood. Get ready to laugh and, possibly, cry. Whisk sugar and salt into the flour. Using a pastry cutter (or two knives), cut the butter into the flour until it is pea-sized. Add in water – a little at a time… … until a shaggy mass forms. This is perfect: Press together with your hands. It will be a little dry to the touch. Shape into 2 flatted disks, wrap in …
Read More
Makes 8 These biscuits don’t need butter and jelly. They don’t need gravy. Just eat them straight up, with a smile. Crispy and golden, they get their color from a boiling oil bath. Great for plunking into soups and stews, or alongside rice and beans. Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups flour 1 1/2 tsp sugar 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1 Tbsp butter 1/3 cup milk (a few drops more, if needed) 1/4 inch oil Method: Are you wearing a black shirt? You might want to switch it for a white one – this could get a little messy. First of all, there’s going to be white powder flying around everywhere when you whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Unless you choose a big enough bowl. After whisking furiously, add a lump of butter. There’s nothing better than a lump of butter. Unless you get grease stains on your shirt. Then, I suppose it won’t matter what color it is. Use a pastry cutter or fork to break the butter up …
Read More
Serves 4 Have ten minutes? Mix up a batch of Laxoox for breakfast tomorrow. This yeasty, tiny-bit-tangy flatbread is a lot like Injera. The people of Djibouti enjoy Laxoox for breakfast with butter and honey. In the evenings they use it to dip and scoop and enjoy all manner of stews and sauces. Sounds great to me. Ingredients: 2 cups all-purpose flour 1/4 cup wheat flour 1/4 cup millet flour (aacceptable substitutes include rice flour or sorghum flour) 1 1/2 tsp yeast 1 tsp salt 1 tsp sugar 2 1/2 cups water Method: Let’s go to Djibouti. First step? Add flour to a large bowl. Sprinkle on the yeast… A pretty dusting of sugar… .. and a happy scoop of salt.. If you squint a little, it almost looks like the arid mountains and sandy-scapes of Djibouti … yay! Now, here’s where things get crazy. Splash on some water. Give everything a good whisk. Cover and … a) refrigerate overnight b) let sit on the counter for a few hours It is ready when it looks …
Read More
Makes 2 Dozen This mildly sweet prune filling can easily be modified to suit your tastes – add more spices, thin it out with extra water… the options are endless. Ingredients: 12 oz prunes (or dried apricots) 1/2 cup water 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/2 cup sugar (or to taste) 1 batch Refrigerator Dough for Kolaches & Klobasneks Method: Roll up your sleeves and grab a 12 oz bag of prunes… Hello Mr. & Mrs. Newman! NOTE: If you don’t like the word prune, feel free to say “dried plums” – this always makes Mr Picky feel better. Otherwise he claims I’m trying to serve him “old lady” food. Place your “old lady” prunes, or hip “dried plums” in a small pot with water Cinnamon… And snow white sugar… Simmer uncovered for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, empty the dishwasher or write a thank you note. The prunes will get soft and start breaking apart. Help them along by pureeing with an immersion blender… Taste the puree and decide – more sugar? cinnamon? water? Adjust and then …
Read More
Serves 6 NOTE: Exact portion sizes depend on the dimensions you choose for the sausage. If you like Pigs in a Blanket, you’ll love this authentic snack from the Czech Republic. Be sure to use high quality sausage and you’ll be on cloud 9 in no time. Ingredients: 2 kielbasa sausages (about a pound each) 1 Refrigerator Dough for Czech Desserts & Snacks Method: Gather the Kielbasa – if you are using all the dough, you will probably need two packages like this one… This brand is a tad bit spicy and so goooood. Cut the sausage into desired portion sizes – I made mine about 2″ long and cut them in half since they were so wide. My goal was to make “finger food” for a party. If you’d rather serve these for a meal, cut them into 5″ portions and don’t slit them in half. Working with half the dough at a time, roll it out thinly. Cut into rectangles large enough to wrap around your sausage. Mr Picky tells me your life …
Read More
Makes 1 large batch of dough for… – 2 dozen Sweet Prune Buns/Kolaches (Slivkové Koláče) – a dozen Spicy Kielbasa Buns/Klobasneks/Klobasnikis (Klobásové Buchty) Refrigerator Dough takes the stress out of party prep work. This Czech recipe is slightly sweet and tender. According to LaVina Vanorny-Barcus, in My Czech Heritage Cookbook, there are four ways to shape this dough. The first three are for sweets, the last one is for savory, or Klobasneks. 1. Cut a square; add filling in the center, then bring the four corners together over the top of filling. Pinch to seal. Let rise and bake. 2. Cut a rectangle; spread with filling, then roll up like a cinnamon roll. Cut log into discs. Take discs and pinch the two sides to hide the filling. Bake. 3. Make small balls with dough. Let rise, then press the center down with thumb or fingers until it looks a bit like a doughnut. Fill indentation with filling, let rise again, and bake. 4. Cut a rectangle – spread with meat filling. Roll up and …
Read More
Makes 2-3 loaves The quickest way to a person’s heart is with homemade bread. The incredible flavor of this soft, doughy bread is unreal. I’ve been making bread for a long time (even wrote a hundred page thesis about Artisan bread baking in France), so that’s saying a lot. Great recipe – just make sure you start it a day ahead of when you need it! Special thanks to Kitchen Warfare for a detailed post on how to make this wonderful Cuban bread. Without their help, I would have been lost in making my adaptation! Ingredients: For the starter 1/2 tsp instant-dry yeast 1/4 cup cool water 1/4 cup all-purpose flour For the dough 1 cup cool water 1 1/2 tsp salt 1 1/2 tsp sugar 1 Tablespoon lard 1 1/2 tsp instant-dry yeast starter 31/2 -4 cups all-purpose flour Method: For the starter: Combine starter ingredients in a small bowl… Cover with saran wrap and place in a cool spot for about 12 hours. I usually do this right before bed. In the winter, …
Read More
