Author: marina

• ¾ cup butter, room temperature
• ½ cup white sugar
• ⅔ cup brown sugar
• 1 tbsp. blackstrap molasses
• 2 cups flour
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 large egg
• ⅔ cup chocolate chips
• 100 g dark chocolate (~70%), chopped into chunks

First prepare the dry ingredient groups together.

Mix both sugars in a bowl and set aside.

Mix flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl and set aside.

Take a large bowl and beat the butter in it on low speed for 3 minutes. Do not over-beat as it will make the resulting cookie too flat.

Add the sugar mixture and beat for 3 more minutes, on low speed.

Add the molasses and beat for 30 seconds, until just incorporated.

Add flour mixture in batches and mix on low speed until just incorporated. If you add all the flour at once, it gets messy, so do about 1/4 at a time.

Add the egg and again mix on low until just incorporated.

Finally add all the chocolate chips and chunks and mix until incorporated.

Scoop up all the batter from the walls of the bowl into the middle and put in a fridge to rest for 20-25 minutes. Do not leave it there for longer as it will harden too much and become difficult to bake properly.

Once rested, scoop up about a spoon worth of batter, shape it into a sphere with your hands and place on a tray. Leave lots of room around each cookie as they flatten quite a bit while baking. Arrange in a checkered pattern for best space usage and airflow.

Bake at 325 ºF for 14 min. Smaller cookies may be ready 2 minutes sooner. Remove from baking tray immediately to avoid over-baking. Let cool slightly before serving.

Source: https://www.pannacooking.com/recipes/chocolate-chunk-and-chip-cookies

• 300 g milk chocolate
• 120 g butter
• 4 eggs
• 2 tbsp. sugar
• 100 ml raspberry wine

Melt chocolate with butter (either in the microwave or in a double boiler). Mix well and cool slightly. Add wine, mix thoroughly. Beat the egg whites with a spoonful of sugar to hard peaks. Beat the yolks with another spoonful of sugar until very light yellow in colour. Add the yolks to the chocolate mixture and mix well with a spoon. Then gently fold the egg whites into the mixture. Pour the resulting cream into single serving bowls and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Prior to serving, decorate with nuts, condensed milk, dark chocolate syrup, fresh berries or anything else according to your taste.

Notes:
The appeal of the dish is two-fold: the taste and the texture.

The taste depends primarily on the chocolate you choose. Don’t just get any chocolate available, get the one you actually enjoy on its own. Milk chocolate is preferred, but you can experiment with white or dark varieties, or mix several kinds together. You may want to put more butter in if using dark chocolate.

The texture on the other hand is due to the beaten eggs. It is crucial to get them to hard peaks with a blender and then very gently (very gently!) fold them in with a spoon. If you use a blender to fold them in, or otherwise fold them incorrectly, you will destroy the bubbles and will not achieve the fluffy texture that the dish should have.

The recipe also turns out reasonably well if yolks are omitted, although including them adds flavour and improves texture making it easier to fold the egg whites at the end.

• 9-10 egg yolk
• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 1 l heavy cream
• vanilla bean
• sugar, to taste, for topping
• optional: nuts, fruit, for topping

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (150 degrees C). Prepare individual serving dishes (ramekins) and a large baking dish. The baking dish can be anything that is oven safe, fits all your ramekins and is at least 2/3 the height of serving dishes.

Pour cream into a saucepan, add the vanilla bean and stir over low heat or in a microwave until it almost comes to boil. Remove the cream from heat immediately.

Beat egg yolks, sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl until thick and creamy.

Pour a little of the hot cream into the egg yolk mixture and whisk briskly, then pour the cream/yolk mixture into the rest of the cream and whisk. Remove the vanilla bean. If adding any other flavouring, now is the time to do that.

Thick white foam usually forms on top of the mixture. Carefully spoon it out as it would simply burn if left on while baking.

Pour the hot mixture into ramekins and place in a baking dish. If any large bubbles form on the surface as a result of pouring, you can use a torch to quickly put them out. Like foam, they may burn in the oven if left on. Set the dish with the ramekins in it on your oven shelf, then pour hot water in the dish so the water comes halfway up the sides of the ramekins.

Bake in preheated oven for 15-30 minutes. They are done when you shake the dish gently and the brulees jiggle just slightly in the middle, like gelatine. Remove from oven and cool.

Just before serving, sprinkle the tops with white or brown granulated sugar (about 1 spoon per dish). Place under broiler till caramelized or use a propane torch to burn the tops. Cover with nuts of your choice if desired. Serve immediately.

•  protein, any kind of meat
• oil: olive or butter
• aromatics: onion, garlic, shallots, carrot
• wine
• flour
• herbs
• liquid: cream or broth
• cheese

Fry the meat in the pan, remove and proceed to make sauce. Do not wash the pan – the fats from the meat add flavour.

Use butter for French type flavour, olive oil for Italian.

First, brown the aromatics.

Add garlic only once other aromatics have browned. If garlic is over-roasted, it becomes bitter.

Deglaze with wine and let the sauce reduce for a few minutes.

“Deglazing” is the process of using wine, stock or other liquid to clean and scrape the bottom of the pan during the cooking process.

Add a little more fat (olive oil or butter) and once incorporated, add a little flour. Let it incorporate and brown a bit.

Add volumizing liquid, such as cream, milk, broth. Reduce until desired consistency is reached.

Add cheese if desired. Season to taste.

Seasoning: Learn to correct by understanding what flavors cancel one another out. Too salty? Add some volume, acid, fat or sweetness. Too spicy? Add some fat. Too bland? Add some salt. Sauces are very forgiving, you’ll just end up with more sauce. Need some acid? Add a little lemon juice. Need some sweetness? Try molasses or honey.

Add the meat back to the pan.

If serving with pasta, dump it in the pan to incorporate the flavour.

Serve!

Кухонные принадлежности:

1 большая кастрюля (на 5-6 л)
1 маленькая кастрюлька
2 сковородки (большая и маленькая)

Время приготовления:

2 – 2.5 часа

Продукты:

500 – 800 г (1 1/2 фунта) косточка c небольшим количеством мяса (свинина, курятина, индюшатина)
1 свекла
2 стол. ложки томатной пасты или пюре
2 – 3 картофелины
1 миска нашинкованной капусты (обычно четверть головки)
1 морковь
1 – 2 луковицы
1 красный сладкий перец
50 г подсолнечного (кукурузного) масла
50 г сливочного масла
1 столовая ложка уксуса
1 столовая ложка соли
1 столовая ложка сахара
1 столовая ложка муки
полпучка укропа
полпучка петрушки
1 банка консервированной фасоли (300 – 400 г)
50 г сала
2-3 столовых ложки сметаны
1-2 столовых ложки сливок
3 – 5 зубчика чеснока
3 – 5 лавровых листа
горький чёрный перец по вкусу (1-2 чайные ложечки)
жгучий красный перец по вкусу (половина чайной ложечки)

Технология приготовления:

Мясо промыть в проточной воде, залить холодной водой (чтобы вместе с мясом было 2/3 кастрюли) и довести до кипения. Собрать пенку, посолить и дать покипеть 1.5 часа (2 часа для свинины).

Пока варится мясо, нарезать соломкой свеклу, выложить в маленькую кастрюльку, добавить томатную пасту, сахар, уксус, жир с бульоном (полстакана). Всё перемешать, довести до кипения, тушить на очень слабом огне 20-30 мин. (до мягкости), периодически помешивая.

Нарезать соломкой морковь, полукольцами – лук. Слегка поджарить лук на подсолнечном масле в большой сковородке на среднем огне до появления золотистого цвета, затем добавить морковь и тушить 3 – 5 минут, не пережаривая. Пока овощи жарятся, нарезать полукольцами сладкий красный перец. Когда лук и морковь уже готовы, добавить к ним сладкий перец, помешать всё вместе и выложить на тарелку. Сковородку помыть.
В маленькой сковородке разогреть сливочное масло, добавить ложку муки, поджарить, всё время помешивая. Как только мука станет темнеть, сковородку снять с огня и добавить, хорошо помешивая, полстакана кипящего бульона из кастрюли.

Порезать дольками картофель. Нашинковать соломкой капусту. Мелко порубить зелень, чеснок. Смешать сметану со сливками.

Когда бульон готов, мясо вытащить. В кипящий бульон положить картофель. Когда закипит, добавить капусту. Через 15 мин после закипания добавить овощи с тарелки, банку фасоли и тушёную свеклу, лавровый лист, жгучий красный и чёрный перец, заправку из муки. Рубленую зелень с чесноком и тёртым салом истолочь в ступке до получения однородной массы, добавить в кастрюлю и размешать. После закипания добавить смесь сметаны со сливками, помешивая. Как только закипит, выключить огонь и дать постоять на горячей плите около 10 минут.

Перед подачей на стол добавить в каждую тарелку по кусочку варёного мяса, ложку сметаны, и можно посыпать свежей зеленью. Очень вкусно подавать с пампушками с чесноком.

Очень простой рецепт пампушек

Багет (или белые булочки) порезать на кусочки толщиной 2 – 3 см. В глубокой миске приготовить смесь из толчёного чеснока (1 чайная ложка), соли (1/4 чайной ложки), подсолнечного масла (около 50 г.) и тёплой воды (около 100 г). Подогреть кусочки багета в духовке и высыпать в миску с подготовленной смесью, накрыть крышкой, потрясти, дать постоять пару минут и наслаждаться божественным вкусом и ароматом.

• 1 cabbage
• 1 carrot
• 2 cups hot water
• 2 tbsp. salt
• 3 onion
• 3 tbsp. sunflower oil

Cut the cabbage into thin long slices, mix with grated carrot. Tightly pack into a large container and pour hot water mix with salt over it. After a few seconds, hot water will soften the cabbage somewhat and allow to pack it even tighter. Add more hot water and salt mixture until all cabbage fits tightly in the container and is covered in water. It has to be packed as tightly as you can get it.

You may cover the container, but do not seal it. Bubbles will form inside the salad as it gets ready and some of the juice will leak out. Prepare for this by placing the container over a plate or similar to avoid leakage onto the surface of the table or wherever you keep it.

Let it sit at room temperature for about 3 days or until ready (should be sour and crispy). After that, use a tight cover and keep in the refrigerator. If properly prepared, can be stored in the fridge for months.

Serve mixed with thinly sliced onions and flavourful sunflower oil.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 pounds Italian eggplants (about 2small-to-medium eggplants*)
• 2 medium cloves of garlic, pressed or minced
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice, more if necessary
• ¼ cup tahini
• ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing the eggplant and garnish
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, plus extra for garnish
• ¾ teaspoon salt, to taste
• ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
• Pinch of smoked paprika, for garnish
• Serving suggestions: warmed or toasted pita wedges, carrot sticks, bell pepper strips, cucumber slices, etc.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit with a rack in the upper third of the oven. Prepare a large, rimmed baking. Halve the eggplants lengthwise and brush the cut sides lightly with olive oil. Place them in the prepared pan with the halved sides down.
2. Roast the eggplant until the interior is very tender throughout and the skin is collapsing, about 30 to 40 minutes (this might take longer if you are using 1 large eggplant). Set the eggplant aside to cool for a few minutes. Flip the eggplants over and scoop out the flesh with a large spoon, leaving the skin behind.
3. Optionally leave the eggplant flesh to drain in a strainer. Smaller eggplants tend to lose moisture quicker and may not need straining.
4. Add the garlic and lemon juice to the eggplant and stir vigorously with a fork until eggplant breaks down. Add the tahini to the bowl and stir until it’s incorporated. While stirring, slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Continue stirring until the mixture is pale and creamy, and use your fork to break up any particularly long strings of eggplant.
5. Stir in the parsley, salt and cumin. Season to taste with more salt (I usually add another ¼ teaspoon) and more lemon juice, if you’d like a more tart flavor.
6. Transfer the baba ganoush to a serving bowl and lightly drizzle olive oil on top. Lastly, sprinkle parsley and smoked paprika on top. Serve with accompaniments of your choice. It’s also great on sandwiches!

Adapted from https://cookieandkate.com/epic-baba-ganoush-recipe/