Lemon meringue cheese cake

Lots of excellence. Based on this recipe:

250 g digestive biscuits/biscuits sablés, crushed into crumbs
125 g melted butter
250 g unflavoured cream cheese
2 eggs, yolks and whites separated
1 400ml tin condensed milk
60 ml lemon juice
1 tbsp finely chopped lemon zest - don't worry if you have more than 60 ml or 1 tbsp respectively
125 g caster sugar - if you have regular sugar, it'll work too. Just throw it in a coffee grinder and it'll be fine

Preheat the oven to 190. Grease a 20-23 cm cake tin. Mix the biscuit crumbs and butter together to form your cake base, then press firmly into the bottom of the cake tin. Put in the fridge and chill for around 30 minutes.

While you're waiting for the base to firm up, beat together the cream cheese, egg yolks, condensed milk, lemon juice and lemon zest until good and smooth. Once the base is ready, add the cake filling into the cake tin and bake for around 15 minutes.

While the cake part is in the oven, whisk the egg whites until stiff, then add in the sugar little by little and keep whisking until the mixture is glossy. I highly recommend using a machine for this. Spoon this mixture over the cake, then return to the oven and bake for another 10 minutes or until the meringue mixture is golden. Leave to cool, then serve.

It was lovely. Very recommend.

Khachapuri (Georgian cheese bread)

So this was nice.

Something popped up my social media feed the other day, and I thought I would give it a try. The results, while not perfect, were very pleasing. This is not exactly authentic khachapuri, as it's somewhat difficult to get sulguni in Strasbourg. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the meal.

The original recipe was very quick and simple, but after a little bit of research, I found a recipe on the New York Times' website that suggests using fresh goat's cheese as part of the cheese substitute. I reckon the fragrance and taste of the goat's cheese would work well, so I would include that next time. Full disclosure: I also used a bread machine for the kneading, and probably added in too much flour. As my grandmother once told me, when asking her for quantities: put in just enough, but not too much. I am beginning to understand what she meant...

Anyway, here's non-Georgian Georgian-style khachapuri with sulguni substitute. The quantities quoted here should make about 4 big loaves (?):

Dough:
1 pack yeast
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
400–450 g flour
375 ml (1.5 cups) milk
3 tbsp olive oil or 100 g butter, left to soften and finely chopped

Filling and other stuff
2 x 100 g tubs cottage cheese, drained in a sieve
OR 1 x 100 g cottage cheese, drained, and 1 x 100 g goat's cheese, thinly chopped
1.5 x 125 g balls mozzarella, shredded or finely chopped
1.5 x 150 g slabs feta, crumbled
seasoning
1 egg per khachapuri (optional)
1 egg for the glaze, beaten, and mixed with 1 tsp water
Extra butter

Heat the milk to around 40 degrees C (lukewarm, maybe a bit more).

If using a bread machine, add the milk, salt, and sugar first, then oil, then flour (all 450 g of it), then yeast on top. Set to knead and let rise. When it has finished rising (at the end of the cycle), knock it back, then leave to rise for another 30 minutes or so.

If doing it by hand, add the yeast and half the sugar to half the warm milk, mix well, and leave for 10 minutes. Add the rest of the milk. Sift about 400 g flour into a bowl, make a well in the centre, then add in the yeast/milk mixture, remaining sugar, and the butter. Stir well until you have a firm ball of dough, then pour out onto a floured surface and knead for around 10 minutes. If needed, add some of the extra flour. When ready, put in a greased bowl, grease the dough by turning, copy with a tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place for around 60–90 minutes, until doubled in size. Knock back and leave to rise again, another 30–40 minutes.

While the dough is proving, mix the cheeses. Put all the shredded cheese in a bowl and mix. Season to taste.

Preheat your oven to 230 degrees C. Take out your dough, divide it into 4 pieces, then roll out into circles approximately 20 cm in diameter. Roll opposite sides in towards the centre, forming a boat shape. Put the dough on a baking tray with baking paper, spoon in the cheese (don't be shy), then twist the ends. Brush with the egg glaze, then put in the oven for 15 minutes or so.

After 15 minutes, take out, make a well in the cheese, and crack an egg in the middle of each khachapuri (if desired), and add a bit of butter to the top of each khachapuri. Return to the oven and cook for another 5-8 minutes, depending on your oven. The white should be runny but cooked.

When ready, remove from the oven, gently mix the egg into the cheese, and serve immediately.

Kasukas, AKA "Fur coat salad"

This is another recipe from my mother-in-law, and another one where, like monkey gland sauce, you shouldn't mind the name. Use only the finest fur coats in your salad. Since it's Estonian, you should probably use bear or fox fur. It gives it a real Baltic taste.

This makes plenty. It's worth the effort, trust me...

2–3 potatoes, boiled and grated
3 large carrots, boiled and grated
2 big apples, grated
5 eggs, hard boiled. After boiling, keep the yolks and the whites separate. Chop the whites up finely.
2–3 pickled herring fillets (I find the German variant to be a bit sweet for my liking, so if you can, use a Baltic brand), finely chopped
1 or 2 smallish onions
400 g beetroot, boiled and grated
300–400 g mayonnaise
300–400 g sour cream

This is a layered salad, but it might be a bit bland, so read to the end of the recipe. The order is as follows:

Grated potato, mayo, herring, sour cream, onion, mayo, egg whites, sour cream, carrot, mayo, apple, sour cream, beetroot, sour cream, in that order. You can leave out one or two layers of mayo or sour cream, but make sure to add one or the other on top.

Add seasoning between some layers, and leave to sit in the fridge overnight. Before serving, crumble the egg yolks over the top. Enjoy.

Estonian meat pies

This fantastic recipe is courtesy of my mother-in-law. Traditionally eaten at Christmas time, these are lovely and wonderful. The quantities quoted here make about 60–70 pies, depending on the size of your glasses, so you can freeze some and save them for later in the year.

500 g pork belly or other cut, must be somewhat fatty
500 ml–1l chicken stock
Onion to taste, diced
1/2 white rice (optional)
2 eggs, hard-boiled, peeled and diced
500 ml milk
50 g or so butter
1–2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1.5 kg flour
Yeast (ratio based on the liquid)
Raw egg to coat

Meat filling:
Cook the rice as per directions on the packaging. In a large pot, cook the meat at a low temperature for about 1-2 hours in the stock (depending on the size of the piece of meat and the pot, you may need extra stock). When ready, remove the meat from the pot, but don't throw out the juices. Put the meat and onions in a meat mincer and mince. Season with salt and pepper, and, if the mixture is too dry, add some of the juices from the pot. Mix in the egg and as much of the rice as needed. Leave to cool for a while, or overnight in the fridge.

Pastry:
Gently heat the milk (don't let it boil) and add the butter, salt and sugar. Mix the yeast in with a bit of the flour, then sieve the entire flour/yeast mixture, then the rest of the flour, into the milk mixture, until quite thick. Mix thoroughly, then leave to rise in a warm place for a while with a tea towel over the top. Once risen, knock it back and leave to rise once more.

To make the pies, roll out the pastry, take about 3/4 of a tablespoon's worth of the filling, and place it about 2/3 of a glass's width from the edge of the pastry. Place a row of the filling on the pastry, then fold the edge over and cut out the pies and place on a baking tray. Once you've filled a tray, paint with the egg for colour, then bake at 180 degrees for about 20 minutes or so. You may want to turn the tray halfway through.

Repeat as necessary. Add in your own ingredients as desired.

Smoked mackerel kedgeree

A slightly different breakfast dish, but this could be good for almost any meal. Despite the list of ingredients, it's very quick, easy and cheap to make. It shouldn't be too spicy - the main taste is the mackerel - so don't overdo the chilli. I based my version on this one from BBC Good Food, but I've made adaptations where necessary.

Should serve 2-3

1/2 cup basmati rice
2-3 thin smoked mackerel fillets
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
3-4 curry leaves (optional)
1-2 onion, diced
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
chilli to taste, finely diced
1 carrot, speed-peeled or thinly sliced
1/2 leek, thinly sliced
1/2 small bunch coriander, roughly chopped
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp curry powder
100 g frozen peas, cooked
knob of butter
4 boiled eggs (I put mine in the cold water in the pot and then boiled them for 3.30 and they were perfect, but you do you)
1 lime, juice

To prep: boil and peel your eggs, cook your peas and put them to one side, cook the basmati rice as per directions, and haul out your wok.

Place the mackerel fillets in a bowl and cover with boiling water. I suppose you'll cover it with around 200-400 ml of boiling water. Let to sit for a while.

Stir-fry the mustard seeds, corianders seeds, curry leaves, onion, garlic, and chilli for a couple of minutes, then add the carrot, leek, coriander and bay leaf. Cook for around 8 minutes.

Add in the rice, pour in about half the water from the fish, and stir very well. Add in the turmeric, curry powder, peas and butter, stir well, and cook for another few minutes.

Peel one egg, stir it in, then add the lime juice. Serve with the remaining eggs and with yoghurt if so desired.

Baked eggs with tomato sauce and spinach

I've been using a lovely tomato sauce recipe I discovered recently for a bunch of different stuff. It is very nice. This time, I've used it for baked eggs. Although I made it in one casserole dish this morning, it works better if you have small single-portion pots that you can cook the eggs in.

Serves about 4

2 onions, thinly diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 red peppers, diced
1 chilli (or to taste), finely diced
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp Provencal spice
2 x 400 g tins diced tomatoes
200 g spinach, stalks removed and roughly chopped
Salt and pepper
6 eggs (in small pots) or 4 eggs (in a casserole dish)
crusty bread to serve

Heat the oven to 180 degrees. Fry the onions, garlic, peppers, and chilli until the onion is translucent. Add the wine vinegar, mix in, and then add the sugar, Provencal spice, and tomatoes. Simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. While you wait, put the spinach in a colander and pour boiling water over it to wilt it. When it has cooled down, squeeze out excess water and, when the tomato sauce is done, add to the tomato sauce and then spoon into the pots or casserole dish. Make a small hole, or put a spoon in the tomato mix in a pot so that the is a bit of a depression in the sauce. Crack an egg on top of the spoon, then push down so that the egg sinks in to the mixture a bit, and then remove. Do this for all the eggs. Shove the pots in the oven, and cook for about 15-20 minutes. Be careful if you're cooking in a casserole dish, as you'll need to cook for longer. It might be a good idea to heat the oven to 140 or so and cook for about 20-25 minutes. In any event, it'll be nice.

Serve with bread, and enjoy. The tomato sauce rocks.

Eggs Benedict (with hollandaise sauce [of course])

I recently discovered that recipes (lists of ingredients) are not protected by intellectual property laws. Nevertheless, I feel that someone else's work should be credited. So, this comes from Jamie Oliver's video on how to make several different kinds of eggs Benedict, with some reference to Gordon Ramsay's recipes. Still, it's pretty straightforward, despite the scary reputation. Go wild.

Ingredients:
Hollandaise sauce:
Should provide enough for 4-6 eggs, depending:
2-3 egg yolks
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
200-250 g butter
1 tsp tarragon

Poached eggs and toppings:
1-2 eggs per person (up to 6), cracked into little bowls or corning dishes or something. You can also add the remaining egg white from the hollandaise sauce to bulk up the eggs
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 baguette
Ham of sorts, preferably Black Forest or Kessler

Also:
Small pot (1 l or so
Large pot (3 l or so)
Thermos
Electric whisk

Melt the butter before you get started. Bring some water to simmer in a small pot and add the egg yolks, the tarragon and the 1 tbsp of vinegar to a heatproof bowl, then put the bowl on top of the pot (it needs to create a tight seal). If you have an electric whisk (big bell whisk needed), use this, otherwise you can use a handheld whisk - enjoy the workout. Also, pour boiling water into your thermos to heat it up.

Now comes the challenging part: turn the heat down. Beat the egg yolks while slowly adding the melted butter. It needs to be slow, as otherwise it will separate. Keep adding the butter until it's all in, while constantly beating the mixture. If the mixture separates, add a bit of water and beat it in. Keep beating the mixture over the simmering water for about 5 minutes or so until it has thickened. When ready, pour the hollandaise sauce into the thermos to keep it warm (thanks, Jamie!).

Toast the bread. Traditionally, it should be served on a toasting muffin, but a baguette worked wonderfully well. Don't over-toast it, though. While it's toasting, bring about 2 l of water to the boil in the larger pot, lower the heat to a simmer, and add about 2 tbsp of white wine vinegar. Stir the water and then drop in the eggs (alternatively, you can lower in the eggs in a ladle. This works if you want to poach more than one egg at a time). Cook for about 2 1/2 to 3 minutes and then remove from the water with a slotted spoon.

While the eggs are cooking, put a bit of the hollandaise sauce on the toasted baguette/muffin/bread, then put a slice of ham or whatever your topping of choice is on the bread. Put the cooked egg on top of the ham, then pour the sauce over the top. Enjoy.

Very tasty. It's breakfast, so you need some coffee too.

Jamie Oliver's butternut muffins

'Tis the season for squash and other autumnal vegetables. I personally am a huge fan of butternut. It is far tastier than pumpkin in general. Still, at the moment we have a bit of a glut at home. So I made these. They were very nice.

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:

200 g butternut (no need to peel), cut into chunks
175 g sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
150 g flour
pinch of salt
1 tbsp baking powder
2 eggs
handful of nuts (walnuts or pecans for preference)
5 tbsp olive oil
Icing:
70 g sour cream (or more)
1 tbsp icing sugar
1 vanilla pod OR 1 tsp vanilla
lemon zest
seasonal berries or something from the shop

Heat the oven to 180 degrees. Throw the butternut into a food processor and cut it up into very little bits. Once it's done, add the sugar, cinnamon, flour, salt, baking powder, eggs, nuts, and olive oil to the food processor with the butternut and switch it on again. Line a muffin tray with paper baking cups, then pour the mixture into the cups (each about 2/3 to 3/4 full). Shove in the oven and bake for about 25 minutes. When they're done, take them out and leave them to cool for a bit. Mix the sour cream, icing sugar, vanilla and lemon zest together. When cool enough, ice the muffins (adding berries on top of some if you so wish) and leave the icing to set. Enjoy.

Pepper steak pie

A lovely South African specialty. I've adapted a couple of other recipes I found online, and added some of my own ideas. Enjoy.

Ingredients:

1kg stewing beef, diced (I used rump meat)
1/2 cup or so flour seasoned with salt, pepper and cayenne
1-2 red peppers, chopped small
2-3 onions, chopped small
3 or 4 cloves of garlic, minced
2-3 chillies or to taste (everything is better with chilli)
Splash or 3 of brandy
1 1/2 cups beer (ale is good, but lager works as well)
1 cup beef/chicken stock
1 400g tin chopped tomatoes
Finely chopped thyme to taste (but around 1 tbsp)
1-2 tbsp freshly ground peppercorns (or to taste)

500-800 g pre-made puff pastry (or make your own)
flour
1 egg, beaten
1 round pie dish, around 25 cm or so in diameter usually works

Coat the beef in the flour mixture. Brown in a large pot (cast-iron works best), then add in the onions, garlic, chillies, and red peppers. Add the brandy to deglaze the pot, then add the beer, stock, tomatoes, thyme and pepper. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for about 60-90 minutes or until the meat is good and tender (depends on the cut of meat you've using, really). If necessary, add more liquid (stock works, although you could sacrifice some beer). Also if necessary, add in corn starch or flour to soak up excess liquid. You need to keep an eye on the filling in any event.

While this is cooking, heat your oven to 180 or so and roll out the pastry. It's up to you whether you want both a bottom layer and a lid, but the lid is kind of essential, so if you're lacking pastry, make sure you have enough for the lid. In any event, grease the pie dish, add a layer of pastry to the pie (if desired), then, once the filling is ready, add in the filling. Don't overfill the pie, though. Brush the edge of the lid with the beaten egg, put the lid on top, and seal the pastry around the edges. Brush the remainder of the egg over the top of the pie. Cut a cross in the middle of the pie to allow steam to escape.

Shove it in the oven for about 20-25 minutes or until the pastry is crisp and golden. Serve and enjoy.

Top tip: the filling can be frozen, so if you don't use it all, shove in the freezer for later.

Homemade Bibimbap

We've got a Korean place around the corner from us, Gotsu, which is fantastic, but it's only open from 12.00 to 20.00, Monday to Friday, and only during the academic year. They make an awesome bibimbap though. I finally hunted down gochujang (Korean chilli paste) and I intend to use it all. Lots of bibimbap coming up. This is adapted from a recipe I found here, but do be careful about saltiness. The first batch I made was a touch on the saline side.

Ingredients (supposedly feeds 3):

Meat:
100g mince
0.5 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp sugar
1-2 cloves minced garlic (or to taste)

Vegetables and rice: Use your best judgement
250g spinach (or other leafy vegetable)
Handful or 2 of bean sprouts
100g mushrooms thinly sliced
1-2 carrots, thinly sliced
Steamed rice (or, as I used, basmati)
4 eggs
Seaweed salad (Korean if you can, or goma wakame if you can't)

Chilli sauce:
2 tbsp (or more) gochujang
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tbsp water
1/2 tsp vinegar
1-2 cloves minced garlic

Cook the rice early on. Mix the meat and marinade ingredients together and leave for about 30 min. Mix the sauce ingredients. Stir-fry the carrots and mushrooms for about 3-5 minutes, or until browned and cooked. Cook the meat for 3-5 minutes until cooked through. Fry an egg per person, soft yolks (recommended). Add rice to a bowl, then sauce, then meat, mushrooms, carrots, beansprouts, spinach, seaweed salad, and finally egg on top. Mix together and enjoy.

The best thing about this dish is that you can add whatever you want. It's a good way to use up leftover veg in the fridge. I've had it with cucumber, little radishes, and courgette. Basically, use your imagination.

Goulash

Something from a while back. Very rich, very filling, very good.

Ingredients:

500 g stewing beef, cut up into 1 cm cubes
50 g oil
100 g onion
5 tsp paprika
1 chilli (or to taste)
2 litres water
2-3 potatoes
1.5 tsp salt
2 carrots
Parsley to taste (although I left this out and replaced it with celery)
1 tsp caraway (also known as fennel or cumin, I guess, or harilik köömen)
25 ml thick cream
For the dumplings:
1 egg
150 g flour

1) Dice onions and fry until soft.
2) Add 1 tsp paprika and the chilli.
3) Add beef, mix well, then add carrot, parsley/celery, cream and caraway seeds. As the mixture cooks, top up with water if it dries out.
4) Once the beef has cooked, cover with water and add diced potatoes and salt. Cook until soft.
5) Once potatoes are ready, mix the egg and flour together, break off small pieces to make dumplings, and boil the pastry until ready.

Coffee Porter Beer Chocolate Cake

Courtesy of LP: Eesti Päevaleht

This is delicious, rich, and should be enjoyed in moderation. You have been warned.

Ingredients:

Cake:
200 ml dark beer (coffee porter, if available)
50 g unsweetened cocoa powder
110 g butter, room temperature
250 g brown sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
175 g flour
0,5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda

Icing:
200 g dark chocolate
180 g icing sugar
90 g butter, room temperature
4 tbsp dark beer

Preheat oven to 180 Celsius. Mix beer and cocoa for cake into paste. Chop up butter and beat together with sugar. Mix in eggs one at a time. Add beer/cocoa mixture. In a separate bowl, sieve flour together with baking powder and soda, then add bit by bit to sugar and beer mixture. Pour into 24/25/26 cm baking pan covered with baking paper at bottom. Bake for 30-35 min. When ready, take out and leave to cool.

While it is baking, melt dark chocolate. Beat together sugar and butter, and then add beer. Mix in dark chocolate. Cover cake with icing mixture, then leave to cool/set for about an hour.

Eat with ice cream or whipped cream.

Chocolate Brownies

First and last recipe I'll ever use. Slight adaptation from that used on the BBC Good Food website, but pretty good anyway.

Makes lots.

You need:

185g butter
185g dark chocolate
40g cocoa powder
85g plain flour
275g caster sugar
3 eggs
100g milk chocolate

Preheat the oven to about 170C. Melt the butter and dark chocolate together in a bowl over a low heat. Leave to cool to room temperature. Chop the milk chocolate up into little itty bits. Sift the flour and cocoa powder together into a separate bowl somewhere. In another, biggerer bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together until it looks like a milkshake. Once done, fold in the chocolate and butter mix, then, once that's done, do the same with the flour and cocoa. Finally, mix in the chocolate chunks. Bake for about 25-35 min in a shallow dish (I used a 25x35cm dish with baking paper underneath, worked a treat). Check with a toothpick. If it comes out dirty, put it back in for 5 minutes at a time. It should be juicy, and the top should be crispy and look like paper and the like.

Very nice...

Banana Bread

I like banana-based desserts, for some reason. Here is a banana bread recipe I kind of patched together which worked wonderfully well. Enjoy.

You will need:

4 overripe bananas (should be about 400 ml when mashed) + 85 ml milk + 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
OR
5-6 overripe bananas (should be about 550 ml when mashed), no milk
285 g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup castor sugar
1/4 cup brown/muscovado sugar
110 g butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs

Preheat oven to about 180 degrees. Grease a bread tin, about 20cm x 12.5 cm. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together, in a smaller bowl. In a separate, larger bowl, cream the sugar and butter, then mix in together with the eggs, mashed bananas, vanilla extract, and cinnamon (and milk mixture, if you're using it). Fold the flour mixture into the banana/egg/sugary mixture, then pour into the bread tin. Shove in the oven for about 1 hour 15 minutes, or until golden brown and baked through (poke with a toothpick or something thin - if it comes out clean, your loaf is ready). Take it out, put to one side to cool down for 15-20 minutes, then remove from the tin carefully and leave to cool on a rack. Serve buttered and delicious.

Enjoy.

Bobotie

For those of you who are not of Seffrican descent, bobotie is/was the official dish of South Africa, much as the croissant is of France and crappy everything is of the UK. This is a relatively easy dish to make, unlike anything from France, and tastes really good, unlike anything from the UK. If you can get your hands on it, it goes best with Mrs HS Balls's chutney. If you can't, make your own, or find some in a supermarket. Can't help you there yet, but when I do, I'll let you know.

2 slices white bread (save up your stale offcuts, they work much better than fresh bread)

2 onions, diced

25g butter

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1kg packet lean minced beef

2 tbsp curry paste

3 cloves

1tsp mixed herbs

1 tbsp allspice (this I got from the original recipe I used. I didn't know what it was, and if you're as ignorant as I was, it's a very common spice in Caribbean cuisine)

2 tbsp peach or mango chutney

3 tbsp raisins

6 bay leaves

300ml (full cream if possible) milk

2 large eggs

Heat oven to 180C. Soak the bread in cold water while doing the other stuff.

Fry the onions in the butter. Add the garlic and beef and brown the beef. Stir in the curry paste, mixed herbs, spices, chutney, raisins and 2 of the bay leaves with 1 tsp salt and plenty of ground black pepper.

Cover and simmer for 10 mins. Squeeze the water from the bread, then beat into the meat mixture until well blended. Tip into an oval ovenproof dish - about 23 x 33cm and about 5-6cm deep. Press the mixture down well and smooth the top.

For the topping, beat the milk and eggs with seasoning, then pour over the meat. Top with the remaining bay leaves and bake for 35-40 mins until the topping is set and starting to turn golden.

The topping is rather very important. If it ain't there, you're doing it wrong.

Serve it with yellow rice: shove 1 1/2 cups of rice into a pot with water according to directions, along with 1/2 a cinnamon stick, 5 tbsp of raisins and 1 tsp of turmeric. If you want to be fancy, put some cardamon in as well.


This is an adaptation of a BBC recipe - who would have known the Brits could make good Saffer food?