The Famous Norwegian Boller

Tags

Baking with kids, buns, cardamom, Norway, Norwegian, sweet

My Norwegian buddy spoke to me about a little bun which is one of the most traditional  and beloved snacks of Norway. Much like the croissant is to France, the boller, or bolle, is to Norway. They are eaten for breakfast, lunch, tea, snack and dessert. They are a milk-based bread, not overly sweet and with just a hint of cardamom. I just LOVE cardamom, such an exotically fragrant spice. They come with or without raisins, although from all the recipes I’ve read, you must be crazy not to want the raisins in them. Baked fresh daily in all bakeries, available in grocery stores and, apparently, even in gas stations. Sadly, only in Norway. Or you can make your own, as Charlotte and Emma did. I wanted to surprise my Norwegian buddy, so rather than ask him for a recipe, I did some research and landed on Mor’s boller by fiveandspice.

Makes about 12-14

• 2 1/2cups warm whole milk (about 100 degrees F)
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cardamom
• 5 1/2cups of all purpose flour (I use unbleached)
• 1/2 cup raisins (this is optional, but recommended) *I soaked the raisins in some warm water until ready to use.
• 1egg white, for an egg wash

In a large bowl mix together warm milk, melted butter, sugar and yeast.

Remember to check that the milk is around 100 degrees F.

Let stand 10 minutes, until yeast is good and foamy.

In the meantime I had the girls remove the cardamom seeds from their pods. You could buy already ground cardamom but I like to grind them myself for the freshest taste possible.

Stir in the salt and cardamom. Begin to stir in the flour, one cup at a time, stirring until incorporated. Stir in the raisins, drained of their liquid.

The dough should be pretty sticky, making it difficult to handle, but this is key to getting a properly soft and pillowy texture in the buns. Cover the bowl with a cloth and allow to rise in a warm place for about 1 hour, until about doubled in size.  

Grease 2 cookie sheets. Punch down the dough, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it briefly, a couple of minutes.

Break off pieces of dough and form into balls slightly bigger than golf balls. Place them on cookie sheets. The recipe says it will make 12 to 14 buns; we were able to make 24.

Cover and let rise somewhere warm for 30 to 45 minutes. We let ours rise for 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350F. Brush the buns with the egg white. Bake for 20 minutes, until golden brown on top. Allow to cool on cookie sheet before you dive in.

The enticing aroma that wafted through the kitchen as these little buns were baking had the girls running into the kitchen, asking if they were ready. As I took them out of the oven, they again came running, begging for a taste. How I managed to hold them back for 15 minutes while they cooled was a task in itself. When the time came, we pried them open to release their fragrance and took a bite. Still warm, soft and chewy, a slight touch of sweetness…and then the cardamom. You don’t taste it at first. And then suddenly it’s there, lingering at the back of your throat. Just perfect! Emma had the brilliant idea of slathering on some butter. Oh my word! Even better!

The next morning I cut one in half, popped it into the toaster and spread some butter on top. Crunchy, with the cardamom hitting you full on this time. Amazing!

My Norwegian buddy suggested I try one with Jarlsberg, a deliciously mild, buttery and nutty cheese from Norway. So I did. Oh, could this get any better?

So, now that I had eaten one for breakfast, snack and lunch, all that was left was having one for dessert. So I chopped up some chunks of dark chocolate and stuffed them into a toasted boller. Oh sweet heaven!

This Holiday Season, Give Books!

Tags

christmas, cookbooks, gifts

You already know about my love of food. But do you know about my passion for books? I love them!  Call me old-fashioned but I just can’t do the whole kobo/e-reader/electronic gadget thing.  I’ve tried. But part of my love of books are the books themselves, you know?  Holding them in my hands, the feel of the paper, their smell, especially in a second-hand bookstore. I could spend hours perusing through a bookstore. Weekly. And after I’m done with my treasures, I can display them on my wall-to-wall, ceiling-to-floor bookshelf that Peter built for me. Just knowing that they’re there is comforting. I walk into the room and catch a title that fits my mood and grab it, losing myself for hours. Or I can take a quick peek at them every now and then, just because I can. And I could even read them again years later! Over and over if I want to.

Ditto with cookbooks. I can sit in my bed at night and just read them. If you’re wondering what to give the foodie in your life, take a look at some of the delicious books I would just love to have on my bookshelf.

For the Smitten Kitchen blog lover… Proof that you can be a self-taught home cook, start a food blog and end up with a published cookbook! Just in case anyone out there might be considering this as a gift for me…I’ve already received it as a B-day present!

For the baker in your life… From the celebrated San Francisco bakery, Tartine, comes the box set of two of the most gorgeous, celebrated, and bestselling baking books of the past five years. I would just LOVE getting these!

For the blood thirsty fan of the HBO series True Blood (of which I am a huge one!)… From Bon Temps, Louisiana, come the recipes featured on the menus of both Merlotte’s Bar & Grill, which will appeal to us humans, and from Fangtasia, for all the blood-sucking vamps out there.

For the meat eater or vegetarian in your life…Vibrant vegetable recipes from London’s famous Ottolenghi restaurant. Yotam Ottolenghi is followed by foodies all over the world through his weekly New Vegetarian food column in The Guardian. Ispired from his Mediterranean background and the diverse food cultures of London, this book is a true delight for both readers and eaters! That would be me.

Also from Ottolenghi is a cookbook he co-wrote with his business partner Sami Tamimi. Jerusalem features the foods of their home city. Ottolenghi was born and raised in the Jewish west, while Tamimi on the Arab east side. Both share their food memories of this city, whose culinary influences come from a mix of Muslim, Jewish, Arab, Christian and Armenian communities. For anyone interested in Mediterranean foods…or just loves to read. I know I could sit in bed for hours reading this one, while I imagine the hot Mediterranean sun warming up my bones…

James Beard. Father of the gourmet movement. Chef, food writer and author of 20 books. He created the James Beard Foundation which provides scholarships to aspiring food professionals, and the James Beard Foundation Award, often referred to as the Oscars of Food. Awards are handed out yearly to honor the finest chefs, restaurants, wine professionals, journalists, cookbook authors, restaurant designers, and other food professionals in the United States. This lush volume compiles the recipients of the prestigious Outstanding Chef Award over the past 25 years, featuring a profile of each winner, along with sumptuous recipes and stunning photography.  Discover the culinary philosophy and passion behind each prizewinner’s path to the kitchen.

Also newly released is The Essential James Beard Cookbook, compiling 450 of Beard’s most essential recipes, with minor updates for the modern cook. A great introduction to the James Beard method.

From the author of 4 cookbooks, owner of 6 restaurants and the only American-born chef to receive multiple 3-star ratings from the Michelin Guide comes a cookbook from the famed Bouchon  Bakery.  Recipes feature American and French baked goods, with gorgeous pictures too. Another one I would absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!

And let’s not forget the Food Truck craze.  I know one foodie truckie who wouldn’t mind getting this one! I myself dream of having my own food truck…a double decker bus turned-food truck. Imagine me driving through the streets of Montreal in one of those! Or I could just get this cookbook and pretend my kitchen is my food truck…

How about that beer lover in your life? I know I got one. This book breaks down beer into style categories and includes information on each variety’s background, flavors, aromas, and unique character. A world of beer awaits!

For the carnivore in your life…A Girl and Her Pig. I love the title. April Bloomfield is the critically acclaimed chef behind the smashingly hip New York restaurants like The Spotted Pig, The Breslin, and the John Dory. A memoir of her journey from working-class England to the culinary centre of the world. Fascinating stories and recipes for all things pig.

For the Nigel Slater lover…of which I am one of many. From one of Britain’s best-loved food writer comes the second volume of The Kitchen Diaries. And it isn’t just a diary. It’s a collection of Nigel’s celebrations of food in his kitchen, his vegetable patch, a neighbouring farm. I’ve seen some episodes on the BBC and I love his way with words, his almost poetic writings on food. To quote Jamie Oliver, “Nigel is a bloody genius.”

For the Barefoot Contessa fan… Foolproof. Recipes you can trust. And I do trust her. I love her recipes and what I have tried was fabulous. More than recipes though, Ina Garten advises us on how to make a game plan and have all our foods served hot and at the same time. So we can get that “wow” factor from our friends and family.

And then there are the literary food books, travel food books, fiction revolving around food, even food mysteries! But that’ll keep for another post… for now, I’ll take one of each, please!

Italian wedding soup with a little history

Tags

barefoot contessa, chicken meatballs, dinner, italian wedding soup, soup, spinach

I just love the name of this soup. It evokes a big Italian weddings set in an Italian country side, perhaps on an ancient farmstead, or on a hill overlooking some centuries- old Etruscan village.

A few years ago the girls and I went to the Jersey Shore with my brother and nephew. Good ‘Ol Wildwood! We went out for dinner one evening and were informed that the soup of the day was Italian Wedding Soup.  Italian Wedding Soup? Both my brother and I were baffled.  Being of Italian origin (my brother is actually Italian, he would have me note!), we’d never had nor even heard of this soup. We had gone to many Italian weddings and served many a soup, but never this one.  We’d even been to Italy on numerous occasions and never came across Italian Wedding Soup.  I was intrigued! What was this soup? Was it really Italian?

I discovered that it is one of the most classical dishes served in America – as in U.S.A. – and with us being Canadian, that could very well be a reason why we’d never heard of it. Digging further, I came across a soup in the region of Naples called “minestra maritata”, meaning “married soup”. As in green vegetables (minestra) marries well, or blends well (maritata) with meat. Apparently it is a very old dish. Some say it was brought over to Naples from Spain, while others claim it could date as far back to the Romans. It was a much heavier soup in its day, a mix of endive, escarole, kale or cabbage with lots of different meats. It wasn’t until pasta became more affordable that it was added to the soup. The recipe came to America via Italian immigrants from Naples, replacing the meat with meatballs. Somewhere along the way, the name was lost in translation and became known as Italian wedding soup. In Italy, the soup went out of fashion around the time the immigrants took their recipe with them to America.

There are many versions of Italian wedding soup. I came across one by Ina Garten in her “Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics” cookbook where she uses chicken meatballs.

In a large bowl I added and mixed together:

• 1 pound/450 gr. ground chicken
• 1/2 pound/250 gr. chicken sausage, casings removed
• 2/3 cup fresh white bread crumbs (I used white toast bread)
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Don’t be shy to use your hands to mix it all together. It really is the best way to ensure all the ingredients get mixed thoroughly. I used 2 coffee spoons to make the meatballs, one to scoop some of the mixture and the other to roll it onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until lightly browned. I left them in for 35 minutes.

Set the meatballs aside. For the soup, you’ll need:

• 2 tablespoons good olive oil
• 1 cup minced yellow onion
• 1 cup diced carrots (3 carrots), cut into 1/4 inch pieces
• 3/4 cup diced celery (2 stalks), cut into 1/4 inch pieces
• 10 cups homemade chicken stock (I used 12 because after the pasta had cooked, much of the broth had been absorbed by it)
• 1/2 cup dry white wine (I wasn’t sure about the wine… so I added a splash, tasted, liked it and added another splash)
• 1 cup small pasta such as tubetini or stars
• 12 ounces baby spinach, washed and trimmed

Heat olive oil in a soup pot on medium heat. Add onions, carrots and celery and cook for 10 minutes.

Add chicken stock and wine.                                                                                   *If you don’t have homemade chicken stock, you can use store-bought or even the cubes/powder. I used 6 cups of homemade stock, 4 cups of store-bought stock and 2 cups of water with a cube.

Bring to a boil and add 1 cup of small soup pasta. My girls just love ball soup (pastina), or little stars. You could use whatever tickles your fancy, little o’s, little shells… Cook pasta according to package, usually 6 to 8 minutes for small soup pasta. Add meatballs and baby spinach and cook for 1 minute more. Taste for salt. Serve and enjoy!

Little Ears with Broccoli

Tags

broccoli, kid friendly, pasta, Vegetarian

As part of my plan to introduce Meatless Mondays into our meals, I decided to make some pasta tonight. The plan is to cook up a yummy dish and just pass it off for what it is.  No mention of Meatless Mondays because the last time I did that, I got attitude. And not just from the kiddies.

Pasta, broccoli, olive oil and garlic. Oh, and some freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese for a little zing.  So where do the little ears come in?  Well, the pasta in question is called “orecchiette” in Italian. Orecchie, meaning ears, and the “ette” ending refers to a small size. Little ears. Take a look and see for yourself.  They do resemble little ears, don’t you think?

Even more so when they’re cooked.

You don’t have to use orecchiette. Penne or pennette is another good choice. Spaghetti works too. Chop a head of broccoli into little florets. Mince 3 garlic cloves. Heat up some extra virgin olive oil in a pan, about 1/4 cup, on medium heat. Add garlic and after about a minute and a half, add broccoli florets. Cook for about 3 minutes and then add some water. Not much, less than 1/4 cup, just enough to continue cooking the broccoli without burning the garlic. Burnt garlic tastes bitter. Cook for a few minutes more and it’s done. Set aside.

Boil water for pasta. Add salt to boiling water. Add the pasta and cook according to package. Drain pasta, return to pot and add some extra virgin olive oil, 3 or 4 splashes. Throw in the broccoli and garlic and toss with some grated Pecorino Romano. Plate the pasta and grate more cheese over the top. You could also use Parmigiano Reggiano. Voila, dinner is served!

It was Meatless Monday and they had no clue! And they loved it!

 

Cupcake anyone?

Tags

Cupcakes, desserts, Sweets

I baked up a storm of cupcakes recently.  6 delicious flavours! Amazingly-Red Velvet Cupcakes,  Sweet-Tart Lemon Cupcakes,  Delectable Black-Bottom Cupcakes (although I might re-name this one Halvdan’s Fave Cupcakes),  Outta-This-World Salted Caramel Cupcakes, I Dream of Nutella Cupcakes and Oh Tiramisu Cupcakes.  Just came up with the names, by the way.  What do you think?

And here they are.  Don’t they look fabulous?  And they taste even better!

My friend Sue took these photos for me. Aren’t the pics gorgeous?  I owe her way more than just the dozen cupcakes I gave her!

Spooky Pancakes

Tags

breakfast, Halloween, pancakes, spiders, spiderwebs

I don’t know what Halloween morning is like in your house but in ours, it’s chaotic!  You’d think it would be crazy in the evening, but no.  For us, it’s Halloween morning.  Not only is there breakfast to be made for both girls, who wake up at different times and    order different foods – yes, I did say ORDER! – but there are lunches and snacks to be made, schoolbags to be packed, clean socks to be found… I could go on, but I think you get the picture.  On top of everything else, we had to do the whole costume thing, hair, make-up… I just can’t understand why I LOVE Halloween!

So, all this to say breakfast was the usual dull morning.  I did have something special planned but couldn’t work it into our schedule.  So while the kiddies were carving out their pumpkins after school, I treated them to these.  Spider and spiderweb pancakes!.  Cute, no?

I used my own buttermilk pancake recipe and transferred the batter to a squirt bottle.   The idea was adapted from Martha Stewart.

Hope you had a Happy Halloween!