Cheese and Marmite Straws & Bryndza Cheese Straws

Before Christmas I saw a cooking show on ITV, while running on the treadmill in the gym. Even since I wanted to try this quick, easy recipe that would be perfect for unexpected guests. I never liked Marmite on a toast, but I love the Marmite coated cashew and Marmite crisps you can buy in the supermarket, so I tough to give it a go. And I was right, it was delicious. For the other half of the puff pastry I used bryndza cheese (we call it brindza in Hungary) which is made from sheep and goats milk, usually soft, spreadable, "smelly" cheese. It is also you either love it or hate it, so basically I placed two "love it or hate it" ingredients together and we loved them both.

Cheese and Marmite Straws & Bryndza Cheese Straws

Ingredients for the Marmite Straws

250g puff pastry

20 g butter, melted

1 tbsp Marmite

50 g parmesan cheese, grated

50 g mature cheddar cheese, grated

Ingredients of the Bryndza Straws

250g puff pastry

20 g butter, melted

100g bryndza cheese

50 g mature cheddar cheese, grated

Preheat the oven to 190C.

Whichever filling you choose the preparation is identical.

Roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface to roughly 4 mm thick and achieve a rectangle shape. Brush the melted butter on the surface of the pastry than spread the Marmite on one half. Sprinkle  3/4 of both cheeses on the Marmite covered half, then fold the pastry over lengthways.

 Using your rolling pin compress the pastry (gently, but firmly) so you have the filling in between the pastry layer tightly. This will help retain the nice filling line when you twist the strip. Roll until the pastry is 3-4 mm thick.

With a pizza cutter, cut 1 cm wide strips and twist. Arrange on baking sheets (and chill for 10 minutes before baking-if you have the time). Spay some vegetable fat on the strips, sprinkle on the rest of the cheese and bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown and puffed up. 

If the strips don't want to stay twisted on the baking sheet, just lightly press down the two ends with your fingers, so the pastry "sticks" to the baking sheet.

To do the bryndza Straws just repeat the same process, but replace the Marmite with Bryndza.

Cornbread Loaf

I bought a new book.....I know.... again. This time the author was unknown for me at the time, but I really liked the pictures and the recipes were unique, well presented. So first I tried this Cornbread Loaf from Annie Bell, to reduce the our white flour consumption from bread. It turned out quite nice and tasted yummy.

Cornbread Loaf

Ingredients

15 unsalted butter

1 onion, peeled and chopped 

125 g tinned sweetcorn kernels

sea salt and black pepper

125 g cornmeal and polenta

140 g self-raising flour, shifted

10 g golden caster sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

2 medium eggs

200 ml whole milk

Preheat the oven to 170C and prepare a 22 cm loaf tin with baking paper.

Melt the butter in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and fry for several minutes until softened, without colouring, then add the sweetcorn and fry for a little longer, seasoning the mixture.

Combine the cornmeal or polenta, flour, sugar, baking powder and a teaspoon of salt in a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk the eggs with the milk, then stir in the fried onions and sweetcorn. Tip the wet ingredients into the dry ones and loosely combine, leaving the mixture, leaving on the lumpy side.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 30-35 minutes until golden and crusty on the surface and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove the ready loaf holding the edge of the baking paper and leave to cool on a wire rack. You can dust with a little more cornmeal or polenta if you wish.

Smoked Salmon and Dill Cake

I haven't posted for a while, because we went back to Hungary to spend the festive season with our families. Ohhh all the lost weight come back in no time because I couldn't resist all the fabulous food. But by the end of my stay I managed to fulfil my 6 months desire: purchased my new "toy", the Zila cake mould, while staying in Budapest. Sadly it is quite expensive in the home kitchen environment (as this product originally designed for professional kitchens and caterers), but I rather pay more, than get some cheap, poor quality product. 

Smoked Salmon and Dill Cake

Ingredients for the cake

350 g plain flour
1 1/4 tbsp baking powder
8 tbsp sunflower oil or 100 g butter, melted and cooled
pinch of salt
freshly ground black pepper
3 eggs
300 ml butter milk 
150 g smoked salmon finely chopped, plus extra to garnish/150 g salmon, pan fried and seasoned with a pinch of salt
2.5 tbsp chopped fresh dill, plus extra springs to garnish

Ingredients for the filling
300 g soft cheese/cream cheese
20 g chive, chopped to small pieces
100 g soured cream
freshly ground back pepper
100 g smoked salmon finely chopped
1 tsp lemon juice

tomato and cucumber to decorate

First prepare the filling so the mixture can absorb all the lovely smokiness and intensify the taste with time. Just mix together the soft cheese, soured cream, chopped chive and smoked salmon. When finished add the lemon juice and pepper to taste and mix well again. Add some more soured cream if you find the mixture stiff, but it should be just right. Cover it with cling film and place it in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 200C and spray the tin with a vegetable oil based separating agent.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and pepper to taste into a large bowl.

Place the eggs in a large bowl and beat lightly, then beat in the buttermilk and oil. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, pour in the beaten liquid ingredients and add the smoked salmon and chopped dill. I actually used salmon fillet and pan fried it, otherwise it would be really expensive. Stir gently until just combined: don't over-mix  Spoon the mixture into the tin and spread evenly to be layered.

Bake in the prepared oven for 20 minutes, or until well risen, golden brown and firm to the touch. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes then turn it upside down and remove the silicone cover  and the steel ring

.

 When it is cooled all you have to do is place the filling in a piping bag that has a big star nozzle. You need a special big nozzle otherwise the salmon pieces could block the piping bag. Pipe the filling into the cavities, it is just enough to fill all 12 of them. 

 Decorate with tomatoes, cucumber and some dill.............or whatever you find pretty. In the end I served with some balsamic glaze and mixed salad with olive oil on top....It was delicious. There were 4 of us and we still left two pieces untouched. So I managed to create something delicious, filling and pretty in 40 minutes.......the prefect party food.

 I apologise as not the best pictures in the end, but the guests were waiting for me to join them, so I just rushed it all and the sharpness is on the salad leafs.......

Cheesy Scones/Sajtos Pogácsa

So Pogácsa is a "national dish" for Hungarians. Ask any Hungarian if they know what Pogácsa is? You will have an ohhhh, áhhhh I love them. That is all you need to know before making this. Pogácsa or Cheesy scones usually requires at least 1-2 hours rise time, but not this one...So you can make this even if you are in a hurry. I got this recipe from a Hungarian blogger (Kriszta konyhája). Enjoy.

Cheesy Scones/ Sajtos Pogácsa

Ingredients

400g flour

250g butter at room tempeature

2dl soured cream

30g yeast

150g grated smoked cheese

2 tsp salt

For the top

2 egg yolks

grated cheese

Preheat the oven to 180C. 

 Mix all ingredients in a bowl to form a dough. 

On a floured surface roll out the dough to 2cm thick and with a cookie cutter cut 3cm rounds.

Transfer them on a baking sheet, then apply the egg wash on top and add a pinch of grated cheese on top.

Bake it for 20-20 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

In the end I made this batch of Cheesy Scones and a batch of Crackling scones...this is how we went to pick up my mum and my sister from the airport (in case they are hungry:) Typical Hungarian attitude to guests:) By the way at the time when I made the picture the other batch of crackling scones was still in the oven.

Crackling Scones/Tepertős Pogácsa

I found this description at the Hairy Bikers recipe site, regarding the Crackling Scones (as they travelled to Hungary during this season): " These savoury scones are often mentioned in Hungarian fables and folk tales as they as the sustaining food that the young man off to conquer the world takes in his backpack. They're traditionally served with beef gulash soup too."  

The first part it totally correct. We have this lovely type of food across the year( by the way you will receive a small scone in your pack on your school leaving ceremony:) 

But the second part is totally wrong. We would NEVER have these with goulash (gulyás) soup...what is the point? Both pogácsa and goulash soup is filling as they are.

Crackling Scones/ Tepertős Pogácsa

Ingredients

500g flour

250g crackling chopped up (you can have fresh one from your local butcher) can be pork, duck, or goose

30g butter at room tempeature

50g yeast

2 dl milk

1 tbsp sugar

2 egg yolks

2 tbsp soured cream

1 tbsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper

1egg

Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm milk with a pinch of sugar, cover it and leave it to rise.

In a big bowl mix the flour, salt, milk, crackling, butter, soured cream, rest of the sugar and egg yolks. Work it thoroughly and from a dough. Cover with cling film and leave it to rise in a warm place for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 190C.

On a floured surface roll it out to 2cm thick and make some cuts on the surface on the dough. With a cookie cutter cut 3cm rounds out and lay it on a baking tray covered with baking paper.

Cover the top of the scones with egg wash. Bake it for 20-30 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

In the end I made this batch of Crackling Scones and a batch of Cheesy scones...this is how we went to pick up my mum and my sister from the airport (in case they are hungry:) Typical Hungarian attitude to guests:) By the way at the time when I made the picture the other batch of crackling scones was still in the oven.

Parmesan and Smoked Sausage Palmiers

This is the type of food that looks ugly, but tastes heaven. Also this starter is my usual life saver when I have to make some food for unexpected guests:) You can make your own puff pastry if you like, but personally for this recipe the shop bought puff pastry just as delicious.

Parmesan and Sausage Palmiers 

Ingredients

1 jus-roll puff pastry (500g)

4 tbsp capers

150g smoked dried sausage(we Hungarians have a great type: kolbasz) but if you don't have the Hungarian version you can use Chorizo or something similar

8-9 sun dried tomato
2 tbsp Italian/Provence herb mix
1egg
60g Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Chop the dried sausage and the sun dried tomato to small pieces and place them in a bowl. Add the capers, herb mix and some oil from the sun dried tomato(you should add about 4-6 tablespoon, as this liquid will act as a glue also your palmiers won't dry out during baking) and mix it together. 

On a lightly floured surface roll out the puff pastry to a rectangular shape until it is 4-5mm thick. Spread your mixture evenly across the puff pastry. 
Start roll the pastry from both longer ends until you meet in the middle. For instance if you have a rectangle of 30X15cm you start roll the 30cm side, meeting in the middle, so both part of the palmier have 15cm of pastry rolled in.

With a sharp knife cut them to 0.7-1cm pieces than place them on a baking sheet a few centimetres apart as they will puff up during baking. 
Cover all with egg wash than put he grated parmesan cheese on top. Bake it for 25-35 minutes or until the palmiers are golden brown.
When it is ready leave it to cool then serve immediately.
Depending on the rolling and cuts, I usually have 15-20 small palmiers.

Filo Vegetable Pie

This is my ultimate, favourite (originally vegetarian) meal. This is the only recipe I know  that everybody(I mean it) likes and even without meat it tastes delicious even for a big meat-eater.

Filo Vegetable Pie

Ingredients

270g filo pasty (shop bought)

150g butter

230g leaks, sliced to 1cm pieces

230g carrots, cubed/sliced

230g mushrooms, sliced

2 garlic cloves, chopped

150g cream cheese

120g Roquefort or Stilton or other blue cheese

150ml double cream

2eggs, beaten

250g cooking apples, peeled,cored and cubed

200g cashew nuts or pine nuts toasted

salt and pepper for seasoning

400g chicken breast (if you vegetarian just leave the chicken out and add a few slices of vegetables each to make up the space loss)

Preheat the oven to 180C. Heat 50g of the butter in a large pan and cook the carrots over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the leeks, mushroom and garlic and cook for another 2 minutes, then take off from the heat.

Cut the chicken breast into 2cm pieces and fry them on some butter in a hot pan for 2-3minutes. It doesn't have to be fully cooked, as it will be baked for 40minutes in the pie.

Whisk the cream cheese and blue cheese, cream and eggs in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Pour over the vegetables. Add the apple, toasted nut and the chicken.

Melt the remaining butter. Brush the inside of a 23cm loose based spring form cake tin with melted butter. Brush two-thirds of the filo pastry sheets with butter, one at a time, and use them to line the base and sides of the tin, overlapping the layers so that there are no gaps. Basically you have to prepare a nest from the filo pastry sheets, thick enough to hold in all the lovely juices inside. 

Spoon in the vegetable-chicken mixture and fold the excess filo pastry over towards the centre of the pie to cover the filling. (See the picture-sorry I meant to take a picture from the empty "nest" itself, but it is quite hard to do everything at the same time and the guest were already at our place at this stage)

Brush the remaining filo sheets with butter and tear them into 2.5cm strips. Cover the surface of the pie with the strips, arranging them decoratively in a rough mound. 

Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy all over. Allow to stand for 5 minutes to cool, then carefully remove the cake tin and transfer the pie to a serving plate.

Parmesan tartlets

I had a birthday party to cater for and I always fancied the idea of these little beauties. They easy to make, and really impressing when you have 72 of them together.

Parmesan tartlets

makes 48-72 depending how thick or thin you roll the pastry

for the dough
170g flour
75gr freshly grated Parmesan cheese
5 tbs cold butter, cubed
2 tbs cold water

Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Put the flour, grated cheese and butter into a food processor and mix until it forms breadcrumbs. Add the water and mix it again to form a ball. Put the dough ball onto a floured surface and knead it lightly into a nice ball.
Roll out really thinly and cut out the circles to fit into the mini muffin tins.
Bake it for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Turn them out to a cooling rack and leave it to cool.

For the filling
there are endless options what you could use, I share the 3 options I used

Egg Cream
4 eggs
80g butter at room temperature
1 ts mustard
2 tbs soured cream
1 pinch of salt
20 green leaves to decorate(can be watercress, spinach..anything)

Boil the eggs until they are hard(about 10minutes), peel them and cut them into small cubes. When the eggs are slightly cooled mix inh the butter until it is incorporated. Add the mustard, soured cream, and salt and mix it again. If you don't use it all, keep it in the fridge.
Fill 1/3 of the baskets with a teaspoon of egg cream and decorate with green leaves.

Shrimp and mango
200ml cream cheese 
200g peeled red shrimps
1chilli
1/2 mango
salt and pepper to taste

Now I have to say this was the best as the warm cram cheese softened the cases.....yummy.
Cut the mango into small cubes.
Put the cream cheese in a heavy based pan and  bring it to  boil under a medium heat.Reduce the heat and add the chilli, shrimps and a pinch of salt, pepper if needed and cook it for 3-4 minutes. When it is ready leave it to cool slightly, than fill 1/3 of the cases with a teaspoon of shrimp filling and a cube of mango.

Mozzarella,pesto and sun dried tomato
1 mozzarella ball
4 tbs green pesto
5sun dried tomatoes
salt, pepper oregano to taste

Well this is really straight forward. Cut the mozzarella  and the sun dried tomatoes to small cubes. Put 1 tea spoon of pesto, 1mozzarella cube and 1 sun dried tomato cube into the baskets, season with oregano if needed.

Chicken liver and peas lattice pastry

Now...you have two options: buy the puff pastry ready in the shop or you can make your own. And I will be honest here, I bought the pastry in the shop. I never intended to make this creation, but my husband and his friend were occupied with a boring film...and I was in the kitchen anyway. They told me that they are hungry..and I happened to have chicken liver and some puff pastry in the fridge. So I used what I had, as usual.

Chicken liver and peas lattice pastry

As I had two men in the house I mad 4 massive rectangle one,but you can crate small squares or rectangles as well.

For the pastry
1 shop bought puff pastry 
or
you can make a rough puff pastry, for that you need:
500g plain flour
500g very cold butter, cut into small cubes
1 tbs salt
250 ml ice-cold water

For the filling
1 onion
400g chicken liver
200g peas
salt, black pepper
3 tbs olive oil
2-3 tbs paprika

1egg

If you make your own pastry: from Michel Roux
Heap the flour in a mound on the work surface and make a well. Put the butter and salt and work them together with the fingertips of one hand, gradually drawing the flour into the centre with the other hand.

When the cubes of butter have become small pieces and the dough is grainy, gradually add the iced water and mix until it is all incorporated, but don't overwork the dough. Roll it into a ball, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Flour the work surface and roll out the pastry to a 40X20cm rectangle. Fold it into three and give it a quarter-turn. Roll the block of pastry into a 40X20cm rectangle as before, and fold it into tree again. 
These are the first 2 turns. Wrap the block in cling film and refrigerate it for 30minutes.

Give the chilled pastry another 2 turns, rolling and folding as before. This makes a total of 4 turns, and the pastry is now ready. Wrap it in cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before using.

Tightly wrapped in cling film, this quick puff  pastry will keep for 3 days in the fridge, and for at least 4 weeks in the freezer.

OR
Just unwrap the ready pastry from the shop and roll out.

Preheat the oven for 180 °C

For the filling
Using a sharp knife cut the liver into small pieces and chop the onion to small cubes. Heat a non-stick frying pan over a high heat with the oil, then add the onions and fry it until it is golden in colour. Add the liver and fry them together for 3-5 minutes. Add in the frozen or canned peas then season with salt, pepper and paprika and fry for another 2 minutes.
When it is all ready put 3-4 tbs filling into the half of a dough piece. Roll a lattice cutter through the other half of the pastry(or use a knife to crate a lattice like holes) and fold it on top of the filling.
Brush the pastry with the beaten egg and put into the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, or until it is golden brown. 
When the top is nice brown check the bottom of the pastry as sometimes because of the amount of filling it can be uncooked. If this is the case, just turn up side down and bake it for another 10minutes.