”SUNFLOWER” BULGARIAN BREAD

Chefs and cooks are artists,aren’t they?But we all become artists as soon as we walk behind the kitchen door, using the ingredients as the tools to create our own MASTERPIECE!Food is simply beautiful and beautiful are the souls that create it.

This bread is what I call a WORK OF ART.You will ”OCH” and ”ACH” just looking at it.It’s one of those foods which is too beautiful to eat.But you will eat it eventually πŸ˜‰ And when you do you will be even more amazed how great the recipe is!

I discovered the recipe at www.mojewypieki.com ages ago and I’m so glad I did!

 

RECIPE:

for one bread

INGREDIENTS:

330g white bread flour
150 ml tepid milk
1 large free range egg
1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1,5 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
15g fresh yeast

ADDITIONALLY
60 g butter, melted
1 egg yolk

1.Crumble the yeast in a small bowl,add 1/2 tbsp sugar,mix together then add 50 ml tepid milk and 1 tbsp flour and mix again.Cover with cotton tea towel and leave for around 10-15 minutes until it gets foamy.

2.Beat the egg in a large bowl, add the rest of the tepid milk,salt,sugar,oil and slowly sift the flower over it, add lemon juice and yeast mixture.Mix it all with a wooden spoon graduating to kneading with your hands.Knead until smooth and elastic adding more flour if it’s still to sticky.Cover with a cloth and let it rise for 1 1/2 hours or until dough has doubled in bulk.

3.Grease 23cm round baking tray with butter and sprinkle with semolina.

4.Punch out the risen dough and turn onto floured board.Divide in half, knead each half for couple of minutes and divide each half into four.(you should end up with four small dough balls). Roll out each one quite thin,sprinkling it with flour.Stack them on the side(but flour each one so they don’t stick together). And now the FUN BEGINS πŸ˜‰ Put your first layer ( pancake – how I call them ;)) on the side and brush it with butter, then stack another one on the top and do the same until you get to the fourth one.When you have all four, buttered and stacked on top of each other roll them and leave on the side.Repeat with the other four.You have got 2 rolls now which you are going to cut into thick triangles.Place them on a baking tray in a shape of sunshine.If you have any ”off cuts” press the ends together into a ball and place on the top of triangles.Let it raise for half an hour.

5.Preheat the oven 200 C/180 fan/Gas 6.Brush the bread with beaten egg yolk and sprinkle with sesame seeds.Bake for 35 minutes(cover with aluminium foil after around 10-15 minutes). Try if it’s ready with bamboo skewers.If you prick the bread with it and it comes out clean it’s READY!

MY VERSION WITH A TWIST: Garlic bread.Simply add 6 garlic cloves(crushed) to the melted butter you brush over the layers.

 

 

 

MINI CALZONES

My favourite pizza dough folded into delicious crescents.MINI CALZONE are a perfect idea for a party dish.They will disappear in a blink of an eye.So soft and crispy with a melting cheese in a centre.It’s EVERYBODY’S FAVOURITE!

RECIPE:

for 12 calzones

INGREDIENTS:

DOUGH:

320 g white bread flour + 30 g when kneading
210 ml lukewarm water
20 g fresh yeast(room temperature) or 10g instant
2 tbsp olive oil
salt, one pinch
sugar, one pinch
2 tbsp dry thyme

ADDITIONALLY : egg yolk mixed with 1tbsp milk

FILLING:all ingredients chopped finely

1 chicken fillet,chopped
half pepper(any),chopped
half chilli pepper
120 g mushroom,chopped
100 g cheese(preferably edam or gouda),greated
1 onion,chopped
2 tbsp olive or rapeseed oil
salt,freshly grounded
pepper,freshly grounded

1.Crumble fresh/dry yeast with pinch of sugar, 40 ml lukewarm water and a 1 tbsp flour.Stir and leave to foam for 10-15 minutes

2.Mix the flour and salt in a bowl, add olive oil, 1 tbsp thyme.Add yeast mixture and the rest of lukewarm water.Mix with a wooden spoon, when the mixture comes together start kneading it using your hands.Add some more flour if the dough is too sticky.Knead for around 5-10 minutes until the dough is very soft.(trust me you will feel the difference). Cover the bowl with a cotton tea towel and put to rise somewhere warm, but NOT hot, until dough has doubled in size – it takes around 1 hour.(remember dough doesn’t like draughts!)

3.In the meantime prepare the filling.Put all the ingredients into one pan and stir-fry until cooked.Season well with salt and pepper.

4.Preheat the oven 190 C/170 C fan /Gas 5

5.When the dough doubled in size, put it on a lightly floured surface and knead for another 2-3 minutes,roll it out and cut 10,5 cm/4 inch circle and place on a well greased baking tray(sprinkled with semolina)

6.Place some cheese and some filling on each circle, fold into a half-moons and pinch edges, forming a well-sealed crescent.Transfer each one onto a baking tray,brush with egg yolk and milk mixture and sprinkle with thyme.

6.Bake for 35 minutes(I put it on fan for the last 5 minutes), I cover mine with aluminium foil after 15 minutes.

Serve with garlic sauce

 

 

 

 

 

 

BAKED MINI CHEESECAKES WITH RASPBERRIES

Cheesecake!I always smile at that name πŸ˜‰ There must be as many cheesecake recipes as there is chefs.And this is my version of this timeless classic cake.Perfectly moist and fluffy.The only problem is…..they dissapear too quickly.

 

RECIPE:

For 8 small cheesecakes – my tins are 10 cm diameter and 2cm deep

INGREDIENTS:

PASTRY:

170 g butter(cold),cut in small cubes
250g plain flour
70 g sugar
2 egg yolks(room temperature)

CHEESE FILLING:all ingredients in roomΒ  temperature

2 eggs
500 g quark
30ml double cream
2 tbsp cornflour(sifted)
1 vanilla pod

ADDITIONALLY

icing sugar
fresh raspberries

1. Sift the flour, add butter, sugar and rub it in using your fingertips.Add egg yolks and mix until the dough binds together.Try to work quickly so that it does not become greasy.Wrap the dough in clingfilm and put in the fridge for 30 minutes.

2.Take the pastry out the fridge and roll out on a lightly floured surface and line tartelette tins.Prick the pastry using a fork and put in the fridge for extra 10 minutes.

3.In the meantime preheat the oven 190 C/170 C fan/5 gas and prepare the filling.In a medium bowl place quark double cream, vanilla beans and too egg yolks.Mix together using a spoon.Beat the egg whites until soft peeks form.Now sift cornflour to your cheesy mixture and add beaten egg whites.Mix together delicately.

4.Take your tartelettes out the fridge and spoon a generous amount of the cheesy filling on the top of each one.Bake for 30 minutes.

5.Serve with fresh strawberries and icing sugar.