Soft Pretzel Recipe

As I am now living in Munich, here is what I love the most:

For 3 dozen 6-inch sticks or
For 1 dozen 6-inch Pretzels

1 tbsp Yeast
1 tbsp Sugar
1 tsp Salt
2 tbsp softened butter or softened margarine
1 cup warm water

2 3/4 cups flour
Coarse Salt or sunflowers/linsam/pumpkin seeds to sprinkle on Pretzels before baking
5 tsp baking soda mixed in 4 cups water in a non-aluminum saucepan.
1 large slotted spoon to "go fishing"
Greased cookie sheet
Preheat oven to 245 C

Put yeast, sugar, salt, butter/marg, water and ONE CUP of the flour into a medium mixing bowl and pour in the water.

Stir till all smooth, and yeast starts to bubble.
At this point add the rest of the flour, stir till it is mixed in.
When mixture is too stiff to stir with a spoon, begin kneading.
Knead dough till smooth and till it no longer sticks to the bowl and your hands

Allow dough to rise to about double its height.

While dough is rising, grease the cookie sheet. and prepare the baking soda-water mixture and bring to a boil on stove.

When dough is risen enough, punch down, knead for a minute or so, then divide and roll the 6-inch sticks with your hands, to about 1/2 inch in diameter, or 12-15-inch long rolls to make into the pretzel shape.

Allow sticks or pretzels to sit for about 1-2 mins. Place them into boiling water-baking soda mixture one or two at a time.

Let the pretzels boil for 1 minute 10 seconds, then flip them over with the slotted spoon and boil on the other side for 1 minute and 10 seconds.

This boiling step gives them a firm skin and adds some flavour. Not boiling long enough leaves them too soft and allows them to rise too much. Boiling too long makes them tough.
Fish them out of the water, let them drip off and place them on the greased cookie sheet.

When all the pretzels or sticks are done, sprinkle the coarse salt on them.

Bake for 12-15 minutes or till sticks or pretzels are golden brown.

You can double the recipe in proportion.

ENJOY!!

Kunefe Turkish Dessert Recipe

Ingredients Measure Amount

Sugar 2 1/4 cups 450 g
Water 1 1/2 cups 350 g
Lemon 2 teaspoons 10 g
Kadayif (shredded pastry) 500 g
Butter 1 cup 200 g
White cheese 1 2/3 cups 375 g

Instructions: Combine sugar and water in a saucepan. Stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Boil gently for 5 minutes. Add lemon juice; stir. Boil for 1 minute. Set aside. Combine kadaylf shreds and melted butter in a pan. Break kadaylf shreds in butter blending well with tips of fingers. Divide into half. Spread one half in a slightly greased baking pan 25x25 cm (9x9 inch). Press with fingers slightly. Spread cheese over kadaylf shreds. Repeat the same with the remaining half, pressing firmly this time. Bake in a moderate oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven. Let stand for 2 minutes. Pour warm syrup over. Cover and let stand until syrup is absorbed. Cut into 5-6 cm (2-2 1/2 inch) pieces. Arrange on a serving plate. Serve warm.

12 servings

Thank you to:
http://turkishcook.com/TurkishFoodForum/blogs/turkishdelights/archive/2008/07/12/kunefe.aspx

Sites I like!

Keiko Photography

Food styling

Green Tea Pound Cake

Ingredients

For this recipe, you will need:

* 2 large eggs
* 1 cup flour
* 2/3 cup sugar
* 1/2 cup butter
* 1 tbsp maccha (green tea powder)
* 1/2 tsp baking powder

Combine Dry Ingredients
In a large bowl combine together flour, baking powder and green tea powder and mix them with a wooden paddle.
Cream the Butter
Soften the butter at room temperature. Mash it slightly with a fork so it's easier for the mixer to handle it. Insert the mixer and turn it on high, then slowly add the sugar and continue mixing it until they're combined. Then gradually add beaten eggs until you get a mousse consistency of a batter.
Combine All Ingredients
With the mixer running add your flour mixture to your butter-egg bowl and continue mixing until the batter is smooth.
Bake the Green Tea Pound Cake
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celcious. Oil your loaf pan and pour the batter into it. Place your loaf pan in the oven for 30-40 minutes. You will see the pound cake is done when the sides of it turn golden brown and pull away from the pan. Take it out and cool it.

Serve it with a sprig of mint.

Green Tea and Soy Sauce Ice Cream recipe

(Servings: 4)
- 3 egg yolks
- 125g (4 1/2 oz.) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 200 ml milk
- 100 ml heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons (10g) granulated sugar for whipping heavy cream
- 1 Cup strongly brewed green tea (1 1/2 Teaspoons green tea leaves, with 250 ml boiled, not boiling, hot water)

-
Mix egg yolks with sugar and soy sauce.
-
Add milk to the egg mixture and strain. Cook over very low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spatula until the mixture starts steaming and thickens slightly.
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Remove from heat and put pan in cold water; mix in cold green tea.
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Process mixture in an ice cream maker until partially frozen. Add heavy cream that has been whipped with sugar until soft peaks form. Continue processing until the mixture hardens.
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Serve with nuts or praline.
Enjoy!!
note that this japanese green tea ice cream isn't a strong green colour compared to others, I think the commercial green tea ice cream that is around must add colouring

Thanx

Mochi!!!

Mochi funny!!

Mochi making masters

Music

TANER AKYOL BIRDS OF PASSAGE

Caramel, pecan and dark chocolate tart recipe

Ingredients

1. 200g digestive biscuits
2. 75g butter
3. For the filling
4. 150g butter
5. 150g unrefined light muscovado sugar
6. 1/2 x 397g can Carnation Condensed Milk
7. 100g good-quality plain chocolate, broken up
8. 50g pecans, toasted and roughly chopped

Method

1. 1. Whizz the digestive biscuits in a food processor until finely ground. Melt the butter in a saucepan and stir in the ground biscuits. Mix well. Tip into a 20cm loose-bottomed fluted flan tin and, using the back of a dessertspoon, press into the base and up the sides to make the biscuit casing. Chill for 30 minutes in the fridge until set.
2. 2. Make the filling. Put the butter and muscovado sugar into a saucepan over a gentle heat and stir until dissolved. Add the condensed milk and bring to the boil over a gentle heat, stirring continuously. Stir for 2-3 minutes to make a golden caramel. Pour into the tart case and chill for 1 hour in the fridge.
3. 3. Put the plain chocolate pieces into a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water to melt, making sure the bowl is not touching the water. Leave to cool until slightly thickened. Spoon the chocolate into a sandwich bag and snip off the corner, then quickly drizzle in zig-zag lines over the tart. Sprinkle the tart with the chopped pecans and leave the cake to set in a cool place for 1 hour.

Mexican Dinner By Jamie

quesadillas with guacamole

starter
A quesadilla is basically a Mexican-style stuffed pancake, like a toasted sandwich, made with two tortillas sandwiched together with a cheese-based filling. They are warmed through and served with guacamole and sour cream. They are one of my favourite things to eat – Jools and I tend to have them every Saturday because we love them!

To make the guacamole I use 2 or 3 ripe avocados, 2 or 3 ripe deseeded tomatoes and a couple of deseeded red chillies, and I throw all this into a food processor with a handful of peeled and chopped spring onions and a good handful of fresh coriander. Once this has been chopped up nice and fine, I add a couple more chopped tomatoes, a good pinch of salt and half of another avocado, chopped, to give it a nice chunky texture. Transfer everything into a bowl and season carefully with sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and a good squeeze of lemon or lime juice. If you decide to buy ready-made guacamole, which is a bit lazy but probably very realistic, you can put it into a bowl and chirp it up a bit with a squeeze of lemon juice, a little extra salt and a bit of chilli to give it a kick.

To fill the quesadillas you will need a couple of big handfuls of grated Cheddar and/or red Leicester cheese, some finely sliced spring onions, a couple of handfuls of chopped fresh coriander, and a red pepper and some red or green chillies all deseeded and finely chopped. Mix all this up in a bowl and then sprinkle half a handful between two layers of tortilla. You can make up 4, 10 or even 20 quesadillas and keep them in the fridge until you need them if you want.

Some people like to fry them in oil, but this makes them greasy and is not all that healthy. You can grill them, but I like to put them in a dry non-stick frying pan on a medium heat, so that after about a minute and a half on each side you are left with a really crispy outside and an oozy, stringy filling. Serve the quesadillas cut into quarters, with the guacamole, sour cream and a beer.

PS You can also posh them up a bit using grilled chicken or seafood, leftover pork, shellfish, or a selection of grilled vegetables.

Steak

Russian Beetroot (Borshch ) Soup Recipe

4 to 6 servings

* Butter or oil -- 2-3 tablespoons
* Onion, minced -- 1
* Beets, peeled and grated -- 1 pound
* Tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced -- 1 cup
* Beef stock or water -- 2 quarts
* Red wine vinegar -- 3-4 tablespoons
* Sugar -- 1 tablespoon
* Salt and pepper -- to taste
* Sour cream -- 1/2 cup
* Fresh dill, chopped -- 1 bunch

Method

1. Heat the butter or oil over medium flame in a large pot. Add the onions and sauté until translucent. Stir in the beets and tomatoes and stir to heat through. Pour in the stock or water, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper. Taste the broth, and adjust the amount of vinegar or sugar as needed. Broth should be lightly tart-sweet, but not overwhelmingly so.
2. Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to low and simmer for 45-50 minutes, or until the vegetables are cooked yet retain their texture. Serve hot or cold in bowls garnished with a dollop of sour cream (smetana) and a sprinkling of chopped fresh dill.

Variations

* Some say a true Ukrainian borshch must have beans. Add fresh green beans or cooked white beans to the simmering soup.
* For a borshch with meat, add some chopped beef brisket, ham, sausages, beef frankfurters, or some pork ribs to the simmering soup. Use about 2-3 cups total. Simmer until the meat is tender.
* Try using a variety of vegetables. Sauté some chopped carrots, celery, celery root, parsley root or mushrooms with the onions. Add some shredded cabbage, chunks of potato, parsnip, fresh green beans or cooked white beans to the simmering soup. Use about 2-3 cups total.
* Traditionally, borshch achieved its sour twang by being left to ferment for a few days. These days vinegar speeds the process up. Other ingredients are often used in place of vinegar to add a sour flavor. These include lemon juice, pickle juice, rhubarb juice or fermented beet kvas.
* Use rubber gloves when peeling and grating the beets to avoid staining your hands. The beets can be grated on a box grater, in a food processor, or you can cut them into a small dice if you prefer.

Russian Salad Recipe

This is a colourful and fun-to-make salad from Russia! Really impressing on the dinner table!

Ingredients

* Beetroot
* Canned corn
* Onions, cut in pieces
* Pomegrades
* Canned Cucumber
* Lettuce

Sauce

Mix mayo, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. At the end, add some yogurt to make the taste lighter.

Put all vegetables in a large round plate and put sauce in the middle. Serve it on individual plates after mixing the sauce and the veggies! Enjoy!

Munich Japan Dinner :)))

The before:





And the after:

La Revancha del Tango

The video that gave me the inspiration of starting dancing tango!

De angelis - PREGONERA

http://www.chorotropio.gr/


You know you're a tango junkie when...

* When you realize the milonga is where you see all your friends.
* Walking into new buildings and noticing potential dance space to tango.
* You cross country lines to tango!
* You often find yourself googling phrases containing the word "tango".
* Your first question when buying clothes is "but can I dance in it?"used to be "but can I wear it to work?"
* You wish you paid more attention in high school Spanish class.
* You have a tango bumper sticker or your license plate contains a word related to tango.
* You plan the rest of your social life so it doesn't conflict with tango nights.
* Your fantasy travel destination is Buenos Aires.
* You listen to tango music when you're not at a practica or milonga.
* You now view the world in terms of people who tango and those unfortunate souls who don't.
* Before traveling, you check out the net for tango events in that area.
* You have to work hard to maintain nontango friendships (if you have any left).
* You have developed the ability to turn any conversation to tango within 2 minutes.
* You no longer have parties at your house; you host milongas.
* You practice the roles of both lead and follow to fully understand the dance.
* You have bought a piece of clothing not commonly seen in public.
* You dance tango in your mind.
* You've gone home after a dance with someone else's glitter on your face.
* When you wait in line, you must fight the urge to randomly gancho those around you.
* You constantly have bruises on your legs and feet..
* Your respect for others is measured by how well they can dance.
* You feel exhausted but come alive when you hear a tango and hit the dancefloor.
* When you find yourself dressing a stranger in your eyes in 3" heels and a black dress.
* When you and another contractor are workin on a move to Calo two stories above the ground, tool belts clinking.
* When you laugh out loud at bad tango in movies.
* When you walk backwards to the refrigerator.
* You've remodeled your house mainly to maximize dance space.
* Entering a lift and making a side step with your left foot to give way to somebody going out, you change weight on the doubletime.
* You copied your tango music to your office computer.
* You've danced with one of the biggies and survived.
* You go through withdrawal without at least one tangohigh per week.
* You've stopped saying sorry when you screw up you just tango out of the trouble you got into.
* You keep a pair of dance shoes in your car.
* You've sold or moved most of your furniture to give yourself practice space.
* You are unable to schedule major surgery without compromising tango commitments.
* When you look in the mirror, you are usually looking at your feet.
* Your shopping cart often substitutes as your dance partner.
* You've figured out how to find the hidden tango sections in any record store.
* You are willing to spend twice as much time driving to a milonga as you actually dance.
* Your computer passwords are phrases related to tango.
* Your ear has been trained to recognize the tango possibilities in all forms of music.
* You maintain a phone list of the hardcore tangueros in your area.
* Tango has diminished, if not ruined, the appeal of every other dance you ever did.
* You have become nocturnal.
* You have been spotted dancing tango in parking lots.
* Posters for upcoming tango events are always magnetized to your refrigerator.
* Your interest in shoes can easily be mistaken for a fetish.
* You have been known to sing in the ear of your partner while dancing.
* You recognize that special glow in the night as another hotbed of tango erupts in the distance.
* Friends and family automatically assume that you want tangorelated birthday gifts.
* Your dancing shoes always look wellused.
* You can't resist dancing a few tango steps whenever you cross a wooden floor.
* You find that you sandwich feet far more often than shake hands.
* You find that dancers drawn to tango are the most interesting passionate people you know.
* You draw satisfaction every time you break someone's Hollywood misconception of the dance.
* When you go to a conference, you plan your trip around local tango events.
* The first thing you do when you buy a new cd is skip through each song to evaluate its tango potential.
* You keep a portable stereo and an iPod full of tango music in your car.
* You choose your bars based on how much they mind you bringing in your own music and clearing tables out of the way.
* You'll pay money to attend a regular ballroom dance just on the offchance that they'll play a tango.
* You dance with spare chairs in the middle of the room.
* You gancho your way out of the door.
* You look at random people in the street and try to evaluate their tango abilities.
* You look at dresses and skirts as "good" or "not good", according to how good and practical they would look on you, while you dance.
* In the supermarket you hide yourself behind the trolley and practice forward steps. Now and then you have to check the price of the product you don’t need two meters behind your back to also practice the reverse.
* The first thing you do when you buy a new cd is skip through each song to evaluate its tango potential.

Films I like :)

"Andrei Rubluev" - Andrei Tarkovsky

"Solaris" - Andrei Tarkovsky

"The Mirror" - Andrei Tarkovsky *

"Nostalgia" - Andrei Tarkovsky

"The Yards" - James Gray

"We own the night" - James Gray *

"Two Loves" - James Gray *

"Walk the line", The life of Johnny Cash - James Mangold *

"Cursive II" - Japanese DanceTheatre Play, Music By John Cage

"Summer with Monica" - Ingmar Bergman

"Η νύχτα των σαλτιμπάκων" - Ingmar Bergman *

"Persona" - Ingmar Bergman *

"Passion" - Ingmar Bergman *

"Belle de jour" - Luis Bunuel *

"El ángel exterminador" - Luis Bunuel

"Nazarin" - Luis Bunuel

"The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie" - Luis Bunuel *

"Ascenceur pour l'echafaud (ασανσέρ για δολοφόνους)" - Luis Malle

"Shadows" - Kasavetis

"To mystiko frourio" - Kurosava *

"Down by Law" - Jim Jarmusch

"Barfly (Written by Charles Bukowski"

"Yes Man" -
Peyton Reed

* To be watched soon..

The Books I like :)

Literature:

The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari

The Idiot- Dostoyievsky

Crime and Punishment

The Eternal Husband

White Nights

Stieg Larson - Millenium The Trilogy

Several:

Tarkovsky

Yojokun

Woman: An Intimate Geography

Self Trigger Point Therapy

Zen Body Therapy

Cooking:

A Little Taste of Japan

Japanese Cook Book by Harumi

The Modern Ayurvedic Cookbook

Matcha Ice-Cream

from the book "New Tastes in Green Tea", by Mutsuko Tokunaga

"I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream", Roberto Benini in "Down by Law" :))

* 2 cups milk
* 4 egg yolks
* 2/3 cups sugar
* 1 Tbsp cornstarch
* 1/3 tsp salt
* 4 Tbsp matcha + 2/3 cup hot water
* 1 cup fresh cream
* 1 medium orange, cut into sections
* fresh cherries

1. Heat the milk in a small pan to about 140 degrees F (60 degrees C). Remove from heat and set aside.

2. Place the egg yolks in a pan and beat lightly. Add the sugar, cornstarch, and salt. and mix thoroghly with a whisk. Gradually pour in the heated milk and stir, making sure that no lumps form. Strain the mixture and pour it back into the pan.

3. Place the pan over a low flame and cook until the milk thickens, stirring all the time with a wooden ladle. Remove from heat and set aside.

4. Mix the matcha and hot water and stir briskly until the past becomes smooth.

5. In another bowl, whip the cream until semi-stiff, fold the milk, and add the matcha paste.

6. Pour into a metal or plastic container, and place in the freezer to set. After two hours of so, take it out and mix thoroughly with a spoon or whisk, then resume freezing. Repeat this process 3 or 4 times to ensure the ice-cream is smooth.

7. Serve with orange sections and cherries.

Japanese Grilled Salmon

• 1 salmon fillet, skin on (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 2 tablespoons red miso
• 1 tablespoon ginger, grated
• 1 green onion, chopped finely
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Preparation:

Preheat grill for medium-low heat. Combine all ingredients, except salmon, in a small bowl. Place mixture on flesh of salmon fillet. Place salmon on grill, skin side down, and cook for about 12 to 14 minutes. Remove from heat and serve.

Matcha Smoothie

* 1/2 banana
* 1/2 cup rice milk (or soya milk)
* 1-2 tsp matcha
* ice

Blend all and taste!

My favorite wake-up Smoothie!

Ichigo Daifuku Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 cup shiratama-ko (rice flour)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup water
• *For filling
• 1/3 cup water & 1/2 cup sugar & 1/4 cup dried anko powder
• or 1/2 cup premade anko (sweet red bean paste)
• 6 strawberries
• *katakuriko starch for dusting

Preparation:

Heat 1/3 cup of water and 1/2 cup of sugar in a pan. Add 1/4 cup of anko powder in the pan and stir well. Set aside. Wash strawberries and remove the calyxes. Wrap a strawberry with about a spoonful of anko and rounds to make a ball. Make 6 balls. Put 2/3 cup of water and 1/4 cup of sugar in a heat-resistant bowl and mix well. Add shiratama-ko flour in the bowl and mix well. Put the bowl in microwave and heat the dough for two minutes. Stir the dough. Heat the dough in microwave until the dough inflates. Stir the mochi quickly. Dust a flat pan with some katakuri-ko starch. Also, dust hands with some katakuri-ko. Remove the hot mochi from the bowl to the pan by hands. Dust hands with more katakuri-ko starch and divide the mochi into 6 pieces by hands. The mochi is hot and sticky, so be careful not to burn your hands. Make 6 flat and round mochi. Put a piece of strawberry and anko filling on a mochi piece and wrap it by stretching mochi. Rounds the daifuku. Repeat the process to make more daifuku cakes.
*Makes 6 daifuku cakes

Special thanks to japanesefood.about.com

Mochi - Ohagi (Botamochi) Recipe

Ingredients:

• *For Rice Balls:
• 2 1/2 cup glutious rice (mochi gome)
• 1/2 cup Japanese rice
• 3 cup water
*For Toppings:
• 3/4 lb. anko (sweet azuki bean paste)
• 1/2 cup crushed walnuts and 2 Tbsp sugar, grinded well
• 3 Tbsp black sesame seeds and 1 1/2 Tbsp sugar, grinded well
• 1/3 cup kinako (soy bean powder) and 2 Tbsp sugar, mixed

Preparation:

Put both kinds of rice in a bowl and wash with cold water. Drain the rice in a colander and set aside for 30 minutes. Place the rice in a rice cooker and add measured water. Let the rice soak in the water for 30 minutes. Start the cooker. Put prepared toppings, such as anko and sesame seeds, in seperate bowls. When rice is cooked, let it steam for 15 minutes. Mash the rice with wooden pestle until sticky. Wet hands and shape the rice into oval balls. Cover rice balls with different toppings.
*Makes about 32 rice balls