Houston-style Kolaches

Kolaches are originally from Czechoslovakia (and I believe they have variants in Poland as well), but have been adopted by Texas in general and Houston in particular. The Czech-style ones are sweet, with a fruit filling, but the sort you get here are almost all savoury, with breakfast-type fillings - scrambled egg, cheese, bacon, sausage... and because it's Texas, some element of fireyness - jalapenos or salsa or some other hot sauce.

We really like kolaches, and used to buy them occasionally as a treat, but then we started wondering how difficult they would be to make at home - as with most things, not only is it significantly cheaper to make them yourself, but of course you also get to control the amount and quality of your ingredients. Kolaches will never be health food, but making them ourselves produces an end result that is significantly less oily and significantly more tasty. If you've never tried kolaches before (and it seems it's almost impossible to track down the breakfast-style ones anywhere much outside of Houston), here is the recipe - it's really very easy!

The dough recipe below makes at least 15 - enough for 5 or 6 - so reduce amounts or freeze extra as needed. I find the dough is fine after being frozen for a short time, but is better fresh.

Houston-style Kolaches
Ingredients - Dough
4 1/2 teaspoons yeast
1/2 cup water
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 - 4 tablespoons sugar, to taste (dough here is very sweet; I like it a little less so, so reduce the sugar)
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose/plain flour
2 cups bread flour

Method
Heat water to 100F/38C; add yeast and a pinch of sugar; mix and set aside
Mix softened butter and shortening; add sugar and stir until well mixed
Add egg yolks, milk (also warmed to at least room temperature) and salt; mix
Add yeast and water mixture; stir; add flour
Mix, then remove from bowl and knead for 10 minutes
Place back in bowl, cover, and allow to rise until doubled in size (45 min - 1 hour)

While dough is rising, prepare and cook filling ingredients, as it's best if they're room temperature before you use them. It's really up to you what you use for filling, but some ideas are:
- scrambled egg (four eggs usually makes enough for 6 - 8 kolaches, depending on size)
- chopped bacon (four rashers is usually enough for 6 - 8 kolaches)
- chopped breakfast sausage
- grated or diced cheese
- fresh or pickled jalapenos
- salsa (reduce over heat before adding to take some of the liquid out)
- anything else you like the idea of!

When dough is doubled, gently punch down and press out the air. You can leave it to rest for a short time, or begin to use immediately; if dough is resistant to pressing out, cover it with a cloth and let it rest for 5 - 10 minutes and it will usually become much more pliable.

Pre-heat oven to 425F/220C.

Pinch off pieces of dough that are about the size of a golf ball, or very slightly larger. Press out into a circle - it can be slightly thinner on the edges than in the middle as the edges will form the base, which will be thicker than the rest.

Place filling ingredients in the middle of the dough rounds.

Gather edges together by pulling opposite sides together and pinching edges closed; it doesn't have to be pretty (though it should be sealed!) as you are going to turn them over and place the sealed side down.

Bake for 12 - 18 minutes, until golden brown. Brush freshly-baked kolaches with melted butter (salted is better, though you can easily add a shake of salt to unsalted melted butter for the same effect).

Serve immediately, eat as soon as they're cool enough, with hot sauce, barbecue sauce, tomato sauce, or no sauce at all!

If anyone tries this let me know - I'd love to hear how they turn out :)

Giving thanks

Last Thursday was my third Thanksgiving, living in the States! While in some ways I feel more familiar here, at other times I am brought up short by something trivial or inconsequential - like a license plate, or someone's address, with the mental exclamation: 'I live in TEXAS?!' I used to say 'I live in London!' to myself pretty regularly while I was there, with an air of delighted, disbelieving satisfaction; here, the disbelief is at least as great, but the delight - well, maybe not QUITE as much ;)

Anyway, one thing I DO like is setting aside a day to be thankful - and whichever way you look at it, we do all have a great deal to be thankful for. Dave and I support a number of charities - among them Médecins Sans Frontières, Water Aid and Help the Afghan Children - and while I love reading about the success stories those wonderful organisations achieve with so many people around the world, I am always very aware that we have, in comparison, so very much.

So we celebrated Thanksgiving this year with grateful hearts.




Those flowers came out of our garden - they've lasted in the vase for two weeks already and are still looking perfect!




Those last photos are from a new recipe I tried - pumpkin cheesecake - they were fabulous! I made individual ones in my beloved mini tart pans (I found them in a New York City restaurant supply store, after hours of searching on the internet - they're deeper than any others I was able to find with that same diameter) but you can easily make a standard sized cheesecake using this recipe. You could also swap the pumpkin for something else - I'm thinking of trying passionfruit some time soon...

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Ingredients - base
1 1/4 cups biscuit crumbs (Graham crackers are common here)
3 tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup melted butter
Spices to taste (I added some ginger, and some of my fabulous baking spice blend - a mixture of cinnamon, cassia, mace, anise, allspice and cardamom)

Ingredients - filling
2 8oz packets of cream cheese
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
2/3 cup pumpkin puree
Spices to taste (I used the baking blend again, but no more ginger)

Directions
- Mix biscuit crumbs, sugar and spices; add melted butter and mix well
- Spoon crumb mixture into pan(s); press down firmly (I used a shot glass for the small pans; a normal drinking glass would probably work well for a larger pan)
- Bake at 350F for 6 - 8 minutes, until lightly browned
- Cool for at least 30 minutes

- Combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla; beat until smooth
- Add eggs one at a time; blend
- Spoon approximately half of this mixture into pan(s); chill
- Add pumpkin puree to remaining mixture, along with any spices you're using
- Carefully add to pan(s); smooth
- Bake at 325F for 25 - 35 minutes, or until centre is almost set
- Allow to cool, then refrigerate for at least 3 hours, or overnight

- Serve with whipped cream and a dusting of spice and/or vanilla sugar

Sultan's Kitchen

I've been missing good Turkish pide, that's relatively easy to get in Sydney and London but more of a rarity here. Accordingly, a few weeks ago I did some internet research and sifted through the wide variety of recipes I found there, coming up with a hybrid recipe and set of instructions that best approximated what I missed and what I was looking for. The result was better than I had hoped for! We've since made it three or four times, and it's so easy, and SO yummy!

Dough:
2 teaspoons yeast
1/2 tsp sugar
3/4 - 1 cup warm milk (or water)
2 1/2 - 3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil

Heat half the milk to around 90F - 100F
Add yeast and sugar, let stand until frothy (around 15 min)
Sift flour into a bowl, add salt
Stir in milk-yeast mixture, add rest of warm milk/water, add olive oil
Mix well; turn out onto well-floured bench and knead until smooth (5 - 10 min)

Add a tiny amount of olive oil to a clean bowl; form the dough into a ball and place in the bowl
Brush olive oil over the surface of the dough; cover bowl with cloth and let stand in a warm place until it rises to double its size

Remove dough from bowl, knead lightly to get rid of any air bubbles
Divide dough into four pieces; place each separately (I put them on a non-stick baking tray) and cover with cloth or cling film; allow to rest for around 15 minutes

Press dough out into a long flat shape, on a lightly floured bench
Spread topping mixture (suggestions below) to within about 2cm of edge of dough
Fold edges in a small amount; twist ends into a sort of canoe shape
Bake in a hot oven (450F - 500F) for around 15 minutes - after some experimenting, I find it works best to assemble the pide on a matfer or other non-stick tray, bake for 7 - 8 minutes, then move to a pizza stone to finish cooking; it really crisps up the bottom!

Optional: remove from oven about three minutes before it's finished baking, and brush the crisping edges of the dough with olive oil; return to oven to finish baking

Once removed from oven, allow to stand for a minute or two before cutting into strips
Squeeze lemon over the whole; consume with gusto!



Topping variation #1:
200 - 250g lean ground lamb(beef is also fine)
1 tomato, diced reasonably fine
1/4 white or brown onion, diced
3-4 tbsp parsley, chopped
2 cloves fresh garlic, crushed
Other herbs to taste (eg cumin, cardamom, pepper)

Mix everything together in one bowl with a fork before adding to dough (see above)


Topping Variation #2:
1 chicken breast
1/2 - 1 cup chopped spinach
1/4 white or brown onion, diced
2 - 3 tbsp parsley, chopped
1/4 tomato, chopped
One egg
Other seasonings to taste, eg garlic, paprika...

Mix everything together etc etc



Topping Variation #3:
1 cup spinach, frozen or fresh
3 - 4 mushrooms
reasonable size chunk of Syrian (or similar) cheese (yes, 'chunk' is a standardised measurement :p )
one egg
Garlic; other seasonings to taste

Mix blah blah blah



By the way, the title of this post comes from my wonderful new recipe book, Sultan's Kitchen, by Ozcan Ozan. Inspired by pide success, and using some birthday money (thank you cousin Angela!), I just ordered it last week... let's hope for more Turkish successes in the near future!

Orange Biscotti

Ingredients:

3/4 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 teaspoons orange extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt



Method:

Spread almonds on a baking tray and bake at 350F for around 10 minutes (until golden)
Mix butter and sugar together until smooth, then add eggs
Add cinnamon and orange extract, stir until smooth
Sift and add flour, baking powder and salt
Add almonds

When mixture is relatively smooth, remove from mixing bowl and finish kneading with your hands; form into a ball
Divide ball in two (or even three, if the two seem a bit lengthy and hard to handle), roll each into a log; press down lightly to make each one not-quite-round



Place on baking tray, cook at 325F for about 20 minutes
Remove from oven, allow to stand for at least five minutes
Carefully cut into slices about a centimetre thick
Place slices back on baking tray and return to oven for ten more minutes; turn over and bake for a further ten minutes



Enjoy with tea or coffee, with friends or alone!

*A variation to the above recipe which has met with much approval:
In place of orange essence, use raspberry essence (3 - 4 teaspoons)
Don't use any cinnamon
Add 3/4 of a cup of white chocolate bits
Add 1/2 a cup of shredded coconut

All other ingredients and procedure as above.


Tea-cup and saucer and apostle spoon courtesy of the dearly-departed Frolicking Frog antique shop, Clovelly.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Although I've actually celebrated Thanksgiving in the US once before (in 2006, when I was visiting Dave), we played hosts for the first time this year, spending a lovely lazy afternoon round the table with Dave's parents Don and Rickey. We spent the morning cooking, which was also loads of fun; this was our menu:

- roast turkey topped with rosemary, garlic and sage
- apple and cranberry stuffing (best EVER; recipe below)
- roast veg ('recipe'/method below)
- green beans almondine
- creamed onions
- home-made rolls topped with garlic and paprika
- pumpkin pie Chantilly

Don and Rickey brought round a magnum of champagne, so we were well looked after in every way!


Best EVER Stuffing
(Once again, found on the internet, adapted by Kathryn and Dave).

Ingredients:

- cubed whole wheat and white breads, any proportion you choose, to total approx 5 cups
- 1 pound minced turkey meat
- 1 chopped onion
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 1 chopped golden delicious apple
- 3/4 cup dried cranberries
- 3/4 cup chicken stock
- 3 teaspoons caraway seeds
- 2 - 3 cloves garlic (crushed)
- 2 teaspoons white pepper
- 3 teaspoons dried sage
- 2 teaspoons dried rosemary
- 1 teaspoon thyme, fresh or dried
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 4 tablespoons melted butter

Method:

Heat oven to 350F (175C). Spread bread cubes in a single layer on a shallow tray; bake until evenly toasted (5 - 10 minutes). Put toasted bread cubes into a large bowl.
Cook the mincemeat in a frying pan, adding caraway seeds, crushed garlic and white pepper as meat starts to cook. After a few moments, add the onions, cook a little longer, making sure to break up all lumps, then add celery, sage, rosemary and thyme.
Add meat mixture to bowl with bread cubes. Mix in chopped apples, dried cranberries and parsley. Drizzle with stock and melted butter, and mix lightly. Spoon into turkey to loosely fill.

*NOTE: This was GREAT stuffing, but made a lot more than we needed to fill the turkey - we ate some of it as we went (hadn't had any breakfast!) and the rest as sandwich filling and as a side dish the next day. I intend to make it again soon, along with some shortcrust pastry, to make pasties. This is so versatile (and so yummy!) you could make it for all sorts of occasions.


Roast Veg

Ingredients (amounts not specified as it will depend on how many people you are serving):

- potatoes
- beets
- carrots
- turnips
- parsnips
- apples (golden delicious were great)
- garlic cloves (whole)
- onions (peeled)

Method:

Pre-heat oven to around 350F (a bit hotter can be better, but if you're also using the oven for something like turkey, 350F will suit them both).
Start a large pot of water boiling on the stove; peel all veges that require it; chop into manageable pieces.
Drop in chopped potato and carrot; boil for a couple of minutes.
Fish pieces out with a slotted spoon, put into empty saucepan, shake for a moment with lid held tightly on (this should be enough to lightly bruise the pieces, but not enough to make them fall apart!).
Put in baking tray(s) with a small amount of olive oil, a shake of dried rosemary, and any other herbs you fancy (thyme is nice, as is cracked black pepper, and oregano). Put in oven.
Repeat process with beets; put into different tray if possible (as they will colour everything they're with! This is why you don't cook them along with the potatoes and things).

Mix a small amount of honey with some olive oil in a different baking tray (heat in oven for a moment if they don't want to mix easily); lightly toss turnips and parsnips in the mixture; shake some rosemary over it all. Put in oven along with everything else.

Veges need to cook for around an hour; after about half an hour, add peeled garlic cloves and peeled onions to tray of potatoes and carrot, and add sliced apple to tray with parsnips and turnips. Take the opportunity to turn everything over and make sure all surfaces are covered with oil. Return to oven; remove when brown and tasty; enjoy with gravy and all the other good things on your table!

Kathryn's scrummy banana bread

One of the things I've been having most fun doing, with extra time on my hands and someone else to cook for, is experimenting with recipes. After trying them a few times with different variations, the best of them make it into the sacred document 'Tried and True Recipes' - and this one is, I think, worth sharing. I found the original recipe on the internet, but have made changes each time I made it, and I think this version is the best.

Ingredients:

1 cup white sugar
½ cup of brown sugar
½ cup of butter
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
4 very ripe bananas, mashed
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ cups plain flour
¾ cup wholemeal flour
½ cup chopped walnuts
½ cup sultanas

Before beginning, grease two medium loaf baking pans. Mix a small amount of white sugar and cinnamon together, and dust the inside of the baking pan with the mixture.

Mix white and brown sugar together until evenly mixed.
Add butter and mix with sugar.
Add eggs, sour cream and bananas.
Add vanilla, maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
Add baking powder and flour.
Add walnuts and sultanas.
Pour mixture evenly into baking pans, place walnuts on the top if desired.
Cook for an hour at 300F. After one hour, test; if not cooked through, increase heat to 350F and test at ten minute intervals.