Homemade Borek with Ricotta Cheese.

Savoury pie.
From #berguzar.erden.
I made this cheese borek the same day as the best before date of the milk , that I used to make the cheese it’s self.
For the dough:
500 gram Organic plain white bread flour
10 g dried active yeast
300ml Water
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
Heap up the flour, make a well in centre and pour in the water,yeast and sugar.Begin to mix,gradually incorporateing some of the flour around the edges, until you have a soft sticky dough.Leave until the dough begins to rise and bubble.Around 15 minutes.Then mix in the remaining flour,olive oil and salt,and kneed well.Cover with a damp cloth and put in a warm place to rise until it has double.
In the meantime,prepare for the topping:
670 gram ricotta cheese ( or 670 gram leftover cheese)
1 bunches Fresh parsley 1 bunches Fresh mint
Some fresh garlic
2 small onion
80 ml olive oil
1 tablespoon nigella seeds
1 tablespoon red flakes chilli pepper
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt ( check your left over cheese salt)
Combine chopped parsley,onion,garlic,mint and cheese.
Add the olive oil,red pepper,black pepper,nigella seeds and salt,and kneed well.
Form into 9 large egg size.
Divide the dough into 9 pieces, roll out each dough a 2-3 mm thick oval shape.
Spread some of the filing over the top,leaving 1,5 cm around the edge uncovered.
Fold the edge inwards and twist each end into a point.
Bake in preheated oven 220°C for about 15-20 minutes.

*бурек - вид несладкой выпечки турецкого (по-видимому, анатолийского) происхождения, популярный в странах бывшей Османской империи и соседних с ними.

Sweet potato pie babka.

- sweet potato pie babka — Nik Sharma

Khachapuri - Imeruli pirog.

13 October 2017




15 October 2017







Khachapuri (Georgian: ხაჭაპური), is a filled bread stuffed with melting cheese and often served sliced, like a double-crust pizza.
It is justifiably considered to be one of Georgia’s national dishes and is popular in restaurants and in homes.
Different regions of Georgia have their own type of khachapuri with the most common being –
Imeruli (Georgian: იმერული ხაჭაპური) – Imeretian khachapuri (from Imereti), which is circular and probably the most common type.

Khachapuri Dough Recipe
There are several recipes but we find this one the easiest way to prepare the dough and we used this method to make all three types of khachapuri mentioned in this article.
Ingredients (for 3 khachapuri):
1.15 kilos of flour,
200 ml of water,
200 ml of milk (or water),
1 egg,
1 tbs of yeast and 50 ml of oil.

Warm the water to 35C and stir in the yeast.
Add 1 kilo of flour to a mixing bowl and make a depression in the flour.
Add the yeast water, oil, milk and a raw egg. If you want the bread to have a golden color you can add 1 tsp of sugar.
Mix the ingredients from the middle of the bowl until all of the flour is mixed.
The dough should be formed into a soft ball.
Cover the bowl with cling film and leave in a warm place for 2 hours.
The dough will rise and look like the picture below.
Add 150 grams of flour and knead the dough.
The dough is sufficient to make 3 khachapuri.
Separate the dough into 3 pieces as shown in the picture below.
Congratulations, your dough is now ready to make khachapuri!

------------
Ingredients:
200 grams of khachapuri dough and all purpose flour (for kneading dough and dusting).

Prepare the dough as per the step-by-step guide in the link to the article mentioned above.
The recipe for the dough is enough to make 3 khachapuri so you will need to reduce the quantity of ingredients if you only want to make one or two.

Other ingredients:
2 eggs (1 egg yolk for glazing but this is optional),
30 grams of butter and 600 grams of Imeretian cheese (alternatively, you can use feta cheese and mozzarella together).
Grate the cheese.
Add the grated cheese, one egg and 20 grams of butter to a mixing bowl.
Mix thoroughly.
Knead the dough before using.
Leave for 10 minutes and then make a circular shape, with a lip around the edge, like in the picture below.
Spread the cheese filling onto the middle of the dough.
Fold the edges of the dough over the cheese filling.
Seal the dough as shown in the picture below.
Turn the dough over and flatten it out to make a circular shape.
As you spread out the dough make sure the cheese filling is spread evenly.Be careful not to tear the dough.
A rolling pin can also be used to flatten the dough.

The dough should like the one in the picture below.

Lightly dust a baking tray with flour (to stop the khachapuri sticking) and put the khachapuri in a pre-heated oven for about 15 minutes at a medium temperature (200-220 C ).
If you want to glaze the khachapuri with egg yolk do this 5 minutes before it is ready.
Glaze the khachapuri with butter as soon as you remove it from the oven.
This makes it soft.

Serving: Cut into slices and serve immediately.
Enjoy this famous Imeretian dish!

PS
- Imeruli Khachapuri (Georgian Cheese Bread) Recipe | SAVEUR:

Heat a large griddle or cast iron skillet over medium-high heat until hot.
Add as many khachapuri as will fit in a single layer without crowding or overlapping.
Cook on one side until the breads are well browned and lightly charred in some places, 3-4 minutes.
Using a wide spatula, turn and repeat on the remaining side.
-------------
- Preheat the oven to 230C/450° F, and place a dish full of water on the bottom rack.
- Transfer the khachapuri to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a Silpat.
Mix the egg yolk and water in a cup, and brush the dough with the resulting egg wash.

- Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes, until the top is golden brown. Let cool 5 minutes, then slice and serve.
I had already turned the oven and preheated it on the 180 degrees Celsius and I just put the pan into it and had it for 40 minutes.

- Slide the khachapuris on their papers onto the pizza stone, leaving a few inches of space between them.
Bake, turning them 180 degrees after about 8 minutes, until golden and crisp, about 12 minutes total.
- About Food – Megruli Khachapuri | Georgia About:

- Imeruli Khachapuri (Georgian Cheese Bread) Recipe | SAVEUR:

- Delicious Georgian Cuisine:

Pumpkin pie and ginger cream.

A couple of days ago Maddy, the little girl from next door, brought me a bowl of pumpkin flesh, dug out of a large pumpkin she was carving for halloween.
Here is a slice of the pie I made with it following a recipe I always use and that never fails to go down well.
This pie only gets made once a year and some years I don’t get around to it at all.

Preheat the oven to 180 C / gas mark 4
Make shortcrust pastry to line a 23cm loose-bottomed flan tin: 160g plain flour, 80g unsalted butter, 1 – 2 dessert spoons caster sugar, zest of half a lemon (optional), 1 egg yolk, a drop of milk or water as required.
Rub the butter into the flour, add some sugar and lemon zest if you like then bind together quickly using the beaten egg yolk, adding some milk or water to bring the mixture together and gather it into a ball.
Leave to rest for half an hour in the fridge, wrapped in cling film.
Roll out the pastry and line the buttered flan tin.
Prick the bottom with a fork and place a piece of greaseproof paper and baking beans over the base.
Bake for 25 minutes then take out the oven, remove the beans and paper and leave to cool.
Cook 600g of pumpkin flesh in a pan for approximately 15 mins with just a splash of water; as it cooks it will make its own juice so you don’t want it too watery.
Put the cooked flesh into a food processor (or use a hand blender).
Add to it, 125g soft brown sugar, half a teaspoon each of nutmeg, ground ginger and ground cinnamon, 1 tablespoon honey, grated zest from each of 1 lemon and 1 orange and the juice from half of each.
Process until smooth.
Add 3 beaten eggs and blend together then pour into the pastry case and bake for 50-60 minutes until the centre is set.
Allow to cool then serve dusted with icing sugar and accompanied by whipped cream slightly sweetened with some of the syrup from a jar of stem ginger.

Gloria Nicol grows many of the ingredients for her preserves on an allotment close to her home in the Forest of Dean.
She writes the blog www.laundryetc.co.uk, where you can read more about her preserving.

Strawberry Cream Pie

Yields: about 10 servings

Crust Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoons salt
3/8 cup cold shortening or lard
3/8 cup cold butter, chopped
3-4 tablespoons cold water

Cream Ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Other Ingredients:
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
red food coloring (optional; I skipped this)
mint leaves or whole strawberries for garnish (optional)

Directions:
Note on timing: There are several components of this pie, but their preparation fits together nicely. You can make the crust dough and while it’s chilling, toast your almonds and set them out to cool. While the crust is baking and cooling, make and refrigerate the cream and slice your strawberries. Assemble these things once the crust is cool, and chill your almost-completed pie while you whip up the glaze. Chill the whole concoction for a few hours before slicing for best results.

Make the crust dough: Pulse flour and salt together to combine. Add scoops of lard and pulse into the mixture has the texture of coarse sand, about 10 seconds. Add in chunks of butter and pulse until butter pieces are no larger than small peas, about 10 pulses. Add minimum amount of water and pulse on low. If dough remains crumbly and doesn’t come together, add another 2 tablespoons of water. Add as little as is required to enable the dough to be rolled into a ball. Form the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes.

Toast your almonds: While the crust dough is chilling, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and spread your sliced almonds out on a baking sheet. Toast for about 4-6 minutes, using a spatula to gently flip and stir the almonds ever 2 minutes. They burn quickly, so keep a close watch on the nuts and remove them when they just start to get some color and are fragrant. Mine took about 5 minutes.

Finish making your crust: Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Roll disk of dough out to around 2 inches larger than your (9-inch) pie plate and transfer it, situating it in the plate. Fold the excess dough around the edges and crimp, trimming where necessary. Cover the dough with parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans, pressing to the edges. Bake for around 20 minutes. Remove weights and paper, egg wash crust, and bake 5-10 minutes more, until golden brown (you won’t be baking it again, so make sure it has good color — shielding edges with foil if they begin getting too dark). Let crust cool completely.

Make cream filling: While the crust bakes, prepare your cream filling. Prepare an ice water bath in a bowl big enough to accommodate your saucepan. Mix sugar, cornstarch, flour, and salt in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in the milk and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and cook until thickened, still stirring constantly. Spoon out about 1/4 cup of your hot mixture and gradually drizzle it into your beaten egg, whisking constantly. This will temper the egg so that when you add it back into the hot mixture, it won’t cook. Add the egg into the hot mixture, continuing to stir constantly. Bring this just to boiling.

Set the saucepan in the ice water bath and stir it periodically as it cools. Once cool enough, chill the mixture in the refrigerator. During this time, whip the cream and vanilla together to stiff peaks. Take the chilled mixture from the fridge and beat it to break it up. Stir in about 1/3 of the cream to lighten it, and then gently fold in the rest of the cream until well combined. Chill until ready to use.

Assemble the pie: Cover bottom of crust with toasted almonds, and then dollop in chilled cream mixture, spreading it smooth with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. Slice about a cup of fresh strawberries and layer them in overlapping concentric circles on the top of your pie. Chill this while you make your glaze.

Make the glaze: Crush remaining 1/2 cup of strawberries and cook with water in a saucepan over medium-high heat for two minutes. Strain through a fine mesh sieve and discard the pulp. Add the juice back to the saucepan over medium-high heat and gradually stir in sugar and cornstarch. Cook until thickened. If you want, you can tint this glaze with food coloring to desired hue, but mine was plenty bright enough! Cool the glaze slightly (I transferred mine to a heat-proof measuring cup with a pour spout to cool for a bit) and then pour over top of strawberry slices on your pie. Garnish with big mint leaves, if you’d like, or whole strawberries. Chill entire pie for at least a few hours for best results; cut with a knife held under hot water and then dried.
Recipe by: Pat Howard
And Brian.

Quick apple pie.

Quick apple pie:
Products:
140 g flour
180 g semolina
4 g baking powder
800-1000 g apples
100 g sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon +vanilla (if you like)
100 g butter
1 tablespoon icing sugar for dusting
Method of preparation:
In bowl combine butter, sugar, sifted flour, semolina, baking powder and vanilla, mix well.
Wash apples, peel them, clean them from seed and grate, add the vanilla and cinnamon.
In greased pan (diameter of 22 cm) pour 3/4 of the dry mixture of equal layer.
Spread a layer of apples on it.
Repeat 3 times.
The last layer should be the dry mixture.
Evenly distribute the butter on top.
Bake 30-40 minutes in a preheated 200 degree oven until golden.
Readiness can identify with a wooden stick.
Cut the cake once cool completely and serve sprinkled with powder sugar.

Apple pie 'Lazy Afternoon'.

Ingredients:

200g - 1 cup flour
200g - 1 cup sugar
200g - 1 cup semolina
Half teaspoon of Baking Powder
200g butter or margarine

Filling:
6 medium-sized apples.
Cinnamon and lemon juice.

In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients: the flour, the baking powder, the sugar, the semolina, baking powder. (1 cup sugar, 1 cup flour, 1 cup semolina)
Separately: Apples grate on a coarse grater.
Brush a cake pan with a butter.
Coat the buttered moulds with 1/3 flour mixture (If you decide to make three layers), spread evenly layer of apples over the surface, sprinkle with cinnamon and lemon juice. Again: a layer of a dry mixture...apples, cinnamon and lemon juice - so, three times!
The top should be a layer of apples.

200 g butter bring to a boil.
Pierce the Pie in several places, and pour boiling butter evenly on top.
Bake at 180°C, 40-45 minutes.

Note: This cake tastes even better on the second day, as the flavors meld and mellow.

Meat pie.

Baked by Brian!