Kombucha.

https://www.instagram.com/deannacat3/
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There have been numerous scientific studies about certain positive health impacts of kombucha floating around for decades, and recently, researchers at a northeastern European university (University of Latvia) did a comprehensive analysis and summation of 75 peer-reviewed academic studies, attesting to both the safety and the proven health benefits of consuming it. Here is what they found; 18 reasons to raise a glass of booch and cheers to your health 🍻
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"1. Detoxification - Kombucha contains substantial amounts of glucuronic acid (GA). GA is well known as a detoxicant. In the body it combines with toxins like pharmaceuticals and environmental pollutants. It then converts them into compounds that are soluble and the body can excrete. Drinking kombucha may also help prevent tissues from absorbing industrial toxins in the environment.
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2. Antioxidants - Kombucha contains abundant antioxidants including vitamins E, C, beta-carotene, and other carotenoids. Like black tea, kombucha also contains polyphenols and other compounds with antioxidant powers. But because it is fermented, kombucha is much more powerful than plain tea. Its antioxidant activity has been found to be 100 times higher than vitamin C and 25 times higher than vitamin E. For that reason drinking traditional kombucha may help cure chronic illnesses caused by oxidative stress.
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3. Energy - Kombucha sets iron free from black tea. That helps increase levels of blood hemoglobin, and improves oxygen flow to tissues. It also improves the body's absorption of other non-heme (plant-derived) iron.
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4. Immunity - Oxidative stress suppresses the immune system but kombucha's high levels of vitamin C support immunity. Its antioxidant power also protects against cell damage, inflammatory diseases, suppressed immunity, and tumors.
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5. Gastric Illnesses - Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are toxic to the gut. They can lead to gastric ulcers. Indomethacin, a popular NSAID, can disrupt blood circulation......

Chai-Spiced Pound Cake.

- Chai-Spiced Pound Cake - Flourish - King Arthur Flour:

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Chicken Thighs with Squash, Fennel, and Grapes.

- Sheet-Pan Cumin Chicken Thighs with Squash, Fennel, and Grapes recipe | Epicurious.com:

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Chocolate babka.

- How to make chocolate babka - delicious. magazine:

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Apple cider vinegar from Carl Legge.

- Fermenting Revolution 2 – Apple cider vinegar » Carl Legge:

- Sourdough cider » Carl Legge:

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Tomato sauce by The Clever Carrot

- 6 am tomato sauce - The Clever Carrot:

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Pasta puttanesca.

- How to cook the perfect pasta puttanesca | Life and style | The Guardian:

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Vietnamese Meatball and Sweet Potato Noodle Bowl. by Half Baked Harvest

- Vietnamese Meatball and Sweet Potato Noodle Bowl. - Half Baked Harvest:

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Smoky White Bean Kale and Wheat Berry Stew - Vanilla And Bean

- Smoky White Bean Kale and Wheat Berry Stew - Vanilla And Bean:

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One-Pan Roasted Chicken with Sherry Vinegar Sauce.

- One-Pan Roasted Chicken with Sherry Vinegar Sauce Recipe on Food52:

- Easy One-Pot Chicken Recipe Gets Even Easier With This Trick
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Caramelised Onion Soup by Donna Hay.

- Caramelised Onion Soup | Donna Hay:
Ingredients
1kg brown onions, unpeeled, cut into wedges
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and cracked black pepper
1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons caster (superfine) sugar
1 litre milk
1 bulb garlic, halved
2 bay leaves
½ cup (125ml) single (pouring) cream
⅓ cup (90g) store-bought caramelised onion
Thyme sprigs, to serve

Method
Preheat oven to 220°c (425°f).
Place the onion, oil, salt, vinegar and sugar on a large oven tray lined with non-stick baking paper and toss to combine.
Cover with aluminium 
foil and cook for 55–60 minutes or until soft and lightly golden.
Set aside until cool enough to handle.
While the onion is cooking, place the milk, garlic and bay leaves in a large saucepan over high heat and bring to just below the boil.
Remove from the heat.
Remove and discard the garlic and bay leaves.
Peel off the onion skins and discard.
Place the onion in a blender, add half the milk and blend until smooth.
Return to the saucepan with the cream and remaining milk, and place over low heat until combined and warmed through.
Divide the soup between bowls.
Top with the caramelised onion and thyme to serve.
Serves 4.
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Ossetian Pies. Khachapuri.

from
- @londonbreadbaker • Instagram photos and videos:
"I converted a yeast recipe from a website called Lyukum to sourdough- have a look on their site for ideas for fillings:
220g starter,
110g water,
290g bread flour,
100g buttermilk or kefir (recipe says sour cream but my kefir worked well)
2 level tsp salt,
2 tsp sugar,
1 large egg,
2 tablespoon sunflower oil.
This is a fairly wet dough so easier to mix in a mixer.
Mix all ingredients except the oil and mix until it clears the bottom of the bowl- add oil and mix again until completely absorbed.
Bulk in a warm place and refrigerate overnight.
Easier shaped from the fridge.
I didn’t have to add any flour to my dough but I guess it will depend on what flour you use-the one I used has over 13% protein.

- Ossetian Pies | Lyukum Cooking Lab:
for the dough
400g bread flour
5g Saf Instant Yeast
2tsp kosher salt
2tsp sugar
220ml water
100g sour cream
1egg large
2tbsp sunflower oil
for Tsaharadjin filling
160g beet leavesfinely chopped
10g chivesfinely chopped
10g cilantrofinely chopped
180g Feta cheese
for Kabushkadjin-Syht filling
200g cabbagefinely chopped
50g onionfinely diced
1tsp sunflower oil
1pinch kosher salt
1pinch black pepperfreshly ground
50g walnutstoasted, finely chopped
115g Feta cheese
for Davondjin filling
90g chivesfinely chopped
60g rampsfinely chopped
115g Feta cheese

- Ossetian pies are baked two at a time on two racks.
They are baked on naked stone or in shallow heavy-bottom pans.
What is good for baking pizza is good for baking Ossetian pies.
I prefer pans.
Preheat the oven to 232C/450F with two 30cm/12" pans in inside.
Do not shape pies until your oven is ready.

Khachapuri (Georgian: ხაჭაპური), is a filled bread stuffed with melting cheese and often served sliced, like a double-crust pizza.
- Delicious Georgian Cuisine:

- Сахараджин - tastes are made, not born: (RU)

- Осетинские пироги - tastes are made, not born: (RU)

- Осетинские пироги. Тесто и две начинки - tastes are made, not born: (RU)

How to get the best results from your Pizza Stone.

- - tips - Émile Henry:
You can use our Pizza Stone to prepare and cook your homemade pizzas.
Following our advice, you will produce pizzas with a beautifully golden, deliciously crisp crust.
Preparation and cooking
For best results and for a crispy crust, pre-heat your Pizza Stone in the oven at 240°C / 475°F / Gas Mark 9 for 10 minutes.
Do not flour the Pizza Stone (as the flour might burn) and place it on the lowest shelf of the oven.

During this time, sprinkle flour or very fine couscous over your work surface.
The couscous will help you remove your pizza easily afterwards.
Roll out your dough, put the toppings on your pizza and, using a pizza peel, place it directly on your Pizza Stone in the oven.
Cook for 10-12 minutes at 240°C / 475°F / Gas Mark 9.

The thinner the dough, the higher you should set the oven temperature: up to 250°C / 480°F / Gas Mark 9 for very thin dough.

You can also use it to cook thin-crust tarts, appetizers etc.
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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!

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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.
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- 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:

Marie Helene’s apple cake.

- THE ULTIMATE APPLE CAKE | Bewitching Kitchen: (from Dorie Greenspan)

- https://lk-experiment.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/marie-helenes-apple-cake.html








Also:
Marie-Hélène's Apple Cake recipe | Epicurious.com:
by Dorie Greenspan:
"My friend Marie-Hélène Brunet-Lhoste is a woman who knows her way around food.
She's a top editor of the Louis Vuitton City Guides (and one of the restaurant critics for the Paris edition), so she eats at scores of restaurants every year, and she's a terrific hostess, so she cooks at home often and with great generosity.
There's no question that she's a great home cook, but for me, she's the most frustrating kind of cook: she never follows a recipe (in fact, I don't think there's a cookbook to be found on her packed bookshelves), never takes a note about what she does, and while she's always happy to share her cooking tips, she can never give you a real recipe—she just doesn't know it."

- French Apple Cake - David Lebovitz:
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Making Fig Jam by Evan Kleiman

- Making Fig Jam - Evan Kleiman:

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Plum jam.

- plum jam {umbria} - Elizabeth Minchilli in Rome:
PLUM JAM {UMBRIA}
Prep time: 2 hours Cook time: 20 mins Total time: 2 hours 20 mins
Serves: 3 jars

INGREDIENTS
1 kilo (2 pounds) purple plums
500 grams (1 pound) sugar
juice of 1 lemon
3 to 4 small canning jars with lids
INSTRUCTIONS
Wash and dry the plum, then pit them. I usually make a circular cut around the pium, then give it a twist. This leaves you with one half without a pit. If your plum is ripe, then the pit should just pop out. Otherwise you might have to use your knife.
Place the plums in a large pot, and add the sugar and lemon juice. Stir well and leave to sit for at least 2 hours or even overnight. This will allow the the juices to flow from the plums and soften them a bit.
In the meantime sterilize your jars and lids. I usually just do this in the washing machine on a high setting. Otherwise you can boil them in a big pot of water for 10 minutes.
When ready to make your jam put the pot on medium heat and cook, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved and fruit begins to simmer. Turn up the heat a bit, and let simmer, stirring every so often and making sure the bottom isn’t burning, for about 20 minutes. The jam will turn a deep red color and the fruit should fall apart. The jam should reach between 210°F and 220°F, if you have a thermometer.
When the jam has reached this stage, turn off the heat, and carefully ladle the hot jam into the sterilized jars. Fill to within a ¼ inch of the top. Place the lid on each jar, making sure it is closed, but don’t use all your force, since you want the air to be able to escape.
Bring a pot of water to boil, filling it up about half way. Carefully lower the jars into the hot water bath, making sure the water comes up an inch over the top of the jars. Bring it back to a simmer for 10 minutes to sterilize.
Carefully remove the jars from the water bath to a dishtowel on your counter. If you are using canning lids, then you will hear the ‘pop’ as the air escapes and forms

Note: If you are going to be making a lot of jam, a few tools make this much easier. I always use a jam funnel to fill my jars. A candy thermometer takes the worry out of things. And a set of these jam tongs avoids tears.
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Stewy Chickpea "Tagine".

- Stewy Chickpea "Tagine" with Tomatoes, Cilantro and Golden Raisins Recipe on Food52:
- Chickpea Tagine with Tomatoes and Roasted Delicata Squash - Alexandra's Kitchen

Ras el hanout, which translates to "head of the shop" or "top of the shop," is a blend of many spices, often including turmeric, paprika, cumin, coriander, cardamom, and cinnamon, to name a few.
"I purchase mine from Tara Kitchen, but you can find the blend from many sources or you can make your own:
For the ras el hanout:
1/2 cup cumin seeds
1/4 cup dried rose petals
1/4 cup coriander seeds
3 tablespoons fresh chile flakes (I pulse a chile de arbol in a spice grinder)
5 tablespoons smoked paprika
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
The ras al hanout can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 months.

I prefer cooking chickpeas from scratch, but you can use canned chickpeas here with fine results.
You'll need two 15-oz cans, drained and rinsed. If you use from scratch-cooked chickpeas, save the cooking liquid for the tagine."
—Alexandra Stafford

Serves 3 to 4
2 tablespoons olive oil plus more for the squash, if using
1 onion, thinly sliced to yield about 1 1/2 cups
Kosher salt to taste
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon ras el hanout, see notes above
1/2 cup finely diced cilantro, plus a few tablespoons for sprinkling at the end
4 to 6 Roma (plum) or other tomatoes, finely diced to yield 2 heaping cups
3 cups cooked chickpeas, see notes above
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar
1 delicata squash, optional, halved lengthwise, seeded, and sliced into 1/2-inch pieces
Bread for serving, optional

If you are roasting squash, preheat the oven to 450° F.
Prepare the stew. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
When it shimmers add the onion and immediately turn the heat down to medium.
Season the onion with salt.
Cook until the onion softens, stirring occasionally, and turning the heat down if necessary to ensure the onion isn't browning, about 10 to 15 minutes.
(A little browning is fine.)
Add the garlic and cook for one more minute.
Add the ras el hanout and cook for another minute.
Add the cilantro and cook for another minute.
Add the tomatoes, season with a big pinch of salt, and stir to distribute.
Cook for another minute, then add the chickpeas, raisins, vinegar, and 1.5 cups of the chickpea cooking liquid (if you cooked the chickpeas from scratch) or water.
Bring to a simmer, then adjust heat so mixture is gently simmering.
Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure the liquid hasn't reduced too much.
If it gets low, add water by the 1/4 cup.
Meanwhile, if roasting the squash, rub some oil over a rimmed sheet pan.
Spread squash over sheet pan.
Drizzle with a few tablespoons of oil and season generously with salt.
Toss to coat.
Spread back into a single layer, then roast for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the underside is nice and golden.
Finish the squash by sliding it under the broiler for 2 minutes or until the top of the squash is golden.
When the chickpeas have simmered for about 30 minutes, taste the mixture.
Add salt to taste.
Because I cook the chickpeas from scratch and use the cooking liquid, which has salt in it, I rarely need to add much salt at the end.
If you are using water, you may need to add more salt at the end.
Just taste it, and add salt as needed. Stir in the reserved chopped cilantro.
To serve, spoon chickpeas into bowls.
Tuck squash aside chickpeas—they're nice to eat together—and serve bread alongside as well.
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Best NY style pizza dough recipe and 14 tips for success!!

- Best NY style pizza dough recipe and 14 tips for success!!:

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How to prepare sparkling kombucha | Holland & Barrett

- How to prepare sparkling kombucha | Holland & Barrett: "scoby"

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