Many boys are trying to impress their girlfriends by giving them flowers, chocolates, expensive jewelry etc. Not my boy. When we first started dating, he brought me a sweet bread which he made by himself. Guess what. It worked! I was impressed by that fact that he made all this effort for me. That said the bread was great too. Sweet and fragrant. I took it home and I didn’t let anyone else try it. I ate a piece every day to remind me of him. OK I am not usually this cheese maybe it’s because I was in love or maybe because saffron makes you cheesy.

Last time I was in Switzerland we decided to make this bread again with Fabs. But this time it was different. I was doing all the work, his mother was giving instructions and Fabs was taking photos. So at last I could offer him a gift of love too

Ingredients

900 gr all purpose or bread flour

500 gr milk

15 gr salt

50gr fresh yeast

125 gr sugar

125 gr butter

a pinch of saffron

1 egg

First cut the butter into small pieces and add it to the milk.

Warm up the mixture in the microwave just until the butter melts.

Add the sugar and the yeast.

Add the saffron.

Pour the flour in a separate bowl.

Add the salt.

Add the liquids in the middle of the solids and start mixing using a fork.

Mix as well as you can.

And then use your hands.

And continue…

Now it’s time for the karate moves I showed you previously. Work on it until it becomes an even mixture. Separate it into two balls and place it in two bowls.

Cover it with a plastic wrap and let it rest for about 3 hours until it is double the original size.

In the mean time, mix the egg with some saffron powder.

Like this:

Once the breads have rested, make some decorative slices with a sharp knife and brush some of egg on top.

Bake them in 180 degrees C for about 40 minutes.

Voila!

P.S. Sorry I have been away for so long. I will be posting more now I promise

So, February’s challenge was Julia Child’s French Bread. As this has been a very busy month including a 10 day trip to Switzerland (again ) I did not manage to find time to make this bread until the day before the deadline (yesterday) where I had no other choice. It was not the best time to bake as my parents had invited people for dinner. I told my mother that I really had to make this bread no matter what. Thankfully she offered to buy the ingredients for me so I didn’t have to go to the supermarket as well. When I came back home from work I told her:

‘I will go and change my clothes because I have to start’

She said to me: ‘Don’t worry I have already made bread for your website! You don’t have to make bread now’

‘Mother, I have to make this specific french bread and not the traditional Cypriot bread.’

‘Come on take a photo of that and nobody would know.’

You see, she was trying desperately to get me out of the kitchen but she wasn’t successful. I had to make the bread. So, I started work and I ignored her complains. (She was going back and forth checking it out of course).

As it takes a long time to make this bread, I had to make the last part of the recipe with a live audience. I had to clear a part of the table between the main course and dessert to shape the bread – not very polite I know. Nobody was bothered though because the were all curious to see the result. My aunts kept telling me that if I ever get married my husband will be lucky because I can make bread etc. etc. Unfortunately it was not ready before they left so all the sucking up on me went in vain.

The bread looked pretty good in the end and I could not wait until the morning to try it. The shape was not right but hey I didn’t have the space and the time anyway. Nevertheless, it tasted very good when I tried it this morning. Actually, the big piece disappeared before I came back from work so this means that my brothers liked it as well.

Will I make it again? Definitely. With the right shape hopefully… You can find the recipe from this month’s hosts Breadchick Mary (The Sour Dough) & Sara (I Like to Cook)

P.S. I really need to get a new computer because this one is so slow and it crashes all the time. It is really off-putting. Could someone tell me where to get the money? (Just kidding)

This month’s challenge was Lemon Meringue Pie. This is a sweet I have always liked to eat but I have never tried to make. Anyway, it was not a 100% success, but it was a good start. I will try to make it again another time. The biggest mistake I did was using the wrong pie plate. It was too small and too thick for the job. I also did a stupid mistake and thus I had to make the dough twice (I am too ashamed to tell you). In addition to this I had two doggies biting my feet during the whole process and it was the day I came back from Switzerland and I was still daydreaming about it.

The recipe comes from the Canadian Baker and I strongly recommend that you should try it. You can see below some pictures of my great achievement. Sorry about the bad quality of photos. My mind was still somewhere else you see.

This is the dough

I put it in a plastic membrane so I could shape it without making a mess with the flour.

and in the plate:

And voila! The final result:

See some photos of the pets which where harrasing me during the porcess:

This is Rania

and this one doesn’t have a name yet
more photos for you :

Ingredients (for 2 hungry persons)

300 gr of vacherin cheese

1 clove of garlic

1 dl water

Bread or boiled potatoes for dipping

Special equipment

Fondue caquelon ( fondue pot)

Cut the garlic and add it with the water in the caquelon. Heat it until the garlic becomes soft.

In the mean time, prepare the ingredients. Cu the cheese into cubes…

… and the bread into slices.

Add the cubes of the cheese in the pot and start stirring. Important keep the heat low.

Continue stirring…

… until the cheese melts.

Fabs: It’s ready honey! Set up the table please.

Me: Yes sir!

Me: C’mon let’s eat! (I was hungry and the smell was great).
Fabs: First let me add some pepper to intensify the taste.

Fabs: Ok let’s eat.
Me: I want to take a photo to show people how you eat it.
Fabs: Ok

Me: Remember of you loose the bread you pay for the wine

Me: Baby I think you made too much. We will not manage to eat it.
Fabs: Are you sure?

(A few minutes later)

Me: Baby I want to take the last bit because it’s the best

Fabs: We were not going to eat it ha?

Those of you who guessed Switzerland… you are right. I went for a little trip to visit Mr. Fabs ( my boyfriend) and went with him to a little ski trip to Zermatt. So, here are some photos for you:

There is an expression in Greek that I really like. When someone wants to say we have messed things up he/she says we have made it a salad. Well, most Greeks like salads and this makes me wonder if this could be an allegorical link to the Greek culture. Greeks are after-all well known for their lack of organization.
One of the Greek songs that was popular in the eighties was the one titled ‘Serenata’. During those days, I was just a child and I could not understand what the *&%$* the singer was talking about. The song starts by saying that the singer and her boyfriend broke up and split the furniture between them but she has kept their cat (Serenata). And the chorus goes somewhat like this:
“I don’t want to see you again
my babe we made it a salad
I just wanted to tell you
that the cat gave birth tonight”
and then it goes on saying that the cat gave birth to two kittens in the kitchen and she named one of them after him. As he had promised the cat that he would never give his soul to another cat, she abandoned her kittens and went looking for him. Now the singer is left alone with the kittens and she does not know what to do as she has received bad news about Serenata. But he doesn’t care where Serenata is or if she has been hit by a car. So – she is telling him- that he can buy new plates and find another cat but he should think of Serenata from time to time.
“I don’t want to see you again
my babe we made it a salad
I just wanted to tell you
that tonight we lost he cat”
Sad ain’t it?

Anyway this is a nice salad that I made as a starter for my birthday dinner.

Apple salad 

Ingredients
Lettuce (romaine or even better iceberg)
Red and yellow bell peppers cut in slices
Apple cut in thin slices
Walnuts cut in small pieces
Starfruit in slices (for decoration)

For the dressing:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup white wine
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt, pepper

Mix all the ingredients and put the dressing on top.
Enjoy!

Music for cooking:
What else? “Serenata” by Arleta. The video has also other songs from the same artist. Serenata is the third song you will hear.

(Picture taken from the book: “Αερικά-Ξωτικά και Καλικάντζαροι” of Θ.Βελλούδιου)

According to the Greek tradition ‘kalakantzaroi’ are terrible creatures that leave under the earth and which all year long are trying to cut the tree of life which is the foundation of the earth. On Christmas Eve when their work is almost finished, they come to earth to tease and harass humans. There are many tricks that you could use to make them stop harassing you and one of them is to give them sweets.  On the 6th of January (Epiphany) the Greek housewives make sweets and throw them on the roof of the house in order for the creatures to eat them and go back home.

Through this myth, sugar has taken magical forces chasing the bad creatures away. I wish that we could use sugar to chase away all the evil from this world. Wouldn’t this be nice?

This afternoon we went to my grandparents and my grandmother cooked for us these traditional sweets for Epiphany called “Loukoumades”. Sorry I don’t have the recipe for you today. I have to run and I feel a bit low today. I will post it another time. For those non-Greeks out there can you guess how they are made (The photo of my grandmother can give you a clue)?

Christmas might be over but we can still eat some of the nice Christmas treat like this bread. This is a very festive bread which was a big hit on the dinner I had for my birthday two days ago. My birthday is on the 22nd but I decided that it was more convenient to have the dinner party on the 28th as nobody would be fasting and I would also have some extra time to prepare nice food. The menu contained mostly things that I haven’t done before and this bread was one of them. I know its risk to cook something for the first time on a birthday dinner but I warned everybody ahead (and I had the fast food phones on hand just in case). I have to say that I did very well for a beginner. Well, everybody told me that the food was good and I hope they didn’t lie.

As I said before, this bred was a big hit and I am glad about it because it took a long time to prepare. But, believe me dear readers it was worth the effort. The recipe is taken from a greek recipe book of Vefa Alexiadou which contains recipes for holidays and big occasions. You are lucky enough to have me translating it for you

Ingredients

30 gr fresh yeast or 1 tablespoon yeast powder

4 cups flour (strong or all purpose)

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup warm water (40 degrees Celsius)

3/4 cup warm milk(40 degrees Celsius)

1 egg

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup sunflower spread

3 tablespoons red bell pepper (cut in small pieces)

3 tablespoons green bell pepper (cut in small pieces)

1/4 cup kefalotiri cheese (or any other hard and spicy cheese)

1/4 teaspoon paprika

Special equipment

Round baking tin (the one we usually use for cakes)

Methodology

Dissolve the yeast in the water and add two table spoons of flour. Let it stand for 10 min to foam. Put the flour and the salt in a bowl and make a circle in the middle. Pour the milk, the egg, the sugar, half of the sunflower spread and the yeast in the gap. Work with your hands adding the flour to the liquids little by little until you have a soft silky dough that does not stick on your fingers. If it is still sticky add some more flour. Cover the dough and leave it to rest in a warm and damp place until it becomes double the size. It takes around 1 1/2-2 hours.

In the mean time melt the remaining spread and brush the bottom and the sides of the tin. Put the pepper pieces on the bottom of the tin. In a separate bowl, mix the cheese and the paprika.

When the dough is ready, put it on a floured surface and form a thick long roll. Cut the roll in 24 pieces using a knife. Place both sides of the first piece on the cheese (so that some cheese sticks on it) and place it in the tin. Continue placing the slices in the tin standing next to each other leaning on one side so that each slice covers two thirds of the previous (that is a bit narrower than the picture – we didn’t exactly done it right the first time). 

Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Cover the tin and let it rest until it is double te size. Bake on 180 degrees Celsius for 25-30 min. Leave it to cool. Remove it from the tin by placing it upside down on a plate. You can serve it or freeze it and serve it another time.

Enjoy!

A few thought about the result: Next time I will make this bread I will put the slices narrower in the beginning of the circle because ther was too much room left at the end and the bread was not symmetric. Also, next time I will use a flat bottom tin ( I was cooking something else in the other tin)

Merry Christmas everyone…

(the photo is from our Christmas cake. I will give you the recipe some other time)