Slovenian Recipes

It has been a while since I wrote here for the last time. Life has been hectic over the past months. I still find a little time to blog but I've done it in Portuguese . No time for the english corner, which I miss a lot. Better days will come, I'm sure. In the meanwhile, here is my Panna Cotta with Rhubarb Jelly , and just the smell of Florentine Cookies that didn't last enough to be caught on camera! The February 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mallory from A Sofa in the Kitchen. She chose to challenge everyone to make Panna Cotta from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe and Nestle Florentine Cookies. Giada's Vanilla Panna Cotta 1 cup (240 ml) whole milk 1 tablespoon (one packet) (15 ml) (7 gm) (¼ oz) unflavored powdered gelatin 3 cups (720 ml) whipping cream (30+% butterfat) 1/3 cup (80 ml) honey 1 tablespoon (15 ml) (15 gm) (½ oz) granulated sugar pinch of salt Pour the milk into a bowl or pot and sprinkle gelatin evenly and thinly over the milk (make sure the ...

Winter was rigorous, Spring has been nonexistent around here. It's the middle of May and I'm yet to change my closet, moving winter coats and sweaters until the next cold season. Little dresses, light clothes or sandals are a far sight while temperatures refuse to go up and rain move to different latitudes. Today we have a glorious sun and the promise of a springy day... I'll let you know if my lighter clothes had the chance to see daylight or if I've been mislead by the beautiful sunshine outside. One perfect way to celebrate a sunny day is a colourful dessert. There's nothing easier to make than a panna cotta. C'mon Spring! Panna Cotta with Strawberry Coulis Adapted slightly from Laura Zavan, Dolce, Marabout . serves 4 200ml double cream 250ml whole milk 3 gelatine leaves 1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and seeds scraped 40g granulated sugar Soak the gelatine leaves in a little cold water until soft. Heat the double cream, milk and sugar in a saucepan. A...

My grandma (who was an excellent cook and a brilliant baker) didn't care much for what she'd call "fancy spoon desserts". Grandma would bake a pudding or a tart or even a layered cake but would pay no attention to such thing as a charlotte . When I was 15 years old I've lived for a few months in England without my family - it opened my mind in many different ways (some of which I'm not about to disclose, fear not!!). The first time I set eyes on a Tiramisu it looked pretty much like a trifle to me... A trifle without fruit! Tasting it made me think again how trifle-ish it was but the beautiful addition of cheese and coffee made it into something completely different. To this day I still have trouble adding fruit to a tiramisu, although nutty flavours make a perfect pairing to mascarpone. Back home, I've decided to make a Tiramisu for a family lunch. Not taking my eyes off grandma, I've seen her having a second helping without a blink! It became a fa...

I'm probably not the only one singing Alabama 3 today. I'm a lousy singer. For once I'm happy there's no way you can listen to me singing I woke up this morning / Got myself a gun, Mama always said I'd be / The Chosen One. Over and over. It's The Sopranos theme song , of course. My favourite version is actually sang by Leonard Cohen. The perfect soundtrack for this month DB challenge! The November 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge was chosen and hosted by Lisa Michele of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives . She chose the Italian Pastry, Cannolo (Cannoli is plural), using the cookbooks Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and The Sopranos Family Cookbook by Allen Rucker; recipes by Michelle Scicolone, as ingredient/direction guides. She added her own modifications/changes, so the recipe is not 100% verbatim from either book. Lidisano’s Cannoli Makes 22-24 cannoli CANNOLI SHELLS 2 cups (250 grams/8.82 ounces) all-purpose flour 2 table...

Lately I've been craving Paris. The symptoms are the usual: I miss walking the Seine and Boulevard Saint Michel , entering the bookshops and buying cookbooks eventually. I badly miss my favourite bistrots and the street vendors. I even miss the parisians! I daydream of crispy croissants , pain au raisins et café au lait , hot chocolate and... macarons . The perfect way to get me to Paris without leaving home is to bring Paris to me, all packed and arranged in a colourful and full flavoured macaron! Macarons were on my list for quite a while. For some reason, I felt a bit scared every time I'd come across Helen's recipes - bookmarked since always from Tartelette - so I never got to try them. The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S . She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe. What a wonderful choice! Because I feared disaster (and after reading other fellow Daring Bakers ex...

An Apple Strudel would certainly put a smile on my face any day of the week! Apple Strudel is not exactly the kind of dessert I grew up with, and I don't have many memories of this sweet but I've been baking strudels for a while now. This lovely theme for this month challenge with the Daring Bakers got me thinking of many possibilities, and how I'd try different fillings and approaches to a new favourite. Except I forgot my trip to a place not so far from the Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague where Apple Strudel is baked everyday... Because of that I ended up going for the old traditional Apple Strudel, with further experiences postponed to another opportunity. Anyway, it's a wonderful recipe. Thank you Linda and Courtney! The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks . They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rod...