As we go to Prague in a few days for our friends' wedding, I am trying to make all of our meals from things already in our fridge. Using it up won't be easy, and some things might have to be prepared and frozen so as not to waste. With extra quark, yogurt, cheese and eggs, and a few odds and ends of vegetables and fruits, there's certainly enough to go through.
Alas, while I ought to be in the library, I have been soaking in the rays at Pikku Koski (little falls beach), or taking 8k jogs around the beautiful Töölö lahti (and consuming more than a few gnats in the process). Despite also that Antti and I have been trying to take on a summer friendly (or bathingsuit friendly) diet, I can't resist indulging on more than a few occassions.
Unfortunately, I have a tendency to eat whatever I have made fresh out of the oven, without pausing for a photo opp. This is something I need to practice the habbit of. On occassional triumphs, I have posted pictures to AllRecipes.com for the benefit of other recipe seekers out there. But now I have an additional reason to take the pictures: my own blog!
Yesterday, I made a wonderful take on the summer treat strawberry roll up cake. For this recipe, I took a basic sponge cake recipe and substituted quark for cream cheese and lingonberries and black currants in place of strawberries. Quark is more available and less expensive than cream cheese, and despite that it's strawberry season, I had a lot of extra berries leftover. I always keep these black currants and lingonberries frozen for sprinkling into my meusli in the mornings when berries are not in season, and now was time to use them up!
Finnish berry roll up cake
Sponge cake
4 eggs
1/4 cup milk (I used coconut milk for creaminess and a little flavor)
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbs vanilla sugar (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
1 tsp white vinegar
2 tbs water
Fillling:
1 cup plain quark
1 cup mixed berries (I used lingonberry and black currant)
sugar to taste
1 package berry flavored gelatin
1 c boiling water
Starting with the pancake, separate the eggs, and mix the yolks with the coconut milk. Mix dry ingredients together. Mix egg yolk mixture with dry ingredients until smooth, minimizing lumps. Whip egg whites with vinegar and water, adding a pinch of sugar if needed. Whip until eggs hold a peak for a few moments. Fold whites into mixture, slowly to hold the volume.
Pour pancake batter into a jelly roll pan, 9X12 inches. Since I don't have one, I used a 15x15'' pan, and tried to pour the batter onto only one side. As the diagram below explains, this is not ideal. This pancake needs 12-15 minutes in an oven at 200C. The pancake should be slightly golden and spongy.
Then, mix the gelatin with boiling water until dissolved. Pour mixture, still warm, over the pancake and allow to absorb. Once cool enough, spread the quark and berry mixture evenly over the pancake, and roll slowly lengthwise. Cool until the gelatin is set.
Serve chilled with extra berries for garnish.
Weekends are for breakfast!
Since I try to be up early on the weekdays, and my roomie isn't, the weekend are my best chance to make a nice breakfast for two. With only two of us, many of the recipes aren't suitable for two people. So this one I adapted from several other strata recipes I found online. This is another great way to use up stale bread.
Individual Veggie Stratas
4 eggs
2 stale bread rolls
1 cup milk
2 slices cheddar cheese
1 onion
butter for frying
1/2 bell pepper (any color)
1/2 cup sliced zucchini
1 tsp prepared mustard
salt and pepper
Whisk eggs, milk, mustard, salt and pepper together. Sautee onion until yellow and soft, add pepper and zucchini and cook through. Dice bread rolls and mix with vegetable mixture. Divide into two soufle cups and pour egg mixture evenly over both. Top each with a slice of cheddar cheese. Bake at 200C for 30 minutes covered with foil, then take foil off and bake another 15 minutes, or long enough to melt the cheddar.
Ich liebe deutsche Küche: Quark Spaetzle
I admit, I'm a bit of a Germanophile. I love the language, the food, the Weinachtmakt, the Berlin bears.... I remember once our German friends making Spaetzle for dinner at their place in Helsinki one night. It was the first time I saw such a process- strange drops of eggy doughy goodness and lots and lots of cheese....mmmm.....
3/4 cup plain quark
2 eggs
1 cup flour
salt
nutmeg
2 tbs butter
2 cloves garlic
1 onion
pepper
Start by boiling a large pot of water with 1 tsp salt. While the water is boiling, mix quark, eggs, flour and salt together and mix until no lumps remain. Using a spaetzle maker (or in my case, a collander with round holes) scrape dough mixture, one spoonful at a time, through the collander. Let the dough simmer until they rise to the top, scoop out with a strainer or spoon and rinse with cold water to prevent from further cooking. Continue until all batter is used.
Add butter to a skillet and heat. Cook onions until yellow, add garlic and cook. Add spaetzle to the onion mixture and continue to heat. Take skillet off heat and add cheese last, in order to avoid browning. Serve with cabbage, sauer kraut, brat, weinerschnitzle or any other food you might enjoy!
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