All posts tagged: skill level: easy

Delicious Mini Pasties with Lentils and Coriander Filling

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Name and pronunciation: paszteciki [pah-sh-teh-cheekey]Description: lentil-filled pastiesType of cuisine: Eastern European —  These little treats are my family and friends’ absolute favourites. They are easy to make, they just take a little planning, and remember to make lots, since they disappear very quickly! The yeast dough rises in a fridge overnight, so it is a little different than basis yeast dough. It resembles something in between yeast dough and shortbread, flavourful and yet delicate and crispy. You definitely need to try them! — At least 20 servings (depending of the size of your pasties) • Preparation time: about 60 minutes (rising overnight) — Tips: 01Prepare the dough in the evening and let it rise overnight in a fridge. 02Try different fillings! Everything resembling pâté, either made with meat or legumes, will be fine. — Ingredients: Dough:✽ 350 g all-purpose flour✽ 250 ml warm milk✽ 100 g soft butter✽ 4 egg yolks✽ 7 g instant yeast✽ 1 tablespoon sugar✽ ¾ teaspoon salt Lentil filling:✽ dry lentils✽ 1 bunch fresh coriander✽ salt✽ pepper — Method: 01Sift the flour to a large bowl, add the yeast, milk and sugar. …

Sweet Crêpes with Creamed Cottage Cheese Filling

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Name and pronunciation: naleśniki z serem [nah-lesh-nicky z sir-em]Description: crêpes with cottage cheeseType of cuisine: Eastern European —  This humble meal was always the most delicious treat for us as children. Now, they may not look like much, but they are absolutely delicious! Even though they are sweet, they are not seen as dessert, but as quick lunch or supper. — 8-10 servings (depending of the size of your pan) • Preparation time: about 30 minutes (up to 60 minutes with the resting time) — Tips: 01To make your crêpes even more special, you can add raisins and cinnamon to the cheese filling. 02The cheese filling is delicious as it is, but since it contains egg, you need to fry the crêpes before serving them. 03If you want to make them in advance, feel free. You can even freeze them! Simply prepare your crêpes, fold them with the cheese filling and refrigerate or freeze them. Take out ready to fry! 04Serve with Polish for local sour cream. If you cannot get it, you can replace it …

Our Eastern Kitchen - Most Delicate Chocolate Cupcakes with Lemon Glaze, Rose Petals and Walnuts - Recipe - Food Photography

Most Delicate Chocolate Cupcakes with Lemon Glaze, Rose Petals and Walnuts

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I am very adamant about cakes that are too dry or too hard, so I absolute adore this recipe. The cupcakes are feather light, delicate and very moist inside. They also come out with flat tops, which makes them perfect for decorating. As it happens, no one in my family likes buttercream, so I always glaze them, or dust them and I love such neat, elegant finish. — Approximately 12 servings • Preparation time: about 30 minutes • Baking time: 20 minutes — Tips: 01The better you cream your ingredients, the more delicate the result. Butter and eggs need to beaten as well as possible, so take your time until they are smooth, visibly fluffy and almost white in colour. 02Be very careful when you glaze your cupcakes. Sugar gets extremely hot and sticks to your fingers, so any encounter with skin is highly unpleasant. 03Do not worry that if cupcakes change their height quite a lot during baking. It is perfectly normal. They will rise significantly at first, but then reduce to flat tops at the …

Our Eastern Kitchen - Delicious Apple Pie with Banana and Cardamom - Recipe - Food Photography

Delicious Apple Pie with Banana and Cardamom

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Name and pronunciation: szarlotka [shar-lot-kah] Description: apple pie Type of cuisine: Eastern European — It is a delicious twist on my Traditional Polish Apple Pie. Adding bananas instead of upping the sugar is a great solution when your apples are not very sweet. Cardamom is amazing and flavourful, especially combined with cinnamon. Together, so good and easy to make! — 10 servings • Preparation time: about 2 hours • Baking time: 50-60 minutes — Tips: 01If your over tends to underperform at the bottom (like mine), pre-bake the bottom crust for about 10-15 minutes. 02When you start, make sure butter is cold and very hard. 03Used what you have in your kitchen to create an original look for your pie. Here, I used a pizza cutter to cut pastry strips and my son’s playdough star cutter, since my cookie cutters were too big. 04Serve it with our thick, creamy caramel sauce. Amazing! — Ingredients: Pastry:✽ 300 g all-purpose flour✽ 250 g butter✽ 1 medium to large egg✽ 3 tablespoons sugar✽ 2 tablespoons vanilla sugar✽ 1½ teaspoons baking …

Our Eastern Kitchen Thick Caramel Sauce - Recipe - Food Photography

Luscious Thick Cacao Caramel Sauce

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This sauce is more than just caramel. It is so perfectly thick, silky smooth, milky with a hint of cacao. I based it on traditional Polish chewy fudge candy called “krówki” (little cows). Perfect for any cake or pie, but apple pie especially, since apples and caramel go together so deliciously. — Tips: 01Seriously, do not stop stirring the sauce even for a second. You will be rewarded for all your hard work by the most perfect caramel sauce you have ever tasted! — Ingredients: ✽ 250 ml condensed milk ✽ 200 g honey✽ 150 unsalted butter✽ 1½ cup sugar✽ 2 tablespoon cacao — Method: 01Mix sugar with sifted cacao with a whisk. It will prevent big lumps of cacao forming in your sauce. 02Mix all ingredients in a saucepan, preferably with a solid, thick bottom. You can opt for a non-stick pot, too. 03Set high heat first and keep stirring the mix until all is combined and first bubbles appear. 04Reduce the heat slightly and keep stirring constantly until all sugar caramelises and the sauce …

Our Eastern Kitchen - Vegetarian Iraqi Biryani - Recipe - Food Photography

Iraqi Biryani

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Name and pronunciation: البرياني [biryani]Description: our favourite vegetarian version of Iraqi biryaniType of cuisine: Arabic — Iraqi biryani is the first dish my husband cooked for me and it is sill one of my favourite tastes. It differs from the original, Indian version. It has much more rich and complex flavours and textures. There are many different ways to make biryani and we make it vegetarian, but you can opt to add some meat as well. — Approximately 4-6 people • Cooking time: about 60 minutes — Tips: 01All ingredients are quick and easy, but need to be prepared separately, so it is better to be organised and have everything ready in advance 02Feel free to use the same oil to fry all the ingredients. You will need a little more oil than usually. It is not exactly deep-frying, but you need about ½ good quality olive oil. Use a draining spoon to remove one type of ingredient, before adding another one. — Ingredients: ✽ medium potato✽ 1-2 medium carrots✽ 1 medium onion✽ ½ cauliflower✽ 2 cups rice (best to use …

Our Eastern Kitchen - Simple Chocolate Crackle Cookies - Recipe - Food Photography

Simple Chocolate Crackle Cookies

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My family loves these simple cookies. They are chocolatey, but not too sweet. You need to plan them a little in advance, since the dough has to harden in a fridge for at least few hours. — Approximately 30 cookies • Preparation time: about 30 minutes • Cooling time: at least 2 hours, could be overnight • Baking time: 12 minutes — Tips: 01If you can prepare the dough the day before, do. It can be chilled in a fridge overnight, no problem. If the dough is not cold enough, icing sugar will melt into the cookie and you will lose the nice crackle effect. 02If cannot chill them for more than 2 hours, do not worry. It should be enough, just split the dough in few pieces, this way it will chill more quickly. — Ingredients: ✽ 225 g baking chocolate✽ 110 g butter✽ 1⅔ cups flour✽ ⅔ cup sugar✽ 3 eggs✽ 2 teaspoons vanilla✽ ½ teaspoon baking powder✽ pinch of salt✽ powdered sugar for rolling — Method: 01Melt the butter and chocolate in a small pot. Use my tip to …

Our Eastern Kitchen - Easy Pumpkin Pancakes - Recipe - Food Photography

Pumpkin Pancakes

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This is one of the easiest and quickest recipes and it so delicious! Perfect from fresh or frozen pumpkin. Best topped with yoghurt or sour cream and dusted with cinnamon. — 4-6 people • Preparation time: about 30 minutes — Tips: 01It is better to fry your pumpkin pancakes a little longer on medium heat, or they might burn on the outside and stay raw inside. 02Read this tip about choosing the right coconut milk. — Ingredients: ✽ 3 cups all-purpose flour✽ 2 cups shredded pumpkin✽ 2½ cups coconut milk (you can substitute it with regular milk)✽ 1 tablespoon baking powder✽ 1 tablespoon sugar✽ 1 tablespoon spices (cinnamon or/and nutmeg, gingerbread mix, etc.)✽ 1 teaspoon salt — Method: 01 Carefully mix all dry ingredients with a whisk. 02 Mix all wet ingredients using a blender to make the batter light and airy. 03Gently, but thoroughly mix two parts together, you can use low setting on your blender. 04Fry on medium temperature. Depending on the type of your pan, you will need to use little to no oil. — Enjoy!

Our Eastern Kitchen - Khubz - Iraqi Flat Bread - Recipe - Food Photography

Iraqi Flat Bread

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Name and pronunciation: khubz [kh-oo-bz]Description: flat breadCountry of origin: Iraq — This Iraqi version of flat bread resembles Indian naan a little. It is soft and a little chewy, and not dry and flaky like, for example, pita bread. It is absolutely delicious and surprisingly easy to make. Traditionally, it is baked on the walls of a cylinder-shaped, clay oven called “tanoor”, but this recipe is adjusted to make it effortlessly on a flat, non-stick pan you normally use to make pancakes. — 8 large or 16 small servings • Preparation time: about 30 minutes • Rising time: 2 x 30 minutes — Tips: 01You can try different flour combinations. It will work each time with different types of flours, but taste and consistency will differ, so test and choose your favourite. 02Use this tip for rising your dough quickly and efficiently. 03Feel free to make more bread and freeze it. They defrost very quickly and stay as fresh as on the first day. Perfect! 04Serve your khubz with zaatar, home-made hummus, or any other spread or paste. …

Our Eastern Kitchen - Our Favourite Falafel Recipe - Food Photography

Our Favourite Falafel

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Name and pronunciation: فلافل [fah-lah-fell]Description: falafelType of cuisine: Arabic — The day I have made falafel my husband recognised and liked, was a very happy in our family! There are as many falafel recipes as families and this is our favourite, secret flavour. — Approximately 40 falafels • Soaking chickpeas overnight • Preparation time: 30 minutes • Frying time: 20 minutes — Tips: 01Do not use tinned chickpeas for falafel, it is much too soft. You need to use dry variety instead. 02Fry your falafels until they are golden brown, but make sure you do not overdo it. They should be delicately crispy on the outside and soft inside. 03They will be just as good defrosted, so try to make more and freeze a batch or two. They defrost in a matter of minutes! 04You can serve them on a plate, or wrapped in any kind of flat bread or a tortilla. My absolute favourite is Turkish Yufka bread (dürüm). 05Use any sauce you like on your falafels. I like it most with a mixture of mayonnaise and …