Zopf (Swiss 2-Strand Braided Bread)

Zopf is a soft bread that tastes delicious hot out of the oven. It is usually eaten with honey or jam. But when freshly baked it tastes great by itself.

It is braided with just two strands in a simple repetitive pattern. I think I may have rushed things a little and allowed the braids to cross over. That broke the even weave pattern but of course it did not affect the taste. They were so good we finished one of them right out of the oven.

Recipe adapted from here
You will need
480 gm bread flour
8 gm yeast
1 tsp. salt
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp butter, melted
1 1/3 cup milk
1 egg white
1 1/2 tsp. water

Sift the flour into a mixing bowl and add the yeast to it. Now add the egg yolk, butter and milk to the flour and form into a soft dough. Knead until smooth and elastic. Cover and keep aside until doubled in volume or about an hour.

Roll the risen dough into a rectangle and cut into four strips. Work with one strip at a time. Fold it over lengthwise and roll to form a smooth strand.

Repeat with the other portions. Place the strands at 90 degrees as in the picture below.

Fold the left arm of the lower arm over the strand above it. Repeat for the right arm.

Do the same for the vertical arms.

Continue to work the braid until you reach the end. Tuck the ends together and seal. Repeat for the second braid.

Cover and keep aside for 30 minutes or until the braid doubles in size. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 425 F. Combine the egg white and water and brush the top of the braid.

Bake for 30-40 minutes until the bread sounds hollow and is brown on the top.

Best eaten fresh out of the oven.

Rosti (Swiss Potato Pancake)

Rosti is the Swiss version of potato pancakes. This is the potato dish I added to the menu because my daughter loves potatoes. It is super simple and makes a filling side to any menu. Alternately, you can have it for breakfast.

You will need
1 potato
1 tbsp. butter
salt to taste

Place potato in a pan of water and bring to a boil. When the potato is fork tender drain the water. Wrap the potato in foil and place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. Remove the potato from the refrigerator and peel off the foil. Peel the potato and shred it using a large holed grater.

Melt butter in a pan and add the shredded potato. Add salt to taste and using a spatula combine the potato with the salt and butter. Pat it down into shape and let it cook on medium heat until the bottom is brown.

Rosti does not have flour in it, so it is not easy to flip it over. Place a dish over the top and flip the pan over so that the pancake drops on to the dish. Slide the pancake brown side up on the pan and cook the underside until brown.

When done take off heat and enjoy.

Älplermagronen (Swiss Macaroni and Cheese)

Everyone knows macaroni and cheese. Potatoes are added to the casserole in this Swiss version and it is served with apple sauce and cooked apple slices. Hence the name Älplermagronen.

The idea of eating noodles with apples was totally new to us. The flavors do go well together. As for the casserole itself the potato and macaroni was one of the most flavorful macaroni and cheese I have ever made.

Recipe adapted from here
You will need for 5 servings
1 large yukon potato
~ 3 handful of penne pasta
1 cup Gruyere cheese
100 ml milk
100 ml cream
salt and pepper to taste

For the onion topping
1/2 onion
1 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. olive oil

For the applesauce
1 cooking apple
2 tbsp. sugar
1/4 cup water

For the apple slices
1 apple (I used Gala)
1 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. sugar
a pinch cinnamon powder
2 tbsp apple cider or apple juice

To make the applesauce wash, peel and core the apple. Cut it into pieces and cook in a pan with the sugar and water until mushy. Mash to prepare the applesauce.

To make the apple slices Wash and core the apple. Slice with the peel into thin slices. Cook with the sugar and butter until tender. Sprinkle cinnamon powder and add the cider or juice. Mix and cook another couple minutes. Turn off heat and keep aside.

To make the onion topping slice the onions and caramelize with the butter and olive oil in a pan on medium heat. When tender and brown turn off heat and keep aside.

Shred the cheese and preheat oven to 400 F. To prepare the potato put it in a pan of salted water and bring the water to a boil. Let it simmer until the potato is almost cooked but not completely tender. Drain the water. Peel the potato and dice into cubes. Bring another pot of water to a boil. Add the pasta and diced potatoes. Cook until pasta is done. Drain the water.

Add half the potatoes and pasta to a casserole dish. Sprinkle half the cheese over it and then add the remaining potatoes and pasta. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top. Finally top with the onion topping.

Put it in the oven until the cheese melts. Meanwhile heat the milk and cream, do not boil. Remove the casserole from the oven and pour the heated milk mixture over the top. Return to the oven for 5-10 minutes until the pasta is heated through. Warm the apple slices.

Enjoy the macaroni and cheese with apple slices and applesauce.

This is one of those dishes that has to be eaten hot out of the oven.


This is my entry for week 48 to the 2014 52 week challenge for the theme Unexpected combinations.

Toblerone Chocolate Fondue

In Switzerland fondue usually refers to cheese fondue. But a few decades back in an attempt to popularize Toblerone chocolates a restaurant owner introduced the chocolate fondue made with Toblerone. This is an attempt to recreate that recipe.

Chocolate is very much loved in my family. When we were kids my father used to bring home these huge bars of Toblerones from his Europe trips. They would last for days. Though it is pretty rich I sometimes bring home a small tobler from the checkout area. I made made chocolate fondue before but this is the first time I used a tobler. I usually use chocolate chips. This version was simply delicious. It had the rich taste of the toblerone.

The chocolate is melted in a double boiler and mixed with melted butter and cream. The resultant gooey chocolate is served in a fondue pot. Apples or cake are used to as dippers.

Recipe adapted from here
You will need for a small batch
2 Toblerones 1.7 oz. each
2 tbsp. or a splash of cream or half and half
1/4 tbsp. of butter

Dippers
apple chunks
pound cake cubes

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Add the melted butter and cream (or half and half). Cook for a couple minutes until it thickens. Transfer to a fondue pot and keep warm. Serve with chunks of fruit or cake.

Enjoy!

ROK Korean Meal

This meal comes from South Korea officially called the Republic of Korea. Rice is the Korean staple, the rest of the meal is built around it. Korean meals are usually served with a lot of side dishes.

The main dish today is bibimbap which could be called a complete meal in itself. A bed of rice is laid in a stone bowl and topped with a variety of flavored toppings like, spinach, mushrooms, sprouts, carrots and squash. In the center is placed a fried egg (I skipped that). All the flavors are mixed together when eaten.  I decided to make a few side dishes to go along with the meal. Buchu namul or garlic chives is a salad. Dubu Buchim Yangnyeom jang is pan fried tofu topped with spices. Gamja Jorim or braised potato is a soy sauce and garlic flavored pan fried potato. Korean meals do not include desserts. Sweet dishes are served on their own or with tea. I made dan pat bbang or bread stuffed with the sweet paste of red azuki beans. All the dishes tasted great but I have a confession. We enjoy meals without gravy or dal but we found this meal too dry. So we mixed in some plain yogurt with the rice.

The new ingredients I used for this meal were Chinese chives and azuki beans. I had never heard of azuki beans before I found the stuffed bread recipe. They are red beans and taste great in sweet dishes. We liked it a lot. The other ingredient Chinese chives did not go down too well. I have used chives before but they are the small ones used as garnish not as the main ingredient. The dish failed miserably. We simply could not eat it. It may have been the recipe or it may have been the way I prepared them. Unfortunately, I had already clicked pictures of the meal with it so I am posting those. But I will not post the failed recipe.

As they say in Korea, mat`ike`deseyo!

Here are the recipes for the dishes on the menu

• Bibimbap (Rice with Carrots, Spinach, Zucchini and Mushrooms) 
• Dubu Buchim Yangnyeom Jang (Spiced Pan Fried Tofu) 
• Gamja Jorim (Braised Potatoes) 
• Buchu Namul (Garlic Chives) (Failed - no recipe)

And for dessert

• Dan Pat Bbang (Bread Stuffed with Red Bean Paste)

Dan Pat Bbang (Bread Stuffed with Red Bean Paste)

Dan Pat Bbang is a sweet Korean stuffed bread. The filling is made from sweetened Azuki beans. This sweet bread was on my wishlist for a very long time. The pinwheel shape of this bread was what I found very attractive so I had to try my hand at making it.

I decided to make it as a dessert with this meal even though Korean meals traditionally do not include desserts. Sweet dishes are served with tea or on their own in between meals.

Recipe adapted from here
You will need
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup red bean paste
1/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup warm milk
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
1/2 tsp. salt
Sesame seeds to garnish
Butter to brush on

To make the bean paste soak half a cup of Azuki beans overnight. The next day pressure cook the bean until tender. I pressure cook for 10 minutes, if your pressure cooker has a whistle then cook for 3 whistles. Grind the cooked beans to mash them completely. Combine with a quarter cup of sugar in a pan. Cook the mixture in the pan until it comes together and is almost dry. At this time you should be able to roll it into a ball.

To make the dough combine the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Pour the wet ingredients and form a soft dough. Knead the dough well until it is elastic and springs back. Cover keep aside for at least an hour until the dough doubles in volume.

Divide the risen dough into four portions. On a floured surface flatten one portion of dough. Place a forth of the paste in the center.

Fold the edges over the filling to seal it. Flatten the ball of dough with filling and place on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.

When all the portions are stuffed with the filling score each portion with eight cuts. Sprinkle some black sesame seeds in the center. Keep aside for 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 F.

Brush the tops with butter and bake the bread for 15-20 minutes until the tops are slightly browned.

Enjoy!

Gamja Jorim (Braised Potatoes)

Gamja Jorim is a braised potato recipe that is surprising flavorful. It has the perfect balance of sweet and savory. I made this dish as part of a Korean meal.

This is the dish that my daughter absolutely loved. The potatoes have a sweet and savory taste and are very flavorful. I found the dish a little too sweet.

Recipe adapted from here
You will need
2 large potatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. sugar
1/2 cup water
2 tsp. sesame oil
1/2 tsp black pepper

Dice the potatoes into even cubes. Soak in water for 10 minutes to remove the starch.

Heat oil in a pan and add the cubed potatoes. On medium heat stir infrequently to ensure they do not get brown spots or stick to the bottom. Cut the onions in slices about an inch long. Add onions and minced garlic to the potatoes.

Saute for a few minutes until onions are tender and translucent. Combine the rest of the ingredients and add them to the hot potato mixture. Cook until the sauce coats the potatoes.

Turn off heat.

Dubu Buchim Yangnyeom Jang (Spiced Pan Fried Tofu)

Tofu has gotten a lot of attention in the last decade, some good and some bad. In the countries where tofu is part of the traditional cuisine it is generally eaten in small quantities as part of a meal. I try to keep it that way in my house too. Spiced pan fried tofu is a delightful side dish. If you like tofu then you should try it. I made it as part of a Korean meal but you can make it as a side to noodles.

This dish tastes best when hot.

Recipe adapted from here
You will need
7 oz. extra firm tofu
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 clove garlic
1 tsp. honey
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 tsp. pepper flakes
2 tbsp. chopped scallion

Cut the tofu into 2 inch cubes. Heat oil in a pan and place the tofu slices in the it. When browned turn over and brown the other side. Drain on a paper towel and keep aside.

Combine all the other ingredients. When you are ready to plate arrange the tofu on the plate and sprinkle the topping all over.

Qatari Meal

As the only country with the letter Q I was a little worried about finding recipes from this country to make a full meal. But as with Oman, Qatari recipes use a lot of ingredients in their dishes so it is possible to use substitutes to make a non vegetarian dish vegetarian.

A lot of the dishes from Qatar are Arabic in origin and are eaten with regional variations all over the middle east. Machboos is a one dish meal which I have made vegetarian with the use of paneer. For a side I made Fatayer Sabanek, a spinach filled pastry. Fatayer is also made with a cheese filling. The cheese is usually salty in taste. I had a little leftover cotija cheese that I mixed into the spinach filling to give it added taste. For dessert I made Basbousa, a simple dessert similar to sheera or halwa. Baking the semolina mixture gives it a lovely cake like consistency and taste. This was a very tasty meal and we loved all three dishes very much.

No new ingredients were used in this meal but I enjoyed making the Machboos. Now even though the Machboos is filling I wanted to try Fatayer Sabanek. I just knew it would be delicious by reading the recipe and I was right.

Here are the recipe for the dishes on the menu

• Vegetarian Machboos 
• Fatayer Sabanek 

And for dessert

• Basbousa

Fatayer Sabanek (Spinach Pastry)

Spinach stuffed pastry or Fatayer Sabanek can be eaten as a snack by itself or as a side in a meal. I have made Greek spinach pie spanakopita and we all loved it. When I found this recipe here I knew my family would love it.

The origins of fatayer is disputed as a lot of countries lay claim to it. It means pastry in Arabic and you will find it in a lot of the countries in the Middle East.

Fatayer is made using leavened dough. I had a little sourdough starter handy and decided to use it. Before commercial yeast became available all leavened dough was made using wild yeast starter. The resultant pastry was crunchy but soft on the inside.

When I made this as part of the meal I did not have the time to let the dough rise overnight so I used a scant half teaspoon of commercial instant yeast to help speed up the process on one batch of the dough. This batch I stuffed with spinach and flavored it with onion and a little salty cheese. The second batch of dough I left overnight in the refrigerator and made fatayer as a snack the next day. I did not add commercial yeast to this batch and I stuffed it with cheese and a sprinkle of cilantro.

You will need
For the dough
1/2 cup sourdough starter 78% hydration (increase flour by 1/2 cup if you want to skip this)
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (I used King Arthur whole white wheat)
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup yogurt
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/4 tsp. instant dry yeast (if you skip the sourdough use 1 tsp. yeast)
1/2 tsp. sugar
Up to 1/2 cup warm water

For the spinach filling
1 bunch spinach
2 tbsp. onion
3 tbsp. cotija cheese, shredded
1 tbsp. olive oil
salt and black pepper to taste

For the cheese filling
1/4 cup cotija cheese, shredded
1/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
4-5 sprigs of cilantro, minced

Add all the dry ingredients to a bowl. Add the oil and yogurt and combine with the flour. If you are not using sourdough starter you will need a half cup of water. If you are using sourdough starter use half the water and if needed add more, a little at a time, until you have a soft dough. Knead well and keep aside covered until it doubles in volume. If using sourdough you can keep it overnight in the refrigerator to allow the flavors to develop.

Preheat oven to 400 F. Prepare the cheese filling by mixing all the ingredients in a bowl. Keep aside. Blanch the spinach and drain. Heat the blanched spinach in a pan until all the water evaporates. Cool. Combine with the other ingredients and keep aside until needed.

Transfer the risen dough to a working surface and cut into lime sized portions. Roll one portion to form a disc. Place the filling in the center.

Bring up two sides as shown in the picture below.

Pull up the bottom to form a triangle.

Pinch the seams to seal them. If the dough is dry use a little water to seal the seam shut. Place on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Continue with the remaining portions. I made some with spinach filling and others with cheese.

Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes. Broil for one minute.

Enjoy!

Vegetarian Paneer Machboos

A one dish meal made with rice that is now a family favorite. Machboos is a classic Arabic dish. I used paneer to make it vegetarian. Though machboos is usually cooked on the stove top I found this baked version that tastes just like the original. This spicy rice filled my kitchen with a lovely aroma. One word to describe its taste - delicious. The leftovers the next day were just as good.

My daughter loves anything with paneer. So when I was wondering whether to use potato or paneer to make this dish vegetarian she made the choice easy. The amount of spice used is a little too much by my usual standards, I usually use spices sparingly while cooking. In fact when I was making machboos I was sure it was not going to be edible. But then I realized rice and paneer are bland. No other vegetable is used. The flavor of the spices absorbed by the rice and paneer makes the dish. Don't skimp on the spices.

Recipe adapted from here
You will need for three servings
8 oz. paneer
2 cups of vegetable stock
3-4 strands saffron
1 tbsp oil (I used olive oil)
1 onion
2 tomatoes
1 clove garlic
1 tsp. cinnamon powder
1 tsp. turmeric powder
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. bezar powder (recipe below)
1 cup basmati rice (I used brown basmati)
salt to taste

To make bezar powder roast separately equal portions of whole cumin, fennel, coriander and pepper corn, a half inch stick of cinnamon and one red chilli pepper. When cool grind to a fine powder. Store in an airtight container in your pantry.

Mix all the spices, cinnamon powder, turmeric powder, paprika and bezar powder together. Reserve half for later, use half to spice up the paneer.

Preheat oven 400 F. Wash the rice and drain. Keep aside. Make paneer or use store bought. Cut it into large rectangles and sprinkle one side with half of the remaining spice powders. Heat oil in a pan. Place the paneer in the oil spiced side down. Sprinkle remaining spices on the other side. When brown flip and brown other side. Remove and place on paper towel.

Add saffron to the stock in a microwavable bowl and microwave for 2 minutes or until heated through. Keep warm. Chop the onion and saute the onion in the same pan as the paneer was cooked. Meanwhile mince the garlic and chop the tomato separately. When the onions are tender add the garlic and saute until fragrant.

Add the reserved spices. Combine well and add tomato. When heated through turn off the heat. Add the rice and mix together to coat the rice with onion tomato mixture.

Transfer to a casserole. Cut the paneer into cubes and place over the rice.

Pour the stock over the rice.

Cover with aluminium foil. Bake in the preheated oven for one hour. Take a peek. If the water is not all absorbed keep for another 10-15 minutes until all the water is absorbed.

Take it out of the oven and keep covered for a few minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Basbousa

This is a really simple baked dessert. It is very similar to sheera or halwa in taste as it is basically sweetened semolina. However, baking the dish gives it a lovely moist cake like texture.

I used almonds but you can use cashews or pistachios to decorate the top.

Recipe adapted from here
You will need
3/4 cup semolina
1/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp. oil
2 tbsp. yogurt
1/2 cup milk

Almonds for garnish

For the syrup
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
a squeeze of lemon juice

In a mixing bowl combine the semolina, all purpose flour, baking powder and sugar. Add the vanilla extract, melted butter and oil. Mix until crumbly. Add the yogurt and milk and whisk into a thick batter. Pour batter into a round 7" pan greased with a little oil. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. Meanwhile preheat oven to 300 F.

In the meantime boil the syrup ingredients until the sugar dissolves. Turn off heat and let the syrup cool. Remove the pan from the refrigerator and score the top in the shape of diamonds.

Press an almond in the center of each diamond. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Pour the syrup over the top and bake for another 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and cut along scored lines to form diamonds. Tastes great hot or chilled.

Enjoy!