Cranberry Shortbread / Happy New Year

Believe it or not, these plain shortbread biscuits are my favorites. I have to have them at the end of each year as holiday treats; sometimes I mix in some nuts, sometimes pieces of dried fruit. This year I made them with cranberries.

With this recipe, I want to finish posting for 2014 and wish a very happy, healthy and prosperous 2015 to all of you! Cheers!

Ingredients:

125 g butter, soft

125 gr ghee (clarified butter), soft

2 cups flour

1/2 cup rice flour

1/2 cup icing sugar 

vanilla or lemon zest as flavouring

1/2 cup chopped dried cranberries

Method:

Beat butter, ghee and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add other ingredients and mix well. Knead until smooth. Shape into 2 logs, refrigerate until hard. Cut discs, place them onto baking paper, prick with a fork and bake for 15-20 minutes at 160 *C (should stay pale). Alternatively, shape dough traditionally into 2 circles and cut into wedges; or, make any shape you want (I use measuring spoon to shape them).

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'Shortbread' sa Brusnicama

Vjerovali ili ne, kraj svih divnih kolacica, ovo su meni najdrazi. Uvijek ih pravim na kraju godine; ponekad umijesam komadice orasastih plodova, ponekad sjeckano suho voce. Ovoga puta sam ih napravila sa brusnicama.

Sa ovim receptom zelim da zavrsim 2014 i pozelim vam veoma sretnu, zdravu i 'berićetnu' 2015. U zdravlje!

Potrebno:

125 gr maslaca, omeksalog

125 gr masla, omeksalog

2 solje brasna

1/2 solje rizinog brasna

1/2 solje secera u prahu

vanila ili korica limuna kao aroma

1/2 solje sjeckanih suhih brusnica

Nacin:

Mutite maslac, maslo i secer dok ne postane pjenasto. Dodajte ostale sastojke i dobro izmijesajte. Umijesite rukama dok ne postane glatko. Oblikujte 2 cilindra ('kobasice') i ostavite u frizider da se stegne. Isjecite na diskove, nabodite viljuskom i pecite preko papira na 160*C oko 15-20 minuta (treba da ostanu blijede). Eventulano, tijesto mozete tradicionalno oblikovati u 2 kruga, i isjeci na 'kriske'. Ja koristim mjericu (kasiku) da ih oblikujem.

Ricotta Spinach and Semolina Gnocchi with Butter-Sage Sauce

This is what we had for dinner last night. Sometimes is difficult to come up with a meatless menu, but sometimes material presents itself; I saw this beautiful fresh spinach at my green grocer and decided to use it with ricotta from my fridge. Sage is from my garden, eggs my hens', so dinner was as fresh as it can get.

Ingredients:
Gnocchi-
1 bunch spinach (150 gr cooked)
1 cup Parmesan, grated
3 eggs
200 gr Ricotta cheese
1/2 tsp salt
white pepper (optional)
1 cup semolina (fine preferably)
1/2 cup flour (+ for shaping)
Sauce-
100-120 gr butter
8-10 sage leaves, thorn
Extra Parmesan for sprinkling
Method:
Cook or steam spinach; cool then squeeze all the moisture. Put spinach and ricotta in a food processor, pulls it until incorporated then add  other ingredients. Process it until smooth.
Dust working surface with flour. Turn dough onto it and shape 2 logs. Cut them into fingers and with dusted hands shape each gnocchi.
bring a pot with salted water to boil. Place 10-15 pieces of gnocchi into it. When gnocchi come up to surface cook a minute more then take out with a slotted spoon. Do the same with the rest of shaped dough.
Heat butter and sage and let it boil until sage slightly browned and release aroma. Pour over the gnocchi, mix well and grate extra parmesan on top. Serve immediately.



 Rikota, Špinat i Griz Njoke sa Sosom od Maslaca i Žalfije

Ove divne njoke smo imali za obrok prosle veceri. Ponekad  nije lako smisliti sta napraviti bez mesa, a ponekad se materijal i ideje sami nametnu. Vidjela sam divan svjez spinat kod moga piljara i odmah sam odlucila koristiti ga sa rikotom koju vec imam u frizideru. Zalfija je iz baste, jaja od mojuh koka, tako da je vecera bila izuzetno 'frishka'.

Potrebno:
Njoki-
1 veza spinata (150 gr kuhanog)
1 solja parmezana
3 jaja
200 gr ricote
1/2 kasicice soli
bijeli biber (po zelji)
1 solja griza / krupice (finije ako je moguce)
1/2 solje brasna (+ za oblikovanje)
Sos-
100-120 gr maslaca
8-10 listova zalfije / kadulje, iskidane
Jos parmezana za posuti 
Nacin:
Skuhajte spinat, ocijedite i prohladite.
Ubacite ga u elektricnu sjeckalicu zajedno sa rikotom. Isjeckajte, zatim dodajte ostale sastojke. Sjeckajte dok masa ne postane jednolicna i kasasta. 
Pospite brasnom rdanu povrsinu, pa na nju istresite masu. Podijelite na  2 dijela i formirajte valjke. Isijecite valjke na 'prste'. Svaki dio oblikujte nabrasnjenim rukama.
Pristavite lonac sa zasoljenom vodom da kuha. Ubacujte 10-15 njoka; kada isplivaju na povrsinu kuhajte jos minutu, zatim ih izvadite u posudu za sluzenje. Ponovite sa ostalim njokama.
U manjoj posudi kuhajte maslac sa zalfijom dok ne postane zlacano i dok zalfija ne pusti aromu. Prelijte ovime njoke, dobro promijesajte, pa pospite parmezanom. Sluzite odmah!

Croissants - step by step

The key for good croissants is chilled dough and butter, and resting between rolling. Use the best butter you can find, as it makes big difference.
Following recipe is for 15-16 large croissants (I always freeze prepared and cut dough, and take out as many as needed), but you can half the recipe if you don't want to leave some dough for later.
Be aware!...they can be addictive!

Ingredients:
4 cups flour (600g)
1/4 cup sugar (50g)
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup warm water
2 tsp (1 packet) instant yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1 butter (250g)
Method:
Make a soft dough out of all ingredients (except butter); use bread maker, mixer or hands. Leave to double, then refrigerate for 1/2 an hour (at least, or wrap well and leave it overnight in the fridge). Take out on floured surface and roll out into an oblong shape (pic1). Take butter out of fridge, cut into thin (3-4mm) pieces. Dust a piece of butter with flour on both sides and roll out to 1-2 mm thin. Place it  onto dough, then repeat with other pieces of butter until you cover 2/3 of dough (pic1); make sure your edges (1 cm) of dough are free from butter. Now lift uncovered side of dough and fold as an envelope (1 over 2, then 2 over 3, as shown in picture). Roll out to an long shape (pic 2), turn 45 degrees and fold as shown in pic 3-4. Dust both sides with flour, place onto cutting board, cover with clean tea towel and refrigerate. Let it rest for 30-40 min.
Take out, roll again to an oblong shape (as pic 4 shows). If your working space is narrow, let dough hang down - it's OK. Turn dough and fold again (pic 5). Refrigerate, then after 30-40 min take the dough  out and roll out to a long rectangle. Cut shapes as shown. Roll base of the triangle towards the end (you can cut base as shown - it helps hold specific shape). Place onto lined baking sheet and let it rest on a warm spot.
Preheat oven to 180*C, brush croissants with an beaten egg white (optional) and bake for 12 -15 min, or until golden brown. Enjoy while warm!

'Croissants' - Francuski Polumjeseci

Kljuc za dobre 'Polumjesece' (Croissants) je dobro rashladjeno tijesto i maslac, kao i odmaranje izmedju razvlacenja. Upotrijebite najbolji maslac koji mozete naci, jer cini veliku razliku u okusu.
Sljedeci recept je za 15-16 velikih polumjeseca (ja uvijek pravim po navedenoj mjeri, zatim izrezem tijesto i zamrznem, zatim vadim onoliko koliko mi treba) - recept mozete prepoloviti.
Upozorenje!...mozete postati ovisni!
Potrebno:
4 solje brasna (600 gr)
1/4 solje secera (50 gr)
3/4 solje mlijeka
3/4 solje mlake vode
2 k (1 paket) instant kvasca
1/2 k soli
1 maslac (250gr)
Nacin:
Umijesite tijesto od svih sastojaka (osim maslaca - mozete upotrijebiti mikser, ruke ili pekac), neka naraste, zatim ga smjestite pokriveno u frizider (ili dobro zamotajte i ostavite u frizideru preko noci).
Pobrasnite povrsinu za rad, zatim postavite tijesto i razvaljajte ga u pravougaonik. Izvadite maslac iz frizidera, izrezite ga na komade 4-5 mm. Uzmite 1 komad, pospite brasnom i razvaljajte ga do debljine 2-3 mm. Postavite na tijesto, pa isto ucinite sa preostalim maslacem. Na ovaj nacin prekrijte 2/3 tijesta, ostavljajuci 1 cm pri krajevima slobodno, slika 1.
Prebacite slobodnu stranu tijesta preko maslaca, zatim to ucinite jos jednom, slika 2. Sada razvaljajte tijesto (od sredine prema sebi i od sredine u suprotnom smjeru, kao sto strelice na slici 2 pokazuju. Okrenite tijesto za 45 stepeni, pa ga preklopite na 4 dijela kao sto slike 3 i 4 pokazuju. Pobrasnite obje strane, stavite na dasku za rezanje, pokrijte krpom i smjestite u frizider.
Nakon 30-40 min, ponovite ovaj postupak valjanja, preklopite tijesto (slika 5) i ponovo vratite u frizider.
Nakon 30 -40 min, izvadite razvaljajte u veoma dugacak pravougaonik (slika 6). Izrezite na trouglove kao na slici, zatim savijte kifle (ako zelite specifican izgled, razrezite sredinu dna trougla zavijte kao sto je prikazano na slikama. Ukljucite rernu na 180*C. Postavite  polumjesece na tepsiju oblozenu papirom i ostavite na toplom mjestu. Prije pecenja ih mozete premazati umucenim bjelancetom (po zelji). Pecite oko 12-15 minuta ili dok ne postanu zlatno-zute.
Konzumirajte dok je toplo!

Spinach Ravioli with Ricotta, Parmesan and Sage-Butter Sauce

Beautifully coloured home-made pasta.



Ingredients:

Dough-

2,5 cups (+,-) flour

3 eggs

1 bunch spinach (200 g cooked or 250 g frozen )

Pinch of salt

Ricotta filling-

500 g Ricotta

2 eggs

1/2 cup Parmesan

4-5 leaves finely chopped sage

1 teas salt

Sage-butter sauce-

125 g butter

8-10 sage leaves

Parmesan for sprinkling

Method:

Dough- Squeeze spinach well, chop finely (food processor), add eggs and beat together. Mix in flour and salt, process. Take out on a working surface and knead into a stiff dough. Cover with cling wrap and leave it to rest. Meanwhile prepare filling and butter sauce.

Filling- Mix all ingredients into a smooth paste.

Sage-butter sauce- Put butter and sage leaves into a small pan, melt butter and bring to boil. Cook until butter golden and sage release aroma.

Finalising-

Roll out your dough on a floured surface, or use pasta machine; start from thicker to thinner settings. I stop at no 7 (of 9 settings for thickness).

Put a large pot of salted water to boil.

Put 1 teas of cheese filling with some space on every other piece of rolled dough. Brush with water the space in between cheese filling, cover with other pasta sheet and press dampen parts. Cut into ravioli. Place ravioli in boiling water (10-12 at time). Cook until they come to the surface. Take them out (slothed spoon) onto a serving dish. Spoon some butter-sage sauce over them. Repeat with all the rest.

Sprinkle with Parmesan and enjoy healthy colourful meal.







Ravioli sa rikotom, parmezanom i maslac-žalfija prelivom



Divno obojena, zdrava domaca tjestenina



Potrebno:

Tijesto-

2,5 solje (+,-) brasna

3 jaja

1 veza spinata (200 gr kuhanog ili 250 smrznutog)

malo soli

Nadjev-

500 gr Ricota sira (ili slicno)

2 jaja

1/2 solje ribanog parmezana

4-5 listica zalfije / kadulje, sjeckane

1 k soli

Zalfija-maslac preliv-

125 gr maslaca

8-10 listova zalfije

Parmezan za posuti

Nacin:

Tijesto- Iscijedite spinat dobro, isjeckajte ga sitno (elektricna sjeckalica), ubacite jaja i sjeckajte zajedno. Dodajte brasno i so, promijesajte, istresite na radnu povrsinu i umijesite tvrdje tijesto. Pokrijte celofanskom folijom i ostavite odmarati. U medjuvremenu pripremite nadjev / punjenje.

Nadjev-

Pomijesjte sve sastojke u jednolicnu masu.

Zalfija-maslac preliv- Stavite maslac i zalfiju u manju posudu na ringlu i kuhajte dok maslac ne pozuti a zalfija pusti aromu.

Zavrsetak- Razvaljajte tijesto tanko na pobrasnjenoj povrsini, ili upotrijebite masinu za tjesteninu. Provlacite tijesto od deblje ka tanjoj mogucnosti. Ja se zaustavim na debljini br 7 (od ukupno 9 debljina).

Na svaki drugi komad razvucenog tijesta stavite hrpice od 1 k sira; premazite vlaznom cetkicom dijelove izmedju sira, pa preklopite drugom polovinom tijesta. Pritisnite prstima vlazne dijelove. Izrezite tijesto na raviole.

Stavite veci lonac sa zasoljenom vodom da provri. Ubacujte 10-12 komada tijesta, kada isplivaju izvadite ih (ocijedjene) u posudu za serviranje. Pospite sa malo maslaca sa zalfijom. Isto ucinite sa ostatkom raviola i maslacem. pospite Parmezanom i uzivajte u divno (prirodno) obojenoj tjestenini.