Crystallized candied ginger

If you are a ginger-fan you will adore it! It is simple, tasty and has just the right texture!
Ingredients:
2 cups of ginger root peeled and cut into small cubes
2 cups of sugar
some salty water

1. Place the ginger cubes in a medium-size saucepan and add cold water to cover. Stir in a pinch of salt nad bring to a boil. Simmer for 30 minutes. Then drain the ginger.
2. Repeat this process 3 more times.
3. Return the ginger to the saucepan add water to cover plus 1 cup sugar. Simmer until thick syrup coats the ginger.
4. Sprinkle sugar on a small baking sheet. Turn the ginger cubes in the sugar with a fork, coating them well. Transfer the ginger to a wire rack to cool and dry.
5. Store the ginger in an airtight container.

FICOCO

I was walking in my neighbourhood (Budapest) when i bumped in a garden with a huge fig tree in it. As the owner was picking the figs i asked if she has any to sell. She said no but offered me to pick as much as i wish. Since i knew i could not be polite enough to pick only a few i insisted on a price. She told me to come back later that week cause she had no clue how much it would worth. I returned on sunday to hear that i could pick all the figs for almost free. The lady even helped me so i ended up with 3 kilos of fresh fig which cost me 3 dollars. I thought it was more of a present than a bargain.
What had we done with those figs?
Well, i gave some away, then we ate a plenty, i made a very nice appetizer with gorgonzola and parma ham (coming soon), made a jar of fig jam with honey and cognac and a jar of FICOCO.
Since i have never tasted the real dalmatian stuff (the one you could get at Whole Foods) i could only guess the proportions. It turned out very nicely though!

Ingredients:
450 g fresh ripe figs
a few spoonful of honey
one tablepoon unsweetened cocoa

I cooked the figs with the honey for a couple of minutes then pureed the mixture. I continued cooking for 5 more minutes then added the cocoa. After mixing well i poured it into a jar and called it ready.
It is easy to make and tastes wonderful!

Cottage cheese ( ricotta) crumbcake

I was tempted not to post this one. For we use hungarian "túró" in it, which is similar to cottage cheese, but not the same. Anyway, i thought the result would be also nice with ricotta (especially if you put lemon or orange zest in it) so i changed my mind.
If you can lay your hand on some fresh eastern european "cottage cheese" try that version. It is sour a bit, giving a nice contrast to the chocolate.

Ingredients:
pastry:
400 g all-purpose flour
150 g sugar
250 g ice cold butter
1 egg yolk (save the white)
4 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
a pinch of salt

filling:
500 g cottage cheese or ricotta
2 eggs
125 g sugar
grated zest of 2 lemon or orange (you may put more according to your taste)

Preheat oven to 200 celsius degree.

Mix the ingredients of the pastry until you can form a ball. Put it in the fridge.
Mix the sugar with the egg yolks until pale and fluffy. Stir in the zest and the cottage cheese or ricotta. Whip the egg whites (all 3 of them) and combine with the cheese mixture.

Put baking paper in a smaller baking dish (i used an 18×25 cm one) and crumble half of the pasty in it. Layer the filling on it. Crumble the other half of the pastry on top.

Bake 40 minutes.

Chili jam

This weekend i've bought a new cookbook and i've found this recipe in it. I was fascinated with the idea of a really hot jam. The outcome was awesome! Now i regret not daring to double the recipe!

Ingredients:
500 g ripe tomato
4 chili
4 garlic cloves
300 g sugar
2 pieces of ginger (thumb-size)
3 tablespoon fish sauce
100 ml red wine vinegar

Peel the tomatos first. Keep the seeds because they provide the consistency of the jam. Put all the ingredients in a blender and mix until smooth. Cook in a saucepan until shiny and thick.
This is enough for two small jar.
You can keep it in the fridge for months but i doubt it would last that long!

Ricotta chives dinner rolls

These dinner rolls are excellent with a salad or to make sandwiches also. This was my entry for the "Ready! Steady! Cook!" hungarian food blog event hosted by Izbolygó this time. She asked for recipes with cottage cheese, ricotta, quark, bryndza. I had a lot of ideas first, but unfortunately had no time and energy to complete them. I came up with these simple rolls finally, which my family liked a lot.
Ingredients:
60 ml milk lukewarm
1 package active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
45 g butter at room temperature
250 g ricotta
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup snipped fresh chives
300-400 g bread flour

1 egg+2 teaspoons water for eggwash (optional)

1. Pour the milk into a large bowl and stir in the yeast and sugar. Let stand until foamy (5 minutes)
2. Beat the butter, ricotta, eggs, salt, chives and pepper into the yeast mixture with a whisk.
3. Stir in enough of the flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to make a soft, but not sticky dough.
4. Knead 10 minutes.
5.Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise antil doubled in bulk, 1 to 2 hours.
6. Punch the dough down and divide into 8 equal pieces. Shape them into rolls.
7. Put semolina flour in a baking tray and put the rolls on it.
8. Cover and let them rise an hour again.
9. Preheat oven to 350F.
10. With a scissor you can decorate your rolls or brush the top of them with egg wash.
11. Bake until they are nicely browned, about 45-50 minutes.
12. Turn them onto a wire rack to cool.

Blueberry and Peach Cobbler

My very first cobbler it is. I just could not help buying these ripe peaches and blueberries at the farmer's market. It was tempting to eat them as they were, but i had guests this afternoon so I decided to make something unusual (at least in Hungary).
While making it I was smiling that it must have been a messed up dessert ages ago that got famous because it is soooo tasty, like tart Tatin.Ingredients:
2 pounds (900 g) peaches, peeled and sliced
2 cups (250 g) fresh blueberries
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
grated zest of a lemon
5+2 tablespoon sugar
2 cups (300g) +1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
pinch of salt
5 tablaspoon (70g) butter
3/4 cups + 1 tablespoon (200 ml) heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Combine the fruits in a bowl. Toss with 2 tablespoon sugar, 1 tablespoon flour, cardamom and 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest. Transfer the fruit to a deep 10-inch ovenprrof serving dish.
To make the pastry, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Combine it with the butter antil the mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in the cream (in batches) to get a soft and tender dough. You may not need all of the cream, depending on your flour.
Turn the dough out onto the counter and roll 3/4 inch thick. With a cookie cutter cut rounds or make diamond shapes with a knife. You can be as creative as you like...
Arrange the dough atop the fruit mixture and brush with heavy cream.
Bake it for 30 minutes, until bubbly and lightly browned.
Serve warm with whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla icecream.
I also goes well with sour cream in my opinion.

Pogacsa with pork rind (Tepertos pogacsa)

I have to admit I thought pogacsa was genuinly hungarian. As I browsed the internet i found out just the opposite. Anyway, this version is so-so hungarian that almost every hungarian fables and folk stories include it. Usually this is the bread the youngest son of the tales takes with him for his journey. It used to be baked in hot ashes and packed in a kitchen towel.

My father in law just turned to 60 this weekend. I was about to bake him Pierre Herme's lemon tart. As we talked, he mentioned that no pastry or cake can compete with this traditonal pogacsa. So i gave in and made them. They need little work but lots of time (as puff pastry) but they worth!Ingredients:
500 g all-purpose flour
30 g fresh yeast or 7 g instant yeast
200-300 g buttermilk or yoghurt (or half yoghurt half sour cream)
salt and freshly ground pepper
300-350 g pork rind
2 eggs

1. First put the pork skins in a blender and mix until creamy. Stir in one teaspoon of salt and pepper to taste.
2. Mixt the buttermilk and yeast, stir in one egg (slightly beaten) and a teaspoon of salt. Add spoonfuls of four and mix, antil the dough forms a ball. Sprinke flour on the counter, transfer the dough to the counter, and knead. Add more buttermilk or flour as needed to form the dough into a soft, but not sticky, ball. Knead approximately 4 minutes. Cover it with plastic wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes.
3.Roll out the dough with a rolling pin into a rectangle. Spread the pork rind cream evenly on the top, then fold it like a business letter: Fold the bottom third of the dough over the middle third, then fold the top third over so it meets the edge of the folded dough. Cover it with plastic wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes.
4.Repeat this folding 5 times in 30 minutes intervals.


5.After the last folding, roll the dough into 1 inch thick. Score the top with a sharp knife like this:
6. With a round cutter (2 inch in diameter) cut the dough, and put the pogacsas on a baking parchment. As the grow in the oven put then 3 inches apart. Beat an egg and brsh the top of the pogacsas with it.

7. Preheat oven to 220 celsius degree and bake them until dark golden.
They are best served while warm.