The Joy of Life

Mini Meringues / Μπεζέδες

2010-05-20T05:56:00.000-07:00

The Birthday Cake

2010-04-18T13:02:00.000-07:00

The Materials

Whipped cream

Sponge Cake

Custard (Anthos Aravositou)

Fresh Strawberries

The Order

(that image is supposed to be moving damn it..). The order is cake-custard with strawberries-cake-whipped cream-decoration with strawberries and almonds)
You can see it here animated

The Result

Chocolate

or white?

What do you prefer? The filling in the white one was fresh and not from a packet so it takes more thumps up! ;)

Make a birthday cake. It is such a nice present and you'll make the birthday boy/girl happy. I'll never go back to buying birthday cakes.

Authentic Carbonara from Rome

2010-03-07T10:52:00.000-08:00

Now, for years I couldn't imagine carbonara being any different than the usual creamy, full of fats and cheese dish.

But it turns out we got it wrong all this time. The usual recipe should be called "A la Creme" or something, because this is how you'll eat it in Rome.

pasta
1 garlic clove
200 gr prosciutto
2 shots white wine
4 egg yolks
300 gr parmesan

1. We boil the pasta we want. Tagliatelle or spaghetti is the most recommended. I used tagliatele this time.
2. In a pan with some oil, we fry the garlic and the prosciutto.
3. We add the wine and we wait untill it starts boiling and evaporates.
4. We add in the pan our boiled pasta.
5. In a bowl, we stir the egg yolks with the parmesan. We then add the pasta from the pan in, but do it quickly because you don't want to cook the egg.

Honey Biscuits

2010-01-13T12:55:00.000-08:00

Although Christmas is gone already, I found these biscuits a great treat to have around in holidays. Cinnamon, cloves and honey will give the perfect smell to start feeling the Christmas spirit. The clove smell is overwhelming, so in case you dont like it, reduce the quantity or don't use it at all!

Incredients
2 cups white plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon clove
1 and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup soft butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/4 teaspoon soda dissolved in 1 tablespoon cognac
2 tablespoons yogurt

1. We mix flour, baking powder and the spices in a bowl(flour mix)
2. We mix in the mixer the sugar and butter to become fluffy and then add the honey
3. Start adding the "flour mix" and knead as we form the dough. Alternatively you can use the dough spatula in the mixer and it will save you from all the trouble. Add half of the "flour mix", then the yogurt and soda with cognac, then the rest of the "flour mix".
4. That's basically it! When the dough is formed and it's not sticky, you can start creating shapes. The traditional one my granma makes is the braid. Make a long string, then fold in half then twist.
5. Put in a tray on baking paper and bake for 15 minutes in 180 C. Don't overbake them or the honey will make the biscuits hard.

I'm sweating. That was actually a bit hard to describe! If you have any questions, ask in the comments!

The Best and Easiest Italian Apple Pie

2009-12-10T07:21:00.000-08:00

Things you' ll need for it :

5 big red apples
400 gr brown sugar
300 gr unsalted butter
300 gr flour
1 big spoun of cinnamon
100 gr raisins

Step 1 , Making the dough : Mix the flour with the butter and add a pinch of cinnamon, till they become dough.

Step 2 : Cut the apples into big pieces and mix them with the sugar, the cinnamon and the raisins, squeezing with your hands so the apples will kind of melt and become juicier.

Step 3 : Place them in a baking pan (mine is glass) sqeezing them again to the bottom, so it won't leave any spaces between them. Put the dough on top of all the apples, to cover the whole pan.

Step 4 : Bake at 180 C for 1 hour.

You can enjoy it with vanilla ice cream or just some icing sugar on top. This is what it looks like if you remove a piece from the pan when it's hot....

...and this is how it looks if you remove it when it's cold. Of course this looks better, but I can never hold myself from digging in it when it is just coming out of the oven, really hot!

Jamie Oliver's "Any - way - you - like Cookies"

2009-12-02T09:03:00.000-08:00

First of all, I don't know much about copyright, and I hope I'm not offending Jamie Oliver or anyone else for putting this up. I don't own the recipe, it's written and recreated straight out of Jamie Oliver's book "Jamie's Red Nose Recipes".

Like everything else I've made out of Jamie's recipes, this one didn't dissapoint either! Cookies turned out delicious, crispy on the outside but soft on the inside, cake taste on a cookie!

Ingredients for about 20 cookies :

115 gr butter, softened
100 gr caster sugar
1 large egg
100 gr plain flour
20 gr porridge oats
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

and 80 gr dark chocolate chopped

To give them different taste you can add zest of 2 oranges in the chocolate, or you can mke cookies with 80 gr white chocolate and 30 gr stem ginger in syrup, drained and finely chopped. I don't like these ingredients so I chose to just add chocolate that I love. Feel free to add nuts or anything else you fancy!

Place all the basic cookie dough ingredients in a food processor and mix until smooth and creamy. If you don't have a food processor, just cream together the butter and sugar by hand, then add the egg, beating all the time before adding the remaining ingredients.

Add the chopped chocolate (or anything else you want) in the mixture and stir, then place the mix on a piece of clingfilm and roll into a sausage shape with a 7cm diameter. Chill in the freezer for 20 minutes.

This is how it turned out.

Preheat the oven to 180 C degrees. Cut 1cm slices off the chilled cookie dough. Place onto 2 non-stick baking-trays (or if you don't have that, just use a plain tray, with parchment paper/λαδόκολλα). Leave a good space between them because they'll spead while they're cooking.

Bake for 8 - 10 minutes until the edges are golden brown.

My cookies are baking....

... and proudly rising!

Take them out and let them cool and crisp up.

Great with a glass of cold milk!

PS : Thank all of you for following in here too! I appreciate it and I hope you'll recreate some recipes and tell me if you liked them!

Chinese Won Ton Soup

2009-11-06T11:20:00.000-08:00

For 4 servings you'll need :

For the dough:
160 ml water
250 gr wheat flour but you might need to add more
1 egg
salt

For the filling:
100 gr soybeans
200 gr carrots
200 gr beans
125 gr fresh onions
2 tablespoons soy sauce
pepper

and 800 ml vegetable stock

Put flour in a bowl, creating with your hand a small hole in the middle. Put the egg in the hole and add salt and the water. Knead making a soft dough that is not sticky. Add more flour if you need to. Make the dough a small ball, cover it with a wet cloth and place it in the fridge for 30 min.

Dust the work surface with flour. Roll the dough untill it's quite thin.

Cut the dough into square pieces (6x6 cm)

To make the filling, cut the beans, the soybeans, the onions and the carrots in small pieces and add the soy sause, salt and pepper to the mixture.

Place a teaspoon of the filling in each one of the square pieces of dough.

Fold making small pouches.

Warm up in a pan the vegetable stock and add the won ton. Let them boil in medium heat for about 10 min (although it might take more than that)

Put the won ton in a bowl and add some of the stock.

Tortellini Au Gratin

2009-11-01T09:10:00.000-08:00

I adore tortellini, they taste so good even if you just boil them and eat them plain.
This recipe is easier than it looks if you want to try something different.

For 4 servings you'll need :

500 gr tortellini ( I chose mine with cheese)
25 gr fresh tomato sauce
250 gr mushrooms
75 gr butter
75 gr grated parmesan
3 tbsp whipping cream

Boil the tortellini for 16 mins in salted water

Cook the sliced mushrooms with half of the butter in a pan, and add salt and pepper.

In a different pan warm up the tomato sauce, mixing it with the cream.

Put butter on the bottom of an oven dish(pyrex). Then add half of the tortellini, on top of that half of the tomato sauce and half of the mushrooms. Repeat with the rest of the incredients. Put the cheese and the rest of the butter in small pieces on top.

Bake in the oven in high temperature for 15 mins until they take a golden colour.

And ready!

xxx