Shor gogal

Shor gogal is a popular savoury pastry, made from layers of pastry flavoured with turmeric and fennel seeds. Shor gogal, sheker bura and bakhlava are all eaten at the Novruz spring holiday. According to one tradition, the round, yellow gogal represents the sun, while the crescent shaped sheker bura is the moon. The process of making gogal is time consuming and, traditionally, the women of the family come together before Novruz to make gogal. Although gogal are a holiday food, nowadays they are enjoyed all year round as well.

The first time I saw shor gogal posted on this site I was absolutely thrilled by its look and determined to make them without even knowing what it really is! At the first glance, I thought the recipe was quite difficult to follow but after reading carefully, it's not that complicated as I expected..I ,though, kind of made a mess a bit when shaping and filling the rolled up dough..but all in all , no any harm done to the final outcome !

Since I knew nothing about the bread, so I didn't have guts to modify the recipe and simply followed the recipe step by step..The only thing I made a change (eventually!) is to use caraway seeds as a substitute for anise seeds because I couldn't find it in supermarkets  or shops where I normally go for food shopping..

Now talking about a result, the shor gogal turned out to be a big hit for the whole family! My 5 years old daughter who doesn't fancy any kind of spices (except cinnamon) had a whole piece of it and my husband said it's now one of his favorite breads I've ever made..that's all I can say!

Please click here to see the recipe..

 Ps. this post has also been sent to yeastspotting hosted by Susan of Wildyeast.

Guyanese Butterflaps

When it comes to bread, no matter what it is, needless to say how easy I could fall in love and be tempted to give any recipe a try!

These Guyanese butterflaps were written about and have been posted by Cynthia of Tastes Like Home. They are, in fact, nothing more than just bread and butter..yet it could find a way come to my mind and somehow played a trick to make me convinced that this simple and plain bread would be worth my time & (little) effort and pay off nicely!

I didn't use Cynthia's recipe to make a dough but I instead chose one of my favorite and reliable recipes and simply followed a process of filling and shaping the flaps..as for the outcome, they are absolutely a perfect match..the bread and butter!!

  

Ps. this bread has also been posted to yeastspotting hosted by Susan of Wildyeast..

Mafe ( Senegalese Lamb Stew )

When I saw this lamb stew posted on Leite's Culinaria, I immediately saved it onto my recipes file and undoubtedly planned to cook the dish as soon as I'd have a chance which fortunately, came very soon when my husband rang me the next morning and told me a good news that he was coming home from a business trip on that day which was earlier than it's supposed to be and I didn't have yet any food to be served for his dinner!

What I like about the stew is that it has everything all in one but that's not actually a real reason why my attention has been caught. Instead, it's a fact of the dish that made me keen on giving it a try!

As for a verdict, I was admittedly nervous to serve my husband this stew because I know that he's not a big fan of peanut butter..and honestly, I wouldn't have let him know that the stew had something he doesn't really like unless my daughter asked me infront of him what it was when he was about to start eating his dinner.. I had no choice but reluctantly answered her question and waited for his reaction at the same time! To my surprise, he finished all portion I served and top of everything,he said it's delicious!! so.. I don't think I have to say any more word about this stew!!

You could read a story about the dish and find the recipe from here..

Note : I used Skippy creamy peanut butter and bird chillies due to a lack of original ingredients called for.

Garoupa Head and Basil Thai Sour Curry

It's strange but true that I don't cook Thai food very often..and of course not because I don't like it but the matter of fact is that I can't cook and make it the way I'd love!

But it happens sometimes when I feel like eating something that could not generally be found anywhere in HK..so the only way to serve my own craving is to cook it myself.

This sour curry is the case! Although it's actually not difficult to find sour curry in any Thai restaurant but it's not easy either to get specific ingredients in a curry..definitely not both Garoupa head and basil in one like I wanted..so here came the curry!!

I've found the recipe from here ( Thanks Khun Wattana who has posted the recipe anyway ) which made me feel hungry straight away.. And once I read through the post, I knew from there what would be my next mission ( in the kitchen!).

  

Pao de queijo (Brazilian Cheese Puffs)

I'd found this Brazilian snack for a while but didn't have a chance to give it a try until recently ! As far as I've noticed , there seems to be two basic methods of making the puffs and I opted to try for the easier one due to a lack of time..

Pão de queijo is how these cheese delights are named in Brazil. Pão de queijo are cheese snacks made with tapioca starch. Eat them still warm from the oven, when the interior is still gooey, soft and creamy from the melted cheese..

The recipe is easy to make, yet the outcome I got was surprisingly good and exactly like how it is described..yummy !!

The recipe could be found here.

     

President Clinton's Oatmeal Cookies

I love oat..that's the matter of fact..but it's not the reason why I decided to give these oatmeal cookies a try. What actually caught my attention is certainly a name of the cookie which I'm sure many of you would be the same!

At the first sight, I seriously thought it's really the recipe created by the President but then second thoughts came through my mind..how could a busy and big man like him find a spare time for such a little thing ? From there, it took less than a minute to find out that I was so right about my guess.. and here is a story behind the scene I'd like to share !   

To be honest, I was not so keen about the cookie after I knew that it's not actually his own recipe..but again, I changed my mind once I looked through the recipe! And you know what ?? ( this is a sentence that my little girl always says to me when she wants to tell me something!..I think she wouldn't mind to let me borrow her typical words :) )  the real reason why I decided to make it at the end is because of the fat raisin called for in the recipe !! ...Have a look at its recipe and you could easily guess why it's so attractive to me ( only if you know me so well thou! lol)

President Clinton’s oatmeal cookies ( slightly adapted from Desserts by the Yard )

Cookies:

1 ½ cups (210g) all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 ¾ sticks (198g) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup (200g) caster sugar

1 cup (175g) light brown sugar, packed

1 ½ teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg

¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 large eggs, room temperature

3 cups (354g) rolled oats

1 recipe (1 ½ cups) fat raisins

Fat raisins:

1 ½ cups (232g) golden raisins
¾ cup (180ml) dry white wine
3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 ½ tablespoons dark rum
3 tablespoons caster (superfine) sugar

Method:

Start by preparing the fat raisins: combine the raisins, wine, orange juice, rum and sugar in a small heavy saucepan; bring just to a boil over medium heat, stirring all the while. Lower the heat so that the liquid is at a bare simmer and poach for 20 minutes.

Remove from the heat, cover the pan with plastic wrap and allow to cool completely. If not using right away, transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Now, the cookies: preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F; line two large baking sheets with baking paper.Sift together the flour, nutmeg, cinnamon and baking soda and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream the butter on high speed until lemony yellow, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle/beaters. Add the sugars. Beat until creamy and scrape the sides of the bowl.

Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping the bowl after each addition. Beat on low speed for 15-30 seconds or until the eggs are incorporated. On low speed, add the sifted ingredients, beating until they’re absorbed. Mix in the oats and raisins.

Place 1 leveled tablespoon of dough per cookie onto prepared sheets, 5cm (2in) apart. Bake for 10 minutes, rotate the baking sheet, then bake for another 5-8 minutes or until nicely browned. Carefully slice the baking paper off the sheet and directly onto your work surface. Cool completely.

Cookies will keep for up to 3 days in an airtight container at room temperature.

Note : I made half recipe for cookies and added a tsp of vanilla extract to the dough but used 2/3 recipe for fat raisins .

    

My Own Style Savoury Tarts..

I got some leftover dough from making Canadian butter tarts that turned out not good as I expected ( in fillings texture wise, not taste at all!) ..so, instead of making more of sweet butter tarts, I decided to do something different and came up with an idea of making savoury ones!

Anyway, I planned to use a commercial instant tuna spread as a filling in the first place but couldn't find any in a small supermarket where I stopped by. Given ingredients needed could be all found in the cupboard, I then had second thoughts about making my own filling!

Luckily, not only what I created was so easy to make but it also was edible! Honestly, it was much better than I thought..tasty and surprisingly went along very well with the tart base..:)

The recipe for the dough could be found here.

And what I used for my fillings are the following..

1 canned tuna in oil
3 crab sticks ( Japanese style) ,finely chopped
1/2 - 3/4 cup ( approximately ) real mayo      
a quarter of small onion, finely chopped
2 spring onions ( green part only), finely chopped
dried parsley , paparika, cayenne pepper ,curry powder, black pepper and caster sugar to taste

Mix everything together in a mixing bowl ..adjust all seasonings to match your own preferred taste.