Making tarallini

 Tarallini are Italian crackers, similar to bread sticks and pretzels in texture. They are with a circumference of 3.8 to 7.8 cm (1.5 to 3 inches) and can be sweet or savory. They are often accompanied by a glass of wine. Once baked, can be stored in an airtight container for several months.

Some weeks ago I bought a small amount of them at a local supermarket and I was immediately sold. Since I prefer eating things in which I know what the ingredients are, the idea to make my own came naturally. Searching the Internet for the right recipe I could only conclude that they consist of flour, olive oil, white wine and seasonings. Beyond these, everything else is experimenting. So experimented I. Here's what it resulted in.

For this recipe (30 to 40 tarallini ) you will need:

• 2 cups of plain flour (you can use any type, really)
• half a cup olive oil
• half a cup dry white wine
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• seasoning of your choice - I used chilli

Preparation:

Put the flour in a mixing bowl. Mix the seasonings and salt with the wine and olive oil in another bowl. Let the salt dissolve and pour the liquid into the flour. Mix very well until a ball of dough is formed. Knead the dough for 15 minutes by hand, cover it with foil and let it sit for half an hour.

While the dough sits, prepare a large pot and your baking dish, lined with paper. Put 2 liters/ 0,5 gallons of water to boil. Add a liiiiitle bit of salt in it, since we already salted the dough. Prepare a big kitchen towel and a slotted spoon next to the pot. Preheat the oven to 200 C/ 392 F.

Once you have all that and half an hour has passed, it;s time to form the tarallini. You can see that it's pretty easy - you cut a ball from the dough, make it into a thick stick, cut the stick into pieces, make each piece into a smaller, thinner stick again and form in into a circle. Basically you repeat this process until all the tarallini are done. 

When you have made about 10, put them one by one into the boiling water and wait until they come to the surface. Take them out with the slotted spoon and lay them on them towel so they remaining water can be absorbed. (see the pictures below)

When you have boiled all the pieces, put them on the baking paper and bake for approx. 30 minutes, or until golden on top. Let them cool and store in an airtight container. Enjoy with a glass of white wine!

Potato and spinach balls with yogurt sauce

For approximately 20 balls you need:

8-10 potatoes, peeled

400 g./ 14 oz fresh spinach

half cup plain flour

2 eggs

2 teaspoons of oil

grated parmesan cheese

basil

salt

black pepper

other seasoning of your choice

For the sauce:

300 g. / 10 oz creamy Greek yogurt

garlic

chopped dill

black pepper

salt

Preparation:

First, cut the peeled potatoes and put them in boiling water. 

While they are boiling, clean and cut into small pieces the spinach. Prepare a frying pan on the heat and pour the oil in it. Put the spinach in the pan for about 5 minutes until it gets soft. 

Boil the potatoes for 15-20 minutes, take them out and make them into a puree. Mix the puree with the chopped, soft spinach, add the 2 eggs, the flour, the parmesan and the seasonings. Mix it very well and add more flour, if needed. You need the consistency of a bread dough. 

Then, with wet hand, make balls with the size of a walnut or a little bit bigger. Line the dish with baking paper and put them in. Bake until they become hard and golden on top, about 35 minutes, depending on your oven.

For the sauce you just need to mix the ingredients in a bowl and enjoy with the balls.

Protein smoothie/ice-cream

This is a creation of mine, which I eat after working out. It's super rich in proteins

and low in carbs. If you are a clean-eater, this is exactly for you. 

Here's what you need:

300g / 10 oz cottage cheese (low fat, if possible)

a small cup of frozen berries of your choice

1 scoop protein powder, any flavor, but not chocolate

Preparation:

Mix all the ingredients in a blender and add water, if it's too thick for the machine. I don't add, because I like to eat it with a spoon, like melted ice-cream. You can put it in the fridge for an hour, stirring it from time to time and you have perfectly creamy, healthy, delicious and low-calorie ice-cream.

You can make a chocolate version of this one, just skip the berries and use chocolate flavored protein powder.

Enjoy!

Rosehip & apple marmalade

Every autumn along with the golden leaves the red little jewelry of rose hips come on stage. I've never paid attention to them until a month ago.
During a family trip in the country I was bored and started picking them to help the time pass by. Without realizing I got my hands full with a bag of rose hips and no idea what to do with them. My mother helped out - "Let's dry them for tea." I said no and then my associative memory took the lead. I remembered when I was little girl we ate a thick type of marmalade, so thick that it could be cut with a knife. Seeing this picture in my head the decision was made. I will make my first marmalade!

Actually, making a marmalade is a pretty big challenge, not because the technology of the process is very complicated, but because filtering the rose hip puree is a tough job. What you need to do is boil the rose hips for a hour, make them into a puree, filter it and then boil the remained substance with sugar in order to thick it. If you want you can add apples for a richer taste and more quantity. That's what I did. The procedure with the apples is the same. Then you just mix the two filtered purees with sugar, boil them in a pot and pour them in mason jars for cozy winter morning pancakes.

One kilogram of rose hips and one kilogram of apples transform into approximately ten mason jars (400ml.) of marmalade.

The usual weekend sweetness

For the last few months this beauty is a usual guest in our kitchen. Actually, it happened by accident and everybody loved it so much, that now is it's becoming a tradition. It's relatively easy, quick and cheap dessert, so even a I've-never-cooked-anything-in-my-life type of person can do it.

 Here's what you need:
3 large eggs
half a cup of sugar
half a cup of oil
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 cup flour
vanilla/ rum/ coffee for aroma

Preparation:


The 3 eggs and half a cup of sugar are mixed very well, until the sugar is almost dissolved.
Then you add half of the same cup of oil and mix, then you add the full cup (the same one again) of flour, the baking powder and your chosen aroma. Mix this again very well and pour it into a baking dish, lined with a sheet of baking paper.
Now is the time to decorate - I usually use fruit, but you can add nuts, chocolate, etc.
Bake it in the middle of the oven for 40 minutes on 180 C/ 350 F degrees.

Also, this mixture is a basic one, so it's pretty good for experiments - you can add coconut flakes, raisins, cocoa, jam or anything else you can think of.

The perfect company for this beautiful lady is your afternoon cup of coffee / tea and a favorite book or friend. 

Enjoy and share your recommendation!