Easy Cheddar and Apple Bread--An Excuse to Empty my Pantry

When I visit grocery stores, one reflection often comes to my mind--there are many products that I never buy because I simply do not know how to use them. Especially here in America I have this feeling more often than in Europe. Peaking into someone else's cart, and seeing things that I never buy myself, I wonder what these people do with that (especially in such amounts). Recently, when I was buying ingredients for my Christmas cake, I carefully looked at the packages to make sure that I do not buy accidentally something that I do not know how to use.

It happened a couple of months ago when in a rush I bought a bag of self-rising flour instead of the regular one. Most of my cakes or tarts do not contain baking powder and only some of them require just a teaspoon of it or less. I also hardly use baking soda in my recipes. For that reason I do not know how to use a self-rising flour, especially that I cannot imagine how much baking powder is in it. But because of my mistake I had a bag of it on my pantry shelf. Ever since I made that mistake I had been desperately looking for recipes to use this flour before it became too old for anything. Recently, being in a mood for baking a variety of different breads, I found one such recipe in my old English cookbook. This bread always looked very appetizing to me, but required self-rising flour, which has always put me off. But this time it was a perfect time to try it out.

I come from a yeast-based bread culture and only such breads truly love, but I was willing to make a different one just to try out this self-rising flour.
Breads based on baking powder and soda come from the English or Irish tradition. The one I found also had cheddar cheese, apples, and peanuts, which made it much more than just a bread. I used walnuts as I am not a big fan of peanuts. The bread came out drier than the yeast-based bread, almost as a kind of spicy cake, but its shape and texture were bread-like and the whole result was not bad at all. Since I still have a lot of that flour left, I think that--before I discover some other recipes for its usage--I will make those breads a couple of times more.

Cheddar and Apple Bread
(Adapted from the Good Housekeeping New Step-by-Step Cookbook)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup self raising flour,
1 cup aged cheddar cheese coarsely grated,
2 tbsp butter,
1 medium apple, peeled off and grated on a big hole grater,
1/2 cup nuts-- I used walnuts, the original recipe calls for peanuts but any kind would probably work as well,
1 egg,
5 tbsp milk,
1 tbsp vegetable oil,
freshly ground pepper.

Preparation:
1. Put flour in a large bowl and using fingers rub the butter in it.
2. Add grated cheese, apple, pepper and chopped nuts. Mix all the ingredients.
3. Whisk together egg and milk, pour them into the flour mixture, and make a soft dough.
4. Preheat oven to 375 F.
5. Grease lightly the baking sheet with oil and place dough on it formed into a flat disk with diagonal cuts on top.
6. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until golden brown.

Just a couple of slices with butter make a rich and fulfilling lunch and can be served with salads. It tastes best on the same day.

Leek and Beef Soup--Another Eintopf

Sometimes we enjoy a labor intensive and sophisticated cooking that brings a "wow!' comment, but sometimes, especially after a long weekend that was most of all about cooking, a simple and easy meal is all we dream of. I do not expect that those two, or really three ingredients already sit on your refrigerator shelf, but you can get them on the way home and later, without much effort, enjoy a hearty, fulfilling meal. This soup certainly belongs in the eintopf category, as it is a rich wholesome dish in itself.

I got this recipe from my godmother. Ironically all her life she was everything but a good cook. She had a great style and taste, which was particularly striking years ago, in the most difficult economically times. She was funny and easy going. She had a business talent and was running a very profitable jewelry store, one of the biggest in northern Poland. Although we are not related, I claim to have inherited from her my "good eye" for jewelry of all kind.

After I told you all that about my godmother, you should not be surprised that I was rather apprehensive, when she called me to share this recipe. But on one busy day I decided to give this culinary experiment a try. And the result was surprisingly good, especially for the few ingredients it required.

I cannot give you the true origins of this recipe but, since my godmother is of German descent and traveled often to Germany, it likely comes from there, but perhaps not and it is just an invention of the busy generation.

This soup is so simple, that I am sure one can experiment with it endlessly--a different type of cheese can be used, or some spices added, vegetable or beef bouillon cubes, or anything extra. But if you decide to stick with the original version, it is still quite interesting. My own addition was to spice it up with a lot of freshly ground pepper and a full spoon of Italian herbs. It tastes great with a nice French country bread, but when I prepared this soup for today's post, I served it with a very fresh baguette and this worked perfectly well too.

Leek and Beef Soup
(Serves four)

Ingredients:
1 pound of lean ground beef,
3 leeks,
3 wedges of The Laughing Cow creamy cheese, or any European equivalent,
salt, pepper,
1 tbsp of dry Italian herbs, or at least oregano,
1 cube of vegetable bouillon,
2 tbsp vegetable oil,

Preparation:
1. Wash leeks thoroughly, to make sure that all the dirt has been removed from between the leaves, and cut them into thin slices.
2. In a saucepan heat the oil and fry beef until gold.
3. Add leeks to the saucepan and saute them until they become transparent.
4. Turn down heat a notch, add herbs, salt, and a generous amount of freshly ground pepper. Cover the meat with water (about 4 cups) and cook for about 30 minutes or until soft.
5. You can add a vegetable or beef bouillon cube at that moment.
6. When meat becomes soft, add three wedges of cream cheese and let the soup simmer until the cheese melts completely.
7. Serve the soup with fresh bread.

Basmati Rice with Coconut and Lime--Delicious Warm or Cold

It has been very quiet in my neighborhood, as it is only on holidays. There was not even much traffic on the black Friday, probably because nowadays you can buy everything on the Internet, without looking for a parking spot and waiting in long lines at the cashiers. People are not shopping for food, still finishing the remains of the recent feast, but I am already looking forward to trying something different than we ate in the past weeks. And I need to hurry up, as soon enough Christmas food aroma will overtake my kitchen.

Recently, while going through the pile of Metropolitan Home magazine, in search of a minimalistic garden furniture idea, I found a recipe that intrigued me right away. Did I tell already that I deplore terribly that this magazine has been discontinued? I loved not only the architecture and the interior ideas it proposed, but also the culinary recipes it featured on its pages once a month.

One of them, salmon in green sauce, has been in my repertoire for years and became my guests favorite salmon version--interesting in taste, easy, and elegant. Today's coconut rice is my new hit which came from Metropolitan Home. I made it already several times and tested on friends . So far, it was loved by everyone, including my picky kids and already a couple of friends asked me to share that recipe. Originally, it was supposed to be a salad, and I am sure it will be a wonderful summer meal, but these days I serve it warm as meat accompaniment.

Basmati Rice with Coconut and Lime

Ingredients:
2 cups basmati rice,
2 tbsp vegetable oil,
1 small onion diced,
2 garlic cloves minced,
2 tbsp grated ginger,
1tsp turmeric powder,
1 can (13-14 oz) unsweetened coconut milk,
1/2 cup unsalted roasted cashews chopped,
1 bunch spring onion, thinly sliced,
2 limes,
salt to taste.

Preparation:
1. Rinse rice well in cold water.
2. Heat the oil in a saucepan, adding onion, garlic, ginger, and cook until onion is soft.
3. Stir in turmeric and add rice. Saute for about 3 minutes.
4. Add the coconut milk, 2 1/2 cup water, and about 1 tsp of salt. (If you use a rice cooker, first transfer the rice mix to the cooker and then follow with coconut milk and water).
5. Bring rice to boiling, reduce heat, and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until all the liquid evaporates.
6. If you serve it warm, add cashews, spring onion, and peel and juice from one lime. Mix and serve decorated with lime wedges. If you serve it as a salad, cool down the rice and serve cold.