The summer has ended and I picked out the best recipes I've published these past three months. I thought it would be great to have seasonal favourites in one place so wait for another post like this one at the end of fall. I hope you will enjoy the collection and now let's light the candles, wrap ourselves in a chunky blanket, go to a store and buy a large, heavy orange pumpkin.
Imagine a giant, warm, chewy, gooey cookie topped with melting homemade vanilla ice cream. This Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie is the one. A dreamy cookie pie with chunks of chocolate. And a dollop of vanilla ice cream which starts to melt and creates a creamy vanilla sauce. The cookie pie soaks in the sauce and slightly cools down. And then you take a bite, dip it into ice cream and go to heaven. This cookie pie is a rich, perfect dessert when you crave something sweet. With its chewy texture it is reminiscent of a blondie. If you like blondies and brownies, you definitely have to try this. Ecpecially when it takes just a few minutes to prepare it. You don't even need to wash tons of bowls after all! Just mix everything in the skillet, pop into the oven and enjoy.
Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie with Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream 110g unsalted butter
150g granulated sugar
50g light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg, beaten
185g all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
100g chocolate chunks (I used milk) Vanilla ice cream, to serve.
1) Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
2) In an 20cm/8inch cast iron skillet, melt 110g of butter over medium heat. When
butter is melted, add the granulated sugar and brown sugar, and stir to
combine. Remove from heat and allow to sit for 5 minutes.
2) In a small bowl, beat
the egg, and add two tablespoons of the melted
sugar/butter mixture to the egg (to temper it) and whisk to combine.
3) Pour egg mixture back into the skillet, and stir until completely combined.
4) Add flour, baking soda and salt. Stir until very well combined. Add vanilla and chocolate, and stir to combine.
5) Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until edges are golden brown.
Risotto is one of my favourite dishes you can make with rice. It has a creamy, rich texture and is absolutely filling. Risotto contains quite much butter which is usually mixed in lastly but I wanted to caramelize my onions in butter first. I also ommited white wine and used vegetable broth. The result was still very delicious and I really did not miss any wine. Instead I added some red wine vinegar (it was ok but you could also use white wine vinegar. I did not have any!). So this makes quite a lot of risotto. I divided this into 4-6 servings but if you are a serious eater you may consider this as 3, I think. Anyway, it's never too much of mushroom risotto!
Mushroom Risotto 3 onions 40g butter 400g mushrooms, chopped into small chunks 1 tbsp olive oil 5-6 cloves garlic 400g risotto rice, uncooked 2 tbsp red wine vinegar (I believe white would be better but this is all I had) ~2 liters vegetable stock pinch ground pepper salt, to taste 1)
Chop 2 1/2 onion into thin strips. In a large saucepan, melt 40g of
butter and add the onion. Cover and cook, over medium-low heat, until
lightly browned. Stir occasionally until completely soft and caramelized. If
it starts browning too fast, reduce the heat or add more butter. This
should take approx. 10 minutes. When the onions caramelize, add
mushrooms and mix well. Season wih salt and pepper. Cover and cook until
mushrooms start to release liquid. Uncover and cook until all the
liquid evaporates, stirring occasionally. While the mushroom/onion
mixture is cooking, you can start preparing risotto. 2)
In another large saucepan over medium-high heat, heat 1 tablespoon of
olive oil. Add 1/2 chopped onion and cook until slightly softened, about
4-5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for another 2 minutes. Add rice and
toast for a few minutes. Add vinegar, mix well and then stir in 1 cup of
vegetable stock. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until rice
absorb most of the liquid, stirring constantly. Add another cup of stock
and repeat this until you add all the liquid (I did not add all the
stock, I had about 1/4 cup leftovers. If you notice that your rice is
cooked and soft stop adding the liquid). When the rice has cooked, mix
in the mushroom/onion mixture. Remove from heat and let sit 5 minutes
before serving. Serves 4-6 Recipe by collecting memories
This pie is an experiment which should be called "what to do if you have too many apples in the garden". The most difficult part was peeling and coring so many apples. Especially with my smallish, uneven apples. But overall this is an easy recipe. With only a few ingredients it takes no more than 10 minutes preparation time. And the best part of it? It's completely butter or oil free. And believe me, you could never say that after tasting it. It's very, very moist. I think pictures prove it. What is more, the cake is certainly delicious and light as there are much more apples than pastry. Now you can eat a pie for breakfast and even late in the evening and feel no guilt. What could be better?
Fat-Free Apple Pie 7 cups chopped apples (preferably mixed) 3 large eggs, lightly beaten 100ml buttermilk 150g all-purpose flour 1 tsp baking powder 180g white sugar 1/3 tsp salt 1) Preheat oven to 180C. Prepare a deep baking dish. 2) In a small bowl, combine together flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Set aside. 3) In another bowl, combine together eggs and buttermilk. 4) Add dry ingredients to the buttermilk/egg mixture. 5)
Place apples in a large bowl. Pour the batter over apple chunks and
stir to coat evenly. Spread everything into the baking dish and bake for
1 hour. Remove from oven and let cool completely. Leave to stand for a
few hours, preferably overnight. Serve at room temperature. Recipe by collecting memories
10 medium tomatoes, peeled 2 medium onions, finely chopped 5 cloves garlic, minced A handful of fresh parsley, chopped 1 tsp dried oregano 1 tsp dried basil 1/2 tsp smoked paprika 1/4 tsp ground pepper 1 tsp salt 1 tsp red wine vinegar Dash of olive oil (optional)*
*If using oil, you can saute onions in it before adding all the ingredients to the saucepan. They will enhance flavour. However, if you do not want to use oil just follow the directions below.
1) Prepare a large saucepan. Chop peeled tomatoes into small chunks. Add onions, garlic, parsley, oregano, basil, smoked paprika, ground pepper and salt. Cover and set over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally. 2) When the mixture comes to boil, lower the heat, uncover and let simmer until the liquid evaporates. Stir occasionally. Just before removing from heat, add red wine vinegar. 3) Let cool completely and serve with pasta or pizza or whatever you like. Recipe by collecting memories
Making ice cream without an ice cream maker might be a challenge. After you mix all the ingredients and place it into freezer, you have to stir your ice cream mixture very often to prevent it from getting icy. So when you decide to make it, make sure you don't have to go anywhere - you will have to devote your time for this yummy treat. But the results are totally worth it. You can enjoy homemade, delicious ice cream which do not contain any suspicious ingredients. A good way to prevent ice cream from freezing too much is adding some alcohol. Don't be afraid to add a teaspoon or two - your ice cream will not freeze that much and will be more creamy. Imagine! After I finished making this and it was already in the freezer I remembered that last time I added some vodka and this time I forgot to do it. (It wasn't written in the recipe). I also did not stir the mixture as frequently as I had to. That's why I encourage you not to do the same mistake - follow the directions! In the photo my ice cream looks quite icy, but this is just because I did not let it thaw at all before photographing (yes, I'm very impatient when I deal with food). So if you don't have an ice cream maker, don't think you can't make ice cream at home. But make sure you work as much as ice cream machine and stir your ice cream every 10-15 minutes! Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream
110g/1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
240ml/1 cup full-fat milk
3 egg yolks, beaten
1 tbsp vanilla extract
480ml/2 cups whipping cream, chilled 1-2 tsp alcohol (optional, but recommended)
1) In a heavy saucepan, combine together sugar, salt
and milk. Add egg yolks and beat until well incorporated. Set over medium-low
heat, stirring constantly, about 3 minutes until bubbles appear around the edges. Remove from heat. Let cool
to room temperature. Stir in vanilla.
2) Place the mixture into a freezable bowl and freeze
about 45 minutes, or until icy.
3) Meanwhile, chill two large bowls
in the fridge.
4) In one of chilled bowls, whip heavy cream with an electric mixer until soft peaks form.
5) Scoop your icy egg mixture into
the other cold bowl. Beat with electric mixer until smooth. Fold in the whipped
cream.
6) Divide the ice cream
mixture into two containers. Cover top with waxed paper. Freeze ice cream until firm. During the first hour stir the ice cream every 10-15 minutes. Don't skip this step or it will get too icy! Recipe adapted from here.
We all know the feeling when you suddenly crave for something sweet and there's nothing around to grab. The solution is simple. Always have a simple no-fuss recipe which can be made from scratch. Guess what? I have one for you. A super easy recipe of buttery, crispy, sugary, sweet and melt-in-your-mouth pretzels. These are perfect for a tea-time snack or breakfast. The only difficulty you may experience is shaping these goodies. But after two or three attempts you'll find yourself expert in this. So don't waste your time, go ahead and make yourself a batch of these. Enjoy!
Sugar Pretzels 125g butter, softened 100g white sugar 1 egg 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 200g all-purpose flour (or more) 1/2 tsp baking powder sugar, for sprinkling the tops 1) Preheat oven to 180C. Prepare two baking trays with parchment paper 2) Cream butter with sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, mixing well until incorporated. Beat in vanilla extract. 3) Mix flour with baking powder and add it to the butter mixture. Stir until smooth using your hands, if needed. If the mixture is too sticky, you may add more flour. Place the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes. 4) Divide the batter into small balls and roll each of them into a log. Shape into pretzels (as shown in the pictures) and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until lightly golden around the edges. Cool completely.
