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Sunday, December 29, 2013

Kniddelen - Luxembourgish Dumplings with Bacon


Kniddelen are one of Luxembourg's oldest dishes. Once upon a time they were considered the poor man's meal because all you need is flour, eggs, milk and bacon. Over the years, the traditional dish has almost transformed into a delicatessen because only a few still know how to prepare them. For a decade now, restaurants have put them back on the menu because people are again looking for more traditional restaurants in the jungle of international cuisine.


For me personally, Kniddelen is more than just a dish. Kniddelen is what I cook for my international friends if I want to share Luxembourgish culture with them or for myself when I just have to feel like home while living abroad. I prepared them in France, Serbia and Macedonia for a bunch of friends from different corners of the world.

My first Kniddel-sharing was in Aix-en-Provence; the city I studied in. As you may know, the local cuisine is rather light. My local friends shared loads of family recipes with me and invited me to their homes to try local food. One sunny day in spring, I decided to give some of it back and invite them to my place to share a piece of home with them. They really really liked them and are still talking about Kniddelen a few years later.

One and a half years ago, I turned back to Macedonia after having first discovered the country in summer 2011. My two local friends, Gorana and Darko made me try as many traditional dishes as possible during my several stays. Once again I decided to give something back and suggested that one night, I would prepare dinner; Kniddelen my favourite Luxembourgish dish. My friend's brother literally said that I am officially allowed to come back as I prepared a wonderful dinner. I guess these words speak for themselves.

Last but not least, during my stay in Serbia, I prepared Kniddelen as well. The first time was a co-production with another Luxembourgish volunteer for our international EVS friends. The second time was in the midst of summer, 42° and I wondered why not to prepare Kniddelen. I have to admit that with these temperatures savoring the hearty dumplings is a bit more difficult. Now I am back home but still returning regularly to Serbia and not later than on my last visit I gathered some friends around a glass of wine and prepared the dumplings again. 


Next to the Kniddel-adventures during student life, Kniddelen are also my all-time favourite comfort food. My grandmother used to prepare them quite often and I still remember the days when we went to hers to have family lunches or dinners. She used to cook a lot and very good and I wish I had been older when she was still fit to cook with her more often. But I think, part of my own passion for food was passed on from hers as well.


For 4 portions you need:
800g flour
4-5 eggs
450 ml milk
400g thinly sliced bacon
butter


Pour all the flour into a large bowl at once and mound it like a volcano. Add the eggs into the hole and start beating. Add the milk little by little and keep mixing until you get a sticky dough.

In a large pot bring the water to the boil and add some salt. Now turn the temperature down to middle heat. With two table spoons, form little dumplings and throw them into the hot water. The Kniddelen are ready when floating on the surface. Depending on their size let them simmer for another 30 seconds if you think they're not yet ready.

Enjoy!!!!!

Are you planning on making this recipe? Or have you already tried it?
Then show me your creations on Instagram: @passionmeetscreativity  I'm looking forward to your comments & suggestions :)



Sunday, November 24, 2013

Alsatian Apple Pie


A bit more than three weeks ago I had a very challenging experience, notably to cook a whole menu for 29 people in one of my favourite bars here in Luxembourg.  This delicious Alsatian Apple Pie was what I chose as a dessert and it had a lot of success. Some of my friends who came to the cooking event told me that I am not allowed to show up at their places anymore without bringing this pie. Well... This should not be a problem. 


Over the last weeks I got several text messages and emails from friends asking if I could please share the recipe as soon as possible because they wanted to prepare the pie for their guests. Here it is, just go ahead and prepare the pie for your upcoming dinners. It is very moist inside and crunchy on the outside. The shortbread-like crust is sweet without being too sugary. 


This recipe is inspired from an old one I always baked with my granddad. I remember that sometimes when I stayed for the holidays we baked apple pies and cakes on weekend nights. The smell of caramelised apples is one of my favourite kitchen smells. I love these recipes that provoke the Proust-effect as I use to call it. 

All those different apple desserts are the main reason I like autumn. From beautiful Indian summer to the cold and rainy days it's always the wonderful apple desserts that make me like this season as well. I would say especially on Sunday afternoons, when I am not motivated to do much anyways, I choose to make a nice autumn dessert for my family. As for this pie, I can tell you, there's already nothing left. 


For a pie you need:

200g flour
140g sugar
120g butter
50g grated almonds
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla sugar
125ml cream
3-4 apples

Preheat the oven to 200°


First of all core the four apples, peel them and cut them in 4 parts. 

Whisk together the flour, 40g sugar, 100g butter and the one egg yolk. Add two tablespoons of cold water and mix until you get a typical shortcrust pastry. Roll out the dough and put it into a springform pan. 

Sprinkle the grated almonds on the dough. Peel the apples, cut them in quarters then place them into the pie tin. Cut carefully lengthwise into the apples. Melt the remaining 20g of butter and brush the apples with it. 

Put the springform pan into the oven and bake for 35 minutes.

Meanwhile beat the remaining 100g sugar, the vanilla sugar, the cream and three eggs together until you get an even cream. 

After the 35 minutes of baking take the pie out of the oven and pour the cream over the apples.

Bake for another 20 minutes.

Let the pie cool down for about an hour on a cooling tray.

Enjoy!!!!!!!


Für eine Torte braucht man:

200g Mehl
140g Zucker
120g Butter
50g gemahlene Mandeln
4 Eier
2 tsp Vanillezucker
125ml Sahne
3-4 Äpfel

Ofen auf 200° vorheizen.


Äpfel schälen, in 4 Stücke schneiden und das Kerngehäuse entfernen.

Aus Mehl, 40g Zucker, Butter und Wasser einen ebenmäßigen Knetteig formen, ausrollen und in eine Springform geben.

Den Teigboden dann mit den gemahlenen Mandel bestreuen darauflegen. Dann die Äpfel vorsichtig längs einschneiden. Restliche Butter schmelzen und die Äpfel damit bestreichen. 

Die Springform in den Ofen geben und für 35 Minuten backen.

Währenddessen die 100g Zucker, den Vanillezucker, die Sahne und die restlichen 3 Eier schaumig schlagen bis eine ebene Creme entsteht. 

Nach 35 Minuten die Torte aus dem Ofen nehmen und die Torte mit der Creme übergießen und dann weitere 20 Minuten backen.

Die Torte auf einem Blech gut auskühlen lassen.



Enjoy!!!!!!!



Sunday, October 27, 2013

Chocolate Pound Cake


We're writing 2013 and we have reached a speed level that requires fast food, fast transportation and fast decisions, which is quite a challenge to bear. In times like this, most of people are not willing or unfortunately not able to take the time to prepare good quality food. I do still have the time or rather I am still determined to prepare my own food. I don't know why but for some people baking is always linked with high time consumption, which is not true at all. There are some very easy recipes, which I decided to share with you in my 'classics' series. I will share childhood classics whose dough you can prepare in less than 10 minutes. I mean, for the baking part as such, there are still no miracles - it takes a bit more. 


I've been a bit absent - physically - because I was traveling a lot in August and September and I also had a lot of work. However in order to relax in the evenings, I took a lot of time to look through my entire collection of cook and baking books. This was the moment where I decided to share some very easy classics in order to motivate the people around me to finally resign from cake mixes. I think the last cake mix I used was when I was in 8th grade. 


This lovely chocolate pound cake is the first pound cake I have deliberately baked. It was a hit among my family because I took it out of the oven several hours ago and there are only 3 slices left. It's moist but fluffy. I love cocoa powder even though it is a little bit bitter. First of all I love its smell. It's been a while that I haven't used cocoa powder in my recipes and when I opened the box for baking I was reminded how much I actually do love its smell. 



For one loaf you need:

240g butter
240g sugar
4 eggs
200g flour
1 tsp baking powder
50g cocoa powder



Preheat the oven to 180°

In a large bowl mix the softened butter until it gets fluffy. Add the sugar and mix on high speed for 20 seconds. Now you can add the eggs one by one. Then, add the dry ingredients all together and mix until you get an even dough.
Pour the dough into a rectangular cake mold and bake for 45 minutes. Check with the point of the knife if the cake is ready. If it comes out with some wet batter, crumbs or stickiness on it, the cake needs to bake a little bit more time. Depending on the material of the cake mold it might take some 10 minutes more.
If it comes out dry, take it out of the oven and remove it from the mold. Let it cool down until you serve it. 

Enjoy!!!!




Sunday, September 15, 2013

Lebanese Hummus



The first time I tried hummus was three years ago during a little road-trip through Luxembourg's north. It was the end of a great training course held in the Grand-Duchy. People from all over the world came to my little country to discuss and think about intercultural communication and cooperation. This was my first experience within the European Youth in Action Program.  Some of the participants were staying a bit longer to discover Luxembourg a little bit more in detail. 
On a sunny day we went up north to the lake to relax after the busy days. At some point all of us were hungry and we drove to the nearest supermarket. Anne, my Luxembourgish friend, who just came back from a 2 months internship in the Middle East convinced us to buy hummus. Of course our Jordan friend agreed immediately and the two of us remaining were curious to discover this chickpea delight. From that very moment on I am a huge fan of hummus, knowing that the industrial one cannot compete with the original. So I decided that when I do already like the hummus from a Luxembourg supermarket that I need to try the original as well.


Once said, now done! Last year I travelled to Lebanon for a training course on human rights. I had one and a half day after my arrival to discover the little country before the training started. On the first day my friend Ghassan took me to an authentic Lebanese restaurant. I was happy because knowing him we could have totally gone to a Pizza place. My friend ordered 4-5 dishes we shared in order to have me try a maximum of mezze. This is how you call the different dishes which form one meal. After the training Ghassan took me to the south of Lebanon where we have delicious lunch just next to the sea. My choice was made in a second - hummus of course. I couldn't have enough of it and everywhere we went I took hummus. Before leaving my friend bought me a jar of original tahini which I used regularly back home.


I recently tried several times to prepare hummus with different recipes, and not later than two months ago, my Lebanese friend here in Luxembourg brought me an original Lebanese cookbook. I tried it once, twice adapting the recipe to my personal taste without changing it too much. I still want it to be as authentic as possible. I love the Lebanese kitchen and be sure to find another range of varied recipes in the upcoming months. I'd say it's one of my all time favorite kitchens. So if you're reading the post, thanks again dear friend! This definitely was a perfect gift for a globetrotter like me. My best travel memories are always in relation with food; friends & food juste simply work without one another.


This time, I tried a little extra. Several months ago I ate hummus with wasabi, which I adored because it gives the whole thing a little spicy something. As the portion you get with the recipe below is quite big, I took 1/3 and added some wasabi. 

For the classical hummus you need:

250g cooked or 105g dried chickpeas
1tsp baking powder (if using dried chickpeas)
150ml tahini
2 crushed garlic cloves
30ml lemon juice
1/2 tbsp salt
60ml water


Put the chickpeas and the baking powder into a mid-sized bowl. Add water and let them soak overnight.

The next day, drain and rinse them, then put the chickpeas into a saucepan full of water. Don't add any salt for cooking because this changes the texture of the chickpeas. Bring to the boil and let them simmer for 1h-1h30 until the chickpeas are very soft. Now you can drain them again.

Now, whether you chose dried chickpeas or cooked ones, peel them. You might think I am a bit crazy but experience shows that the hummus gets much creamier if you peel them. It's certainly not the most pleasant thing to do, but as the result is much better, it is worth it. Put one single chickpea between your thumb and your middle finger, push a little bit until it pops out.

Now mash the chickpeas with a blender. Add the tahini, the crushed garlic and the lemon juice. Blend again until you get a thick and dry mix. Add the salt and the water little by little while blending again until it gets smooth and creamy. 

If you would also like to prepare the wasabi hummus, separate one third into a small bowl and add a tsp of wasabi. Mix for 1 minute until the wasabi is evenly added. 

Spoon the two into two different serving plates. Garnish the classical version with a drizzle of good quality olive oil and paprika powder. You may also add chopped red pepper and parsley just like you prefer.

Enjoy!!!

Are you planning on making this recipe? Or have you already tried it?
Then show me your creations on Instagram: @passionmeetscreativity  I'm looking forward to your comments & suggestions :)


Sunday, September 8, 2013

Tomato Balsamic Tarte Tatin


Even though the guys from the weather-forecast declared summer 2013 being gone for good, I'm still not done with preparing summer dishes. I only came back from the south last week inspired to prepare  new recipes. This week's recipe is one I already tried some years ago but which I modified a little bit. The first time I prepared the tomato tarte tatin I left out the balsamic and the olive paste. It was refreshing and light indeed, but this time I wanted to add some extra flavors. 


I was very happy to be back to the south of France again. All these beautiful markets with their beautiful food inspire passionate cooks to choose the right ingredients. I bought a lot of fresh olive pastes, fruits and sausages. On one hand you can find sausages with more traditional flavors like pepper, mushrooms or mixed herbs. On the other hand you do also find blueberry sausages. Once we had a roasted chicken as well with rosemary potatoes, a treat I am definitely putting on this blog as well.  If you love potatoes you will also love the rosemary variant. I guess that most of people know the French tarte tatin dessert but its savory version might be a novelty. The sweet and salted flavors in one tart make it very special.



For 6 portions you need:

For the filling

1kg Roma tomatoes
100g olive paste
2 tbs brown sugar
4 tsp mixed herbs 
4 tbs balsamic vinegar 
olive oil
salt
pepper

For the dough

280g flour
100ml olive oil
100ml water
1 ts salt
2 ts mixed herbs





























Preheat the oven to 180°

Wash the tomatoes and cut them lengthwise into two halves. Place them into your mold with the round side downwards. Season the tomatoes with salt and pepper then add the sugar and the mixed herbs. Baste the tomatoes with olive oil and balsamic. Then put them into the oven for 90 minutes. 

When your tomatoes are ready spread the olive paste over them. 

Now you can prepare the dough:

In a large bowl whisk together all the ingredients with a wooden spatula until you get an even dough. Then kneed it quickly with your hands for a minute. Now you can roll it out and shape it depending your base.  Lay the dough over the tomatoes and fold outer edges over filling. 

Cut a 1/2 hole into the dough by way of an air outlet stack and bake for 20 minutes

Once the tart is ready flip it upside down on a plate and let it cool down for ten minutes.

Enjoy



Sunday, August 4, 2013

Bajadera Pralines


May I present the first recipe from my Balkan experience I publish on my blog. I am so happy to share one of my favorite culinary Balkan memories with you today. The story behind the bajadere (plural of bajadera in Serbian/Croatian) lies 10 months behind. Well, actually a little bit more...


During my stay in the Balkans, one could consider me as a frequent traveller to my lovely friends in Macedonia. On my way back, one of the many returns to Belgrade, my friend Darko offered me a pack of bajadere. Take them for the road, he said. The ones he offered me were industrial ones and I already liked them a lot. (but nothing compares to domace bajadere)

Some months later, my boyfriend and I were invited to a birthday party. She organized a little get together among friends in the form of an apéro dinatoire, which is something like a dining cocktail. 
Vladana turned 27 and prepared loads of delicious food with her mother. Many many different kinds of  savoury pastries and sweet cakes were on the buffet. And then tadaaaa I discovered the bajadere. I tried one, two.. even three and then I thought OK Sheyla you have to restrain yourself a little bit, you're invited, you can not empty the whole plate. Another person, who I will not name now, took care of this though.


After meeting with Vladana again I dared to ask if she'd share the recipe with me,
and she did. I kindly asked if I could put the recipe on my blog, referring to her and her mother of course. Because all the credits go to that family recipe. The only thing I can do is respect the recipe one to one and spoil my beloved over here with this Balkan treasure. I can say they're family approved. I'd say by tomorrow or the day after tomorrow the latest there will be no bajadere left.


Travelling and coming back with recipes is just so amazing. I still have quite a few, and you will get the more detailed stories behind when I will publish the specific posts. All I can say for now is that there were friends, mothers and even grand-mothers involved. The recipes reach from Croatia to Macedonia and I am so happy I gathered all these little delights in my notebook dedicated to travel-recipes. Just by writing about it all the great memories come to my mind. One day I will indeed have a huge collection by bringing together all the recipes from my international friends and their families. 


For around 30 Bajadere you need:

400g sugar
125g grated walnuts
125g butter
75ml cold water
125g grated Plazma 
(called Lane in Europe or just grated Betterfood Cookies)
100g dark chocolate 
(take good quality chocolate because the choco taste is intense)

For the coating:

100g dark chocolate
50g butter
1 large egg

In a saucepan boil the water and then gradually add the sugar until you get a creamy mixture. Add the plazma, the walnuts and the butter and stir for another 2-3 minutes.

Split the dough in two and add 100g of grated chocolate to one half.

Take a mid-sized rectangular mold and cover it with cling-film. Now pour the chocolate dough in the mold and spread until it is even. Add the other half and let it cool down.

Now you can start melting your chocolate bain-marie style. Add the butter until it melted entirely. Whisk the egg in a separate little bowl and add to the chocolate-butter mixture. You will see that the chocolate thickens immediately. Pour the melted chocolate over the dough and let it cool down a tiny bit before to refrigerate the whole for about an hour.

Take your raw dough out of the fridge and cut it into equal stripes.

Ejoy!!!!




Sunday, July 28, 2013

Honey Madeleines with Chocolate Coating


Those who started worrying that I would keep walking the savoury road for too long, here you go with a new lovely sweet recipe. This time, changing the usual vanilla madeleine into a honey madeleine with chocolate coating. The idea came yesterday night when I was walking in town and came across the tiny little madeleine shop of Lea Linster. Some of my compatriots  might be shocked hearing that I never ever tried the original Lea Linster Madeleine. They're said the best in the country. I should go and find out. My friend Anne, who also prepared the Homemade Eclairs with me once succeeded in preparing them, and they were delicious.


My personal madeleine-baking experience is already much fun. When the little madeleines were in the oven I didn't stop looking at them and when the little top started crackling a bit, just like the originals, I felt an enormous success. You see, I don't need much to be happy. The reason I was so impressed is because madeleines are always said to be difficult to bake. Not in terms of preparation and not in terms of complicated dough, but more in terms of taste. That you have the right vanilla note, a nice texture etc...


I have some memories of grand-dad making madeleines but unfortunately I don't remember the taste anymore. Proust would be disappointed! I don't know how much you like literature, and most of you are more here for the recipe than for the story, but I still want to place the extract of the book :

"No sooner had the warm liquid mixed with the crumbs touched my palate than a shudder ran through me and I stopped, intent upon the extraordinary thing that was happening to me. An exquisite pleasure had invaded my senses, something isolated, detached, with no suggestion of its origin. And at once the vicissitudes of life had become indifferent to me, its disasters innocuous, its brevity illusory – this new sensation having had on me the effect which love has of filling me with a precious essence; or rather this essence was not in me it was me. ... Whence did it come? What did it mean? How could I seize and apprehend it? ... And suddenly the memory revealed itself. The taste was that of the little piece of madeleine which on Sunday mornings at Combray (because on those mornings I did not go out before mass), when I went to say good morning to her in her bedroom, my aunt Léonie used to give me, dipping it first in her own cup of tea or tisane. The sight of the little madeleine had recalled nothing to my mind before I tasted it. And all from my cup of tea."


For 20 Madeleines you need:

90g butter
2 large eggs
125g honey
170g flour
4cl milk
1tsp baking powder
200 dark chocolate




Melt the butter in a saucepan in order to get a more intense flavor.

In a large bowl whisk together the honey and the eggs, then add the milk. In a much smaller bowl mix the flour and the baking powder then add the dry mix to the liquid one. Now add stepwise the liquid butter until you get a foamy mixture.

Preparing your madeleines you have two choices. Either you keep the batter one night in the fridge, or if you're impatient like me, immediately pour the dough into the little madeleines' molds. I tried the two versions and I must admit that I don't really taste the difference. Maybe the latter version is a little less compact.


In any case preheat the oven to 200°. Bake the madeleines for 5 minutes than switch the oven to 180° and bake for another 5-7 minutes. Get the madeleines out of the oven and place them on a cooling tray.

While the madeleines are cooling down, prepare the chocolate coating. Melt the chocolate bain-marie style and coat the little madeleines afterwards. This is a much trickier duty. Be careful that your madeleines don't fall into your bowl full of melted chocolate.  Quickly dip the madeleine into the chocolate. Then with a knife spread the chocolate regularly over the bottom.

Let the chocolate coat dry for one or two hours in a cold room before serving.

Enjoy!!!











Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Italian Pasta Salad


Summer has arrived and seems to stay for a bit. Summertime is Picnic-time and in this spirit I prepared an Italian pasta salad last Saturday. I love picnicking. Last weekend, when we organised an excursion to the north of the country -  and yes, even in a tiny country like Luxembourg we plan our excursions to the north of the country - I had this pasta salad in mind I ate around 5 years ago. This seems to happen to me more and more. I feel like getting old. Every time I have an idea, I have childhood or teenage memories coming along, and then I think - well you're not that old. 

Back to the pasta salad. I was once invited to a barbecue party, and someone, I don't even remember who, prepared that brilliant Italian pasta salad. What I most remember was the combination of dried tomatoes, basil and mozzarella and of course the coppa. Usually I am a huge fan of salad dressings, but for this salad, I preferred to only use best quality olive oil. I always have a good bottle of olive oil in my cupboard. Sometimes I would just dip my fresh baguette into some olive oil and enjoy it as one served me a delicious meal. 


With some of my friends we are currently planning another picnic session in the upcoming weeks. My decision has already been taken. I will bring the pasta salad. Even if most of my friends will rather expect me to bring a nice desert, my preference is definitely lying in bringing this salad. I hope this won't be too much of a disappointment. 

Well, from our side, my lovely kitchen assistant and myself were happy about the result but we were not the only ones. I mean I am usually preparing things that I like, but it's difficult to judge if it's a real success. So I always seek feedback. This time, I offered 4 portions to my parents and after having a first try, my mother invited the neighbors over for lunch. According to their comments, they would like to be invited again, for the same salad. I think - this is a satisfying statement.


For 4 servings you need:

350g pasta of your choice
300g cherry tomatoes
1 big red onion
12 dried tomatoes
5 slices coppa
120g mini mozzarella balls
50 g Parmesan
25g rocket salad
basil
4 tbsp olive oil
salt & pepper

******

Boil the pasta al dente.

Wash the cherry tomatoes and cut them into quarters. Peel and cut the onion into little cubes, cut the coppa and the dried tomatoes into thin slices. Then wash the rocket & the basil leaves.

Once your pasta is al dente, let it cool down. If you want to fasten the process just pour cold water on it. 

Now you can add all the ingredients into a large bowl. Add the 4 tbsp of olive oil and add the shavings of the Parmesan cheese. Add salt and pepper according to your needs.

Enjoy!!!


Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Onion Mustard Tart


When people here the saying when life gives you lemons, they immediately start thinking about what they’d actually do with said lemons, if life were to give them some.. But what if life gave you onions? Let’s think about this for a moment as well! Some people hate them, but some (most?) do really love them. So let’s take a deep dive into what we’d actually do when life gave us onions.

Well first of all, once they’re peeled, we would cry a little, or a lot if these bastards were really spicy! But once we’d overcome this challenge, they would give us a hell lot culinary joy! I know I know, there are probably quite a few foods you hear me say I could not live without, but onions are life! And I really don’t want to imagine a life without them! 
By now I guess that everyone has understood that I love onions, and it is no surprise that I came up with this onion tart recipe.
Besides onions, there’s another thing that is often added to hearty dishes: mustard. This silky smooth paste instantly refines many dishes with its tangy flavour. I find that it pairs especially well with onions, notably because cooked onions lean on the sweeter side and the mustard just rounds it up so well
We probably do crave more comfort food in winter, but this onion tart is an all rounder. Whether you enjoy it in winter with leafy greens after a warming soup or in summer paired with crunchy and refreshing veggies it will always tickle your taste buds.  
If you have little helpers in your kitchen, delegate the onion cutting to them. This means less tears for you, and more time do concentrate on making the dough. This tart is a perfect weeknight dinner, a lovely dish for picnics in the park or even en entrée when hosting a dinner party at home. As I said, it’s an allrounder! 

For around 6 servings you need:

For the dough:
150g flour
100g cold butter
4 tbsp cold water
salt

For the filling:
25g butter
800g onions
3 tbsp mustard
3 eggs
125g sour cream
30g grated Parmesan

******

In order to prepare the dough, pour the flour   and a pinch of salt on the countertop. Cut the butter into little cubes and add it to the flour. Then start kneading it with your fingertips until you get crumbly dough. Dump the crumbs back on the countertop, mounded high like a mountain. Then at the top push and scrape out the flout until it looks like a volcano. Add the water to this well and knead the dough fairly quickly before forming a ball out of it. Wrap it into cling film and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes take the dough out of the refrigerator and roll it out. Shape it depending your base and transfer it to it. Now you shall cover the dough with baking paper and refrigerate it once more for 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180°

Take the base out of the fridge and bake for 10 minutes. Take the baking paper off the dough and bake again for 10 minutes until it gets golden brown.

Now you can start preparing the filling by chopping the onions first. Put the butter in your pan. Add the onions and cover them for 10 minutes. Uncover them and cook for another 10 minutes
Spread the baked dough with mustard. Add the onions.  In a middle-sized bowl whisk together the eggs and the cream. Pour this mix over the onions. Finally scatter the tart with the Parmesan.

Bake the tart for 40 minutes

Enjoy!!!!!!!

Are you planning on making this recipe? Or have you already tried it?
Then show me your creations on Instagram: @passionmeetscreativity  I'm looking forward to your comments & suggestions :)

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Rhubarb Tart with Almond Streusel

The season is almost over but I still had some left for another round of streusel tart. When I first tried the recipe, the tart was gone in approximately 10minutes. When I prepared the rhubarb and cooked it in the saucepan, its smell spread out the entire place.
It’s my very first rhubarb tart. As much as I love it now, I didn’t like it as a child. I remember that as a child neighbour and friend’s mom always let us cut the rhubarb in her garden and that she prepared a lot of rhubarb tarts. But I never liked them. Looking back I understand that the only reason I got involved in the rhubarb-cutting thing was the fun we had while cutting it.



Nowadays, things have changed and I became a huge fan of rhubarb and tarts in general. I guess the only reason I am not preparing them more often is the temptation to eat them up. I dare to say that nothing compares to homemade tart dough. It’s a fact. I don’t live in the same place anymore but as lucky as I am I again have a neighbour with rhubarb in her garden. When she heard about my tart, one afternoon she came over with a huge bunch of rhubarb telling me that I could use it because even by freezing them she couldn’t work it up.
The good thing about rhubarb is that you can freeze it and use it later on. The quality remains the same, which allows you to surprise a friend around a coffee.


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For 6 servings you need:

For the dough

150g flour
75g butter
20g sugar
1 egg yolk 
1 pinch of salt


For the filling

450g rhubarb
1 apple
200g sugar
80g butter
120g ground sweet almonds
2 eggs


**********

Preheat the oven to 180°

In order to prepare the dough pour the flour and a pinch of salt on the countertop. Cut the butter into little cubes and add it to the flour. Then start kneading it with your fingertips until you get crumbly dough. You could use a hand mixer but in my opinion the good old well method is still more effective. To do so, dump the crumbs back on the countertop and mounded high like a mountain.  Then at the top push and scrape out the flour until it looks like a little volcano. In this well you now pour a tbsp of water, the sugar and the eggs. Knead it fairly quickly and form a ball out of it and wrap it into cling film and refrigerate for an hour.

While the dough is refrigerating, start peeling the rhubarb and cut it into rather thin slices. Peel the apple as well and cut it into little cubes. Put the fruits into a bowl and scatter them with the 100g of sugar. Let them macerate for 30 minutes.

Drain the rhubarb-apple mixture and cook it over a low heat for 10 minutes. 

In a middle-sized bowl mix the butter, the remaining sugar and the ground almonds. Add the eggs and mix until you get an even dough.

Now you can take the dough out of the fridge and roll it out. Shape it depending on your base. As you can see I used a rectangular one but a round one works perfectly fine as well. Transfer it to your tart base and prick it all over with a fork. Scatter the base with the remaining ground almonds. Garnish the base with the cooked rhubarb and cover the fruits with the almond crumble.

Bake for 30 minutes and let it cool down for another 30 minutes as well.

Enjoy!!!!




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