Room for Dessert - Food Blog

Avi and I had our first date (it was April 8th, 2005, almost 3 years ago!) at a great Italian restaurant named Bellini. It was the best first date I’ve ever had - it lasted for 6 whole hours, and every minute of it was absolutely wonderful! Don’t get alarmed here, we didn’t eat for 6 straight hours, after the restaurant we went to a pub
At Bellini, which is ever since our favorite restaurant in Israel, we ate, among other things, a super delicious pasta with eggplant, mushrooms and honey.

Whenever we go to Bellini, it’s always a sure bet that we’re gonna order that dish, all the other stuff in our menu are to be decided when we arrive at the restaurant. Last time we’ve been there, I’ve noticed a hint of an oriental taste in it, which was kinda weird - suddenly noticing a new fact about a dish I’ve been eating regularly for years. I was almost certain it was soy sauce. It was then that I decided that I’m gonna try and make this at home, after figuring out some of the main ingredients it contains.

Last Friday we had a Friday nigt with no family gatherings planned, so I figured I’d give it a shot. My expectations weren’t high at all, since I’ve already tried doing reverse engineering on recipes just by their taste and the list of ingredients I think they contain, and it didn’t come close to the real thing. For example, when we were in Italy, we ate the best dinner there at a small restaurant in Pistoia, that was recommended by Lonely Planet. One of dishes we ordered, and the one that I remember its taste exactly till this day, was pasta with a superb black olives sauce. Tried to make it home, was nice, but not even close to that divine taste.

But boy was I up for a sweet surprise! The sauce came out wonderful, and tasted 99% exactly like the one at Bellini!! Avi and I were both shocked with pleasure, every bite we took was an absolute paradise! The tastes of the soy and honey along with the white wine and brown sugar I’ve added blend together to create a marvelous pasta sauce! Serving it with Feta cheese aside, and adding a little of it to every bite you take completes the tastes celebration that’s going on in your mouth. I HIGHLY recommend this one!

This is also my entry for this week’s Presto Pasta Night, a blog event kindly held weekly by Ruth at Once Upon a Feast.

Farfalle with eggplant, honey and soy sauce / Self recipe
Makes 2 servings

Ingredients:
250 gr farfalle, cooked by manufacturer’s directions
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
4 garlic cloves
1 medium sized eggplant
4-5 medium sized fresh mushrooms, finely chopped
3 Tbsp white wine
3 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp honey
1 1/2 tsp light brown Demerara sugar
For serving: grated Feta cheese

Directions:
1. Slice the eggplant, scatter salt over all the slices from both sides, and let rest for an hour.
2. Wash the eggplant, dice them into small squares, so they won’t take ages to cook.
3. Warm the vegetable oil in a pan, add the garlic cloves and fry them for about a minute.
4. Add in the eggplant and mushrooms and fry until the eggplant is completely soft (about 15 mins, maybe a bit more).
5. Add the white wine, stir, and fry until the wine has almost completely evaporated.
6. Stir in 2 Tbsp of the soy sauce and all the honey.
7. After about 5 mins stir in the brown sugar.
8. Add the cooked pasta into the sauce, add the remaining 1 Tbsp of soy sauce and stir until the pasta gets a bit darker color (from the soy sauce).
9. It’s highly recommended to serve it with grated Feta cheese alongside, the tastes combination is simply exciting!

פרפלה ברוטב חצילים, דבש וסויה סטייל מסעדת בליני / מתכון עצמי - מירי רביבו
עבור 2 מנות

רכיבים:
250 גרם פסטה, מבושלת ע”פ הוראות יצרן
3 כפות שמן
4 שיני שום
1 חציל בינוני
4-5 פטריות יער בגודל בינוני
3 כפות יין לבן
3 כפות סויה
2 כפות דבש
1 1/2 כפיות סוכר חום דמררה
להגשה: גבינת פטה מגוררת

הכנה:
1. חותכים את החצילים (עם הקליפה) לפרוסות, ממליחים, ונותנים לזה לנוח כך כשעה וחצי, להוצאת המרירות.
2. לאחר מכן שוטפים את החצילים וחותכים אותם לקוביות קטנות, על מנת שבעת הבישול לא ייקח להם הרבה זמן להתרכך.
3. מחממים שמן במחבת ומטגנים את השום כדקה.
4. מוסיפים את החצילים והפטריות ומטגנים עד לריכוך מוחלט של החצילים (כרבע שעה, אולי טיפה יותר)
5. מוסיפים את היין הלבן, מערבבים, ומטגנים עד לאידוי כמעט מלא של היין.
6. מוסיפים 2 כפות מהסויה ואת הדבש ומערבבים היטב.
7. לאחר 5 דקות מוסיפים את ההסוכר החום.
8. מסננים את הפסטה ממי הבישול ומעבירים אותה למחבת עם הרוטב. מוסיפים את כף הסויה הנוספת ומערבבים עד אשר האטריות משחימות קלות (מהצבע של רוטב הסויה).
9. מומלץ בחום רב להגיש את המנה עם גבינת פטה מגוררת בצד, שילוב הטעמים הוא נפלא!

This post is Avi’s. I am writing it and took the photos, but other than that, it’s all his. He came up with the idea, created the recipe and made the dish. And how yummy that was! This is one of two recipes (and counting ) he came up with lately, I hope we make the other one soon, and if it turns out to be a keeper as well - we’ll be sure to post about it.

That being said, this post is a part of the Presto Pasta Night blog event - it’s a weekly event, hosted by Ruth at Once Upon a Feast, and it’s all dedicated to pasta recipes. How cool is that? (Those of you who visit here often already know that Italian food is my favorite, but I bet you didn’t know that one of my best friends calls me “Paaaaasta”, because I always say this word with a mellow-and-totally-in-love-tone).

A couple of weeks ago, I don’t remember exactly when and how, Avi came to me with the idea of making a cream and raisins pasta sauce. The only other sweet-ish pasta sauce I’ve ever tasted was a divine one (at a restaurant named Divina, imagine that ), it was a cream based sauce with a touch of orange. Yum! So Avi’s idea reminded me of exactly that sauce, and evidently his idea sounded awesome.

Last Saturday he got around to making it. He used onion and garlic in his recipe, which I thought wouldn’t accompany the raisins very well, but it turned out that the man knew what he was doing! He also added a touch of lemon to the sauce, which was subtle but at the same time gave it a great taste-hint and aroma. All in all it turned out to be a great sauce, the light sweetness of the raisins is a great match to cream based pasta sauce, and it also was a great match to the goat cheese filled ravioli that it was wrapped aound.

I’ve filed this post under both Main Courses and First Courses, since in Italy pasta is usually a first course, whereas for Avi and me (and for many restaurants here in Israel), it’s definitely a main course.

Cream and raisins pasta sauce / Avi Revivo
Makes 2 portions

Ingredients:
2 small onions, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
250 ml cream (we used 15% fat)
1/2 - 3/4 cup raisins (we used mixed - dark and light)
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
5 Tbsp white wine
salt, pepper
milk, for thinning the sauce if necessary

Directions:
1. Fry the onion until brown and caramelized.
2. Add the garlic and fry for 1/2 min.
3. Add the white wine, stir well and cook until partially evaporized.
4. Add the cream, lemon juice, the raisins and salt and pepper according to your taste. Stir well and cook for about 15 mins. If during the process the sauce gets too thick, add a little milk to it and stir well. Serve with grated parmesan cheese.

רוטב שמנת וצימוקים לפסטה / אבי רביבו
עבור 2 מנות

רכיבים:
2 בצלים קטנים, קצוצים דק
2 שיני שום כתושות
250 מ”ל שמנת (אנחנו השתמשנו ב - 15% שומן)
1/2 - 3/4 כוס צימוקים (בהירים וכהים, מומלץ לשים כמות גדולה יותר של בהירים)
2 כפות מיץ לימון סחוט טרי
5 כפות יין לבן
מלח, פלפל
חלב, לדילול הרוטב במקרה הצורך

הכנה:
1. מטגנים את הבצל עד השחמה וקרמול.
2. מוספים את השום ומטגנים כחצי דקה.
3. מוסיפים את היין הלבן, מערבבים היטב ומבשלים עד לאידוי חלקי.
4. מוסיפים את השמנת, מיץ הלימון, הצימוקים, ומלח ופלפל לפי הטעם. מערבבים היטב ומבשלים כ - 15 דקות. אם במהלך זמן הבישול הרוטב הופך סמיך מדי, מדללים עם מעט חלב עד שמגיעים למרקם הרצוי, מערבבים היטב. מומלץ להגיש בליווי גבינת פרמזן מגוררת.

Mmmm… Doughnuts… Mad about them since forever, their smell while frying can make me go wild! So how could I say “No” to this great blogging event hosted by Peabody and Tartelette? Make sure you don’t miss this one as well, there isn’t much time left, only until tomorrow night!

Frosted with chocolate

It’s only the second time I’ve made doughnuts, ever. The first one was last Hanukkah. We invited Avi’s family over to dinner, and I was daring enough to make not one but two different yeast doughs simultaneously - one for a Focaccia and one for the donuts. And I also had two trays of antipasti in the oven, some salads to make and some cheeses to slice. You can easily understand that the mess was huge… Nevertheless, everything turned out pretty well and all the dishes prepared were tasty. The doughnuts recipe, though, was good but certainly not a keeper.

Vanilla frosted

So when I was looking for a recipe to use this time, it was hard for me to decide even the kind of doughnuts I would like to present. The Israeli doughnuts (called “Sufganiot”) came almost instinctively to my mind, along with the Romanian ones (which are called “Gogoshi”). But then I remembered that a while ago, Avi’s brother was toying with the idea of opening a sweets shop, that would sell doughnuts, among other things. When he told me about it I immediately said that I’d join him and make the doughnuts. Problem was that at the time, I’ve never made a single doughnut… Ever since I added trying a Dunkin Doughnuts recipe to my to do list, so this blog event was the perfect opportunity for this. So Sharon, this one is for you

The result tasted delicious! I wanted to experiment as much as possible this time, so half of the batch I fried, and the other half I baked. I shaped them in 2 different shapes - one is the regular doughnut, and one is little spheres. Some of the spheres (which I fried) I filled with a piece of milk chocolate filled with cream, this came out really good. The rest I left plain, and glazed them after the frying/baking. I made 2 glazes - vanilla (Avi’s favorite) and chocolate. And there were also several doughnuts that I simply dusted with confectioners’ sugar.

Dusted with confectioners’ sugar

To sum it all up, this doughnut recipe is definitely a keeper! The glazings, if tasted straight from the mixture, are not that hot, but don’t let that scare you - after they get firm on top of your doughnut - they’re great! Especially loved the chocolate glaze!
Thanks Peabody and Tartelette for a great event! I really enjoyed making those cute little things!

All together now…

Dunkin Doughnuts
Makes 12 big doughnuts or 24 small ones

Ingredients:
1 package regular or quick-acting yeast
1/8 cup warm water (105-115 degrees)
3/4 cup lukewarm milk (30 secs in the microwave)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg
1/6 cup shortening
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:
1. Dissolve yeast in warm water in a mixing bowl.
2. Add milk, sugar, salt, egg, shortening and 1 cup of flour. Beat on low speed while scraping bowl for 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed, scraping bowl occasionally, 2 minutes.
3. Stir in remaining flour until smooth.
4. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double, about 50-60 minutes.
5. Turn dough onto a floured surface. Roll dough 1/2- inch thick. Cut with round cookie cutter. Cover and let rise on floured baking sheets until double, 30-40 minutes.
6. Heat vegetable oil in a deep fryer or Dutch oven to 350. Slide doughnuts into hot oil. Turn doughnuts as they turn golden brown, about one minute on each side. Remove carefully from oil (do not prick surfaces) and drain.
7. When cool, glaze with the desired glaze and/or dust with powdered sugar.

Vanilla Glaze:
Mix 1 cup powdered sugar with 1 1/2 tablespoons milk and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla.

Chocolate Glaze:
Mix 1 cup of powdered sugar with 1 1/2 tablespoons milk and 1 tablespoon chocolate drink mix (Nestle’s Qwik). If it’s not chocolatey enough, add a little cocoa powder.

Note: If the glaze is too thick, add more milk to the mixture, 1/2 tsp at a time, until it gets the texture you prefer.

סופגניות / דנקין דונאטס
עבור כ- 24 סופגניות קטנות וחמודות

רכיבים:
7 גרם שמרים יבשים (או 21 גרם שמרים טריים)
2-1/2 כוסות קמח
1/8 כוס מים חמימים
3/4 כוס חלב חמים (30 שניות במיקרו יעשו את העבודה)
1/4 כוס סוכר
1/2 כפית מלח
1 ביצה
1/6 כוס שמן

הוראות הכנה:
1. לערבב כוס אחת מכמות הקמח עם השמרים.
2. להוסיף את כל שאר הרכיבים (מלבד הקמח הנותר) וללוש 2-3 דקות.
3. להוסיף את שארית הקמח וללוש עד לקבלת בצק חלק ומבריק.
4. לכסות את הקערה עם הבצק בניילון נצמד ולהניח במקום חמים לתפיחה, עד להכפלת הנפח.
5. ליצירת דונאטס: לרדד את הבצק על משטק מקומח לעובי 1-1.5 ס”מ. לחתוך עיגולים בעזרת כוס, את החורים במרכז אפשר ליצור בעזרת מגלען תפוחים.
ליצירת סופגניות פשוט מגלגלים כדורים בגודל הרצוי.
6. מניחים להתפחה נוספת עד להכפלת הנפח. כאן כדאי להשקיע קצת לפני ולחתוך ריבועים מנייר אפיה ולהניח את הסופגניות לתפוח על גביהם, זה יקל מאוד על העברת הבצק הדביק לשמן לאחר מכן.
7. לחמם מחבת עם שמן בגובה 3 ס”מ לפחות לחום של 180 מעלות. לטגן את הסופגניות בכמויות של 4 בערך בכל פעם על מנת שהשמן יישאר בטמפ’ המתאימה.
8. להניח להן להתקרר מעט על נייר סופג, ולפדר אבקת סוכר או להכין את אחד הציפויים הבאים.

ציפוי וניל:
לערבב 1 כוס אבקת סוכר עם 1.5 כפות חלב וחצי כפית תמצית וניל.

ציפוי שוקולד:
לערבב 1 כוס אבקת סוכר עם 1.5 כפות חלב וכף אבקת שוקו ממותקת. ניתן להוסיף מעט אבקת קקאו לא ממותקת להעמקת הטעם השוקולדי.

הערה: אם הציפוי קשה מדי לטעמכם, הוסיפו חלב, 1/2 כפית בכל פעם, עד שמגיעים למרקם הרצוי.

Even before I’ve started this blog (not so many days ago ), I’ve been wanting to participate in a blog event. I just didn’t know in which one.
And then I’ve read that February 5th 2008 is declared to be this year’s Nutella day by Sara from Ms. Adventures in Italy and Michelle from Bleeding Espresso, and I’ve also read that they are hosting a blog event for this occasion. What a perfect first blog event for me, as a former Nutella addict! (Wanna know how much of an addict? When I was  a kid, once in a few months, my mom would manage to get her hands on a jar of Nutella, and she would happily bring it home to me. I, on my part, would take the jar, kiss her thankfully, and go get myself a teaspoon. Then I would find a comfortable spot that would host my little (or not so little?) behind until I could see the bottom of the jar of this wonderful hazelnut spread. Oh yes, and I would enjoy every bite of it too!).

For this year’s Nutella day I’ve decided to make a recipe that I’ve made several times before, and was a great success every time. These are great Nutella filled roll-shaped cookies, they are made from a very flaky dough, and they melt in your mouth with every bite you take.
The source of this recipe is my favorite Israeli pastry-chef, named Carine Goren. She’s young, has a great character and a smiling face you’d be always happy to watch on cooking shows, but more importantly - every recipe of hers always has a most tasty outcome.

Nutella filled rolled cookies / recipe by Carine Goren
Makes about 50 cookies

Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups (500 gr) all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
3/4 cup (100 gr) powdered sugar
250 gr cold butter, diced
2/3 cup (160 ml) milk
1 1/2 cups Nutella spread

Directions:
1. In food processor process together the flour, baking powder, powdered sugar and butter in short pulses, until you get a flaky mixture.
2. Add the milk and continue processing using short pulses, just until the dough is formed.
3. Heat the oven to 340°F (170° celsius).
4. Divide the dough into 3 equal parts. Roll out each one of them to a rectangle 1/2 cm (1/5 inch) thick.
5. Spread the Nutella (if the spread is too thick, heat it up in the microwave for 10-15 seconds) on each one of the 3 dough parts, roll each part into a log. Place the logs (the “clean”, stitchless side up) on a big baking pan (I use the oven’s baking pan) with a piece of parchment paper on it.
6. Using a knife, mark slots on each log, a gap of 2 cm (0.8 inch) separates between each slot. This step makes cutting the cookies after baking very easy.
7. Bake for 25-30 mins, until golden.
8. Cool for 30 mins. Using the slots we’ve marked, slice the cookies. Powder them with powdered sugar and keep in a sealed jar at room temperature.

עוגיות מגולגלות ממולאות נוטלה / קרין גורן

רכיבים:
3 1/2 כוסות קמח (500 גרם)
1 כף אבקת אפייה
3/4 כוס אבקת סוכר (100 גרם)
250 גרם חמאה קרה, חתוכה לקוביות
2/3 כוס חלב (160 מ”ל)
1 1/2 כוסות ממרח שאוהבים (נוטלה, ממרח תמרים, ריבת חלב, ממרח חלבה, ריבה ועוד)

מכינים את הבצק:
1. במעבד מזון עם להב מתכת מעבדים קמח, אבקת אפייה, אבקת סוכר וקוביות חמאה לתערובת פירורית. מוסיפים חלב ומעבדים בלחיצות קצרות (פולסים) רק עד קבלת בצק אחיד.

ממלאים, מרכיבים ואופים:
2. מחממים תנור ל - 170 מעלות
3. מחלקים את הבצק ל-3 חלקים שווים. מרדדים כל חלק על נייר אפיה מקומח קלות, למלבן בעובי 1/2 ס”מ.
4. מורחים במלית הרצויה, מגלגלים לרולדה ומעבירים לתבנית מרופדת בנייר אפייה (כשהתפר כלפי מטה). חוזרים על הפעולה עם יתרת הבצק והמלית.
5. מסמנים חריצים במרווחים של 2 ס”מ על הרולדות (להקל על חיתוך העוגיות לאחר האפיה) ואופים 25-30 דקות, עד להזהבה.
6. מצננים ופורסים לעוגיות. מקשטים באבקת סוכר ומגישים. שומרים בכלי אטום בטמפ’ החדר.