Three King's Bread

This is supposed to remind you of Spain or southern Italy or even Mexico, so the first thing I think of is citrus.  I lean heavily on orange peel, citrus zest in the filling and tangerine juice for the frosting.  You could use Limoncello to plump the raisins.  I love lemon, but I do not want the sour note of lemon in the cake or filling, so it is all about orange and tangerine and Grand Marnier.  Lemons are a big feature of my grandmother's islands and there was a tree in the back yard of her house, and an almond tree in the front to shade the terrace. 

I used to do this every year for Christmas, buy it is actually served on the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6th, or Twelfth Night, to celebrate the coming of the three kings.

1 cup scalded milk cooled to very warm

1/3 cup butter, melted

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt(omit if using salted butter)

1T yeast

Up to 3 1/4 cups flour

Set aside 1/4 cup of the milk and dissolve the yeast into it.  Allow to prove.

Mix the rest of the milk nearly cool, the melted butter the eggs and salt.  Beat together till uniform and add in the proved yeast. and milk.

Add the flour a cup at a time beating together with a whisk, then with a large spoon adding more flour when the previous is all incorporated. 

continue to add flour a bit at a time kneading it in till the dough is sticky but getting very thick.  Turn out on the counter and continue to add the flour kneading as you go.  Do not add any more flour than absolutely necessary to allow you to handle it.  Continue to knead the dough.  it will seem to firm a bit as you knead.  when smooth and elastic and shiny, turn into a large greased bowl and cover loosely.

Allow to rise till doubled in a warm draft free place(the microwave or nearly cool oven works well.

Turn out onto the counter that is dusted with flour only if sticky.  roll to a rectangle  about 12 by 20.

Spread 2/3 c of melted or very soft butter over the whole rectangle. 

cover with fillings below.

roll up into a large jelly roll with fillings inside.  Seal the seam closed by pinching. 

 form a ring with the seam down, seal the ends together by pinching or using egg wash to join.

Place on parchment paper in a large cookie sheet. 

cut 16 vertical slashes into the outside of the ring toward the center.  About 1/3 of the way. 

Cover loosely with plastic or a tea towel and allow to rise till double.

brush with beaten egg then stick walnuts, almond slivers and candied cherries on the top as seen in the photo.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Bake uncovered about 20 min.  Cover with foil and bake till the center of the bread reached 190 plus degrees Fahrenheit. 

It may get very dark brown.  You may protect the sides with a ring of foil if you like as well as the top. The dark color does not really influence the taste very much, and since much of the top is covered with glaze, you could easily omit the egg-wash before baking which would yield a nut brown color instead of the dark. The dark surface does emphasize the jewel-like quality of the candied fruit and nuts though.

You may brush with honey or just butter with a pastry brush, but it is not needed.

Allow to cool almost completely.

Drizzle with powdered sugar mixed  to a molasses consistency with:

orange juice and grated zest

 or tangerine juice and grated zest. 

 cut in wedges to serve.

The filling is a combination of raisins plumped for an hour or overnight in orange liqueur, brandy or juice( I love Grand Marnier), candied orange peel (Or other fruits), chopped slivered almonds, chopped walnuts, orange,  lemon and tangerine zest  for a total of about 2 cups.  Stir in about 1/2 cup sugar and 2 T cinnamon.

Very Easy Tart Pastry

1 1/3 cups flour
5 T sugar
1/2 t salt
Stir together with
1 1/2 sticks butter, melted,
press into tart pan, bake at 350 blind till brown or fill after partially baked and bake again.

About Preserved Meats

About Preserved Meats



Where I do not have good refrigeration at present, I have been eating a lot of preserved meats.  We all remember Vienna sausages, Deviled Ham and Chicken.  There are a number of alternatives available including potted Corned Beef.
These and other canned meats(and fish) are excellent substitutes for fresh meat if, as I am now, it is distant from grocers or if there is limited refrigeration.  Where I am, the list includes Salsiccia Piccante(Pepperoni), Salamis in bewildering array and a number of salted, dried and smoked meats.   These are good until you cut into them, then they should be chilled.  In my case I often have to opt for ice chests for these, and locals often get away with hanging the sausages, even cut, in a cool dark room.  I suppose if you cover them with a cheese cloth to keep pests off, you may get away with it.  After all, it was done for centuries before the refrigerator was invented.
But you must avoid salting your food in any way when you are using these.  This is especially true if you are prone to hypertension.  The salt content is very high.
The other drawback is calories.   These meats tend to be high in fat as well, and you really should not be eating a meal that has more than 30 percent of calories from fat.
The idea then is to find some way to serve these with low fat and salt accompaniments.
Crackers are available without extra salt, but still, the calories are there and sometimes fat.
Some breads are fairly low in salt and fat, and the bread you make yourself can be made that way.

My thought for this post is however, to try something completely different.

Slice cucumbers, top with a dollop or piped mound of the meat, then top that with a black olive or a cherry tomato and or bell pepper.
Use cherry peppers by cutting the tops off and piping the meat or chunk of meat inside.
Stuff them with water, wine or balsamic vinegar dampened bread crumbs with a bit of meat inside.
Hollow out cherry tomatoes and fill.
Roasted pepper sheets rolled up around the meat is a good choice.  If you have a long roll, slice them into chunks.
If you are going to serve something in say an hour, you can freeze chunks of the potted meats in a shape that can be put into a vegetable, then stuff or wrap them up much more easily.
Hollow half a cucumber or split a long thin pepper, a spear of celery or tomato, stuff, chill and slice to make canapes or a lunch entree.
Sliced fruits make a good vehicle for many of the meats that might ordinarily appear on crackers...apple, pear, peach halves will all work well.  You could even stuff canned pears or peaches.

The way around calories, fat and salt is often just a little creativity.

Baked Ricotta

Ok.  Here is the problem.  You can certainly make baked cheese with any ricotta, but not like the Sicilian or island variety.
You can make a semblance of this cheese recipe with the plastic tub cheese, by placing a coffee filter(they are available pretty big for commercial coffee makers) in a strainer in the sink or over a bowl.  Do not let it drain liquid so that the bottom of the strainer sits in the whey.
You can put it in the refrigerator over night or even a couple of days  to end up with a very firm "loaf" of cheese.
Where available use fresh ricotta, already firm ricotta or make your own.  You can certainly do this with the cheese recipe found in this blog, though it is not "Properly" Ricotta cheese.
Again. the cheese, if soft must be firmed into a Loaf.
Oil the cheese with olive oil, spread all over the cheese by hand, salt it lightly(if desired) and place the loaf on a raised lip cookie sheet or on a parchment sheet in the cookie sheet.
You may get sticking onto the sheet.  This can be solved by laying the loaf on a bed of rosemary sprigs or bay leaves.  Fresh would be best as the dry may be overpowering, as they are concentrated.
The cheese may be rubbed with oregano, basil or other herbs or coarse or sea salt flakes.
Bake in a 350 degree oven till golden to dark brown all over.
Yes you can serve it warm with fruit, roasted vegetables, slabs of bread or drizzled with honey, but it is more usual to cool it first.
Drizzle honey and/or chopped nuts on the cheese in the last 20 minutes in the oven.
You can grate it into recipes, salsas, pesto and pasta.

You can also put drained ricotta into puff pastry cases like brie.

Try using fruit preserves or chopped nuts and honey in the pastry wrap.

Consider trying this with chopped candied fruit peel and a little powdered sugar in the ricotta after it is drained.  Reform into the loaf after putting them in. 

Turkish Apple Tea

Ingredients
    2-3 average sized red apples, leave unpeeled and quarter them
    1 unpeeled orange, quartered
    1 cinnamon stick
    1 litre water
    2 cloves – whole

Method:

1.    Add all the ingredients together into a saucepan. Bring to the boil. Once at boiling point, leave the ingredients to simmer and  to soften.
2.    Squeeze the remaining juice from the fruits and strain all the liquid into a jug.
3.    The tea is now ready to be served and can be sweetened with sugar cubes, as in Turkey, or honey if you prefer.

Alternatively, grind red unpeeled apples finely and spread them to dry on a hard surface, or dry in a very low oven till no longer moist, store sealed and brew like regular tea.

Rice Custard Pudding

Make pudding with bottom half creamy rice and top half smooth baked custard. Serve cold or hot.

5 c. milk (4 hot, 1 cold)
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. rice
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix in saucepan sugar, salt and 4 cups milk. Bring to boiling point. Wash rice and add gradually to boiling milk, stirring constantly while adding (be careful milk does not boil over). Allow rice to simmer very slowly. Cover saucepan. Slowly simmer until rice is tender.Takes 2 hours in double boiler, 1 hour over slow open flame. Watch rice does not stick especially towards end of cooking when all milk is absorbed. Then turn it into a buttered deep 9 inch pudding dish and add vanilla and 1 cup cold milk. Stir to mix thoroughly. Allow to stand while making custard.

CUSTARD:

3 c. milk
1/3 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
4 eggs
1/4 tsp. salt

Make as baked custard. Pour through strainer on top of rice. Then bake in pan of water and test if done.

Nothin Says Lovin Like Something deadly From Your Oven

I thought I had discovered something new and awful in my food today, but in researching it I found that it has been in use since the 1950s.  Interestereified soybean oil was in the cookies I just ate.  Why Oh Why don't they check out the ingredients at the store!!!??? (There has to be something wrong with an ingredient whose name has a homonym for terrified in it.)  This was in a care package sent to me from a cousin.
These oils are chemically modified versions of old familiar trans-fat oils and fats.  They do not actually fit into the same category as TRANS-FATS which are absolutely horrendous for our health.  So, they are no longer mentioned as trans-fats, but are seemingly much worse.  These will lodge themselves in Male arteries, inflame them and promote plaque adhesion.  In women, they lodge in fats of the body and so promote cancer such as in the fat of the breast.  There were a number of other issues surrounding them, but too many for me to list here.  Sooooo....just avoid them!
I hope that all of you are already looking for and avoiding labels that say Trans-fats, Saturated fats, Hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated...for that matter...why not just avoid all fats, but if you cannot, go for Olive oil, Butter and mono-unsaturated fats.
Now, I really want to avoid butter....good heavens what a bad choice, but if you are making something that requires shortening, Butter is a much better overall choice. 
Here is the real kicker...these fats may not even appear on the ingredients list!

Here is a health tip to top all health tips:

Make as much of your food from scratch as possible!


Butter vs shortening

I remember the taste of rolls in big pans...wonderful...and baked goods of all kinds, made with shortening.  I guess it is made out of vegetable fat, and that has to count for something, but it is Hydrogenated...one of the great watchwords for foods to avoid. Butter on the other hand may be high in calories, and full of fat, but at least it is not hydrogenated.  If you are baking, shortening makes the baked goods much more tender, and butter tends to crisp the baked goods up a bit, sometimes unpleasantly so, but it is clearly the better choice if you must eat fat in baked goods.
Here is a compromise...I give you permission to eat butter instead of shortening....but eat much less just to please me!
Margarine too is hydrogenated and though it may work in your baked things, is not a good choice for your health.  To be fair though, you should read the label on your brand of margarine to look for the words Hydrogenated, trans-fat and saturated fat.  If they appear, you should avoid them.
Olive oil is a mono-unsaturated fat.  It is a good oil, as are others, but it may not be satisfactory for baking.  There are some fine recipes in the Italian repertoire for baked goods with Olive Oil, but traditional recipes do not work well with it because of the liquid state of the oil and because of the pronounced taste of the oil.
If you are Italian though, you probably enjoy the taste of Olive Oil on your bread, vegetables etc., so please try this instead of butter or margarine.