Cooking with Kristina

Non-Meatballs

2009-06-01T18:11:00.002-04:00

1 small onion
1 GimmeLean ground "meat"
1 tbsp milk
4 tbsp bread crumbs
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp butter

1. Sautee onions in a frying pan until soft.
2. Mix ground meat, milk, bread crumbs, onions, salt, and pepper in a bowl.
3. Roll into ping-pong ball sized balls.
4. Melt two tbsp butter in a frying pan and pan-fry the balls.

This easy and quick recipe is a vegetarian version of a Swedish classic. It is best served with potatoes, gravy and lingonberries (if you can get a hold of them). It also takes a lot less time to cook these than regular meat balls since you don't have to worry about ground beef!

Vegetarian Egg Rolls

2009-02-22T11:55:00.002-05:00

Ingredients:
1 cup sunflower oil
1/2 package firm tofu, cut into strips
1/2 green bell pepper
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 onion
5-6 button mushrooms
1 head Napa Cabbage, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, diced
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon stir-fry sauce
Salt, Pepper, Red Pepper Flakes to taste
1 package egg-roll wrappers

1. Pan-fry to firm tofu strips until crispy. Set aside.
2. Cut the peppers, onion, and mushrooms into strips. Stir-fry until soft add the soy sauce and stir-fry sauce, set aside.
3. Combine the cooked vegetables with the cabbage, and add salt, pepper and red pepper to taste.
4. Add 1-2 tablespoons vegetables onto an egg roll wrapper, fold the top and the bottom in, then each side in. Add water to the edges to make sure the seals stick. Repeat until all veggie-mixture is gone.
5. Heat 1-cup oil in deep frying pan. Fry on both sides until golden brown.

These are based on a recipe that my brother made a long time ago. I took the basic idea and just ran with it. Having the wrappers read makes these pretty easy to make, it only takes a lot of time to prepare all the veggie-mixture that goes inside. But the result is delicious. They can be eaten as the meal or as a side or starter.

Mac and Cheese

2009-01-05T16:01:00.002-05:00

Ingredients:
1 package shredded cheddar cheese
1 package shredded cheese of your choice
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup milk
1 package macaroni (elbows, ziti, penne)
bread crumbs

1. Boil water in large pot for pasta and set the oven for 350o Fahrenheit.
2. In a small saucepan, melt butter and add milk.
3. When the milk and butter are hot, slowly add 1/2 package of each of the cheeses while stirring.
4. Strain the pasta and pour into a large baking pan.
5. Slowly pour the melted cheese mixture over the pasta and stir. Add the rest of the cheese to the pan and stir.
6. Sprinkle some cheese over the top with breadcrumbs.
7. Bake for 10 minutes with aluminum foil over the dish, then bake for 10 minutes without.

This super-simple recipe yields delicious results. It only takes about 40 minutes including cooking time to prepare. Low-fat cheeses may be substituted, but they don't melt as well!

S'mores Treats

2008-09-17T13:05:00.002-04:00

Ingredients:
1 package mini marshmallows
1/4 cup butter
13 oz (a little less than a box) Golden Graham cereal
100g chocolate

1. Pour the cereal into a large pan.
2. Melt the butter on medium heat in saucepan.
3. Add the marshmallows, stir until creamy.
4. Pour the marshmallow cream onto the cereal and stir until the cereal sticks together and the marshmallows are evenly spread.
5. In a small saucepan, slowly heat the chocolate until melted, then drizzle over cereal.

This recipe is obviously based off of Rice Krispies Treats, but I thought it might be interesting to try to make s'mores (fire-toasted marshmallow, chocolate and graham cracker sandwich) into a similar treat. The result is delicious!

Patriotic Pie!

2008-07-08T16:09:00.006-04:00

For the filling:
30 oz. red pitted cherries in juice
15 oz. blueberries in juice
3 tablespoons gelling agent (tapioca, corn starch, etc.)
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon margarine or butter
dash salt

For the crust:
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 butter/margarine/shortening
dash salt
3 tablespoons ice water

1. Mix the flour and salt for the crust, slowly work in the shortening. Once shortening is mixed OK, add the three tablespoons ice water and continue to mix with hands. Once it is smooth and dough-like, set it aside in the refrigerator for later.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 F.
3. Drain the cherries and blueberries, but save 1/2 cup of each juice!
4. Combine the juices (1 cup), the gelling agent, sugar, margarine and salt in a pot and cook over medium heat. Once thick and bubbly, let cook for one minute more. Remove from heat and separate out 1/4 of the mixture.
5. In the 1/4 of the mixture, add the blueberries; in the 3/4 of the mixture, add the cherries. Stir and let cool.
6. Roll the pie crust out and place in pie-pan, leaving a little bit for decorating the top. With the remaining crust, use your best artistic skills to create some stars and stripes.
7. Once the mixtures are cooled, try to place the blueberries in 1/4 of the pie and the cherries in the other 3/4. Then, add the stars to the blueberries and the stripes to the cherries.
8. Bake for 35-45 minutes until crust is brown.

[My first pie before cooking]

I'll admit that this recipe is not quite perfected, since when I did the blueberries and cherries separately, the blueberries did not congeal properly. In the second pie, when I completely mixed them, it did congeal, but didn't give a good distinction between the stars and the stripes.

[The first pie, half cherry half blueberry after baking.]

But, the stripes should also reach all the way out to the edges, perhaps just for aesthetics sake.

[The second pie, more stars and stripes like, but the stripes are a little strange]

All in all, both the pies were well-received. I really would like to perfect the recipe, but I'm not sure there is any other holiday where this pie is appropriate! If improvements are made, there will be updates.

[Me with the final product!]

Cole Slaw

2008-07-04T12:54:00.002-04:00

Ingredients
1 medium head cabbage, shredded
1 carrot, shredded
2 cups mayonnaise
1 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons dried minced onion
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1. In a large bowl, combine shredded cabbage and carrot.
2. Add the 2 cups mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar and dry onion flakes. Blend well with shredded cabbage and carrot. Add salt and pepper to taste, as well as extra of any of the ingredients if needed.

This pretty simply recipe was a huge hit at Midsummer 2008. Because we forgot the recipe, and only knew the ingredients, I made it based on taste. I suggest you do the same. It was so crispy and delicious!

Banana Bread

2008-06-09T15:13:00.004-04:00

1 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbs. honey
1 egg
1 1/2 cups (overripe) mashed bananas

1. Preheat oven to 350 F or 175 C
2. Mix the flour, baking soda and salt together in a large bowl.
3. Slightly melt the butter in the microwave, add it along with the egg, honey and sugar to the flour mixture. Mix until consistent.
4. Add the bananas and slowly mix until all the banana is mixed in.
5. Grease and flour a bread-baking pan and bake for about an hour.

This recipe is perfect for bananas that have become just too ripe to eat. It also doesn't take a lot of ingredients and is very quick and easy to make. The end product is moist and delicious. Next time, I am thinking of adding a little cinnamon to the batter.

[Close-up of the banana deliciousness]

Chocolate Birthday Cake

2008-05-10T08:48:00.002-04:00

A very chocolately birthday cake.

2 cups white sugar
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 margarine
2 tsp Vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F or 175 C.
2. Combine the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix until consistent.
3. Add the eggs, milk, margarine, and vanilla extract. Mix until consistent.
4. Add the boiling water, work it in slowly to the batter. The batter will be thin.
5. Pour the batter into whatever cake form you like and bake for 35 min. if 1.5 to 2 inches thick, up to an hour if thicker.

Chocolate Butter Cream Icing
1/4 cup butter
2 cups confectioners sugar
3 tbs. cocoa powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbs. milk

1. Mix all the ingredients together. Add very small amounts of milk if it needs to be more spreadable.

Unfortunately you cannot substitute margarine for butter in this recipe. I tried and got chocolate soup...

Make sure the cake is completely cold before you ice it, otherwise the butter in the icing melts.

Really delicious treat to make for someone's birthday or other special occasion!

Homemade Hummus

2008-03-12T16:55:00.002-04:00

Ingredients
2 cups chickpeas (Garbanzo beans)
2-3 garlic cloves
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/3 tahini (seasame sauce, can be found in Middle Eastern markets)
water
salt

1. Finely mix the chickpeas and garlic cloves in a food processor until they reach a smooth consistency.
2. Add the olive oil and lemon juice, mix them in well. If the lemon juice is not mixed in well, it reacts strangely with the tahini.
3. Add the tahini, mix again. If the hummus is getting too thick, add water to thin it out.
4. Add salt to flavor. If the hummus is not bitter enough, add more tahini.

This recipe comes from Annie, and is absolutely spectacular. Making it here in Germany, we got most of the ingredients from a Turkish market, where the owner was very surprised that we would be making hummus from scratch. But it was definitely worth it and wasn't too hard. Actually, you can even make it as we did, without a food processor by mashing the chickpeas with spoons. But, as you can guess, that takes a lot longer, but is no less delicious!

Fried: Chicken, Mushrooms, Cheese, Whatever

2008-02-11T14:07:00.001-05:00

Ingredients:
(for the batter)
1 egg
1/4 liter condensed milk (any milk works fine, but the condensed milk helps it stick better)
Spices (anything you want really...)

3 cups flour
4-6 cups vegetable oil
Chicken breasts, mushrooms, onions, cheeses (mozzarella, camembert, etc), zucchini, any other food you may want to fry...

1. Cut any larger cheeses or vegetables into bite-size pieces.
2. Mix the egg, milk, and spices in a large bowl.
3. Dip the "item" in the batter, then in the flour, into the batter again, and a final time in the flour.
4. Place the "item" in the heated oil in a frying pan. Wait to flip the "item" until it is golden brown on one side. The less you move the things you are frying, the better it is.
5. Flip it, making sure both sides cook evenly and are both a golden brown to brown color.
6. Place it on a napkin on a plate to remove excess oil.

Two new friends of mine here in Germany, Sean and John, love making fried chicken on Fridays. My vegetarianism isn't so keen on chicken, so Annie and I decided to fry other things. Among them, cheese, mushrooms and onions and we are planning on trying lots of other veggies in the future. It's a great recipe, since it is pretty easy, and super flexible. All the food turned out great when we had it, Sean/John being so good at cooking/breading the items.

Although the title of this blog states "my attempts to make them healthier," sometimes it's nice just to be a glutton. :)

Pesto

2007-11-26T11:06:00.000-05:00

Ingredients:
2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1/2 cup pine nuts or walnuts
3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. If using walnuts, chop into smaller pieces before putting them in the food processor.
2. Place basil and walnuts into the food processor and pulse a few times.
3. Add the garlic, pulse a few more times.
4. Slowly add the olive oil while the food processor is on. After adding about half, scrape down the sides of the food processor to make sure everything is mixing well.
5. Finally, add the cheese, and salt and pepper to taste and pulse a few more times.

This is a recipe that my Dad found originally, and is great for fresh summer basil. I served this over pasta with some sauteed bell peppers, but it can also be used over baked potatoes as the original recipe suggests or over toasted bread. Basically, it is delicious and can be served with almost anything.

Vegetarian Turkey Stuffing

2007-11-26T10:57:00.000-05:00

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 onion, finely chopped
1 head of broccoli, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 (4.5 ounce) can mushrooms, drained and chopped
1 can green beans
salt and pepper to taste
3 cups corn flake crumbs
2 cups cream of mushroom soup

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a medium casserole dish.
2. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat, and saute the onion, broccoli, and bell pepper. Season with salt and pepper. Mix in the canned mushrooms and green beans.
3. Transfer to casserole dish and mix in corn flake crumbs and soup.
4. Bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until lightly browned.

This stuffing turned out really good even though it was the first time I made it. The corn flakes give it a nice crunchy texture, and are a nice substitute for bread. It was also really, really easy to make.

Empanadas Reloaded

2007-11-04T09:03:00.000-05:00

(chocolate and strawberry dessert empanadas, a Sigrid and Kristina invention)

(Angelica's fried crab and cheese empanadas)

Here is Sigrid's official recipe for empanadas.

Ingredients:
1 kilo (about 2 lbs) flour
4 tsp. Baking powder
6 oz. "Manteca," which is basically crisco or other shortening.
Salt
1/2 cup - 1 cup Water
1/2 cup - 1 cup White cooking wine

1. Mix the flour and baking powder in a large bowl.
2. Dissolve the salt in the water (1 cup) in mixing cup.
3. Add 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup wine and shortening to the flour.
4. Begin to mix and knead dough; if dough is dry, add more water and wine in equal portions. If it gets too sticky, you can always add more flour.
5. Let the dough sit for 30 min.
6. You can either follow the directions for filling the empanadas from the other recipe, or you can also break the dough into balls slightly larger than golf balls, and roll those out and fold them individually.
7. Then either fry them in cooking oil or bake them at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

You can also substitute white flour for whole wheat flour like we did, but we found that the pieces of grain sometimes caused holes in the rolled-out dough, which is fine for baking empanadas, but not for frying them.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2007-11-02T22:13:00.000-04:00

Ingredients:
3/4 cup raisin puree (3/4 cup raisins, 2 tsp water)
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
3 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp baking soda
3 1/2 - 4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
3 cups chocolate chips
1 cup coconut flakes

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Mix raisin puree, brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract to large bowl.
3. Mix baking soda, flour and salt in a smaller bowl, starting with only 3 1/2 cups flour.
4. Slowly mix the dry and wet ingredients together. If the dough looks more like batter, add 1/2 cup more flour.
5. Add in chocolate chips and coconut flakes.
6. Grease cookie sheet and place spoon fulls of dough on.
7. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until lightly brown on the edges.

AKA - One Handed Cookies since you can literally make them with only ONE hand... My post-op stage isn't keeping me from making more delicious treats for my house mates. Its almost become a weekly thing that I do when I get bored. I'm sure they don't mind...
There will most likely be photos of us enjoying them tomorrow when empanadas go re-loaded.

Empanadas

2007-10-26T17:24:00.000-04:00

Empanadas are definitely a super-tradition Chilean fare, and can be found in bakeries and corner shops everywhere in Chile. There are two general types of empanadas - baked ones (horneada) and fried (frita). Inside any empanada, you can basically put anything you want as a filling, although it's harder to make cheese empanadas in the oven. Here is the basic recipe for the dough (masa), which varies slightly for fried and baked empanadas but can be the same, and some suggestions for filling.

Dough for Baked Empanadas
Ingredients:
9 cups all purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
6 oz. margarine
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup white wine

Dough for Fried Empanadas (can also be used for baked empanadas)
Ingredients:
9 cups all purpose flour
6 oz margarine
2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups water

1. Combine ingredients in bowl until consistent.
2. Roll out dough to a sheet, in a rectangular shape.
3. Imagine a line going down the width of your dough, and put two or three spoon fulls of filling on the lower half of the line, with about a two inch circle of dough around each spoon full.
4. Fold the top half of the dough over the spoon fulls.
5. Using a tea saucer or other small plate, cut the dough out starting on the crease in a semi-circle shape, cutting until the plate reaches the crease again.
6. For fried empanadas, you want to make sure that the edges are very tightly pressed together - think of the top and bottom parts of a pie crust.
7. For baked empanadas, you want to fold over the dough, making sort of a square in order to keep the juices inside. You may also want to spread some beaten egg on the tops with a brush to give them that golden-brown glow.

[spoon fulls on the dough]

Suggestions for filling:
Napoleana - tomatoes, cheese, oregano, and ham for the meat eaters
Champinon - sauteed mushrooms and onions with cheese
Espinaca - sauteed spinach with cheese
Acietuna - cheese and olives
Frutilla - chocolate and frozen strawberry

Of course, you can basically add whatever filling you like to the empanada, but it should be already cooked.

Homemade Veggie Burgers

2007-10-24T09:18:00.000-04:00

Last weekend, Sigrid and I tried to make tofu, and while we didn't end up with tofu, we did end up with soy milk and a substance close to soy flour. From the "soy flour," we made veggie burgers, and although they were good, the recipe needs tweaking. Here are the basics.

Ingredients:
dried soy beans
water
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen corn
1 egg
2 tsp pepper
2 tsp salt
3 tsp dried oregano

1. Soak the dried soy beans in water overnight.
2. Add one cup of soy beans and three cups of water to a blender, blend until consistent.
3. Cook liquid on stove at medium heat for 7-10 minutes.
4. Remove from heat and pour the liquid through a cloth, to separate what will become the soy milk and the soy flour. Make sure to wring out the cloth and squeeze out as much of the liquid as possible. [This liquid is soy milk; other website suggest adding salt, or sugar to add flavor. Sigrid and I are going to try adding whole vanilla beans...]
5. Let the flour cool.
6. In a blender, blend the thawed peas and corn together with the spices. [These can easily be replaced with other veggies, such as mushrooms and onions.]
7. In a large bowl, mix together peas, corn, soy flour, and one egg. Stir until consistent.
8. Make into patties, which can either be baked or fried. [We decided to bake ours, and they turned out a little dry. Next time, I think we will fry some without oil in a frying pan to see if they retain more moisture.]

We are clearly still fixing this recipe, and when more developments arise, they will be recorded!

Chocolate Balls

2007-10-22T12:57:00.000-04:00

Another classic Swedish recipe that is very easy and quick, and a definite crowd pleaser. The recipe makes about 20-30 golf-ball sized treats, and can be easily doubled or tripled to make more. But, it's not that healthy of a treat, if you look at the ingredients.

Ingredients:
5 oz butter
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup coconut shavings
1 1/2 tbs "vanilj socker" [hard to find outside Europe, but 3/4 tbs vanilla extract can be substituted].
4 1/2 tbs cocoa
3 tbs coffee
Extra coconut shavings to coat balls

1. Soften butter and mix with sugar, coffee, cocoa, and vanilla extract.
2. Mix in oats and coconut shavings until mixture is consistent.
3. Pour remaining coconut shavings on a plate, spreading them out over the plate.
4. Take spoonfuls of mix and roll them into golf-ball sized [or slightly smaller] balls.
5. Roll the balls in the coconut shavings, lightly covering the balls.
6. Place them on a tray or plate, and let them cool in the refrigerator for an hour or more before serving.

Swedish Cinnamon Rolls

2007-10-22T12:23:00.000-04:00

The basic recipe for "Kanelbullar" that I got from alltommat.se.

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup milk
1/2 oz dry yeast
3 1/2 oz butter/margarine
3 3/4 cups flour (540g)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cardamom

2 oz butter/margarine
3 tbs sugar
3 tbs cinnamon

1. Warm the milk to slightly above room temperature, pour in yeast and let sit for 15 minutes.
2. Mix in 3 1/2 oz of butter.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, sugar, salt and cardamom.
4. A little bit at a time, mix the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients together. Mix and knead until a smooth, soft, consistency.
5. Let rise for half an hour.
6. Roll out dough with rolling pin into a rectangle, making sure it is at least a foot wide.
7. Spread out the remaining butter on the dough, and sprinkle with the sugar and cinnamon.
8. Roll up the dough into a log, long ways, and cut into two inch pieces.
9. Preheat oven to 480 degrees Fahrenheit
10. Place the pieces on a greased cookie sheet, cover, and let rise another 30 minutes.
11. Bake for 7-10, or until golden brown. You can spread beaten egg on top of the rolls before placing them in the oven, if you choose, as well as "pearl sugar," if you can find it. If not, after the buns are done baking, you can sprinkle the top with powdered sugar or sugar glaze.

Healthy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

2007-10-22T12:05:00.001-04:00

Although oatmeal raisin cookies are already much healthier than other types, I tried to modify the recipe to make it a little more healthy - since when I bake in the house the goodies disappear and I thought it would be better for everyone if they were not that bad for you...

Ingredients:
3/4 water
1 1/4 cup white sugar
3 egg whites
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/3 cup prune puree
2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup raisins

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and cloves in large bowl.
3. Combine water, sugar, and eggs in small bowl.
4. Combine wet and dry ingredients, while also stirring in prune puree, until mixture is smooth and consistent.
5. Slowly stir in oats, then raisins until batter is consistent.
6. Place spoonfuls of dough on cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Prune Puree:
3 dried prunes
3 table spoons water

1. Blend in food processor until smooth, serves as a butter substitute.

This recipe is low in fat and cholesterol free. The sugar could also be substituted with Splenda to cut back on calories as well.