Amalie’s Kasekuchen

This recipe has been sitting untried for over a year.  My friend Doris always makes very good recipes so I knew this would be good.  I finally had some Quark (made using buttermilk in my instant pot on the yogurt setting) and wanted to try a recipe using it.  This did not disappoint.  I used my Quark instead of the farmers cheese in the recipe…as I assume that is what it is….and in the filling I substituted birds custard powder for the cornstarch……and also substituted some mango juice for the lemon juice.  As expected….a very nice recipe.  The crust with no addition of butter sort of threw me…..but, it worked out great.

Amalie’s Cheesecake

Crust for bottom of cake:

1 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

2 Tbsp milk

Blend and spread onto greased lined springform pan…I used a 26 cm as that’s what I had.

Filling:

16 oz bakers cheese (2 pkg 250g cream cheese)

6 egg yolks (beat six egg whites until stiff and set aside)

3/4 cup sugar

2 Tbsp cornstarch

2 tsp vanilla

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Blend all filling ingredients (except the egg whites) until smooth.  Gently fold in the egg whites.  Pour on top of the crust. Bake at 300F for 65 minutes.  Make sure that the center is still.

Panzerotti…it’s another Thunder Bay thing…

 

Panzerotti is something impossible to buy here, but easy enough to make at home…..so when we have a batch of oil around for deep frying, this is always on the to do list.  They are like a pizza pocket with toppings inside, deep fried, and sauce to cover the outside…..With the turkey shortage this year…who knows it might a good day for Panzerotti  If you like Bannock….this could be life changing for you…

Pizza Dough

1 1/3 cup warm water

1 1/2 tsp dry active yeast

3 1/2 cups flour (435g)

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 tsp sugar

2 Tbsp olive oil

Add yeast to warm water with a pinch of sugar, and let sit in a warm place for 10 minutes to ensure the yeast is active.  Add all remaining ingredients and mix and knead either by hand or in a stand mixer with dough hook until smooth.  About 5 minutes in a stand mixer.  Let sit aside covered to rise in a warm place.

Filling Ingredients 

Mushrooms, sliced

Green peppers, sliced

Onion, sliced

Ham, sandwich sliced

Mozzarella cheese, grated

These are the typical fillings although you may add or leave out what you like.  A single Panzerotti will hold about 4 mushroom slices, 1/2 slice of ham, 2 rings of onion, 1 ring of green pepper and 1/4 cup of cheese.

When the dough is ready, divide into 6 portions. Roll out one portion to a 6 inch circle and place toppings on one side.  Fold the uncovered dough over and pinch edges well to seal into a half moon shape.  Deep fry about 3 minutes per side or until golden brown and remove to paper towels to drain any excess oil.  Serve with your favourite marinara sauce warmed, over the top.

We just use a tin of tomato sauce, a splash of lemon juice, enough sugar to diminish the acidity, a pinch of parsley, basil and oregano and heat briefly until it has thickened slightly.

 

 

 

King Arthur Sourdough ..No Knead for Patrick

 Pandemic bread was a thing these last few years.  It has the benefit of tasting pretty good and also of being pretty foolproof.  My biggest issue was keeping the starter alive since I don’t bake frequently enough to keep the starter alive without wasting a lot in discard.  I found a cheater recipe for the starter that has worked well for me.  I can get a starter going and ready to use in only two days.  Once I have a starter going, I usually keep it going for a few months….but eventually I forget it, or go on a trip …..and I’ve left it too long…..so I just start over. I use this quick starter from over here at Cappersfarmer.com.  Once you have an active sourdough starter…..I really liked the instructions and recipes from King Arthur Flour right here.  The basic recipe makes a nice traditional sourdough.  If I want to make a little more of a European Rye…..I alter their basic recipe as below….

Light Caraway Rye

1 cup (227g) fed and active starter

1 3/4 cup (397g) water Luke warm

4 cups (480g) unbleached flour

1cup (120g) dark rye flour

1 Tbsp (18g) salt

2 tsp molasses 

1 Tbsp caraway seeds

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and follow directions for stretch and fold as per King Arthur site.  This amounts to…pulling all the ingredients together into a shaggy ball using a dough whisk or wooden spoon.  Leave to sit covered to rest and allow the gluten to develop for 1 hour, then give the dough 4 stretch and folds before covering and repeating 3 more times.  Then cover and let rest in a cool place for 8-24 hours.  The longer you let it rest, the more pronounced the sourdough flavour becomes. I usually begin making bread after supper, so the long rest occurs over night.  In the morning I get up and set the bowl at room temperature for 30 minutes before shaping.  I then put the shaped loaf upside down in a covered floured banneton for an hour.  Heat your oven to 500F.  Once it has heated, turn your loaf right side up onto a piece of parchment, slash the top and place it with the parchment into a cast iron casserole with lid and put in the oven.  Immediately turn oven down to 450F and set timer for 40 minutes.  At 40 minutes remove the lid and continue baking until the loaf reads 205-210F.  Remove from oven and pull out loaf using the parchment and set on a wire rack to cool.  Cool loaf before cutting.