Bled in June...

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Bled castle on the top of the hill with breathtaking views of the surrounding valley and the Julian Alps
... was imposing, green and so refreshing! After a couple of scorching hot days in Zagreb we found this densely forested area at the Northwest of Slovenia to be exactly what we needed to cool down and recharge, even if it was only for a day.

St. Martin's Church from a distance
It felt good to be on the road, travelling again, with George and our little black Volvo. It felt good, but if I want to be completely honest with myself, my eagerness for exploration and new experiences was somewhat  covered by a thin, yet potent, layer of anxiety.

I am not the world's most relaxed traveller and as much as I want to let myself experience the exhilaration of the unexpected, there is always a part of me that wants to, or at least wants to be able to, be in control. That means you will never find me with a backpack, wandering the trails, sleeping under the stars. As romantic as this sounds I need a proper bed to sleep at night and a fixed destination for next morning.

Little porcelain bells around the church tower 
I am not going to go into the whys and hows of this - if an eager therapist out there wants to contact me by all means I am always open to suggestions :) :)  I am kidding, off course, but seriously when we left Zagreb on Saturday morning I was definitely starting to feel the familiar embrace of this unpleasant emotion...

We headed north of Zagreb towards the Slovenian border. It was really a lovely Saturday morning a bit on the hot side but that was not a problem; we knew that in a couple of hours we were going to arrive at a place where the landscape and the dense forest prevents the temperature to rise to more than 30 degrees C. We were on our way to Triglav National Park, part for the Julian Alps at the border between north-eastern Italy and Slovenia. After Ljubljana the landscape changed and I could see the imposing mountains at the end of the horizon. Some of the mountain picks were still white with snow.
Imposting rocks massifs
Maybe it was the beauty of the nature or the fact that we were having so much fun with George in the car making jokes and talking about how much we missed each other while we were apart that I forgot about my concerns. The blanket of fear and anxiety had lifted and I was able to enjoy this miraculous place with my whole heart!

Charming boat house by the lake 

Ducks cruising the lake with the Julian Alps in the background 

Bled Town Hall they could not get the colour of the flowers more right!

Horse carriages for hire for rides along the shore 

Calm and beautiful

Water-lilies like those in my painting

Ducks reign supreme in lake Bled

Fairytale castle and lake

Lake Bled and the small village that surrounds it is one of the most beautiful and picturesque places I have visited. Ducks, swans and water-lilies prevail here - there are places where people can swim but thankfully the rest of the lake is off limits and guarded so there are no sweaty tourists jumping in where ever they fancy. Overlooking the lake, Bled Castle makes the whole scenery seem like it was copied from a fairytale book. And the view from the castle....simply breathtaking!

On the island there is a church 

Boats come and go between the shore and the small island

Lone boat on its way to the island

High up in the castle

Well at the castle courtyard


Bled castle is one of the most popular wedding venues in Slovenia!

The power of green


Twenty kilometres from Lake Bled there is another lake. Lake Bohinj is longer, deeper and untamed. The mountain above commanded my attention. And the nature around the lake was imposing and aerie. We drove along the shore for about 11km and then climbed the 850 metres to the spot where you can see the spectacular waterfall that constantly feeds water to the lake. The sound of the waterfall in my ears; the fresh air caressing my face; climbing up the steep path; the magnificent views of the lake and the valley with the huge mass of bare rock hanging menacingly over our heads; it was an experience I will always remember!

The perfect coexistence


Imposing and menacing  

Force of nature

View of the lake valley on our way to the waterfall


The Julian Alps in all their glory

A statue of the elusive chamois a type of goat the grassy slopes of the Julian Alps

Lake Bohinj at dusk


Cranberry Pecan Orange Cake / Κέικ με Κράνμπερις, Πεκάν και Πορτοκάλι

Thursday, June 20, 2013





Many months ago Joyce from Kitchen Flavours sent me an email asking me to choose a recipe from Lou Seibert Pappas' Coffee Cakes to bake for when my time to host our monthly bake for The Home Bakers would come. 

I remember leafing through this lovely, relatively small cookbook, and asking myself which one I would like to bake. There were so many. Sweet and savoury! 

I could not decide! 

Everything sounded really exciting and extremely appetising...I wanted to make all of them. But I had to make a decision so I turned to the best way I know and use when I am in a situation like this.... I asked George to give me a random number. I did not tell him what it was for, this process has to be as unbiased as possible. He chose the number 21 and I went ahead to look in the book and see what was on page 21.




Cranberry, Pecan & Orange cake was on that page and today is The Home Bakers' 20th bake!

I was really excited because I have never baked with cranberries before! I love cranberry juice. It's initial sweetness, abruptly cut by a refreshing tangyness makes it really refreshing and makes me feel like I am drinking something very healthy and good for me. But as I said I have never used the fruit in cooking or baking. The good thing is that Croatia is full of cranberries! They are called brusnice and you can find then in all forms, fresh, frozen and dried. I chose to use frozen. June is not their season yet. 

Unfortunately I was not able to find the frozen orange juice concentrate that the recipe required. I remember seeing it in supermarkets when we lived in Riyadh and I always asked myself why would somebody want to drink juice from a frozen tube. I can understand that the flavour must be more intense, it being a concentrate, but I prefer my juice in a liquid, fresher form. I decided to use fresh orange juice and the zest of two oranges to give the cake the orange flavour and aroma that really complements the cranberries!


The cake came together very quickly and it was really tasty and not overly sweet. The tangyness of the cranberries helped  a lot with that. It is moist but also quite crunchy when you get a bit of the streusel topping   in your spoon!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cranberry Pecan Orange Cake
Serves 8
Recipe found in Coffee Cakes: Simple, Sweet, and Savory by Lou Pappas

Ingredients


  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup undiluted frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed (or 1/2 cup fresh orange juice and zest of two oranges)
  • 1 1/2 cups fresh (or frozen) cranberries
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans
  • For the Streusel Topping
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter cut into bits
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup pecan halves
Instructions


  1. Preheat your oven at 350F/180C degrees and butter and flour a 9-inch/20cm pan. 
  2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt and stir to blend. In another, larger bowl, beat the sugar and butter together until they become creamy and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat well. 
  3. Add half of the flour mix into the egg-butter-sugar mix, bit well, then add half the orange juice and beat again. Do the same with the remaining half flour mix and orange juice (and zest if you are using it). Beat the mixture until it is smooth. Stir in the cranberries and the nuts. Spread the mixture evenly in the prepared pan.
Make the Streusel
  1. In a small bowl combine the flour, sugar, butter pieces and mix it with your fingers until it becomes crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over the batter in the pan and stud with the pecan halves. 
  2. Bake the cake for 40 - 45 minutes or until it is golden brown. Test with a toothpick to see if it is ready, if the toothpick comes out clean it is ready. 
  3. Let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then unmold and serve warm or at room temperature, cut into wedges.

Enjoy!!
~~~~~~~~
Κέικ με Κράνμπερις, Πεκάν και Πορτοκάλι
Για 8 άτομα
Συνταγή από το βιβλίο Coffee Cakes: Simple, Sweet, and Savory της Lou Seibert Pappas 

Ingredients


  • 4 κουταλιές της σούπας βούτυρο σε θερμοκρασία δωματίου
  • 1/2 φλιτζάνι ζάχαρη 
  • 1 αυγό μεγάλο
  • 1 κουταλάκι του γλυκού εσάνς βανίλιας
  • 1 φλιτζάνι αλεύρι
  • 1 κουταλάκι του γλυκού μπέικιν πάουντερ
  • 1/4 κουταλάκι του γλυκού αλάτι 
  • 1/2 φλιτζάνι φρέσκος χυμός πορτοκαλιού και ξύσμα από 2 πορτοκάλια
  • 1 1/2 φλιτζάνι φρέσκα ή κατεψυγμένα κράμπερις
  • 1/2 φλιτζάνι πεκάνς, ψιλοκομμένα
Για την επικάλυψη Streusel
  • 1/2 φλιτζάνι αλεύρι
  • 2 κουταλιές της σούπας κρύο βούτηρο κομμένο σε κομμάτια
  • 1/4 φλιτζανιού ζάχαρη
  • 1/2 φλιτζάνι πεκάνς
Instructions
  1. Προθερμαίνουμε τον φούρνο στους 180 βαθμούς και βουτυρώνουμε ένα ταψί διαμέτρου 22 εκατοστών. 
  2. Σε ένα μπολ αναμειγνύουμε το αλεύρι, το μπέικιν πάουντερ και το αλάτι. 
  3. Σε ένα άλλο μεγαλύτερο μπολ, χτυπάμε τη ζάχαρη και το βούτυρο μέχρι να αφρατέψουν.
  4. Προσθέτουμε το αυγό και τη βανίλια και χτυπάμε καλά. 
  5. Προσθέτουμε το μισό αλεύρι στο μείγμα των αυγών, χτυπάμε καλά και ρίχνουμε το μισό χυμό πορτοκαλιού και το ξύσμα. Χτυπάμε καλά και προσθέτουμε το υπόλοιπο αλεύρι και τον χυμό.
  6. Χτυπάμε το μείγμα μέχρι να γίνει λείο. Ανακατεύουμε μέσα τα κράνμπερις και τα πεκάν και ρίχνουμε το μείγμα στο ταψί. 
Για το Streusel
  1. Αναμειγνύουμε το αλεύρι, τη ζάχαρη και τα κομματάκια του βουτύρου σε ένα μπολ με τα δάχτυλά μας μέχρι να γίνει σαν χοντρή άμμος. Πασπαλίζουμε με αυτό το μείγμα του κέικ και βάζουμε μερικά πεκάν. 
  2. Ψήνουμε το κέικ για 40 - 45 λεπτά ή μέχρι να πάρει χρυσό χρώμα. 
  3. Το αφήνουμε να κρυώσει στο ταψί για 10 λεπτά και μετά το βγάζουμε. 
  4. Σερβίρεται ζεστό ή σε θερμοκρασία δωματίου. 

FFwD Cheese and Olive Bread

Friday, June 14, 2013


I think I might be suffering from writer's block. I have no idea what to write about today's French Fridays with Dorie recipe.

It is a bread. That is obvious from the picture - I hope!.

It is very quick to make. No kneading is needed, no waiting for it to rise. Just whisk the dry and the wet ingredients together, mix it up a bit with a rubber spatula and put it in a bread pan.

It has grated cheese and olives inside it, as well as eggs, baking powder, olive tapenade and lemon zest.

It doesn't sound like any other bread recipe I have tried or heard of before!

Maybe it is my fault. I am not a bread person! Oh! Blasphemy. A food blogger who is impartial to bread! Yeap that's me! I apologise... gluten and yeast are definitely not my best friends.

Yet, I decided to bake this strange bread that has eggs in it!. Dorie calls it "not quite a back-of-the-box recipe" meaning that this is the offspring of a recipe created by a French cheese company to better promote their product, and her own creative additions and tweaks.
I have to admit I very much like this approach to cooking and recipe development! Creative adaptation, experimentation and substitution is what I do most of the time with the recipes I use for my everyday cooking some of which - the most successful that is - I post here. And off course I have done it here as well. I used Greek Graviera cheese from Crete instead of Swiss Gruyère and almond milk instead of regular milk.

This bread was definitely a revelation. The taste is really exceptional but I believe that if I was to make it again I would use it as a pre-dinner starter paired with a glass of sparkling wine or even a medium bodied red. It's taste and texture are too intense for it to be relegated into the dinner table bread basket!

To see how my fellow Doristas liked this recipe click here!

~~~~~~~~~~
Cheese and Olive Bread
Serves 12
Dorie's original recipe can be found here
Ingredients
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup almond milk
6 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons black olive tapenade
1 1/2 cups grated Graviera cheese from Crete
2/3 cup pitted black olives, coarsely chopped
Grated zest of 1 lemon
Procedure
Preheat your oven to 400F/200C.  Butter a 8 1/2-x-4 1/2-inch  (21-x-11cm) non-stick loaf pan.

Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl.  In another smaller bowl lightly beat the eggs and whisk in the almond milk, olive oil and tapenade.  Pour the liquid ingredients over the flour mixture and stir gently to blend. Using a rubber spatula fold in the cheese, olives and grated lemon zest.  Pour the batter into the pan.

Bake the loaf for 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to 375F/180C.  Continue to bake the loaf for another 35 minutes, until it’s puffed and.  Transfer the pan to a cooling rack, let it rest about 5 minutes, then turn it out.  Allow the loaf to come to room temperature before you slice it.

Enjoy!!