W for Wales ~ Tiessennau Mel

 
Event: BM #44, Around the world (A - Z Series)    
Choice of Country: Wales
Capital City: Cardiff
Official Language: Welsh & English

For alphabet 'W', I thought of sticking to a country instead of selecting a city that starts with the letter W. And so I picked Wales that is a part of Great Britain. Great Britain or Britain refers to the island together with a number of surrounding islands that constitute the territory of England, Scotland and Wales. And Great Britain and the northern Ireland together form the United Kingdom. Basically, 'The United Kingdom' or 'UK' consists of four countries - England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The governments of both UK and Wales almost invariably define Wales as a country. The Welsh Assembly government mentions that Wales is not a principality and is a country on it's own right, even though it s a part of Great Britain. The title 'Prince of wales' is still conferred on the 'Heir apparent to the British throne' but he has no constitutional role in modern Wales.
'Cymru' is the Welsh name for Wales whereas the word 'Cymry' refers to Welsh people; the source of these words meaning "fellow-countrymen. Wales has a distinctive culture including it's own language, customs, food, holidays and music.

the vegetarian tradition in Wales is stronger than other parts of Britain. This is partly due to necessity. Wales does not have much rich agricultural land and farming, of necessity, is mostly associated with the husbandry of animals. But most of the cattle, sheep and pigs grown were sold further afield and so meat, even on farms was not commonplace. St David (Dewi Sant), patron saint of Wales was vegetarian and extolled a vegetarian diet (which is one reason the leek is a symbol of Wales). Seafood is also an important part of the diet,

Read more at Celtnet: http://www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/cymraeg.php
Copyright © celtnet

the vegetarian tradition in Wales is stronger than other parts of Britain. This is partly due to necessity. Wales does not have much rich agricultural land and farming, of necessity, is mostly associated with the husbandry of animals. But most of the cattle, sheep and pigs grown were sold further afield and so meat, even on farms was not commonplace. St David (Dewi Sant), patron saint of Wales was vegetarian and extolled a vegetarian diet (which is one reason the leek is a symbol of Wales). Seafood is also an important part of the diet,

Read more at Celtnet: http://www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/cymraeg.php
Copyright © celtnetz

Welsh Cuisine:
The Welsh are famous for their meats, fish and seafood, their cheeses are unique and they even produce wine. Traditional Welsh cooking derives from the diet of the working man and thus fresh vegetables from the garden, fish from the rivers, lakes or sea, meat from the family farms form the basis of traditional Welsh cooking. Welsh lamb and beef feature prominently as do freshly caught fish such as salmon, brown trout, white crab, lobsters and cockles. The Welsh love their teatime. Traditional bara brith ( the famous speckled bread of Wales), Teisen lap ( a shallow moist fruit cake) teisen carawe (caraway seed cake), tease sinamon (cinnamon cake) and teisen mêl (honey cake) are favourites for the tea table. Such cakes are still made today throughout Wales, although the ancient recipes have been updated to suit modern methods of cooking.
(Info gathered from several online sources.)
 
The Welsh word for cake is 'Tiessen' and 'Tieseennau' is the plural form of it. It is supposedly pronounced as 'ti-es-sen-naa-ee'. Mel is honey and so the recipe title basically means honey cakes. When I was looking for sweet Welsh treats, two caught my attention. These honey cakes and a fruit loaf named bara brith and of course as you see it, I went with the former choice. Traditionally patty tins are used to make these cakes but muffin pan can be substituted by filling the batter only up to half of it.
I made these cakes twice, the second time tweaking the recipe to suit our tastes. The first time I went with flax seed meal as an egg substitute and added honey as suggested. The resulting cakes were dense and just subtly sweet and I guess that's why the dusting of sugar. They are seen in the background in the first image. I used yogurt the second time as the egg substitute and the resulting cakes were moist and fluffy as you can see and we all loved them.


Ingredients: (Yield 8)
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
3 - 4 tbsp honey (I used 1/4 cup honey)
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup yogurt
1 to 2 tbsp milk
Powdered sugar for dusting

Method:
* Preheat oven to 400 F / 200 C.
* Grease the patty tins or the muffin pan.
* Sieve flour, cinnamon and baking soda together.
* Beat butter and brown sugar until creamy. Next add yogurt and honey and beat until combined.
* Now stir in the flour mixture to the butter mixture adding milk as 
 needed and mix everything lightly.
 

* Half fill the patty tin /muffin pan with the batter. Sprinkle with powdered sugar on tops. (I skipped the sugar sprinkling the second time I tried them.)
* Bake for 20 minutes. Keep an eye on them during the last minutes of baking to avoid them from over browning.
* Dust with sugar again when they come out of the oven.

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A Lazy Cake from Lithuania ~ Tinginys

 
Event: BM #44 , Around the World (A - Z series) 
Choice of Country: The Republic of Lithuania
Capital City: Vilnius
Official Language: Lithuanian

Lithuania is a country in northern Europe and is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea. It's cuisine features the products suited to the moist and cool northern climate of Lithuania. Potatoes, barley, rye, berries, beets, greens and mushrooms are grown locally and widely used. Dairy products are one of it's specialities. It's cuisine is similar to the Eastern European regions since it shares a similar climate and agricultural practices. The centerpiece of it's cuisine is dark rye bread and the national dish is 'Cepelinai' - a potato dumpling filled with minced meat. Apples, plums and pears are widely used fruits while most frequently used meat is pork followed by beef , lamb, chicken, rabbit, duck and goose.

I came across 'Tinginys' when I was looking for some Lithuanian desserts and it right away caught my attention, for a right reason. This cake is quick and easy to put together and no baking involved. It cannot get easy anymore and so they have aptly named it 'Tinginys' which translates to lazy. Primarily the recipe requires four ingredients - hard biscuits like butter biscuits / digestive biscuits, sweetened condensed milk, butter and cocoa powder.

It is said that a Lithuanian woman accidentally created this recipe in 1967. She added more sugar while cooking chocolate, resulting in a syrupy liquid. The woman deciding to salvage the recipe added some biscuit bits to it. The mixture when cooled resulted in a new dish, tinginys.  Later modifications occurred, such as letting the mixture cool down, rolling it on a plastic bag, and then cutting it into pieces. People decided to called it "lazy" because it was very easy and quick to prepare.
Another take on this lazy cake that has originated in Italy and have become equally popular among other European nations is chocolate salami. Though it doesn't contain any salami, it is named so because of the appearance. It contains chocolate, eggs and alcohol though the latter went missing from the recipe while crossing over countries and cultures. 

Ingredients:
14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
7 tbsp  / 100 grams melted butter
5 - 6 tbsp. cocoa powder
200 grams biscuits (We are looking for plain, hard and not too much crumbly kind
A handful of dried fruits & nuts (Optional. I used dried, sweetened cranberries and walnuts.)

Note:
It was too sweet for our taste and I would suggest adding unsweetened condensed milk and adjust the sugar quantity to taste. Icing sugar / powdered sugar would be convenient.

Method:
* Break the cookies into about half inch sized bits.

* Combine butter, condensed milk and cocoa powder in a mixing bowl until smooth without lumps.

* Pour the mixture on biscuit pieces and just stir to coat. Stir in any dry fruits / nuts if using.

* Place the mixture on a wax paper / parchment paper / foil and fold the paper over. Shape the cookie mixture into the shape of a rectangle and wrap it tightly inside the parchment paper or aluminum foil.

* Chill in the refrigerator or the freezer. Slice when ready to serve.

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H for Hungary ~ Vaníliás Kifli

 
Event: BM #44    
Choice of country: Hungary  / Magyarország
Capital City: Budapest
Official Language: Hungarian

For "H" nation, I am hopping back to Europe and presenting these delicious and "melt in your mouth" textured Hungarian walnut cookies. One common thing I have noticed among the nations I have tried cooking from this month is that they were all invaded and ruled by foreign nations at one or other point of time in history. I know it's not a staggering fact considering that most of the nations in the world have gone through the same plight. Hungary is no exception but what is remarkable is that this nation had lost 71% of it's territory, 58% of it's population and 32% of ethnic Hungarians after World War 1. It further suffered significant damages and causalities in World War 2. 
I was in no mood for any extra history lessons after learning that and straight away jumped into the food section. Hungarian cuisine is mainly influenced by it's primary ethnic group, the Maygars and so is also known as Maygar cuisine. The nomadic lifestyle of that group and the importance of livestock has influenced the Hungarian cooking style. Traditional dishes are primarily based on meats, seasonal vegetables / fruits, fresh bread, dairy products and cheese. The mixing of different varieties of meats is a traditional feature of Hungarian cuisine. Other characteristics of Hungarian cuisine are the soups, desserts, pastries and stuffed crepes. Two remarkable elements of Hungarian cooking which attract foreigners are cold fruit soups and vegetable stews. Paprika, lard, yellow onions and sour cream are commonly used ingredients in cooking. (Source:Wiki)
 
I assert not to go by the simple looks of these cookies. They are dangerously addictive and extremely delicious. These deceptively simple and "plain Jane" looking cookies are called "Vaníliás Kifli". The word "vaníliás" refers to the vanilla flavor used while the world "kifli" stands for the crescent shape of the cookies. These cookies are said to have been created in the shape of the Turkish crescent moon symbolizing the celebration of the Hungarian victory over Turkish army in one of the wars. These crescents are commonly made during Christmas and are very well known in other European nations such as Austria, Germany, Czech Republic and Slovakia as well. These are similar to Russian tea cakes or the Mexican wedding cookies in texture and taste.
 
These are made primarily with walnuts in Hungary while almond substitution is more common outside Hungary. The cookie dough is somewhat fragile to shape and the baked cookies are rolled in icing sugar once they come out of the oven. The cookies are somewhat bland without the sugar coating. Originally lard was used in preparation but the modern versions have replaced it with butter. And there is another version of kifli which are a crescent shaped pastry and not to be confused with these.

Ingredients: (Makes 18 kifli or more if you make them smaller and thinner.)
1 cup all purpose flour
3 tbsp ground walnut
1/3 cup softened butter
1/3 cup icing sugar (or finely ground sugar) + extra for dusting
1/2 tsp vanilla

Note: According to the original recipe, if you are using almond meal instead of ground walnut, add 2 tbsp more butter and 2 tbsp extra almond meal to the above ingredients.
Method:
* Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and just mix enough to
 form a dough using your hands.
 
* Cover and let it rest in a cool place (not the fridge) for about 30 minutes. (I think I kept in refrigerator for about 10 minutes and left it on the counter for the remaining time since it was a hot day.)
* Grease two baking sheets or line them with baking paper. Preheat oven to 180 deg C / 355 deg F. 
* Divide the dough into two equal portions and shape them into logs of about 1 inch diameter. Cut the log into 2 inches sized pieces and shape each piece into a crescent.
 
 * Bake for about 8 - 10 minutes or until lightly golden.
* Remove them from the oven and dust them with icing sugar.

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Ghiveci

Ghiveci ~ pronounced as "gi-wetch" is primarily a rustic Romanian stew made with a medley of vegetables and so a preferred dish there during the period of Lent. It is on the similar lines of the French ratatouille though they taste different. Ghiveci can be made non vegetarian too by throwing in some chicken / meat. This dish is quite easy to prepare and very forgiving. It is slowly cooked in a pot by adding vegetables one after another keeping the cooking times of the different vegetables in mind. Whatever seasonal vegetables you have on hand can go into it. Onion, tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplants, zucchini and peas are the most commonly used vegetables in this mildly spiced dish. I saw a video where a Romanian woman cooked the dish just with onion, tomatoes, bell pepper, parsley and cooked rice with no spices at all.
In Romania, it is usually served with rice or mamaliga , a porridge made of yellow maize flour. It can be eaten along with bread / couscous too. Instead of eating ghiveci with cooked rice, rice can be added directly to the vegetable medley during the cooking to make it a one pot meal. Either washed and drained rice can be thrown in between the cooking process so that rice gets cooked along with the veggies or some cooked rice can be added to the dish directly at the final stages so that rice absorbs the flavors better. The final dish should look like a thick sambhar rice.
It seemed kind of a hotchpotch dish and was sure that this is not going to be my kind and tried it just for my husband and son. However surprisingly I liked it taking into account that it was not heavily spiced and I could finish off a bowl without complaining as an accompaniment to my rotis. Though true Romanians may wrinkle their noses at me for that latter part of my statement.

Recipe source: Here
Servings: 3 to 4
Ingredients:
1-2 tbsp oil (I used canola oil.)
1 onion, chopped
2 small carrots, peeled and sliced
1 small bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup of peeled and cubed kohlrabi (optional)
1 garlic clove, finely minced
2 cups thinly sliced cabbage
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 cup water
2 small potatoes, peeled and cubed
A handful of frozen peas
1 eggplant, cubed (optional)
Salt to taste
1/2 to 1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp thyme (I didn't use.)
Freshly cracked pepper to taste
2 tbsp finely minced parsley
1 tsp lemon juice

Method:
* Heat the oil in a large stewpot and add the chopped onion, carrots, and peppers. Sauté until onion turns translucent.

* Next add garlic, potatoes, cabbage and kohlrabi if using and stir. Saute for about 3 -4 minutes.

* Then add tomatoes, salt, pepper, paprika, thyme and water and bring the mixture to a boil.

* Cover and simmer until the potatoes turn almost tender.
* Now add eggplants, cover and simmer.

 

* Simmer for another 15 - 20 minutes so that flavors mingle and the vegetables turn soft.
* Add frozen peas, fresh herbs, and lemon juice. Cook for another five minutes and serve warm.

This is my post under "European Cuisine" theme for BM#36. Check here to know what other marathoners are cooking. 

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Scottish OatCakes

For centuries, oatcakes have been considered as Scotland's national bread. For the uninitiated, these oatcakes are not really cakes but kind of flat biscuits that originated in Scotland. Oats were one of the few grains that grew well in Scotland and was the staple grain there until the 20th century. And so obviously, oats formed the mainstay of many traditional Scottish dishes and these yummy oatcakes are one of them. In fact, Scottish soldiers in the 14th century used to carry a metal plate and a sack of oatmeal. They would heat the plate over fire, moisten a bit of oatmeal and make a cake.
As the name suggests, they are made from oatmeal and sometimes with the addition of flour as well. They make a delicious snack or breakfast and are quite easy to make. Usually they are cooked either on a griddle or baked in an oven. The recipe varies regionally and also the texture of these oatcakes depends upon how the oats are ground and how long they are cooked. Oatcakes were traditionally eaten with every meal but from the 19th century onwards they were commonly served to accompany soups, meat and fish dishes. They can be eaten plain or with jam or serve them with cheese and fruit. (Source:wiki)
This fuss free recipe caught my attention because of the authenticity of the recipe since the blogger happens to have a Scottish background. I must admit that I had zero expectations about these oatcakes as I was trying them for blogging purpose. After trying these, I am however completely sold because of the texture and taste of these oatcakes. I am really glad that I stumbled upon this recipe since I got to enjoy these traditional Scottish oatcakes.  Finely ground oats give these oatcakes, a thinner and crispier texture and I devoured them, slathered with some sugar-free strawberry jam.   

Ingredients: (Yield 9 - 10 cookies of 3 inch diameter)
1 cup medium oatmeal (the original recipe used old fashioned oats but I had only quick cooking oats and I processed it to a fine meal.)
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsp. / 3 oz melted butter or fat of your choice (Traditionally bacon drippings are used.)
Hot water as needed (I had to add 3 tbsp. water)

Method:

* Combine oatmeal, flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Make a well in the center and add the melted butter and mix well. The mixture now resembles bread crumbs.

* Then slowly add enough water to make a stiff dough. Transfer the dough to the work surface and knead thoroughly. The dough would be non sticky and 'easy to roll' kind. 

 * Preheat the oven to 300 degree F / 150 degree C.

* Sprinkle some oat meal / flour on the work surface and roll out the dough to 1/8 inch thickness.

* Using a cookie cutter, cut into circles or triangles to get uniform cakes.  

 * Gather the bits left after shaping the rolled out dough into circles, roll again and repeat the steps. If you get cracks, while rolling just pinch it with fingers.

* Transfer them onto a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes. 

 * They can be eaten warm or can be stored in an airtight container to enjoy later.  

This is my post under "European Cuisine" theme for BM#36. Check here to know what other marathoners are cooking. 

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