Clementine jelly

Clementines are pretty cheap this time of the year and it's pretty healthy. This is a tasty jelly with a christmas taste.

Ingredients:
- 800 ml fresh clementine juice (around 1 kilo clementines)
- fresh ginger
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 gelatine sachet (cut the gelatine pads into small pieces, makes it easier to whisk later)
- 2 fresh clementines peeled and sliced in rounds.

- 6 glasses or bowls for serving

Procedure:
1. In a pot or pan place the juice and sugar, mix well while being warm. Don't let it boil.
2. Grate a little amount for ginger onto the juice mix and grate the rest onto the chopping board then squeeze its juice into the the pot/pan. Mix well.
3. Take the pot/pan out of the heat and place gelatine pieces and whisk right away. Read the gelatin package instructions because it varies.
4. Place clementine slices onto prepared glasses or small bowls or whatever you want to use for serving this jelly.
5. Pour the mixture onto glasses/bowls.
6. Let it cool and place it in the fridge overnight before serving or minimum 3 hours in the fridge before serving.
7.You can add vanilla sauce on top if you like but it's optional.

Enjoy!

Cinnamon Knots

This is one of my husbands favorite and I really like eating this as well, specially with coffee. I make this whenever we get visitors at home. Try this delicious recipe and you'll love it too.

 

Ingredients:

- 500 grams all purpose flour

- 80 grams sugar

- a pinch of salt

- 1/2 tsp ground kardemomme

- 2 packs of dry yeast

- 1 egg

- 75 grams butter cut in cubes

- 250 ml milk

- 100 grams raisins (optional)

Filling:

- 50 grams butter

- 3 tbsp brown sugar

- 1 and 1/2 tbsp cinnamon powder

- 1 egg for egg wash

Procedure: 

1. Warm the milk. I use microwave to do it, 45 seconds with 700 watts.

2. Add 2 package of yeasts to the warm milk and mix well then leave it in the corner while you mix the rest.

3. You can do this by hand or kitchen machine, but for me I use food processor. Place the flour, salt, sugar, kardemomme, egg and raisins and mix for a minute.

4. Add the milk and yeast mixture and mix everything for a minute or two.

5. Take a bowl, I prefer to use glass bowl for this. Brush with oil inside and place the dough on it.

 Cover it with plastic cling wrap and let the dough rise in warm area at your house for 30 minutes to an hour until it doubles in size.

6. Do this first when the dough is ready. Mix the butter, sugar and cinnamon an a bowl

7. Punch the dough inside the bowl to let the air exit. Place the dough in a floured surface and knead a bit then flatten the dough with a roller pin while you form an oblong square.

  

 8. Spread the butter, sugar and cinnamon mixture onto half of the flattened dough.

 

9. Fold the dough to one side.

 10. Slice the dough as seen on the photo (1 inch or 1 and a half inch in width).

 11. Twist the sliced dough and make a knot. Line them on an oven tray with a baking paper.

12. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.
13. Brush the cinnamon knots with the eggwash prepared.

egg wash (beaten egg)

 

14. When oven is ready, place the dough in the middle and bake it for 10 minutes.

15. Taste one while it's still a bit warm.

Enjoy eating with family and friends!

Easy white bread

It's one easy white bread you can make. It's moist inside and it uses just the most basic ingredients you can find in the kitchen. I used food processor and it worked just fine or you can do it by hand as well.

 Ingredients:

-3 cups all purpose flour

-1 package dry yeast

-3/4 cup warm water

-1/2 cup milk

-1tbsp oil

-1tsp salt

-2 tbsp sugar 

                 

Preparation:

1. Warm the water. I used microwave for it (800 watts for 45 seconds) some have 700 watts only so maybe you have to use 5-10 more seconds. Add the dry yeast to the water until dissolved.

2. In a food processor, place flour, salt,sugar, oil and milk. Mix for a minute then add the yeast mixture and let it run again for two minutes. If doing by hand just add the yeast mixture together with the rest and mix well.

3. Knead the dough on a floured surface add a little flour if needed.

4. Get a glass of bowl and brush with oil and place the dough in it, cover with plastic sheet and let it rise for 45 minutes to one hour.

5. Punch down dough. Place onto floured surface and knead a bit.

6. Form dough into a loaf and place it onto the buttered bread pan, cover with kitchen cloth and let it rise for 20-30 minutes.

7. Preheat oven to 190 degrees C. 

8. Place the bread pan in the second lowest level (I didn't place it in the middle to avoid burning the top). Bake the dough for 20-25 minutes. I thought it should take longer but I guess it just depends on the oven you are using as well.

9. Take out the bread from the oven. It should be brown on top already but not burned. Let it cool for 5 minutes then turn it out from the bread pan and let it continue to cool on a cooling rack.

10. Eat some while it's still a bit warm like I did or have it in the morning for breakfast.

Enjoy Baking!:)

Rainbow Jam Tarts

Christmas is just four days away and since I don't have a job yet I have been baking pretty much. The latest stuff I baked are cookies, and since it was too much for just me and my hubby so I thought to buy Christmas cookie jars so I can give some to his parents, his sister and her family and to a friend of his parents - a couple who have become our nice friends as well for the last three years that I have been in Norway.

Basically I just browse for recipes online or sometimes I browse from food magazines that you can get from food stores here for free. The latest one I made just yesterday is called Rainbow jam tarts from Jamie Olivers site. It is pretty easy and tastes pretty good so anyone can totally do it.

 I used blueberry, orange and strawberry jams for the fillings. I also used lemon curd on a few of them and I think it is my favorite so far :) you can get the recipe here: 

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/fruit-recipes/rainbow-jam-tarts

 

 I had no small tart tin pans yet so I used the muffin former pan and it worked just fine. I also used the zest of orange and not lemon since it's what I had available.

 

 

I bought this jars at clas ohlson and it was on sale so I got a pretty good deal.

 

and here is the final result, ready to be given away.

I mixed the rainbow jam tarts with the other cookies I made which is the chocolate cookies and lemon cookies with grounded mixed nuts (walnut, cashew, peanut,almond). 

 

chocolate cookies

You can add marsipan instead of nuts for this one. this is a very simple recipe:
-200 grams soft butter

-250 ml brown sugar

-1 egg

-600 ml all purpose flour

-4 tbsp cocoa powder (unsweetened)

-120 grams light chocolate

-120 grams ground nuts

 lemon cookies