i miss the Mediterranean sea.

Olive oil- check

Lemon- check

Roasted red peppers- check

Chargrilled eggplant- check

Feta cheese- check

Mint- check

Garlic- check

Tomatoes- check

Olives- check

There you go, a meal that is all about 

Mediterranean flavors.

So good.

Charred Eggplant & Red Peppers Spread

2 eggplants

2 red peppers

2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice

½ tsp. grated fresh garlic

½ tsp. salt

2 tbsps. Olive oil.

Char the eggplant and peppers on the stove/grill until they are completely charred. Remove the inside of the eggplant and place in a sieve to drain excess liquid for 15 minutes. Place the peppered in a bowl and tightly cover with cling film. Once the peppers have cooled down, peel them and remove grains. Add the peppers to the eggplant to remove the liquids.

Chop finely both the eggplant & peppers 

and mix well with rest of ingredients.

Assembly;

Take a fresh loaf of bread,

make sure you get the one with the nice crust,

cut the loaf to lengthwise slices.

Generously place the freshly made spread,

crumble your choice of feta cheese,

sprinkle chopped chives, mint leaves

and drizzle your finest olive oil.

Best consumed with fresh cut tomatoes 

and black olives on the side :)

Romanticism

Nostalgia.

There’s something about this cake that 
transports me to a time I didn’t even exist in. 

a time where things where simple.

A time when life was in black and white.

Nostalgia is a powerful tool in the kitchen.

The power to trigger a memory by a certain smell, flavor or even a certain texture, is a unique experience.To have the ability to evoke those memories in people is unparalleled. 

Baba au rum

270g flour

5g dry yeast

25g sugar

4 eggs

90ml milk

7g salt

60g cooled melted butter

syrup:

1 liter water

600g sugar

300ml good quality rum

whisk lightly the eggs with the milk.

Using the dough hook on your stand mixer slowly mix the flour, yeast and sugar. Add half of the egg mixture and continue mixing for 4 minutes. Add the salt and mix for 2 minutes. Gradually add the butter and then the remaining of the egg mixture. Keep mixing until you get uniform dough.(the dough is on the liquid side)

Cover the bowl with a towel, until the dough double in volume.

Butter and flour a 20cm cake pan (9cm height). Pour the dough and leave the dough to raise once more, until fully fills the pan.

Bake in a 170c degrees pre heated oven for 40-45 minutes.  Make sure you get a nice golden color.

Remove the cake from the pan, and let stand at room temperature for 2-3 days, until the cake is completely dry. (The drier the cake the more syrup it will absorb)

For the syrup- boil sugar and water together. Once boiled remove from the heat and add the rum.

Place the cake in a large and deep bowl (make sure it is much larger then the cake, as once the cake absorb the liquid it will increase in size)

And pour the hot syrup on the cake. Once the cake has been soaking for at least an hour, turn the cake very gently (!!) into another large and deep bowl. (As we want the side that wasn’t covered in syrup, will get his share of the syrup- so the whole cake will be evenly soaked).

Flip 2 more times.

Place the cake on a serving plate. serve with whipped cream. Of course. just do me a favor and make sure you don’t sweeten the whipped cream too much.


oh yea,

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!