Yesil Mercimek Corbasi

Since I seem to be on a put up recipes from Europe instead of the country where I live run on this blog. I shall add to it by posting this recipe that I got from a Turkish friend of mine. Yesil Mercimek Corbasi is green lentil soup if you don't know any Turkish. It's cold and people tend to like warm soups during winter, so here you go.

Ingredients

• 2/3 of a cup of green lentils
• 1 cup of milk
• 6 cups of water
• 4 tablespoons of butter
• 2 tablespoons of flour
• 1/4 of a tea cup of rice
• 1 egg

Directions

• Wash lentils and let them set overnight in 1 cup of water
• Place lentils in a sauce pan with butter
• Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally
• Add flour and stir fry until slightly browned
• Mix rice together with lentils and the remaining water in a soup pot
• Bring to a boil and cook for 30-40 minutes
• In a separate bowl, beat the egg with milk
• Warm it by adding a few spoons of hot soup.
• Add mixture to the soup and bring to a boil
• Turn off heat when it comes to a boil

Vanilla Sugar

Since a great deal of European sweets use Vanilla Sugar it is probably a good idea to let you all know what exactly it is as it is not found in American stores. Vanilla Sugar is sugar that has a slight vanillay taste to it. It isn't very expensive in Europe and can be found at almost every food store. However, it is incredibly hard to get outside of Europe and is very expensive in America. Thankfully it can be made at home if one has the need for it. Since Germanic and Scandinavian foods are an important part of my diet, a good number of my recipes do call for it. So, in order to save those of you who are not in Europe some money I am going to give you one of the simplest recipes ever; Vanilla Sugar!


Ingredients

• 4 cups of sugar
• 2 vanilla beans

Directions

• Split the bean pods open and pour the beans them into a bowl with the sugar
• Mix the beans with the sugar and then pour into an airtight container
• Seal the container and let it set for at least two weeks

You can double or half this recipe quite easily. Also, if you want a stronger vanilla flavour you can leave it sealed for a longer period of time. Vanilla Sugar can be used just like regular sugar and gives your recipes a bit of an extra something. Enjoy! 

Kropser

Hei taas! This recipe is practically fail proof and if you can fail at it you are truly special. Traditionally it is served with powdered sugar and honey. For those of you who do not know what a Kropser is, it is a baked Finnish pancake. Little kids will love these and they are good served right out of the pan or as a snack when they've cooled. 


Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 cups milk
• 1 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup of butter

Directions

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F
• In a bowl mix together the sugar, flour, and sea salt
• Add the eggs and milk
• Beat until well blended, the batter will be thin like most pancake batter
• Melt the butter in a 9"x13" glass baking pan
• Make sure that the butter has coated all sides of the pan
• Pour the leftover butter into the batter and mix in
• Pour batter into the pan and bake for 30 minutes or until it is all puffed up
• Cool until the pancake has flattened enough to cut easily

Ta-da! I seem to be giving you all a lot of European foods to start with. All the better though! Americans should probably learn to eat things besides fast food all the time. Nauti!

German Streusel

Hallo!So, I’ve been asked to translate this recipe from German and to convert the measurements. I made this when I was in my first year of college and it was delicious! Of course this is coming from someone of German decent and every “good German” loves their streusel. Anyways, this is a traditional type of streusel without fruit in it, so some may not like it. I will probably post a different streusel recipe that has fruit in it. This is more of a coffee cake so enjoy it with some good coffee.

 

Ingredients for the Topping

• 2 tablespoons of butter
• ½ cup of brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons of flour
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1/3 cup of chopped walnuts

Ingredients for the Batter

• 1 ½ cups of flour
• 2 teaspoon of baking powder
• A dash of salt
• ¾ cup of sugar
• ¼ cup of shortening
• ½ cup of cream
• 1 egg
• ½ teaspoon of vanilla

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F
• Mix topping ingredients and set aside
• For the batter; mix the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar together
• Add in the shortening, cream, egg, and vanilla
• Beat mixture for 2 minutes
• Grease and flour a 9”x13” pan
• Pour the batter into the pan and sprinkle the topping over it.
• Bake in oven for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean

Oh boy, that was quite a strange thing to translate. I don’t think I’ve ever looked at it in English. Oh well, have fun and enjoy!

Salmiakki

Moi Kaikille! So, one of my favorite candies in the whole wide world is Salmiakki. What is Salmiakki? Salmiakki is a salty black licorice that they make in Finland. Granted, most people do not like black licorice and even less people like salty licorice, but still. It's delicious once you get accustomed to the taste that seems strange to Americans. Now you can buy Salmiakki at candy stores and online, but what's the fun in going and buying it when you can make it yourself? So, here is a recipe that my Finnish friend gave to me and I translated and converted all the measurements for you all. Fair warning though, this is kind of hard to make in super humid climates or places where the weather changes without warning; like Oklahoma for example.

Ingredients

• 1 cup of sugar
• 1/4 cup of brown sugar
• 1/4 cup of  salted water
• 1/4 cup of light corn syrup
• 1 tablespoon of black food colouring
• 1/4 teaspoon of anise extract
• 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt

Directions

• Pour sugar, brown sugar, water, and corn syrup into a pot and set over medium heat
• Stir until the mixture begins to boil, making sure that no sugar crystals are on teh sides of the pan
• Cook without stirring to the soft crack stage, 290 degrees F
• Remove pot from heat
• Add food colouring, anise extract, and sea salt and stir in gently
• With a teaspoon, drop onto a lightly greased baking sheet
• If the candy in the pot gets too firm to spoon out, reheat until it softens enough to spoon out
• Cool the candies completely without putting in the refrigerator or freezer
• Wrap the candies individually in wax paper

And that's how you make it. I've make this recipe a few times and each time it has turned out delicious! I hope you enjoy it the first time or acquire a taste for it if you do not already love it.  From what I've experienced with my friends you either love Salmiakki or you hate it the first time you try it. So, try it and tell me what you think. 
Moi Moi!

Swiss Chicken

So, this is a delicious little recipe that one of my friends gave me during my first year of college. It isn't too hard to make and though when I first read the ingredients I thought it sounded strange, it is actually really good. So, here you go.


Ingredients

• 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 6 slices of Swiss cheese
• 1 can of condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1/4 cup of milk
• 8 oz of dry herb stuffing
• 1/2 cup of melted butter

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
• Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish
• Place chicken breasts in the baking dish
• Place one slice of Swiss cheese on top of each chicken breast 
• Combine cream of mushroom soup and milk in a medium bowl, and pour over chicken breasts
• Sprinkle with stuffing
• Pour melted butter over top, and cover with foil.
• Bake 50 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear

There you go! Have fun and enjoy!

Lihapyorykoita

For those of you who have no idea what Lihapyorykoita is or are not Finnish then let me explain what this is. Lihapyorykoita are Finnish meatballs. They sort of taste like Swedish meatballs, for something to compare them to that most Americans have had. Personally, I prefer Lihapyorykoita because they have a richer taste to them. If you love Swedish meatballs or just want to try some good Finnish food then this is the recipe for you! 

Ingredients for the Meatballs

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 cup plain bread crumbs
• 1 leek, minced
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 cup butter
•  
• Ingredients for the Sauce
• 
  
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup whipping cream

Directions

• Mix the beef, bread crumbs, leek, egg, cream, salt, and allspice in a bowl until evenly mixed
• Roll the mixture into spheres about the size of a golf ball
• Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook about half the meatballs in the butter until evenly browned on all sides which should be about 5 to 7 minutes
• Remove to a plate and repeat with the remaining meatballs, keeping the liquid in the skillet when finished to make the sauce with
• Sift the flour into the skillet with the drippings and cook until brown or about 2 to 3 minutes
• Slowly stream the milk into the skillet while whisking vigorously or it will clump
• Pour the cream into the mixture and stir until smooth
• Return all the meatballs to the skillet
• Stir to coat the meatballs with the sauce
• Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook until the meatballs are cooked through which should take 15 to 20 minutes

There you go! It should take between an hour to an hour and a half to make depending on how fast you can make the meatballs. It is a 4 person serving so if you need to cut it in half or quarter it, it shouldn't be too hard.

Enjoy!