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Growing up, sahlep, ground orchid root used in a Turkish milk-based hot drink, was a special treat, only after my dad had been on a trip to Istambul. I have discovered a shop here in Switzerland where I can find it now though, so while I like it as much as ever, it is less special and no longer a scarce commodity. Since discovering this, I have decided to start playing around with Sahlep as an ingredient in my cooking (Sahlep pancakes for example). As part of this, I decided a while back that I wanted to try Sahlep puddings. I tried a first iteration of these months ago, without baking. I simply chilled sahlep infused custard before serving. It was tasty, but the flavour needed some work, it was too sweet, and it never set. Summer was then crazy busy, and then there was the whole episode with the arrival of the Littler Bit, so I only revisited the idea in the last few weeks. We had been making macarons so I had egg yolks to use, so it seemed the logical thing to do. This time I decided to try baking the custards and tweaked the flavouring and sugar combo to boot. I also included whey, leftover from making ricotta to help balance out the sweetness. Ingredients: 2 tbsp flour 2 tbsp sugar 2 c milk 1 c whey 1 tsp cinnamon 2 tsp sahlep 2 1/2 tbsp maple sugar 2 tbsp butter 6 egg yolks 1 tsp mix spice 1 tbsp maple sugar 1) In a small saucepan, heat 1c of the milk over medium-low heat. stir in the sahlep, cinnamon and maple sugar. Stir until combined and thickened slightly, never allowing the milk to come above a simmer. Set aside. 2) In a saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar and flour. Stir and allow to cook for a couple of minutes, then stir in 1c of the milk and the whey. Bring to a boil and immediately lower to a simmer. Cook until thickened so that a finger dragged across the back of a spoon dipped in the pot leaves a trail. The Parting of the Milk! 3) Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks in a bowl. Once the milk mixture has thickened, stir in a spoonful of it into the egg yolks to temper them until about 1 to 1 1/2c of the milk mixture has been incorporated into the eggs. Turn the heat off and stir the egg-milk mix into the pot. 4) Add the sahlep mix from step 1 and stir. Add the butter, allowing to melt and incorporate. Taste test, and add milk or cinnamon as necessary. 5) Spoon the resulting custard into a shallow baking dish or ramequins. Sprinkle over the remaining maple sugar and the mix spice. Bake at 180°C for 45-50 minutes, until set but still slightly jiggly. Serve warm or chilled. We all very much enjoyed this, but even more so on day 2 when it was cold, with lekerli (Swiss German gingerbreads) dipped in the custards. Definitely pleased with this, especially as it is quick and easy to make and can be prepped ahead if entertaining.

From somewhere came the idea of trying a Salted Caramel Ice Cream recipe, and then on Binging with Babish I saw a trick for making Dulce De Leche. You boil a full tin of condensed milk in a pot of water for between 1 and 3 hours, and then when you open it, it is caramelised. I tried this recipe twice. The first time I used the same basic ice cream recipe as in the Rose Petal Ice Cream, but I accidentally used unsweetened condensed milk. I tried adding sugar and further caramelising it once I took it out of the tin, and it worked, but the flavour was not strong enough to hold its own once I mixed it with the cream and put it all in the churn. The result is nice, but a bit bland, more of a fiore di latte than a caramel ice cream. In my second attempt, I made sure to pick up sweetened condensed milk, and the caramelising trick worked great. On opening the tin we found a thick, rich Dulce de Leche with a beautiful colour (although I must say that I feel rather like Amelia Bedelia boiling a tin). I then tried out Michel Roux's basic ice cream recipe (sort of) based on a frozen Crème Anglaise, but unfortunately got this going when I had a number of other bits going on the stove at the same time, and Little Bit started resisting bed time. The result was that the eggs lumped a bit in the mix. I wondered whether to chuck it and whip cream for my ice cream instead, but instead decided to run with it. I mixed in my caramel and stirred more or less continuously until it all thickened up enough to go in the churn. The result has a wonderful flavour. The eggy custard base adds a beautiful depth and richness to the flavour. The small eggy lumps mar the effect a little, and are more perceptible as the ice cream melts, but initially they are barely noticeable unless you look for them. I will include both recipes - using whipped cream, which I recommend if you don't have a churn, and the custard based one - as the flaws were neither of them in the conception or recipe but rather in the execution. The first produces a lighter flavour with a firmer, harder texture when frozen, the other a softer texture and a richer flavour. Both were tasty (but I can only imagine version 1 with properly caramelised ice cream). For V1 (with or without an ice cream maker): Ingredients: 1 c sweetened condensed milk (ish, I just use the whole tin) 2 c cream 1/2 tsp salt 1/3 c caramel bits 1) Place the unopened tin of sweetened condensed milk in a saucepan and fill with enough water to cover. Place over heat and bring to a boil. Cover the saucepan and boil for 2 ish hours (less time will result in a lighter caramel, more in a darker caramel. In order for the flavour to hold its own I wouldn't boil for any less than 2 hours). Top up water as necessary. 2) Whip cream. Fold in caramel, salt and caramel bits. 3) EITHER place in Ice cream churn until thick and nearly frozen, then place in container in the freezer OR place directly in a container in the freezer, relying on the lightness of the whipped cream for the ice cream's lightness. For Version 2 (using an ice cream churn): Ingredients: 1 c condensed milk (ish, I just use the whole tin) 6 egg yolks 2 c milk 1 c sugar 1/3 c caramel bits 1/2 tsp salt 1) Place the unopened tin of sweetened condensed milk in a saucepan and fill with enough water to cover. Place over heat and bring to a boil. Cover the saucepan and boil for 2 ish hours (less time will result in a lighter caramel, more in a darker caramel. In order for the flavour to hold its own I wouldn't boil for any less than 2 hours). Top up water as necessary. 2) Place milk and 2/3 of the sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks with remaining 1/3 of the sugar until it forms a ribbonny consistency. 3) Pour milk over the egg and sugar mixture, whisking continuously. Pour back into the saucepan, turn the heat to low and stir constantly (this is where I failed) until the custard thickens. Stir in the caramel and salt about mid-way through. 4) Remove from the heat and allow to cool thoroughly. Pour into the ice cream churn and allow to go until nearly frozen. When the mixture is very cool but not yet anywhere near set, add the caramel bits (I added mine a little early and they were less discernibly bits in the final ice cream, and more just concentrated caramel pockets of ice cream. Place in a container and freeze. To my great good fortune, when my sister stayed over last night (invited in the very solemn role of Ketchup Guinea Pig), she warned me that she would have to make brownies to bring to work while staying over. For dessert today therefore, we had Version 2 of the Salted Caramel Ice Cream with fresh brownies. There are certainly worse fates one could have to face. The consensus was that this was well worth making again, and was not ruined by my failure to stir the custard constantly yesterday. It would be nice served with some flakes of sea salt or curls of dark chocolate, something with no add sweetness which would contrast nicely with the caramel's sweetness. I am certainly glad I tried a different method for ice cream making, and that I picked up the right condensed milk this time!

It was my mom's birthday recently, so I made her birthday cannolis instead of a cake. She's always loved cannolis but they aren't something which can be readily found in Switzerland. When I was little, trips to NY in the summer had to include a cannoli from Little Italy for her, but those trips have been less and less frequent, so life has been cannoli-less. When I started making my own ricotta and mascarpone though, it was pointed out to me that I should try making cannolis. And then my sister dug out my parents' old cannoli moulds from 30 years ago and the case was settled. The week leading up to her birthday therefore, I made a few different variants of both shells and filling until I found one I was happy with. I trialled using home made vs store-bought ricotta and used home-made mascarpone. The curds in the home made ricotta were a little bigger and so required more beating , and in the end I used a combination of all three. My first tests of the filling came out too liquidy so I let the mascarpone drain for longer to stiffen up the final filling. Ingredients: For the Shells: 3 c flour 1/4 c sugar 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/4 c butter, cold and diced 1 egg 3 tbsp vinegar 1/4 c whey/milk 1 egg white, beaten For the Filling: 2 c mascarpone 2 1/2 - 3 c ricotta 1 1/2 c sugar 2-3 tsp vanilla extract 1/4 c pistachios, chopped 1/4 c chocolate chips 1/4-1/2 c dark chocolate, chopped and melted over a water bath 1) Mix together the dry ingredients for the shells and then cut in the butter. Mix together with finger tips until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. 2) Add in liquids one by one, mixing after each addition until a smooth, elastic dough is achieved. Place in the fridge to rest for about 30 minutes. 3) In the mean time, mix together all the ingredients for the filling except the pistachios and chocolate, whipping until smooth. Place in the fridge to chill. 4) Cut out an oval from paper or cardboard measuring about 15x11.5 cm (6x4.5inches). Roll out the dough to about 3 mm thick and then using your oval template, cut out ovals. Wrap the around moulds, brushing the edge with egg white to stick together, forming a tube. Alternatively, I rolled up my silicone baking mat to about 2 cm in diameter and wrapped 3 ovals around the length of it. Aluminium foil might work too, rolled up in this way. 5)Brush the rest of the tube with egg white and bake for 8-10 minutes in at 175°C in a pre-heated oven, or fry until golden brown at about 175°C. Remove from oven or oil and allow to cool for a few minutes before removing the moulds. 6) Dip the ends of some of the cooled tubes in melted chocolate and allow to set. 7) Split about 1/3 (or more) of the filling from the rest and mix in chocolate chips. Pipe either plain or chocolatey filling into the tubes, sprinkling pistachios onto the ends of some. Chill until ready to eat. Not having had them very frequently myself, things were a little complicated as I didn't have a very clear idea of what I was aiming for, but I am assured by those who know about these things that they came out quite well. I certainly enjoyed them, which hasn't always been the case with cannolis in the past. I have other filling combinations I'd like to try, like almonds, or lime/lemon pieces dehydrated just enough. The shells just needed to be a little thinner. I must also point out that I baked the shells rather than frying them as my mom isn't a bit fan of fried food, but I have an air fryer coming soon, so I want to try and put them in there to see how they do. Results to follow! EDIT: The shell cookie also works well with yogurt - in this case vanilla rhubarb yogurt.

A friend sent me a recipe from another blog, agoodcarrot.com, for Turkish rice. The recipe looked good and it occurred to me that I hadn't made any stuffed grape leaves in a while, and that I had the necessary ingredients on hand. Tomorrow's lunch planned! Massive caveat to doing this in the late morning with a teething 1 year old: it takes a while to fold grape leaves! The rice, slightly modified to suit my pantry and tastes, took no time to cook what so ever, but then folding was another story. Moral of this: plan a little further ahead and give yourself more time than I did! They were tasty enough to make up for the delay in lunch though, so no worries. Ingredients: for the rice: 1 onion, chopped 1/2 c raisins, chopped 2 1/2 tbsp dried mint, crushed 3 tbsp olive oil 1/2 c walnuts, chopped 2 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp allspice 2 c rice 3 c water salt and pepper to taste 1 packet grape leaves, washed 1 tbsp olive oil 2 tbsp lemon juice 1 egg, beaten 1) Heat oil in a saucepan and sauté the onions until they are translucent. Add the nuts and toast lightly. Add the raisins, spices and rice and cook for a further couple of minutes on medium heat, until the rice becomes translucent. 2) Add the mint and water and stir, and bring to the boil. At this point, put a tight lid on the pot and then you can either do what I did and put it in a Wonderbag slow cooker, or you can lower the heat and cook until all the water has been absorbed and the rice is cooked (about 20 minutes). 3) Cool the rice! Then fold into the grape leaves: cut the stem off a leaf and place it stem-stump down on your palm. Place a small amount of rice filling (approx. 2 tsp) in the centre and fold in the sides then roll it up to the top. Place seam side down in a heavy bottomed pot. Use torn or small leaves to line the pot. 4) Pour 1 1/2 c water and 1 tbsp olive oil over the top and place a plate on the stuffed bundles to keep them from floating. Heat the pot over medium heat and cook for about 10 minutes. 5) Beat the egg and lemon juice together and pour evenly over the stuffed leaves and cook for a further 2-3 minutes. 6) Serve! These were really tasty! I highly recommend them, provided you have enough time. The rice is very tasty on its own too, so if you don't have time to fold them, just serve it as a side for something else. With some of the left over rice, I made rice balls stuffed with orange peel and raisins with cloves and fenugreek, a couple of days later and served them with a very simple minty tzatziki and lentil sliders.

I have not had a Scotch egg in the longest time! Living in Scotland, they were readily available from a range of sources, some better than others. Hubby virtually lived off the cheap supermarket ones for a while for his breakfast on his way to work. I always preferred the nice ones from the butcher's counter, or the artisanal ones from this little shop in the Stockbridge part of Edinburgh. Since leaving the UK five years ago, I think I got one once when we went back to visit friends, but otherwise, it's been a Scotch eggless life for me ever since. It simply never occurred to me to make them. And then when we were up in the mountains at my parent's house over Easter, their neighbour, who raises quails, gave us two dozen quail eggs. Little Bit positively devours them, but we still went home with a bunch. I've never cooked with quails eggs, but find them creamier than hen's eggs without being too rich. They have a very pleasant, mild taste. Rather than doing fried eggs for Little Bit every day though, it occurred to me to use them in Scotch eggs, and I wasn't disappointed. I went looking for spicing inspiration in Food DIY by Tim Hayward, which I discovered was a good choice. I adapted the recipe to my own kitchen and quail's egg needs (and a couple of inattention mistakes), and served them up on a bed of salad with home made mayo dressing. It was beautiful! I also experimented with using baking soda on meat again as I did for the Cottage Pie. Based on what I have read, the chemical reaction causes the muscle fibres to jellify , trapping moisture without loosing integrity. This makes (supposedly, I am still testing this for myself) for juicier meat that browns nicely. From the description, it sounds like a similar chemical reaction to that which occurs after salting, but without adding the extra salt to your diet. Ingredients: 9 Quail eggs 300 g (ish) ground pork 1/2 tsp (ish) allspice 1 tsp thyme 1/2 tsp baking soda 3 eggs 1 c breadcrumbs Salt and pepper to taste 1/2 c rapeseed oil for frying 1) Boil the quail's eggs for 2 and a half minutes then drain and run under cold water to stop the cooking process. Leave to cool thoroughly then peel them very carefully. 2) Mix the pork with the baking soda and set aside for about 20 minutes (longer might be better but that is the time I had), while you peel your eggs. 3) Mix allspice, thyme, salt and pepper into the pork. Add 1 egg and mix well. Divide into 9 evenly sized-balls. 4) Beat the other 2 eggs and place in a bowl. Place breadcrumbs in a shallow bowl beside it. Taking a ball of pork mixture, flatten it into a circle with a diameter of about 10cm. Place a quail egg in the centre and fold the meat around the egg and pinch it shut. 5) Roll the ball in egg and then in breadcrumbs, ensuring an even coverage and set aside. Repeat 8 more times. Chill the balls in the fridge about 30 min. 6) Bring oil up to heat in a frying pan until it is shimmering actively. Shallow fry each of the balls for about 3 minutes and then transfer to a baking try and bake at 180°C for about 10 minutes. (the goal is for the outside to be lovely and golden brown and crispy, the pork to be thoroughly cooked, and the egg yolk to still be soft.) Serve these up however you like. I opted for a salad of spinach, Chinese cabbage, radish, carrot, cucumber. I then mixed some home made mayo with some extra lemon juice to thin it and drizzled it over the Scotch eggs. It was delightful and I will certainly be making these again soon, and maybe playing around with spicing a little. I am also tempted to try them with some cheese mixed into the pork, or maybe as an inside layer surrounding the egg... The baking soda trick seems to have worked as the meat was juicy yet cooked and firm, so more trials with that to follow. Or maybe next time I salt the meat first instead to compare. If you want to make these keto friendly or gluten free, simply replace the breadcrumbs with ground almond!

In early December, a very good friend of mine was visiting us and we made Christmas Butterballs to celebrate. True to form, I didn't double-check my pantry first and it turned out that we were missing the necessary walnuts. I gave my friend the choice between almonds and hazelnuts to replace the walnuts. Her response was unequivocal. Hazelnuts! They are her favourite, and although ubiquitous here, since moving to the US, they are less common and harder to find. We made the Butterballs with the hazelnuts, and all enjoyed them greatly, but this got me thinking. A lot of our Christmas Cookies require almonds, but how much difference do these make to the actual taste and substance of the cookies. I enjoyed the hazelnut butterballs but missed the originals, whereas Hubby and my friend both liked them better, so clearly it does make a difference, but how much? So I decided to try the Cinnamon Stars, which have ground almonds as their base, using hazelnuts substituted in for the almonds. And then as I thought about it further, hazelnut and cacao seemed like such a natural pairing that I decided to try some chocolatey ones and some regular ones, each variety with and without icing. Ingredients: For the plain ones: 3 egg whites a pinch of salt 1 1/2 c powdered sugar 3 c ground hazelnuts 2 tbsp cinnamon 2 tsp kirsch For the chocolate ones: 3 egg whites a pinch of salt 1 c powdered sugar 1/2 c cacao 3 c ground hazelnuts 2 tbsp cinnamon 2 tsp kirsch 2 tbsp sugar for rolling 1) Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt to form stiff peaks. Fold in the powdered sugar and set aside 2 tbsp for the icing. If using, fold in cacao at this point. 2) Mix in the nuts, cinnamon and kirsch to form a stiff dough. Roll out 1 cm thick on a sugared surface and cut out shapes. 3) Lay out on a cookie sheet (preferably greased or with a silicone sheet) and ice with a little dollop of the icing. 4) Allow to rest for 5 hours or overnight. Bake at 250°C for 5 minutes. So the consensus was that these were good, and the hazelnuts worked well for this, including with the cinnamon, but... All the cookie cutters are at my house and we are at my parents' so these are all round, despite the name. Small wine glasses are perfect for this. I do recommend a silicone sheet because the plain batch I allowed to cool on the cookie sheet for a couple of minutes, and they were cemented to the tray. Also, I believe that this oven runs a little hot. Pulled out at time, and the second batch at 4 minutes, both batches were a little darker than would have been ideal. Next time, I would do them at 240°C for 4 minutes like the Basler cookies. I also rolled mine out too thin which compounded the problem, so I do recommend making sure they are thick enough. Further, the chocolate ones were too chocolatey and the cinnamon paled into insignificance behind it. the chocolatey ones worked better with the icing as the extra sugar balanced out the flavour of the cookie while the plain ones were better uniced and definitely did not need extra sugar. I would like to try these with only 2 tbsp or 1/4 c cacao instead of a full third of the sugar content - make them hazelnut and cinnamon biscuits with cacao and not chocolate biscuits with a bit of cinnamon and some hazelnuts for texture.

I love Scotch eggs, preferably the good kind, rather than the petrol station kind. Living in Scotland, they were ubiquitous and an easy snack. Hubby particularly liked them as an on the go breakfast. Since leaving Scotland though, I have only made them once or twice and have not been able to buy them. Since making my Quail Scotch Eggs last year though, I've been meaning to make them again, and had been wondering about the idea of vegetarian Scotch eggs. During Lent, when I am vegetarian, heading off for a ski week with Little One and Hubby, I decided to try them. I figured they would make for easy, portable food for all of us and it would give me a chance to try out an idea. What better vegetarian base than lentils? To give these a little more body and coherence, I added some potatoes too. I also wanted to try them in the air fryer, having gotten that particular kitchen toy since last making them. Multiple (vegetarian) birds with one stone (or egg) as it were. As a bonus, I had extra coating for the eggs so decided to wrap bits of mozzarella too. Ingredients: 1 tbsp vegetable oil 1 onion, minced 3 cloves garlic, crushed 1/2 tsp cumin 1 tsp tandoori powder 1/2 tsp black pepper 1/2 tsp rosemary 1 tsp thyme A pinch of allspice 2c green lentils 4-5 small potatoes, chopped 300-400 ml water 1 c breadcrumbs 4 eggs (1 ball of mozzarella, grated) Salt to taste 1) In a large-ish saucepan, heat the oil and sauté the onions until translucent. Add the garlic and spices and fry for a couple more minutes until fragrant. 2) Add the lentils, potatoes and water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and then cook, stirring regularly, until the mixture is thick enough to be able to be moulded. Beware of burning at the end as it gets thicker! 3) Meanwhile, boil the eggs for 7-8 minutes. The goal is to have eggs on the harder side of mollet, where the yolk is still the slightest bit soft, minutes away from crumbly, but not runny at all. Remove and run under cold water. Peel and set aside. 4) When the lentils have thickened up nicely, mash any remaining potato bits and allow the mixture to cool. 5) When cool enough to handle, wrap a coating of the lentil mixture around each egg (or piece of mozzarella) and then roll in the breadcrumbs. 6) Here you have a choice. I cooked my Scotch eggs in the air fryer at 180°C for about 7 minutes. Alternatively you could shallow fry them in a pan on the stove using vegetable oil at about 180°C until the outside is nicely browned. We had these cold as picnic food (aside from the ones tasted straight out of the fryer). They kept well for a couple of days and made for easy packing and eating (although a little crumbly). They were tasty and I was happy with the spicing. Not exactly like a regular Scotch egg, but then, they weren't going to be as the coating was entirely different. As the lentil mixture was quite moist, I opted not to roll it in egg before in the breadcrumbs and it worked fine. The coating didn't hold together though, so I might strain it a little next time, just to get it a little drier before frying. Something else I would tweak next time would be to boil and mash the potatoes separately. They were an afterthought, and I just chucked them in the pot, but then hunting them down to mash all the bits proved challenging and I missed a few, leading to some potato chunks being left in the final coating. Otherwise, as the first test of an idea, I am quite pleased with these! The mozzarella bits were a bit on the messy side coming out of the air fryer, but also very tasty!

As mentioned on Day 56 of The Challenge This is a classic comfort food. It is milky and creamy and lovely. It is never the same twice because I don't follow a recipe and there are occasional tweaks to it. It works as a vegetarian soup but also with bacon bits. It can be cheesy, or you can add celery for extra crunch. In any case, I always find it very satisfying and comforting. Ingredients: 1.5 l milk (I use whole fat, but feel free to use skimmed or semi-skimmed if necessary, it's your sad sad life) 2-3 tbsp butter Approx 800 g of corn 2 potatoes, chopped 1 onion, chopped 1 sprig of fresh thyme Salt and pepper to taste 1) Melt butter in the bottom of a soup pot and sauté onions until translucent. Add potatoes and cook for a few minutes. 2) Add other ingredients and simmer for 20-30 minutes. 3) Enjoy! Tweak this to your tastes and enjoy. Not hard to make, and so satisfying.

Ginger Snaps are always a favourite at this time of year, and baking a variety of Christmas cookies is a joy of the season (as perhaps suggested by my 12 Days of Christmas Cookies last year). As part of it, I posted a Ginger Snap recipe (on the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me one ginger snap). They, of course, had to be on the roster for this year, but I wanted to tweak them a little, mainly with the addition of pieces of candied ginger and orange peel, and by increasing the powdered ginger. I didn't have quite enough molasses, so the 1/4 c of molasses was completed with some honey). Ingredients: 2 c flour 2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp ginger 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp cloves 3/4 c butter 1 c sugar + 1/4 c to roll the cookies in after 1 egg 1/4 c molasses and honey (about 2 tbsp honey, the rest molasses) 2 tsp grated tangerine peel 2 tsp dried orange peel bits, briefly candied with the ginger 3/4 c candied ginger pieces 1) Cream butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add the egg and molasses (with honey) and mix until smooth. Add tangerine zest, orange peel and candied ginger. 2) Gradually add the dry ingredients, and stir to form cookie dough. Chill for 30 minutes at least. 3) Roll the dough into marble-sized balls and then roll in the remaining 1/4c of sugar. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet with at least double the size of the marbles between the balls of dough - these spread! Bake at 180°C for 10 minutes. I love these! The smell of ginger snaps baking is so reminiscent of Christmas time for me, and of baking as a family growing up, with friends, and now with my own little family. I really enjoyed this year's tweaks and hope you do too!

I also found out that this is traditional both in the South of the US and in Amish country, interestingly