Recipe on Michael’s Domain

Sourdough whole wheat bread

Sat, 09 Feb 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Traditional Finish bread is made from rye and sourdough. This requires expertise, especially when you follow the “purist” approach and only use whole rye flour, water, salt, and sourdough. Most rye bread that is produced for commercial sale has not been baked by these purist rules. Different from rye, wheat is much less problematic when it comes to baking. However, the reputation of wheat has recently suffered due its high gluten content. This is mostly unjustified because a high gluten content of wheat was one of the major goals of hundreds of years of breeding. Not only is gluten a protein (and therefore important in a grain-heavy diet), but wheat gluten is especially gluey and thus maintains the structure of the bread.I have some 30 years experience with baking wholegrain wheat bread using yeast as raising agent. But last week, I did challenge myself with preparing a sourdough bread. Not yet rye, but wheat sourdough. I prepared the sourdough myself. I added some yeast and yogurt at the beginning hoping that they would keep the bad bacteria away until the good microorganisms have settled in. Although we own an electric grinding mill, I mostly have bought flour for my baking so far because I find the price for wheat grains unacceptable (>2.5€/kg). Luckily I have finally found a farm, that is directly selling wheat grain for a very competitive price and that is (almost) reachable by public transport from Helsinki: Krannin Tila . The result of my experiment was not bad. Even my biggest critics - my kids - did eat the bread (however only when it was oven-fresh). Its taste reminds me more of rye bread than of wheat bread. I guess it is more important how you bake the bread than whether rye or wheat is used.And here is the recipe:

Waffel recipe

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000

After some awful experience with an OBH Nordica electric waffle maker (one waffle took about 12 minutes and still was not entirely done), I have bought a cast-iron waffel maker from Skeppshult. After burning it in and several unsuccesfull attempts, I actually manged to make some waffles. However, I have not yet tried to use it over an open fire, but that was actually the idea when I bought it. I used it on our electric oven and one waffle takes about 4 minutes (on position 7-8 out of 9). It has 25 years of warranty and weighs about 4-5 kg. I used the following recipe:

Finally some good self-made chocolate ice cream

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Last summer I bought this ice cream maker. Some of the ice cream I made was quite OK, but only now did I succeed in making ice cream that compares favorably to Mövenpick or similar. The secret is: EGGS and lots of FAT and SUGAR. Here is the recipe:

Giant soap bubbles

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0000

There are hundreds of web pages describing recipes for giant soap bubbles. Some of the more interesting ones are The Bubblesphere , Bubble Town , Soap Bubbler , Riesenseifenblasen durch polymere Additive (in German) , Nanotech Kids . Why another web posting about soap bubbles? Because almost all of them use ingredients that are not available where I live (i.e. Finland). I got a recipe from a soap bubbler who performed at a kindergarden event in my neighbourhood and here is my modified version (including brand names which were absent from the original recipe):

Farfalle with Gorgonzola Cream

Thu, 05 Apr 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Serves 4 3 cups farfale (‘motylki’) 180 g gorgonzola cheese, any rind removed, diced 2/3 cup of heavy cream pinch of granulated sugar 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh sage, plus fresh sage leaves to garnish salt and ground balck pepper Cook the pasta until al dente: 8-10 minutes or according to the instructions on the package. Meanwhile, put the gorgonzola and cream in a medium saucepan. Add the sugar and plenty of ground black pepper and heat gently, stirring frequently, until the cheese has melted. Remove the pan from heat. Drain the cooked pasta well and return it to the pot in which it was cooked. Pour the sauce into the pot with the pasta. Add the chopped sage to the pasta and toss over medium heat until the pasta is evenly coated. Taste for seasoning, adding salt if necessary, then devide among four warmed bowls. Garnish each portion with sage and serve immediately.

Mexican Chilli Corn Pie

Thu, 05 Apr 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Serves 4 1 tbsp corn oil 2 garlic cloves, crushed 1 red pepper & 1 green pepper, deseeded and diced 1 celery stalk, diced 1 tsp hot chilli powder 400g can chopped tomatoes, 325g can sweetcorn, drained 215g can kidney beans, drained and rinsed 2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander salt and pepper tomato and avocado salad, to serve Topping: 125g cornmeal 1 tbsp plain flower 1/2 tsp salt 2 tsp baking powder 1 egg, beaten 100ml milk 1 tbsp corn oil 125g grated mature Cheddar Heat the oil in a large frying pan and gently fry the garlic, peppers and celery for 5-6 minutes or until just softened. Stir in the chilli powder, tomatoes, sweetcorn, beans and seasoning. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the coriander and spoon into an ovenproof dish. To make the topping, mix together the cornmeal, flour, salt and baking powder. Make a well in the center, add the egg, milk and oil and beat until a smooth batter is formed. Spoon over the pepper and sweetcorn mixture and sprinkle with the cheese. Bake in a preheated oven, 220C for 25-30 minutes until golden and firm. Serve immediately with a tomato and avocado salad.

Paglia e Fieno with Walnuts and Gorgonzola

Thu, 05 Apr 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Serves 4 300g paglia e fieno (‘flattened spaghetti’) 2 tablespoons butter 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh sage or 1/2 teaspoon dried sage, plus fresh sage leaves to garnish (optional) 120 g gorgonzola 3 tablespoons mascarpone cheese 5 tablespoons milk 1/2 cup walnut halves, ground 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese freshly ground black pepper Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water, according to the instructions on the package. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large skillet or saucepan over low heat, add the sage and stir it around. Sprinkle in the diced gorgonzola and the add the mascarpone. Stir the ingredients with a wooden spoon until the cheeses start to melt. Pour in the milk and keep stirring. Sprinkle in the walnuts and grated parmesan and add plenty of black pepper. Continue to stir over low heat until the mixture forms a creamy sauce. Do not allow it to boil or the nuts will taste bitter, and do not cook the sauce for longer than a few minutes or the nuts will discolor it. Drain the pasta, turn it into a warmed bowl, then add the sauce and toss well. Serve immediately, with more black pepper ground on top. Garnish with the sage leaves, if desired.

Cholesterol-free chocolate cookie recipe

Mon, 23 Feb 2004 00:00:00 +0000

Although these cookies are cholesterol-free, they do contain a lot of sugar (mainly from the maple syrup).

190g graham flour
120g chopped & roasted walnuts (roast 10 minutes at 175°C)
2 teaspoons backing powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
20g ground linseed
1 cup marple syrup
75g cocoa
75g liquid Becel oil for baking
200ml fatfree milk
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
3 drops almond oil
30g oatflakes

Mix syrup, linseeds, cocoa, Becel, milk and spices in a blender add mix flour, baking powder, oatflakes and nuts. Bake for approx. 25 min at 175°C.