Fart on...lol

• hey foodies are you ready to fart on? Lol…i know but seriously as delicious as this recipe straight from lovie’s kitchen is, you have been warned. i would advise you to eat it in the company of trusted friends or family or perhaps you may need it for another purpose…say to get rid of some love pest  or maybe save it for the black friday sales if you have your eye on something in particular, hee-hee.

this soup is a childhood favourite and there are variations of it. in hrvatski terms it is known as grah and is basically a bean and kransky sausage combo. my mum lovie has a bit of a different take on it which in my opinion super charges the taste level and maybe the fart power too! we made this together this past weekend and i added another touch which elevates this humble soup into a hearty meal and skyrockets your carb intake. along with this delicious soup i made a batch of fresh lepinja , soft pillows of yeasty goodness made better with lashings of butter. guaranteed to be on the weight watchers banned list but truly they are just too hard to resist. even moi who is on a health kick managed to eat one and half from a batch of 12 which in my books is pretty good going coz i did lock myself in my room to stop myself from eating the left overs. luckily for me i have two  young hungry men who saved me from a carb overload and blood sugar catastrophe. actually if the truth be known i gave 4 to my mum and two to my sister, lol which left us with 6. technically i was entitled to two but my good friend anica came for lunch and she had a half of one and of course being polite i had the other half but then snuck in an extra one later in the day…yes with vegemite and butter and it was sooooooo good.  (please refer to a previous post for lepinja recipe and make sure you pay your respects to brigita husic’s youtube video, link included)

i have been farting for two days but fortunately ceased upon my return to work but hey the farting is definitely worth it, so here it is folks…lovie’s grah

*Please note before contemplating making this soup you must soak your bean mix or beans overnight

ingredients

1 smoked ham hock

3 kransky sausages, put these in whole, for a bit of a kick you can get the chilli ones

1 large onion finely diced

5 cloves of garlic crushed

4 medium carrots peeled and kept whole

3 stalks of celery finely diced

2 stalks of whole celery

1 tablespoon of vegeta

½ tspn of ground black pepper

1 tablespoon sweet paprika and 2 tablespoons of plain flour to thicken

parsley for garnish

1 kg pack of continental soup mix soaked overnight

( I get mine from gaganis) this must be soaked overnight, alternatively you can also use  borlotti beans but I recommend going to gaganis and buying the continental bean soup mix as this is my mum’s variation and take it from me if you have ever had any of lovie’s cooking you will heed this advice!!!

 method

place bean mix, ham hock, kranskys into a large pot, add onion, garlic, diced celery, whole celery and whole carrots. add vegeta, pepper and cover with boiling water until completely covered. Bring to boil and then simmer for 1 and a 1/2 hours- 2 hours. meat should fall off ham hock. remove whole celery, carrots, ham hock and kranskys, peel kranskys if you desire and add back to soup, shred ham hock meat and add back to soup, chunk carrots and add back to soup, discard whole celery. mix flour and sweet paprika together in a cup, add some soup stock and mix to form a smooth past then, add back to soup to thicken it. add some chopped parsley, season to taste with a teaspoon of salt if you feel it needs it. serve with freshly baked lepinjas or crusty bread and fart on!

 

introducing...torta caprese...saviour for the gluten intolerant

 

hey viewers do you want to have your cake and eat it too?

i have to confess i have had my fair share of cakes over the years, hee, hee but unfortunately i have had to activate the cake brakes in the name of health. that is not to say i don’t sneak a few crumbs every now and then just don’t tell the cake police aka my sister, my mother, my sons who have taken to watching my food consumption with eagle eyes…drats!

now some of us sadly  in this culinary world cannot partake in the smorgasbord of cake heaven due to food allergies and intolerances but please don’t tell me you have a visual allergy to parsley…true story. does such a thing genuinely exist? if that is the case then i must have a visual allergy to my ex, ha-ha…no seriously that is just my little joke, more like a visual allergy to his new wife. but then again i shall not succumb to being a mean girl ( well maybe only when needed) and instead introduce you to the wonderful creation from naples, torta caprese.

this gluten free wonder is a naples staple and i came upon its discovery through my little sestra chef magnifico who happened to be given a cookbook by loredarlz, our friend in common. yes it involves almonds but no oranges here folks and makes a wonderful alternative to the standard orange, flourless creation that once upon a time was about the only dessert offering to the gluten free. and you don’t have to be a coeliac to enjoy it. so in honour of my buddies who genuinely are gluten intolerant, here is a dessert for you which you can serve up to anyone and enjoy yourself with a big dob of thick cream or mascarpone on the side. i recently made this for a birthday and it was received with oohs and ahs so take it from these lovely ladies it is worth the time, effort and you can be an inclusive baker.

*tips from the test kitchen

 

although this recipe is from the book an extra cup of almond meal is added to the batter

 i used my calibut 54% dark chocolate chips for this, so if you are not a huge dark chocolate fan then use good quality standard dark chocolate, such as old gold

 beat, beat, beat for a good 10 mins, those yolks and sugar need to be creamy

 double line the sides of your cake tin, this can be achieved by folding the baking paper in half and having open edges at the top…also grease your tin  and line the bottom but this can be a single layer of baking paper

 check cake after 50 mins by inserting skewer in the centre

 torta caprese

 ingredients

250 gms unsalted butter

250gms of castor sugar

6 large eggs separated

60ml limoncello liqueur

400 gms blanched almonds…roughly chopped or roughly blitzed in food processor, plus one cup of almond meal

250gms good quality dk chocolate

icing sugar for dusting

method

preheat oven to 180 C or 350 F

melt the butter in a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water, then allow to cool slightly.

beat egg yolks, sugar and limoncello until thick and creamy, 10mins

in a separate bowl whip egg whites until stiff, then fold into egg yolk mixture and also add the butter.

fold in almonds and chocolate, pour into a very well lined 10-inch cake tin and bake for 50-60 mins or until skewer inserted comes out clean (check at 50 mins)

when cool dust with icing sugar and serve with a dollop of thick cream or mascarpone…enjoy.