Cooking and baking today

[wiseheart]

First and foremost: my second attempt at producing Quarktaschen. (I'm still using up the yeast I mass-acquired in a moment of panic. *g*)



They turned out quite yummy, despite the fact that I mistakenly put twice the required amount of sugar into the dough. Not because I'm terminally stupid but because I actually baked half a batch and forgot that I'd need half the amount of everything, not just of flour, yeast, milk, eggs and butter. Ah, well, they are a tad too sweet - although I tried to counteract the effect with an extra shot of lemon essence - but soft and yummy nonetheless.

Secondly, I tried my hand at the original Spanish tortilla potata, following the idiot-proof family recipe of Spanish chef and baker Senor Calvo (who happens to be the husband of my friend Eenie). The thing came out of the frying pan a tad ugly, but it was delicious. Mum was delighted. It definitely stays on the family menu.

I also worked a bit on my matchbox gift boxes, but basically the kitchen ate my day. I love working with yeast dough, but it is time-consuming, since one has to wait a lot for the dough to rise.

I chatted on the phone with our two expecting young (ex)colleagues and was delighted to hear that they (and the babies are fine). All in all, it was an eventful day that kept me away from the telly, which is always a good thing on a national holiday.

Comments

[artemis10002000]

Hey! Hope you're doing reasonably well with the summer heat, or as well as can be expected anyway.

The Quarktaschen look so good!

I'm also working through my Corona stashes, I've been using up the dark flours I had to switch to when regular flour was out, been baking bread with these and some old Sauerteigstarter which Mom still had laying around (and which I also rediscovered during Corona, but couldn't use then since I was short on flour)

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Hey, welcome back! I've missed you so much - and you've missed July picowrimo completely!
Are you and your Mama all right? We really should write each other privately; I haven't got the faintest what you're up to in these days. Can you PM me your current e-mail address?

[artemis10002000]

Yeah, we're doing alright! Time has just flown by even though nothing out of the ordinary happened. I'll PM you

And I know I missed pico but I hadn't even touched my fanfic files since April, I completely fell out of writing for months on end. Trying to tiptoe back into it currently.

[meathiel]

Care to share the recipe for the tortilla?

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Sure, it's really idiot proof.

Ingredients:
6 eggs, lightly beaten
4-5 bigger potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
1 onion, thinly sliced
3/4 to 1 l sunflower oil
1 pinch of salt
1 tbsp of olive oil

Method:
1. Heat the sunflower oil.
2. Put in the onion and cook until glassy.
3. Add the sliced potatoes and cook them for about 15 minutes until they are soft. You can cover the pan if necessary; that way the potatoes get soft faster.
4. Drain the potatoes in a sieve, so that they wouldn't be too greasy.
5. Mix in a bowl potatoes, onions, beaten eggs and as much salt as you like.
6. Heat olive oil in in a frying pan of 25 cm diameter.
7. Add the potato/egg mix and fry it until the surface is no longer liquid.
8. Flap over the tortilla with the help of a plate and fry the other side, too.
9. Let it slide onto a plate and you can eat it.

This is basically it. If you want to watch Senor Calvo actually making the tortilla, the YouTube video is here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPn91mFtiMg&list=LLtTHb07UXZkAojXJ3rv8IpQ&index=2&t=40s (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPn91mFtiMg&list=LLtTHb07UXZkAojXJ3rv8IpQ&index=2&t=40s)

He is speaking Hungarian (with an adorable Spanish accent), but you can see the actual process, so you don't really need to understand the words.
4.

[meathiel]

Thank you.
I've had it so many times but I honestly wasn't aware that the potatoes were fried in oil first.

[aeris444.livejournal.com]

That looks yummy! I really want to explore the world of proofed dough with my new mixer! I'm just waiting for the temperatures to drop ;-)

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

To be honest, I always make the whole thing with my hands. That way I can't overwork the dough, and it works without electricity, too. ;))

[chocolate-frapp.livejournal.com]

those look yummy!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Too yummy!

[adafrog.livejournal.com]

Yum.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Way too yummy for the slim figure (which I never had anyway). *g*

[adafrog.livejournal.com]

lol Yeah.

[elwenlj.livejournal.com]

What's TV like in your country during bank holidays? In the UK it's filled with sport, sport and more sport.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

On a national holiday like August 20, which is the remembrance day of the founding of Hungarian state, usually decades-old patriotic stuff nobody really cares for - except the right-wing zealots. When those films and plays were new, they meant a lot, but now they just serve to increase nationalistic tendencies that are bad enough already, even without encouragement.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Those do look very good. And I do like a good potato tortilla - I should do one for dinner during the coming week. Mine never look pretty, either :)

[mirasaui.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, that potato tortilla looks delicious and very fattening! I imagine it would be quite popular at my house. But, my downfall would be the Quarktaschen, it looks truly yummy!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Quarktaschen are very yummy indeed. I froze some of them, and we ate them a week later, to lessen the calory intake per day. *g*