Churros with Mango and Strawberry Dips

Aaaaah churros! Who doesn't love some good old churros? Greasy, sugary goodness. 
They always take me back to my very first trip to Spain when I was 8 years old (since then, Spain has become one of my favourite countries to visit). My parents and I drove around the stunning region of Andalusia - a region famous for its sherry, horses, flamenco, beautiful cities and not to forget the region's probably most celebrated son - Pablo Picasso. 

We visited quite a few cities during our time there, but the one I remember the best (strangely enough) is Jerez de la Frontera. I might just remember it the best, because we did the most sherry tasting there... Imagine an 8 year old, pale as paper girl running from one bodega to another in the crazy hot August weather. It was a rather memorable stay for me and let me tell you - now I know my sherries! Not that I could take part in sherry tasting sessions back then (to be fair, I was allowed to take a nip of the one or the other glass of sherry), but I still remember a bit of what we were told at Sandeman, Tio Pepe & Co.

Anyways - what was memorable as well was breakfast in Jerez. We never had breakfast at the hotel, simply because my parents wanted to experience the city of Jerez, rather than the hotel's continental breakfast (that's actually a great tip for anyone who likes to travel IMO), so we used to go to the city's market hall in the morning- "Mercado Central de Abastos".   It's just as amazing as probably most other Spanish mercado - lovely flair, food and people. 

In the market there's a little booth that was selling freshly fried churros tossed in cinnamon sugar. Believe you me from the first bite on I was in love with this deliciousness and it went on to be our -or at least my- breakfast for the rest of our stay in Jerez. 

I for one prefer to eat churros without any dip at all, just sprinkle on some cinnamon sugar and I'm good to go. I've tried them dipped in chocolate sauce once it honestly destroyed the whole dish for me...but that might also be, because I just don't really care for chocolate (oh God, have I just given away my biggest secret?!). 
The only thing that I could see myself enjoying was dipping the churros in something light and fresh, something that kind of "breaks" the richness of the churros, not enhances it. 
So I came up with 2 yummy dipping sauces - a mango/ ginger dip and a strawberry/ lime dip.

Now, heat up the oil, listen to some Paco de Lucia, pour yourself a glass of sherry and get cooking!:-)

xoxo
Agnes

Churros with mango and strawberry dipping sauce

serves 4 

Ingredients:

Churros:

1 Cup (250 ml) water

1 Cup (160 g) all purpose flour

½ Cup (110 g) butter

3 eggs

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp vanilla extract

Oil for frying

Cinnamon Sugar:

¼ Cup (40 g) sugar

1 ½ tsp cinnamon

Mango Dip:

1 mango

½ tbsp honey

¼ tsp ground fresh ginger

1 tsp lime juice

Strawberry Dip:

1 ½ Cups (300 g) fresh (or frozen) strawberries

1 tbsp honey

juice of ½ lime and

zest of 1 lime

Method:

1. In a medium sized pot, bring water and butter to a boil. Stir in the flour and keep stirring quite vigorously until all the flour is incorporated and there are no more lumps.
2. Take the pot off the heat and add in the eggs. Stir after each egg until it’s fully worked into the dough. Finally, whisk in the sugar, salt and vanilla.
3. Fill a pan with oil (you want it to be about half-full) – for frying the churros. Using an icing bag, pipe the batter into the hot oil and fry until the churros turn a nice, golden brown colour.
4. Drain off any excess fat by placing the churros on a paper towel.
5. Mix sugar and cinnamon, then toss the churros in the sugar mixture.
6. Place all the ingredients for the mango dip in a mixer and blend until smooth. Do the same for making the strawberry dip. Alternatively you could use a hand-held blender or a fork.
7. Churros are best served warm.

Delicious Oatmeal Bread

Oatmeal bread. Ever had it? No? Then you just HAVE to give it a try. It's -hands down- one of my favourite breads of all time. It's sweet, it's savoury, simply the best of both worlds. The rolled oats do really give it a lovely texture and that special taste.


I remember when I first (at least consciously) had oatmeal bread - which wasn't too long ago, actually. Maybe 2 or 3 years. When you first bite into it it does "only" taste like a plain old piece of bread, but the more you chew it, the more flavour it develops and then this hint of sweetness kicks in - not too sweet, just enough to make the bread perfect for pairing with not only jam, or peanut butter, but also any savoury toppings.


It's such an uncomplicated method. I guarantee you, ANYONE can have a go at it and end up with the most delicious, homebaked loaf of oatmeal bread. I know, baking bread does often appear to be rather intimidating at first, but in fact it shouldn't be. You can easily bake your own!


This recipe makes 1 decent sized loaf. You can store it -well covered- for about 1 week. Also if you find yourself with too much of this deliciousness, you can definitely cut it into pieces and keep it in the freezer for a few months! So when you happen to be out of bread in 3 months time and all the stores are closed, you can just take the bread out of your freezer, thaw it and enjoy your favourite carb.


There's only one thing left to say:
Ready...set...BAKE!


Ingredients:

1 cup (90g) rolled oats
6 cups (750g) bread flour
1 cup (240ml) boiling water
1 cup (240ml) milk
1 ½ tbsp margarine, melted
2 packets of active dry yeast (1/2 oz/ 7 grams each)
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp Golden Syrup, molasses or honey
2 tsp salt

 Method:

1. Combine rolled oats and water in a medium sized bowl. Let the mixture sit for a couple of minutes, or until the oats have soaked up all the water. Mix in the margarine and   the Golden Syrup (molasses or honey).
2. Heat the milk just until lukewarm. To proof the yeast stir the sugar in the milk, sprinkle the yeast on top and cover it for about 10 minutes. Then mix in with the rolled oats.
3. Sieve the flour and salt into a large bowl, put in the rolled oats/ yeast mixture and knead well for some 10 minutes or so. Let the dough rise in a warm spot for about 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.
4. Knead again and put the dough into lightly greased loaf pans. Let the dough prove once more until almost doubled.
5. Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C), brush water on the loaf and bake for 45-50 minutes.

~♥Agnes


PS.: Follow me on Twitter @headoverfood :-)

NO-CHURN STAWBERRY-LIME ICE CREAM and HOMEMADE ICE CREAM CONES

My favorite kind of ice cream is strawberry ice cream (that and the little known "fiocco" which is essentially just straight up frozen heavy-cream with a ton of sugar. It's abnormally delicious and also happened to be Ingrid Bergman's favorite ice cream flavor. Didn't know that? You're welcome. Yes, she's the chick from "Casablanca"), because it's that perfect blend of sweetness and fruitiness.
The awesome thing is that you can make the most delicious strawberry ice cream yourself using just 3 (or 2, if you don't care for the lime) ingredients, your blender and your freezer. It's just THAT easy. Nobody needs an ice cream maker, come on! Unless you're planning on opening an ice cream parlor in the future, I don't see the need of buying a bulky machine that you're probably gonna use less than 10 times a year. Seriously!
Be that as it may, also ice cream cones -surprisingly- aren't the most intricate food you can make. By working with what essentially is similar to a crêpe batter, you can make your own, delicious cones.

For this recipe I'm adding lime to the mixture, as it gives the whole thing a subtle tart flavor.
Honestly, you could do many more variations on this recipe, the only ingredient you should keep in the mix is the condensed milk. I for one can only recommend making strawberry+cherry ice cream by simple replacing the lime with frozen cherries. Another flavor worth a try - apple+cinnamon (peel the apple before chopping it up and freezing it).
Also, you can OF COURSE keep both of these recipes completely vegan. Want some delicious vegan strawberry lime ice cream? Just replace the condensed milk with dairy-free condensed milk (which you can easily make yourself btw, I've got a recipe I'll share with you soon) and you've got yourself a lovely vegan treat for a hot summer day. As for the ice cream cones - instead of dairy milk you can use (you know the drill) any plant based milk and in place of the eggs you can use my favorite "faux eggs" -  "chia eggs" (for 1 egg take 1 tbsp ground chia seeds and 3 tbsp water, stir and let the mixture sit for about 5-10 minutes). You're welcome ;-)


STRAWBERRY LIME ICE CREAM 

Ingredients:

350g frozen strawberries (I'd recommend letting the strawberries thaw for some 15-30 minutes, just until they're not rock-hard anymore. I feel like slightly defrosted strawberries make for a smoother result)
100g condensed milk
zest of 2 limes
juice of 1 lime

Method:

1.  Put all the ingredients in your mixer and blend for about 1 minute on "high". Have a taste - if it's too sweet add more lime juice, if it's too sour for your taste add in some more condensed milk.

2. Transfer the mixture into a container and put it in the freezer. If you're planning on serving the ice cream that very day I suggest you stir it every 30 minutes or so, otherwise it WILL become hard as stone and you'll have to let it thaw for up to 30 minutes until you can serve it nicely.


ICE CREAM CONES 

 Ingredients  (makes 7-8 cones using a 6 inch pan): 

2 eggs
60g (1/3 cup) granulated white sugar
60g (4 tbsp) melted butter (at room temperature)
40g all purpose flour
1/4 tsp ground vanilla (or 1/2 tsp vanilla extract)
2 tbsp milk
 a pinch of salt
flavorless oil for baking

Method:

1. In a bowl whisk the eggs and the sugar. Add the butter, milk, vanilla, flour and salt and mix until well combined. Let mixture sit for a minute. The mixture should still be quite liquidly, quite like a pancake batter.
2. Heat a (preferably non stick) pan to medium heat. Brush it with oil. Reduce heat to low, then pour in about 1/4 cup of the batter into the pan, immediately tipping and rotating it to spread the batter nice and thinly.
3. Let the "crepe" cook for about 2 minute or so, until you see the edges turn a light brown colour. Then flip the crepe and let it cook for another 30-45 seconds. Keep an eye on your pancake now, the batter gets burnt easily.

4. Once your cone-to be is fully cooked, transfer it onto either a smooth surface, or as I like to do it, a wire rack. You have to shape the cone while the crepe is still hot, so get your fingers ready for some hot stuff;-)
5. Form the cone and leave it to cool off. If everything was done right, the cone will become completely crisp within a few minutes.

 music: Morning stroll

 Josh Kirsch; Media Right Productions;

Like what you see? Follow me on twitter @headoverfood :-)

~♥Agnes

 

Quick tip - my morning power juice!

We all know the struggle - getting in your daily dose of fruits and veggies. You should eat about 5 cups of veggies/ fruits a day (on average), at least that's what I've read. Did you know that??
Now, I don't eat much meat or dairy products in general (during lent I don't eat any meat at all), but even when I go meatless for the one or the other day, I still see myself reaching more for carbs than for greens. I'm trying to change that these days and as of this moment my plan seems to be working.
Anyways, the more you think about how many greens you're supposed to eat the more difficult it tends to get to reach that dailly goal - or is it just me?
One way to boost your veggie intake is by putting them into smoothies, juices and all that good stuff. What I really love to make in the morning is a nice green juice. Simple, quick and healthy. I wouldn't call it a smoothie, it's a juice in my opinion (now what is the difference really?) and it's absolutely delicious.
Now I don't drink coffee, I don't like the taste (unless you put a sh*tload of soy milk in there I just can't drink it) and also I never felt the NEED  for that caffeine kick in the morning, but this juice definitely gives me a boost in the morning. Maybe it's the spinach? If so, call me Popeye!;-)


So what makes this juice so healthy?

Let's go over the ingredients:

There's spinach first of all that magic vegetable with a bad reputation and I don't understand why. It's full with vitamins (K-good for blood coagulation , A - great for your eyes and skin, C - helps your body's defences, B2 - good for your energy metabolism), folic acid (hematopoiesis), iron (oxygen transport in your blood) and magnesium (muscles, nerves, energy metabolism). What do we learn from that? That stuff is damn good for you!
Next up is an apple, THE fruit of the fruits if you ask me. Honestly, I've never been it's biggest fan, but it's still a daily staple for me ("An apple a day keeps the doctor away", remember?). It's a great source for vitamin B, C and E (muscles, teeth), sodium, potassium (carbohydrate metabolism), magnesium, iron and calcium (bones), helps lowering your cholesterol value and lowers the risk of suffering a stroke. Amazing, eh?
The 3rd one in line is the kiwi. They're rich in vitamin C, magnesium, folic acid and zinc. On a hot day, or when your blood circulation is poor you should eat some 3 kiwis or so to improveour circular flow.
To give the juice a bit of a kick I like to add a splash of lime juice. Limes are - of course - rich in vitamin C, but also A and E.
Lastly the posh ingredient - chia seeds. One of the most famous superfoods of the last years. These little black seeds contain 5 times more calcium than milk and more iron than spinach. They're just suuuuper healthy.

So, get blending!:-)

Ingredients for 2 glasses:

A handful (about 1 Cup) of spinach
1/2 apple, peeled
1 Cup water (instead of the apple and the water you can use 1 Cup of apple juice)
1 kiwi (or 1/2 cup of kiwi berries)
1 tsp lime juice
1 tsp chia seeds

Method:

Put all the ingredients into a blender and blend for about 10 seconds, or until smooth.

ENJOY and HAVE A GOOD DAY ;-)

PS: I just realised I forgot to include the kiwi on the picture! Sorry!
PPS: Stay up to date with my twitter @headoverfood

GREATEST Monkey Bread EVER!

Tell me - does this look amazing or DOES it look amazing?! In case you were wondering - it does. Actually, I only recently dicovered the ooey gooey deliciousness they call "monkey bread" and now I wish I knew about it earlier. Not gonna lie - I knew similar cakes like this before (bread? Cake? What's the difference!), but monkey bread isn't only a tasty treat, it's also fun to eat. I mean come on, how often do you get the chance to pull little cinnamony "loafs" of heaven apart? It's like the ULTIMATE CINNAMON ROLL!
Also it's incredibly easy to make, I mean seriously - you don't need too many ingredients and the few things you've actually got to do are manageable. It WILL take up a bit of your time, as the dough needs to rise, but you can't have everything, can you?
Well then, what are you waiting for? Start baking!:-)

INGREDIENTS:

for the dough:
3 1/4 to 3 1/2 Cups (360-400 grams) of all purpose flour
1/4 Cup (55 grams) granulated white sugar
2 tbsp (30g) melted butter
1 Cup (250 ml) warmed milk (not hot, otherwise the yeast won't rise)
1/3 Cup (80 ml) warm water
1 package of active dry yeast
2 tsp salt

for the coating:
1/4 Cup (55 grams) granulated white sugar
1/4 Cup (50 grams) brown sugar
1/2 stick (55 grams) melted butter
3 tsp ground cinnamon


1. First of all, do what I always do to improve my chances of ending up with a perfectly risen dough and turn on your oven at 300°F (150°C) for about 2 minute, so your oven feels cozy warm;) (NOT hot, I repeat NOT HOT). Now heat some water in your water kettle, fill it into an oven proof bowl and put it in the oven under the baking sheet. This creates a warm and moist environment for your dough.
2. Put the flour and salt in a big mixing bowl and give it a stir.
3. In another bowl mix all the other ingredients for the dough.
4. Make a well in the center of the flour and pour in the liquid mixture. Now take a wooden spoon and stir it all together. When most of the liquid is incorporated into the flour put away the spoon and start using your hands to knead the dough. If you notice the dough to be too tacky, put in some more flour, if it's too dry, add a teeny tiny bit of milk. Knead the dough until it's smooth for about 5 minutes.
5. Spray a large bowl with non stick cooking spray (or simply brush it with any tasteless oil like canola oil) and put in the dough.

6. Put the dough in the oven (or if you don't want to use this method, simply in a warm place) and let it rise for about 1 - 1 1/2 hours.
7. Once the dough is ready mix sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Have your melted butter ready in another. Thoroughly butter your Bundt pan.
8. Pick little pieces from the dough and form them into balls. Coat each ball with the butter first and then roll it in the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Then you put the ball in your pan. Stack up the dough balls until there's no more dough left.

9. Put it in the oven again and let the dough rise for another 30 minutes.
10. Take the pan out of the oven and preheat it to 350°F (180°C).

11. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until it's golden brown on top.

12. Let the monkey bread cool for about 15-30 minutes, then put it out on a plate and start pulling apart!

The perfect Red Velvet Muffin!

So, with Valentine's Day upon us the idea is obvious to post a recipe for something that somewhat has a "romantic" appearance, right? Once you can't get the romantic theme out of your head you're already thinking of love and what's the colour of love? Right! Red! What's red.... Actually the first thing that came to my mind weren't strawberries, raspberries, not even a bloody steak recipe was amongst my first thoughts! Haha. Well, anyways, what I was thinking of right away were Red Velvet Muffins! You might think now: Red Velvet Muffins? No Red Velvet Cupcakes? 
Don't get me wrong - I like cupcakes, I really do, but as of now I've got a bit of a "cupcake trauma". All the latest cupcakes I tried -not only the ones I made myself, but also those that were storebought- were incredibly sweet. The one and only thing that they tasted of sugar. So I'm on "team muffin" for now. Not for long, I hope (actually I KNOW, since there are so many yummy recipes to try that I won't be able to resist for too long). Then again, muffins are such a delicious treat an can be just as good, if not even better than cupcakes (just think of raspberry-streusel muffins!!*sigh*).
Now, you also can take this recipe say as a "cupcake base", as it's really delicious not only by itself, but also with any kind of frosting you like (a banana frosting for example, one of my favourites).

Here we go! Hope you like this red, chocolatey goodness just as much as I do:)

INGREDIENTS (makes 12 muffins)

85 g butter (3/4 stick; unsalted)
175 g granulated sugar (3/4 cup)
1 egg 
1 1/4 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
190 ml milk (3/4 cup)
220 g all purpose flour (1 3/4 cup)
2 tbsp liquid red food colouring
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp apple cider vinegar
 *note: all ingredients should be at room temperature
1)

Preheat your oven to 200°C (350°F). Put the butter and the sugar into the bowl of your stand mixer (if you don't have one, you can always use a hand mixer) and cream together, starting on low speed, when the butter and the sugar are roughly mixed together already, gradually turn on high speed, for about 4-6 minutes, or until mixture looks light and almost fluffy.

2)

 Put in the egg and mix together for another minute or so. 

3)

 While beating in the egg, take a small bowl and combine the cocoa powder, the food colouring and the vanilla, stiring the mixture until it's got a paste-like consitency. Then mix the "paste" into the batter -on medium speed- teaspoon after teaspoon. Keep on beating the mixture for another minute or two, just to make sure you end up with a smooth batter, without any cocoa-powder-lumps. Use a spatula to occasionally scrape batter from the sides of your mixing bowl.

4)

 Put the salt into the milk. When the cocoa powder paste is blended in, alternately mix in a bit of the milk and a bit of the flour (about 1/4 of the milk or the flour at a time), on low speed. Mix until the batter is smooth.

5)

 In a glass, put in the baking powder, then put in the apple cider. It will come to a reaction and bubble. Give it a stir and mix it into your Red Velvet batter on medium speed.

6)

 Either butter your muffin tray, or put some lovely muffin liners (there are so many beautiful designs, it never ceases to amaze me) in the forms. Now spread the batter into the forms, until each form is about 3/4 full (~1 heaped tablespoon). Bake for 17-20 minutes (to check if the muffins are ready to be taken out and enjoyed, take a toothpick, stick it right into the middle of one muffin and if it comes out clean, your muffins are done!), take them out of the oven, let your muffins cool completely and you're ready to indulge in these perfect, red velvet muffins! You can store them for 4-7 days:)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Fruity Peanut-Granola

So I was thinking about which recipe to be my first post. All the fancy things crossed my mind - like Bœuf Bourguignon or a nice roast pork. Then however, after a while this enthusiasm you have when beginning something new vanished and my ideas became more reasonable, more suitable for everyday-life. I suppose that IS the right thing to do in the "early days" of the life of a blog. 
Now today I really craved some good ol' granola, but I was out of store-bought and so I thought "Let's make some granola!".
I mean - store-bought granola IS good, I won't say it isn't since that would be a lie, but hey, my homemade version is damn fine too! 
It's not too sweet though - don't expect it to be sugary, because it really isn't. Still - if you're more the sugary-sweet type-of-person (which isn't a bad thing, don't get me wrong - it's all a matter of taste) just add the one or the other tablespoon more of agave syrup (or maple syrup).
This is a very easy, simple and cheap way to make your own granola. Stored in a dry and airtight container you can store it for about a month or so :)

Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

 
4 tbsp peanut butter
1 tbsp hazelnut butter (if available - otherwise substitute it with almond butter)
2 tbsp agave syrup
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla sugar (or 1/2 tsp vanilla essence)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
200 g (7/8 cup) rolled oats
20 g freeze-dried strawberries
10 g freeze-dried raspberries

1)

Preheat the oven to 180 °C (300 °F). Put the peanut butter, hazelnut butter, maple syrup and agave syrup into a large-ish pot and turn the stove on low heat. Stir until the peanut and hazelnut butter melt and mix with the agave and maple syrup.

2)

Stir in the vanilla and the cinnamon.

3)

Turn off the heat and put the rolled oats into the pot and combine with the butter-syrup mixture.
When everything is mixed together, line a baking tray with parchment paper and put the oats on it in one single layer.

4)

Bake the oats for 10-15 minutes. The baking time really can't be specified in this case - you HAVE to check every few minutes - these rolled oats get burnt oh so quickly and then this just tastes bitter. When baked, let this wonderful-smelling goodness cool down completely.

5)

Now, for the final touch crumble in the freeze-dried fruit. I like to put in strawberries and raspberries, as those have got a wonderful fruity-sweet taste you just love to have in your granola. Also the sourness of the raspberry is amazing for this purpose. 
All you have to do now is to put the granola into an airtight container and there you go! Probably give it a little shake too, to mix the fruit and the oats even better.

So now: Crunch on!;)