Cardamom buns!

I just love cardamom and I am always happy to find new recipes to use it in. I haven't actually prepared this yet but the following recipe, which is from "Falling Cloudberries" by Tessa Kiros, is my newest cookbook that I am just in love with, it just "smelt" so good I will surely be making it this weekend.

Cinnamon and cardamom buns

bun dough

250 ml (I cup) TEPID MILK
100 g (3'/z oz) CASTER SUGAR 25 g (I oz) FRESH YEAST
1 EGG, lightly beaten
125 g (4'/z oz) BUTTER, softened
2 TEASPOONS Freshly GROUND CARDAMOM seeds
1 TEASPOON SALT


Cinnamon Butter:
2 TEASPOONS GROUND CINNAMON
50 g (13/-1 oz) CASTER SUGAR, PLUS 1 TABLESPOON for sprinkling
80 g (23/-1 oz) BUTTER, softened
1 EGG, lightly beaten

CINNAMON & CARDAMOM BUNS

Put the milk and sugar in a bowl and crumble in the yeast. Leave for 10 minutes, or until the yeast begins to activate. Add the egg, butter, cardamom and salt and mix in. Add the flour, bit it, mixing it in with a wooden spoon until you need to use your hands, and then turn it onto the work surface to knead. It may seem a little too sticky initially, but will become compact and beautifully soft after about 5 minutes. Put the dough back in the bowl, cover with clean cloth and then a heavy towel or blanket, and leave in a warm place for about 2 hours, or until it has doubled in size.

To make the cinnamon butter, mix together the cinnamon and sugar then divide the butter into portions and keep on one side.

Put the dough on a floured work surface and divide it into four portions. Begin with one portion, covering the others with a cloth so they don't dry out. Using a rolling pin, roll out a rectangle, roughly about 30 x 25 cm (12 x 10 inches) and 2-3 mm (1/8 inch) thick. Spread one portion of butter over the surface of the dough with a palette knife or blunt knife. Sprinkle with about 3 teaspoon the cinnamon mix, covering the whole surface with quick shaking movements of your wrists. R, L to make a long dough sausage. Set aside while you finish rolling out and buttering the rest of the dough, so that you can cut them all together.

Line two large baking trays with baking paper, or bake in two lots if you only have one tray. Line the dough sausages in front of you and cut them slightly on the diagonal, alternating up and down so that the slices are fat 'v' shapes, with the point of the 'v' about 2 cm (3/4 inch) and the base about 5 cm (2 inches). Turn them so they are all the right way up, sitting on their fatter bases. Press down on the top of each one with two fingers until you think you will almost go through to your work surface. Along the sides you will see the cinnamon stripes oozing outwards. Put the buns on the baking tray, leaving space for them to puff and rise while they bake. Brush lightly with beaten egg and sprinkle a little sugar over the top.

Leave the buns to rise for half an hour and preheat your oven to 350°F (180C). Bake them about 20 minutes or until they are golden. Check that they are lightly golden underneath as well before you take them out of the oven. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature and, when they a cool, you may keep them in an airtight container so they don't harden.

Butter Beans!

My spoon loves beans, all beans. Since butter beans (lima) were available in the market fresh this week, I thought to be productive in the kitchen and make one of my fav bean recipes.
Baked Butter Beans with onions, tomatoes, red onions, celery, garlic and parsley

Soak the beans overnight. Drain them put them in a pot of cold water with a bay leaf. Cook for about 1-2 hours, until tender. Add salt near the end of the cooking time.

Preheat the oven to 350F. Drain the beans but keep some of the water to use later as a thickener. Place the beans in a baking dish.

In a frying pan with some olive oil, saute red onions until they are translucent. Add them to the beans along with sliced celery stalks, chopped ripe tomatoes, chopped garlic, parsley, olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Add some of the reserved bean water and mix all together. Cover the dish and bake for about 45 minutes. Remove the cover and stir the mixture adding more of the bean water if the dish seems too dry. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and return to the oven uncovered, for another 20-30 minutes. Serve with an extra drizzling of olive oil on top if you so desire.
Yummy with any meat dish or alone with rice and even a plain pasta.