SAVORY STALKED PANCAKES

 This is a cold dish ideal for summer days, the pancakes must be very thin (French style), and they are stalked using whatever you like to fill them.

For the crèpes you need:

4 eggs

4 tbsp melted butter

2 cups water

1 cup sifted flour

1/4 tsp salt

Sift the flour with the salt.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the liquids, which have been beaten together.

Combine with a few quick strokes.

Heat a 5 inches frying pan, greased with a very little butter.

Add a small quantity of batter and tip the pan to let the batter spread over the bottom.

Cook over moderate heat, turning crèpe once to brown on under side.

Place a pancake in a serving dish and spread a little mayonnaise over it and one of the items in the list, could be ham for example, and then place another pancake on top, spread a little mayonnaise over it and place lettuce , place another pancake on top and go on doing this till you have a pancake cake  of 4 or 5 inches in height.

INGREDIENTS FOR FILLING

Ham slices

Cheese slices

Hearts of palms

Lettuce leaves

Tomato slices

Red peppers

Avocado

Chopped olives

Mayonnaise

The only limit for the ingredients we can use is our imagination.

Enjoy!

DOLMAS - STUFFED GRAPE VINE LEAVES

DOLMAS, this is a Middle East typical dish, I like them because the grape vine leaf  infuses the stuffing with a lemony flavor.
You'll need aprox. 20 leaves.

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 pound ground lamb
2 medium onions finely chopped
1 1/2 cup cooked rice
2/3 cup pine nuts
2 tablespoons fresh chopped mint
salt and pepper to taste.

Mix all the ingredients and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Place a leaf rib side down onto your working table.

Place a tablespoon of the filling in the leaf's center.

Fold the bottom of the leaf over the filling, fold in the sides and roll.

Repeat with remaining leaves.

Place the dolmas in a steamer and steam them for 30 minutes.

Enjoy.

CLAFOUTI

CLAFOUTI- This is a dessert originated in the South of France, in an area known as Limousin, it is very fast and easy to make. It is made with black cherries and a pancake like batter on top and dusted with confectioner's sugar.
It can be made with other fruits like apples, plums, blueberries, etc  but in that case is named FLAUGNARDE.

CLAFOUTI

1 pound pitted cherries
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons sugar

2 large eggs
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Prepare the fruit.  In a skillet place the butter, sugar and cherries, stir for 3 minutes. Set aside.

Beat the eggs, add the sugar, flour, baking powder, milk and vanilla extract.

Mix well and set aside.

Place the cherries in a baking pan and pour the batter over them. Bake in a pre heated oven 350F for 30 minutes aprox.

Dust with confectioner's sugar and you can serve it warm or hot, and if you want with a scoop of ice cream.
 Enjoy!

BERRY KUCHEN

BERRY KUCHEN-I am very excited  about my first post on this blog.  I have a food blog in Spanish that is almost three years old. It’s called  “Recetas y Condimentos”,  but this  is my new baby and it’s a real challenge for me. Celebrating this new beginning I want to share with  you  a kuchen recipe that’s very common in the southern part of Chile. It is a German cake with fruit and cream and I hope  you’ll enjoy it very much.

I made this kuchen with a mix of blueberries, blackberries and raspberries, but if you want, you can make it with only one kind.

For the cake :

¾ stick butter
2 eggs
½ cup sugar
1 ¼ cup flour
2 heaped tbsp of cornstarch
 1 tsp baking powder
 Grated lemon rind

For the cream:

1 pound of berries
1 ½ cups of milk
2 tbsp of flour
4 tbsp of sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup of cream

Cream butter and sugar; beat in the eggs one at a time until the mixture is fluffy.

Add dry ingredients sifted together, and the grated lemon rind.

Bake in a pan that’s aprox. 11 inches in diameter, in a moderate oven at 350F for 15 to 20 minutes.

Wash and dry the berries and mix with 2 tablespoons of sugar. Set aside.

For the cream, stir 6 tbsp milk into the flour. Set aside.

Warm the remaining milk with the sugar, before it reaches a boiling point add the milk with the flour and cook for 1 minute.

Add the vanilla extract. Set aside.

Once it cools down add the cup of cream.

Spread the berries and the cream over the cake. Bake for another 20 minutes.

Cool before serving.

Enjoy.