Wok-ing eggplant with barolo – or how to combine chinese with italian cuisine

This dish is actually my mother-in-laws creation (althoug I’ve adapted it to suit my taste more). It’s based on her traditional cooking methods (mostly italian and french inspired) and on her husbands tales from the food he ate when he visited china. I really like the combination of flavours, and my experiments have proven that you need to keep this dish simple, or else the charme goes missing.

I usually just cook this from my head, so the amount of soy and red wine may be off. However I tend to use more wine than soy. Depending on the wine, I might actually use equal sized portions. The secret is to taste the sauce while cooking, since the key is to find the right combination of soy and wine, where you an still taste the wine, but the soy and spices give a refreshing kick. And you can never have to much sauce in this dish…

Italian-chinese wok with eggplant (base recipe)

• 1 eggplant
• 1 red pepper, small
• 3 spring onions
• red wine, 4 tblspoon
• soy, 2 tblspoon
• chili
• sugar
• olive oil

1. Cut the eggplant and red pepper into bitesized pieces. Chop the spring onions.
2. Heat the oil in a wok. Fry the eggplants until soft and golden. Remove from the wok.
3. Now stirfry the red peppers until they are crispy.
4. Add eggplants
5. Add soy, redwine, chili and sugar. Season to taste. (If it is too salty, add more wine, if it tastes too much like bad wine, add more soy)
6. Sprinkle over the spring onions and serve.

Now, my mother-in-law uses the above as a side dish for virtually anything. She even combines it with rocket/arugula to make a salad. (Personally I do not like that, I find the arugula is too bitter).

I find it works very well with rice, especially if you add some meat. Cook some rice, stir fry the meat after the red peppers, end else just use the above procedure. I even used it with quorn filets, which was also very nice.

Cinnamon Stylus (aka. Kanelgiffler)

We’re back from Vienna again. Actually we’ve been back for a week already, but I’ve been ill, which is sadly reflected by this blogs state. Anyway – to cheer up myself and the rest of my family I decided to leave bed at bake. Bake lovely Kanelgiffler. I believe they are a Swedish invention, and may be translated to Cinnamon Styluses. They really are nothing but another form of Cinnamon Buns – tasty and greasy. Just what you need when an insect bite turned infection irritates you for the 7. day.

I think the Styluses were rather easy to make. However the doughwas not as easy to work with as I’m used to. Maybe that is just the fever talking, though.

Oh – and the spread has nothing to do with nutella or anything else you’d put on bread. It’s a varaiation on a pudding-like substance Danes like to put in their birthday cakes. Well, my national heritage has some power over me, and I’ve never come to terms with this particular custom.

Stylus with Cinnamon and Vanilla spread (20 pcs)

For the dough:

• 35 g. yeast
• 2 3/4 dl water, hand warm
• 2 ½ tbl sp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cardamom
• 1 egg
• 35 g. butter, soft
• 550 – 600 g flour

For the spread:

• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tbl sp sugar
• seeds of ½ vanilla bean
• 3½ dL milk
• 1½ tbl sp corn starch (maizena)

For the ‘remonce’ (cinnamon filling)

• 200 g butter, soft
• 180 g sugar
• cinnamon to taste (I used 1½ tbl spoons)

To ’sprinkel’: 1 egg

Start with cooking the spread: Beat the potato starch with some of the milk. Meanwhile put the remaining milk and other ingredients into a pot. Heat while constantly beating. Now add the milk-starch and let the mixture boil for some minutes while continually beating. Leave to cool.

Now we go for the dough: Dissolve the yeast in the hand warm water. Add the remaining ingredients and knead into a dough. Beware: the original recipe said to use 425 g of flour, but I ended up using 650 – so be careful when adding the flour. Leave to rise for 15 – 20 minutes.

While the dough rises take your time to mix the remonce: Beat sugar and butter until it is mixed well and add cinnamon to taste.

Now, roll the dough into a 50cm x 20 cm rectangular. Spread first the remonce and then spread on the dough. Roll the whole thing into a 50 cm snake. Now cut into ’styles’ every 3-5 cm. Place on a baking tray and leave to rise for another 40-50 minutes. Sprinkle with the beaten egg.

Bake for 7-9 minutes at 235 degrees Celsius.

Kanelgifler, ca 20 stk.

Dej:

• 35 g gær
  2 3/4 dl lunkent vand
  2 ½ spsk sukker
  1 tsk. salt
  1 tsk. kardemomme (kan udelades)
  1 æg
  35 g smør
  550 – 600 g mel
• Remonce:
  200 g blødt smør
  180 g sukker
  kanel efter smag
• Creme:
  2 æggeblommer
  2 spsk. sukker
  vaniliesukker, ca ½ tsk
  3½ dl mælk
  1½ spsk. maizena

Til pensling: 1 æg, sammenpisket

Start med at lave cremen:
Rør maizena ud i lidt af mælken. Bland resten af ingredienserne i
en lille kasserolle og varm det under omrøring. Tilsæt maizena-
blandingen og lad det koge i et par minutter under konstant
omrøring.
Stil cremen til side og lad den køle af.

Lav nu dejen: smuldr gæren ud i det lunkne vand. Tilsæt de øvrige
ingredienser (men pas på melet! Den oprindelige opskrift angiver
425 g, men jeg måtte bruge ca 600 før dejen var nogenlunde samlet).
Stil dejen til hævning i 15-20 minutter.

Men dejen hæver laves remoncen: bland smør og sukker og smag til med
kanel. Jeg vil anbefale ca 2 spsk. kanel (men det er jo smagssag).

Rul dejen ud til et rektangel på 50 * 20 cm (den var lidt strid da jeg
lave giflerne). Smør først remoncen på og derefter cremen. Lad de sidste
3-5 cm. på langs være fri for creme og remonce.
Rul rektanglet sammen fra den lange side, begynd fra den side med
remonce. Skær pølsen i skiver på 4 cm. bredde. Læg dem over på en
bageplade med god mellemrum. Lad dem hæve i 40-50 minutter. Pensl dem
med æg.

Bag giflerne v. 235 grader i 8-9 minutter.