4pure

Monday, December 23, 2013

Website is changed

To serve my readers even better, I wanted to make an index page. Unfortenately with blogger it was to difficult. That's why this blog is replaced to:  http//www.4pure.nl/en I hope to see you again in the near future

With love, Andrea

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Christmas: cucumber tuna appetizer


A nice, light and healthy appetizer. Nice to serve for Christmas.

Ingredients (4 persons):
  • 1 cucumber;
  • 1 can tuna;
  • 2 tablespoon mayonnaise;
  • 2 tablespoons curry;
  • few drops worcestersauce;
  • 1 teaspoon whiskey;
  • sniff grounded paprika.
Materials:
  • Melon scoop or teaspoon;
  • Zester.
Preparation:
With the big hole in the zester slide long strings from your cucumber. Cut the ends of the cucumber and divide in four. Make a hole in each piece of cucumber with the scooper or teaspoon, but make sure it's not through and through (you want to get a bowl).
Mix the tuna with mayonnaise, curry, worcestersauce and whiskey. Spoon the tuna salad in each bowl. Garnish with grounded paprika and a string of cucumber.

Tips and Trucks:
  • If children are eating with you, don't add the whiskey;
  • Instead of tuna you can use canned salmon as well.

4Pure: Cucumber tuna appetizer

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Monday, December 16, 2013

Christmas: christmas cookies




Do you like cookies? Then these filled cookies might be just the treat for you!

Ingredients:

Cookies:
  • 110 grams almond meal;
  • 2 egg whites (L);
  • 25 grams sugar.
Cookies filling and garnish:
  • 2 eggwhites (L);
  • 100 grams sugar;
  • 180 grams butter, roomtemperature;
  • Crushed candy canes.
Materials:
  • Baking plate;
  • Baking paper;
  • Mixer;
  • Piping bag and pipe.

Preparation:
Beat the eggwhites until foamy and add the sugar. Beat until the egg white stiffens. Mix the egg white with a spatula gently through the almond meal.
Lay baking paper on the baking plate. Put the mixture in a piping bag. Pipe small rounds about 2 cm on the bakingplate. Let the cookies air dry for 45 minutes. Then bake the cookies 11 minutes in a preheated oven (150 degrees Celsius).  Let cool down to roomtemperature.

Filling: In a bowl mix the sugar with the egg whites. Put the bowl on a pan with boiling water. Make sure the bottom of the bowl doesn't touch the boiling water. Whisk the mixture until the sugar is dissolved. Get the bowl of the pan and with a mixer mix until the egg is cooled down and thickened (about 10 minutes). Add the butter, 1 tablespoon each time, until the butter is fully incorporated. Mix on high speed for another 4 minutes. Put the filling in a piping bag and pipe small rounds on one cookie. Put a second cookie on top. Roll the cookies through the crushed candy canes. Repeat for every cookie you baked.

Tips and tricks:

  • Almond meals is available in reform supermarkets or in some bakeries;
  • If you can't get almond meal, it's very easy to make it yourself. Peel the almonds and crush in a blender until they are fine.

4Pure: christmas cookies


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Sunday, December 15, 2013

Pull apart bread filled with mozzarella and cream cheese


A real nice dish as appetizer or in between at Christmas. A filled pull apart bread! Filled with a mixture of mozzarella and cream cheese. And sprinkled with fresh herbs. Sounds delicious? Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

Bread:
  • 4 grams yeast;
  • 5 grams sugar;
  • 255 mL butter milk;
  • 35 grams butter, melted;
  • 7 grams salt;
  • 400 grams flour.
Filled bread:
  • 40 grams mozzarella (grated);
  • 100 grams cream cheese;
  • 2 tablespoons butter, melted;
  • 3 tablespoons very fine chopped fresh basil / rosemary and thyme.
Materials:
  • Bread baking machine;
  • Grater;
  • Brush;
  • Baking plate;
  • Baking paper.
Preparation:
Fill your bread baking machine following the instructions of the manufacturer. In my case that's: first the buttermilk and melted butter. That topped with flour and the rest of the ingredients are on top of that. I choose the dough option which means the dough will be kneaded and got it's first rise.

Put the dough on a floured surface an roll out until it's 45 x 30 cm. Cut with a pizza roller the dough in 24 almost equal parts.
Mix in a bowl the cream cheese with the mozzarella. Take a piece of dough and lay one teaspoon of cheese mixture on top. Fold the dough tidy (especially the sides) and then roll it into a ball.
Repeat that for all 24 dough pieces and arrange them so they look like a big christmastree. Put a towel on top of them and let it rise for 1 hour at room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Bake the bread for 17 minutes in the oven. When they come out of the oven, immediately brush them with the butter and sprinkle with the fresh herbs. Serve right away.

Tips and trucks:
  • If you don't have a bread baking machine, you can knead your bread with a mixer with dough hooks or by hand. Leave it to rise for 1 hour at room temperature and continue the recipe; 
  • If you don't want to make your own dough you can by already made pizza crust instead.  
Pull apart bread filled with mozzarella and cream cheese

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Saturday, December 14, 2013

Christmas: duck breast filets with balsamic honey sauce

You want something different this Christmas? You can try duck breast fillet. Hereby a quick recipe, that can't go wrong! 

Ingredients (4 persons):
  • 4 small duck breast fillets;
  • 4 tablespoons balsamic cream;
  • 2 tablespoons honey;
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice.
Materials:
  • Aluminium foil;
  • Baking dish.
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 120 degrees Celsius. Cut the skin of the duck fillets crosswise. Make sure you only cut the skin and not the flesh. Heat a frying pan until it's very hot. Lay the duck breast in the pan, with the skin side below. Bake for 5 minutes, or until the skin is brown and crispy and turn. Bake another 3 minutes. Meanwhile lay 4 pieces of Aluminium foil on the baking plate. Lay each duck breast in a piece of Aluminium foil and package them loosely. Lay them on the baking plate and put the plate during 5 minutes in the oven. Pour the duck fat, besides 4 teaspoons, away from your frying pan, and reheat. When the duck breast come out of the oven, unfold them a bit and pour the juices into the frying pan. Also add the honey, lemon juice and balsamic. Whisk everything and heat. Cut the duck and sprinkle with sauce. Serve the sauce as a side dish. 

Tips and trucks:
  • If you want your duck breast medium, bake the fillet after turning 5 minutes instead of three. If you bake even longer, it will turn well done; 
  • This recipe combines great with a salad and potatoes;
  • If you got left overs,  you can ate them the next day on a sandwich.
4Pure: duck breast filets with balsamic honey sauce

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Christmas: white hot chocolate

It's winter and Christmastime, that needs a special kind of drink. Today: warm white chocolate milk with topping.

Ingredients (one cup):

  • 200 mL milk;
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla-extract;
  • 35 gram white chocolate;
  • Garnish: half and half (about 50 mL with 2 teaspoons sugar);
  • Garnish: cocoa.
Materials:
  • Mixer.
Preparation:
Break the chocolate in small pieces. Stiffen the half and half with a mixer. Warm the milk with the vanilla-extract until you see damp above the pan. Put the chocolate in the cup and pour the hot milk on top. Stir very well. Garnish with the cream and sprinkle some cocoa on top.

Tips and trucks:
  • If you want a different taste of chocolate, that's not a problem. Use 35 grams of another kind. When you do that, you don't have to add the vanilla-extract. 
4Pure: warme white chocolate milk

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Thursday, December 12, 2013

Christmas dessert: Buttermilk pannacotta with berry foam


A great dessert for Christmas: Buttermilk pannacotta with berry foam. Easy to prepare (about 15 minutes of your time) and the pannacotta can be made a day before you've got your dinner! So minder stress at christmastime.

Ingredients (5 persons):

Pannacotta:
  •  6 sheets gelatin (good for 0.5 liter liquid);
  • 150 mL half and half;
  • 200 mL milk;
  • 180 mL buttermilk;
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla-extract;
  • 110 grams sugar
Berry foam:
  • 2 eggs;
  • 50 mL water;
  • 150 mL berry juice (no sugar added!);
  • 70 grams sugar.
Materials:
  • Small pudding molds or timbales;
  • Au-bain-marie pan and bowl;
  • Whisk;
  • Mixer.
Preparation:
Pannacotta
Soak the gelatin sheets in a large enough bowl filled with cold water. Heat the half and half and dissolve the sugar and vanilla-extract. Bring to a boil and take of the heat. Dissolve the gelatin in the half and half mixture. With a whisk mix the milk and buttermilk through. Pour the mixture in the molds and place them for at least 3 hours in the refrigerator.
Just for serving take the pannacotta out of the molds and make the berry foam.

Berry Foam
Break the eggs in the au-bain-marie bowl. Add the sugar. With an electric mixture (or enough hand power with a whisk) foam the eggs. Add the berry juice and water and mix some more. Put the bowl on the pan with water and start to heat the water. Keep whisking, until you notice that the sauce becomes warm and thickens. Serve immediately!

Tips en tricks:
  • If you don't have timbales or small pudding forms, you can use tea or coffee cups instead;
  • When you rinse the forms with cold water before pouring in the pannacotta, the pannacotta will get better out of the form when it's time to serve;
  • Au-bain-marie means: a pan with about 2 cm of water, which you boil, which contains a suiting metal or glass bowl (the bottom of the bowl may not touch the water). In the bowl you can melt chocolate or heat delicate liquids very slowly.


4Pure: Buttermilk pannacotta with berry foam

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Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Christmas brunch: thick yogurt with honey and topping












A really delicious recipe for the christmasbrunch or breakfast. And quite healthy to! Thick yogurt with honey and topping. Very creamy, sweet due to the honey, nutty combined with the freshness of the pomegranate. The recipe is slightly adapted from simoneskitchen.nl.

Ingredients (4 persons):
  • 250 mL full yogurt;
  • 125 mL half and half;
  • honey;
  • pistachio nuts;
  • seeds from a pomegranate.
Materials:
  • Sieve;
  • Cheese cloth.
Preparation:
Lay the cheese cloth in the sieve and put the sieve on the bowl. Pour the yogurt in and leave for at least 8 hours in the refrigerator to thicken. In every glass spoon 1 tablespoon of honey. Mix the thickened yogurt with the half and half and add to the glass. Chop the pistachios finely and sprinkle on top. Sprinkle the pomegranate seeds finally on top.

Tips and Tricks:
  • If you don't have time you can buy Greek or any other thick yogurt and use it instead;
  • Pomegranates are widely available. But did you know  you can buy the seeds already taken out in quite a few supermarkets? Saves you time and quite a mess.
4Pure: Thick yogurt with honey and topping
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Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Rich tomato soup

A very nice dish for Christmas: rich and tasteful tomato soup, from tomatoes combined with basil. Best served in a (vintage) teacup, so the soup won't be all you can eat during your Christmas dish.

Ingredients (5 persons):

  • 9 tomatoes;
  • 1 tablespoon butter;
  • 1 onion, finely chopped;
  • 5 leaves basil (big) or 10 small;
  • salt and pepper;
  • garnish: olive oil, extra virgin;
  • garnish: 3 basil leaves cut in stripes
Materials:
  • Blender;
  • Teacups to serve the soup.
Preparation:
Peel the tomatoes, get rid of the seeds and chop the tomatoes in very small pieces. Melt the butter in a small pan on low heat. Add the onion and cook, while stirring, about 5 minutes until the onion is soft and glazed but hasn't browned. Add the tomatoes and cook on low heat, during 30 till 40 minutes or until the tomatoes fall apart and become liquid, while stirring occasionally. Leave the lid half on the pan during that time.
Chop the basil leaves and add to the tomatoes. Get the pan of the heat and blend until it's smooth. Push through a fine sieve in a bowl. Pour back in the pan and reheat when it cooled down to much.
Serve the soup in tea cups and garnish with basil leaves. Sprinkle some olive oil on top. 

Tips and tricks:
  • To peel tomatoes easily: Carve a cross on the back of the tomato with a sharp knife. Put them in boiling water for 15 seconds and immediately in cold water. Leave them for 1 minute and peel the skin of. 
  • For this recipe you should use the best tomatoes you can get your hands on and your olive-oil is also pretty important for the taste, so use the nicest you can get! 
4Pure: rich tomato soup

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Sunday, December 8, 2013

Sweet christmasbread


Another christmasrecipe: sweet christmasbread! With a bit of orange through the dough! The recipe I've found on the blog of  Levine.

Ingredients:

  • 560 grams flour;
  • 7 grams yeast;
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder;
  • 10 grams salt;
  • grated peel of 1 orange;
  • 2 eggs;
  • 65 grams sugar;
  • 90 mL vegetable oil;
  • 240 grams milk.
  • egg (to brush the bread);
  • pearl sugar (to sprinkle on top).
Materials:

  • Bread baking machine or a mixer with dough hooks;
  • Baking plate;
  • Baking paper;
  • Brush.
Preparation:
This time I used my bread baking machine. I've added the ingredients as told in the description of the manufacturer and choose the dough program. This made sure the kneading and first rise were done by the machine.
You can, off course, knead all the ingredients by hand or in a bowl with a mixer. Afterwards you put the dough in a greased bowl. Lay a towel on top and let it rise for 1 hour room temperature.

After the first rise divide the dough in 7 pieces. Make a bun of them and let them rest for 20 minutes. Place a baking paper on the plate. Form the buns afterwards again and put them on the baking paper in a Christmas tree shape. Let the dough rise for 1 hour under a kitchen towel. At half time preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. After the one hour rise brush the bread with the egg. Sprinkle the pearl sugar on top. Place the bread in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. 

Tips and tricks:
  • If you don't have pearl sugar you can use candied sugar;
  • You can use plastic foil instead of a towel.
4Pure: Sweet christmasbread
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Saturday, December 7, 2013

Cranberry cake



If I think about cranberries I think about Christmas. Today a really delicious cake you can serve when you got visitors on Christmas eve!

Ingredients:

  • 250 grams flour;
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt;
  • 180 mL crème fraîche;
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda;
  • 90 grams butter, roomtemperatuur;
  • 250 grams sugar;
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla-extract;
  • 2 eggs (L);
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice;
  • 60 grams dried cranberries.
Materials: 
  • Cake tin 20 cm.
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Lay the dried cranberries for 10 minutes in hot water. Butter the cake tin. In the first bowl add the flour, salt and baking soda. Mix well. In a second bowl add the butter and sugar. Mix on high speed for about 3 minutes. Add the eggs 1 by 1, afterwards the vanilla and the creme fraiche. End with the lemon juice. Mix well until everything is combined. Add the dry ingredients. Mix with a spatula the cranberries through the batter and pour the batter in the cake tin.
Bake for about 60 to 70 minutes in the oven until the cake is done. 

Tips and tricks:
  • You can use fresh cranberries. Use 80 grams of the fresh ones;
  • If you can't find baking soda at your supermarket, you can check the pharmacy for it. 
4Pure: cranberry cake

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Friday, December 6, 2013

Pomegranate prosecco cocktail with cinnamon



19 days and it is Christmas. From now on, this blog will contain delicious meals and drinks that are great to serve at Christmas. Today we start with a great drink: pomegranate prosecco cocktail with cinnamon. A nice welcome drink for your guests!

Ingredients:

  • 1 pomegranate;
  • 1 cinnamon;
  • 1 bottle of prosecco.
Materials:
  • Grater.


Preparation:
Quarter the pomegranate and remove the seeds from the fruit. Grate the cinnamon stick. Put the pomegranate seeds in a champagne glass. Add 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon grate. Pour the prosecco and serve!

Tips and tricks:

  • Cleaning the pomegranate can be messy, but you can also buy the harvested seeds; 
  • If you don't have a stick of cinnamon, you can use the grated cinnamon you buy in the supermarket.
4Pure: pomegranate cocktail




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