Torta di ricotta

You can make a chocolate-flavoured variation of this, you can add 25g of cocoa powder along with the flour when you make the pastry cream. The quantity of pastry given here is enough for two tarts, because it is much easier to work the pastry

Ingredients
450g good fresh ricotta
80g almonds, chopped
80g sultanas
the zest of 2 lemons
5 egg whites
75g caster sugar

For the pastry
the seeds from 1 vanilla pod
150g unsalted butter
85g caster sugar
3 egg yolks
250g plain flour
25g ground almonds

For the pastry cream
300ml milk
4 egg yolks, at room temperature
140g caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
30g plain flour  

Serves 6

To make the pastry, put the vanilla seeds with the butter and sugar into a food mixer with a pastry paddle. Whiz for three minutes, until pale and creamy. While the motor is running, mix in the egg yolks, one by one, then add the flour and ground almonds. As soon as it is all mixed, turn out the pastry, wrap in clingfilm, and leave in the fridge for an hour. Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4.

Roll the pastry into a circle about 5mm thick and use it to line a 20cm tart tin. Line with greaseproof paper, fill with baking beans, and bake for five to seven minutes, until the pastry has dried out, but not coloured. Take out of the oven, remove the greaseproof paper and beans, and put to one side.

To make the pastry cream, warm the milk in a pan to just below simmering point, then take off the heat. In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and flour, then add to the warm milk and return to the heat, whisking continuously until the mixture thickens. Take the pan off the heat, leave to cool, then put through a fine sieve to make sure there are no lumps.

Add the ricotta, almonds, sultanas and lemon zest to the pastry cream. In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites with the sugar until they form peaks, then add to the mixture. Pour into the pastry case, sprinkle some sugar on top and put back into the oven for 25-35 minutes, until a sharp knife inserted into the centre comes out clean.

The cuisine of Kosovo

The cuisine of Kosovo compatibly matches with the area’s continental climate. The Kosovar daily cuisine consisting of various pies and an assortment of meat, coordinates well with the hot summers and cold winters it possesses.  As a result of its continuous history involved with conflict and invasion, the cuisine of Kosovo has been developed consisting of dishes from various nationalities such as: Albanian, Serbian, Turkish, Greek, Croatian, Italian, and more. Prior to the winter hitting the area, the Kosovars usually prepare the pickled vegetables and pasterma (dried beef), and have it ready for winter consumption. Other winter dishes consumed by Kosovar include ayvar (red pepper paste in hot or mild varieties), pinxhur (paste made of tomatoes, peppers, garlic, eggplants, salt, and oil), and more, which are typically traditions which are shared among many Balkan countries like Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and more. 

The Republic of Kosovo also has a reputation of consuming an assortment of pies in which the most popular one is the so-called flija which is prepared all year round but remains a summer favorite.Additionally, plenty of traditional with high possession of nutritional value is highly consumed in Kosovo. The classic and most consumed dishes of Kosovo are mainly made of beans, peppers, meat (mostly beef, lamb, chicken, & fish), potatoes, legumes, pastry, and dairy products and are chiefly prepared by roasting as opposed to boiling.Pastry dishes including burek are also very popular and a characteristic which is not even rare in Boston, Massachusetts. Flija is very common and it is made of pastry layers which are not thicker than such of pancakes and topped with cheese, kaymak, yoghurt, fat, cream, and oil. Mantiya is another ordinary dish made of pastry and filled with meat and shaped into small cushions of squares.  There are also very common beef, spinach, and cheese pies which are made of layers of pastry and filling. Ispogaca is also another Kosovar typical dish which is made of corn flour. Another important part of the Kosovar cuisine is the dairy products consisting of milk, yogurt, spreads, cheese, kaymak, and such. As a result of the continental climate, vegetables are mainly flourished and consumed in the summer season whereas the common pickled vegetables known as turshija, are served all-year round and mainly consumed during the winter as a salad or side dish.Finally, the key meals of Kosovo are burek, pies, kebab, sausages, stuffed peppers, lamb, beans, sarma’s, and many more. Last but not least, the kebabs with the complementary round bread known as samun are grilled perfectly and served with roast pepper, tomato, cabbage, cucumber, and cottage cheese which you will find completely irresistible.  There are many Qebaptores positioned all around and in almost every street of Prishtina and the other key cities, therefore it will not be hard to get a hold of the delicious samun. 

Chicken with orange sauce

Iingredients:

1 k boneless chicken

1 cup cornstarch 2 pieces eggs, large 1 cup breadcrumbs

1/2 t salt, black pepper

Cooking oil as needed

Orange sauce

4 t butter

4 t AP flour

2 cups water

½ head garlic, finely chopped

½ head white onions, finely chopped

1.5 pieces chicken broth cube

2t orange zest

3t orange juice

Directios:

1. Cook chicken in salted water until tender. Drain. Pat-dry and set aside.

2. Mix salt and black pepper with cornstarch. Set aside.

3. Dredge cooked chicken in cornstarch, then dip in beaten eggs and roll in breadcrumbs. Deep-fry until golden brown. Set aside.

4. Sauté garlic and onions in butter. Add flour and cook roux. Remove from fire and add two cups water.

5. Return to fire and mix thoroughly. Dissolve chicken cubes in mixture. Add orange juice and zest. Let simmer for a few minutes until slightly thick.

6. Plate chicken and pour orange sauce carefully on top. Enjoy!

Read more about Garlic by iloilonewstoday.com

It is a simple recipe with lots of fresh taste. It is a quick and easy chicken dish at night when there are minimal ingredients on hand. A delightful citrusy flavor or a bright spot in the middle of rainy week when you wish summer would be back soonest!

There is no doubt that this chicken recipe will leave you craving for more. The flavorful and rich sauce makes it such a winner. Garnish it with orange slices and parsley and serve with piping hot rice.

Victoria sandwich

If you only ever make one cake, let it be the glorious Victoria sandwich. The simple mix of equal quantities of eggs, butter, sugar and flour, sandwiched together with raspberry jam, makes it the queen of British cakes.

Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4. Sift the flour and salt together into a bowl and put aside. In a large mixing bowl, using either a wooden spoon or a hand-held electric whisk, beat the butter to a cream. Add the caster sugar and continue to beat until the mixture is very light and creamy.

The lighter and fluffier the butter and sugar mix is, the easier it will be to blend in the eggs, which in turn helps to prevent the mixture curdling. Add the eggs, about a quarter at a time, adding 1 tbsp of the flour with each addition and beating thoroughly each time. Beat in the vanilla extract with the last of the egg.

Sift in the rest of the flour, half at a time, and use a large metal spoon to carefully fold it in. The mixture should drop off the spoon easily when tapped against the side of the bowl. If it doesn’t, then add 1–2 spoonfuls of hot water

Divide the mixture equally between the prepared sandwich tins, spreading it out lightly and evenly with the back of a spoon. Bake in the centre of the oven for about 25 minutes or until the cakes are lightly golden and spring back into shape when gently pressed with a finger.
Leave them in the tins for a couple of minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack to cool completely. When cold, spread one cake layer with the jam, place the second on top and dust lightly with caster sugar. The cake will keep for 5 days in an airtight tin.

Serves 8-10
175g self-raising flour
Pinch of sea salt
175g unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and softened
175g caster or vanilla sugar, plus extra to finish
3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

3–4 tbsp soft-set raspberry jam

Equipment

2 x 20cm sandwich tins, lightly greased and base-lined with baking parchment

Variations

Replace the raspberry jam with homemade lemon curd. Fill and top with hazelnut chocolate spread. Use glacé icing instead of sprinkling with sugar.

Chocolate

Replace 25g of the flour with cocoa powder. Fill the cake with chocolate buttercream