Fish buns

This is one of our father's trademark dishes that we were crazy about as children. We loved devouring this with just about anything. These days, I use this as a filling to buns (that I prepare the same way I do pizza dough). It is the ultimate comfort food for me. If you like mackerel you are going to love this. These buns are really soft and tasty and can be refrigerated and warmed up whenever you want them but as with most bread/buns, they taste best when they are fresh out of the oven.  

Buns:
25 g compressed yeast
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup fingerwarm water (37 C or 99 F)
2 tbs olive oil
3/4 tsp salt

Stuffing:
250 g canned mackerel (in tomato sauce)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 eggs (put aside some for the egg wash)
1/2 tsp cumin (or cumin powder)
1/2 tbs curry powder (adjust)
Salt to taste
1-2 sprigs curry leaves (optional)

Method:
To make the dough, heat the water to 37 C (or 99 F). Crumble the yeast in a large bowl and add the lukewarm water and stir with a spoon or your hand till yeast has dissolved completely. Add oil and salt. Stir. Add the flour. First mix with a wooden spoon untill it comes together and then and knead and work the dough for about 10 minutes with your hands. Let it rest covered in a bowl for 35-40 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the fish filling. Cut the onion finely. Heat some oil in a pan and saute the cumin, onion and the curry leaves and saute until the onion is golden brown. Add the mackerel and the tomato sauce, the curry powder and salt. With spatula, mix and scramble any large chunks of mackerels. Whisk the eggs (but put aside some of the egg mixture for the egg wash) with some salt. Shove the mackerel to one corner of the pan and add the beaten egg little by little and scramble it in the same pan that you are preparing the mackerel. Saute the mackerel filling until most of the water has evaporated. Take it away from the stove and allow to cool.

Once the dough has rested, lightly knead it again. Divide the dough into small balls and roll out the balls on a floured surface. Place some of the fish filling in the middle and fold/tuck it as seen in the picture below. Make sure it is properly folded. Turn the tucked side down and place the fish buns on an oven sheet, preferably with parchment paper. Once you have folded all the buns, give them an egg wash. Bake the buns in a preheated oven at 200 C (about 400 F) in the middle rack of the oven for about 20 minutes or until golden brown. Take them out and allow to cool on a wire rack. Serve them once they have cooled down to room temperature. Keep the buns refrigerated, if you are not going to consume them in one or two days and heat them up in the microwave before serving.

American Pancakes

Pancakes. Doesn't that single word conjure up fond memories? It is the ultimate comfort food to many of us. When we make pancakes at home, we always make Swedish pancakes, which are very similar to French crepes. Even though I'm very fond of pancakes, I have never had American pancakes and thought it's about time I had one. I'm sure readers from across the Atlantic must be giggling at this post. American pancakes are something of a novelty (!) here and many are frustrated over not being able make these. I was able to whip up these for breakfast yesterday with the help of Mahi's pancake recipe and her virtual assistance. Thank you Mahi, they tasted really good! :)

This recipe yields about 10 small pancakes.

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbs sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup milk
1 egg
Oil or butter (to bake the pancakes)

Method:
First, mix all the dry ingredients, flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg and add and mix the milk. Sieve the dry ingredients in the egg-milk mixture. Mix carefully. If you whisk too hard, the pancakes will turn out stiff. Make sure there are no big lumps left in the pancake batter, some small lumps are ok. Heat some oil or butter, on a griddle or a pan, at medium flame. Pour about 1/4 cup batter on the griddle. Let it bake and then flip and bake the pancake. The pancakes should be golden brown on both sides. Serve them warm immediately with a slice of butter and maple syrup or honey, the American way, or with jam, fresh fruits, whipped cream or anything of your choice!

Egg toast

For me this makes for a quick, scrumptious breakfast. I like soft white bread, but you could make these toasts with a fibre-rich bread varieties as well.

Ingredients:
5-6 slices of white bread/loaf
2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
Salted butter

Method:
In a pan, melt some salted butter. Beat eggs in a soup plate, add some salt and whisk. Take a slice of loaf and dip it in the beaten eggs. Coat both sides of the loaf with the egg mixture. Place the egg in the heated pan and "toast" both sides. The butter has a tendency to turn brown, so adjust the heat as required. I slightly press the bread against the pan with a spatula to make sure it gets toasted properly. Toast both sides until golden brown. Serve warm and crispy with butter, cheese, maple syrup, marmalade and/or fresh fruits!