19.2.16

Inspirirajte me! / Inspire Me!


Dragi moji čitatelji, 
život me u posljednje vrijeme odveo u jednom smjeru koji mi nije omogućio previše vremena za pisanje i posvećivanje blogu. Usprkos tome, ne želim ga zapostaviti, ali mi za ovo treba malo vaše pomoći. U vrevi života nemam previše vremena za razmišljanje o temama za nove postove (a iskreno, zaista više ne znam o čemu nisam pisala i o čemu bih mogla dalje pisati) pa vas pozivam na u komentaru napišete o čemu biste vi voljeli čitati, ili da postavite neko pitanje na koje bih vam mogla odgovoriti.

Molim vas samo da vaša pitanja i teme ostanu relativno jednostavne, ili barem da ih izdvojite u neke manje cjeline ako su opsežnije. Odnosno, voljela bi moći obraditi određenu temu u jednom postu (a ne u ciklusu postova).

Nadam se da ćete se odazvati ovom pozivu i pomoći mi ponovno pronaći inspiraciju! :)
Blagoslovi,
vaša Witch's Cat.

____________________________________________________

Dear readers,
life has lead me in a different direction lately; one that doesn't allow me to devote much time to writing and this blog. Despite this, I don't want to neglect my blog and in order to avoid this, I will need your help. In the tumult of life, I don't have much time for pondering on topics for new posts (and honestly, I really don't know what I haven't written about or what I could writer about next) so I would like to invite you to write a comment on this post consisting of a topic you would like to read about, or a question that I could provide an answer to.

Please keep your questions and topics relatively simple, or at least segment them into smaller topics if they are more extensive. That is to say, I would like to be able to cover a specific topic in one post (not in a whole series of posts).

I hope that you will respond to this post and, in doing so, help me find inspiration once again! :)
Blessings,
Witch's Cat

1.2.16

Sljemenska gibanica

Sljemenska gibanica je kolač koji izvorno nema nikakve veze s paganizmom, ali se njezini sastojci savršeno uklapaju u imbolsku kuhinju. Svježi sir i vrhnje (koji su inače osnovni sastojci za gibanice) koji daju sočnost ovom kolaču i koji prevladavaju okusom mogu se povezati s prirodnim pojavama u ovo vrijeme, odnosno s laktacijom ovaca. Zbog ovoga su mlijeko i mliječni proizvodi inače vrlo omiljeni sastojci u imbolskoj kuhinji. Ostali dominantni sastojci u kolaču poput badema, ili jabuka su jednostavno prelijepog okusa i pridodaju originalnom, osvježavajućem okusu kolača.


Potrebno je:

  • 50 dag badema (mogu i lješnjaci)
  • 50 dag svježeg kravljeg sira
  • 6 dcl vrhnja za kuhanje
  • 1 pakiranje integralnog tijesta za savijače (9 kora tj. 40 dag)
  • 1 kg jabuka
  • 30 dag šećera
  • 2 jaja
  • suncokretovo ulje

Priprema:

  1. Zapeći bademe 5 minuta na 200°C da porumene i samliti ih.
  2. Zagrijati 1.5 dcl vrhnja i dodati 10 dag šećera. Miješati dok se ne otopi i dodati mljevene lješnjake te miješati dok se ne dobije kompaktna smjesa. Pustiti da se ohladi. Ostatak vrhnja ostaviti sa strane za zalijevanje pojedinih slojeva kolača.
  3. U posudu pomiješati svježi sir, jaja i 10 dag šećera te izraditi mikserom.
  4. Oguliti kore s jabuka, naribati ih i izmiješati s 10 dag šećera.
  5. Nauljiti lim za pečenje (moj je veličine otprilike 35 x 25 cm i oko 7 cm dubine).
  6. Slagati u lim za pečenje sljedećim redoslijedom: 3 kore - vrhnje (1 dcl) - smjesa lješnjaka - 2 kore - vrhnje (1 dcl) - smjesa sira - 2 kore - vrhnje (1 dcl) - smjesa jabuka - 2 kore
Napomena: kod nanošenja smjese lješnjaka, sira i jabuka, pokušajte ih što ravnomjernije rasporediti po korama kako bi presjek kolača bio što ljepši i kako bi se svaki "kat" moglo osjetiti u svakom zagrizu.
  1. Pomiješati preostali 1.5 dcl vrhnja s jednom žlicom ulja i još malo šećera. Preliti kolač.
  2. Peći kolač na 180°C 45-50 minuta.

Sljeme Pastry (Gibanica)

This pastry, named after the highest peak of the mountain Medvednica (Croatia) really has no connection to Paganism, though its ingredients perfectly fit into the Imbolc kitchen. Cottage cheese and cooking cream (which are generally the basic ingredients for the Croatian pastry called gibanica) which make the pastry all the more juicy and the flavor of which dominates can be connected to what's going on in nature at this time, namely the lactation of ewes. This is why milk and dairy products in general are favorite ingredients for the Imbolc kitchen. The other dominant ingredients in this pastry such as almonds and apples simply have a wonderful taste and add to the cake's original and refreshing taste.



You Will Need:

  • 500 g almonds (hazelnuts can work too)
  • 500 g cottage cheese
  • 6 dl cooking cream
  • 1 pack of integral strudel dough (400 g, you get it in the form of thin sheets, I had 9 sheets in the package)
  • 1 kg apples
  • 300 g sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • sunflower oil

How To Prepare:

  1. Bake the almonds in the oven for 5 minutes at 200°C until they let out their nice aroma and only darken a little bet. Grind them.
  2. Heat up 1.5 dl cooking cream and add 100 g sugar. Mix until the sugar is melted and add the ground almonds. Mix until everything is compact. Let it cool down. Leave the rest of the cooking cream aside for later (you will need it to pour over the different pastry layers).
  3. In a bowl, mix together the cottage cheese, eggs and 100 g sugar using an electric mixer.
  4. Peel the apples, grate them and mix with 100 g sugar.
  5. Oil your baking pan (mine is about 35 x 25 cm and about 7 cm deep).
  6. Arrange the layers of the pastry/gibanica in the following order: 3 strudel sheets - cooking cream (1 dl) - almond mixture - 2 strudel sheets - cooking cream (1 dl) - cheese mixture - 2 strudel sheets - cooking cream (1 dl) - apple mixture - 2 strudel sheets
Note: when spreading the almond, cheese and apple mixtures, try to spread them as evenly as possible so that the pastry looks nice when cut and so every layer can be tasted in every bite.
  1. Mix the remaining 1.5 dl cooking cream with 1 tbsp sunflower oil and a bit of sugar. Pour over the pastry.
  2. Bake for 45-50 minutes at 180°C.