Klasskoeken

I am sure most of you have not heard about Sinterklaas Feest or the Zwart Piet

I am surprised that I haven't written here about this famous feest in my blog, as I remeber from the time Shyama was born we celebrate this special day  every year.

Ofcourse it was more fun till she was 9 yrs ( by the time she found out her parents are Sinterklass and Zwart piet)

From the age of 2 every evening on December 5 th she used to take one of her shoe and keep in the living with a carrot ( which hans ate half of the carrot so that he can tell the horse from the sint ate it )  and then she will write ( well when she coudn't write she will cut the pictures from the ads from the toy shop ) and stick in a huge white paper and keep that next to her one shoe as that is what she is asking from Sinterklass.

To be honest I think we had more fun on that evening than Shyama, she was always nervous when she went for sleep and excited too as she didn't know if sint is going to bring the toys she asked as they say to kids here if you were not good this year Sint won't bring you any toy.

After Shyama went for sleep ( when we were 100% sure she was indeed sleeping) Hans and I used to decorate our dinning table with all the toys, book, chocolate etc.... we bought for her and I used to put chocolate gold coins from the living to her bed room door, so that when she got up next day and she came out of her room she will see the gold  chocolate coins on the floor and she will get excited and will start shouting calling us Mama ,papa Sint has come and we will hear the running steps from her, to the living and then she will run back to our bed room saying mama papa come out he has come :-)

Shyama is going to kill me for writting this here, One year she got out of the bed and saw all the chocolate coins on the floor but she badly wanted to go for WC so she first went there before she went to the living and me beeing sneeky went and knocked one of the window and Shyama thought it was Sinterklass comming and she said Mama would you tell Sint not to go as I want to see him :-)

 How I make fun of her when i tell this story to her.

We still do it for Shyama, but as she is not home we do on the weeked she comes but instead of toys it will be books and chocolates etc.....



The cookies have been so good that I made themagain this week, this time i only used milk to glaze than egg wash, you can see the difference, if you use eggwash i think it is more shiny.



Sinterklaas is a traditional Winter holiday figure still celebrated today in the Low Countries, including the Netherlands and Belgium, as well as French Flanders (Lille) and Artois (Arras).

He is celebrated annually on Saint Nicholas' eve (5 December) or on the morning of 6 December in Belgium and Northern France.

In Belgium, most children have to wait until the morning of 6 December to receive their gifts, and Sinterklaas is seen as a festivity almost exclusively for children.

Sinterklass has a helper too he is calle Zwart Piet  Zwart Piet is easily recoganised by the fact that he is fully coloured Black in color. He will also have a very curly hair style.

It seems Zwarte Piet during the Sinterflass feest in december brings prsents for kids. He climbs through the chimmeny of the home when the Kids/parents are sleeping and that is one reason he looks so black.

Now to the recipe:

"Klaaskoeken" (Saint-Nicolas cookies) are not your typical cookies-- they're actually shaped sugared bread. This is a typical West-Flemish dish that is eaten for breakfast or as a snack. People usually make these around Saint-Nicolas, a traditional holiday in Belgium and the Netherlands.



1 portion ( for 8 pieces ) Basic bread dough for Sweet breads

100 gm of chocolate chopped

1 egg yolk mixed with a little milk ( egg wash)

 

 

After the basic fermentation of 30 minutes in the sweet bread recipe, you mix the chocolate pieces, into the dough , make into a ball and keep it back in the bowl covering with a platci foil for another 30 to 30 minutes till it is double in size.

Now roll the dough with a little flour to 1 cm thick, cut using a cookie cutter and keep them in a tray covered with a towle  and keep in a warm place for 45 minutes.

After the 45 minutes brush them with the egg wash and leave for another 15 minutes.

Then bake them in a peheated oven for 200° c for 10 to 12 minutes.

Note : The bread is most delicious and good on the day itself, if you have left over next day what I do is just MW each one for few seconds so they get a bit fresher.
Instead of chocolate you can add raisins too.
And normally this comes in a shape like ginger bread man, well something like that, but I used my angle shaped cookie cutter.
Sending this bread to Yeastspotting



Pollo al Marsala con pinoli e uve sultanina

Hi hi actually in the magazine it is written in English and Italian but I coudn't resist to write the title in Italian :-) well it means according the magazine, Marsala Chicken with pine nuts and sultanas.

Marsala is a winein the region surrounding the Italian city of Marsala in Sicily.

While the city's natives sometimes drink "vintage" Marsala, the wine produced for export is universally a fortified wine similar to Port. Originally, Marsala wine was fortified with alcohol to ensure that it would last long ocean voyages, but now it is made that way because of its popularity in foreign markets.

Marsala contains about 15-20% alcohol by volume. Different Marsala wines are classified according to their color, sweetness and the duration of their aging.

Thankyou Wiki for all the information.
You want to make a creamy Chicken Marsala Dish then try out my earlier recipe here.

This is yet another recipe from one of my favourite Magazine Taste Italia.

I have mentioned before I every month when I get the magazine I try to do atleast one dishe from that month.

And I have to say I was not at all disapointed with this dish, we loved it.

I serve it with potato croquetts.



3 tbsp olive oil

8 chicken pieces, such as thighs and breasts, skin left on ( I used a whole chicken which I cut in pieces) sprinkle with peper and salt

2 medium onions finley chopped

2 carrots finley chopped

2 celery sticks finley chopped ( I used white celery)

350 ml Chicken marsala

Salt and peper

50 gm pine nut, toasted

50 gm sultanas

a handful of flat leaf parsley finley chopped.

Heat the oil in a large cast iron pan or casserol over a medium heat.

Add the chicken pieces, and cook about 10 minutes turning them once or twice, untill they are golden all over.

Remove the chicken pieces from the pan.

Reduce the hat to low. Add the onion, carrots and celery to the pan, then sweat gently for a few minutes, untill soft.

Pour in the marala, pu the chicken back in the pan, then simmer gently for about 30 minutes, topping up with water a litle at a time if it begins to dry out, but don't add too much  because it should be fairly dry and the ater will dilute the flavour. Add peper and salt according to your taste.

Stir through the pine nuts and sultanas and cook for a few more minutes.

(When I cooked the chicken I covered loosley with a lid, this was not in the recipe)

Just before serving stir through the parsley.