Pastimes For Stranded Novices

[Egeria]

You have my sympathy, Marigold - been there, done that.

When I was in a similar situation (well, I hope that it was a worse situation than yours as I had to wait months and months) I took to embroidering Ethiopian icons. A sister in the community I was about to be entering had embroidered really beautiful Byzantine icons, but I didn't trust my ability enough to do that. But I figured that Ethiopian ones would be much simpler as, once one has the design, they are more like colouring in. They take forever and are a lot of work, but that's not a bad thing when one has time on one's hands! 

I was going to upload one here, but Phatmass keeps telling me the file's too big, when it doesn't seem to be...

Oh, now I seem to be able to. Here it is...

[MarysLittleFlower]

On 11/23/2015 5:18:28, NadaTeTurbe said:

When I'm bored, I choose a random country (like by pointing my fingers on a world map, eyes closed), and then I read everything that I can find about this country. 

Or I test new cooking recipes. Do you know koulibiak ? It's a kind of brioche, with inside a mix of salmon, spinach, eggs, rice, and mushrooms. it's from Russia. It tooks at least 3 hours to do, 3 hours to clean up the kitchen after it, and 3 days to eat. We have an amazing recipe on my family, if you're interested  

(from the outside)

the inside : 

That looks so good :) yummmm

[Gabriela]

2 hours ago, Egeria said:

That's really nice! 

[marigold]

2 hours ago, Egeria said:

You have my sympathy, Marigold - been there, done that.

When I was in a similar situation (well, I hope that it was a worse situation than yours as I had to wait months and months) I took to embroidering Ethiopian icons. A sister in the community I was about to be entering had embroidered really beautiful Byzantine icons, but I didn't trust my ability enough to do that. But I figured that Ethiopian ones would be much simpler as, once one has the design, they are more like colouring in. They take forever and are a lot of work, but that's not a bad thing when one has time on one's hands! 

I was going to upload one here, but Phatmass keeps telling me the file's too big, when it doesn't seem to be...

Oh, now I seem to be able to. Here it is...

How lovely! Embroidered iconography is something I have thought about and would really like to try, but I feel it's a bit much both technically and spiritually to just 'have a go at', perhaps along your lines of thinking. These do look easier, if not less fiddly. I know I have needle and thread *somewhere*...

Edited November 24, 2015 by marigold

[NadaTeTurbe]

I began to translate the recipe, but I was not expecting it to be so long. I think it will be done in the end of the week. Or I hope !

Egeria, it's splendid ! 

[NadaTeTurbe]

Ingredients :

for 8/10 people

For the stuffing : 800 g of salmon, without the skin. 500 g of spinach (without the tail). 500 g of Paris mushrooms, sliced in cube. 6 hard-boiled egg crushed with a fork. 1 onion chiselled. 1 shallot chiselled. 3 cloves of garlic minced. 120 g of basmati rice, cooked 2 minutes more than what is written on the packet, 1 bunch of dill, 5 tablespoon of olive oil.

For the dough : 20 cl of milk, 15 g of baker’s yeast, 500 g of flour, 3 eggs, 50 g of sugar, 10 g of salt, 100 g of cold butter in little cube, 4 big crêpe

1) Cook in a frying pan the spinach, with one clove of garlic minced and 2 tablespoon of olive oil. Let cool down in a colander. Heat up the remaining oil and sweat the shallot and the onions. Add the mushrooms and the remaining garlic minced. Add salt and pepper and cook until the water from the mushrooms is evaporated.

2) Drip-dry the spinach with your hands, and chop them. Stir them with the cooked rice, the mushrooms, the egges and the dill. Taste it : it must be a little spicy. Add pepper if needed.

3) Add salt and pepper on the salmon, and cook it for 7 minutes, at 200°C. Let cool down.

4) Make the dough. Dilute the baker’s yeat with 5 cl of lukewarm milk. In a whisk, put, in this order, salt, flour, and the sugar. Do a little well ( ? Not sure of the english word… « un puits » in french), and break the eggs, pour the remaining milk, and the diluted baker’s yeat. Knead with a hook during 10 minutes. When the dough is consistent and can be well removed from the container, add the butter, step by step. Knead until the butter is entirely incoporated. The dough must be smooth, flexible, and consistent. Cover with a shrink-wrap, and let to rest during 2 hours in a lukewarm place : the dough must double in size.

5) Remove the dough from the walls of the recipient, and lean on it with your hand, to remove the air. Reform a ball, cover with a shrink wrap, and put 1 hour in a fridge.

6) Measure the slice of salmon and make sure you have a margin of 10 cm on the long side, and of 8 cm on the little side. Flour the work plan (« fariner le plan de travail ») and spread (« étaller ») two rolled pastry ( ? « abaisse », the dough…). Put the salmon in the fridge.

7) In a part of the dough, make overlap two crêpes in the middle. Put half of the stuffing on it, spreading it with the back of a spoon. Put the salmon on it, and cover with the other half of the stuffing. Close it with the two other crêpes (the crêpes protect the dough from humidity). Paint all of this with a beatten egg, and then close the koulibiak with the other « abaisse », removing the air. It’s going to be more easy if you do it while the dough are very cold. Weld the edges. Put 30 minutes in a lukewarm place. Cook 30 minutes à 180°C : the koulibiak must be golden.

You can do more dough to decorate  .

Wow ! It was hard to translate, I’m sorry for any mistakes, feel free to ask questions !

The recipe is from « Saveurs, hiver 2014 ».

[Gabriela]

2 hours ago, NadaTeTurbe said:

Ingredients :

for 8/10 people

For the stuffing : 800 g of salmon, without the skin. 500 g of spinach (without the tail). 500 g of Paris mushrooms, sliced in cube. 6 hard-boiled egg crushed with a fork. 1 onion chiselled. 1 shallot chiselled. 3 cloves of garlic minced. 120 g of basmati rice, cooked 2 minutes more than what is written on the packet, 1 bunch of dill, 5 tablespoon of olive oil.

For the dough : 20 cl of milk, 15 g of baker’s yeast, 500 g of flour, 3 eggs, 50 g of sugar, 10 g of salt, 100 g of cold butter in little cube, 4 big crêpe

1) Cook in a frying pan the spinach, with one clove of garlic minced and 2 tablespoon of olive oil. Let cool down in a colander. Heat up the remaining oil and sweat the shallot and the onions. Add the mushrooms and the remaining garlic minced. Add salt and pepper and cook until the water from the mushrooms is evaporated.

2) Drip-dry the spinach with your hands, and chop them. Stir them with the cooked rice, the mushrooms, the egges and the dill. Taste it : it must be a little spicy. Add pepper if needed.

 

3) Add salt and pepper on the salmon, and cook it for 7 minutes, at 200°C. Let cool down.

4) Make the dough. Dilute the baker’s yeat with 5 cl of lukewarm milk. In a whisk, put, in this order, salt, flour, and the sugar. Do a little well ( ? Not sure of the english word… « un puits » in french), and break the eggs, pour the remaining milk, and the diluted baker’s yeat. Knead with a hook during 10 minutes. When the dough is consistent and can be well removed from the container, add the butter, step by step. Knead until the butter is entirely incoporated. The dough must be smooth, flexible, and consistent. Cover with a shrink-wrap, and let to rest during 2 hours in a lukewarm place : the dough must double in size.

5) Remove the dough from the walls of the recipient, and lean on it with your hand, to remove the air. Reform a ball, cover with a shrink wrap, and put 1 hour in a fridge.

6) Measure the slice of salmon and make sure you have a margin of 10 cm on the long side, and of 8 cm on the little side. Flour the work plan (« fariner le plan de travail ») and spread (« étaller ») two rolled pastry ( ? « abaisse », the dough…). Put the salmon in the fridge.

7) In a part of the dough, make overlap two crêpes in the middle. Put half of the stuffing on it, spreading it with the back of a spoon. Put the salmon on it, and cover with the other half of the stuffing. Close it with the two other crêpes (the crêpes protect the dough from humidity). Paint all of this with a beatten egg, and then close the koulibiak with the other « abaisse », removing the air. It’s going to be more easy if you do it while the dough are very cold. Weld the edges. Put 30 minutes in a lukewarm place. Cook 30 minutes à 180°C : the koulibiak must be golden.

You can do more dough to decorate  .

Wow ! It was hard to translate, I’m sorry for any mistakes, feel free to ask questions !

The recipe is from « Saveurs, hiver 2014 ».

So, leave the tail on the salmon but take it off the spinach.

And make sure you dig out your chisel for those onions.

I love you, Nada. You're good fun. 

[NadaTeTurbe]

I knew something like this was coming. 

I guess it's God punishment for making fun of american tourists... 

[marigold]

Nada, what a great thing to do for us. Thank you! I am printing it out now and will be dropping subtle hints to my dad. If I make it while I'm still here, I'll post pictures. Either way, it's coming back to the monastery with me! 

[Gabriela]

8 hours ago, NadaTeTurbe said:

I knew something like this was coming. 

I guess it's God punishment for making fun of american tourists... 

Really, Nada, it was charming, and VERY kind of you to go to all the trouble of translating it. French pastry recipes are rarely short, so this was a real labor of love for your pham. God bless you! 

[NadaTeTurbe]

You're welcome ! Good food is meant to be shared  !

[marigold]

On ‎24‎/‎11‎/‎2015‎ ‎18‎:‎24‎:‎25, Egeria said:

You have my sympathy, Marigold - been there, done that.

When I was in a similar situation (well, I hope that it was a worse situation than yours as I had to wait months and months) I took to embroidering Ethiopian icons. A sister in the community I was about to be entering had embroidered really beautiful Byzantine icons, but I didn't trust my ability enough to do that. But I figured that Ethiopian ones would be much simpler as, once one has the design, they are more like colouring in. They take forever and are a lot of work, but that's not a bad thing when one has time on one's hands! 

I was going to upload one here, but Phatmass keeps telling me the file's too big, when it doesn't seem to be...

Oh, now I seem to be able to. Here it is...

Egeria, how big is that embroidery in real life? And what stitches did you use?

[NadaTeTurbe]

Is embroidery the same thing than tapestry ? 

[Charbel]

2 hours ago, NadaTeTurbe said:

Is embroidery the same thing than tapestry ? 

Not exactly. Tapestry is done with weaving, while embroidery is done with thread on a separate piece of cloth.

Here is tapestry:

 

Here is embroidery:

And @Egeria that embroidery is beautiful! How long did that take you? @NadaTeTurbe thank you for the recipe from me too by the way 

[Egeria]

6 hours ago, marigold said:

Egeria, how big is that embroidery in real life? And what stitches did you use?

Marigold, I think it's roughly A5.

I know virtually nothing about embroidery and only used one stitch. I've just googled and I think it roughly the same as what is shown as stem stitch here (except that I tended to do them "straighter").

1 hour ago, Charbel said:

 

And @Egeria that embroidery is beautiful! How long did that take you?

Thanks, Charbel. It was a long time ago and I did it between other things. But I seem to remember having the idea that if I worked on it all day it would have taken about two weeks...