Clueless ... Bánh Mì? ... Asian Baguette with Omelette

I have no clue ... therefore I must be clueless so to speak. One of my teachers once said: "You can be stupid, you only need to find a way." Easier said than done, though ... if you are clueless. I would need some kind of a plan. Should I not manage, things will simply keep flowing in uncertain ways. Do you have a clue what I am talking about?
How, if I'm already clueless. Anyway, I found some photos on my computer. I took them a few weeks ago. Now I need to figure out what they were for or how I did things in order to present you something worthwhile.
Here we are then ...

Now that you could call Bánh Mì, a Vietnamese sandwich or baguette. Right away, I have to be honest that I never had a real Bánh Mì so I have no clue what it is supposed to be like. When I was in London, I went to City Càphê to had a try.
Unfortunately, I came to late and they had ran out on Bánh Mì. I had to eat something differently and still went on without any practical knowledge about Bánh Mì. Then I had no further chances to have a try.
If you start digging for information you will find out that Báhn Mì, the Vietnamese baguette was influenced by the French colonial time.
Well ... "You can be stupid, you only need to find a way."
I had rice the day before or even the day before that day. There were leftovers. So here comes the stupid idea ...
Why not have rice in the dough of the bread.

Ingredients:
350 g strong baking flour
100 g cooked rice
1,5 tsp salt
4,5 tsp yeast
200 - 300 ml lukewarm water

Method (if ... that is a big IF you want to call it so in this clueless case):
The flour goes into a large bowl.
Our attention moves right away to the cooked rice. It was in the fridge before that a day or two. Ah ... toss it  into the blender with a bit of water and then ... go. Try to blend it as good as it gets.
Add the salt and yeast to the flour.
Our attention moves back to the rice. It has to join the flour as well. Additionally we add as much water as it needs to do the job. Use your fine hands to knead the dough and form it into a ball. Let it rest for ten minutes and then knead it for 15 minutes, knowing you save the money for going to the gym, too.
Let the dough rise for 45 minutes. Then separate the dough into four party and form some flat longish objects, which will be left alone and covered with a wet towel for 20 minutes.
Now fold the four objects together to make them look more roundish. Maybe you can extend them lengthwise a bit, too.
Place them back to rest for another 35 minutes in a way where the folding edge is at the bottom side ... just use your imagination.
Transfer the baguettes to a baking tray. Slash them at the top a few times with a sharp knife and bake them for 20 minutes at 230 °C. At the beginning spray the oven with a bit of water for the crust.

In my humble opinion, the baguettes looked and tasted nice afterwards.
The rice didn't do any harm. But did it do any good? Well, I can say they tasted a bit different from the ones without rice. I was satisfied, although still clueless.
Now we still need something to fill the baguette.
A simple omelette will do. For that we just use three eggs, a bit of salt, one or two finely chopped red chillies and a hand full of coriander. After all we don't want to complicate things. Therefore mix the egg with the salt and the chilli and do your omelette in the pan as you are accustomed to do, if you are.
Obviously you have to cut the baguette open, fill it with the omelette and add the coriander to give it the final touch.
And then?
I reckon, you have to eat it. 
Taste?
I liked it. I might be clueless, but I still know what I like taste wise. Apart from that I know something else. Once more, I managed my leftovers not go to wate. With that in mind I like to add this post to Credit Crunch Munch by Helen from Fuss Free Flavours & Camilla from Fab Food 4 All. The trick, though, this time it is hosted by the wonderful Anneli from délicieux. Go, have a look and start having fun with some lovely entries there.

That's it! I'm through, done and at my wits' end. There is nothing much left to say.
Now I need to continue looking for a plan in order to get back on what track I'm supposed to be ...

Mexican Leftover Management: Tortilla Soup and Pizza

We managed already one month of 2013. What do you think? So far it was pretty much the same as in 2012. Well, there have been a few negative changes over the past few days, but ... it's always better to focus on the positive aspects of life ... hm ... like food, for example Mexican food.
You have still have nearly half a month to participate in the current Bloggers Around The World with the theme Mexico. As I was preparing my own entry the other day, Pimiento Mexicano con Huevos, I promised you to tell you what I did with the leftovers I had.

That pizza was one thing. In fact it was quite easy. Just prepare you usual pizza dough and then top it with the leftover Pimiento Mexicano con Huevos. Well, it was not exactly what I did. There were a few more ... eh ... special things I did.
First of all I substituted the semolina flour I usually add to my pizza dough with corn flour. Fine, this was the main thing. I also added a bit more cheese and sprinkled a bit of black pepper and olive oil on top. Now, that's all!
This pizza was quite nice and enjoyable. What a shame I can't have pizza right now. Maybe next week again ...
Now it happened also to be the case that there were leftover tortillas. In fact that was already kind of cunningly schemed beforehand. I wanted to have a tortilla soup.

Here is how you could do it as well ...

Ingredients:
50 g bacon, chopped into small bits
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 red chili, finely chopped
4 wheat tortillas, cut into stripes
500 ml beef stock
Salt
50 g grated cheese

Method:
To start with we slightly brown the bacon, onion and chili together in our pot.
Then we add the stripes of the wheat tortillas and pour over the beef stock. Season the soup according to your taste and bring to the boil.
Ready! You can fill the soup into individual bowls. Toss in some grated cheese and put it either briefly under the grill or if you don't have one, just go for it ...

Have you noticed something else in connection with this blog? Well, maybe you can check it later, but on Monday it will be one year after my first post. Just saying!

Breaking Kale - Part 3 - Bell Peppers Stuffed with Kale Risotto

'Why does rubbish always have to come in three parts?'
That quote is from a computer game series - long time ago - that brought us the following as well: 'I once owned a dog that was smarter then you.' - 'He must have taught you everything you know.'
No worries, when you never have heard of this. It doesn't matter, has no bearing on the following anyway. I'm not going to teach you how to be quick on the comeback.
Let's rather focus on the 'Part 3' part.
A few days ago I brought you kale with smoked pork sausages. It wasn't all eaten up.
Then I brought you risotto with kale and smoked pork sausages. It wasn't all eaten up either.
Now I bring you ...

... bell peppers stuffed with risotto al kale and smoked pork sausages. Was it all eaten up?
We will see.
Is it a recipe? Well, what do I have to say. It's too simple. You just take some bell peppers and execute them by cutting them in halves and removing all the seeds from the inside.
Now you simply throw in your risotto ... eh ... fill your halves of bell pepper with some of the risotto. If you haven't got leftover kale risotto, obviously you can't do it. He he! 
Of course you could attempt a different version with a different risotto, but that consequently would be ... different.
Nevertheless, as you have arranged the bell peppers with the risotto in an oven-proof dish, place some bacon on top of every bell pepper half.

You might want to pour over some olive oil and then place it in the oven for about 40 minutes at 180°C. 
After waiting that much time for your food, you just take it out, place it on a plate, sprinkle some parsley over it and maybe add some more olive oil.
Was it all eaten up?
Yes, it was this time. So we are not going to see THAT kale again and we don't have to think about another recipe and there will not be a part 4, although it was no rubbish.
Oh, I could have cut it into small pieces and have it on puff pastry, but ... that doesn't have to be now.
Maybe we go further with another dish next time and have more then 3 parts. What experiences do you have with leftovers? How far did you get, that is how often did you have to re-arrange the leftovers of the leftover?

Now still something else in connection with the photograph at the outset.

This was the first shot.

Then I added olive oil.

Somehow my camera didn't seem to like that, so I had to set the white balancing to another mode.

Or which of the three pictures looks best according to you?

Kale again - Leftovers for Kale Risotto

One thing leads to another. We can apply this to leftovers. Since I wasn't in the mood to eat Kale the whole week in the way I prepared it lately, I intended to be creative with my leftovers.
Another contributing factor was this celery I still had on stock and needed using up. 
In that case 1 + 1 was not 2, but ... kale risotto.

Since the kale part is already eh ... ready, we primarily need to focus on the risotto.
The basic risotto always goes the same way.
Start with some olive oil in your pot and add some finely chopped celery or onions and stew them for a while until they get soft (yes, always the same).
Then pour in your risotto rice and turn everything around to get your rice coated.
After that pour in some white wine or vermouth. Let it cook away.
In another pot you already have some stock ready (I used about one litre).
Ladle by ladle add the stock to your risotto. You only add another ladle of stock when the previous one has been absorbed. Repeat this until all the stock is gone. That should be between 15 and 20 minutes.
Now we add the leftover kale and the sausage, which has been cut into small pieces. Mix everything thoroughly.
To finish we add a tablespoon of butter and about a handful of grated parmesan. Cover the risotto and let it simmer for about three minutes.
After that mix again and then you are ready to eat. Plate up as much of the risotto you want to eat and grate over some extra parmesan.
Well, I couldn't eat all the risotto. And since I want to be creative with my leftovers, one thing leads to another ...

An evening with leftovers - Kefta Burger

What a great thing! Tomorrow the weekend starts for me. Just this one more day of work and that's it (sorry, I don't want to offend those who still have to work a few more days to get a day or two off). But it gets even better and voilà I'm on holiday out of town for a few days. However, there are still some leftovers in the fridge, I need to get rid off (no, no, never, I'm not going to throw any tiny bit of it away).

Here then starts my three day mission with a Kefta Burger.

Just some day ago I made this Baba Ghanoush. To get an idea how you could prepare this, you can have a look at an even older blog post of me: Baba Ghanoush sort of thing.

I also got some Merguez sausages and a few flatbreads. Merguez is a fresh sausage made of lamb and beef popular in North Africa, the Middle East, and Europe as well. It is already heavily spiced with for example chili pepper or harissa. That is why they look so red. Good thing for you (or me). So things go easy for this dish. 

Just cut open the sausages and get out the meat. Get a large pan on a high heat and add some oil. If the spice of the sausages is not enough for you, put some crushed fennel seeds, salt, and pepper into the hot oil. With the meat you make kind of small meat balls and toss them into the pan. Don't be fussy with it. They don't have to be well shaped. Your not entering a contest. Your just hungry.

Warm up the flatbreads and cut them in half. Spread thinly the baba Ghanoush on both sides. Then put some salad leaves and herbs on one side. I got some rocket and some coriander from my windowsill for it.

Next go some finely sliced onions and a few pieces of cherry tomatoes. When the meatballs are ready, they go, too - cover with the other half - finished - eat!

All that doesn't really take long. Again, even after a busy day of work, you can prepare a healthy meal. You don't have to eat junk!

What's next? After the Kefta Burger or Kefta Burgers (when you are really greedy you can maybe manage three, four or even more - but don't get too portly) is/are gone, it's time for pudding: Leftover apple'n'rhubarb crumble with leftover vanilla ice cream.

Last but not least, do you remember the Red wine cake I did yesterday? Well, I still have some leftover red wine in the bottle ... oh oh!

Leftover risotto

Somehow it often occurs that I cook more then what can be eaten at one meal. Good, still something left for another day. That means less work at another day. Or you loose an opportunity to cook something new. With some things you have it that they taste better when you eat it at another day. Some kind of coleslaw taste better when they had some time to soak. However, some things are not so nice anymore when you warm it up again - the pasta gets dry, pizza is not very nice and you could go on with the list. A good way then is to make something new. So I had lots of risotto left from Saturday and by the way still have. One way to use it, as I did last time I was in this situation, fill bell peppers with it. This time, though I got a hint from a friend on a forum. I made some risotto cakes, or burgers I would say (that is what they reminded me of). I made some little cakes/burgers of the risotto, dipped them in flour, then egg, and then breadcrumbs. Then fry them in a pan and enjoy it! I liked the resulting crust very much. Maybe if you think further, you get even more ideas.

This is how they look like - topped with salad!

However, it is always good to talk about things. You can get many fine ideas and learn a lot. There is always a different way of doing things. Go for it!

That was really yummy and no big deal. Just because it was so good I like to share it again, this time with the No Waste Food Challenge I am allowed to host this month (March 2014) in behalf of Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary.