Quick and easy Cinnamon rolls (biscuits)

Yet again, something on Pinterest has caught my attention and led me to a new blog, Taste and Tell.  I've seen a lot of great looking recipes, but one in particular caught my attention as I was looking for things to make for breakfast over the Easter holiday weekend.  I chose the Cinnamon Biscuits. I've made my Grandma's Cinnamon Rolls once, about 2 years ago, and they took forever to make!  I ended up with about 3 dozen rolls as well.  I made the dough from scratch which is why it took so long. One day, when the kids are older and I have some time, I'll try again, because they really are good.

One thing about living here is the lack of convenience in some things.  However, I think this is also a good thing. One, because you don't really need to eat cinnamon rolls every weekend, and that would be super easy to do in the US - buy a can and you're ready to go! Two, by learning to use local ingredients, hopefully you cut down on your grocery costs.

These are quite good. There are a few changes I'd make, but nothing major.  Normally I would use the Natron and Backpulver, but couldn't find my supply, so fell back on the Baking Powder and Soda that I have - something you can buy online at one of the specialty shops.  When I made Banana Bread and used the Natron, I actually thought it came out better than with the other, so I am curious to make these again once I have been shopping.

I've never had cinnamon rolls without the icing before. These you pour milk on top of.  When they come out of the oven, they are slightly dry, so I think adding some icing wouldn't really help.  However, with the addition of the milk, it softens them up and the texture is great.

What you need:

2 cups flour (I use weissmehl)
1 Tbls baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp vegetable oil (I use sonnenblumen oel)
3/4 cup buttermilk (buttermilch - available at Coop)
75g of butter, soft enough to spread over dough
1/2 cup brown sugar (or muscavado)
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/3 cup of milk for pouring over the top


Preheat the oven to 204 C. Grease a small round pie/cake tin with some of the butter.

Combine the flour with the salt and baking powder/soda.  Mix in the oil and add the buttermilk.  Mix until it has just come together

Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 2-3 minutes.  Roll into a rectangle, somewhere in the range of 9x13 and then spread the butter on top.

After combining the cinnamon, sugar and cardamom in a bowl (mixing well!), sprinkle on top of the butter.

Fold over the long end of the dough to begin a roll, and keep rolling till you reach the end.  Pinch the edges together slightly to hold everything together.  Cut into 8-10 slices depending on the size of your roll and your pan.  Be aware that they will expand some.

Bake until lightly browned, about 15-20 minutes. 

Pour the milk on top, allow to soak in, and then serve warm. 

Enjoy!

Migros recipes - Bratwurst and a cheesy veggie

I've been getting the Coop and Migros magazines/flyers/newsletters - whatever you call them - in the mail.  Sometimes I glance through them, and sometimes they end up being used as packaging material.  Lately I've been looking in them though. There are coupons inside and recipes.  Can't believe I haven't looked sooner.  I figure any recipe I find in the Coop or Migros stores/catalogs are bound to be a lot cheaper than trying to create something from home that probably requires 6 chf/100g worth of meat.

Normally I translate bits and pieces of a recipe, but this time I didn't bother.  I thought my German was coming along well enough that I could try without it.  I will post the original recipe in German, and also a rough translation of it for you. The only thing I didn't do was keep all the juices to go in with the sauce, but it still ended up being tasty.  I also used only 400g of the vegetable since there were only 2 of us eating.  Be aware that it does cook down.

What you need: To serve 4

Butter for your mold, or large dish
2 Tbls bread crumbs
800 g cabbage stalks
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
1 Tbls oil
salt
1 dl white wine
1 dl vegetable bouillon
2Tbls butter
2 Tbls flour
1.5 dl cream
pepper, nutmeg
80 g Gruyere
4 pork sausages.  I actually did a combination of Cervelas and Kalb brautwurst

1. You can use either several small molds or one large dish to cook this in.  I chose the small dishes (have to keep finding uses for the ones I bought in Mullhouse!).  Butter the dish - like you would a cake pan, and then drop a spoonful of the breadcrumbs in.  If you use the breadcrumbs that Migros sell, which I did, then they are like little granules. Just swish them around in the dish until they have coated the butter.

Chop the cabbage up.  The stalks into 2 cm wide pieces, and the leaves into 2cm wide strips.

2. Dice the onion and garlic and saute in oil.  Add the cut cabbage stalks, white wine and broth.  Cover and cook for about 5-10 minutes, until the stalks are softened. Add the cut cabbage leaves and mix briefly.  Remove the cabbage mixture from the pan, saving the juices.

3. Preheat the oven to 220 C.  Melt the butter and add the flour. Mix well and add the juices. Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer for 5 minutes.  Add the cream, pepper and nutmeg to taste. 

Put the cabbage mixture in the dish(es) and then add the cream sauce to the top.  Grate the Gruyere cheese on top and then place in the oven for about 15-20 minutes.  

Meanwhile, cook your sausages. 

Enjoy.  

And here is the recipe in German as I may not have translated it correctly.  From this weeks Migros magazine: (sorry about the lack of umlauts) 

Butter fuer die Form

2 EL Paniermehl

800g Krautstiele

1 Zwiebel

2 Knoblauch  zehen

1 EL Oel

Salz

1 dl Weisswein

1 dl Gemuese bouillon

2 EL Butter

2 EL Mehl

1,5 dl Rahm

Pfeffer, Muskatnuss

80g Greyerzer

4 Schweins bratwuerste

1. Eine grosse Form oder mehrere kleine, ofenfeste Formen mit Butter bepinseln und mit Paniermehl ausstreuen, Krautstielblaetter von den Staengeln schneiden. Staengel in 2 cm grosse Stuecke. Blaetter in circa 2 cm breite Streifen schneiden.

2. Zwiebel und Knoblauch hacken im oel anduensten. Krautstielstaengel dazugeben, salzen. Mit Weisswein und Bouillion abloeschen und zugedeckt circa 5-10 Minuten bissfest garen. Krautstie blaetter daruntermischen.

3. Backofen auf 220C vorheizen. Krautstiele abgissen, Kochsud auffangen. Butter erhitzen, Mehl darin anduensten. Kochsud dazuglessen, Sauce aufkochen und ca. 5 Minuten unter Ruehren koecheln lassen. Rahm dazugeben. Sauce mit Pfeffer und Muskat abschmecken. Krautstiele in die Form geben, Sauce ueber das Gemuese glessen. Mit Greyerzer bestreuen. Krautstiele in der oberen Ofenhaelfte 15-220 Minuten ueerbaken.

4. In der Zwischenzeit die Schweinsbratwuerste braten und zu dem Krautstielgratin servieren.