Kiflice

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Fresh from the oven je internacionalna igra za food blogere koji vole testa i peciva, kojoj sam se priključila pre godinu dana. Pravila sam ono što su drugi zadavali kao temu, Mlečni hleb, Stollen, Čokoladne puž hlepčiće, Seljački hleb, Kringel, Pizza testo, Pide, Palenta hleb i Chelsea buns. Došao je red na mene da zadam temu, i odabrala sam kiflice sa sirom. One meke, ukusne i divne.

Recept za ove kiflice je uzet iz mamine sveske. Pravila sam ih mnogo, mnogo puta i garantujem da je recept odličan. Za "ono nešto" zadužen je margarin koji se isecka na komadiće i poređa između kiflica, pa prilikom pečenja kiflice spolja upijaju tu masnoću i dobiju neki poseban šarm.

Margarin se u našoj kući ne troši. Osim kad pravim ove kiflice. Imam loše mišljenje o hidrogenizovanim biljnim masnoćama, i mi hranu pripremamo sa uljem, puterom, mašću... Margarin sam uzimala samo kad znam da mi treba za ove kiflice, jer nisam smela da rizikujem da menjam recept, kad je toliko dobar. Mislim - nisam smela, dok nisam rešila da smem :)

Napravim ja turu kiflica i uzmem puter umesto margarina. Ljudi, to je drugi proizvod. Jestivo je to, ali nema govora o onim savršenim kiflicama. Prvo, puter je osetljiviji na visoke temperature i njemu jednostavno ne prija da ga grejači u rerni tope i peku 20-25 minuta na 180-200°C. Puter pregoreva. Kiflice ga ne upijaju dovoljno dobro kao margarin, i on se peče, peče, i - prepeče. Kad izvučete pleh, tačno se vide tragovi pregrejanog putera, neke tamne mrvice.

Drugo. Kad su kiflice pečene i izvadite pleh iz rerne, na dnu pleha se i dalje se vidi masnoća koja mestimično pliva. To se dogadja i kad se koristi margarin, ali u narednih 5-10 minuta dok kiflice malo dođu k' sebi, margarin će nestati tj. kiflice će ga upiti. A puter neće, ili možda hoće malo. Bez preterivanja - kiflice su za tri klase lošije ako se prave sa puterom, iz ovog mog iskustva gledano.

Prema tome, upotreba margarina u kiflicama je moj kompromis sa samom sobom, i po svemu sudeći, tako će i ostati.

Recept za kiflice sam još ranije objavila na blogu, i reakcije svih koji su proli su bile prilično pozitivne. Toplo savetujem svima koji još tragaju za receptom za najfinije kiflice, da odštampaju ovaj recept i isprobaju ga.
Ovde je round-up, gde se može videti kako su učesnici FFTO napravili kiflice.

I još nešto. Simpatično mi je što vidim na drugim blogovima opise i postavke vezane sa fotografisanje. Ima sigurno godinu dana kako sam poželela da napišem par postova na tu temu, i iznesem svoja iskustva. Pa, kako sam inače "brza", nisam nikada ni napala taj zadatak. Preciznost je moja vrlina i mana, puno vremena umem da potrošim na pripremu za nešto što zahteva realizaciju od 10 minuta, a za pripremu nekoliko postova o slikanju trebalo bi mi dva godišnja odmora. Sa nekim stvarima se čovek pomiri, a sa nekima večito ratuje. Ja nisam ni tamo ni 'vamo, klackam se stalno između samouverenosti da je dobro biti spor i pedantan i razočaranosti što ništa ne mogu u normalnom roku da uradim.

Elem, nisam sad došla da kukam, nego da objasnim ovo što sledi, i što ćete i nadalje tu i tamo viđati. Ja sam foto-amater, neke osnove sam pohvatala. Nedovoljno da bih nekog drugog učila, ali dovoljno da mogu da vam amaterski prepričam konkretan slučaj. Osim samih slika klope o kojoj je reč, kad se setim izmankem se par koraka unazad pa škljocnem i širi plan. Mnogo puta žurim pa zaboravim. Ovaj put nisam :)

Levo - kad god imam priliku, probam unapred da uhvatim kadar kojim ću biti zadovoljna, još i pre nego što je klopa gotova. Ovde je bilo lako, jer sam samo postavila praznu činiju i času sa pivom, pa okinula par puta i videla da je ok, pa sam ostavila sve tako. Kad su kiflice bile spremne, samo sam ih poređala u činiju. Slikala iz tog ugla, i uvek pokušam da uhvatim i jedan "ptičiji" plan. Popnem se na stolicu pa slikam odozgo.

Desno - Trpezarijski sto ima prirodno svetlo sa jedne strane. Bio je šućmurast dan, mada sa sunčanim segmenitma (testo i sirove kiflice su slikane na istom stolu, recimo jedan sat ranije od naslovne slike!) a i već je polako počelo da se smrkava, pa je svetla bilo malo. Postavila sam belu tablu nasuprot prozoru, da odbija svetlost. Nema je na slici, jer dok jednom rukom pridzavam tu tablu, drugom rukom drzim aparat i slikam, uglavnom sve radim sama, pa kad se udaljim nema ko da mi pridržava tu belu tablu :) Narihtala ISO na 400, jer je bilo malo svetla. Nije idealno jer imam osetnog šuma, ali nisam htela da odustanem od prirodnog svetla. Preko stola je bačeno parce crne trevire, elastične, kupljene u prodavnici metraže, među restlovima, uzela sam jer se ne gužva. Sve što treba da se pegla znam da neću nikad upotrebiti. Preko je parče vunene tkanine braonkastih tonova, takođe uzeto iz korpe sa restlovima. Toliko za ovaj put :)

I'm proud to host the November FFTO challenge. I decided to challenge the group to prepare and try one of our family recipes, for super soft mini cheese rolls. Cheese rolls we use to call kiflice are very popular savory little treats here in Serbia. They are usually served as a starter at family meetings, or as a finger food at parties and they are standard offer at city bakeries. Almost each family has it's variation of the recipe, and I'd like to share mine with you. I use to make them out of 1 kg flour, but scaled down the recipe to 500 g of flour for this purpose ;)

Recipe calls for fresh yeast, 20 g, which may be replaced with 2 tsp of instant yeast, or 2.5 tsp of active dry yeast. This is according to net research, not personal experience, so if you have other conversion method, use it. You should use as much yeast as it is usual for 500 g flour (for plain white bread dough). Recipe also calls for sunflower oil, as it is most used type of oil in Serbian cooking habits, but you can use any vegetable oil, which tastes and smells neutral (don't use olive or sesame oil with hard aroma). The final touch for those rolls is baking in fatty environment, as rolls should be surrounded with peaces of margarine, on the baking pan. Please, don't skip this final tip, or you'll end up with just ordinary cheese rolls, the fat they absorb during baking is what gives them extra softness and taste and a kind of "fried" and crispy bottom of the rolls.

Kiflice are usually filled with cheese, but you can fill them with various mixtures of your choice, or you can leave them plain, without any filling. They are still great if not filled at all, because of the dough - the dough is great.

I did my best to explain the technique in details, but if you have any doubts please leave a comment here, or email me at mamajacooks at gmail dot com.

I hope you'll enjoy kiflice, and I'm really looking forward to reading about your impressions if you decide to give them a try!

The roundup

Kiflice - Serbian Mini Rolls

Dough:
500 g all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
20 g fresh yeast (2 tsp instant yeast or 2.5 tsp active dry yeast)
1 tsp sugar
250 ml milk
75 ml sunflower oil
1 egg

Filling:
200-250 g cottage cheese (you may use feta or other fresh cheese)
1 egg white (optional)

And more:
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp milk
100-125 g margarine

Directions:
1. Crush the cheese using a fork. Add some salt if it tastes neutral. Stir the egg white in, if the cheese is too crumbly. Filling shouldn't be runny, but thick and compact, thicker than the cream cheese, and pretty salty.

2. For the starter - dissolve yeast with some lukewarm milk in a cup, add a teaspoon of sugar and a tablespoon of flour, stir to get smooth batter. Set aside at room temperature, or near the stove top, to let the yeast activate and fill the cup.

3. Sift the flour, add salt. Add activated yeast, egg, oil and milk, then combine using a wooden spoon to get smooth dough. The dough seems like too soft and too sticky at the beginning, but don't worry, continue with kneading, and soon your dough should start to separate from the bowl, and thicken. It is not necessary to knead the dough by hands, the wooden spoon works just fine (you may use any spoon, of course, the wooden spoon is common tool for all stirring and kneading works here at the Balkans). Grease the cling film with oil, cover the bowl, and set aside for at least an hour, at lukewarm place, to let the dough doubles in size.

4. Re-knead the dough, divide into 5 equal parts, shape them into balls. Each part should make 8 rolls, so you'll end up with 40 rolls, which should perfectly fit the regular oven pan, if lined in 5x8 order. Flatten each ball by hands over the floury working surface, then use a rolling pin to roll the dough out in a circle, a few millimeters thick. Use a sharp knife to cut the circle into 8 triangles. Take one triangle, stretch it in the air with your hands, to get it extended as much as you can, gently. Put some filling at the triangle base, then fold the edges of the base as shown at pic4, to avoid the filling leak out during baking. Roll. Arrange the rolls at the pan (5x8).

5. Lightly beat the egg yolk with a tablespoon of milk, then brush the top of each roll with the mixture. This is used to prevent forming thick crust, and to improve the color of baked rolls. Sprinkle with some sesame seeds, if you like.

6. Arrange the small peaces of margarine between the rolls, then bake in the oven preheated to 180°C for about 20 minutes. Be careful not to overbake them. Let them cool a bit, be careful as the filling is always more hot then the dough, take a seat in your favorite armchair, and start enjoying the softest cheese rolls ever. And don't think of calories, please :)