Scones x Qagħaq tal-Ħmira

The very special blend of spices, citrus fruits zest and sesame seeds of Maltese Qagħaq tal-Ħmira is still floating around me and inspires me a lot, but it’s not always that I can wait for my sourdough Lois to work slowly a dough which in this still cold season can be 12 to 24 hours… sometimes we need something to eat, QUICK!!!! So I came up with a scone version of Qagħaq tal-Ħmira… it may be a blasphemy to the true Maltese tradition, so I apologize for this rather crude recipe. But to my defense, this scone recipe brings in all the flavors of Qagħaq tal-Ħmira in only 25min: 10min of kneading & shaping and 15min of baking. The softness of the famous slightly brioché bread is replaced by a more crumbly dry scone one. Add jam, honey or butter to it, or it alone in bite version… it is truly nice! Really!!! Try it and tell me what you think!

Scones Qagħaq tal-Ħmira way

150g of flour
50g of butter
30g of sugar
1tsp of baking powder
1 pinch of salt
1tsp of ground cloves
1tsp of anis seeds
1/4 of orange zest
sesame seeds for the topping
a bit of water or milk

Pre-heat your oven at 180deg.

In a bowl mix all the ingredients except for the last two: sesame seeds and water/milk. Start kneading. Add a bit of water/milk while kneading until you obtain a homogeneous dough. Roll to 3cm thick and top with sesame seeds. Roll a little bit thinner and be sure the sesame seeds are well incrusted. Cut to the shape and size you want, and put on a sheet of cooking paper. Bake 15min, and enjoy as soon as you like.

Isn’t that super simple???

February 15, 2021

Indian cooking

A while ago, one of my former student from India offered me a set of Indian spices… It took me a while to know what to do, and finally, upon recommendation of a Canadian friend who cooked for me an amazing Indian curry some years ago, I asked for Vij’s at Home: Relax, Honey: The Warmth and Ease of Indian Cooking as a xmas present. I browsed it several times, looking for inspiration, and was overwhelmed by the abundance of recipes I wanted to test, not knowing where to start. But when I saw beautiful cauliflowers at the farmers market on Saturday, I remembered that cauliflower recipe I saw and rush for one. We are lucky that in Chiba they also grow tomatoes that in winter are perfect for tomato sauce: large, very ripe and sweet.

So back home in front of the pantry full of bins with so many spices I don’t know about yet… I started to cook following the recipe, more or less… oups I don’t have coriander seeds… nor fresh ginger…

So here is my version of Vij’s cauliflower steak, that I served with Japanese rice, like a vegetable curry-rice. It was super delicious, so I imagine that with the two missing ingredients it is probably even better… but now who cares!

Spicy cauliflower (for 2)

– 1/2 cauliflower

– 1 large ripe tomato

– 1/2tsp of salt

– 1/2tsp of ground tumeric

– 1/2tsp of ground chilly pepper

– 1tsp of ground cumin

– 4 cloves

– 1 stick of cinnamon

– a bit of oil (I used olive oil and rice oil)

In a bit of oil I first reduce the tomato to tomato sauce. Then add all the other ingredients but the cauliflower and stir well. When it’s all creamy, I add the cauliflower cut in 4 pieces. Cook at low heat under cover until tender but not mushy.

Serve and eat immediately!!!

January 29, 2020

Qagħaq tal-Ħmira

I love breads of all kinds and I’m always happy to try local breads when traveling. In Malta I didn’t expect I would fell so much in love with one of their bread: Qagħaq tal-Ħmira, sesame, anis, spices rings. We had one the very first morning when we were at the Birkirkara market, and after that I wanted to have some always, but there not that easy to find actually. Pastizzi were good but these little Qagħaq tal-Ħmira were just perfect. It has a perfect balance between sweetness and not, between richness and not, between spiciness and not. The balance of clove, anis seeds, citrus zest and sesame is perfect and that was the most difficult to recreate actually. But after 3 attempts I think I’ve nailed it and can share my recipe now. We love them so much and just to be sure I tested a fourth time, they were perfect, so there will many many more times!!!

Qagħaq tal-Ħmira

– 200g of flour

– 25g of butter

– 25g of sugar

– 3g of dry yeast

– a pinch of salt

– 1 cup more or less of tepid milk

– 1/2 tsp of clove powder

– 1 tsp of anis seeds

– 2 tsp of citrus zest (official recipe says lemon and orange, I used what I had: yuzu, natsumikan…)

– sesame seeds for the toping

In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, salt, yeast, butter, add the milk slightly warmed little by little while kneading. Stop adding milk and kneading when the dough is smooth. Add the clove powder, the anis seeds, the zest of citrus. Knead just to mix well. Leave for an hour or two in a warm places. When the dough has grow a bit and is warm and fluffy, cut in 4 pieces. Make a ball of each piece and shape like a bagel: squeeze the center of the ball with your thumb and make a hole, roll around your fingers to make the hole bigger about 4-5cm wide. Roll the top in sesame. Leave to prove for 1 to 2hours.

Bake at 180deg for 15 to 20min depending on your oven. Must be slightly golden but still soft.

Enjoy warm or cold, with jam, butter, cheese… or nothing…

January 21, 2020

Gratted ginger scones

When we were in Chicago We went to Wholefood quite often, and when lining at the cashier they always have some magazines. Usually people press in which I have no interest, but also few cooking and interior magazines. And I must say that I totally get attracted to these. And I ended up buying one, with plenty of autumn recipes. I was definitely too early and too hot for thinking about pumpkin cakes and heavy preparations, but this time might come I tought (and it came quicker than expected!). Most of the recipes are too rich in butter and sugar but they provide some inspiration for sure and moveme out of my comfort cooking zone. The first recipe that inspired me is scones. Well nothing that move me too much away of my comfort zone… I love to prepare scones. They are so versatile and so easy to prepare. They can be sweet or salty, they can be prepared in advance… Pear and ginger make a good combination and pears are just starting to be in season. Funnily pears in Japan are often called “la france”, a name I’ve never investigated but that has always intrigued me! So in the classic base of scone recipe I added fresh ginger gratted, cinnamon, vanilla and grated clove. I served it with fresh pears, but you can add the pear diced in the scones too!

September 19, 2016