Recipes from Team Baabuk
There's no denying that food brings people together. Whether it's a big family gathering or a simple team meeting, there's something about sharing a meal that creates a sense of community and connection. At Baabuk, our team is made up of people from all over the world, each with their own unique cultural backgrounds. So when we gathered in Switzerland for our last team meeting, it was only natural that we brought a piece of our home with us to share with the team.
From Crêpes to Borscht, our team's culinary offerings were as diverse as our backgrounds. And now, we want to share some of those recipes with you. In this blog post, we'll be sharing some of our favorite recipes from our team meeting in Switzerland. So, whether you're looking to try something new or simply want to get a taste of our team's cultural backgrounds, read on for some delicious inspiration.
DUTCH PORRIDGE
by Yves
Let's get up and after your coooollllddddd shower, enjoy a warm cozy porridge.
Quantities are per person... cook it with friends makes it funnier!
- take your favorite saucepan, yes that one!
- pour 350ml (1.5cup) of happy free range cow milk or your favorite Non-Dairy Milk (I would go for Oat).
- add 40g (½ cup) of oats flakes + 40g (½ cup) of millet flakes + 1 teaspoon of chia seeds
- while heating up, add a tablespoon of almonds + one of pumpkin seeds + one of sunflower seeds
- bring it to boil, stirring from time to time and remove from the fire, yes because you are out camping in nature and make all this on a fire camp!
- make it spicy with two pinches of cinnamon powder and a pinch of chili powder (fires up
your day!)
- make it sweet and cozy with a tablespoon of Maple syrup
- stirring from time to time and watching carefully that it doesn’t stick, if it gets to sticky add a bit more liquid
- while the porridge soaks, take one pear, cut it into dices, and golden brown it with coconut oil in a pan, add a tablespoon of maple syrup.
- serve the creamy porridge topped with the golden pear in your favorite bowl.
Enjoy it watching the sunrise, energy for the day!
BRETON BUCKWHEAT CRÊPES
by Anna
Dough:
- 300 grs buckwheat flour
- 4 eggs
- 100gs salted butter (it is very important that you use salted butter if you want to
- achieve the Breton taste)
- 1-2 pinches of salt
- 50cl full fat milk
- 10cl water
Cooking & filling:
200grs of salted butter
any fillings of your choice
Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl
Create a crater in the middle and add the eggs beating softly.
Gently pour the milk little by little mixing all the time
Leave it to cool for min. 1 hour
Before cooking take out of the fridge and add the melted butter
Then add the water to get the right texture (neither too tick, nor too thin)
You will need a very large flat plan or a "billig" which is the breton crêpe making
device. Heat the pan on strong heat (gaz is best), grease with a small chunk of butter, even out with buttered paper towel.
When the pan is hot, pour quickly half a glass of crêpe dough and spread out on the whole pan. The secret is the right combination between speed and heat. Your pan must be hot and you must even out the dough as fast as possible.
Once that side is cooked, flip over and slightly cook the reverse side.
You can cook all the crêpes first and pile them up, then take care of the fillings and servings in a second step.
On the second step, the heat can be put down so the fillings inside the crepes cook gently and the crêpes don't overcook nor get dry.
For the fillings, I recommend traditional breton terroir ingredients, such as cheese, ham, eggs, mushrooms, but you can obviously use any filling of your choice.
SLAVIC BORSCHT
by Galina
· 3 medium beets, peeled and grated
· 3 medium carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
· 3 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced into bite-sized pieces
· ½ of a small cabbage
· ½ litter of tomato sauce
· 1 lemon for juice
· 4 Tbsp olive oil
· ½ litter of water or vegetable broth
· 1 large onion, chopped
· 3 cloves garlic
· 3/4 cup chopped fresh dill, coriander and parsley
· 1 cup sour cream
1. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, and cook until tender. Add carrots and the beets, cook for 5 min then add the tomato sauce. Cook for 5 more min and add lemon juice so that the beet doesn’t lose the bright red color.
2. Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Add cabbage and potatoes, and
cover the pot. Return to a boil. Cook until tender, about 15 minutes.
3. Transfer the carrots & beet to the pot with cabbage and potatoes and cook for 10 min together.
4. Add the raw garlic to the soup, cover and turn off the heat. Let stand for 5
minutes. Taste, and season with salt, pepper and sugar and herb mix
5. Ladle into serving bowls, and garnish with sour cream, if desired, and fresh
parsley.
VALENCIAN PAELLA
by Nuria
This recipe is really very easy, but there is one tricky point: the rice. And the pan. And the fire. OK, seems that it’s more than one tricky point, but it’s the combination of them, really. But I come later to that.
The paella we did in La Petite Auberge was for 8 persons, so I put the ingredients for 8 persons, because you will love to share it with your friends and family.
In Non-Covid-Times, you normally eat the rice directly from the paella.
Quick clarification here: the pan is the paella and what you eat is the rice, not the paella. Logic, isn’t it? Some people will tell you that you eat the paella, but don’t believe them. You eat the rice! I am right, because I tell you so! (This is what valencianos say when they think they are right!)
Coming back to how you normally eat this. Traditionally you take a tablespoon and determine your area in the paella, tracing imaginary lines from the center to the border. If you are 8, you have ⅛ of the paella. Important! Don’t dare to cross your area! If you see a piece of fish in another area, you can friendly ask the person if she wants to give you this piece, but don't you dare stick your spoon in someone else's area! Absolutely forbidden.
Later, when the paella is almost finished, the people next to you will tell you, to eat the border, you will tell them the same, you will discuss this out….you get the point.
Then let’s begin with the recipe, ok?
You can do the fumet (the fish broth) yourself. It’s not complicated (water, fish, cook, strain), but it’s a step more. And if you live in a non-”fishy” area, perhaps you have no access to good fish and prefer to buy the fish broth. Or perhaps in your country there are several types of fish broth, and you want to try them out? I’ll explain with doing the fumet, but we used bought fish broth in La Petite Auberge for its simplicity.
Here you go:
For the broth
Head of hake or bones of grouper and monkfish or we call it “morralla” fish (this is the little fish that no one wants to eat, but make a delicious broth)
two kilos in total, a little of each or all the same, whatever you like
4 liters water
For the rice
800 g of round rice (the best would be “arroz bomba” if you have access to it)
30-40 striped prawns or king prawns
2 medium cuttlefishes
2 monkfish tails
2 medium squids
Instead of fresh fish you can use 1kg frozen fish or seafood
4 medium tomatoes
100 g onion (one big onion)
100 g garlic (7-8 gloves)
Sweet paprika (4-5 tablespoons, yes tablespoons!)
Saffron (please don't be stingy here)
Olive oil (same, cover the pan generously, don’t forget that fat is a flavor carrier!)
Preparation
Put 4 liters of water in a pot with a little salt and add the hake head, the grouper and monkfish bones and/or the morralla fish. Bring to the boil over low heat and cook for approximately 15 to 20 minutes from the beginning. Strain the fish to obtain the broth.
Put a dash of oil in the paella pan, wait for it to heat up and fry the prawns or shrimps.
Remove, peel the prawns and set aside. Grind the heads and skins with a little of the fumet broth, strain and return this concentrate of flavor and intensity to the stock pot.
Fry the cuttlefish, squid and monkfish, previously cut into pieces of approximately two or three centimeters. With frozen fish or seafood, just do the same with a bit more patience (even if you have the shrimps in the seafood).
Add the finely chopped onion + garlic and cook until it is well done. Then add the grated tomato and the sweet paprika.
When everything is well fried and there is no more water from the fish and the tomatoes (important!), add the rice, which should be well impregnated with all the ingredients and be slightly transparent (pearly). If necessary, add a little more oil. Add also in this step the saffron.
Add 2,5 liters of fumet and let it boil over high heat for about five minutes. Check salt, and if necessary, rectify. Then, reduce to low heat - without letting it stop boiling - until the rice absorbs all the broth.
Here comes the tricky part, because if the paella is not centered and your
fire/gas/vitro/electro/call-it-x-fireplace has an unevenness you will have more broth on one side than on the other and one part of the rice will be done while the other part will still be half-cooked. This is the real tricky part of the paella. You have seen that the rest is super easy-peasy, but this…. So, it’s very important to level the paella from the moment you add the broth.
After adding the broth and leveling the paella, do not touch anymore. Not stirring, no moving, no nothing. Go grab a glass of wine or a beer and simply let the rice cook.
And for the “point of rice” (to have a rice that is perfectly cooked, but not overcooked) my not-so-professional-tip is: taste it after 15 min. If you think in the next 3-5 minutes the rice will need more broth, add some sip by sip. If you see that the rice is almost cooked, but there is still a lot of broth, turn the fire to max, so the broth evaporates faster.
When it is ready, add on top the peeled striped shrimps that we had reserved to garnish and leave for five minutes (covered with silver paper if you are not so sustainable) so that the rice rests a little.
Serve and enjoy in good company.
If you have a valenciano sitting next to you, you will enjoy the discussion of how paellas are made and how not, but you know: You are right, because you tell them so!
If you make this recipe, make a photo and send us your comment!