Piggy Moons

‘Piggy Moons’: A high fiber shell hides a naughty filling

My son Valentino never ceases to amaze me. The other day we watched a food show on television featuring diners specialized in deep frying all over the United States of America. Although deep fried food clogs your arteries and leaves its fans looking bloated, it tends to make our gastric juices flow. “Why don’t we make something deep fried together?” was Valentino’s innocent reaction to the health hazards we had just watched. (One of them was huge strips of bacon dipped in batter and then deep fried…)

“I want something with bacon and carrots”, he continued. Luckily he included something healthy. Carrots belong to the few vegetables he likes. Being an obedient Mama, the next day I went to work. Bacon it had to be, carrots also. I decided to balance the bacon with a wrapping made with the new diabetic flour you find now in the supermarkets. It is a mix of whole wheat with different dry beans flour. It has a lot more fiber and protein than the normal whole wheat flour and a low glycemic index – in short, something really good for our bodies. I used it to make simple dough with eggs and oil which we stuffed with bacon bits mixed with spring onions, garlic, carrots and mozzarella. “Now we also have to name it”, said Valentino after our work was done. Because of the shape we agreed to call our creation ‘Piggy Moons’.

My men liked them so much, they disappeared in one day. Our ‘Piggy Moons’ are great snacks and they go very well in Tiffin boxes. Just freeze them spread out on a plate, then pack them into an airtight container and fry them, whenever needed. I am always happy to have some easy meals for Tiffin boxes stand by – they make my mornings easy.

Wishing you happy cooking, always!

Kornelia Santoro with family

The following ingredients make around 35 ‘Piggy Moons’.

Ingredients for the filling:

• 1 packet bacon (200 grams)
• 1 packet mozzarella cheese (250 grams)
• 1 big carrot
• 1 bundle spring onions
• 2 cloves garlic

Ingredients for the dough:

• 2 cups flour (preferably whole wheat)
• 2 eggs
• 5 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• water

You also need:

• flour for rolling of the dough
• 1 egg for brushing the moons
• peanut oil for deep frying

 

Method:

Cut the bacon into small pieces. I find this easier to accomplish when the bacon is frozen. Put it into a nonstick pan and fry it over a small flame to release the fat slowly, but surely. While the bacon is frying, clean and chop the spring onions, the carrot and the garlic. I just throw them into a blender; you can also use a grater for the ingredients. Grate the mozzarella cheese as well. When the bacon bits have turned crispy and released their fat, add the spring onions, the carrot and the garlic and fry them all together for about 2 or 3 minutes. The onions should turn translucent. At this point a mouthwatering aroma ought to fill your kitchen. Let the filling cool down before you mix it with the mozzarella cheese.

Now it is time to work on the dough. Put the flour in a bowl, add the eggs, the oil and the salt and start combining it with a spoon. Once it is mixed, take some cold water, put aside the spoon and go in with your hands. Knead the dough thoroughly with just enough water to make it smooth. If by mistake you have added too much water and the dough remains sticky, you can add some more flour.

Finally we are ready to make the moons. Take about a third of the dough, knead it into a ball and dust it with flour. On a smooth surface – I use my granite kitchen counter top – roll out the dough as thinly as possible. Now stamp out dough circles with a big glass or a round cookie cutter. Put one egg in a small bowl or a cup and jumble it up. Brush the dough circles with the egg wash to make the borders stick together. Place one teaspoon of filling on a circle and fold it into half, making sure the dough covers the filling well. Secure the round border by pressing it together first with your fingers and then by pressing it down with a fork. This not only secures the edge, it gives it also a nice pattern.

When you have made your way through all the dough, your ‘Piggy Moons’ are ready for frying – or freezing, if you want to fry them later on. For freezing spread them out on a plate and put them into the freezer. Once they are hard you can pack them properly. In this way they will not stick together and you can take out the pieces easily.

Now heat up enough peanut oil for deep frying your moons. I prefer peanut oil because it can be heated to high temperatures. The oil should be so hot, that the ‘Piggy Moons’ don’t stick to the bottom of the wok, but float up immediately. Fry them until they are golden brown on both sides, drain excess fat on a kitchen towel and serve. If you want your piggy moons spicy, just add some chopped green chilly to the filling.

Serotonin snacks make you happy

Dear all,   The research for my new book ‘Cooking for Happiness’ keeps me busy for quite some time now. It seems to me that science has not acknowledged sufficiently yet how much food is influencing our mood. During the recent decade however, there has been a lot of progress. "Food is like a pharmaceutical compound that affects the brain," wrote Fernando Gómez-Pinilla, a professor of neurosurgery and physiological science, in 2008 on the website of the University of California (UCLA). Like my other books, I intend to write ‘Cooking for Happiness’ based on my experience. In this month’s newsletter I publish my first recipe developed for this book. In the article below, ‘About serotonin, insulin and the blood brain barrier’, I explain why I call my whole-wheat rolls serotonin snacks. Actually, I have experimented for years with making bread – without chemical additives - but the results never really satisfied me. Then I watched a show on TV showing how the French craft their baguette. I love, love, love baguette. Nowhere in the world smells bread as lovely as in France. I believe they have their own brand of yeast that produces the wonderful scent of baguette. Anyway, I would never dare to try making baguette but I learned two things from this show: It takes two days to make baguette and they sprinkle the baguette with water during baking to get a nice crust. I incorporated these techniques into my humble bread rolls and voilà! For the first time, I really liked my rolls – and I know exactly what I went into preparing them. Even my son, as you might know a picky eater, calls them delicious. They are quite dense and you have to chew them well, but as far as I can tell, they really raise the level of serotonin in the brain. Please read my explanation below to understand how and when you have to eat them.   Serotonin Snacks Ingredients (for 24 whole wheat rolls): 1 kilogram whole wheat flour 200 grams oat or wheat bran 2 packets dry yeast 2 tablespoons sugar 1 tablespoon salt water Method: You need time to make these rolls, but the method itself is very easy. First you have to wake up the dry yeast. Remember that yeast is a fungus, which loves a warm, moist environment. I used to heat up the water to start the dry yeast but many times I made it too warm and killed the yeast instead. Here in Goa, India, the weather is actually so warm that you can use water at room temperature and it works just fine. If you live in a warm climate, you might want to warm up the water a little. Take about half a cup of water, stir two tablespoons of sugar into the water and add the yeast. Now wait until bubbles start to form. When you see the bubbles you know that the yeast has woken up and wants more food. Place the flour and the bran into a big mixing bowl. I like oat bran because it gives a slightly nutty flavour to the bread. Dig a hole in the middle and pour the yeast mixture into the hole. Cover the yeast with flour and wait until the flour over the yeast shows cracks and the yeast bubbles spill out. Now sprinkle the salt over the flour, place a container with water next to your mixing bowl and dive in with your hands. You need to mix the yeast with the flour and water until you have smooth dough. Be careful with adding the water. Start by adding one cup, mix it in and then keep adding more until you have incorporated all the flour. You need between half and three quarter of a litre. The dough should be elastic without sticking too much to your hands. If you have added too much water and the dough remains sticky, add some more flour. If the dough crumbles and does not come together well, you need more water. Cover the dough with a wet cloth and let it rise in a warm, safe place for about two hours (also three hours would not hurt). When the dough has doubled its size, knead it again. This second kneading makes sure the yeast is distributed evenly through the dough. Spread a silicone-baking sheet or baking paper over a cookie sheet and make 24 little rolls from the dough. To divide the dough evenly, I first halve it, and then halve it again and again. The remaining eighth of the dough is enough for three rolls. I shape the dough into balls and place them onto the cookie sheet. If you want to sprinkle sesame or poppy seeds over the top of the rolls, do it now and press the seeds slightly into the dough. Now make the cloth really wet, spread it gently over the rolls and let them rise overnight. That is not as long as the two days for baguette, but it really makes a difference. It is important that the covering cloth is wet enough to keep the rolls moist over night.   Finally, it is time to bake the rolls. I bake my rolls for one and a half hours at lowest temperature (180 degrees) in my gas oven. After three quarters of an hour, spread the wet cloth over the rolls to moisten the surface. You should see some steam rising. Repeat this at least two more times. Because the flame in my gas oven comes from the bottom, I use the grill for around 5 minutes at the end of the baking time to give the top of the roll a nice crust. If you have an electric oven, this might not be necessary. Enjoy! About serotonin, insulin and the blood brain barrier Our bodies are complicated organisms. They depend on many things; the neurotransmitter serotonin is one of them. Serotonin is one of the most common neurotransmitters in nature. Even the simple amoeba uses serotonin. In our bodies serotonin acts in many different ways. About 90 percent of all the serotonin in our bodies is found in and around our digestive system where it regulates the movement of our gut. In our brains, serotonin is influencing our mood. Well-balanced serotonin levels lead to a happy, relaxed and confident outlook on life and good sleep. Many scientists nowadays believe that low levels of serotonin are a major cause for depression. However, it is not easy to raise the levels of serotonin in the brain. You can eat serotonin supplements, but they will not reach the brain due to the blood brain barrier. Only the amino acid (protein) tryptophan and its metabolite 5-hydroxytryptophan, the building blocks for serotonin, are able to cross this blood brain barrier – and this only under certain conditions. I have read the following explanation for this mechanism in ‘The Serotonin Power Diet’ by Judith J. Wurtman, PhD, and Nina T. Frusztajer, MD, a book I can recommend if you want to explore the benefits of serotonin further. When you eat a meal rich with protein, your digestive system sends them into the blood. There they compete with each other to enter our brain. At this time, tryptophan has no chance to cross the barrier because the other amino acids clutter the entrance. What you need now, around two hours after a protein rich meal, is a carbohydrate snack to release a small spike of insulin. This snack should contain as little fat and protein as possible. It can have some sugar, so you could eat the whole-wheat rolls spread with jam or honey – but forget the butter. You need at least 30 grams of carbohydrates for the desired effect The carbohydrates release the hormone insulin from the pancreas. Insulin pushes all the proteins from the blood into the organs – and makes the way free for tryptophan to enter the brain. Once it has reached the brain it is quickly converted into serotonin. For around half an hour after eating a serotonin carbohydrate snack you should avoid eating anything with protein or fat. Don’t expect any immediate results. It takes about two weeks to build up serotonin levels. Although my husband and my son might disagree, I feel a lot better after using this trick with the serotonin snacks for about two months now. I also sleep a lot better. One more time in short: Eat a serotonin snack two hours after a protein rich meal and then wait for half an hour before eating fat or protein. By the way, many common antidepressants work with serotonin. For example, Prozac is a serotonin re-uptake inhibitor (SSRI). That means it makes serotonin stay active longer in the brain. More recipes at Kornelia's Kitchen Sign up for my monthly newsletter