The Elegant Cook

From Austria, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy and Spain comes this coffee-time treat composed of walnuts and sweet dough:

My mother, Lorraine, wrote and published this recipe in her 1990 food-history book:

Potica, Povitica, Pavatitsa or Povatica (updated and adapted by M-J)

Dough for Six Twelve-inch Loaves: 2 packages of active dry yeast,

1 tablespoon salt,

1/2 cup of warm water,

1/2 cup of soft butter,

2 cups of scalded milk,

4 egg yolks, beaten slightly;

1 cup granulated sugar,

About 9 cups of sifted flour (I prefer unbleached, white flour),

Dissolve the yeast in warm water. Combine scalded milk, sugar, salt, and butter. Cool until lukewarm. Stir slightly beaten egg yolks into yeast mixture. Add 4 cups of flour, mixing thoroughly. Add the remaining flour one cup at a time, forming a stiff but not sticky ball of dough. Knead the dough until it is soft, light and smooth. Place it in a greased or buttered bowl. Cover with a tea towel and let dough rise in a warm place for an hour and a half, or until doubled in bulk.

Walnut Filling for Six Twelve-Inch Loaves 1 lb. finely ground walnuts,

1 teaspoon vanilla,

1 cup of cream or half & half,

1/4 cup of butter,

1 1/2 cups of granulated, white sugar;

1/2 cup of bread crumbs

1 teaspoon of salt 4 egg whites, stiffly beaten

Process walnuts until they're finely ground. Heat cream in a large saucepan until almost boiling. Add the butter and let that melt. Mix the walnuts, sugar, salt and vanilla bread crumbs into the hot cream and butter. Then, gently fold your stiffly beaten egg whites in to the walnut mixture. Divide the dough into six equal parts; do not knead. With a rolling pin, flatten each piece into a large rectangle. Spread thickly with the walnut filling. Roll this jelly-roll style, carefully from the short end, pulling the dough thinner as you go along, so that the filling will be thick in between the dough layers. Twist the ends of loaves to seal them. Place loaves on greased cookie sheets (or, use loaf pans). Let the loaves rise in a warm place for an hour. Bake them in a 375* oven until lightly browned. After cooling for 15 minutes, remove loaves from the pans. and butter the tops of them lightly. Pavatitsa (also spelled "pavateca", potica, and povitica) can be frozen.

Copyright M-J de Mesterton, Elegant Survival, December 2008

Versatile, Health-Promoting Coconut Milk

I shall be printing a couple of original coconut milk recipes soon.

Modern Hunting Guide www.activelyhunting.com/

There may come a day when you can't depend on supermarkets and transportation. This means foraging among potentially poisonous plants for something edible, or even hunting for food. Anyone who has grown their own vegetables knows what a dodgy and difficult endeavor it is, especially when you cannot access a never-ending supply of water. An informative, extensive web-page for hunting instruction was presented to me this morning by Elegant Cook site member, Sean: Modern Hunting Guide.Thanks, Sean--nice work!