"poppy seeds" news and stories

Poppy Seed Roll

by Jennifer Iserloh, Posted Nov 30th 2009 @ 1:00PM

Photo: Jennifer Iserloh

Dessert rolls, also called "Swiss rolls," are cakes or pastries of yeast bread with one or more fillings, either poppy seed or fruit. While still delicious and satisfying, these desserts rely more on texture, flavors and aromas rather than on high amounts of fat and sugar.

My Hungarian family serves this dessert at every winter and spring holiday, but my neighbors in Hoboken, N.J., claim that it's originally from medieval Slovenia since their relatives passed down a recipe from that origin to them.

Beigli is the Hungarian version of the dessert roll I grew up with, and we make it with ground walnuts and fragrant cinnamon or with dark, luscious poppy seeds boiled with spices and sugar to form a thick, sweet, spreadable paste. The filling is lower in calories and fat than chocolate spreads and doesn't contain preservatives. It has only 60 calories for one tablespoon and 1 1/2 grams of fat, but still has a rich, satisfying taste.

Filed under: The Skinny Chef, How To

Spice ID Quiz

COMMENTS 0

by Slashfood Editor, Posted Sep 1st 2009 @ 1:33PM

Know your fennel from fenugreek? Coriander from cardamom? It's the spiciest quiz ever from Slashfood.

Spice ID Quiz

Both leaves and seeds of this plant are employed as seasoning in Indian food, and the seeds are used to flavor artificial maple syrup.

Sarsaparilla
Nigella
Fenugreek
Carom

It just wouldn't be real rye bread without...

Caraway
Fennel Seed
Poppy
Cumin

The signature herb overtone of gin is...

Galangal
Fennel
Pimento
Juniper Berries

The leaves of this plant are snipped and used as the herb cilantro, but the seeds are a seasoning known as...

Cumin
Coriander
Cardamom
Curry

This spice is the inside part of the Myristica tree seed -- not to mention darned tasty in baked goods and sprinkled on winter beverages.

Mace
Cumin
Nutmeg
Ground Allspice

This wee, nutty spice is smashing on a roll or paired with a tart lemon pastry

Allspice
Poppy Seeds
Cardamom
Mustard Seed

These long, cured pods, often used to flavor desserts, are members of the orchid family.

Vanilla Beans
Cardamom
Saffron
Galangal

This strikingly-shaped fruit is a core element in Chinese five-spice.

Sumac
Galangal
Telicherry
Star Anise

This spice, made by grinding dried berries, adds a lemony taste to juice and Middle Eastern cuisine.

Mahlab
Fenugreek
Rue
Sumac

This Indian spice is valued as much for its vibrant hue as it is for its flavoring properties.

Turmeric
Ras al Hanout
Ginger
Asafoetida

This spice is often cited as the most expensive on the market, due to the difficulty of harvesting it.

Grains of Paradise
Sassafras
Mahlab
Saffron

These dried berries are, monetarily speaking, the most traded spice on the planet.

Mustard
Cardamom
Black Pepper
Cumin

Remember the previously mentioned Myristica tree seed? This is the outside seed casing, all ground up.

Mace
Galangal
Ginger
Camphor

We're awfully sorry that we can't present this quiz in Smell-O-Vision, but still we must ask -- can you identify this common ground-bark spice by sight alone?

Mace
Nutmeg
Cinnamon
Allspice

The green version of this pod is an essential flavor component in Chai tea.

Ginger
Cardamom
Tonka Bean
Cumin

From left to right, these are...

Cumin, Anise
Celery Seed, Dill
Fennel, Cumin
Dill, Anise

This Thai cuisine staple is also purported to possess aphrodisiac qualities.

Ginger
Galangal
Horseradish
Asafoetida

This pungent, earthy seed is valued for both culinary and medicinal use.

Black Cumin
Fennel
Black Cardamom
Grains of Selim

Chewing this spice is said to improve and sweeten the breath.

Dill
Anise
Fennel
Celery Seed

Dried peppers are ground to make this spice, which is widely used in Hungarian and Spanish cuisine.

Telicherry
Wasabi
Ras al Hanout
Paprika

Filed under: Quizzes, Ingredients

Hungarian-Style Cabbage with Poppy Seeds

COMMENTS 0

by Amy McDaniel, Posted Feb 3rd 2009 @ 6:03PM

Recipes abound for quick, innovative main dishes. Much fewer are ideas for interesting but not too intensive vegetable sides. I tend to get stuck in a rut, always preparing the same veggies the same way. Often, inspiration comes less from cookbooks or websites than from friends. This was the case recently when I overheard a my friend Isabel's mother, Carol, describe a cabbage recipe while on the phone with her husband. My ears perked up when she mentioned poppy seeds, which I've never seen paired with cabbage, but which immediately seemed to make sense. Part of Carol's ancestry is from Hungary, and there cabbage is sauteed and tossed with more than a dash of poppy seeds. Sometimes apples are in the mix, and often the cooked cabbage is tossed with a roughly equal amount of cooked egg noodles. Carol also explained that cottage cheese is frequently mixed in to make the dish richer and creamy.

Last night, I needed a quick dish to accompany a grilled leg quarter leftover from a Super Bowl party I attended. A few days before, I'd bought a head of cabbage specifically so that I could make the Hungarian dish. I had no apples, cottage cheese, or egg noodles, though, so a healthy dose of poppy seeds (two tablespoons for one head of cabbage) was the primary adornment for the cabbage, which I'd roughly shredded and browned along with a sliced onion in a tablespoon each of butter and olive oil. I also added a liberal sprinkle of black pepper and a tablespoon of sugar, and, of course, salt to taste. The dish is yummy, unusual (for me, at least), and very easy to prepare. I can't wait to try all the variations of this Hungarian delight.

Filed under: Ingredients

Food Porn: Potato and Cheddar Biscuits

COMMENTS 1

by Nicole Weston, Posted Apr 23rd 2006 @ 1:33PM

Adding potato to bread doughs gives them a moist, but very light texture. Potatoes are on the bland side, though, so Gemma, the Part Time Pro-Bono Baker decided to add a little more flavor to her potato biscuits by adding cheddar cheese and topping them with poppy seeds for a bit of crunch. They take mere minutes to put together, and even though the potato needs to be cooked in advance, boiling one potato doesn't take much time. When I bake things that call for adding potato to the dough, I will often just use reconstituted potato flakes, which you can buy at the store. They turn out the same consistency in the finished product - and these biscuits are a finished product I wouldn't mind seeing on my table.

Source

Filed under: Food Porn, On the Blogs, Feast Your Eyes, Ingredients, Methods

Food Porn and a little bit of contraband: lemon poppy seed cookies

COMMENTS 1

by Sarah J. Gim, Posted Apr 11th 2006 @ 9:44PM

I'm working my way through this book called the Devil's Picnic by Taras Grescoe, which follows the writer around the world in a study of controlled, banned, illegal, and otherwise "dangerous" food products. First there was the Norwegian moonshine, hjemmebrent, which has an alcohol content that takes the imbiber from sober to drunken-sick in seconds.

In Singapore, Grescoe looks at poppy seeds, which are considered illegal. Poppy seeds can contain low levels of morphine, and a person who has eaten poppy seeds can test positive for the presence of controlled drugs. No wonder you feel so sleepy after that giant poppy seed bagel smothered with cream cheese! In 2002, Singapore's Central Narcotics Bureau fined Marks & Spencer $60,000 for carrying poppy seed biscuits.

Food blog Oswego Tea has a post about lemon poppy seed cookies, the photo which shows beautiful stacks of simple lemon cookies studded with poppy seeds. They are beautiful, sound delicious, and now, have slightly more appeal to me with the knowledge that somewhere, poppy seeds are illegal.

[photo: Oswego Tea]

Filed under: Vegetarian, On the Blogs, Ingredients, Methods

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"poppy seeds" news and stories

Poppy Seed Roll

Spice ID Quiz

Spice ID Quiz

Both leaves and seeds of this plant are employed as seasoning in Indian food, and the seeds are used to flavor artificial maple syrup.