pityinthekitchen

The killer Paella

2011-12-24T15:17:00.010Z

Time flies! You don't realize and suddenly its another month and another one...
This city is already all dressed up for the holidays. Xmas has come this year very soon, I started seen Christmas cards in the shops in late September, and the decorations in October. I love this city, and its ability of opening its arms to everyone, sometimes it seems that it is elastic. It holds everybody who comes here and the city population grows and grows. And counting! London is an excellent city, a megacity. It's innovating, extremely tolerant, traditional and modern at the same time. Strolling along its streets you can tell that History is another Londoner who breaths and lives. We are able to coexist with the past and at the same time, witness the birth and growth of what will be the tallest building in Europe. In my opinion, diversity is one of the best qualities of this exciting city. not only because of its wide array of nationalities but because of its gastronomy. I love that you can visit the world enjoying international food in London. Delicatessen and all kinds of shops, there are few things you can't find here in London. And as everybody, I have have my favorite places, which I love to show everyone who comes to London. and this is exactly what I've been up to lately. Christmas atmosphere everywhere you go, cold weather one day, mild one the next, a walk along the riverbank is something not to be missed and the many ice rinks cheer everybody up. Many churches host Carols concerts, like the one I attended at Temple Church, the gorgeous and so difficult to find medieval building where you can see the graves and effigies of some templars. A must see.

Borough Market is another place not to be missed, and these days it's busy and very lively. It's a wonderful market which unfortunately has become a tourist attraction, and a massive food court, not everybody buys food there, most of the visitors are there just to look and take photos, and grab a bite, which can be a bit annoying for the people like me, who loves going there and buy my ingredients. I try to go early on a Saturday, or very late. There is one stall where they serve what I call "The killer paella", a mix of rice (if it's like the one in Greenwich the rice and veg are frozen) and they keep on stirring and stirring (you DON'T stir paella one the rice is cooking) and the only thing I can do is write about it here. This "paella" is surrounded with what it seems to be cooked prawns. another no-no, but the people who buys this as a quick lunch, the don't seem to care. It may be nice, I don't know, and I will never know because I will never have the courage to try it.

I've seen more "culinary offenses" like this one, regarding to what is one of my favorite dishes. E.g, skinless and boneless chicken is added to the paella, and balsamic vinegar and white wine! (Gordon Ramsay, yes, the man himself) and of course lots of chorizo..Someone asked for ketchup when I cooked Paella at work. And I saw John Torode, one of Masterchef judges, his vertion of Paella, he added precooked rice to the pan. Rick Stein, in and episode of his newest television series about Spanish cuisine he of course, gave his personal touch, emptying a can of peppers. Another incredible new product I saw in the well known Marks&Spencer food hall, Paella soup....I had to look twice. And rude and ill-mannered Jeremy CLarkson made a joke of the dish emptying the leftovers from the tin in the paella pan. Finally, I was told about a couple who at the Spanish shop in Borough Market, a couple asked about what was the cheese you use in the paella!

One has to see and hear many, many culinary sins, and is even more outrageous when is something close to your heart, like Paella. I think, that the correct thing after all this is to keep on honoring our Gastronomy and cooking as always, and hoping that one day, someone stops putting balsamic vinegar and cheese to the pan ...
Today's entry, and coinciding with the holidays, is a delicious and elegant starter, very easy to make and very impressive. Perfect for serving it before a meal with a toast. The recipe is an adaptation from mighty Martha Stewart's. I'd like to take this opportunity to wish each and everyone a very Merry Christmas and let's hope that next year is not as bad as many predict.

Crown of Camembert

Ingredients

One Camembert cheese
A ripe pear, peeled and diced
A handful of chopped walnuts
fresh thyme
Two cloves of garlic
Two tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
One tablespoon of honey
Olive oil
One tablespoon of butter
Toast or bread sticks

Preparation

Cut the cheese in half crosswise and set aside. Melt the butter in a pan and slightly fry the pear for about three minutes, add the thyme and remove from heat. Put some cheese on the serving plate, cover the surface with half of the pear mixture.

In a small saucepan mix the honey and balsamic vinegar and heat until it forms a syrup. Cool for five minutes. Cover the cheese with half the syrup and cover with another layer of cheese, put more syrup on top and cover with the remaining pear mixture. Decorate with chopped nuts and more fresh thyme.

Serve with toast, toast or bread sticks.

Ferran Adriá and Me

2011-09-28T20:53:00.013+01:00

Trying to describe another person´s philosophy can be a bit tricky, but if the person is willing to share with you his/her feelings, experiences and thoughts, then you are more than happy, and if this person is one of the Best Cooks in the World, then you are in for a treat. I had the honour to be part of the audience of what was called "An evening with Ferran Adriá, which took place at Vinopolis last Monday, where I spent a wonderful time looking at the Master, listening to his thoughts, his ideas and inspirational projects. I was seating there, waiting for him to show up on the stage, and I was feeling like a little girl who is about to meet Father Christmas. And he showed up, and the whole room was quiet. Everybody knew how important was to be there, to be given a lesson from a genius. A New Nouvelle Cuisine lesson. He stood there on the stage, humble as always, and this makes you admire him even more. He started teaching us gastronomy concepts, ideas and showed us some videos. The translator wasn't always fast enough and couldn't keep up, the Man was excited and nothing was going to stop him. He talked about cuisine evolution, about Alicia, the foundation you could tell how proud he is, and about evolution of El Bulli, the restaurant he is redeveloping into a something very big. It's now closed, but everybody can have a glimpse of what was it, at Tickets, his new place in Barcelona. I've been lucky enough to go there twice and there is so much to say, but that is another story and another post...

He talked about EL Bulli not as something that was, but as something that will be. He showed us all the projects around it, all the Experiences pavilions (olive, seaweed, magma, nest), the tunnel of knowledge, a brainstorming room and cinema, and energy and marine scenery (there will be an El Bulli spiral, which will be inspired in the Maya Cenotes, I love this). All these will be up in Cala Montjoi, a sustainable and Zero emissions area. When you are listening to all these plans, you have to feel infected by his excitement and vitality, and I had to congratulate myself for being in this Foodies world, because it's the one I've chosen and it's the one I like. Same as him...

Ferran Adriá came to London to present his new book, The family Meal, 280 pages of knowledge and everyday recipes. It has a very interesting introduction, where he leads you to his pantry and opens his chef´s heart to you. The way of presenting the ingredients is also noticeable, you can cook for either 2, 6, 20 or 75 people, which is the number os people they cookf for the staff at El Bulli. The recipes are simple and delicious, from a Caesar salad, to a Thai beef curry, not forgetting the desserts, like the light and fluffy Tarta de Santiago, chocolate cakes or caramel pudding. Buying the book was optional, but how could I say no if at the end of the conference you had the chance to chat a bit with him and have the book signed. The conference was two and a half hours long, but time flew. The room was heated up with applause, lots of them. But the most energetic? Mine!

Some of Ferran Adriá´s quotes:

"You eat well if you think well."

"You need a lot of humility to talk about food."

"Salad is a concept."

"You can consider yourself a great cook when you create, elaborate, make concepts and uses technic."

"You need to cook with the minimum risk."

"A whole grapefruit is more exciting than a thousand kilos of potatoes."

And my favorite:

"You feed your soul by eating well.

To sum up, at El Bulli Foundation, him and his colleagues will be doing the same thing they have been doing in the past years:

To create.

And as promised, this post is dedicated to you, Ferran, and architect of flavours, a creator of illusions, a Master...

This is a velvety chocolate cake, with a final extraordinary splash of extra virgin olive oil, and sprinkled with salt flakes, a wonderful combination. This recipe comes from The Family Meal, Ferran Adriá´s new book. To be honest, I have put two recipes together, his chocolate cake, and his bread and chocolate, so the cake has the final touch of the latter. The combination is really a pleasant surprise, and it will shock you. Please be adventurous and try it with the olive oil and the salt, at least just a corner, then let me know....

Chocolate cake with olive oil and salt

For six people

Ingredients.

175g dark chocolate 60% solids

90g softened butter

4 egg whites

2 tablespoons sugar

15g egg yolks (1 egg and 1/2)

A splash of extra virgin olive oil

Fleur de sal or Maldon

Method

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Grease and flour a 22cm round cake tin or a 24cm square tin. You can also bake them in muffin whole tins.

Melt the chocolate in the microwave or on top of saucepan with boiling water. Dice the butter and mix into the chocolate, mix with a wooden spoon.

Mix the egg whites and the sugar and whip it up with an electric mixer until you get a soft meringue.

In another bowl, beat the yolks and add to the meringue mix. Then, add this mix to the chocolate and mix again very carefully. If you are using the Muffin tins, fill a pipping bag with the mixture and pipe it into the wholes, otherwise pour the mixture into the cake tin.

For a muffin tin, bake for 12 minutes. And for a cake tin, bake for 20-25 minutes.

Rest in the tins for five minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.

Serve with the olive oil and the salt aside. The gold dust is optional.

Colourful Bruschette in between riots

2011-08-09T15:00:00.008+01:00

This is quite a summer. After spending some weeks in my beloved Barcelona, going to the beach, of course, and returning tanned and happy (because I cannot go to the beach here, that's for sure) I find myself ready to take what the rest of the summer gives. It's not really really bad, weather wise, although there was only four or five days when I didn't need a jacket. Many things had happened since my last post. Not only in my life, but in the world in general. Lots of new, most of them bad, very bad news. We witness a pacific country mourning the loss of innocent people, killed by a demon. A country where normally nothing happens (nothing bad, that is) but it attracted all the attention because everything happened in one day. How many hells must a man go through to become such a beast? I think that nobody is safe from criminals like that one, there are so many of those. And we don't know if destiny is setting up a meeting with one, around the corner, so the best, in my opinion, is get the most of our lived, and enjoy every day, every hour, every minute.

Another bad news, the death of Amy Winehouse. Something that got many of us sad, but not surprised. In a way, it was the news we knew was going to happen sooner or later. It's a shame to lose such a talented woman. Her career and powerful voice could have taken her so far in music history. She and Francis must be performing a wonderful duet, wherever they are now...

And apart from these, bad news keep on coming. Riots in London (pretty scary, it looks like we are at war), unhappy youngsters in Spain, demonstrating everywhere, world poverty and hunger always in the headlines, the credit crunch that came to stay, and in the middle of all of these, us, mere mortals trying to keep on with our lives, wondering if there will ever be a little bit of quiet and safer times. Must we learn to live with these bad news? Is this the world our children are getting from us? Since I don't have the answers to these questions, I better do what I enjoy doing, cooking that is! Let's get the most of our lives, and eat and try new recipes. Some are good, some are better. So far, and since we are still in summer, though the temperature is currently 17 degrees, (which is not that bad) my post today is a colorful starter, fresh and full of flavour. It's a vegetarian one as well, and I am glad to say that THIS one I DID share it with my other half (the Vegetarian).

Bruschetta: A slice of bread, usually toasted on the grill, rubbed with garlic and topped with different toppings, i.e. parma ham, pecorino, pesto and olives, avocado and tomato, mushroom ragu, grilled vegetables, etc. One of the fillings came out from the wonderful site "The Kitchn", and the other one is a tomato and Parmesan one. The bread is gorgeous when you grilled or broil it. It retains much more flavour. Then the topping and that's it, a wonderful starter!

Two Bruschette

Ingredients for the Broad beans one:

1 pound fresh broad beans, shelled
2-3 medium radishes, julienned (about 1/2 cup)
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon chopped mint leaves
1 tablespoon chopped fennel fronds or dill
salt
Freshly ground black pepper
8 (1/2-inch-thick, 3-to-4-inch-long) focaccia slices
1/4 cup olive oil
1 garlic clove, peeled

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook broad beans for 2 minutes. Drain and transfer beans to a large bowl of ice water. Let cool and then drain. Slip the outer skin off each bean and discard the skin. Place the beans in a large bowl and coarsely mash with a fork leaving some beans whole or in chunks.

Combine the beans, radishes, lemon zest, lemon juice, mint leaves, and fennel fronds . Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Brush olive oil over both sides of the focaccia slices and grill or broil. Rub toasts with garlic and then spoon the broad bean mixture on top. Sprinkle a little extra salt on top and serve.

Tomato and Parmesan Bruschetta

Ingredients:

1 focaccia cut into slices
1 garlic clove
8 or 9 cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup Parmesan shavings
Fresh basil
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Method:
Cut the tomatoes very thinly, season. Rub the bread with the garlic and brush both sides with the olive oil. Grill or broil and top with the tomato and the Parmesan, decorate with basil. Serve at once.

Cupcakes for a bachata man

2011-06-26T20:26:00.010+01:00

So, I went to this concert...

Ever since I heard his music, I was more than hooked. His name is Juan Luis Guerra and he is a remarkable singer. His music is more than just music, it's a way of life. He comes from Dominican Republic, and the joy of life is happily represented in his lyrics. He is also a philosopher, and thinker...And listening to his music I just can't help but wonder why life is not always like his songs. Anyway, when I read about his concert in London, I quickly got my tickets. It was magical, getting goosebumps with every song, singing along with him, burning calories as well, because there is no way you can remain seated. The audience was so pleased, and so was I...

These cupcakes are dedicated to this man, Juan Luis Guerra, for making my life happier, and for introducing me to the world of Bachatas, Merengues and all kinds of Caribbean music. If you want to know what am I talking about, check this video.
Two kinds of cupcakes. Ones with raspberry buttercream, decorated with mini madeleines; the others, decorated with mandarin dust, very easy to make and deliciously dangerous. If you don't have a mini madeleine mould, you can bake mini biscuits and put them the same way as the madeleines.

Raspberry cupcakes with a madeleine little friend

175g self raising flour
100g sugar
115g softened butter
pinch of salt
3 eggs
50g ground almonds
Raspberry buttercream
175g softened butter
150g icing sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
150g fresh raspberries or raspberry jam

Method

Preheat the oven to 190. Line a muffin tin with paper cases and brush a mini madeleine mould with a little melted butter.

Sift the flour and salt into a bowl and stir in the sugar

Melt the butter and leave to cool. Lightly beat the eggs and mix them into the sugar and flour, then add the cooled butter and ground almonds. Mix well, cover and chill in the fridge for an hour. Fill the paper cases three quarters full. Bake for 20 minutes. Leave to cool then turn into a cooling rack.

Half fill the mini madeleines mould and bake for 5 or 6 minutes until golden. Cool and reserve.
For the buttercream

If using fresh raspberries, crush them with a fork. Beat the butter with the icing sugar until light and fluffy, stir in the lemon juice and the crushed raspberries or the jam.
When the cakes are cool, fill a large piping bag fitted with a star nozzle with the raspberry buttercream. Pipe a whirl over the centre of each cake and press a madeleine to one side of it.

For the mandarin cupcakes

Mandarin dust is very versatile and delicious, you cantop ice creams with it, or decorate lots of cakes and desserts.

Ingredients

4 or 5 mandarins
2 tablespoon sugar
Pinch of salt
Method
Preheat the oven to 200. Line an oven tray with parchment paper. Cut the mandarins into very thin slices, with a mandolin or a very sharp knife. Place them in the tray and bake in the oven for three hours, don't let them get too brown. When cool, place them in a food processor or coffee grinder. Keep in a glass jar.

For the mandarin cupcakes

175g softened butter
175 sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon mandarin zest
4 eggs
175 plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder

For the cream
2 cups quark of philladelphia
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
175g icing sugar
Mandarin dust

Method
Preheat the oven to 180. Place the paper cases into their holes.
In a bowl, beat the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the vanilla and the zest, the eggs, one by one, mixing well after each one. Sift the flour and baking powder and add to the mix. Fill the paper cases. Bake for 20 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes and place them in the cooling rack.
To decorate, mix all the ingredients of the cream, except the mandarin dust and place into a piping bag fitted with the plain nozzle and pipe a whirl over the whole of the cake. Dust with the mandarin powder.

Time to behave

2011-06-05T15:23:00.007+01:00

Because I like summer, and the sun, and because it's good to detox every once in a while with a light starter, it's time to behave. When it comes to vegetarianism, I'm all ears. I'm interested in every aspect of the "no missing the meat subject". Portobello mushrooms are one of those "gusys" which you rely on to carry one with your vegetarianism. In my case, I just couldn't believe my eyes when I moved to London from Spain and saw them for the first time in my life. The size was not only a joke, it was a reality! and when I taste them, well, mushrooms but huge, and you can really substitute meat with them, honest! form that moment on, they have become part of my life, and my fridge too. You can literally use them in a steak sandwich, they are the steak. I am not a vegetarian, but I live with one, and sometimes is pretty hard to adapt a menu for him, but Portobello mushrooms really help.

So, let's get ready for summer and let's take advantage of this colorful starter, that will impress your guests, if you have them, otherwise you can enjoy a lovely meal in the comfort of your home. This is a very light starter, full of flavour and colour. You can use ready cooked beetroot, but I strongly recommend to use fresh ones, at least if you try this for the fist time (use some gloves when you peel them if you don´t want to end up with red hands) The difference is huge. The dressing is a fresh and aromatic one, and you can also use it in any salad.

Ingredients

Serves 6

5 medium beetroot
4 large tomatoes
2 medium aubergines
1 tablespoon salt
6 portobello mushrooms
60 ml olive oil
2 tablespoon white wine vinegar
300g feta cheese diced
1/2 cup basil leaves

Method

Preheat oven to hot.

Wrap beetroot individually in foil, place in baking dish and bake in hot oven for 50 minutes or until is cooked, cool 5 minutes and peel while still warm, cut into 1 cm slices.

Place tomato halves in an oven tray, drizzle with olive oil and bake in hot oven for about 40 minutes or until browned.

Cut aubergine into 1 cm slices, place in colander, sprinkle with salt and stand for 30 minutes. rinse with water and drain on kitchen paper.

Cook aubergine and mushrooms in batches on a hot grill or barbecue until brown on both sides.

Blend tomato with the oil, vinegar and salt until pureed. Push the tomato vinaigrette through a sieve, discard pulp.

To serve, divide the vinaigrette among serving plates, place a mushroom, top with an aubergine slice, then a beetroot slice, the feta and decorate with the basil.

Pears and a Royal wedding

2011-05-02T14:07:00.010+01:00

Yes, I went to Hyde Park, and yes I witnessed live the Royal wedding. I wanted to see the atmosphere for myself, since this was such an important event in the history of this country. People responded massively. Thousands gathered in the streets, I have never seen so many Union Jacks in my life. The idea was to go to the Mall and see THEM passing by, but apparently everybody had the same idea, and we had to to go Hyde Park if we didn't want to miss a thing, and so we did. Giant screens let us follow every step of the day, the hats, the protocol, the punctuality, everything was as planned. Then everybody sang "God save the queen" and I felt glad that I was among so many people sharing that moment, it was nice...After that, a general toast for the newly weds, the kids playing around, people lying on the grass eating and drinking, and everybody had a smile on their faces.

And speaking f eating, can someone fall in love with a fruit? I think I can say that it is possible. Sounds a bit weird but to be honest, since I have (re) discover the pears, my opinion about them has changed dramatically. Sweet and delicate and so versatile. You can use them for all kinds of dishes, sweet and savoury. Wonderful in salads, even more in desserts. Pears Belle Helene, wine poached pears, pear tatin, pear compote, pear tart, pear cake...A complete delicacy. And when I say (re) discover is because before that, only ate pears the traditional way, on its own, then I started adding it in my salads and experimenting here and there and I fell in love...
In this occasion, here's a wonderful pear cake with vanilla and almonds, sweetened with pieces of dark chocolate, an ideal combination of flavours for the most demanding palates. Perfect for a wedding reception...

"The more I know you the more I love you" pear cake

7 pears
2 1/2 cups water
1 strip lemon rind
385 g sugar
1 vanilla bean
125 g softened butter
3 eggs
160g sour cream
100g plain flour
100g self raising flour
40 g blanched almonds, toasted, chopped coarsely
40g dark chocolate chopped coarsely
60g ground almonds

Method

Peel pears, leaving stems intact. Combine the water, rind and one cup of the sugar in medium saucepan. Split vanilla bean in half length ways, scrape seeds into saucepan then place pears in saucepan. Stir over heat without boiling, until sugar dissolves. Add pears, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer, covered, about 30 minutes or until pears are just tender. Transfer pears to medium bowl, bring syrup to a boil, uncovered, until syrup reduces to a half. Cool completely.

Preheat oven to moderately slow. Grease a 23cm round tin.

Beat butter and remaining sugar in medium bowl, with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until just combined between additions. Add sour cream, beat until just combined. Mixture may curdle and this stage but it will come together later. Stir in 2 tablespoon of the syrup, then flours, nuts, chocolate and ground almonds.
Spread cake mixture into prepared tin. place pears upright around edge of tin, gently pushing to the bottom. Bake uncovered in moderately slow oven, about 1 hour 35 minutes. Stan 10 minutes, remove from tin.
Serve cake warm, brushed with remaining syrup.

For duck´s sake!

2011-04-06T12:30:00.011+01:00

Of all the oriental cuisines, Japanese food is my favorite. I love oriental food, I just keep telling myself how healthy and good for me is, and the truth is that some dishes are more fattening that one of "those" burgers. Chinese take away ranks second here in the UK, Indian food being the first.

But definitely, if there's something you can't blame to Chinese is their ability to get involved in the market. They try everything! For instance, in Barcelona, some years ago, when you wanted to get Japanese food you used to go to a Japanese restaurant, you wanted Chinese, Chinese restaurant. Now, there's a new thing going on..the Wok restaurant. It sounds good, it can look OK, but wait. You get inside and you are surrounded by Chinese staff, and then you start getting confused. Wait a minute, there's a sign outside that said: "Japanese restaurant". From the little Japanese I know I can tell these people are shouting in mandarin! The drawings on the walls depict mount Fuji and Japanese motifs. You sit on the table and you get grilled seafood and the belt keeps on bringing sushi and oriental salads and appetizers, even fresh oysters and on top of all that, a Chinese bread. And all of these for just 10 euros. As I already said, I love Japanese food, but these places make me feel like I am in the wrong place. Yes I leave with a full stomach but my gastro-brain says something is not right. But to be honest, I know that if these places exist is because people are happy to eat there. It's like that question without an answer: Why do the tourist shops in Las Ramblas (Barcelona) sell Mexican hats?
So, with this post I want to celebrate the incredible success (???) of the Wok restaurants. I give you a Chinese but a modern post, an oriental recipe but with a European touch, an Asian dish but from an Australian book...Enough! I'm getting more confused!

Peking duck crepes are one of the most popular in the Chinese restaurants, but today, this is a special recipe where the crepes are made with egg. The post has three steps, the crepes, the filling and the rolling. They are very pretty, not very rich and much more easier that it looks to make. If you cannot bother roasting the duck, you can buy a ready made one.

Ingredients

For the crepes:
1 cup plain flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg lightly beaten
2 cups milk
200 g chives

Method:
Combine flour and salt in medium bowl; gradually whisk in combined egg and milk until mixture is smooth. Strain mixture into large jug.Finely chop enough chives to make 1/4 cup chopped chives. Reserve remaining chives.Stir chopped chives into batter. Cover and refrigerate one hour.

Remove from the fridge and heat a non stick frying pan with a little bit of oil. Pour 1/4 of he mixture into heated oil, and cook crepe until browned on both sides. Repeat with remaining bater. Using an 8 cm cutter, cut three rounds from each crepe. Cover with cling film and reserve.

For the duck:
1 duck
5 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons soy sauce
4 teaspoons Chinese five spice
2 tablespoons brown sugar
20g grated fresh ginger

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
Place the duck in an oven tray and mix the rest of the ingredients. Spread all the mixture in the cavity and outside the duck. Bake for two hours basting the bird with the fat from the tray every 15 minutes, this will make the skin crispy.

The filling of the crepes:

1 cucumber thinly sliced
5 spring onions thinly sliced
Hoi sin sauce
Plum sauce

Spread each small crepe with an equal amount of combined sauces. Top with duck, cucumber and spring onion. Remove bones from the duck and slice meat and skin very thinly.Place remaining chives into a heatproof bowl. Cover with boiling water. Stand until chives are wilted and drain. Fold in edge of crepes, roll to enclose filling. Tie a chive around each crepe to secure, trim ends. Serve with the sauce on the side.

My cassata is your cassata

2011-02-27T22:26:00.010Z

Time flies. And it seems that from post to post many things happens, and a lot of time passes by, but the time is always the same, we are the ones who change. And in between, from post to post, there have been more trips to BCN (I'm back in some days), another visit to gorgeous Lisbon (I will have a whole post on this matter later on) and more time to spend with family and friends, which is always welcome.

And to carrying on with the blog, it's time now to publish a sweet post, and this is, a very flavloursome one. A sicilian cassata cake.

It's a sponge cake with a wonderful filling, a ricotta cream, softened with a little liquor and mixed with candied fruit and dark chocolate pieces. And because it's an italian dessert, I guess you can be sure it will be very tasty. The filling is quite similar to the delicious "cannoli". The term "Cassata" is refered also to another type of sweets and ice cream, but in this case I'll stick to the sponge version.

Ingredients:

For the sponge

240gms plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
180gms softened butter
3extra spoonfulls melted butter
180gms sugar
4 or 5 eggs
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
splash of vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. In a big bowl or food processor mix the butter with the sugar until it becomes a pale mixture, add the eggs, one at a time, the lemon juice and the vanilla. Sieve the flour and baking powder and add to the egg mixture. Pour the mixture in a greased cake tin (24cms). Bake in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour or until a skewer comes away clean.

350 g of fresh ricotta
100 g icing sugar
vanilla powdered flavour (not essence)
50 g of dark chocolate chips
80 g of candied citrus peel
200 g of sponge cake
sweet liqueur, I used Grand Marnier, my favorite
For the icing:
150g icing sugar
2 or 3 tablespoons water

To prepare the filling: mix ricotta with icing sugar until it turns into a smooth cream. Add a drop of any white sweet liqueur (optional). Add chocolate chips and candied citrus peel. When the sponge is cold cut it in half and fill it with the ricotta mix, and top with the other layer of sponge cake to seal.

Ice the cake by mixing the ingredients and decorate with thin slices of the candied fruit. Refrigerate for at least an hour.

A Mexican hearthrob, my help up in the skies, and a light savoury flan

2011-01-25T22:18:00.010Z

So, I arrived OK at my destination, my beloved Barcelona. No more snow, no more problems. The flight back was another story. To be honest, I HATE flying (it started some years ago, I used to love it) The thing is that I always try to look for a way of distracting myself, and a portable DVD or a laptop loaded with my Mexican soap opera really does the trick. So, I'm up there, enjoying my soap opera (by my favorite "telenovela" actor heartthrob Fernando Colunga) when that bloody turbulence started, and I was OK at the start, but the turbulence carried on, and it were stronger than ever! Then, the pilot made an announcement, and that scared me the most, everything was OK until I heard his voice, I was more or less OK, but when I heard his voice my mind just panicked, even though the poor man was trying to calm everybody down. "We are surrounded by what it's called "clear air turbulence" and unfortunately it's going to continue like this until we get to London" (and we were only over Nantes!) "If any of the passengers has any trouble (that would be ME!) please, don't worry, this happens all the time and blah, blah, blah..." Why did he have to speak? The man beside me started rocking back and forth, maybe praying? I couldn't calm him down, how could I possibly do that? who was going to calm ME down? I grabbed the seat with my nails, I looked at the screen (why aren't you helping Fernando?) when suddenly, and after ten horrible minutes everything went smooth (thank you, thank you!) until we got to London. When my feet touched the ground, I did what I always do: congratulate myself for being so brave (what a lie!) This is a personal trick to give me the strength I need to get on the next plane, because I know that very soon, Fernando Colunga and I will be back up there...

And now I am back to normal life, to the cold weather and to the blog, and with a light starter, for starting the year, for keeping everything a little bit low, after the holidays. Is great coming back home (I mean your parent's) you find the same faces, the same atmosphere, the same traditions, and the worst of all is when you have to come back and leave those loved ones behind, and you are back to the other faces, the other atmosphere, the other traditions. "The blank space" is what I call the morning after I come back, because you can't help but thinking about your parents, about the fact that they are there, on their own, and you are not there for helping them. So, I always get a little sad. I guess that happens to everyone who lives far from their families. The good thing is that with all that, I start thinking and planning a new date for my next visit and I already have a couple in the very near future. I'm so happy I live so close to Spain, and hour and forty five minutes and I'm there, in my beloved BCN...

This is a light starter, a tomato and Parmesan flan, with a very delicate and intense flavour. It's an excellent starter which can be part of a three course meal or a main course for a light lunch or dinner. Sauté the tomatoes first, and it will give them a caramelized touch, before adding them to the savory custard.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups whole milk
3 eggs
1 egg yolk
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons slivered fresh basil

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180. Butter six ramekins and line the bottom with baking paper. Butter the paper.

In a frying pan, warm the olive oil and add the tomatoes until they are soften and the liquid is reduced, about six minutes. Stir in the chopped basil and season with salt and pepper. Spoon the tomato mixture evenly among the ramekins.

In a bowl, beat the eggs and add the milk, and the egg yolk. Pass it through a sieve. Add the parmesan and fill the ramekins with the custard.

Place the ramekins in a shallow baking tray and fill with hot water halfway of the ramekins. Bake until set, around 35 minutes. Carefully tranfer the ramekins to a wire rack and cool slightly.

To unmold, run a knife around the edge of the ramekins, place a serving plate on top and invert. Lift off and peel off the parchment paper. Scatter tomatoes and slivered basil leaves on top of each flan and serve warm.

To fly or not to fly

2010-12-22T00:17:00.012Z

Every year is the same. I say to myself: "This year you are going to start the Christmas shopping early, in October, or at least star planning what to buy, to who, where, when and were to fly from for spending Christmas in Spain. At the end, everything falls into pieces, my and my plan is ruined because there is always something else, and I rely on the "Mañana, mañana". And, as always, every year, I´m in a hurry, rushing in the shops, sliding in the shopping centres, gasping for air in between (unless I do it all online) and swearing myself that I will NEVER be back to Oxford St on a Saturday in Christmas time (and going back to Oxford St on a saturday in Christmas time) To be honest, I get carried away when I see the Christmas decoration already in early October and I let myself go...At the end, I panic, and everybody ends up with gift vouchers.

So, I have almost everything ready, presents and vouchers, my packed edible Christmas presents ready to pack and the luggage almost almost done. And suddenly we get an incredible, inconvenient and heavy snowfall, and all our plans are on standby. And we are lucky, thousands had their flights canceled and there is chaos everywhere (transport wise) People end up sleeping on the floor of the terminal at Heathrow, the queue at St Pancras station is huge, even the tube has troubles, so, I´m not going out and I keep my fingers crossed for my flight next week, maybe the snow will melt by then. And all this introduction is because I am presenting today my Christmas post. Its a gingerbread cake with cranberries, of course, perfect if you are sick and tired of the traditional Christmas pudding. This gingerbread is not very sweet,and is quite light actually. The icing is sweet enough...I would like to take this opportunity to show off my new dish, which I got as a present over the last days, thank you Girls!

It´s a variation on Dan Lepard´s ginger cake. He really is amazing and we all can enjoy his talent in his lovely books. A well known baker and a food writer for The Guardian (this recipe comes from there) and I have adapted it to become a little more festive. The treacle is an important ingredient but you can use golden syrup, or honey instead. I used fondant icing sugar for the icing, because is a mix that has solid glucose in it and it becomes shiny and spreadable very easily. You can use normal icing sugar if you cant find it. I want to thank everybody who steps here and post their comments, and I wish you all a lovely Christmas, and and may the new year is full of smiles for everyone. Merry Christmas!

50g unsalted butter
100g black treacle
75g muscovado sugar
2 medium eggs
25ml sunflower oil
75ml blended or single malt whisky
50g fresh cranberries
175g plain flour
1½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
3 tsp ground ginger
3¼ tsp mixed spice
6 tablespoons apricot glaze

Icing:
225g fondant icing sugar
6 or 7 tablespoons water

For the candied cranberrries:
1 egg white
10 fresh cranberrries
100g caster sugar

Line the base and sides of a 17cm loaf tin or similar with nonstick paper, and heat the oven to 180C (160C fan-assisted)/350F/gas mark 4. Melt the butter, remove from the heat and stir in the treacle and sugar until any lumps soften. Beat in the eggs until mixed through evenly, then do the same with the oil and whisky.

Sift into the mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda and three teaspoons each of ground ginger and mixed spice, and beat in well. Add the cranberries, mix well and spoon the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted pulls out clean.
Leave to cool in the tin.

For the candied cranberries, lightly beat the egg white and soak the cranberries in it, remove the excess and coat them in the sugar. Leave to dry a bit.

For the icing, first heat the apricot glaze in the microwave and spread the surface of the cold cake with it, then, mix the fondant icing sugar with the water until it becomes spreadable, and quickly spread this over the cake. Decorate with the candied cranberries and some holly leaves. For a nice looking serving plate, sprinkle with mixed spice. Enjoy the evocative smell!

Caponata Charlotte for you, for me, but not for "Him"

2010-12-02T09:54:00.008Z

OK, I admit it. Cooking for a vegetarian can be a little tricky sometimes, and it can become sort of a challenge, a quest. I don't know about the rest of the vegetarians, but "mine" is a bit special when it comes to vegetables. so, sometimes the challenge becomes an odyssey. I must confess that I totally used to rely on mushrooms to feed him, but that has changed as well, so, no more mushrooms from now on. Because of this, every time I find a lovely mouthwatering vegetarian recipe I try it, I observe and make up my mind. This is: I try it by cooking it for him, I observe him whilst eating it and depending on his reaction when tasting it, I make up my mind, so the recipe can be made again and again, or otherwise it's sent to the recycle bin. My post today is one of those mouthwatering ones, a caponata Charlotte with goats cheese, the star ingredient is the lovely aubergine, which is the reason why I never thought of cooking it for "Him", but when I saw the skilled Paul Gayler cooking it on tv, it was love at first sight. I had to cook this, even when I knew that my vegetarian wouldn't even smell it!

So, that's life! My post today is the ideal main course for a vegetarian, but not for mine. It's full of flavour with a huge mix of ingredients. Aubergine is the main one, for sure, but the goats cheese combines everything so elegantly that you can tell it comes from a 5 star restaurant, like the one that Paul Gayler is the head chef, the Lanesborough in Hyde Park, from where he has worked hard to become one of the most talented chefs in the UK. His gastronomic delicacies are an inspiration for every food lover, vegetarian or non vegetarian. And if you don't believe me, have a look at any of his amazing books.

Ingredients:

2 medium aubergines
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 red pepper, finely chopped
1 yellow pepper, finely chopped
1 celery stick, finely chopped
1 small courgette, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves
3 or 4 slices dried apple, chopped
6 dried apricots, chopped
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
50 g sultanas
Rum
50g toasted pine nuts
Fresh thyme
2 tomatoes
4 individual goats cheeses
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Soak the sultanas in the rum for a while, set aside. Turn the oven on and set the temperature to 180. Wash and cut an aubergine and a half, reserve the other half for the filling and slice the rest with the skin on, cut it in half and again into thin slices, lay them in a baking tray and brush them with olive oil, season with salt and pepper an bake for 10 minutes. Grease 4 individual ramekins.

For the caponata:

Crush one garlic clove and puree it with some salt with the back of the knife. Fry the onion and garlic in olive oil and cook for 2 minutes, add the rest of the vegetables and cook for 5 minutes. Add the dried fruit, cook for 2 more minutes. Add a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and maple syrup, and finally the sultanas and the pine nuts.

For the sauce:

Cut the tomato and blend it, place it in a saucepan and add the garlic clove and some fresh thyme and cook for five minutes, drain it and add some olive oil.

Line the ramekins with the slices of the aubergine making sure that they overlap. This prevents the filling to ooze out and the final presentation is beautiful. Place a couple of spoonfuls of the caponata and place them in the base of the ramekin, add the slice of cheese, (you can use mozzarella if goats cheese is not your cup of tea), and then top with more caponata, pushing down all the time. Fold over the aubergine and secure the filling. Push down again, and place the ramekins in the oven for 10-12 minutes. To serve, demold it and place on a plate, drizzle the dressing around it and decorate with tomato cubes and deep fried aubergine skin.

Rice pudding from the land of smiles

2010-11-02T23:21:00.007Z

Rice pudding, I love it. Anyway, any version, from any country. It takes me back to when I was young (er), and it's definitely a flavour from my childhood, so it has became one of my favorite puddings, for good. Later on, while growing, I started discovering new cuisines from around the world and my palate discovered the Thai version of rice pudding. With coconut cream and fresh mango! I remember the first time I ever tried Thai cuisine, it wasn't in Thailand, it was here in London, when i was being "wooed" (by the one who is now my husband, "the vegetarian") and it was a total discovery, so you can imagine what I felt, and how much did I ate when I finally went to Thailand. I didn't miss a thing, the colours of all the variety of foods being sold at the street stalls, the smell of the stir fries, the lovely fruits, and for someone who loves coconut, like me, I felt in paradise.

In my opinion, Thai cuisine is the door to Asia, gastronomically speaking, like a welcoming window overlooking a country of delights. The flavours are delicate, the ingredients offer array of endless possibilities and the final result is aromatic and elegant. Thai food is, like its people, kind and warm, and it tastes as good as it looks. Apart from the flavour, the plates, the china and the golden cutlery (they hardly use chopsticks) are so characteristic and appropriate, that a Thai dinner or lunch becomes a party for all our senses.

Rice pudding with coconut cream and fresh mango or Khao niao mamuang is a delicacy that surprises and everybody likes (or almost everyone). Glutinous or sticky rice should be used for this recipe, the favorite in the north of Thailand and it's extremely important to soak it overnight or 3 hours before cooking, this wil make its consistency to mix wonderfully well with the coconut cream. The fresh mango give the dish a lovely twist keeping the balance between the two strong flavours. Hope you like it. Kob khun kaa...

Khao niao mamuang

Ingredients:

225g sticky rice
300ml coconut cream
100g palm sugar (or caster sugar)
1 teaspoon salt
3 big ripe mangoes

Method for the rice

Soak the rice overnight in cold water or in hot water for three hours. Wrap it in muslin and place it in the steamer, cook for 30 minutes. While the rice is cooking, heat the coconut cream with the sugar and salt. When the rice is done and still warm, pour half of the warm coconut cream over the rice and let it sit until it's cold. Add more sugar according to taste. Peel and ct the mango in thin slices.

To serve, place the rice in a bowl, and lay the mango slices on top, or cut it in shapes with a biscuit cutter. Serve with the remaining coconut cream.

Chicken meatloaf and the clouds of London

2010-10-14T10:15:00.008+01:00

I love cold meats, they are ideal for a light lunch or dinner, served with slices of good bread and in good company, who can ask for anything more? And if you are in a picnic, enjoying the sun, surrounded by your friends ans sharing some laughs, then it couldn't get better, could it? But again, here in London, you can think that a picnic, or organizing a picnic can be an intrepid challenge. I love picnics but, as I said, it can be a bit tricky trying to organize one for your friends, and I can honestly say that I have only been to four picnics because of the sun.

You can never EVER rely on the weather if you live here in London, but I guess it can always be worse, I could live further north, or even in a Nordic country where you can hardly see the sun light. But then again, I remember when I first moved from Spain, and you can imagine, coming from a Mediterranean country where the sun is up in the sky almost always, and moving here, it was quite a change. But as the weather changed and now temperatures are not so cold anymore, it doesn't rain that much, and we have quite "mild" winters. I remember my first winter here, when my ears for frozen while I was walking through the park and I could hardly feel my feet! But one learns with everything, and now, I ALWAYS carry an extra jacket, you never know! And yes, even in summer, because I firmly believe in the old English saying. "If you don't like the weather, wait for five minutes"

So, I started talking about cold meats, and here I am now babbling about English weather. Let's go back to some gorgeous food, and a chicken meatloaf that you and your guests will love. It comes from one of Australian Women's weekly, and you can use mince turkey or pork instead of chicken, and the salsa verde can be served with fish as well.

Ingredients:
900g mince chicken
100g drained semidried tomatoes in oil, chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 egg
25g stale breadcrumbs
40g roasted pine nuts
40g chopped chives

Salsa Verde
1/2 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
1/4 chopped chives
1 tablespoon drained capers, chopped coarsely
80ml olive oil
60ml lemon juice
1 tablespoon wholegrain mustard
1 clove garlic crushed

Oven dried tomatoes
Ingredients:
500g cherry tomatoes
2 tablespoons chopped thyme
2 tablespoons sugar
salt and pepper
Patience

Method:
Cut the tomatoes in half and place them on a metal rack on a baking tray, season with the salt and pepper, and sprinkle the thyme all over. Bake at 100 degrees for three hours. If you lucky enough to live in a hot country you can skip the oven step and just place them on a tray under the sun until they are dried. If you are not going to use them right away, keep them in a glass jar covered with olive oil.

Method:
Preheat oven to 180. Grease a medium loaf pan.
Make salsa verde and reserve.
Combine chicken, tomato, garlic, egg, breadcrumbs, nuts. and chives in large bowl. Press meatloaf mixture into pan.
Bake 20 minutes.
Serve meatloaves, top side up, with the salsa verde and slices of bread.

A nice touch

2010-09-14T22:37:00.008+01:00

Bye bye summer!

OK, let's get to it.

These delightful bitesize cakes are a beauty and so delicious you won't believe how easy and fun they are to make. They taste of summer, so before winter arrives I give you these little cuties...I would also tell you about what happened one night not so long ago after I made these. Here is the story...

It's so grateful to be rewarded for your work, even more when you least expect it. This is what happened one night, not too long ago. It was quite late, around 8 pm, when my doorbell rang. I opened the door and there was this delivery man handing me a form to sign and with a big long box by his side. I looked at the box and when I saw the Interflora logo, I kindly smiled, (I may have slipped a patronizing sigh (He, my husband, the Vegetarian hasn´t brought me flowers in years!) so I opened my mouth to let him know he got the wrong door, when my eyes saw the addressee name: Mrs B. Wait a minute, that's ME! I signed the form and I almost hugged the man! (he run away of course!) Then, this got me thinking, could it be that my hubbie, the Vegetarian, had the urge for bringing me flowers? They say that if this happens out of the blue, he might have been having an affair! I grabbed the box, closed the door and had a deep breath.
-"Do you have anything to do with this???" -I shouted. His steps getting closer downstairs...
-"Erm...Noooo?"- (suspicious smile)
So, I opened the box and there it was, a beautiful, colourful and huge orchid plant! The plant pot was the same colour as the flowers, a nice touch. So, the Vegetarian had to break and he spat it all out. His workmates were the ones. I use to send them my culinary creations via the Vegetarian, like the ones from this post, and this was their way of thanking me, along with a nice card with a lovely message. I am more than grateful to these guys, to whom I've never met, for letting me know about their tastes, for helping me out with my experiments and for eating them. So, people from BAA, at Heathrow, Thanks a lot!

Here's the lovely plant.

And here's the recipe, passion fruit mini bites and bites size cherry cakes. They're so simple to make and the result is impressive.

Mini passion fruit cakes

Ingredients

2 tablespoon passion fruit pulp
60g softened butter
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon rind
1/4 cup (55g) sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup (75g) self raising flour
1/4 cup (60ml) buttermilk

Icing
1/2 cup (80g) icing sugar
1 teaspoong milk

Method
Preheat oven to 180. Grease two 12 hole mini muffin tins
Strain passion fruit pulp over small bowl, reserve seeds and juice separately.
Beat butter, rind and sugar in small bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, add flour, passion fruit juice and buttermilk. Spoon mixture into muffin tin holes.
Bake cakes about 20 minutes. Stand them 5 minutes. Turn, top side up, onto a cooling rack.
Meanwhile, stir icing sugar and milk, add the reserved seeds and mix until combined. Top cakes with icing.

Cherry bites

Ingredients

115g self raising flour
Pinch of salt
100g sugar
115g softened butter
3 eggs
50g ground almonds

Method

Preheat the oven to 180. Grease the muffins tin.
Sift the flour and add a pinch of salt, and stir in the sugar.

Melt the butter and leave to cool. Lightly beat the eggs and mix them into the sugar and flour, then add the cooled butter and ground almonds. Cover and chill for an hour at least. Fill the tin three quarters full.
Top with a cherry (you can substitute with any other fruit) and bake for 9 to 10 minutes. Leave to cool then turn out to a cooling rack.

Okonomiyaki, what I want and what I like.

2010-08-04T00:19:00.008+01:00

There are certain places that you are always willing to go back, then, they become part of a group of memories that you just wish to live again. We would even consider moving there for good or for at least a couple of years. I have travelled enough to select a couple of places where I could just move tomorrow, or even to have them as my "second residence" Many of you may know by now about my love for Mexico, and the idea of living there is with me ever since I came back (in this life or maybe in the next one) and someting similar hapened to me with Japan. Such a different country, I would never hesitate to move over there, the people, the culture, the scenery, the temples, the way they treat the elderly people (almost worship) the transports (I love you, bullet train) but above all, and of course, the food...

I can honestly say that, since we arrived we were treated wonderfully well, I was lucky enough to feel gastronomically spoiled by trying (devouring) the incredibly, tasty and tender Kobe beef cooked in a wonderful dish called Sukiyaki on the night of our arrival. Of course it melts in your mouth, after being spoiled and very well looked after by their carers, with massages and taking sake showers! On top of that, they make them drink beer to stimulate their apetite.

So, walking around Osaka, we had a lovely guide Noriko who took us to a very special restaurant. The tables had a grill in the middle and she told us that we were going to try something "special" and very very popular. OKONOMIYAKI something like the japanese pizza. Ok, so, you sit on the table, you choose the ingredients you want and you cook it yourelf at your table. That was a good plan and the result? Well, nothing like a pizza, more like a pancake, with a bunch of different flavours, dried seaweed, katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes) and the special okonomiyaki sauce (you can find all these ingredients in your local oriental supermarket) and on top of all that, mayonaise! I use Kewpie (japanese) but any other will do. The flour is a special one, it has tiny dried shrimps and seafood flavour but you can use self raising flour. There are hundreds of Okonomiyaki recipes, one in each region. It's part of a family meal and in fact, OKONOMIYAKI is japanese for "what you want" or "what you like". The Hiroshima version is made with chinese noodles! I used squid and prawns in this version, befcause is my favorite and I always follow Noriko's recipe, but you can use whatever you have at home, pork, chicken, beef, vegetables or seafood...easy as pie!

I want to be a Kobe beef i my next life...

Ingredients

For the batter

250 g okonomiyaki or self raising flour

2 small eggs

125 ml water

salt and pepper

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

The filling:

1 medium squid, diced

6 peeled and raw prawns

4 cabbage leaves finely sliced

2 spring onions finely sliced or chives

For the topping

Mayonaise

Okonomiyaki sauce

Dried seaweed (ao nori)

Pickled ginger (beni shoga)

Dried bonito flakes (katsuobushi)

Method

Mix the ingredients of the dough in a bowl, until it has the consistency of double cream, you can add more water of flour, depending of what it needs. Add the filling ingredients and mix well. Heat a no stick frying pan and add the oil, then the mix when the oil is very hot, and lower the heat to medium. When the pancake starts bubbling and setting turn it over and cook for a further 3 or 4 minutes, depending of how thick is your pancake. Place it on the serving dish and drizle with mayonaise, the okonomiyaki sauce, then the seaweed and the ginger and finally the dried bonito flakes. Serve hot.

Humble cake

2010-07-18T14:38:00.011+01:00

There are certain smells which embrace us when they travel from our kitchens right straight to our senses. Smells and aromas which provide us with wonderful and comforting sensations. The aroma of a freshly baked apple pie or sponge is one of these. There´s something weird with me and the apples, I just can´t seem to eat them raw, I rather wait and cook them, caramelize them, roast them, bake them and enjoy them like that. being part of the inside of a cake, o crowning a spongy sponge and filling my mouth with all these sensations and making me even more happier...

These apple rectangles are ideal as they are individuals and they are coated in a lovely and velvety brandy Butterscotch sauce, which make them irresistible. You need to let the sponges rest once they are baked, just for a while, and then serve them warm. You can as well use this recipe for a normal cake or muffins.

Here comes the recipe

Ingredients

125 g softened butter

½ cup (110g) sugar

2 eggs

150 g plain four

½ teaspoon baking powder

1 tablespoon milk

3 granny smith or golden delicious apples

½ cup (160g) warm apricot jam

Brandy butterscotch sauce

½ cup firmly packed brown sugar

½ cup thickened cream

100g butter, chopped

2 tablespoons brandy

Method

Preheat oven to 180. Grease the tin or tray you are using.

Beat butter and sugar in small bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, stir in sifted flour and baking powder then add the milk, spread mixture into prepared pans.

Peel, core and halve apples, slice thinly and push gently into surface of cake mixture. Brush apple with the warm apricot jam and bake for 40 minutes. Stand cakes 10 minutes before turning, top-side up onto a wire rack to cool slightly.

For the sauce, combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan, stir over heat, without boiling, until sugar dissolves, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer uncovered without stirring for about 3 minutes or until it thickens slightly.

Serve warm drizzled with the brandy butterscotch sauce and double cream.

Tagine, a tasty mirage in my oasis.

2010-06-14T22:55:00.010+01:00

Moroccan food is exotic, aromatic and full of colour. Its amazing array of ingredients is a pleasure for all of our senses. There's no doubt about it, Moroccan cuisine is full of quality, plus, the variety of sweets, very sweet, the combination of spices, and the mix of the sweet and sour, makes this unique gastronomy one of the best in the world. Moroccan cuisine is a mix of cultures, and one of its star dishes is the lovely Tagine. It can be made with chicken, lamb, fish or vegetables.

This is an excellent recipe by Claudia Roden, and from her book Arabesque. The tagine is the name of the dish the food is cooked in. The conic shape helps the steam flowing and cooking the interior of the dish giving the food its distinctive flavour. If we add the preserved lemons, one of the most essential ingredients the Moroccan cuisine, then the colour of the dish becomes amazing and the flavour explodes in your mouth. You must prepare the lemons a month in advance.

You can find the preserved lemons in selected stores, but they are so easy to prepare that it seems to me a waste of money, for they are quite expensive to buy and so much cheap to prepare at home. For this dish you only use the skin of the lemons. If you decide to go ahead and prepare the tagine, you only need to remember to preserve the lemons four weeks before.

Preserved lemons

Ingredients:

5 or 6 big unwaxed lemons
rock salt ( quite a lot)
The juice of three lemons

Method

Wash the lemons and cut them from the stem end into quarters almost through the base. Insert one tablespoon rock salt into each lemon, close it up and place in the sterilized jar. Repeat until the jar is filled, sprinkling 1 tablespoon salt between the layers. Pack the lemons into the jar as tightly as possible. Add a bay leaf an a few peppercorns is you want. Add the lemon juice and fill with slightly cool boiled water.

Seal the jar and store in a cool dark place for 4 weeks. Shake the jar daily for the first week in order to dissolve the salt. Once it´s opened store in the fridge. Before adding to the recipe, you need to rinse the lemon with water and discard the pulp.

Chicken tagine with olives and preserved lemons

Ingredients

3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 onions finely chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon saffron threads
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 chicken cut into pieces (I used a poussin)
salt and black pepper
juice of 1/2 a lemon
2 tablespoons chopped coriander
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Peel of 1 large preserved lemons
12-16 green olives
300mil chicken stock or water

Method

In a tagine or a wide caserole dish, heat the oil and add the oinions, saute until they are soft then stir in the garlic, ginger and saffron.
Put in the chicken pieces season with salt and pepper and por in abut 300ml chicken stock or water. Simmer, covered. turning the pieces over a few times, and adding a little more water if it becomes too dry.

Stir in the lemon juice, the chopped coriander and parsley, the preserved lemon peel cut into strips and the olives. Cook uncovered for 5 to 10 minutes until the sauce is reduced and thick. Serve the chicken with the olives and lemon strips on top of the meat. You can serve it along with an almond and pistachio couscous. And don't be surprised when the chicken melts in your mouth.

And they thought they were joking!

2010-05-24T00:31:00.010+01:00

Last April, one of the papers published an article about a new fruit called “Pineberry”, a white strawberry that tasted like pineapple, many people didn’t believe it, they thought it was an April’s food joke...I have a radar when it comes to find new foods n the supermarkets, so I found them and I was pleasantly surprised. They were quite expensive, £4 a punnet (250G) but they really worth it.

As soon as I bought them, I could smell the aromatic essence of the strawberry but more intense than a normal one. I couldn´t resist and on my way home, on the train, I try them and I have to say that I have never tasted such a sweet and aromatic fruit. I couldn´t find the pineapple taste, it was more like a super intense and delicate strawberry, even to the touch, it felt like velvet. Honoring this little beauties, I give you an intense dark chocolate, with a chocolate ganache.

Of course you can use any other fruit, raspberries are perfect or normal strawberries or even kumquats. These pineberries were on sale for a limited period only, ans although I tried hard, I couldn’t find them again. See you next year, I hope ...

Ingredients:

150g softened butter

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup caster sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

4 eggs

½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

½ baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup plain flour

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Method:

Grease a medium loaf pan and preheat the oven to 180.

Cream the butter and the sugars with an electric mixer. Add the vanilla extract, the eggs, one at a time. In a big bowl sift the flour, the bicarbonate of soda, the salt, the baking powder and the cocoa. Add the dry ingredients to the egg and butter mixture with a wooden spoon. Pour this mixture on the tin and bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a skewer comes away clean. Cool in the tin, and then transfer to a cooling rack.

Ingredients for the chocolate sauce:

200g dark chocolate

150 single cream

30g butter

1 tablespoon rum (optional)

Method:

Cut the chocolate and melt it in a double boiler over boiling water or in the microwave. Heat the cream and butter in a pan until is very hot. Mix in the melted chocolate and um and ice the cake with the sauce. Decorate with the white strawberries or with any other fruit. Serve with some more of the chocolate sauce, in case somebody “needs” and extra dose. Yes, please!

Roasts of the World II- Porchetta, ti amo!

2010-05-09T20:19:00.009+01:00

Welcome to the second instalment of the series Roasts of the world. This one is dedicated to the magnificent Italy and its varied and delicious gastronomy. And the main protagonist of the post is the “Porchetta” which is so popular that the Italian Ministry of agriculture has place it on the list of the most traditional Italian foods. The “Porchetta” is a piece of pork meat, usually pork belly, you can kindly ask your butcher to butterfly it for you, or you can try yourself, which is not difficult. The meat is stuffed with herbs and fennel, then rolled and roasted. It’s important to keep the skin on since it gives the meat a wonderful taste and texture. It’s usually sliced very thinly and is traditionally served in a sandwich around the streets in Italy where you can get it from the vans selling it everywhere. It’s a dish of celebration and party with friends and family. I have been wanting to make this dish since I saw it at Borough market, and I have to say that everybody who tried this after I cooked was so pleased that I am going to cook this many many times. I used half a pork loin for this, which I bought at the Smithfiedls Market in London, one day, early in the morning, where I travelled with the idea of getting some of that wonderful wagyu beef, but that, ladies and gentlemen, is another story...

You can served this as a roast, or as a smart main course, inspired in a recipe by Jason Neroni, with cannellini beans and salsa verda, or as I mentioned earlier, in a sandwich, the proper way. This meat and the way of cooking it is extremely grateful to be eaten, Mrs Porchetta lets herself go and she lets you stuff her, roast her and slice her with a fully submissive attitude, because she knows that, in the end, she is going to please our palates and we are going to love her. Forza Italia!

Ingredients for the meat

5 onions

3 bay leaves

¼ cup olive oil

1 bulb fennel, finely sliced, reserve the fronds

2 tablespoon fennel seeds

2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped

6 garlic cloves, finely sliced

Salt and pepper

1 piece of pork belly or pork loin with the skin on

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Butterfly the meat if the butcher hasn't done it for you. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle a pan with olive oil and chopped two of the onion, add to the oil with the fennel and cook for ten minutes. Add the fennel seed more pepper, the rosemary and the garlic cloves, and cook for another ten minutes. Turn off the heat and add the fennel fronds, and spread this mixture on top of the open meat. Roll out the meat like a Swiss roll. Tied with twine and place on a bed of the rest of the onions, roughly chopped and the bay leaves, drizzle the meat with more olive oil and roast in the oven for 2 ½ hours. Remove from the oven and let it rest on the kitchen counter for 20 minutes before slicing it and serve.

For the two gravies. Pass the sauce through a sieve (onions included) and the coking juices. For the other gravy, blend everything.

For the salsa verde

1 tablespoon chopped basil

1 tablespoon fresh chopped mint

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

1 onion

Salt and pepper

¼ cup olive oil

Method

Blend all the ingredients and drizzle the olive oil until everything is combined, reserve.

For the potatoes

1 kilo baby potatoes, sliced

3 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper

Method

Place the potatoes in boiling water and boil for 5 minutes. Fry in oil until they start to get brown and place them in an oven tray. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

To serve, slice the meat very thick and cut into rectangles. Heat some of the cannellini beans and pace on the plate with some of the salsa verde on top. Place the meat on a bed of gravy and serve with the roast potatoes and more gravy on the side.

The other option is the sandwich, for this, spread the gravy on crusty bread. Slice the meat very thinly and place on the bread along with some lettuce leaves if you want.

Buon appetito!

Polenta cake

2010-04-26T21:25:00.010+01:00

After the killer onion, this is a quieter recipe. No more scares, I just keep on chewing for longer, just in case...

Another blood orange recipe. I have to take advantage whilst is still in the markets! This is one of those recipe where polenta is used in a cake, and it really work, it gives the cake a wonderful texture and flavour. Polenta is a main ingredient in Italian cuisine, its not only a side dish, but a main one. Its really more important than pasta in northern Italy, and its versatility is enormous, you can use it in a casserole, for polenta gnocchi, with melted cheese, as a filling for different vegetables. Etc. There are two kinds of polenta, the fine ground and the coarse one, and you also get the quick and the normal version. Polenta is one of those ingredients which you either love or hate. I love it...

This is a sponge with toasted pistachios, and it’s drizzled with a blood orange syrup after it’s baked. The blood orange gives the syrup a very attractive colour and its distinctive sweetness. You can use ground almond instead, and normal orange if you can’t find blood oranges and the result will be also delicious. The original recipe has sour cream but if you can’t find it, you can use buttermilk, or yogurt.

Ingredients for the cake

300g sour cram

125g softened butter

1 cup, caster sugar

2 cups self raising flour

½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

2/3 cup polenta

1 teaspoon finely grated blood orange rind

¾ cup water

2/3 cup toasted shelled pistachios

For the Blood orange syrup

1 cup blood orange juice

1 cup caster sugar

1 cinnamon stick

Method

Preheat oven to moderately slow. Grease deep 20cm round cake tin.

Make blood syrup by combining all the ingredients in a small saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring. Reduce heat, simmer for about 15 minutes or until syrup thickens. Cool to room temperature.

Place sour cream, butter, sugar, sifted flour, and soda, polenta, rind and the water in a large bowl. Beat on medium speed until it changes to a pale colour. Stir in pistachios. Spread cake mixture into prepare tin. And bake for about 1 hour. Stand cake in tin for 10 minutes; turn cake, top side up, onto cooling rack. Serve cake warm or cold with strained blood orange syrup.

My posthumous post...nearly.

2010-04-19T09:07:00.011+01:00

When it comes to cooking, French people have a “je ne sais quoi” , it’s in their blood. Cooking and eating is a daily experience but is something mystical at the same time. People gather around the table, to share and eat. Same as the rest of us Latin people! Celebration around a table full of food, family and friends, who can ask for anything more? French cuisine is different to Italian or Spanish food, when it comes to the way they cook some ingredients, but there us no doubt about it: French people are real masters in the art of food, and because of this, they are known worldwide. Escoffier would be so proud...

Beef bourguignon, was a recipe originally made by peasants, it has climbed up in the culinary scale, it was very popular in the sixties and it’s now coming back, and I am glad about it, because I really like this recipe, it’s not a simple one, but its elegance and flavour its guaranteed. You need to marinate the meat overnight, and that will give it a lovely flavour.

I have to say that this could have been my last post in my blog, and not because my blog is in danger, but because when i finish the cooking the recipe, after setting everything for the photo shoot, and after looking the plate and decorate and garnish it, after taking all the photos, I finally sat down exhausted, and hungry, so I ate it...I was really enjoying it, but suddenly a bothering baby onion got stuck in my throat and I was literally choking! T was then when I felt, that my time had come. I couldn’t breath and my heart was jumping in my chest, so scared. So, I got ready to see all my like in pictures as they say it happens when, you are going to die, but instead, I rebel myself, It was impossible that my time had come, so soon? So, since I was on my own, and there was nobody to perform the Heimlich manouver, and the cat was not helping, I went for a big jump, and it worked! ...the cat run away and the killer onion jumped the other way...and so I carried on eating...

My time has not yet come, apparently.

Ingredients:

For the marinade

A big carrot chopped

An onion chopped

1 Bouquet garni (make a bouquet with the green part of a llek, add some thyme, parsley and celery leaves)

1 celery stick, chopped

2 garlic cloves

3 tablespoons brandy

10 peppercorns

1 1/5 litrers good red wine

2 tablespoon olive oil

1 kilo beef, diced

Method for the marinade:

Mix all the ingredients in a big bowl and let rest overnight in the fridge.

Ingredients for the casserole:

200 g bacon, diced

150 mushrooms

1 tablespoon butter

400ml beef stock or water

150g button onions

1 tablespoon tomato puree

½ tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoon chopped garlic

2 tablespoon flour

2 slices white bread cut in triangles

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Method

Sieve the marinade over a saucepan, and bring to the boil, reserve the vegetables and the bouquet garni. Keep the meat in another plate. When it boils, cook for five minutes and pass through A SIEVE. In another saucepan, heat some oil and butter, and fry the meat, until golden brown, keep the beef in a plate while you add the vegetables from the marinade and fry. Put back the meat, and add the tomato puree and the flour, add the liquid from the marinade and bring to the boil, and stirring, add the stock or water and the bouquet garni, bring to the boil again, cover with a lid and bake in the oven for an hour and a half.

Whilst the meat is cooking, get a small saucepan and place the baby onions, butter, sugar and salt, and cover with water. Cook on a medium heat, until the water has evaporated, shake the saucepan, so the onions get golden brown. In a frying pan, fry the mushroom in butter and ad the onion, apart, fry the garlic and bacon and add to the onions and mushrooms.

When the meat is tender, pass the sauce through a sieve, and return to the heat. Cook on a medium heat for 15 minutes, add the mushrooms and the bacon, and turn off the heat.

For the bread, butter the slices and bake in the oven until they are golden. Dip one tip in the cooking sauce and sprinkle with chopped parsley.

When you are ready to serve, sprinkle more parsley on the meat. And be very careful with those killer onions!

Three of a kind

2010-04-04T22:34:00.008+01:00

I guess many of you know by now that I love cooking and baking with fruits and you are not wrong. I love it because if the versatility that gives to a dish and a pudding, or a sponge, I love because of the natural sweetness, and because it’s healthier as well. One may think that by cooking with fruits, you are being “less naughty” and you can afford a treat if it’s made out with fruit. Te original recipe of these pancakes is made with just strawberries , but you can use up any other fruit, in my case I used kumquats( to which I am addicted), blueberries and cherries, but it’s also delicious with sliced oranges, and blackberries or raspberries. Everybody seems to like pancakes, specially children. So, here they are:

Ingredients for the pancakes

4 eggs

2 tablespoons sugar

1 ½ cups buttermilk (if you don´t have any, you can easily make some at home by mixing one a half cups of milk with one a half tablespoon lemon juice, leave for 15 minutes and it´s done)

100butter melted

1 ½ cups self raising flour

Method

Beat eggs and sugar in small bowl with electric mixer until thick, stir in buttermilk and half of the butter. Sift flour into large bowl, whisk egg mixture gradually into flour until batter is smooth, Heat frying pan, brush it with some of the remaining butter. Pour ¼ cup of the batter into pan, cook, uncovered, until bubbles appear on surface of pancake, turn pancake and cook until browned. Remove from pan, cover to keep warm. Repeat with remaining butter and batter.

For the glazed fruit

250g each fruit (pitted cherries, kumquats and blueberrries)

1/3 cup water

½ cup jam (strawberry jam for the cherries, orange marmalade for the kumquats and blackberry jam for the blueberries)

1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoon lemon juice

Method

Place the water, jam, sugar, and juice in small saucepan. Add strawberries, or the fruit you are going to use, reduce heat, simmer uncovered about w minutes or until the fruit is hot.

To serve, pile up the pancakes, and spread the fruit on top, garnish with some whipped cream and fresh mint.

A crab in my tortilla basket!

2010-03-21T17:34:00.009Z

This is a different salad, not just for its ingredients, but for it the presentation. I found it very original and tasty, and hey! You get to eat the salad bowl! It’s a colourful and healthy appetizer, and you can use any seafood you like, chopped cooked prawns, muscles, even fish. Its a fresh salad, full of flavour and texture, and the lemongrass gives it the exotic taste. When you heat a Mexican tortilla, it becomes malleable, and you can shape it or fill a muffin pan hole with it, so it turns into a edible salad bowl and a wonderful way of presenting a starter. You can prepare the salad ahead and keep it in the fridge, same with the tortillas, but wait till the last moment to fill and serve them, otherwise, the tortillas will get soggy.

Ingredients for the tortillas

12 corn tortillas

Method

Soften the tortillas in the microwave or according to the packet instructions. Gently press each one into a muffin hole to from a cup. Bake for 12 minutes or until they’ll get brown. Reserve.

Ingredients for the salad

250g crab meat

3 cherry tomatoes

3 spring onions

2 lettuce leaves

2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander

1 stick of lemongrass

Salt and pepper

For the dressing

4 tablespoons mayonnaise

The lime of ½ lime

The zest of ½ lime

2 tablespoon milk

Salt and pepper

Method

Chop all the ingredients of the salad and mix them in a bowl. Mix the ingredients for the dressing and add to the salad. Keep in the fridge for at least an hour for the flavours to mix. Scoop the salad into the tortillas at the moment of serving and garnish with some fresh coriander.

Bloody Tarts!

2010-03-10T20:34:00.009Z

Relax...it’s just a dessert.

Now that blood oranges are on season, we have to really enjoy this time of the year, and take advantage of this beautiful fruit, not only because of its flavour, but also its amazing and psychedelic colour. Today was a “tart” day... because there times when one fancies a cake, or biscuits, or even a hot pudding, but today was a tart day, and since its sweet time in my blog, and I had some blood oranges, there is nothing better than an orange curd crowned by a lovely touch of meringue, not very sweet, just about..The recipe comes from AWW (Australian Women’s Weekly) now, you can tell I like these books, can’t you? This is an easy recipe, and the orange curd as filling is absolutely delicious. You can use lemons or limes instead, or simply normal oranges. These tarts are a lovely and spectacular end of a dinner party. If you like the flavour of citrus fruits, this is for you.

Ingredients for the pastry

250 plain flour

150g softened butter

1 teaspoon salt

A pinch of sugar

1 egg

1 tablespoon cold milk

Method for the pastry

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Grease a 12 muffin tin or 12 tartalette individual cases. Mix all the ingredients but the milk, when all is combined add the milk and mix until you get a non sticky and uniform mixture, cover with cling film and refrigerate at least for half hour. Then it’s time to cut the pastry in rounds and pinch the surface with a fork, refrigerate again for half hour. After half and hour, cover with ovenproof paper and fill the tins with baking beans (or you can use any beans or ice instead). Bake only for ten minutes, and keep aside whilst you prepare the filling.

For the filling

½ cup sugar (110g)

2 tablespoon cornflour

2/3 cup blood orange juice

2 tablespoon water

2 teaspoons finely grated blood orange rind

75g unsalted butter, chopped

2 eggs, separated

½ cup sugar, extra

Method

Combine sugar and cornflour in a saucepan, gradually stir in juice and the water until smooth. Cook, stirring, until mixture boils and thickens. Reduce heat, simmer for one minute. Remove from the heat, stir in the zest, butter and egg yolks. Cool 10 minutes.

Divide filling among pastry cases. Refrigerate 1 hour.

For the Meringue

Increase temperature to 240 degrees.

Beat egg whites with electric mixer, until soft peaks form, gradually add extra sugar, beating until sugar dissolves. Using star nozzle, pipe meringue over filling. Bake about 3 minutes or until browned lightly.

Dear Cochinita Pibil, I haven't stopped thinking about you since we met...

2010-02-28T19:38:00.012Z

...there in Yucatan…And since then I always remember you and the nights I spent by your side, sharing the moon and lots of dinners. I love everything about you, your colour, your ingredients, and the way you look at me from the plate, almost challenging me. I pile you up, pick you up and gently let you sit on your tortilla and it’s in that very moment when pointing at my mouth, I prepare myself to enjoy what you kindly offer me, without asking anything in exchange. Thanks Cochinita Pibil, thanks, Yucatán, we’ll meet again, hopefully...one day.

This is what Cochinita Pibil inspires me, this and much more. This dish is a flavourful representative of the excellent Mexican cuisine. The pork (cochinita or puerco in Spanish) is marinated in Achiote, a native plant from which they obtain a natural dye called Annato. Its flavour is subtle and smoked, spicy yet earthy and it gives the meat an evocative and sublime colour.

Cochinita or Puerco Pibil is a legendary dish, and it’s coked traditionally by wrapping the meat after marinating it for hours, and cooked in a pit on the ground for longer hours, it comes from the Yucatán peninsula, in Mexico. This dish has an important role in Robert Rodriguez’s brilliant movie, Once upon a time in Mexico, where Johnny Depp gets so obsessed with it, that he kills the chefs who cook it too well. You can view Rodriguez’s recipe here, it´s really worth it.

I have cooked this dish according to the way it was served to me in Yucatán, with plantain, and refried beans, as a side dish as well as Pico de gallo and salsa verde, two V.I.S (very important salsas). Cochinita pibil can be served with rice, or just lying on a warm tortilla, don’t forget the pickled onion though!

Ingredients

For the cochinita and the marinade

½ Kilo pork fillet or loin

3 tablespoons Seville oranges

3 tablespoons vinegar

½ tablespoon achiote powder or paste

¼ teaspoon ground cumin

¼ teaspoon Mexican oregano

4 or 5 peppercorns, ground

1 garlic clove

1 or 2 dried pasilla chillies

3 or 4 big Plantain leaves

Method

Toast the chillies, deseed and grind them along with the garlic. Mix the rest of the ingredients except the meat until you get a paste. Add the chilli mix. Prick the meat with a fork and season with salt and pepper. Toast the plantain leaves over the flame, cover an oven tray with it, and put the meat on top, spread the marinade all over it and wrap the meat with the plantain leave forming a closed package, cover with foil and leave overnight in the fridge. The next day, bake the meat still wrapped in the banana leave, at 150 degrees for 4 hours....yes, 4 hours. Once its cooked shred it with a fork and reserve.

For the pickled onion

1 red onion

½ habanero chilli

2/3 orange juice

Salt

Mix all the ingredients and marinade for two hours

For the Salsa verde

2 or 3 green Mexican tomatoes

1 Serrano chili

2 tablespoon fresh coriander chopped

2 tablespoons onion

1/3 cup water

Salt

Method

Blend all the ingredients and reserve.

For the Pico de gallo

1 red tomato chopped

¼ onion chopped

¼ garlic clove

2 tablespoons fresh chopped coriander

½ jalapeno chilli chopped

1 tablespoon lime juice

Salt

Mix all the ingredients and place in a bowl.

For the refried beans

Ingredients

3 cups cooked black beans

2 tablespoon lard or butter

½ cup of the water that was used to cook the beans

Feta cheese (if you can’t find Mexican cheese)

Salt

Method

Mash the beans, chopped the onion very finely and heat the butter or lard in a saucepan, add the onion, and when it start changing colour add the mashed beans along with the beans stock and the salt, and stir constantly. The beans are done when they don’t stick to the saucepan. Sprinkle with grated feta cheese and serve.

To serve the rest of the dish: Slice the plantain and grill the slices. Place a portion of the shredded “cochinita” on a square shaped plantain leave. Top with the pickled onion. Serve with the refried beans, the plantain slices, the Salsas and some warm corn tortillas.

A sponge with everything included, it's more than a sponge

2010-02-14T23:46:00.007Z

There are wonderful and unexpected flavor combinations in the gastronomic world, and this is one of them. It’s a moist, delicious and custardy sponge wonderfully cooked with a mixture of fresh fruit. The original recipe comes from the excellent The Australian Women’s weekly, and it has rhubarb which is a fruit I first tried when I moved to the UK. And I have to say that it’s not one of my favorites. This is a very easy and rewarding cake as its flavors melt in your mouth and it’s also good for you because of the amount of fresh fruit.

I used kumquats and cherries as well, because I had them at the moment of the making of this recipe and it run put really well but you can use any fruit combination you want, pear and apple, cherry and orange, strawberry and blackberry, etc. It keeps really well in the fridge for two to three days, if there is any leftover that is!

Ingredients

125g softened butter

¾ cup caster sugar

2 eggs

1 ½ cups self raising flour

½ cup ground almonds

2 tablespoons custard powder

½ cup milk

3 trimmed stalks rhubarb, sliced

1 or 2 pear, peeled, sliced thinly

100gr kumquats thinly sliced

100gr pitted cherries

½ cup apricot jam, warmed, strained

Glaze

1 tablespoon water

1cup icing sugar

Custard

2 tablespoons custard powder

2 tablespoons caster sugar

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

20g butter

Method

Preheat oven to 180 and grease a 22 cm round cake tin.

Firs make the custard. Combine the custard powder and sugar in small saucepan. And gradually stir in the milk. Stir over heat until mixture boils and thickens. Remove from heat, add vanilla and butter and stir until butter has melted. Cover surface of custard with cling film to prevent skin forming. Cool to room temperature.

For the cake mixture, beat the butter and sugar with n electric mixer until light and fluffy, add eggs one a a time, beating well between well between additions. Using wooden spoon stir in flour, ground almonds, custard powder and milk.

Using metal spatula spread half of the mixture into prepared pan, top with half the fruit and spread the custard on top in a single layer over the fruit. Spread cake mixture over custard top with remaining fruit and bake cake for about an hour. Stand cake for 5 minutes before turning onto a cooling rack, mix the ingredients for the glaze, brush top with warm jam, glaze and serve.

Gyoza, the truth about the japanese dumpling

2010-02-02T00:15:00.008Z

I love gyozas. Very much so. Form the first time I tried them here in a restaurant in London, and later in Japan, looking at the chefs and the street food vendors. They come originally from China, the Japanese adopted them, and now along with the ramen they are part of daily life in the land of the rising sun. The dough is thinner in the Japanese version, and the filling is so versatile, but the most typical is the one with minced pork. They freeze really well.

This is my friend´s Noriko´s recipe, and the only tricky thing is the way to seal the gyozas, but as they say: Practice makes perfect, and after three or four fiascos, you will be making them with your eyes closed. I love the way they are cooked, grilling them on a hot pan with little oil, and then steaming them with water. Brilliant!

Ingredients

1 packet prepared gyoza skins

250g minced pork

2 tablespoons sesame oil

1 garlic clove finely chopped

1 tablespoon flour

1 tablespoon water

2 tablespoons finely chopped Chinese chives (or normal)

3 0r 4 Chinese cabbage leaves or Savoy cabbage

2 tablespoons soy sauce

Salt and pepper

For the sauce

Soy sauce

A little chilli oil or rice vinegar

Method

Boil the cabbage leaves for 4 minutes. Drain and chop finely. Mix with the pork, the sesame oil, the garlic, the water, the flour, the soy sauce the chives and the salt and pepper. Place one gyoza skin in one hand and pt one teaspoon of the filling in the middle, brush half the edge with water and seal trying to follow the pattern, and keeping the folds.

To cook the gyozas, put a tablespoon of vegetable or sunflower oil in a pan, place the gyozas and grill only on one side for 3 to 4 minutes, then add a splash of water and cover the pan, so they cook in the steam. Leave them for 3 or 4 more minutes. For the sauce, mix the soy sauce and the chilli oil or rice vinegar and serve wit the hot gyozas. (One bite)

Sorry, a "what" sandwich?

2010-01-20T23:06:00.007Z

Lemon sponge sandwiches with raspberries, blueberries and cream

I love Tessa Kiros, she is an unconventional cookery books author who combines familiar history with ancestral recipes, excellent photos and flavors from different countries where she spent her childhood, mixed up with beautiful colors and the flavors of her past. Her books make you wanting to run to the kitchen and starts trying out her wonderful recipes. Far from being pretentious, her wisdom and elegance takes us to her kitchen and she teaches us that the best of cooking is the fact of sharing what you are coking. I only have two of her books, Falling cloudberries, and Apples for jam and this cream sandwiches recipe comes from the latter one. This post is from the latter one, and is as easy as making a sandwich, but far much better...

Ingredients

For the lemon sponge

250g Butter, softened
280g caster sugar
3 eggs
310g plain flour
1 1/2 tsp Baking powder
1 lemon, finely grated zest and juice
185ml single cream
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the filling:
100ml whipping cream
2 tsp icing sugar
100g plain Greek yogurt
100g Raspberries, halved
icing sugar, for dusting

Method

Preheat the oven to 170°C
Butter and flour a 30 x 11cm loaf tin.
To make the lemon sandwiches; cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one by one. Sift in the flour and baking powder; then add the lemon zest, lemon juice, cream and vanilla, whisking well to a smooth batter. Spoon into the loaf tin and bake for about 1 hour 10 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. If the top looks like it’s getting too brown before the cooking time is up, cover it with foil. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

To make the filling, whisk the cream and icing sugar together until the cream holds peaks, and then fold in the yoghurt. Cut the cake like a loaf of bread into slices about 5mm thick.
Spread half the slices with the cream mixture and then top with the raspberries and the rest of the cake slices to make sandwiches.
Dust with icing sugar to serve.

The sponge is delicious just baked from the oven and on its own. But for these sweet sandwiches is better to cut the slices the next day, if you can wait (I couldn't)

A rainbow in my plate

2010-01-11T15:53:00.012Z

This is my first post of the New Year, and I wanted it to be a light one, after the holiday’s lovely meals and sweets. Swiss chard is one of my favourite vegetables, and one of the things that got my attention when I moved to London was to find coloured chard, we don’t have those in Spain, and you can find them all year round, whereas in the UK they are seasonal, so every time I see them I “have” to buy them. The white part is very wide and hard and I don’t use it for this recipe.

It can be made as a round tart or with a rectangular shape and the base is really simple to make, and you need to start the day before for the marinade.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish every one a Happy New Year.

Ingredients

500g Swiss chard

Handful of sultanas

Half red pepper diced

3 spring onions finely sliced

Handful of pine nuts

Drizzle of olive oil

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

Salt and pepper

For the base

500g flour

100ml water

100ml olive oil

Method

Finely slice the chard (only the green part), and place them in a salad bowl with the diced pepper, the spring onion, the pine nuts and the sultans, drizzle the olive oil, the paprika and salt and peppr, mix well and leave overnight in the fridge.

Squeeze the excess liquid and reserve. Mix the ingredients for the base and roll it our very finely, place it on the tray or the tin you are going to use. Spread the filling all over the base and bake in the oven at 180 for 30minutes if it starts getting brown cover it with foil and carry on baking it.

Dickens, six pence and a London pudding

2009-12-20T23:05:00.016Z

Christmas pudding has that special Dickensian” touch that takes you back to old England, although there are reports coming as far back as the xv century. Legend has it that on the last Sunday before the beginning of the Advent, families returning from church started to make the Christmas pudding as it follows, they used t take turns to stir, and make a wish while ding it, that’s why it’s called “stir-up Sunday” They used to “bury” a sixpence coin in the pudding for the one who found would be lucky for a year.

One of the things I like the most of the English Christmas is the Christmas crackers, (we don't have these in Spain) like a beautiful candy wrapped beautiful packet that you and the person sitting next to you at the Christmas table have to pull to open it up, you then hear the cracker and an array of presents comes from inside, there is usually a paper hat (and yes, you HAVE to wear it) a quiz or a joke and a small present (how it is it ends on how much money you spent in the Christmas crackers) If you can't find the suet in the recipe, you can use butter.

Christmas in England is very different from the one in Spain, firstly and on the night of the 24^th we gather and celebrate (with food, of course). This is called Nochebuena, or Goodnight, and is like a preparation of what it’s coming ahead of us. The 25this the unwrapping of the presents as well, and more food to celebrate Christmas Day, the 26^th is a St Stephen and we celebrate this, as well as the night of the 31^st, (big time of course) when after the meal, we sit with a bowl containing 12 grapes, and at midnight and with every stroke of the clock we eat one, after another, very focused, and thinking about what will next year bring and making a wish with every grape, 12 grapes, 12 months, and these are called the Lucky grapes. Everybody in Spain does this, and we can’t imagine a New Year’s Eve without them...

Ingredients

300g fresh white breadcrumbs

100g self-raising flour

1 tsp mixed spice

1 tsp ground cinnamon

½ whole nutmeg, very finely grated

350g raisins

100g mixed peel

50g flaked almonds

250g suet

225g demerara sugar

225g sultanas

225g currants

2 carrots, peeled and very finely grated

2 cooking apples, peeled and very finely grated

Wet ingredients

Zest and juice of 1 orange

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

1 small wine glass of brandy

2 tbsp black treacle

4 eggs, lightly beaten

Fort the brandy butter

150 g softened butter

150 icing sugar

4 0r 5 tablespoons brandy

Method

Put the breadcrumbs in the biggest mixing bowl you can find. sieve the flour into the bowl with the mixed spice, cinnamon and nutmeg. Then add the remaining dry ingredients, up to and including the grated apples. Combine all the wet ingredients in a jug. Pour the mixture over the dry ingredients and mix together, from east to west, with a big wooden spoon. Take it in turns to give it a stir, close your eyes and make a wish.

Cover the bowl with a clean, damp cloth and leave overnight. . Butter 2 x 1.2-litre pudding basins and spoon the mix into them. Place a disc of baking paper on top of the puddings, then seal with a big sheet of baking paper with a central pleat, to allow expansion. Cover with a cotton or muslin cloth and tie with string or foil. Steam for 6 hours in steamers, or in pans with simmering water that reaches two-thirds up the sides of the basins – be sure to keep the water topped up. Remove and allow to cool.

When cool, re-cover the basins and store in a cool, dry place. On Christmas day, or the day you’re going to eat the puddings, steam for another 1-2 hours. Turn the pudding onto a plate, then pour 75ml of brandy into a ladle and carefully warm over a low heat for 1 minute or so. Light the brandy using a long match and tip over the pudding just before serving. Serve with the brandy butter or custard.

And happy Christmas everyone...

Cranberry and fig loaf, of course, it's Christmas!

2009-12-15T23:42:00.013Z

Ina Garten is one of my favourite cookery authors, and not because of what she cooks and her recipes, but because how she cooks it, with such elegance and charm. I even like the way she arranges a table centre piece, this woman knows what she does, and even more after quitting her job at the White House and focus in her food related career. She enjoys spoiling her guests, same here, she absolutely adores French cuisine, me too, she has a huge and impressive house...not me.

This recipe is called “Cranberry harvest muffins” and comes from one of her books, but I converted it into a cake. Cranberries acidity is gracefully offset by the mix of the castor and brown sugar and it gives the cake that spice and lovely touch.

You can find cranberries everywhere in the USA and England at this time of the year, but if you can’t wherever you live, just use some raspberries, blueberries, or even blackberries. The glaze is optional but I really love the shiny finish and sweet looks.

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/4 cups whole milk
2 extra-large eggs
1/2 pound unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped fresh cranberries
1/2 cup medium-diced figs
3/4 cup coarsely chopped hazelnuts, toasted and skinned
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar

Directions

Preheat the oven to 180degrees.Grease and flour a 30x12cms rectangular cake tin.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre of the mixture and add the milk, eggs, and melted butter. Stir quickly just to combine. Add the cranberries, figs, hazelnuts, and both sugars and stir just to distribute the fruits, nuts, and sugar evenly throughout the batter.
Spoon the batter into he cake tin and bake for 40-45 minutes, until browned on the top and a toothpick inserted in the centre of the muffins comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 5 minutes before placing in a cooling rack. Best served the next day, so the flavours develop.

Humitas from the bottom of the earth

2009-12-08T21:17:00.010Z

It’s not the first time I praise Latin American food and all its qualities, for its flavour, delicious ingredients and colours. If you think about it, we couldn’t live without all the ingredients that Latina America has given us, and still is, like the tomato, the chilli, the potato, vanilla, turkey, avocado, beans, pumpkin, custard apple, quinoa, pineapple, peanuts, achiote, and of course, chocolate! Thanks so much, Mexico!

I tried Humitas on my first trip to Chile, and was gob smacked by its simplicity, and yet lovely flavour and presence. It’s presented as a firm closed little parcel.
There is a different version for each country the one I am presenting here is the Chilean one, but you have Humitas in Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Argentina. The noun “Humitas” derives from quechua, the language if the Incas. Tamales are related to Humitas and they are lovely and delicious as well. You can serve Humitas with a salad or a homemade tomato sauce.

I don’t like to process the sweetcorn that much, I like to see some of the pieces, but you can ground them as much as like. The husks are perfect for wrapping the filling, if you cant get hold of them, you can use the ones they sell for the tamales ( you will have to previously soak them in water) , or even kitchen foil, it’s not the same, but it helps...
The filing is made out from ground sweetcorn and a mixture of onion and basil surrounds you with a lovely smell, then there’s no way back, you fall in love with these little ones, and want to eat them, devour them and learn to make them.

Ingredients

6 pieces of corn in husks
1 tablespoon turmeric
2 tablespoon olive oil or lard
2 small chillies chopped (optional)
1 cup of milk
Small bunch fresh basil, chopped
1 onion finely chopped
Salt and pepper

Method:

Remove the kernels of the corn with a knife and reserve the husks.
Fry the onion in the oil or lard until translucent, add the chillies if you are using them, the basil the salt and pepper.

Place the sweetcorn in a food processor, and put them in a saucepan, add the onion and basil mixture and the cup of milk. Cook this over a low heat until it thickens. If you see it doesn’t add more milk.

Now we need to make the parcels, to do this place to husks overlapped and place two tablespoons of the mixture in the middle. For the packet by folding the bottom, the sides and the top, tie with a cooking string or a husk strip.

Half fill a saucepan with salted water and place the humitas when it boils, close with a lid and cook for an hour. Place them in a sieve and let them rest for 5 minutes to drain the excess liquid. Serve with scissors...

Tower of shortbread with cream and fruit

2009-12-01T00:20:00.008Z

Another sweet delicacy for everyone’s palate and eyesight. Easy as baking a tray of biscuits, and filling them with cream and fruit. Whichever fruit you have at home will do, strawberries, redcurrants, blackcurrants, blackberries, raspberries, etc. The funny thing about this dessert is that when you have it in front of you, ready to eat, you realise that you have to “destroy” that beauty and you don’t know how....anyway, provide your guests with a fork and see what happens...

Ingredients

300g softened butter
150 icing sugar
Zest of one lemon
Dash of vanilla extract
1 egg, lightly beaten
450g sifted flour

Preheat the oven to 180degrees. Grease two trays and place them in the fridge while you make the biscuit dough.

Mix the butter and sugar, add the zest and vanilla, then the egg little by little, beating after every addition. Add the flour and mix until you have consistent dough. Divide the dough into two and roll out to 2,5mm and place it on the trays. Place the trays back in the fridge until they harden.

When this is done, flour the biscuit cutter of your choice, cut out three discs per portion, and place them in a greased oven tray. When you have them all in the tray, bake them at 180 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until they are a bit brown. Cool in the tray for 5 minutes and then transfer them to a cooling rack.

Filling

200ml whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Icing sugar to taste
400g fruit of your choice

Icing sugar to sprinkle

Whip the cream with the sugar, and then add the vanilla. Now it’s time to assemble the plate. To do this, grab one of the biscuits and place it on the plate, fill a piping bag with the cream and place small rosettes around the biscuits and place fruit in between every rosette. Repeat with another biscuit and place it on top of the first one, now for the top one,place just one drop of cream and one strawberry and decorate with fresh mint leaves. Sprinkle the icing sugar on top of the “tower” and enjoy...

Lamb shanks with nutty couscous

2009-11-23T12:31:00.009Z

Lamb is on of my favourite meats, because of its flavour and textyure.I chose shanks for this dish because I like the way it falls from the bone when it has been cooked in the oven. to serve, a lovely couscous, with nuts and aromatised with rose water, just a few drops, otherwise we can ruin the plate, beause it has a very strong flavour. This is a very simple dish, you don't need many ingrediets and the flavour is amzing.

I guess it's more than obvious that I love middle eastern food, because of its flavour and colour. Couscous is part of the daily life in middle eastern households and nuts are an ideal touch to a meal. Middle eastern gastronomy is a varied one, with wonderful ingredients ready to surprise your palate. Coscous is a healthy option as well, and I always add the nuts to it, whichever ones you had at home will do, walnuts, pine nuts, almonds, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, etc. And sultanas, lots of sultanas...

For the Lamb

Lamb shanks, one per person
3 bay leaves
Drizzle of white wine
Half a lemon, thinly sliced
1 clove of garlic, thinly sliced
Drizzle of olive oil

Salt and pepper

Method

Season the meat, and place it in an oven tray along with the rest of the ingredients, and bake at 180 degrees for an hour and 15 minutes, aproximately. When a knife comes out easily from the meat, its done. Reserve.

For the couscous

150g couscous
Handful of nuts
A few drops of rose water
Handful of sultanas or dried apricots (choped)
250ml very hot chicken stock or water
Drizzle of olive oil
Salt and pepper
Method

Place the couscous in a bol and cover it with the hot stock or water. Cover the bol with a plate and let it rest for 10-15minutes. Check if the liquid has dissolve , and separate the couscous grains with a fork if so. Let cool.

When the couscous is completely cold, add the rest of the ingredients, if you add walnuts, chop them a little. Drizzle wth the olive oil and season. Serve in a big dish with the lamb shanks on top of the couscous, and decorate with dates if you want.

Crêpes Suzette

2009-11-16T09:47:00.011Z

I love crepes, not only eating them but making the batter, cooking them, and thinking about the filling. I prefer the crepes to be thinner than usual, almost paper thin. I really admire french people for making them up and the best thing is that you can fill them up with millions of combinations, chocolate, fruits, cream, stewed fruit, even savoury crepes are delicious. Whenever I need my sugar dose and want to indulge myself, I make some crepes and fill them up with jam, or "dulce de leche" and I'm good to go. Today I give you the crepes suzette, a wondeful and delicious recipe, if you have never tried these before, you will now know what have you been missing.When I have the time, I always always make these, and afterwards I don't even feel guilty, because hey there's fruit in it.

I serve these on a plate or bowl, dressed with the orange butter after flambe them with the liquor we decide to use whichever one we have at home. This is optional. And the only thing you have to make, apart from the crepes is the orange butter, but this is such an easy dessert that it's the one thing I make or bring to a dinner with friends whenever I don't have the time to make an ellaborate pudding. You will need a flat frying pan, special for crepes, or a non stick one. We also need a spatula for turning the crepes over. The first one is ussually the test one, so get rid of it, don't desperate and carry on. Even if you dont flambe the crepes you will need some liquor for the orange butter, I always use Grand Marnier because the taste is delicious, but Cointreau or even brandy will do the trick. This is how I make them...

For the crepes

1 cup plain flour

2 eggs

1 tablespoon sugar

zest of one orange

30g melted butter

1 cup milk

melted butter for cooking the crepes

Method

Mix the flour with the zest, the sugar and the eggs, add the buter and the milk. It should be a light mixtture, like cream, if not, add more milk. Brush a non stick pan with melted butter, when hot, add a laddle full of the batter and move the pan in circles so it covers all the surface, when set, turn it over with a spatula and let set for a few seconds. Place on a plate and carry on cooking the rest of the crepes, brushing the pan with the melted butter when necessary. Pile them up, cover them with cling film, when you finish cooking them all and let rest if you have the time for at least 30 minutes. (you can freeze them at this stage)

For the orange butter

200g melted butter
the zest of 1 orange (yes,another one)
3 or 4 tablespoons icing sugar
1/2 cup orange juice

1/4 cup Grand Marnier

Method

Mix all the ingredients. At this stage the mixture can look a bit curdled but don't panic, as soon as you heat it it will be OK. To do this, place the orange butter in a big saucepan, over a low heat. Reserve. Now we have to prepare the crepes, to do this I like to make them decent by opening them on my cutting board, and place in a plate on top of it, but upside down, I then cut the excess with a knife, this way all my crepes are the same size and they look more pretty.

OK, let's go back to the orange butter. When you have heat the butter and starts bubbling, grab a crepe and place it open in the saucepan, and very carefuly fold it over twice, so you have a triangle in hte end, do this with the rest of the crepes, and yous saucepan will be filled with lovely triangles, you have to spoon the butter on top so to make surethat the whole of the crepe gets sucked in all those wonderful juices. At this point you can flambe them, to do this, graba laddle and fill it with the liquor, place it on the heat and set it on fire, pour it on the crepes and spoon the liquid over until the alcohol has evaporated. If you feel brave take do this at the table in fron of your guests. Serve with ice cream or fresh fruit and don't forget some extra sauce on the side.

Roasts of the World I - British Sunday Roast

2009-11-08T18:35:00.012Z

So, I decided to start a series of entries with the subject of "Roasts of the world". I would like to publish here some of the recipes for roasts that I have tried "in situ" (lucky me!) Others will be cooked after researching and trying to be the close to the "real thing". First things first, because I live in England and because this plate is undoubtedly one of the most representative dishes in the british gastronomy, my first roast entry is the british Sunday roast.
There's a Sunday roast, everywhere you go...on a Sunday of course, with a choice of meat, you can have roastbeef, or lamb or pork, with all the trimmings. My only concern is that I have been served (in some of them) frozen boiled veggetables with the roast, no herbs, no olive oil (quite unbelievable for me, being a spanish and an olive oil addict) Anyway, I hardly reccomend to use fresh vegetables, because they are easy to make, and delicious. This roast is a beef one, and I included the tasty goose fat roast potatoes, the mighty Yorkshire pudding, the fresh vegetables (honey glazed) and stuffing balls (Iknow, I Know, you are not supposed to serve stuffing with the beef, but I like stuffing and I wanted to show it here, so what?) All this is served with gravy, proper gravy, of course, don't think about that brown paste like powder that you need to mix with boiling water, no no no... proper gravy is easy to make and very tasty, really. Sunday roast is delicious if you follow the rules, so...ladies and gentleman I give you the Sunday Roast...(you may need a siesta afterwards)

For the roast beef (or the meat you want)

1 piece of meat (whatever you choose)
1 onion peeled and cut in half
5 0 6 garlic cloves
4 sprigs of thyme
salt and pepper
olive oil

Method

Preheat the oven to 200degrees. Season the meat and seal it on a high heat until brown. Place it in the oven tray with the onion, the garlic and the thyme (don't forget the oil it has been fried on and the juices). Bake at 200 for the first 20 minutes, then lower the heat to 170, cover with foil and cook for 20 minutes for every 500g of meat. Reserve the cooking liquids for the gravy.

For the Yorkshire pudding

150g plain flour
150ml milk
2 eggs
salt and pepper
olive oil or beef dripping

Preheat the oven to 180degrees. Get a muffin tray and place small quantities of the olive oil of beef dripping (whatever you decide to use) in every hole. Place the tray in the hot oven and heat, this is essential for the pudding to rise.
Sieve the four and place it in a big bowl, add the beaten egg and the milk, mix and season well. Take the muffin tray from the oven and fill two thirds with the mix in every hole, quickly return the tray to the hot oven and bake for 25-30minutes.

For the potatoes

1 kg floury potatoes such as King edward
100g goose fat or oilive oil
salt

Preheat the oven to 18o and place the fat or the olive oil in an oven tray inside the oven to heat while you boil the potatoes. Boil the potatoes in plenty of boiling water for just 5 minutes, no more, you don't want to cook them through. Drain the liquid and shake the pan to soften the edges, this will make them crusty in the oven. Place the potatoes in the preheated oven tray and bake 40-50 minutes shaking the tray every now and then and turning them halfway through. Season with salt once they are coked.

For the stuffing

250g fresh white breadcrumbs
1 onion finely chopped
6-8 sage leaves chopped
1 egg
salt and pepper
olive oil

Method

Sweat the onion in a pan with the olive oil until is a bit translucid, add the chopped sage and the breadcrumbs, season well and mix until everything is combined. Transfer to a bowl and add the beaten egg. Shape this mixture into bite size balls and place them in a greased oven tray. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

For the glazed vegetables

2 or 3 carrots
2 or 3 parsnisps
100ml honey
100ml orange juice
3 sprigsof thyme
salt and pepper

Cut the carrots and parsnisps into batons, and boil them for five minutes. Drain the water and place them in an oven tray. In a bowl mix the honey, oranje juice, salt and pepper and the thyme and drizzle over the vegetables. Bake at 170 for 20 minutes or until they are golden brown.

For the gravy

100ml white wine
100ml beef or chicken stock
1 tablespoon flour

It's important to keep the liquid that the meat has been cooked in. Place the roast tray (without the meat) on the stove on high heat and scratch the surface with a woodenspoon. Add the wine and carry on scratching, when the juices have reduced a little, add the flour and stock, and keep on scratching until everything thickens and all the juices are combined. Place in a gravy pot and reserve.

When you have cooked everything, it's time to serve the roast. To do this, thinly slice the beef and place 3 or 4 slices in each plate, along with 4 or 5 roast potatoes, 4 or 5 stuffing balls, the vegetables and one Yorkshire pudding per head. Serve with the gravy. (and an antacid for dessert!)

Lemon friands with lemon curd

2009-10-30T16:37:00.011Z

Since I came across friands I cannot get enough of them. These wonderful almond cakes are so moist they will melt in your mouth. they are like oval wonders to your palate. The ground almond and the whites gives the batter a light and airy mixture. Once you've tried one, there's no way back. They will keep moist and delicious for 3 to 4 days. You need a special friand tin, but you can use a muffin one, if you dont have it. So, there you go, now there's no excuse.

Lemon curd is one of the simplest and yummy things in the world. Keep it in the fridge in a glass jar and you will have the most delicious toast. I really don´t thinkk that lemon curd it's so fattening, as there´s not so much sugar and it only has 8 grams of butter, or at least this recipe that I always use which comes from Aran Goyaga, a five star pastry chef, with mouth watering recipes and outstanding photography.

For the lemon curd

100 grams organic eggs
35 grams sugar
100 grams lemon juice
Zest of 1 lemon
8 grams unsalted butter

Whisk eggs, sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest in a bowl. Place the bowl over a double boiler and cook slowly while whisking until it thickens. Pass through a sieve and let it cool in an ice bath. Add the softened butter and whisk until incoporated.

For the friands

6 eggwhites
185g melted buter
120g ground almond
240g icing sugar
75g plain flour
1 tablespoon lemon zest

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Method

Preheat the oven to 180degrees.

Grease the friand or muffin tins.

Place egg whites in a bowl, and whisk with a fork until they are combined. Add butter, ground almond, and sifted icing sugar, then the flour, lemon juice and zest. Mix. Divide the mixture among the tins, bake for 20 minutes.

Cool for five more minutes in their tins before turning topside up on a cooling rack. When completely cool, cut them open and spread a generous amount of the lemon curd, cover with the lid and sprinckle with icing sugar.

Koftas in the sky with spices

2009-10-21T10:13:00.010+01:00

A few days ago I had a craving for a turkish pizza, Lahmacun, but I didn't want any pizza dough or bread, so I updated the ingredients for the topping to my taste and made this delicious and suculent koftas, a middle eastern meatball that can be eaten hot or cold, and they are perfect for a picnic. You can serve these with some yogurt (previousy dressed with salt, peper and choped garlic)

One of the main ingredients is Ras el hanout, an extremely aromatic blend of spices from the middle east, widely used and with a distintive flavour, the blend includes cumin, cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, chilli, coriander, pepper,cloves and turmeric which gives the blend a wonderful yellow colour. Its available in moroccan deli shops, and you can also add it to couscous ad rice.

Ingredients:

250g minced lamb

1/4 finly chopped onion

1/4 finely chopped red pepper

1/4 finely chopped red chilli

1/2 garlic clove

5 or 6 sprigs of chopped fresh parsley

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ras el-hanout

1/4 teaspoon ground dried coriander

1 egg, beaten

Mix all the ingredients, and put them in a sieve over a bowl to get rid of the excess liquid and let it marinate for at least 1/2 hour in fridge, for the flavours to combine.

Shape into medium balls and flatten them a little bit. Bake on a slightly oiled foil sheet, on a baking tray at 180 degrees for 20 minutes. Or you can also pan fry them.

Caramelised banana galette

2009-10-13T23:19:00.010+01:00

The base of this "galette" is a thin layer of puff pastry. Coated it with thin slices of banana and caramelised in the oven to perfection. The recipe comes from the Goodfood channel program, Market Kitchen, and it was made by Matt Tebutt one of the presenters. It's really simple to make and the result is delicious.

If you don't like bananas you can use thin slices of apple, or pear, or figs, whatever fruit you fancy.

Ingredients:

2 or 3 Bananas finely sliced

1 sheet puff pastry, rolled to 2-3mm thick

20g unsalted butter,

melted 2-3 tbsp caster sugar

splash of rum or brandy

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C
Take a sheet of baking paper and place it on a baking tray. Cut the pastry into a 12inch round circle and place on the baking paper. Prick the pastry all over with a fork.
Arrange the slices of banana on the pastry, in a spiral, making sure they overlap, starting from the outside and finishing in the middle.
Sprinkle a good layer of sugar all over the bananas, then brush with the melted butter and sprinkle generously with more caster sugar.
Bake for 15-20 minutes minutes or until the tart is caramelised.
Remove from the oven and invert onto another baking tray, drizzle the rum over the base and return to the oven base side up for 5 minutes or until cooked.

Serve with vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce or both.

Smoked salmon and scrambled egg tartalettes

2009-10-06T16:46:00.009+01:00

The base of this tartalettes is the same I used for the Asparragus and red peppers flan , from the Michel Roux recipe. I was thinking of a nice, tasty and smart appetizer, and came out with these tartalettes. They're very easy to make, and you can freeze them separately. I used smoked salmon for the filling, but you can use whatever you want to add to our scrambled eggs, or have in your fridge, the possibilities are endless, ham and cheese, mushrooms with parsley and garlic, bacon and chives, spinach and spring onion, etc. The result is always the same, a crispy and delicious base filled with scrambled eggs and the filling of your choice.

For the Pate brise (shortcrust pastry)

250g plain flour

150g softened butter

1tsp salt

pinch of caster sugar

1 egg

1 tbsp cold milk

For the filling

1 Tablespoon butter

3 eggs

2 tablespoon creme fraiche (or single cream)

one packet 250g smoked salmon

salt and pepper

beaten egg for brushing

to garnish

dill

caviar

Method for the pastry:

Roll out the pastry and cover six individual tart tins or a big one, chill for 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 190 degrees. Prick the base of the pastry, brush the outside with the beaten egg, cover with parchment paper and fill with baking beans, or any beans, or rice, this will stop the pastry from rising and bake for 10 minutes, remove the beans and bake for a further 5 minutes. If you are using the big tin you have to double the baking time. Set aside while you prepare the filling.

The filling

Beat the eggs and mix with the creme fraiche and the salt and pepper. Melt the butter in a non stick pan, add the egg mixture and cook slightly until you see the egg starting to dry out, don't over cook. Transfer to a bowl, and add the finely chopped smoked salmon, reserve some for the garnish.

When the tartalettes are cold, take out the baking beans or whatever you have used, and fill with the smoked salmon scrambled eggs. Garnish with a smoked salmon rose, a sprig of dill and some caviar. (fake caviar of course for us mortals!, or use the real one if you can afford it)

Swedish cinnamon rolls

2009-09-27T17:27:00.012+01:00

Who doesn't like cinnamon rolls? There's not a moment in the day when I don't fancy one. This recipe is Nigella's and as all her recipes its quite easy to make and you'll be very pleased with the results. When the rolls are in the oven, your place will smell like heaven...

Ingredients:

For the dough:

600g plain flour

100g sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

21g of dried yeast or 45g fresh yeast

100g melted butter

400ml milk

2 eggs

For the filling:

150g softened butter

150 sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 egg beaten

For the glaze:

1 cup icing sugar

splash of water

Method:

You need a 33cm x 24cm square cake tin, or you can make them separate in an oven tray. Preheat oven to200degrees. Mix the flour, sugar, salt and yeast in a bowl. Mix the butter with the milk and eggs. Mix with your hands or in the mixer using the dough hook, until smooth and springy. Form a ball and place it in a oiled bowl, cover and let it rise for 30 minutes or more.

Form a rectangle with the dough, you may need more flour for the mixture to become less sticky, mix the ingredients for the cinnamon butter and spread it all over the surface of the rectangle, roll it until you have a sausage. Cut it into 2 cms slices and placethem in the baking tray, keep them some centimetres apart from one another, let them rise again, brush them with the egg and bake in the oven for 15 minutes.

You can also try to make them stuck to one another in a cake tin, or in an oven dish, like in the photos above, let them rise for haf an hour or 45 minutes and bake them, 20 minutes or until a skewer comes away clean.

Once they are baked, transfer them to a cooling rack, let them cool and mix the ingredients for the glaze until it becomes a runny but sticky mixture and GLAZE!

Green tea noodle salad with prawns, ginger and chili

2009-09-19T12:25:00.012+01:00

This is the salad I always make at home whenever I am in need of something healthy, spicy and oriental. I use prawns, but you can use chicken strips, or fish or turkey instead. Sesame oil gives this salad an aromatic touch, and if you want to enhance the flavours keep it in the fridge for half an hour before serving.

The main ingredient is the green tea noodle, and you can find them in any oriental supermarket, the same as the lemongrass.

You can use soba noodles or even spaguetti if you can't find green tea noodles. Same with the fish sauce, if you can't find it, it's OK.

Ingredients:

Half a packet green tea noodles

a handful of bean sprouts previously blanched in hot water for 3 minutes

half a red chilly thinly sliced

1 teaspoon chopped fresh ginger

1 teaspoon chopped garlic

5 or 6 cooked prawns

a handful of fresch coriander finely chopped

Half a red onion finely chopped

3 spring onions finely sliced (only the green part)

1 stick lemon grass finely sliced

sesame seeds for garnish

For the dressing:

2 tablespoons sesame oil

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon fish sauce

the juice of half a lime

Method:

Boil the noodles according to the instructions in the packet, (if the instructions are in japanese, well...use your imagination) rinse with cold water when done and put them in a big bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients. In a small bowl, mix the ingredients for the dressing, pour over the salad and coat well. Keep in the fridge until ready to serve, sprinkle with the sesame seeds.

Checkerboard Cake

2009-09-08T15:20:00.008+01:00

This is a fun to make and different cake, astonishing and impressive, this cake will really test your culinary skills as well as your patience and stillness ability when assembling it. The idea came from the Autralian womens weekly (again) but I change their sponge recipe. So, here it is:

First, you will need a deep 19cms cake tin. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. You will need two different sponges, on plain and one chocolate, then you have to cut them into thick strips and glue them using the glaze.

Ingredients:

For the white sponge:

90g softened butter
90g sugar
3 medium eggs
120g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

For the glaze

3/4 cup apricot jam
2 teaspoons powdered gelatine or 3 gelatine leaves

For the chocolate ganache

6 tablespoons milk
4 tablespoons double cream
3 tablespoon water
41/2 tablespoon glucose syrup
250g dark chocolate in chunks

Method:

For the plain sponge:

Mix the butter and the sugar, add the eggs one at a time and the vanilla, then the sifted flour and baking powder. Pour in the tin and bake at 180 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until a skewer comes away clean. Stand cake 5 minutes before turning onto cooling rack.

For the chocolate sponge follow the same method but use 30 grams of cocoa powder, and 90g of plain flour.

Melt the ingredients for the ganache on a low heat, or the microwave, and cool to room temperature.Beat with wooden spoon until is thick and spreadable.

Once the cakes are done and cold, cut into equal strips. Heat the jam in the microwave and add the gelatine, (if you use the leaves soak it in cold water first). For assembling the cake, glaze every strip on all the sides (this will be the glue) and form a perfect square, alternating the colours. Spread the ganache all over the cake, store in the fridge for at least an hour, so it will be easier to cut it into slices, and enjoy this chocolate beauty....

Olive, tomato and parmesan baked ricotta

2009-09-03T11:23:00.008+01:00

I was feeling lazy that night, didn't fancy a lot of cooking, I was looking for something light, quick and simple to make...and I found it, Australian women's weekly....again. This is their page, where you can find their tasty and fancy recipes. My vegetarian husband was more than happy, I was more than happy too!

Ingredients:

60g finely grated parmesan cheese

500g ricotta cheese

2 eggs

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon finelay grated lemon rind

100g semi-dried tomatoes, or oven roasted tomatoes chopped(fresh tomatoes will do fine)100g pitted black olives finely chopped

Salt and pepper

50g fresh basil leaves finely chopped

Method:

Preheat oven to 180. Grease six hole muffin pan or individual ones. Divide half the parmesan among pan holes, shake pan to coat the sides.

Combine ricotta, eggs, garlic, tomato, olives, lemon zest, basil, salt and peper and remaining parmesan in medium bowl. Divide mixture in holes, smooth surface with a spatula. Bake for 20 minutes or until firm. Cool for ten minutes before unmolding.

Drizzle with olive oil, and serve with more bastil leaves, olives, rocket salad or bread.

Madeleines, and how good it's to have an assistant

2009-08-28T15:54:00.008+01:00

This tiny finger food sponges, are perfect for any moment of the day. Dust them with icing sugar, and they are a wonderful pleisure for the palate. This recipe comes from here, a paradise for us who like to bake. I want to thank my little and adorable assistant (my nephew) for his invaluable help in the making of this photo shoot. I had to pay him with madeleines!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted

1 cup (130 grams) all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs, at room temperature

2/3 cup (133 grams) granulated white sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Icing sugar to dust

Method:

In a small bowl place the flour, baking powder and salt and whisk until well blended. In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat the eggs and sugar at medium-high speed until the mixture has tripled in volume. Add the vanilla extract and beat to combine. Sift a small amount of flour over the egg mixture and, using a large rubber spatula, fold the flour mixture into the beaten eggs to lighten it. Sift the rest of the flour over the egg mixture and fold in being sure not to overmix or the batter will deflate. Whisk a small amount of the egg mixture into the melted butter to lighten it. Then fold in the cooled melted butter in three additions. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or several hours, until slightly firm.

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Generously butter two 12-mold madeleine pans. Dust the molds with flour and tap out the excess. Drop a generous tablespoonful of the batter into the center of each prepared mold, leaving the batter mounded in the center. (This will result in the classic "humped" appearance of the madeleines.) Bake the madeleines for 11 to 13 minutes, until the edges are golden brown and the centers spring back when lightly touched. Do not overbake these cookies or they will be dry.Remove the pans from the oven and rap each pan sharply against a countertop to release the madeleines. Transfer the madeleines, smooth sides down, to wire racks to cool. The madeleines are best served the same day but can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 to 3 days or frozen, well wrapped, for up to 1 month. Dust with icing sugar.

Makes about 24 - 3 inch (8 cm) madeleines. You can freeze them.

Variation:

Divide the dough in two, add the zest of a lemon and an orange to each one of them for a citrus and delicious flavour.

Pastel de Choclo, a Southamerican delight

2009-08-24T23:40:00.007+01:00

This recipe is dedicated to my chilean friends, to their beautiful country and their gastronomy. This dish is the national pride, no wonder...It´s succulent, full of flavours, delicious, and on top of that, the well known, omnipresent, and beloved corn, with so many varieties in all Central and Southamerica, specially in Mexico (I particularly loved the black corn) and the main ingredient throughout the culinary history of this wonderful continent. Here´s to them, to the other side of the ocean people, Viva Chile!

Ingredients:

4 pieces corn on the cob or one bag of frozen sweetcorn

2 cups of milk

500g mince beef

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 onion finely chopped

1 small bunch basil

2 hard boiled eggs sliced

handful of olives

handful of sultanas

salt and peper

3 or 4 sprigs of saffron or 1 teaspoon of turmeric

sugar

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Grate the corn kernels and blend with the milk and the basil, salt and peper and pour this mixture on to a pan, heat until it thickens. Cook for 5 minutes. Reserve.Fry the onion in oil, until it changes colour, add the mince beef, and brown, until is cooked, season with salt and pepper, add the cumin and saffron or turmeric. Add the olives and sultanas, and arrange this mixture over an earthenware dish in one thick layer, top with the egg slices, cover everything with the corn mixture,spread the surface with sugar and cook in the oven for 20 minutes, or until its golden brown.

This dish is best served with a chilean salad, which is a mix of tomato slices, very thin slices of onion, chopped coriander lemon juice and olive oil.

Danish pastries for everybody

2009-08-21T20:21:00.009+01:00

I love puff pastry, it has endless possibilities. Either sweet or savoury, stuffed, glazed...well, ask the danish, they are THE masters. These mini danish pastries are so cute you won't be able to resist, and they are two bite si ze. Some of them are stuffed with a delicious almond paste, very easy to make, and I am going to use it many times for a lot of sweets. Other are filled with a cinnamon butter, or vanilla buttercream. I love making them this size, they look more cute, in my opinion. They are very easy to make, and if you wonder how to fold them and fill them more graphically, all the answers are here, it's a website where you will learn wonderful things about the pastry, so, there you go, there's no excuse now.

Ingredients for all the pastries:

Two packets of ready made puff pastry

Apricot jam for brushing once they're baked

Cinnamon wheels

For the cinnamon butter:
100 g softened butter

3 tablespoons ground cinnamon

Mix and reserve.

Glaze:
1 cup icing sugar

splash of water

Method:
Roll a rectangle with the puff pastry, put down a thin layer of the cinnamon butter and roll the top edge, cut thin slices of this sausage and bake in the oven at 180 degrees for 12 minutes.Once dried glaze with the tip of a spoon.

Bear paws

Ingredients:

Sliced almonds

For the almond paste:

1 cup ground almond

1/2 cup icing sugar

1 egg white

splash of almond extract (I used a splash of amaretto)

Mix everything and reserve.

Method:
Make a square with the puff pastry, make a small roll of the almond paste and place it close to the edge.Roll and close, seal with water. cut small cuts and shape. Place one laminated almond in each "toe"and scatter more almonds over the top. Bake for 12 minutes. Cool in racks and brush with the warm jam.

Jam Pinwheels

Shape the pinwheels according to Joe, place a teaspoon of jam in the center and bake for 12 minutes. Brush with the jam.

Vanilla Wheels

A handful of crushed almonds.

For the buttercream

1 cup softened butter

splash of vanilla extract

1/2 cup icing sugar

Mix the above ingredients and spread a thin layer on a rectangle of puff pastry, carefully fold it down and cut into thin strips, roll them and shape like a small wheel. Sprinkle some crushed almonds and bakefor 12 minutes. Cool in racks and brush with jam.

Asparagus and red peppers flan

2009-08-17T00:15:00.019+01:00

I bought Michel Roux's new book, Pastry, this is one of the recipes in it. I enjoyed making the pastry,pate brise, in this case, is easy, and rewarding.It's a perfect vegetarian maind dish. The peppers in the recipe must be roasted and then cooked in what it's called a "confit", bt if you feel lazy, I guess you can avoid this by opening a jar of roasted peppers. And if you are feeling even more lazy, you can just buy a packet of ready made shortcrust pastry...

For the Pate brise (shortcrust pastry)

250g plain flour

150g softened butter

1tsp salt

pinch of caster sugar

1 egg

1 tbsp cold milk

Mix all the ingredients except the milk, when everything is combined, add the milk and mix, wrap in cling film, and leave to rest in the fridge for at least 1/2 hour.

Semi-confit peppersFirst, you have to roast the peppers, to do so, jut pop them in the oven, at 180 degees for half hour, or until they feelsoft, put them in a pastic bag, close tightly and leave to rest for 1/2 hour. Peel them off, and get rid of the seeds, and pat them dry with kitchen paper, now place them in a medium saucepan, cover them with olive oil, add 2 thyme sprigs, 1 bay leaf, 1 rosemary sprig, one garlic clove, and a handful of crushed peppercorns. Cook gently for 30 minutes.

Ingredients for the flan:

340g pate brise

2 packets asparagus

salt and pepper

5 semi-confit peppers

1 egg

2 egg yolks

200ml double cream

pinch of nutmeg

8 dill sprigs for decoration

Method:
Roll out the pastry and cover an oblong tart tin, or you can use a round one as well, chill for 20 minutes. Preheat ovento 190 degrees. Prick the base of the pastry, cover with parchment paper and fill with baking beans, or any beans, or rice,this will stop the pastry from rising and bake for 20 minutes, remove the beans and bake for a further 10 minutes. Set aside hile you prepare the filling.

Cook the asparagus in boiling salted water, until they are cooked, about 4 to 5 minutes.Drain and dry. Trim the asparagus to the width of the tin. Dice the peppers, pat them dry again, and scater them in an even layer in the pastry case.

Mix the whole egg, yolks, and cream together and season with salt, pepper and the nutmeg. Pour three quarters of the mixtureover the peppers, lay the asparagus over the peppers, andcarefully spoon the remaining egg mixture over the asparagus. Bakefor 30 minutes. Leave to rest for 2o minutes before unmoulding. Garnish with the dill and serve warm.

Fruity Fruit Cake

2009-08-14T22:39:00.010+01:00

This is a wonderful recipe, once baked you have to get this cake "drunk" by piercing all over the cake with a cocktail stick and pouring over some whisky or brandy, do this every four days, keep it wrapped in tin foil and in a metal or airtight container and your cake will keep drunk, moist and delicious for up to two months. The good thing about this recipe is that you can eat it warm straight from the oven, and you don't have to be so precise with the quantities, you can put more or less fruit, add pineapple, etc, as long as the skewer comes away clean after its baked, you will end up with a delicious fruit and easy to make fruit cake that is not heavy. And you can use it as a Christmas cake. For this and once is completely drunk you will have to cover it in marzipan and icing.

You will need a 18cm square or 20cm round cake tin.

Ingredients:
120g butter
340g dried fruit (whatever you fancy)
170 brown sugar
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
225ml water
half teaspoon mixed spice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 eggs, beaten
120 g plain flour
120g raising flour
pinch of salt

Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Line and grease the cake tin. Put the butter, sugar, fruit, water, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and mixed spice in a saucepan over a moderate heat. Bring to the boil and simmer for 2 or 3 minutes. Transfer to a bog bowl and let it cool down. Add the eggs, flour and salt, mix and pour into the prepared tin. Bake for and hour and a quarter, if you see the top is browning, while baking it, cover it wth foil. THe cake is ready when a skewer comes out clean, leave to cool on a wire rack.

I assure you than after some days, this cake will taste even etter, and it will be moist, well-matured, succulent and delicious.

Guacamole, a splash of colours

2009-08-12T23:02:00.012+01:00

I love guacamole. It's so simple and yet so full of nutrients and colours. Thanks to the lovely avocado, this dish is full of vitamins and minerals, it's antioxidant, good for the diabetics, and it helps reduce cholesterol. The combination of flavours will please your taste buds and leave you asking for more. You can make it as hot as you want, it depends on whether you want chilli in it or not.

Ingredients:

1 ripe avocado, reserve the pit

1 ripe tomato

1/2 onion

1 chilli

1/2 bunch fresh coriander

the juice of 1/2 lime

salt

olive oil

mexican tortillas to serve

Method:

Chop all the ingredients very finely, add the salt, lime juice and olive oil and mix. Place the avocado pit in the centre of the guacamole and leave until you are ready to serve, this helps prevent the avocado from getting black.

Serve with triangles of fried mexican tortillas, or totopos (please don't use Doritos) To do this, simply cut your tortillas in triangles and deep fry in oil, dry on kitchen paper. You can serve this as a light lunch, or as delicious starter. You won't be dissapointed. Viva Mexico!

Rainy day, biscuits time!

2009-08-09T10:26:00.023+01:00

I like the rain...when I'm indoors, that is, and I fancy baking biscuits whenever it rains, and living in London you could say that I could be baking and baking and baking...It doesn't rain that much lately...just as well. The recipe for these lovely biscuits are from The Australian Women's Weekly cookbooks, I love those books, and I have loads of them (books, not biscuits)

Frangipane jam drops

Ingredients:

125g softened butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup caster sugar

1 cup ground almonds

1 egg

2/3 cup plain flour (100g)

Jam (any flavour)

Method:Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Grease and line a baking tray. Beat butter, vanilla, sugar and almond with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, add egg, mix, add sifted flour. Drop level teaspoon of mixture on trays 5cm apart. Use handle of wooden spoon to make small holes in top of each biscuit. Fill each hole with jam, very carefully. Bake for 15 minutes and cool.

Viennese orange kisses

Ingredients:

220g softened butter

2 tablespoons grated orange rind

1/2 icing sugar

1 tablespoon cornflour

1 cup plain flour

1/2 cup self raising flour

Orange cream

60g butter

1 cup icing sugar

2 tablespoons orange juice

Method:

Beat butter, rind and sifted icing sugar in bowl with an electric mixer, stir in sifted flours. Mix. Spoon mixture into pipping bag and pipe 3cm stars onto a greasedoven tray, and bake in the oven at 180degrees for 12 minutes. Place in cooling racks. Sandwich the kisses with the orange cream, and dust with extra icing sugar.

Maple syrup butter biscuits

Ingredients:

125g softened butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup maple syrup or golden syrup

110g plain flour

35g cornflour

Method:

Preheat oven to 180degrees. Grease and line a baking tray. In a bowl, mix the butter, vanilla and syrup, until light and fluffy, add the sifted flours. Spoon this mixture into a pipping bag and pipe stars 3cms apart onto tray. Bake for 15 minutes and cool in racks.

Chocolate viennese

For the chocolate ones, I just followed the viennesse orange kisses recipe without the orange, once baked, and cool, dunk them in melted chocolate and leave to set in the fridge.

Once they're done, you can keep them in an airtight glass or tin container for some days. Here's a useful tip: put them in a tray and back in the oven at 180 degrees just for 3 or 4 minutes, and they will taste like freshly made (don't do this with the chocolate ones, of course)