lunes, 9 de junio de 2014

OLIVE, SERRANO HAM & CHEESE LOAF



This loaf can be served warm straight from the oven alongside a veggie soup or toasted (this is best when it is a day old). 

lunes, 24 de marzo de 2014

CLAMS EN PAPILLOTE



Last week I was watching one of those programmes in the travel channel, when I saw a man cooking at a beach with just a fire and a flat stone. It was a quick supper, and I inmediately thought "I have to try this", it looked so yummy!.
I was surprised with the result.

lunes, 17 de marzo de 2014

STUFFED EGGS


STUFFED EGGS

This was our Sunday´s appetizer, people get up late and they are starving by the time the sit at the table. So while I´m giving my final touch to our lunch, they can enjoy something quick and tasty.

lunes, 10 de marzo de 2014

OUR GRANDMOTHERS´ CAKES



In Sicily and Italy, they call this cake "Torta della nonna". I suppose in English speaking countries this would be called "Grandma´s cake", but the first time I ate this, it reminded me to our Panchineta, which is a typical dessert in the basque country, with a pastry base and filled with custard.  Torta is decorated with pine nuts while we add almonds inside and outside, but it tastes almost the same and let me tell you something, I go crazy for anything with custard. I can´t help it.

domingo, 2 de marzo de 2014

SMOKED SALMON AND POTATOES TART

This has been a surprising tart. I never thought potatoes played such an important role in here. They marry perfectly with salmon natural flavours. It´s a rustic ( I like to call some recipes this way) open pie of smoked salmon layered in a creamy egg base. A wonderful way to eat healthy ingredients.


SMOKED SALMON AND POTATO TART

INGREDIENTS - SERVE 6
1 packet of ready made pastry
200 cooked potatoes, sliced
1 small red onion, finely sliced
100g smoked salmon
100g roughly chopped spinach
2 medium eggs
150ml whole cream
75ml full-fat milk
75g finely grated parmesan 
Salt and pepper to season

METHOD
Preheat the oven to 200ºC. Take the dough and roll between two sheets of greaseproof paper until big enough to line a 22cm tart tin. Line the tin, pressing the pastry and pinch with a fork. 



Line the pastry case with foil and beans and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the paper and beans and bake for 5 minutes more until the pastry feels dry to the touch. 
In the meantime, steam the potatoes.


Reduce the oven temperature to 170º. Lay the cooked potatoes.


Then the onion


And the smoked salmon


Clean the spinach well....and believe me when I say well I mean it.


Cut it roughly 


Scatter over the spinach, setting aside the rest to garnish or for a side dish salad.


In a bowl, beat the eggs with the cream, milk, parmesan and seasoning.


Pour over the salmon.


And bake for 40


And when cut, is wonderful. You can see each layer perfectly. Potatoes are creamy and perfect in the base of this tart.


DONE

domingo, 23 de febrero de 2014

BROCCOLI SALAD


After spending the last weeks with heavy rains and hurricane winds, looking at the pictures of damaged areas around our city, finally the weather gives us a break. Sun shined beautifully yesterday.



You may know by now I´m a cream soups freak, but you know what?, yesterday, when I woke up and saw this beautiful weather I was craving for a salad. And you know what salad I was craving for?, well...one I saw in a blog I follow since two years ago. The blog

BROCCOLI SALAD

I think it´s much better if I direct you to her link,  so you can check her blog and her ingredients in case you want to make her recipe. I´m going to show you my pictures anyway.

The wonderful recipe you should try in here















DONE!

domingo, 16 de febrero de 2014

SPANISH HEAVENLY CUSTARD - "TOCINO DE CIELO"

I´ve been searching for a proper translation for the title of this recipe, but I´ve decided to write it in Spanish and give you a short explanation about what it´s like. This sweet, and rich dessert is really a treat. A very traditional Spanish dessert, made with 12 egg yolks, sugar and lemon peel. It makes a delicious finish to a Spanish dinner. Once again, the boys will enjoy it during their Wednesday´s  dinner out.



TOCINO DE CIELO - (SORT OF YOLKS PUDDING)

INGREDIENTS - MAKES 12
12 egg yolks
300gr sugar
1 glass of water, aprox 250ml
1 lemon peel

METHOD
Place the sugar and water in a deep saucepot with the lemon peel, over a low heat. Increase the heat to medium high and boil until the syrup turns golden. Brush the baking tin with some of the syrup, reserve the rest. Leave it rest to cool down.







Put the yolks in a bowl and beat them slightly. Add the syrup and mix them well.



Put the baking tin into a saucepot with water (bain-Marie). Pass the yolks through a sieve and cook it slowly for 20 minutes. Leave it rest and cool before removing it from the tin.







DONE!

lunes, 10 de febrero de 2014

PEA´S PUDDING

For this recipe, you can use either fresh or frozen peas. After all the Christmas expenses, cheap recipes are always welcome. 



PEA´S PUDDING

INGREDIENTS - SERVES 6
400grs peas
100g whole cream
50grs butter
200ml milk
25grs flour
6 eggs, separated yolks and egg whites
50grs grated cheese
Salt and pepper

METHOD
Boil the peas, drain them and process them to obtain a puré.





Preheat the oven to 190º
Combine the flour and the milk in a saucepan and cook the mixture for 10 minutes. Add the peas´puré, the grated cheese and season with salt and pepper.









Add the egg yolks and whisk the egg whites, they should form a stiff peak. 
Gently fold them into the mixture with a metal spoon, a few tablespoons at a time, cutting through the mixture with a high movement to incorporate plenty of air.





Butter the cake tin and pour the mixture. Bake it in a Bain-Marie for 45 minutes. I decorated it with some hard-boiled egg.



DONE!

domingo, 2 de febrero de 2014

CREAM OF MUSSEL SOUP


For the past weeks we´ve had heavy rains, hurricane force winds and the worst, tidal waves, violently breaking on the shore. Our sea, the Cantabric, has gone wild, it´s crazy and it´s breathtaking.



And when the weather is like this I have one thing clear. I need a cream soup, I go crazy about that, like my sea.  I´m a soup person and there´s nothing I can do.

CREAM OF MUSSEL SOUP
I´ve made this recipe in two days, not because it has a lot of work to do, but I had some time and I made it easy.

INGREDIENTS - SERVES 4
2 celery stalks
2 carrots
2 leeks
Salt
Pepper
Some grated nutmeg
2kg of fresh mussels
1tbsp of butter
2tbsp flour
100ml evaporated milk
Chopped parsley to garnish

PROCEDURE
As I said before, the previous day I put a big saucepan with 1litre and a half of water, and I put the celery, carrots, leeks, salt and pepper inside,  and bring them to the boil for 20 minutes. 



While the veggies are cooking, I cleaned the mussels. I added them later to the veggies to cook them and make a fumé. When the mussels start to open, remove them and set aside. I drained the stock (fumé), and reserved it too. I´ll use the veggies too.






The following day (if you´re doing like me, some steps the day before),  put the butter in a saucepan over a low heat and when it melts, add the flour , stir continuously to prevent it from burning. Start adding the stock we made with the veggies and the mussels, little by little until the velouté is made, set aside.





Add the nutmeg and the evaporated milk.



Chop the veggies we used to make the stock and heat them a bit. Add half of the mussels we had reserved.





And process it.



Combine this with the velouté, chop the rest of the mussels, heat it and that´s it.



With this weather this is my favourite comfort food. I can´t stop eating cream soups.



DONE!