Wine of The week: Chryseia 2011 one of the best in the world...

It was really easy to choose the main actor for this section return. Chryseia 2011 was, not only, considered the world 3rd best wine of 2014 by the prestigious Wine Spectator as it was our company in last Christmas lunch...

A project that began in November 1998 when the Symington family proposed Bruno Prats a partnership to produce a top wine and that in its tenth harvest, the 2011, turns out to be recognized with 97 points by Wine Spectator.

A wine made from Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca, is a perfect example of Portuguese Douro Valley elegant wines, with good acidity and great body. A wine to keep carefully stored and taste the evolution over the years ...

Photo of the week: Lord of the rings?!

You may be thinking on Lord of the rings when you first saw this photo, but this photo is from the first comercial-scale in the world to apply central tower receiver and molten salt heat storage technology and is located in Fuentes de Andalucía, Spain.

Arepas, Caribean flavours...

This week a very special recipe: the first published by a reader of this blog. I had the opportunity to enjoy the company of Irma and, not less important, to taste this marvelous Arepas she prepared us...

You will need:

Pre cooked corn flour (Harina Pan is the more used brand)

water

salt

The preparation of Arepas is very simple, usually we don`t measure the ingredients, but a trick will be to use the same amount of water and flour.

Start by placing a cup of water into a bowl. Add a bit of salt and a cup of flour. Start kneading till it is consistent and without lumps. The dough is ready when it no longer sticks to your hands. If it continues to stick, add a little bit more flour to achieve the perfect texture. When the dough is ready, make balls and mold it to the shape of pancakes, thicker or thinner depending on your taste.

Using a non-stick frying pan in medium temperature, cook it till it is golden on both sides and turn it frequently in order to avoid that it burns. 

Serve immediately and ideally open them in half and fill with whatever you prefer: cheese, ham, pepperoni, meet, chicken... Whatever you fill it with it will be delicious!

Castellano

La preparación de la arepa es muy sencilla, por lo general los ingredientes se colocan a ojo pero, se puede dar alguna aproximación de las cantidades. 

Los ingredientes que se necesitan son:

-          Harina de Maíz pre cocida (Harina Pan es la marca que se suele utilizar)

-          Agua

-          Sal

PREPARACIÓN:

Para 2-4 arepas (depende del tamaño)

Primero se coloca en un bol una taza de agua. Se coloca sal al gusto y se agrega una taza de harina. La medida siempre va a ser por cada taza de agua que se ponga, una taza de harina. Se comienza a amasar la masa de manera que quede consistente y sin grumos. La mejor forma de saber que la masa está lista es que no se pegue en las manos. Si esto sucedes hay que agregar un poco más de harina hasta que se consiga la textura perfecta. Una vez se tenga lista la masa se hacen bolas y se comienzan a aplastar con las manos de manera que se ponga la masa con la forma de una torta, redonda y del grosor que el comensal prefiera, puede ser más delgada o más gruesa.

Una vez que se tengan listas, se colocan en el sartén a fuego medio y se van dando vueltas cada cierto tiempo hasta que se doren por ambos lados. Se sirven y lo ideal es abrirlas por la mitad y rellenarla con lo que nos provoque: queso, jamón, chorizo, carne, pollo. Con lo que sea son exquisitas!

Photo of The Week: Winter

The photo of this week was shot five years ago on Fuente Dé, an amazing place to walk around in Spanish National Park Picos da Europa.

Recipe of the week: Spinach Soup

This week's recipe has a very special meaning to me. Like many children, during my childhood, I simply hated spinach so, it was one of soups that traumatized me and I disliked most. Years later I prepared it for the beginning of january detox...

You will need (for 4 people):
1 large onion or 2 medium onions
1 garlic clove
1 leek
2 carrots
1/2 courgette
2 medium potatoes
vegetable stock or water as needed
1 bunch of spinach
salt & pepper
Extra virgin olive oil

In a pan with a splash of olive oil, sauté the chopped garlic and onion and then add the remaining vegetables cut into cubes. Add water till it almost covers the vegetables or, as in my case I'd just make a vegetable stock, replace the water by vegetable stock. This will enhance the flavour of your soup and bring it to another level. Season with salt and let it cook. Grind well, put it again on the heat and add the previously washed spinach leaves. Let it boil for about five minutes and grind it well.

As in all of my soups, serve it with grinded pepper and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Photo of the week: The first Shot...

If you are asking yourself about today's post title, the first of 2015, the first after a long break, was this my first photo of the year?
It was not the first of the year but one of my first ever, and I would even say the reason of my passion for photography. With this photo I won my first camera, my Nikon E4300 which followed me almost everywhere for about 5 years...

This was the perfect reason to remember the last year of this blog and to thank you all for the energy that, with each like, each comment, each visit, give me strengh to continue this project and step by step make it grow up...

• One year that fdgoodlife was read in 93 different countries and visited by 2600 readers.
• One year that we ended with:
• 202 likes on Facebook
• 205 followers on Twitter
• 181 followers on Instagram

For 2015 I hope to be able to write more regularly and that toguether we are able to continue to raise this project...

THANK YOU!!!

Recipe of The week: Onion soup, perfect to raise you temperature...

After almost a couple of months we are back with an excellent recipe for this freezing days, at least here in Madrid: an onion soup. This time a version that I've picked from Portuguese Chef. Henrique Sá Pessoa program secret ingredient. (Please click here to read the other version we've published a couple of years ago)

You will need (for 3 persons):

3 onions

1L of Chicken Stock (Click here to see our homemade recipe)

a generous knob of butter

1 bay leaf 

olive oil

2 spoons of flour

salt & pepper

thyme

6 bread slices

Gruyere cheese 

Start by slicing the onions as thin as you can, (this will make all the difference on your soup final result), then, in a pan with a splash of olive oil, add a generous knob of butter and a bay leaf. When the butter is melted add the onions and let it cook. This is the second most important step, the best cooked the onions better soup you will obtain. Add a bit of thyme and season it with salt and pepper, being careful with the salt as you will add chicken stock.

Add two spoons of flour and stir it well. Add part of the chicken stock and mix it well. Add the rest of the stock and let it cook for about 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile put in a tray 6 bread slices, add a drizzle of olive oil to avoid it to dry and cover with a slice of Gruyere cheese. take it to the oven at 200ºC for about 5 minutes.

Serve it as it is shown on the picture and enjoy it!