Steak Tartar: Part II

If you are a follower of the blog you will surelly know steak tartar is one of the dishes I love and I would say "The one..."

This is the reason why I decided to write a new post about this gastronomy wonder. On the other hand this may be one of the less descriptive recipe as this dish shall be prepared/custumized to your or your invitees particular taste, a more intense or soft flavour, more or less spicy ...

You will need:

Beef sirloin

Dijon mustard

Cournichons

capers

shallot

parsley

egg yolk

hot sauce

Extra virgin olive oil

Worcestershire sauce

anchovy fillet

Salt & Pepper

Start by finely chop the shallot, parsley, cournichons, capers, one anchovy fillet and set aside. Then, with the help of your best knife, chop the beef. I strongly advise you to resist the temptation to buy minced beef, the texture differences will make all the difference ...

In a bowl mix: a tablespoon of Dijon mustard, one egg yolk and a splash of extra virgin olive oil, add the Worcestershire sauce and spicy and then add the previously chopped ingredients . mix well and correct the seasoning with salt and pepper. Finally add the meat and mix it well!

Serve with French fries and toasted bread or alternatively with a mixture of vegetables prepared in the previous post.

Roast Octopus, "Polvo à Lagareiro"

I love Octopus as apart from its superb flavours and texture, it allows you to prepare it in several different ways. A couple of months ago I posted an Octupus Salad, Today I'll tell you a Portuguese traditional dish Roast Octopus, which in Portuguese is called Polvo à Lagareiro.

You will need:
1 cooked octopus (see here how to cook the octopus)
small potatoes
Half a head of garlic
Virgin olive oil
salt

Cover the potatoes with salt and put it in the oven at 200 º C for 45 minutes in a tray. When they are roasted, clean the potatoes, give them a punch so that open, (this step is essential for the potatoes absorb the flavour of olive oil, salt and juices released by Octopus). In a tray, put the octopus, the potatoes, roughly chopped garlic and add enough olive oil to almost cover the octopus. Bake for 15 minutes.

Hope you enjoy it!

Back to Cocktails: Negroni

This cocktail was born on the twenties in Café Casoni, a meeting place of Florence aristocracy . A count called Camilo Negroni used to have a cocktail called Americano, created by Cesare Campari and made of Campari and Martini Rosso. Tired, he asked the barman, Fosco Scarselli to add gin, a drink which the count had tasted in his trips to London. It is believed that count Negroni was a happy and bohemian person as this cocktail triggers the humor... in Javier de las Muelas  Cocktails and Drinks book

This is a very easy cocktail:

In an old fashioned glass full of ice, add:

1/3 of Gin 

1/3 of Bitter Campari

1/3 of Martini Rosso

Mix with a bar spoon and add a slice of orange to finish...

Hope you enjoy it!

An apple Vichyssoise to bring the temperatures down...

Today's recipe today, sent by Cesar Benavides, is the first contribution of our blog followers': a cold soup to cool the temperatures which are still above the 30ºC outside...

Among the many recipes Vichyssoise this is a great summer suggestion replacing the potatoes by the apples which turns this soup lighter for a summer evening and the rest of the bikini operation !

You will need:

4 large leeks, 

3 apples (you can use Golden or starking, for instance)

75 ml of extra virgin oil

200 ml of cream

700 ml chicken stock (see recipe in previous post)

Salt and pepper

Start by washing the leek, and slice white part. Sauté a little avoiding it to get colour and add the apples previously peeled and diced. Add the chicken stock and let it boil for about 15 minutes. Grind it, add the cream, let it boil again for about 5 minutes, and correct the seasoning with salt & pepper. Remove, let cool reserve it in the fridge.

Serve the soup very cold, with freshly ground black pepper. (Alternatively you can also add a bit of chopped chives).

Basic Preparations: Home-made Chicken Stock

Chicken Stock is one of the most used basic preparations on cooking. You can normally use it on cubes, liquid or you can do it at home, as it is much more easy you may think.

You will need (for 1L of stock):
- 1 chicken skeleton
- 2 carrots 
- 2 celery sticks
- 1 medium onion

peel the onion and the carrots and cut it in two halves, put all the ingredients in a pan with 2,5 litres of water and let it boil. when it starts to boil take the impurities out. Let it cook for about 1,5 hours. Pass it through a strainer and it is ready to use.

Tip: If you have enough space in the freezer prepare larger quantities and reserve it for a next time.

Maye's Bistró, unique burgers in Madrid!

Last week I had a special request at home! We should go to a burger restaurant for dinner, so I started to look for new places to go outside "our 10 minutes public transport area" as August is perfect to use the car in Madrid. Although I thought that in August there would be no need to make reservation, we called to book a table in the terrace. What a wise decision, because when we arrived all the tables were booked, the first positive indicator of the quality of this restaurant...

As we went on a normal weekday dinner we only asked for two burgers: Mark Twain and Orson Wells, both with delicious home-made French fries...

The delicious food, excellent service in a terrace in a wonderfull summer night...could we ask for anything else?

An excellent surprise that entered directly for our top burger restaurants in Madrid...

Where?

Paseo Tierra Melide 13 Madrid, España 

Tube: Las Tablas 10

Tel: +34912 87 62 72

www.mayesbistro.es

Cold Carrot Soup with philadelphia cheese and chives

As we are still in the middle of the summer, today I bring you a cold carrot soup with Philadelphia cheese and chives, a recipe of the Portuguese chef José Avillez.

You will need ... (4 people)

600 gr carrot

100 gr leek

60 gr of philadelphia cheese light 

50 gr butter

20 gr of chives

salt and freshly ground pepper qs

Cut the sliced ​​leeks and carrots previously peeled and sauté it in a pan with a bit of butter. Cover with water and boil it until they are well cooked. Remove from the heat and grind it.

Bring it back to the boil and season it. Remove from heat, add the philadelphia cheese, stirring until it is well connected and creamy.  keep it in the refrigerator. Serve cold and dredge chopped chives and a freshly ground black pepper.