Recipe of the week: Cauliflower Soup

This was one of the recipes that made me very curious when I saw Chef Henrique Sá Pessoa preparing it. The reasons were simple: one of the quickest and simplest recipes I've ever saw and with the interesting option of allowing you to eat it cold or hot, depending on season and on your taste ... 

You will need: 
1/2 Cauliflower 
1 shallot 
25 g butter 
milk 
Sesame seed 
1 bay leaf 
salt 
olive oil 
Truffle oil to taste 

Cut the cauliflower into pieces, add the shallot and bay leaf and sauté it slowly,  in butter and a splash of olive oil for about 5 minutes. 
Add the milk till covering the cauliflower and let it cook for about 4 minutes. 
In a skillet toast sesame seeds carefully. 
Grind it well and serve with the toasted sesame seeds and truffle oil to taste. 

Tip: Depending on the season try to serve it hot or cold...

Photo of the week: São Salvador da Baía

In a month that the whole world is focused on this marvelous country, the photo of this week is a colorful memory of my first time in Brasil and in the Northeast city of São Salvador da Baía...

The Recipe of this week is... a Cocktail: Primo Basilico

This week another recipe from Chef José Avillez book: O Cantinho do Avillez. A cocktail that my friends loved on the last cocktail party we did at home...

You will need:

75 ml gin

35 ml lemon juice

25 ml simple syrup

8 basil leaves

3 drops of Pernod

20 ml egg white

ice cubes

Lemon zest

Simple syrup:

100 gr sugar

60 ml water

For the simple syrup, bring the sugar and the water to boil in a pan. Let it boil for 30 seconds, remove from the heat and let it cool.

Put the basil leaves in a shaker and pound well. Add the Pernod, the lemon juice, the gin, the syrup, the egg white, close the close it and shake. Open the shaker, add a few ice cubes and shake again until the shaker is very cold. Open the shaker and, with the help of a strainer drain the cocktail into the glass. Squeeze the lemon zest over the cocktail to give extra freshness, to release the oil. Finally, run the zest around the rim of the glass and serve it immediately.

Wine of the Week: Coto de Hayas Garnacha Centenaria 2012

We found the Wine of this week, a 100% Garnacha, on an unexpected trip to the Valle de la Fuenfría, in the surroundings of Cercedilha in Sierra de Guadarrama, Madrid
Undoubtedly a great Spanish wine to try... 

Cherry and Avocado Gaspacho

Because we cannot change everything at the same time, sometimes we need a pause to adapt the new reality and stabilize before going on with our own projects. In the last couple of months I took this pause in order to take all the small steps I needed and to feel all the reasons that made me create this blog still make sense! 

Today I would like to share a Chef José Avillez version of Gaspacho, a recipe that I had to use one of my most recent gadgets a fruit stone extractor...

You will need:

500 g pitted cherrie

7 small plum tomatoes on the vine

1 medium onion 

1 1/2 red peppers

1 small cucumber

1 large slice of rustic bread

1/2 tin of tomato juice

1 dl of sherry vinegar

6-10 ice cubes

1 avocado

lemon juice

40 g red onions

olive oil 

salt and pepper

In a large bowl, add the bread diced without the crust, the chopped tomato, the diced onion, the cucumber (peeled , sliced and without seeds), and the pepper (diced and without seeds). Add the tomato juice, olive oil, sherry vinegar, salt & pepper. Mix it well. Cover with the ice cubes and then with film and chill for 12 hours.

Cut the avocado in halves, remove the stone and peel it and put it into a bowl. Season with lemon juice, mash with a fork and add a bit of chopped red onion. Mix well, add a drizzle of olive oil and mix again. Refrigerate.

Remove the stone of the cherries, blend it well, drain and reserve. Take the gaspacho and blend it well. For each liter of gaspacho add 4 dl of cherry puree. Mix well. In the center of each dish put a little of avocado cream and add the gaspacho. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil and serve immediately with basil.