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!

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.

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!

The cod that never fails!

This recipe is a classic at our home... I've shared today's recipe in many occasions with friends (parties/dinners/new year's eve). As many of the recipes I used, today's recipe is  my mom's receipe of codfish with cream, a cooker that deserve all the michelin stars

You will need: (for 4/6 people, for more o less portions just keep the proportions...)

- 400 g of codfish (soaked and shredded)

- 3 onions

- 1/2 L of béchamel sauce

- 250 ml of cream

- Extra virgin Olive oil q.b.

- Garlic q.b.

- Breadcrumbs 

- potato sticks

Start by putting a pan with water in the heat till it boil, add the codfish, and when it starts to boil again take it out from the heat, throw the water away and reserve. In a pan with a splash of olive oil sauté the chopped onions with garlic till it is completely cooked. Then, in medium heat, put the codfish in a pan, add the potatoes and, without stopping to stir it let it cook for 5/7 minutes. Take it off the heat and mix it with the béchamel sauce, the cream, and season with salt and pepper. Put the moisture on a pirex with butter and, before putting it in the oven, cover with a thin layer of breadcrumbs. 

put it on the oven, preheated at 180 ºC, and leave it until the bread is crispy. We normally put it to leave 5 minutes with the oven, then 5 with the grill.

Before the oven you could freeze it for another time! The best tip of this receipe is to do it with a lot of love and affection, the only way I know how to cook...

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The easiest and quickest Hot sauce!

Last week I was asked to prepare a simple recipe to help one of our readers start cooking at home. So the recipe of this week is the easiest chili sauce, even easier than buy it!

You will need:
Hot pepper, (depending on your taste you can choose softer or hotter)
Whiskey 
Extra virgin olive oil

In a jar, add the chopped hot pepper, and add 1/2 of whiskey and 1/2 of extra virgin olive oil, and that's it!

 I prefer like this as it stays less greasy and more aromathic but, as an alternative, you can also add 1/3 of whiskey and 2/3 of extra virgin olive oil...

Recipe of the week: Boletus mushroom Risotto

Last friday I was with some stomach problems so I only had white rice for lunch and dinner. Despite what you may think this was not a really big effort, why? because I really love rice!!! So the recipe of this week had to be a rice dish...

You will need: (4 pax)

300 g of Carnoli rice

200 g Boletus (the original recipe of José Avillez he uses Portobello mushrooms)

1 dl White wine 

1 tablespoon of chopped onion

1 coffe spoon of chopped garlic

1 coffe spoon of chopped parsley

hot Chicken stock as needed

50 g of butter

Freshly grated parmesan

Parmesan slivers 

Basil leaves 

Extra virgin Olive oil

Salt & Pepper

Cut the boletus in not very thin slices. Sauté the boletus in a non-stick frying pan with a splash of extra virgin olive oil. Add a pinch of salt, a bit more of olive oil and then the chopped garlic. Season with a little more salt and add the chopped parsley, stir it well and reserve.

In a pan with a drizzle of olive oil, fry the onion in low heat without letting it brown. As soon as the onion is translucent, add the rice, mix it well with the olive oil and refresh with the white wine. Let it evaporate and add a little of the hot chicken stock and when the rice absorbs the stock add a little more.

The most important tip is to keep stirring constantly, Repeat the operation of adding a little of the hot chicken stock until the rice is cooked.

After aprox. 12 minutes, add the mushrooms and continue the previous cooking process till the rice is cooked.

When the risotto is ready add the butter and the greated parmesan, stir well and cover for 30 seconds

Serve it immediately with some Parmesan slivers and basil leaves.

* Recipe from Chef José Avillez book Cantinho do Avillez

Recipe of the week: Gooseneck Barnacle 100% sea flavour!

Specially in Madrid, autumn decided to arrive earlier this year and forced us to anticipate the end of the beach season... To compensate this trauma, this week I decided to share a recipe that allows you to feel the sea during the whole year, Gooseneck Barnacles are 100% pure sea flavour and aroma and one of the best ways to feel the summer during the rest of the year...

You will just need:

- Gooseneck barnacles

- sea water or water and salt 

This may be the easiest and the quickest recipe I've ever shared on this blog. If you cannot use sea water add 70 gr of salt per liter of water and heat till it starts boiling. At the same time, wash very well the Gooseneck Barnacles, taking out the rocks, algae and sand. Put the seafood in the boiling water and let it cook till it starts to boil again. you may serve it immediately or serve it cold, depending on your personal taste.

Recipe of the week: Fried noodles with chicken

A good way to remember those unforgettable holidays in Bali, the paradise and relaxing Indonesian island,  is the recipe of this week... 

The biggest tip about this recipe is not be keen on follow it strictly as this may vary significantly according to the vegetables you have in the fridge. So, the main rule to follow is using equal parts of vegetables and chicken breast  

You will need: 

1 chicken breast 

red/ green sweet pepper 

8 spring onions

two garlic cloves 

1 carrot 

Salt and pepper 

soy sauce 

rice vinegar 

ginger 

Hot Sauce 

2 eggs 

As the cooking times are not so long it is easier if you start by chopping/prepare all ingredients: Start by cutting the carrot into small strips, sweet peppers into small cubes, chop the spring onions and slice the garlic cloves. Also cut the chicken breast into small strips and set aside. 

Then in a wok or a deep frying pan and with a drizzle of olive oil start by putting the garlic, then the carrots and a bit later the rest of the vegetables. let it cook for about 5 minutes and add the chicken. At the same time, in a pan with boiling water and let the noodles boil according to the instructions (in my case for 3 minutes). Add soy sauce and the like in my case I normally add rice vinegar (both 25ml), a bit of grated ginger (about the size of a thumb). If you are comfortable with hot sauce add it to the mixture, and you will see that your noodles will raise to another level... 

In a hot frying pan with a little olive oil, add the two scrambled eggs, stir and add the noodles, mix it well and add to the vegetables. 

Mix well and enjoy ... 

Tip: as mentioned above taste it and adjust the intensity to your personal taste playing with ginger, soy sauce and rice vinegar like, I started to use this for sushi and now I use it frequently for lots of other dishes...

Recipe of the week: Smoked salmon wrap

This week a very quick, easy and fresh recipe for you to enjoy each of the remaining minutes of this summer...

You will need:
Tortitas
Smoked salmon
Avocado
Cream cheese (philadelphia light)
Lettuce
lemon 
freshly ground pepper

Spread the cream cheese over all the area of the tortita, put the smoked salmon, then the avocado and season with some drops of lemon juice and freshly ground pepper, add the lettuce, roll it and in the middle of the tortita apply a diagonally cut...

This is such an easy and quick recipe that you may take more time to read this recipe than preparing this marvellous wrap...

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...

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.

Ribs with Barbecue Sauce

If you love bbq ribs but have never tried to prepare it at home, you'll need to try it as soon as you can because it is so simple that you won't believe it... 

You will need:

- Ribs 
- Jack Daniels Barbecue sauce
- Salt

Preheat the oven at 170ºC. Season the ribs with salt, brush it with Jack Daniels barbecue sauce, put it in a tray and cover it with aluminium foil.  Put it in the oven for 1.30 hours to 2.00H hours, remove the aluminium foil and place it in again in the oven switching on the grill for 30 minutes and thats it!

Simply marvellous, hope you enjoy it!

Recipe of the Week: Mushrooms Tagliatelle

Today a recipe of Gennaro Contaldo, this fabulous pasta that I've prepared for today's dinner...

You will need:
- Blend of Mushrooms
- Tagliatelle
- Parsley
- chilli
- 1 clove of garlic
- Vegetable stock
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Parmesan
- Salt and pepper

In a frying pan with a splash of extra virgin olive oil, add the finelly chopped garlic, the chilli, and then the mixture of mushrooms you have at home (in this case I used portobello mushrooms and Agrocybe aegerita). Add a bit of vegetable stock, season with salt and pepper and cook the mushrooms. Simultaneously bake the pasta into boiling water.
Mix the pasta with mushrooms, if you need add a bit of the pasta cooking water, and mix well.
Serve on a platter and sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan.

One of the easiest desserts in the world: Baked Apples with Port wine

Sometimes we focus on learning and trying new techniques and we end up complicating too much... it happens in our daily life and also in the kitchen... So today I decided to share with you one of the easiest desserts that you can cook but full of flavour...

You will need: 

1 Pippin apple 

1 cinnamon stick 

Sugar qs (I use raw cane sugar) 

Port Wine qs 

Remove the centre of the apple with and replace it with the cinnamon stick. dredge it with sugar and drizzle with the port wine, due to my surname, and not for any commercial reason always use Porto Ferreira ... 

Bake it at 180 º C until the apple is soft and it's done!

Cream of Asparagus Soup

I discovered this recipe from Portuguese Chef. Henrique Sá Pessoa on youtube and as it seemed to be quick, easy and incredibly tasty I said: I must cook it!

You will need :

asparagus

2 onions

spinach

butter

olive oil

chicken stock

extra virgin olive oil

Start by peeling the asparagus. Enjoy scrap and stalks of asparagus and boil with the chicken broth. Boil the asparagus with a pinch of salt for 2-3 minutes. Peel and chop the onion, in a pan, add a splash of olive oil, two knobs of butter and let the onions cook for 4-5 minutes. Remove the water from the asparagus, put it in cold water and set aside.

When the onion is cooked, add the asparagus cuted in pieces, cover it with chicken stock and let it boil.

Remove from heat and mash, add one knob of butter to turn it more creamy. Add a few leaves of baby spinach, which will give a little more green to the soup without overpowering the flavor of asparagus . Add 5 tablespoons of cream mix well and it's ready.

Tips: 

Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and freshly ground pepper...

You can also serve it in a shooter glass

A Salad to recover from any excess...

In the northern hemisphere, January is incredibly similar to the late spring months. Despite the different reasons almost everyone is willing for more light meals or even diets...

The recipe this week is a typical example of what I've just wrote . Although we are in the middle of winter in Spain a salad was the perfect way to start recovering from the festive season that just ended and, not least important, to take a few ingredients that were about to go off...

Despite being very similar to a recipe I shared with you before, this week I bring you this salad because this is an example that salads should not be boring, totally the opposite a salad is a perfect way to work your creativity and have fun in the kitchen. Do not forget that sometimes just a small detail may transform your plate and give it a totally different personality. In this case the anchovy brougt that taste of the sea adding more rock & roll than on the previous version .

You will need ( 2 pax ) :

2 diced avocados 

2 diced tomatoes

10 diced anchovy fillets 

a bit of red onion, finely chopped

Shredded Parmesan cheese

salt and extra virgin olive oil

lemon juice

basil

In a cup make a basil vinaigrette with olive oil, lemon juice (3:1), salt and some basil leaves, and set aside.

With the help of a mould, place the diced avocado in the bottom , followed by tomatoes, finally the anchovy fillets and roughly chopped onion. Top it with the grated parmesan , season , and after little more than 5 minutes is ready !

Duck Breast with Chimichurri Sauce

Last Friday I was just starting to prepare a couple of duck breasts to prepare the recipe I shared earlier here on the blog - remember here magret of duck with sweet potato and basil purée, and suddenly I had to improvise ... I had just put the two duck breasts in the honey and orange juice sauce to marinade when I was told that our visit had just cancelled the dinner ...

It was when we thougt why not surprising some friends with a mini catering at their home? the time to get there was just the time that the magrets needed to rest in the recipe I had previously read on the Ferran Adrià app...

You will need :

Magret of Duck

Chimichurri Sauce , (remember the recipe here )

Salt and Pepper

Start by making a few cuts in the grease of duck breast , being careful not to cut the meat, forming a grid format , this will help the duck to cook on its own fat. In my case I marinated the duck in orange juice and honey sauce as in the previous recipe, but as we will use chimichurri sauce you may just season it with salt and freshly ground pepper. In a pan, brown the duck breast with the fat side down for about 3 minutes, turn and mark the meat for about 30 seconds. Wrap in aluminium foil and let rest for 15 minutes.

cut it in thin slices, season with salt and pepper and cover with chimichurri sauce ...

Hope you enjoy, how do you prepare it?

Recipe of the week: Pumpkin Soup

If you are looking for a quick, simple and tasty soup this is a very interesting option. 

You will need:
400 gr of pumpkin
200 gr of potatoes 
2 carrots 
1 leek 
Salt & Pepper
Extra virgin olive oil

Peel the pumpkin, the carrots and the potatoes and cut it into small cubes, Chop the white part of the leek, put everything in a small pan and add just the water needed to cover it. Season it with a pinch of salt and a splash of olive oil and let it cook for aprox. 25 minutes. Grind it and that's it! 
Serve it with a bit of extra virgin olive oil and freshly grounded black pepper.

Tip: this is a great option for a cocktail starter or amuse bouche... 

Beef steak with Soya sauce and Asparagous

I was looking for a different recipe to use the asparagus I had in the fridge in order to avoid avoid it to spoil during my holidays, and I found this fabulous recipe from the Portuguese Chef Henrique Sá Pessoa , beef steaks with soy sauce and asparagus.

You will need :- Asparagus (1 per steak )- 4 beef sirloin steaks
- 1 tablespoon of sugar- 75 ml light soya sauce (as I only had normal soya sauce I added about 5 ml of rice vinegar)
- Ginger ( a bit smaller than the thumb )- Chives
- Olive oil and pepper
Cut the head of the asparagus and sauté in a hot pan with a drizzle of olive oil. Cut a sheet of cling film and place on the board , put the steaks over the sheet, cover with another sheet of cling film and flatten the meat with hand. Remove the cling film and set aside. In a bowl mix together the light soya sauce , 1 tablespoon sugar and the grated ginger.Season the steaks with pepper and then brush them with the soya sauce, add the chopped chives and roll the steaks around the asparagus head . Brush again with the soya sauce and season with pepper.
Fry on a hot pan with a drizzle of olive oil, brushing the meat again with the sauce. when it is ready dredge it with chopped chives and serve it immediately.

A must use ingredient for your Barbecue: Chimichurri Sauce!

For those who are now entering the spring, a great suggestion for your weekend barbecues, and for those who have just left the summer, a chimichurri sauce is always a great choice for any grilled meat dish...

For approx. 1.5 kg of sauce, you will need:

75 gr. parsley
750g ripe tomato
zest of half a lemon
3 g of dried thyme
50 grams of Garlic
6 gr sweet chili
1 small chilli pepper
375 ml of extra virgin olive oil
75 ml sherry vinegar
18 gr of oregano
175 gr onion
1 g ground cumin
17 gr of salt
125 ml of white wine vinegar
375 ml water
250 ml Sunflower Oil

Peel and finely chop the onion, then the garlic, parsley, tomato, (remove the seeds). Remove seeds from peppers and chop. Add all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Grate half a lemon peel and finally add preheated water. Mix and enjoy this delicious sauce ...