martes, 27 de diciembre de 2011

Recipe VI Tomato sauce (pizza or pasta)


Hi everyone!

I am back again with the most useful recipe I've shared with you, a homemade tomato sauce, ready in  only 10 minutes(of attention) and absolutely delicious. It can be used for pasta, pizza, rice even meat, and you can freeze it and use it whenever you need to!

Ingredients (1lb of sauce)

-1 Clove of garlic

-2 cans of pureed tomatoes

-1 tbsp of salt

-1,5 tbsp of sugar

-Olive oil

-Black Pepper

-Spices (oregano, basil, thyme...)




First of all we will put some oil in a small pot and cook the clove of garlic, medium heat until brown both sides. 

















































































We put the garlic away and the pan away from the heat and add the tomatoes. Add salt, sugar and the amount of pepper you want. Stir it.




























Turn the heat to the highest until it starts boiling. 

































By that moment, lower the heat just to keep it boiling and cook it slowly, uncovered until it reduces to more or less half of the original amount. It will take around 45 minutes. 
Around  half an hour later add the herbs/spices. You can choose the ones you prefer, I picked up these just because they really match with pasta and pizza.
































Stir it al again and this is the amount you will get

























Ready for serving!





























And closer!




























I hope you like it! 

P.S.: I used it in some homemade pizza, what about you?


martes, 20 de diciembre de 2011

Recipe V 'Broken' Eggs with ham (and how to fry an egg)



Hi again guys!

I am back, back at Spain and back here with you, at the blog. It has been a really good time in the US but it's time now for being home. It's Christmas but I still don't feel like cooking something typical of holiday so I am cooking another spanish classic, very usual tapa, 'Huevos Rotos'

Ingredients (5people)

-10 eggs

-4 big potatoes (2 pounds aprox.)

-8 slices of spanish cured ham (in the US is more usual 'Parma' ham and it's kind of close so you can go for it)

-Olive oil

-Salt

-Parsley (decoration)



Before doing anything else, take the eggs out of the fridge, so that they are kind of warm when we cook them. This will be safer as it prevents the oil from 'jumping' out of the pan when we add the egg.

First, we are going to clean  and slice the potatoes. We are going to make fries, so we will cut first them lengthwise and then vertically. Like this.

























































Now is the moment for frying them. I fried them this time using the deep fryer because I was in a rush and there were a lot of potatoes so there was no choice. you could also do it in a standard frying pan, with plenty of oil, waiting for it to be hot and then adding the potatoes. You should do them in several batches.

We wait for the deep frier to be ready, and put them carefully inside. They will be ready in 10 minutes, maybe a little but more. Anyway, for this recipe we don't need crunchy fries, in fact we do not want them to be crunchy. Add salt when ready and let them rest in kitchen paper for eliminating the excess of oil.

Now it's time for cooking the eggs and today we are going to learn how to fry one. Firstly you have to add a nice amount of oil to a small pan and heat it till it starts to be a little bit smoky. Crack carefully the egg and add it slowly to the pan. Pay special attention for not breaking the yoke.

























































While the egg is cooking, take a spoon and sprinkle the yoke with oil until it changes color.
When the egg starts to be curly it's the moment of removing it from the pan using a slotted spoon. Try to put the yoke in the middle because it is the heaviest, rise it, let it drain for a couple of seconds and put it in a plate.

And there it is! Some salt, and ready. 




























Now you only have to do the same with the rest of the eggs, checking out the fries from time to time. When they start to be brown, you take them out and let them drain in kitchen paper. Salt

Now it is time for the ham, no oil in the pan, just 30 seconds each side will be enough  for empowering a little bit its flavour.


And now that we have all the ingredients ready it only remains to "break" them. So you put the fries in a bowl, the eggs on top and we cut them with a knife, mixing it well. You will have creamy yoke all over it.
We add the ham and the juices remaining in the pan. Mix it again and serve it in a large dish, decorating with parsley if you want.
This is it!
And, as usual, closer.

I hope you like it. Merry Christmas!

domingo, 18 de diciembre de 2011

Recipe IV Lentil stew with chorizo


Hello again everyone!

I am now at the airport heading home, had a couple of spare hours so I am going to translate another recipe as a goodbye one.
This is another of the classic spanish dishes, and this is my mum and grandma recipe(with some mods). It is a great entrée for a cold day, really tasty and nutritionally balanced, If you are  dieting, just omit the chorizo(spanish spicy sausage) and you'll have an awesome veggie meal.

Let's go go for it!
Ingredientes (5 people)

-1 pound of lentil

-1 long chorizo('sarta')

-1 onion

-1 clove of garlic

-3 medium carrots

-1 leek

-1or2 tomatoes

-2 small potatoes

-Extra virgin olive oil

-Salt

-Water (or vegetables stock if you want)


We'll start by chopping the onion, slicing the carrots (previously peeled) and cut the clove of garlic in two(for being able to spot it after and remove it) 
We add some olive oil to a deep pan and when hot we add the onion and garlic, a pinch of salt and we cook them slowly until brown. 


When the onion starts to be transparent, we add the carrots 


We slice the 'chorizo' thickly and after 5 minutes we add it too. 


We are going to cook it for 5 minutes more. Meanwhile we can chop the tomato 
Now we are going to make some room for the tomato in the middle of the pot and we add it. We  will keep it at medium heat for 10 minutes. You have to stir frequently to ensure it doesn't stick  specially if your pan is not very good... 



We keep it there for 10 minutes and it should look pretty much like this.
Now is the turn for the lentils. We add them, and cover them with water(make it a couple of inches over them). It is also the moment for the leek, cut it in two and add it. 


Now we are going to put the heat at max heat until it starts boiling and from that moment on we'll put it nearly at the minimum, just enough to keep a slow 'chup,chup'. We will cook them for around 1 hour 30 minutes- 2 hours.
Be careful, because during the first 20 minutes they will grow really fast and it is likely that you have to add some water. If so, you cover them, 2 inches margin again and done. After 20 minutes is the moment for adding the salt, a table spoon should be enough, (always better too few than too much). It also the moment for adding the potatoes. This is how they should look at this point.
And after 1 hour 30 minutes
I let them cook for 15 more minutes and they were ready. We serve in a deep dish.

And as usual, closer.

Y hope you like it!!

jueves, 15 de diciembre de 2011

Recipe III Rice with chicken (paella style)

Welcome back!

After the finals and some days of vacation I am back for sharing with you a new recipe that you'll love!

Ingredients por 6-8 hungry people

-1.5 lbs of round rice (not pre-cooked please!)

- 2 pounds of chiken

-1/2 a green pepper

-1/2 a red pepper

- 1 onion

-2 cloves of garlic

-Saffron or colorant

-Olive oil

-Salt

-Pepper 




We start by seasoning de chicken. Salt and pepper.

We add some olive oil to the pan and we are going to cook it both sides until brown,very high heat!. If you don't have the 'paella' pan, don't worry, you can use any wide pan or pot you have.



While the chicken is cooking we can cut the vegetables. Try to make them small chunks so that they are not the protagonists when eating. 



When the chicken is ready, it should have pretty much this color. We put it out of the pan and let it rest. 

We add some extra olive oil and it's the moment for the onion and the garlic. A little bit of salt and we lower the heat. We leave the heat medium until the onion is transparent.


When the onion is transparent, we add the peppers, stir for a while and let it cook for 5 minutes. 


We let them cook and meanwhile we can clean and chop the tomatoes. You can peel them if you want but after cooking them you won't probably notice the difference.  

When the pepper is ready we add the tomato, a little bit of salt and and we let it cook until the water evaporates. 

 When it is approximately like this, it's ready.

Now it's the moment for  adding the rice. You can make the cross if you want, it's the tradition.



We stir it and let it cook for a couple of minutes.

Now we get the water ready, it's going to be twice the amount of water than of rice. You can use a cup (always the same), measure the rice before the water and you will now the proportions. It is better if you add the water already hot because it will take less time to boil.You could also use chicken stock, which will add an extra flavor but with water it will be delicious anyway.
In the last cup of water, we add a tea spoon of colorant and stir properly. You can also use saffron but it is way more expensive although it adds much more flavor so this is your choice.



Maximum heat until it boils, we add a tablespoon of salt. Let it cook like this 5 minutes, lower the heat(it must keep the boil) and put back the chicken and its juices. 

We let it cook for 13 more minutes, we turn the heat off and cover it with a kitchen towel for three minutes. And it is ready!

We serve a dish

And as usual, a closer pic. 

I hope you like it, see you!