Cooking corner

Semolina Helva (Irmik Helvasi)

2008-10-11T20:01:00.000-07:00

This delectable dessert is a traditional Turkish sweet, and probably every Turkish household has its own version. I first had it at a restaurant called Venge in Istanbul's Levant quarter, but I must admit that the result of my recipe, and all other ones I have tried, is very different from the Venge version. At Venge the semolina was fairly coarse, comparable to fine bulgur, and it was loose, meaning not firm and sticky which is the only result I have been able to get, and the way it was served was a delight. They lined a deep plate with hot helva, left room in the centre for a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream, then turned it onto a flat plate so you only discovered the cool creamy centre when putting your spoon into it to take the first bite. Most recipes I have seen online, including the one at Binnur's Turkish Cookbook, serves the helva in one big piece, sometimes even with a sauce. I like to serve it as a kind of finger food, and I don't think it needs any accompanying sauce.

Ingredients (ca. 6 servings):

Syrup:

3 1/2 dl full fat milk
2 dl water
1 1/2 dl sugar
1 cinnamon stick
10 cardamon pods

Other:

1 1/2 dl peeled almonds
75-100 g butter
3 dl semolina (medium grain)
1 dl sugar
1 tsp cinnamon powder
small oven tray, ca. 20x20 cm.

How to:

Put all ingredients for the syrup in a saucepan, place on a medium heat. When it reaches boiling point, reduce heat to very low, letting the sugar dissolve and the spices infuse the milk. This should take ca. 15 minutes.
While the syrup is infusing, chop the almonds very, very finely. Try to resist the temptation of doing this in the food processor, since you will end up with almond meal instead of little crunchy bits. Keep 1/2 dl of chopped almonds aside.
Mix the additional 1 dl sugar with the cinnamon powder in a small bowl.
Line the oven tray with baking paper.
In a second saucepan (larger than the one for the syrup), melt the butter and fry the 1 dl of chopped almonds in the butter for ca. 5 minutes until they turn golden, then add the semolina, and fry for another 5 minutes. Keep stirring to avoid the semolina from burning.
Now add the syrup to the semolina-almond mixture. Be careful of spluttering! Stir vigorously to prevent lumping. When the mixture has the texture of a light porridge, stir in the sugar-cinnamon mixture, and keep stirring until all the syrup has been absorbed. This probably only takes 20-30 seconds! The mixture should now be so firm and doughy that it is almost impossible to stir it any longer.
Remove from heat and scoop into the oven tray. Smoothen the top of the helva with a wet spoon.
Sprinkle a little water on the surface of the helva, then sprinkle the 1/2 dl almonds on top, press them slightly into the helva. Finally sprinkle a bit of cinnamon powder on top as well.
Before serving, remove the helva from the tray and cut it into cubes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Tip: Instead of almonds you can use other nuts, like pine nuts, pistachios or walnuts.

Coconut Creme Caramel

2008-07-25T08:17:00.000-07:00

Recently, I was on a trip to East Timor, where I had some really nice food. I particularly enjoyed a Coconut creme caramel, very rich but very soft and fresh, with a light coconut taste. I was trying out since I came and this is the recipe that worked better so far.

You will need (for 6 people):

400ml coconut milk
3 large or 4 medium eggs
50 gr sugar (plus 175g sugar for the caramel)

pudding pan 16cm/18cm diameter (with a lid)

Prepare the caramel and coat a pudding pan . For the caramel, I usually follow Delia's recipe.
Mix the coconut milk with the eggs and the sugar.
Pour the liquid into the pudding pan. Now you have two options for cooking the creme caramel. The fast option (it was the one I used) is to use a pressure pan. For this you really need that the pudding pan has a lid. You just cover the pan, put it inside the pressure pan, add 3-4 cups water and cook it for 15min (under pressure). The other option is to cook it in the oven. Pre heat the oven to 160degrees. Place the pudding pan (without lid) in a roasting tin, and pour hot water into it to surround the pudding pan up to 2/3 in depth. Transfer it to the oven and bake for one hour or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool and chill the creme caramel. Remove from the fridge one hour before serving. Just free the edges with a knife and invert it to a serving plate.

Banana Bread

2008-01-13T12:00:00.000-08:00

The first time I had banana bread was at Tamarama Beach, just around the corner from Bondi Beach in Sydney, and I think I will always associate the blue water, the white sand and the bright morning sun with this fruit bread. It took me 4 years to try and make my own, and I haven't yet managed to produce a loaf with the flavour and texture I remember from the Tamarama beach bar, but I think what I have is pretty good.
The recipe takes ca. 300 grams of flour, and using plain flour yields a lovely moist spongy loaf. I have given an alternative mix that provides a wholesome, nutty bread with a light crunch. I suggest you experiment with finding the right balance between plain, whole wheat flour etc. to suit your own taste. You can of course also choose your own mix of nuts, but I find the crushed hazelnuts go really well with the banana, and especially in the plain flour version they also give the bread a nice texture.

Ingredients:

3-4 ripe bananas (425 g)
2 eggs
1 dl sugar
1/2 dl vegetable oil or melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 dl (120 g) whole wheat flour
1 dl (20 g) wheat bran
1 dl (40 g) ground flax seed
2 1/2 dl (150 g) plain flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
80 g crushed or chopped hazelnuts
1 good handful of chopped walnuts

How to:

Preheat the oven at 175 degrees Celsius.
Line a bread baking tin with baking paper.
Crush (or chop) the hazel nuts. I put them into a strong plastic bag and smash them with a rolling pin. This produces a good mix of fine to coarse pieces, and very fine hazel meal.
Mix the flour, salt and soda in a bowl.
Mash the bananas with a fork.
With the electric handmixer, mix eggs and sugar till fluffy, then add oil, vanilla and mashed bananas.
Add hazelnuts and walnuts, and fold in the flour mixture.
Pour batter into the baking tin and bake for ca. 1 hour at 175 C. The bread is done when a skewer comes out clean.

This recipe is still quite sweet and cake-like, I have to admit. To get a less sweet, more bread-like result, reduce ingredients to 1 egg, 1/4 dl veg. oil, 2 tbsp sugar, and no vanilla.
If the batter is a bit dry, add some (butter) milk.

Crepes

2008-01-09T02:09:00.001-08:00

This is a very simple but delicious crepe batter. It makes an ideal brunch! These crepes are great served warm but they can also be made in advance and served cold. They keep well for one or two days in the fridge.

Ingredients (Makes 8-10)

250 ml milk
50g Maizena (corn flour)
50g plain flour
2 eggs

How to:

Mix the flour and the Maizena with the milk.
Add the two eggs and mix until having a smooth batter (2 min).
Let the batter rest for 20min.
Heat a lightly oiled non sticking frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the pan, using approximately 3tbspoons for each crepe. Tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly.
Cook the crepe for about 2 minutes, until the bottom is light brown. Loosen with a spatula, turn and cook the other side.
They are great with chocolate or jam or cinnamon and sugar, ...

Celeriac Soup

2007-11-28T05:54:00.000-08:00

Celeriac is one of those old-fashioned root vegetables that is rarely chosen as a favorite, and I have to admit I don't like just any celeriac preparation, but made into this silky, fragrant soup, it is perfect.

Ingredients:

one celeriac
5 medium sized potatoes
1 onion
4-5 tbl spoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves
ca. 1 teaspoon salt
freshly ground (citrus) pepper
freshly chopped parsley

How to:

Put the kettle on with plenty of water (1 liter or more).
Peel and dice the potatoes.
Chop the onion and garlic finely.
In a big soup pan, add 3-4 tbl spoons of olive oil, and fry the potatoes and onion for 5-10 minutes on a medium high heat until slightly soft. During the last couple of minutes add the garlic. While the potatoes are frying, shave off the rough, dirty skin of the celeriac with a big sharp knife, and cut the celeriac into 1-2 cm chunks.
Add the celeriac chunks, salt and cover with boiling water. Simmer under lid for ca. 30 minutes until the celeriac is soft. You should now have a wonderful smell of sweet and slightly spicy celeriac in your kitchen.
Take the pan off the fire, add another tablespoon of olive oil and liquidize the soup (I use my handblender) until it is silky smooth and still quite thick.
Bring the soup back onto a low fire and slowly heat it through.
At serving, add freshly ground (citrus) pepper and parsley. Don't be tempted to add any cream or creme fraiche, since it will take away the flavour of the celeriac. Enjoy!

10 Minute Red Lentil Soup

2007-11-26T15:41:00.000-08:00

This is a light variation of Turkish red lentil soup which I learned from my friend Lily, although I have made a few adjustments of my own. Lily uses onion, tomato purée and chicken stock, I use no onion, fresh tomatoes and just salt. I like to use flat leaf parsley because of its sweetnes, but curly parsley will also be fine. The sweet chili flakes (biber) are sold in most Turkish shops, but if you cannot find them, they can be substituted with ordinary sweet chili powder or 1/2 fresh, deseeded, chopped chili pepper. The recipe should be enough for a starter for 2 or main course for 1 person.

Ingredients :

2 dl (split) red lentils
7 dl water
3 medium size tomatos, chopped finely
1 clove garlic, chopped finely
1/2 - 1 tsp sweet chili flakes
1 good handful of freshly chopped flat leaf parsley
ca. 1/2 tsp salt (or veg/chicken stock cube for 1/2 L)
juice of 1/2 a lemon

How to:

Put the lentils and water into a soup pan on a medium-high heat.
While the lentils and water come to boiling, chop the other ingredients.
Add to the pan tomatos, garlic, chili flakes, salt and half of the parsley.
When the soup boils, reduce the heat and simmer under lid for ca. 10 minutes until the lentils are soft. If you would like a slightly creamier texture, you can use the pulse function on a handblender a few times to fluff up the soup, but make sure to keep some of the lentils' texture.
Scoop the soup into a bowl, squeeze out the lemon juice on top and garnish with the rest of the parsley. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Fritters

2007-11-22T14:30:00.000-08:00

This a typical Christmas dessert in Portugal (in portuguese called Filhoses de Abóbora) .

Ingredients

600g pumpkin
12 tbspoons plain flour
2 tbspoons sugar
1 tbspoon baking powder
5 eggs
50ml orange juice

How to:

You will have to cook the pumpkin the day before. Boil it until very soft, drain all the water very well and leave it for 8/10 hours to dry.
Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl, using a blender, until the batter is very smooth.
In a large frying pan heat vegetable oil (you need a large quantity, say 5-7 cm deep) and fry scoops of the batter until golden brown (2min each side).
In the end, while still warm, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon on top.

Tomatada com ovos

2007-11-18T09:44:00.000-08:00

This is a recipe my mother used to do frequently in the summer, when peppers and tomatoes abounded in her garden!

You will need (for 2 persons):

2 eggs
3 peppers sliced
1 onion finely chopped
1 garlic glove finely chopped
3 medium/4 small tomatoes peeled and chopped
100 gr bacon (in cubes)
1 tbspoon olive oil
1 laurier leaf
salt and pepper q.b.

Preheat the oven to 180°C.
In a large frying pan or a wok, heat the olive oil, in medium fire.
Add the bacon and let it cook until it is slightly crispy.
Add the onion, the garlic and the peppers.
Allow to cook for 3/4 min, until the onion becomes translucid.
Add the tomatoes and let it cook for 5 more minutes (or until the tomatoes are soft).
Season with salt and pepper.
Transfer the vegetables to a oven proof dish.
Using a table spoon open two small holes in the vegetable mixture and deposit the eggs there.
Take to the oven for 10/15 min (until the eggs are done).
Serve with toasted bread or white rice.

Bom apetite :)

Tuna Spread

2007-11-15T11:05:00.000-08:00

I will start with a very modest recipe of a classic combination: tuna and capers. It is extremely simple, but perfect as sandwich spread or as an appetizer. Since I published this recipe the first time, I got a tip from my friend Lily to add Madame Jeanette pepper. I just tried it out, and like her, I can now hardly imagine the tuna spread without it! This small, pretty, yellow, crinkly pepper is quite hot, but if you remove the seeds, it just adds a warm, mysterious, almost smokey flavour. Try it!

260 grams tuna (2 cans, strained weight)
60 grams small capers, lightly chopped
1/2 - 1 tsp Madame Jeanette pepper, carefully de-seeded and very, very finely chopped
3 tbsp mayonnaise
3 tbsp creme fraiche
salt and freshly ground (citrus) pepper to taste

Put everything in a bowl and work it with a spoon until it becomes a smooth spread. Serve with toast or fresh bread. Variations can be made by adding chopped black olives and/or finely chopped red onion.

My first entry

2007-11-15T11:00:00.000-08:00

I am very honoured to be invited to coauthor this recipe blog, and I am happy to have found a fellow foodie in Xana. The food I make is generally quick, easy and fairly healthy. I like the clean, fresh tastes of Italian, Portuguese, Turkish and Japanese cooking, but also the more complex hot, sweet and sour flavours of South East Asian food. Many of the recipes I will post will be due to other people, since I am blessed with friends who love food and know how to make it, or maybe we just seem to find eachother :-)

Walnut muffins

2007-11-15T10:56:00.000-08:00

Ingredients (makes 12)

250 gr (wholewheat) flour
2 tea spoons baking powder
pinch of salt
200g caster sugar
75 gr walnuts roughly choppped
1 tea spoon vanilla essence
100g butter, melted and cooled
3 eggs
200ml milk

How to

Preaheat the oven to 180°C and line a 12-muffin tin with paper cups.
In a bowl, mix the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt and caster sugar.
In another bowl mix the vanilla essence, butter, eggs and milk (until smooth).
Pour the liquid mixture over the dry ingredients and mix well.
Divide the batter between the 12 muffin paper cases.
Bake for 20/25 minutes (or until a skewer inserted in the centre of a muffin comes out clean.)
Allow to cool in the tin and unmould.

Bom apetite :)

Big improvement

2007-11-14T05:01:00.000-08:00

As of today, the quality of this blog will suffer a big improvement! My good friend Helle, who is a food lover and a great cooker, agreed in joining me in this fun project of sharing recipes :) So you can expect great and innovative recipes soon!

Leek quiche

2007-11-13T13:24:00.000-08:00

Ingredients

For the pastry:

150 g plain flour
75 g butter
1 egg

For the filling:

100 g ham
100 g bacon
1 leek sliced
1 tbspoon olive oil
125 ml cream
3 eggs

Do the pastry as in the quiche lorraine recipe.
Roll out the dough. In the end it should be roughly 2 mm thick.
Place it in a baking tray.
In a bowl, mix the eggs and the cream.
In a non sticking pan heat the olive oil, add the leek and let cook for 2/3min stirring ocasionally.
Distribute the bacon, the ham and the leek uniformly in the pastry and pour the egg mixture.
Take to oven (180 °C) and bake for 30/40 min.

Folar

2007-11-12T13:55:00.000-08:00

The Folar is a typical portuguese bread for Easter. Depending on the region, it can be sweet or salty. This version is typical of Chaves, my family hometown.

Ingredients

For the dough:

7 large/8 medium eggs
125 gr butter
1 kg plain flour
60 gr fresh yeast or dried yeast for 1 kg flour
salt q.b.
150 ml warm milk

For the filling:

1 spanish chorizo
200 gr parma ham

How to:

Place the flour in a large bowl.
If you are using dried yeast, mix it with the flour.
Melt the butter and reserve.
Add the eggs to the flour and work the dugh for 3/4 min.
If you use fresh yeast dissolve it in warm water and add it to the dough. Work it for 2 or 3 more minutes.
Add the butter and work for 1/2 min.
Finally add the milk and work the dough for 5 min. In case the dough is too wet add flour until it gets the right consistency: it should not adhere to your hands.
Cover it and let it rest for 1 hour.

The dough should be enough to prepare two small folares. I usually prepare one with meat and another one plain. I like to eat the plain one toasted with butter or jam. :)

Pre-heat the oven to 180 °C.
Divide the dough into two portions.
Roll out one of them until it is 2 cm thick.
Leave it to rest for 5/10 min. During this time, prepare the meat: peel and slice the chorizo and slice the parma ham.
Place the chorizo and the ham in the dough (see left upper corner in the picture above).
Fold the dough and take it to the oven for 30/40 min.
Repeat the process for the second portion of dough. Even if you do a plain folar, you should do step 3 and let it rest for a few minutes before folding and baking.

Enjoy! :)

Tuna pie

2007-11-11T03:08:00.000-08:00

Ingredients

For the pastry:

150 g plain flour
75 g butter
1 egg

For the filling

1 can of tuna (200 g)
10 black olives sliced
1 small onion finely chopped
1tbspoon olive oil
half red pepper chopped
half green pepper chopped
3 eggs
100ml double cream
salt

How to:

Do the pastry as in the quiche lorraine recipe.
In a non-stick pan heat the olive oil add the onions and peppers and let cook for 2/3 min. In the end season with salt.
Pre-heat the oven to 180 °C.
Roll out the pastry and place it in a baking tray.
In a bowl, mix the eggs and the cream.
Distribute the tuna uniformly in the tart, add the onion/pepper mixture and on top the olives. Finally, pour the egg mixture.
Bake for 20/30 min.

Leek soup

2007-11-09T12:32:00.000-08:00

This is a very easy and tasty soup. Great for cold winter days :)

Ingredients

1 leek sliced
1 courgette
1 onion
1/2 white cabbage
2 garlic gloves
1 small carrot
5 tbspoons olive oil
salt q.b.

Heat 3 tbspoons olive oil in medium fire, add the leek and let it cook for 3/4 min, stirring ocasionally. This step is quite important because the leek will release all its flavour.
In the mean time prepare the other vegetables.
Add all the other vegetables and cover with water.
Add salt.
Bring to a boil, turn down the fire and cook at a lively simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.
Puree with a blender for a few minutes, adding the 2 tbspoons olive oil almost in the end.
Thin with water if the soup is too thick.

Bom apetite! :)

Frango Jardineira

2007-11-08T08:39:00.000-08:00

Ingredients (for 4 persons)

8 chicken legs
2 carrots
200g peas
3 tomatoes finely chopped
2 garlic gloves finely chopped
1 medium size onion finely chopped
3 tbspoons olive oil
2 laurel leaves
100ml white wine
pepper and salt q.b.

How to:

Season the chicken legs with salt.
In a large pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.
Add the chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until nicely browned outside, about 5 minutes.
Add the garlic and onion and let cook for 2/3 mins.
Add the wine and let cook for 2/3 min.
Add the carrots (sliced), the peas, the tomatoes and the laurel leaves.
Let cook for 10/15min (until the chicken is done).
In the end, season with pepper (I like to use a mixture of white/black pepper)

I usually serve this dish with white rice or mashed potatoes.

Bom apetite! :)

This might be a bad idea...

2007-11-07T14:17:00.000-08:00

I just signed up for NaBloPoMo.

Yes, I know, I’m seven days late. And yes I do not know if I will make it! I don’t know how I am going to post every single day for the next thirty days. But... This is also a motivation to finally upload some good recipes :) And to invite friends over for dinner: someone will have to eat what I will cook in the next weeks! :)

Tarte de Natas (Portuguese Custard Pie)

2007-11-07T14:11:00.000-08:00

Ingredients

For the pastry

150 g plain flour
75 g butter
1 egg

For the filling

5 egg yolks
1 lemon zest
750 ml milk
1 cinnamon stick
4 tbspoons sugar
3 tbspoons maizena

How to:

Do the pastry as in the quiche lorraine recipe.
Do the filling as in the Leite Creme recipe (with the adjusted ingredient quantities).
Pre-heat the oven to 180 °C.
Roll out the pastry and place it in a baking tray.
Pour the filling and bake for 30/40 min.
In the end the top should be slightly brownish.

I like to eat this pie sprinkled with cinnamon powder!

Walnut cake

2007-10-27T16:37:00.000-07:00

8 eggs
250 gr margarine (room temperature)
200 gr walnuts roughly choppped
500 gr sugar
250 gr plain flour
2 tea spoons baking powder

Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC.
Beat the sugar together with the margarine.
Add the egg yolks and beat until creamy.
Incorporate the flour and baking powder.
Beat the egg whites and fold them into the batter.
Finally incorporate the walnuts.
Pour into the form and bake for +/- 45 min (you can test if it is cooked with a toothpick. Just insert it into the middle of the cake. If the toothpick comes out clean, the cake is done.)

Leite Creme

2007-10-27T16:10:00.000-07:00

(I will upload a picture soon...)

Ingredients

6 egg yolks
1l milk
1 cinnamon stick
1 lemon zest
5 tbspoons sugar
4 tbspoons maizena (corn flour)

How to:

Pour the milk into a pan and pop in the cinammon stick and the lemon zest.
Bring to the boil, then take the pan off the heat and leave for the milk to infuse.
Whisk the egg yolks together with the sugar and the maizena, until the mizture is creamy.
Remove the cinnamon stick and the lemon zest from the milk.
Pour the milk into the egg yolk mixture and stir.
Return the whole mixture to the pan and bring to the boil over a medium heat, stirring all the time. (As the mixture thickens lumps may form, but they will eventually beat out.)
Take the pan off the heat and transfer the cream to a oven proof dish.
Just before serving sprinkle with sugar on top (3/4 tbspoons) and caramelize under the oven grill.

Further recipes will be published soon...

2007-09-29T03:09:00.000-07:00

In the last few weeks the blog has not been updated...
But I promise for soon several new recipes! I am planning to share with you the recipes for:

Custard pie
Créme Caramel
Leite creme
Squid stew
Octupus salad/rice

Moqueca de Camarão

2007-07-07T13:37:00.000-07:00

I have just arrived from Brazil, where I had lots of nice food! One I specially enjoyed was Moqueca de Camarão, a traditional Brazilian seafood stew.

Following some tips from a Brazilian friend and after reading some recipes on the web, here goes my version of the recipe!

You will need:

1 can of coconut milk (400 ml)
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 tomato
1 onion
2 garlic gloves
Shrimps (500-600 g medium size)
3 table spoons dende oil (Brazilian palm oil)
lemon and persil q.b.

And now the how to:

Finely chop the onion and the garlic (I like to do it in the electric chopper).
Put one table spoon of dende oil in a pan, add the onion, the garlic and the peppers chopped in cubes. Sweat the vegetables together in low/medium fire for five minutes or until softened.
Meanwhile, peel the tomato and chop it very finely. Add it to the pepper/onion mixture and let it cook for 3 or 4 minutes.
Add the coconut milk, plus 2 tablespoons of dende oil and stir well.
Let cook for 10 minutes, stirring ocasionally.
Add the shrimps and let it cook for ten minutes.
In the end add lemon juice (I used half of a lemon) and chopped parsley.

I like to serve this dish with (white) rice. As you may have noticed I have not added any salt/pepper. Before serving you should try to make sure is according you taste!

Bom apetite :)

Wet chocolate cake (Dina's cake)

2007-05-06T03:00:00.000-07:00

This cake has the 2 characteristics a dessert should always have: is easy/quick to do and tastes great! All the credits of this recipe go to Dina!

Ingredients

200g dark chocolate (I like to use one that has above 70% cocoa)
200g butter
200g flour (self raising or, alternatively, add 2 teaspoons baking powder)
150g sugar
4 eggs

How to:

Pre-heat the oven 200 degrees
Melt the chocolate with the butter and set aside
Beat the eggs and the sugar until thick (it will look pale and moussey)
Gradually add the flour
Finally, add the chocolate mixture
Pour into a baking form and bake for 15 min (in the end should be wet)

A note about taking this cake from the baking form: because it is a wet cake it will be easy if you use a silicon form or a springform pan. If you do not have one of these let the cake cool down for a few minutes before you try to take it out.

Quiche Lorraine

2007-04-01T03:30:00.000-07:00

Ingredients

For the pastry:

150 g plain flour
75 g butter
1 egg

For the filling:

100 g ham
100 g bacon
250 ml cream (you can use light cream)
4 eggs

Put the flour in a bowl.
Cut the butter into small pieces and add them to the flour. With your finger tips start to lift the pieces of fat up with the flour and rub them through your fingers.
Once the fat has been distributed and the mixture looks crumbly add the egg and bring everything together to form a smooth ball of dough that will leave the bowl clean. If the egg is not enough to glue all the flour add some water (one tablespoon at a time until all the flour is incorporated).
Let the pastry rest for 20 min.
Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and first shape it with your hands and then roll it out. In the end it should be roughly 2 mm thick.
Place the pastry in a baking tray.
In a bowl, mix the eggs and the cream.
Distribute the bacon and the ham uniformly in the pastry and pour the egg mixture.
Take to oven (200 °C) and bake for 30/40 min.

Feijoada de Marisco (seafood with white beans)

2007-01-16T07:26:00.000-08:00

The first time I heard of this plate I was a bit suspicious, mainly due to the fact that the typical portuguese feijoada is not made with seafood and because some how it didn't seem like the right combination... But I've tried it in a nice restaurant in Viana do Castelo (Portugal) and since then that I tried to figure out the recipe :) Next, I present the best I got until now!

You will need (for 2-3 persons):

Seafood q.b. (Just choose the kinds you like the most). I use: 150 gr of unpeeled shrimps + a few mussels + 150gr of a seafood mixture (which also contains some shrimps and mussels, but also squid and small clams)
Crab sticks q.b.
250-300gr white baked beans
olive oil (2 tablespoons)
2 Laurel leaves
salt and water q.b.

And finely chopped:

2 tomatoes
2 garlic cloves
a small onion
1 carrot

Now, the preparation:

Heat the olive oil, add the onion and the garlic and stir. Leave it for one minute or so, until the onion is becoming golden brown.
At this point, add the carrots, the tomatoes and the Laurel leaves and let it cook (in medium fire) for 2-3min.
Add the seafod (except the crab sticks) and let it cook until the squid is done (add water if necessary).
Then, add the white beans and water (+- 100ml). Add salt (and pepper if you like) and let it cook until the beans are very tender (20-30min), adding water if needed. Before turning off the heat just add the crab sticks chopped in cubes. In the end it should be quite moist (like a stew). The sauce is particularly important if you decide to eat it with white rice, as most portuguese people do.

Chocolate Cake

2006-11-15T13:34:00.000-08:00

This recipe is one of the fantastic desserts that my friend Paulo always take to dinners at my place (of course his mother is the author :)). Thank you Paulo :)

You will need:

1) For the cake:

1 cup chocolate powder
1 cup sugar
1 cup warm water
1/2 cup oil
2 cups white flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
5 eggs

(cup = tea cup)

2) For the sauce:

10 spoons of milk
5 table spoons chocolate powder
3 table spoons sugar
2 table spoons butter

Now:

Pre heat your oven 180 degrees and grease a cake form.
Beat the eggs and the sugar until thick (it will look pale and moussey)
Continue mixing adding in this order: the oil, the water, the chocolate and the flour (with the baking powder mixed in).
Pour into the form and bake for 30-35 min (the top of the cake should be firm, you can test if its cooked with a toothpick. Just insert it into the middle of the cake. If the toothpick comes out clean, the cake is done.)

For the sauce:

Put all ingredients into a pan and mix everything (if you think the mixture looks too thick add a bit more of milk)
Heat the mixture until hot

To finish: make some small holes in your cake (use a fork or a tooth pick) and cover with the sauce (this process should be done with both the cake and sauce hot).

Enjoy! (I like to eat it with a lot of whiped cream :))

Pasta a la Marinera

2006-10-25T09:06:00.000-07:00

You will need (for 2 persons):

250 gr pasta (I like to use tagiatelli or spaghetti, but can be done with any pasta)
3 tomatoes (finely chopped)
Provencal herbs q.b.
shrimps (150gr, peeled)
crab sticks (±150gr)
garlic (3 smashed garlic cloves)
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt

How to:

Cook the pasta al dente. While the pasta is cooking:
Add the olive oil, the shrimps and the garlic in a non-stick pan and cook until the shrimps are close to crispy.
Add the chopped tomatoes and salt, stir well, cover and sweat for 5 minutes or until softened.
Add the Provencal herbs and the crab sticks and let cook for another minute.
Add the sauce to the drained pasta and cook for a minute in low temperature while mixing them gently.

If you are a cheese fan you can add it in the plate after serving the pasta. I usually use a mixture of Emmental and Mozarella.

Natas do Céu

2006-10-25T08:29:00.001-07:00

This is one of the easiest desserts I know. It is great when you have to cook for a lot of people: it can done in advance and there is no problem in freezing it.

You will need:

Condensed milk (400 ml)
Cream (3 paks of 200 or 250 ml)
Marie Biscuits (± 20)
Gelatine (3 sheets)

Then:

Immerse the sheets of gelatine in cold water
Whip the cream until it reaches a good consistency
Take the gelatine sheets out of the cold water and dissolve them in a small quantity of hot water
Incorporate the condensed milk and the gelatine into the whipped cream
Grind the cookies
In a bowl, make three layers aletrnating the cream and the cookies (starting with the cookies)
Put in the fridge for at least 1h30m

Cooking is fun!

2006-10-20T01:52:00.000-07:00

Cooking is one of my favourite tasks! I wouldn't even call it a task, because I really have fun cooking :)
So, I've decided to create this blog to share some of my recipes!