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Paella
Hello,
Paella is one of top typical dishes in Spain, present in lots of menus each thursday (thurday it’s like the paella day in Spain). It’s so spread it is difficult to find something like the “original paella recipe”, so it’s cooked on slightly different way on each kitchen. This is only one more possibility to cook the paella, hope you enjoy:
Ingredients (for 4 people):
- 400 gr rice
- 2 onions
- 8 garlic cloves
- 2 carrots
- Thyme and rosemary
- 2 sepia (cuddlefish)
- 12 muscles
- 12 prawns
- 5 small radishes
- Saffron
- 1 lemon
Peel the prawns and place the heads and skin on a big pot, add also one onion in quarters, 2 carrots, thyme, rosemary, 5 garlic cloves, 5 small radishes and 2 sepia. Add salt and olive oil, cover with cold water and let boil for about an hour. On this way you will obtain a nice broth and the cuddlefish will be tender. You can also add more vegetables to the broth, like pumpkin, celery, leek … the more ingredients the more taste.
Once the water has been boiling for an hour remove the sepia and drain to obtain the broth. Chop one onion. Add 3 garlic cloves on a blender cup, olive oil and parley and mix with the blender. Add this oil to a pan. When oil is hot add chopped onion, salt and move it; cook it for about 10 minutes. Then add the muscles (discarding those already open, because should be unhealthy), add also sepia cut in small pieces and the peeled prawns. Move frequently and cook until almost all muscles are open.
Add the rice, the saffron and mix it well. Now add broth to cook the rice, the rice must be cooking for 15 minutes until it gets tender. Add broth more times if needed; also taste it to check if you need to add more salt. You can server some lemon with it so people can squeeze it; lemon it’s a nice partner for paella.
Baked crispy salmon
Hi,
I’ve learn this recipe from Jamie Oliver’s videos, it’s an amazing recipe to prepare the salmon easily and quick with a really nice crispy touch. If you don’t like food too spicy just remove the chili from the ingredients list.
Ingredients:
- Salmon loin (1 or 2 per person)
- 1 red onion
- 1 chili
- Ginger (about the size of a thumb)
- 5 small radishes
- 1 lemon
- Soy sauce
- 3 garlic cloves
- Thyme and rosemary
In first place we will prepare the sauce, to do so add in a blender cup one red onion cut un quarters, one chile, 3 garlice cloves, ginger (about the size of a thumb), 5 small radishes, soy sauce and the juice of a lemon. Mix it well.
Make an incision in the salmon loin, make sure the sharp is really sharp. This will allow to get the spices better distributed on the salmon and also get more uniformly cooked. Even could be nice looking. Over the salmon drop some rock salt, thyme, rosemary and olive oil. Slap with the salmon with your hands so all the spices get stuck.
On an oven tray put the mix already prepared, place the salmon loins with the skin above. Cook in the oven at 420ºF (220ºC) for 20 minutes and you have this recipe ready. Having the skin exposed will make it nicely crisp.
Chicken with Norway lobsters
Hi,
This recipe is similar to one my mother used to cook long time ago, so I made it again just following the remember of taste and improvising a bit. The best part of this recipe perhaps is the mix of garlic, hazelnuts and toasted bread, a mix you can use in some other recipe which will bring a great taste.
Ingredients (for 4 people):
- Chicken
- 8 norway lobsters
- 2 sweet onions
- 3 garlic cloves
- 100 gr (aprox) of hazelnuts
- Toasted bread
- 1 glass of brandy
Put a bit of olive oil in a casserole and when its hot add chicken pieces and salt. Cover the casserole with a lid, set the fire low so the chicken gets well cooked. Turn the chicken from time to time so it gets uniformly cooked, if you like add also some thyme and rosemary. Cook it for about ½ hour.
While the chicken is cooking chop 2 onions.
Add the onions when chicken has been already ½ hour, distribute well, maintain the fire low and cover with the lid. Move from time to time and maintain cooking about 20 to 30 minutes.
Meanwhile on a mortar add 3 garlic cloves, some hazelnuts and toasted bread, grind all with the pestle.
When the water drop by the onions is starting to reduce add the mix done with the mortar, distribute uniformly and add the norway lobsters. Cover with the lid ant let cook for 10 minutes. After that, first be sure to switch off the hood, add a glass of brandy and burn it. When the fire is extinguished the recipe is ready. You need to turn off the hood because maintain it on will cause the fire to be even dangerous.
Egg basket
Well, this is an original recipe of the house, putting a little imagination and mixing steps of some other recipes because you can always end up being something original andsomething also quite rich.
Ingredients:
- 250 g of potatoes
- 1 egg
- 1 blood sausage
- Cheese to grate (parmeggiano, grana padano, old amsterdam …)
Peel potatoes and cut in a similar pieces, add to a pot with hot water and salt; left on the fire for 15 to 20 minutes until potatoes are tender.
Drain potatoes and put into a dish, add a little salt, pepper and grated cheese. With the help of a fork crush the potatoes. Use a mold to form the basket with the potatoes,put potatoes in the base and smash against the bottom, then put more potatoes forming a wall. Carefully unmold the potato basket.
Remove the skin of a blood sausage and cut into slices. Put 3 slices in the basket and the rest on the oven tray,cook in the oven at 350º F (180º C) for 20 minutes.
Take out of the oven and add an egg to the basket, put over salt, black pepper and grated cheese, put the oven in gratin position and cook for 3 minutes.
Mutabal (eggplant cream)
This cream could be a nice appetizer together with some snacks, toasted bread slices or even celery sticks.
Ingredients:
- 2 eggplant
- 1 lemon
- 2 table spoon of tahini (or toasted sesame)
- 1 garlic clove
- A bunch of parsley
First puncture the eggplants with a fork. Add some olive oil over the eggplants and spread over them. Cook them on the oven at 350º F for 45 minutes. Then let rest for at least 20 minutes out of oven.
When they are at room temperature, cut them and with the help of spoon remove the eggplant pulp. Add the eggplant pulp in a blender cup, add also 1 garlic clove, 2 table spoon of tahini (or sesame), the juice of one lemon, a bunch of parsley leaves,salt, pepper and olive oil.
Mix with the blender and here you have. Once served you can add a bit of oil and paprika, and I recommend you to taste it with some celery sticks.
Fisherman’s pie
Ingredients (for 3-4 people):
- 750 gr fish (without skin and without spines)
- 1 onion
- 1 glass white wine.
- 1 carrot
- 1 egg
- 350-400 gr potatoes
- Some thyme and rosemary
- Cheese to grate (parmegiano, grana padano, old amsterdam …)
Start chopping one onion. I used cod and salmon but you can use any other fish, without spines and without skin, even use some prawns.
Peel the potatoes, cut in regular pieces and add to a pot with boling water with a bit of salt. Cook them for about 15 minutes until the are soft.
Add olive oil to a pan, when the oil is hot add chopped onion a bit of salt and move it. Add one graten carrot, and cotinue moving frequently.
When carrot and onion are well cooked, add some thyme and rosemary, the fish cut in not too small pieces, and a glass of white wine. Crush the fish with a wooden spoon and maintain cooking and moving until the wine is evaporated.
Add some salt and an egg to the already stained potatoes. Crush and mix them with a fork to form a puree.
Add the fish in an oven recipient. Over the fish distribute uniformly the puree. Grate cheese over the puree (you can use parmigiano, grana padano, old amsterdam or your favourite one).
Make some holes with a fork and put in the oven at 350º F (180º C) for 20 minutes and finally 5 minutes on the gratin position.
Custards
As a fan of Fringe perhaps I’m a little bit dissapointed Walter Bishop never showing the custard’s recipe he tries to cook for his son Peter in some chapters. So finally I did them following some other recipes.
Ingredients (6-8 custards):
– 1,5 l milk
– 1 stick cinnamon
– 1 lemon (just the skin)
– 6 eggs (just the egg yolks)
– 150 gr sugar
– 20 gr corn flour
Start adding 1,5 litres of milk in a big pot. Add also 75 gr of sugar (about 4 table spoon), one stick cinnamon and grate or peel the skin of one lemon. When milk starts to boil shutdown the fire.
Add 6 egg yolks in a bowl, to separe the egg yolk from the egg white crash the egg and move around the egg yolk from each half egg shield until there is no more egg white.
Add 20 gr of corn flour, 75 gr of sugar and whisk it well. Also if you like, you can also add one small spoon of vanilla extract.
Add the mix in a big pot with the fire set to minimum. Move the mix with a wooden spoon while incorporing strained milk in several times. When all milk has been added, keep moving with the wooden spoon for 20 minutes.
If the mix starts to boil, put the pot off of fire, for one minute and then put on fire again. This is to avoid enough temperature to curdle the egg.
Let stand the custards for about 2 hours, and add ground cinnamon when serving if you like.
Oriental beef soup
For sure this recipe would like Sheldon Cooper and his colleagues, as far as they seem to like a lot every kind of oriental food.
Ingredients (for 2 people):
- 1 onion
- Less than half green and red pepper
- A piece of ginger
- 400 gr beef
- Soy souce
- Oyster sauce
- Dried mushrooms
- Some brean spouts
- Noodles
Put dried mush rooms on a bowl with 1 litre of warm water for 2 hours or more, take off the mushrooms and drain the water to use later.
Cut the onion in cubes. Cut less than half green and red pepper in small cubes. Peel the ginger and grate it.
Put a bit of olive oil on the wok and when it’s hot add the beef cut in thin stripes, and add some salt. As we are cooking on a wok the fire must be set at maximum and we will be constantly stirring. Cook the beef for 5 minutes.
Reserve the beef, put oil in the wok and when it’s hot add the onion, peppers, brean spouts, mushrooms and some salt. Stir it for 3 minutes.
Now we add back the beef, grated ginger, soy sauce and oyster souce. Cook for 2 minutes and then add the water used to hydrate the mushrooms. When the water starts to boil add the noddles, cook them 4 minutes and shutdown the fire.
Be careful when eating because it will be really hot, better take some time before eat.
Mamma’s monkfish
Ingredients (2 people):
- 3 onions
- 3-4 garlic cloves
- 400 gr monkfish
- 4-6 prawns
- Flour
- Parsley
Start chopping 3 onions. On the recipe I used only one, and I was short. Chop 3 or 4 garlic cloves. Chop a bunch of parsley.
Add olive oil in a casserole, and when the oil is hot add chopped onions and garlic. Also add salt and pepper if you like. Cook with the fire set low, moving frequently.
When the onion is cooked, add salt to the monkfish and cover with flour. Add the monkfish and the prawns to the casserole. Cook them at low fire, turning monkfish and prawns several time. Once cooked add chopped parsley and serve.
Mushroom bombs
Ingredients:
- 2-3 potatoes
- 500 gr mushrooms
- 3 garlic cloves
- Parsley
- Cheese to grate
- 1 egg
Start chopping 3 garlic cloves. Chop a bunch of parsley. Clean the mushrooms and cut them in 4 pieces. Peel the potates, cut in regular pieces and add them in hot water with a bit of salt, let cook for 15 minutes until they are soft.
Add olive oil in a pan, and when it’s hot add mushrooms and salt. When the mushrooms start to loose their water add the choped garlic and parsley; move them in the pan to mix uniformly. When the lost water is evaporated add oil and move the mushrooms until they are to your taste.
Put the potatoes in a bowl and add an egg, salt and pepper, and grated cheese. I used Old Amsterdam cheese, but you can also use parmeggiano. Crush the potatoes with a fork , while also mixing all ingredients well.
Now took a spoon of potatoe in your hand, put some mushrooms in the middle, wrap them with the potate forming a ball. Add some grated cheese over each ball and cook in the oven at 350º F for 25-30 minutes.
Recipes from Spain 