Archive
Panellets
Hello,
On 1st November it’s also a bank holiday in Spain, it’s now common to make some celebrations based on Halloween (or at least what we know about Halloween from TV and movies) like wearing like zombie on party, or kids asking for trick or treat on some homes. But it’s more common (at least in Catalania) to eat sweet potatoes or chestnuts roasted, with lot of places in the street offering them to you. Also is very traditional to buy panellets in bakeries, and this is the recipe I present to you today. They are absolutely delicious, easy to prepare, but they are not quick to cook.
Ingredients:
- 1 sweet potato or potato
- ½ kg icing sugar (or even regular sugar)
- ½ kg ground almonds
- 200 gr pine seeds
- 200 gr almond in small pieces
- Lemon zest
- 100 gr ground coconut
- 2 eggs
- Quince
So lets lets start boiling one sweet potato or regular potato in water for about half hour. Then wait about 25 minutes so you can peel the sweet potato easily and without burning your hands. Crush the sweet potato until you obtain a puree and place in a bowl. Add to the bowl lemon zest, ½ kg of icing sugar, ½ kg of ground almonds, a few drops of vanilla, and a whisked egg. Mix well everything until you obtain an homogeneous dough, then wrap it in transparent film and let rest in the fridge one night.
Next day divide the dough in 2, with one of the parts make small balls and reserve them. Divide again the remaining dough in two, to one of the parts add ground coconut, mix well and make a cylinder with the dough, cut in small pieces and with your hands give each piece conical shape. Add some flour on the surface you’re working and form a cylinder with the remaining dough, flatten the dough and place strips of quince all along the dough, then wrap the quince with the dough and cut in small pieces.
Now to make the almond panellets we will pass them through a whisked egg and then pass them through almond in very small pieces so this almond pieces stick to the ball. To make the pine seed panellets, pass the balls through the pine seed dish and press the pine seed against the ball so they stick to it. Just pass the quince panellets through the whisked egg. And with the coconut panellets pass each conical piece through egg and then spread ground coconut over them.
Finally before baking paint the almond and pine seeds panellets with whisked egg. Bake in the oven at 350ºF (180ºC) for 18 minutes and then let rest at least 2 hours before eating them.
Music played in the video (Airport Lounge) was composed by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com), also he is the owner of song’s rights which are released under a CC-BY license.
Tuna cake
Hello,
This is a recipe suitable to use as an appetizer for a picnic journey or to bring to work on a tupper.
Ingredients:
- Tuna
- Muscles
- Eggs
- Surimi
- Tomato sauce
- Mayonnaise
- Soy sauce
If you want to use your own mayonnaise on a blender cup add one egg, a few drops of vinegar or lemon juice, a pinch of salt and sunflower oil. With a hand mixer start to mix with the blades at the bottom, after 10 seconds start moving the mixer up and down and add more sunflower oil very slowly without stopping the up and down move.
On a blender cup start to add the ingredients: surimi, about 160 gr of preserved tuna, preserved muscles, 3 tablespoons of tomato sauce, 3 tablespoons of mayonnaise, a bit of soy sauce, 2 whisked eggs, salt and pepper. Mix well.
Put the mix on a mold and bake in the oven at 350ºF (180º F) for 30 minutes.
Music played in the video (Airport Lounge) was composed by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com), also he is the owner of song’s rights which are released under a CC-BY license.
Artichokes sautéing
Hello,
Most of the recipes I publish were cooked to bring to work in a tupper. Sometimes the recipes are more or less elaborated but sometimes I don’t have too much ingredients, and I have to take a look to my pantry to cook next day’s food, this recipe is a result of this situation, as long as I cooked with preserved food.
[http://youtu.be/FO2FHEFr8wQ]
Ingredients:
- Arthichokes
- Tomatoes confit
- Mushrooms
- Onion
- Soy sauce
Cut onto strip two small onions or one big. Cut into small pieces about 6 tomatoes confit.
Add a bit of olive oil in a wok, and always with the fire at maximum power add the onions, salt and some pepper, stir and cook them for about 2 minutes, then add the mushrooms and continue stirring for 2 minutes more. Finally add the artichokes (if they are big cut in small pieces), the tomates and a bit of soy sauce. Stir and cook for about 3-4 minutes more and you’re done.
Music played in the video (Airport Lounge) was composed by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com), also he is the owner of song’s rights which are released under a CC-BY license.
Chocolate buns
Hello,
In Spain there are a very popular chocolate buns called bollycao, specially popular on the youngest population, and on this recipe I emulate these popular chocolate buns. They taste truly amazing but there is a lot of work behind, having some robot to perform the kneading will be great to save a lot of time.
Ingredients (to obtain about 8 buns):
- 500 gr flour
- 400 gr milk
- 175 gr sugar
- 100 gr butter
- 300 gr chocolate
Let’s start preparing a preferment with 100 gr of flour, 5 gr of dry baker’s yeast (and if you have fresh baker’s yeast use about 15 gr dissolved in milk) and 100 gr of milk. Mix well and let rest all night cover with transparent film.
Next day add 400 gr of flour, 300 gr of milk, 175 gr of sugar and one tea spoon of salt. First mix everything in the bowl and then you should start to knead this dough, as you can see in the video this dough is like processed baby food really difficult to work due it’s high percentage of liquids. You can knead using the technique of lifting the dough, turn 90 degrees bash it to the table drag to you and fold over itself, after time and time it will become more handleable.
When the dough is quite handleable add 100 gr of butter, which must be some hours out of fridge. Integrate the butter in the dough and again it starts a knightmare in your kitchen, you will believe Gordon Ramsay will enter through your door and blame you for quite long. I took about 2 hours kneading, it is good to make some pauses like kneading 5 minutes, resting 5 minutes and knead again, these pauses help the dough to be more handleable. Of course if you have a food processor able to knead, it will save you lots of time. As a tip, to clean your hands, instead of water get some flour and rub your hands, this way the rests of dough in your hands will dry and will be easier to wash, avoiding also obstruct your pipes.
When you feel the dough is handleable enough, let rest covered with transparent film for at least 4 hours.
After resting knead again the dough, but just about one minute. Spread some flour over the surface, cut a bit of dough and extend it over the surface with flour, place over the dough pieces of chocolate and then wrap the cocholate with the dough and roll it to get the chocolate sealed. You can fill them with dark or white chocolate, even with frozen custard or a mix of them.
Finally bake in the oven at 430 F (220º C) for 12 minutes.
Music played in the video (Airport Lounge) was composed by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com), also he is the owner of song’s rights which are released under a CC-BY license.
Noodles pot
Hello,
That’s a recipe my mother cooks nearly perferct. It’s a very typical recipe in Catalonia and the translation I did is a bit free, in Spanish is named fideos a la cazuela.
Ingredients (for 2 people):
- Pasta
- 800 gr tomato
- 2 onions
- 4 garlic cloves
- 400 gr pork ribs
Let’s start chopping 2 onions. You can use canned tomatoes, but at this time of year you can find nice tomatoes on the market so I prefer to peel the tomatoes (about 800 gr), add them on a blender cup with 4 garlic cloves, a teaspoon of sugar and blend them.
On a pot add a bit of olive oil and then the pork ribs cut in pieces large like your longest finger, adding salt and ground pepper. Simmer the pork ribs in the pot for about 50 minutes , stirring frequently and adding a bit of water if they start to stick to the pot. It’s nice if they stick just a bit, as they get a nicer color and caramelize a bit.
After 50 minutes add the 2 chopped onions and stir frequently, simmer the onion for about 15 minutes until it’s not dropping more water. Then add the tomato sauce, move a bit and taste if you need to add salt and sugar (if it tastes too acid a bit of sugar will help). Simmer the tomato for 10 minutes and add the noodles, in this case I added Cellentani which find very nice because it’s curled shape.
Cook until the pasta is soft and check frequently if you need to add some water.
Music played in the video (Airport Lounge) was composed by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com), also he is the owner of song’s rights which are released under a CC-BY license.
St John’s coca
Hello,
This dessert very typical in Catalonia on St John’s day, you can find them on each bakery, pastry shop, take away food store, supermarkets. And you can also find a wide range of them, but my favorite one is this one I show you on this recipe, with custard on top. It’s completely amazing, and it’s not me saying it, the same said my family and my colleagues in work (who also had the choice to taste it). The only con, it takes some time to cook it, but no pain no gain 🙂
Ingredients (to cook 2 of them):
- 500 gr flour
- 50 gr butter
- Corn flour
- 1 litre of milk
- 250 gr sugar
- 4 eggs
- Cinnamon
- Lemon zest
- Baker’s yeast (5gr dry, 15 gr if it’s fresh)
- Vanilla extract
- Pine seeds
- Laminated almonds
- Candied cherries
- Anise
Let’s start heating 400 gr of milk, with a stick of cinnamon and lemon (or orange) zest. Simmer until the milk boils, then maintain in the fire for 2 minutes and let cold. When milk is warm, add 100 gr of flour in a bowl, 5 gr of dry baker’s yeast (if it’s fresh use 15 gr dissolved in milk) mix well and add 100 gr of previously heated milk passing it through a colander. Mix well with a spatula or a wooden spoon, cover with transparent film and let rest all night. Prepare also mix of 2 tablespoons of sugar, a bit of anise and water, if the mix seems too wet add some extra sugar.
Next day add 400 gr of flour in the bowl, 100 gr of sugar, 200 grams of the milk heated the day before and half teaspoon of salt. Mix well everything first in the bowl and then knead it to obtain a soft and silky dough. To knead it I lift it with my hands, turn 90 degrees, dash to the table, drag a bit to me and then with a wrist move fold over itself, you need to repeat these movement for quite a long time, perhaps 8 to 15 minutes until the dough looks silky. Now spread the dough and add over 50 gr of butter in small pieces, the butter should be for some hours out of fridge so it will be easier to integrate in the dough. Once the butter is well integrated in the dough we need to knead again in the same way as before, and again for some quite long time. Once you finished kneading keep the dough on the bowl covered with a transparent film and let rest about 4-5 hours.
You can do the custard now, to prepare it add on a bowl half litre of milk, 100 gr of sugar and 3 egg yolks. To keep away the egg yolks, crash the egg and move the egg yolk from each half part of the egg shell. Add also a tablespoon of corn flour and whisk it with energy. You can also add some ground cinnamon and vanilla extract to make it more tasty. Put this mix on a pot and simmer while stiring with a wooden spoon. Take patience as you will need to stir until it reduces and gets consistent, and this could take about 20 minutes. Cover and let cold.
After resting the dough it’s time to take it out of the bowl and knead it a bit, like a minute, divide the dough in 2 pieces and spread it over a baking paper, with your hand or with a rolling pin. And let rest for 3 hours. Don’t worry if you see the dough too thick and fragile, it will grow again.
Last steps! Paint the surface with a whisked egg and then cover with custard, well in the video I did upside down, as it is easier to paint first. Spread over also the sugar mixed with anise and water, pine seeds, laminated almonds and some candied cherries. Bake them at 400ºF 15 minutes and let cold before eating.
If you try it, you will love this recipe!
Music played in the video (Airport Lounge) was composed by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com), also he is the owner of song’s rights which are released under a CC-BY license.
Chicken marinated in whiskey
Hello,
Recently was my birthday and one of the presents I’ve get was 2 bottles of whiskey, while one of them was fine for me I didn’t like too much the other one so I’ve started to think about recipes to use this whiskey, and tried this one. Easy and full of taste, and as a bonus a good choice for carry on a tupper. Nice!
Ingredients:
- Chicken
- Whiskey
- Soy sauce
- Lemon
- Garlic
- Thyme
- Rosemary
Place the chicken pieces on a tray suitable for oven and make some incisions with a knife on the chicken. This will allow all the juices penetrate inside the chicken making it more tasty. Then add salt and ground pepper on each side of chicken pieces. Add also some soy sauce, rosemary, thyme, about 5 garlic cloves previously broken with some hand bangs, the juice of half lemon a bit of olive oil and finally some whiskey.
If you want some garnish, you can also add onion, potatoes, pepper, your favorite choice. Let rest one night on the fridge.
Next day take your oven to 350ºF (180ºC) and cook the chicken for one hour. I placed the chicken on a grill tray and under the chicken the tray with all the juices, you can flip the chicken pieces several times and carefully irrigate the chicken with the sauce.
Music played in the video (Airport Lounge) was composed by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com), also he is the owner of song’s rights which are released under a CC-BY license.
Tocino de cielo
Hello,
Tocino de cielo is a very typical dessert in Andalucia (region at south of Spain), it seems it was invented by nuns long time ago when they received a lot of egg yolks discarded from the wine clarification process (done with egg white) in Jerez de la Frontera (widely known for it’s Xerez wine). It’s very similar to creme caramel but with a stronger taste. A really delicious and easy dessert to cook.
Ingredients (for 3 people):
- 6 eggs
- 150 gr of sugar
- 200 gr of water
First step is to prepare the syrup, on a sauce pan add 200 gr of sugar and 150 gr of water, move in order to dissolve the sugar on the water, once the water starts to boil maintain with low fire for about 12 to 15 minutes. Move some times carefully. Once the syrup is prepared, let it cold.
While the syrup reduces its temperature separate the egg yolk from the egg white, to do so break the eggs and pass the egg yolk from half egg shell to other half until you get only with the egg yolk, add the egg yolks on a bowl and whisk them.
When the syrup it’s warm add it slowly to the whisked egg yolks while whisking.
Now let’s prepare the caramel, putting on a pan 2 tablespoons of sugar and half tablespoon of water, start stiring when the water boils and maintain in the fire until turns to toasted colour. Then without wasting a second (otherwise the caramel will solidify and become useless) add a bit of caramel in each mold, and with the help of a cloth make the caramel stain a bit the walls of the mold. Then add the mix of egg yolk and syrup on each mold. Cover the molds with tin foil, to prevent them being filled with water, cause we will cook them on bain marie.
On a pot place the molds and add water until more than half height of the molds, cover the pot with a lid and cook for half hour once the water starts to boil. Once cooked keep on the fridge for at least one night and delight yourself with this dessert.
Music played in the video (Airport Lounge) was composed by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com), also he is the owner of song’s rights which are released under a CC-BY license.
Focaccia
Hello,
Focaccia is a typical bread in Italy served on a lot of places like a kind of fast food. At the end is similar to the pizza but using a thicker dough and less ingredients above than on a pizza. With this recipe it is really easy to prepare a tasty focaccia because there is no need to knead the dough, just mix with a wooden spoon or spatula.
The quantity of ingredients on this recipe depend on the amount of flour:
- 10% of olive oil
- 70% of water
- 1% of baker’s yeast
- 2% of salt
Ingredients:
- Flour
- Water
- Salt
- Baker’s yeast
- Olive oil
- Garlic
- Basil
- Oregano
- Rosemary
First step is to weight the flour on the mold you will use later to bake the focaccia. Just cover the mold taking the flour a maximum height of about 1 to 2 centimetres (like 1 finger).
Then prepare a mix of 10% of olive oil with basil, oregano, rosemary and one garlic clove. I used a mix of olive oil and olive oil from a tin of dried tomatoes giving a nicer taste to focaccia. Process it with a mixer.
Add the flour on a big bowl, then add 1% of baker’s yeast (you will use double if it’s fresh baker’s yeast and will add later dissolved in water), mix well, add 2% of salt and mix again. Add the mix of olive oil and spices, reserving a small amount. Finally add 70% of warm water. Now just mix well the ingredients with a wooden spoon or spatula without the need of kneading which makes this recipe easier.
Cover with transparent film and let rest for 1 or 2 days.
After resting give it a litte mix just to remove the gas formed during the fermentation. Paint the mold with a bit of olive oil painting the base and also the walls. Add the dough on the mold, trying to distribute all over the mold, cover with a cloth and let rest for 3-4 hours.
Then paint over the focaccia with the reserved oil and spices mix, make holes over the focaccia with a finger and if you want throw some ingredients above like for example I did with kalamata olives, you can also use onion cut on to stripes or a winner combination like tomato and fresh basil. Finally bake on the oven at 390º F (200º C) for about 20 minutes, and you have your focaccia ready.
Music played in the video (Airport Lounge) was composed by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com), also he is the owner of song’s rights which are released under a CC-BY license.
Bread with olives
Hello,
Finally I succumbed to the temptation of making bread and I bring one possible recipe to you. Bread world is very wide and you can cook near an infinity variety of breads. I just propose one choice easy to prepare and with the nice flavor of the olives.
Ingredients (for 2 breads):
- 1 kg flour
- Baker’s yeast (5 gr of dry, or 15-20 gr of fresh)
- 100 gr olives (I chose greek olives)
- 15-20 gr salt
- 550 gr warm water
With the quantities shown on this recipe you have enough to bake 2 pieces of bread.
Add 1 kg of flour in a bowl, 5 gr of dry baker’s yeast (about 15 if baker’s yeast is fresh) and about 100 gr of olives without the bone. Add 15-20 gr of salt and mix again. Finally add 550 gr of warm water.
Now mix well on the bowl and then knead the dough on a clean surface. With the proportion of water on this recipe you don’t need any particular kneading technic, just strecht the dough, fold it, stretch and so go on for some minutes until the texture of dough becomes smooth.
Cut the dough in 2, give them a final knead to make them round, add them on a bowl with a bit of flour, cover them with transparent film and let rest at least one day.
Next day, just knead a bit each of the dough balls and give tension to them folding the ends to the center and finally shape the dough. Once you shaped the dough let them rest for about 2 hours, it would be nice if they are placed over a linen cloth and also cover with a cloth. You can place some objects at their side to avoid the dough spread widely.
Before turning on the oven, put a tray with water on it, this will generate steam which is good for getting more breadcrust, set the oven to 430 ºF (220ºC). When oven reach the temperature make an incision on the bread near end to end, and bake for 20 minutes. If your incision is not big enough you will see how your bread breaks on other sides.
After 20 minutes, remove the tray with water, reduce the temperature to 390 F (200 ºC) and bake for 35 minutes more. Once baked wait until the bread gets ambient temperature before eating it.
Music played in the video (Airport Lounge) was composed by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com), also he is the owner of song’s rights which are released under a CC-BY license.
Recipes from Spain 