"Autumn in London" Apple Pie

I’m in London for almost four months now. It is the longest I’ve been abroad so far, and with almost all the good friends I made over the summer back in their countries, I was feeling a tiny winy bit lonely. I was working in a place I didn’t like at all, I got sick... a bit under the weather would have been a huge understatement for my feelings at the moment.  

A friend asked me to make him an apple pie, and you know that for me, any excuse is a good excuse to bake, and with my two co-queens of the world coming to London the next day, I thought it would be great to have something warm and homey to offer them after their tiresome day other than soup from a packet. (Aye, I do have soup in packets, shame on me, I just don’t have space in the fridge to keep my own broths)

Well, what can I say? I was alone in the house for the first time in days, enjoying a nice cup of tea and rolled up my sleeves and got my hands dirty, took out the spices frm the cupboard, put some lovely folk music and I let my muses unfold.

Celtic Autumn song

Looked out from the window and saw the leaves of the trees nearby turning from deep green into different shades of orange, and yellow, and felt the autumny feeling inside of me that made me fancy a mug of hot mulled cider. Or wine. Or whisky. I do wonder if I actually have some celt blood in me, as I do keep feeling seasonal and craving spiced alcoholic concoctions... It could be, we spanish were pagans before romans came over the Iberic Peninsula... Just wishful thinking.

I had the apples, and I had the spices, so I went down to business.

Ingredients:

Mise en place

- About 10 medium sized apples (Fuji, Granny Smith, or any apple that holds its shape after cooking)
- 2 sheets of shortcrust pastry (you can make your own, and I’ll post my recipe at some point, but let’s face it, even if its not as wholesome and tasty, shopbought is easier, quicker and a lot less messier)
- Brown sugar to taste (it would depend on your apples, the more tart they are, the more sugar you might have to add)
- 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon of vanilla essence or half a vanilla pod
- 1 pinch of nutmeg fresh grounded
- The zest of one orange
- 1 tablespoon of plain flour- 1 egg

Procedure:

- Preheat your oven at 200ºC and place your rack in the middle but more towards the bottom.
- Peel and core the apples, quarter them and smear the quarters with lemon juice, to stop the apples from browning.
- Slice each quarter into bite size chunks, as evenly as posible, but don’t be too OCD about it, it doesn’t have to be perfect.
- Sprinkle the sugar, the spices, the vanilla, the orange zest and the flour over the apples and toss them until they’re evenly covered by the mixture. Leave it aside
- Line a 20 or 23 cm of diameter pie dish with one of the pastry sheets.
- Toss over the apple chunks and shake a bit the pie dish, to help the chunks to distribute naturally.
- Beat a bit the egg, just to break the yolk and mix it a bit with the white and combine with a splash of milk to make the egg wash.
- Brush a bit of the egg wash over the border of the pie and cover with the other sheet of pastry.
- Seal both sheets of pastry pressing it down over the edge and cut the extra with a sharp knife.- Crimp the edges for a nicer finish.

Not my hands nor my pie, but crimping process

- Brush the top of the pie with egg wash and make some cuts to help the steam escape.
- You can carve some decorations with the leftover pastry, like an apple, or some leaves...
- Bake for about 30 minutes or til the pastry is golden brown and when you open the oven your kitchen is filled with baked apples smell and you’re filled with housekeeping joy.
- Let it cool for at least 30 minutes or so before you dive in, because even though is delightful warm, it would be piping hot inside and burning your mouth is not worth it.
- Serve with ice cream or créme fraîche.

Finished pie! It has a kind of apple on the centre...

I hope you like it, try it and tell me about it!

Fool’s Cake or What started my interest in cooking?

I’ve always loved to cook. Always, I don’t remember not being fascinated about how things changed in the kitchen, how mixing some uninspiring things as flour, sugar and eggs could develop into a spongy, moisty and comforting cake...

So this is what it’s the business about today! We call it in Spain “fool’s cake” or “badly done cake” or "tin cake”, but you may know it as pound cake. It seems that all around the world we do the basic stuff quite alike.
I was so small the first time I helped my granny to do it, that I was sitting sprawled on the counter, with the bowl between my legs and I had to stir with the wooden spoon two handedly. I probably made a mess of everything, including myself, but I was so proud afterwards, when it came out of the oven, so golden and fluffy, smelling heavenly, that the feeling stayed with me, and just to think about it makes me feel better. Even when I’m ungrounded or really distressed, the sweet smell of lemon, cinnamon and slightly caramelised sugar puts some ground under my feet again.

Ah, I knew it had a reason...

Probably, this is the first for almost everybody. It’s simple, and it’s almost failproof, and except taking it in and out of the oven, it’s safe enough for a kid to make. And also a child. It’s called fool’s cake for a reason, you know.

Kid

I know it’s pretty basic, and I’m a bit embarrassed to make a post about it, but, being a classic, so reliable and keen to experiment with it, just had to show how I make it. Some people make the “yogurt method” one, which is easier, because you don’t have to bother with scales, but, the batter won’t be as liquid and cake will be tougher, I’ve made both and I prefer this one.

Let’s get down to business, then:

Fool’s Cake

Ingredients:

250 gr of flour, regular one
250 gr of sugar
250 ml of milk (full fat gives richer results, but I usually use semi-skimmed, as it’s what I have around the house)
125 ml of olive oil (I like to use a light olive oil, not extra virgin, because I like the flavour, and because my granny does it this way, but you can use sunflower if olive is too strong for you)
3 eggs
1 lemon zest
1 pinch of salt
1 sachet of baking powder
2 tablespoons of sugar mixed with 1 tbs of cinnamon for sprinkling the top

Mise en place

Procedure:

- Preheat your oven at 180ºC and line a square tin (pff, regular size, I’m not going to start measuring my tins/pans)

- Mix the flour, sugar, salt, zest and baking powder in a big bowl.

Dry ingredients

- Mix the milk, oil and eggs in another bowl.

Wet ingredients

- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones and stir until everything is combined, but don’t overmix it, or you’ll end up with a very tough cake.

- Pour the batter into the tin and sprinkle the top evenly with the cinnamony sugar.

Batter in the tin

- Bake for about 20 minutes, but check around 15 to see how it goes. Remember, to check a cake, you must insert a skewer into the center of the cake and it should come out clean. Also, should spring back to the touch. If at 20 it’s not done yet, check every two minutes, it can go from raw to overbaked in a blink.

- Take it out from the oven and let it cool completely in the tin on a wire rack.

Out of the oven and cooling

- Feel free to add chopped nuts, raisins, chocolate chips, orange zest, ginger, a small glass of rum or any spirit of your like, cubed apple, candied peel...have fun with the batter and play around a bit to make your own. Just remember the batter is quite liquid, so anything you add should be very small and has to go sprinkled on top just before baking it, for it will sink into the batter as it cooks. If you mix it with the batter, you’ll end up with a bottom layer of “ingredient” and the rest of cake. Happened quite a lot of times, and dusting them with flour...doesn’t help. Been there, done that, more than once. You can play with the flour too, half flour-half cocoa powder will make it chocolate, or a quarter ground almonds, or any other nut...

Detail of the crumb, look how moist and spongy is!

Soooo good!!!

Hope you love it as much as I do!!

Artichoke soup or how to take pleasure while on a diet

In regard to one of my beloved friends, my sweet and spicy Ginger Cookie, who’s now making a diet, and being quite an expert in that, I’m going to make some posts with healthy, tasty and diet friendly recipes, which, I have to tell you, are quite a lot.
There are some arid days when you have to watch your calorie intake, group foods, and all that jazz (for some of us, its a lifetime thing), that you’re bored out of your mind about the stuff you’re allowed to eat. Everything becomes repetitive, tasteless, and more worrying, you stop enjoying eating.

Enjoy eating is one of the most joyful things in life, because is something you have to do at least thrice a day. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that you have to give into gluttony, no, but to take pleasure in all the things you eat, going from a luscious coulant au chocolat to a humble apple. It’s in your hands to do it, and to make from each meal a feast to yourself. We are what we eat, so the better we eat, the better we are.

So, let’s get into business, artichoke soup. It’s tasty, you can make a huge batch and freeze and, as a cherry on top, it’s so good for your health that just making the soup you get some workout done. It’s not complicated, or hard, but a bit tedious, not going to lie. Arm yourself with some food processor or hand mixer, and a strainer with the smallest mesh that you can find.

ARTICHOKE SOUP

Ingredients:

4 or 5 big nice artichokes
1 medium onion
2 garlic cloves
1 cube of vegetable stock
1 L of water
Salt and pepper
½ teaspoon of sweet paprika
4 tablespoons of evaporated milk
2 tablespoons of olive oil

Procedure:

- In a heavy bottom saucepan pour the oil and both garlic cloves, peeled and crushed with the blade of your knife. Turn on the heat medium low and when it starts to smell like joy, add the onion, chopped roughly, there’s no need to be fancy here, we’re going to blend it!

- Salt a bit for the onions to sweat and cook a bit sooner. Put the lid on and stir from time to time. They have to become translucently glossy and soft and sweet.

- While your onions are cooking, get on with the tedious job of peeling the artichokes. Your fingers might turn dark nasty green, so, if you don’t know if you react to artichokes and pomegranates this way, put on some gloves as a safety measure. Artichokes oxidise quite easily, and they do it in a kind of nasty way. They turn black as soon as you cut them, the bastards, so they can dye your dish in a horrible, unapetizing, even gross, grey colour. Thanks to Mother Nature, we have the means to avoid it.

- Have prepared a bowl full of cold water with the juice of one lemon and the casks. Take a sharp knife and cut the pointy end, about one finger and a half wide. Peel the outer leaves (and stop pretending, I know you’re thinking: yeah, right, outer leaves, darling, this is packed with leaves! When do I stop?- well, just a row or two for this dish) and the stem, cut it in quarters and with a small sharp knife or a teaspoon take out the hairs in the center, they tend to bitter the dish.

- Toss the quarters into the bowl and continue with the other ones. Once you have them all in, drain the artichokes and toss them into the pan, add the water and the stock cube. Bring it to the boil and then lower the fire to let it simmer for about 40 minutes.

- Taste it and add the pepper, the paprika and more salt if needed (stock cubes are quite salty, so it might be ok for your taste). Bring again to the boil and taste again, keep in mind that the evaporated milk is a bit sweet, so if its a wee bit too tasty right now, that’s fine.

- When you’re satisfied with the taste, blend it as finely as you can. Insist quite a lot, because artichokes are full of fiber, and might be testy.

- Take a deep breath and look for a big bowl, bigger enough to hold all the soup. Ladle by ladle, strain the soup into the bowl. Clean your strainer from time to time, or you won’t be able to keep going.

- Add the evaporated milk and blend again. Strain one more time, and is ready to go!

Healthy, tasty, and a huge test to your patience, but absolutely worth it!

The lovely soup with crispy bacon bits

Hope you give it a go!

By the way, if you’d like to know how to make something, just tell me, and I’ll do my best.

Not so Hungry Games- Lamb Stew with Prunes

If we’re in the middle of discussing...I don’t know, the pros and cons about aquiculture for example, and all of a sudden you ask me: Come on, quickly, name one Hunger Games food, I’d say, without doubt: Lamb stew with prunes. Katniss’ favourite, and also Caesar Flickerman’s (whom will always be for me Julia Child’s husband, sorry)

Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci as Julia and Paul Child in Julie&Julia 

So, lamb stew...after having tried Irish Stew, which is mutton (old lamb) cooked with spuds, carrots and onion for hours (absolutely not similar to the “If Maria- that’s me-was Irish” stew), didn’t sound very inspiring, because even I do like roasted gigot (lamb leg), or grilled lamb ribs, I don’t like at all boiled lamb. Just can’t bear the taste. Much more if it’s served with overboiled potatos, carrots out of a can and without any seasoning at all. Imagine being presented with a plate of something quite lumpy and completely unapetizing.

Irish Stew, this one actually looks a lot better than the one I had

I was at a crossroad: Should I take the challenge and try to make something delicious, even if I’m not convinced of the result, or should I make a beef or pork dish, that would be undoubtedly lovely, but not accurate with the idea?
Ha, it has the word challenge in there, right? So you already knew that without a doubt, I’d go for the challenge, because let’s face it, as a friend told me in Inishmore, when I was a bit afraid of looking over the cliffs of Dún Aengus “No risk, no fun”.

My camera kind of died when I was here, so I've borrowed Rayco's one. Inishowen, Ireland

Don’t be afraid, really, and trust me in this, the stew is absolutely delicious, and it wont taste of lamb at all once is cooked. We were totally amazed by the results and we clean off the plates, which, I have to say, was an historic achievement, because we just gorged ourselves with a decadent goat cheese and apple tart and Peeta’s bread right before I served it, so, was really good. Wicked, even.

First of all, make sure you have plenty of time ahead, this recipe can’t be rushed, in fact, any stew should be rushed, it has to be cooked gently, over a low fire, with the broth simmering slowly, all the flavours mingling and filling your whole house with homey smells.

CAPITOL STYLE LAMB STEW WITH PRUNES OVER A BED OF WILD RICE

Ingredients: (I know, I know, they're quite a lot, but it's the pinch of this and splash of that what makes the stew so unique and flavourful)

3/4 kg of lamb for stewing already minced (don’t be a lazy ass and go to a proper butchery to buy it, because they can mince it for you, and believe me, is a huge pain in the ass to mince it at home, I tried- and I do have a Thermomix- and I won’t do it again if I can help it. Ever.)
3 medium onions, peeled and cut roughly
250 gr of dried and boned prunes
1 small glass of Brandy
2 cloves of garlic
1 pinch of salt and black pepper
1 teaspoon of cinnamon (Could Cinna be a short for Cinnamon? It would suit him well, right? Because he’s warm, and sweetly spicy but not overwhelmingly sugary...)
1 tablespoon of dried tyme
1 handful of fresh parsely, chopped finely
1 egg
2 tablespoons of fine dried breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon and a half of gravy granules
2 tablespoons of tomato sauce (any you have in a tin open, or even grated raw tomatos will do)
1 tiny winy pinch of ground cumin
2 bayleaves (it doesn’t mind if its dried or fresh)1 knob of butter and a glob of seed oil (olive oil-not a virgin one-, sunflower, canola...) 

300 gr wild rice mixed with basmati

Procedure

- Crush one garlic clove, add half the tyme, a pinch of the cinnamon, the cumin, salt, pepper, the egg, breadcrumbs, chopped parsley and the meat. Mix it well with your fingers and leave it aside.

- In a heavy bottom saucepan, dollop the butter and the oil and in a low heat and crush the other garlic, when all the butter is melted and you can smell the garlic, pour in the tomato and give it a quick stir.

- Add the onions and salt a bit, as the salt helps the water contained by the onions to sweat, and they’ll cook a bit quicker. Crush a bit with your fingers the bayleaves and drop them into the pan. Put the lid on, letting the onions cook slowly, they’ll become lovely translucent and the sugar in them will start to caramelize. Yum!

- Spice your base with the rest of the cinnamon, and add the prunes. You don’t need to chop them.

- We’re going to make a wee bit of a fancy trick, and if you don’t feel confident with it, just skip it, but I think it’ll help to enhance the rich flavour of your stew: Warm the brandy slightly on the ladle over the flames, and with the saucepan far from your smoke extractor, light it and pour the liquid on fire over your onions, just like Katniss’ and Peeta’s outfits, the flames will get off in a bit.

- Put the saucepan over the heat again and cover with water. Think about a glass per person. Bring it to a broiling boil on a high heat and try it to adjust the seasoning. My advice is to start being quite scrooge with the salt and pepper, and go adding more bit by bit until it reaches your taste. Because you can always add, but never remove.

- With your hands slightly greased, take your minced lamb and shape it into meatballs (around two educated person bites size). One you have one, drop it into the broth.

- Once you have them all done, lower the heat and let the stew simmer gently with the lid a bit lopsided for about 30 minutes. Stir from time to time to make sure nothing is adhering to the bottom.

- Disolve your gravy granules following tha package instructions and pour the mixture in the stew. Stir it and let it thicken the sauce.

- Cook the rice as the package recomends, but this usually is in huge saucepan with an abundancy of salty boiling water for about 18 minutes. Drain well.

- Serve your stew with about three or four meatballs over a ladle or two of wild rice.

Yummy!

It’s absolutely out of this world.

Hope you have enjoyed and try it soon!!!

Not so Hungry Games-1 of an unkown many

After finishing Dance with Dragons, which seemed more like Neverending Story, I asked my best friend for something lighter to read, something mesmerizing, that could get me all hooked up in the reading, and she suggested The Hunger Games, by Suzzane Collins.

She was absolutely right. I took my Kindle everywhere, even to work (and it’s not like I work in an office, no, I work in a fishmonger!), because I couldn’t stop reading, and every moment I could take the e-reader out, I did. I read all three books in a bit more than a week. I was missing so much the feeling of being absorbed by the story, like I did with Harry Potter or the first three books of A Song of Ice and Fire, that I let myself fall into Panem and read avidly the misadventures of Katniss and Peeta, and everyone else.

As a foodie, I was shocked by the importance the food has in the story, how she describes flavours and textures and never ceases to enumerate all the dishes and meals. And as a chef...I just had to give it a go.

With the movie premiere here in Spain, I decided it to re-read the books and inspire myself into a thematic dinner. So, the only thing left was decide what to make. I went for a first book menu, and I wanted to share it with you, because it wasn’t just fun to eat it, it was amazing to plan it and also to cook it. But you all know I’m a sucker for challenges, specially culinary ones.

As it will be a long way (because, my gods, there are so many dishes I want to try!!), I’ll make different posts with the recipes, as I don’t want to overload you all with information, as it seems I can’t keep myself stuck to the facts and I’ll end up writing a lot of stupid details and personal opinions about absolutely everything.

Let’s start with the first thing that comes with the story, bread.

PEETA’S BREAD

(Not the same thing as Pita Bread...talking about that, fancy name for your kid, owning a bakery and all that jazz...parents at books...just crazy if you ask me, don’t even let me get started with Remus Lupin parents, I mean, seriously?)

I choose it because is the one Peeta gives to Katniss when she’s starving after her dad’s death, and just shows how sweet he is.

“We ate an entire loaf, slice by slice. It was a good hearty bread, filled with raisins and nuts”- The Hunger Games, chapter 2

Ingredients:

560 gr strong white flour (have at hand the bag, as you might need to add some more)

125 gr toasted walnuts

125 gr raisins (not important if they’re sultanas or moscatel)

25 gr fresh yeast

380 mL warm milk (it’s better if it’s whole, but if you have semi-skimmed or skimmed, it’s alright)

1 squidge of honey

1 generous tsp of salt

About 12 ice cubes

Procedure:

- Disolve the yeast in the warm milk (make sure it’s lukewarm and not hot, because it’ll kill the yeast and you’ll end up with a tough mess) and add the squidge of honey.

If you’re a lucky one and likes to play with toys, like I do, you might have a stand mixer, if you’re not...welcome to the bakers hard work, darling!

Stand Mixer:

- With the hook attachment, mix in the dry ingredients and add the milk mixture, mix it first on low speed, as you don’t want the flour coming up in your face.

- Increase the speed to medium and keep it going for as long as it needs for the dough to stop sticking to the bowl.

- Flour lightly a clean and dry work surface and empty your bowl there.

- With just one hand (your dominant one), because you want to keep one hand clean, work the dough, until you press a floured finger into the dough, and it springs back almost all the way.

By Hand (or why bakers have such beautiful arms):

- Mix your dry ingredients in a big bowl.

- Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and add the milk mixture.

- With just two fingers, and making swirling movements, combine the ingredients, until you end with a sticky dough.

- Flour lightly a clean and dry work surface and empty your bowl. Flour the dough surface and start kneading it. It will be quite sticky for a while, but be patient, as you keep working the dough, the gluten contained in the flour develops and “absorbs” the humidity. It will take about fifteen minutes of hard work.

- Knead it until you press your floured finger into the dough and springs back almost all the way.

Common process (aw, don’t make that face, kitchen geek, getting your hands dirty is part to enjoy the bread making):

- Put it in an oiled bowl and cover it loosely but airtight with clingfilm (remember: You must cover babies, doughs and old people, for them not to be cold). Leave it to rise in a warm place for about an hour (it should double its volume)

- Now you have some lovely time to sit on your hands or start cleaning all the stuff you used.

- Oil your baking tray, or maybe two loaf tins and flour lightly your work surface.

- Uncover your dough and put it on your work surface. Push it firmly but gently until you knock out most of the air.

- Divide your dough in two if your going to use the loaf tins, or in as many pieces as guests you have. If you are quite picky, you can weight your dough and do it precisely, I’d just eyeball it.

- Knead each piece of dough and place it in the loaf tin or in the baking tray. Once you have them all, cover them and let them rise. Yes, again.

- Put a baking tray at the bottom of your oven and preheat it at 200ºC.

- Just before putting the bread in the oven, drop the ice cubes on the bottom tray. It’ll create a humid environment for your bread to be able to develop itself and rise beautifully.

- Make a cross with a sharp knife in your buns or a slash in your loaves and put them into the oven, around your medium rack, but closer to the bottom.

- Bake for about 30 minutes, or until its golden brown.

- Carefully, using a dry teatowel or an oven glove, remove the nearest bun and tap the base, if it sounds hollow, it’s done!! Yaaaaay! . If not, leave it for another five minutes and check again.

- Leave it to cool for about ten minutes and eat it viciously.

Paco's mockingjay and a lovely bun

I hope it seems as easy as it is and you give it a go. I’m sure you’d enjoy doing it as much as eating it later. Making bread is not easy, and can go wrong, but don’t worry, sometimes bad bread happens to good people.

See you soon!