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!

Lentil soup, meal for fouls, you can eat them hot or let them cool

There is an old saying in Spanish that establishes that lentils are food for old ladies, and you can either eat them or not, but the words didn't rhyme in English so I tried to adapt it, with a very poor result.

Lentils aren't easily loved. Kids usually hate them, and adults tolerate them in sake of their health, but not a lot of people actually likes to eat them. I think its probably because of their texture and the way of cooking them. The most common recipes, at least in Spain, have very strong flavours that are, sometimes, a bit overwhelming for our palates. They are also cooked with lard and bacon, and that gives a weird fatty texture that, at least for a child is, incredibly gross. 

I love lentils, I've been eating them since I was really small, but never, in the fifteen years I spent eating at school, I was able to suppress a nausea while avoiding the grey lumps of lard. Yikes!

They're also difficult to digest and maybe the uncomfortable gases they generate in our intestines, persuade us from like them.

Nonetheless, I love them, also peas, beans and chickpeas. I enjoy cooking and eating complicated dishes, but sometimes, I relish on the comfort of the simplest stuff.

My favourite way of eating legumes is boiled and drained, dressed with salt, olive oil and vinegar, sometimes sprinkled with sweet paprika.

But today is about my star lentil dish: Lentil vegetarian soup.

I learnt this recipe from my grannie, when I wasn't old enough to seat on a proper chair. I watched her cook this recipe so many times that probably I knew it by heart by the time I cooked it for the first time. I was fourteen.

It was the first days of school holidays, at summer, when my parents were still working and all the cousins were at the countryside house with our grandparents. My grannie had a back ache and was in bed for a week or so, and beign the oldest (and also the most skilled, let's face it ^_^), I was in charge of the meals, under my grannie's orders.

I made my start in serious cooking then, before that all my experience were some cakes and simple baking. To be honest, this soup was the most complicated thing I made, the rest was rice and pasta salad, salads with grilled fish or chicken...and stuff of the like. So, at that moment, it was kind of a big deal.

For me, this soup is my favourite way to eat lentils. It's simple, healthy and tasty. What more can you ask about food? Oh, it's cheap too, so, in a nutshell: Perfect.

So, without further delay, here is the recipe:

INGREDIENTES (remember, always serves four)

320 gr of dry raw lentils

1 medium onion

3 large carrots

1 stick of celery

2 garlic cloves

4 cloves

1 bayleaf

1 tablespoon of black pepper balls (not grounded)

1 tablespoon of sweet paprika

1/2 teaspoon of hot paprika

1/2 teaspoon of grounded cumin (it helps to prevent the gases)

1 L of water

1 cube of vegetable stock

Salt to taste

Vinegar to taste

METHOD

- Chop the onion as tiny as you can.

- Peel the carrots and cut them in four longitudinally, then chop them in tiny cubes.

- Slice finely the celery.

- In a heavy bottom saucepan add the vegetables and cover them with water.

- Let it poach in a medium fire, and add all the herbs and spices, except the paprikas. Stir gently from time to time.

- When the water is almost evaporated, add the paprikas and stir quickly, then add the lentils.

- Add the rest of the water and bring it to the boil. Lower the fire and let it simmer for as long as the package says the lentils need (check also that they don't need to be hydrated beforehand. If they do, and you don't have time to let them hydrate overnight, DON'T PANIC, just put them in a bowl, pour hot water and a teaspoon of bicarbonate, and let it sit for about one hour, then drain them and problem solved).

- At the five final minutes of cooking, check the salt (add more if needed) and the vinegar.

Yummy lentils

Hope you enjoy them!!

Reminiscences of the past...or how to be fooled by your Granny.

When me and my cousins were no more than wee kids, my granny made us eat the doomed chards in a rice soup called by her “Rice with flags”, that way, we were fooled into eat the vegetables with pleasure...truth to be told...my cousins were the ones who needed to be fooled, I’ve always loved vegetables!!!!

With my cousin Ximo

Me and my grannie

The game consisted in picking up a chard with the spoon and toast: For Spain!! or For Whateverland!!! and then, country after country, without noticing we ate all the vegs. Then I though it was pretty stupid, nowadays I think it was really clever!

I don’t know why, but this recipe is what “comfort food” is for me, a warmer for cold days, and also something to feed the soul with tender care when you need to. Probably as all the dishes our grannies prepare, and maybe because it always made me feel better. 

Being from Valencia, rice is something that I’m used to eat almost as much as Asian people. All our principal dishes or traditional meals are around rice, so probably this recipe will be the first based on rice of many. Someday I’ll explain somethings about rice that I think are very interesting (for example how it gave me the creeps to watch the chef of my job in Ireland cook the rice...it’ll give me nightmares for years!)

I’m going to talk about this recipe as “rice with flags” instead of “rice with chards” because it’ll always be more appealing. And because you can also make it with spinach, I had to do it once, because while poaching the chards, I was talking with one of my cousins and I became distracted, so the chards ended up all burnt and I didn’t had any more chards at home.

Some people don’t like chards, even if they like vegetables. Is like a very uninspiring green leaf that once cooked is like eating a boiled tablecloth, with an oxidised taste and a terrible brownish colour. This is because it is overcooked!!! Green vegetables had to cook just enough to lose that crispy texture of the raw leaf, but they have to keep their beuatiful color. Remember, color means vitamins, flavour means minerals. Both of them very important in our diet!! If you cook the vegetables less, they’ll keep the flavour, so you’ll need less salt to season them, and then it’ll be healthier for you!

After the boring and educative part...let’s get our hands dirty!!!

Here you have the recipe (I forgot to tell, but almost all the recipes will be for 4 servings):

180 gr of rice (Japonica, not Indica, or more simple, not Basmati kind of rice, use the one for pudding)

Japonica Rice

Indica Rice

500 gr of chards
2 garlic cloves
1 medium ripe tomato
80 gr of cooked beans (not baked, just white beans boiled)
1 tsp of sweet paprika
2 threads of saffron
4 tbsp of olive oil
1 L of water
Salt to taste.

- Chop as finely as you can the garlic cloves and reserve
- Grate the tomato.
- In a saucepan, pour the oil and add the garlic. Turn on the fire, but it has to be very low, or the garlic will burn. Let it cook less than a minute
- Add the paprika and stirr it quickly with a spoon, then add the grated tomato and let it boil.
- Cut the chard leaves into bits of two fingers wide and add to the saucepan. Season with a bit of salt and remove. Put the lid on and let it cook until the chards reduce their initial volume to a third.
- Add the water and let it simmer for fifteen minutes. Taste and add more salt if needed. Take into account that the rice and beans will make the soup a bit bland, so you’ll need a bit more salt than you think.
- Add the saffron threads and the rice.

VERY IMPORTANT

- The rice has to be cooked exactly like this: The water has to boil quickly during the first 10 minutes, then slowly for the next five. Stirr it from time to time to avoid the rice to stick to the bottom of the saucepan
- When you have to lower the fire, add the beans.
- Try the rice, if its to hard to your taste, let it cook for another two minutes, and proceed the same way until it is to your taste. For me fifteen, twenty minutes would be perfect, but I can’t stand the rice overcooked. I’m that special!!^^
- Serve into a deep plate and enjoy!!!

The rice with flags I made for the ocasion...some people add snails, but I don't like them, they're slimy and you have to cook them alive!

Hope you’ll like it! It is one of my favourite traditional spanish recipes!!! (But someday I’ll explain one that for me is repulsive, but is really tasty, in regard of one of my followers!!!)

PS: Although I already have a job, I'll keep on with the recipes, I'm enjoying it a lot!

The day I wanted to make watercress soup and I ended with lamb's lettuce and rocket soup

Even though sometimes a recipe is clear in your mind, and you’re determined to do it, because it’s perfect for the occasion, the circumstances of the day can make you change your mind.

I love watercress soup. I think is perfect warm for a cold day and chilled for the summer. The flavour is delicate, kind of herbal, a bit spicy and very refreshing. Watercress soup is known as a classy recipe, and I’m sure the Regency people of my beloved Jane Austen’s novels ate it frequently.

I crossed paths with watercress soup when I was a very small girl, when I read The Witches, by Roald Dahl. There is a banquet at the end of the book where watercress soup is served and it has a poison in it that turns people (witches in this case) into mice. So it was a soup I’ve always wanted to cook. Just for trying the mice thing...

The Witches, by Roald Dahl

And I did!! For a very special occasion. Our first annual “Scottish Dinner”. It was really tasty and lovely, thankfully, the people remained people, so no dangerous side effects for the soup. So I really wanted to make it again for my dad last week.

Watercress soup

And here is when circumstances became bitches. I went, as happily as one can go, to the supermarket with the intention to buy some watercress, but there wasn’t any!!! I was very pissed off, when the inspiration made me see the light!!! I was going to make a rocket soup!!! I like rocket, but its flavour is really intense, so I had to make it a bit mild for another kind of tastes, then I saw the lamb’s lettuce, and I decided to mix it.

Here is the recipe:

100 gr of rocket

100 gr of lamb’s lettuce

1 medium onion

1 medium potato

1 glass of skimmed milk

2 tbsp of olive oil

Salt and pepper at taste

- Chop the onion finely and make it sweat with the oil and a bit of salt in a heavy bottom saucepan, with the lid closed.

- Then add the potato, cutted in small cubes and let it cook in a low fire, for the water contained at the onion be able to start cooking the potato.

- When the potato starts to be cooked, you will see it because the edges will become a bit translucent, add the lamb’s lettuce and let it shrink a bit, then add the rocket, and stirr it from time to time and let it cook gently.

- Add the milk, and let it simmer for about ten minutes.

- Taste it and add the salt and pepper, allowing the mix to boil before tasting it again in case it needs more.

- With a food processor (sincerely, Thermomix is my lady!), puree it until you have a smooth soup.

-Strain it for being sure about the smooth texture and keep it warm for winter or let it cool for summertime.

After doing all of this I ended with a incredibly green soup with a strong flavour. It was tasty and maybe a bit bitter, but we loved it!!! And we even found a parmesan aftertaste!!!! I’m exploring the possibilities with this soup, and if my friends allow me, I’ll make it again for them, maybe with some crunchy serrano ham garnishing it??? Or with a parmesan tuile?? Let the imagination flow!

Back home...in Spain

Hey there!!!

I'm back in Spain again, and I'm right now in the process of looking for a job. And is summer, so all the people needed for this period is already hired and I'm at home, hand over hand, doing nothing else than think, clean and frustrate myself.

The job in Derry was not what I thought it would be. More of being in the bar than in the kitchen, where I was "helping" just on the weekends. The first weeks were a bit rough, because I kept wondering if I should ask for a change of placement, but then, one day, suddenly...I started looking at things through another glass.

The walk from the bus stop to the cottage was beautiful, and I bonded with some horses on a field nearby and fell absolutely in love with them. The people working there...wow, they were like a big family, and they made me feel like I belong to that family too. Sheena was like my mum, with the benefit of not really being it, so we could joke about everything. Kieran wasn't like my dad, but he was always a calm presence that kept all glued together. His wife, Marina, was so funny, and Kara, their daughter, was a lovely tiny girl.

The first day I made the tea in the morning, I knew that I wanted to stay.

Maybe I didn't cook as much as I would've liked, but it was the best experience in my life, for the first time, I could be myself without prestablished conceptions, no one expected nothing about me...so it was like having a blank page before me, and I could choose the color of the ink, the writing... And they liked it!!! People loved me for me, not for being their daughter, their grandaughter, their niece, their classmate for years, and it was amazing.

I cannot wait for experience that again. I don't mind where, Ireland, Scotland, England...maybe even Spain!!!

Tomorrow will be my first day working in Ireland!!!

Here I am again!!!

First of all, I've decided to start writing in English because it will be a good practice, and overall because I want my friends here to be able to read me, hehehehe (not that I'll be telling stories worth reading, but...)

I've been in Ireland for two whole weeks, taking English classes and wandering around Derry. Tomorrow will start the real thing. My reason to be here. Cooking.

Tomorrow I'll begin my apprenticeship in "3 flowers Cottage" a traditional Irish pub near Donegal, almost touching the border with "the South" (The Republic of Ireland). I'm very nervous because I'm afraid of not being able to understand them or to mishear the orders they'll give to me. I know I have no reason, I've already worked in UK and, believe me, Czech, Camerun, Moroccan and South African accents are not the best accents in the world, so I think I'll manage ok.

Nonetheless, you know me and I'm not very self confident, and I don't know how to be sure on my first day. I'm always imagining the worse, so tomorrow afternoon I'll be very happy and relaxed, so with a bit of luck, I'll tell you more about it.

Hoping you're all well!!!!

Best wishes!