Did you all have guacamole and nachos yesterday? I was at the supermarket and the avocado stand had a line, on the other side   few guys were standing in front of the tortilla chips and salsa trying to choose between traditional or jalapeños. So when I asked the supermarket person for leeks he gave me a look like I was some lunatic. I bet he thought: LEEKS? What are you crazy woman doing to your poor husband? Giving the man leeks to munch at super bowl? But I put my foot down and asked again, so begrudgingly he went inside and came back with leeks. I saw this recipe in one of my books (The Illustrated Quick Cook) and couldn’t pass on it. It just looked too good. I’ve changed the spices a bit, the original recipe was with paprika, but I decided to use cinnamon, and some chilies to make it a bit hotter.

Beef and Leeks Couscous

• ½ cup olive oil
• 3 leeks, cleaned and finely sliced
• 1lb ground beef
• 2 red chilies finely sliced
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 2/3 cup dry white wine
• 2 cups hot beef stock
• Handful of flat leaves parsley
• 1lb couscous.

Pre-heat the oven 300F heat the oil in a large casserole add the leeks and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the ground beef and cook stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until no longer pink. Stir the chilies, cinnamon and garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Pour in the wine and cook for 3 minutes, then add the stock and parsley and combine well. Stir the couscous, then cover and cook for 15 minutes in the oven.

Are you guys watching Antonio Bordain “No Reservation” New season? Every week he is showing something delicious, last night he was in Prague and it was pork paradise.  Loved the ‘Wenceslas Square’ Sausage Stands, and ‘Sapa’ Vietnamese Market, But what left me really craving was the stuffed Easter bun he had in that chef’s house at the end. I’m now looking all over the net for the recipe. If anybody has that recipe please let me know.

Meanwhile I’m experimenting with some new combinations for my focaccia toppings. I made this bacon and onion marmalade, its really yummy. I actually made a big pot of it so I can freeze it for later. You freeze the onions in ice cube trays, once they’re frozen solid, you pop them out of the tray and store them in a sealed Ziploc bags. The smaller portions make it easy to use, which is exactly what we need, plus the onions thaw more quickly in the pan.  Its awesome to have it ready to go, we can use it in: Baked potatoes, along with a dollop of sour cream, cooked pasta, along with some crumbled blue cheese, arugula or spinach, couscous, grilled cheese sandwiches, mashed potatoes, omelets and frittatas, pan sauces for chicken cutlets or pork chops, pizza with grated mozzarella or crumbled goat cheese, quesadillas, risotto, savory tarts (using puff pastry as a crust) steaks, burgers, pork chops, and sausages. The possibilities are endless. So for this focaccia I used goat cheese plus the onions marmalade and parboiled potatoes (I have done pizza with raw potatoes sliced very thin with a mandolin, but I fond out that the potatoes can get a bit too crispy, so I decided to use cooked potato instead, they turned out creamier that way).

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Bacon And Onion Marmalade Focaccia

For the onion Marmalade

• 10 medium onions or less if they are big sliced
• 5 bacon slices minced
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

Peel and slice (thick slices) the onions (if you slice it too thin it will all disappear and become just a mush). In a big heavy pot, cook the minced bacon until crispy.  Add onions, minced garlic, and salt and black pepper to taste.

Cover and cook over low heat, stirring from time to time, about 30 minutes. Add the Worcestershire sauce. Cook over low heat, still covered, another 30 to 45 minutes, or until mixture have a consistency of marmalade.

For the focaccia dough click here

Top the dough with crumbled goat cheese, the onion marmalade, and the potatoes sliced thin.

Today when I was strolling on the Santa Monica FM I was amazed with the beauty of all the produce, and it’s not even spring yet.  The zucchini blossoms and the artichokes they look out of this world.  What I love about my neighborhood is I walk a few blocks and I get to the Market and the beach is just a stone threw away, for me this is priceless. I was snapping pictures the whole morning,(you can see it here) and talking with the farmer’s, some of them with precious information’s about their products. The lemons stand smelled amazingly fresh, I couldn’t resist. Got myself a bag full of delicious fresh lemon and then of course came the question: “Now what?” What can I do with those babies? Of course! Lemon Bars,  I absolutely love lemon bars by I have to admit I was always a bit scared to try to make my own, somehow It looked like a difficult thing to me. I was so wrong they actually are not difficult at all.  And to put my own spin on it I put some mint leaves with the sugar.  Hum… those made me think about mojitos, are you thinking about mojitos too? No? It’s all right, I’ll think for both of us. Enjoy my minty, lemony lemon Bars.

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Minty  Lemon Bar

Ingredients

For the crust:

• 1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

For the filling:

• 6 extra-large eggs at room temperature
• 3 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup of mint leaves
• 2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
• 1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 cup flour
• Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

For the crust, cream the butter and sugar until light in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Combine the flour and salt and, with the mixer on low, add to the butter until just mixed. Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and gather into a ball. Flatten the dough with floured hands and press it into a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking sheet, building up a 1/2-inch edge on all sides. Put in the freezer for 15 to 20 minutes. Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes, until very lightly browned. Let cool on a wire rack. Leave the oven on.

For the filling, first put the sugar and the mint in the food processor and pulse until well combined. Whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Pour over the crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the filling is set. Let cool to room temperature. Cut into rectangles and dust with confectioners’ sugar.

The ups and downs of living like a nomad! I have being changing locations for the passed decades, way more than I envisioned for myself, but somehow life kept making these changes on me. First time was when I decided that my city in the countryside of Sao Paulo, Brazil, was too small for me. I was just 21 and decided to make this bold move against best advise from my family. It was scary in the beginning but when you are 21 you are kind fearless. So I managed to live there for 10 years. I became a big city girl. I became an artist (so I thoughtI did) I fell in love, I got married, I fell out of love, got a divorce all in 10 years.

And in the face of starting over. I had the brilliant idea of moving to Australia to study Hotel Management. (Mind you, I didn’t speak a word in English) but as turned out, at 31 I was still fearless. So I went down under, learned English, spent 6 months studying hotel management, just to find out it wasn’t my thing. Changed to Graphic Design, fell in love, got my husband number 2 (that’s how I call him). He is my number 2 and favorite husband. LOL. After 3 years living in Sydney for some reason we moved to Manhattan NY, and there surrounded by the best restaurants and chefs I fell in love with cooking, became a blogger, got to my 41 feeling a bit over the top, not so fearless turns out, but still fearless enough to decide to move cross country. Why am I telling you my entire saga? I don’t know? Maybe because I need answers, am I crazy? Because all the time when I’m getting used to a new place, making friends, and making connections I decide to go as far as I can. Am I just avoiding connections? Why? Turns out now I’m here at beautiful California, sunny city, pleasant people, new places to adventure, new friends to make. And hopefully that’s where we will stay. At least for 10 years anyway. LOL

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Greek Meatballs and Pita

• 500g lamb mince
• 3 anchovy fillets, chopped
• 40g fresh breadcrumbs
• Finely grated zest of 1 lemon, plus a squeeze of lemon juice
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 3 tbsp chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 red onion, finely sliced
• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 200ml Greek yogurt
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh mint
• 4 pita breads, toasted

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan160°C/gas 4. In a large bowl, put the lamb, anchovies, breadcrumbs, lemon zest, half the garlic, and half the chopped parsley, and mix well together using your hands.

Season well, then shape into 20 balls. Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the meatballs, in batches, and cook for 2-3 minutes, turning, until browned all over. Transfer to a roasting tin and roast for a further 10 minutes.

Soften the onion by soaking in a bowl of boiling water for a few minutes, then drain and refresh under cold water. In a bowl, mix with the olive oil, lemon juice and remaining parsley.

In a bowl, mix the yogurt with the remaining garlic and mint and season to taste. Serve the meatballs and red onions in toasted pitas and accompany with the mint dressing.

Boy, oh boy, it’s raining cats and dogs outside. And what could be better to cheer oneself up than an upside down apple cake. I was looking at one of my magazines and found this recipe. It’s extremely easy and delicious, and the crushed almonds make it fabulous.

Note: Please donate anything you can to UNICEF or any other organization to Contribute to Haiti Earthquake, Help, Your Donation Makes a Difference.

Almond And Apple Cake

• 5oz butter, softened
• 5oz caster sugar
• 6 Tbsp Maple syrup
• 3 large eggs
• 1Tbsp lemon juice
• 5 oz self-raising flour
• 1 ½ oz ground almonds
• 2oz flake almonds
• 3 apples
• 1- 7-inch spring form cake tin lined with baking parchment.

Pre- heat the oven to 350F, Wisk the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, then gradually Wisk in the eggs. Add 2 tablespoons of the maple syrup and the lemon juice. Fold in the flour the grounded almond and the almond flake.

Peel and core the apples and cut each one in 8 wedges.

Line the bottom of the cake tin with apples and drizzle over 4 tablespoons of maple syrup.

Pour the cake mixture over the apples and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Enjoy.

As my blog name says I’m a Chef Wannabe, so I’m devoted to study all my favorite chefs techniques. And I listen to them avidly trying to assimilate all the information. I have their books, I watch their shows and since I started this blog I think I have learned a lot. Part because I’m a bit obsessive and I spend all my free time reading, watching or Googling (is that even a word?) my favorite chefs. Right now I’m reading the book “Think like a chef” from Tom Colicchio. And the first thing he says is to “free yourself from the feeling that you must follow a recipe. And to let fresh seasonal ingredients dictate the way you go; walk the greenmarket open to what you will find there.” So yesterday at the Santa Monica FM I saw this beautiful cauliflower and the colors blew me away. Then I had to find out a bit more about it, why and how they have different colors. And after a little research (Google of course) I found that the cauliflowers with colors are actually healthier. According to wikipedia the orange cauliflower contains 25 times the level of vitamin A of the white varieties; and purple cauliflower, the purple color is caused by the presence of the antioxidants anthocyanin that can also be found in red cabbage and red wine.  So they are not only pretty, they are also full of goodies.

Roasted Cauliflower and Fennel Soup

• 1 head cauliflower, remove core, break into florets
• 1 fennel bulb, white part only, I shaved mine with a mandolin
• Few cloves of garlic
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Red pepper flakes
• Fresh oregano
• 6 cups of water or broth

Cut the cauliflower in florets, save the leaves and some small florets to use in the end for presentation. Place cauliflower, fennel, and garlic in roasting pan toss with olive oil, salt and pepper red pepper flakes and the fresh oregano and roast at 375º for about 45 minutes until fragrant and lightly browned.

When ready put in a large pot with the stock and simmer for a while. Use the hand blender and puree it, test for seasonings. In a small pan I melted 2 tablespoon of butter with 2 anchovies filets. Then I used half the anchovy-butter to spread on my toasts and the rest I used to sauté the little florets and the leaves I reserved. Wow… what a surprise, I never cooked the leaves before and what a mistake, the leaves are delicious. Enjoy.

Do you know those ends of the year resolutions that go down the drain in less than 2 weeks? Yes…. I have my share of them, they were: “I’m going to exercise every morning” or “I’m not touching sugar or flour” or “I’m not going to gobble cookies afternoon when feeling alone” or…. Well you know…those foolish things we say on the last day of the year while sipping some wine.  Usually we say those things because we want to feel hopeful we want to believe that we can be better, and accomplish anything. So this December 31^st instead of promising things that probably would not happen, I decided to promise something else. I decide to change the way I see and treat food; I decided to become a member of the slow food movement. What exactly that means? You can find out here and here. And what I discovered is how wonderful it is to get your food fresh straight from the farmer, food that has been grown with care. Delicious food can only come from good ingredients.

Just roasted with good olive oil, salt and Pepper. If you want you can also drizzle a bit of balsamic vinegar. Roast in oven 400F for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden. Enjoy

This morning I had my driver’s license test and I failed, oh dear… I failed. The good thing was the woman behind the counter was in a very good mood. It started with my picture; she was all-helpful telling me how to fix my hair and how to turn my head. So when she saw I failed she smiled and gave me another test to try again. I had an expired license from Brazil and living in New York you don’t even bother driving anywhere, you don’t need a car over there. But here you definitely do! But I’m freaking out a bit because it’s been 6 years since I last drove and also had never drove an automatic car, in Brazil all cars are with manual gears. So if you live in L.A be aware of the crazy lady on the 405.

Quinoa Salad

• 1 cup of quinoa rinsed in cold water several times
• 1 can of black beans drained and rinsed
• 3 stalks of celery sliced
• 1 small red onion chopped very small
• Cubes of Feta cheese

• For the spicy herbs dressing
• 1 clove of garlic minced
• ¼ of extra virgin olive oil
• ½ cup of parsley
• ½ cup of dill
• 1 red chili (I used jalapeño red) with seeds removed
• Juice of 1 lemon

For the spicy herbs dressing, process parsley, red chili, dill, garlic to a course paste. Slow add the olive oil and lemon juice. Mix until well combined then transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed. Place the quinoa in a saucepan and add 2 cups of cold water. Bring to a boil over medium heat, reduce and simmer until tender. Drain, transfer to a large bowl and add the black beans, celery, red onions, and Feta cheese pour the spicy herbs dressing and mix well. Reserve a bit of the dressing to serve on the side.  I served with roasted cherry tomatoes (I was in a vegetarian mood). But I guess it would be perfect as a side for meat or chicken. Enjoy.

Out with old and embrace the new. Today I started my day tossing out dead plants ( yes…. I’m a plant killer) they die not because I don’t care for them; they died maybe because I care too much. And I have no clue about how to care for plants. I spent hours googling and googling on how to take care of them but it’s not working. My thoughts are they can feel your energy…. and man … I had a funky… funky end of the year. Full of insecurities, facing new challenges which I had not foreseen. Usually I feel this way this time of the year, because I miss my family and friends yada… yada …yada. But this year I had an extra punch coming from a place I didn’t expect …. I’m now trying to deal with it in the best way I can. Feels very lonely and I confess I’m lost. But as usual I know I’ll be fine because I have had worse before. And came out wiser and smarter. So I’m sorry if I disappeared for while I needed some room to process. I didn’t forget about you guys, actually the nice comments I had here sometimes served as comfort for me.  I wish all of you an amazing new year full of new discoveries and happiness. Today I went back to my kitchen and baked this asparagus cake, and it sure did feel good.

Asparagus and Olives Cake

• 1 bunch of asparagus
• Sun dried tomatoes
• Kalamata olives
• 1 small red onion
• 3 anchovies filets
• 3 eggs
• 6 tbsp (100 ml) milk
• 6 tbsp (100 ml) olive oil
• 1-½ cups of flour
• 1¼ cups grated mild cheddar cheese
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• Salt and pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 350F. Butter and flour the cake pan. Cut the asparagus in 3 pieces (Saving 3 for the topping). Sautee the onions and anchovies filets with a bit of olive oil until the onions caramelize.  Let it cool down. Combine the eggs, milk, and olive oil in a large bowl and beat together. Add the onions mix, the asparagus, and sun dried tomatoes. Add the flour and grated cheese. Season with salt and pepper stir to combine. Gently fold the baking powder. Transfer to the prepared pan, arrange the reserved asparagus on top with a bit of mozzarella cheese and bake for 50 minutes (350F) let cool before removing from backing tray.

The familiar sounds from where you live, have you notice that? I never paid munch attention to that before, but now that I changed places It became part of my thoughts. It’s much quieter here and you can hear people and kids and *GASP* birds. Yes I can hear birds in the morning, first day I woke up with the birds singing I couldn’t believe my ears.  I poked my husband and asked him if it was really birds…. Last time I heard birds was when I was living in Australia. There, every morning I would wake up with a very loud bird screaming, it was a bit annoying but so exotic it made me feel I was sleeping in a jungle or something, and every day at 6 o’clock at night, we had the cicada’s chorus at our doorstep it was beautiful. I really miss that place…specially this time of the year when I feel a bit blue (yes, I always feel a bit blue at Christmas time) all that Christmas songs everywhere, and people getting together with their families and celebrating, makes me very home sick, and when I feel homesick I feel for two places, Brazil and Australia. So today I woke up and went to Santa Monica Farmer’s Market, the day was sunny and glorious as usual. I saw these raspberries and thought it would be nice to bake something and make it festive. You know… Trying to cheer myself up with some sugar. If you like raspberry and you feel a bit bummed too, you should definitely try this one. It is crunchy and sweet I’m sure it’ll make you happy. It worked for me.

Almond and Raspberry Cake

Ingredients

• 5 oz ground almonds
• 5 oz butter, softened
• 5 oz caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• 9 oz raspberries
• 5 oz all purpose flour
• 1tsp baking powder
• 2tbsp flaked almonds
• Icing sugar, to serve

Pre-heat oven to 180C/ 360f/ gas 4 and grease a deep 9-½ inches loose-bottomed cake pan.  I crushed my almonds with a rolling pin, then mix the butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla extract until well combined.  Mix the flour and baking powder.

Spread half the mix over the cake pan and smooth over the top. Scatter the raspberries over, then dollop the remaining cake mixture on top and roughly spread – you might find this easier to do with your fingers. Scatter with flaked almonds and bake for 50 minutes or until golden. Cool, remove from the pan and dust with icing sugar to serve.

I don’t know about you guys but I watch every chef program available, It’s like cook school for me. I love Top Chef, Chopped, Iron Chef, and now there is the Chef Academy with this Famous French chef Jean Christophe Novelli at Bravo on Mondays. It’s really funny because they of course choose the right characters and there is a bit of everything and lots of drama.  They prepared this tomato sauce that just looked delicious, it’s a bit unusual the spices he used but the end result was fantastic. I would have never thought adding vanilla and star anis into my tomato sauce, but it gives an amazing flavor. I have also tried this weekend the famous Umami burger and wow…. It was Umami. I had the Father’s office burger before and my standard was pretty high, but I have to say Umami was freaking delicious. I had to run around the block zillion times next day but it was totally worth it.

Grandma Louise’s Tomato Sauce

• 6 lb (2.7 kg) Beef or Heirloom tomatoes
• 4 Star anise
• 1 Vanilla pod
• Sea salt & cracked black pepper to season
• White sugar
• 2 Sprig fresh thyme
• 1-2 Bay leaves
• INFUSION
• Fresh garlic
• 28gm bunch fresh basil
• Extra virgin olive oil

Place a heavy cast pan to heat up. Wash the tomatoes and halve roughly. Place into the hot pan and season with salt, pepper and a touch of sugar. Add the anise, vanilla, the bay leaves and thyme.  Allow the tomatoes to start to cook then press them gently with a masher to help them to release their juice. Reduce the heat down to just simmering and continue for about 1 to 2 hours until a thickened paste. This slow evaporation of the moisture from the tomatoes will produce a deep color concentrated flavor without any bitterness. Crack the garlic and add along with the basil that is just halved and throw in. Combine with the warm paste and finish with a good amount of olive oil to finish the infusion. Allow cooling before storing ready for use.

* If you have added too much sugar to start this can be balanced out with a touch of vinegar. Always taste the tomatoes uncooked to determine their natural sweetness before you add the sugar. The amount of garlic to infuse with greatly depends on its strength; again make your own judgment. Additional seasoning such as cumin, fennel seeds, chili etc can be added this is of course personal taste again.

OMG!! I can’t believe I finish unpacking my boxes, I thought it would never end. Such a mess and to find a place for everything, wow…. Turns out everything had to be organized differently. But now I’m done and enjoying the amazing weather, it’s winter and we can go out wearing a short sleeve T-shirt… that’s priceless.  This weekend we found this place called “Surfas” it’s a restaurant supply and gourmet food (it was heaven) All the chef equipment and goodies, I was like a kid in a candy store. And the stuff for baking…. Wow… I loved it. They will know me by name soon.  I didn’t do much cooking recently, at the end of the day we would be so exhausted that we would just get some salad from ‘whole foods’ and go to bed.  My husband is still walking curved like a Homo-Sapiens before the evolution… poor thing, caught his back somehow with all the lifting.  But I’m back in the kitchen now, this time I didn’t even try to cook the whole thanksgiving food like last year, we had a  lovely Paella made by yours truly,  you can get the recipe here. I know, Paella is not that thanksgivingish but it was delicious and we felt as thankful. This salad is from an Israeli chef living in London (Yotam Ottolenghi). I recently got his book and I’m amazed with all the lovely salads. It was really fresh and aromatic and very easy to make. You will need a good Greek feta cheese though, it makes all the difference. Enjoy.

Fennel Feta Salad

• Half a pomegranate
• 2 medium heads of fennel
• 1½ tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp sumac (optional), plus extra to garnish
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 4 tbsp tarragon leaves
• 2 tbsp roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 2½oz/70g Greek feta cheese, sliced

Start by releasing the pomegranate seeds. The best way to do this is to halve the pomegranate along its “belly” (you only need half a pomegranate here), then hold the half firmly in your hand with the seeds facing your palm. Over a large bowl, start bashing the back of the fruit with a wooden spoon. Don’t hit the fruit too hard or you’ll bruise the seeds and break the skin. Magically, the seeds will just fall out, without splashing you in the process. Pick out any white skin that falls in.

Remove the leaves of the fennel, keeping a few to garnish later, and trim the base, making sure you leave enough of it still attached to hold the slices together. Slice very thinly lengthways (a mandolin would come in handy here). In a bowl, mix the olive oil, sumac, lemon juice, herbs and some salt and pepper. Add the fennel and toss well. Taste for seasoning but remember the feta will add saltiness. Layer the fennel, then the feta and then the pomegranate seeds in individual serving dishes. Garnish with fennel leaves, sprinkle over some sumac and serve the salad immediately