Lately At the markets, there are so many varieties of tomatoes it’s mind blowing. They look amazing…so colorful, so sometimes I get them just for their looks. Yes I’m that futile…Looks are very important to me. I buy books sometimes without even reading the excerpt just because the cover is pretty. And wouldn’t be different at the FM, sometimes I just can’t resist some prettiness. And that’s exactly what happened with these sweet little peppers and the green tomatoes. They looked so cute and colorful, so for a minute I scratched my head in front of the stand, thinking what to do with them. And then I asked the lady who was selling them, what could I do with that, and she smiled and said… make marmalade. You see you have to talk to your farmer they are full of genius. So, if you ever flustered thinking, “what should I cook today”, I’m sure you’ll find some interesting idea at the FM.

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Sweet Pepper and Green Tomatoes Marmalade

• 2 pounds firm green tomatoes
• ½ pound sweet peppers
• 1 lemon
• 2 cups sugar
• ½ vanilla bean
• A pinch of salt
• *½ habanero chili (optional)

Cut the tomatoes in half and remove the seeds and core, chop into small dices. Zest the lemon and juice it, cut the sweet peppers in thin slices. In a large bowl combine tomatoes, lemon zest, lemon juice, peppers, sugar, salt. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. Put the mixture in a large nonreactive pot, cut vanilla beans in half and scrape the seeds into tomato mixture. Add the scraped bean as well. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Lower the heat and simmer until marmalade has thickened.

* I added half Habanero chili in mine, coz I like it hot. It’s a great appetizer to spread on savory corn muffins or on a toast with some prosciutto. Enjoy.

Saveur is having another contest; now it’s about spring produce. Last month it was a cover contest. I love their website because they really give bloggers some exposure (which I think is lovely). Don’t get me wrong I still love the paper magazines, but I spent an enormous amount of time online. So it’s only natural that I read my magazines online too. I use Zinio Reader and there are loads of options. So… about the contest, Wednesday I went with my camera to Santa Monica FM and was trying to snap some shots of pretty veggies. I spotted these lovely zucchinis that I almost had to gladiate with Mark Peel (of Campanile) to get. He was there with a truck buying almost everything the market had to offer for his restaurant. (By the way Mark “if “ for a miracle of nature you are reading this I want you to know I’m a huge fan). Huuuuuuuge. Luckily I could put my hand on some of these babies and I knew I wanted to do something different than just stuff’em and fry’em. I decided to go for a salad instead.

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Roasted zucchini Blossoms Salad

• ½ lb of zucchini Blossoms with baby zucchinis attached
• ½ lb Chanterelle mushrooms
• 5 or 6 baby new potatoes cut in half
• Lemon zest
• Lemon juice
• Mint leaves

I roasted the zucchini blossoms with a drizzled of olive oil, Maldon sea salt, freshly grounded black pepper, and red Chile flakes. For 15 minutes or until baby zucchinis were done, but still crunchy. Same with the Chanterelle mushrooms and baby potatoes but in a different tray. And because we used all the seasonings to roast the vegetables we don’t need any dressing just add the lemon zest, mint leaves and a squirt of lemon juice. Enjoy

Do you know how sometimes you remember some food you had when you were a kid and you can’t stop thinking about it. That’s what happened to me, I was with this chicken dish in my head for maybe 2 weeks. It was one of my grandmother’s favorites. She used to cook that and served it with creamy polenta. The only difference here is that she would cook the whole chicken. I had a lot in common with my Bina (that’s how I use to call her) we shared the same name and we were from the same astrological sign (scorpion) and by coincidence or not, we both have a very hot temper. She was a funny Italian lady, who spoke a lot with her hands. Her food was always really colorful and yummy. She used to come really close to my ear and whisper: – ‘…You are my favorite’. But I have a feeling she did that to all my cousins too, just to make us feel special. Do you have a dish that reminds you of your grandma?

Chicken Provencal

• 4 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 4 cups sliced fennel bulb (about 2 bulbs)
• 3 ½ cups thinly sliced onion (about 2 large)
• 8 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 pounds skinless chicken thighs
• ½ teaspoon salt, divided
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1-cup chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon herbs de Provence
• 6-diced tomatoes
• ½ cup niçoise olives
• Fresh Thyme to sprinkle (optional)

Preparation:

Heat 2 tablespoon olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add fennel and onion sauté 8 minutes or until tender. Add garlic sauté 2 minutes. Spoon fennel mixture into a large bowl and reserve. Place flour in a shallow bowl or pie plate, sprinkle chicken with 1/8 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper Dredge chicken in flour, shaking off excess. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons  oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add half of chicken. Cook 6 minutes, browning on all sides.  Add browned chicken to fennel mixture. Repeat procedure with remaining chicken, Add wine to pan, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Stir in broth, fennel, chicken, herbs de Provence, and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 45 minutes or until chicken is cooked. Taste for seasonings add olives. Simmer 10 minutes or until sauce is thick. Sprinkle with Thyme.

Since I got my DL I have been driving quite a lot, it means I have done a bunch of SNAFUS on the road. Opsie!! Luckily nothing major didn’t kill anyone or run over any squirrel. I just have to get used to it again. Last week as I told you I had a guest visiting. Poor thing… he was probably praying for his life the whole time. You know usually men don’t like to be on the passenger sit, especially with a newbie behind the wheel. So one of the nights I had to go out for an errand and the whole time I was saying: I can’t see! I’m so blind! I can’t see! Then my hubby told me that it would help if I turn the car lights on… *sight* I know ….you guys are all probably thinking that the DMV made a mistake. Well I wouldn’t blame you. But I promise you I’m not that bad…just a bit rusty, It will be okay, it wiiiil be Okaaay! Right? Now enough of my misdemeanors let’s talk food, or better yet cake. I was craving banana cake, but was a bit bored with banana bread, so I started to google for a more sinful version. There are loads of options out there. But what caught my eyes was Deb (Smitten Kitchen) Caramel walnut upside down banana cake. I changed it a bit (sorry Deb) instead of walnuts I used hazelnuts and I also put banana slices in the middle of the caramel topping. OMG! It was sooooo good; the cake part is moist and a bit tangy because of the sour cream, hum, hum, hum.

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Hazelnut and Banana Cake

For the Topping:

• Nonstick vegetable oil spray
• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons dark corn syrup
• 3/4 cup hazelnuts halves
• 2 Bananas sliced for the topping

For the Cake:

• 1 3/4 cups cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup mashed very ripe bananas (2 to 3 large)
• 3 tablespoons sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For topping: Spray 9-inch round cake pan with nonstick spray.

Bring butter, sugar, and corn syrup to boil in medium saucepan, stirring constantly until butter melts. Boil syrup 1 minute. Stir in nuts. Spread topping in prepared pan. Arrange the banana slices in the middle of the caramel. Let topping cool completely.

For cake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Sift first 4 ingredients into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter and both sugars in large bowl until blended. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, then mashed bananas, sour cream, and vanilla. Beat in dry ingredients in 2 additions just until combined. Spoon batter into pan.

Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 to 45 minutes. Cool 15 minutes. Cut around cake. Place platter over pan. Holding pan and platter together, turn over. Let stand 5 minutes, then gently lift off pan. Cool at least 15 minutes for topping to set. Serve warm or at room.

This weekend we had a friend from NY visiting us. We know each other for 7 years, he is really a sweet heart. So we went all over Los Angeles, and Malibu, and of course we were talking about food and family recipes, he also loves to cook, and have many delicious authentic Turkish recipes, that got me all excited. So he offered to cook us brunch, his famous “Shakshouka” a North African dish consisting of poached or fried eggs cooked in a sauce of tomatoes, peppers, onions, and spices (often including cumin, paprika, and chilies), and its served with a crusty bread. Usually I’m very strict  about MY kitchen, but surprisingly he was very neat and organized, so  I felt relaxed to let him do his thing. And it was really delicious, I was impressed.

shakshuka

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion roughly chopped
• 4 garlic cloves minced
• 1 teaspoon jalapeno minced
• 1 red  bell peppers roughly chopped
• 1  green bell pepper roughly chopped
• 1 orange bell pepper roughly chopped
• 1 yellow bell pepper roughly chopped
• 5 cremini mushrooms roughly chopped
• 8 fresh beefsteak tomatoes roughly chopped
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon of thyme
• 1 teaspoon  salt or more to taste
• 1 teaspoon freshly grounded black pepper
• ½ cup of parsley to sprinkle in the end.
• 4 or 6 large eggs

Directions:

Place large sauté pan (I used cast iron pan, my favorite) over medium heat when the pan is hot add the olive oil.

Add onion and sauté until lightly browned.

Add garlic, jalapeno and bell peppers, and sauté 2 minutes  or more.

Add fresh tomatoes, reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes.

Add paprika, cumin, salt, pepper. Stir for 1 minute.

Add tomato juice and bring to a full boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, until mixture is very thick and has little liquid left, about 1 hour; stir occasionally to make sure vegetables do not stick to bottom of pan, and add more tomato juice as needed. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Gently crack eggs into pan, taking care not to break yolks. Simmer until whites solidify but yolks remain runny, about 8 minutes, or as per personal preference (I would put this under the broiler for a couple more minutes because I don’t like undercooked egg whites).Sprinkle some parsley in the end for freshness.

Ladle equal portions of vegetables and eggs into 4 serving bowls. Sprinkle with zaatar to taste, and serve with warm crusty  bread. I had some olives, cucumber, grape tomatoes, and a plate with humus sprinkled with zaatar. On the side.

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Tuesday was my driving test, to get my driver’s license, so when I left the house in the morning my husband said:

Him– Good luck, but don’t be upset if you fail the first test.

Me- I’m not going to fail.

Him- yeah right, I’m the king of the road and I failed my first test. It’s okay if you fail, no big deal.

Me- I know it’s no big deal, but I’m not going to fail.

Him- we will see.

So 1 hour later I text messaged him the fallowing words all with capital letters.

“KING OF THE ROAD” EAT MY DUST!

So to celebrate my brand new license I made this dish with this really pretty Broccolini I found at the Farmer’s Market.

I just found out my little blog was featured in this really cool interactive online magazine. WWISH. Thanks Hillary U .for thinking about my site.

Pasta with Broccolini and Kielbasa Sausage

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of gemelli*
• 1-tablespoon olive oil
• 1-pound Kielbasa sausage
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 bunch broccolini
• 4 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
• 1 cup grated Parmesan (4 ounces)
• Cherry tomatoes
• Kosher salt and black pepper

Directions:

Pre-heat the oven 350F and punch some holes in the sausage with a pairing knife and roast it for 10 15 minutes or until golden. I found that is easier that way and you don’t need to use any oil. When it’s done let it rest. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain the pasta and put it in a large serving dish. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. And the broccolini sauté it for 5 to 6 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook 1 minute. Add red pepper flakes and the cherry tomatoes. Stir 1 to 2 minutes. Toss the pasta with the sausage season with salt and pepper. Enjoy.

* “Twins” in Italian, this medium-sized shape resembles two short pieces of tubular spaghetti twisted together.

Monday my husband decided to surprise me and take me for a ride. The day was glorious, sunny; the temperature was in the 80s it felt like summer. He didn’t tell me where we were going no matter how much I asked.  So imagine my reaction when we entered the “Solstice Canyon” I was beyond myself because I wasn’t dressed for a hike.  Then we started to argue about my bag, he wanted me to leave “ Louis” in the car, and of course I wouldn’t. So it was something like that:

Him- please leave Louis in the car.

Me- No way!

Him- it’s a hike, you don’t need Louis.

Me- I’m taking Louis.

Him- Fine, but I’m not carrying Louis for you.

Me- Fine.

Him- Fine.

So on the way to the waterfall there were few obstacles, some creek crossing that required some skill at scrambling and climbing large boulders. Here I’ll let the picture speak for itself. How my husband laughed for 10 minutes until he almost choke with a bug.

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I was having a bit of an existential crisis this week or was it midlife crises? I not quite sure, but it definitely was one of them. It involved a lot of self-doubt and thinking that I’m not good enough, a sense of doom, a feeling that somewhere somebody was conspiring against me.  That’s not normal right? Usually I shake those feelings easily but this last week this thing kept going on and on. So what could be better than talk things over with your best friend? That was what I did, called my BFF and started to spill the beans. Turns out she was feeling exactly the same, and we came to a conclusion that it was definitely a midlife crises.  We talked for more than one hour (God bless Skype) and in the end we were laughing and saying Hey! 40s are the new 30s, right?…Right? Well… it was a great talk. I felt much better; I just wish she were living closer by.

So lets talk food shall we? I got this little book called “Pesto, Tapenades and Spreads” by Stacey Printz  and I was looking for some different dressing for salads. Then I saw this tapenade recipe and decided to make a dressing of it. I used green olives instead of Kalamata olives; it was perfect for my white beans and cherry tomato salad.

White Beans and Cherry Tomatoes Salad

• 1 15-ounce cans of white beans, such as Great Northern or canelli beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
• Lemon zest

For the Tapenade dressing:

• 1 cup of pitted green olives
• 3 anchovy fillets
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 ½ tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoon chopped fresh dill
• 1-tablespoon capers, drained
• ¾ cup olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Place all the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until well combined. Top the salad with the lemon zest. Enjoy

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

]]> http://www.chefwanabe.com/2010/01/12/chefwanabe-is-going-slow/feed/ 26 http://www.chefwanabe.com/2010/01/05/quinoa-salad/ http://www.chefwanabe.com/2010/01/05/quinoa-salad/#comments Wed, 06 Jan 2010 02:23:47 +0000 Anna http://www.chefwanabe.com/?p=1433

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

Oh house hunting! Oh Dear! I believe there must be a special place in heaven for house hunters because the pain of looking into certain houses is unbearable. Last week I left NY to go and find an apartment in L.A with a bag full of optimism and a list of wants and needs. And I honestly thought it would be easy to find the perfect place. Oh! How naïve…. Start with the difference of how you look for apartments. In NY you go to an office and they show you what they have and then you hop to a taxi and go with somebody here and there until you find something. L.A there is nobody going with you, at some places the house is open and you just simply get in and have a look. Some the keys are left under a vase, and that was a bit strange. Some places had a sign with a number to call but with a message almost saying don’t bother me. So from Tuesday to Saturday we saw at list 40 places and its amazing the guts some people have to think they can get away with horrible places literally falling apart. I have seen it all. It was either too small, too old, too dirty or too smelly, and then finally… when I was almost about to give up we saw this place that was in a nice street, pretty building, and the owner actually cared about his properties. The apartment was just gut renovated so the kitchen has brand new appliances never used, new floor and the same in the bathrooms, new tiles and tubs. I couldn’t believe my eyes. So now, just a few more days and I will replace gray cold days with sunny and warm ones. Can’t wait! The only thing now I have the most annoying task in hand, packing my whole house.

If life gives you lemons? Bake delicious lemon bread… Yes, life can be a bit chaotic sometimes, and right now I’m a bit overwhelmed with all the moving across the country thing. Tuesday I’m going to L.A to look for apartments and I’m very anxious to see what I can find. One thing I know…the kitchen have to be decent, and I need a lot of closet space for all my gazillion pair of shoes and bags. Well… I’m a lady…we all need our options right?…… Right? Anyway, looking for apartments can be a pain in the neck, but I learned few things already, when you read an add were it says, “Character” it actually means falling apart. “Cozy” means you can extend your arms and touch both sides of a room.  “Mid Century” is plain old with mold, who are you kidding? It’s not like we are in Europe?  And if an add say, “Name your price” OMG… run as fast as you can. So that’s what I’ll be up to next week. Wish me luck.

Lemon Bread

• 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. salt
• 8 Tbs. (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1-cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup milk
• 1 Tbs. finely grated lemon zest

For the lemon syrup:

• ¼ cup sugar
• 3 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

Preheat an oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 1-lb. loaf pan. In a bowl, stir and toss together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until blended, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture along with the milk and lemon zest. Beat until blended and smooth, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the lemon syrup: In a small bowl, combine the sugar and lemon juice. Set aside, stirring occasionally; don’t worry if the sugar does not dissolve completely.

Remove the bread from the oven and transfer the pan to a wire rack. Using a fork, gently poke the top in several places. Stir the syrup, and then slowly drizzle it over the hot bread. Let the bread cool in the pan for 15 minutes, and then turn the loaf out onto the rack, topside up, and let cool completely.

Yesterday we went to the Guggenheim Museum to see the Kandinsky exhibition. It was a nice afternoon I love the bright colors he used. But the place was really full you could hardily see the paintings and some people, God bless their souls, had to almost touch the paintings with their noses to see it. But overall was a fun day. When we came back my hubby said he missed Moroccan food, so we looked at my books for some recipes and I chose this one with potato and olives from “The food of Morocco” book. It’s very yummy, if you don’t have a Tagine Pan don’t sweat, any other pan will do. But the secret is slow cooking it so the flavors really get together. Enjoy.

Lamb Tagine

• 2 lb boneless lamb shoulder
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 onions finely chopped
• 2 garlic gloves finely chopped
• 1-teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• 3 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves
• 1 cup green olives
• 1 lb potatoes
• 1/8-teaspoon ground saffron treads
• 1-tablespoon olive oil, extra

Trim the lamb and cut into 1-¼ inches pieces. Heat half of the olive oil in the tagine pan over high heat and brown the lamb on each side in batches, removing to a dish when cooked. Reduce the heat to low add the remaining olive oil and cook the onions for 8 minutes or until softened. Add the garlic, cumin, and ginger and cook for a few seconds. Add 1 ½ cup of water and stir well to lift the browned bits. Return the lamb to the pan, along with the paprika, ½ teaspoon of salt and a good grinding of black pepper. Add the coriander then cover and simmer over low heat for 1 hour. Then add the potatoes and olives and cook for 15-30 minutes. I served with basmati rice with coriander seeds and pistachios.

Summer is over, actually according to all the stores here in New York even fall is over, they are having fall sales and the puffy coats are on… how did all that happened? Some stores already have Christmas tunes playing can you believe that? It’s a nonsense Halloween / Christmas decoration. But it somehow make sense to my life right now all the rush, I have been going all over the place lately, the airport people can probably call me by my name, it would be something like “ hi Anna nice to see you AGAIN.” This summer we went to check the West Cost and fell in love with it, San Francisco is such an amazing city we felt very tempted but Venice Beach made us decide to move. We loved everything about it. The weather, the people, the beach, it’s a really lovely place. Now we just came back from San Antonio, Texas we went there to visit my little sister in law, it’s her first time living by herself and Texas is a pit stop for her before she goes to India and Thailand, my mother and father in law are literally pulling their hair. So we went there to check things out. It’s a lovely place, and she is doing great. My favorite place there was the River Walk, restaurants on both sides of a beautiful river with delicious Texan steaks. You can see some pictures here.

But now back to work, we have to go back to LA and find an apartment, contact moving companies. It’s a bit overwhelming I have to say, I’m totally stress eating right now which is really not a good idea since I’m moving to a beach place, I should probably be eating lettuce and carrots. But yesterday I decided to try for the gazillion time to bake a tart. And miraculously it actually worked; do I hear a round of applause? No, it’s probably just me clapping, but yeah Baby! I am clapping, because all the flops and snafus I had so far we could probably cover the Great Wall with all my failed pastry dough, so now that it actually worked I’ll probably be clapping for a week. Calling all my friends and family even acquaintances, and the conversation will be something like that: “Hey, hello such and such I’m calling to let you know my pastry dough worked this time, yes, yes, thank you, thank you”. I know…. I’m going a bit Ape about my tart, but you have to understand  (remember I’m stress eating) probably all the carbs I’m ingesting is affecting my brain somehow. But anyway here is the mission-accomplished tart. Made by yours truly. Enjoy.

Zucchini Tart

For the Pie Crust:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
• 1-teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 9 tablespoons unsalted butter chilled diced
• 2large eggs yolk
• 2-3 tablespoons ice water

In a food processor, combine the flour, Parmesan Cheese, salt, butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Drizzle in the water and pulse until the mixture comes together. Turn out of the food processor, form into a ball, and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to overnight. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. On a lightly floured work surface, roll the pastry to a thickness of 1/8-inch and place in a 9-inch tart shell with a removable bottom. Blind bake until lightly golden brown, 15 to 18 minutes.

For the Zucchini:

Grate the zucchinis and lightly sauté it with salt, pepper, garlic, red chili flakes. Let it cool down.

For the Cheese filing:

• 11 ounces goat cheese
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2-cup ricotta cheese
• 3 large egg yolks
• 1/4-cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 1/2-teaspoon salt.
• 1/2-teaspoon black pepper

Into a large mixing bowl place the goat cheese, butter, ricotta cheese, and beat ingredients with a mixer on high speed until smooth. Add the egg yolks one at a time, then the flour, salt, and pepper, mixing well to incorporate. Mix half of the zucchinis. Living the other half for topping. Pour the cheese and zucchini mixture into mixture into the prepared piecrust and bake until the top is golden and the filling is set, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow cooling for 30 minutes before serving.

It’s not a secret that I love… love recipe books, so much so, that when I’m a bit sad or upset I go to Barnes & Nobles where quite quickly everything just start to seem foolish to me, and the sadness is carried away only to be replaced by an amusement park comprised of books and magazines. It’s a therapy for me hanging out at the cookbooks section. And sometimes I buy it online too. Like today I wanted to buy a cake book that I saw on the net and they didn’t have it in any store. So I bought it online, but you know how it takes forever to get it delivered. So imagine my shock when the UPS guy handed me the package with my book. I couldn’t believe it was delivered in the same day…. I’M IMPRESSED!!! So much so, that I felt like twittering, face booking it all at once. So here it goes… Barnes & Nobles I LOVE YOU.

Life is a bit hectic lately around here and the reason for that is we decided to move to the West Coast. I’m extremely exited with this, but man…. it’s a mess. I started to organize my stuff and realized I have way too much stuff. Half of my boxes will be with recipe books.  I consider myself an organized person (with a touch of OCD) so I don’t have a lot of ‘nonsense’ floating around. But because of my blog, I have loads of “props”; cute plates, bowls, glasses… It will be a bit daunting to see it click clacking inside boxes. But when I start to worry about all that I immediately think about my new environment to be…the beach, the beautiful weather, and the way-more spacious kitchen. Then all the worries seem to disappear. So right now I’m not cooking a lot since there’s a lot of traveling going on. But today I found some time to try this vegetable cake and it turned out very yummy. Loaded with veggies.

Roasted Vegetables Cake

• 1 yellow zucchini
• 1 green zucchini
• 1 red bell pepper
• Handful of fresh thyme
• 3 eggs
• 6 tbsp (100 ml) milk
• 6 tbsp (100 ml) olive oil, plus extra for roasting the vegetables
• 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. Slice all the vegetables into thin sticks. Strip the thyme leaves from the stalks. Put the vegetables in a baking dish lined with baking paper to prevent them from sticking. Drizzle with olive oil and the thyme, season with salt and pepper. Use your hands to mix well then, roast for 20- 30 minutes. Let it cool down. Combine the eggs, milk, and olive oil in a large bowl and beat together. Add the roasted vegetables reserving a few for garnish. 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 vegetables on top and bake for 50 minutes (350F) let cool before removing from backing tray.

I’m a ‘Food Network’ avid follower. I love Top Chef, Chopped, and iron Chef America because it’s at a higher level than home cooking (witch I don’t think is bad at all) but it is interesting to learn from professionals. I’ve learned a lot with those programs. I’m always reading about famous chefs, and have all their recipe books. But recently I had to start to learn about baking. In the beginning it was a bit of a disaster, things didn’t seems to work, but I’m getting better. I had a few classes at the ICE and also a very good friend that is a pastry chef gave me some lessons how to make pastry dough. He was awesome and through him I learned it was easier than I thought.  But usually the cakes I like are very simple and have some fruits and nuts in it. I love this recipe in particular because instead of butter it uses olive oil, making it incredibly moist and yummy.

Orange Almond Cake

• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1-cup caster sugar
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon coarse kosher salt
• 2 large eggs
• ¾ cup whole milk
• ½ cup mild flavored olive oil
• 2 teaspoons finely grated orange peel
• For the topping:
• ½ cup of orange juice
• ½ cup of caster sugar
• Shaved almonds

Preheat oven to 325. Oil and flour 9″x5″x3″ metal loaf pan. Whisk first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk eggs, milks, olive oil and orange peel in medium bowl to blend. Gradually whisk egg mixture into dry ingredients. Transfer to prepared pan. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 60-65 minutes. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Invert pan to remove cake. Make simple syrup with orange juice and sugar, to top the cake and spread the toasted shaved almonds.

Yuruuulll my hubby is back; FINNALY…there was plenty of talking to the walls around here. Long conversations with Basil plants, nooo…. Rosemary I didn’t forget you, I know I bugged the hell out of your ears too. If Talking to plants make them flourish I will have the biggest bushes in town. But it’s over now, so to welcome him back I cooked a delicious Spanish meal. We love Spanish flavors, the smoky flavors of  “Pimenton” (smoked Spanish paprika) and some heat from chili powder. It’s a party in your mouth. We had this dish with chunks of peasant bread but it would be wonderful with spaghetti too.

Meatballs and Clams

• 11/2 tablespoons of butter
• 3 small shallots, diced
• 1 heaped tsp smoked Spanish paprika
• Dash of cayenne pepper
• 3 garlic, 2 crushed and 1 sliced
• 2 tbsp dry sherry
• 3 tablespoons fresh breadcrumbs
• Half pound pork mince
• 1 egg yolk
• Olive oil, for frying
• Half pound cleaned squid, cut into rings
• 1cup white wine
• 1 can chopped and squashed tomatoes
• Half pound clams
• Handful flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
• Olive oil for drizzle

Melt the butter in a heavy-based casserole soften the shallots for 5 Minutes. Add the paprika and crushed garlic and cook for 1 min until the paprika becomes fragrant. Splash in the Sherry, then pour the whole lot into a bowl with the breadcrumbs. Season and cool.

Add the pork mince and the egg yolk to the bowl mix well. Shape into 18 small meatballs. Wipe the pan, put on a medium-high heat, and add the oil. Fry the meatballs for 5 minutes, just to color, then lift onto a plate, but keep the oil in the pan, fry the sliced garlic. Add the squid and fry to give a little color. Now tip in the white wine and bring to the boil, scraping the bottom. Stir in the pulped tomatoes, bring to the boil, and add the meatballs and the clams. Cover and cook for 5 minutes until the clamshells open. Discard any that stay shut. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley, drizzle with the extra virgin oil, and then serve with crusty bread.

Oh dear! My husband is going to be away for a week and I can tell you it’s going to be a looooooooooooong week. I hate when we have to be apart, because he is not only my husband he is also my best friend, he makes me laugh all the time. I always tell him he is better than any comedy show. So to tell you the truth right now I feel a bit lost. Yesterday close to dinnertime I opened the fridge and thought about what to cook for dinner, I was probably in front of the fridge for 20 minutes, thinking about what to do and seriously considering having only some cookies or something like that. Then I spotted some veggies that needed to be used and some bacon, and voila …of course I decided to make a frittata, easy no fuzz Spanish frittata. But today I will probably have some guacamole and chips, and some cocktail with a little umbrella to cheer me up. (Sigh**)

Spanish Frittata

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 4 large eggs
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 3 ounces Bacon
• Cherry tomatoes
• Kalamata olives
• Goat Cheese
• 2/3 cup frozen peas, thawed
• 2 teaspoons truffle oil
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives

Preheat oven to 375°F. Heat vegetable oil in large ovenproof nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add potatoes; cover and cook until tender, stirring occasionally, about 18 minutes. (Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.) Remove potatoes from skillet. Scrape out and discard any browned bits from pan. Cook the bacon until crispy remove and reserve it. Whisk eggs, salt and pepper in large bowl to blend. Pour eggs into same skillet. Arrange half of potatoes over eggs, half of peas, the tomatoes, goat cheese, and olives. Repeat with remaining potatoes, bacon and peas. Bake until puffed and set, about 15 minutes. Loosen edges and bottom of frittata with flexible spatula; slide out onto plate. Drizzle with truffle oil. Sprinkle with chives and serve.

This weekend we went to see “Vogue the September issue” at Sunshine cinema. We got there a bit early bought a bar of chocolate each and where sitting there waiting taping our phones checking for emails, tweets, etc… as we watched the crowd coming and trying to find seats. It was a fashionable crowd, we where probably the only “blobs” is the theater. Then this cute couple that looked like out of a magazine sat beside us, the girl had a sushi tray in her hands. I thought – ah that’s how they keep in shape…eating sushi. And here is when things started to get funny, the movie started and the girl opened the tray and ate one, I’m not kidding, one sushi, closed the tray and shoved it under the seats, drank her water and that was it. A woman two seats down saw it and stopped eating her popcorn. Very nonchalantly my husband sneaked his chocolate bar inside my bag.  I didn’t dare get my chocolate out of my purse. I guess that’s the crowd that is ‘Vogue’ readers, the 1-sushi eaters. Don’t get me wrong I love ‘Vogue’ magazines; I think they are awesome but my crowd is more ‘Bonn Appetite’ or ‘Food and Wine’ magazines, people that enjoy a good plate of delicious food. Life is too short to pretend and deny ourselves all this delicious treats. The secret is to enjoy the cake and go run around the block to burn it. At least that’s what I’m trying to do. But for now I have a cake that was a complete surprise how good it tasted. My mother used to bake an amazing carrot cake when I was a kid (that was all she ever baked). So I got her recipe and decided to use beetroot instead, the color was amazing and it turned out delicious.

Beetroot Cake

• 3 medium beetroot, peeled and thinly sliced
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup cooking oil
• 2 cups white sugar
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1-tablespoon baking powder

For the Icing 

• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup instant hot chocolate mix
• 3/4 cup milk

DIRECTIONS:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease 9×13-baking dish.
• Place the beetroot, eggs, and oil in a blender or bowl of a food processor. Process until beetroot are finely chopped. Pour the beetroot mixture into a mixing bowl. Stir in 2 cups sugar until well blended. Stir in the flour and baking powder; mix until well blended. Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish.
• Bake in preheated oven until top springs back when lightly touched, about 40 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make the icing by placing the butter, 1-cup sugar, instant hot chocolate drink mix, and milk in a pan. While stirring, heat to almost boiling over medium-high heat until mixture thickens. When the cake is done, remove from the oven and immediately spread the icing evenly over the top.