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Pumpkin bread o pan dulce de calabaza, receta casera

Pumpkin bread o Pan dulce de calabaza

A tono con el otoño y para seguir explotando la versatilidad de una rica calabaza, hoy les traigo una receta típica americana. Este pumpkin bread o pan dulce de calabaza me lo descubrió una amiga en un grupo de cocina en Facebook en el que nos lo pasamos deliciosamente, nunca mejor dicho. La receta es de Once Upon a Chef (Érase una vez un chef) con alguna variación.

Por ejemplo, la autora utiliza una pulpa de calabaza en conserva (100% calabaza), pero en los supermercados que tengo en los alrededores de donde vivo, al sur de Madrid, no la encontré y me decidí a preparar una masa o pulpa en casa, con ayuda del horno. Recorriendo un mercadillo de domingo me tropecé con un muy bonito ejemplar y me puse enseguida manos a la obra al llegar a casa.

Otros dos añadidos de esta versión del pumpkin bread que comparto hoy son las pipas (semillas) de calabaza tostadas y un toque extra de vainilla. Esta receta es una gozada desde el momento en que se mezclan los ingredientes. Cuando entra en el horno ya es todo una fiesta. Las especias que lleva llenarán de aromas tu cocina y ese olor te acompañará hasta el momento de probar una porción. Para mi, algo así como la gloria.

Ingredientes del Pumpkin bread o Pan dulce de calabaza

250 gr de harina para todo uso
1/2 cucharadita de sal
1 cucharadita de bicarbonato de sodio
1/2 cucharadita de polvo de hornear
1 cucharadita de clavo de olor molido
1 cucharadita de canela molida
1 cucharadita de nuez moscada molida
1 cucharadita de extracto o esencia de vainilla
1 puñado de pipas (semillas) de calabaza
170 gr de mantequilla sin sal, reblandecida
350 gr de azúcar
2 huevos grandes
425 gr pulpa de calabaza asada (1/2 calabaza mediana o una pequeña)

Cómo preparar Pumpkin bread o Pan dulce de calabaza

Pumpkin bread o Pan de calabaza

El día antes corta en dos mitades la calabaza, límpiala, pero deja la piel (cáscara). En una bandeja de horno coloca las dos mitades con la cáscara hacia arriba. Hornea durante 30 minutos o hasta que esté bien tierna. Sácala, déjala refrescar y con una cuchara podrás extraer con facilidad toda la masa. Ponla en colador de malla y aprieta para que suelte toda el agua, debe quedar solo la pulpa. Guarda refrigerada hasta el día siguiente o úsala una vez se enfríe completamente a temperatura ambiente.
Engrasa con mantequilla un molde rectangular (14x7x29cm) o dos más pequeños(20×10) y espolvorea con un poco de harina. También pon a calentar el horno a 170 grados Celsio.
En un recipiente mezcla los siguientes ingredientes secos: harina, polvo de hornear, bicarbonato, sal y especias molidas (clavo, canela y nuez moscada) .
En otro recipiente bien amplio mezcla la mantequilla a punto de pomada o reblandecida con la cucharadita de vainilla y el azúcar. Yo he utilizado unas varillas eléctricas.
Una vez bien mezclados agrega uno a uno los huevos. No pongas el segundo hasta que el primera esté bien integrado.
A continuación, si utilizaste unas varillas eléctricas, baja a la menor velocidad para añadir la mezcla de harina con los ingredientes que teníamos, poco a poco. Al final, el resultado va a ser una mezcla bien densa. Añade un puñado de semillas de calabaza y vuelve a mezclar y a continuación vierte en el molde previamente engrasado.
Por último, corona con otro puñado de pipas de calabaza y lleva al horno en la parte media y deja por unos 80-90 minutos o hasta que introduzcas un palillo y salga limpio. Si pones la mezcla en dos moldes el tiempo se reducirá será entre 60-70 minutos o hasta que compruebes que sale limpio el palillo.

Listo, disfruta con un té o la bebida que prefieras, para una merienda o para el desayuno. En casa, junto al Banana bread, ya es parte de nuestros imprescindibles. ¡Buen provecho!

Etiquetas: bizcochos, calabaza, canela, clavo de olor, especias, nuez moscada, otoño, pan de calabaza, postre, postres caseros, recetas caseras, vainilla

Comentarios 3 comentarios
Categorías Desserts, Postres, Uncategorized

Pastel de chocolate con frutas: receta fácil y de inspiración propia

22 Abr

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Estaba pensando ayer mismo que hacía bastante no compartía una receta de postre con mis seguidores. Por ello, para endulzarnos con medida y ponerle un toque de alegría a un buen café o a un té en cualquiera de las tardes venideras, traigo este pastel de chocolate con frutas con una masa quebrada que quedó del fin de semana y que no quise desperdiciar. Yo escogí plátanos, arándanos secos rehidratados y confitura de frambuesa, pero os invito a experimentar con otras frutas que más gusten en casa o estén en temporada.

En mi frutero nunca falta el plátano y la mezcla de éste con chocolate me parece gloriosa. Los frutos rojos le dan un plus de frescor, pero reitero la invitación a la aventura con lo que más deseen. Escribiendo de combinaciones sabrosas a la hora de hacer un postre, recuerdo la tarta de naranja con chocolate que ya tiene en este blog un par de años. Deliciosa.

Pero volviendo a la receta de hoy insistir en que se prepara bastante rápido si ya tienes la masa quebrada lista, por ello o bien puedes hacerla o comprarla ya lista. Hay muy buenas en el supermercado. El proceso es muy fácil y mientras tarda en hacerse en el horno terminas de preparar las frutas escogidas. ¿Animados? Pues vaya a por todas.

Ingredientes para preparar Pastel de chocolate con frutas (4 a 6 personas)

1 masa redonda quebrada o brisa
200 gr de chocolate para fundir o para postres (yo empleé negro con mínimo de 70%)
90 gr mantequilla
1 huevo talla XL o 2 talla M
2 quesos frescos de Burgos
2-3 plátanos
2 puñados de arándanos secos rehidratados
2 cucharadas de confitura o mermelada de frambuesas (baja en azúcar mejor)
Cómo preparar Pastel de chocolate con frutas

Primero, 20 minutos antes de ponerte manos a la obra deja en agua para que se rehidraten los arándanos secos.
Unos 10 minutos antes saca la masa quebrada de la nevera y deja a temperatura ambiente unos minutos. Mientras precalienta el horno y una vez haya reposado al ambiente la masa, colócala en el molde que vayas a emplear. Ten en cuenta que si no antiadherente debes ponerle un poco de grasa para que no se te pegue la masa.
Hornea unos 5 minutos hasta que se dore, retira del horno y reserva mientras preparamos el relleno. mantén el horno con una temperatura de 130 a 150 grados.
En un cazo derrite la mantequilla a fuego suave conjuntamente con la tableta de chocolate troceada.
Una vez esté bien fundido añade el queso fresco y un plátano y retira del fuego. Como este tipo de queso no suele integrarse como el de untar o queso crema, con ayuda de un brazo batidor o batidora obtendremos una mezcla completamente homogénea.
Después de batida la mezcla, añadimos la mitad de los arándanos bien escurridos y la otra mitad la reservamos para decorar. También batimos el huevo y lo agregamos.
Mezclamos bien y vertemos sobre la masa quebrada que habíamos reservado ya horneada.
Ponemos en la parte más abajo del medio del horno y horneamos 30 minutos a 130 grados y los últimos 10 minutos a 150 grados.
Comprueba con un palillo que esté cocida, saca del horno y deja que se enfríe sobre una rejilla.
Para decorar primero extiende la confitura o mermelada de frambuesas sobre el pastel de forma pareja.
Por último cortamos los dos plátanos que quedaban en rodajas finas y hacemos dos coronas o el decorado que prefieras con estos; el resto de los arándanos los colocamos en medio. Listo.
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Es un postre que a pesar de ser contundente no lleva extra de azúcar. Con la que lleva el propio chocolate, mientras más por ciento de chocolate menos azúcares añadidos, y la propia del plátano, este postre encantará hasta a aquellos que no gustan de golosinas empalagosas. Ahora están las fresas y fresones de temporada. Aprovecha para hacer un plato de este tipo con ellas. Yo no dejaría de usar los plátanos tampoco. A estas alturas creo que he dejado claro a mis seguidores lo mucho que me gusta esta fruta. 😉 Nos vemos en la próxima incursión culinaria.

Etiquetas: arándanos secos, chocolate fundido, fruta de temporada, horno, mantequilla, masa quebrada, pastel de chocolate, plátanos, postre sin azúcares añadidos, queso fresco de Burgos, receta de postre fácil

Comentarios 2 comentarios
Categorías Desserts, Postres

Seeds soda bread: homemade easy recipe

8 Feb

This Saturday I got up earlier looking forward to prepare and share with all you this delicious homemade soda bread, simple but actually flavourful. It´s an express bread recipe that doesn´t need previous fermentation, fresh leavening or to knead until we get exhausted. The result is outstanding: bread with soft and fluffy crumb, fine and crispy crust, ideal for tasting with butter or cheese, or simply without complement. Want to surprise on Saint Valentine´s Day with a bread made by yourself? This is your opportunity to shine and become heart´s queen or king.

The ingredients are quite simple and if you read at the end you´ll be able to keep some more ideas. With this recipe as beginning, you could create others with some more personal touches. It is the kind of bread the less skilled cook can prepare without troubles at all. You can look out this bread on Iván Yarza´s book Pan Casero, that have taken me off my fears and false myths around bread preparation.

Ingredients to prepare Seeds Soda bread

245 g whole meal flour

15 g bread flour (it´s flour with more than 10 g of protein)

3 tsp soda (Royal powders)

1/2 tbsp poppy seeds

1/2 tbsp linen seed non toasted

1/2 tbsp sesame seed non toasted

1 tbsp peeled sunflower seed

1 1/2 tbsp honey

7 g salt

280-300 g water (200 ml approximately)

How to prepare Seeds soda bread

Preheat the oven 220 Celsius degree, up and down position. Prepare a rectangular mould. You should spread it with butter first and flour after that if the mould is not nonstick.
Mix into a bowl flour, soda, salt, seeds, the honey and water. Blend with your hand until integrating all. It has to looks like a sticky, pretty much humid mixture. Add more water if your fingers doesn´t feel catchy.
Pour the mixture into the mould, flour and put into the oven during 40 minutes. Only if has it golden quickly, you need cover it with some baking paper.
40 minutes later take it away from the oven, remove from its mould and let cold before have breakfast.
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I´m sure you gonna repeat this recipe, just if you want some innovation then use white flour instead of whole meal flour. Add some raisins or chocolate chips instead of seeds. You can also cook up this same bread recipe without a mould, doing a ball with the mixture, but you have to use less water and proceed making a cruise with two perpendicular deep cuts before introducing it into the oven. Enjoy it as much as we did at our Saturday´s breakfast.

You can also try this tomato anf goat cheese tostas with this delicious homemade bread.

Etiquetas: bread recipe, breakfast, butter, express bread recipe, flour, homemade bread, seed bread, soda bread, St. Valentine's day

Comentarios 4 comentarios
Categorías Recipes

Tomato and goat cheese tostas

31 Ene

Today is Friday, the favourite day of the week for the most of the people because it announces the weekend. And precisely because it is weekend I want to share with all of you a simple, healthy and quick recipe, Tomato and goat cheese tosta, ideal for a light dinner, or for a generous starter of a great St. Valentine’s dinner, for example. Keep this idea if you already are looking forward to surprising your better half in that special day.

The best of these «tostas» it is that they cook up in a short time. Although I present the ingredients that I used, you certainly could make your own adaptations. These «tostas» actually are my idea to share with our friends or our families. Not only do I prepare them for a dinner, but also I make them for a delicious breakfast or just as a snack. You decide how to taste them. No more explanations, let’s go into the kitchen in order to prepare this simple recipe as soon as we pronounce them.

Ingredients to prepare Tomato and goat cheese tostas (4 persons)

4 slices of seed bread
2 ripe tomatoes
tender shoots’ mix
8 slices of goat cheese
extra virgin olive oil
Modena’s balsamic vinegar cream
salt

How to prepare Tomato and goat cheese tostas

Toast lightly into a pan the bread slices with an olive oil’s trickle. You also can use a toaster and putting the olive oil at the moment to form our tostas.
Put the toasted bread slices into a dish, add some tender shoots, now some tomato slices previously cut into fine half moons if the tomatoes are large enough. Add a pinch of salt.
then, incorporate two goat cheese slices for each tosta
finally, add a thread of olive oil and another thread of Modena’s balsamic vinegar cream above all.

Ready! You’ll check how tasty these simple tostas can be. Go on if you want make your own versions. Use the bread you like most, change the tender shoots for lettuce leaves, spinach or canons. If you are not kind of goat cheese, try with your favourite. A red wine, a good company and these tostas taste as you were in the glory. Happy week to all my followers and readers.

Etiquetas: easy recipe, goat cheese, healthy recipe, light dinner, Modena's balsamic vinegar cream, seed bread, St. Valentine's dinner, tender shoots, tomato, tostas

Comentarios 2 comentarios
Categorías Recipes, Starters, Appetizers

Milk and caramel flan

18 Sep

Since a few month ago I have been thinking to share a recipe of Caramel and milk flan that my grandmother used to prepare for pleasure of their grandchildren. It is one of those homemade desserts that in one way or other, with some ingredients or other, they are prepared in almost all kitchen around the world. Specifically, this Caramel flan, it is made just as my grandma used to cook it up: water bath into a pressure cooker. It´s a very simple and fast homemade dessert recipe. Here, you´ll be able to see how to prepare the Caramel´s flan too, just taking care and a little of patience. This is my favourite between all homemade desserts, this once prepared with condensed milk, full cream milk, a touch of Vanilla and toasted caramel to make all flavors contrast.

Ingredients

300 ml (1 1/2 cup) condensed milk

200 ml (1 cup) full cream milk

3 eggs

1 tbsp Vanilla essence

2 tbsp white sugar

For the Caramel:

5 tbsp white sugar

1 1/2 tbsp water

How to prepare Caramel and milk flan

Put into a glass beater the condensed milk, the full cream milk, the eggs, the vanilla and the sugar. Beat until they all are integrated. Keep aside while we prepare the caramel.
Caramel: put 5 tablespoon of sugar and 1 tablespoon and a half into the flan mold.
Put the flan mold into middle heat in order to boil the sugar little by little. When it´s boils take care, it will golden first and later it will turn brown but don´t let it burns. It´s about going caramelizing the sugar until it sticks to the mold walls. You must cover, carefully, all the mold almost to the top. Use potholders in order to avoid burns. Look at the following pictures.
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Once you have prepared the mold with the caramel, fill a pressure cooker with some water (just the appropriate amount to water bath) and 4 wine corks.
Put the mold into the pressure cooker, cover, put the pressure valve and, once it begins to liberate the vapor, count 20 minutes cooking.
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When you take the flan mold out the pressure cooker, let cool into cold water and cubes of ice in order to save it later into the fridge at least during 30 minutes.
Then take the flan out of the mold and serve.

A simple but delicious homemade dessert, you can prepare in any moment for enjoying of everyone. You can use industrial caramel that usually it sales under different names. If you decide prepare it yourselves, you have to do it in the same mold you gonna use. When the caramel cools it´s impossible to manipulate it later, so don´t think about prepare more for future. See you soon with more recipes.

Etiquetas: caramel flan, condensed milk, flan, full cream milk, homemade caramel, homemade dessert, pressure cooker, vanilla, water bath

Comentarios 4 comentarios
Categorías Desserts, Recipes

Breaded eggplant: easy and healthy recipe for oven

11 Sep

The eggplant is one of these vegetables I choose once and more because, besides I love it, it is ideal accompaniment for uncountable preparations. One of my favorite ways to cook up eggplants is fried and crispy, but I avoid to make it in that form because it absorbs more fats. It is actually a pity that we have to step down the frequency we eat it in this way. For this reason, the last time I prepared eggplant I tried with breaded slices with cheese that I baked into the oven. The result was a crispy, tasty and healthier course.

Present in the human diet for 4000 years, the eggplant has some other common names in English: aubergine in British English, and also brinjal, brinjal eggplant, melongene, garden egg or guinea squash. Today, edible varieties are protagonist in the culinary culture around the world. We can find it in the Greek Mousaka, in the Arabian Baba Ganoush, in the Italian Caponata or Parmigiana, in the Catalan Escalivada and many other.

Although I´m pretty sure you´ll love this way, I´m gonna give you a tip just in case you consider frying eggplant anytime. If you put the eggplant into a bowl with salted water during 24 hours, you will get frying the pieces without extra fats. Why does it happen? Simple: the eggplant pulp is full of air and it´s cavernous. When it is soaking, the water covers all this free space inside the pulp and later, when you fry it, the oil won´t be able to being absorbed. So, if you want frying eggplant, no matter if it´s breaded or not, put the slices into water with salt. Now, lets try our today´s recipe.

Ingredients:

1 large eggplant

1/2 cup of breadcrumb

1/2 cup grated cheese

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried thyme

1 beaten egg

pepper

salt

How to prepare Breaded eggplants: recipe for oven (2 persons)

Mix the breadcrumb and cheese, the thyme and oregano into a dish. Beat the egg into another dish with a pinch of salt.
Wash the eggplant and cut it into transversals slices. Season them with salt and pepper.
Pass every slice by beaten egg pricking it with a folk and later pass it by the breadcrumb and cheese mix. Put them into an oven bake previously covered with baking paper. You can put them directly into the oven bake lightly painted with oil.
Bake between 170 and 180 Celsius degrees during 12 to 15 minutes, depending on every oven. When they golden, prick in order to check they are cooked.
Take away from the oven and serve immediately with tomato sauce and mayonnaise, or enjoy them without those complements.
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As my followers will have noticed the most of my recipes are thought for 2 persons, but the most of them, as well, are easily comprehensible. The ingredient´s adaptation is quite simple; just double the necessary amounts. Just one more tip for our today´s recipe: If you decide to prepare 2 eggplant for 4 persons, bake them in two different moments. You´ll see, a very easy, simple, economic and healthy recipe. Enjoy them!

Etiquetas: auvergine, breadcrumb, breaded eggplant, cheese, easy recipe, eggplant, light recipes, orégano, oven, thyme

Comentarios 2 comentarios
Categorías Recipes, Starters, Appetizers

Morcilla´s burger: from the original recipe posted by Gastronoming

5 Sep

Some time ago I read a recipe of blood sausage burger that I fall in love with. I cooked it up as soon as I could, and today a present here an adaptation from the original that you can see HERE. My own proposal consist in a burger with blood sausage (Morcilla de Burgos) and boiled rice seasoned with extra onion and garlic, plus a touch of cumin, coriander and black pepper, instead of mincemeat. The effect was smoothing out the unctuous blood sausage´s texture and flavor.

I substituted the apple chips, certainly delicious, by a lettuce salad with tomato, onion, bacon and apple. Instead of Cheddar cheese (that is more commonly use for burgers) I chose Havarti cheese this once. At cooking moment I preferred to bake the burgers instead frying them, because in this way I avoided breaking them. If you prepare this burgers you´ll see the texture is a bit different from a meat one, but with a little care you won´t have any problem.

We are only two persons at home and we cook up morcilla´s burgers for six, so we could enjoy them in the classical way with the always yummy bread, but also I presented them like «tapas» (traditional Spanish appetizers) with a very cool beer. I have many ideas fluttering into my head since this blood sausage burgers gave me the light. I´ll share them as well later or earlier :). Now, let´s start with our Morcilla´s burguer.

Ingredients:

2 morcillas de Burgos (traditional blood sausage made with rice, from Burgos, Spain)

1/2 cup non boiled rice or 1 1/2 cup boiled rice (middle grain rice)

2 1/2 onions

2 crushed garlic cloves

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tbsp parsley finely cut

black pepper

salt

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 egg yolk

4 tbsp breadcrumbs

How to prepare Morcilla´s burguer

In first place, cook the rice but do not wash it and put a little more of water than you usually use in order to get a creamier rice.
Put the olive oil into a pan, heat and add the mashed garlic and the onion half with a pinch of salt.
Once the onion transparences removed from the heat. Add the cooked rice, stir very well, check the salt and let it cools.
Remove the morcilla skin, put their meat into a bowl and proceed to break them completely until you get a morcilla´s mince. Then add the rice and the rest of seasons: cumin, coriander, parsley and pepper. Mix very weel. Now incorporate the egg yolk and the breadcrumbs and stir once more very well.
It is time for giving form the burgers. Here you will see how I do it, although it´s a different recipe the proceeding is the same from number 4 point.
Put the burgers into a lightly greased oven dish and bake 180 Celsius degrees during 10 to 12 minutes.
Take it out, let refresh and serve the burger in the classical way with bread, mayonnaise and caramelized onion or in the way you prefer.

Notes: At moment of saving the burgers before cook them put between them some baking paper in order to avoid they paste each other and break them later. Keep them into the fridge while you´re patiently cooking the caramelized onion. How? Cut the onion into finely julienne or finely rings. I did it with a sharp knife but I cried a whole river. It seems a lot of cut onion but you´ll see, at the end, the amount makes us laughing.

Put the onion into a pan with three olive oil tablespoon and a pinch of salt and let it cook very slowly during one hour. It seems an eternity but it worth it. You don´t need add sugar contrary it´s use to think, just cook it softly and without hurry and onion will be able to make explode all its sweetness.

Choose an appropriate palette spoon to take out the burger from the oven dish in order to not break them. If they lost their form a little, never mind, give they form again over the bread or dish. Simply a cheerful experience for taste. Thanks a lot Gastronoming for sharing your recipe :).

Etiquetas: blood sausage, burger, burgos spain, caramelized onion, ground coriander, morcilla de burgos, rice, spanish morcilla, tapas

Comentarios 2 comentarios
Categorías Main courses, Recipes, Starters, Appetizers

Patatas revolconas, Spanish recipe

2 Sep

No matter where they´re from, Extremadura, Ávila or Salamanca, the «patatas revolconas» are one of those traditional Spanish recipes that when you try them, you will always want enjoy over and over. Despite its humble origin (it was food of Castilian peasants) it is a recipe that with just a very few things, basically potatoes, paprika and some meat product, the result surprise us because of their texture and flavor´s delicious combination.

The recipe, that has jumped from the Spanish countryside to bars, cafeterias and restaurants, in towns and cities, it has became popular and evolved. Although the ingredients that they add can be different, bacon, chorizo and «torreznos» as the most common of all, this recipe´s base is always the same: boiled potatoes they become pure, seasoned with paprika and enriched with some of the products I mentioned before. This is the reason of the names it acquires: patatas meneás, patatas revueltas or revolconas.

Ingredients:

6-8 potatoes

1/2 large traditional spicy chorizo

6 slices of bacon

1 garlic clove finally cut

1 tsp sweet paprika (Pimentón de La Vera)

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil + 1 more optional

salt

parsley to decorate

How to prepare Patatas revolconas (4 persons)

Peel the potatoes and put them into boiling water with salt. Let them cook very well until they broken if you prick them.
Fry the chorizo and bacon into a pan. Once fried, take them out and put aside. Saute the garlic into the oil liberated by the chorizo and bacon. Put olive oil if it were necessary. Once the garlic golden (take care it doesn´t burn) take the pan out of the heat, add the Pimentón de La Vera and stir.
Now back to very low heat, incorporate the potatoes to the pan and squash them until you get mashed potatoes, but let some pieces of potatoes. Add some water of the boiled potatoes if it were necessary.
Put the chorizo and bacon we had aside into the potatoes, stir and serve.
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It´s a course that´s served hot usually on winter, but if there´s some warmth yet, let it refresh and accompanies with cold beer. As main course, starter or appetizer, it´s actually good in any time. Enjoy and, you know, if you decides to travel to Spain, to Extremadura, Avila or Salamanca, don´t let try this Patatas revolconas.

Etiquetas: bacon, chorizo, patatas revolconas, potatoes, spanish recipe, spanish traditional recipe, very easy recipe

Comentarios 4 comentarios
Categorías Main courses, Starters, Appetizers

Fruits cocktail with cinnamon and lemon syrup

30 Ago

I love fruit when is plenty of flavor and sweetness. It is suppose that season´s fruit must be much better, but actually the last ones I bought this summer disappointed me a bit. I don´t know if conclude they weren´t in their ripening’s optimum moment or simply they weren’t highquality’s pieces, what I can say for sure is almost all was insipidus. But I don’t throw anything that I can take advantage of in any way, and I decided to do this fruits cocktail with cinnamon and lemon syrup.

It’s actually a very good idea making this cocktail because you can keep it into the fridge, ready to take and enjoy in any moment. If you want to convince the children they have to take fruit, you will get it before if you present them in this way. If the pieces are naturally sweet, as we get used when we try tropical fruits, you don’t have to add syrup, honey or another sweetener, but if you have to do it, here I give you a solution.

It is a soft light syrup with a touch of cinnamon and lemon that will improve the hided flavor of the fruits. Many of them are season’s fruit that you find at summer here in Spain. I usually buy the other because they are between my favorites. You can prepare this mix with your favorite fruit, so you are completely free to choose whatever you want.

Ingredients

1 large red apple

2 pear

2 kiwi

2 peach

1 nectarine

1 paraguayan

For the syrup

1/2 cup white sugar

1 cup water

zest lemon

1/2 lemon juice

1 cinnamon stick

1 tsp vanilla essence optional

How to prepare Fruits Cocktail with cinnamon and lemon syrup

Wash and peel the fruit. Except kiwi and peach, you can let the other with their skin. Cut the fruits into different pieces in the way you prefer.
Cook up the syrup before in order to adding it to the fruits once it is cold. Put all the ingredients into a saucepan, water, sugar, juice and zest lemon, cinnamon and vanilla. Let them boil during three minutes, put away from the heat and cold.
Once cold, add it to the fruits, save covered into the fridge and serve at the moment.
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There is time yet to enjoy this fruits cocktail, for breakfast, between meals or even as a dessert. You can do the syrup with honey. Honey-cinnamon-lemon combination is very healthy and tasty. Then, have you many pieces of fruits and its possible they end into the rubbish can? Cheers up and prepare this vitamin’s shoot.

Are you interested in another dessert with fruit as main character? Then look at this Banana and Nuts Bread.

Etiquetas: cinnamon, cocktail, fruit, lemon, postre, season's fruit, syrup

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Categorías Desserts, Recipes

Pork with vegetables: Oriental style

27 Ago

It is already the last week of August and in order to cheer us nothing better than cooking some special recipe. No matter if our holidays end or start, I propose a wink to the Oriental cuisine with this Pork with vegetables, Oriental style. Here you´ll find a very easy recipe, with pictures step by step. You´ll be able to enjoy a complete main course, full of flavor and color, a homemade foreign menu where cereals, vegetables, meat, even fruit, are perfectly combined.

I can´t tell you a lot about this recipe, just it is the result of my interest and liking for the Asian gastronomy. After being experiencing with many other proposals, such as this Cerdo Agridulce (Sweet and sour pork), the Kofta Curry or the Mujaddara, these two last from the closer Middle East, I figured out this idea, cooked up with ingredients are available in any supermarket. Would you like to eat some Asian course at home? Then, let´s go into the kitchen.

Ingredients

4-5 pork steaks

4-5 cabbage leaves

1 red bell pepper

1 large onion

2 garlic cloves

fresh ginger (grated tip)

1 handful pitted dates (6-7)

70 ml soy sauce (approximated amount)

1 tbsp Maizena (cornmeal)

3 tbsp soft olive oil (or sunflower or soy oil)+ necessary amount for frying the meat

1 coup Basmati rice

pepper mix

salt

How to prepare Pork with vegetables, Oriental style

At least 1/2 hour before starting the recipe, cut the meat into strips and put them into a glass container with the grated ginger and the soy sauce. Just the necessary amount to cover the meat. Cover with film and let marinating into the fridge.
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Back into the kitchen, get the vegetables ready to use: cut the garlic into slices; the onion, the red bell pepper and the cabbage into julienne. Take a look to the process of the cabbage´s cut in the pictures are bellow. It is about making a roll or two rolls and cut them into slices.
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All rights reserved by Tras La Receta
Heat the 3 oil tablespoons into a pan or wok. Add the garlic, the onion and the red bell pepper, season with the mix of pepper and a pinch of salt. Let cook for 5 minutes and after that add the dates cut into slices too, sauté and incorporate the cabbage.
Ad a trickle of soy sauce, cover and let cook, middle heat, while we cook up the pork strips.
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Take the strips out of the container and put aside momentarily. Dissolve the cornmeal into the soy sauce where the meat was marinating, take the meat back into the same sauce now with cornmeal and stir in order to the strips absorb this sort of tempura.
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Take other pan and heat oil enough to fry the pork strips little by little (remove the tempura´s extra sauce). Once golden, take out the strips and put them aside over absorbent paper in order to avoid extra fats.
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Check the vegetables, they don´t have to be very soft, it´ll be better if they are al dente, especially the cabbage.
Cook the rice, previously washed, into boiling water with salt. Let cook during 10 or 12 minutes and strain.
Serve the rice, put a vegetable layer and over it put the pork strips.
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All rights reserved by Tras La Receta

If you don´t like dates, you can use toast or natural almonds that combines very well with this kind of courses. Also, you can substitute pork for beef if the meat is tender, because of this I recommend veal steak preferably. Then, nothing more, I hope you have fun this week, if it is not, at least, have fun cooking!;)

Etiquetas: basmati rice, cabbage, dates, easy recipe, ginger, homemade foreign menu, main course, onion, oriental cuisine, pork strips, pork with vegetables, red bell pepper, soy sauce, special recipe

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Categorías Main courses, Recipes

Chickpeas with chorizo: from the Spanish kitchen

20 Ago

One of the first traditional dishes I tried when I came to Spain was Chickpeas with chorizo. A friend cooked up for me the recipe and since that moment the chickpeas with chorizo earned a privileged place into my kitchen. I prepare them very often, with different kinds of chorizo that always give a distinctive touch to the chickpeas. Which of them tastier? Actually I don´t know. No matter if you choose a sweet chorizo, spicy chorizo, fresh or traditional. The variety makes the richness. Because of this, our today´s recipe is prepared with turkey´s chorizo, delicious as well.

One aspect doesn´t change, at least in the way I cook up this chickpeas: whatever chorizo I choose, the tomato always is natural and ripe, grated just at the moment I´m going to use it. Without any doubt, the difference between preparing the chickpeas in this way and cook them with industrial tomato sauce is clearly palpable. Another point is that the chickpeas, the way they are made in Spain, they are taken out after cooked and are drained. Then, they only take the grains in order to mix them with other ingredients. Because of this, you can use chickpeas already cooked or cook them yourselves in the way I explain later.

It is a very nutritious recipe, full of vegetables proteins, present in our chickpeas, and animal proteins as well in the chorizo. It is true that chickpeas need to be accompanied by pasta or rice in order to synthesize all amino they have and the organism need. For this reason I choose a low-sodium pita bread and the problem was settled. On this menu, onion and garlic strengthen the immune system; vitamins, minerals and lycopene present on tomatoes fight against cellular degeneration and cancer. So, it´s a healthy and tasty menu, isn´t it? Let´s get into the kitchen.

Ingredients

400 g cooked and drained chickpeas (or 250 g chickpeas if you are going to cook them)

200 g Spanish chorizo (I used Turkey´s chorizo)

1 onion

3-4 ripe pear tomatoes

3 garlic cloves

1 tip of chilli (optional)

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

parsley to decorate

salt

How to prepare Chickpeas with chorizo

If you are going to cook the chickpeas, leave one cup (250 g) to soak the night before. Cook them with salt, 1/2 tsp of cumin, one bay leaf and one entire non peel garlic head. Into the pressure cooker they are 20 minutes, count from the start of the pressure´s release. Into a regular pot they usually cook during 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the strength of the grains. Be careful because it is not necessary very soft chickpeas. Drain them, throw away the garlic and the bay leaf and put aside.
If you buy cooked chickpeas, wash them with cold water, drain very well and put aside in the same way.
Heat the olive oil into a pan or into a clay pot. Add the garlic, laminated (if you cook the chickpeas do not put garlic), add the tip of chilli as well and let them golden. Incorporate the onion finely cut before the garlic burn and season with a pinch of salt.
When the onion transparence add the chorizo, peeled and cut into half moons. In order to peel the chorizo make a transversal cut and remove the skin with the tip of the knife.
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Sauté and add the tomato previously grated and seasoned with a bit of salt, stir to integrate everything.
Finally, add the chickpeas well-drained, cover and let it cook 10 minutes. Two minutes before, uncover.

Ready! Serve them in little pot clays or individual dishes and decorate with parsley.

As you will be able to appreciate, they are better fried or sauté chickpeas than a chickpeas potage. Here in Spain, chickpeas and legumes in general are usually cooked in the way of the popular Cocido Madrileño (Madrid Stew). I have the commitment of cook up a Madrid Stew as soon as winter permit this. Now, middle of August, no way. Impossible with the hot of the summer season in this part of the planet. For those people who read me in other latitudes, here you have this link.

The recipe I share today, you can prepare it for 4 people as well, by doubling the amounts. About bread, if you are not hypertensive, choose your favorite, but if you do are, enjoy the chickpeas with white rice. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do every time I prepared it. It´s a very easy and fast recipe to make even in those days we want spend less time into the kitchen. See you soon!

Here you have others Spanish recipes if you want to have a look:

Salmorejo: Cordovan recipe

Spanish omelet with pizza flavor

Etiquetas: chickpeas, chickpeas with chorizo, chorizo, easy recipe, fast recipe, spanish recipe

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Categorías Main courses, Recipes

BBQ chicken: Cuban recipe for pressure cooker

15 Ago

Today I want to share a barbecue chicken recipe, more or less in the way it is prepared in Cuba. It is usually cooked in the oven or into a pressure cooker as well. This once I decided to prepare the recipe into the pressure cooker, a wonderful inventive and a great ally in order to save time inside our kitchens. This is a very easy recipe made in the own way the Cuban mothers and grandmothers cook up BBQ sauce.

The BBQ chicken is prepared in many different ways, depending on where it´s prepares. It´s very popular in the U.S.A, and although the preparation´s common denominator is the sweet sauce and the way we marinate the chicken, it change a little according to the ingredients they chosen, even along the American territory.

The way I present it today is the way, more or less, it´s cook up in Cuba, but I´m sure there are a few versions more of the Cuban BBQ chicken, because in the Cuban gastronomy, the most of the recipes often carries a little bit of improvisation, sometimes adjustments that respond to the availability of one product or another. Without any more delay, let´s prepare our today´s recipe.

Ingredients

2 chicken leg quarters

1 onion

4 garlic cloves

1/2 red bell pepper

1/2 yellow bell pepper (or green bell pepper)

juice of one orange

2 grated tomatoes (or 4 tbsp crushed tomato or tomato sauce)

4 tbsp mustard

one generous splash soy sauce

1 tsp brown sugar

2 cup chicken broth

50 g salt butter

black pepper

salt

How to prepare BBQ chicken: pressure cooker´s Cuban recipe

Remove the chicken skin, season to taste with salt and black pepper.
Golden the chicken into the pressure cooker with 25 g of butter. Take the chicken out and put aside.
Put down the heat, add the other 25 g of butter and stir-fry the garlic into slices, the onion and two kinds of bell pepper into cubes. Season. It is not necessary cut the vegetables into very fine pieces, because later we going to triturate them in order to get a thinner BBQ sauce.
Add the tomato when the vegetables are cooked. If the tomato is natural let cooking during 8-10 minutes.
Incorporate the mustard, the soy sauce, the chicken broth (just 1 cup and reserve the other), the orange juice and the brown sugar´s tea spoon. Let cook and reduce uncovered.
Now add the two chicken pieces (if only there is very little liquid, then add more broth chicken until the pieces are covered), cover the pressure cooker, adjust the pressure valve in position number 2, increase the heat and when it start liberating pressure, down the heat and let it cook. Depending on the intensity of your pressure cooker, it will need more or less time. Mine´s very fast, so 12 minutes are enough time, counted from that it stars to whistle. Chicken cooks very fast into pressure cookers in general.
Once the time has spent and the pressure has liberated, take the chicken out and let´s triturate the sauce. If it has been lot of liquid, strain the vegetables, triturate, and then incorporate the extra liquid, little by little, in order to get the desired density. The sauce should be light but not watered.
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Serve the chicken, dress with sauce and put the rest into a sauceboat to try more. The sauce you don´t use save it very well covered into the fridge, for two or three days; frozen it as well and you will be able to keep it longer and then use it with other meats.

This recipe can be prepared into the oven as well. Proceed seasoning the chicken with salt and black pepper and cover the pieces with the same amount of butter before. Put them into a baking tin and sprinkle with orange juice. Cook for 30 to 45 minutes until golden. Prepare the sauce in the same way I explained before. Cook up the sauce slowly while the chicken is baking and finally triturate with help of a blender. That´s all, enjoy as we did at home.

Etiquetas: BBQ chicken, chicken, Cuban gastronomy, Cuban recipe, pressure cooker recipe

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Categorías Main courses, Recipes

Orchard rice: recipe for electric rice cooker

1 Ago

One of the most popular recipes of this blog, one of the first that I published, was the Rice with chicken, recipe for electric rice cooker. Recently, this recipe has gave me lot of happiness. Statistics put it on the top of the ten more viewed posts, before the Turkey sirloin in apple sauce and Buttercream: cake cover, in this order. In order to answer to the needs of more electric rice cooker´s new recipes I´ll cook up some of them as soon as be possible. For the time being, I leave you with a rice recipe that combines the best products of the orchard. Vegetables, I guess, are available all the year in supermarkets and greengrocers, at least here in Spain.

The recipe that I shares today has not animal proteins at all, but you can add some chicken, turkey, pork or Spanish chorizo; or if you prefer seafood, then add some shrimps, crab or your favorite fish. Whatever, meat or seafood, you should add it to the stir-fry and cook before mix with the rice and incorporate all to the electric rice cooker. This recipe doesn´t contain this kind of proteins because it was the accompaniment of this Pork sirloin with sweet mustard sauce. Now, let´s get into the kitchen and try this recipe.

Ingredients:

2 cups round rice (Brillante Sabroz)
4 cups vegetables or chicken broth
1 small broccoli
1 small eggplant
1 zucchini
2 carrots
1/2 green sweet pepper
1 onion
1 leek
4 garlic cloves
4 tbsp tomato sauce
1 bay leaf
1 cilantro sprig
1 tsp pimentón de la Vera (sweet paprika)
1/2 tsp toast cumin
1/2 tsp saffron
5 tbsp extra virgin oil olive
salt
black pepper

How to prepare Orchard rice: recipe for electric rice cooker

Separate the broccoli branches; cut the eggplant, the zucchini and the green pepper into small dices; cut the carrots into fine half moons; the onion and leek in brunoise.
Peel the garlic and mash the cloves into a mortar with a pinch of salt and the cumin.
Heat the oil into a pan. Add the mashed garlic, the onion and leek and let stir-fry.
This is the moment for adding meat or seafood. Remember season it and stir-fry until golden.
Incorporate the green pepper and the carrot, let cook 5 more minutes.
Add the broccoli, sauté just a couple of minutes.
Put aside from the heat. Add the eggplant and the zucchini at last moment. Add the paprika, the cilantro finely cut and the bay leaf.
Incorporate the rice to the stir-frying, out of the heat.
Put the 4 cups of chicken or vegetables broth with the tomato sauce and the saffron into the electric rice cooker. Incorporate the vegetables and rice. Mix. Check the salt.
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Turn on the rice cooker and it will do the rest.

Remember that our ingredients can´t be hot, specially the broth, in order to avoid our rice cooker ends before the rice cooks. As soon as the rice cooker alert you it has finished, unplug, let it rest for 8 to 10 minutes and then stir and serve. A delicious recipe with all the nutrients of these vegetables.

If you decide to add meat or seafood, the amount of the main ingredients (vegetables not rice) must be the half. Enjoy it!

Etiquetas: extra virgen oil olive, orchard products, recipe for electric rice cooker, rice, rice with vegetables

Comentarios 2 comentarios
Categorías Recipes, Rice

Italian Spanish omelet

30 Jul

This post is a tribute to Spanish and Italian cultures. A tribute to the richness and variety of the Mediterranean diet. Some time ago, in a comment I share in a friend blog, I promised a recipe of Spanish omelet with pizza flavor, Italian style definitely. I´m sure I´m not the only one who have thought in that. So at home we love potatoes omelet, I´m always reinventing it. Another stuff we enjoy as well is pizza; if it is made in home, much better.

This last weekend I had whim of both. As I hadn´t enough time and disposition, I must admit, to prepare a pizza mass, I preferred cook up a Spanish omelet with an Italian dressing that let my «pizza cravings» satisfied. With a little of cheese, herbs and tomato you get that special flavor, the rest of the main ingredients are eggs and potatoes. Just a few ingredients and we´ll able to cooking up a luxury appetizer to share with our friends, taste with a beer or even having lunch or dinner.

Are you keen on the idea? Then, let´s cook it.

Ingredients

2 large potatoes

4-5 eggs

3 dried tomatoes previously rehydrated

4 tbsp grated Grana Padano cheese (Parmesan)

1 slice Mozzarella cheese finally cut

1 tsp dried oregano (a little more to crown)

1/2 tsp dried peppermint (a little more to crown)

garlic salt (you can use dehydrate ground garlic or a crushed clove garlic)

cherry tomato

arugula or rucola

olive oil

salt

How to prepare Italian Spanish omelet

Put the dried tomatoes into a cup of water during 15-20 minutes in order to rehydrated them.
Peel and cut the potatoes into thin slices. Fry them into enough oil until they soften and start golden (no pretty golden). Take them out and put over absorbent paper. Season them with garlic salt or normal salt. You can cook the potatoes into a roasting bag suitable for microwave. 6-8 minutes highest potency.
Beat the eggs, season with garlic salt or normal salt (do not abuse if you´ve already put enough salt to the potatoes), add the oregano and the peppermint, beat a little more to integrate all, incorporate the potatoes and crash them with a fork until you get smaller pieces of potato (this is how it does cook up the authentic Spanish omelet) . Add the grated cheese and the Mozzarella slice into little pieces (remember put aside the other slice to crown), and for last incorporate the rehydrated dried tomato, finally cut. Mix all.
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Put 2 tbsp olive oil into a nonstick pan or the same oil where you fried the potatoes. As soon as you incorporate the mix, stir a little with a wooden spoon (do not be afraid you won´t get scrambled eggs). Let the omelet cook covered, low heat, in order to cook very well until it start bubbling. Check, moving the pan, the mix of the omelet is thickened: it is the moment to turn it around. How? It´s very easy ended: carefully detach laterals, take a dish or a top larger than the top pan, cover it, turn around take back the omelet into the pan. No matter if you leave some egg into the dish or top.
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All rights reserved by Tras La Receta
Add the Mozzarella slice we got aside, cover it once more, let 2-3 minutes more cooking until the cheese melted whereas omelet cook. Take off from the heat.

Ready, here you have another way to prepare potato omelets. This once I didn´t use onion, but you can include it. If you are going to do it, before add it to the beaten eggs you must fry it. Look at this Tortilla de Patatas, that I shared no long time ago. Enjoy this recipe with friend and family. Best regards and happy week beginning.

Etiquetas: cheese, Italian style, Mozzarella, omelet, Parmesan, pizza flavor, Spanish omelet, tomato

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Categorías Recipes, Starters, Appetizers

Rucola or arugula salad with watermelon and toast sunflower seeds

27 Jul

It is already weekend and maybe it´s all right for you get into the kitchen, but you´d prefer spend less time than you usually spend. Because of this, today I want to share a salad recipe, a very easy and fast recipe you´ll be able to prepare in a few minutes and enjoy as well. I won’t extend in a long article this once, just mention that here in Spain, during this portion of the hemisphere’s summer time, we have melon and watermelon everywhere. It is now when these fruits are much tastier and in their best moment to consume.

In the majority of bar and restaurant menus in the Iberian Peninsula it is prepare a tasty typical dish, melon with Serrano (Iberian) ham, that you should try if you come here to visit these lands. High water content and just few sugars, the watermelon (today protagonist) is ideal to include on a weight loss or weight control diet; it´s ideal as well in order to introduce more fruits and vegetables into a healthy life´s style. Watermelons are natural source of vitamin C and Lycopene, this last one, we already know its remarkable role in the fight against cancer.

Ingredients to prepare Rucola or arugula salad with watermelon and toast sunflower seeds

1 Roman lettuce

1 handful Rucola or arugula

1 large slice watermelon

1 red onion (small size)

1-2 tomatoes

2-3 tbsp toast peeled sunflower seeds

4 tbsp fresh beaten cheese

1 thread reduction of Pedro Ximénez vinegar (optional garnish)

Vinaigrette:

2-3 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar of Modena

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

salt to taste

How to prepare Rucola or arugula salad with watermelon and toast sunflower seeds.

Wash, dry and cut into julienne the Roman lettuce. Put it on salad bowl and add the arugula or rucola, the red onion julienne, the tomatoes into fines half moons.
Put into a cup vinegar, olive oil and salt to taste. Mix very well. Add a little of the dressing to the salad and stir.
Incorporate the watermelon dices and the half of the sunflower seeds.

It is ready! You can put the vinaigrette at the end, dressing with vinegar and olive oil separately on rough guess. A light recipe you can prepare as a menu starter, to accompany meat, fish or pizza, or simply to have light lunches or dinners. Would you like to see which other dishes combine with this salad? Then click here.