Cottage Pie

Hi, people of the Internet and my fellow foodies!

I know that I’ve been missing for some time now and I am sorry. But today I bring you one of my favorite recipes… Cottage Pie! It’s simply delicious.

It’s the perfect dish for you to make for dinner if you want to impress a big group of people and it has so many flavors that you’re going to be astonished.

So here it is my version of a British classic…

Ingredients:

750 gr of minced beef (you can use any meat that you like)

1 onion

1 carrot

olive oil

salt & pepper

2 cloves of garlic

tomato puree

a few gulgs of red wine

1 cube of chicken stock (250 ml) |you can use a beef cube if you prefer|

some bay leafs

4/5 medium potatoes

Parmesan cheese

a few glugs of milk

Preparation:

1. Pour olive oil in a large pan. Add the meat until it’s golden-brown and season it to your taste.
2. Grate the onion and the carrot and add them to the pan.
3. When the previous ingredients are soft add the tomato puree, some bay leafs and some gulgs of red wine.
4. Add the chicken stock after the wine as evaporated, and cook it for about 10 min.
5. Boil the potatoes without any skin and mash them adding Parmesan cheese. You can add milk if you think that it is too thick.
6. Pour the meat into an over proof dish and then scoop the mashed potatoes on top (also you can add breadcrumbs for extra texture) . Bake it in the oven for 20 min or until it’s golden.

Serve!

Hope you enjoy and tell me how it went or any questions you might have in the comment box below. 

Lots of love,

Paradise of Words

Barcelona Souvenirs

Hi, everyone!

Today I’m going to show you some souvenirs that my mom brought me from Barcelona, when she was there in November So let’s share!

There were tree souvenirs. All very good!

1) A bar of dark chocolate mixed with varied nuts (walnuts, almonds and pine nuts)

2) A sealed wooden box of turrón de alicante.

3) A metallic box with beautiful drawings filled with 4 different types of chocolate ( White, 32%, 50%, 70%)

1) It was a simple craft chocolate with beautiful nuts. Amazing!

2) This is a very traditional spanish candy. It’s very hard and sweet. It’s made mostly of toasted almonds mixed in egg whites and honey. You have to watch for your teeth, but you can’t just simply go to Spain and not try it. I didn’t get a shot before it was gone, so here is only the box. Use your imagination or Google to see it.

3) The last one is a box with different types of chocolate. This means how much cocoa there is. Of course the sweeter one is the white and the one with the stronger taste is the 70%. This is a good thing to have at home, when you want to do a chocolate taste with your friends. Besides you have all choices for every preferences. It’s a good product. But of course when it comes to chocolate I still have to pick Lindt, Guylian or Godiva. The best!

Hope you enjoyed. Have you ever bought traditional sweets from another country? Write your opinions or questions on the comment box below.  🙂

Lots of love,

Paradise of Words

Gnocchi with Cheese

Hi, everyone!

Here I am, once more to give you another recipe and today is one that comes from the depths of Italy. Gnocchi with cheese. Everything about it, remembers me of the sunny days and the beautiful villas. Good and simple food.

This recipe is originally from Jamie Oliver new YouTube channel, which you should totally check it out. I just added a new ingredient and changed two. Don’t worry, you’ll understand in moments.

I had bought gnocchi before, but I didn’t really know what to do with it, so I was very happy and excited when I found this. Besides it’s so easy to make, that you can just relax.

It’s soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside and then you have the melted cheese with the pinch of salt. It’s basically a fancy and much better version of mac and cheese.

My extra ingredient was prosciutto, which was an enriching add to this already amazing dish.

Ingredients:

500 gr Gnocchi

2/3 bay leafs (it depends on you liking the flavour)

2 types of cheese (this is all up to you. I didn’t use the ones in the recipe and just went with mozzarella and a dutch cheese. Damn, can’t remember the name. But again it’s whatever you prefer)

a pinch of salt

25 gr butter

Preparation:

1. Cook the gnocchi in boiling water with a pinch of salt.

2. Melt the butter in a frying pan and then add the bay leafs

3. Add the drained gnocchi and mix, always in a medium/low heat.

4. Start adding the cheese and the put it in the oven at 200ºC for 10 min or until it’s golden on top.

Serve!

Hope you enjoy and tell me how it went or any questions you might have in the comment box below. 

Lots of love,

Paradise of Words

Rolled Cake with Chocolate Filling

Hi, everyone!

 

Today I bring you, one of my favourite recipes of all time. One that as always made an appearance in every special occasion with my family. One that was taught to  me by my great-grandmother. I didn’t really have a specific name for it, so I searched it online and finally found the right name: Rolled Cake.

But the way that I do, has definitely fewer calories. All because I don’t use any butter!!! Hurray!!

It’s all fluffy and light and then you have the chocolate inside, which is just amazing. I don’t even have words to begin to tell you how delicious and easy to make it is. Easy to make the batter, a bit harder to roll…

 

When I first tried out, I told my mother, that if this was just it, for her to expect one every week. Of course I have the rule that I can only make a dessert, when the previous one has already been entirely eaten. I understand, it’s an efective way for us not to throw good food away. But the conclusion, is that you are going to love it! Really!

Whether to share with friends or just to have it for yourself, in a quiet afternoon with the beautiful Spring days right ahead, it’s just going to be memorable.

So, the recipe which is what everyone came for, is…

Ingredients:

6 eggs

170 gr of plain-flour

250 gr of sugar

6 dessert spoons of milk

25 gr of butter (this is optional, it’s just so the chocolate will feel more “silky”)

175 gr of chocolate (you can use more or less. It’s up to you, but this is enough)

Preparation:

1. Beat the eggs with the sugar, till they are a very soft yellow creamy mix. (I don’t know what machine you use, but as for Kenwood, you have to use the whisk or else it won’t work)

2. Involve the flour bit by bit. (and check the bottom of the bowl for sugar that wasn’t well mixed)

3. Put the batter in a very wide rectangular cake pan (So it’s just a thin layer), previous covered with parchment paper and then bake it in the oven at 180 ºC for 20-30 min.

4. In a small bowl break the chocolate and add the milk and butter, then put it in the microwave for 15 seconds. (You’ll have to do this more than once, and always stirring with a spoon, so it won’t burn in the bottom. It’s much quicker than a bain-marie, but it’s up to you to choose wich technique you will use).

5. Place the baked cake in a wet kitchen cloth and then add the filling on top. (but just until 2/3 or else when you start to roll, it’ll spill)

6. Roll very carefully and slowly, and don’t apply to much pressure. If it breaks (which don’t worry, it’s normal in the first times. It happened to me) turn that side down and use for presentation the better one.

Serve!

Hope you enjoy and tell me how it went or any questions you might have in the comment box below. 

Lots of love,

Paradise of Words

Sausage/Cheese and Ham Rolls Appetizers

Hi, everyone!

Today is all about appetizers. Sometimes we just want to present something more simple while people wait for the first courses. Or sometimes we just want a snack for ourselves.

This ones are not very fancy, but they are quick and easy to do. And I bet you will find them delicious.

Eating them fresh from the oven is the best, trust me. It’s so easy that it feels weird to add the usual layout of ingredients and preparation, but I think that it’s best like this. So here it is!

Ingredients:

1. Puff pastry (I buy the one already made on the supermarket. It’s easier!)

2. A can of sausages (you can use soy ones, if you’re vegetarian.)

3. Cheese and ham.

Preparation:

1. Lay the pastry in a clean surface and wrap each individual sausage with it. (like an envelope)

2. Do the same thing with a roll of cheese and ham.

3. Roll them over so the smooth side stays on top and bake it in the oven at 200ºC for 10-15 min.

You can decorate as you want on the top, with strips or little circles of pastry.

Serve!

Hope you enjoy and tell me how it went or any questions you might have in the comment box below. 

Lots of love,

Paradise of Words

Christmas Sweet Presents Review

Hi, everyone!

It’s a bit overdue and we’re already on January but here are some photos of two presents that I received this Christmas. One is a basket, with some butter cookies designed for the holidays (you can find a similar recipe here, you just have to add more butter), 2 jars of chutney, one of pumpkin another of pear; and the other was inside a shiny pink rapping and it was a portuguese traditional cake, called Bolo Rainha (the translation by word is Queen Cake). They were all very delicious and the cookies were to quick to “disappear”… *Where are you? I need you!!*

Believe me you would feel exactly the same…

But good news everybody my cousin, the person who wonderfully made all of this, has just opened her business. It’s called Sweet Bomboca and you can order from designed cakes to homemade jams. You can find all of the information here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sweet-Bomboca/178826042242215?fref=ts

So let’s start the display of images, that will make me feel hungry even when I’m not…

Hope you enjoyed and also had amazing presents!

Lots of love,

Paradise of Words

Chocolate Mousse

Hello, everyone  and welcome to 2013!

For the first post of the year the mood should be the same that I had for the first day of the year. Easy, lazy things to do, but that will still count as amazing. People say that how you start it’s how it’s going to be. Well, I started with chocolate mousse, which is the ultimate easy dessert to do.

And the way that I do it, I bet that it has fewer calories than most recipes. And you still have the same flavour, the same fluffy texture and everything else.

And how I do this? Well, no cream from the start and I use only dark chocolate (preferably one just for culinary purposes or over 70% cacao).

Also the topping shown on the photos is crumbs of amaretti cookies, just a little sparkle and texture.

Ingredients:

250 gr of dark chocolate

8 eggs (egg whites and egg yolks separated)

Preparation:

1. In a bain-marie heat the chocolate until it melts.
2. Meanwhile beat the egg whites until they form soft picks and mix the egg yolks with a fork in a separate bowl.
3. After taking the chocolate from the heat, let it cool a bit (so the eggs won’t cook when added)
4. In the chocolate bowl add a small amount of  the egg whites and mix and then of the egg yolks. Repeat the process while looking to the bottom of the bowl, so you can see if everything is being well mixed.

Once that is done, you can start eating it right away (like I prefer) or place it in the fridge so it sets (about 2 hours). Serve!

Hope you enjoy and tell me how it went or any questions you might have in the comment box below. 

Also have a good 2013!

“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language
And next year’s words await another voice.”
― T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets

Lots of love,

Paradise of Words

Blattertorte

Hi, everyone!

Today’s recipe is more sophisticated and also more difficult to do. It’s the kind of dessert that might take the whole afternoon to make, but let me say it’s worth it.

It’s made of 5 layers of crunchy cookies separated with two fillings, one of strawberry and one of cream. A festive dessert for a New Year’s Day. It’s a german tart that will be a center piece at your table.

Delicious, with the side note that if you don’t like strawberry’s there’s a big probability that you won’t like this either.

Ingredients:

• For cookie layers:

120 gr of grated skinless almond

250 gr of plain-flour

200 gr of butter

120 gr of sugar

1 egg white (you might have to add a second one, depending on the size of the eggs)

• For the strawberry filling:
  

420 gr of strawberries

150 gr of sugar

40 gr of orange juice

30 of corn starch

• For the cream filling:
  

400 gr of cream (really cold)

Preparation:

• For the cookies:
  

1. Pre-heat the oven to 160ºC.
2. Pour the flour, the butter, the sugar and the egg white to the bowl and mix.
3. Divide the dough into 5 parts (about 140 gr each).
4. Roll one into a removable cake pan bottom (26 cm) and with a spatula detach it from it so it’s easy to take out after going to the oven.
5. Bake it for 15 min at 160ºC or until it’s golden.
6. With the help of a spatula take the layer to a clean surface and let it cool.
7. Repeat the same process for each of the individual dough parts.

• For the strawberry filling:

1. In a saucepan heat the strawberries, the sugar and the orange juice together  and finally add the corn starch a few minutes after.
2. In a food processor mash the previous mix until it’s soft. Let it cool.
3. Pour into a piping bag or just keep in a separate bowl.

• For the cream filling:

1. Beat the cream till it’s whipped.
2. Pour into a piping bag or just keep in a separate bowl.

• Assembling it together 🙂 :

1. Add in a plate the first layer (you can secure it with a bit of the strawberry filling)
2. Spread the strawberry filling and pour the cream one on top. .
3. Do this until you don’t have more cookie layers.
4. You can either top with caster sugar or like me who forgot one of the layers just with the whipped cream.

Serve!

Hope you enjoy and tell me how it went or any questions you might have in the comment box below. 

Lots of love,

Paradise of Words

 

Apple Crumble

Hi, everyone!

Today recipe is more me taking on someone else’s recipe than one of my own. Let me explain…

Probably like most of you (of course, you are reading this…) I search and look for new recipes on the Internet. So it happened that I was watching some YouTube when I came across a channel from someone who defends anti-bullying and is also apparently an amazing cook. Her name is Lindsay Atkin (www.youtube.com/user/liliesarelike) and you may know her as being the mother of YouTube sensation Charlie McDonnell, but today it’s all about her.

With a warm and nice personality that makes you feel invited to her home, she shows us how to make her own recipes trough videos made in her own kitchen. Now you might think that these are your typical low quality videos, but not at all. Whether is her son’s influence or her own pride on doing things right the videos are HD. Of course they have a bit of shaking, but nothing that affects the viewer immensely.

From those that she has, I choose one. The Apple Crumble.

I had never made ​​a crumble before, except a strawberry one. So it was a new experience in the kitchen.

From the original recipe I just change one thing: instead of using the lemon zest I used and orange one and it was also very good. It’s also tradition to use custard as a “garnish” but I didn’t and went the simple way as you can see on the photos. Of course this is your choice and you can add it after.

This dessert is amazing! It has de same crunchy topping and soft filling as an apple pie, but adds the flavour of spring and summer to it with the orange.

So here you have the recipe and I’ll link the video at the end.

Ingredients:

125 gr flour

100 gr sugar

100 gr butter

1 orange

5 apples

Preparation:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180º C

2. Peel and cut the apples and then place them into a pan with little water until they are cooked.

3. In a large bowl place the flour and the butter (preferably cold) and rub it with your fingers till it looks like bread crumbs.

4. Add the sugar and then orange zest and mix all together.

5. Place the fruit into a cake pan in order to cover the whole bottom and then sprinkle with a bit of sugar.

6. Pour the crumble mixture on top and bake it at 180º C for 25 min.

Serve!

Link for the video recipe:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iivRHA4XzZI

 

Hope you enjoy and tell me how it went or any questions you might have in the comment box below. 

Lots of love,

Paradise of Words

Pumpkin Tart

Hi, everyone!

It has been a month gone by since Halloween and there waiting in my freezer is the interior of my pumpkin, that I took out before starting my carvings for that spooky night. Now it’s time to use it for a more special and delicious purpose.

I’m not a big fan of pumpkin, let me start there. It has a strong smell and after a while it becomes a bit sickening for me. So I was happily surprised when tasting the cake I didn’t find it to “pumpkinish”. It has a soft crust, a delicious filling and a sweat topping covered with cocoa powder. You will love it!

Before I give you the recipe, some crucial tips (that would have saved me tons of time if I had known them from the start, but you do learn from this little things 🙂 ).

First, if you have your pumpkin frozen, like I did, be wise to take a portion that is over the amount you need to defreeze. This is because when the water is frozen it changes massively the weight. For example I took out 400 gr of frozen pumpkin that in the end was just a little over 300 gr. You can see how much time I lost defreezing more pumpkin… 😦

Secondly, when using the fresh cream be sure that it’s very cold and that the one that you are using can be transformed into whipped cream. (I advice you to use a brand that you are accustomed to or that you have a good reference of.) 

Ingredients:

• For the crust:

200 gr plain-flour

25 gr brown sugar

a pinch of salt

80 gr cold butter

40 gr water

• For the filling:
  

400 gr of pumpkin

120 gr brown sugar

2 eggs

40 gr vegetable oil

1 teaspoon of turmeric powder

a pinch of salt

a pinch of ginger powder

40 gr plain-flour

• For the topping:
  

3 sheets of neutral gelatine

water

200 gr fresh cream with or over 35% of fat and very cold

50 gr milk

50 gr brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon powder

1 egg

Cocoa powder or chocolate shavings and walnuts (for decoration)

Preparation:

• For the crust:
  

1.  Pre-heat the oven at 180ºC.
2. Mix all the ingredients (you can use a food processor or do it by hand).
3. Roll out the pastry and line the tin (24 cm)

• For the filling:

1. Mash the pumpkin with a the help of a food processor.
2. Once that is done add the sugar, the eggs, the vegetable oil, the turmeric powder, the salt and the ginger powder to the pumpkin and beat.
3. Add the flour and mix.
4. Pour the filling into the crust and bake it for 45 min at 180ºC. (After taking out of the oven let it cool down completely!).

• For the topping:

1. Place the sheets of gelatine in cold water so they can go all soft and jelly.
2. Beat the cream. (be carefull so you won’t beat too much, to the point that they will transform into butter)
3. In a pan in medium heat beat the milk , the sugar, the cinnamon powder and the egg.
4. Add the gelatine, after squeezing all the water and stir.
5. Add the whipped cream and involve.
6. Add the topping to the tart  and put it in the fridge for 4 hours or till it’s firm.
7. Sprinkle from high the cocoa powder and then add the walnuts. (Of course this is optional and you can easily use whatever you want to decorate.)

Serve!

Hope you enjoy and tell me how it went or any questions you might have in the comment box below. 🙂

Lots of love,

Paradise of Words