Shall we eat?

Veggie salad sprinkle with basil, cilantro, mint herbs and a Dijon vinaigrette. I am venturing more in to making these veggie plates a part of my lifestyle. It can be served as a first course, a companion to fish, chicken or meat.  It goes well with anything and can satisfy any taste, you just choose what you want to place.

I am totally convinced that we always have to keep doing things just for ourselves, specially if it is things that make us happy.  We have to be able to know when to stop the saturation of the daily life routine.

am fascinated with casseroles I just throw any veggie and drizzle it with olive oil, coarse salt and voilà it's magnificent. These  Le Creuset casserole are so great to wash and you can take it from the refrigerator to the oven or microwave and be ready for the table. 

I went to a fantastic birthday party thrown by a friend for her mom.  

I loved her idea,  a brunch on a Saturday morning. She got a huge Venezuelan food truck parked at her garage with arepas and cachapas. Arepas is a kind of bread made of corn dough, you can have it stuffed  with meat, cheese or any thing you like. My favorite is chicken with avocado. Cachapas are like a pancake made from fresh corn and hand made cheese. They are really delicious, if you ever have the chance and come across one you must try it.

Debbie's cheese table, I love the way she served a dip using a bread as a bowl.

Everybody is talking about the detox diet, I have friends that have been drinking special combinations of fruits and veggie juices, others doing the detox clean program of Gwyneth Paltrow and so I decided to do a month of cyber detox.

I took some time for myself and decided to place a pause on my old routine. I started by just taking quality time for myself. A kind of  inner side vacation. Slow down everything, eating exactly what I want, being more organized with my menus and being able to enjoy it without being rushed. 

I started to move faster by taking Zumba classes, a great latin dance fitness that boosts and renews yourself with special energy. I love exercises that are attached with music so I decided to take belly dancing too, It brings out the inner goodness. We are planning to do a Moroccan girls tea dance that will be something interesting for future posts. I keep walking as much as I can even if Florida is a driving city.

I am also in the process of giving my blog and online store a twist pushing it more towards real life. Not that before it wasn't. Its that I have always been too conscious about privacy  and now I decided to open more the door and give everyone a quick peek of my life and my dear ones. Like opening the curtains to have a look inside. I think it’s the only way to share some of the things I like best, eat !

My friend Debbie called me yesterday telling me that she was going to make a cheese table inspired in the one I always do. I told her the idea is to break the rules and not be perfect, to not have matching dinnerware or table cloth. If the theme is cheeses and wine, I always fill the table with a variety of honeys, marmalades, fruits, nuts, breads and all kind of beautiful vegetables to eat and mostly to use as part of the decoration. You have to do it in a free way, making every thing look fresh, tempting and inviting.

When I place the cheeses on the board I like to have a feeling  that there is a story behind each plate and that the veggie selected next to the cheese with the almonds, the honey and the figs have to tell you something while smoothly leading you to try the next plate.

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Le petit jardin

I got inspired by this idea after reading a salad recipe by Christine Manfield, an Australian chef.  Making this was like doing a mini garden more precise like a pot and soil recipe for planting, the result was an adorable tiny salad. I think this recipe is just an idea to be developed with ingredients that you prefer, more like a tip to later continue in your own way. In this case I know there are many steps to follow to make these little treasures, but that is what makes it special: all the details and care inside.

For the sweet and sour dressing start by making a syrup adding chili, garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, and sesame oil.

Each mini garden will have "planted" tiny sticks of apple, celery, spring onion, oranges, little leaves of cilantro, kaffir, alfalfa sprouts and sunflower sprouts.

At the bottom I added smoked shredded trout with green mango ginger relish.

I carried them to the table on a tray served in small plates so that each person could add the dressing themselves and then place them on their plates. 

Ingredients (serves four)

 4oz  slices smoke salmon  (I use wild Alaskan)

1 smoke trout 

1 small apple 

2 celery  stalks

2 spring onion

2 spoons of salmon roe

alfalfa sprouts

sunflower sprouts

For the relish

1 green mango ( peeled and cut into matchsticks)

1 shallot ( thinly sliced)

1 red chili ( finely chopped)

1 green chili ( finely chopped)

1 tbs ginger ( grated)

1 tbs rice vinegar

1 tbs brown sugar

1 tbs cilantro( finely chopped)

pinch of salt

For the dressing

1/2 cup caster sugar

1/3 cup water

1 red chili

1 garlic clove

1 tbs sesame oil

11/2 soy sauce

2 tbs cider vinegar

1 tbs mirrim

For the dressing

In a saucepan I placed the water and sugar to medium heat, stirred to dissolve until reduced to a syrup  and added the rest of ingredients, bringing them to a boil and simmering over low heat for about 10 minutes until reduced. Strain into a sieve and chill until used.

For the relish 

In a saucepan add the sugar and heat until it is dissolved. Add the shallot and chilies and continue to stir. Add the water, vinegar, ginger, mangoes, cilantro and salt. Mix well. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Uncover and continue to cook for about 5 more minutes until the mangos are soft.

Thinly shred the apples, celery, spring onion, cilantro, kaffir leaves and cut the orange into segments. Assemble the slices of salmon into little pots, add inside a little of the smoked shredded trout followed by the green mango ginger relish and stack some shredded apple, celery, spring onion, cilantro, kaffir leaves, little segments of oranges, alfalfa sprouts, the sunflower sprouts and the salmon roe.

When serving drizzle with the sweet and sour dressing.

Little gardens are ready to eat. 

Recap

It's been two weeks since I had last written.. a long week of home cooking, family reunions and getting together. So intense that I couldn't even tweet or post. Nevertheless there are many pictures to share coming soon.

Sebastian came from NY for a few days, we cooked, talked and ate comfort food.

My mushrooms are growing I think they are ready to eat. I am planing to make a pasta with them thanks to my blogger friend Lisa. Bryan brought me spices from Vietnam and Cambodia which I loved and I finally bought the dragon fruit after looking for it for months in the grocery store. I had been going almost  3 times a day without exaggerating just to get every detail of every ingredient planned for all the preparations.

On Saturday we had friends over the house, to be more precise we cooked for fifty people with the glorious help of my friend Bessy and Vera the best photographer ever .

The menu always ambitious long enough to not be able to finishe all. I placed the Holy menu on the kitchen wall to check and mark down the dishes that were ready. Friends arrived at 8.30 pm and I was still in the kitchen running hiding to rush for a shower and get dressed in minutes. 

The kitchen was a paradise hell filled with the most amazing spices and herbs. At 10 pm it was a totally chaos, overwhelming even with fabulous helpers we couldn't do it as organized as I wanted it to be. Ingrid was making tons of chicken skewers to serve over a plantain leaf with coconut peanut sauce and my other helper Gloria made hundreds of hand made tortillas while Teresa filled the sink with used plates and empty glasses. I was running from the kitchen to the food table giving the last touches to each plate and trying to make the missing sauces.

Thirty-something plates with a theme of "bite and small bites" substantial, fresh, colorful, vibrant, cultural, sensible and without pretentiousness. Thai flavors with Latin visits, some touches from Spain, Mexico, Italy and Japan. Kind of like a United Nations hug all together at the table starting with mini taquitos, Chinese lettuce filled with spicy meat, rice paper rolls with fresh vegetables, crab cakes, fig with feta bruschetta, mini salmon packets, little boxes of cod fish, corn cakes with a sweet chicken stew and  we cant forget the mini tortillas de patatas...

First time I cooked the forbidden rice a beautiful completely black rice from China placed next to the jasmine rice cooked with coconut milk, lemon grass and ginger, sublime and noble dish sprinkle with toasted coconut curls.

I realized that in the same way I am at home with objects and clothes I am with food: always mixing and matching colors, textures and flavors. Balance is the key a little of this a little of that, the crunch, the soft, the sweet, the salted, as simple as using the five tastes. My partner he is kosher and I am organic, so there were many details to follow during these days.

I always am extremely exaggerated when cooking for guests I think I have to make infinity of dishes so every one finds what they like and be pleased to eat as much as they want. I kind of try to spoil everyone, that is always my main concern. We left Nicolas at a pet resort during the big dinner and he came back hoarse with a sore throat because of all the crying during a night away from home. The resort has a food menu to choose from like beef with yam and oatmeal, to fresh fish with organic herbs and eggs drizzled with cod oil. They even treat them with ice creams but that doesn't help him at all. He hates it anyway.

My retro Mad Men bar, whisky sales have boomed because to the TV show, even on the party most of the people drank Scotch on the rocks rather than wine. 

My breakfast the day after the party, that was when I was enjoying  the pleasure of eating leftovers in the quiet of my home.




Now I finish my day thinking how sorry I am with the lost of the most precious and valuable Apple, Steve he will be with us. Thanks to you I am able to do what I do and have the world open to my eyes from wherever I am. Bravo!!! and thank you.

Mini tortilla de patatas

These are mini tortillas Españolas that are great for hors d'oeuvres and tapas.

I used a silicone baking cups for mini cupcakes.

You can add different toppings for decoration like grilled red peppers, anchovies, Manchego cheese, olives, chorizo or just leave it plain.

This was for a Sunday brunch where I also made pasta with cherry tomatoes & basil and panko breaded chicken breast. 

For the breaded chicken breast I made several sauces to choose from, they were like dips. Everybody liked the curry mayonnaise, the fig with caramelized onions and the chipotle sauce.

Tortilla Española

Ingredients:

6-8 eggs

6-8 potatoes

I onion

2 garlic cloves minced

olive oil

Salt and pepper

Preparation:

I boiled the potatoes to make everything easier and faster. I cooked the chopped onion and garlic in olive oil until they were tender. I cut the potatoes into small pieces, then added them to the olive oil and smashed them together while cooking with the onion and garlic. I removed them from the stove and mixed all of it in a bowl with the whisked egg seasoned with salt and pepper.

Pour the mixture on the cupcake baking tray and bake approximately for about 15 to 20 minutes.

A perfect bite to follow a Sangria...

Silicone baking cups

http://shop.lolalobato.com/products/Foldable-Silicone-Baking-Cups-%28set-of-six%29.html

XMAS TO GO

FACIL + RAPIDO

Un aperitvo "to go" para llevar a fiestas o en la cena de navidad.
Dulce, salado y crujiente.

dátiles + parmesano + nueces

INES ROSALES

LAS LEGITIMAS Y ACREDITADAS TORTAS DE ACEITE DE INES ROSALES

Globalizadas y embajadoras de la provincia de Sevilla, España
Sus orígenes desde 1910, se elaboran a mano respetando la receta original. Una mezcla de aceite de oliva virgen, harina, azúcar, ajonjolí y anís.
Las probé en el desayuno con un cappuccino al dia siguiente de "Thanksgiving". Me encanto acompañarla con queso Cheddar de cranberry una combinación deliciosa de dulce y salado.
Con aspecto artesanal, vienen envueltas en papel encerado. Son crujientes, delicadas con una dulzura suave y un toque de anís.
Tan versátil como para un desayuno, merienda o parte de un hors d'oeuvre con vino y licores.

TAPENADE

Es la solución rápida para cuando llega algún invitado inesperado, o la opción perfecta para un hors d´oeuvre mediterráneo. Delicioso untado sobre rebanadas de baguette tostadas (crostini) o triangulitos de pan de pitta. Cuando se prueba, sugiere un procedimiento mucho más sofisticado de preparar, y la verdad es que sumamente fácil + rápido.

Ingredientes
9 oz. de aceitunas negras
6 filetes de anchoas
2 dientes de ajo
2 cdas. de aceite oliva
Jugo de un limón
Pimienta
Sal

Preparación
Mezclar los ingredientes en un procesador de alimentos hasta que quede como una pasta cremosa.

Para un toque refinado, agregarle una cucharada de brandy o cognac. Si desea comerlo untado en crostini, rebane un baguette, unte con aceite de oliva ambos lados de cada rebanada y meta algunos minutos en el horno, hasta que esté dorado y crujiente.