Lemon Curd , a Favorite of Great Britain

Growing up in Spain, one year around the age of 12 I took an extra curriculum class at the school.  The class was of the English language.  I already  spoke English at home but because I was only speaking it at home I remember having difficulty with spelling so my mom thought that it would be good for me to take it.  Well,  the teacher was a young woman form Spain who had learned the language in England.  She spoke with a traditional British accent and one day she shared with us a recipe she got I guess from her visits to England. I don't know what exactly made me try to make this myself at such a young age, but the matter of the fact is that I remember following this recipe to the letter and was amazed at my own results. Ever since my love for Lemon Curd remains true!

INGREDIENTS

4 Lemons

4 Eggs

Half cup of butter

1 1/2 cup of sugar

Grate lemon rinds and squeeze the lemon juice of the four lemons and strain it then. Mix and beat the eggs till foamy.  In a double boiler combine the lemon juice with the butter and the sugar until it is all melted and dissolved.  Then add the eggs but first make sure to strain these, then stir vigorously  until the water is boiling and the curd is smooth, thick and creamy, about 20 minutes. It will be very hot but do not let it boil or the eggs will curdle.

Pour the curd into small, hot, clean jars and allow to cool before covering like you would jam and storing in the refrigerator.  It will keep for 8 weeks.

Chicken breast in sweet fig sauce

 

 

 

My neighbor gave me these beautiful figs and I immediately thought of the wonderful dish that my husband had in Madrid this Summer.  It was roasted strips of beef with this rich fig sauce.  I then thought to recreate my own recipe with chicken breast but of course you could use pork loin or beef.

 

 

INGREDIENTS FOR THE SAUCE

 

1/2 pound of fresh figs

1/4 cup of Balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup of white wine

1/8 cup of soy sauce

1 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. of fresh ground pepper

1/8 cup of honey of Agave nectar

1/2 cup of water

 

Peel and cut into squares the figs.  Add all the liquid ingredients and bring to a boil. Then continue cooking at medium heat for about 15 to 20 minutes till the water has evaporated and figs have a deeper rich color.

 

In a separate pan add one Tbsp. of olive oil and one Tbsp. of butter.  Sauté a chopped  medium onion and three cloves of garlic till golden. 

 

Place onion and fig sauce in a blender and blend at high speed till all ingredient become a soft paste.  Add a little bit of water if sauce becomes too thick.

 

Take two or three chicken breasts and clean and fillet in half.  In  a shallow pan add a couple tsps. of butter and olive butter.  Place seasoned  breast (seasoned with  salt, pepper and garlic) and grill quickly both sides till golden brown. Add 1/4 cup of red wine  Then place in a baking dish and pour sauce over chicken and finish baking on a 350 degree oven for about 20, to 30 minutes.

 

Serve with potatoes or rice and your favorite vegetable.

 

 

 

Healthy Italian Pizza

EASY PIZZA DOUGH

3 cups of flour ( use bread flour)

If you would like to make this a part whole wheat recipe, use half whole wheat flour.

1 1/2 tsp of active yeast

1 small tsp of salt

1 large Tbsp of Olive oil

1 cup of warm water

Mix and knead ingredients in a mixing bowl for about 5 to 10 min. 

Then place in a pre-greased in olive oil bowl. Cover with a clean cloth or plastic and place in a warm oven to rise  for an hour.

 After the one hour, it should have at least doubled or more in size.

Punch down and put over a flour surface and knead for a couple of minutes. Then shape into two round or rectangular pizzas if you would like thin crust.  If you prefer a thicker pizza , then use the whole amount for one pizza.  Cover and let rise for half an hour.  Then cook in a 400 degree oven for 5 min. Take out and brush olive oil over crest, a little tomato pizza sauce and them fresh tomatoes, red and green bell peppers, onion, Italian style turkey sausage ( all ready cooked and minced) cover with shredded Mozzarella cheese. Add mushrooms, and grated Provolone cheese. Add sliced black olives.
You are ready to place in a hot 400 degree F oven till it is brown and cheese is bubbling.

Enjoy!!

ZUPPA TORTELLINI (Italy)

Zuppa Tortellini has become one of our family favorites.  Not too long ago I was shopping at my local supermarket and they were having a special on turkey sausage and fresh cheese filled tortellini.  My son was with me so I had him try the  Zuppa Tortellini soup they were  offering to encourage shoppers to buy the products. He is 10 years old and I'm always looking for healthy food that he will eat for dinner. He loved it so I did buy that day the two products,  but later I  bought different ingredients and made it my own recipe, which we all love even more. Here the recipe!

INGREDIENTS

One package  of fresh tortellini ( cheese filled)

One package ( one pound) of fresh italian sweet turkey seasoned sausage

One medium size bag of spinach

One small glass of white wine

One can of chicken stock or chicken bouillon

6 cups of water

salt and dry basil to taste

Couple of TBSP of olive oil

Optional one large peeled tomato

Garnish with  grated Provolone cheese

In an open deep pan put the olive oil and brown the sausage, removing it from its cases. brown in lumps and then add the wine. Add the stock and water and then add salt and basil.  Once it starts to boil add the tortellini and the bag of spinach and the optinal tomato.  Once the tortellini is tender ( do not over cook) you may then serve in bowls with the grated provolone.

As you see this is a very simple version and easy to make recipe of Zuppa Tortellini!

Fish Cake ( Pudin de Pescado)

This recipe is one that came to me through my mother. Where she learned it or started to make it, I do not know but I remember it as being always delicious and always accompanied by white rice and a tomato sauce on the side.
I know my mother always tried to use her leftover to create other dishes so many times if there was leftover fish we would have this but other times I know she would start out with fresh or frozen fish. You can use any type of white fish ( cod, tilapia, whiting,etc.) and if you would like to make if special you can add boiled shrimp.
The recipe is as follows:

Four fillets of any white fish ( Pollock, Whiting, Cod, Flounder,etc.)
One medium onion
Two large cloves of garlic
Two or three medium carrots
1/4 cup of bread crumbs
Worcestershire sauce to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil and butter to saute cooked fish and veggies
three or four eggs beaten
2 to 3 cups of milk

In a large frying pan add about 2 TBSP of oil and 2 of butter. Saute the diced onion, minced garlic and chopped carrots. When tender and brown add the boiled fish all crumbled. Then add salt,pepper to taste and the Worcestershire sauce. Add the bread crumbs to this mixture and cook for another five minutes or so.
In a bowl mix the eggs and milk well beaten with a pinch of salt. Add the the mixture of the fish.
In a oven proof dish already buttered and pour the fish batter and place in a hot oven of 350 degrees to cook till its done or till when you place a toothpick in it, it will come out clean ( approx. time of cooking is about 30 min.)

Serve with some white rice and a sauce mixture of half mayo and half catchup.
Enjoy, its healthy and delicious!!

German potato salad (Kartoffelsalat)

In southern Germany this coarse cut potato side dish is served with vinegar and oil. In northern Germany mayo is added, but how did this recipe become widespread when potatoes were not part of the old German diet.
Potatoes (Kartoffel) got to Germany by a long route first from the Spanish from South America to Spain, and then they slowly spread throughout Europe. The Spanish first thought they were truffles! Maybe because they were dug from the earth like truffles are. The Italians were the first to try cultivating the potato,but with little luck. The word Kartoffel comes from the Italian word Tartufolo (truffles). Since the leaves were poisonous the potato got a bad reputation as something to avoid.
Potatoes also got the reputation for causing lustful thoughts, so many avoided these "fruits of the devil" even if they were hungry! The first cultivated potatoes were not very good either. They were very small and sometimes bitter. It took some cross breading to get the potato as we know it today. In it's modern fashion it is only about 250 years old.The first potatoes were planted in Germany in the mid 1500's but It became something only the peasants grew on their land and ate as cheap sustenance for many years.

Ingredients
Four to five potatoes (you may use one pound of new potatoes leaving skin) boil potatoes till medium soft.
One small yellow or white onion
One small red onion
Eight to ten strips of bacon cooked and cut into pieces.
Kielbasa sausage, one pound
1/4 cup of chop green onion
Salt and pepper to taste
One tsp of mustard sead
Olive oil
Malt vinager if desired, about one TBSP

Boil potatoes, till medium soft, then cut into medium size pieces. Place into large open pan diced onions oli and sausage, when golden add the potatoes. Mix well and season. Cook till golden brown. Add then bacon and stir . Finally add if desired the vinager and green onion. Serve hot as is or with some favorite cheese .

Belgium waffles. Gaufre de Liège .

Waffles can be found throughout Europe in the early Middle Ages. These were originally much lighter as they were cooked in flat irons with biblical images depicted on them and often also the use of wine was one of their ingredients. It is around the 18th century that we hear that the famous waffle of Liege is developed and they say that it was the chef of the Prince bishop of Liege who came up with the brioche dough recipe requiring a much deeper iron to cook and caramelize the waffle or gaufre. The actual first recipe of the waffle of Liege comes to us in 1921 and has remain the most popular waffle in Belgium.

Today, if you travel through Belgium, you will find little stands of waffles, freshly made at all times of the year. Traditionally , they are served with powered sugar, as they are quite sweet with all the pearl sugar they are cooked with in the dough, but also you may have them with chocolate, berry fruits and fresh cream.

This Christmas I wanted to try to make these delicious waffles but I needed a must have ingredient " pear sugar". It is almost impossible to find in the US pearl sugar. Maybe in New York in some specialty store, but in the Houston area Ikea and Wholefoods which used to carry it, do not anymore. So, if I wanted to make them I would have to order it online. On Amazon you may order it in 5 pound bags, which makes it a little more economical since it is imported from Belgium at $7.00 per pound. I decided that it would be on my Christmas wish list.

Here the recipe follows on how to make these wonderful waffles. Make sure you have the time as they are not difficult, just require enough time for the dough to go through the different stages and a little patience.

INGREDIENTS

Makes 10 waffles

3 tsp of active dry yeast
1/2 cup of scalded whole milk ( 110- 115 degrees)
4 Tbsp plus 4 tsp of water (110-115 degrees)
4 cups of King Arthur Bread flour
2 large room temperature lightly beaten eggs
2 Tbsp plus 2 tsp of light brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp of salt
16 Tbsp or two sticks of room temperature unsalted butter
2 Tbsp of honey
4 tsp of vanilla
1 1/2 cups of Pearl sugar ( Lars brand) is a good choice.

Okay, now I am going to try to simplify this to its simplistic form. it is time consuming but the result is so worth it. All my children absolutely adore these and certainly everyone who has been in Belgium would agree that these types of waffles are really to die for.

Start by mixing the yeast , milk and water till the yeast dissolves, then add the beat up eggs and 1/3 of the flour. once it all blended add the remaining of flour but do not mix, just pour over the top, cover and let rise for about 75 to 90 minutes till you see the yeast bubbling over the top of the flour.
After this point you will add the slat and sugar, mix and add the vanilla and honey and put on the mixer, mixing for three minutes at a time, adding two tablespoons of butter at a time and mixing, wait one minute in between each three minutes till all the butter has been added. then cover with a plastic and let rise for four hours. after these four hours, you will place the risen dough in the fridge for 30 minutes and which you will give it a punch with a spatula. The risen dough will be place over a work table to then make it the shape of a rectangle and fold into a envelope. Cover with plastic and place some heavy plates on top or some kind of other weight and in the fridge overnight. In the morning, fold in the 1 1/2 cup of pearl sugar. It will be hard and lumpy, put that is the way that it should be. Mold with your hands and and cut into 10 equal balls, the shape of a football. Pat down and place on a cooking sheet. Cover slightly with plastic and let rise for another 90 minutes. After this you should have some very nice double the size ovals, nice and warm and soft.
Yes, you should be excited at this point. You have waited so long for this moment and the time necessary has produced magic. Now you will heat your waffle iron ( for a conventional waffle iron you will unplug or lower the temperature once the dough is placed in so that the sugar will not burn). Traditionally and in Belgium, cast iron waffles are used to make these delicious waffles but in your home you can very well use the small waffle makers just make sure to not burn the sugar, just caramelize. The ending result will be a wonderful waffle no one can resist. Serve alone or with powered sugar or with chocolate syrup and fresh whipped cream or strawberries.

ENJOY