brunoc@fun.food

pan fried banana to make another brie sandwich

2008-07-20T19:16:00.010+02:00

We start to get used to banana when we're still just a few months old with classics like banana puree.

And so bananas stay with us, as adults we keep using eating them, almost daily.

I make this sandwich using a banana that is peeled and fried in a very hot pan with a bit of butter. Sprinkle some flour and sugar on the banana first, as it will make it nice and gold and crunchy.

Cut a couple of slices of your favorite brie cheese. It could be camembert or another creamy cheese.

Spread some mayonaise on the bread, add some rucula, then the cheese, and top it off with the fried banana.

Close your sandwich, drink some fresh orange juice or home made ice tea, even a good cold beer and be happy.

bifana

2008-07-19T14:23:00.008+02:00

Bifana is the most wellknown sandwich in Portugal. It's common everywhere but tastes better on certain occasions.

I'll never forget the "rolotes" (vans transformed in bars) selling Bifana infront of the football stadium. You can't watch the match without having at least one washed down with a "mini", a small bottle of beer. Try a Bifana when coming back home after a late night and you'll be in heaven. Bifana+mini=Great fun

The secret to this sandwich is that there is no secret, a big hot pan, lots of old oil ... slices of meat, pork or beef, cheap bread, old mustard and very crusty old ketchup (expiration date, what's that??) ... looks gross but tastes divine, trust me. Made in Portugal since ancient times and no more discussion.

I decided to do a more contemporary Bifana, a healthier version. I used 200 gr of good beef loin and rubbed it with 3 pepper mix and salt then seared all the sides, 2 minutes each. Let the meat cool for a couple of minutes and slice it. In the same pan, fry the sliced beef, till medium-rare.

Slice a bread roll and spread with butter on each half. Place the beef and ruculla seasoned with olive oil and balsamic vinegar on top. Drizzle with sauce. Close the sandwich and it's done.

The sauce I believe that goes best is a classic mayonaise and ketchup mixed with a drop of brandy.

Now grab a cold beer from the fridge, turn on the tv, enjoy the match, feel good.

my child hood "feijao" soup

2008-07-15T18:41:00.011+02:00

this is the list of ingredients:

1 medium onion
2 medium potatoes
1 big carrot
2 medium tomatoes
1 medium turnip
1/4 of medium cabagge
2 can of kidney beans, 1 white and 1 red
1 can tomatoes
150 gr smoked bacon
1/2 chourizo
1/4 cup of tomatoe paste
olive oil
salt
bayleaf

i remember this soup being my favourite dish as a child. and everytime i have this bean soup i love it. when i was older my mum divulged the secret to this wonderful, consistent heavy soup.
i have my own style to cook it, but her's is still the best ever.

in a pan, fry the onions, potatoes and carrots, diced into similar sized cubes, with a bay leaf and olive oil.

add some water and the turnip when the onions are browned and let everything cook. season with salt. add the coarsly sliced canned tomato.

in a different pan, cook the sliced cabage, keep apart.
fry the sausages in a hot pan till they get just a bit crispy. keep them apart as well.
when the vegetables are cooked, take half and add them to the previously cooked cabagge.
use the good old mixer on the other half and blend them to a rough puree.
add the remaining vegetables.
add the fresh sliced tomatoes, sausage and bacon at the very end.

take it off the flame, season if necessary, add a lit bit of olive oil and some fresh parsley.

serve it accompanied with some strong red wine and afterwards go for a walk as it a very heavy soup, and as you go...

remember your mum's undconditional love.

fritatta for brunch

2008-07-15T11:38:00.012+02:00

Olenka's favourite meal is brunch.

After playing around with some classics and then with some "interesting" experiments, i woke up to an inspired good-mood morning and this idea came to me - an avocado frittata.

Use 4 eggs, half on a avocado, some green peas, cherry tomatoes and some fresh oregano.

Lightly beat the eggs with some sour cream, salt and pepper.

Melt some butter in a hot pan and add the eggs, cook them on low heat for about 3 - 4 minutes. Add the fresh oregano and cover.

Boil the peas and keep them apart.

When the bottom is gets crispy and brown, add the avocado, the peas and the cherry tomatoes. Cover and cook for about 3 minutes more.

When the omlette is firm, take it out from the pan, serve with a splash of olive oil.

I accompanied this frittata with some baked beans, pan fried tomato and apple, and served it on top a buttered whole grain toast, you should use your favorite brunch sides.

Everyone loves a good old sandwich, right?

2008-07-15T10:55:00.013+02:00

Everyone loves a good old sandwich, we can play around with this classic dish in any way our creativity and imagination allow us to.
On my most recent trip to the market I found some attractive bread full of seeds and nuts, gorgeous, fresh ruccula, smoked ham, and good farm tomatoes.

I sliced the tomatoes into thirds, seasoned the thick slices with some salt, oregano and good olive oil, and then pan-fried them for a couple of minutes, till they were really soft. You can roast them in the oven as well.

I sliced the bread in half, and spread some mustard on a half (grain or dijon are both good and strong). My experimental instinct told me to try some jam on the other half, and it was the perfect choice. Any kind I think will be good, but orange, berry, peach or fig I believe are the best options, anyway like the spanish say - tu mismo!

Place the fried tomatoes, after finishing them off with a litle bit of olive oil, on the bottom bread slice.

Wash and dry the ruccula, season it with some salt, pepper and a drop of lemon juice, very softly. Mix it up very carefully, ruccula has a strong character, very strong taste, but is very fragile, like Nordic country girls..

Place the ruccula under the tomatoes, place the ham on top, if you can use parma ham all the better.

Finally, close the sandwich with the bread slice spread with jam.

Make another sandwich, rap it, grab some wine, a good book, take your friend, go to the park, enjoy your time and your meal.

A master piece called Roast Vegetables

2008-06-23T19:09:00.010+02:00

Wake up early, have some coffee, put your shoes on and run to the market.
Walk around, smell, touch, and buy your favourite vegetables.

I got a red and a green pepper (and I wish I could have found a yellow one, 'cause color is important), fresh beautiful medium sized mushrooms, baby potatoes, red onions, two amazing soft tomatoes, a couple of radishes, a nice zuchini, a carrot and some garlic.
After everything was really well washed (I always like to wash vegetables before they go in my fridge), it's time to start preparing a great and million times healthy meal.

Start to cut the potatoes in half and spread them around the tray, then slice the carrots in diagonal, the red onion in 4, the mushrooms in 3 or in half, zuchinis in nice slices, the radishes in 4 and the peppers in not perfect triangals.
When everything is piled in the tray, season with salt, pepper, oregano, olive oil and sliced garlic.
I like to add a couple of bay leaves. They get along well with the garlic and olive oil on all sorts of roasts. Try the combo when cooking rice as well.
In the end, slice the tomatoes in half, put them on top, season with just salt, oregano and olive oil.

Stick the pan in a preheated oven for about 25 minutes at 180ºC.

When all the vegetables are cooked, take them out from the tray to serve.
you will notice that there's a lot of liquid in the tray. Don't waste it! Save it to flavour all sorts of cooking, like rice or pasta or soup. There's only natural juices in that flavouring.

If you have nice fresh herbs such as dill, chop it to garnish the vegetabes.
Good ol' parmesan is always welcome too...

My favourite brown "Arroz Doce"

2008-06-23T18:55:00.006+02:00

Since I can remember I know that I've loved rice pudding.
There are different schools of thought on how to make it.
Recently I experimented with brown rice and it was a nice surprise and a healthier alternative, as the brown rice doesn't require processing like regular white rice.

Boil 150gr of rice in about 450cl or half a liter for about 20 min. on low heat, or until the rice cooks. In another pan, warm up half a liter of milk, 150gr of sugar with the most crucial element, lemon zest. The lemon zest will add a zing to this super-sweet desert. It's a wonderful combination: milk, sugar and lemon.

When the rice is boiled and there's no more water, add the milk, sugar and lemon zest and leave the mixture on low heat for 5 min., stirring a few times.
Take it off the heat, throw out the good ol' lemon zest, it's served its purpose, use an ice-cream scoop to divide into servings onto plates, or divide the mixture into glasses. Sprinkle with cinnamon to finish.

let it cool and leave it in the fridge overnight.

it will make your day when you try a bit.

the libanese Adas salad

2008-06-23T14:53:00.007+02:00

the libanese cuisine tende to be very aromatic, and refreshing flavours combining with an exotic decor of their courses results in an interesting experience.
one of my favourites is this lentils sort of soup that its as well an excelent warm salad.

Wash around 300 gr (enough for about 4 portions) of lentils and cook them. Make sure that they don't become don't loose thier shape by overcooking. Put them aside, finely chop some red onion, garlic and parsley. Mix everything together with olive oil, and dried mint and let the mixture rest for all those flavours to get to know each other.
When the lentils have cooked, put them in a ball, but save some of the water (lentil juice). Mix the marinade with the lentils, add some salt if needed, some pepper, and most important, some lemon juice. Mix it all up well, give it a taste, add some of that 'juice', and it's ready to serve. Just add some extra parsley on the top and a pinch of olive oil.

It's done, it's delicious and it takes a half hour to prepare.

an excentric lettuce soup

2008-06-23T14:25:00.006+02:00

Coming home to start to prepare a meal is a tough mission sometimes. There's always those moments when there's nothing in the fridge and you're just not with the mood.
Thats when you look to the leftovers and start wondering what to do.

This soup is really good to combine with microwaved left-overs.

So, pick up 3 potatoes, 1 onion, 2 pieces of garilc, and half of a lectuce.
Fry the onions and the garlic, add the chopped potatoes and let all the ingredients sweat for a bit. Add some water, salt, and lettuce and leave everything till it's all cooked.

When finished use the mixer.
If there's some fresh basil around the house, dont hesitate and use 2 or 3 leaves for an extra aromatic flavour. You can also add some butter.
Serve the soup with a splash of olive oil or creme freche, add some croutons that you have previsouly made from old bread.

good right?

a basic yoghurt cake

2008-06-23T09:02:00.013+02:00

My sister is a master in baking simple and tasty cakes.

This is a perfect cake for a quick snack, when you are in a hurry, or in those moments when you just want to relax with a cup of coffee or tea. Use it as well in your pic nic basket..

Preheat the oven, mix up all the ingredients, and bake for around an hour at 180º.

Easiest cake ever, simple and yummy, as usual.

a warm baby potato salad

2008-06-22T23:57:00.007+02:00

the most easy tasty warm baby potatoe salad ever, that could perfectly be used as a side dish if you're adventure enough to grill outside a suculent beef or a fresh fish.

So, wash a bunch of baby potatoes, and put them to boil for a couple of minutes. Make sure that they don't get too soft. A little trick to give boiled potatoes a kick (cause sometimes they can be pretty boring) is to peal a garlic clove or 2 and add them to the boiling water, or some bay leaf, olive oil and oregano works too. It's so easy and can make all the diference. (Make sure you keep the aromatic water from boiling to make your next soup..)
Ok, so, while the potatoes are cooking, thinly slice a red onion, a little bit of garlic, and put them in a bowl and season with olive oil, salt and lemon juice.
Chop some corriander, mix with the potatoes and the sauce and add some halved cherry tomatoes.
lovely !

tortilla picnic

2007-11-05T21:39:00.003+01:00

Living in Barcelona you seem to get a constant stream of eager visitors. This past weekend we decided to get our guests out of the city, we needed a change of air ourselves, and so we wandered north along the twisty highway of the Costa Brava. The weather was beautiful, a crisp fall day. Bright blue skies, toasted sun and a calm sea. We ate unremarkable Spanish pastries for a late breakfast in the little hamlet of Sant Pol del Mar. We sat on a little white wall that overlooked row boats pulled ashore, like beached seals warming their bellies in the sun and drank it all in while downing sweet tea from our little blue thermos.

The next stop was the more touristic Tossa del Mar. But it's not too bad, they've managed to pull the parking away from the beach here, so we found a terrace with a view of the water and so we had milky cafes as we looked at the passing tourists from behind our dark sunglasses.

The real road starts after Tossa. It winds back and forth up and down into every inlet created by the jagged coast. We had a place in mind, a little cove called Cala Giverola. During the season it's overrun by Germans who stay in the resort on the hill and come down to the pool and tennis courts by the sea.
However on an early November afternoon the place was deserted except for a few divers with their harpoons. We grabbed our packs and picked a spot right in the middle, right by the sea and started to unpack the food.

The simpler the better, especially when picnicking. And you have to make it Spanish to show off what you've learned. First, open your can of anchovy stuffed olives, bring out the tupper of sliced Manchego cheese - mmm, stinky, fuet (a nice dry sausage that has a bit of kick to it), sliced cucumber and tomatoes go along with it all. Don't forget to stop by the bakery in the morning to pick up some fresh baguettes that everyone can just tear apart over the blanket. The main focus of the meal however is the 'tortilla de patata'. It's such a simple dish, travels well, it fills you up and its mix of eggs, sauteed onion and salty potatoes is a sure crowd pleaser. The evening before when your doing all the other slicing chop up a pair of decent sized potatoes into small pieces. Put them in some salted water and let them cook. In the mean time slice half a medium onion and break four eggs into a bowl, beat with a fork, adding a bit of salt and milk. Once the potatoes are cooked drain them. Now, heat up a pan, make sure it's small so that the tortilla is thick! Put a decent bit of olive oil on the bottom and sautee the onions for a second, add the potatoes, give them a stir. Pour the eggs over everything making sure they get to the bottom, I did a bad job and so the edges crumbled when cut. put the heat on low, cover and let it sit there until the top is almost cooked. Once you see the tortilla is firm slide it out of the pan onto a plate, place the pan over it and flip the whole sandwich over. Now cook the other side, not nearly as long as the first one! And so after a few more minutes you get to flip the tortilla out, let it cool and cut into bite-size pieces! It's so easy.

It's perfect with pan con tomate, as an apetizer, as breakfast as an afternoon snack...
We loved it.

left overs

2007-10-10T21:40:00.002+02:00

We had Bruno's sister here over the weekend along with her husband. They are a wide-eyed couple of kids that came here from their small Portugese town where half their family lives on the same street. It was sweet to show them the city and to see it through their eyes. We took them on scenic bus-rides across the town so they could get a feel for its different neighborhoods and took them to all sorts of funny shops, with pretty-wrapped chocolates, funny dolls and limited-edition shoes. They were excited to see the sea and we gave them our bicing cards so they they could enjoy the breeze and sparkle from the shiny red seat of a bike. We even took the cable car to the castle on the cliff where we sat smiling looking over the vastness of the city, its endless orange stucco-ed walls and tiled roofs a mass that barely lets through the green of a tree and builds steadily from the blue sea to the hills.

Of course they had to experience the food, but on the cheap, so we took them to some nice lunch places that have hearty menus, little bohemian ones with mismatched chairs and down-home cooking served on grandma's plates, as well as the south-cali inspired salad/crepe place decorated with the gods of a mysterious ancient culture. And they couldn't miss our staples as well, hearty breakfasts: eggs, yoghurt, beans and pan con tomate. and our ever-improving sushi (poached salmon is yummy!!)

We had a lovely time in the sun, seeing the best the city has to offer. And after they left, smiling and full of new experiences, head buzzing with ideas we had to make some dinner for ourselves.

I took a quick look into the refrigerator and assessed the dire situation - some fuet (a local legend that every visitor has to try, a really nice hard sausage) lots of eggs, a bunch of beans in a jar from before andreia and pedro were here (had to be used up asap) and some tomate which didn't find any pan...

I got out the pasta and poured it into some boiling and salted water. Added some frozen peas. Then in a separate bowl I threw in the rinsed beans (white and garbanzo) I added a splash of olive oil, some salt, pepper, corriander powder and some dried basil (I think). Don't overcook the pasta so keep paying attention to it as you slice the rest of the fuet. It's nice al dente. Drain the pasta and peas and mix them with the beans, add the tomato (the recipe's below). Spoon into bowls and top with the fuet slices. Mmmm. Bruno loved it and it was a good end to a busy weekend and a good start to our week.

the aromatic mint and parsley salad

2007-09-18T00:17:00.003+02:00

This will be short, fast and simple.
I'm in a hurry and starving.
There's a big bunch of mint and parsley in the fridge. I bought them specifically to use for this.

Fresh herbs are expensive in Barcelona, even in the market, so you have to use them wisely.

So yeah, I also have two oranges, a nectarine, a red onion, good spanish olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

I cut the herbs roughly, peal the orange and the onion, and slice htem really nice and thin along with the nectarine. Try to do a good job with the oranges. Make sure that all the juice that comes out while slicing goes into the salad. It will give an interesting taste to the dressing and it´s one of those details that makes all the difference.

Mix everything, add the olive oil, the balsamic vinegar and sea salt.

Plate using a nice charming bowl, add some parmesan cheese on top. Can´t you feel the texture and see the colors? Aren't they great? Isn't it flavourful and refreshing? I love it.

Here´s an important part, grab your bowl, grab a beer, sit in the window, get some sun and with luck you´ll see the hot neighboor...
Dont get too excited, and go back to work !

I picked this one up from Jamie Oliver, but I added my personal touch.
Some chefs would get offended by it, i mean, by other chefs using their recepies and bla, bla.. ridiculous, I call it. In my opinion they should be feeling proud that their work and creativity is recognized and used by someone who pays good attention to their art.

I'll appreciate it if someone will use some of my recipies.

corncakes and jogging.

2007-09-16T22:18:00.002+02:00

Waking up on the weekend is never easy. You never get out of bed quite as early as you'd want to. By the time we finished our coffee yesterday it was well after ten. What should we do? It was still cool, the mid-September sun here doesn't blast you so hard, so we decided to go for a run in the park. We quickly changed and put on our bouncy running shoes, grabbed keys and bicing cards and jumped down the stairs. As we left the coolness of our narrow street the sun hit us straight in the face and we squinted our morning eyes making our way to the shiny red bikes at the end of the plaza. Did I really say earlier that it was cooler here in September? By the time we got to the park my back was warm and my sleeves were rolled up.

The park is full of shade and old trees and people strolling, biking and running in whatever manner they see fit. There's old couples slowly making their way across the sunny, dusty, yellow paths and groups of runners running past them in packs and then stopping to stretch and chat. There's an old man contorted, walking with a crutch, with a determined look on his face to enjoy the early fall morning. We make a few laps where there's the shady of the tallest trees. Bruno pushes to go faster and longer...a silly red-haired, spiky dog barks shrilly from the lawn. There's flies in the shadow...it feels good to get sweaty like this, to see some green. But soon our stomachs are growling. We pick up new bikes and head past the elegant facade of Estacion Francia on our way home.

Finally, after a quick shower to get the stick off, it's time for some well-deserved breakfast. We've had this polenta sitting around forever, turns out neither of us really knows how to make anything tasty with it. The few things we've tried have turned out either completely flavorless or just plain mushy. I decide to make a final try, third time's the charm, right? Lets try some corncakes I say! I lived in the south...I'm sure I've tried them somewhere, some diner, or maybe a local PBS cooking show? Jogging I've come to realize, makes me quite ambitious.

Turns out it's quite easy. In a bowl mix a cup of polenta with 2 tbsp of flour, 2 tsp of sugar and .5 tsp of salt. (I added a bit of baking powder just in case). In another bowl beat 2 eggs, a little packet of plain yogurt, a cup of milk and some honey. Mix everything together. On a really hot pan start frying up the pancakes with a bit of margarine.

In the meantime Bruno started a simple salad. Dice an apple and a cucumber, throw in a bowl. For the dressing mix another packet of plain yogurt with some pesto (we just buy it pre-made in the grocery store).

Serve the the salad over the pancakes...it was a really great taste combination, the corncakes warm and dense and the salad fresh and crisp and slightly sweet.

portugese bigos

2007-08-27T00:35:00.001+02:00

Came back to BCN from Poland recently. What a contrast from Warsaw´s vast socialist avenues to Barcelona´s Gothic winding streets. From neverending green parks to crowds. From ´Milk Bars´serving Polish staples in a clean, no-nonsense atmosphere - just go to the window with your ticket and a middle-age lady in a white apron will quickly and unsmilingly ladle your soup - to the dirty, loud tavernas that are around the corner, where you wave down the waiter and where the tables are sticky with spilled wine and sweat.

It´s decompression time now. We´ve been moving non-stop for two weeks. Grandma´s for breakfast, then the city for day, back for dinner and some talking, strong black current digestives to help with the oily, potato-y and meaty food we´ve been trying everywhere (Bruno´s favorite was surprisingly the bigos!) . Then driving up north to see more family and to understand the countryside. Biking, walking, mushroom picking, helping in the orchard and dealing with small towns during big holidays and the polish driving!

Now it´s time to take it slower and to digest the information we´ve been absorbing. But we´ve still got to eat! Feed the brain to make sure we remember everything and make our smart plans. The first day back we went to the Boqueria, the refrigerator was so emtpy!! Good thing we thought to bring some Polish bread with us or our first breakfast would have been olives and a bit of dried cheese. Needless to say that the market was as lively and overwhelming as ever. So many beautiful piles and pyramids and stacks of lovely greens and fruits and vegetables. Quite different from the markets in Warsaw where the farmers sell from the back of their trucks.

We made our way through the aisles, dodging old ladies with their carts (they´ll run you over without looking back!) and the puddles underneath, all the time with our eyes peeled for good prices and fresh produce. In the end the choices were easy, we needed staples. Some fruits, tomatoes, onions, an inspired choice, homage to where we had just been, a cabbage! And then back to some things we had missed, a nice big salted cod! Backpack loaded we headed home.

The trick with salted cod is that you have to soak it in water for 24 hours so that it re-hydrates and doesn´t taste so salty (change the water several times). But first cut it into some nice fillets or it wont fit in the bowl.

And, the next day, when we were ready for dinner we made Portugese bigos!
First look through the filets you´ve soaked and pick out the thin and oddly shaped pieces. Put them in a pan of water and bring to a boil, cook. Save the fish broth for tomorow´s fish soup but cool the cooked fish in cold water. Pick off the skin and take out the bones breaking the fish into small bits. It´s good slimey fun! Put aside.

Chop half an onion, a tooth of garlic and some ginger. Throw into a pan with some hot oil. Add white wine and sautee quickly adding a quarter of a cabagge (chopped). Turn the heat down and don´t get distracted (that´s how I burnt it the first time around). After the cabagge has cooked but is still crisp add the fish along with lemon juice, a bit of vinegar, olive oil, salt and some sugar. During dinner we decided a sliced apple would have been nice too.

The bigos is pale and green and summery, serve with white wine.

yum,

ola

pan con tomate

2007-08-24T19:58:00.002+02:00

The Spanish /Catalans are all proud of their "pan con tomate".. Slices of bread with squished tomatoes and a bit of salt and olive oil. The bread is typically Spanish, I mean Catalan, I mean bad... the worst baguettes ever are from Barcelona. Basically there´s not a single place with decent bread in this city. On the other hand, there´s cocaine and hashish everywhere.. Like a Brasilian friend usually says - que légau!

Pan con tomate is a Catalan invention, at least according to some old ladies in the market and an old, fat, drunk waiter from the dirtiest taverna ever (remember Rui?). It became popular during the civil war, when tomatoes and old bread were kings..

We went into the Catalan history museum one of these days, Sunday of course - free.. Apparently there was a significant amount of Italian troops around here during the civil war, and the exhibit made its impression on me : pan con tomate = a bad imitation of Italian bruschetta.

Culture+ museum+ Catalan history+Italian troops = pan con tomate!

Some places use very cheap oil instead of olive oil, in the best Spanish attitude they try to shit you, and this very basic food becomes really bad. I guess you can figure out how and why.

But, sincerely, I like this pan con tomate, it can be really good, simple, healthy and tasteful stuff.

Here´s my own version of this joy of Spanish cuisine..

Grab some tomatoes, not the green ones, cut them in pieces, add onion and garlic. Make sure you balance the strong flavour of garlic and onion with the tomatoes, the star of the show. Get your powerful €80 mixer (I got mine for €17 in a Chinese store, cheap, not pretty, but with 3 speeds and a bunch of accessories it makes me proud, so dont make funny about it) and use it to smash all the ingredients till you have a chunky liquid, drain it a bit if it´s too watery.

Add a pinch of dried oregano and a bit of olive oil and white wine vinegar to taste. Refridgerate for at least half an hour! Cold makes the taste more refreshing... there are somethings that Catalans just havn´t figured out, but you can´t expect so much from them.. (FIGO!! FIGO!! as a private joke)

While you get some toasts ready(if you can grill them even better) slice some fresh basil.

Spread the tomato on top of your toasts and add the basil for color and aroma.

Slice some cheese, some fuet (hard sausage), plate them, grab a tray, place everything on it, bring the wine, sit outside, watch the sunshine, feel the breeze, the flavours, kiss her, enjoy and have fun.

Quick note - if you're a lucky person and can grill the bread, peel some garlic and raspe it gently on the bread when it is still warm and the don´t use garlic in the tomato paste. It makes a difference, you´ll see.

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_con_tomate

dorada odyssey

2007-07-25T13:51:00.003+02:00

We went into the market in the morning.

You know markets: colors, smells, loud voices, people, dirty floors, hard work, trades and a "cortado"... sitting at a bar, observing everything around and feeling the place, she looks scared and passioned at the same time. Definitely not comfortable. Let's go, 2nd half of the match. Grab some vegetables and time to pick up some fish. Walking around I have an eye on bloody, shiny skin, bodies from the salty sea somewhere in Galicia. I have my other eye on her, she's excited I know, but mostly very curious, and wants to observe all of it at once, like a four year old "Olita".

I'm divided between "Olita" and the fish with their mongers, the fishermen and women (don't trust them, despite being market sellers, they're spanish...).

I've a surprise, my time to have some fun by myself. I stop in front of what I want, we passed here before, my choice was made. "Dorada" or "oirada".

Fresh, decent price, and most important, I'm considering some filets at home.

But it's time to keep with the plan - "Can you be in charge, just order 2". Controversial... but she hides her nervousness and discomfort... I leave and she stands just in front of the fisherwomen and the fresh seabass.

Her shy, sweet look into other people is perfect for this business, they obviously will take advantage of her, like a drunk girl in a bar.

I leave, but I'm watching her, observing from a distance, the way she moves her hands and face, and her eyes looking around, so nervous without wanting to show...

The most controversial part, time to order. She bounces in a way like she's almost sorry for being there, and the lady rude as a proper spanish, immediately catches on and with a cynical smile, advances like a hunter, she sees the chance to get rid of yesterday's product...

I feel potential danger, and make my move, advance to my target, chose my 2 fish, no smiles, fast, furious, no chance for the lady to think about what's going on...meanwhile, there's an arm around me like an "Olita" putting her arms around her father's neck - "i feel safe now". She keeps her silence and in her continuous innocence can't understand what happened.

Time to get back home, you had enough for today and look tired.

So yeah, I got my fish, some fresh aspargus and cherry tomatoes. Sweet!

What now?

Let's clean the fish, "gross!!" - in her spoiled tone.

"Great, I'll do the first one, watch and you're next!", some've called me "machista".

She's got this adventurous and open mind, so I just need to make sure she doesn't hurt herself. There are two ways, watching her hands and the way she's doing, or just looking into her eyes, and doing it, I just know.

Not the most fun thing to do, but a good job was done.

4 fillets of "dorada" (skins on)

fresh aspargus

cherry tomatoes

salt and pepper

lemon juice

butter

some fresh herbs

Just give a quick boil to the aspargus, and then saute them in butter.

For the fish, a really hot pan, you know, it's fish and you wanna keep the skin looking good and not sticking to the bottom.

Toss the fillets on for a few minutes.

To top it off try this amazing sauce, melt a piece of butter and add some lemon juice, thats it..

Plate as your creativity demands or like the wine you've been drinking recommends...

A beautiful mixed leaf salad with orange slices and a simple olive oil and vinegar dressing as a side is more then enough to make your meal colorful, charming and healthy.

we loved it and we had fun!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparus_aurata

2007-07-25T01:57:00.003+02:00

st one, a carrot soup to push all your senses..

Coming home from work, seriously tired, I thought a drink was deserved. The few coins in my pockets didn't leave me many options: the well known and ubiquitous "Paki store" from Barcelona. These places have got almost everything you need, are open till midnight... and they 're everywhere. They're like the middle east, i guess, you love them on some occasions and you hate them on others. I feel that way, when they save my ass or when they go too deep into my pocket.

Well, keep going, so I went with a few cents into the "Paki", bought some beer, and looked into the ginger basket and picked up a piece without knowing exactly for what and why. Home and bang, need to have some dinner, fast and furious.

So I grabbed a potato, big one, a nice onion, peeled, cut into pieces and boiled with a pinch of salt and olive oil. Next, I added some carrots. Let it all boil, not too long 'cause to make it go faster I sliced everything small so it cooks fast. I opened my beer and that ginger piece was right there. So I thought, why not, and peeled and added it to the ingredients that were boiling.

I remember a similar recipe from a book, or magazine, or tv show or maybe some old grandmother, but yeah.. the fact is that the ginger came into my kitchen without a particular reason. it appeared, like a girl or boy after some drinks at the pub appear in your bed.

The ingredients were ready, soft, so I passed them through a mixer adding some butter for a taste and some water if needed. I always like to add a bit of cream, but I'm not doing that so often now since she wants to loose weight...

try this simple, healthy, colorful and tasty soup and let me know...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginger
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrot