St. Joseph

Tomorrow, march 19th, it is St.Joseph Day. And in Catalonia, as usual with other significant days, it is celebrated with a special dish: the Crema de Sant Josep. It is what the rest of the year is commonly known as Crema Catalana.

Jaume Fàbrega give us information about this dish informing us that it has siblings in other european countries as French Crème Brulée or Portuguese Creme Caramel. In Catalan territories, the oldest known recipe is from 18th century, although there was a similar one in Middle Age.

In Barcelona, you can find good ones as the ones by La Pallaresa...

.... Granja Dulcinea...

... or Petritxol Xocoa.

Also Forn Mistral offers its Crema de Sant Josep on an ensaïmada.

But, my favourite one is the one from Granja Viader, with whipped cream on the top.

If you want to cook it at home, the recipe is:

Boil 750 ml of milk with a glass of sugar, the peel of one lemon, a branch of cinnamon and a vanilla bean. When it is boiled, strain. After it be less hot, add 250 ml of milk with 8 egg yolks and 3 very full soups-poons of corn starch. Heat in a low fire without stopping moving. Put in pots. When it is cold, add sugar on the top and burn.


I love it combined with fruit, as this Crema catalana with raspberries.

Boil 750 ml of milk with a glass of sugar, the peel of one lemon, a branch of cinnamon and a vanilla bean. When it is boiled, strain. After it be less hot, add 250 ml of milk with 8 egg yolks and 3 very full soups-poons of corn starch. Heat in a low fire without stopping moving. Put in a pot with alimentary film touching the surface and get cold. When it is cold, add it over some raspberries, put sugar on the top and burn.

Molí de Rafelet (and 3)

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And, with rice, the chocolate rice cream of the line "Dely&Rice"

Alone, it was very good, but I tried some variations:


Chocolate and custard two coloured

It is as easy as cooking chocolate cream as package indicates. Fill half a glass. Before eating, fill the glass with custard (look recipe here) and ground cinnamon.


Chocolate and mascarpone

Cook chocolate cream as package indicates. Before serving, put some whipped ,mascarpone on the top and some strawberry coulis (here it is the recipe).


Molí de Rafelet is something sure. With its products, you have no doubt there is quality.

Molí de Rafelet (2)

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With Marisma and Bomba, the most used kind of rice used in traditional Catalan cuisine, I had the chance of experiencing Carnaroli, one of the ideal kind of rice for risottos.

Obviously, I cooked:

Mussels risotto

Steam cook 24 mussels. Put out shells and strain the cooking water. Fry a medium spring onion and a little green pepper cut little in a bit of oil. When they are fried, add a garlic clove cut tiny and one soup-spoon of parsley. Later, add two glasses of rice. Move. Add half a glass of beer. When it is reduced, add some saffron threads and mussels water, fish stock or water little by little. Control the level of salt. When rice is almost cooked, add mussels and finish it with a full soup-spoon of mascarpone.


White and green risotto

Fry half a fennel bulb cut in julienne, a medium spring onion and a little green pepper cut little in a bit of oil. When they are fried, add a garlic clove cut tiny and one soup-spoon of parsley. Later, add two glasses of rice. Move. Add half a glass of beer. When it is reduced, add vegetables stock or water little by little. When rice is half cooked, add some cut asparagus and some broccoli. Control the level of salt. When rice is cooked, add a soup-spoon of mascarpone.


Sweet risotto

In a pot, boil four glasses of milk, one stick of cinnamon, one vanilla branch and the peel of a lemon (just the yellow part). When it starts boiling, turn the fire off. Also, make a syrup with one glass of sugar and six sugar soupspoons. In a frying pan, add a little bit of butter and one glass of rice. After a minute, add milk slowly and some saffron threads, Move it constantly. When rice is almost cooked, all the syrup. Finish with a little bit of butter and a soupspoon of mascarpone cheese, mixing all in a bain marie with cold water. If it is too thick, add some cold water until it becomes creamy. Serve cold.

To be continued >

Molí de Rafelet (1)

One experienced Molí de Rafelet rices, there is no doubt the Delta de l'Ebre is an area with excellent products from it. In this case, rice. Thanks to Sandra Gallart (a fan of this brand) I could cook some recipes that, because of rice, they were awesome. Mainly, because of starting with excellent material.

One of the kinds of rice I cooked was the Marisma, a quite versatile rice because it is good for juicy rice and risottos. Also, ir can be used for dry rice because it is so good. Of course, it is perfect for rice pudding.

With it I cooked some recipes:

Chicken and juice rice

Fry a medium spring onion and a little green pepper cut little in a bit of oil. When they are fried, add a garlic clove cut tiny, one soup-spoon of parsley and 100 gr of chicken cut in thin stripes. Later, add two glasses of rice. Move. Add half a glass of white wine. When it is reduced, add a some sweetpeas and one glass of juice (of Fricandó or any stew) and six glasses of water. Control the level of salt. 

Beef and cardoncello mushroom

Fry a medium spring onion and a little green pepper cut little in a bit of oil. When they are fried, add a garlic clove cut tiny, one soup-spoon of parsley and 100 gr of beef cut in thin stripes. Later, add half tea-spoon of paprika and two glasses of rice. Move. Add half a glass of white wine. When it is reduced, add a handful of sweetpeas and some cardoncello mushrooms and add a little bit of water. Add water little by little. Control the level of salt. When rice is cooked, add a soup-spoon of butter and three soup-spoons of grated Parmiggiano cheese.

Bomba rice is the greatest rice for dry rice recipes, because it "drinks" all flavours in the stock or broth it is cooked in.

Wit bomba I cooked...

Arròs del Senyoret

In four soup-spoons of oil fry one medium spring onion cut tiny. Later, add one medium green pepper and one little red pepper cut in little dices and a smashed garlic clove with a soup-spoon of parsley. When everything is fried, add a cuttlefish cut little, a tea-spoon of paprika and four soup-spoons of grinded tomato. When tomato has lost water, add half a glass of white wine. After it evaporates, add five tea-cups of rice and mix. Add two times of fish stock than rice and some saffron. After two minutes boiling check the salt. When rice is almost cooked, add 30 mussels without shell and some peeled prawns. Let boil until stock is evaporated.

To be continued >

Fuet Mitjans

I think I am not mistaken if I say fuet is tje most popular catalan cold. So, it is subject of productions of regular or low quality because the only that matters is production figures. But the ones of Mitjans is different.

It is a fuet made with high quality pork, with the needed quantity of fat. It is mixed with winter black truffle and it is cured the time needed.
The result is a fuet with a balanced taste and an important scent and flavour to truffle. It is soft but not raw.
So good for be eaten alone, with bread with spread tomato or for use in a recipe where fuet is important.

Fuet millefeuille

Peel half a fuet and cut it tiny. Add three grated small tomatoes and a bit of oil. Mix and let it sit for five minutes. Meanwhile, flatten four bread slices until they be thin. Cut in little rectangles and toast them. On a toast put some points of red pepper jam and a layer of fuet. Cover with another rectangle an repeat. On the third rectangle, finish with a little bit of fuet and some oil.

"La Granja " mini-madeleines

People of de "La Granja" trusted again in my sense of taste for tasting a new line of products: delicious mini-madeleines.

These sweets, specially made for the children, were developed in collaboration with Fundació Alícia, for creating products more healthy than the ones designed for the youngest ones. This rise in nutrirional quality (in addition to the usual one because of their ingredients) has been achieved by adding vegetables and youghourt. Yeah, vegetables in sweets:

- Strawberry mini-madeleines
They have beetroot. They have a delicate strawberry scent that make them fresh.

- Banana and choco-chip mini-madeleines
They have coconut and carrot. Although they could seem heavy, they are very light. The combination banana and chocolate is a sure bet.

- Tangerine mini-madeleines
They have pumpkin. Very fresh! They have a delicious citric touch.

They are, as I said before, delicious and quality products, but they also have a plus:the collaboration with L'Espiga, an NGO that works with disabled people for they get an autonomous life.

And I not only ate them. I also cooked some recipes with them:

Cup banana cheesecake

Mix 170 gf of cream cheese with 150 gr of banana puré (mash ripe banana). Put in a cup a little bit of banana and choco-chips madeleine in pieces. On it, add the banana and cheese mixture. And finish with toffee and caramelized banana (with caramel made with sugar).


Strawberry cheesecake in parts

Mix 125 gr of cream cheese with a soup spoon of strawberry sauce. On a dish, put a layer of strawberry sauce and put two small quennelles of cream cheese and strawberry mixtute and some pieces of strawberry madeleines.


About orange color

In a pot, put some small dices of apricot. On them, add mango yoghourt, a little bit of tangerine mini-madeleine and orange blossom honey.

¡Viva México!

"El Grito de Dolores" is considered as the beginning of Mexico independence. And because it was a september 16th, today is the big mexican day.

Here it is not the place to talk about history, because there are books, webs and blogs that do it better, but here we can remember Mexico with some recipes.


Frijoles negros refritos

In a little oil, fry half a big onion, a green pepper and a garlic clove cut tiny. When they are fried, add 300 g of black beans. Mix while smashing beans. After ten minutes, add half a glass of water where beans were boiled, salt, black pepper, a tea-spoon of cummin and another tea-spoon of hot paprika. When water is evaporated, serve puting on it grated cheese.


Fajitas
 

Fry a chicken breast cut in thin strips with a little of oil. Later, add one big onion, one big green pepper and one big red pepper all cut in this strips. When they are cooked, add a soup spoon of hot paprika, a tea-spoon of black pepper, a tea-spoon of cummin, a tea-spoon of cardamom, a tea-spoon of coriander, half a tea-spoon of ginger and salt. Immediatelly add half glass of water. When water is reduced add a thick tomato sauce made with onion (a big one) and tomato (400 g). Fill the "tortillas" with this preparation and roll.


Mexican horchata

Wash a glass of rice. Immediately, mix rice with a glass of sugar, a stick of cinnamon and four glasses of hot water. Wait a minimum of 5 hours. Grind it up and strain. Drink very cold.

The tasty mexican cuisine is within reach.

Parabéns, Brasil!

Today, september 7th, it is Brazil's Day, the day of its independence.

And, from Beatus Ille, there is no other way to get in mind brazilian people but showing their gastronomy. And you can do it at home.

Let's start with "salgadinhos", a brazilian way to start a meal:

Almofadinhas

Make a thick puré and let it be cold. Once cold, make some small discs with the puré. Between two discs put chicken (a chicken breast boiled and made threads, fried with a grated small tomato and a small onion cut tiny) and close. Pass the product by flour, egg and grated bread and fried.


If we talk about brazilian gastronomy, we must talk about Feijoada:
 

In a pot, put 400 g of black beans (have been in water during the night before), 250 g of sausage in slices, 250 g of smoked bacon cut, 250 g of pork ribs cut, 2 bay leaves, salt and black pepper. Cover all with water. When beans are almost cooked, add 1 glass of orange juice, a quarter of cabbage cut very thin and a big onion and half a garlic bulb cut tiny and fried in a bit of oil. Let all reduce. Serve with rice and orange.

One of the biggest sweets in Brazil can be the end of a meal... It is Brigadeiro:

Mix a big can of condensed milk with three soup-spoons of cocoa powder. Put to heat at low fire moving constantly. When the mixture is thick and be almost boiling, put on a dish. Let cold. Later, make balls and pass them by chocolate in small pieces.

Obviously, why not drink a Caipirinha during the meal?

In a glass, smash with a wooden stick one lime cut in eight pieces and three tea-spoons of sugar. Mix. Inmediately, add half a glass of ice in little pieces and 50 ml on cachaça. Full the glass with lime soda.

Let's make Brazil be on your table!

Panellets

Last year I talked you about the Castanyada, Halloween tradition from Catalunya that consists in eating chestnuts and sweet potatoes... Well, this year it is turn for panellets, marzipan based sweets that cannot miss the tables during these days.

As the gastronomical historian Jaume Fàbrega points, marzipan is an ancient recipe and the food related with the Day of the Dead ones are very old, but panellets recipe as we know them nowadays does not appear on written references until XIXth century.

At bakeries, anyone can find real wonders, but if you wanna bake them at home, I give you some recipes:

Pine seed panellets

Mix 500 g of grinded almond with 500 g of icing sugar and 100 g of water. Make little balls, pass by the white of the egg, later by pine seeds and paint with the yolk. Put in a soft oven (180-200 ºC) until they are cooked.


Almond panellets

Mix 500 g of grinded almond with 500 g of icing sugar and 100 g of water. Make little bars, pass by the white of the egg, later by almond cut little and paint with the yolk. Put in a soft oven (180-200 ºC) until they are cooked.


Coconut panellets

Mix 500 g of grinded almond with 500 g of icing sugar and 100 g of water. For every 100 g of dough, add 5 tea-spoons of grated coconut, mix and make little mountains. Put in a soft oven (180-200 ºC) until they are cooked.


Chocolate panellets

Mix 500 g of grinded almond with 500 g of icing sugar and 100 g of water. For every 100 g of dough, add 2 tea-spoons of pure cocoa, mix and make little bricks. Put in a soft oven (180-200 ºC) until they are cooked.


Coconut and cachaça panellets

Mix 500 g of grinded almond with 500 g of icing sugar and 100 g of water. For every 100 g of dough, add 5 tea-spoons of grated coconut, mix and make little mountains. Put in a soft oven (180-200 ºC) until they are cooked. Put on the top an icing made with one part of cachaça and three parts of icing sugar.


Pineapple panellets

Mix 500 g of grinded almond with 500 g of icing sugar and 100 g of water. For every 100 g of dough, add 2 tea-spoons of pineapple jelly and 2 of grinded almond. Mix and make little balls. Pass them by icing sugar and put a little bit of jelly on the top. Put in a soft oven (180-200 ºC) until they are cooked.

Polvorones

The polvorons are a typical Christmas product of Spain. They are into the group of shocking product to whom do not know them, because it is quite surprising that a sweet has as a very important ingredient the pork lard.

I will introduce you some recipes to cook this Crhistmas.


Almond polvorones

Put in the oven 500 gr of flour at low fire. Move frequently. When it is slightly golden, let get cold. Mix 400 gr of cooked flour (strained) with 8 soup-spoons of grated almond, 200 gr of pork lard and 200 gr of icing sugar. Make a dough. Stretch the dough until it be 1 centimetre thick and cut small discs. Bake them at medium fire until be golden brown. Put icing sugar on them when they be cold.


Coconut polvorones

Put in the oven 500 gr of flour at low fire. Move frequently. When it is slightly golden, let get cold. Mix 400 gr of cooked flour (strained) with 8 soup-spoons of grated coconut, 200 gr of pork lard and 200 gr of icing sugar. Make a dough. Stretch the dough until it be 1 centimetre thick and cut small discs. Bake them at medium fire until be golden brown. Put icing sugar on them when they be cold.


Cinnamon polvorones

Put in the oven 500 gr of flour at low fire. Move frequently. When it is slightly golden, let get cold. Mix 400 gr of cooked flour (strained) with 6 tea-spoons of ground cinnamon, 200 gr of pork lard and 200 gr of icing sugar. Make a dough. Stretch the dough until it be 1 centimetre thick and cut small discs. Bake them at medium fire until be golden brown. Put icing sugar on them when they be cold.


Chocolate polvorones

Put in the oven 500 gr of flour at low fire. Move frequently. When it is slightly golden, let get cold. Mix 400 gr of cooked flour (strained) with 8 soup-spoons of cocoa powder, 200 gr of pork lard and 200 gr of icing sugar. Make a dough. Stretch the dough until it be 1 centimetre thick and cut small discs. Bake them at medium fire until be golden brown. Put icing sugar on them when they be cold.

The Castanyada

October 31st is Halloween, a moment to remember the ones who are not amongst alive people.


In Catalonia, as other important days, this night happens around a table. There are panellets (marzipan based sweets that I will tell about in another moment) and the Castanyada. The Castanyada is a meal where barbecued chesnuts are eaten with barbecued sweet potatoes.


All this, while drinking sweet wine, as Moscatell.


Personally, I wanted to cook a dish in wich both Castanyada elements, chestnuts and sweet potatoes, were together in only one:  Rebuilt Chestnut Day (Castanyada).

To cook it, boil 650 g of sweet potato in three mugs of water and one of sugar. One boiled, grind the sweet potato adding the water of boiling until having the desired texture. Put a little bit of this preparation on a dish and on it add some cooked chestnuts passed by caramel.

Real Food's Porridge Oats

When someone contact me to taste a product, I always say I will talk about it if I like it. And this is the case of Real Foods Porridge Oats. Real Foods are specialized in organic food and fair trade products. They have own stores and a virtual one that sells all around the world.

They sent me a box of Porridge Oats.

It is a very tasty product, it does not matter in wich recipe. Moreover, they have benefits for being from organic agriculture.

Instead of traditional Porridge, I made something different, a Porridge Cream.

To cook it, let 1 glass of porridge oats in 4 glasses of water. After half an hour, grind up. Strain the result and add 6 soup-spoons of sugar, half a branch of cinnamon and 2 tea-spoons of vanilla. Move until it thickens. When it is cold, put some caramel with nuts on the top.

16 Premi Bon Preu - Esclat

Monday 13th, at Teatre Goya of Barcelona it was celebrated the ceremony of  16 Premi Bon Preu - Esclat, with whom the supermarket chain awarded recipes sent by people who love to eat.

It was a quite funny cerimony, specially, because of the Orquestrina Bon Preu - Esclat.

The jury, composed by Pere Tàpias, Pep Nogué, Magda Carlas and Josep Sucarrats gave the awards to the different categories.

Personally, happy for being part of the finalists at dessert category with the recipe "Coconut and saffron cream with textures".

Put to boil 400 ml of coconut milk, 8 soup-spoons of sugar and some saffron strands (30 mg). When it boils, add 100 ml of milk with one and a half soup-spoon of corn starch. When it thickens, strain and let get cold. In a dish, put a little of coconut cream, a tea-spoon of pineapple jelly, some pomegranate seeds and dust of almond cookie.