Tzatziki Salad for the Summer

 https://elpais.com/gastronomia/el-comidista/2026-07-04/ensalada-de-tzatziki-con-garbanzos-la-receta-para-salvar-una-comida-sin-encender-el-fuego.html

Ingredients:

200g cooked chickpeas, rinsed and drained

3 tablespoons Greek yogurt

1 medium cucumber

A few sprigs of fresh dill

1 small clove of garlic or a pinch of garlic powder

The juice and zest of half a lemon

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Salt

Instructions

1. Dice the cucumber.

2. Finely chop the dill and grate or crush the garlic, if using fresh.

3. In a bowl, combine the chickpeas, Greek yogurt, cucumber, dill, garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest, olive oil, and a pinch of salt.

4. Stir well until all the ingredients are coated in the dressing and the yogurt lightly covers the chickpeas.

5. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt, lemon juice, or dill as needed before serving.

Hazelnut ice cream

 Pure Hazelnut Ice Cream (Premium Version with 35% Fat Cream)

Ingredients:

Hazelnuts: 200 g (ground into a pure paste as before).

Whole milk: 350 ml (increase by 50 ml to lighten the recipe).

Whipping cream (35% fat): 250 ml (reduce by 50 ml as it already provides twice the fat content).

White sugar: 120 g.

Eggs: 3 yolks (3 are enough; the 35% fat cream already provides a fantastic texture).

Vanilla extract: 2 or 3 drops.

Step by step:

1. The secret to flavor: Homemade hazelnut paste

Toasting (essential): Even if you buy pre-toasted hazelnuts, give them a quick toast. Place them in a dry pan over medium heat for about 3-5 minutes or in the oven at 150°C (300°F) for about 10 minutes. They should smell heavenly and be lightly browned (be careful not to burn them, as they will become bitter). If they have skins, rub the hazelnuts together with a clean cloth and the skins will come off easily.

Grind to a cream: Place the still-warm hazelnuts in a food processor, blender, or high-powered blender. Grind in batches. First, they will become powder, then they will resemble damp sand, and finally, they will release their own oils and become a smooth, creamy paste. Be patient; this takes a couple of minutes. Set aside a few chopped hazelnuts if you want to find some chunks in the final product.

2. The infused base

In a saucepan, combine the whole milk and heavy cream. Add 2 or 3 drops of vanilla extract.

Add all the ground hazelnut paste to the saucepan and whisk well until it dissolves in the milk. Heat it over medium heat until it just begins to steam (without boiling) so the dairy absorbs all the nutty flavor. Remove from the heat.

In a separate bowl, whisk the 4 egg yolks with the white sugar until pale and creamy.

Gently pour a splash of the hot hazelnut milk over the yolks while whisking constantly to temper them. Then, return everything to the saucepan.

Cook over very low heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon (around 80-82°C if you have a thermometer). Remove from the heat immediately to prevent curdling.

3. Cooling and Ice Cream Maker

Let the cream cool to room temperature. Because of the hazelnut oil and the egg yolks, you'll see that it forms a very thick and aromatic base.

Transfer it to the refrigerator for a minimum of 4 to 6 hours (or overnight). The colder the base, the faster it will churn in the ice cream maker and the creamier the final result.

Turn on your ice cream maker, pour in the mixture, and let it churn for 20-25 minutes. If you saved hazelnut pieces for later, add them during the last 2 minutes of churning.

Why it tastes more intense: Grinding the hazelnuts into a paste breaks down the nut's cells, releasing all their aromatic oil. By mixing this hot paste with the milk and cream, you ensure that every milliliter of ice cream tastes like pure hazelnut, instead of a vanilla cream with nut pieces.

Papas aliñas (summer potato salad without mayo)

 https://cadiz.cosasdecome.es/receta/las-papas-alinas-melva-barbiana/

Lemon MUFFINS

 https://www.hogarmania.com/cocina/recetas/magdalenas-de-limon_23_1151731.html

Bacon and mushroom QUICHE LORRAINE

 https://www.elcorteingles.es/aptc/quiche-de-bacon-y-champinon/

Brocoli aux pistaches et fromage

 https://www.hogarmania.com/cocina/recetas/ensaladas-verduras/brocoli-pistachos-queso-44442.html

I was looking for a healthy recipe with broccoli and came across this one from Karlos Arguiñano, which turned to be quite juicy and yummy. Sometimes healthy recipes are hard to find in a way that satisfies your curiosity for food while avoiding the plain side. In this case it is truly something that will surely become a new staple in our weekly diet since it is so good that you forget you're eating just vegetables.

I boiled a bunch of broccoli florets in a fifth of salty water at the bottom of a deep pan closed with a lid, to mimic the effect of vapor cooking. Then I make a pistachio sauce blending a bunch of pistachios in extra virgin olive oil, and poured it on the broccoli once cooked. I had been frying before a medium to small peeled potato in olive oil, which I added on top of it all, and sprinkled with Spanish aged cheese so thin it was almost like powder, but I put quite a bit. Then I put it the glass casserole in the oven to grill the top for about 15 to 20 minutes until the cheese melted, and voila, the result was excellent on the plate and to our taste buds. I love how healthy this dish is, easy to cook and quite yummy and juicy since the pistachio sauce improved the taste of the broccoli, and the cheese enhanced the crispy potatoes. These 2 layers contributed to a balanced, successful result that made everyone in the family happy:)

Mexican cilantro lime rice

I have made some yummy Pruvian cilantro rice in the past, but this time I wanted to explore this Mexican recipe I found here in Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPgWkXfdfDE&t=349s 1) a cup of white rice (I used Sevilla's Brillante rice from Spain) 2) 2 cups of water With hot water, not boiling, I first rinsed the rice, and let it soak for 5 minutes. Then I rinsed it with cold water and made it dry removing the water with a colander. 3) 1/4 of a medium onion 4) 2 cloves of garlic 5) 1/3 cup of water 6) salt 7) Chicken broth 8) a little butter 9) a lemon (I used a yellow one, but ideally if you can find it it'd be better to use a lime) 10) a bunch of cilantro 11) Oil (sunflower or olive oil) I blended the chopped onion and garlic with the 1/3 cup of water. In a pan with hot oil (it could be sunflower oil, but I used what I had, extra virgin olive oil). I fried the rice a little bit and added the blend of garlic, onion and water, and then the very hot chicken broth. Then I poured some squeezed lemon juice, I stirred it, covered the pan for 20 minutes on low heat, and then turned the heat off and covered it again for another 20 minutes, I added the butter, more lemon juice and the bunch of sliced cilantro, including the stems, and I stirred with a fork. Ready to serve with a last sprinkle of lemon, and to enjoy! The best point of this recipe is how spongy and white the rice gets and the subtle lemony cilantro taste. It is truly a perfectly balanced flavor.

Garlic soup

This is a staple of Spanish food, it is sometimes called castilian soup, and it is very soothing for cold winter days. Very easy to make, I followed this recipe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RIfxQfryHE I used the following ingredients: 1) 250 mililiters of chicken broth 2) A slice of hard old bread from the day before, chopped in cubes 3) 2 spoonfuls of olive oil 4) a clove of garlic (finely sliced) 5) a quarter of a teaspoon of smoked paprika 6) an egg 7) a few serrano ham chopped cubes I prepared it this way: 1) I heated the olive oil on a pan on high. 2) Once the oil was hot, I reduced the heat to medium and added the garlic and stirred it until golden. 3) Then I added the ham and the bread, and stirred it until it got a little fried. 5) Then I added the paprika and kept stirring, making sure it didn't burn, so I reduced the heat a little bit. 6) After that I added the hot broth and a tiny bit of salt, stirred it and waited until it boiled with the heat a little higher. 7) Then I added the egg, which bolied for 5 minutes And the soup was ready for the plate. It is very yummy, the perfect easy soup for this cold season, it makes your tummy warm and your heart smile:)

Orange and cardamom cake

I added cardamom to this recipe: https://www.rtve.es/television/20200401/receta-bizcocho-naranja-citricos-sergio-fernandez/2011215.shtml

Simple chocolate brownies

I used this recipe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW651hNBWa4 https://www.hogarmania.com/cocina/recetas/postres/brownie-chocolate-14594.html

Swedish cardamom buns

This week we made Swedish cardamom buns. In reality they are Nordic cardamom buns, because a similar version is made in Sweden, Denmark and Norway at least. I got the inspiration from my nice instagram friend Silja Torres (https://www.instagram.com/silja_torres/). The actual video whose easy steps I followed was this from an excelent Italian cook (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFuIfn6Y2iE&list=PLtVxPP7p-B2RTejdORtJJmiKcrjqVIWoV&index=16&t=121s). They turned out so delicious, moist and spicy, light in spite of their volume, and perfect for winter for merienda with a nice cup of hot coffee.

Spaguetti with tomato sauce revisited

 When it comes to cooking traditional recipes I find it fascinating to revisit the most simple recipes and review step by step little tricks that can make them yummier. Yesterday I tried my version of this recipe by renowned Italian chef Carlo Cracco:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZ1kuh0pZ_g

Ingredients:

- A package of quality spaghetti noodles (Rao's  or some other homemade brand)

- Extra virgin olive oil

- Water

- 12 cherry tomatoes

- A jar of quality tomato sauce (Organic Italian Herbs from Whole Foods, or a good Italian brand)

- Fresh basil

- 2 cloves of garlic

Preparation:

In a pan I poured a splash of Spanish extra virgin olive oil, and fried the 12 cherry tomatoes sliced until they were a little burnt on the flat side. 

In a pot I boiled the spaghetti noodles with salted water until they were al dente.  

In a pan I fried the tomato sauce in a splash of olive oil with some basil leaves and 2 cloves of garlic that I mashed with my hand. I let it get reduced until half (15 minutes) and sprinkled a little salt.

I poured the cherry tomatoes and the spaghetti in the pan with the tomato sauce and splash some water.

I served it in the plates with some thin cut basil leaves on top.

The result was impressive, two or three little tricks sufficed to make the dish so much yummier than usual! 

Buon appettito ;)

Portuguese Almond Cake

Last week I made this scrumptious Portuguese recipe of Caramelized Almond Cake. Before I make my comments I'm going to get it translated from the website of saborintenso with the deepl.com program. So here it is:

Caramelized Almond Pie
Ingredients for 14 people:

For the Base:
150g salted butter at room temperature
175g sugar
175g unleavened flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
4 tablespoons milk
For the Topping
125g sugar
125g salted butter
4 tablespoons milk
150g crushed almond kernels
1 32 cm diameter tart pan with a removable bottom, greased with butter, lined with a circle of baking paper and greased again with butter
Preparation:

1. Start by making the base.
In a bowl, place the butter cut into pieces and the sugar.
Beat until it becomes a cream.
While whisking, add the broken eggs one by one to the cream.
Whip until it becomes a homogeneous cream.

2. After the cream is beaten, add the yeast and 1/3 of the sifted flour.
Mix everything together with a spoon and add the remaining sifted flour.
On the last addition of flour, add the milk.
Mix very well until it becomes a homogeneous mass.

3. Spread the mixture on the bottom of the tart pan.
Place in a preheated oven at 170°C and bake for 12 to 15 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, quickly prepare the topping.
In a pan, heat the butter, sugar, almonds and milk.
Stir and let the butter melt.
After the butter is melted, let it boil over medium heat for 3 minutes.
After 3 minutes, remove.

5. Meanwhile, after the 12 minutes of baking, remove the pie from the oven and quickly cover it with the almond mixture to prevent it from cooling and solidifying.
It's not necessary to spread the almonds too rigorously, because in the oven, the sugar will melt and spread evenly.
6. Place the pie back in the oven and increase the temperature to 190ºC.
Let it brown about 7 minutes until the almonds are toasted to taste.
After the pie is blond, remove it and let it cool.
When cool, run a knife around the pie and unmold.

And it's ready to serve.

https://www.saborintenso.com/f23/tarte-amendoa-caramelizada-42146/

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DJo99QRCK0

Peruvian Cauliflower Sauté

 I always wanted to cook some Peruvian dish. Peruvian cuisine is one of the finest in the world, on a par with Greek or Italian, or as my friend from work Lehidyt pointed out, rather comparable with Thai or Mexican for its variety and complexity of ingredients. Whenever I visited Chicago when I lived in the Midwest, I used to have dinner at Taste of Peru, and enjoyed their ceviche and cilantro rice. So on Friday I asked Lehidyt to recommend me a dish that was not too technical, so that with my limited cooking skills I could make it at home. She recommended me to make a simple cauliflower sauté and a website to follow, Buenazo! from YouTube, where I found the recipe (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTzQby_axmk), which I cooked without the chicken but turned out amazing.

These are the ingredients I used:

- 1 bag of frozen cauliflower florets 

- 1 medium purple onion cut into thick strips 

- 2 pear tomatoes cut into thick strips 

- 1 red bell pepper cut in thick strips 

- 1 medium Russet potato 

- A dash of soy sauce 

- Chopped cilantro

- Salt 

- Pepper 

- Sunflower and extra virgin olive oil    

These are the preparation steps I followed:

1. First I boiled two cups of water in a pan. When it began to boil and bubbles were visible, I poured the contents of the package of frozen cauliflower florets and covered it, letting it cook for about 15 minutes, after which I set them aside in a glass container. 

2. Next I peeled the medium potato and cut it into long strips that I fried in another pan previously heated with sunflower oil. Once fried and browned, I put them aside in another glass container.

3. In the first pan, once emptied of water and well dried, I sautéed in extra virgin olive oil the onion, the red bell pepper and the two tomatoes, and added the cauliflower florets. I seasoned with salt and pepper and added a splash of soy sauce and covered the pan with the lid. After a while I added the fries, mixed everything together and covered it for a couple more minutes.

It was delicious, finger-licking good, so from now on it will become one of the basic dishes, a new staple in our diet at home, since it is also very healthy. Thanks Lehidyt. ¡Salud and bon appetit!

 

 

Yummiest shrimp rice paella

The other day I made this simple paella that turned out spectacular. 

In a paella pan I poured a little extra virgin olive oil from Estepa, Seville, and heated on medium. Then I stir fried half a bag of veggie blend (carrots, green peas, corn, green beans) and two big cloves of garlic, then I added two shoots of celery previously chopped. And then a little later I added about 17 Texas wild shrimp to the frying mixture. The aromas started to come out nicely. In a separate pan I boiled water and a package of chicken broth and poured it very hot into the paella where I previously poured a cup of Valencia rice. Then I sprinkled the Goya saffron mix, a little sea salt, and later a tiny bit more water. That's it, watching it for a while, about 45 minutes, controlling the temperatures, obtaining the lightly burnt crust at the bottom, and enjoying a flavorful result ;)

Sweet potato and apple rice

https://www.hogarmania.com/cocina/recetas/arroces-cereales/arroz-integral-boniato-manzana-41449.html

 

Chocolate turrón bar

To make it we´ll use a double boiler, putting a pan with water in the heat and then a big glass bowl were we will melt 50 grams of unsalted butter, 25 grams of confectioners sugar and two chocolate bars (1 of 86% chocolate purity and another regular milk chocolate Hershey bar), we make a mixture stirring with a big wooden spoon, set it apart when it’s very well melted and add the rice cereals (Krispies or whatever brand), then we pour it in a half of tetrapak carton container, which we set in the refrigerator wrapped in film for four hours before serving. It tastes delicious and very similar to the classic Suchard brand chocolate turrón. One of the easiest recipes I have cooked recently and the result is nothing short of spectacular. Accompany with a cup of coffee and a shot of Ouzo liquor ; )

 #chocolateturron #turrondechocolate

Alfajores (Alpha Whore)

Alfajores are one of my favorite Christmas sweets ever. They were my grandfather’s favorites too and he facetiously called them mojoncitos, that is, little turds haha because of their shape and color. They were wrapped in beautiful colored transparent paper. This is how you make it: blend in a big glass container 1 cup of toasted almonds, 1 cup of hazelnuts, 3 cloves and 4 tablespoons of aniseed with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Then you blend about 12 breadsticks and set them aside, and make a syrup in a pan with 60 grams of sugar and 60 grams of water, setting it aside when it starts boiling. In another pan you boil about a glass of honey until it starts bubbling and add it to the almond and hazelnuts mix, with 1 tablespoon of cinnamon, 2 tablespoons of cilantro seeds and 3 tablespoons of sesame seeds, keep kneading with the breadsticks powder and the syrup and shape then like bullets to your taste. You let it all cool off and make another syrup with 100 grams of water and 100 grams of sugar. When it starts boiling you take it off the heat and let it cool off. Then you bathe the bullets in the syrup and sink them in a big bowl with confectioners sugar. Keep them stored in a pretty box. ideal to eat for merienda afternoon snack with a cup of coffee or tea. Scrumptious!

http://blogs.canalsur.es/cometelocs/2017/11/22/alfajores-y-turron-de-chocolate/ 

#alfajores #alfajor #alphawhores #alphawhore