Piquillo pepper stuffed olives with orange dressing

from José Andrés´ book Made in Spain.

Pestiños (Southern Spanish honey fritters)

http://www.canalcocina.es/receta/pestinos-de-cordoba-1

I used the reecipe of the link but the finishing touch was with honey heated and reduced with water, instead of with sugar and cinnamon: delicious.

Peanut butter and quince paste toast

Pepper bacon sandwich with fried egg

Grilled asparagus

From Gwyneth Paltrow and Mario Batali's book on Spain, a Culinary Trip, I took this recipe of asparagus, which I grilled with 2 or 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a cast iron pan at high temperature for about 4 minutes. Then to a plate and I squeezed on them some drops from a lemon and sprinkled sea salt: to the plate it went and then I ate it with great pleasure. Simplicity, few quality ingredients, the great flavors of Spanish cuisine.

Brownies

For Christmas time I cooked this indulgent recipe of brownies which I got from the BBC website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/womans-hour/cooktheperfect/perfect/brownies/). I preheated the oven to 350 F. I lined a glass baking tray with parchment paper. In a double boiler I heated 225 grams (2 bars) of chopped dark chocolate with 150 grams (10.5 tbs) of unsalted butter. In a large bowl I beat with an electric hand mixer 3 eggs, 125 grams of sugar (0.4 cup) and 1 tablespoon of pure vanilla extract from Madagascar, then I added a pinch of sea salt, 50 grams of all-purpose flour and 100 grams (1.25 cup) of chopped pecan, mixing it all very well. Finally I poured in the chocolate-butter mixture, kept mixing everything together and adorned with whole pecans once I put it inside the glass baking tray. I put it in the preheated oven and left it there for about 23 minutes, checking it to make sure it was barely done, puffy and crusty in the outside but moist in the inside. I took it out, let it cool and cut it into pieces with a knife. Served with vanilla ice cream, it provided a sweet and delicious treat for the Christmas days. 

Merry Christmas!

Caramelized pecans

What about some caramelized pecans to accompany your vanilla ice cream for dessert? In a pan I heated about 1/4 cup of brown sugar and a little glass of water, then added 1/2 cup of pecans and they started bubbling after some minutes, and then as a magic touch I poured a little bit of honey and a drop of Sherry vinegar. Then I took them off with the skimmer and let them cool off on a sheet of parchment baking paper. So indulgent and yummy!