FRENCH TOAST, TORRIJA IS THE SPANISH EASTER TREAT

Hello, hello, the coming week is one of the most important catholic celebrations in Spain, 1 week of holy prossession through streets and squares in every village and every town.

The Holy Bible, the Easter is the culmination of the Passon of Christ, and in Spain it's told by figures richly dressed, and decorated, and transported by humans along the streets, so everybody can see and venerate the holy imagery.
se more of the Easter Week in Granada here

Be prepared for the crowdes of people until late night hours, in Seville the Madruga, starting Thursday late afternoon may finish at 10 am on Friday.
In your hotel or the Turist Informaton Office you can have the program for the week.

And this typical Torrija you can buy in many cake shops, and try in restaurants or make it yourself at home.

Easy shopping list this time.

Shoppinglist

1 pan ( de torrijas).              1 white bread ( some places you can buy a special bread for torrijas)

1/2 litro de leche.                 1/2 liter of milk

Granos de cardamomo.       Cardamomo grains

3 huevos.                             3 eggs

200 ml.de azucar.                 2 deciliter of white sugar

2 cucharitas de canela.          2 teaspoons of cinnamon

1/2 liter of AOVE.                1/2 liter of extra virgen olive oil

Start peelng the seeds of the cardamomo and  use a mortar to grind, add to the milk, alt let the milk boil for a couple of min. Transfer to a couple of plates to cool , and cut the bread, the bread must be at least 24 hours old. Beat the eggs in another plate, and mix the sugar and the cinnamon in a third plate.Now heat the olive oil in a small frying pan to medium , high temperature.

Soak the bread in the milk on both sides, then transfer it to the beaten egg, turn again, and transfer to the frying pan. Fry until golden on each side, I use a small pan, and only put 3 slices of bread in, then it's easier to control the heat.

Have a plate with some kitchen paper ready, and let them drain and cool a little before you turn them round in the sugar/cinnamon mix, and then arrange nicely on a serving platter. 

We like to eat them before they get cold, but they are are nice both ways, put them in an air thight container if there are any left, for the next day.

Soft &creamy inside, and a little crunchy outsde.

If you toss the sugar/cinnamon mix too early ( the torrijas are very hot) the sugar will melt
and they will be stcky, some people like that too.

If you are not used to stir frying, you can do them caramelized, just add a little butter with sugar and cinnamon to the fryngpan, when the sugar is melted add the bread (after the egg in the recipe), and let fry until golden.

At home we often do this for Sunday breakfast, my girls always loves them.

Do you want to leave me a comment, what do you think aboat  the Easter in Spain?

If you read Spanish, you can vist my Spansh Blog here, 

I wish all of you a nice easter week, take care and enjoy time with family and friends. Now the last weeks of 

skiing in Serra Nevada, lots of sun, snow and fun, and after the Easter Week it´s Low Season, really good prices too.

We have some vacant apartments.

Call Berit at 34 958 480 242

 skiservice@msn.com

Love

Hilde

SPANISH TORTILLA

Hello, hello, this is , after the paella, the second national recipe of Spain, normally potatoes,eggs and olive oil. Since very long time ago, in every house there was always potatoes from the family plot, eggs from ones own hens, and oil from ones own olive trees.
So it was easy, tasty and fills up a lot with a nice pice of bread, in Spain, the bread never misses at the lunch and dinner table.
I made a small variation and put in a lot of onion and zucchini, makes a real good taste, and maybe feel a little lighter.

The shopping list:
2 calabacines.                    ( zucchini)
2 cebollas.                         ( onion)
2 patatas.                           ( potatoes)
Sal.                                    ( salt)
Extra virgen olive oil.       ( extra virgin olive oil)
4 huevos.                           ( eggs)

Start peeling and cutting the vegetables as you see on the photo, rince and strain well.

Put the extra virgen olive oil in a frying pan, heat at medium fire, and carefully add the veggies, use a wooden spoon to mix, all must be coated sith the oil, add some salt, and cover, the oil should be bubbling  softly.      a fter 6-7 min, turn the veggies, they should not be toasted, turn again, and when you see the colour gets more yellow, transfer the veggies to a strainer, the olive oil,strained, can be kept in a closed container for another use.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs with a little salt, and now we add the potato/zuccini//onion mix, like you see on the photo. Heat up the frying pan again to medium, cover the bottom and sides with a little oil, just like a film only.

Add all to the pan and use a spatula, to make the border round and nice. When you see the egg start to solidify, using a big plate, you turn the tortilla upside down, and transfer from the plate to the frying pan again to get cooked on the other side, help yourself with the spatula.

The first one I made 34 years ago got burned on one side, but the second turned out nicely, my husband likes the high, rare done and soft tortilla, some people likes it flatter and well done, if you want the second option, use a bigger frying pan.

This is easier than it looks like, when you get used to the trick on how to turn, and I like it not too hot, so I can prepare it a couple of hous in advance.
Accompany with a salad and fresh white bread.

The tortilla is normally cut in wedges.

This s yummy summer food too.

I think you are going to love it.

Easter week is very near, do you go to Spain for your holiday?

Next post I`ll tell you a little about the catholic easter traditions.

Love

Hilde

STEWED ARTICHOKES WITH MEATBALLS

Hi again, springtime, April, but still time for a comforting hot stew, the 0 kilometer veggies are at the best moment, Granada has the best green asparagus, the best fava beans, and the artichokes. Many families has a small plot where they grow theese veggies, recollect them and sell them on the side of secondary roads. So fresh, and we have so many recipes, last spring I posted the Asparaous Cream, the Habas con Jamon, one of the famous recipes from Granada, we buy a lot of everythng now, and freeze for the rest of the year.
This recipe is all homemade, and we always do a big skillet to invite family and friends.


Shopping list 4 persons
8 artichokes
4 large potato
1 onion
2 tablespoons of extra virgen olive oil
1 liter vegetable stock

Meatballs for 4 persons
500 gr of minced veal
1 egg
3 table spoons of bread crumbs
1 teaspoon of chopped parsley
1 tea spoon of grated nutmeg
Pink salt from Himalaya
White pepper

Fritada for the stock
2 slieces of white bread
2 garlic cloves
1 handful of almonds
AOVE
Pink salt from Himalaya
1 teaspoon sweet paprika

Start peeling and chopping the onion finely, add the olive oil and the onion to a skillet and let simmer while we peel the artichokes, all the hard dark leaves must be taken off, rub your hands with lemon juice, and in the end, you cut off 1/3 of the top, have some water ready with the juice of 1/2 lemon ( the artichokes turns brown with the air, but the lemon water avoids that) You can also peel the stalks, we don't like to throw away anything edible, and add them to the stew.


When the onion is transparent, you add vegetable stock, or water, I never use the boullion you buy ready after  I saw a video clip of what is used to make it. I always save the stock of everything I boil, and use that, I even freeze it when I'm not going to use it the same day or next.
Strain the artichokes and add to the onion stock, peel the potatoes and cut in lage pices and add too.

Then mix the ingredients for the meatballs, mix well, and if you rinse your hands in cold water, the balls comes out nicely without gluing to your hands. Have some flour in a small bowl, toss the meatballs with it, and fry at medium heat until they are golden brown all over. When finished, transfer to the boiling artichokes.
The artichokes and the potatoes are ready in about 25 min.

For the fritada, used in many spanish dishes:
Then we cut the white bread in cubes, and fry int olive oil, until crisp and golden, use a kitchen paper to drain the exess of oil. Then chop the almonds and the garlic, and fry in the same oil, when finished,  be careful not to burn the almonds, add the sweet paprika and transfer all to the food processor at medium high speed, and you get a brown paste. Add this to the stock, and let simmer the last 5 min, now you will get a lovely sauce.

Serve 2 artichocks some potatoes and meatballs, with a little sauce, we use this as a main dish.

We have a small lemon tree n the garden, and they are just ripe now, very strong ths year, but nice to have really 0 kilometer fruit.

If you want to freeze the artichokes, just peel them as in this recipe, boil water, enough to cower them, add the artichokes for 2 min., strin well, and put in plastic bags. Then you can cook them later as you wish. The same way, the fava beans and the asparagus too.

Hope you liked this very, very Spanish stew.

Love
Hilde

CAUILFLOWER AU GRATAIN

Hi folks, we had some nice and springy days, but today the weather in Spain changed again, a popular sayng tells us that until 40th of May, don`t take your winter under wear away, "Hasta el 40 de mayo, no te quites el sayo" Wise words, in spansih called "refranes", several books have been written, there are so many, and all of them has a bit of truth, and they are learnt from fathers and mothers to sons and daughters.

Since the summer food really don`t fit yet, I made a graitinated, conforting, cheeasy caulilflower dish you may enjoy:

The shoppinglist follows for 4 pers:

1 large cauliflower                                  (coliflor grande)

6 slices of bacon                                    (bacon)

400 cl. of milk                                        ( leche)

200 gr grated cheese                              (queso rallado)

4 tablespoons of unsalted butter              ( manteqiulla sin sal)

4 tablespoon flour                                   ( harina de trigo)

2 tablespoons of vrgen extra olive oil       (AOVE)

1 onion                                                   (cebolla)

Salt and whte pepper                              (sal y pimenta blanca)

Pinch of nutmeg                                       (pizca de nuez moscada)  

The broth from cookng the cauliflower     (el caldo de cocer la coliflor)   

Some fresh cilantro leaves                        (hojas de clantro fresco)

Start boiling the cauliflower divided in posies, in salted water, I  like it to be "al dente". strian, but reserve the stock, and put the caulflower in an owen proof  container.

Cut the bacon in small pieces, and fry it in a dry frying pan, put on a paper towel to drian

Then make a Bechamel Sauce, start shoppng the onon finely, and use the olive oil to fry untl it gets transparent, then add the butter, mix and add the flour, mixing all the time. Then add, alternating the milk and the stock, unitl you have a smooth sauce, add nutmeg, salt and whte pepper, and let simmer for about 15 min., then rectify for nutmeg, salt and pepper. Off the heat, add the half of the cheese and mix well, then poor the sauce over the cauliflower , toss over with the grated cheese and top with the bacon.

Put in the preheated owen at 180 degrees for 15-20 min, untl the cheese is totally graitinated.

Toss with the cilantro leaves.

                   

Do you like the green asparagues ?
Now the season is startng, look  at the label  if  they come from Huetor Tajar ,( distrcict of  Granada) they are the best, I wrote a post on my Spanish Blog, have a look at Esparragos Mimosa
 www.recetasdehilde.blogspot.com.es

Love to see you there.
Hilde

RUSSIAN SALAD

Well,  Olympic games finished, I'm not glued to the television anylonger, when it comes to cross country skiing, I'm still very NORWEGIAN. And we had a lot of medals, ohmygod!!!,!! these boys and girls are really amazing, I take my hat off for such a fellowship, the perfect sport performances and the humanity shared by all the members of The Norwegian Ski Team.

Well in Spanish, this recipe is called Ensaladilla Rusa, wich means Russian Salad, here every housewife has her own recipe, but the main ingredients are potatoes, mayonaise, and canned tuna,
Then you can add peas, carrots, boiled eggs, roasted paprika, corn, onion,olives, after your own wish. I know the russians use chicken instead of tuna, but I prefer the tuna variant, sort of makes it more light.

Start boiling the potatoes, I prefer the red skinned, they are whiter inside, wash them well and cook with the skin on, it's quicker to peel once they are cooked. When you throw out the water, put them back on the burner, and let all the water evaporate, let cool until you can handle without getting burned.

Now we make the home made mayonaise, see basics .( on the blog)

Chop the onion finely, and use the   for the dill, open the tin of tuna, strain, and save.
Then peel and cut the potatoes in small cubes, transfer to a serving bowl, then add the other ingredidntes, I like the potatoes to be tempered , the aroma is absorbed by the potatoes, mix and add the mayonaise, mix well again and put in the fridge at least a couple of hours .

Before serving you can decorate with some boiled eggs, and some slices of piquillo peppers.

Ready to enjoy, it can be made the day before, and don`t worry, the lefties are fine the next day, just be careful with the mayonnais in the hot season.

Hope you enjoy my recipes, f you do make any of this, please send a comment and a photo, and  I will publc it in the blog. I `m very happy if you leave a comment without photo too.

Have a good nght, and week. This week is a little shorter in Andaluca, since  Friday the 28 of February is the Day of Andaluca, and we have holiday.

                                                                Love
                                                                Hilde

HOW DO YOU FEEL ?

X-mas and New Year is a very happy time for all of us, we went to Norway on the 22nd of December and stayed for one week with the family, first time we "left" our daughters in Spain, and it was a strange feeling, with the promise to celebrate new years eve together.

My man because of his work in Sierra Nevada never went to Norway in the winter, now he retired,and we hoped for a white x-mas, but no, it was cloudy and raining all the time, the temperature was even higher than in Granada, it's a strange world.

But we had a joyful time lots of nice moments with the family, lots and lots and lots of food, and that's why I ask you how you feel, myself I feel that there's no more room for food now, and we have to go back to our habits of esting less and more healthy.
I prepared this fruit salad, in Spanish calle Macedonia for tonight.

Macedonia ( fruit salad)

Shopping list;

2 manzanas Ambrosia.               Apples ( Ambrosia kind)

2 peras Conferencia.                   Pears ( conferencia kind)

1 ,mango                                    Mango

4 mandarinas.                             Mandarins

2 kiwis.                                       Kiwis

Frambuesas.                               Raspberries

For the juice;

1 limon.                                          Lemon

6 mandarinas.                                 Mandarins

2 cucharadas de azucar morena.     Brown sugar

Start making the juice, mix with the sugar and save in a bowl, peel and cut all the fruits in very tiny bits, putting them into the juice as soon as they are cut, so they don't turn brown, mix all, put the raspberries on top,. I use the frozen raspberries from Lidl, quite frequently, and they turn out nice.

This will help a lot to get rid of some x-mas calories, and for our family it's a nice way to have the fruit served, for the children you can add some whipped cream and they will love it.

And for lunch these fantastic calamari.

Shopping list;

2 calamares medianos por persona.            Medium size calamari per person

2 dientes de ajo.                                           Garlic cloves

Perejil                                                            Parsley

AOVE.                                                           Extra virgen olive oil

Sal rosa del Himalaya.                                   Pink himalaya salt

Ali Oli 

When you buy the calamari, the best the fresh ones, ask them to clean it for you, in the fish stands on th local markets they will do. If not, you must take off the skin on the outside, and turn it outside in to clean all inside, the legs has a "mouth" in the middle, cut that away, turn the body again, and dry all with a kitchen paper.

Chop the garlic cloves and the parsley finly, mix and save.

In a frying pan, add a little AOVE, and heat to medium/strong, add in the calamari and roast 3 min on each side. 

Tranfer to a hot plate, toss some drops of AOVE, some salt,and the garlic/parsley mix.

This time the Ali Oli was bought in the supermarket.

And enjoy .

Ready for tonight: