Goat Cheese Pizzettes

So this is a recipe I concocted based on the amount of peppers and goat cheese in my fridge that could go to waste...

You need:

Baby spinach
Goat cheese, crumbled
Onion, sliced fine, can use green onions too
Bell pepper, I used red, you can use any, sliced fine
Olive oil
Garlic cloves
Salt
Bread

Preheat toaster oven to 400F.

Crush two or three cloves of garlic into the olive oil. I used three cloves for 1/3 cup of oil.

Brush the bread with garlic oil. I used about 2 tsps for one slice. Put a handful of baby spinach leaves on the bread. Add sliced onions and peppers. Drizzle another spoonful of garlic oil on the veggies. Pile on as much goat cheese as you would like. Sprinkle salt to taste.

Bake in toaster oven for 10-15 minutes depending on how crispy you'd like the "crust".

Eat up! Preferably with nice red wine.

This is really easy, you can go wild with this. Add mushrooms, whatever. The only thing is that veggies have to be sliced fine otherwise they won't cook in time. You can also use pizza dough to make pizzas, in that case I woudl pre-bake the crust for about five minutes otherwise the spinach will die. I like the bread version because it uses up leftover bread and I don't risk contaminating my cultures the next day with any lurking yeast from the pizza dough (Yes, it happens, despite gloves!).

Patatas Bravas (Strong Potatoes)

Oh sweet jesus. I was watching this movie, L'Auberge Espagnole, sert in barcelona and i was reminded of this delightful thing, one of many many many, that the Spaniards do to potatoes. A regular tapas, its the first Spanish food I ate. And I sit here with a plateful.


For the Patatas:
4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced to about 1cm cubes
Oil

For the salsa brava:
4 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
1/2 small onion, minced
1/3 cup tomato sauce
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp white vinegar
6 tsp mayonnaise
salt to taste
cayenne pepper to taste


Shallow or deep fry the potatoes till golden brown. I recommend a low flame to start and then turn the heat up. Fry the garlic and onions in 2 tsp olive oil, add the tomato paste and the spices and salt. Cook for about 10 min on a low flame. Allow it to cool. When the potatoes are done, spread on paper to soak up the extra oil. Add mayonnaise to tomato salsa and mix well. Spread potatoes in plate. Drizzle salsa over potatoes. Serve. Drizzle just before you serve so that they stay crisp.

Recommended: serve with Spanish red wine [Rioja I like best] and tortilla de patatas cut into squares, and croquetas. Recipes will follow. Enjoy!

Supernatural Brownies

This is a recipe from the New York Times! Yes really.

They have a fantastic texture, not chocolatey enough for me, though as Minkie will testify I like my cake really really chocolatey.
I used Ghirardelli's semisweet baking chocolate. Definitely microwave melted the butter and chocolate, very convenient! I would start with the chocolate and add in the butter later cos it melts faster. I used wax paper instead of parchment and regular supermarket-issue dark brown sugar. And yes, they do taste better the next day.

Enjoy! Lemon cake recipe will follow.

Recipe: Supernatural Brownies
Adapted from “Chocolate: From Simple Cookies to Extravagant Showstoppers,” by Nick Malgieri (Morrow
Cookbooks, 1998)
Time: About 1 hour
2 sticks (16 tablespoons) butter, more for pan and parchment paper
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
4 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup dark brown sugar, such as muscovado
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or 3/4 cup whole walnuts, optional.
1. Butter a 13-by-9-inch baking pan and line with buttered parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In top
of a double boiler set over barely simmering water, or on low power in a microwave, melt butter and chocolate
together. Cool slightly. In a large bowl or mixer, whisk eggs. Whisk in salt, sugars and vanilla.
2. Whisk in chocolate mixture. Fold in flour just until combined. If using chopped walnuts, stir them in. Pour
batter into prepared pan. If using whole walnuts, arrange on top of batter. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until shiny
and beginning to crack on top. Cool in pan on rack.
Yield: 15 large or 24 small brownies.
Note: For best flavor, bake 1 day before serving, let cool and store, tightly wrapped.

Gobi shikshty five

I *love* cauliflower. And this is the BEST way to eat it! (Those who disagree can treat themselves to a big bowl of cole-slaw...)

Ingredients:
Cauliflower-1
Cornflour-3 tbsp
Capsicum/ green bell pepper - 1 small cut into tiny strips
Onion- I prefer green onions, but suit yourself - 1 cut into crescents Tomato sauce- 1 ½ tsp
Soya sauce- 1 tsp
Chilli powder- 1 tsp
haldi/ turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt
Oil (sunflower/olive)
To make:
Clean the cauliflower and cut into small pieces. Soak it in hot water with haldi for 3-5 minutes.

Drain and add corn flour,salt and chilli powder to it. Mix it in with your hands. If needed just sprinkle very little water. Heat oil in a pan and deep fry the wrapped pieces till golden brown.

Drain oil well. Set aside. Add 2 tsp of oil in another pan and saute the onions and green pepper for 2 to 3 mins till the onions are translucent. Remove from fire and set aside.

In the same pan add 1 tsp of oil and add the soya sauce. Immediately add the cauliflower and saute for 2 minutes in a slow flame.

Then add the onion ,greenpepper strips. Saute for a minute or two till everything is more or less homogeneous. ;) Remove from flame. EAT!

Quesadillas with Cheese and Vegetables

Quick-fix lunch for all us in Ye Forn Lands.

• Shredded cheese [You can grate if you're enthu enough. Trader Joe's Mexican blend for preference. Cheddar, queso blanco and Monterrey Jack]
• Tortillas [Trader Joe's sundried tomato and basil flour in this case]
• Veggies of choice, chopped long and thin [Onions and peppers are a good staple]

Heat oil in frying pan. Toss veggies in with salt, let them cook about 5-10 min. I hate crunchiness so I let em cook. Lay out a tortilla. Sprinkle cheese across half. Lay out veggies as you wish. Sprinkle more cheese. Fold over. Toast in frying pan till cheese melts. About 1 min each side should do. Eat.

Goes well with orange juice and the Colbert Report.

Chole (with Alu)

YUM!

Serves: 2-3
Preparation time: 10 min
Cooking time: 30 min

1 16 oz can chole/chana/garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 medium onion, chopped fine
2 medium potatoes, diced to about 1 cm cubes, peeled if you wish
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp haldi
1 1/2 tsp dhania
1/2 tsp jeera
1 tsp chana masala
5 tbs tomato paste or 2 medium ripe tomatoes, chopped fine
2 tsp oil
salt to taste

Heat oil in pot. Fry ginger paste for 30 seconds. Add onions and fry till translucent. Add spices and stir. Add tomato paste and fry for about 1 min. Add potatoes. Fry for 1 min. Add chana. Add water to cover the chana and potatoes. Add salt. Cover and cook for 20 min.

Voila!
YUM!

Frijoles Negros Cubanos con Plátanos or Cuban Black Beans with Plantains

This is my favourite Latin American food. Period.

Serves: 4
Preparation time: 20 min
Cooking time: 30 min

For the beans:

• 2 16oz cans black beans [Goya rules]
• 1 medium onion, chopped [fine or coarse, it doesnt matter because it cooks so long]
• 5 cloves garlic, crushed or finely minced
• 1/2 large pepper diced small [I've used green and red both, it depends on how strong you want the pepper flavour to be]
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves
• salt to taste
• 1/2 cup water
• 3 tbs orange juice
• 1/2 tbs white wine vinegar
• 2 tbs olive oil [actually any oil]

Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Nonstick is a VERY good idea because this gets sticky. Add garlic and toss for 30 seconds. Add onions. When they're translucent, add peppers. Cook about 5 min. Add spices. Cook about 5 min. Add beans, water, orange juice and salt. Stir. Cover and let simmer for 30 min, stirring periodically. Whenever you stir, mash some of the beans up into the gravy. By the end about one third to half the beans should be coarsely mashed, so that the gravy becomes very thick. This works very well with any beans in a gravy actually. Add vinegar and turn off the heat. Stir. Remove the bay leaf before serving.

For the plantains

• 2 ripe plantains, preferably with blackened skin
• olive oil

Peel the plantains and slice them about 1/2 cm to 1 cm thick. depends on how much oil you want to use and how long you have to cook them. Thick is good because the sugar caramelises best that way. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan. Again, how much you use depends on you, I like to shallow fry them not deep fry them, so I have about 1 or 2 mm of oil in the pan and add more as required. When the oil is hot place the slices in the pan. When they are brown on the bottom turn them over. When brown on the other side remove from pan and leave on paper to absorb excess oil. Serve hot. If you must, nuke em, but they have to be warm at the very least.

Serve with tortillas, arepas or white rice.

*drool*

NOTE: the sugar I'm talking about is the sugar in plantains, they have a sugar content.