Showing posts with label Recipes: Hispanic food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Recipes: Hispanic food. Show all posts

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Seafood paella


I have serious emotional attachment to seafood paella since I first tried it in Barcelona. I had it many times in restaurants before I finally visited a Catalan cooking school. That was double luck: the paella we made at school was even better than those really good ones I tried before. Simultaneously I figured out how to make it. The recipe performed really well both at our family kitchen and at our Moscow cooking classes for half a year and it feels like a good time to share it.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Spanish hot chocolate


Our first meeting in Pinch of Cinnamon club was about making churros with Spanish hot chocolate and I was just amazed how good a topic these two were for a short and friendly cooking class. All this chocolate melting, piping out pastry, deep frying and then (very important!) eating is just a lovely little feast. So if you are in search for interactive cooking ideas, consider this one.


I already explained making churros in detail, so now is the turn of Spanish hot chocolate. While churros do take some time to make, the chocolate can hardly take more than 15 minutes. Unlike the French and Italian versions of this drink, Spanish chocolate in normally thickened a little by corn starch. So first you make something like milk kissel and then you add chopped chocolate and mix it in as it melts.

Spanish hot chocolate (vegan version possible)

serves 6

1 liter of milk (substitute for soya milk to make the vegan version)
2-4 table spoons corn starch (depending on how thick you prefer the chocolate)
3 table spoons sugar (or to your taste)
200 g bitter sweet chocolate, 70-75% coco (chopped)

In a small bowl combine the corn starch with 50 ml of cold milk. Pour the rest of the milk into a medium pan, add the sugar and bring to the boil. Take off the heat, pour in the corn starch while whisking. Return to low heat and bring to boil. The milk should thicken a little.

Take off the heat and add the chocolate. Wait for 30 seconds (this will let the chocolate melt), then whisk together till you get a smooth glossy chocolate.

Serve the chocolate hot or warm. To me it is most convenient to eat (with a teaspoon) rather then drink. It is a perfect pair for churros.

Related:

Spanish churros
A magic cup of cinnamon hot chocolate


Spanish churros

Have I said already how much I love churros with hot chocolate? I first tried them in Barcelona at a Christmas fair. I was standing there on the snowy Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes holding a paper cone of long hot and crispy sugary doughnuts in one hand and a plastic cup of thick dark majic in the other hand... and had no spare hand whatsoever.

Monday, December 19, 2011

Quince marmalade


That's the second autumn when my mom made quince marmalade. Last year the stocks lasted till late winter. It suddenly became so deeply imbedded in the family eating that we can't imagine our mornings without it any more. Sometimes we have it on toasted bread with fresh cheese, other times - on its own with tea. When I started inquiring it turned out that this marmalade comes from hispanic cooking and the particular recipe - from an amazing mama-fenix - Russian food blogger living in Barcelona.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Fresh and simple guacamole


Surely Michael (my little brother) wasn't going to appreciate the Thai green curry I was making yesterday. So I thought why not finally make my own guacamole with some tortilla chips for him? It is one of those simple and delicious things we love. Well, to be completely frank, I love the guacamole and he loves the chips.

Crispy cheese quesadillas



Last night I started from guacamole and ended up also making quesadillas (sandwiched tortillas with cheese based filling) because I came across this wonderful Jamie Oliver recipe. They worked perfectly - Michael (my little brother) kept happy and occupied by the tortilla chips and quesadillas for the whole dinner and I even still have some guacamole left for myself.