Turkish inspired salad

Our friends from Turkey, Turkan, Ozlem and Muge taught us how to prepare a delicious and super healthy salad made of fresh cilantro and tomatoes. It is so simple to prepare and so refreshing and tasteful.

Ingredients:

• 4 large or medium tomatoes
• half a bunch of fresh cilantro (you can also use parsley if you prefer)
• 2 table spoons of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lemons (you are going to need 2 table spoons of fresh squeezed lemon juice)
• a pinch of salt

Directions:

Wash the tomatoes, dry off them on a paper towel and cut the tomatoes in small cubes. Put them on a large bowl.

Wash the cilantro, clean it from any dry leaves, cut the cilantro long stem and dry it on a paper towel.
Cut the cleaned cilantro into small pieces. Add them to the large bowl.

Make a dressing with olive oil, fresh lemon juice and salt. Mix it all together. Before serving the salad add this dressing to the tomatoes and cilantro. Mix gently and enjoy!

A vegetarian week ahead

 

A week dedicated to our vegetarian friends...and a way for us to detox from meat. A beautiful Turkish inspired salad and a red potato stew. 

Both dishes taste delicious and are so good for our bodies and souls.

Enjoy what the week has to offer...

Ana & Ana

Crème brûlée (or not)

Ingredients:

• 4 cups of whole milk
• 7 tablespoons ( we used Pillsbury Softasilk: enriched cake flour bleached)
• 1 cup of white sugar
• 2 lemon rinds
• 4 egg yolk beaten
• 2 tablespoons of white sugar

Directions:

Add 3 cups of milk, sugar and lemon rinds to a large sauce pan in medium-high heat. Bring it to a boil . When boiling bring the heat to medium-low. In a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining one cup of milk (it is better if the milk is warm) and the flour until well blended.

Add the milk and flour to the cream in the sauce pan stirring continually and let it boil slowly in a medium-low heat for 5-7 minutes (mix continually with a wooden spoon or whiskers). Remove this cream from the oven and let it set for a couple of minutes. Discard the lemon rinds.

Take the yolks and 2 tablespoons of white sugar, and beat them until the mixture becomes significantly lighter in color. Heat the cream again to medium-low and mix the yolk-sugar mixture gently to the cream. Let it slowly boil for 2-4 minutes.

Serve on individual bowls or large deep dish. Chill out. The custard need to set for at least two hours. Then spread some white sugar on the surface of each custard, and either put them in the oven on broil until the sugar is melted and delicious or r melt the sugar on each individually by using a butane torch (search for Creme Brulee Torch Set).

Variation: Most of the times we do not go over the extra work of torching the sugar on top of the cream; instead we just sprinkle the cream with sugar and cinnamon. Great delicious flavor for less work. 
 

Hope you enjoy this easy way to prepare crème brûlée (or not)

Making life a little easier...

Source: http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=12371578 (Bed Bath & Beyond).

We are starting this week with a variation to crème brûlée. It sounds a dauting task make the perfect custard, but with this easy recipe you are going to be able to prepare a delicious one.

Most of the times we do not go over the extra work of torching the sugar on top of the custard; instead we just sprinkle the cream with sugar and cinnamon. Great delicious flavor for less work. 

Hope you enjoy this week easy way to prepare crème brûlée (or not),

Ana & Ana

Beef Stew with Poached Eggs

With this Winter we need some comforting meals. This week we are going for a beef stew with veggies and poached eggs. It is hearty and comforting...and perfect for cold weather.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium onion diced
• 2 garlic cloves diced
• 2 tablespoons of extra vrigin olive oil
• 1.5 pound of fresh beef cut in small cubes
• 1 chourizo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chorizo) sliced (replace with smoked sausage)
• 1/2 cup of water
• 3 eggs
• 3 large carrots cut into thin slices
• 1 package of frozen peas ( about 1 pound)
• pinch of pepper
• 1 teaspoon of sea salt

Directions:

In a large pan, add the onion, garlic, chourizo, carrotts, and olive oil. Cook for a few minutes until the onion turns gold and soft.

Add the beef, salt and pepper and let the beef fry for a couple of minutes. As soon as the beef losses its pink/red color add the water and peas. Let everything cook in medium-low for 20-25 minutes. Make sure to stir the beef and vegetables a couple of times, while it cooks.

When the stew is ready, add three whole eggs to it.

Put a lid on the pan as the eggs cook. Leave it to cook for 3-7 minutes depending on how you like your poached eggs.

Serve very hot with some white rice and/or bread. It is delicious!

It is Time for Beef Stew

With this Winter we need some comforting meals. This week we are going for a beef stew with veggies and poached eggs. It is hearty and comforting...and perfect for cold weather.

Hope you enjoy it!

Stay tuned,

Ana & Ana

Extreme Chocolate Truffles

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! This is our favorite truffles (or bonbons) recipe. You need to love chocolate to appreciate them. Enjoy...and spread the love.

Ingredients:

2 pakg. (12 oz. each) semi-sweet chocolate chips (we like to use Ghirardelli)

1 pkg. (8o oz.) cream chees (not lite or fat free) at room temperature

2 teaspoons of water

2 packages (7 oz. each) dipping chocolate (real dark semi-sweet chocolate) (we use Baker's since we cannot find Ghirardelli where we live)

Directions:

In microwave safe bowl melt chocolate chips (use small time increments - 15 to 20 seconds - and check the chocolate constantly so it does not burn; mix the chocolate every time you check it; you want all the chocolate chips to met).

As soon as all the chocolate chips are evenly melted, add the cream cheese and water. Mix energetically with a wooden spoon. Let this mixture chill in the fridge for at least 1-2 hrs (or overnight).

Shape the mixture into 1 in. balls and place on wax lined cookie sheet (or large plate). Chill about 2 hours. Melt dipping chocolate in the microwave (follow directions on the package). Dip turffles and place them on wax paper to harden. You need to move fast so the dipping chocolate does not harden.

We recommend to melt one package at time. Or to just use one of the dipping chocolate package and leave the remaining turffles without a dip. Instead you can decorate them with sugar pearls, a drop of cream cheese frosting or anything else you feel like to do. You also can mold them into different shapes...

Chocolate Cake "Com Amor" (With Love)

Aunt Didi emailed the chocolate recipe from Portugal "with love." We added our favorite frosting - cheese cream frosting-- for a killer combination. Give it and try and let us know...

Ingredients:

For the cake:
4 eggs
1 stick of butter (room temperature)
1 cup of sugar
3/4 cup of cocoa powder
3/4 cup of flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder

For the frosting:
1 stick of butter (room temperature)
1 (8 oz) package of Philadelphia cream cheese
1 cup of confectioners sugar, sifted
1 drop of red food coloring

Directions:

For the cake:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter 1 heart-shape pan and sprinkle it with flour.

Beat the egg yolks and sugar together in the bowl (with an electric mixer, whisk or wooden spoon) until light yellow. Add the cocoa powder to the mixture and continue mixing.

In a separate bowl, with an electric mixer beat the egg whites until they are firm (need to form stiff, firm peaks).

Add small portions of flour and baking powder to the initial batter alternating with small portions of beaten egg whites (by carefully folding them in the mixture).  Continue doing this until there is not any more flour or egg whites to add to the batter.

Add the batter to the cake pan. Bake for 40-45 min. or until a toothpick come out clean. Allow the cakes to cool before you add the frosting.

For the frosting:
Mix the cream cheese and butter in a bowl with an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. (this one just comes out better with the electric mixer don’t recommend to do this with whisk or spoon.) Wait until the 2 ingredients are fully combined. Add the sugar and drop of food coloring and mix until smooth.

With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top of the cake with a thick layer of frosting. Decorate with sugar pearls for a dash of glitter.

Well Married (Bem Casados)

We have learned this recipe from our Brazilian friend Karina. It is called "Bem Casado," which means "Well Married" in English so very much in tune with Valentine's Day and related themes :). This recipe is also known as the Brazilian fudge.

This recipe is great for anyone who does not like to drink milk, since most of it is condensed milk. Our youngest in the family, Mariana, who happens not to like to drink her milk in the morning, really likes these for breakfast...We are giving "Bem Casados" away to our Valentines this week.

Ingredients:

For the first batch (with chocolate)

• 1 (14 ounces) can of sweetened condensed milk
• 1 tablespoon of butter (Pride of Iowa!)
• 3 table spoons of cocoa powder (Nestle Quick will do it)

 For the second batch (without chocolate)

•  1 (14 ounces) can of sweetened condensed milk
• 1 tablespoon of butter (Pride of Iowa!)
• white granulate sugar  to cover

Directions:

For the first batch:

In a saucepan over medium heat mix the condensed milk, cocoa and butter. Cook, constantly stirring with a wooden spoon for about 15-17 minutes or until thickened. You will know that is ready when you are able to see the bottom of the pan when tilting it. Remove from the heat and carefully transfer the hot mixture to a separate greased bowl to cool. Let it cool off.

For the second batch:

In a saucepan over medium heat mix the condensed milk and butter. Cook, constantly stirring with a wooden spoon for about 15-17 minutes or until thickened. You will know that is ready when you are able to see the bottom of the pan when tilting it. Remove from the heat and carefully transfer the hot mixture to a separate greased bowl to cool. Let it cool off.

Putting everything together:

Cover your hands with butter and take a small portion from the mixture with chocolate and another from the mixture without chocolate. Roll both small portions into small balls. Roll the balls over white granulate sugar until completely covered. You can decorate them with sugar pearls...

They look awesome! And taste even better.

Valentine's Day is Next Week!

This week we are going to share with you some of our extreme dessert recipes.

We will start with a variation of the Brazilian Fudge (or Brigadeiros) that our friend Karina taught us. They are called "Well Married" (Bem Casados).

A delicious Chocolate Cake "Com Amor" (With Love). Aunt Didi emailed the cake recipe from Portugal and we added our cream cheese frosting to it with a hint of red food coloring and much love.

And we will top the week with the extreme chocolate truffles. These are chocolate bombs that will explod in your mouth (eat in moderation :)

Happy Valentine's Day to all friends/followers out there,

Ana & Ana

Spaghetti and Meat Balls

This is a recipe that we recently learnt and became one of our favs: Spaghetti and Meat Balls. It is delicious and it will feed you for three days. On the next day, you can make meatball sandwiches on ciabatta bread for lunch.

Ingredients:

• 1 package of spaghetti
• salt

For the meatballs

• 1 pound of ground beef (you can use other types of meat (or a mixture), such as pork, veal or lamb)
• 2 table spoons of white wine (dry)
• 1 beaten eggs
• 4 cloves of gralic finely chopped
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
• sea salt
• pepper
• 3 table spoons of extra virgin olive oil

 For the tomato sauce:

• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 large can of tomato sauce (we like 100% natural Hunt's tomato sauce)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 small bunch of cilantro
• pinch red pepper flakes
• sea salt
• pepper

Directions:
For the meatballs:
Combine the following ingredients in a medium bowl: beef, salt, pepper, garlic, cilantro and wine. Mix it together carefully and leave it in the fridge for 5 hours (or overnight). After that add the egg and the bread crumbs into the mixture and roll it into approx.1 1/2-inch balls.

Heat the oil in large saute pan over medium-high heat. Fry until golden brown, but not necessarily cooked through completely. (Remove with into a plate).

For the Tomato Sauce:
Heat olive oil in a large pan. Add onions and garlic and cook until soft adn golden. Add tomato sauce, cilantro, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, and let it simmer for for 15-20 minustes. Remove from the heat and puree the sauce with an immersion blender (be careful to not burn your self). Put the pan on the heat again and add the bay leaf and the meatballs into the pan (as well as any left over oil from frying the meat balls). As soon as it boil, bring the heat to low and let it simmer for more 20-30 minutes (put a lid on the pan).

For the Spaghetti:

Bring salt and water to a boil. Add spaghetti and cook for about 10-12 minutes in medium-low heat. Drain well, serve with the meat balls in the tomato sauce. You can garnish with more cilantro and/or add some Parmesan cheese.