Have you ever tried to cook your own chick peas? Have you achieved a good result the first time you tried? Have they been tender and tasty? Of course it's always easier to buy a can of precooked chick peas but I enjoy learning and preparing things by myself and chick peas have been a hard challenge for a long time.
So, here you have some tips and tricks to get soft home made garbanzos :D.
* When soaking them in water: do it the previous night, double volume of water, hot/warm water, add a teaspoon of salt. Only if the chick peas are a bit old, add also a teaspoon of bicarbonate.
* When cooking them: Pour the chick peas into boiling water and make sure the water never stops boiling until they become tender.
* Adding herbs or a ham bone will improve their taste and flavour.
I'm sending this recipe to Running with Tweezers and her Souper Soup Challenge, is there anything better than a hot soup during cold winter days?
Also sending it to Tasty Recipes and her event SWC: Soups. Because we all want to eat healthy, don't we?
There's still some days to send your recipes to both events... surely you have a soup you want to share :D.
Ingredients for 4 servings: 300 grs of dry chickpeas, 300 grs of fresh spinach, 100 grs of smoked bacon, 2 onion, 1 ham bone, 3 ripe tomatoes (if you don't have then 3 table spoons of canned fried tomatoe), 3 garlic cloves, olive oil, and salt.
- Soak the chickpeas hot water the previous day (see tips).
- Get water boiling in a big pot. Make sure it doubles the volume of the chickpeas. Add the ham bone and 1 onion to the water and some salt. When it boils, strain the chickpeas and add to the pot. Make sure the boiling doesn't stop. It can take 1 or 2 or even 3 hours to get them soft, it will all depend on how old are they. Taste now and then to see if they are soft enough. If you should add some water, boil it aside in a different pot and add it to the chickpeas pot only when it boils.
- Meanwhile, pour some oil in a casserole, fry the bacon cut in strips, when golden, reserve. Peel and cut the other onion and fry at low heat until it becomes transparent, then add the chopped garlic and when fragrant the tomatoes. When the tomatoes have lost its water add the bacon back and stir for 2 minutes.
- When you see the chickpeas are getting soft, add the bacon and veggies sofrito to the big pot and stir. Once they are tender, add the cleaned and dry spinach leaves and cook for 5 more minutes. Taste and add some salt if needed.
- Enjoy!
In the mood for more soups? Try this one and impress your guests! Tomatoe Soup with Shrimps. No more soups? maybe you prefer a legume based dish like this one: Fabes con Almejas, land and sea in a perfect marriage. Or a greener option... Green peas with eggs and bacon.
As soon as I post this dish, I'm running to my terrace with a beer and some nuts... the sun is shouting my name and I don't want to make it angry ;D.
I want to buy some new flowers and paint my terrace in bright colours... food and recipes will have to wait a bit.
The Calçot is an onion picked at the end of the summer, cut in a particular way and returned to the earth, buried at the beginning of the autumn. During the growing process, we get a new onion from the bulb and the calçot that grows down into the ground. The result is a sweet onion that won't make you cry if you cut it raw and won't leave a hard breath in your mouth. The time to harvest them starts in January and the best way to cook them is burning them in a fire done with the prunning branches of the vine.
Chocolate contains essential ingredients that turn on our "I'm feeling great" switch! It gives us energy, it eases premenstrual syndrome, it helps us to get in a better mood, and I could go on and on! However, it has had some bad advertisement through the years that today we can say it's not true.
It's not true that will make you fat. Moderate its consume and have it 60% Cocoa minimum (it has less sugar and cocoa butter).
It hasn't been completely demonstrated that Chocolate could cause migraines. Migraines are due to more than one factor and the substances that appear in the Cocoa have been linked with migraines but its relation it's not conclusive.
The first cocoa plantations were in Maya territory, in the year
In 
I have loved chocolate ever since! I only know 1 person who doesn't enjoy chocolate! My sister in law... I keep on forgetting every time she comes over and I offer her something chocolaty... so today I'm offering you all this fantastic bi coloured dessert: 
To prepare this dessert you will need: 1 liter of milk, 3 yolk eggs, 175 grs of sugar, 40 grs of cornstarch, 1 vanilla pod, 4 tablespoons of powder cocoa, some chocolaty peanut.
But if you are still craving for other desserts, why don't you try these?
Is this a pickle or a marinated chicken? When looking for the translation of the word Escabeche, I can find both options. Will you throw some light here? How would you call it? It sure has vinegar, but it also marinates in the sauce. Whatever the answer is... give it a try!!!! Either is winter, or summer, this is a fantastic way to eat chicken... see how versatile can be... in a salad or in its own sauce. Or rather, would you have it in a sandwich?
The cooking method is so simple that even a kid could prepare it! No complex processes implied, no difficult and rare ingredients... the kind of dish you can have prepared in advance, perfect for 
Today I won't show you any chicken's crest ;D. Let's get our sleeves rolled!
Mar i Muntanya is a typical Catalan dish where sea and land flavours combine to perfection. Just pick the best ingredients, and prepare a rich and thick sauce... there you have it! Don't forget the bread!
Ingredients for 6 servings: 1 1/2 chickens, 30 fresh shrimps, olive oil, flour, 2 big onions, 5 garlic cloves, 6 ripe tomatoes, 2 table spoons of apple spirits, 2 dl of chicken stock, 20 grs of toasted almonds, 20 grs of toasted hazelnuts, herbs: bay leave, oregano and thyme; salt and black ground pepper.
Some other dishes you can prepare in advance and enjoy later with the rest of your guests:
She left for the white week (that's how we call here the week they go skiing with the school) and the previous night to her departure she felt sick all night long. She didn't sleep at all (me neither) and in the morning she felt so weak that I didn 't know if it would be a good idea to let her go. Finally she did.
If you are a mom or a dad, you will understand the uneasiness I've been going through all these days... I couldn't blog, I couldn't sleep properly, I couldn't cook... Anyways, today she will be back (the week is actually 3 days) and I feel much better now :D. I know she's been having a wonderful time!
My second time in Paris was also many years ago and yes, I was in love and my lover was an American guy and Richard was his name... I will not reveal my secrets here, I will just tell you that Paris is the city of LOVE♥... Aaaaahhhhh l'amour!
Why am I telling you all these stories? 
This post will contain no pictures of the food... I didn't have enough light and they didn't come out as good as I wished, plus all my senses were focused in the food... you'll have to use your imagination. But, I will try to translate the Winter degustation menu we had. The post also contains a 10 questions interview I managed to ask Carme and she was kind enough to answer :D 
This menu is not full detailed and might have some mistakes when translating. For a full and truthful menu you'll have to visit Carme's Restaurant ;D. I encourage all Japanese readers to go and visit the Sant Pau rest. in Tokyo... you will love it!!!!
So, dear readers, if you ever have the chance, go and enjoy a meal at Restaurant Sant Pau. You will treasure the experience all your life :D
