Snails with Bacon and Mushrooms. A Fall's tapa!

Can you imagine these special fall flavours all combined in a Tapa? Mmmmm, Snails are absolutely delicious cooked this way. Eating snails also has a special Bonus... you can eat them with your fingers! It's one of those special foods where using the fingers doesn't mean bad manners. Although, Julia Roberts' character at Pretty Woman had a little problem with a snail (escargot)... remember that scene?

Hunting Snails and mushrooms is an extended activity here in Catalonia. When Fall starts showing its nose, hundreds of Mushrooms hunters head to the woods and try to fill their baskets with as many mushrooms as they can. We are lucky enough to have many many different kinds of mushrooms; if you are curious, here you can see the ones we have in Catalonia. (sorry, only in Catalan, but with pictures for every kind).

One of my favourite mushrooms is Cep (Boletus Edulis) a supertasty and flavourful one. If you have the chance,  try it. You can find them at the markets now, but also frozen, dehydrated and in cans. My recommendation is that if you find it fresh... go ahead and buy it!

Ingredients for the Tapa: 250 grs of snails, 50 grs of Boletus Edulis, 80 grs. of fresh panceta, 1 big onion, 3 garlic cloves, 2 branches of fresh thyme, salt, olive oil and black ground pepper.

• First clean, wash and boil the snails as said in this post.
• Now, cover the surface of a pan with olive oil, when hot, add the panceta in dices. When golden, add the boiled snails (only the snails, not the water you used) and stir for 8 minutes at medium heat. Sprinkle with salt and black ground pepper. 
• Take the snails and panceta out of the pan and reserve in a plate.
• In the same oil, cook the onion (chopped) until it gets transparent. Add a branch of thyme. Stir and pull it out after 3 minutes.
• Add the Boletus cut in dices to the pan with the onion. Stir for 3 more minutes at medium heat.
• Pour the snails and panceta back to the pan and cook for 20 minutes aprox at medium/low heat. Stir now and then.
• Mince the garlic, add to the snails and turn the heat off when fragant.

Get a good loaf of bread ready and eat warm/hot!
If you are a snail addict like me, then click at the snails picture at the right column. Buen provecho :D

Pumpkin puree with Sugar and Beer's Spider Web reduction

If you are looking for trouble... you came to the right place! Here you have the most scary Pumpkin Puree. Dare to try it at night and you will have the most horrible nightmares. Dare to try it for lunch and maybe you don't get to see the sunset.

Only if you eat it during Halloween, nothing will harm you. So, get your pumpkin ready and be careful with real spiders!

Did I sound too frightening? He, he, just getting into the mood! This is my entry for this month's Royal Foodie Joust at the LeftoverQueen :D. I really didn't know what to do with the 3 ingredients: Pumpkin, beer and sugar, but finally inspiration came :D.

The Royal Foodie Joust is one of my favourite Events, it's lots of fun, it makes you think and improve your cooking skills and if you are lucky enough... you get a prize/prizes!!!! Join us and get into the Halloween mood too!

Ingredients for 4 servings: For the puree --1 Pumpkin (aprox 1 kilo), 4 carrots, 1 green fresh onion, olive oil, chicken stock, salt and black ground pepper. For the Spider Web: 200 grs of brown sugar and 4 tablespoons of black beer.

• Peel the pumpkin: seeds off and peel too. Cut in dices and reserve.
• Peel the carrots and cut in slices. reserve.
• Peel the onion and chop in small pieces. Reserve.
• Get some chicken stock in the heat (aprox. half a liter).
• Pour 4 to 5 tablespoons inside a medium pot and heat. Place the pumpkin, carrots and onion inside. Stir while it cooks until onion gets transparent, then add enough chicken stock to let it all simmer. Once the pumpin and carrot are tender. Use a food blender to get the puree texture. If you need more chicken stock add it then. 
• Taste and add salt if necessary. Pour some black ground pepper. Reserve.
• Prepare some oven's paper on the clean kitchen counter.
• Pour the sugar in another pot and turn heat on. When the sugar starts melting add the beer and stir all the time until it all melts and reduces a bit. I had it for 3 to 5 minutes aprox.
• While you are still stirring, take a spoon and pour the reduction over the oven's paper drawing a spider web. Let it cool. Place in the freezer if you are in a hurry.
• Prepare the plates with the puree in the bottom and the web over them.
• Hope you like the idea!

But if you don't like pumpkins, nor purees, nor sugar and beer reductions... then take a look at these Catalan treats. They are delicious :D

    

Follow this link to get the recipe for Panellets!

Shy Omelet and more Eggs than you can imagine!

I don't have an obsession with Omelets but I love their versatility and mixing different kinds of eggs it might seem an extravagance but, I love surprising my guests!

So, here you have the easiest way to prepare an original omelet that will rise AAaaahhhss and OOoohhhhhss among your guests :D. In this particular case, my muse has been Jennifer from Orange Polka Dot. If you have kids, then you should definitevely visit her blog, it's fun, cheerful, bright and with a great content.

Jennifer made me think about this little book I bought many years ago for my little daughter: It has two titles... it all depends on which side you turn it: Per molts anys! and Bon profit! The first means: Happy birthday and the second Bon appetite, in Catalan.

You get a poem per month and a poem per meal. All dishes are typical Catalan/International. Unfortunately, the author is not with us anymore. Gràcies Miquel Martí i Pol!

This time my choice has been the Omelet. However, a plain omelet might be a bit boring, that's why I call mine: Shy Omelet! Keep on reading and discover the hidden ingredients :D.

Kids will love the presentation and the sensation of pressing the little orange roe against their palates!

Ingredients for 4 servings: 4 eggs, 8 teaspoons of fresh trout's roe, some fresh chives, half a glass of cooking cream, 2 branches of fresh parsley, 2 anchovies in oil, salt, black ground pepper and olive oil.

• Carefully crack the eggs shell and pour the content in a bowl. Clean the shells and reserve.
• Wash and dry the herbs and cut the parsley finely. Cut some chive in small pieces too and reserve some for decoration.
• Chop the anchovies in small pieces too.
• Whip the eggs and and the cream together. Prepare a sauce pan with one table spoon of olive oil and when it starts warming, throw the mix in. Stir with a wooden fork until it thickens.
• Then take away from the heat, keep on stirring and add the herbs and anchovies.
• Set the eggs over an appropiate dish and fill them with the mix. Dress with some salt and black ground pepper. Place the roe and the chive cuts over.
• Get your spoon and bread ready and... Bon Profit! 

You can also use the egg's original wrapper to serve them.

I'm sending the recipe over to Silvermoon Dragon and her Dragon Musings: Kids Cooking Thursday. My daughter is more of a teen (13) than a kid, but she helped me to fill in the eggs' shells and decorate them. It was fun!

I'm also sending it to Meeta's Monthly Mingle... Brunch! If you still don't know her blog: What's for lunch honey? I highly recomend you to visit it... you will love it for sure!!!

Brunch is that difficult moment of the day when we Spanish have to decide if we also add it to the rest of hearty day meals we have ;D. Come join the feast, it will be fun!

Chocolate and Walnuts Cake for High Tea Times

I'm not much into teas; not that I dislike them... it's only that I haven't given them a chance! I'm a coffee person. This means that before my morning coffee I am not a person... I'm a troglodyte and sound like one with ughs and hums before I have my cup. My favourite: an intense expresso with a bit of hot milk and some honey... only after that I become human ;D.


But, this post should be about tea and its sweet/savory pairings. I'm talking about Meeta's Monthly Mingle: High Tea Treats!
I'm kind of obssesed with Chocolate and Walnuts and I keep on trying to find the perfect cake with this combo. Now that I have a breadmaker things are much easier and making the dough and baking it is a kids game :D.

This month (today is the last day), the event is hosted by Aparma from My Diverse Kitchen; hurry up and send your Tea treats too!



So, prepare a hot tea cup and bring something sweet or savory to the feast!


Ingredients: 175 grs of softened butter, 175 grs of brown sugar, 3 beaten eggs, 225 grs of white flour, 2 1/2 teaspoons of baking power, 25 grs of cacao power, 50 grs of chocolate, 50 grs of walnuts, 2 teaspoons of milk, 2 ripe bananas (maximum 300 grs including peels), half a lemon.
I used a wipping machine and a bread machine.

• Read the whole recipe and get your ingredients ready before starting.
• Whip the butter and the sugar in a big bowl. Whip the eggs aside and pour little by little in the big bowl. Keep on whipping.
• Sift the flour and the baking power in a different bowl and add to the big bowl. Whip.
• Smash the ripe bananas and moist them with the lemon juice. Add them to the big bowl and keep on whipping the mix. Add the cacao, the milk and the chocolate and walnuts (cut into little pieces). Save a couple of walnuts to decorate. Stir.
• Pour the mix into the bread machine and use the "bake" function. Bake for 1 hour.
• Once done, take it off and let it cool down on a rack. Slice and serve with your favourite tea.

Just pull up your left or right pinkie and wait until 5 pm to celebrate with your friends ;D.

Chickpeas puree with fake Tagliatelle

Where have the traditional pets gone?

3 Days ago a female Lion was seen at different villages in the border of Catalonia and Valencia. Nobody knows from its origin... maybe it escaped from a Circus? Maybe a rich and excentric person bought it as a puppy and now the feline has grown far too much.



Neighbours are really scared and authorities are making their best to try catch the animal. A local farmer took his shotgun with him but the police told him to leave the weapon at home... What???? If my life were in danger I would also like to have a gun nearby... but the police argued that he could hurt somebody instead of the lion.



There is also an increasing affection for having Boas constrictor or iguanas or poisonous spiders... Have we all gone nuts? Go and buy yourself a dog or a cat or a little local signing birdie!!!! But, if you do, treat them well and Do Not abandon them!

Boleta thinks that she is a lion! She sometimes behaves as if she were big and powerful when another female bumps into her. She doesn't care about sizes... maybe I should take her to the ophthalmologist ;D.

All these babling has nothing to do with the recipe but a warm deep dish of this Chickpeas puree would surely tame the wild beasts and the domestic ones as well :D.



Ingredients for 4 servings: For the chickpeas --- 400 grs of dry chickpeas, 3 carrots, an 8 cm fresh ham bone, 1 onion, salt and water. For the rest of the recipe-- 2 fresh medium squids and their ink, olive oil and some salt.

• The day before, clean and wash the squids (if your fishmonger hasn't do it before). Take some kitchen plastic film and roll them tight. Place in the freezer. Keep the ink in the fridge.
• Also the day before (night time), pour your chickpeas inside a big bowl and cover with warm water and a teaspoon of salt.
• Let's start cooking today: peel the carrots, wash the ham bone and peel the onion. Place inside a big pot and cover with water up to the top. Turn heat on. When it starts boiling, take the white foam away if there is some.
• Get the squid out of the freezer and take the film off. With the help of a sharpened knife, cut as thin as you can.
• Strain the chickpeas and pour into the boiling water. If you don't want them to be as hard as a rock, the water shouldn't stop boiling until they become tender. Depending on the peas and the water, it might take 2, 3 or 4 hours. Just be patient.
• Once they are tender, place them in a big bowl with some of the boiling stock and use a blender to get a fine texture. Add as many stock as you consider necessary. Taste and add salt. Pour some olive oil (4 tablespoons) and mix. Pour in the dishes and reserve.
• Heat some olive oil in a sauce pan and when hot, place the squid strips until they get golden. Pour some salt over and place them over the chickpeas puree.
• Decorate with some drops of squids' ink.

Enjoy the dish!!!

I'm sending the recipe over to Cook Sister who is hosting this month the famous My Legume Love Affair, brainchild of Susan at The Well-Seasoned Cook.