Lacquered Chicken with Sesame seeds

I think that lately my dishes have some kind of Oriental influence... don't you think? A chicken is a chicken here and in Tokyo, but I never prepared it this way before and although ketchup doesn't come from Japan, the general style of the dish might look Asiatic.

Again, like I did with the Salmon Cubes; this chicken marinated for 2 hours. I'm loving this technique because it takes no big efforts, no endless time stirring the pan and no agressive cooking (I used the oven to finish the dish). And on top of everything the result is spectacular :D.

Some of the ingredients I have used in the recipe are not common ingredients in the Spanish Cuisine; well, maybe nowadays some of them have just been incorporated but, I just have to go back one generation (my mom) and see how many of these has in her kitchen.
Soy Sauce, sesame seeds and ketchup don't exist for my mom. Globalization didn't get her! However she is always open to taste new flavours.

Ingredients for 4 servings: 2 chicken breasts (boneless), toasted sesame seeds, 2 tablespoons of honey, 4 tablespoons of ketchup, 4 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and salt.

• Cut the chicken in cubes and reserve.
• Mix all ingredients (except the sesame and chicken) inside a big bowl. Stir and add the chicken cubes. Marinate for 2 hours in the fridge.
• Preheat the oven at 180ºC.
• Strain the chicken. Keep the sauce. Coat the chicken with the sesame seeds. Place all the chicken over an oven's tray and bake for 10 minutes.
• Serve over some salad dressed with the marinate sauce.

DON'T MISS THE OPPORTUNITY TO GET YOUR GIVEAWAY!!!! FOLLOW THE LINK!!!!

Enjoy your Easter Holidays! I will!!!

Brighten up your day by getting this Giveaway!!!

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1st.- This could be your choice: A wonderful Rachael Ray Cast Iron 7-Quart Round Dutch Oven in Green.

Our friends from CSN Stores are making this possible! They have all products you can dream of, take a look at their Cookware site for example... it's dreamland for us foodies :D.

2nd.- Or maybe you rather choose this practical Fagor Duo Stainless Steel 4-Quart Pressure Cooker.

Now that Spring is finally showing maybe you find something you like here for your garden and Barbecue.

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Aren't the 3 of them amazing? Thank you CSN Stores people for being at the foodie bloggers side, believing in our blogs and contributing with your awesome presents!!!

NOW, HOW CAN YOU PARTICIPATE?

1.- SIMPLY LEAVE A COMMENT IN THIS POST.

2.- OR/AND YOU CAN ALSO TWEET, STUMBLE, FACEBOOK, DIG ABOUT IT AND TELL ME LATER WITH ANOTHER COMMENT IN THIS POST.

3.- YOU CAN ALSO BECOME A FOLLOWER AND TELL ME THROUGH A COMMENT IN THIS POST.

4.- YOU HAVE TIME TO PARTICIPATE UNTIL APRIL 1ST MIDNIGHT.

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I'm soooo excited :D!!! Good luck to all of you dear foodies, bloggers and readers♥

PS: I'm really sorry for the European, Asian, Australian and rest of the world bloggers, readers, foodies... I hope that Big Brands of the rest of the world learn a bit from American ones. Being generous will be good for all of us!

Timbal de Ensaladilla rusa

Last Thursday, I was driving at my car's top speed: 60 km per hour, sun was shining, skies were blue, finally feeling some heat in my cheeks and feet; and the radio gifted me with:

I see trees of green... red roses too,

I see them bloom... for me and you.

And I think to myself... what a wonderful world!

This is exactly the way I felt! This is the kind of sensation it makes me believe I'm Superwoman :D. Spring is blooming and salads, fresh ingredients and colours find their way to my plates.

Introducing you to Ensaladilla rusa, I really don't know why it has this name but it's an easy recipe and everybody seems to like it.

Ingredients for 4 servings: 400 grs of green beans (I bought them fresh, but you can also find them in cans), 4 carrots, 2 piquillo peppers, 1 can of White Tuna's belly from Serrats, 8 canned sardines (the smallest kind), extra virgin olive oil, salt and mayonnaise.

• Clean and wash the green beans, carrots and potatoes and cut in dices. Steam in a steaming pot. When tender, reserve.
• Take the piquillos and cut them in small pieces. Reserve.
• Empty the tuna's belly can in a big bowl and wait until the rest of ingredients get cold. Carefully mix them. Dress with olive oil and salt and prepare the timbals. Watch out! Mine only lasted for seconds ;D. Place the sardines on top before the building breaks apart.
• Serve with mayonnaise.

I see skies of blue... clouds of white.

Bright blessed days... dark secret nights.

And I think to myself... what a wonderful world.

There's many versions and ingredients for Ensaladilla rusa. Click here to get a different one.

Cooking for Delicooks

If my name was Alice, I would tell you that I just came back from Wonderland!!! Eventhough, some hours have passed now... I'm still so high on Endorphins!!!

Endorphins are endogenous opioid polypeptide compounds. They are produced by the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus in vertebrates during exercise,^[1] excitement, pain, consumption of spicy food and orgasm,^[2][3] and they resemble the opiates in their abilities to produce analgesiaand a feeling of well-being. Endorphins work as "natural pain relievers." Wikipedia source

¡Ay, caramba! I bet you want to know the what, who, where, when, why and how. Ok I will let you have a little bite on this story because I cannot keep my mouth shout and my fingers still. 


WHO: Becky Lawton and Delicooks. The former an awesome, superskilled profesional gastronomy photograper and the later the prestigious Gastronomy Web.


WHAT: Cooking some of my dishes for Delicooks and having the honour and the luck to have Becky photographing the whole menu and also having it published at Delicooks in a month or so together with an interview.


WHERE: At Becky's amazing studio in Barcelona, just in front of Santa Caterina Beautiful Market and in one of those streets where is possible to touch both sides when extending your arms.

The rest of the story will come soon with 1st quality pictures, the recipes and the answer to all the questions.


Whatever your name is: Alice, Betty, Caroline, Diana, Enrique, Francisco, Gerald... trust me and follow the white rabbit... oooopppppsss Delicooks. It will soon be in English too!!!

Marinated Salmon Cubes.

Do you like it raw? Then, go for this easy and flavourful appetizer. This is one of the main reasons why I love raw food... no need for cooking and most important... no need for cleaning a kitchen mess afterwards ;D. Now seriously, from my point of view, salmon tastes much much better this way than cooked! And that was the statement of the day ;D.

Do you have a party at home? Are you celebrating something? Then choose this kind of food. Trust me, no endless hours spent at the kitchen. Just marinate the salmon and the rest is a kids game.

The day before, go to your fishmonger and buy 500 or 400 grs of fresh salmon. Ask your fishmonger to prepare it for you, or if you are an Ikea kind of person: do it yourself: Freeze the whole piece.

The day after, defreeze at room temperature and take the bones and skin out. Cut in little cubes. Reserve. Prepare a marinate with: 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and a pinch of salt.

Marinate the salmon for 1 hour in the fridge. Meanwhile, cut 2 medium potatoes in cubes too and boil in salty water. When done, let them cool down.
Get a can of salmon roe and another of lumpfish and present the dish over some Japanese sticks.
Tuna is also a good idea.

Fish Balls in Nuts Sauce.

Maybe you've never tried with Fish balls before, maybe you only gave Meat balls a chance. Well, here you have the opportunity to learn how to cook delicious Fish balls and present them in a different way. They are clearly a second course but if you use a glass and nice toothpics maybe you can have them as an appetizer too :D.

I used hake as the main ingredient, but you could also make them with monkfish and shrimps or with seabass... just up to you! Also, peas are optional, but their colour cheers the dish a bit and since they are now in season, I would recomend you to use them.

Ingredients for 4 servings: 200 grs of fresh hake, flour, a thick slice of bread soaked in milk, 1 egg, some fresh parsley springs, 3 garlic cloves, 1 toasted slice of bread, 15 toasted hazelnuts, 1 ñora's meat, salt, black ground pepper, olive oil and some fish stock.

• Make sure you clean the fish completely, take the bones and skin out. Use your fingers to crumble the meat in tiny portions and put them inside a big bowl. Add the squeezed bread soaked in milk to the bowl, 1 garlic clove (peeled and minced), the egg, half the minced parsley, a pinch of flour, salt and ground black pepper.
• Mix all the ingredients well and use your hands to make little balls. Get another bowl with flour inside and place the balls to prepare them for the frying.
• Heat some olive oil in a frying pan and when hot, throw the fishballs in and keep on turning them until they get a golden colour. Reserve over kitchen paper so that they leave there all the oil.
•  Prepare a picada with a mortar: place inside the toasted bread, the hazelnuts (peeled), 2 garlic cloves, the ñora meat, the rest of the parsley and salt. Smash it all until you get a thick paste. Add a bit of olive oil and reserve.
• Get a bit sauce sauce pan and place the fishballs inside, add enough fish stock to nearly cover the balls and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Add the picada and the fresh peas (optional) and simmer for another 5 minutes. Taste and add more salt if necessary.
• Let it rest for another 5 minutes and serve hot.

I'm leaving for the weekend and going HERE, I am not telling you this to make you jealous, I'm telling you to share my happiness! Can't wait to taste their dishes and can't wait to taste their hot and medicinal waters. See you all on Monday :D.

A different Butternut Squash recipe

It only lasted for 3 minutes in the glass! Trust me when I say that it was a simple, delicious and a bit spiced puree.

Some of you already know that I have started a diet... who wants to be like Esther Williams this summer? Me! Who wants to try her bathing suit on and don't get depressed right after? Me! Who wants to feel like 30 again? Me! I know, I know... I can keep on dreaming ;D.

That's why I thought perfecto, when I saw Miriam's Butternut Squash and tomatoes  Spiced Puree. This one is for me! Really low on calories and so flavourful. However, I changed a few things from the original recipe.  I am testing my brand new Coccotte and roasted the veggies inside instead of using the oven. What? First time you hear about Coccottes? I bought mine at Ikea and I'm happy with it, however, if you want to know more about them, visit Le Creuset.

The poached egg is also my addition... this way, I could have a big salad as a first and the Puree and egg as a second :D.

The mixture is amazing, give it a try! Or go here at El Invitado de Invierno for the original recipe.

Ingredients for 4 servings: 1 Butternut Squash, 5 ripe tomatoes, 1 onion, 5 garlic cloves, a glass of water and 2 teaspoons of this Moroccan spices mixture: Ras el Hanout (not so hard to find), 4 eggs, extra virgin olive oil, some vinegar and salt.

• Peel the butternut squash, cut and reserve the meat. Clean the tomatoes, cut and reserve. Peel the onion and cut; peel the garlics and reserve.
• Pour some extra virgin olive oil inside your coccote (enough to cover the surface) and throw the prepared ingredients in. Turn heat on to medium and cover. Keep an eye on it and when it starts roasting the veggies, stir for 5 minutes. Add the glass of water and let it simmer for 20 minutes aprox.
• Blend and taste. Add some salt and the spices mixture. Pour the puree back into the Coccotte and let simmer for another 5 minutes.
• Prepare some big glasses with the puree. Reserve.
• Take a small pot and fill it with water, pour a shot of vinegar inside and bring to boil. Carefully, crash the eggs' shell and pour them inside one by one. Cook for a minute, drain the water and place the poached egg inside the glass and over the puree. Sprinkle with some salt and serve.

¡Gracias Miriam!

Please British, give us back our anticyclone!!!

No, this is not Sweeden... it's the view from my kitchen window!

And this is my street!

And my terrace.

Please British, we want our anticyclone back!!!! This doesn't seem Spain anymore ;D.

Pinchitos, Montaditos... all kind of Tapas!

Is there a dish, a meal, a special bite that cheers you up? Nope? Then ask for these outloud with me: Un pinchito de langostinos, por favor! That's all you have to say when entering a Tapas bar here in Spain. The world will no longer be in black and white... We have all colours set for you!

In some bars, there's no need to ask for the bill, they will simply count the toothpicks you've got beside your chato de vino (small glass of wine) and you will be ready to step into the next bar after paying for those... maybe you get the wine for free and only pay for the pinchos!

Camarero, una tapita de huevo y salmón! Next bar is so crowded and people is shouting and laughing... spring is in the air and the atmosphere is heating up. The music is loud but the waitress comes with your egg and salmon tapa and another glass of wine. Life is getting near to Perfection.

Your friends want to take you to a new bar they just discovered near the beach... the air is warm, it feels great to walk; it's a starry night...

We reached Perfection! This bacon wrapped shrimp takes us to heaven!!! What you see is what you get! You can clone this perfect night at home with your hubby, or friends, or family, or dog, or, why not? Just for yourself!

Ingredients for these pinchos/tapas: some smoked salmon, 3 or 4 boiled eggs, some boiled and salted prawns (I bought mine frozen this time), some fresh or frozen shrimps, some capers, some stuffed olives, some smoked bacon slices, toast some bread slices, olive oil, salt and allioli. Get allioli recipe here.

• First of all toast some bread slices and reserve.
• Prepare your allioli and reserve.
• To get the bacon wrapped shrimp one: spread some allioli on the toasted bread, cook the shrimp over a bit of olive oil (just 30 seconds per side), wrap it with the bacon, fix with a toothpick and cook in the same pan until bacon gets brown. Fix on the bread.
• To get the prawn and egg one: Boil the eggs, peel and reserve. Defroze your prawns. Spread allioli over the toasted bread. Place half an egg over, the peeled prawn, the olive and fasten with a toothpick.
• To get the salmon and egg one: Place some salmon over the bread toast and place half an egg. Mix some grated egg with some cut prawns and capers. Place the mix over the egg. Pour a bit of extra virgin olive oil on top and some salt.