Red Lentil Soup with Spinach

Kenton and I have loved this recipe! 

There are many variations on it out there, but I have loved this version with spinach and masala curry but really any curry will do.  I have done this recipe a lot throughout this fall and winter. 
Here it is:

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon olive or coconut oil
• 1 small red onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 cm of fresh ginger minced
• 1 serrano chili pepper minced (optional)
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin. 
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• ¼ teaspoon coriander
• 800 grams ( a big tin of)  diced tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon salt.
• One can coconut milk
• 1 and 1/2 cups of red lentils
• 5 bunches of spinach.

STEPS

1. Saute onions for 5 minutes

2. Add garlic, ginger, serrano, cumin, masala, and coriander and cook 2 minutes.

3. Pour in the tomatoes and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has reduced and the tomato chunks have softened, 5 minutes. 

4. Add the coconut milk and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil over high heat. 

5. Stir in the lentils and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook until the lentils are tender, 25-35 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
6. Throw in in the spinach and cook until wilted, 3 minutes.

If you want a full meal just add some meat, chicken or beef in chunks coated in ginger powder will do it. 

Also garnish with avocado and cilantro if you want. 

It is an explosion of awesome flavours. And just remember that if you are missing one of spices above, the world will go on. 
:)

Yum, and photo above the Dunes of Gran Canarias.

Teriyaki Steak Strips

Teriyaki Steak Strips tat I learnt to do in Chicago from one of the families I lived with.


INGREDIENTS

1. 1/4 cup soy sauce
2. Half of an onion minced. 
3. 2 clove garlic minced.
4. 2 tablespoon of white sugar.
5. 1 tablespoon of fresh ginger root, minced OR 1/8 tsp ground ginger.
6. 1/4 cup white wine or beer or apple juice. 
7. 500 grms. of beef thinly sliced.
8. Spinach to acompany.

STEPS

1. Combine soy sauce, onion, garlic, sugar, ginger, and wine. Mix  evenly blended.

2. Place meat in large bowl and pour marinade over meat. Let set at room temperature, covered, for 2 to 3 hours, or 1, or overnight in the refrigerator.


3. Drain meat thoroughly (I don't always do this). Pour oil in Wok or fryin pan and preheat, uncovered, on high about 3-4 minutes.

4. Place about 1/4 of steak in oil and stir-fry for 2 minutes or unitl tender. Push cooked steak strips up side of wok (or remove from pan) and repeat with remaining steak. (I usually cook for a bit longer, but it you cook it too long, it gets dry.) 

Serve over rice or noodles. 

We cooked a little of frozen spinach with this, with some butter on frying pan and worked wonders. Obviously this is not the meat to do this recipe with, but may I remind you we are quarantined?

Fluffy Pancakes

My friend Corinna made some incredible pancakes this winter when we visited her in Vienna. 
How I thought: I am wasting my life! 

So I made pancakes.
And here is the winner recipe that you can find here too...and no buttermilk. This makes about 8.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup of flour.
• 1 tablespoon of sugar.
• 2 teaspoon of baking powder.
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cups of milk.
• 1/4 cup of butter melted.
• Blueberries or bananas (yum)

STEPS

1. Combine the dry ingredients: sugar, flour and baking powder and salt in one bowl.
2. In another bow separetaly combine the wet ingredients: milk, egg, and melted butter. Whisk together.
3. Now combine everything in one of the bowls.
4. Now grease the pan and when you put the mix add the blueberries.
5. The first one always turns out quite bad, but the next one is good.

That's it. And if you want 12 pancakes, double the amounts. :) 

And this is a photo of Kenton and I in George Washington' house in Virgnia, Mount Vernon where we got the american flag

Campbell's Tuna Pasta

A classic from my british Erasmus days. My american roommate showed me this one in 2001.


I love this recipe but in Spain we do not have condensed soup! But every once in a while I get it in Taste of America.
So easy and so tasty. I feel bad to post such a simple recipe but honestly it's a good one.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 1 can of Campbell's mushroom soup.
2. 3 cans of tuna.
3. 300 grms of pasta.
4. Crisps to garnish.
5. Pepper to crack.

STEPS:

No steps! just boil the pasta and throw it all together. I seriously love this recipe.

Shepherd's Pie

Sheperd's pie, a british classic. 

This recipe comes from a video of Gordon Ramsay, he gives it a fantastic twist and turns into a pretty flavourful situation. 

Great, great recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

• 400 grms. of mince (can be lamb, beef, or pork-beef combo). 
• Olive oil.
• Salt.
• 1 medium onion.
• 2-3 cloves of garlic.
• 2 carrots.
• Red wine.
• 3 spoonfuls of Worcestershire sauce .
• 3 spoonfuls of tomato puree.
• 2 spoonfuls of fresh thyme or in bottle.
•  1 spoonful lof rosemary.
• 1/4 cup of chicken stock. 
• 4 Potatoes or instant potatoes mash.
• Pepper to season potato mash.
• 2 Egg yolks (optional for the mashed potatoes).
• 50 grams of parmesan cheese.

STEPS:

1. Sautee the mince in olive oil (get rid of the extra oil, you don't want a greasy pie)
2. Add the salt, and the whole onion that you have grated.
3. Grate the carrots and the garlic and add as well to the mince.
4. Let it all integrate together in low fire.
5. Now add the worcesthershire sauce (this is the key ingredient).
6. Add the tomato puree, or tomate frito.
7. Now add the red wine, thyme and rosemary.
8. Let the liquid evaporate to stronger fire and afterwards add the chicken stock. 
9. Let it mix there for 5 minutes and let it evaporate too.
10. Now prepare the mashed potatoes, with an already prepackaged one or mash the potatoes, seasoning with pepper and adding two egg yolks if you want (totally optional).
11. You can also add to the mashed potatoes parmenan cheese.
12. In a pot or baking dish place the yummy flavourful mince on the botton and cover with the mashed potatoes.
13. Grate cheese or parmensan cheese.
14. Let it sit in the over at 250 degrees for 15-20 mins.
15. Make sure you grill the top to give it the cheff look.

And voila you all. 

Our whole lives criticizing British food and it turns out they can come up with some decent dishes. 

(More pictures to come)

Sushi Bowl or Poke Bowl

Question.
Why bother to roll and spend 2 hours making sushi when you can have the same flavour in a bowl?
This recipe is perfect for summer.

INGREDIENTS:

• sushi rice (simply seasoned with sushi vinegar, sugar and some salt, no mistery)
• 200 grms of fresh salmon.
• 2 cucumbers.
• 1 mango.
• sesame seeds.
• 2 avocados.
• Soy sauce to season.

There are no steps to this recipe other than dice it all up and throw in a bowl. Season with sesame seeds and soy sauce.  Can life get more simple??

How to keep herbs fresh

Will you believe this cilantro has been in our fridge for 3 weeks?? 
It really has. 

Kenton and I love fresh herbs but they would wither in no time! 2 or 3 days at most. 

But the other day Kenton's mom shared a trick with us. If you wrap the herbs in wet/moist kitchen paper and then keep them in the fridge, they last for a long time!  

This has really revolutionized our lives! now we always have herbs ready to garnish any dish. :)

Marmitako

Today is day number 5 in quarantine. I think I am beginning to enjoy this!

Today I realized that it is more realistic to post a new recipe every two days, than one recipe every day, otherwise I won't have that much for other things.

So today I am making marmitako. I had honestly wanted to post this recipe since 2014, this is no joke, and here we are only 6 years later. It seems that only a pandemia can stop us on our tracks in the world we live in (sigh)

This is a recipe my mom taught me many years ago that she used to cook for my grandfather. I love it!

INGREDIENTS: 

• 300 grams of salmon.
• 1 small onion.
• 1 small red pepper or green pepper.
• 1 clove of garlic.
• 10 small potatoes or 2 or 3 big ones.
• 1/2 teaspoon of Sweet paprika.
• 1/2 teaspoon of Spicy paprika.
• 1 fish stock cube.

STEPS:

1. Dice up the onion, garlic and pepper and sautee in saucepan for 10 minutes till is is all brown and gold.
2. Add the paprikas, and sautee.
3. Now add the potatoes that you have diced up and mix all together.
4. Now cover it all with water till you no longer see the potatoes.
5. Add the fish stock cube (this is very important) and let it all simmer till the potatoes cook, approximately 15 minutes.
6. When the potatoes are soft and pretty much done, add the salmon in cubes.
7. Add a little more water in needed, and voila, you've got an awesome tasty dish. 

Kenton could not believe how good this recipe was. It is truly a keeper, and so easy! 
(Sorry photos above are a little out of order)