Berry and rhubarb crumble, three ways. Like a fish out of the water

It seems ages ago since we packed up the house in Beaterio street and ended our three year posting in the Philippines. When the Qantas plane finally landed in Canberra at 3pm on the 18th of June I thought this is it. It is real, it is happening. A new chapter, a new opened door. The Manila one was already closed behind.

It was very odd. We felt  we were on a vacation for a short while and we would go back to Manila, our "home". Perhaps I blamed the jet lag of the long night flight and the lack of sleep but I had an awkward sensation of being misplaced.  I even wondered  did we actually live in Manila? what happened during those three years? It was such a bizarre feeling, I can tell you.

Home? What a strange concept and easily taken for granted.

In my pre-diplomatic life I didn't question my home. Why would I? I was living in Madrid, in the same old house for 24 years. My routine was more or less similar everyday and I was happy. However, my life turned 180 degrees the day I met Nick in 2000. I became a  globetrotter. Now, with our three little children, we are like nomads.

It is true that is our choice to move around the world. It would be less hustle to stay in the same place all the time, I think, but less exciting. Being a diplomat  is another way of living, perhaps a bit peculiar to some people. I love it though. It opens your mind to new horizons, different perspectives and interesting adventures.

However, it has a price: you have a fresh beginning every time you move; live in a new house or in a temporal accommodation until you find a house to live (like we are right now); your children go to a new school, which is hard enough, and they have to make new friends.

Packing your life every 2 or 3 years  is not an easy thing to do.  It takes time, effort, patience, frustration, and it might give you some anxiety and an unpleasant feeling of being unsettle. Sometimes you feel like a fish out of the water, lost. Like I was when I came back from the Philippines last month.

The whole concept of moving from one country to another and adapting to this process is difficult to explain for me. It is one of those situations in life that you have to live them to fully understand them. Even if you wanted to, it wouldn't be able to. I  tell you this from my own life experience before I met Nick. I couldn't really figure out the consequences of following him around the world until I actually did it.

However, we keep in the back of our minds that this adjusting period to Australia is temporal. Things will get back to normal I repeat to myself every morning. The staff in boxes will arrive soon and it will be exciting to decorate our future new house, when we get it; kids will like -or not- their new school and hopefully will have good friends whose parents will be our friends too; I will perhaps will get a part time job to contribute to the family expenses. And, what I believe it is the most important and final step in the settling period, we will all have a routine to help us put down roots.

The transition is achieved as well through the small pleasures in life that make us happy. In my case, although I literally collapse in bed around 9pm, I still need to run early in the mornings (although I question my common sense as it is minus 2 degrees outside) even if I am covered in layers like an onion. I also like to take my kids to walk everywhere, to the shops, the park or to the library. We didn't   walk much in Manila because it was too hot, polluted and we had a driver. They love it now and don't complaint about the cold (and they get tired, which is my goal!).

My main distraction is cooking, as you probably guessed. But before I started I needed to feel comfortable in this kitchen of this serviced apartment that we are renting for a few weeks until we find out what is going to happen with our future. It is the size of my old kitchen in Manila, but cute - well, it is not, but I pretend it is so I don't get depressed-.

I decorated my kitchen first with a vase of fresh parsley -cheaper than fresh flowers- and a couple of things that I brought with me from Manila: a French style blue and white tea towel that is now hanging from one of the draws; a long  red and blue bag handmade by my tailer that I use to buy fresh bread from the wonderful Silo bakery; of course, my three favourite cookbooks.

People in Canberra have asked me frequently if I miss the Philippines. I was honest when I said I wish I had a Mary Poppins with me now in this tiny apartment as I had in Manila to clean, shop and cook with her magic. At least I would be able to finish my meals without being interrupted or to sit down and write my blog. But I don't have the time to do what I really want to do and I resent myself for that. However, as the days pass by, I am learning to accept that my life has got busier and that ten minutes a day are golden and wisely used for my own pleasure.

I don not miss the heat and the humidity, the noise and the multitude of the streets of Manila. I am happy when I walk in my neighbourhood and I breath fresh air, and it is quiet, very quiet. Although sometimes it isn't a good thing when you are lost in the way of dropping your daughter off in a playdate in her friend's house, miles away, and it takes you 40 minutes to find someone to ask for directions!

Other part of me misses the people, my close friends, the yayas and the driver who worked for us, my lovely doctors…all of them dedicated their time to us, three years of friendship can't disappear. It won't anyway.

Last Sunday we went to the snow so my kids could know what the real snow feels like. They thought it only existed in the Frozen movie. You should have seen their faces. Was brilliant! In the way back we stopped in a cafe to have a warm drink. When we were outside, I suddenly found a black piece of cloth on the sand close to the car park. it was an apron!!! hooray! You can't imagine how delighted I was, despite of my family's disgust -even Gab cried mama, kaka!-

That apron was lost and I found it (I washed it, in case you wondered). After leaving the Philippines, I was lost but cooking helped me to put order into my life again and this insignificant apron reminded that when you follow your passion, it always drives you to the right direction in life…and life  gets back to normal.


Welcome home.

Photos I took during our visit in the wildlife zoo in Port Douglas.

When I was in the Philippines I was looking forward to the winter produce in Australia. Rhubarb is one of my favourite vegetables. Being a bitter veggie it gets transformed into a sweet fruit like when it is cooked with sugar.  

The recipe "Rhubarb, berry and orange crumbles" comes from one of those magazines that the supermarket Coles gives you for free (I cannot afford buying more cookbooks!) . I made this easy dessert (a total winner for a dinner party) in 20 minutes and served it with good quality vanilla ice cream.  I modified the recipe slightly using roasted almond flour instead of plain flour and adding water instead of the orange juice (because I didn't have it). I guess you could use two more apples to replace the rhubarb, if it is unavailable where you live.

The leftovers were eaten as a topping for the warm porridge the next morning. Two days later, I still had approximately 3/4 cup left of the rhubarb compote (without the topping) so I mixed it gently with the wet ingredients to make chocolate muffins for my kids' merienda to celebrate Aurelia's first day at Forrest Primary school. 

• 2 Eve apples, peeled, cored, chopped
• 1/4 cup water (or orange juice)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• bunch rhubarb, trimmed, thickly sliced
• 250g mixed berries
• 1/3 cup almond meal (or flour)
• 1 tsp orange rind
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 60g butter, chopped
• 1/3 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans

1. Preheat oven to 200C. Cook the apple, water and half the sugar in a medium saucepan over medium high heat for 3 minutes. Add the rhubarb and cook for further 2 minutes or until just tender. remove from the heat. Stir in berries. Divide among 6 ramekins or in a 1L ovenproof dish.
2. Place the almond meal, the orange rind, cinnamon and remaing sugar in a large bowl. Using your fingertips, rub in butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in oats and pecans. Sprinkle over fruit. Bake for 25 minutes or until the top is golden.

Sausage rolls for fussy kids. The "F" word

In the last few days I have been using quite often a word that starts with the letter "f". It is not a rude word, if that was what you thought. I give you a clue: it means the end of something or a separation from someone or from a place; sometimes it makes you sad.

Farewells.

I don't like them much. I never did in the past, but I am used to them now. I have moved countries six times since 2003 and this will be my seventh in mid-June. I know what to expect in the next few weeks and it is not always as easy as you might think. I am upset about closing another chapter of my life, an intensive one actually. But life continues and there is always something positive to look forward.

I mentioned in my post "Detachable me" that my skin has got more resistant to the pain every time I go through the process of packing and moving homes from one country to another. With each diplomatic posting the embassy provides us a house, with furniture that also belongs to the embassy, but we call it our "home" during the length of the posting (usually three years). We make sure it is our "home" and we decorate it with our personal effects (my cookbooks, Nick's favorite paintings, children's drawings…) as we were planning to live there for good. Otherwise, indifference and apathy would give us a "temporary" feeling and would not help us to get settled in that particular country - especially  our children, who move so often that they might get lost sometimes in what "home" really means for them.

And home is not going to be Manila anymore I said gently to them, well, to Aurelia really (Gab doesn't have the maturity to fully understand the situation yet ). It will be Canberra for a while, who knows for how long. We will arrive in the middle of winter! I am looking forward to packing in one of our five suitcases my warm feather grey coat that my mum gave me last Christmas in Spain. I know I will feel cozy underneath when I take the kids for a walk around the lake on a crisp but sunny morning in Canberra.

It is an awkward feeling to live your own farewell. The situation feels unreal, kafkaesque, like it is not happening to you. I have seen many of my good friends leave and I was left behind, trying to fill up the empty space with new friendships but not always succeed. Some friends are irreplaceable. I have been in their farewells, even asked them the typical questions such as how do you feel about living? will you miss Manila? what are you planning to do next? ah, what school is she going to? do you have already a house where to live?. And now that it is me who has to answer, it is my turn to be in the other side of the story, I find it challenging, and a bit upsetting. 

However, it is also exciting thinking about the next big, huge adventure ahead of us. A new door is about to be opened. I just hope Aurelia, Gabriel and Juanan cope well with the transition. The separation of their belongs and friends could give them anxiety and that's why we remind them everyday than Nick and I, papa and mama, will be with them always, no matter what happens.

I had my very first farewell lunch with some of my good friends yesterday. 

It was funny the way it began. We were meeting at 12 o'clock in a restaurant hidden in the 3rd floor of an office building close to my house. So I left home at 11.55 to be on time (I am always late and the baby is my excuse…for now). My hands smelt strongly of garlic from the marinating of the meatballs I prepared at 11.45 wearing high heel shoes and a new Zara blue and yellow dress that I bought for that special lunch. Not even the grandmother trick of rubbing parsley in my hands would take the smell off. Never mind, let's have fun. And I closed the door of motherhood behind me.

I got to the restaurant and found the table with the "reservation" name on top. But it was empty. Humm…it is strange. Time passed by and the only people next to my table were business men having lunch but none of my friends. I had that uncomfortable smile on my face as I was on my own in my farewell lunch. Where the bloody hell are they? I thought, maybe this lunch was a joke. Meanwhile, an scene from Sex and the City television series crossed my mind, when Carrie went to a restaurant to celebrate her 35th birthday dinner with her friends but they didn't turn up. In the end, she was left totally alone and went back home, crying.

Thank goodness my friends turned up…on time, actually. It was 12.30 the lunch not 12 noon.  I was so excited about my first farewell (and my first lunch out without kids!) when I left home that I didn't pay attention to the text of my friend confirming the lunch...and to change the booking for half and hour later than the previous arrangement.

We laughed about my mistake over a beautiful meal (most of us had a bento tray of poached salmon with fried rice) surrounded by the aroma from a big bunch of white and pink lilies that my friends gave me and I placed behind my chair to hide the garlic smell of my hands. They also bought me a fantastic cookbook La cocina Latina, which is like the "bible" for the Latin american kitchen. 

One of my friends asked me what are the things you will remember from the Philippines, besides of having had two babies here?  Well, it took me a while to respond.  Honestly, I could have done more or travelled more or enjoyed more with nights out or weekends away, but I didn't because of my personal circumstances. So I thought about the answer and I told her with teary eyes that I will take with me the memories I have shared with this great group of very good friends.

I don't have physically more time here with them, but I  know we will keep in touch and who knows, maybe our paths will cross again. I read recently that "A true friendship is not about being inseparable; it is about being separated but nothing changes"

Thank you. I enjoyed my farewell lunch as much as the three years we spent together.

PS: by the way, I also take with me a nice rock on my finger that Nick bought me in 2012 for our tenth wedding anniversary!

Healthy sausage rolls for fussy kids

This is one of the best recipes I came up with: I mix grated carrot and zucchini with the meat. Simple but delicious. The sausage rolls are also nice served with tomato chutney and a green salad.

Start the recipe the day before or at least 5 hours ahead for a more flavour mixture.

Makes  a big batch, 20 medium size rolls (2 per person)

Mixture:

• 500g ground beef (if you choose lean, the sausage will be a bit dry)
• 250g ground pork
• 1 carrot, finely grated
• 1 small zucchini, grated and squeezed the liquid
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, grated or crushed
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley
• 1/4 cup homemade breadcrumbs, soaked in milk and squeezed (or substitute for cooked rice)
• 1 teaspoon of soy sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon of each sweet paprika, white pepper and mustard powder. 
• salt and fresh ground black pepper

Rolls:

• puff pastry sheets
• To brush the rolls, egg wash: 1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon of milk

1. For the meat mixture, using a medium size bowl, mix all the ingredients using your wet hands until they are evenly mixed and cover tightly with a plastic wrap. Keep it in the fridge.
2. When ready to cook (calculate 1 hour or preparation time), preheat oven to 180C. Grease two baking trays.
3. Cut each sheet of pastry in half. Lay a piece of the pastry out on a clean table and use a 1/2 cup measure to scoop a portion of the sausage mixture and place it on top of the pastry. Use your hands to form it into a long sausage that goes along the centre of the pastry, keeping the same thickness (I follow this method when I make gnoquis or croquetas).
4. The tricky part is to roll the pastry over the sausage and then fold up the bottom of the pastry to meet it; it should overlap. Carefully turn the long sausage roll over so the join is underneath (and it doesn't open when it puffs in the oven). Repeat with the remaining pieces of pastry until the meat mixture is finished.
5. Cut each long roll into equal pieces.
6. Place the sausage rolls on baking trays, leaving a little space between them. Brush the top with the egg wash.
7. Put the trays in the oven and bake until the pastry is golden and flaky (about 25 minutes).
8. When they are cooked, let them cool a bit and serve them with tomato sauce and a green salad (you can also cooked them partially, cool them and keep them in the freezer)

Gazpacho, pollo al ajillo with roast potatoes. St. Lukes is not the Philippines

I am writing from the waiting room of St. Lukes hospital while my 8 months baby, Juanan, is going under surgery. It is not a main operation but still nervous breaking. I don't like the idea of a general anesthesy and without me next to him.

I spent last night at the hospital. Obviously, I didn't have much sleep although I tried. My subconscious kept me totally awake. I checked on Juanan every 10 minutes, "is he breathing well? is he cold? is he hungry?". All those questions are typical of a first time mother with her newborn baby. This is my third child but the first time he goes under surgery.

During my long night I had plenty of time to think. I wanted to calm my mind with something else than the upcoming operation. I thought of this hospital, of the doctors and nurses I have met, the medical service I have received for the past 2 and a half years, and the fact that I will leave the Philippines in three months feeling that St. Lukes has been my second house since we moved here. Why?

Well, I came here 7 months pregnant of my second child, Gabriel. I gave birth in this hospital and 11 months later I was pregnant again of Juanan. I spent the whole pregnancy visiting the ob-gy and following the check ups because I had a high risk of miscarriage. I was hospitalised a couple of times but thank God Juanan was born relatively healthy and came home -although after being in intensive care for two weeks-. He was born with a medical condition on his foot that required a weekly visit to the hospital since he was 3 weeks old- he is now 8 months old- and a final surgery which is taking place at the moment.

On top of my pregnancies and deliveries, and Juanan's regular changing of cast, my children got sick often-  the pollution and other negative side effects of living in Manila contributed as well-.

A hospital is not the best place to spend your almost 3 years posting in Manila, except the short holidays we had in Boracay, Dumaguete and Bohol.  However, we have been very lucky having a new hospital, St. Lukes. It is so good that you might think it is a small city instead: it has a Starbucks cafe - which I am not very fond of but never mind-, supermarket, restaurants…and a hotel. The rooms are incredible, by the way, and the food is acceptable. They even give you the option to choose a daily menu.

It is true we, diplomats, enjoy a privilege position within the medical service so it is easy to talk. However, I know the Filipinos are good natured people; easy and amicable. Some countries treat the patient like another number more than a person. This does NOT happen in the Philippines. The nurses, the doctors I have met -ob-gy, the paediatrician, and the orthopaedist- are always very friendly with a warm wide open face- maybe because I am a foreigner? perhaps, but their kindness is much appreciated  

I am approaching my end in these Happy Islands and I should be fair when people ask me whether I have enjoyed the Philippines. I always say : "I could have had a great time  but St. Lukes hospital means "Philippines" for me.  I am sure there are beautiful places here that I will never know unless I come back in the future again"

No, St. Lukes is not the Philippines but I will miss it, believe it or not. I will miss my small routine of every week: crossing the main entrance and greet the guards who kindly help me with the door or pusher; going to starbucks before I go up to the clinic of the 3rd floor and the girls say :" hello ma'am Esther, hello baby!... a decaff latter non fat milk with honey!"-.  I will miss my paediatrician's secretary, Nela, who always hugs and kisses my children and laughs at my bad jokes…

You cannot blame a place for the difficulties you might have gone through your time in there. I don't blame anyone, life is like that, not always rose colour. I will always remember the Philippines as a country where I had two beautiful children; a country that looked after my whole family with such a generosity that I owe them my affection no matter my circumstances. 

Thanks, Filipinos, for being just as you are. The world is a better place, even in a hospital.

PS: By the time I finished writing this post, Nick and Aurelia came to the hospital. One hour later, the  doctor told us the surgery went very well and Juanan was a brave boy. What a relieve to go home again with an uncomplicated day after all.

Gazpacho andaluz, my dad's way

My dad used to say that the gazpacho should look like  la mar en calma- the sea in calm. Fishermen call the sea in feminine because it is the only "female" thing they see during the long hard weeks they spend faenando- fishing-.

This cold tomato soup is a basic meal in summer in Spain either lunch or dinner accompanied by jam on serrano or hard boiled egg, It marriages perfect with a tortilla de patatas.

Start a few hours ahead to let it sit in the fridge

• 1 kg of ripe pear tomatoes, pealed and seeded (unless you have a "passapures")
• 1 cucumber, seeded.
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 green capsicum- optional
• 1 hard egg yolk- optional
• A piece of old bread soaked in water. 
• 1/2 cup of cold water
• 1/4 cup good quality red wine vinegar
• sea salt
• 1 cup of olive oil

Blend all the ingredients, including the hard egg yolk if you want to make the gazpacho creamy and smooth-. Add the salt and vinegarWith the motor running, like you would do with a mayonnaise, pour slowly the olive oil until the soup has a mirror effect.

The practice will make you wise, so find the right balance of texture and dressing.

Serve cold- these terracotta pots are ideal because you can keep them in the fridge before serving the cold soup.

Pollo al ajillo, my grandma's way 

It is so simple but so delicious that it makes a perfect dinner party candidate meal. Serves 3-4 people.

• 4 garlic heads, two cut in half and the other two in individual cloves, unpeeled (you could end having 20!)
• 1 leek, white part only, thinly sliced
• 1 big whole free-range chicken
• 1 cup of chicken stock- youi might need another extra cup if it is too dry for your taste
• 1 cup of dry white wine
• parsley to garnish
• sea salt and pepper

1. First, clean the chicken inside and outside. Pat dry and chop it in large pieces, skin on. Season with salt and keep it in the fridge for one hour. Take it outside at room temperature when you are ready to cook.
2. In a hot heavy pot, with a medium high temperature, add a slug of olive oil. When it starts the smoking point, fry the chicken, two or three pieces at the time until brown. Set it aside on a plate.
3. Add a bit of oil and fry the garlic heads the leek slices. Cook for 1 or 2 minutes.
4. Add the chicken pieces, the garlic heads and leeks, and all the cloves. Season with salt and pepper. Add the wine and wait for 1 minute until the alcohol evaporates. Add the stock. Cover with a lid and cook for 45 minutes, checking from time to time there is liquid in the pot. 
5. Garnish with parsley. Serve immediately with roast potatoes, green beans and some chopped carrots.

Roast potatoes, my own way

It has taken me many failures of roasting potatoes in my kitchen. Don't know why, I just couldn't make them crispy and nicely salty. Finally, I have mastered them this week. The trick is to use a big tray and keep the potatoes with lots of space in between so the heat can circulate and make them crispy, bot soggy.

• 10 small potatoes, peeled and keep them in cold salty water until ready to use.
• extra virgin olive oil
• Sea salt and fresh ground pepper.
• Chopped rosemary or thyme

1. Preheat oven 200C.
2. Drain the water of the bowl with the potatoes. Pat dry them well so they can absorb the oil. 
3. With your hands, rub the potatoes with some extra virgin olive oil enough to cover them but not too much or they will boil in the tray.
4. Add a generous amount of sea salt and rosemary.
5. Place them in a big tray and in the hot oven, turn them very 15 minutes. Cook for 40 minutes or until soft inside- if you need to save time, parboil the potatoes before putting them in the oven.
6. Serve them hot.

I always serve a main dish with some cooked and raw vegetables in two different bowls. You will notice people, and I mean mainly children, will eat more vegetables from the bowls than if they are served individual plates. I learnt this idea from my work for Stephanie Alexander's program. It works!

Antipasto, Panzanella salad and rosemary focaccia. The two magic words are "please" and "thank you".

My second child, Gabriel, is two and a half years old and goes to a beautiful, lovely and warming school called LIFE. The teachers greet him every morning with a happy smile and a musical tone that makes me feel relaxed and content when I hug him and say I will come to pick you up soon, as always.

After dropping Gabriel off, come back home to feed Juanan, my third one of nearly 8 months, I rush to do the groceries. I read somewhere that "Women go to do the groceries like they were in vacation". It is so true for a home stay-in mum like me, at least. I love walking around the store, pushing the troller, and checking for the ingredients I might use for dinner. 

A few days ago I was planning to make a fish macadamia curry so I use my shopping list with a single item "macadamia nuts" as the perfect excuse to go on a "vacation" to Rustans supermarket. When I was waiting for my turn to weight the bag of macadamias, I had the most uncomfortable and indignant incident since I moved to the Philippines. 

Just in front of me in the queue there was a wealthy, apparently, Filipina old lady with her two yayas escorting her on both sides. The Rustans sales girl was in her twenties but she could be older as Filipinas have this lucky nature of looking always much younger than her real age. 

- Give me 200g of dried cranberries- said the wealthy woman. I noticed she forgot to say please but the young sales girl seemed to take it as normal. 

The girl weighted the bag, made a knot and returned it to the arrogant client who looked at the bag and threw it to her, and said contemptuously: 

- I said 200g, do you have a problem with hearing?

The Rustans sales girl weighted the cranberries again, carefully but with shaking hands. The old lady  yelled at her saying:

-What is wrong with you!!! you didn't stick the price label in the bag!!! 

My blood was already about to boil. I just couldn't be quiet any longer and allow this arrogant woman to think that money can treat people rudely. I touched her shoulder and opened my big mouth:

- Excuse me, this girl might have a hearing problem as you said, which I doubt but in any case it can be fixed. However, your lack of manners cannot be fixed, sadly.

I wanted to keep telling her that she was too old to correct herself anyway, despite her expensive plastic surgery of her face. But I didn't add further comments because then I would become rude too, at her same low level.

What made me sad was what I heard right after the incident. 

When I was pushing my empty troller -I was so distressed that I forgot to buy the nuts!- away from the old woman, her two shocked -but I am sure smiling- yayas and a terrified sales girl whose name I memorised to mention later on to the sales manager as "a highly charming and wonderful girl who assisted me during my shopping" to make sure she didn't lose her job, I heard this apologise I am really sorry ma'am from the poor girl to the rude woman and not to the other way around as it should. 

I think my children are learning at school and not only at home how to treat and respect people, besides the academic subjects. However, I need sometimes to remind my children the two magic words, please and thank you. 

I hope no one in the future have to remind my children the good manners in LIFE like I did to this arrogant woman.

An Italian feast...

Panzanella salad with a Spanish twist

Panzanella or "bread salad" is a rustic Italian salad, from Tuscany, of vegetables and herbs with stale bread soaked in water and squeezed dry or perhaps fried in olive oil. I didn't include the bread because I made the focaccia as accompaniment.

This recipe is based on Jun Tanaka's Charred pepper and tomato salad  which I twisted a bit by adding  sweet cherry tomatoes, some stuffed green olives with anchovies and a few pieces of good tuna in olive oil.

Serves 4

• 2 yellow peppers
• 2 red peppers
• 100 ml olive oil
• 1 garlic clove
• a sprig of thyme
• 1 teaspoon of caster sugar
• salt and pepper
• 30 ml of good quality red wine vinegar
• a handful of cherry tomatoes
• 20g of capers, rinsed
• 1 can of tuna in olive oil, drained
• a few stuffed green olives with anchovies
• a small bunch of fresh basil, torn

1. Find a bowl large enough to fit all the peppers and fill with cold water. Place each pepper straight on to the naked flame of a gas ring (like when you make babaganush with eggplants). Blacken the skin all over, turning the peppers for about 5 minutes. Place in the bowl of water.
2. Rub the peppers with your hands to remove the backbend skin (don't worry if there is some left). Cut the peppers in half, remove the seeds and core and cut in strips.
3. Heat the oil in a frying pan and gently cook the pepper strips for 2-3 minutes. Add the garlic, thyme and sugar. Season. Cook for a further minutes, add the vinegar and remove to a bowl.
4. Add the tomatoes, olives, capers, tuna and torn basil to the peppers and mix well. Remove the garlic, if you wish, and the thyme.

Refreshing antipasto

In Itlalian literally means "before pasta" and it is an appetiser or starter but we make it as a light dinner  or Sunday lunch: a plate of good jam on serrano, thinly sliced; a smelly French soft cheese; a green salad with French vinaigrette; a bowl of green olives with almonds marinated in garlic, a bowl of cooked mushrooms in butter, garlic and thyme; and my home-made tomato and chilli chutney…

At home, we also served the antipasti with my focaccia, a flat usually round Italian peasant bread flavoured variously but always with olive oil- that's why it is my favourite bread-. It is similar to pizza but with more dough and less topping. 

Each region in Italy has its traditional flavourings, shapes and styles. This rosemary and spring onion is quite popular. It is a great snack to make in a dinner party not only because it looks fantastic and like you have spent hours working hard in the kitchen, but also the whole house smells wonderful with the rosemary…hence a welcoming atmosphere.

Focaccia with rosemary and spring onions

According to David Tanis, "the focaccia works best if you mix it the night before". I made it in the morning for dinner time and it had a fantastic crunchy texture in the outside but soft inside. This recipe will make a standard baking sheet.

• 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
• 1 tablespoon of active dry yeast (I used 15g of fresh yeast)
• 3 cups bread flour
• 2 teaspoons fine sea salt- Check your salt first, there are different kinds of salts. Mine is too salty and  it made this focaccia you see in the photo above too salty too!!! As the American chef Tomas Keller says  in his book Ad Hoc "you are a good cook when you know how to control the salt"-.
• 1/2 cup of olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
• 1/2 cup chopped white part of spring onions
• 1 tablespoon chopped rosemary
• Coarse salt for sprinkling

1. Put 1/2 cup of warm water in a mixing bowl. Add the yeast and 3 tablespoons of the flour and stir together. Let the mixture sit ntil it gets bubbly, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the remaining 1 cup water, the rest of the flour, the salt and olive oil. Stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture gathers into a rough, stick mass. Sprinkle the dough lightly with a bit more flour and knead the dough - I did it in the magic Kitchen Aid-. 
3. Lightly oil a bowl of medium size - the dough will raise a bit in the fridge-. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 6-7 hours.
4. Remove the dough from the fridge and pat and press it into a oiled baking sheet -it is a bit wet,true-. Let it rise for an hour covered well with wax paper.
5. Preheat ovento 400F. Scatter the spring onions and rosemary evenly across the top of the dough and drizzle with olive oil. Poke little holes over the top of the focaccia. Sprinkle some sea salt.
6. Bake for 30 minutes until brownish on top. Serve it warm.

Beef tagine. "Detachable me."

I have already started to clean up the clutter of our house. It is unbelievable the amount of unnecessary clothes, books, toys, papers and other things you accumulate in almost three years- of course, I don't include in that litter my cookbooks and my useful kitchen gadgets, they are most needed-.

My mind is also beginning to fly out of Manila and the people I have met. In the middle of June we will go back to Canberra and I am looking forward to it.

While I was wrapping with plastic paper  the cookbooks -small habit that my mum, a librarian for 40 years, taught me to protect and preserve books- I meditated and thought of the upcoming move. My feelings started to get agitated and lots of memories emerged at unison.

I realized that this will be my 7th uplift since I left Spain eleven years ago. 

Back in time, I remember it was very hard to detach myself from my family, friends and a country that saw me to grow for 25 years. The truth is that I cried a lot that the day I was leaving, 2nd of March of 2003; so much that my eyes were swollen and I had to use two slices of cold cucumber to heal them during our flight from Madrid to Colombo- we were going to visit a couple of friends posted in Sri Lanka before our final destination, Canberra-.

The more I move around the world the easier it gets for me to say good bye and to loose the ties with the place, the culture and the people I have met. It doesn't mean that I am not warm enough or don't feel sad when I leave. I am sorry that everything has an end but the good memories will go with me wherever I go.

I also thought this morning that I have learnt to suffer less with each new posting, I am more detachable.  My skin is a bit thicker- in a positive sense- than when I was 25 which has helped me to heal the wound caused by the separation from family and friends. 

However,  I still have a soft heart underneath that appearance of being a strong woman. Tears always run through my face when I hug and kiss good bye -I will miss lots of people from Manila-. I can't control this weakness of crying even if I wanted!. But I don't want to stop it and I allow to wet my face because it is the way I am.

I am now slowly moving to the next adventure. Packing up the house, looking for schools, organising our life in another place…all adds stress and a hussle but no one said it is easy, even worse if you have children, three in our case. I wonder if they will be happy and how long it will take them to adapt themselves to the new place; or if they will make friends quickly..I don't know, this is the hardest part for me as a mum and it gives me a bit of anxiety like it would to you if you were in my shoes.

Saying bye means I close one door and I open another. It is sad but at the same time it is utterly exciting for people like Nick and I who have "ants in our pants" and love to experience new cultures and discover what the world can offer: an AMAZING adventure if you are willing to sacrifice some things, like I did, and prepare yourself for a peculiar but extraordinary life.

My family is like a suitcase: we all fit in there because we are together and will always be- as I gently said to my children a couple of days ago when we told them we are about to leave Manila- and it moves around the world. We open it and close it until we say it is time to stop.

And so far it is time to board.

This is a star dish for a fancy dinner party with a Moroccan atmosphere. It is from Neil Perry (yes, I am using his book a lot!) and you can make the beef in a heavy pot instead of a traditional tagine dish. 

Mine was broken -as you can see on the top of the tagine-  in my last uplift, coming from Canberra to Manila. I was sad when I took it out of the box and unwrapped it because I can't use it again…but I detached myself from it and kept it in my kitchen. 

Like the memories of each posting.

Beef tagine

• 800g beef filet, cut into 2 cm dice
• extra virgin olive oil
• 1 red onion, cut into 6 pieces
• 2 carrots, cut into long pieces
• 1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into 4cm pieces
• 12 green beans
• 60 g whole blanched almonds
• sea salt
• 2 tbsp honey
• juice of one lemon
• 8 fresh dates, pitted
• 70 g black olives, pitted
• 1/4 preserve lemon, pith removed and zest finely chopped
• 2 tbsp cilantro leaves
• 2 tbsp Italian parsley
• steamed couscous, to serve
• CHERMULA: place all these ingredients in a food processor except the oil and lemon juice. Process for 20 seconds, then pour in the oil to form a thick paste. Stri through the lemon juice. Set aside 1 cup for the tagine:
• 1 red onion and 4 garlic cloves chopped
• 1 bunch of cilantro and one bunch of parsley, chopped
• 1 tsp sea salt, 
• 1 tbsp ground cumin, ground coriander, ground turmeric
• 1 1/2 ground chilli powder
• 2 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 1/2 ras el hanout
• 185 ml extra virgin olive oil
• juice of 1 lemon

1. Combine 2 tablespoons of the chermoula with the beef and set aside for 1 hour.
2. In a pot or tagine heat the oil and the rest of the chermoul over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, sweet potato, beans, almonds and a bit of salt and sauté for 2 minutes. Add enough water to half cover the vegetables, the add the honey and lemon juice and cover. Reduce the heat to a very gentle simmer and cook for about 30 minutes.
3. Remove the lid and turn the ingredients carefully. Add the dates and olives. Cover the pan again and cook for 30 minutes.
4. Heat a frying pan over a high heat until hot and add a little oil. When smoking, add the beef to sauté to colour.
5. Spoon the beef into the tagine and mix well. Sprinkle some preserved lemon zest and herbs. Serve with couscous.

Preserved lemons

1. Boil whole lemons in a very salty water for 20 minutes.  Remove and when cool, quarter the lemons, discard the pulp and pith and chop the zest.
2. Store the zest in a jar, covered with a layer of oil

Mint tea

It is my favourite way to finish and digest a nice meal. Just put some fresh mint leaves and a bag of green tea or peppermint tea in a pot and add enough boiling water to cover. Rest for 5-10 minutes and add 1 tablespoon of sugar.

Salted caramel ice cream without custard and dark chocolate bark. The art of entertaining

" Cooking is conviviality and sharing, especially when cooking with others- a spouse, a friend or children" Mireille Guiliano.

Nick and I like to organise occasional dinner parties at home. This year we haven't done many. If I think about it, 2013 is about to finish ( thank goodness!) and we just had two dinners at home but a few  lunches or meriendas.  I like dinners better, I don't know why. Perhaps because I am more relaxed, kids are in bed and the night has its own life. 

After baby Juanan was born and had colic for 3 and a half months around dinner time, during those loooooong months, Nick and I probably had ice cream for breakfast and toast with vegemite ( or olive oil for me ) for dinner. We had to survive! We did though, like every family does. It is only now that Juanan is five months old  that things are getting easier and dinner parties will come back to our house.

Is it always a formal entertaining? No, it isn't but of course it depends who is coming for dinner. In general, we try to make it as easy and relaxed as possible in a welcoming atmosphere. 

Why shall we be bothered by entertaining at home? Well, I like going out to restaurants but I am delighted to cook for others and share good food. It does not matter if the dish I made isn't perfect, at least I tried my best. Nick is pleased to have people over for dinner by making sure that they feel comfortable, their glass is full of water or wine but also that there is a nice music in the background. In summary, I am in charge of the food and he is in charge that the night goes smoothly and we all have a good time. When the guest leaves our house, we hope he felt very special and will remember an lovely dinner with great company, interesting conversation and delicious food.

With experience, the way we entertain is less stressful and more enjoyable. It is true that it is an art and even if you think you are not good at it, don't give up because the more you do it the easier it gets. In the worse case, just order some pizzas and organize a movie night at home!

When last month Nick told me that an old friend of us was coming to Manila for a very short work visit I was thrilled. James used to be the Special Coordinator of the Regional Assistance for Solomon Islands ( RAMSI ) and Nick worked for him in 2006.

Nick asked me to have him over for a casual family dinner. Immediately, my mind started to think about possible menus for the dinner with our dear guest.

The rule number one is to cook a dish that is highly tasteful, that you have cooked before, a few times if possible, easy to prepare in such a way that your guest is not waiting for you at the table while you are running around in the kitchen.  

The rule number two is to plan the menu ahead of time so you can get the right ingredients, fresh and  of good quality ( leave the cheap version for another day! ) and start preparing some of the dishes you will serve. I usually write down on a weekly calendar which day I can make the dough for the bread, when I can make dessert or marinate the beef, for example.

The rule number three that Nick and I have is to reproduce the dinner in our minds, imaging since the moment the guest/s arrive in your house and find the best way to look after them. Don't forget they are in your house because you invited them. If you are spending the night cooking in the kitchen and your husband up and down from one place to another, the guest would be better at home.

For the dinner with James, we started with a champagne to celebrate his visit, followed by at room temperature creamy French camembert and a scorched Spanish chistorra ( thin chorizo ).  I made a tasty lasagna with home-made pasta and two hours cooked bolognese sauce. James had thirds!

And for dessert...

Salted caramel ice cream without custard and chocolate bark

Ps: It was really lovely to meet the cheerful James again and going back in time  when we were together in 2005-2006 in Solomon Islands. He told us that he went back to Honiara after a few years and noticed many changes, bad traffic for example. 

This is what entertaining is all about: people+conversation+food+wine. A way to enjoy life. It might not be yours, but it is definitely mine.

Salted caramel ice cream

Recipe of Jeni Britton

Makes about 1 quart

• 2 cups of whole milk
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of cornstarch
• 3 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream (whipping cream)
• 2 tablespoons of light corn syrup
• 2/3cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract

1. Mix about 2 tbsp of the milk with the cornstarch to make a smooth slurry.
1. Whisk the cream cheese and salt until smooth in another bowl.
2. Mix the cream with the corn syrup in a measuring cup.
3. Fill a large bowl with ice and water.
2. Heat the sugar in a big saucepan over medium heat until it is melted and golden amber in colour. remove from the heat and stirring constantly, slowly add a bit of the cream and corn syrup mixture to the caramel. Stir well until combined and then add a bit more until all of it is incorporated.
3. Return the pan to high heat and add the milk. Bring to boil for 4 minutes. remove from the heat and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry.
4. bring back to a boil over medium-high and cook, stirring with a spatula for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and strain through a sieve.
5. Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese until smooth. Add the vanilla and whisk. Pour the mixture into a ziploc bag and place it in the ice bath until cold, about 30 minutes.
6. Pour into the ice cream machine.

Dark chocolate-almond bark with sea salt

recipe of Bon Appetit magazine, December 2011

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cups roasted almonds
• 500g good quality dark chocolate 70%, chopped
• Sea salt

1. Line a baking sheet with silicone baking mat or baking paper.
2. Combine sugar with 2 tbsp water in a small saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil until caramel is dark amber. Remove from the heat and immediately add butter. Whisk until melted.
3. Add any chopped nuts  and stir until well coated.
4. Transfer to baking sheet, spreading out to separate the nuts and fruits. Let it cool. reserve 1/4 of nuts
5. Stir chocolate in a double broiler until melted (or in a medium bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water until melted). Remove from the heat, add nuts from baking sheet, and stir quickly to combine.
6. Spread chocolate nut mixture on same baking sheet, keeping nuts in a single layer. Top with reserved nuts; sprinkle sea salt. Chill about 3 hours.

Soutzoukakia or Greek meatballs. Little pleasures of life

-"Cooking is pleasure and an integral part of a balanced approach to eating"- Mireille Guiliano.

A parcel in the diplomatic bag...

There is something that the ipad or any electronic gadget can not give you and it is the enormous rejoicing when Nick brings home an issue from the Dish magazine (or anything really) sent through the diplomatic bag to Manila. The subscription of the New Zealand magazine  that my sister in-law Holly gave me this year for my birthday was one of the best gifts I had. 

Nick and I don't have an iPad but Aurelia keeps asking us to buy her one. She has even written a Papa Noel a Christmas letter with just one present: the iPad. We are not against it, we just prefer to leave the iPad for the school hours (there are several per classroom) so when she gets home, she plays with lego, paints or creates a story with her toys. Also Gabriel can play with her. Sometimes we go to the park, to the pool or to have an ice cream. I am sure we will end buying one in the future, when she brings homework; perhaps it is the modern way to study. It is not how we did it though.

Anyway, this is a post about finding the small pleasures that makes my life enjoyable (not counting kids, husband or cooking). For me, it is to get up earlier than the rest of my family (so, let's say 5.30am) and read slowly the Dish magazine with a strong cup of coffee. I love the photos, not only the recipes, and the interesting articles about New Zealand. For example, there was a short story of an American pastry chef that she was a successful ballet dancer for 30 years but decided to focus her career in vanilla and how to use it in sweet and sour dishes. She wrote a book Vanilla Table. I didn't know the vanilla could be so versatile! 

Thanks Holly for making my day...

I believe all the extremes are not good for you. My family eats a balanced diet, a bit of everything, including occasional homemade desserts. Excuse me, but if you like to have a glass of wine now and then, you are not an alcoholic. Everything in moderation is the key for a happy life! For me and my family in this case.

A cup of coffee in the morning...

It is clear that I need a morning coffee, a least until my children are older. But just one coffee a day, otherwise my hands would shake and my heart would have fast palpitations. Saimaza coffee is the brand my mum always bought when we all lived under the same roof. I love staying at my mum's place because I know she will have Saimaza for breakfast and we will share it together.

A cup of tea in the morning is very anglo, it says one who is married to an Australian. I think traditions are fascinating and very hard to change, sometimes impossible. Why would you, anyway? My family in-law knows me for 13 years but they still ask me politely, anytime of the day, "a cup of tea?". I travel with an Italian metal coffee maker, for goodness sake!

A glass of red wine...

I am happy when I have a glass of Pinot Noir wine while stirring a risotto; when I go out for a nice meal with Nick, family or friends; when Nick comes home and it is Friday night; when I had a hard day and need to chill out (amazing the magic effect!); when I have something important to celebrate (although I would incline my preference for Champagne, to be honest). In any case, only red, please. I am not fond of white wine, like Nick.

My dream is to do a wine tour in the North of Spain with Nick and our children when they get older. I wish one of them like ethnology!

A few slices of Spanish jamon Serrano...

There is a Spanish delicatessen in Manila called Terry's. I buy the jamon serrano Trevelez, freshly cut, when I don't feel like cooking on Sundays or when part of me craves something Spanish. I have to say, it is not cheap so I cannot afford having jamon for breakfast everyday, as I would like. However, when something is difficult to get, it is more appreciated. 

A piece of 95% dark chocolate

I don't have a sweet tooth like Nick. That's probably why I enjoy a piece of a good dark chocolate after dinner. It is the bitterness what I like. And it is full of antioxidants so double effect!. I would also like a creamy dessert to end a meal, but not a cake. For me, cakes are for meriendas, unless it is a birthday, in that case, a piece of cake is a "must". When I was pregnant of baby Juanan, I had a few cravings (or excuses to eat what I felt like without feeling too guilty) and I tried this Blanxart chocolate from Barcelona. I am addicted to it. Again, it is not in my weekly budget, only monthly! and back to Canberra...it will be a birthday gift. 

When our very good friends Richard and Kate came to visit us last August, I made this dish for the first time because I knew Kate had a posting in Greece and I wanted to bring her some of those flavours to the table. Of course, this meatballs didn't taste as good as the ones she probably had in Greece But she seemed to be delighted when I brought the hot terracotta dish to her. I found the meatballs very tasty and with some Moroccan notes, perhaps because of the cinnamon and cloves.

Soutzoukakia, baked meatballs in tomato sauce. From Feast magazine 2011

• 500g minced pork
• 500g minced beef
• 1 tsp ground cloves
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon, 2 tsp sweet paprika, 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 125ml white wine
• 1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley, dill and mint leaves
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 100g jasmine rice
• 2 bay leaves
• 625 chicken stock
• plain flour, to dust
• 150g kasseri cheese: it is a sheep's milk cheese with a salty flavour (I used the local "queso puti")
• Tzatziki, finely chopped tomato and sliced spring onion, to serve
• Tomato sauce: 800 can chopped tomatoes, 1tbs wholegrain mustard,1 tbs ground cumin, 2tbs honey, 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

1. Preheat oven 200C. Place pork and beef in a large bowl. Knead until smooth. Add spices, eggs, wine and herbs and stir to combine.
2. Heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, and cook for 3 minutes. Add rice and bay leaves, and season with salt and pepper. Stir in 375ml stock and bring to simmer. 
3. Reduce heat to medium, cover tightly, and cook gently for 15 minutes or until the stock is absorbed. remove from th heat and stand covered for 20 minutes. remove the lid and stand untill cool.
4. Meanwhile, make the tomato sauce: combine all the ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat. bring to a simmer, reduce the heat to low and cook until thickened. Season.
5. Discard the bay leaves from the rice and add the rice to mince mixture and stir to combine. Shape mixture into oval-shaped meatballs and dust with flour.
6. Place the meatballs into a deep round ovenproof dish. Season, ladle sauce over the meatballs. Pour over the remaining stock. Cover with foil, and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for a further 10 minutes or until they are cooked through. Add cheese and cook until is melted.
7. Serve meatballs topped with Tzatziki, chopped tomato and spring onion (optional).

Buen provecho!

PS: I used this recipe again last week but the meatballs were a bit dry. I forgot to pour the chicken stock over them and I didn't cover with foil, before they were back to the oven. Nick didn't notice it and the children loved them. It is also nice to serve them in individual dishes as I did for that dinner for Richard and Kate. Of course, a glass of red wine will make the meatballs juicy, even if you have forgotten the chicken stock!

Empanadas de Argentina, by Rosa. Our extended family

We lived in Buenos Aires from 2006 to 2009. Our address was Quintana Street, 39, 5A. How could I  forget it? La calle Quintana is one of the streets that takes you to the famous Recoleta cemetery where Evita Peron is resting in peace. Who is Evita Peron? No, isn't Madonna. The real Evita was first an actress and then the wife of Juan Peron, who became president of Argentina in 1946. She was a smart woman who used her position as first lady to fight for women's suffrage and improving the lives of the poor. She was a legendary figure in Argentine politics like Imelda Marcos in Philippines. Evita died in 1952.  

I cannot summarise 3 years of my life in a few sentences but I will tell you through this blog about the moments I remember, good and bad ones, the people I have met, the places I have been and the food I had had. In this post I will write about our "extended family" of Buenos Aires.

Juan and Ana Maria...
In Argentina we had a portero, Juan and his wife Ana Maria, and a yaya Rosa. In countries like Australia this type of job, a doorman, is replaced by an automatic door or by some kind of alarm system. But in Spain and Argentina it still exists, which is lovely.

Juan used to do the maintenance of the building and acted as a "security guard". In Manila there are real guards with real guns, big ones . I wouldn't joke with them.

Aurelia played with Juan every morning before she went to a little school, Sweeties, near our house and every afternoon before and after the park. Sometimes she helped Juan to water the plants or took her doll and played with him downstairs while waved people coming into the building. 

Rosa...

Rosa was the yaya of Aurelia like Brenda is here of her, Gab and baby Juanan.  Poor Brenda has two more to look after. I could say a lot about her but there is something very exceptional Aurelia remembers, the nana song she sang to her every time she put her to sleep, hugging her: "arroro mi nina, arroro mi sol, agarro un pedazo de mi corazon". Aurelia doesn't have many memories about her 2 years in Buenos Aires but she still asks me to sing this song before she closes her eyes.

One day we will go back to Buenos Aires and will have another churrasco like we had in Rosa's house the week before we left. We had a fantastic day with her big family plus some  unexpected neighbors in the meal who wanted to gossip about Rosa's employer and his family. : we ate delicious beef, we drank red wine and Aurelia played with all the kids.

I tell you about this particular lunch because it was a farewell for us from Rosa, not the other way around as Nick and I planned. Rosa gave us a lesson of how to be more humble.

A few days before the lunch, Nick and I offered her to buy something pricey for her. We were grateful for all her hard work during those 3 years she had been with us and Aurelia. We asked her first if there was something she needed or wanted. She acted a bit strange to our question and didn't give us an answer. Many days passed on and Rosa was still in silence. We couldn't understand why. Finally, she came to us, a bit nervous and said "senor, senora, lo unico que me gustaria es que vinieran a mi humilde casa a tomar un churrasco y que conocieran a mi familia. Eso es lo que quiero" ( I would like to invite you to my house to have a barbacue and meet my family. that's what I wish ).

Extended family...
Juan and Rosa were an important part of Aurelia's life in Buenos Aires and they cried so much when we left that it was like we were taking their "daughter" away. They were and will be our extended family wherever we are, like Pepe and Pilar were in Spain; Noami and the guards were in Honiara; and Brenda, Jeniffer and Frank are here.

Rosa was from El Chaco, one of the poorest areas of Argentina. She was a very good cook and used to make these empanadas almost every week. We always had some in the freezer for lazy nights.

Makes 50

Start the night before so the meat is flavourful and the dough has gained consistency after resting.

To make the dough

• 1.3kg plain flour
• 200g spelt flour
• 3 eggs, beaten; egg wash: 3 egg yolks llightly beaten with 1 tbsp of water
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 250ml dry white wine
• 200g pork lard, melted or shortening

1. Place the flours in a bowl with the hook attachment or in a food processor. Add the eggs and mix well. Add the sugar, lemon juice and wine until incorporated. Add 1 tbs salt and lard, and stir in the mixture, gradually adding 375ml water until it forms a dough. Knead dough on a floured surface until smooth. Cover in plastic wrap.

To make the beef filling

• 3 tbs of olive oil
• 1kg onions, thinly sliced
• 3 garlic gloves, crushed
• 1 red capsicum, chopped
• 2 tbsp smoked paprika, 1 tbsp ground cumin, 1 tsp ground chilli and 2 tbsp oregano
• 1kg mince (double minced if possible)
• 2 cups beef stock 

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook onions stirring occasionally for 20 minutes and add the red capsicum, and cook until soft. Season with salt, pepper and spices, and stir to combine. Remove from the pan and set aside. 
2. In the same pan, Add beef and brown it, breaking up with a wooden spoon. Add the cooked onion, the stock and cook covered for 1 hour. Check for season and if there is liquid, reduce the filling uncovered for 15 minutes. 

1. Bring dough and meat to room temperature and preheat oven 220. 
2. Divide the dough into 4, and work with one piece and cover the rest.
3. Using a pasta machine, roll out each piece into flour and then through the 6 setting or 2mm thick.
4. Cut out rounds with a bowl. Place one heaped tablespoon of beef filling in the centre of each round. 
5. Brush edges with water, fold over to enclose the filling and press edges together to seal.
6. Pinch the edges of the dough together and fold the pinched section over to create a twisted edge. 
7. Repeat with the rest of the pieces of dough.
8. When you finish, place the empanada on lined trays of baking paper, and brush the top with egg wash.
9. Bake until the pastry is golden, about 25 minutes

• Note: 
• If you want to freeze them, stop in the step 8, place them in a plastic container. When they are frozen, it will be easy to transfer them into a plastic bag to save space in the freezer.
• If you are in a hurry, use puff pastry instead of the recipe for the dough.

Buen provecho!

Even if you follow this recipe, the empanada won't taste the same than Rosa's empanadas, unless you go to Argentina and buy the best beef in the world.

Francesca's tirami su from Treviso. Edible and handmade gifts.

If someone had to give me a gift but not sure what, an edible or a handmade present will always make me happy, very. 

I like the Christmas tradition of making decorative gingerbread biscuits, in different Christmas shapes that Aurelia chooses, dusted with icing sugar like it was snow, and wrapped them in a nice clear bag with a red ribbon. 

When we were living in Buenos Aires, the embassy held the Christmas party with all the staff around the 6 of December. Nick was Santa Klaus the first year; a skinny Santa, so hard to believe!. In the second Navidad of our posting in Argentina, Nick's Kris Kringle or amigo invisible gave him a handmade Christmas tree of star biscuits of various sizes, covered in icing sugar. It was inside of a white box. I loved it.

My sister in-law Jane always makes something delicious to give away for the Christmas lunch in Melbourne. One year she made rocky road and last year a healthy and tasty granola whose recipe I have tried but I never got the same result. Her granola was rich but lighter than mine. I have called hers "Jane's granola" and the recipe is from this link she gave me: http://www.thehealthychef.com/2012/10/granola/

My daughter Aurelia had a birthday party last May and the mums of two of her friends made a fantastic sofa for her. Aurelia was very excited. It came wrapped in brown paper with drawings of her firends. We kept the drawings and she sits down on it with a nice book to read, away from her two brothers. She feels cozy and enjoys a quite time in the corner of her room. Thank you Jackie and Catherine!

And finally, my friend Francesca made the most mouth-watering tirami su as a gift for my birthday last year and for Nick this year. We both are very grateful for her time and dedication making this edible present. I had to ask her her recipe, a real Tirami su from an Italian woman! and she came home, wrote  by hand in a piece of paper the recipe, explaining with a cute Italian accent that the biscuits have to be Savolardi and the creamy Italian mascarpone Galbani.

Tiramisu is a rich Italian dessert short for "Tira mi subito!" that literally means "pick me up right away!" and it was created in 1960s. Traditionally consists in layers sponge cake soaked in brandy and expresso with mascarpone custard cream flavored with chocolate.

With this recipe you make tirami su for a bowl of 2L capacity

• 375g Savolardi or lady finger biscuits ( about 24 )
• 2 cups of cold song black coffee
• 200 g grated bittersweet chocolate
• 500 g mascarpone Galbani
• Ducth cocoa
• extra grated bittersweet chocolate

zabaglione:

• 6 egg yolks
• 1/3 cup castor sugar
• optional 1/3 cup of brandy

1. Make the zabaglione first: whisk the egg yolks with castor sugar (and brandy if you use it) in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water until thick. remove the bowl from the heat and continue to whisk until the mixture has cooled.
2. In another bowl, whisk the mascarpone until softened a bit and fold it into the cooled zabaglione.
3. Soak the biscuits, one by one, into the cold coffee until covered but be careful they don't break. Arrange some of the biscuits over the base and sprinkle some of the grated chocolate. Add a layer of the mascarpone mixture, spread it over the sponge layer. 
4. Repeat the process until you fill the bowl.
5. Sift the cocoa over the top and sprinkle on the grated chocolate.
6. Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.

Tirami su by Francesca

PS: I am not great at baking cakes. It stresses me a bit. A confession I should make in this post. That's why I always try to find easy-making desserts and fool proof recipes. Flan is my favourite and tirami su the second. Both are amazing crowd pleaser and perfect for dinner parties because they are made in advance. This actually tastes better!

This is my handmade Christmas gift for my lovely friend Francesca who is leaving next week to Italy to celebrate Christmas with her family. I told her she can open it before she leaves even if it is cheating a bit...