Vegeterian rice salad. Happy birthday to me...twice

I have been thinking lately about a proper post to enclose my last days in Canberra. I couldn't come up with one and decided to leave it until we arrive in Peru next week and start again writing there. But I felt like an incomplete puzzle. There was a missing piece. I had to end this period with one more story.

Maree, my mother in-law, switched on the light in my head - I usually need someone to do it. Unintentionally, she gave me the idea for my post when she kindly handled me a birthday present and a card last Monday in Melbourne, just when we were leaving her house of Canterbury road at 6.30am to catch the plane back to Canberra for our final week. I gratefully kept them in my handbag, excited like a child. 

The card and the gift were meant to be opened this coming Monday, 15th of September, when I am a year older - but "wiser", my dad used to say. However, my surprise was when I was on the plane and heard  a little voice saying To our dear Esther...Aurelia got bored during the flight and curiously opened my gift and the card!

Suddenly, while I was listening to Aurelia reading my birthday card, with a thoughtful message written inside, I realised that the lost piece of the puzzle called "transitory period in Canberra" was precisely my very last day in Canberra, the day of my birthday, same day we take off to Peru. And I should honour that day with this story.

I am not intending to write about the celebrations I should have on that special occasion, but I wish I did because I do love the paraphernalia of celebrating a birthday, I mean, having my favourite cake - a moist flourless chocolate cake -, a party with some colourful balloons suspending on the air, or perhaps a special dinner with my family and fabulous food cooked by someone else but me. A present? Yes, please, a drawing card by my kids and a few words from my husband would be lovely.

Nope, I won't talk about that kind of happiness. I will write about the fact that next Monday I will get up at 5am to head off to the Canberra airpot with three sleepy children in the car, and an apprehensive mum. When I have to fly, my anxiety level arises every 15 minutes and my stomach is closed in a tied knot, not letting the mouth to swallow any food until the journey is over and my nerves disappear. 

The journey itself won't be that long....The flight to Sydney is only an hour, Nick said, but then we will wait for three hours at the airport to connect to the flight to Santiago de Chile, which is thirteen and a half hours. We will spend the night in a hotel near the airpot in Chile and the next day, on Tuesday, we will have another flight of 2 hours to Lima. 

Happy birthday to me, what a nightmare, I thought. Let me tell you that Australians consider "short" a flight of 5 hours. So you can understand why my husband really believes that our journey is not that long.

I am a half full glass person and instead of thinking that I am going to spend my thirty eighth birthday on two planes with tired, grumpy and bored children, and equally their parents, suffering the side effects of the jet lag, I am trying to remind myself that we will arrive in Chile on Monday morning. It will be Monday again, and my birthday again, isn't that great? Twice!

I will forget the tedious travel we just did and I will delete that "black" Monday from the calendar to place a new empty space...the day of my birthday will be a memorable day, as my mother in-law says in the card, a new beginning in Peru for the McCaffrey Tolmos family. 

I will take you into a fascinating adventure through the pages of this blog.

Vegeterian rice salad

My husband is a bit reluctant when I serve vegetarian dishes as a main course and not as a side dish. This time, he had second servings.

This recipe is from the kiwi Emma Galloway, adapted to my taste:

• 5 carrots, peeled, cut into 1 cm thick diagonal slices
• Some chopped coriander stalks
• Olive oil
• A pinch of cumin, coriander, paprika and chilli powder

• 1 cup of arborio rice or any short grain rice, washed
• 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric, to give it the yellow colour

• 1/2 cup dried sultanas
• 1/2 cup lightly toasted pine nuts
• Large handful of coriander leaves, chopped and Italian parsley chopped
• Crumbled feta, a soft one, to serve on top

Dressing:

• 60ml lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 200C. Place carrots, coriander stalks, olive oil and the spices in a bowl and season well with salt and pepper. Mix well and spread out in a single layer on a baking tray. Roast for 30 minutes until golden, turning often. Set aside to cool
2. Meanwhile, cook the rice until tender, but not soft. Let it cool to room temperature.
3. To make the dressing, whisk together all the ingredients. Pour over cooled rice, stir in the roasted carrots and any spices from the tray, sultanas, pine nuts, coriander and parsley. Adjust to taste. 
4. Serve with some soft feta on top (I used Persian feta and some of the marinated oil)

Smoky eggplant risotto with lemon. A personal obstacle of proving myself

When Nick is away from home- which doesn't happen too often, lucky me- I don't eat well because I don't cook, except for  the children, of course. I just open the fridge and help myself with whatever is in there, an egg or a toasted cheese sandwich. Sometimes, I just have for dinner a porridge with some chopped fruit and nuts on top, like I had last Sunday.

You wonder why I go to the other extreme, from cooking like a maniac to be a lazy cook. Well, it is because I don't have someone to cook for and to rate my meals from one to ten- as Nick usually does in sort of a game with Aurelia-. Sharing what I cook and hear that it was a great dinner!, it is one of the main motivations I spend time in my kitchen. 

The more I write about my life in each post of my blog, the more facets of myself I discover. It wouldn't be honest from me not to mention this no-new annoying aspect of my personality with you: I need to prove people than I am good at something -like cooking- even though I am just a little or not at all.

This constant need of acceptance for what I do is exhausting. I wish I didn't feel it or at least I knew how to get rid of it, but I don't know how. Through this blog I hope I will because I am dedicating time to reflex, to think and to change the person I don't want to be giving some space to the "real" me, without personal obstacles.

Sometimes when you start digging inside of you it is scary what you might find but, at the same time, is reinvigorating to be able to transform a feeling that bothers you into words and let it go- I have this "Let it go" song in my head since I wake up until I go to bed thanks to my kids, Aurelia and Gabriel, who are obsessed with the movie Frozen, like most of the children around the world…and adults, by the way!-.

Well, last night I decided to give the first step in this self-therapy: I cooked a beautiful risotto for dinner. I rated a 9.5, no one else did. And I didn't mind the silence after I finished my dinner. I was satisfied with myself...but I still missed not having the risotto with Nick and Aurelia. It was absolutely delicious. 

I am not a bad cook after all. I don't need to prove it. I just want to share it.

If you like babaganush, you will love this risotto because the chargrilled eggplant adds a fantastic smoky flavour, and quite unique, to the classic lemon risotto. If you are not fond of burning eggplants, omit the topping and just follow the basic recipe of Yotam Ottolenghi.

Smoky eggplant risotto with lemon

Serves 4

• 2 medium eggplants
• 1/2 cup of olive oil
• sea salt
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 cups risotto rice
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 3 1/2 cups of stock- vegetable.
• grated zest of 1 lemon
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 1/2 butter
• 1/2 Parmesan cheese
• Black pepper

1. Start by burning the eggplants on the stove, directly on the flame and when they are black, place them in cold water. remove the black skin and scoop out the soft flesh. Chop it roughly and set it aside.
2. Basic recipe: Cut the other eggplant into dice. Heat up 1/2 cup of oil in a frying pan and fry the eggplant in batches until golden brown and crisp. transfer to a colander and sprinkle with salt. leave to cool.
3. Put the onion and the remaining oil in a heavy pan and fry slowly until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 3 minutes. Turn up the heat and add the rice, stirring to coat it in oil. Fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the wine and cook for 3 minutes or until nearly evaporates. Turn the heat to medium.
4. Now start adding the hot stock to the rice, a lawful at a time, waiting until each addition has been fully absorbed before adding the next and stirring all the time. When all the stock has been added, remove the pan from the heat. Add half the lemon zest, the lemon juice, grilled eggplant, butter, most of the Parmesan and a pinch of salt. Stir eel, then cover and set aside for 5 minutes. Taste for salt.

Roast pumpkin with goat cheese and roast chicken risotto. Two ways of looking at the glass

Glass half empty or glass half full.

My parents are both glass half full people and gave me, day after day, year after year, an example of hard work and an all-consuming love for our family- even when they were divorced- that I still have today. 

When we were little and spent summer with my dad in Punta Umbria (a beautiful beach in the South of Spain) he allowed my sister Pato and I to go out until 2am. There was one single condition -you will wake up at the same time as always, 7am- he reminded us as while we were heading off to the door. 

The next morning my dad came into our room, opened the curtains and started to sing a happy song : "que alegria, que alegria, ha nacido un nuevo dia" (what a joy, what a joy, a new day has begun). The sun andaluz was risen high and promising a hot day. We tried to open an eye but the light was too annoying.

Five minutes later my sister and I were in the kitchen helping him to clean the fresh fish he just bought at the fish market. He knew we were on an empty tummy with hangovers but he also knew that that "punishment" wouldn't stop us from going out in the evenings during the summer in Punta Umbria.

Gosh, I miss those summer days and I miss my dad. It hurts when I think about him. His presence immediately made people cheerful, happy, laugh and gave them a boost of good energy. He was an optimist and his enthusiasm for living was contagious, even when he was diagnosed with cancer.

It is true that sometimes life is not always pink colour- we all have problems, small or big- and in those moments  you find yourself in the dilemma of which attitude to choose. Like my parents set an example for me, I like to think in positive rather than in negative. My husband Nick as well. I hope we are already setting an example to our children and the positive energy continues from generation to generation.

So much of who I am today is tied to who my parents were, the choices they made, the way they worked, and how they lived their lives. They had no real luxuries and there were a very few things they could call their own. 

So I owe to them to look at the glass half full even when in sad situations there is not much water left.

This past week I had a couple of disasters in the kitchen. My Spanakopita (spinach and feta filo pastry pie) wasn't very tasty but I learnt which frozen spinach not to buy and not to exceed the quantity suggested in the recipe (I added too much so the feta cheese didn't make any impact on the flavour). I also made a healthy banana cake but I was in a hurry and pre-heated the oven too far in advance so the cake was burnt outside and a bit raw inside.

Mistakes well learnt. However...

I made up this risotto with three left overs: roasted pumpkin from a Morocan pumpkin soup I made the day before (I just kept a few pieces); some goat cheese left when I made the beetroot dip; and some chicken meat from our monthly tacos night of last Friday.

All together, stirred with a fine risotto rice and a few toasted pine nuts to garnish made a happy meal. 

Good food shared with your family is what makes the glass half full, at least for me.

Risotto of roast pumpkin with goat cheese (and roast chicken)

Serves 4-6 people

In a heavy pot melt a tablespoon of butter and add a chopped brown onion (or a celery stick as well if you have). When is soft, add 2 cups of risotto rice. Stir the rice until it is translucent and pour a cup of dry white wine- increase the heat now so the alcohol evaporates-. 

After 2 minutes or so, add one cup of hot chicken stock (homemade if possible). Keep stirring until the rice absorbs all the stock. Add 1 cup of roasted pumpkin cubes and continue with the step before of adding stock and stirring. You will need for this recipe about 5 cups of hot stock. I season the rice every time a cup is added. 

When you get to the 4th cup, check whether the rice is al dente, no soft or hard, but it maintains the shape. Does it need another cup of stock? more salt? If not, add some roasted chicken if you have, sprinkle goat cheese, grate fresh parmesan cheese and a bit of butter to create that glossy look (and the lovely flavour that only the butter can add to the food).

Have a glass half full of wine…and enjoy!

Buen provecho

Seafood paella. Home, sweet home...except the jet-lag

Happy New Year! One of my resolutions for 2014 is to cook more often the same dishes instead of looking for new ones constantly. Only when I have mastered simple meals, I will be more adventurous with techniques. 

Anyway, I always feel a bit down when I have to pack up the beautiful Christmas decorations. "Bye bye, see you next year...." I say to myself. I become a five year old child while I am wrapping the delicate silver crystal balls and place them gently in to the box. This box will be opened again, this December of 2014 in a different country from the Philippines. I feel little butterflies of excitement thinking about the idea of moving again in June.

I haven't written for 3 weeks and I have missed it, specially the quiet time of being alone in front of my blog. How hard could it be? Well, if you have had a week of Christmas celebrations from the beginning of December, your parents in-law visiting, a trip to Spain from the 27th of December until the 9th of January, with a  full time schedule of family reunions plus the celebration of los Reyes Magos (or the Three Kings), yes, it has been almost impossible. SILENCE is a word much needed for me after Christmas, like a detox program people do at the beginning of the year. 

Besides, I am a bit grumpy because I am struggling with the jet lag after coming back from Spain. No, not mine, it is Juanan's!  For the last 3 days, Juanan has decided to play with his feet, to make very loud noises that some would call "baby talk" and to have a good time until 3 or 4 in the morning. I have tried to stuff the dummy with sticky tape in his sweet little mouth but somehow he spit it out. Nope, it hasn't worked to make him sleep at a reasonable hour and he is wide awake. I am starting to become unreasonable myself during the day due to these late nights.

How am I coping with the jet lag? In the last few mornings I wake up at 10am and have such a strong cup of coffee that it could wake up a dead body and in the evenings, while I am so frustrated and about to cry because it is 1 or 2am and Juanan doesn't want to sleep, I read The Tabla Esmeralda book that I downloaded in my new sony reader that the Reyes Magos, on behalf of Nick ( without his knowledge!) bought for me. I am a total convert. I can say bye to the heavy Spanish books I used to bye and bring  in my suitcase. This small useful gadget has changed my life.

I have so much to tell and share that I need a few posts to go through. But for now, you are going to  have to forgive me, I blame this dammed jet lag that stops me for going back to my normal daily routine. Temporarily, of course. 

I cooked a seafood paella for Nick's parents on Christmas Eve. To be honest, paella depends on many factors: the fish or chicken you use, the stock you make (do not use cubes for this dish...), the fat round rice ( Calasparra is the best but Arborio will do the trick), the size of the paella dish and above all, the cook. 

I know the last factor sounds obvious, but it wasn't for me for many years. I can give you the recipe, like my dad gave it to me, but your paella won't be the same as mine (maybe it will be even better!). I don't know how many paellas I have cooked in my life, trying to repeat each step or tip my father taught me. I even place a page of the newspaper on top of  paella when the socarrada (or the burnt bottom part of the paella ) is done to finish cooking the rice that is on top. Like my dad used to do.

My paellas are never the same: some are good, some are tasteless. And they don't have that distinct flavour that made my father's paella so famous. His paella was particular, special. Nick says it was unique because my dad smoked while he was making it and perhaps part of the ashes dropped in to the rice!. Probably, lo que no mata engorda.

However, there is a common element in all of the paellas I have made in the past, I feel my dad's presence ( even the smoke of the cigarette! ) although he passed away a few years ago. That's probably why I find cooking so fascinating because you can actually recreate memories of people, places, moments. Only then, eating and sharing food makes sense to me.

This paella was one of the good ones, by the way. Thanks dad.

Serves 10 people

• 2 brown onions, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 big red capsicum, chopped
• 1 cup homemade tomato sauce or 1 can of diced tomato
• 12 tiger prawns, some peeled and deveined and some whole unpeeled for the top of the paella
• 3white fish fillets
• 200 g mussels, cleaned and beard removed
• 1/2 cup green peas (frozen are fine)
• 3 cups arborio rice
• 7 cups of fish stock
• Azafran or yellow colorante (or a bit of turmeric )
• Sea salt
• A can of roasted red capsicum, cut it in stripes

1. Heat the paella dish to medium high heat and add a lug of olive oil. Fry the capsicum until brown and soft (2 minutes) stirring all the time. Set it aside.
2. Add a bit of oil again, and add the onion and garlic, fry until soft. Be careful the garlic doesn't get burnt. Set aside.
3. If you are using homemade tomato sauce, add it to the pan and give it a stir. If you use the can, fry some chopped garlic and  then add the diced tomato and cooked it for 5 minutes (season it if necessary ).
4. In a separate heavy pan, cook the peeled prawns ( heat the pan, add a lug of olive oil and fry the prawns until it changes the colour ). Tthey will finish the cooking process in the paella with the stock. Add some sea salt and  set aside. Repeat the process with the whole unpeeled prawns. 
5. Season and fry the fish fillets in hot oil; cut them in big chunks and set aside.
1. My dad used to make it this way to give the paella a smoky flavour achieved by using a cast-iron heavy pan. If you don't want to do it, just fry the prawns and the fish in the paella dish and set aside.
6. With the paella in medium high heat, add the capsicum, onion, garlic, tomato sauce, prawns and fish. Add also the mussels, the green peas and the rice. Stir and season with generous  sea salt. Place some of the unpeeled prawns on top. Pour the stock, the colorante ( or a teaspoon of turmeric or azafran ) and add more salt.
7. Cook it for 25 minutes or until there are little holes and the rice starts to burn a bit on the bottom part of the paella. 
8. Turn it off and place a tea towel ( or a left-wing newspaper like my dad did...) to catch the steam and cook the top. After 10 minutes, remove the tea towel and decorate the paella with the slices of roasted red capsicum and a lemon chopped in half in the middle
9. Serve with a simple green salad...and some bowls of warm water and lemon for the messy hands!

Buen provecho!

In Nochebuena, we left a nice glass of Champagne and two cookies for Santa to keep him going for the rest of the night.