Spicy beef sandwich. Dinning on Moreyra stage

It was cooking day. My kids and I made quinoa and olive oil waffles for breakfast - the kitchen was a total mess but they had fun. On Sundays, because I have more time, I treat the family with something that breaks the school and work routine.  However, I couldn't eat any of them - although they were quite appealing. I was too full from the night before.

Nick and I dinned at the Casa Moreyra, the restaurant of the famous Peruvian celebrity chef Gaston Acurio and his wife Astrid Gutsche. We were having our belated annual Christmas dinner. Anyhow, any excuse is always good enough to celebrate if you have a glass of wine to cheer and delicious food to share. 

Located in the neighbourhood of San Isidro, this old mansion is so spectacular than when it opens its doors for the guests it makes them feel immediately witnesses of an incredible food experience. Your expectation is high because you are prepared to enjoy a special night, an unforgettable culinary evening where the ambience, the setting, the service, the quality of the ingredients and of course, the food play together a role to win an Oscar - your credit card should be ready too, by the way …ouch!

In Casa Moreyra you have the option to eat in the casual and spontaneous place called La Barra or in the very formal dinning place named El Cielo, where the restaurant has been tailor-made for you. In this occasion, we opted to have dinner under the sky, in one of the two private salons with its own team of chefs, service and kitchen. 

At our arrival, when the terrace was still quiet - 7.30 pm was perhaps too early for the Peruvians - we had the pleasure to meet Diego Munoz, the young Head Chef of Astrid and Gaston, who gave us five minutes of his precious time to welcome us.

After our aperitif , we were conducted to visit the private kitchen of one of the salons. The kitchen was  like a jewelry store, each person concentrated on the eleven dishes that would give live to the degustation menu, Memorias de mi tierra, the great star of the night. I noticed a certain amount of pride in some of the cooks, like if they were magicians. The spectacle was about to start.

We were going to spend three hours tasting the Memorias de mi tierra which was divided in five stages each one baptized with a name invoking old times: Golosinas a la salida de la escuela, Memorias del hogar, Travesuras del nino, Dulce memoria y Sabor perdido. I was open to the smallest detail to what my five senses were telling me…every plate would be a surprise.

I tried chewy beef tongue and crunchy trotters with mustard - hidden underneath of edible red and yellow blossoms. I discovered strange, but delightful, combinations of flavors: thin slices of avocado with white sesame seeds, maca and aji; quince with peanuts; meringue of olives and anchovies; white asparagus with chickpeas and caviar. But there were some other alternatives that I found too strong to my taste, like the fishy leche de tigre with apple and beetroot or the chupin of false clams called machas with green broad beans and creamy potatoes.

I enjoyed drinking apple juice from a huge ice cube, although there was not much liquid to drink.

Above all, my favorite dish was the classic tribute to mash potato with a fried egg on top and fresh spinach. Perhaps because it was the only plate from the menu I recognized. I loved every single bite of it.

The whole evening went fast, except for the last 20 minutes when Nick and I started to feel the tiredness of the day. We still had to wait for the sweets or Dulce memoria - although I seriously couldn't fit any more food in my stomach. 

During the dinner, I confessed my short list of resolutions for 2015 - usually longer than Nick's. When I thought I said them all, out of the blue,  I added find a challenge. I had to say it loudly so I could hear it myself. At that moment, I didn't understand why I had to include a new goal in my life, but I just felt a sense of excitement when the words come out of my mouth.

In the way back home, close to midnight, I summarized the experience in my head, analyzing every moment. I realized that this type of dinning is a bit selective, for "foodie" people. I also became aware of the fact that food is art when it is presented in this fine way. Each drop counts, same as the dust to garnish, or even the story behind the dish is important to understand the structure of the plate, the flavors, the textures and the colors. I admired the food presentation before I tasted.

On the other hand, there were moments when the restaurant was a theatre stage with a play called Moreyra. It was all set up, less romantic than I expected, no margin for mistakes. Too programmed. Besides, I wish we had less interruptions by the waiters who explained the dish, who placed the food on the table, who came right after to garnish it or who collected the plate. Ah! and the sommelier to pour the wine. A perfect synchronization, so well established that when I stood up to go to the bathroom one of the waiters panicked and said excuse me, madam, could you wait? I have the next dish ready!

Living new experiences and having an open mind to soak them into my family's life are a permanent goal in a short list of resolutions that every Christmas dinner I read and share with Nick, my companion in the way to achieve them.

A couple of days after dinning at Casa Moreyra I was enrolled in a two year career of Patisserie at Le Cordon Bleu Peru. It was in fact a memorable night, full of an unexpected surprises.

I made up this sandwich using the leftovers from a dinner party we hosted at the residence a few weeks ago. It is a superb spicy fillet of beef marinated for 36 hours over a layer of tomato chutney, crunchy red cabbage salad and creamy, and smelly, Camembert cheese. I wouldn't bother to make this recipe just for the sandwich but it is a perfect candidate for a dinner party, particularly when you comment the amount of hours the meat was marinaded! My guests loved that. 

Spicy beef sandwich with red cabbage salad and cherry tomate relish
Recipe of Sybil Kapoor (serves 4)

• 170 g light muscovado sugar
• 155 coarse sea salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoon ground star anise
• 1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh ginger
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• zest of 2 lemons, finely grated
• 1-2 fresh red chillies. sliced
• 115 ml soy sauce
• 115 ml sesame oil, toasted
• 450g trimmed fillet of beef
• 2 tablespoons sunflower oil

For the salad

• 350g fine green beans, trimmed
• 3 heads of red chicory or 2 handfuls of shredded red cabbage
• 1 red onion, sliced into rings
• 1/2 teaspoon runny honey
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons walnut oil (I used sunflower oil)
• Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper

1. Mix all the ingredients except the sunflower oil in large dish (I used a big plastic bag) to hold the beef. Place in the fridge for at least 36 hours, rubbing the liquid on the meat.
2. After three days, remove the fillet and quickly rinse under cold water. Pat dry with kitchen paper. Preheat the oven to 200C.
3. As soon as the oven is hot, heat the sunflower oil over a medium flame and wait until it is very hot. Add the beef. Color and sear on all the sides, then transfer to a small roasting tray or baking dish. Pour over the frying oil, and place the dish in the oven. Roast for 12 minutes. Remove, cool and chill until required.
4. Shortly before serving, drop the green beans into a pan of boiling water and cook until tender. Drain and set aside to cool. Wash the red cabbage leaves and tear them into large pieces. Place in a large bowl with the cooked beans and red onion rings.
5.  Make the dressing (if you add the dressing too in advance, you will get soggy leaves instead of the crunchiness you need): whisk together the honey, garlic, lemon juice and walnut oil. Season and toss everything together. 
6. Divided the salad in four plates and top with slices of the beef.

PS: Make extra for the sandwich tomorrow!

Asparagus and quinoa salad. Lima in love

I am falling in love with this city. It is impossible not to.

Since we arrived six weeks ago I have realised that Lima has so much beauty and art around it. The photos I have taken during this period reflect just a tiny bit of that, even though I am an amateur with the camera. 

This post is just about images, with short stories attached. Through them I hope you see what I saw or feel what I felt. In love.

Beautiful people

This gorgeous little girl is a friend of my son Gabriel. They are in the same classroom in the nido or nursery. She used to cry when her mum, a teacher as well in the nido, dropped her off in the morning. After a few days, she started to smile and participate in the activities. I am a witness of her progress because I spend every morning with Gabriel in the classroom during his adaptation period. She is giving an example to Gabriel, who observes her quietly from his chair.

The young lady on the right is a seller from Huancayo, capital of Junin region, in the central highlands of Peru. I saw her a couple of times last week, when I went to Metro supermarket, and her hat drew my attention but also the way she was carrying her baby in the back. My surprise was when she unwrapped the tied scarf to sell me some honey from a 2 litres jar, "her baby". It was the most delicious honey I have ever tasted. 

I thanked her for letting me to take a photo of her. When she saw it, she said something  in Quechua which I didn't understand, obviously, but I had the impression that it was the first time she saw a selfie, and in a digital camera!

Things that you take for granted, are new for others.

This Saturday morning my husband Nick drew a plan in a big piece of paper: visit the artesanal fish market. It was 8.20am and there we were, checking out the conchitas, the tilapias, the octopus, the crabs (alive)...

There were pelicans everywhere, even inside the fish market. I thought they were kind of cute, so I took Juanan in the pusher to see them, and pat them, except that a local men stopped me alarmed and cried No, señora! aleje al bebe! que los pelicanos sueltan piojos cuando abren sus alas! - do not get the baby close to the pelicans because they spread bugs when they open their wings! 
OMG, I thought...

Fish market Artesanal

I went straight to Inka Farma and bought a shampoo to kill bugs. Back home, I put my soldier hat on and ordered bath time, everyone! no discussion! hurry up!

These are the experiences you live when you are discovering a new country. I am embarrassed to admit that pelicans are a common bird so I should have known about its bugs too!

After a cleaned and disinfected hair, we went to have an empanada in a bar close to our residence. It felt like being in any bar in Spain. It had character, full of locals and so far, with the best meat empanadas in our neighbourhood, Barranco.

The lovely nun you see in the photo was enjoying a peaceful moment - although I am pretty sure she does it more often than I do during her day - until my family arrived. She lasted two minutes and a half after we sat down in the table next to hers.

Figures

The music of Peru is a mix of sounds and styles from the Andes, Africa and Spain. The figure of the left side photo represents a Peruvian musician playing the instrument zampona o ziku. He wears a traditional hat called chullo, which has been used in the Andean Mountain region by indigenous people for thousand of years.

I took this photo when Nick and I were having a pisco cocktail with a Peruvian friend who gave us a very interesting, and sad, view of how he lived the terrorism period in Lima when he was a student. A popular question amongst his friends was: when are you leaving Peru? which country are you going to? Some run away, others stayed. Some didn't live to tell what happened...but you know? Peruvians are proud of being Peruvians, he said with a broken voice.

The photo of the right side is the torito de Pucara, "This handicraft is a result of the fusion between the Spanish and Andean cultures. It is used to have luck, prosperity and protection and it is often placed in the roof of most of Andean houses"

My daughter Aurelia took the photo when we were having a delicious hot chocolate in a art shop called Dedalo. She has sweet tooth, like her mum. The hot chocolate in Peru is spicy, the milk is infused with cloves and cinnamon. Absolutely delightful. 

National drinks

Natural disasters

I thought I left natural disasters back in the Philippines, the typhoons, cyclones and earthquakes. But when Nick brought me home the list of postings two years ago and I said yes, let's apply for Peru! I forgot that this country was in the ring of fire. 

There are sismos constantly, even when you don't feel them (usually magnitud 4). This October we had 21, for example. I am amazed by the way the Peruvians accept the sismos and the possibility of a tsunami as part of their normal lives. We don't have rain, we have sismos! a local told me the first day. He was laughing when he said it. Well, I didn't!

The sunset is incredible from the malecon in Barranco but I must confess that a terrible thought of a huge wave coming from the end of the ocean crosses my mind sometimes. I am not Peruvian after all!

          Great produce

With more variety of potatoes that enough days to taste all of them, the restaurants usually serve fries made with real potato, as it should be. I now feel less guilty when we order them.

When I was in Australia I bought green asparagus once, because I was craving them, but I used to stick to the national produce when I went to the markets. It was a long way from Peru to Australia so the conditions and the freshness were questionable by the time the asparagus arrived. 

Now that we are in the land of asparagus, I eat them weekly with jamon serrano, with a fried egg on top or just grilled with sea salt. 

Asparagus and quinoa salad

I brought this healthy asparagus, quinoa and orange salad (from Emma Galloway) for my good friend Natalie who organised a welcoming lunch for me last week and during which I had the opportunity to meet some of her lovely friends. 

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 2 garlic cloes, chopped
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds
• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed well
• 400g sparagus
• Finely grated zest of 1/2 large orange
• 1/2 toasted almonds
• 1 cup mint (optional)
• dressing:
• juice of 1/2 large orange
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 teaspoons of runny honey
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1. Put the jug on, as you will need boiling water soon. Heat oil in a saucepan and add onion and garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add sesame seeds and quinoa and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring often until toasted. Add 375ml boiling water, reduce to a gentle simmer, cover pan and cook for 10-12 minutes until all the water has been absorbed and quinoa is tender. Remove from the heat and leaving the lid on set aside to steam before fluffing up with a fork. Cool to room temperature.
2. Blanch the asparagus, drain and refresh in cold water.
3. To make the dressing, simmer orange and lemon juice in a small saucepan until reduced by half. Remove from the hear, add honey and then pour the olive oil in a steady stream, whisking constantly to form a lovely emulsified dressing, Taste and season well with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.
4. transfer quinoa to a large bowl and stir in orange zest, almonds, mint (optional), asparagus and dressing. Toss well.
5. Share with friends!

Milanesas with spring salad. I cry for you Argentina

It was October 2006 and our long journey finally ended. Almost 30 hours travelling, three flights, bad jet lag and...a small round belly that was timidly showing to the world. I was three and a half months pregnant with Aurelia, my eldest daughter, and in Buenos Aires, my second diplomatic posting after Solomon Islands, the third one for my husband Nick, whom I met in Spain.

I remember we went straight from the airport to Recoleta, a very fancy area of Buenos Aires  famously  known by the cemetery where Evita Peron is resting - in case you didn't know, she was the second wife of the Argentine President Juan Peron and the First Lady of Argentina from 1946 until her death in 1952.

The embassy rented a temporary apartment for us - until we could find one to live for the next three years, which took us a couple of months of inspecting several ones, including one with dead cockroaches in the living room! - a few metres away from that cemetery, and close to the "girly" bars. In the evenings, the prostitutes were waiting for their turn and hopefully, to have a lucky night. These lovely ladies were also brought to the apartment above ours, any time of the day.  I could even hear the sexual activity at 11 o'clock in the morning while I was making a Spanish omelette. My invisible ear plugs tried to block the noise, but sometimes it was impossible!

I was saying that  on the day we arrived, October 12, the afternoon was still warm and appealing for a nice walk to refresh our tired minds. However, we didn't go too far from where we started because I harshly stopped Nick by the arm and begged him to have something to eat, like a good pregnant woman.

Of course, darling, he said.  With your first pregnancy, your husband spoils you  because it is new and exciting for the two of you. With the second pregnancy, you have to remind him...and with the third one, forget it, you look after yourself .

Anyway, there we were, in a trendy "empanadas" bar of Las Heras street,  trying to understand the menu on the black board. It was written in Spanish but with words totally strange for me. There were a few empty tables and some people watching the golden years of Maradona playing soccer on the television. The friendly and attractive waitress behind the bar noticed our perplexed faces and helped us with some useful questions such as queres una Quilmes (local beer)? unas empanadas de choclo o de carne? estan resabrosas!...un pica pica? I said yes to everything, thanks. It is the easiest answer when you are doubting and starving as I was.

During my first few days in Buenos Aires I felt like a truly foreigner, to my surprise. My first impression of the city was totally unexpected. It wasn't Europe but neither South  America, it was in between. Perhaps the reason is found in the fact that the city of the tango and the exquisite beef had a strong influence from the Spanish people (especially from the North of Spain and that's why the Argentineans used to call me "gallega" which is synonym of Spanish) and from the Italians who immigrated in the 19th and 20th century. It was in Argentina where I learnt to make fresh pasta at home thanks to that Italian background.

I needed a couple of weeks to tune my ear to that enchanting and musical accent and a another two months to meet my very first Argentinean friend. Her name was Claudia and I met her in a swimming pool of a country house, on Christmas day, wearing Nick's underpants. 

It was a very hot day and I felt the heat boiling in my veins thanks to the wonderful side effects of the pregnancy, which I was discovering month by month. I decided to go to the pool because  the air conditioner of my room, of the "luxury" country house - as the travel agency reassured us when we made the bookings - didn't work. I didn't pack my swimmers - swimming isn't usually in my holidays plan - consequently, I took my tight black singlet and borrowed Nick's long blue underpants. This will do the trick, I said to myself, I am sure no one will notice. Wrong.

Claudia did and laughed quietly at me thinking that this Spanish girl doesn't fit in the stereotype of a diplomat's wife, really. This funny moment made the "click" in our friendship, one in a million. Being ridiculous sometimes is a very good thing!

I gave birth four months after Claudia had her daughter Camila in January 2007. Claudia also introduced me to a beautiful, warm and soft heart Mexican friend called Mariana, who had her son Nicolas a couple of weeks before Claudia.

The three of us shared the delights and worries that accompany the first motherhood for two and a half years we were together in Buenos Aires. We created a strong bonding and a friendship that will last forever. They made my posting in Buenos Aires unforgettable. 

At the same time I am writing these lines about my close friends that I met seven years ago, I am thinking, a bit concerned, of an earlier conversation I had yesterday afternoon with my daughter Aurelia when I picked her up from school. 

- I don't like my life (she actually said "hate")

- Why is that, darling?

- Because I have to move all the time, start a new school and meet new friends. I miss Daniel and Axel, and my girlfriends. 

- I understand, it is hard, difficult and frustrating for you, and for your dad and mum too, I assure you, but you are doing very well and we are proud of you. You know, I have one or two friends in each country I have lived with your father

- Whatever. I don't care, I don't want to make new friends never ever again. That way, I won't say good bye. 

Since I met Nick and began my journey with him around the world, I have said "good bye" more often than I have pronounced my own name. It is part of life, the diplomatic life, the one I have chosen to share with Nick. 

However, my children didn't choose that style of life, it was given to them when they were born .  They didn't choose to leave a place and their friends and to start from zero in another country. At least for now, while they are still small. They are children of diplomats or as we have been told, "The third culture kids". 

Nick was also a son of a diplomat so the story repeats again with Aurelia, Gabriel and Juanan.

Aurelia and Gabriel have met good little friends already in Buenos Aires, Manila and even here in Canberra. Will these friendships stay forever? Who knows.

In any case, they will have to decide by themselves. Not us. We already did by leaving Manila and soon Canberra. 

Actually, in three weeks time we will head off to our next adventure! Peru, here we come!!!

PS: By the time I have finished writing this post during this weekend it has been officially announced that Nick will be His Excellency, the Ambassador, of the Australian Embassy in Peru. We will be there for three years so plenty of time to visit us, and the Machu Picchu.

Milanesas or chicken schnitzel 

They were very popular  in Argentina, and we had them for dinner very often in our house of Quintana street but also when we went out. With the practice, I have learnt how to make them as good as I remember eating them in our favourite restaurant Standard. Although it is never the same. Here are my tips:

1. Get very thin cuts of chicken breasts or even better, veal. If you can't buy them thin, use a tenderiser tool (it looks like a heavy hammer) and give the meat a couple of bangs! That will break the connective tissues.
2. First, season the meat.
3. Prepare three plates with flour (I mix it with a big tablespoon of mustard powder, but you don't have to), beaten egg and breadcrumbs - in that order so you don't get confused - Pass the meat first by the flour, shake well, then beaten egg, and wait until there is not more dripping, and finally by breadcrumbs, pressing gently with your hands.
4. Let the meat rest at room temperature for 20 minutes at least.
5. Heat enough olive oil to cover the meat, about 1 cm. If you are mean with the oil, the food will absorb more grease. I learnt this advice in a cookbook about healthy tips for cooking. You know the oil will be ready when you add a breadcrumb and it turns brown in 10 seconds. It should be 180 degrees.
6. As soon as the oil is ready, place one at time milanesa gently and swim it around so it creates pockets of air (according to Melissa Clark's cookbook). Cook for about 5 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.
7. Drain the milanesa on a kitchen paper to get rid of the oil.

Note: it is ideal to use olive oil, but sunflower or vegetable oil will do. I have tried in the past to cook the milanesas in the oven, without oil, and the result is a very dry meal. If you really want to eat a proper milanesa, you have to FRY it, and with breadcrumbs (I have also made them with almond meal and again, it wasn't as good as the real deal). My advice, stick to the proper method and if you are on a diet, choose a different dish!

Spring salad

I totally made up this colourful and delicious salad to accompany the schnitzel. I usually roast 4 big beetroots for an hour or so and keep them unpeeled in the fridge, ready to use them during the week: for the baby with mash potatoes, in chocolate muffins and... of course, in salads. 

I called this spinach and rocket salad "spring" in honour of the next season which is just round the corner. Add some cherry tomatoes, avocado, some crumble feta cheese (if you get the Persian one, you won't regret the price you paid for it) and some roasted nuts you might have in the pantry.

For the dressing, I whisked in a little bowl 4 tbsp red wine vinegar with 4 tbsp olive oil (or the oil where the Persian feta cheese was marinated), 4 tbsp maple syrup (or two tsp honey) and 1 garlic clove crushed (or grated).  Toss the dressing over the salad and check for seasoning.

Note: Toast the nuts before adding them to salads. 

Note: I always add the dressing around the inside part of the salad bowl , not on top of the salad, and then mix carefully 

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.

Citrus salad with fennel Vinaigrette. Mediterranean Orange almond cake. Different rainbows

This blog is helping me to analyse my life and to mark out the exact boundaries of my personality. I am writing my thoughts and feelings about chapters of the story of my young life- well, not that young anymore, I am afraid-.

Every night I spend un ratito (a little while) of 5-10 minutes with my daughter Aurelia in her bedroom before she falls sleep. It is when we pray and she talks about her day or any thought that crosses her mind. The other night she asked me "Mum, what do you like?". 

A simple question but with a tricky answer for me. Why? Because I always prefer to please and not disappoint someone that having confrontations. Which makes me a bad lawyer by the way.

With maturity I have learnt that sometimes it is ok to say NO or to say YES to someone; that you can not pretend that everybody likes you because in the end you need to ask yourself who are you?? You are what people want you to be. Like a chameleon. And it doesn't feel right to me.

My answer was not straight forward so I said "I like many things but specially being now with you". I thought about her question a lot since then, even more when I run yesterday morning.

Last night I wanted to go back to Aurelia's question so we had this conversation:

-" Do you remember when you asked me what I liked?" I asked her. She nodded affirmatively.

-"Well, I like to be myself, and it is something I am still discovering through many aspects of my life. It isn't easy, you know". She listened quietly.

-"I like eating ice creams, fruit roll ups and playing with my friend Zayden at school" She replied. And then, out of the blue, she added, "Did you know mum that everybody sees the rainbow with different colours?". I smiled and kissed her good night.

I didn't know it but if she says so I believe it is true because it means that everybody has a personal rainbow. I just need to define mine and I think I have already started. And you?.

 Citrus salad with fennel Vinaigrette 

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/4 small fennel bulb, finely chopped, plus 1/2 cup chopped fronds
• 1 small shallot, finely chopped
• 2 Tbsp finely chopped peeled ginger
• 1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp honey
• Salt, freshly ground pepper
• 4 navel oranges, blood oranges, tangerines and/or grapefruit
• 5 cups mixed hardy salad greens
• 1 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley

1. Heat oil in a medium skillet over median heat. Add chopped fennel, shallot, ginger and fennel seeds and cook, stirring often, until tender but not brown, 10minutes. Mix in vinegar and honey. Let cool, season with salt and pepper.
2. Finely grate 1 tsp.zest from 1 orange; set aside. Using a sharp knife, cut all peel and white pith from oranges; discard. Cut between membranes to release segments into a medium bowl; discard membranes.
3. Toss greens, parsley, fennel fronds, oranges, and dressing in a large bowl. Serve with orange zest.

Because everything is in moderation in this life, you are allowed to indulge yourself from time to time.

I love Neil Perry's cookbook Simple Good Food which is a collection of his recipes from his column in the Good Weekend newspaper. It is a book to learn to cook starting with simple recipes and "as you grow in confidence, add more and more recipes to your repertoire"- he says . So I used the left over oranges from the salad to make this delicate Mediterranean orange and almond cake. 

This cake isn't rich or heavy. I love the natural flavour of the almond meal. It is not only healthy -no flour or butter; and it has almonds which are very good for you and just a little bit of sugar- but also a perfect end for a light dinner.

Mediterranean orange cake

180 g almond meal

• 65 g fresh breadcrumbs from day-old bread
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
• 150 g caster sugar
• 4 eggs
• 160 ml vegetable oil

1. Preheat the oven to 170C. Lightly grease a 22cm round cake tin and line the base and side with a double thickness of baking paper extending 2 cm above the top of the tin.
2. Put the almond meal, breadcrumbs, baking powder and orange zest in a bowl and mix to combine. In another bowl, whisk the sugar and eggs using electric beaters until thick and pale. Gradually add the oil and beat until well combined.
3. Use a large metal spoon to gently fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture. Pour into the prepared tin. 
4. Bake for 40 minutes and allow to stand in the tin for 5 minutes befoerturning out on a wire rack to cool.

PS: Neil Perry suggests a cardamon creme anglaise to serve. We had it with strawberries in balsamic vinegar and plain yogurt.
Note: it is important to use fresh breadcrumbs to make this cake moist. Remove the crust from a day-old bread, cut in cubes and place them in the food processor.

Light vegetable and couscous salad. A grumpy family dinner

Yesterday was a day of 25 hours. One of those productive days that you do a thousand things but it seems that the day never ends. 

With a bit of patience, which I am lack of in many things, the jet lag has finished. I am now capable to function early in the mornings. My running is also back to my daily routine and it makes me happy because it is part of who I am (don't ask me to swim, though, I am not fond of the water!) although I don't run too fast or too far.

Even having the two boys sick at home with some gastro problems, I enjoyed the morning with them as well as the time I spent cooking in the kitchen when they had a snooze.

I made ricotta cheese. I had another go last Saturday but the milk boiled so I couldn't use it for the cheese (I made chai tea instead). The only tricky part of making cheese is that you cannot get distracted and disappear from the kitchen until the recipe is finished. Which I did.

The whey collected from the ricotta cheese is unbelievable versatile. I used in three different ways:

• Buttermilk pancakes for the children (and Nick) for breakfast. I make them once every two weeks and packed them in cling film in five so it is easy to defrost when the hunger is calling out or the school bus is 10 minutes away to collect Aurelia. I try alternate the breakfast for my family so the children do not get bored and loose the appetite, specially Aurelia. Sometimes we eat porridge (perfect for this lovely cool weather  that we are enjoying in Manila at the moment), nutty granola, toast or pancakes. We leave the churros or eggs for the weekend, and in very rare occasions to be honest, when I feel melancholic and miss the crispy fried dough or Nick wakes up with the idea of brunch at home.

• Banana bread with wholemeal flour, muscovado sugar and greek yogurt. The buttermilk gives a soft texture. This bread uses very ripe bananas (bananas are very popular in Philippines) so wait until they become sugary with black spots. It is a weekly snack in the lunch box of Aurelia and Gabriel.

• Sandwich bread (recipe in the next post) which is similar to the sourdough but adding buttermilk and egg. I made the dough and placed in the fridge for 24 hours because the cold slow raise will create the fermentation of the starter culture. I am actually tasting a slice right now and it has a good balance of salt which is the most challenging part of making bread at home. Once you have achieved the correct amount of salt in your bread, the rest is easy.

By the time Nick got back from work and the meal was ready on the table for our family dinner,  Aurelia was in a silly mood and Gabriel was more than ready to go to sleep like all of us, to be honest, so we ate a bit too fast. 

I didn't enjoy the 13 minutes we sat down together in our round table in the kitchen, although I usually do and it is something I look forward during my day…

Since when the daily dinner became my everyday goal?..no idea, but it makes me happy. I am a woman of small pleasures in life and that's maybe why Nick fell in love with me (it is what he told me!). My parents raised me without too much high maintenance because first, they didn't have time with six children to feed and second, it is the way their own parents taught them. From generation to generation we transmit values, believes and rules to our family.

So the dinner was too stressful with  grumpy kids and tired parents. Sometimes the family dinners, despite our enthusiasm to make them enjoyable, do NOT work. However, the number of these occasions is small. In general, we like them.

Last night I used the recipe of a couscous salad with vegetables from the cookbook Simple to Sensational of Jun Tanaka that Nick's aunty Helen sent me for Christmas (Helen, thank you so much!). It is a beautiful book with very useful tips and easy to make recipes. 

This salad is a side dish, as the book and Nick suggested, but I felt like having something light for dinner so I made it into our main course and used a bowl of steamed green soy beans with a bit of salt on top (they are funny to peal but tasty and highly nutritious in minerals and protein) the accompaniment.

In the end, I was the only one in my family with an empty plate. Gab didn't touch the couscous or the vegetables (he was sick so I excused him), Aure only ate the carrots of the couscous and Nick had a small serving. I knew he didn't like the dinner very much and I was right. When everybody was in bed, he made a peanut butter sandwich. 

Hummm, I decided then….burgers for tomorrow's night dinner!

Couscous salad with roasted vegetables

Serves 6

• 300g couscous
• 100ml extra virgin olive oil
• 1 garlic clove
• a sprig of fresh thyme
• 1/2 chicken stock cube
• salt
• 2 carrots, peeled and cut into 2 cm 
• 8 asparagus spears, peeled and cut in half
• 1 sweet potato (optional) or 1 zucchini, cut into 2 cm cubes
• 75 ml red wine vinegar
• 1/2 bunch of spring onions, finely chopped
• a handful or rocket leaves and some fresh basil, shredded

1. Place the couscous in a bowl. Measure out 300ml of water, place in a saucepan and add 50 ml of olive oil, the garlic, thyme and stock cube. Season with salt. As soon as the water boils, remove from the heat and pour it over the couscous. Mix well and cover in cling film. Leave to steam for 20 minutes.
2. Place the vegetables in a large bowl. Season, add 50ml of olive oil and cook for 8 -10 minutes on a hot griddle, moving them round occasionally. Do not pile the the vegetables on top of each other. Once all the vegetables are cooked, place back in the bowl. Add the red wine vinegar and true spring onions (I didn't because I didn't have them).
3. Take the cling film off the bowl of couscous, remove the garlic and thyme and fluff the couscous up with a fork. Once all the grains are separated, add the vegetables, rocket and basil. Season and serve.
4. Optional: I added a bit of feta cheese and toasted pine nuts

Buen provecho!