We’re starting to see the fruits of our efforts, and with a bounty of vegetables from our garden, I‘ll be posting more recipes that use them. This post brings you a wonderful gazpacho that could be rightly called green gazpacho, a cucumber gazpacho that includes not only cucumber but also avocado and some other fruits of our garden: green pepper, jalapeño, basil and parsley. You see? A green gazpacho!
The recipe I’m sharing today, chicken with cumin and pimentón dressing and tomato arugula salad holds flavors that remind me of summers in Spain —grilled meats, pimentón and fresh vegetables in one single dish. The grilled chicken has the right amount of heat to please every palate at the table, and the tomato arugula salad, with a dressing that incorporates the flavors of the marinade, blend beautifully in this very summery dish.
This is the summer of what could have been and will not be. Of plans that came undone and yet thankfulness for our health. Of “what if‘s” that have affected us all.
As I write this, I should have been in Spain for three weeks now, expecting the rest of my family to arrive today. We would have been heading to the beach on Sunday for a week of family time and fun, relaxation and tapas bars hopping, beach games (more…)
Have you noticed something different in this post? Okay, you will have to scroll all the way down to the recipe. Which by the way, you’re going to love. It’s a triple cheesecake with amaretti crust and caramelized blood oranges. What a combination of flavors! One bite and you’ll realize how they were made to be together. For the amaretti crust —or almond cookie crust—, you’ll be able to use the recipe of my previous post. Those almond cookies are good on their own and they are outstanding for this crust.
But I’m digressing. Let’s go back to my first sentence: if you scroll down, you will see the look of the recipe has changed. I’ve incorporated a new format that will make it easier for you to (more…)
Almond cookies, amaretti-like, to sweeten up this very odd situation. It’s hard to believe what’s happening right now in the world. When I remember the times, not that long ago, when we could travel, I can’t help but think that we are living in a dystopian movie, and that, like in the movies, it will have a happy ending.
Temple of Sant’Angelo
My flight to Spain this summer has been canceled by the airline due to the pandemic and the closing of borders in many parts of the world (certainly the borders of Spain). I can now only travel in (more…)
Beef stew with sherry sauce is not the recipe I would have wanted to post/make, but climate made me. Where is Spring? We eagerly received it a month ago, soon after confinement was mandated, but the weather keeps telling us it’s not time for warm temperatures yet. In a way, it could be a good thing, as I would personally rather be watching a gray day outside than a sunny one, given the circumstances that keeps us indoors.
Beef stew with sherry sauce is a recipe I wanted to post last January, but for one reason or another I didn’t. These days we are seeing more and more people spending time in the kitchen, trying new recipes or simply (more…)
When I first saw this Easter sweet from Málaga called nazareno, which literally translates as nazarean, my first thought was: hot cross buns! Their look is very similar, so I wonder if they are influenced by each other (maybe a traveler that brought them from one place to the other?). Nazareno, hot cross bun cousin.
A few differences are that, in the nazareno, the raisins are soaked in Málaga‘s sweet wine, and it also incorporates candied fruit and walnuts. As for the cross –characteristic on both of them–, the recipes vary: some use flour and water while some (more…)
We all need some comfort at this time in our lives – this time in humanity‘s life –, and apple cake falls into the category of comfort foods (anything apple, including apple tart, or apple ring fritters). As I’m writing this, in the warmth of confinement at my home in Fort Wayne, I should be in Santa Barbara, California, visiting my son Matthew, whom I haven’t seen since Christmas.
Holy Week starts Sunday, and many of you had plans to go to the beach, to go skiing, or to participate in the many religious celebrations that would be happening in all parts of the Christian world. No, this is not normal, and one day we will tell our (more…)
It’s a weird sensation these days, isn’t it? We wake up every morning wondering what the new limitation will be for the day ahead —whether we’ll be able to go out freely for a walk in the neighborhood, whether we’ll be able to fly next week to see a loved one. COVID-19 has turned us upside down as in the most dystopian of stories.
Routine tasks we used to do without giving them a second thought now become a highlight of the day – leave the house for a moment to pick up the mail; take the garbage to the curb. A trip to the grocery store (more…)
Have you tried tortilla paisana, peasants omelet? A very Spanish omelet, for some it’s a more tasty one than Spanish omelet. But that’s not the reason why I chose it for today’s post. I chose it for its color. Because this post is about color. The colors of Morocco. The colors of Marrakech that caused fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent to fall in love with the city and move there.
Tortilla paisana, peasants omelet, incorporates a wide variety of vegetables, almost any you can think of. The most traditional ones, the ones you find in this omelet most often in (more…)
A very early flight for the last of my adult sons return to college marked the end of the holiday season and the return to the routine. And routine, for me, means familiar dishes, comfort food. Braised chicken with prunes is a dish that brings me back to the normal, to the every day, with the familiarity and reassurance of what is known and expected.
The last weeks of the year were some of nonstop cooking, with relatives and friends coming and going, not to mention my two sons back home for the season. I made fancy dishes and (more…)
