Technicolor Kitchen - English version

Sometimes I think about how many times we change our minds throughout different phases of life, ages, etc. I always say that I don’t get a tattoo because I am not able to like something forever – I would probably regret the tattoo right after getting inked.

When I was younger I thought that breakfast in bed was oh, so cool: the romcoms I watched as a teenager gave me the impression that having breakfast in bed was truly romantic. Now, at the age of 42, I don’t want to eat anything in bed – dirty sheets, crumbs prickling me at night? Thanks, but no thanks. :)

So I would rather have my breakfast on the table, and for the weekend, when I have more time, waffles go really well: I love this recipe for I believe chocolate and bananas are a match made in heaven. And of course you can serve these waffles as dessert, too.

Cocoa waffles with caramelized bananas

own recipe

Waffles:

1 cup (140g) all purpose flour

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

pinch of table salt

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

¼ cup (56g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled – for crispier waffles, replace butter with olive oil or canola oil

1 cup (240ml) buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Caramelized bananas:

2 ½ tablespoons - 35g – unsalted butter

1 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 medium bananas, sliced in coins

1 ½ tablespoons whisky, Marsala, rum or water (if you don’t want to use booze)

In a large bowl, sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, butter, buttermilk and vanilla. Pour over the dry ingredients and fold until incorporated – batter will be sort of lumpy, that is OK.

Heat a waffle iron. Add about 1/3 cup of batter per waffle (adjust the amount of batter depending on the size of your machine), then cook following the manufacturer's instructions, until the waffles are golden brown.

While the waffles cook, prepare the bananas: melt butter in a large nonstick frying pan over high heat. Add the sugar and the cinnamon and mix with a spatula until sugar starts to melt. Add the bananas and cook them ever so slightly on both sides until golden. Add the booze (if using) carefully not to get burned. Mix to dissolve the caramel in the frying pan and cook for another minute. Remove from the heat and serve immediately with the waffles.

Serves 4

Happy New Year, everyone! :)

I haven’t posted anything new on the blog for quite a while, even though I have several great recipes to share with you: my workload last December tripled and I was working like crazy in order to get things done before taking a few vacation days. I had also promised myself that on those vacation days I would not seat in front of a computer and I am proud to have kept the promise – I really needed the time off. Of course I am only human and used my mobile to post and check Instagram and Twitter, but that was kept to a minimum and it was a lot less than I had expected.

I got back to work and because we still have some amazing cherries around I thought I’d share this self-saucing pudding with you: it is delicious and easy to put together. Here in Brazil cherries are easier to be found in the summer, but if you are facing winter don’t worry: this recipe is also great using frozen raspberries instead of the cherries – it will no longer be a Black Forest pudding, but it will taste great all the same.

Black Forest self-saucing pudding
own recipe

Batter:
¾ cup + 2 tablespoons (125g) all purpose flour
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup (67g) granulated sugar
1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
pinch of table salt
¼ cup (56g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/3 cup (80ml) whole milk, room temperature
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons cognac – use kirsch if you have it at home; or omit alcohol all together
1 cup (150g) fresh cherries, pitted and halved
¼ cup (42g) dark chocolate chips or chunks – I used one with 53% cocoa solids

Topping:
½ cup (88g) light brown sugar, packed
1 ½ tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
½ cup (120ml) boiling water
whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, to serve

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter four 1-cup (240ml) capacity heatproof ramekins.

Start with the batter: in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In another medium bowl, whisk together the butter, milk, egg, vanilla and cognac. Pour over the dry ingredients and stir just until a thick batter forms. Stir in the cherries and chocolate. Divide batter evenly among the ramekins.

Topping: in a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cocoa. Sprinkle over the batter. Place the ramekins in a baking sheet, then pour 2 tablespoons boiling water over each ramekin, gently pouring it over the topping. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until mixture rises and a crust forms. Serve immediately with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Serves 4

One of the dishes that remind me of my grandmother the most is stuffed zucchini: she would make these quite often when she lived with us because my father liked it a lot.

I did not like meat growing up and back then I did not understand why my grandma would make this dish so often, but now that I am all grown up it makes a lot of sense to me: it is delicious – when prepared properly – and it makes things quite easier for the cook, since you only need a green salad on the side to call it a complete meal.

This is my version of stuffed zucchini: out with the mushy rice mixed with pale beef, in with with wine, tomatoes, fresh marjoram and gorgonzola – absolutely delicious (sorry, grandma). :)

Stuffed zucchini
own recipe

4 zucchini, about 250g/8oz each
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
400g (14oz) beef mince
salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup (60ml) dry white wine
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 ripe tomatoes, deseeded and chopped
handful of fresh marjoram leaves
150g (5oz) gorgonzola, coarsely grated or crumbled
finely ground parmesan, for serving

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F. Line a large baking sheet with foil and brush it with some of the olive oil.

Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise – you should then get 8 halves that look like little boats. With a small spoon, scrape some of the flesh – do not carve the zucchini halves too much or they will be too flimsy. Chop the flesh and set aside. Place the zucchini on the prepared sheet and brush the inside of each half with some of the olive oil.

Bake for 20 minutes – in the meantime, make the filling: heat the remaining olive oil in a large nonstick frying pan over high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent. Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 minute or until fragrant – do not let the garlic burn or it will turn bitter. Stir in the mince and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden. Season with salt and pepper – go easy on the salt since the cheeses can be salty. Stir in the wine and cook again for 2-3 minutes or until wine is reduced – using a wooden spoon, scrape the brown bits in the bottom of the saucepan for extra flavor. Stir in the tomato paste, chopped tomatoes, ¾ cup of the reserved zucchini flesh (you can freeze the remaining flesh and use it to make vegetable stock) and the marjoram. Cook for about 5 minutes or until tomatoes are soft. Remove from the heat, stir in the gorgonzola and divide the meat filling among the zucchini halves. Bake for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with the parmesan and serve immediately.

Serves 4

I am not very brave when it comes to horror films, but after watching the teaser for It I really wanted to watch the movie. My husband asked if I was sure this was a good idea, and I told him that I would be OK since I am not afraid of clowns.
A few minutes into the movie and I was scared as hell and with my eyes closed. :D To be honest I did not recall the 1990 movie being so scary. :S

As promised, I bring you today a recipe that calls for the tangerine juice left from making the financiers I posted yesterday – and the color of the gelatin reminds me of Beverly’s beautiful hair (I was impressed at how much the young Sophia Lillis looks like Amy Adams). I added Prosecco to the gelatin to make this an adult dessert, but if you don’t drink alcohol or want to make this for kids just replace the Prosecco with more tangerine juice.

Tangerine Prosecco gelatin
own recipe

1 ¼ teaspoons gelatin powder
1 ½ tablespoons water
200ml fresh tangerine juice, strained
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
100ml Prosecco
whipped cream, for serving (optional)

In a small bowl, combine the gelatin with the water. Set aside.
In a medium saucepan combine the tangerine juice and sugar and stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved and mixture is lukewarm. Remove from the heat and whisk in the Prosecco, followed by the gelatin. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes. Strain mixture through a fine sieve into four ½-cup capacity glasses. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours or until set.
Serve with a dollop of the whipped cream.

Serves 4

Do you ever wonder why you like certain things?

I was making lunch the other day and listening to some music – Toto’s Rosanna was playing. My husband said “I did not know you liked Toto”. I replied “I like this song, because I had an English teacher that loved it, for her name was Rosana”. She was one of the best teachers I had, and on top of that I found her so, so beautiful: she was a redhead and covered with freckles – it was then, at the age of 15, that I started liking my own freckles for until that moment I felt completely awkward with them (no one else in my family, at school or at my street had freckles).

Because of my teacher Rosana I stopped covering my arms in long sleeves even when it was insanely hot. Because of her I stopped hating the way my face looked with freckles everywhere – she never knew that, but she had a big part in my acceptance of my own features. That is why I think of her when I listen to “Rosanna” and my heart is filled with joy.

Now, the figs… I like figs because I first tried them in my godmother’s house, maybe at around 7 or so. The smell of the fruit takes me back to the days I spent with her – figs and peppermint tea, it is impossible for me to try these things without thinking of my godmother. She died a long time ago, however I have lots of fond memories of her.

My godmother was a very sophisticated woman who had travelled the world, so I believe she would like this dessert very much – the figs sort of turn into a creamy jam while in the oven and the Marsala whipped cream pairs beautifully with them. I don’t think the fruit skin benefits from the heat, though, therefore I recommend you eat the pulp and the crumble topping using a spoon and consider the skin a vessel for the deliciousness only. :)

Baked figs with streusel topping and Marsala whipped cream
own creation

For the figs:
6 small figs
½ cup (70g) all purpose flour
3 tablespoons demerara sugar
3 tablespoons (42g) unsalted butter, cold and diced
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of salt

Marsala whipped cream:
½ heavy cream, very cold
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon Marsala

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Line a small baking sheet with foil.

In a small bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon. Add the butter and rub ingredients with your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
Cut figs in half lengthwise and place them cut side up on top of the foil. Sprinkle the crumble topping over each fig half, packing it slightly with your fingers to make it adhere to the fruit. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until crumble is golden.

In the meantime, place the cream, sugar and Marsala in a small bowl and whisk until soft peaks form. Serve the figs warm with the whipped cream.

Serves 4

Usually, when I am very tired – which has been a constant lately, since the last weeks have been really intense at work – I flip through cookbooks, food magazines and take a look at Instagram maybe trying to boost my brain with beautiful food photos (it is either that or watching some episodes of Sex and the City for the fortieth time – that helps a lot, too). :)

That amount of food photos on someone’s brain might come in handy: I was taking a look at my fridge to prepare the weekly shopping list when I bumped into half a can of chickpeas – leftovers from a salad I had made on the weekend. Minutes before that I had seen a package of chorizo on my cupboard, and the connection was formed in my head: chickpeas and chorizo with sherry. I just was not sure exactly where I’d seen it – on a cookbook? On a magazine? A food blog? Instagram? All of the above? :) –, so I decided to freestyle and it tasted fabulous. I ate it as a warm salad, but I am sure it would work well as a side dish, too.

Chickpea and chorizo warm salad
own creation, inspired by several recipes

1 teaspoon olive oil
70g diced chorizo
½ large onion, thinly sliced in half-moons
2 garlic cloves, minced
200g cooked chickpeas, rinsed and drained
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons sherry
handful of fresh parsley leaves

Heat the oil in a large nonstick frying pan over high heat. Add the chorizo and cook it, stirring occasionally, until crispy. Add the onion and cook until onion is tender, stirring occasionally to avoid catching in the bottom of the pan. Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 minute or until fragrant. Add the chickpeas, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring once or twice, for 3 minutes. Stir in the sherry and cook for 2 minutes or until sherry is reduced. Turn off the heat and mix in the parsley. Serve warm.

Serves 2

I think it is fair to say that the main reason why I love Christmas so much is because it reminds me of my mom: she loved it and I can’t forget all the preparation around the house while the holiday songs were playing on the record player. Because of that, I decided to finish my Christmas series this year with a recipe that I make every time I miss her more than my heart can bear: rice pudding.

Unfortunately this is not her recipe – once my father got married again his wife made sure everything related to my mother got destroyed and tossed away, and the recipe notebooks were then gone forever – but it doesn’t matter: it reminds me a lot of rainy afternoons with piping hot rice pudding and cartoons on TV.

This time I served it cold because of the delicious roasted cherries I paired with it, and I added nutmeg and brandy to evoke the flavors of eggnog – it was delicious and it filled my heart with joy.

I wish you all a happy holiday season and a wonderful New Year – thank you for keeping me company all this time! xx

Eggnog rice pudding with roasted cherries
own creation

Roasted cherries:
150g fresh cherries
1 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar
juice of ½ large orange, freshly squeezed
1 small cinnamon stick

Rice pudding:
½ cup (110g) long grain rice
3 cups (720ml) whole milk
½ cup sweetened condensed milk
pinch of salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon brandy
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Start with the cherries: preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F. Cut cherries in half and remove the pits. Place them in a 4-cup shallow heatproof dish, stir in the sugar, orange juice and cinnamon stick, then roast for 20 minutes or until fruit is bubbly. Let cool completely, then cover and refrigerate.

While the cherries are roasting, make the rice: place the rice in a colander and wash it under the tap with cold water, rubbing the grains with your fingers until water runs clear. Set aside to drain for 10 minutes.
Place the rice, milk, sweetened condensed milk and salt in a medium saucepan and cook over high heat, stirring, until mixture starts to boil. Turn down the heat, add the nutmeg, brandy and vanilla and cook, stirring so mixture doesn’t catch in the bottom of the saucepan, until rice is tender, about 20 minutes. Set aside to cool, then cover and refrigerate.

Serve the rice pudding with the cherries on the side.

Serves 4

Weeks ago, while I was putting together the list of recipes I wanted to bake to give as gifts to my friends I saw these cookies on one of Martha’s digital magazine issues (the subscription that was a real bargain). So I decided to make that money count and use the recipe – the cookies looked adorable after all, and the flavor combo sounded delicious.

However, I was baking the cookies on a very hot day, so it was a nightmare trying to shape the dough into crescents – by the time I had finished shaping two cookies the whole dough was going soft. So I put it back in the fridge for a while and decided to turn the crescents into balls – snowballs, for that matter. In the end it was a good decision: cookies looked pretty and tasted great. Win/win situation. :)

Rum nutmeg snowballs
slightly adapted from Queen Martha

2 cups (280g) all purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg – do not pack it in the spoon when measuring it
¼ teaspoon table salt
¾ cup (170g/1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup (70g) confectioners' sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons white rum (Martha uses brandy)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For rolling the cookies:
½ cup (70g) confectioners' sugar, sifted

Whisk together flour, nutmeg, and salt. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter with confectioners' sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add rum and vanilla; beat until combined. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture, beating until just combined. Divide dough into 2 disks; wrap each in plastic and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour and up to overnight.

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
Working with one disk at a time (keeping the other refrigerated), scoop 1 leveled tablespoon of dough per cookie and roll into a ball. Arrange 2.5cm (1in) apart onto prepared sheets.
Bake until golden on the bottom, 16-18 minutes. Transfer cookies on sheets to wire racks; let cool 5 minutes. Working in batches, carefully toss warm cookies in confectioners' sugar, then transfer to racks and let cool completely.

Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days. Dust with more confectioners' sugar before serving.

Makes about 42

Last weekend my oven worked like crazy: I baked different types of cookies to give as gifts to people I adore (one of them being pfeffernüsse, my favorite Christmas cookies) and I also baked these delicious, perfumed and oh, so tender panettone muffins – they are the perfect solution to those days when I crave panettone but don’t have the time (or sometimes the will, let’s be honest here) to work with yeast.

I used the same flavorings I had used for the actual panettone – orange and lemon zest, vanilla, Cointreau and Amaretto – and also the same dried fruit combo, with the addition of apricots. While I baked the muffins, my husband came to the kitchen to ask what I was making because of how wonderful it smelled. The muffins turned out insanely tender and really tasty, and two days later they were still great – just make sure you keep them tightly sealed in an airtight container at room temperature. They are also delicious toasted with a little butter on top – yum!

Panettone muffins
slightly adapted from King Arthur's little beauties

1 large orange
1/3 cup golden raisins
1/3 cup dark raisins
1/3 finely diced dried apricots
1/3 cup dried cranberries
¼ cup (60ml) orange juice
2 ¼ cups (315g) all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon table salt
¼ cup (56g) unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons canola oil
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon Cointreau
1 teaspoon Amaretto
2/3 cup (160ml) whole milk, room temperature
2 tablesoons finely chopped crystallized orange peel
1 ½ tablespoons demerara sugar, for sprinkling over the muffins

Finely zest the orange and place the zest in a large bowl (you will use an electric mixer to make these muffins). Set aside.

Place the dried fruit and the orange juice in a small saucepan and heat over high heat until the juice starts boiling – remove from the heat and let cool completely.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F. Line a 12-hole muffin pan with paper cases.
To the large bowl with the orange zest, add the butter, oil, granulated sugar and lemon zest, then cream until smooth and light. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well to combine. Beat in the vanilla, Cointreau and Amaretto.
With the mixer on low speed, mix in the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk in two additions – start and end with the dry ingredients. Stir in the crystallized orange peel and the dried fruit with any remaining orange juice.

Divide the mixture evenly between the cases and sprinkle with the demerara sugar. Bake for about 20 minutes or until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 5 minutes, then carefully remove the muffins from the pan and transfer them to the rack. Cool completely.

Makes 12

Even though I have been posting Christmas recipes at this time of the year for a long long time, I have not baked panettone – or chocottone, for that matter – in ages. We sometimes get panettones as gifts, and my husband sometimes buys some at this time of the year.

This year, however, Joao told me he wanted homemade panettone and since I was on a Christmas state of mind I decided to make it. It was a rainy Saturday, I did not want to go anywhere, so I made the panettone and watched Carol in between (by the way, I am still trying to understand all the fuss over the awards season).

This is an adaptation of Paul Hollywood’s panettone and it turned out really delicious – the tender brioche dough perfumed with citrus and dotted with chewy and sweet raisins and dried cranberries. But unlike Paul’s brioche, that still tastes great a day after it is made, the panettone got a little tough on the following morning – it was still delicious, but texture-wise it was better freshly baked. If your family is big, I am sure the panettone will be gone in no time, but if there are not many of you around to eat it within a day no worries: it makes a killer French toast. ;)

Panettone
slightly adapted from Paul Hollywood

14g dried yeast
140ml whole milk, lukewarm
75g granulated sugar
500g all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon table salt
5 large eggs, room temperature
finely grated zest of 1 orange
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon Cointreau
1 teaspoon Amaretto
200g unsalted butter, softened
120g dried cranberries
120g golden raisins
120g dark raisins
50g crystallized orange peel, finely chopped

Egg wash:
1 egg, lightly beaten with a fork

In the bowl of an eletric mixer, place yeast, milk and a pinch of the sugar and mix with a fork. Set aside for 5 minutes or until foamy. Add the flour, salt, remaining sugar, eggs, orange and lemon zest, vanilla, Cointreau and Amaretto, then mix on slow using the dough hook for two minutes. Increase the speed to medium and mix for a further 6-8 minutes until you have a soft dough.

Add the softened butter and mix for another 5-8 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Dough will be very soft. Mix in the dried fruit and crystallized orange peel. Transfer the dough to a large buttered bowl, cover with plastic wrap and chill overnight until the dough has firmed up enough for you to able to shape it.

Prepare a 18cm/7in panettone pan by brushing the inside generously with melted butter*.
Remove the panettone dough from the fridge, knock back the dough, shape into a ball and place into the pan. Leave to prove at room temperature for a further 2-3 hours, until the dough just starts to dome over the top of the pan.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.
Brush the top of the panettone with egg wash and bake for about 25 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 150°C/300°F and bake for a further 35 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Check the panettone periodically in case of oven hot spots. Bear in mind that the sugar and butter in the dough could brown too much before it is actually fully baked – if panettone starts to brown too quickly, cover it loosely with foil.
Remove the panettone from the pan immediately and allow to cool over a wire rack.

* I used a 20cm (8in) round cake pan to bake my panettone – I made a collar with a double sheet of baking paper folded in half (that way getting 4 layers of paper) and buttered it all with melted butter (there is a photo of the prepared pan on my Instagram).

Serves 8-10

I am completely drawn to beautiful food photos and I have a list of favorite people whose recipes I trust completely, so a couple of years ago, when I discovered Bill Granger’s column on The Independent I was really happy: his recipes always work and taste delicious and the photos posted on the paper website are truly gorgeous.

I found this cake recipe there and was curious to try it since I called for no butter and no oil. I twisted it around a little bit, but still ended up with a very moist and tender cake, perfumed with oranges. The icing goes a bit to the sweet side, but I am a fan of white chocolate, so no problem to me – if you are a white chocolate hater (as most of my coworkers seem to be), feel free to make a simple glaze with icing sugar and orange juice, it will make the cake shine, too.

Yogurt, orange and almond cake with white chocolate and yogurt icing
slightly adapted from the always great Bill Granger

Cake:
1 cup + 1 tablespoon (150g) all purpose flour
½ cup (50g) almond meal
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
finely grated zest of 2 oranges
2 eggs
170g plain yogurt
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons Cointreau (optional)

For the topping:
¼ cup (60g) plain yogurt, room temperature
100g white chocolate, melted and slightly cooled
2 tablespoons icing sugar
¼ cup (35g) whole almonds, toasted, cooled and then coarsely chopped

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°C. Butter a 20cm (8in) round cake pan, line the bottom with a circle of baking paper and butter the paper as well.

Cake: in a medium bowl, whisk together the all purpose flour, almond meal, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, rub sugar and orange zest together until sugar is fragrant. Add the eggs and using the mixer whisk until thick and creamy. Beat in the vanilla and the Cointreau (if using). On low speed, mix in the yogurt. Fold in the dry ingredients and pour batter in the prepared pan. Bake for around 40 minutes, until the cake is risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan onto a wire rack.

Icing: whisk in the yogurt into the chocolate until smooth. Sift in the sugar and stir to combine. Cover and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes, or until it reaches a spreadable consistency. Unmold the cake, carefully peel off the paper and place onto a serving place. Spread with the icing and top with the chopped almonds to serve.

Serves 8

Even though I haven’t had the time to post here as often as I would like to, I have been cooking and baking quite regularly – family and friends thank me for that. ;)

I have been, however, a bit tired (too much work, I guess): days ago I was watching a rerun of Law & Order: Criminal Intent (you know how much I love that show!) and it took me a good while to recognize Carrie Preston in the episode: I was sure I knew her from somewhere, but she was a blonde then and without Arlene’s bold red hair my brain was very slow in processing the info. :D

And speaking of bold red hue, may I introduce you to the dish I made last weekend that got my husband asking for seconds? The idea was to make bolognese pasta, but when we arrived at the shop the meat grinder was broken. I’d already decided to make a simple tomato sauce when I opened the fridge to get the onion and garlic and spotted a piece of chorizo right there, in front of me – I chopped it in small cubes and used it to replace the beef mince. A bit of sherry to make things more Spanish, a handful of marjoram – a herb that I love pairing with pork – and lunch was served.

Linguine with chorizo tomato sauce
own creation

1 ¼ cups (175g) diced chorizo
½ large onion, finely diced
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons sherry
1 ½ tablespoons tomato paste
1 400g (14oz) can peeled tomatoes
1 tablespoon sugar
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 bay leaves
handful of fresh marjoram leaves
300g dried linguine or other long pasta shape you prefer
parmesan or pecorino, to serve

Heat a medium saucepan over medium/high heat and add the chorizo. Cook until it releases its oils and starts getting crispy. Add the onion and cook until soft, 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally so it doesn’t catch in the bottom of the pan. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Add the sherry and cook until reduced, about 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, cook for 1 minute, then add the tomatoes and crush them with a potato masher. Fill the can by half with water and add to the sauce. Stir in the sugar, season with salt and pepper – gently, since the chorizo is already salty and spicy – and add the bay leaves and the marjoram. Cook over low heat, partially covered, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes or until slightly thickened.

In the meantime, cook the linguine in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente, about 10 minutes (check the package instructions). Drain the linguine and stir it into the sauce. Serve immediately sprinkled with freshly grated pecorino or parmesan, or for an even more Spanish touch, manchego chese.

Serves 3

Days ago I finished watching season 2 of Daredevil and despite all the action the Punisher brought to the show I did not like this season as much as I liked the first one – the whole Elektra thing? Oh, so boring.

I was about to give up on the show when Vincent D’Onofrio showed up: it is no secret how much I love the guy and I might be a bit biased here, but the two episodes he was in were the best in the entire season – that is what a talented actor can do to a show/movie. He added even more depth to a character played by him to perfection on the previous season and also created great dynamic with Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle – they were wonderful together.

The eternal Bob Goren added a wonderful layer to a show I was no longer very much excited about, even if for two episodes – after he appeared on the show, it became instantly more interesting. This is what the red wine does to the chocolate cake I bring you today: you cannot quite taste the flavor of it, but it adds depth to the chocolate flavor making it more intense, on top of making the texture insanely tender. Cheers!

Red wine chocolate cake
slightly adapted from the beautiful and delicious Delicious. Love to Cook

Cake:
200g all purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder + a bit extra to dust the pan
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon table salt
200g unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
200g dark chocolate, melted and cooled – I used one with 53% cocoa solids
½ cup (120ml) whole milk, room temperature
½ cup (120ml) red wine, room temperature

Glaze:
2 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons whole milk, room temperature
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Heat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Generously butter a 10-cup capacity Bundt pan and dust it with cocoa powder, knocking off the excess. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
Using an electric mixer beat the butter and sugar for 3-4 minutes until very creamy and pale. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition – scrape the sides of the bowl after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. On low speed, beat in the melted chocolate until combined. Still on low speed, beat in half of the flour mixture, then the milk and the wine, then the remaining flour mixture. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix only until incorporated.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until risen and until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the cake. Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 15 minutes, then carefully unmold onto the rack and cool completely.

Glaze: place all the ingredients in a small saucepan and cook them over a medium-high heat, stirring, until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved. Boil for 2-3 minutes or until shiny and thick. Remove from the heat, cool for 2-3 minutes, then pour over cake.

Serves 8-10

My days are still super busy, and I hope things slow down a little in the weeks to come, but I am still making super quick recipes at home (and there are days I don’t make anything at all) and I am also still writing very short posts, as you can see. :)

However, there is one thing I could not leave aside, which is the fact that my beloved Leonardo Di Caprio, or “Leozinho”, as I call him, has finally won an Oscar, after so many years watching less worthy actors take home the award (not to mention the wonderful performances that were not nominated). The Internet almost collapsed and I jumped on my bed (and there were people a lot less subtle than me). :)

So congrats to Leo! And because of that I am posting cookies – not any kind of cookies, but cookies made with wine, because it is time to celebrate. \0/

Port cookies
slightly adapted from Rita Lobo

2 cups (280g) all purpose flour
¼ cup (25g) almond meal
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
pinch of salt
200g unsalted butter, chopped, room temperature
¼ cup (60ml) Port wine
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
icing sugar, for dusting the cookies

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line two large baking sheets with baking paper.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, place flour, almond meal, granulated sugar and salt and mix on low speed to combine. Add the butter and mix on low speed until a dough begins to form. Drizzle the wine and vanilla over the mixture, mix again on low just until a dough forms, but avoid overmixing.

Roll 1 leveled tablespoon of dough per cookie into balls and place onto prepared sheets 2.5cm (1in) apart. Gently flatten each ball. Bake for about 30 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. Remove from the oven, transfer sheet to a wire rack and dust the hot cookies with the icing sugar. After 5 minutes, slide the paper with the cookies onto the rack and cool completely.

Cookies can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

Makes about 42

My days have been very busy – a lot busier than I would like them to be, honestly – and I haven’t baked anything in weeks – I don’t even remember when I last turned on the oven for something sweet. Many weekends have gone by without cakes cooling down on racks around here. :(

I’m glad that I made a few baked goods before going back to work and I can share them with you here, like these absolutely wonderful brownies – the original recipe called for ancho chile powder, but I guess I am a bit conservative when it comes to chocolate desserts and don’t like the idea of adding chili to my brownies (sorry, Matt and Renato).

I omitted the chile powder, amped up the cinnamon and switched the fresh ginger for a healthy dose of Cointreau and the brownies turned out delicious – not only in flavor, but also in texture, very moist and fudgy (that is how I like brownies). You can use your imagination and use different spices or go for whisky or Marsala instead of Cointreau, for example, or if you have kids around use just the vanilla – I guarantee the brownies will be equally great.

Cinnamon Cointreau brownies
slightly adapted from the delicious Baked: New Frontiers in Baking and Baked Elements: The Importance of Being Baked in 10 Favorite Ingredients

¾ cup (105g) all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon Dutch cocoa powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
140g (5oz) dark chocolate, chopped – I used one with 53% cocoa solids
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
¼ cup (44g) packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
3 teaspoons Cointreau

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 20cm (8in) square pan, line it with foil leaving an overhang on two opposite sides, then butter the foil as well.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, cocoa powder and cinnamon. Set aside.
Place chocolate and butter in a large bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water (do not let the bowl touch the water) and stir until melted. Turn off heat, but keep bowl over water and add both sugars. Whisk until completely combined and remove bowl from pan. Let stand until room temperature, about 20 minutes.

Add eggs, one at a time, to chocolate-butter mixture and whisk until just combined. Add vanilla and Cointreau and whisk to combine. Do not overbeat the batter at this stage or the brownies will be cakey.
Sprinkle flour-cocoa mixture over chocolate mixture. Using a spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the wet until there is just a trace amount of the flour-cocoa mix visible.
Pour batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake brownies for 20-25 minutes; brownies are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool brownies completely before cutting and serving.

Makes 16

Many, many years ago, without much thought, I started baking a cake every weekend, and it has become a tradition here in my house: if I don’t see a cake cooling over a wire rack on a Saturday it just doesn’t feel like the weekend.

Sometimes I struggle with choosing which cake to make, either because I have too many ideas at once or because I don’t have any. :) Weeks ago I was cooking lunch and as I poured some Marsala over the broccolini I immediately thought of adding it to a cake. After we finished eating I found an orange in my fridge and the flavor of the cake was then decided – just like that. Inspiration coming from all sorts of places – I like that a lot.

This is a moist, delicious and fragrant cake, one that I once made with whisky and nutmeg and that it turned out even more fantastic with a touch of citrus and Marsala.

Do you like making cakes on the weekend? What is your favorite cake flavor?

Orange Marsala pound cake
slightly adapted from the delicious Pure Dessert: True Flavors, Inspiring Ingredients, and Simple Recipes

2 tablespoons whole milk, room temperature
2 tablespoons Marsala wine
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
150g granulated sugar
finely grated zest of 1 large orange
105g cake flour (homemade: 15g corn starch + 90g all purpose flour)
55g whole wheat flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon table salt
180g unsalted butter, softened and in chunks

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 4 to 5 cups loaf pan, line it with baking paper and butter the paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk the milk, Marsala, eggs, and vanilla to combine.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine sugar and orange zest and rub with your fingertips until sugar is fragrant. Whisk in the flours, baking powder and salt. Add the butter then pour in half of the egg mixture. Beat on low speed just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 1 minute. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Add half of the rest of the egg mixture and beat for 20 seconds. Add the rest of the egg mixture and beat for 20 seconds. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth the surface. Bake until golden and risen and a toothpick comes out clean, 55-60 minutes. Cool the cake in the pan for 20 minutes, unmold carefully and transfer to a wire rack. Cool completely, then peel off the paper.

Serves 8-10

The first time I ever heard of Garibaldi cookies was many, many years ago, on my dear friend Valentina’s blog – I wasn’t very fond of raisins then, I thought the cookies looked good but I never considered the idea of actually making them.

Through the years I learned to like raisins, then I tried dried currants for the first time eating scones in London (with loads of clotted cream – the thought of it makes me drool already) and now I love using them in cookies (these are my favorite cookies with raisins) and even in bread.

When I saw this Garibaldi slice on one of the most beautiful cookbooks I own I could not resist: the recipe calls for dried currants, raisins and golden raisins (sultanas) and they are cooked in sherry before becoming the filling for the bars – I had to make them! The bars turned out delicious and they are a treat for those of us who like raisins.

Off topic: as I browsed Amazon to get the link for the cookbook I saw that they have cast Diego Luna to play Casanova – that is wrong in so many ways words fail me.

Garibaldi slice
from The Baking Collection (The Australian Women's Weekly)

Pastry:
300g all purpose flour
75g granulated sugar
pinch of salt
180g unsalted butter, cold and diced
2 egg yolks
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon iced water

Filling:
240g dried currants
80g sultanas
75g raisins
½ cup (120ml) water
2 tablespoons dry sherry
1 egg, lightly beaten with a fork, for brushing the pastry
2 tablespoons granulated sugar, for sprinkling the pastry

Pastry: place flour, sugar and salt in the food processor and pulse to combine. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add egg yolks, vanilla and water and pulse until a dough starts to form (add more water, 1 teaspoon at a time, if necessary). Form dough into a ball, divide in two equal parts and wrap in cling film. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Filling: in a medium saucepan, combine currants, sultanas, raisins, water and sherry. Stir over low heat for 8-10 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and fruit is soft. Transfer to the food processor and blend until creamy. Cool completely.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 20x30cm baking pan, line with foil leaving an overhang on two opposite sides and butter the foil as well.

Roll one portion of the pastry between two pieces of baking paper, flouring it a little if necessary (don’t use too much flour or the pastry will dry out) until it is large enough to line the base of the baking pan. Transfer pastry to the pan and trim to fit. Prick pastry all over with a fork, then spread with the fruit filling. Roll the other portion of pastry until large enough to cover fruit filling, place on top of it and trim to fit. Press down to enclose the filling. Wish a sharp knife, cut the top layer into 24 rectangles. Prick the pastry all over with a fork, brush it with the beaten egg and sprinkle with the extra sugar. Bake for about 30 minutes or until golden. Cool completely in the pan over a wire rack, then cut into slices using the cuts previously as a guide.

Makes 24

Every time I tell people that my husband doesn’t like sweets I usually get a “I can’t believe it!!!” in return: for the amount of baking I do it must be really hard to believe he doesn’t eat all the cakes, cookies and brownies – well, he doesn’t, so the rest of the family enjoys them with me, no problem. :)

Even though I love sharing my baked goods, there are times I like having something around just for myself, like a slice of cake, for instance, to go with coffee or tea, but as much as I love sweets I can’t polish something off in a short period of time, that is why I was thrilled to make this Madeira cake – the recipe says that the cake improves if eaten the next day, so I imagined that it would improve even more a few days later and I was right: the citrus flavors get more intense and the smell is intoxicating (every time I opened the container for a slice of cake it smelled better than before).

This Madeira cakes has a different texture from the one I baked a long time ago – it is more compact, not so tender, but I found it perfect with a cup of coffee; this cake is tastier, too, and the little nuggets of crystallized orange peel add a nice twist to it.

Madeira cake
slightly adapted from the delicious and beautiful National Trust Simply Baking

170g all purpose flour
1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
170g granulated sugar
finely grated zest of 1 orange
finely grated zest of 1 lime
170g unsalted butter, softened
4 medium eggs, lightly beaten with a fork*
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 teaspoons Cointreau (optional)
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
55g crystallized orange peel, chopped – toss it with a bit of the flour so it doesn’t sink to the bottom of the cake

Preheat the oven to fan 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 20x10cm (8x4in) loaf pan, line it with baking paper and butter it as well.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine sugar, orange and lime zest and rub together with your fingertips until fragrant. Add the butter and cream until pale and fluffy – scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally. Beat in the eggs, a little at a time, waiting until the egg is fully incorporated before adding some more – scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally. Beat in the lemon juice, Cointreau and vanilla. Using a rubber spatula, stir in the dry ingredients and the orange peel.
Spoon the mixture into the pan and bake for 50-60 minutes or until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 30 minutes, then carefully unmold and cool completely on the rack. Peel off the paper and wrap the cake in cling film, then in foil. Leave it at room temperature overnight.

* my eggs were way too big, so I used 3 instead of 4 and each weighed 75g

Serves 8-10

It’s no secret I like spending time in the kitchen, but there are days I’m pressed for time and the word “quick” on a recipe draws my immediate attention – and if it comes from a reliable source like Stephanie Alexander, the better.

I needed a good cake recipe that didn’t take much time between prepping and baking, but my butter was rock solid and I was out of vegetable oil – tough call. Eat Your Books came to my rescue and in no time at all the cake was in the oven, perfuming the entire apartment. The cake turned out tender and tasted delicious, and if you don’t have apples around I am sure pears or berries would suit this cake equally well.

The cake is great both warm and at room temperature, so it can be served as dessert with a dollop of whipped cream or as an afternoon snack with a cup of tea or coffee – take your pick.

Quick apple cake
slightly adapted from the wonderful The Cook's Companion, one of my favorite cookbooks

Cake:
2 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and chopped in small cubes
3 tablespoons sherry (feel free to use apple brandy, brandy or rum)
160g all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
3 eggs
120g granulated sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
140g unsalted butter, melted and cooled

To dust the cake:
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F – while that happens, soak the apples in the brandy in a small bowl.
Butter a 20x6cm (8x2 ½in) round cake pan, line the bottom with a circle of baking paper and butter it as well.

Sift flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl and set aside. Using an electric mixer, using the whisk attachment, beat eggs and sugar until thick and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla. Fold in flour mixture gently. Drizzle in melted butter, then fold it in. Fold in apple and any juice/sherry left. Spoon into prepared tin and smooth the top. In a small bowl, stir together the granulated sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the batter. Bake for about 40 minutes until the cake is golden brown and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 25 minutes, then carefully unmold.

Serve warm or at room temperature (turn it into dessert by serving it with whipped cream).

Serves 8-10

One very common dish during the holiday season here is rice with raisins – it is served with the usual meat dishes for Christmas and New Year’s Eve dinners. I know people who love raisins in their rice, but most people I know hate it, including my husband and my sister – they’re 46 and 21, respectively, so you can imagine that the hate for rice with raisins is spread throughout different generations. :D

Growing up I was never a fan, either, for I did not understand why people would put something sweet in a savory dish – I thought it was such a waste of something as delicious as rice. :)

I grew up and learned that sweet and savory together in food is actually a good thing, but to be honest I’m still not a fan of rice with raisins: there are millions of other wonderful things to be cooked with rice and I prefer my raisins elsewhere, like in cookies – I used the golden raisins called for in the original recipe, but I am sure that they would be equally great with dark raisins, too.

I found that giving the dough a couple of hours in the freezer instead of the refrigerator is key here because the frozen raisins are much easier to slice.

Golden raisin cookies
from one of my favorite cookbooks

1 cup golden raisins
¼ cup (60ml) dark rum
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup (70g) confectioner's sugar
1 large egg
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 2/3 cups (235g) all-purpose flour
granulated sugar, for sprinkling

In a small bowl, combine the raisins and rum. Set aside to soak for at least 1 hour.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter and confectioners' sugar at medium-high speed until well blended and light, about 1 minute. Add the egg, salt and vanilla and beat until blended but not smooth (dough will look curdled at this point). Scrape down the sides of the bowl. At low speed, add the flour, mixing until just blended. Drain the raisins, discarding the rum, add them to the dough and mix until combined.

Divide the dough into two equal parts. Place each on a piece of parchment paper; shape dough into logs. Fold parchment over dough; using a ruler, roll and press into a 3.5 cm (1.4in) log – like Martha does here. Wrap in parchment. Chill in the freezer until very firm, 2-3 hours.

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F; line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
Unwrap one log at a time (keep the other in the freezer). Roll dough logs in the extra sugar, coating them evenly, then cut into 6mm (¼in) thick rounds; space 2.5cm (1in) apart onto prepared sheets. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until golden brown around the edges, 15-20 minutes. Cool on the sheets for 5 minutes, then slide the paper with the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 45 cookies