Chicken breasts with toasted walnuts and prunes sauce

Dear Readers,

This is not only an example of creative cuisine, but it is instead the proof that cooking is a way of expressing feelings. Unfortunately few days ago I received a call from my mom saying that my aunt was very sick, so being far from home the only thing that I could do to stay with her, it was actually cooking. I just closed my eyes and thought about her. So, I used: walnuts, because they have a strong and bitter flavor as she used to be; prunes because they are sour, as she used to be sometimes and honey because she was very very sweet, like a mother can be.

The result is something extraordinary.

PREP: 30 min
COOK: 30 min
SERVES: 2

olive oil,
1 onion, finely sliced,
4 chicken breasts,
100 gr of prunes,
1 mature plum,
1 glass of white wine
1 lemon,
honey, 4 tsp
rosemary,
walnuts, 50 gr



FIRST STEP - CHICKEN:  Put the chicken breasts (4 in total) into a marinade sauce with lemon, honey, half glass of wine, rosemary and black pepper. Leave it during at least half an hour.

SECOND STEP - SAUCE: Finely slice the onion, the prunes and the plum and toss them into a pan with 1 tsp of olive oil and the wine. After 5 minutes, add 2 tsp of honey and mix all the ingredients. Add salt, black pepper and lemon juice.

THIRD STEP: Coat the chicken in the walnuts (previously crushed), and put them into a pan without oil. Leave them cooking during 4 minutes until both sides are toasted.

Serve the sauce with the chicken above, and cover with the remaining honey. The result should be a crispy, crunchy and bitter chicken with the sweet and sour sauce...buon appetito!

My aunt left us yesterday. Ciao Zia.

Menemen (Pepper, tomato and eggs) Middle East recipe

This dish is known in Turkey as Menemen, and in the rest of the Middle East as Shakshouka (Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan), and Ovu ca sassa in Sicily.
It's a very easy but incredibly tasty recipe to eat simple eggs with tomatoes and peppers.

PREP: 10 mins
COOK: 15 mins
SERVES: 2

2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, halved and finely sliced
2 red or green peppers, finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 red chilly, finely chopped
1 tbsp sugar
400 gr can chopped tomatoes or 4 chopped tomatoes
black pepper
4 large eggs
parsley or basil

1 FIRST STEP: Heat the oil in a frying pan a fry the onion and peppers for 3 minutes, until soft. Toss in the garlic and the chilli, and fry until the vegetables begin to colour.

2 SECOND STEP: Add the sugar and tomatoes, and cook for 5 minutes, until the mixture is slightly pulpy. Season.

3 THIRD STEP: With the help of a wooden spoon make 4 indentations in the tomato mixture and crack an egg into each one. Reduce the heat, cover the pan, and cook until the whites are set. Scatter over the parsley or basil, and serve with crusty bread. Buon appetito!!

Barley Hot Salad (Vegan recipe)

Here we are again with a delicious easy and fast vegan recipe: Barley hot salad.

PREP: 15 MINS
COOK: 200 MINS
SERVE: 2
INGREDIENTS:
200 gr of precooked barley
1 courgette
1 onion
1 garlic clove
1 pepper
3-4 mushrooms
basil
mint
1/2 tbs cumin
olive oil

In general you can use all the vegetables you have in the fridge, so each of the listed ingredients can be replaced by other one you prefer.

1- FIRST STEP: Cooking the barley (around 10 min) in boiling water with some salt. Drain it and leave it refresh.


2- SECOND STEP: in a pan toss in 2 tbs of olive oil and add the onion and garlic (finely chopped). Then chop the pepper and and the courgette and toss in the pan. Afte 10 minutes add 2 mushrooms finely chopped and then the barley. Mix all the ingredients and add some olive oil, the basil, the mint, the cumin, the seeds and a row finely chopped mushroom.

3- THIRD STEP: Serve it and Buon appetito!

Tajine bil hout

Dear readers today I´ve prepared a classic fish recipe from Morocco: Tajine bil hout.
This is great Mediterranean recipe for cooking the monkfish or any firm-fleshed fish with an extraordinary spicy flavour.

PREP: 50 MINS
COOK: 30 MINS
SERVE: 2
INGREDIENTS:
350 GR Monkfish tail
4 medium waxy potatoes
3 tbsp olive oil
2-3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
a dozen of green olives
a dozen of cherry tomatoes
salt and black pepper

For the Chermoula (to marinate):
1/2 red chilly
1 garlic clove
1 tbs cumin seeds
1 tbs coarse salt
juice of 1 lemon
1 tbs olive oil
small bunch of coriander or persely, finely chopped

1- FIRST STEP: preparing the Chermoula marinade
Deseed and chop the chilly, pound the garlic, chilly and cumin seeds and salt to from a smooth paste. Beat in lemon juice and olive oil, then stir the coriander into the marinade. Cut the monkfish and put it into the chermoula marinade. Mixed it and let it marinade during at least 1 hour.

2- SECOND STEP: Wax and cut the potatoes and boil them during around 5 minutes. Then drain and refresh under cold water.

3- THIRD STEP: Heat the oil in a fried pan with the garlic clove. Then put the potatoes, the olives and the remaining chermoula. Add some water and cover it during 5 minutes. Then toss in the monkfish and then tomatoes. Let it cook during other 5 minutes. Dress with persely and olive oil and some lemon juice.

Perfect with a white wine glass! Buon appetito!

Grandma's salad (L'Insalata della nonna)

Dear readers I'm back!

Today' receipt is a very fast, cheap and delicious easy Sicilian dish, perfect for a BBQ!

Ingredients:
Red and mature tomatoes
Red onions
Ricotta salata cheese
Some olives (optional)
Salt (just a pinch)
Olive oil
Basil

Cut the tomatoes in slides, cut the red onions in slides or simple snatches and put on the tomatoes. Season with salt and olive oil then grate the ricotta salata on the top and enjoy!!

Where you can find this dish: The ricotta salata cheese is a typical Sicilian cheese and you can find it in any delicatessen market here in Uk, or you can go to Sicily and try it in Catania (See Tripadvisor advices).

Great news!

Good evening dear readers!
Today I have great news: I've a got a job in UK!!and also: I'm an officially PhD student in Marketing at Complutense University of Madrid!I will try to handle with all this stuff!Difficult but not impossible!I just need to be very well organized!
So starting from now I will be in contact with the English culinary culture and I will better understand their food habits!
I will try to demonstrate that a genuine meal is faster then a pre-cooked meal!
I've already experienced it!I'm living with an English professional girl which prefer to use pre-cooked food, and I noticed that she waste more time in waiting for the microwaves timer than me waiting for the boiler!

I will post very fast and easy receipts for professional people and also for whom want to prepare something different and more difficult!

Let's have a good time together!

Bye

Spaghetti with fresh tuna and eggplants

Dear Readers, here I am again with a new receipe!

We need (4 p.):

- 1 big slice of fresh tuna;
- 1  small or medium eggplant;
- 100 gr. cherry tomatoes (See: http://www.igppachino.it/index.php);
- basil;
- Ricotta salata cheese (http://www.cookthink.com/reference/961/What_is_ricotta_salata);
- Extra-virgen Oil olives;
- Salt;
- Hot pepper;
- Garlic.

Let's start to cook!

Chop the eggplant into medium cubes and fry them with two spoon of oil, as in the photo.



 

Then put to the side the eggplant and put to the same frying pan the the cherry tomatoes and the basil with salt and a very small hot pepper. Afetr few minutes add the tuna chopped into medium cubes, as in the photo.

After more or less 10 minutes, mix the eggplants to the tuna and add the spaghetti with oil and a little bit (two spoons of pasta cooking water into the frying pan, and mix everything well.

After have added the ricotta salata cheese...just serve it and eat it!

Buon appetito!