Thursday 16 April 2020

YUMMY MENUS CALENDAR | A YEAR FULL OF HOMEMADE VEG RECIPES




WIKI NOTE: A calendar is a system of organizing days for social, religious, commercial, or administrative purposes. This is done by giving names to periods, typically days, weeks, months, and years.  
Ancient documents and inscriptions, such as those from Rome and China, include early forms of calendars. The modern calendar evolved alongside others such as almanacs, which collected religious, cultural, meteorological, astronomical, and astrological information in a table format; practica, which gave astrological predictions for the year ahead; and diaries for personal and professional use. 
The term calendar is taken from calendae, the term for the first day of the month in the Roman calendar, related to the verb calare "to call out", referring to the "calling" of the new moon when it was first seen. Latin calendarium meant "account book, register" (as accounts were settled and debts were collected on the calends of each month). 

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Wednesday 1 April 2020

EASTER MENU | 4 RECIPES



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STARTER: CRUNCHY CARROT WITH HUMMUS FILLING


YOU WILL NEED: *vegan recipe
PUFF PASTRY (CONE SHAPE)
1 sheet of puff pastry /* vegan puff pastry
1 egg /*eggless
A handful of rocket leaves
*Baking cone-molds
NOTE: *Cone-molds - make small cardboard cones (A5 sizes) and cover each with the aluminum roll.
CARROT HUMMUS FILLING
3 grated tender carrots
1 or 2 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons ground hazelnuts
2 handfuls (approx. 100g) of cooked chickpeas
A generous splash (approx. 50g) of extra virgin olive oil or olive oil, to taste
Salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste
NOTE: The puff pastry is great for this recipe because you can make a sweet or a savory filling depending on the ingredients that there are at home.

LET´S COOK!
1. Preheat the oven to 180º C.  Cover the baking tray with baking parchment.
2. Roll out the sheet of puff pastry with a floured rolling pin.
NOTE: The puff pastry can be either store-bought or homemade.
3. Cut the sheet of pastry lengthwise into 3cm pieces.
4. Grease the cone molds with vegetable oil. Roll the strips of pastry around the cone molds.
NOTE: Leave 1cm on the top of the cone mold without puff pastry, it will be easy to remove later.
5. Beat an egg and brush cone-puff pastries.
6. Put the cone-puff pastries on the baking tray. Bake them for around 25 minutes, or until the pastry is golden.
7. Let it cool completely.  Remove carefully one by one the cone-puff pastry from the cone mold, trying not to break them.
8. Mix the ingredients for the carrot hummus in a blender until you have the desired texture.
NOTA: Another filling for the cone-pastry puff could be a sailor filling and/or a ham filling. You can find the recipes in the Sandwich House post of the August Menu.
9. Fill with carrot hummus and each cone-puff pastry.
10. Serve a crunchy carrot on a plate. It depends on the cone-mold size.
NOTE: Be careful not to break the puff pastry if you do small-size units.
11. Decorate the top with sesame seeds and baby spinach leaves. Voilà, the yummy crunchy carrots are ready to eat.

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YOU WILL NEED:*vegan recipe
8 soft flour tortillas
REFRIED BEANS FILLING (approx. 4 units)
2 cups of drained red beans (approx. 400g)
1 cup of Oaxaca grated cheese, to taste /*vegan grated cheese
NOTE: If you don´t find Mexican cheese, you can use any kind of grated cheese.
1/4 red onion, to taste
3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
A pinch of salt
Chili chipotle sauce (optional)
NOTE:  The tortillas have to be soft because it will be easy to blend them and make the rabbit hear.

LET´S COOK! 
1. Chop the onion to cook the refried beans. Heat a saucepan with vegetable oil. Fry the chopped onion until transparent. Add the beans and a pinch of salt.
2. Smash everything with a masher/fork until it is pureed.
3. Put vegetable oil in a hot pan, and fry the bean puree for about 5 minutes until it gets thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
4. Put the filling of the refried beans in the middle of the tortilla leaving without filling the top of the tortilla. Put a layer of refried beans and another layer of grated cheese for the filling. Add chipotle chili sauce, to taste.
NOTE: Mix the refried beans with grated cheese to make a spreadable paste for the filling.
5. Fold the tortilla into a cylindrical shape to completely enclose the filling. Cut in the middle the top of the tortilla. Cut the top of the burrito without filling it in half to make rabbit ears.
6. Fold the rabbit ears or keep them, to kids' taste.
7. Brown the burritos in a hot saucepan without vegetable oil.
8. Remove from the saucepan. Decorate them.

LET'S MAKE THE EASTER RABBIT!
1. Rabbit face: black olives (eyes), tomate cherry (nose), and grated carrot (whiskers and hair).
2. Serve the burrito with salad:: flowers (carrot) and grass (rocket salad).

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YOU WILL NEED:*vegan recipe
A piece of stale bread (approx. 160g), to slice
1/4 l milk / *almond milk, to soak
1 lemon rind
1 cinnamon stick
2 eggs / *4 tablespoons of chickpea flour plus 4 tablespoons of water, to dip in batter
Plain flour, to dip in batter
Olive oil or vegetable oil, to taste
1 or 2 tablespoons of caster sugar /*brown sugar, to sprinkle
Ground cinnamon, to sprinkle
NOTE: Depending on the type of bread, there will be different sizes of Torrijas. The most important thing is that the bread has to have a lot of crumbs.

LET´S COOK!
1. Cut the bread into thick slices (around 2 or 3 centimeters wide) and place them in a tray/baking pan.
NOTE: It is important to use thick slices of stale bread, that way the slices rarely break at the step of soaking.
2. Clean the lemon and cut the rind without the white part. Cut in half the cinnamon stick, if it's too long.
3. Put the milk, lemon rind, and cinnamon stick in a saucepan over low heat for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let it warm.
4. Pour the milk mix over the slices and let them soak until there is no milk in the tray, at least 5 minutes per side (approx. 10 minutes). If there is not milk enough for all the slices, do a little more.
NOTE: The timing of the soak will depend on the type of bread, just be careful because too many soaked slices will break.
5.  Put flour on a plate. Beat eggs or mix chickpea flour and water in a bowl.
6. Drain the milk from bread slices, if it's necessary. First, batter the slices of bread into the flour. Second, dip it into the beaten egg.  It is a double action.
7. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan. Fry the slices of bread, one by one depending on the size, until golden brown on each side.
8. Remove them from the saucepan and drain with kitchen towels
9. Mix sugar and ground cinnamon in a bowl. Sprinkle each side with the mix and let them cool a little bit.
10. Serve the Torrijas on a tray or by unit placing the Torrija in the center of a plate.
NOTE: You can spread honey or agave nectar over the Torrija to make it sweeter.

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YOU WILL NEED:*vegan recipe
1 cup mango chunks or 3 peach halves in light syrup (medium size can - 420g)
2 medium carrots, grated
2 teaspoons of honey /*agave nectar, to taste
A splash of milk /*soy milk (optional)
1 cup cold water
Ground cinnamon (optional)
NOTE: The recipe is for one glass. If you want more than one glass, multiply the ingredients accordingly.

LET´S COOK!
1. Peel and grate the carrots. Peel and cut the mango. Put the grated carrot and the mango chunks into the measuring cup of the blender.
NOTE: You can put the mango chunks in the freezer. The mango need not be frozen, but it produces a thicker smoothie.
2. Add the water, honey, a splash of milk, and a pinch of ground cinnamon. Mix everything with the blender until foaming. Taste the smoothie and add more honey to sweeten if you wish.
3. Serve in a glass,  place carrot grated around the glass like a bird nest. Put random milk chocolate eggs in a crisp sugar shell in the carrot nest.

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Monday 9 March 2020

ST. PATRICK´S DAY | 4 GREEN RECIPES



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WIKI NOTEThe colour green has been associated with Ireland since at least the 1640s when the green harp flag was used by the Irish Catholic Confederation. Green ribbons and shamrocks have been worn on St Patrick’s Day since at least the 1680s. 

The Friendly Brothers of St Patrick, an Irish fraternity founded in about 1750, adopted green as its colour. However, when the Order of St. Patrick (an Anglo-Irish chivalric order) was founded in 1783 it adopted blue as its colour, which led to blue being associated with St Patrick. During the 1790s, green would become associated with Irish nationalism, due to its use by the United Irishmen. This was a republican organisation (led mostly by Protestants but with many Catholic members) that launched a rebellion in 1798 against British rule.
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      Sunday 8 December 2019

      XMAS SWEETS | 4 RECIPES


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      Thursday 5 December 2019

      APPLE CAKE | VEGAN RECIPE


      WIKI NOTE: Apple Cake VS Apple Pie - The apple cake differs from the apple pie in that it is a sponge cake baked with fresh apple pieces in it. An apple pie is a fruit pie (or tart) in which the principal filling ingredient is apple. The pastry is generally used top-and-bottom, making it a double-crust pie, the upper crust of which may be a circular-shaped crust or a pastry lattice woven of strips.


      APPLE CAKE

      YOU WILL NEED:
      DRY INGREDIENTS:
      1 and 1/4 cups wheat flour (plain or all-purpose)
      1 cup panela sugar or unrefined cane sugar
      2 tsp baking powder
      1 tsp baking soda
      A pinch of salt
      2 tsp ground cinnamon
      1 tsp ground cardamom
      ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
      1 cup roughly chopped apple
      1 cup walnuts, chopped  (optional)
      WET INGREDIENTS:
      1/3 cup sunflower oil (or veggie oil, any neutral flavored)
      3/4 cup vegetable drink (oatmeal, soy or hazelnut to taste)
      1/2 cup raisins (optional)
      NOTE: Put raisins in a glass with a dash of water and the raisins plump up.
      TOPPING
      Thin apple slices, to decorate
      Sprinkle brown sugar on the top

      NOTE: Homemade measurement units



      LET´S COOK!
      1. Preheat the oven to 180 º C. Grease a bread pan with margarine or sunflower oil.
      NOTE: Standard dimensions for bread and loaf pans start at 8 ½ by 4 ½ inches. It's the perfect size for that amount of ingredients. If you multiply the amount by the number of times that you want,  you will get a bigger cake. You have tons of different sizes of baking pans depending on the final amount.
      2. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl: brown sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom), and a pinch of salt until well-mixed. Optional: add chopped walnuts.
      NOTE: Sift the flour for cakes. Sifting helps to remove any lumps and/or unwanted debris from the flour and also helps to combine the flour with any dry ingredients. If you don't have a strainer handy, you can also mix flour with a wire whisk or a fork.
      3. Add roughly chopped apple to the bowl of dry ingredients. Mix it well with a wooden spoon.
      4. Combine wet ingredients in a bowl:  veggie oil, and vegetable drink (oatmeal, soy, or hazelnut) until well mixed. Optional:  add raisins.
      5. Pour the wet mix into the dry bowl. Mix everything slowly with a wooden spoon.
      6. Pour the mix into the bread pan.
      7. Arrange the thin apple slices around the cake decoratively. Sprinkle brown sugar on the top. 
      8. Bake for around 40 minutes, until browned.
      NOTE: Don't open the oven, you can always leave the cake in the oven for a few more minutes.
      9.  Remove from the oven. Leave to cool.
      NOTE: Serve as is or with vegan custard.

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          Sunday 1 December 2019

          DECEMBER MENU | 4 RECIPES



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          STARTER: WINTER SOUP


          YOU WILL NEED: 
          2 medium potatoes
          1 or 2 cloves garlic, to taste
          A half onion
          1 leek, white part  (optional)
          A generous splash (about 50g) of extra virgin olive oil or olive oil, to taste
          A bunch of parsley
          Salt, to taste
          Black pepper, to taste
          Water (to boil)

          LET´S COOK!
          1. Wash the vegetables well. Peel potatoes, leek, onion and garlic. Cut the potatoes into big pieces. Chop the onion, leek and garlic.
          2. Heat the olive oil in the pot. Saute the onion, leek, and garlic until transparent.
          3. Add the big pieces of potatoes. Stir for several minutes with the rest of the ingredients.
          4. Cover with water (the water has to exceed a couple of fingers the ingredients) and cook the vegetables for approx. 20 minutes. When the veggies are tender, turn off the kitchen and remove the pot from heat.
          5. Mix everything with the blender until it is the consistency of a soup. Add black pepper and salt, to taste.
          NOTE: If the texture of the soup is too liquid, add a few tablespoons of cornstarch (corn flour refined).
          6. Serve the soup warm. Chop a bunch of parsley and sprinkle it on the top of the soup plate. Add some crunchy popcorn because it makes the soup more yummy, yummy!


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          MAIN COURSE: FISH PÂTÉ 




            YOU WILL NEED: *vegan recipe replace fish pâté for hummus
            1 slice of hake (whiting family)
            1 slice of salmon
            4 crab sticks
            3 eggs
            10 tablespoons of tomato sauce, either store-bought or homemade.
            200ml double cream
            Grated nutmeg, to taste
            Ground black pepper, to taste
            Salt, to taste


            LET´S COOK!
            1. Preheat the oven to 180 º C. Grease a baking pan with olive oil.
            2. Place the slice of salmon hake fish and bay leaves in a saucepan, and cover with salted water.
            3. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Simmer over low heat for 5- 10 minutes, until the fish is cooked.
            4. Drain in a colander. Place it on a plate. Remove skin and any bones. Allow the fish pieces to cool.
            5. Put the eggs, crab sticks, fish pieces, tomato sauce, and double cream on the base of the blender. Mix everything with the blender, until obtain the desired texture (pâté) Season with ground black pepper, grated nutmeg, and salt, to taste.
            6. Pour the mix into the baking pan. Place the baking pan in the oven baking tray. Fill the oven baking tray with water.
            7. Bake it for around 1 hour. Check it until browned.
            NOTE: Open the oven and prick the fish pâté in the middle with a needle knit. You can check it many times until the needle knit is clean. It means that the pâté is well done. 8
            8. Remove the baking pan. Let cool the fish pâté for a while.
            9. Cover the bowl with cling film and put it in the fridge for a while. The fish pâté has to be cold to serve. It is yummy, yummy with tomato salad.
            NOTE: You can also spread the fish pâté on toasts.
            • LET'S MAKE THE RUDOLPH RED-NOSED REINDEER FACE!
            Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer face: fish pâté (face), cherry tomato (nose), lettuce leaves cut into julienne (hair and horn) teaspoon of mayonnaise, and raisins (eyes).


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            DESSERT: POLVORONES (SPANISH CRUMBLE CAKES)

              YOU WILL NEED: *vegan recipe
              200g plain flour
              100g lard /*vegan margarine
              150g icing sugar /*icing brown sugar, to sprinkle
              Cinnamon powder, to sprinkle (optional)

              LET´S COOK!
              1. Preheat the oven to 180 º C for around 15 minutes. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
              2. Add the white flour to a big saucepan over medium heat. Mix it slowly with a wooden spoon, until brown. 
              3. Put toasted flour in a big bowl and leave to cool. 
              4. Put lard in a small saucepan. Warm gently, stirring until all melted. Set aside and leave to cool. 
              5. Pour cold melted lard into the big bowl. Mix it well with a wooden spoon.
              6. Add icing sugar. Mix it and knead for 10 minutes.
              7. Let mixture dough rest for 30 min. 
              8. Using hands, divide and roll mixture dough into small balls (same size approx.)
              9. Carefully place onto the baking tray and flatten each ball a bit.
              NOTE: balls will flatten out more during baking.
              10. Bake crumble cakes for 30 minutes oven at low temperature (approx. 140 º C).
              11. Set aside and leave to cool. Sprinkle icing sugar over crumble cakes.
              NOTE: Mix some icing sugar and a teaspoon of cinnamon powder in a cup. Sprinkle mixture over crumble cakes (optional). 
              12. Serve and place it on the Xmas plate.

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              DRINK: SOFT TURRON MILKSHAKE (ALMOND BUTTER MILKSHAKE)



                YOU WILL NEED: *vegan recipe
                300 g soft turrón (turrón de Jijona) or almond butter
                350ml of milk /*almond milk
                2 tablespoons of honey /*agave nectar, to taste (optional)
                Cinnamon powder, to sprinkle (optional) 
                NOTE: The soft turrón (turrón de Jijona) is made with ground almonds. Almond butter instead of soft turron works well for this recipe, just add some honey. 

                LET´S COOK!
                1. Chop the soft turrón into small pieces. Put half of it into the measuring cup of the blender. 
                2. Add half milk. Mix everything with the blender until foaming.
                3. Mix everything well with the blender, at the same time add the remaining milk and pieces of soft turrón, until foaming. Rectify the taste by adding honey.
                4. Serve it in a glass with straw. Sprinkle cinnamon on the top of the glass.
                NOTE: Put the glasses in the freezer for a while, the soft turrón milkshake has to be cold.

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