24 August 2010

Zucchini (Courgette) and Onion Omelet (Truita de Carbassó i Ceba)



Today is about an special and delicious omelet that my grandmother used to make me for lunch. The taste for me is kind of sweet and I like it a lot. I told you about it in another post

What you need for 2 people:
5 eggs
2 zucchinis
1 onion
salt and oil

There are 2 main important points here: 
1. Don´t peel the zucchinis, it tastes much better like this
2. Let them be fried for at least 30 minutes...they should be sooo soft

Let´s start:

Cut the zucchinis in small pieces. Fry them slowly till they are very soft. Be generous with the oil. When they start to be soft, add the onion previously sliced. Let this fry for at least 15 minutes more. We want very soft zucchinis (don´t worry if they break or melt a little bit) and the onion should be cooked enough. Add salt.
While frying, break the eggs and whisk them gently in a big bowl.

Once it is done, add the onion and zucchini in the bowl with the eggs and avoid pouring the oil too. 
Dump the mix in altogether in the frying pan with some oil ( 2 tablespoons of oil).
Then you have to be careful because the omelet easily can get stuck on the frying pan. To avoid it, shake the frying pan once in while. Also it is important to lean the saucepan back and forward while you separate it from the border. Egg will reach homogeneously all the omelet if you do it this way.

Once you think it is done (it takes less than 5 minutes), flip it, and shove it back in the frying pan in order to cook the other side.
And that is all. The most difficult part is flipping it, so for that be sure the frying pan is not very heavy and you have the right dish or lid and it is not slippery. I would recommend to check it beforehad. That is a clue step!

Check the Spanish Omelet post. You will find some pics and further explanations about how to make an omelet.

Enjoy and Bon Profit!


13 August 2010

Tiramisú (Italian Dessert)


It is summertime! I feel like baking and cooking but with temperatures it is very difficult.  So the best thing is just avoid the oven. It is time for going to the beach. My favourites here are Sant Martí d´Empúries or Tamarit, in Catalonia.


Well, about the tiramisu.....I love love love it!. There are more professional recipes than this, but it is difficult to find one that tastes better than this. And the most important thing: this is soooo easy.

What we need for 4-6 people

250 gr Mascarpone cheese (please don´t use any other thing here, Tiramisu recipe is with Mascarpone)
small sponge cake / or 6 sponge fingers/ or 6 muffins (you can buy it or bake it) 
about 150 ml of proper strong espresso coffee - (if you use a Nespresso machine, for a tea cup size use 5 capsules at least).
2 tablespoons of sugar for the mix and 1 teaspoon of sugar for the coffee.
2 eggs
chocolate powder
Amaretto (the traditional recipe) or you can use Baileys too, it tastes great.

Let´s start!

First if you want to do the sponge cake or sponge fingers or muffins, start with it. In my case today as it is very warm here, I just bought it. I don´t want to use the oven today!
Depending on how you want to serve the tiramisu, it will be better a large cake or in my case, it does not matter as I will serve it in individual portions.

Second, start with making the strong coffee, so we will be able to use it when it will cool down.Then add 1 teaspoon of sugar and 2 teaspoons of amaretto or baileys.

Third, separate the whites from the yolks and whisk them hard until peaks. In another recipient mix the yolks with the mascarpone cheese and the sugar. Then we add the whites into this cream very slowly and we stir the cream slowly.

After that, we will use individual transparent recipients to serve it. I like it this way, but it is up to you. This way is very easy, you add a small portion of sponge cake to the bottom of it and press it till it is homogenous. Add some coffe mix (with sugar and liquor) till it is soak. Then you add the cream, creating a layer. Then add another piece of sponge cake, and then the coffee, and finally a generous layer of cream. 
Do it with all the recipients at the same time, so you will realize the amount of cream and coffee that is left.

At the top of it, add the chocolate powder. 

Put in the fridge for at least 8 hours. If you want to it for lunch, do it the night before.


Enjoy! Bon Profit!