Day 37 Stay at Home or In the Garden: Pulpo a la Mugardesa – Octopus Stew with Potatoes

Mugardos is a small fishing borough and municipality in the Comarca of Ferrol, located in the province of A Coruña in the autonomous community of Galicia, north-western Spain.

It’s here that you can find this delicious octopus stew, but now, as we are not allowed to travel, you can prepare it yourself and create a small vacation at home.

This recipe is calculated for 2 people, but you may boil more octopus and use only the quantity you need (you may also use more) and reserve the remaining for another preparation. 

Note: this recipe is perfect if you have some octopus leftovers and you wish to serve more people! I our case I doubled the quantity of potatoes for a full dinner; for this reason this is a variation of the original dish.

Pulpo alla Mugardesa - Octopus and Potatoes Stew from Galicia

• Servings: 2-4
• Time: 60 min
• Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

• 300 g octopus, cleaned and well washed
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 green pepper (I used another red pepper as did not have the green one), diced
• 250 g potatoes, peeled and diced (I doubled the quantity of potatoes to 500 g)
• 1 bay leaf
• 100 ml white wine
• 200 ml reserved liquid from the boiled octopus
• 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika powder
• Some smoked paprika (pimienton de la Vera)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Bring a large pot of water to the boil with a pinch of salt, when the water begins to boil you need to grab the octopus from the head and ‘scare it’ by dipping it in the water 3 times and pulling it out. This makes the octopus stiffen, so the skin does not fall during the cooking process and makes the tips of the tentacles curl. Cook your octopus between 20 and 25 minutes on a medium heat. Make sure the octopus is covered with water throughout the cooking. Towards the end of the cooking process, you can check if the octopus is ready by piercing the thicker tentacles with a wooden skewer to check if they are tender enough. Octopus should be al dente, just like pasta. You should feel the same resistance as a cooked potato. Once the cooking time is complete, allow the octopus to rest in the cooking liquid before you drain it and use it for this recipe. I prefer to drain the octopus and let it cool down before slicing. Do not discard the water!
2. Fry onion and garlic in a non-sticky skillet at low temperature until translucent.
3. Add peppers and fry a few more minutes.
4. At this point, add potatoes, bay leaf, and fry for other 2 minutes.
5. Add the wine and cook for 2 more minutes.
6. Now add the cooking water from the octopus, the paprika (as well as the smoked one if you like). Add little salt.
7. Let simmer covered slowly until potatoes are almost done. Add some more cooking liquid form the octopus if needed. The sauce should be liquid but thick enough to bind a little bit.
8. In the meanwhile, slice the octopus.
9. Add octopus and adjust to taste with salt and pepper. Stir only gently and let simmer for 2 more minutes.
10. For the best taste, keep warm (do not boil it again) for about 10 minutes before serving.

Autor: https://artandkitchen.wordpress.com/

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Day 36 Stay at Home or In the Garden: Quick Salmorejo

Salmorejo is a fresh, thick, pink-orange soup consisting of tomatoes, bread and garlic witch is topped with hard boiled eggs and diced jamon serrano (serrano ham). A few days ago I posted the original recipe; now it’s time to post my super quick version for the days you may not have time to wait, but you wish this something fresh and tasty. In these days we try to avoid going out (Coronavirus lockout) and going shopping, we use what we have in the pantry and we adapt the recipes to the ingredients we have on hand.

Salmorejo Cordobés

• Servings: 4
• Time: 15 min (no chilling time)
• Difficulty: easy
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Ingredientes

• 1 tins canned crushed tomatoes (400 g)
• 1 cup ice cubes
• 100 ml oilve oil
• 1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
• 3 tablespoons tomatoes paste, to taste
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 small white bread, diced of about 150 g
• More water or ice cubes, as necessary
• 10 g salt, or to taste
• 2 eggs, hard boiled, peeled and diced
• 100 g ham or bacon, diced
• Olive oil to drizzle

Preaparation

1. Place all the content of the tin in the stand mixer, add the ice cubes, the oil, the vinegar, the tomatoes paste and the garlic; pulse until smooth.
2. Add the bread piece by piece and pulse until smooth. During this step add more water or ice cubes if necessary.
3. Add salt and more tomatoes to taste if necessary.
4. In a frying skillet roast the ham or the bacon to taste.
5. Season with salt and vinegar to taste. Pulse shortly.
6. Pour the salmorejo in bowl, top with egg and ham or bacon and drizzle a few drops of olive oil.

Autor: https://artandkitchen.wordpress.com/

Day 34 Stay at Home or In the Garden: Salmorejo Cordobés

Salmorejo is a fresh, thick, pink-orange soup consisting of tomatoes, bread and garlic witch is topped with hard boiled eggs and diced jamon serrano (serrano ham). We enjoyed this for the first time in 2014 (see photos!) in the house of our friends in Cordoba and we really loved it. For the preparation we used the light white bread witch, combined with the red of the tomatoes, gave to the dish this nice orange-pink color. The ham was already prepared diced and sold as jamon serrano for salmorejo, but you may simply dice some jamon serrano. Ana used quail eggs, but, as these are mostly not available, normal commercial eggs are suitable for this recipe.

Salmorejo Cordobés

• Servings: 4
• Time: 20 min + chilling time
• Difficulty: easy
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Ingredientes

• 150 g white bread, with light colored crust (or do not use the crust)
• Water to soften the bread (more or less 100 ml)
• 1000 g tomatoes, ripe, washed and diced
• 100 ml oilve oil
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar, optional
• 10 g salt, or to taste
• 2 eggs, hard boiled, peeled and diced
• 100 g serrano ham, diced
• Olive oil to drizzle

Preaparation

1. Dice the bread and add some water to soften it. Let sit for about 10 minutes.
2. Place tomatoes, olive oil and garlic in a food processor, pulse until very smooth and the skin of the tomatoes in not visible. If you know that you food processor is not strong enough, you should remove the skin prior dicing them.
3. Remove excess water from the bread (simply drain it) the bread and pulse again until smooth.
4. Season with salt and vinegar to taste. Pulse shortly.
5. Place in the fridge to chill.
6. Pour the salmorejo in bowl, top with egg and serrano ham and drizzle a few drops of olive oil.

Autor: https://artandkitchen.wordpress.com/

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Day 22 Stay at Home or In the Garden: Greek Chickpeas Soup

Missing Crete and missing Greece, we made a culinary excursion to Sifnos preparing and enjoying a super simple and delicous chickpeas soup called “revithia soupa” (ρεβύθια σούπα).

The ingredients for this soup are super simple: chickpeas, lemon, oilive oil, onion, water and salt. 

As traditionally these soup is prepared in the night from Saturday to Sunday with the remaining heat of the wooden oven and we really used the wooden oven the day before, this was just the right moment for this soup.

More about the history of this soup and the recipe: https://artandkitchen.wordpress.com/2015/03/24/revithia-soupa-greek-chickpeas-soup/

 

 

 

Day 10: Stay at Home or In the Garden; Fasolada – Greek Beans Soup

Yesterday evening we enjoyed this warm and hearty Greek soup for dinner as the sun went down and cold wind blew over Switzerland. In fact, this is a typical winter dish.

Once again, we decided to prepare it over the open fire also in order to warm the room a little bit and to give a special touch to the soup. Nevertheless, this is not strictly necessary and you can prepare this on you stovetop, in a low cooker, a pressure cooker or a simple pot.

Today we had some more for lunch and thanks the sunlight I could take the pic I have missed yesterday: we were too hungry and I did not have time to prepare some more light for a decent pic.

Fasolada (Φασολάδα) - Greek Beans Soup

• Servings: about 6-8
• Time: active time=30 min cooking=120-480 min
• Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

• 500 g white beans (I used spitted ones without skin, any kind of beans would work as well)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 onion, peeled and diced
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped pancetta or bacon (optional)
• 2 tablespoons tomatoes concentrate (optional)
• 3000 ml water
• 1-2 cup carrots, peeled and diced
• 1 cup celery stalks, diced or 1/2 cup celery green chopped
• 1 tin (about 400 g) chopped pelati (tomatoes)
• More herbs (I used 2 small rosemary spring and 5 winter savoury springs)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Crumbled feta and/or rustic bread, optional

Procedure

1. Soak beans in cold water overnight or at least a few hours in warm water. Rinse well until the water comes out clear-
2. Fry onion with the oil until translucent. Add garlic and tomatoes paste and fry for 3 more minutes.
3. Add water, the soaked beans and the other ingredients. Season to taste.
4. Let simmer for 1½ hours or until beans are tender. During this time, check occasionally if the liquid is enough and if necessary add some more water.
5. Serve with rustic bread and if you like with crumbled feta. Καλή όρεξη! Enjoy it!

Autor: https://artandkitchen.wordpress.com/

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Cheesy Vegetable Stew

This dish created for a cooking game where the ingredients are restricted from a selected list came out very tasty and delighted my family very much. I made a selection of the ingredients, which I had on hand and picked some winter savory (satureja montana) from the garden. For the cooking way I decided to create a new dish inspired by a vegetables stew with cheese, we got in Gran Canaria called “pisto”. Usually this dish is served with eggs, but in this case the cheese took the most important part and a so simple dish turned out in a great stew!

I’ve served this recipe as single portions in clay pots, but you can also place this is only one bigger oven proof mold. Serve with croutons or with a slice of rustic bread.

 

 

• Servings: 4
• Time: 30 min
• Difficulty: easy
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Author: https://artandkitchen.wordpress.com/

You need (for 4 potions):

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 big onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves chopped
• 1 cup champignons mushrooms, diced (I used only stems as I used the caps for another recipe)
• 4 cups diced tomatoes
• 1 cups chicken broth, more if you prefer
• 4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce (quantity to taste)
• 2-4 tablespoons fresh herbs to taste (I used winter savoury but also thyme, oregano or marjoram would work as well)
• Salt and pepper to tater
• 1 cup grated gruyere cheese (or another cheddar cheese)
• 4 savory spring, or thyme or rosemary (optional)

Procedure

1. Fry in a saucepot the onions and the garlic for a few minutes just until translucent.
2. Add the mushrooms and fry until they begin to change the color and they smell “roasted”.
3. Add tomatoes, broth and Worcestershire sauce, bring to boil and reduce the heat, simmer for about 15 minutes or until the most of the liquid is adsorbed.
4. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 220°C (430°F).
5. Add herbs, pepper and if needed salt to taste. Add more Worcestershire sauce if you like.
6. Transfer in the molds for the oven, top with cheese and insert as savory spring.
7. Bake in the oven at 220°C (430°F) for about 5-10 minutes until the cheese begins to change the color.

 

 

Roasted Carrot Soup with Ginger and Nutmeg

 

Comforting and tasty soup, easy to prepare and to adjust to your taste.

Roasting the veggies makes a big difference and the flavor will be improved.

You may change the spices and herbs to taste, you may also use pumpkin instead of carrots and why not perhaps beet roots, tomatoes and red peppers!

For an Asian taste you may replace the broth with a mixture of water, coconut milk and light soy sauce.

Create your own soup and enjoy!

• Time: 40 min
• Difficulty: easy
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Autor: https://artandkitchen.wordpress.com/

You need

• 600 g carrots, cleaned and diced in big pieces
• 1 potato, peeled and diced
• 2 medium onions, peeled and quartered
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 2 cups broth, any kind (quantity to taste, it depends how thick you like)
• 2 tablespoons ginger, peeled grated
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg ground, to taste
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Green onion, sliced (alternative: fresh cilantro or parsley)

Procedure

1. Place carrots, potato and onions in a baking mold, toss with olive oil and bake at 220°C until veggies turn soft and roasted.
2. Transfer the veggies in a big pot, bot reserve some for the topping
3. Add garlic, broth, ginger and nutmeg.
4. Blend with your hand blender until smooth.
5. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
6. Bring to boil.
7. In the meantime slice the reserved veggies.
8. Serve topped with the sliced veggies and green onion.

Ww 7 smart points per portion (calculated as 4 portions in total)

 

 

 

 

 

Tortilla Soup – Sopa de tortillas

This year the summer seems still far away, rain and low temperature inspired me to prepare a soup for dinner. Since years I wanted to prepare a tortilla soup and finally today I made it, we loved its strong and wonderful taste. It’s simply, rustic and very comforting recipe, exactly as need during these bad weather days!

To prepare a real special soup I decided to roast the veggies in the oven before preparing this soup and used those for the base of the soup. I did not add chicken and avocado as I did not have them on hand but I certainly would do it next time if available.

• Servings: 3-4
• Time: 30 min
• Difficulty: easy
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Autor: https://artandkitchen.wordpress.com/

You need

• 500 g tomatoes,
• 2 red peppers
• 1 small Green pepper, or red pepper
• 1 small onion,diced
• 1 garlic clove
• 1/2 tablespoon or 1 tablespoon cilantro
• 1 cup wáter
• 1 teaspoon of bouillon paste (broth paste concentrate, chicken, beef or vegetables), to taste
• Salt, pepper, lime juice and chili flakes to taste
• 1/2 cup cooked chicken, bone, skin and fat removed, diced (optional)
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 4-8 corn or wheat tortillas, cut into thin strips
• 1/2 avocado, diced (optional)
• 1/2 cup shredded cheese, to taste
• 2-4 tablespoons cream cheese softened with 1-2 tablespoons cream or milk, optional, to taste

Procedure

1. Place tomatoes and peppers to roast under the broiler or roast in non-sticky skillet (use an old one!). Roast on all sides. Place the veggies in a bowl, cover and let for 15 minutes. After this time it’s easier to remove the skin. Save their liquids.
2. Blend the veggies together with onion, garlic, cilantro, water and bouillon until smooth.
3. Pour mixture in a pot and bring slowly to simmer, adjust with salt, pepper, lime juice and chili flakes to taste.
4. Add chicken if desired. Simmer for about 20 minutes.
5. While the soup is simmering roast the tortillas in a non-sticky skillet stirring constantly with the oil until crisp as desired.
6. Serve the soup in the single plates, top with avocado pieces, hot tortillas and the cheese. Dot with the cream cheese mixture. Serve immediately.

Zuppa di Pesce allo Zafferano – Soupe de Poisson with Saffron

 

The French “soupe de poisson” is very famous and popular not only in France since in Italy, Spain and Croatia.

The original fish soup was prepared should be prepared with different kind of fish and seafood using the head, shells and fish bones for the fish stock first.

In our case I used what I had in the freezer: calamari, shrimps and fish filets; please free to change the kind and the quantities of the fish/seafood.

The shrimps were already deveined, but shell on: I remove the shell and used it for the basic fish broth.

The stomach of the calamari had been removed, I used the body and the tentacles for the soup but I used the other part of the head (I removed the eyes first!  for the basic fish broth as well.

No fish heads were available, but I found that it could work without them.

I used vegetables give flavor and thickness to the soup.

We enjoyed this soup with homemade bread and skordalia (Greek potatoes and garlic spread).

Note: if you don’t have fish bones… use a fish stock, you will need to cook the veggies (step 8) for only about 20 minutes or until done.

• Servings: 4
• Time: 2 hrs
• Difficulty: easy
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Autor: https://artandkitchen.wordpress.com/

You need

• 2-4 tablespoons olive oil
• Shells, heads …
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled whole
• 1 glass white wine
• 4 cups of water
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 1 potato, peeled and chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 small spring thyme
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 pinch saffron
• 250-500 g squid, used small ones
• 500-700 g fish filets
• 250-500 g shrimps
• Parley for topping

Procedure

1. First of all prepare the shells, heads or other parts of fish which would be suitable for the basic broth.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a deep pot and fry the shells, heads … until fragrant. Remove from pot and set aside.
3. Heat other 2 tablespoons of olive oil, add onion as well as whole garlic cloves and cook until translucent.
4. Add wine and let boil for a few minutes.
5. Add water and bring to boil.
6. Add water, carrot, tomato, potato, bay leaf and thyme. Bring to boil and season with salt and pepper.
7. Place the fried shells, heads, fish bones… in small kitchen towel, close this with a knot or cord. And place this in the pot as well.
8. Cover and let simmer for one hour, but remove bay after 10 minutes or so.
9. During this thyme slice the squid, but fish in bite sized pieces and refrigerate until needed.
10. Remove the bag with the fish and pressing out the precious juices.
11. Blend the vegetables in the fish stock, if necessary sieve them to get a smoother base.
12. Add saffron, fish and calamari. Cook for about 30 minutes more without stirring. Add more water if necessary to taste: you would like a creamy but not too heavy soup.
13. Add shrimps, season again if necessary.
14. Serve immediately topped with parsley.
15. To go with this toasted bread, croutons or simply rustic bread.

Cheese Fondue Soup

 

The winter is approaching and I needed something easy, tasty and comforting.

The inspiration came from Marion’s recipe http://www.justapinch.com/recipes/soup/other-soup/soup-de-chalet.html and I prepared it with the vegetables suggested in her recipes.

The main change was using a fondue mix I had in the fridge that needed to be used. Well, this mixture is not simply grated cheese for fondue, since a combination of cheese, liquids (I’m not sure it was wine) and cornstarch. If you don’t have this mixture I suggest to combine 100 g cheese (as Gruyere), 50 g cream-cheese and 50 ml white wine.

Serve with bread.

• Servings: 2-3
• Time: 30 mins
• Difficulty: easy
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Autor: https://artandkitchen.wordpress.com

You need

• 1 tablespoon butter or margarine
• 1 small leek, finely sliced (about 100 g)
• 1/2 onion, finely sliced
• 1 big or 2 small carrots, finely sliced (about 100 g)
• 1 small potato finely sliced (about 150 g)
• 50 g spinach, chopped (about one cup)
• 300 ml broth
• 100 ml white wine
• 200 g ready cheese fondue mixture (read the introduction for substitution)
• 1 pinch nutmeg
• salt, to taste
• pepper, to taste
• grated cheese to serve (I used gratin cheese), optional

Procedure

1. Heat butter in a pot and sauté leek, onion, carrots and potatoes until the border of the vegetables begins to brown.
2. Add spinach and sauté stirring constantly for about 2 minutes.
3. Add broth and wine. Let simmer for about minutes until potatoes are soft.
4. Add the cheese mixture and stir until cheese is dissolved.
5. Season with nutmeg and adjust salt and pepper to taste.
6. Serve immediately and add grated cheese if desired.