Mango, Mozzarella and Prosciutto Salad

Hello, today I decided to publish this salad since some people asked me about it when I uploaded a picture on instagram few days ago. So here you have it, an easy and healthy salad which I use to eat quite a lot. My favorite ingredient in this dish (of course, beside the ham) is the mango, it gives a very special taste. It is very important you use a very ripe mango, you can substitute it also for a peach or even orange or mandarin. Hope you enjoy it!

Mango, Mozzarella and Prosciutto Salad

ripe mango
fresh mozzarella
cherry tomatoes
serrano or prosciutto
rucola
mint and parmesan cheese for topping

Dressing: olive oil, balsamico vinegar, salt and peper

Place the rucola in a salad bowl and top with the mango pieces. Cut the mozzarella into bite size pieces and put them on the salad. Drizzle with the dressing. Finally place the prosciutto on top, the cherry tomatoes and top with few mint leaves and parmezan flakes. 

Hope you liked this salad and see you next week with a sweet recipe.

Have a nice week  ♥

Custard Pots

What happend if the oven gets broken? actually for me it's a big disaster! but there is always other alternatives, that's what I did during almost a week. Yes my lovely kitchen friend didn't want to work any longer, actually the door got broken and could not be repared. It was actually an old oven, but it was the one I used since I moved to the Netherlands, by the time I am writting this post, so one day before to publish it, the new oven has been already intstalled today. So I had no time to try how it works at all, it really looks perfect and I baked potatoes for dinner, let's see if it bakes as good as I hope! I will let you know next week.  

So in the meanwhile I've been without baking for a week, and last friday I had friends for a quick dinner and I did custard pots which was also a request of one of my guests. I decided to take some pictures just in case, and here they are. This is the recipe we used in my mum's home, this is a very traditional dessert in my country. You can have a look to this recipe as well if you like this kind of dessert. Hope you enjoy them as much as me, it makes me remember when I was a little one!

Custard Pots

Serves 6

500 ml milk
4 egg yolk large
1 cinnamon stick
90 g sugar
1 package vanilla sugar (8 g)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
cookies and ground cinnamon to decorate

Whisk the egg yolks, the sugars and the cornstarch in a bowl until smooth. 

Put the milk and the cinnamon stick in a saucepan and cook until just before start boiling. 

Remove from the heat, alow to rest for a while and gets the cinnamon flavour.

Pour the milk into the previous mixture bowl slowly and mixing at the same time.

Put everything back in the saucepan and cook over low heat whisking constantly until starts to thinken, remove remove from heat and pour the mixture in the moldes, let them cool completly and refrigerate at least 3 hours before serving.

Dust with cinnamon and you can top with a cookie before serving or put them at the bottom of the tin, just like I did, in my case I used my favorite cookie, Oreo.

Hope you liked and you try this easy recipe, do not forget to let me know if you do them!


Enjoy your week  ♥

Cheese, Bacon and Olive Bread

Hello how are you doing? One more year I do not surprise you with a velentine's recipe, that maybe would be the proper for this week. It is not caused cause I don't consider myself a cheesy person, yes I realize I am! but the time has caught up and no  But instead I hope you like this totally different type of recipe, a savory loaf bread, very easy and with a large variety of ingriendients. This is a simple loaf, no rise, no kneading just mix it well, put into the tin, bake and enjoy.
I like to enjoy this bread with a simple salad or also with a white risotto. You will see is a heavy crumb but very moist, perfect to bring to the job the lunch box.
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Savory Bread source

Makes a 22 cm tin

250 g flour
1,5 teaspoon baking powder
175 g grated chesse (I used Old Amsterdam)
4 large eggs
50 ml olive oil
1 large onion
150 g bacon
75 g black olives
75 g green olives
50 g dried tomatoes in olive oil
fresh rosemary and parsley
salt and peper

Preheat the oven to 175º.

Sift the flour and the baking powder in a bowl.
Cook the chopped onion in a low heat with some salt, add the bacon, remove onces the bacon cooked, do not make it crunchy, just baked lightly, set aside.
Drain and chop the tomatoes. Slice the olives. Chop the parsley and the rosmary, I used about one tablespoon each.
In a separtate bowl beat the eggs with 20 cl olive oil, add the the olives, herbs, tomatoes, onion, bacon, grated cheese and add some salt and pepper at your taste.
Gently mix it with the flour mixture. You will see it will be a very thick dough, add some water to make it thinner.
Pour the batter into the greased tin, level with a spatula and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes and later transfer to a wire rack. Serve it cold. Keep it covered at room temperature up to 3 days.

If you like this kind of side dishes try this muffin recipe which is one of my favorite.

Enjoy your week ♥

Chel­sea Buns

This is a traditional Bristish bun, created on the 18th century in the Chelsea Bun House, a shop located in this famous neighborhood which became very famous between the British high society. Close to the american version cinnamon roll, the process of making these buns is very similar. Tis recipe is usually made of a rich yeast dough flavoured with lemon peel, cinnamon or mixed spice. This is my version of a Jamie Oliver recipe, which is contains orange instead lemon. You can actually fill them with any ingriedient at your taste. They are perfect for breakfast or a tea-time treat with a coffee or a cup of tea, I like to spread some creamy butter.

Chel­sea Buns

Makes 12

500 g flour
1 sachet of dried yeast (7g)
6 tablespoons honey
1 small orange
85 g raisins
50 g soft butter
1 egg
1 tablespoon mix spices
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
65 g pecans, chopped
65 g brown sugar
400 ml warm water
a pinch of salt

Grate the zest of the orange and squeeze the fruit out. Put the raisins, the orange zest, the juice and some mineral water in a bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl mix the brown sugar and the cinnamon, set aside.

Sift the flour into a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Pour about 250 ml of warm water into the well, add the yeast, 1 tablespoon of the honey and a pinch of salt. Stir with a fork from the middle quietly in the flour. Once the mixture is thick and sticky and difficult to stir, slowly go add more flower by stirring more flour in making larger circles in the bowl. Little by little add some more water (maximum of 150 ml) in the middle and mix everything together into a cohesive dough. Add if necessary some water or flour .

Dust the sticky dough with flour and knead the dough by hand on a floured surface for about 10-12 minutes, or until you have a smooth and elastic dough. Put the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover with a clean tea towel and leave in a warm place to rise 45 min, or until the dough has doubled in volume.

On a floured surface knead the dough with your hands, add the soft butter, egg yolk and mixed spice gradually into the dough. If the dough is sticky you can dust it with some more flour. Roll the dough into a flat shape,  about 1 cm thick. Dust with flour while rolling.

Brush the dough with the liquid of the raisins, sprinkle with pecans, the cinnamon, the sugar and stir in the raisins on top. Keep the rest of the liquid of the raisins aside. Roll the dough from the long side and when finished rolling, press the outsides a little bit in to close it off.

Cut with a sharp knife into 2 cm slices and put them on a buttered baking tray. Keep some space between them because they will grow in size. Leave them 30 minutes in a warm place to grow, or until they have become double in size.

Preheat the oven to 180º. Brush the rolls with raisins moisture. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until cooked, remove them from the oven. Heat 5 tbsp of honey in a small saucepan. Brush the rolls generously with the honey and put them another 2-3 minutes in the oven, or until golden brown and delicious sticky along the edges. Let them cool on a rack 30 minutes and serve. .

Enjoy your week ♥

Orange Cake

I guess at this point of the month in the most most of you are suffering the cold proper of the season, well if you are lucky to live at the other side of the globe, I'm so jelous, invitations are welcome! I have to admit this winter is less cold than last year, but for me it is freezing out there. So what better on a free day to be sitting on the sofa reading books and magazines and getting ideas for further recipes. I saw this recipe on Jamie Oliver's magazine, and last saturday I saw this recipe again and I jump into the kitchen to make it for the second time. If you like orange you will love this moist and soft cake.  you can keep it for days, actually in the details below you will see I say up to four days, because this is the maximum I kept it, but I am pretty sure you can keep it longer. 

Orange Cake

Makes a 23 cm tin

200 g unsalted butter at room temperature
4 tablespoons of cane sugar
2 small oranges, thinly sliced
200 g sugar
6 tablespoons of orange marmalade
4 large eggs
200 g self-raising flour
50 g almond flour
a pinch of salt
the zest and the juice of two oranges

Preheat the oven to 170°.
Grease the base and sides of a loose-bottomed cake tin. Sprinkle the base with the cane sugar. Put the orange slices over the sugar on the base of the tin.
In a large bowl cream the butter and the sugar until pale and fluffy, add three of the tablespoons of marmalade, beat and add the beaten eggs. Fold in the flour, the ground almonds, a pinch of salt and the orange zest and juice.
Pour the cake batter gently into the tin over the orange slices. Place the tin in the oven and bake for about 50 minutes, until golden and firm to touch. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes. Very carefully, while it is still slightly warm, turn out the cake onto a serving plate.
Make a glaze with the rest of the marmalade in a pan with some water. Take a skewer make holes all over the cake. Pour the glaze over the cake. Serve at room temperature it can also be served warm with whipped cream or ice cream. This cake can be stored at room temperature until 4 days.

Enjoy your week ♥

Pear Crumble

Today I come with an other an easy recipe, crumble is a delicious option to serve fruit or take advantage of ripe fruits. I love crumble, specially in winter time since I like to serve it warm, you can of course also serve it cold, but warm with a scoop of ice cream it just tastes lovely. 

Pear Crumble

Makes 8 serves
Topping

110 g unsalted butter, cold

120 g light brown sugar

200 g all porpuse flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
a pinch of salt

Filling

8/9 ripe pears (peeled, cored and diced)
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
50 dried cranberries

Preheat the oven to 170°.
Place the flour, the sugar, the cinnamon, the ginger and a pinch of salt in a large bowl and mix well. Add the butter and blend with your fingertips until the mixture turns to breadcrumbs. Set aside.

Comine the pear in a large bowl with the cinnamon, ginger, sugar and cranberries and mix it with a spoon.
Pour the filling mixture into a greased tin, spread it evenly around. Top the pear mixture with the crumble and spread it evenly
Place tin in the oven for 30 minutes or until the crumble is brown and the pear mixture bubbles. Serve warm with an ice cream scoop if desired. 

If you like crumble you can check this recipe or this one as well.

Have a nice week  ♥

Spinach and Ricotta Quiche

Let's gonna start the new year with a savory recipe, I guess the most of you have been eating great meals and hopefully a lot of sweets, just like me! So today I come with this quiche also suitable for vegetarians. 

I hope you enjoyed your Christmas days and you had a wonderful start of the year. I spent most of the days in my town with my family and friends, and the New Year's eve in the Netherlands. Tell me, what's about your days? and your new year's wishes? I promiss myself once year again eat more healthy, so I think last weekend I did it well and I had this quiche which has one of my favorite veggies. This is a nice way to eat Popeye's favorite meal.

Spinach and Ricotta Quiche

Makes 8 serves
Crust
250 g plain flour
125 g cold butter, cubed
2 egg yolks
a pinch of salt

Mix the butter and the flour in a food processor until to breadcrumbs. You can also use your hands, actually I did it. Add the egg yolks and the salt and mix until well combined. If it's necessary you can add some water to the mixture, in my case was not necessary. Shape the dough into a ball, and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate at least for 30 minutes.

Filling

250 g ricotta cheese
4 eggs
300 g fresh spinach
1 small onion finely chopped
1 clove fresh garlic minced
60 g nuts
100 g grated cheese, I used Gruyere
salt, peper and olive oil

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough a cover a tin with removeable bottoms and press into the bottoms and sides and pierce the bottoms of the tin all over with a fork. Refrigerate it for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 170°.
Cook the onion gently in a pan with olive oil, add the garlic and cook for few minutes more and set aside. In the same pan cook the spinach about 5 minutes, remove and use your hands to squeeze the liquid from the spinach. Cut them and bring them back into the pan with the onion and garlic for one minute. Remove from the heat and set aside.
In a separate pan toast the nuts until lightly roasted. You could do it in the oven but this way it is much faster. Keep them aside .
In a mixing bowl beat the eggs, add the ricotta and mix it well, add salt and peper at your taste. Mix in the spinach, onion, garlic, half of the grated cheese and finally add the nuts and mix thoroughly.
Pour the batter in the tin and top with the remaining grated cheese .
Bake with the tray in center of oven about 30 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool down for a while before serving.

Yesterday I announced the winner of the giveaway, you can check it here.
If you like quiche you can also have a look to this one or this other option.

Have a nice week  ♥