Passionate Latino!

I am a little bit tired... So will just go to the main point: the Spanish day.

Saffron and mixed vegetable soup: for 12

3 sticks of carrot
1/2 bunch celery
1 leek
1 onion
1 potato
1 handful forzen pea (god send!)
1 pinch of saffron
3 litre vegetable stock
200g spring green
garlic optional

Start with roughly chop the mirepoix (celery, carrot, onion, leek) (keep 1/2 stick of carrot, 4 sticks of celery, 1/2 onion, 1/2 leek). Saute them lot in the pan with 1 drop of oil. When they are golden colour, pour over the stock and saffron. Bring them to boil. Take a handblender to whiz them properly, you will get a thick soup base. Finely chopp the rest of mirepoix and spring green. Peel and cut the potato to small cubes. Drop the whole lot: mirepoix, pea, spring green, potato and garlic if you are using (finely mince them) into the soup. Cook for 10 minutes. That's it!

Grilled chicken thighs with chorizo:

1 pack chorizo, sliced
45 chicken thighs, trim off the fatty bits

In a pan, with 1 tbsp oil to cook 1/4 chorizo slices until the delicious red oil coming out of them. Slide in the about 10 pieces chicken thighs in the same pan ( you will need a big one). Cook till the chicken skin are browned all over. As you are cooking along, place those cooked 1/2 chicken thighs and 1/2 chorizo slices into a large baking dish. Bake for 45 minutes at 180 degree in the oven. Garnish with some chopped herbs (coriander, parsley..) don't forget to season those babes with salt and pepper, i put a large pinch of Paprika in as well.

Quick Spanish omelette:

10 eggs
1 red pepper
1 red onion medium size
1 medium size potato
garlic optional

Peel the potato then cube it. Cube the red pepper and red onion. In a non sticky pan,slowly cooking the pepper, onion and potato cubes till the potato is soft. Mince your garlic if you are using. Beat those 10 eggs together. Line a sheet of baking paper in a medium cake tin (20cm at least). Place the sauteed vegetables into the lined cake tin. Pour over the beatened eggs. Oven 190 degree, 25 minutes. Keep it in the warm place (on top of the oven) then portion them into however you like (I did them in cubes). Seasoning with salt and pepper.

Scrambled eggs and Moth attack!

Had a usual busy Friday. The breakfast menu was HashBrown, crispy smoked steaky bacon, wilted baby spinach and scrambled eggs. Alex was very helpful to start cooking before my arrival. He wanted to know the titile of my blog and I shied away from this topic. He said something that's quite interesting: "Bla, just write it on a piece of paper and hide it under your bed if you want to keep it secretive. That's called DIARY!" I promised him that I will tell him about it when I've complete the 100th posts.

Rabbit came in to the kitchen for a master class on scrambled eggs. He has asked about it since a week ago, not convinced at all when I told him that it is even faster and easier to cook 2 egg scrambled eggs. Describing my eggs as "wet", I thought he meant "Moist". Anyways, I should take it as a compliment! The proper French scrambled eggs should so moist to a degree that you can almost spread it onto your toasted bread slices.

This is how you make it:

2 eggs (well, 4 if you are hungry!), roughly beaten
A drop of mild olive (I prefer to slide in a small cube of butter)
A small pinch of salt and a grind of white pepper

You will need:

A non-stick pan (for the sack of your saintnity while doing the dish washing afterwards...) or a normal pan, I've done it in a wok, which of course works as well.
A whisk

Place your pan onto your heat source (gas, electric induction, burner ring... whatever you may have). When you feel your pan is hot (by putting your hand about 2 inches away from the bottom of the pan and of course NO touching the pan but you can still feel the heat.) drop in the oil and swirl it around gently. Slide in your eggs and Start Whisking until you get a reasonably cooked but still MOIST scambled eggs. Remove the pan from the heat source immediately then put the eggs onto your plate(s). (The pan you use would still retaining heat from your stove, you don't want to over cook your eggs!)

I made Rabbit do his American style scrambled eggs in front of me (the best way to teach is through watching people's mistakes and correct them there and then. They would never forget it!). He waited the eggs start to kind of boil then just slowly approaching the eggs with his whisk... while I said "whisk! whisk! whisk!"

So that's how he learned the scrambled eggs. He managed a quite smooth one. And he slided his 1st almost perfect eggs into the bin... I am speechless.

Anyways, I then did the Italian menu for lunch: chicken Milanese, Vegetarian lasagne, artichoke heart with roasted mushroom and aubergine salad, the usual Tri- coloured Italian salad (chekc out the colour of Italian national flag!) with basil, cherry plum tomato and mini mozzarella and the last is for RayRay- pasta arrabiata!

The Friday finished sweetly with me running to catch a taxi home after catching 100 and 1 voicemails from the lock smith. Poor guy, he must have waited like about 50 minutes before I arrived. (Sorry! the reception is awful in the building... I didn't even know he was waiting!) I thought it was ironic that I kept the lock smith waiting. If he really wanted, he would have been in and waited for me with the half finished tea. He was very cool like Hagrid and 15 minutes later, I have my balcony door opened and a key to my letter box (at last! I have to push my tiny hand in to grab the post before....)

I passed my night with a plate of Kedgeree and a few packs of Quavers.

Went to the Regency cafe this morning. Fabulous place it was! Everything is so simple and yet they always done them to perfection. Many boxing star's pictures on the wall which amuses me greatly. I love their huge kitchen and thinking how lucky the chefs are. Had the usual English breakfast with extra pan fried mushroom at the courtesy of JD.

What makes a good English breakfast:

1 cup of strong tea with a splash of milk
2 slices of toasts with butter on the side
1 sunny side up egg (enough oil in the pan, keep your yolk running- undercooked)
2 slices thickly sliced back bacon (pan fried)
1 cumberland sausage (pan fried to get the colour then cook through in the oven)
Baked beans (from the tin, heated up)
Extra:
Pan fried sliced button mushrooms (keep your pan smoking hot before you SAUTEED those babes)

I also saw one of the builders (from his dress) had 2 grilled 1/2 tomatoes.

I often wondered; did they have to go through some sort of vocal training before becoming the front house person at the Regency Cafe? For the collection of your breakfast: they all loudly "pronouce" the dishes that people ordered like opera singers (no microphone). I will surely ask one of them next time I go there.

It was not until I went to the tailor that I noticed the MOTH BITES! MY GOD! Those awful little butterfly babies ( I learned it from the web) munching on my precious cashmere long coats.... Atrocity! I don't know if it is luck or not that I was to take my coats to the tailor to get shortened anyways. But the bites! I cannot believe this. Sure it was my fault I didn't wear those coats often enough (but then I am not tall enough... they just get caught while I am going onto the stairs or coming down..) but I had the moth balls! Moth Attack! I've put my coats into the freezer now. (one way of making sure you don't have them anymore...) And ordered dry cleaning for those 2 poor coats after they are shortened.

Lesson learned! Shall be wearing all my coats often no matter what... apparently they are off from the sun lights and dry cleaning and freezer cold...

New Moon

I will be stupid and go watching the New Moon. Read all of the books. Still have the popcorns from yesterday's The girl with dragon tatto. I shall not waste it! Talk later!

Home from home

Changes, changes, changes.... The story of my life. The fortune teller says over and over again. Everywhere is not home and everywhere is home. (Do I have any other choice?) Moved in to the new place last Thursday and I am still getting used to the ideas of a new home. So I will start a blog which I've thought about often enough. It will be about my chaotic life and food. Oh, food! Forgot to introduce myself: I am a chef and that's about it. You will find out more about me in the coming days through this blog. I've always thought that the best way to know someone is through their cooking. I shall share many of my life stories through many recipes. Best luck to me and you! Whoever is reading this blog! By the way, for the title of the blog? Yes, I am having a glass of wine and many many thoughts.