Pique made simple aka "pico de gallo!?"

This is the simplest salad one can prepare with great results does not matter the proportions used. Here in European cuisine cilantro (coriander) is not very common, I had a very hard time finding it fresh in Tallinn, imported all the way from Italy! Although it should be available in every shop, for it is an "Europeanized" herb, it is seldom so (originally from Asia, but very common in medieval cuisine since it grows wild in the southern part of the continent centuries ago). Our attempt to cultivate it at home also failed. One little bag of seeds that fill good four square meters of year round bush of cilantro in Medellin, miserably failed to even germinate this Spring. Cilantro leaves are anxyolitic and can also be used as a digestive help.

In the Americas (South, Central and North America) cilantro is used the most. It can also be found in a number of delicious Asian dishes, but the Mexicans are the sef appointed ambassadors of the product. A tortilla without pique (Col.) is not a real tortilla. Their restaurants have defnitively popularized the product. Because this family is passionate about CILANTRO, tonight I will garnish our dinner with Pico de Gallo.

Ingredients: Onion, Cilantro (fresh and only fresh), tomatoes (pear tomatoes, the riper the better), lime juice, any sort of peper (we prefer a simple paprika for it), garlic and salt to taste.

Method: Chop it all, mix it well, and let it sit for 15 minutes.

The easiest cake I´ve prepared, and liked.

http://www.scig.uniovi.es/dilbert.html

This is a recipe even I can remember! My friend suggested me to mix:

1. 18-25 finely chopped dates (I made it with 30, all the package. What is anybody supposed to do with 5 left over pieces?)
2. 1 cup of flour (I only had spelt and used it in the same quantity)
3. 3/4 cup of sugar (No need for that much -Reduced to 1/2, replaced it with brown sugar-)
4. Vanilla extract (a bit)
5. A cup of milk (soaked the dates on a cup of half and half for a couple of hours)
6. 3/4 cup of vegetable oil (for softness I added only half a cup plus 100 g. of melted butter)
7. 1 tsp of baking soda (Baking powder would work just fine, but the cake might harden faster. I knew it was not going to last so long as to even cool down),

Pour the mixture into a buttered pan or a silicon cake mould and bake it in a preheated oven (350 degrees) for about 40 minutes.

You will be bound to make it again and again (My friend did not warn me on that!).
Chopped walnuts can be also added, and for serving it whipped cream or any custard sauce would turn this simple cake into a luscious dessert.

Consolation

Even an iddler finds unmittigateable pain in the seemengly consoling thought of not being disliked by all. From Rhymes with Orange.

And among my innumerable random passing thoughts, few of the recurrent ones of the past few hours:

1. I want to sleep 24 hours in a row
2. When I will fit into a.,b.,c.,d.,...half of my clothes again?
3. Why on earth prostitution and drugs are not yet legalized?
4. I heart opinionated people who respect oposition
5. Most troubles in the world could be solved if only more women were educated, and had less children
6. How I will entertain JF in Madrid?
7. Every mother has a favorite child. Every person has a favorite someone. Every favorite someone of any person is favored with undeserved (or not) chances and compassionate benevolence.
8. I blame human inability to admit its own stupidity for mostly everything
9. I will prepare again nami-nami chocolate cake.
10. Why blogs so very good and interesting are not more popular? I found a fantastic one here.
few of their scanned images below:

This is how the mosaic advances....slowly!

Three hours of class translate in this amount of work. Most of the class time is spent cutting the stones with the hammer against the ax; Trying them on different available spots, attaching them, not liking the resul and detaching them back, disposing many and cutting more. Here is the model picture and here how I began.

I have just prepared for the book club meeting of tomorrow a very typical cheesecake which I flavored this time with lulo pulp; I made it from scratch and even the cookies were prepared with interesting ingredients: whole wheat flour, vanilla beans, lemon rinds and honey. Lulo is known by this name or "naranjilla" due to its sour flavor, but it really looks like a greenish-yellow tomatoe. The fruit grows in the Andean mountains between Cali, Colombia and Quito, Ecuador, at 1000-1200m altitude and its scientific name is solanum quitoense. Actually, it looks a lot like a Kaki!!! or persimmon of a smaller size. Lulo is one of the favorite flavors of any Colombian household for drinks, yogurt and desserts in general. I found this picture in flickr, by "Quimbaya" who has several other interesting images of it in his collection.

I also plan to offer avocado paste with lots of onions, lemon, salt and pepper (yes, guacamole) and yuca (tapioca? cassava?) chips. The book that we will be discussing has nothing to do with this quasi-menu (The dancing girl of Izu), but I can`t prepare, in fact I can not even procure good quality products from Japan. I would certainly like to learn, and I am making advances on that direction, given that Juulia "needs" to make a tea ceremony after Christmas, when she expects to get from "PAPA NOEL" a proper tea service...Later this month I will be posting some of my concerns regarding my 11 (almost 12) and 9 year old beliefs. They believe! Yes, they do! They still believe. And I worry a lot.

Y que son los CALCOTS? What CALCOTS are?

Son una especie de las tantas de cebollas que tiene algun parecido con la que llamamos "junca" pero con mas consistencia, un poco mas gruesa. En todo caso, saben igual. Los Calcots son un plato tipico tarragones. Su consumo, tan exotico que se ha convertido ya en "producto" de exportacion a otras comunidades de Espana, por lo que se puede ir en Madrid a alguna que otra calcotada que es el nombre de este evento gastronomico decembrino. Se preparan a la brasa, y cuando la pelicula exterior esta chamuscada se sirven (de veinte en veinte) con la salsa romesco que les acompana. Los calcots saben simplemente a cebollas cocidas, dulzones, babosos, pero la salsa es exquisita. Se comen con escalivada (pimentones con berenjena asados y aderezados con aceite de oliva), alcachofas a la brasa y pan con tomate. Se sirven como guarnicion de las carnes y los embutidos y para pasarlo todo: VINO.

Calcots are like huge spring onions. They are mainly eaten in the Catalan province of Tarragona but since there is a whole gastronomical event around them, which precisely starts this time of the year, the consumption has been "exported" to the capital and other important regions. They are grilled directly on top of burning coals and served with a delicious dip (wich at the end is what makes the dish, the hassle and the mess worth) called romesco sauce. They are also served with wine, of course! escalivada (roasted bellpeppers with eggplant, and sometimes anchovies) and pan con tomate, our all times favorite.

Receta de la salsa romesco/Romesco sauce recipe

Ingredientes/ingredients:
3-6 tomates muy maduros/3-6 ripe tomatoes
1 cabeza entera de ajo/1 garlic head
1 docena de almendras peladas/a dozen peeled almonds
1/2 docena de avellanas (opcional)/6 hazelnuts
5 ~noras (pimientos o pimentones)/5 red bell peppers
Un pedacito de pimenton picante o guindilla si se quiere algo de pique/hot pepper to taste
1 vaso de aceite de oliva virgen extra/200g extra virgin olive oil
1/2 vaso de vinagre de buena calidad/100g quality vinegar
1 rebanada grande de pan tostado o frito/1 bread loaf; Toasted or fried
Sal y pimienta al gusto/salt and pepper to taste

Preparacion/preparation:
En un mortero se trituran las almendras, las avellanas y el pan. Se le agregan los tomates, los pimentones y el ajo, previamente asados (puede ser a la brasa o en el horno, pero deben estar tiernos y bien hechos) y pelados. Se machacan con la mezcla anterior y con la ayuda del aceite y el vinagre se homogeniza la salsa. Se deja reposar unas 3 horas. Al final se sala al gusto y si se prefiere una textura mas fina se pasa por un colador chino. Para que la textura sea my cremosa el aceite de oliva se va anadiendo a la vez que se esta machacando la pasta, continuamente y poco a poco. Se trata de una especie de alioli con mucho sabor.
Using a mortar and a pestle crush almonds, halzenuts and bread. Peppers, garlic and tomatoes should be grilled and peeled (well done and soft) before adding them to the mortar. Mix the remaining ingredients while adding at the same time the olive oil. In this way the resulting sauce would be very smooth and creamy. Season it to taste. For a finer texture use a Chinese strainer.

KAKI

La fruta de temporada y ademas anaranjada...Estoy buscando como usarla, y hago la entrada cuando tenga al menos una propuesta apetitosa.
Persimmon (que es esto? parecido al mamey???)

La sopa de tomate, cebolla y crema de coco de Raul Joamets

Se prepara en 25 minutos asi:
1. Se sofrien en aceite vegetal, pero no de oliva, 2 cebollas grandes picadas en trocitos muy pequenos, con pimienta, sal al gusto, comino y coriander (es la semilla del cilantro. El cilantro sirve pero si se tiene en hojas se echa al final para que el sabor no desaparezca con la coccion).
2. Anadir 500g de tomate rallado (es lo mejor pero los que vienen en potes ya pelados y cocidos tambien se pueden usar NO PASTA DE TOMATE!!!!!), una pizca de azucar y una tacita de agua.
3. Por ultimo hervir 10 minutos con 400g de crema de coco y una cucharada de alino concentrado.
Se le pone el cilantro en hoja solo cuando todo esta listo y el fogon apagado.
Se sirve con pan fresco y se adorna con una gota de crema agria y semillas de girasol.
Aunque no parece muy sofisticada el sabor es indescriptiblemente bueno.