things we eat and drink, at home and out and about
I signed up to a “British vegetable box”, and what that translates into these days is: a lot of leeks, carrots and potatoes.
It’s a fun challenge to come up with new recipes (new to me, I suppose!) to use them in different ways.
So after I made a leek and potato soup (a Devvers classic), I devised a leek, carrot and potato fritatta, and then… a leek and broccoli risotto for Sunday lunch, because Sundays should be for rice dishes!
Continue reading “Leek and broccoli risotto”Note: this post was written almost a year ago, in July 2020! It had been sitting on my drafts for some reason, and it’s a pity because it has some cool stuff we did last year! So out it goes!
Feel free to imagine it is preceded by a whiff of naphtalene or something đ
This week we went to two (!) restaurants and a pub and it was all weird and quiet. We also ran out of milk but made porridge anyway. And Devvers made Spanish sweets following a Valencian recipe again!
We still can’t walk without the persistent feeling that everyone is going to give us the virus, and many things are still closed, although at least the supermarkets around us are relatively well stocked nowadays.
Continue reading “[VERY BELATED POST] Pseudo-isolation, week 17: everything is weird (and quiet)”
I bought some spices online, and an interesting looking recipe by Susie Morrison (Gourmet Glow) was included in the box. I did not have any better ideas for dinner, so I thought: why not try this?
What a success! We’ve made several times already, and I predict there will be more repeats (if only because we’ve bought more za’atarâall these repeats depleted our stock!)
That said, the original instructions confused me a bit, and they also suggested using some ingredients I did not have at hand, so this is my own interpretation, adjusted to my own way of cooking.
Continue reading “Cauliflower fritters”
I absolutely adore stuffed peppersâif Proust had madeleines, I have stuffed peppers.
It’s smelling them and instantly thinking of sunny Sundays and visiting grandparents; chasing the faint scent of the roasted skins all the way from the ground floor through three flights of stairs, across the long corridor leading to the kitchen, and then finally (finally!) digging into the strongly flavoured rice while sitting on a pile of cushions on a chair that was way too low for me… Yummmm!
Continue reading “Pimientos rellenos / bajoques farcides (stuffed peppers)”
One of the first pieces of advice that I was given when I started proudly posting my absurdly exploded breads was that “you need steam”, and I had not a clue of how to make it happen.
You might have also heard about “adding steam” if you’ve been trying to take your home baking to the next level, to obtain a more “professional” finish: deeper colour, sophisticated blisters, and a shiny appearance that screams: EAT ME! I AM TASTY!
But if you’re like me, you’ll be also wondering: WHY? How does that work? đ€šđ€
I was frustrated for the longest time because I did not understand how any of this worked, and the methods proposed did not seem to have any effect at all. It took a while for things to “click” in my brain and make sense. This is my attempt to share what I’ve learned!
In this post, I’ll explain…
Hopefully you’ll get something useful out of this!
Continue reading “My technique for baking bread with steam”