Awesome Improvised Meals

Risalamande

2013-12-24T02:53:00.000-08:00

We are in Denmark and it is Christmas. So far, during this year and a half, my favorite danish food has been a dessert: Risalamande. This is a traditional Danish dessert serve on Christmas. This post is so we don't forget the recipe since this year my wife and I decided to start our own Christmas traditions, being this year, the first Christmas we spend by ourselves.

(Note-This recipe comes from this source. I am just posting it here so we don't lose it over the years)

For this recipe you will need:
3 dl water
180 g ‘grødris’(pudding rice), approx 2½ dl
1 litre milk
And the rest:
100g blanched peeled almonds
2 vanilla pods, use the seed (we used vanilla powder instead - 6 tsp)
4 tbsp sugar
¼ liter of double cream, 38 percent

Cherry sauce – buy a good one in the supermarket for the best result

Rice porridge:

1. Bring the water and rise to a boil and then, stir constantly for 2 minutes to avoid the rice to stick and burn in the bottom.

2. Add the milk. Our milk was cold so it took a few minutes to get to a boil. Once it was a bit foamy on top, we reduce the heat to low and kept stirring for 10 minutes.

3. Put a lid and leave it for 40 minutes with an ocassional stir in low heat. We did it every 8 minutes just to be sure.

4. After the 45 minutes, check if the grains are soft but "not to soft." If ready, put in the fridge so it colds down. If not, you can leave it another 10-15 min and check again.
5. Put the porridge in the fridge to get it cold. In the original recipe says to leave it overnight. We started in the morning so we leave for approximately 7 hours.

Blanched almonds:

Peeling raw almonds is super annoying. However, there is a way to make this easily (and fun):

1. Bring water to a boil.

2. Add the almonds and let them in there for 1 minute.

3. Drain the water and cold them down with cold water.

4. Dry them with a paper towel and squeeze each almond with your fingers. The almond will shot away and the skin will stay in your fingers (see the whole process here).

To finish, chop the almonds exept for one. Mix the porridge with the sugar, vanilla and chopped almonds. Put it back on the fridge for a couple of hours. Before serving, add the whole almond and mix the porridge. Then, heat up a little bit the cherry sauce. Serve!

Roasted Chicken with Rosemary

2012-06-30T01:02:00.000-07:00

And 6 months later, I am back. Now, from Denmark! I had the opportunity to spend about two months on a guesthouse sharing food with other international students. One of them, an Italian named Giorgio, taught me some of the cooking Italian ways. I learned how to make an awesome carbonara, the right way to make bolognesa, and the awesomeness of a simple bruscceta made only with brie and tomatoes.

However, the last dinner I had with my friend Giorgio was a rosted chicken. I have made some chicken before, but on a very basic way: sprinkle some spices and oil, a couple of slaps and to the oven. Here I will try to explain how to make it the way he did it, with some of my modifications, and you will find out, when you try it, that it is awesome!

For this recipe you will need:

1 whole chicken (if there is more than 4 people can be extended to two, three, etc.
Olive oil.
Salt, pepper, tamin, chili pepper.
About 7 cloves of garlic
Fresh rosemary (ideally).
1 lemon.
¼ of a red onion.

1. Before you start with the chicken, put all the spices (salt, pepper, tamin, chili pepper) in a little bowl and pour some olive oil. The idea is to make a paste that will be used to rub the chicken. Preheat the oven to about 230^oC.

2. Separate the two breasts of the chicken to get it open and flat (see picture). Now, make little incisions around the chicken especially in the breasts, thighs, and in those parts where there is abundant skin. Place the garlic cloves inside these incisions, but make sure you crack them a little before.

3. Start rubbing the chicken GENEROUSLY and everywhere using the paste prepared in step 1 and the rosemary. Do it in between the skin and the meat, also on top of the skin, under the chicken, etc. make sure you cover all the chicken. Put some leaves of rosemary, with the garlic, in the incisions made in step 2.

4. Put some olive oil in an oven dish. Cut several slices of lemon and thick onion pieces and place them in the oven dish. Put the chicken on top of the lemon and onions. Reduce the oven temperature to 200^oC and throw the chicken in. The cooking time will be about 1 hour. At the end, you can put some extra heat to make the skin crunchier, but 1 hour is enough to get it brown and a bit crunchy.

Happy cooking!!

Roasted Veggies Salsa

2011-12-27T19:59:00.000-08:00

This one is easy. To make about 5 cups of salsa you will need:
- 7 roma tomatoes
- 1 onion
- about 7 green onions
- 1 jalapeno
- 1 red bell pepper
- 3 garlic cloves
- cilantro
- lemon juice

1. Clean the vegetables and: remove the stem of the tomatoes, cut off the end of the green onions, cut the onion in half, and remove skin from garlic.

2. Put the veggies on a bowl and sprinkle some olive oil followed by salt and pepper making sure the veggies are covered with a thin layer.

3. Place the veggies on a bbq until they are brown on every side.

4. Let the veggies cool off, place them on a blender and add about 1/2 a cup of lemon juice. You could always add more or less lemon depending on your tartness preference. I also added only half of the jalapeno first in order to check for spiciness.

5. Grind everything until you reach your desired chunkiness.

This is a great present for your family and friends. In fact, my wife in I decided to make our own presents this year and this one was one of them. Happy cooking!

Easy blackberry and nectarine cobbler

2011-10-01T17:46:00.000-07:00

The easiest dessert ever! For this recipe you will need:

- 2 nectarines
- 1lb of black berries
- 1/2 a bar of butter
- 1/2 lb of yellow cake mix

Pre-heat the oven at 375F. Slice the nectarines and mix with the blackberries into a oven safe, glass pan.

Sprinkle the yellow cake mix until all the fruit is covered. Cut the butter into thin squares and distribute on top of the yellow mix.

Place the mix into the oven for about 15 min or golden brown. Let it cool down and serve with ice cream!!!

Seriously, this dessert is awesome!!!! Happy cooking.

"Tostadas con Hogado y pollo" (Colombian Recipe)

2011-10-01T17:27:00.000-07:00

I am a Colombian and this is my favorite meal. Actually, I won my wife's heart when I cooked this meal for her in one of our first dates ;). I can not think of a meal that can go wrong when you combine fried and crunchy stuff with chicken, a type of salsa and cheese?! This recipe has the originality of the traditional colombian cuisine and some twists my wife and I like to add ;)

We are using chicken, but if you are vegetarian you can use mushrooms instead; I am pretty sure it would be delicious as well. For this meal you will need the following ingredients:

- 1 medium tomato
- 1/2 of a medium purple onion
- 4 small green onions
- 2 tbsp of cilantro
- 3 chicken breasts
- 2 green plantains
- 4 tabsp of olive oil
- 2 cups of vegetable oil
- spices: thyme, oregano, parsley, garlic, salt and pepper
- sour cream
- a mix of shredded monterey jack and cheddar.

For the chicken:
Boil the chicken, until it is well cooked, with the garlic, salt, thyme and oregano; or you could use your favorite spices. Once the chicken is ready, shredded it and preserve.

For the Hogado:
Hogado is a type of salsa that is very popular in Colombia. It is use as the principal seasoning for many dishes. To preprare the hogado: cut the onions and tomatoes in small squares. Finely chop the cilantro. Combine these ingredients with the spices, olive oil and 1 cup of the chicken broth (you can get it from the water you use to cook the chicken with). Cook in medium low for about 30 min.

The hogado will look kind of watery, but don't worry, as soon as you add the chicken it will suck up all that extra moist. When the hogado is ready, put it aside and add the chicken into the mix.

For the plantain tostadas:
Cut both ends of the plantains, about a couple of inches in.

Using a knife, make a cut in the skin from top to bottom along the plantain.

Using your fingers, remove the skin carefully to the sides and peel the plantain.

Cut the "naked" plantain into 4 equal parts for small tostadas. If you want bigger pieces you can cut it in thirds or even in half! Pre-heat the vegetable oil and place the plantain pieces once the oil is hot.

Once the plantain pieces are golden brown (slightly fried) take them out of the oil. Now, this is the tricky part: put a plastic bag in top of a cutting board, followed by one of the plantain pieces.

Fold the plastic bag on top of the plantain and, using a board, smash the plantain until is about 1/4 of an inch thick.

Awesome! you got yourself one tostada. Now, repeat the same process with the rest of the plantain pieces. After you are done with this, fry the tostadas for about two minutes on each side.

At this point you are almost done. Now, put the mix of chicken and hogado in top of the tostadas. Top it with the cheese and sour cream. Enjoy!! As strange as this might sound, this meal goes great with a Merlot. Give it a try and let me know how it goes...Happy cooking!

Fish tacos & improvised avocado/jalapeño salsa

2011-09-29T11:59:00.000-07:00

Katie and I are big fans of fish tacos. We have been trying to make the perfect ones for a while. Usually, we cook the fish on a frying pan, and although they are delicious, I have issues with the dry fish. So, this time we decided to cook the fish in the oven and give it a twist! We usually use the basics for our tacos: tomatoes, onions, lemon and cilantro. However, this time we are changing our recipe to an "Improvised avocado/jalapeño salsa."

For this recipe you will need:

- 1 avocado

- about 1/4 of a medium purple onion

- 1 lemon

- a little bit of chopped cilantro

- about a 1/4 of a jalapeño

- 2 filets of your favorite fish (Katie likes Swai or Tilapia, and I like Salmon)

- Spices: garlic salt (if you don't have real garlic), rosemary, salt and pepper.

- olive oil

- lettuce or anything green!

- corn tortillas

For the "Improvised avocado/jalapeño salsa:"

Cut the onion and avocado in small chunks, preferably making the onion chunks smaller than the avocado ones. Cut fine pieces of jalapeño and add together with avocado, onion, and cilantro. Add some lemon juice, salt, pepper and garlic salt to taste. I like it very lemony so I added the juice of a half lemon.

For the fish:

Pre-heat the oven at 350F. Place the fish on a greased (with olive oil) cookie sheet. Sprinkle the spices on top and then turn to the other side and repeat. Add a few drops of lemon juice and then place a few slices of lemon on top of the fish. Throw it in the oven for about 13 min.

Once the fish is cooked, place some of your greens on top of a corn tortilla, followed by the fish and the avocado/jalapeño salsa. Take it into your mouth for an awesome explosion of flavors. Enjoy!

Tuna and potato salad

2011-09-27T19:30:00.000-07:00

Canned tuna and potatoes: always present in college student pantry. This simple and delicious recipe can get you through two or even three meals! You'll need:

- 2 potatoes (the kind you like)
- about 10oz of tuna (two cans)
- 2 boiled eggs
- 1 medium tomato
- 2 green onions
- 3 tbsp of olive oil
- 1&1/2 tbsp of white vinegar
- salt & pepper
- cilantro

Peal and cut the potatoes in small squares and boil with salt to taste until tender. Cut tomatoes, cilantro and green onion into small pieces, and mix them up. Slice and cut in small pieces the eggs. Combine olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper to make a vinagrete.

Mix all the ingredients and boya! you made yourself a tuna and potato salad. It can be eaten with some greens or it goes great with your favorite baguette.