Veggie Tagliatelle

Once this alternative pasta stepped into my life, nothing was ever the same. We had it in a Chilian restaurant in Paris (go figure this odd combination!) and I even asked the chef how she had done it.

The courgette and carrot pasta are a nice replacement of the starchy/ carb intensive side dishes like rice, potatoes and pasta.

Ingredients (2 people):

• 3 medium carrots
• 1 big courgette
• 1 spoon sunflower oil
• Salt, pepper q.b.
• Optional: 1 tsp sesame seeds and 1 tsp sesame oil

Let’s do this:

1. Slide a vegetable/potato peeler lengthways through the carrot and courgette so that you slice a thin long strip. The aim is to make it seem like Tagliatelle. It will probably come out more like parpadelle, to be honest.
2. Keep the slices of carrot/courgette in separate bowls.
3. Heat up the oil in a flat-ish pan, once hot add the carrots and let them sizzle until they become mildly soft.
4. Once they are softer and seem a bit more cooked (it will take c. 10 Min.), add the courgette. Normally the courgette takes a lot less time to cook so it needs to be added later.
5. Let them both sizzle and soften for 10/15 Min. Throw in a spoon or two of water if you think it is getting to dry. Also lower the hob temperature if the carrots or courgettes start frying up.
6. Optional steps: add a spoon of sesame oil towards the end for a sweeter and hydrated taste.
7. To finish off add salt and pepper to taste.
8. Optional: add some sesame seeds if you have added the oil before.

Song pairing: this side dish may seem odd to you, but once you taste it you will start having it at least once a week. This is the same with Bjorn Torske’s music (his name means Bear Codfish in Norwegian): odd, disfuncional but extremely amusing.

He launched this new song recently and I really like it.

https://youtu.be/TNVcPTaa0u8

Cooking Eggs 🥚🍳

Everytime I want to make a special brunch/breakfast I surf the internet in search of the perfect way to cook them.

https://www.facebook.com/buzzfeedtasty/videos/154494018584754/

This video here summarizes everything brilliantly. Here are some of my techniques for you.

1. Poached eggs

(My favourite and definitely the one type of cooked egg that will make your breakfast look ten times fancier)

Ingredients: water, 1 tbsp white wine/ apple vinegar, 1 egg

How to:

1. fill a small pan with water (middle), let it boil and add the vinegar.
2. Pour the egg into a small bowl (to prepare for poaching).
3. Once water is boiling, lower the hob temperature to medium/ minimum and create a tiny hurricane in your pan.
4. Throw the egg carefully in the middle of the hurricane, so that it contains your egg in the poached egg shape.
5. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until the white part is set.
6. Lift the egg out with a slotted spoon and drain it on kitchen paper.
7. Season to your taste.

2. Scrambled eggs

I heard the secret is cooking it a low temperature and slowly so it keeps the juiciness and doesn’t get too dry.

Ingredients: 2 or more large eggs (per person), 1 tsp unsalted butter, 1 tsp heavy cream or whole milk per egg – optional, 1/4 tsp salt, pepper, chopped fresh herbs – optional.

How to:

1. Begin warming the pan on low heat. Add the tsp of butter and let it begin to melt while you whish the eggs on the side
2. Whisk the eggs until the mixture becomes a bit frothy
3. Season the eggs with salt and pepper. Optional: add the cream/milk. Whisk again to combine everything
4. Pour the eggs into the pan. Let them spread out in a thin layer
5. Cook the eggs for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring them occasionally with a spatula. Eventually, the eggs will no longer fill the gaps when you stir. Frequent stirring will give you smaller curds
6. Remove the eggs from the heat slightly before they are done as you like them. If you want to add herbs, stir them in now, or sprinkle on top.

3. Fried eggs
The secret is adding a few drops of water to the pan and covering the pan while the egg cooks. The water creates steam which slightly poaches the top of the egg while the bottom remains crispy.

Ingredients: 1 egg, water, butter, salt and pepper

How to:

1. Heat the frying pan over medium heat. Spread a bit of butter or oil in the pan to coat.

2. Once the pan is hot, crack the egg into the center. Immediately drop about a half teaspoon of water onto an exposed surface of the pan (not on the egg) and cover with a lid or plate.

3. Cook the egg, covered, for about a minute. Cooking for a minute will produce an egg with a runny yolk. If you prefer a more well-done yolk, cook for about two minutes. Remove the egg from the pan with a spatula.

4. Season with salt and pepper at your own taste.

4. Boiled eggs

Ingredients: eggs, water to cover, ice to cool down

How to:

1. Place eggs in a pot. Cover with cold water until the eggs are covered by about 1 inch of water.
2. Bring to a boil, uncovered. Once boiling, take off the heat.
3. Cover and cook for 4-16 minutes, depending on preference (4-6 minutes for soft-boiled, 8-10 minutes for medium-boiled, 12-16 minutes for hard-boiled, see picture below). In the meantime, fill a large bowl with ice and cold water, creating an ice bath.
4. Once eggs reach desired cook-time, immediately remove the eggs from pot and place in the ice bath. Allow eggs to cool for 10-15 minutes.
5. To peel, lightly tap the eggs on a flat surface, then gently roll back and forth (taking extra care with soft-boiled eggs).
6. Pull away the loosened shell and peel any remaining pieces.

Picture below taken from Tasty website:

Song pairing: this time I will go with the obvious choice: Eggs and sausage (and a sided toast). This song comes from my favourite album by Tom Waits. This is a song about his late night eating in diners by the side of the road.

https://youtu.be/SDo1617aXX4

Saucy tomato rice 🍅 (arroz de tomate malandro)

There is nothing better than a homey meal. Nothing can provide that feeling better than my mother’s tomato rice.

Ingredients:

• 1 onion (chopped up in small bits)
• 1 garlic clove (chopped up too)
• 1 bay leaf (remove middle branch)
• 2 spoons olive oil
• 3 to 4 medium tomatoes (chopped up and seeds removed)
• 2 tsp tomato pulp
• 3/4 cup of rice (carolino you use the Portuguese type)
• 1/2 tsp Piri Piri (when I don’t have it, I use sriracha or Tabasco)
• Water (3 times the amount of rice)
• Salt and pepper q.b.
• Fresh Coriander to guarnish

Let’s do this:

1. In a pan, add the onion, garlic and bay leaf with olive oil. Let them sizzle until the onion is slightly transparent.
2. Add the chopped up tomato to the sizzling mixture. Once the tomato has become soft and mushy add the tomato pulp and mix everything. (Some people recommend that we remove the tomato peels from it, I always leave it on)
3. Add the rice and let it sizzle for 2 minutes (keep mixing with a spoon so it doesn’t stick to the pan).
4. Add the water. Season with salt, pepper and Piri piri.
5. Put the lid on the pan. Let the rice cook on high temperature for 2 minutes. Then tone it down to low heat (5/14) until fully cooked. I normally count on 20 minutes, but just taste it to understand if it is as soft as you’d like it before removing it from heat.
6. Once switched off keep it in the pan for 5 minutes.
7. Guarnish with chopped up Koriander

This rice goes well with either fish fillets, pork/veal cutlets, Panados (as in picture below), croquetes or bolinhos de bacalhau.

Song pairing: the hardest button to button by the white stripes. I always associate the white stripes with deep red like this rice. Besides this song is so cool.

https://youtu.be/K4dx42YzQCE