Cooking for friends: Bacon and mustard rolls

If you like bittersweet flavour you´ll love this rolls.
There are made with Scons dough recipe, bacon, mustard and sparkled with a bit of brown sugar.

Cooking for friends: Zucchini and onion pie

Karem and Isa came for dinner the other night.

I prepared my special quiche recipe..., I mean, this is so easy, everyone can make it!

You can use this base, and the use your imagination and fill it up with whatever you want!!!

I bought the pastry dough at the supermarket, and put it on a 24 cm olied tart pan. 

For the filling:

-3 large eggs

-salt-pepper-herbs

-50 cc cream

Mix these ingredients and you´ll have the plain filling that would work for anything you want for your pie.

(My favorites: BBQ cooked chicken in strips, broccoli and cheese/ roasted red peppers and tuna/ zucchini and bacon/etc...)

-1 small onion

-1 zucchini (sliced)

-1/2 red pepper (sliced)

-bacon (in small dice)

Saute the onion with a sprinkle of salt, add the bacon and then the pepper and the zucchini, cover the pan and let it cook until the zucchini is tender. Spread this filling over the dough and then pour the eggs and cream mix on the them. Spread some Parmesan or Emmental cheese on top. Cook in 200ºC oven for 20 minutes.

Cooking for friends: Spinach and goat cheese creps

I really wanted to eat some creps lately! So, with the excuse of Isa coming home for lunch, I decided to release some stress and cook.

This is nobady´s recipe, I mean, it´s just mixing some ingredients together that I knew they would matched.

First you have to prepare the creps, and then you can fill them in with whatever you want. In this case, some onion lightly fried with spinach and goat cheese. Then I used an instant peppercorn sauce (a bit of cheating...) and gratined them in the oven. And..., enjoy!

(And for dessert, nothing better than "panqueques con Dulce de leche", typical dessert from my country: just a crep filled with dulce de leche)

Spinach and goat cheese creps

For the creps:

-2 large eggs

-500 cc milk

-1 tablespoon Butter

-150 grs flour

Mix the eggs with the milk and add the flour, stir only for a few seconds, then add the melted butter. Use a pan with a little butter on it and put 1-2 tablespoons of the mix on it, spread it and let it cook until it´s firm, the flip it over and cook it o the other side for a few seconds.

For the filling:

-1/2 small onion

-half zucchini

-200 grms spinach

-1 tablespoon olive oil

-pepper, salt, oregano, nutmeg

-50 cc cream

In a saucepan put the olive oil and cook the onion with a sprinkle of salt till it´s golden, then add the zucchini cut in small cubes. Cook until it´s tender, and added the spinach (it´s really magical the way spinach leaves kind of melt!). Season to taste. And add the cream.

Put 2-3 tablespoons of filling into the crep, add the goat cheese, roll it, and put it on a tray. You can use whatever sauce like, spread some grilled parmesan cheese on top. Cook it in the oven for 15 minutes. And...bon appetit!

the creps!

the filling!

ready for the oven...

ready to eat!

Everything changes

I´ve only been abroad for 3 months and everything changes!
Now there´s a Mac cafe infront of the Hospital. It´s very useful for those afternoons you´re on call and you want something sweet.

Cooking for friends: Strawberry Summer Cake

The other day I cooked the perfect Strawberry summer cake (from Smitten Kitchen). The best recipe ever! So simple, but so tasty!
I tried it with strawberry, cherry, peach, banana and caramel...the possibilities are endless. the trick of it it´s to bake it for an hour in a 150º C oven. And the fruit turns to marmalade!
It´s always a great hit. Thanks Smitten Kitchen! (http://smittenkitchen.com/2011/05/strawberry-summer-cake/)

Italian dinner

I had dinner with Maria and Rita at Jamie´s. I love Jamie Oliver. I watch all his programs when I was in Argentina, and cook some of his recipes as well.

Food was really tasty. We shared some Italian bread and Polenta chips (my favorites!). I had the pumkin culurzone, and the Italian ice-cream bombe.

Very nice place, food and company.

DAY 77: Friday night out

I had so many plans for tonight!
But then, I finished really late, and left the hospital after 6!

I was at home, struggling with myself to take nap or leave for David hockney exhibition.And Nadia called me to see what plans I had. Finally I conviced her to go to the exhibition.

When we got there, my fast-track tickets were sold our, and we had to queu for 2 hours to go in. We decided hunger was more important than Art, and went to have dinner at the Soho, at Leon. Nice place, and nice food. I liked the old pictures on the walls. And so we had time to catch up. Then we had a beer with some friends of Nadia, very nice people.

Best Fish&Chips in the neighborhood

I had Cod fish and chips from Oliver´s (95 Haverstock Hill). Delicious!

It was take-away, but the place is really cozy. And a great idea: Free Gluten Wednesday.

So before leaving, I´ll have some Cod bites.

 

DAY 73: by the river

Today I had a day off, and we went for a walk by the river (From the Big ben to St, Katherine´s docks). And then came back to Hampstead to have lunch at Giraffe (hummus with pita bread and a Deli hamburguer). We had some strawberry-lime cider (remembering Stockholm), but we missed Karem.

Then, it was really late even to have dessert, and we had to literally run to Victoria Station. It was so late!
But finally Isa made it to flight.

It was a great weekend!

And going back next week to Madrid.
I will miss so much this city!

DAY 72: Camden

We started the day at the Euphorium bakery in Hamsptead. And then walked to Camden Market.

We saw the market, buy some things and had lunch (Indian) in the Vespas seats by the canal. It was grey and rainy, but thanks to that there were very few people, and you could walked and see the shops and stands very relaxed.

Curiously

The other day I found this sign on the bus:

I think it´s great to have a campaign to advertise the fact of being a better person. But I found very peculiar the line: "I won´t eat smelly food".
Don´t you think?

I think it´s related to the spicy food that many people has here. Because in London you can have Asian food from wherever you feel like eating.
Some Indian colegues take spicy food for lunch but I think it smells delicious.

DAY 53: Smithfield Market

Try getting up at 5.30 in the morning to go and see the London Central Meat Market (AKA Smithfield Market) and feeling dissapointed by it. I don´t know what I expected, well, yes, I know. I expected some market like the one in Tokio (Map of the sounds of Tokio), but I found just a market.

I´dissapointed and sleepy.

DAY 44: Markets Day

Today it was sunny (thanks God!). And since Sunday mornig=Market morning, i went to the most original markets in town.

Pettitcoat Lane Market

A place full of cheap stuff. Don´t go there if you´re looking for original things. I didn´t like it. I only made it for a block and left.

Spitalfields Market

The neighbourhood doesn´t seem to be the best one. But the Market has nice shops and lots of stalls. 

I found it a little unoriginal and overpriced. Though a very few stalls had goergeus things.

I really liked the Vintage Eyewear stand, shame I don´t need glasses right now.

In front of the Market you find Christ Church. The churches all look alike, but I like how the sky looks in this picture.

Vintage eyewear

Christ Church

Columbia Road Market

Walking a few blocks to the North I found Columbia Road. It was easy to be guided to the market since people came walking with flowers in their arms.

As usual a lot of people. This market has a peculiarity: the air smells great. Like thouthand flowers, Lavender and Herbs all together. Lovely.

The shops are special. Every shop is like a little world. And they have original stuff, and luckily, very affordable.

Here, my favorites:

* L´Orangerie (No. 162): Really elegant Vintage jewelry, bags, hats and some clothes hand-picked by its owner. They have some brouches and earrings I´d never seen before. I bought two vintage earrings, to use as brouches (8 pounds the pair). A lot of the jewelry comes from France. You can also find some special Italian soaps.

*Jesse Chorley and Buddug (No. 158): This shop deserves a special mention. Everything there is beatiful!, from jewelry to house decor, I loved all. Every little thing is a piece of art. Vintage, home-made Art. You can spend hours there trying to decide what to buy.

* StART Space & StART Coffee (No. 150): Great Art, and a beatiful small patio at the back to have your coffee.

* Keeping House (No. 144): Every piece of kitchenware and cooking utensils you need, or you just need to have because they´re so beatiful!

* Bob & Blossom (No. 140): Lovely clothes and nostalgic and vintage toys for children. I bought a Swan pencil sharpener.

* The Powder Room (No. 136): Here you can get a vintage makeover and glamourous 1940´s hairstyles.

* Such and Chew (No. 130): Vintage candy tins and sweets.

* The Garden Shop (No. 120): Beatiful garden tools and flowerpots, seeds and everything for the stylish garden.

* Treacle (No. 110-112): beatiful teatowels, mugs and china. And simple baking (lovly cupcakes).

* Nom (No. 102): Nice and stylish ceramics and wooden utensils from Asia.

* Pot Luck (No. 84): Nice china, but, in the basement you´ll find funny house decor, children aprons, and vintage-look jewelry. I bought myself 3 plastic brouches that look from the 50´s.

* Vintage Heaven and Cakehold (No. 82): I thought every piece of china tea sets from the past was broken, but, I was wrong. Here there´s lots of vintage teacups, teapots, plates, etc.

* Supenice (No. 106): Original stencils and stickers to for wall-decor.

Columbia Road Market

Vintage Housewear in Vintage Heaven

Nom, 102 Columbia Rd

Samosas and Falafel

LÓrangerie

Jesse Chorley and Buddug

StART Space

Keeping House

The Powder Room

The Powder Room

Such and Chew

Treace, 112 Columbia Road

Treace

Supenice

Brick Lane

I was feeling really well after such a nice time I spent in Columbia Road, where everything is cozy and kind.
Brick Lane, is full of cool people. Vintage clothes, hats and jewelry shops, old vynil records stores.

I stopped in the No. 159 and queued for 15 minutes in the Beigel Bakery to have a butter beigel (made in Heaven!) and a doughnut with a delicious strawberry jam.

Urban stencils, Grafitti and Street art really good.

When you reach the "Tea Room" antique market, you can find beatiful vintage stuff. Sellers turn a little grumpy if they catch you taking pictures, though.
And then, you can have Food from every country in this world you wish. However, every kind of food is made by Indian people mostly. But again, smells delicious. An even you can get Food from Argentina (empanadas and steak).

If you continue dawn the steet you find more Asian restaurants and shops.

Beigel Bakery, 159 Brick Lane

Butter Beigel

Antiques at "the tea room"

Bengali shops at Brick Lane