make | SPAIN | paella

For our Spanish finale, we've made paella! 

Paella is probably my all-time favourite food to cook.  I love it.  It reminds me of holidays and cooking outdoors on the barbeque on the terrace in Spain.  I love the smells of seafood and saffron and paprika and deliciousness.  I love the colours.  I love that it's impressive.  (And I love that it's really easy to make too!)  I love that you can change up the ingredients to suit whatever you have on hand at the time.  It's just one big plate of love.  

Paella, however, is apparently not all that Spanish - instead, the Spaniards tend to view it as a Valencian dish, which is where it originated from.  For those of you who, like me, had no idea that Valencia wasn't actually properly part of Spain, Valencia is actually an autonomous community within Spain, kind of like the relationship between Wales and England.  Anyway, there are three kinds of paella - the traditional Valencian variety, which is made with meat, beans, rice and green veg, and the more common seafood paella and mixed paella.  Basically, this all translates into meaning you can make a paella with whatever you've got and it's still going to be yummy and true to the 'real' recipe! 

Now, the one thing that is totally important that you get right is the rice.  It is vital you get bomba (paella) rice, for this.  It's got a really big grain - a bit like Arborio risotto rice.  Try and use basmati, or (God forbid) American long-grain and you will get an unexciting plate of stodge.  

The other thing to bear in mind is that the better the quality of your fish stock, the better the taste of the paella.  So invest in some mega stock-cubes, or make your own next time you've got seafood lying around! 

Finally, you're going to want a paella pan, or, if you haven't got one (we don't!) you can use any heavy wide-based frying pan you have.  You want it to be about 30cm circumference for a paella that will feed 4.  

This is so yummy.  Seriously, I ate three helpings.  

Enjoy today!! 

- rosinaviolets    x

Seafood Paella 

Serves 4 (or 1 if you're me) 

2 x 200g packet prawns (or you can use chicken if you don't like seafood, or half and half if you want a mixed paella, or you can just go veggie!) 

1 onion, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, smooshed 

225g fine green beans, sliced

1 red or green pepper, cut into cubes 

pinch saffron 

salt 

2 tsp smoked paprika 

250g bomba rice 

1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes 

900ml fish stock 

2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh parsley 

1 lemon, cut into wedges, for serving 

• Make up the fish stock and combine with the smoked paprika, pinch of salt and pinch of saffron.  

• Heat a little olive oil until really hot in the paella pan or frying pan.  If the prawns or chicken are not yet cooked, cook them until they are done and then remove them to a plate. 

• If the pan is a bit dry, add a splash of water before throwing in the onion, garlic, pepper and green beans.  Reserve a few of the green beans for a garnish on the top when you're done! Cook everything over a low heat for about 10 minutes until soft.  

• Now it's time to pour in the rice.  You've got to pour it in in a cross shape - no messing with tradition here! Then stir it up to combine.  

• Add the tin of tomatoes and the hot stock.  Bring it all to the boil and then lower to a simmer and cook for 10minutes.  

• Arrange the prawns and chicken around the edge of the pan and cover the whole thing with a couple of big sheets of foil.  Cook for another 20 minutes.  

• Take the foil off and add the reserved green beans to the middle before cooking for another 5 minutes.  Take a listen - it should be crackling a little - this is the absolute best bit to eat! It's called the soccarat and it's a crust on the bottom of the pan.  If you eat a paella out and it doesn't have a soccarat, it's not a great paella! It may be good, but it's not great! 

• Remove the pan from the heat and sprinkle with parsley.  Leave some extra for people to add to their servings.  

• Don't forget the lemon - it's absolutely vital and just makes the whole thing zing.  Encourage everyone to squeeze over loads.  Yum yum.  

live | brain food: nut granola

Anybody out there still struggling with exams? I still have another one to go, and so has Emily.

What I most dislike about this time of the year is the 'same-ness' of each day.  Get up, revise, eat lunch, take a break and watch some YouTube, maybe do some yoga, do some more revision, eat dinner, read a book, go to sleep.  Repeat.

So Emily and I have tried to mix things up a bit by finding the fun in whatever it is that we happen to get to do each day!

For example, Mum is at the moment really excited about doing up the garden.  We are having a party in late June so she wants it to look nice.  Until the weather gets beautiful, neither I nor Emily bear that much attention to the state of the garden.  Of course, once the sun comes out all you want to do is be out there planting things and reveling in the state of nature.  (I am reading DH Lawrence at the moment, don't mind me!)

But Mum's enthusiasm for growing has led to numerous trips to the garden centre.  Seeing as Emily doesn't have a car, and we are half an hour away from all forms of public transport (well, twenty minutes at least!) we can't get out all that easily so if Mum's going anywhere, we're going, and we're going to find the fun in the Morrison's food shop or the trip to the garden centre to pick up (another!) 4 bags of compost.  (They are on offer.  And you know we are suckers for a good offer).

So on the last trip to the garden centre, Emily and I set our eyes on the cactus section.  Being the avid Pinners that we are (Pinterest is amazing - go and try it while you're taking a break over your cup of tea!) we had seen this growing trend of cactus house plants and we were really loving it.  Also, my friend Chloe had bought one from the very same garden centre and it just looked so nice!

So - I present - my latest acquisition for my bedroom...

Ta Dah! Isn't it so cute!?

Anyway, in terms of the recipe I'm adding today - this is a great snack for in between revision when you feel the four-thirty slump.  Packed full of nutrition but also really yummy too.  Nuts are a great source of the essential fats you need for your brain to work properly.  And we all know we want our brains working properly at this time of the year, right!

So - I basically had a look online at lots of different granola recipes and then went downstairs to check out what I had in the store cupboard.  Then I decided I would make my own nut granola!

Here's what I used...

But you can basically use whatever nuts and dried fruit you have in the same proportions.  

What you do, is mix all the ingredients listed above in a medium sized bowl, and chuck in only some of the cranberries - I put in about a quarter of that which is already in your cup. Make sure the liquid ingredients are fully incorporated into all of the ingredients when you stir it all up. Then you just plonk it all on a baking tray lined with a baking sheet, spreading it out so you have it relatively even - just so every nut and seed is baked to perfection! Bake your granola mix for 15-20 minutes or until your desired level of crunchiness at 240 C. When it's done, just leave it to cool for 10 minutes before tossing in the rest of your cranberries - the combination of baked and non-baked cranberries I find adds the right amount of bite and sweetness. 

And that's it! 

What do you think? Looks yummy right? Enjoy today!! 

- rosinaviolets    x 

make | SPAIN | fabada asturiana, seafood style!

So, fabada asturiana is a Spanish dish that is normally eaten when it's a bit colder outside.  Seeing as the weather appears to have turned a bit (after that glorious flash of sunshine, which I am sure was a prelude to a wonderful summer ahead), we decided we'd try this recipe.

It's a really simple hearty little dish - perfect comfort food.

Traditionally, fabada asturiana is a rich bean stew.  Similar to French cassoulet (which we made in March), or American Boston baked beans, you normally slow cook bacon and pork in a stew of white beans and saffron until you get a heavily flavoured, unctuous, comforting hug in a bowl.  In Spain, you can buy it in tins in supermarkets - kind of like our fondness for a tin of Heinz baked beans!

Seeing as summer is nearly upon us, and also as we had a glut of prawns to use up, and also because we just love fish, we decided we would mix up our fabada asturiana and give it a bit of maritime style.

We think we hit the nail on the head.

Enjoy today!!

- rosinaviolets    x

Fabada Asturiana, Seafood Style
Serves 4 generously

- 2 rashers bacon
- 200 - 250g prawns, cooked
- 4 fillets white fish
- 1 can cannelini beans or butter beans (410g)
- 1 onion
- 2 big cloves of garlic, mashed
- 700g passata (or the same amount of chopped tomatoes, pureed!)
- 200g shredded cabbage (serve the rest on the side)
- 1 bay leaf
- sprig of rosemary, leaves finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- small pinch of saffron threads
- lots of black pepper (as usual!)

• Cook the bacon, onion and garlic in a big pan until the onion is transparent and the bacon is cooked.

 

• Add the bay leaf, smoked paprika, saffron and black pepper.  

• Tip in the beans (trained and rinsed before hand), cabbage and passata.  Stir it up and let it bubble away for about 10 minutes until the tomatoes have reduced a little.  

• Now tip in the cooked prawns and stir them through.  Leave to simmer on a low heat for another 5 minutes or so.  

• Add the fish fillets to the pan, leaving the tops of the fillets showing through.  Cover the pan and cook for about 10 minutes on a low heat or until the fish is cooked completely.  

• Meanwhile, steam the remainder of the cabbage to serve on the side with some crusty bread.  

make | SPAIN | patatas bravas, limón brócoli and pescado

The quintessential Spanish food = tapas.  

OK, so it's really hot in Spain most of the time.  Imagine you're back in the day, and you're sitting in a Spanish bar enjoying a glass of something cool (the pastime of many Spaniards on a hot summer day).  The flies buzzing around would really annoy everyone, getting in your drinks etc.  So what do you do? You put a cover over your glass or jug to stop them getting in there.  This has developed into the tapas that we now know and love today.  

Someone smart decided they would use a slice of bread as the cover for their drink and then they decided they ought to put something yummy on that slice of bread.  As this trend caught on, these special tapas ('tapar' is Spanish for 'to cover') were born.  Going for a drink in Spain almost always involves a bite to eat.  

The great thing about tapas is that you can take the basic idea and use whatever you've got on hand to create some yummy  tidbits, or in our case, a whole meal of little bits to enjoy with your friends and family.  Leftover ham, cheese, bits of cooked fish, mini roasties (- we'll show you how to make patatas bravas from your leftover roast potatoes in a minute!), delicious garlicy veggies - it's the perfect summer snacky meal, using up whatever's left in the fridge. 

Enjoy today!!

- rosinaviolets    x

Pescado con limón y perejil

(Fish with lemon & parsley!)

Serves 4 

- 4 fillets of white fish
- 1/2 lemon
- salt & pepper
- 2 tsp dried parsley

• Super simple: put your fish in a baking dish, add half a lemon slice to each fillet and reserve the rest of the lemon for squeezing over afterwards.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper and the parsley.  Bake in the oven for 15-20mins depending on the size of your fish fillets.  

Patatas Bravas 

(Leftover roasties, Spanish style) 

Serves 4 

This is a truly delicious dish - I highly recommend trying this when you've got leftover roast potatoes, or like we did, by making your own just for the patatas bravas. 

- 2 cloves garlic, smooshed

- 2 sprigs rosemary, leaves chopped 

- 1 tsp sweet paprika (not smoked, or spicy) 

- 1 tsp fennel seeds 

- 1 tsp coarsely ground salt 

- 500g new potatoes

• Wash and dry your new potatoes.  
• Cut them to bite sized pieces if they are a bit big.  
• Plunge them into a pan of boiling water and simmer for 10 minutes or so.  You want them to be partially cooked so they won't take too long in the oven.  You can put them in the fridge at this stage until you want to make the rest of your dinner if you want.  
• Otherwise, spread them out on a baking sheet lined with baking paper.  Spray them with olive oil and mix around a bit so they've got a coating.  Sprinkle them with salt and pepper, the mashed up garlic cloves and the chopped rosemary leaves.  Mix them around a bit again.  
• Roast at 180C in your oven for about 15 - 20 minutes.  Keep an eye on them so they don't burn.  

Meanwhile, make your sauce... 

- 1 onion, finely chopped

- 4 cloves of garlic, smooshed 

- 1 red chilli (or chilli flakes, to taste) 

- 1 carrot, finely chopped

- salt & pepper to taste

- 1 tsp dried thyme leaves

- 400g tin chopped tomatoes

- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar 

• In a saucepan, spray a little oil and cook the onion, garlic and carrot for a couple of minutes.  
• Tip in the chilli, salt & pepper and thyme, and cook for another couple of minutes.  
• Add the chopped tomatoes and vinegar and now simmer for about 15 minutes until the sauce has reduced.  

To assemble...

• Take the roast potatoes out of the oven, and put into a bowl for serving.  Sprinkle over the 1tsp sweet paprika, and the 1tsp fennel seeds.  Grind a little salt over the top.  
• Pour the sauce into a jug on the side.  
• Dig in! 

Limón Brócoli 

(Lemony Broccoli) 

Serves 4 

Again - if you know anyone that says they don't like broccoli, just wait until they have tried it like this.  This broccoli is stellar.  Honestly, so yummy - I think I could eat a whole bowl full.  

- 1 head of broccoli, broken into florets 

- salt & pepper 

- 4 sliced and peeled garlic cloves 

- 1 lemon (zest and juice) 

- 2 tablespoons freshly chopped basil 

• Tip the broccoli into some boiling water and simmer for 5 minutes until par-boiled.  
• Spread out on a baking sheet, with a spray of olive oil, the garlic cloves and some salt and pepper 
• Roast in the oven at 180C for 15 minutes 
• On emerging from the oven cover those delicious florets in the lemon zest, juice to taste, and the basil.  Serve and enjoy! 

Other tapas ideas... 

- Do the same thing as I've got going on with the broccoli with some asparagus.  Serve with some torn olives over the top! 

- Skewer some anchovies and arrange them on a serving plate.  Drizzle over the juice of half a lemon, and lots of black pepper and parsley.  

- Spray a pan with olive oil and cook some lemon zest in there quickly, then throw in a couple of sprigs of thyme, and about 25g pine nuts.  As soon as they get golden, drain a jar of artichokes and add them to the pan until they are warmed through.  Stir in a teaspoon of honey and some salt & pepper.  

- Manchego is the famous Spanish cheese.  It's quite strong and has a texture similar to parmesan.  Cut it into cubes or wedges and serve with a drizzle of runny honey and some thyme on top.  

live | beat the exam blues

This post is addressed to all those amid a never-ending mound of revision right now. If you have some spare time right now and you are worrying about how you are not revising, don't be too hard on yourself, hopefully reading this will be of some benefit to you. It does not count as procrastination! Right now, I am sitting on Emily's bed with revision pending for my A levels too. But, I think it is important that we put some time aside for ourselves and our own hobbies in life, and especially during revision time when we can all get a little overwhelmed. This is my break! We thought we'd share with you some of the things we have discovered in our studying-lives - we hope you find them helpful!

OVERCOMING PROCRASTINATION

INCREASING PRODUCTIVITY

"It always seems impossible until its done." Nelson Mandela

1. Be clear on what YOU want.

Ask yourself, 'what do I want from these exams, for me?' This is your own personal desires and not a soul else. Try to forget about others and think about what you want for your own self. A specific grade may spring to mind, but I'm talking about what you really want from it, for example, someone might be taking their a levels because they want to get the necessary qualifications for them to go to uni, because they want to go to uni. Emily wants to do her exams so she can feel a sense of accomplishment for finishing her course and moving on to the next stage of her life. 

2. Take what you want into your revision.

Take your own answers about what you want from 1. and remember them when you are revising. Every time you feel yourself yearning to do something else, think about what you want. This will propel you forward and make your revision more purposeful and fulfilling.

3. Get to the root of your procrastination.

If you find yourself procrastinating, be aware of what you are doing. What sort of activities/things/people are the source of your procrastination and drawing you away from work? If you know what things you want to do instead of revising, you can schedule them into your itinerary to be used as activities for downtime. The key to battle procrastination is to make your downtime count. Reward yourself during your free time with something that you have been denying yourself recently but really want to do - it will feel great, and you'll be ready to tackle revision afterwards.

4. Don't be too hard on yourself. 

Time spent frustrated at yourself for procrastinating is counterproductive and unnecessary. Found yourself doing no revision for the whole day and you have an exam in a few days? Who cares! You can always pick it up tomorrow. It's likely the reason you took the day off was because your body was in need of a refresh and it definitely does not mean you are lazy! Sometimes we need to relax, and in fact it is probably better if you listen to what your body is telling you to do - if it needs a break, it needs a break!

5. Pounce back into action after your rest day.

Always remember what you want from 1., and make your revision plans. Before a revision session, jot down a few pointers you want to achieve from this session. This will help guide your revision and pin down what you want to achieve. Remember, small steps are the way forward! No matter how close the exams are now, accept and embrace however much or however little you have done up until now, and move forward. Just keep going - little by little, your goals will become material and you will be able to have them!

RELAXING
CLEANSE A STRESSED MIND
"If you are depressed, you are living in the past, if you are anxious, you are living in the future. If you are at peace, you are living in the present." Lao Tzu

1. Take time off doing what you love.
See point 3. of beating procrastination above.

2. The power of the breath.

We recently took a Buddhist meditation class that taught us about different lengths of breaths used in meditation. We learnt from the leader of the class that the most cleansing/calming breath is the longest breath with a count of 1-9. Instead of breathing in and breathing out as you would in an ordinary breath, we were encouraged to take a deeper, more expansive breath, visualising the movement of air from the nose to the navel during inhalation, and vice versa on the exhalation, and counting from 1-9 during inhalation, and 9-1 during exhalation. Try this! You do not even have to take 10 minutes out to do some meditation, sometimes, closing your eyes and taking two deep breaths and following this counting system when you get stressed during revision is enough. Research has also supported this relaxation technique, in the 7/11 process - breathing in for 7 seconds and breathing out for eleven.

3. Yoga hits the spot.
Emily and I have just discovered 'Yoga with Adriene' (click to go straight through to her channel) on YouTube and she is amazing! Her videos are targeted yoga workouts for all different kinds of things you might be in need of. She has restorative practices, relaxation practices, flow, detox etc. Give her a try, we love to do yoga during our revision breaks.

GENERAL TIPS AND TRICKS OF THE TRADE

• Make a massive plan, stick it up somewhere obvious and follow it.

• If you end up not following it, you probably do not like this plan. Make a new one and stick to this one!

• If you get distracted easily by other things make your revision huge so it obscures your vision of other objects and potential causes of distraction.

• Give your iPad, phone, iPod and every electrical device you are not using for revision to your sister.

• Breathe in fresh air, take time for exercise, drink plenty of water and eat well (as always) - but don't deny yourself a treat once in a while on the food front (we all get this).

• Visualise lots of different circumstances - imagine being in a really positive mood on the day of your exam and positively reacting towards any challenges the day might bring. Visualise your success story as much as you can.

• Listening to quiet music while revising for me is quite beneficial when I am stressed about the other subjects I should be revising for. I think it is a kind of way of preoccupying the stressed out part of my mind and allowing more room for me to focus on the revision.

• Take on one thing at a time. Put all your energy into each revision session as you do it. Try not to think of other topics/subjects - there will be time for them, but for now you are studying this.

• Make a really really really really concise plan/map of the whole subject a few days before the exam so you can cement in your mind how the whole subject connects and interweaves together.

• Before the exam, accept what you have done and trust yourself - you've got this! At the end of the day, your BELIEF is key, and what will set yourself apart from others.

make | SPAIN | huevos en el purgatorio

Well everyone, it's officially May! Not sure about you, but this year feels like it's going by really quickly to me!

We have both been waist-deep in revision and exam prep for the past couple of weeks - Sarah's taking her AS-Levels and I am doing my finals for my Law course at Uni.  It's all pretty stressful, but we're trying to take some time out to chill too - a little bit of yoga never did anyone any harm!  We are going to write a post too about how we combat procrastination and also about our top revision techniques for everyone else who is studying out there.

But, we've decided that it is finally warm enough for us to make some Spanish inspired recipes.  We've had a couple of trips to Spain, to stay on the Costa del Sol with our Aunty and Uncle.  It's so beautiful where they are - you feel as if you are right in amongst the local people, which is great as you see some of the real Spain as well as enjoying the touristy spots just along the coast a bit.  The Spanish food is really great too.  Because you're on the coast, you get to eat all the best of the sea (which is great for me as I love fish and seafood).

In the food shops, (our favourite was probably Mercadona - they had a brilliant catchy theme tune I wish I could sing to you over the internet!) you can buy super-fresh seafood that is almost always gone before lunchtime.  You've got to get there early to get the best.  When we emerged early enough, which was rarely as we were often up really late enjoying food, drinks and warm breezes on the terrace, we made sure we got there to pick up the best prawns I have ever eaten, and an amazing fish called 'dorada' (sea bream) which tastes amazing on the BBQ.

The top Spanish herbs are paprika (which I LOVE and have a massive jar of), oregano, thyme and rosemary.  These are all mega herbs to have in your kitchen, anyway, as they taste fantastic and can be used in a number of different cuisines.  When you're buying your paprika, do your best to get the best quality you can - it makes the world of difference.  I love the smoky flavour of ours, but they also make sweet paprika, and spicy, which are also great to have on hand.

I could wax lyrical about Spanish food, but I think I had better stop and get to the recipe.  I'll let you into some more Spanish secrets later on in the month!

In the cooking process...

This recipe is based on a dish that, OK, I know is Italian.  BUT I also know that Spanish families like to make it a lot too, and when you go out to eat in Spain, this is often on the menu.  Eggs in purgatory is basically poached eggs in a spicy tomato based sauce, done quickly on the hob and served with yummy bread and salad.  This could be a substantial lunch or a light supper.  Great when it's sunny out and you've been out all day and you can't be bothered to make a massive dinner.

We've also enjoyed this week, the first rhubarb of the season.  I know it's been out a while now, but it's our first rhubarb.  I know it's not Spanish but I wanted to share how we make it - you don't need to use any sugar!

Isn't it a beauty?

Local honey - from the bees of
our best friends
the Tylden-Pattensons

Anyway, to the recipes!!

Enjoy today  

rosinaviolets    x

Huevos en el Purgatorio (Eggs in Purgatory - Spanish style!)
Serves 4

2 onions, finely chopped (or 4 shallots, as we've used here)
3 cloves of garlic, smooshed
1 red pepper, in chunks
1 courgette, in chunks
1 red chilli, finely chopped
400g tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp dried oregano
4 eggs
handful of fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped

• Spray a big frying pan with a little oil and heat it up.  Cook those onions and garlic, and then throw in the paprika.  Should be smelling pretty fantastic already! 

• Now add the red pepper, courgette and chilli.  Cook for a minute or two and then throw in the chopped tomatoes and oregano.  

• Once that's cooked down (give it another minute or two), make four wells in the mixture and crack in your eggs as shown in the picture.  

• Cover the frying pan with foil, or if you have a lid you can use that.  Cook on a medium heat for about 10 minutes if you like your eggs done all the way through.  A little less if you want them a bit gooey in the centre. 

• Just before serving, sprinkle over your parsley. 

Stewed rhubarb - sweet, with no added sugar! 

Serves 4 

400g rhubarb 

1 dessert spoon honey (local is great as it can help to protect you against hayfever - and it helps your local beekeepers!) 

65ml (1/4 cup) cranberry juice (OK - I know this has sugar in it, but it's not much and it's got the added goodness of cranberries, and it tastes good, so I'll make an exception!) 

• Cut the rhubarb into inch-sized cubes (about 4cm).  

• Throw in a saucepan with the honey and cranberry juice.  Give it a bit of a stir.  

• Bring to boil and then turn down to a simmer for 15 minutes or so, until the rhubarb is soft, but hasn't yet turned to mush! 

• Serve with natural yoghurt or ice-cream.  Yum.