Raspberry and fruits of the forest frozen yogurt

Some time ago I bought an ice cream maker. It is a very basic, simple and cheap model. But the results you can have at home are absolutely brilliant!

The ice cream maker base has a capacity of 1.6 liters, and the amounts I used in this recipe filled almost the entire recipient. Like all ice cream makers in which the base should previously be frozen, it must be at least 12 hours in the freezer. But once the base is frozen, you'll love this recipe because in 30 minutes you can enjoy a creamy frozen yogurt with a perfect result. This recipe is so quick because I use frozen fruit, which allows the mix to go directly into the machine instead of having to wait for it to get cold. Besides, this recipe has very little fat, and although we can not say it's a light recipe you can take every day, it is much lighter than conventional ice cream with much less fat but with a very similar texture and full of flavor with the yogurt and the fruits.

With this result you can imagine how I liked to try it. I still have a few ideas in mind that I really want to try, so there will be more coming.

Raspberry and fruits of the forest frozen yogurt
Ingredients (for about 1.5 liters of frozen yogurt)

400 grams of condensed milk (I used it skimmed)
500 grams fat-free plain yogurt 
300 grams of frozen raspberries

100 grams of frozen fruits of the forest

Note: I used this combination of raspberries and wild berries as it was what I had at home, but you can use your choice to your liking. Even if you use the same fruit, it is interesting to keep a quarter of the amount apart from the mix to keep bits in the ice cream.

Preparation

Beat in the bowl of an electric mixer raspberries with yogurt and condensed milk and mix well. Add the berries, put in the ice cream maker and let the ice cream machine works for 30 minutes. Once it is ready, it can be served directly, or reserved in a plastic container (like the one I used, with lid) and freeze. Take the frozen yogurt out from the freezer 10-15 minutes before serving.

Coffee, lemon and cardamom granita

For someone who loves coffee anytime and in almost all versions, coffee granita is a common dessert. In summer it is refreshing and closes a meal by mixing dessert and coffee. Now, it is more or less the same idea. This recipe gives you a point of extra flavor by adding lemon and cardamom. The result is more refreshing thanks to the lemon juice and more intense due to cardamom. If you prepare it  with decaffeinated coffee, you can have it any time without fear of spending the whole night awake. Just a precision: with or without caffeine, coffee for this grantia should always be a good espresso.

Coffee, lemon and cardamom granita
Ingredients (for 2)

1/2 liter of espresso (can be decaf, but espresso)
Sweetener to taste
Juice of a lemon 

1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder

Put the coffee in a metal container that can be introduced in the freezer, add sweetener and taste. It should be rather sweet, because freezing  will make it bitter. Add the lemon juice gradually, testing, and do not incorporate all of it  if it gets too acid. Add the cardamom and mix well. Put in the freezer and stir with a fork every hour or so to prevent freezing altogether.
Serve with a slice of lemon.

Tomato and green apple jam

I must confess that I only learned to eat tomatoes (like so many other things) when I was already grown up. Really grown up, I mean. I was a picky eater as a child, and my poor parents were desperated, especially with tomatoes. I remember just so clearly  my father's frustration whenever he offered me the best of summer ripen tomato, open in half with a little olive oil and a pinch of salt, as the best dish in the world. I was young, but not enough not to realize that I had to do my best to eat it. But for me, it was a viscous thing, with uncertain taste, which I could  never really eat. As soon as I felt it in my motuh, I felt sick, and I could see my father's disappointment. Even today he eats so often tomatoes in summer, freshly picked, chosen at the point that he likes, but now he just does not invite me to try.
I can now eat them, but still they are not one of my favorite snacks. And the proof is that I can only eat them ripe, very ripe.  Still green and crisp tomatoes are a test that I failed to overcome. Another unforgivable stain on my record of culinary tastes.
What I really love  is to make jams and jellies. Never prepare them for preserving, though. At one time in my life I spent too many summers preparing canned fruit so I think I'm done for my entire existence. No, sterilized jars, then boiling and everything else is not for me.

But adding sugar to fruits and allow to slowly cook them in their own juice, for that, I am always ready. In fact, in most recipes that include jam, I prepare it myself at the moment. This way, I can give it the sweetness that I like, and just the texture that is usually lost in the manufacturing process.

And yet, I never did before a tomato jam, even though I wanted long ago. Simply I  had not done it yet. But a few days ago, at the site of Saveur Magazine I  saw this tomato and green apple jam, and I had to try it. Mine is quite different from the original, which is much more spicy and perfect to accompany savory dishes, but I just add green apple as an alternative to the idea I had in mind.
You can see the result below. A highly recommendable jam, not overly sweet, and delicious to replace oil and tomato on toast for breakfast for a couple of days.

Tomato and green apple jam

Ingredients

1 kg. ripe red tomatoes
2 medium green apples (Granny Smith), peeled and diced
500 grams superfine sugar

Directions

Peel the tomatoes: Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat.  Score the bottom of each tomato with an X.  Once water is boiling, drop tomatoes in for 15-30 seconds; remove with tongs and immediately plunge into cold water.  Slip off the peels with your hands, then roughly chop the peeled tomatoes. Add the tomatoes, apple, and sugar to a medium saucepan set over medium heat and stir to combine.  Bring mixture to a boil very slowly, then lower heat and gently cook, uncovered, for about 40 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching, until the mixture is thick and jammy.  When the jam is ready, remove from heat and, if desired, use a  fork to break down tomato and apple chunks to your preferred consistency and leave to cool.

Tip: This jam is perfect on a slice of bread freshly toasted and a little Brie or other creamy cheese. But try also to add a few tablespoons of jam to a vinaigrette for the salad. Mix 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 tablesppon apple vinegar and 2 tablespoons of the jam. Salt and pepper, emulsified and pour over salad just before serving. Can not be easier nor tastier.

Chocolate and choco chips ice-cream

Today's ice cream has not got any egg on its base, but it gets an intense chocolate flavor, and crunchy chocolate chips, which against the creamy base are a delicious contrast. Besides, you can prepare it in a moment.

Chocolate and chocolate chips ice-cream

Ingredients (for about 700 ml of ice cream)

200 ml whipping cream (at least 35% m.g.)
125 grams of  plain yogurt
250 ml milk
40 grams icing sugar
40 grams cocoa powder
25 grams of chocolate chips

Whip the cream with half the sugar, beating at low speed first and then up, until it hardens, being careful not to overdo it or it will become butter. Add remaining ingredients, except chocolate chips, whisking until integrate, and test. Correct sugar or cocoa to taste.
If using ice cream machine, put in refrigerator several hours or twenty minutes in the freezer before putting the ice cream, in the machine. Halfway through the process, add the chocolate chips. When the ice cream has curdled, place in a suitable containers for freezing, put into the freezer and finish cooling.

Oatmeat and cranberries guilt-free cookies

Since I'm trying to lighten my diet I have been missing terribly a little baking. Not so much the taste of something sweet (well, might be a little) as the need of baking something delicious, sweet but not too much, that I could have with  my coffee without completely destroying my new good habits. Baking is indeed a chemical reaction in which each element -from the type of flour to the yeast, liquids and fats- work and react to heat from the oven to achieve the final result. So it is not easy to replace ingredients and make recipes lighter without a too saggy result, either in flavor or texture, or appearance or in all of them.  At least, for me it was not so simple.

While looking for a small treat under control, I came up with these cookies. The oats provide carbohydrates so you can not say that they are low in calories, but they have a sensible amount of sugar, along with dried fruits, one single egg and purée apple in place of butter or oil. So, I think they result in a more than acceptable flavor and texture, while still being reasonable from a dietary standpoint, especially if you eat only one at the time.

Conclusion: cookies can be made differently. Puréed apple does not add much apple flavor but they make the inside juicy, while oats keep the cookies crisp and cranberries give them a fruity and slightly acidic touch.

And most importantly: you can eat guilt-free, good-for-you cookies.

Oatmeal and cranberries cookies
Ingredients (for about 12ish cookies)


120 grams of  oatmeal
1 medium apple
1 egg
25 grams demerara sugar (or equivalent sweetener)
2-3 tablespoons dried cranberries

Preparation

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Peel and slice the apple. Cook in the microwave for 5 minutes, until apple is soft enough to mash with a fork and makes easily a puree. If  it is not cooked, just add 1 minute at the time, check and stop before adding more time. Mash the apple, working well with a fork, and let cool to room temperature.

Put in a bowl the oats, cranberries and sugar and add the apple puree. Beat the egg and add. Mix all ingredients.

On a baking tray covered with a sheet of baking paper or silicone, put spoonfuls of dough a bit apart.

Bake for about 12-15 minutes or until they get consistence and are slightly brown on the surface.

TIP: Alternatively, if you prefer, you can add cranberries (or other dried fruit you use) on top of each cookie rather than mixing into the dough. Try raisins, desicated coconut or kiwi, chopped dried apricots, or any dried fruit you like. You can also add fresh or frozen berries and it would go well: raspberries, blackberries and currants.

Naturally flavoured water

It has never been a problem for me to have my 8 water glass a day. I do not need to remind myself to drink water,quite the contrary.

Wherever I am, I have a mug or a glass, or a bottle that I drink along the day.

This late summer I decided to give a note of flavor and color to the water. Actually, this is an idea you can use whenever you miss summer.

And, on top of it, a very simple test with an idea that also brings color to the table, becoming a table center piece effortlessly.

All you have to take into account is that water really gets flavored, so keep that in mind when combining it with your dishes.

It is not exactly an infusion, not that much, but you will notice the taste for sure.

These photos are two of the bottles I prepared at the same time and got to photograph, but you can really do almost as many combinations as you like.

I prepared some water with cucumber and lime, which is perfect for starting your meal, with a salad, gazpacho or the like, as cucumber and lime add a refreshing touch the water.

And to continue, or take in the afternoon, or really, when you want, there is the other one which has raspberry and basil. The raspberry gives it a touch of acidity, basil puts the perfume.

The preparation could not be simpler and you could not have a more dramatic result with less effort. What about you, what do you put on your late summer water?

Naturally flavored water

With lime and cucumber

Ingredients

1 liter of mineral water (so it has no taste of its own)
1 cucumber (there will be letfovers)
1 lime

Directions

Thoroughly wash the lime and cucumber, dry. With a mandoline or a vegetable cutter, cut the cucumber thinely, lengthwise. You will need 6 or 8 will of these, depending on how intensely flavored you like it. Cut the lime into quarters. Put ingredients in a wide-necked bottle that can go to the fridge and fill with water.
Leave in the refrigerator at least 12 hours, preferably 24.
Serve with plenty of ice.

With raspberry and basil

Ingredients
1 liter of mineral water
2 handfuls of raspberries (in my case, frozen.)
Fresh basil leaves.

Preparation

Wash the basil and cut the stems, leaving the whole leaves. Put the basil leaves together with raspberries in a wide-necked bottle that can go to the fridge, and let it rest to absorb flavor (and color in this case) between 12 and 24 hours. Serve with plenty of ice.

Watercress, strawberries and mushrooms salad

This one today's is not even a recipe. I even doubted whether publishing it at all, as you can hardly call this cooking. But sometimes the simplest thing is just so perfect that you do not need anything else.

When I saw strawberries, I could not resist it, and decide to prepare this. They had the necessary touch of acidity in a red fruit to be perfect in a salad. I combined them with some watercress, soft and delicious, and finally at the last minute I added some cultivated mushrooms just grilled.
It cannot be easier, but as a light lunch, or a quick dinner, I can tell you it is just delicious.

 

Watercress, strawberries and grilled mushrooms salad
 

Ingredients

A few bunches of watercress

Strawberries

Mushrooms (your choice)

Oil
Balsamic vinegar
Salt
Pepper

Preparation

Cut the strawberries into quarters and place them in a bowl with a few drops of balsamic vinegar. Let stand while preparing remaining ingredients.
Put the watercress on plates, grill the mushrooms over high heat, add salt, and place over the watercress. Put the strawberries on top adding the juices they produce over it.
Dress with a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper.

Tuna, crab and cheese mousse

There are days –weeks, even- when things run so fast, all at the same time, that you simply feel overwhelmed. Lately, for the past few weeks, I've been trapped in this accelerated spiral that seems to lead nowhere, never stopping. Yes, I know it will stop, eventually. And it will leave me with that feeling of a hangover without alcohol, disrupted, exhausted and empty, as if my head where made of cork. I know there will be some time for some rest… or at least, that is what I have to remind myself, when I feel like I need days made of 48 hours!

I tend to eat the first junk food I have at hand when I feel like this. So, as I know myself all too well, I have learnt to try to avoid that. It does not mean that I will always manage to do so, but I try.

Today’s recipe -this cheese mousse- is great for that. It also has tuna and crabmeat,  and it gives a fantastic result. The idea came from adapting a classic tasty cold mousse. I have used light cream cheese and fat-free milk instead of cream and eggs, so that it is really, really light, but the result in terms of taste is very good. I did it in individual ramekins, but you may also be prepared in a larger mold, and serve it as a paté, to spread with bread. You could also put less agar-agar, and let it in the form of a dipping to go with crudités. Or you might try to add some red pepper for enhanced flavor and color, or, basically, include any changes you feel like trying, as it is really versatile.

Enjoy!

Tuna, crab and cheese mousse

Ingredients (for 6 individual molds)

160 grams of tuna in spring water

10 crabmeat sticks
250 ml of skimmed milk
300 g of nonfat cream cheese
4 anchovies
3 grams of agar-agar (or equivalent quantity of gelatin)
Pepper
Salt

Preparation

Mix flaked tuna with chopped crabmeat and chopped anchovies. Blend well. Put in a saucepan the milk, cheese, salt, pepper and agar-agar. Heat and stir to dissolve it, without allowing it to boil until it is completely mixed. Add the crushed mixture of tuna, crab sticks and anchovies, mix well and remove from heat. Pour into molds to use, slightly pre-oiled (better with a spray or use a pair of oil droplets and spread with a brush) and cool to room temperature. Once cooled, put into to the fridge for at least 4 hours, until ready to serve. To serve, garnish with minced crabmeat and tuna.

Tuna, crab and cheese mousse

Ingredients (for 6 individual molds)

160 grams of tuna in spring water

10 crabmeat sticks
250 ml of skimmed milk
300 g of nonfat cream cheese
4 anchovies
3 grams of agar-agar (or equivalent quantity of gelatin)
Pepper
Salt

Preparation

Mix flaked tuna with chopped crabmeat and chopped anchovies. Blend well. Put in a saucepan the milk, cheese, salt, pepper and agar-agar. Heat and stir to dissolve it, without allowing it to boil until it is completely mixed. Add the crushed mixture of tuna, crab sticks and anchovies, mix well and remove from heat. Pour into molds to use, slightly pre-oiled (better with a spray or use a pair of oil droplets and spread with a brush) and cool to room temperature. Once cooled, put into to the fridge for at least 4 hours, until ready to serve. To serve, garnish with minced crabmeat and tuna.

Mascarpone and almonds ice cream

I keep on making ice cream. I guess it is my way of trying to extend a bit the summer feeling. I cannot get used to these rainy, cold days and gray days in August. Weather has been terrible this summer in here. I guess by now I should have got used to the fact that here weather can only be one of two: bad or worse. So, it really makes no sense at all talk about the weather. But it is not a rhetorical resource at all. Here it is a real topic for conversation. These cold temperature and dark skies make it really difficult to think of summer. And when you receive the occasional out of office autoreply  at work, with someone’s message explaining she is on summer holidays, it feels really strange. It feels kind of out of place.

So occasionally I decide to do some ice cream. I prepare it not because a hot summer day asks for a refreshing and frozen dessert.  Right now, I need to remind myself that no matter how cold it is outside,  at the end of a great  meal, an ice cream will always be a perfect dessert.

This ice cream is just a slight variation on one of the easiest ice creams I've ever done. I had done it several times before. And when I invited some friends over for dinner, I thought I could prepare this ice cream some days in advance. If I felt like preparing something else, this delicate and neutral ice cream flavor would work perfectly. If served alone, the almonds would  provide a lovely  crunch to it so that it is not bland at all. Besides, you can prepare it in a moment, and the result are oh so good. Will you also try it?

Mascarpone cheese and almonds ice cream

Ingredients

250 grams of mascarpone cheese

100 grams of sugar

100 ml whipping cream

juice of 1 lemon

50 grams of toasted almonds, (flakes or coarsely ground)

Directions

To make the ice cream, put the cheese, sugar and  lemon juice in a bowl and mix well. Add the cream and mix again. Finish by adding the almonds, trying to keep them well distributed. Put in the freezer (or ice cream) at least 6 hours before serving, preferably overnight.

Vietnamese chicken salad

A long, long time ago, I saw a Vietnamese salad at citrus & candy blog, and I loved all of it. Above all, the part that advises adjusting the proportions of meat and vegetables to taste, and changing the ingredients, because that is the funniest part in the kitchen. I have not made too many changes, but a few. I do not use fish sauce, so I adjusted the marinade and seasoning to my taste. And I used mint instead of coriander, and fresh hazelnuts instead of roasted peanuts. So maybe it is not a Vietnamese salad, after all, but I liked the name so much that I wanted to keep it, anyway. 

What is certain is that I am a skeptic with marinades. Better said: I was a skeptic. Probably I had not found one to my taste. In this case, with strong flavors such as soy sauce, garlic and ginger in it and leaving chicken inside it overnight, I can assure that the naturally bland chicken breast was tasty, absolutely tasty.

Anyway, like any good salad, it admits lots of variations. Even just the way I prepared it, it is a very tasty and unique dish with an exotic note that you cannot miss.

Vietnamese chicken salad

Ingredients (for 4 servings)


For the chicken marinade
4 chicken breasts, clean and cut in fillets of similar size
2 tablespoons of water

1 tablespoon soy sauce (I prefer low salt)
1 tablespoon of grated fresh ginger 

3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons oil (optional: can be replaced with more water if necessary to clarify the soy sauce)
2 teaspoons sugar

For the dressing

2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon chopped fresh ginger
1-2 chilies, clean seed, and chopped


For the salad
1/2 Chinese cabbage, cleaned and chopped leaves into strips
1 carrot, chopped
3 shallots, julienned
12-15 raw hazelnuts
2 shallots, julienned, sauteed
2 cloves garlic, chopped and sauteed
1 large red chilli, finely chopped
Mint leaves (or Vietnamese coriander, which I obviously was not able to find)

Directions
Place the chicken in a zipping bag. Then mix the marinade ingredients and pour over chicken breasts. Keep in refrigerator until ready to use (at least half an hour, preferably overnight). The chicken can be grilled, fried or steamed, and then crumble into strips or pieces. Add a couple teaspoons of the marinade to prevent drying. I grilled it without oil, just before using it.
Mix the dresing ingredients in a bowl and emulsify well with hand mixer until making a smooth sauce. Reserve.
In a large bowl, put the vegetables and the mint leaves. Add the chicken and season to taste. Complete with shallots, garlic, hazelnuts, chilli and mint, and serve immediately accompanied by more seasoning.

Forest berries creamy frozen yogurt

If there is anything at all in my memory that instantly pops up whenever I think of summer, it is ice cream. When I was a child ice cream was a summer-only sweet. The long, hot summer days in the beach used to be followed by a creamy, flavourful ice cream. Those were the best ice cream ever. No matter the flavour, or the ice creamer itself. Just on the sea side, with the urge of a frozen treat after all the sun and the sea of the day. 

Making ice cream at home can be really simple, can be absolutely simple, I'd say. You can use an ice cream machine if you have one, but you can really get back to that childhood memories in no time and without any special ingredients with recipes as simple as this. 

Enjoy!

Forest berries creamy frozen yogurt

Ingredients

150 grams of frozen berries

250 grams of creamy Greek natural yogurt

50 grams white, granulated sugar

Directions

Mix  in a food processor all the ingredients and beat well until you get a creamy and integrated mixture. Taste and adjust sugar to taste. Remember it should be slightly sweet, because by freezing it will become less sweet. Put into the freezer at least four hours, better 6 to 8, before serving.

Serve with a few mint or basil leaves, a bit of pink pepper and some freshly ground black pepper.

If you prefer, you can also take it as a milkshake, without freezing. The frozen fruit with yogurt will be a perfect smoothie anyway.

Instant Lime & Mint Granita

 

I have an incredibly huge kitchen in my house in here (particularly when compared to the average kitchen in a flat in Spain, which was my previous one). However, for reasons that I am still trying to figure out, the freezer is really, really small.

I used to have always my ice cream bucket in the freezer, so that when I wanted to have my home made ice cream (and it used to be quite often, honestly), I could -easily and quickly- have it.

Now it is not longer the case, and ice cream asks for a bit more of planning from me.

So, thinking on a quick way to solve the urge for a truly home made treat, last week, over the lovely summery weather, I made this instant lime granita.

The result is so good I cannot avoid to share it.

Are you up for a granita???

Enjoy

You're welcome.

Instant lime and mint granita

Ingredients (for 4 people)

Juice of 6-8 lime

100 grams sugar

100 ml warm water

600 grams ice cubes

8-10 mint sprigs

Directions

Mix the juice, the warm water and the sugar until dissolved. Taste and correct sugar as needed. Take into account that it should be really tasty, as the flavours will dilute once the ice cubes are added.

Put the liquid into the food processor. Add the chopped mint sprigs and pulse a few seconds, just for a good mix of the ingredients. Add the ice cubes and grind until you have the texture you like.

If you are more lemonade than granita person, just use 200 grams ice cubes and 600 ml water instead.