Chicken Cubes with Pears from China

 Chicken in cubes with Pears is a typical dish from Yunnan, a province in southwest China.

Legend has it that in 1657, Li Dingguo, who was named Prince of Jin for his services to the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, fled to the city of Kunming (in Yunnan) to escape the attack of Qing troops. There, a peasant woman learned of Li Dingguo's arrival and wanted to make him a delicious dish. She killed her best chicken, diced the meat, and to enhance the flavour, she also diced some pears. The prince liked the dish so much that it became a traditional dish of the region since then.

It is a fairly simple dish to prepare, and the combination with pears and hamprovides the typical umami flavor of Asian cuisine, easily ending up in a spectacular dish.

Yunan

Ingredients:

- 250 gr. chicken breast.

- 1 beaten egg.

- 30 gr. cornstarch.

- 150 gr. pears.

- 50 gr. ham.

- Chives.

- Ginger.

- A dash of sesame oil.

- Lemon.

Method:

1- Beat the egg, add cornstarch and mix well.

2- Cut the breast chicken into 1 and a half cm thick cubes, add the chicken to the bowl where you have the egg, mix well and let stand for 15 minutes.

3- Meanwhile peel and cut the pears into cubes the same size as the chicken breast, add a dash of lemon to prevent it from oxidating.

4- Put the chicken breast in a strainer, let the excess of egg pour in a dish under the strainer.

5- Take a Wok, pour some oil, fry the chicken for some minutes until you see the color begins to change, add the pear and cook for half a minute, take everything out and put it in a striner to get rid of the excess of oil.

6- Fry half of the chives and the ginger for 1 minute, add the ham and cook for 1 more minute, add the chicken and pear, mix well and cook for 1 more minute.

7- Now put on a dish, sprinkle the rest of the chives over the chicken and a dash of sesame oil.

You can also watch the recipe at my Youtube Channel:

Here you have my  favourite cooking tools: https://viaja-en-mi-cocina-english.blogspot.com/2023/05/shop.html

Receta en Español

China

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Fettuccine alla Papallina

 It is difficult to find a typical and exclusive recipe from Vatican City, the typical food is the same as in Rome, but here I bring you a dish that despite being from Rome does have something to do with Vatican City, it was designed for the Pope Pius XII.

In 1932 Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli (the future Pius XII) used to eat at the Ostería del Colonatto (now La Cisterna).

One day Pacelli asked the chef of the restaurant, Cessaretto Simma, to prepare a special pasta dish to entertain some personalities that the cardinal had to receive. It had to be light but elegant at the same time and represent the Roman gastronomy.

The cook came up with this recipe based on the 'carbonara' sauce.

Instead of semolina pasta, egg pasta and specifically fettuccine are used, guanciale (Italian bacon) was replaced by ham and Pecorino cheese by Parmigiano, which is softer.

Another additional element to the Carbonara are the peas.

Ingredients:

- 300 gr Fettuccine  

- 70 gr Butter.

- 1 Onion.

- 200 gr Ham.

- Salt.

- Pepper.

- 2 Eggs.

- 200 ml cooking cream.

- 100 gr Parmesan cheese.

- 200 gr Peas.

Method:

1- Melt some butter and sautée the onion until golden, (onion cut in little pieces).

2- Cut the ham into little cubes, add it to the pan and cook for 4 more minutes.

3- Add the peas, salt and pepper and cook 1 more minute.

4- Boil some water with a pinch of salt. Once the water is boiling add the fettuccine and cook for 10 minutes.

Get rid of the water and add the fettuccine to the pan with the  peas+ham. Mix carefully.

5- Whisk the eggs , mix them with cream and grated parmesan cheese.

6- Turn off the heat, add the eggs + cream +cheese to the pan, mix carefully.

Receta en Español

You can also watch the recipe at my Youtube Channel:

Here you have my  favourite cooking tools: https://viaja-en-mi-cocina-english.blogspot.com/2023/05/shop.html

Vatican City

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Castillian soup

                                                                                                                        Receta en Español

 Castillian soup is tipical from several Spain regions, it receives that name because Castilla is the region where it was cooked for the first time. This recipe has a humble origin, depending on the region and the family economy more or less ingredients can be used, the minimum ingredients are broth, bread, garlic, paprika and egg.

Today I present to you the version from Burgos where they add ham to the previous named ingredients.

Ingredients:

- 1 l meat broth.

- 3 garlic gloves.

- 1 tablespoon paprika.

- olive oil.

- 1 bread from the previous day.

- 1 egg by person.

- 100 grams ham.

Method:

1- Use some meat to make meat broth,  I used one bone and some portions of chicken and meat ,all mixed with a large quantity of water and some salt. I used the pressure cooker, put it on a high heat until the steam goes out, and then on a low heat for 1 hour.

2- Cut the garlic into slices and sautée it with some oil.

3- Cut ham into little cubes and add it to the casserole , cook for 2 more minutes.

4- Cut bread into thin slices, add it to the casserole.

5- Add paprika and cook everything for 3 minutes.

6- Add the broth to the casserole, put it on a high heat until it reaches boiling point.

Then put it on a low heat and cook for 15 minutes.

7- Now whisk the eggs, add them to the soup little by little , always stirring the soup while the egg is pouring.

and there you have it.

It is a tasty dish, comforting in winter and very easy to cook.

You can see the elaboration on my youtube channel:

Burgos

Andorran trout

                                                                           Receta en Español

Andorran trouts are wonderfull, the recipe I present today depicts the way andorrans cook their typical trouts:

Ingredients:

• 1 trout.
• flour.
• 2 slices of Serrano ham.
• oil.
• Salt.
• Pepper.

Method:

1-  Clean the trout and sprinkle some salt and pepper on both sides.

2- Put some flour over both sides of the trout:

3-  Pour some oil into a frying pan, once it is hot add the trout and fry well both sides.

4- Use the same oil to fry the ham, just very litlle.

5- Put the ham slices on the trout and eat it inmediately.





My Comments to the recipe:

A very easy recipe, the mix ham and trout is wonderfull.



Andorra

Broad Beans ,vitorian style

                                                                               Receta en Español

Favas or Broad Beans are native to Asia Minor, although some scholars suggest that  they originated in Central Africa.

The Romans made ​​great use of this type of beans which they turned into flour to make bread.

They form part of the diet of inhabitants of Navarra and Álava.

Broad Beans are so consumed and produced in Álava that they have a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO);

This dish is one of the most typical if you want to make a meal based on food from the Spanish region of Álava.

Ingredients (3 people):

• 450 grams of beans.
• 120 g of cured ham.
• 60 g  of bacon.
• Oil.
• Salt.
• Water.

Method:

1. Shell the beans and wash them.
2. Pour water in the pot (just to cover the beans), heat until it boils.
3. Add the beans and salt ,then cook over medium heat 30 to 40 minutes.
   
4. Meanwhile, put the ham ,bacon and a tablespoon of oil in a frying pan ,sauté  it. Once it is ready, add  it to the pot of beans and cook for other 5 minutes until the broth thickens. 

5. Salt to taste. If the beans are large you can peel them.

My comments to the Recipe : It is an easy recipe to prepare, if we don't know exactly how much water to use, do not worry too much, if we have too much water, rather than taking and moving the ham and bacon to the pot, we do the opposite, we put the beans in the pan adding just a little water (not to let them dry).Of course, it would be better if we add just the necessary quantity of water from the beginning  ,this way we will not lose the vitamins that remain in the broth.

Talking about the taste of the dish, great! . Ham and bacon go very well with broad beans.

 

 

Álava



Belgian endive with ham au gratin

                                                                               Receta en Español

Endive is known as 'Belgian White Gold'.

Endivie does not grow wild in nature, its natural form is chicory, which has green leaves and is quite bitter.

The discovery of the way of growing was made by Belgians, it dates from the time when Belgium was formed.
In 1830, during the Belgian revolution, a farmer from Schaerbeek, Jan Lammers, watched skirmishes near his farm, he decided to leave; to protect his products , he covered them with ground.Among his crops he had chicory, widely consumed in Belgium at the time.After a few weeks, when the farmer returned to his farm, he was surprised by the fact that chicory had grown with white leaves , and its taste was less bitter, this new chicory was called 'witloof' (White leaf in Flemish).Years later,Frans Bresiers, the head of the Belgian National Botanical Garden, made a few tests and grew the endive the way we know it today.Belgium is the country in the world where endives are eaten in greater quantity, Today I present you a very popular Belgian recipe, endices wrapped with ham and cheese bechamel ,really delicious!.

Ingredients:

•   8 endives.
•   8 ham slices.
•   400 ml milk.
•   2 cloves of garlic.
•   4 tablespoons flour.
•   150 grams of butter.
•   300 grams grated cheese (better if gruyère).
•   1 teaspoon of sugar.
•   Salt.
•   Pepper.
•   Nutmeg.

Method:

1-   Clean endives and take out the outer leaves, cut the base.

2-   Chop finely garlic cloves.

3-   Melt 50 grams butter in a saucepan medium heat.

4-   Add endives to the pan, add sugar, put the quantity of water you need to half cover the endives.

5-   Cook covered at medium heat for 15 minutes. Five minutes after starting cooking add the garlic.

6-   Stirr regularly , after 15 minutes endives will be slightly caramelized:

7-   Place endives on an absorbent paper , let them dry for 30 minutes. (Keep the liquid of cooking the endives in the saucepan).

8-   In another pan we prepare the bechamel sauce, melt 100 grams butter at high heat, add flour . Once butter is melted put aside and let the mix get slightly red.

9- Add milk little by little and stirr quickly with a wooden spoon.

10- Add 300 ml of the remaining cooking water (if you have less quantity add that quantity) keep stirring.

11- Set at low heat , add salt, pepper and nutmeg.

12- Add half of the cheese and let it melt , keep stirring until the mix  becomes thick and creamy.

13- Roll up each endive in a ham slice, put the rolls in a oven proof plate.

14- Pour bechamel over the rolls.

15- Preheat oven at 210ºC and place the plate into the oven. Cook for 20 minutes  , heat above and below.

16- After 10 minutes of cooking we add over the endives the remaining cheese , let cook in the oven for another 10 minutes.

17- Serve hot accompanied by fries or  mashed potatoes.

My Comments to the Recipe 

cheese bechamel is delicious , it provides softness to the endives, they can be a Little bitter but the taste is wonderfull thanks to all the ingredients of the plate.

Here you have a link to my favourite cooking tools where you can find my spices grinder:  

Favourite cooking tools

Sources:
http://www.rtbf.be/info/societe/detail_ainsi-naquit-le-chicon?id=5568513
http://www.supertoinette.com/fiche-cuisine/251/naissance-et-culture-de-l-endive-ou-chicon.HTML

 

Belgium